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Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar. (Tomer Appelbaum) Last update - 18:41 17/03/2008 Sephardic Chief Rabbi comes under fire over conversions By Shahar Ilan, Haaretz Correspondent Tags: Shlomo Amar, conversion  Sephardic Chief Rabbi came under attack on Monday at his meeting with the Knesset Internal Affairs Committee as Meretz Chairman Yossi Beilin told him that it should be the Interior Minister who decides who is Jewish and who is not, not a rabbi. "People belonging to other faiths who seek to marry a Jew and become Jewish themselves, I don't want to send them to a rabbi," Beilin explained. MK Marina Solodkin (Kadima) told the rabbi "you people do everything in the ugliest way, so as to make sure that others don't join Judaism. My constituents are tired of your tricks. I urge you to say outright that you don't want people who have Jewish blood and who paid in exile for this blood." Advertisement The head of Conversion Authority at the Prime Minister's Office Rabbi Haim Druckman said that the conversion exceptions committee is "hell." The exceptions committee is the only body authorized to allow people who aren't Israeli citizens to begin the conversion process in Israel. The exceptions committee is also the only body authorized to approve conversion for spouses of Israeli citizens who are in the midst of the naturalization process. According to the Interior Ministry, the exceptions committee fielded 900 applications in 2007, but only half of those were brought up for discussion. Of the half, only 315 were approved. Internal Affairs Committee Chairman MK Ophir Pines-Paz (Labor) said that the Israeli people must accept any person showing real interest in becoming part of the Jewish people. "We want to broaden the ranks and figure out whether there are people who are denied conversion, and why the process is so difficult. A solid Jewish majority is part of the Zionist commandment," he said. Rabbi Amar announced that he would appoint a committee to investigate the conversion process. This announcement sparked confusion because only several weeks ago, an inter-ministry committee appointed by Amar to do exactly the same thing completed its investigation and submitted a report. Amar said that this new committee would, among other things, look into the possibility of a more creative conversion process. According to Amar, criminals are trying to infiltrate the conversion process. He said that in order to prevent this "we used police crime scene investigators and espionage." Amar expressed his support for the establishment of a rabbinical conversion court in Ethiopia in order to convert the members of the Falashmura tribe, many of whom have complained of many obstacles in their journey to immigrate to Israel. Rabbi Amar asked the committee to help him raise funds for the project. Related articles: Majority of judges in new conversion courts to be Haredi Government says new conversion authority will streamline process Haaretz Editorial: The barrier to conversion Source: Conversion judges making extreme demands Bookmark to del.icio.us   Video attack West Bank settlers tie Palestinian man to phone pole and beat him. A static future Iran's nuclear program remains unchanged despite economic incentives.   1.   Interior Minister defines a Jew? 15:20  |  Jon 17/03/08   2.   What happens when Politicians mess with conversion 15:32  |  Jon 17/03/08   3.   What happens when Politicians mess with conversion 15:32  |  Jon 17/03/08   4.   Is Marina Solodkin even Jewish herself? 15:34  |  Jer 17/03/08   5.   are you really Jewsh, Jer? 15:54  |  Puhi 17/03/08   6.   Jon, Politicians have started to mess with 15:56  |  Puhi 17/03/08   7.   HORTODOX ARE THE PROBLEM 15:58  |  JAIME 17/03/08   8.   ACCEPTNG ONLY JEWS IS ILLEGAL.GVE PA INTERIOR MIN,LET THEM DECIDE 16:26  |  VOICE))))) 17/03/08   9.   Conversion 16:32  |  Ari 17/03/08   10.   Remember, people of Klal Yisrael: 17:21  |  Daoud 17/03/08   11.   Practicing Jews... 17:21  |  Ulf 17/03/08   12.   what difference would the interior minister make? No difference 17:46  |  Jo 17/03/08   13.   To Jon 17:56  |  tug919 17/03/08   14.   to Jon et. al. Current System too restrictive 18:06  |  B`Galil 17/03/08   15.   to Tug919 - I hope you`re not Jewish but... 18:09  |  B`Galil 17/03/08   16.   Jewish Blood? 19:25  |  Ben 17/03/08   17.   Who can convert? 19:26  |  Susan 17/03/08   18.   #13 tug 919 20:54  |  * BEN JABO 17/03/08   19.   Support Liberal Judaism in Israel then. 20:56  |  Fortuna Benmayor 17/03/08   20.   Who Decides 22:12  |  Rabbi Yitzchok Wolf 17/03/08   21.   This is Pikuach Nefesh, people! 22:39  |  Michael 17/03/08   22.   I bit of truth 23:17  |  John Doe 17/03/08   23.   Michael #19 23:19  |  Avi Yerushalmi 17/03/08   24.   Haaretz! What about my previous post? 23:59  |  Avi Yerushalmi 17/03/08   25.   Conversion To Judaism 02:57  |  Omri Yigal 18/03/08   26.   Jews by choice 14:32  |  Claustrophobia 19/03/08   27.   The BEAUTY OF BEING A HAREDI JEW PURLEY RENDERED! 21:20  |  Haredi 21/03/08   28.   Response to Sephardic Chief Rabbi 17:42  |  Sandra Dillon 25/03/08   29.   Response to Sephardic Chief Rabbi 17:49  |  Sandra Dillon 25/03/08   30.   A Jewish State 23:46  |  Leo 30/03/08   31.   It is rude to put a Rabbi down in public! 14:04  |  Jacob 06/07/08

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