Converts and the Syrian Community

Asked by Pinhas Eliyahu · January 16, 2004 · Other

Question

bs"d All, Perhaps the information below will clarify some of the confusion on this topic. [Exerpt taken from the following URL: www.jewishgen.org/Rabbinic/journal/kassin2.htm] Rabbi Jacob [Kassin] and the Rabbinical Council of the Syrian Community issued an edict in 1935 against marriage to converts. Such marriages were not to be recognized by the community. Children of such marriages could not attend community yeshivot. Further, rites of passage such as bar mitzvahs, weddings and the right to be buried in the community’s cemetery would be denied. The Takana (edict) had its roots in a ruling by Rabbi Shaul David Setton of Aleppo, who had accepted a position as rabbi and head of the rabbinic court in Argentina in 1912. Rabbi Setton, saw a community "bereft of Torah and he set about remedying this situation by establishing a kosher slaughterhouse, synagogue and other institutions." Rabbi Setton also started the rabbinic ban on conversions and marriage with converts in Argentina in 1927, the same ban that was later adopted in New York. Jews of Syrian descent and who follow the laws and traditions of Aram Soba in Argentina continue to observe this ban. In New York, the Takana was signed to specifically address those who converted to Judaism for the purpose of marriage, not someone who was a righteous convert. The 1935 edict, which was reissued in 1946, 1972 and 1984, was signed by leaders of every Syrian Jewish institution and became a cornerstone of Brooklyn’s Sephardic community.

Answer

Answered by Aaron Abadi

If that is all it says, that a convert for marriage is not accepted as a convert, that's fine. You don't need an edict. That is the law. But people have been taking this to the point of not accepting real converts, and not treating them properly, which is a grave sin. A real convert is one who legitimately accepts the Laws of the Torah on themselves. It is ironic that we (Syrians) are so busy worrying about the converts not accepting full observance of the religion, yet our Rabbis are not too vocal about the large percentage who are in partial observance on a permanent basis. If they have a lot of money, they're treated like they're angels. It is a shame, but the ones that want to observe, feel the need to become Ashkenazim, in full uniform. I was at a Syrian Bar Mitzvah recently and the band was playing "Uveeny Malkaini" and the clothing looked like I was in Budapest. Are we that insecure and embarrassed about our heritage that we need to look like them in order to feel religious? AA