Converts and anti - Zionism

B"H

Almost everybody is talking about the upcoming Tisha Be'Av (Fast and Mourning Day for the destruction of the two Temples) but I also want to mention some other subjects as well. Especially as the High Holidays are just around the corner. Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur are the days of Judgment and Teshuva and therefore I am going to write a few articles on the Baalei Teshuva (those who became religious later on in their lives) within the following weeks. Not only about the regular Baalei Teshuva but also about converts to Judaism and their future religious lives.

A little more than a year ago, a religious Jewish website from Frankfurt (Germany) made an Internet movie about some of their local orthodox converts. Those interviewed converts were asked what they think about Israel. One young woman got shiny eyes and showed enthusiasm about our country, another guy was moderate and said that he had been here, and the third one openly showed his anti - Zionism. He wouldn't move to Israel because it is not a Torah country but only secular.

The guy making this claim obviously tried to be a Litvak after his conversion. However, when I heard his statement I was offended. If someone converts to Judaism, no matter if he has been to Israel or not, he doesn't have any right to make such an anti - Zionist claim. I have no problems with Jews born into certain chassidic groups and therefore having anti - Zionist opinions. The same with converts to Judaism joining groups with anti - Zionist ideologies such as Satmar, Dushinsky or Brisk. I can accept that. What I cannot accept is becoming a Litvak after conversion (not Brisk etc.) and making an anti - Zionist claim.

In the report the guy just sounded like he had heard something from his conversion course rabbi and believed it without knowing facts and any background information. Those who undergo an orthodox conversion course should investigate about all different directions in Orthodox Judaism. As long as people study in a conversion course, they mostly have only one goal: Passing the Beit Din (rabbincal court). And in case that the convert is not a fake, he is forced afterwards to find his own community, rabbi and friends. Especially in Israel this is not too easy, as in Jerusalem we have plenty of offers such as courses, Yeshivot, shiurim (classes), Synagogues, etc. However, it is not the task of the conversion course advising you how you should continue with your new religious life. The course got you through the conversion and that is it. Now you are alone and have to find your own private approach to Judaism. And this exactly is the time when many converts feel left alone. Who is going to advise them now ? Especially those over the age of 40 complain that most Yeshivot or courses only accept younger students.

One of the important goals of a convert should be dealing with Orthodoxy in a whole in order to get a clear picture and make a decision about where one feels connected to. This is definitely easier in Israel where today you can go to a chassidic synagogue, tomorrow you go to the Rabbi Kook Center and the day after tomorrow you go to the Jemenites. Those conversion courses I have heard about always teach different subjects such as Torah, Halachot, Mussar, some Jewish history, some Rambam and mostly "The Path of the Just" by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Luzzatto. Each class is taught by a different Rabbi or a Rabbanit. This way, you hear different opinions and learn how to differentiate.

Starting a conversion course and immediately jumping into something is never positive. And right away claiming that you are against the State of Israel just because you heard so from your Rabbi is a way of showing that you are anything but a thinking person. Not all Haredim stand for anti - Zionist ideas. Rather on the contrary. Of course, Israel is not a Torah and Meshiach state yet. But making anti - Zionist claims as a convert who hasn't even studied the writings of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak Kook or his son, Rabbi Yehudah Zvi, is ridiculous.

Hopefully the guy making this claim more than a year ago has changed his opinion or at least learned the details about anti - Zionism. The Ramban (Nachmanides) for instance, who considers it as a Mitzva living in Israel. Or the Torah stating that Eretz Israel has a higher level than any other country in this world.

The Edah HaCharedit (anti - Zionist umbrella organization in Mea Shearim) has its reasons for anti - Zionism and I don't judge its members. Converts to Judaism, however, who don't belong to an Edah group shouldn't talk about anti - Zionism because they sound like naive sheep following someone without using their own intellect.