More people in Israel have chosen to undergo conversions to Judaism through the Reform movement, and increasingly so after the Hamas massacre of October 7, 2023. The Supreme Court ruled in 2021 that conversions conducted by the Reform movement would be recognized for the purpose of citizenship in a landmark ruling that is still the subject of a heated debate.
The Reform movement converted 303 people in Israel last year, a record number compared to previous years, which is about 17% of the aggregate converts in Israel during this period. In 2017, some 197 people were converted in a Reform conversion in Israel; in 2018, 202 people converted through the Reform movement; in 2019, 207 people did so; and in 2020, during COVID, there was a decrease to 165 people that converted Reform. In 2021 there was a significant spike with 269 people; in 2022 the rise continued with 283 people; and in 2023, 303 people were converted by the Reform movement. By the end of September 2024, 223 people have been converted and there is still a chance to break the previous record.
Reform conversions conducted abroad were already recognized by the court in the late 1980s for granting citizenship under the Law of Return. In 2002, the Supreme Court ruled that everyone who had a Reform conversion in Israel must be registered by the government's population registry as a Jew. Only the rabbinate refuses to recognize those converts as Jewish for the purpose of marriage.
'They chose to tie their fate to Israel'
According to the figures collected by the state conversion system, 5,386 citizens applied for conversions last year. Approximately 1,700 people completed the procedure. Since October 7, 2023, data shows that more people hoped to get closer to tradition and Judaism, sharply increasing the number of requests for Orthodox conversion, mainly from Israelis who were categorized as having no religion.
Currently, the law in Israel recognizes conversion procedures that take place "in a recognized Jewish community, following the accepted standards for obtaining civil status according to the Law of Return," even if these are Reform conversion procedures.
The trend that emerges from the data is clear, and it is possible to see a constant increase in the number of Reform conversions. About two-thirds are women and two-thirds are from the former Soviet Union, whether they immigrated to Israel or were born to immigrant parents. The other third stems from spouses of Israeli citizens from all over the world.
"Those converts chose to tie their fate to the State of Israel, out of a strong desire to be an inseparable part of the Jewish people, amid losing friendships with acquaintances who chose antisemitic ways and demonstrations against the State of Israel and the Jewish people," said Rabbi Galia Sadan.
"The Reform conversion project strengthens the Jewish people numerically and also increases its value in the eyes of those who look at it from the outside in terms of the value of family," she said, adding that, despite the scarcity of resources and budgets compared with the state conversion, this community respects each other, without living in a restrictive manner.
"It is important to emphasize that the Reform community also supports spouses of soldiers serving in the IDF reserves that have been drafted since October 7," Sadan said. "The Reform community welcomes anyone who wishes to enter it with open arms".
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