Conversion certificate
Photo: Gali Tibbon
Following war: More immigrants convert
Ministry of Absorption reports of 200 percent increase in number of immigrants wishing to convert to Judaism in north following second Lebanon war
In the months following the second Lebanon war, a great awakening has occurred amongst the immigrants who live in the north of Israel and now wish to convert to Judaism.
According to data from the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption, in the months following the war, from September to December of 2006, over 300 immigrants signed up for conversion classes, as opposed to 110 students during the same period in 2005.
In the year 2006, some 2,200 immigrants converted all over Israel. In 2005, the nation wide number of converts was 1,950.
Over 300,000 of those who have immigrated to Israel from the Soviet Union on grounds of the law of return are not defined as Jews according to the Jewish law. These immigrants constitute about 30 percent of all immigrants in Israel.
'I want to feel like I belong'
'D', a new immigrant from Argentina is a student for special education in Haifa University. Right after the war she decided to register for conversion."The truth is that I didn’t serve in the army, and I wanted to feel more like I belong. I have no doubt that the war strengthened my commitment to the State and to conversion. To be honest, until now I didn’t always feel that I completely belonged. I have decided to do something in order to feel 100 percent Israeli."
The conversion classes are held at the Ministry of Immigrant Absorption's Institute of Jewish Studies.
Erez Halfon, director-general of the Ministry of Absorption, said that "in the year 2007, we plan to significantly expand the educational framework through which thousands of immigrants can join the process of studying towards conversion."
Minister of Immigrant Absorption Ze'ev Boim said, "The reality which the residents of the north, including the immigrants are living in, must have created a feeling of shared fate and a stronger connection to the State of Israel."
