JERUSALEM — In a potentially precedent-setting decision, Israel's Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that under certain circumstances the state must recognize resident foreigners' conversions to Judaism by non-Orthodox rabbis.
Although limited in scope, the ruling was seen as eroding the near-absolute control over religious affairs in Israel by the Orthodox establishment.
Within hours of the decision, the ultra-Orthodox political party Shas had gathered the 25 lawmakers' signatures needed to bring the Knesset, or parliament, out of recess. The legislative body will convene a special session next week to debate the ruling and possibly weigh legislation to dilute its effect.
The Orthodox monopoly over religious conversions in Israel has long been closely watched by American Jews, most of whom belong to the Reform or Conservative streams of Judaism. The case also holds significant implications for claims of Israeli citizenship, to which all Jews are entitled under Israel's Law of Return.
Currently, those who undergo Conservative or Reform conversion while living outside Israel are eligible to seek citizenship under the Law of Return. But inside Israel, the only conversions recognized by the state are those performed by Orthodox rabbis.
Although the consequences of the ruling may eventually be far-reaching, only a relatively small number of people are immediately affected by the decision. The case was brought six years ago by 17 foreigners living in Israel who underwent Reform or Conservative conversion courses in the country but then traveled abroad to have the process finalized.
In Israel, both Reform and Conservative conversion courses take about a year to complete. But the more rigorous Orthodox ones closely monitor prospective converts' adherence to ritual practices such as keeping kosher.
The practice of leaving the country to get around the need to obtain Orthodox blessing for becoming Jewish is known here, somewhat irreverently, as "pop-over" conversion. The citizenship requests of the converts who brought the case were rejected on the grounds that the applicants were already living in Israel when they began the process.
Orthodox religious authorities denounced the high court ruling, saying it would encourage conversions undertaken merely as a means of obtaining Israeli citizenship.
"The bottom line is that people seeking conversion to Judaism can hop on a plane to a foreign country and obtain a certificate in a day," Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger told Israel Radio.
