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Giyyur
By Hakham Avraham Ben-Rahamiël Qanaï
Is
Giyyur [conversion] permitted and is this a recent phenomenon or is there a historical precedent
for it?
A
letter was sent to Bita’on Benei Miqra’ with
questions on whether or not the community receives into itself people from
other communities; the possibility of Giyyur
[conversion]; the law concerning whether the offspring of a Jewish
father and a non-Jewish mother is a Jew or not; if considered a non-Jew,
whether such a person can convert and be considered a Jew in all things; the
law concerning whether the offspring of a non-Jewish father and a Jewish mother
is a Jew or not; and. if considered a non-Jew, whether such a person can
convert and be considered a Jew in all things. The answer to these questions
was published in issue 21 (Nisan 5753/April 1993) of Bita’on
Benei Miqra’ by Yosef Dvir, the editor and
spokesman for the Karaite community in Israel. The following is a translation of what he wrote:
The community is not the utmost authority in regard to
the authentication of Karaite Halakhah,
the utmost authority belongs to HaShem,
may His name be blessed, therefore anyone [i.e., any
Jew] who keeps the written Torah, neither adding to it nor
diminishing from it, is in the eyes of HaShem
a Karaite Jew. The opposite is also true - if we have one of the members of the
community that does not keep the Torah and the Halakhah according to the written Torah
that person shall not be called a Karaite, even though he is descended from
generations of Karaites.
And scripture says: “Lo’ BaShamayim
Hi’ Le’mor Mi Ya‘aleh Lanu HaShamaimah WeYiqqaheha Lanu WeYashmi‘enu Otah WeNa‘asennah . . . Ki-Qarov Eleikha HaDavar Me’od BeFikha UViLevavekha
La‘asoto [It is not in the sky that you may
say ‘who will go up to the sky and take it for us so that we may do it’ . . .
For the thing is very close - it is in your mouth and in your heart to do it]”
(Devarim [Deuteronomy] 30:12 . . . 14).
Therefore anyone [i.e., any Jew] who keeps the written
Torah conducts him/herself according to the
Karaite understanding and needs no seal from any institution.
A Jew must be from both a Jewish father and a Jewish
mother, despite the fact that the Torah always relates it to the
fathers, as it is written “. . . LeMishpehotam LeVeit Avotam [according
to their clans . . . according to their fathers’ houses]” (BeMidbar
[Numbers] 1:2 etc.). Descent is patrilineal and this we see from the genealogy
of the patriarchs.
* It is permissible for a non-Jew to convert and be
considered part of the community of the Children of Israel, but not of any
tribe of Israel.
In
paragraph 145 of Murad Farag
Elisha‘’s HaMa‘amad
HaIshi (originally written in 1935,
translated from Arabic into Hebrew and published by the National Religious Council
and Beit Din [religious
court] of the Karaite Jews in Israel in 1970) it states:
“HaNolad
MiZarah Zar Kemoha ‘Ad SheYeqabbel ‘Alaiw Et HaDat
[One born of a non-Jewess is a non-Jew like her until he accepts the
religion upon himself].
In
14th century Hakham Aharon
Ben-Eliyahu of Nikomedia’s Gan ‘Eden, page 161a, on the subject of the laws of
circumcision, chapter one, it says:
“. . . it appears to me that the Ger
[resident alien] does not become obligated in observing the commandment except
at the time that he enters the religion and the beginning of his entry into the
religion is by way of three things: circumcision, washing, and the acceptance
of [his] sacrifice. And before he enters he is not obligated in observing the
commandments, but if he does so he is voluntarily observing the commandment of
circumcision.”
In
the same book, page 147b, on the subject of the laws regarding women, chapter,
eleven, it says:
“However, if she converts she is permissible to marry
like the law concerning a daughter of Israel and the witness to this is the
[laws concerning] the captive woman where scripture says ‘WeRa’ita
BaShivyah Eshet Yefat-To’ar . . . [And when you see among the
captives a woman of beautiful countenance . . .]’ (Devarim
[Deuteronomy] 21:11) that, after it explains the regulation pertaining to her
in the matter of conversion (from the matter of the shaving of her hair, paring
of her nails, and changing her clothing), it says ‘WeAhar
Ken Tavo’ Eleiha UVe‘alta . . . [and after that may you come to her
and marry her . . .]’ (Devarim
[Deuteronomy] 21:13) teaching that the law regarding all female converts is
thus.1”
1 i.e.,
that she is permissible to marry after her conversion.
In
8th century Rabbeinu ‘Anan Ben-Dawid’s Sefer
HaMiwot, in the section dealing with the laws
of circumcision, he deals extensively with the circumcision of male converts.
In
the TaNaKh we can see from Meghillat Rut [Book of Ruth]
that even a Moabitess, normally forbidden, is
acceptable as a convert if she is sincere. The 10th century Hakham Yefet Ben-‘Ali HaLewi wrote in the introduction to his commentary on Meghillat Rut [Book of Ruth]
that
“nobility of faith ranks higher than that of descent”
and
“We find also that he who is converted to the Jewish faith
sometimes reaches a high position because of his obedience to God”
and
“All this applies not only to men, but also to women”
and
“This is also true of the woman whose story we are
about to explain, according to what is contained in the book bearing her name -
meaning Ruth - wherein there is set for the excellence of her mind, conduct,
and faith, because of which the Lord of the worlds joined her fate to that of
that noble man, Bo‘az, who was the ancestor of King
David, so that Ruth became his wife. It will thus be shown that nobility of
faith takes precedence over nobility of descent. Blessed therefore is he who
dedicates himself to faith and makes it his strength and refuge, as it is
written: ‘Nashshequ-Var Pen-Ye’enaf WeTo’vedu Derekh Ki-Yiv‘ar KiMe‘at Apo Asherei Kol-Hosei
Vo [Embrace purity lest you lose
the way for His wrath is about to burn. Happy are all those that take refuge in
Him]’ (Tehillim [Psalms] 2:12).”
Thus
we see from all sources from the TaNaKh
to ‘Anan to Yefet to Aharon
Ben-Eliyahu to Murad Farag Elisha‘ to the official
organ of the community in Israel that not only is the acceptance of converts
permitted, but that they are to be praised for their joining the people of YHWH.
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