An in-depth look at what it takes to finalize a convert’s personal kabbalas haTorah
Lying doesn’t happen that often, Rabbi Romm clarifies, but it triggers an automatic ejection. “After all, if we can’t trust you, how can we continue the process?”
Other automatic rejections are applicants who come to the beis din with conditions, like the woman who only wanted to keep most of the mitzvos, or the man who wanted to put the beis din on a clock.
“He told us he was making aliyah in two months, so his non-Jewish girlfriend needed a conversion within the week,” Rabbi Moshe Walter says. “We turned him down, of course, because we will never operate with a gun pointed at our head.”
There’s quirky, and there’s quirky
One of the more delicate jobs of the sponsoring rav and beis din is to ensure that candidates possess a basic level of stability. Becoming a ger involves making a cataclysmic change of one’s life. As such, among those seeking, a small percentage of applicants present with certain quirks, which require careful consideration.
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