Can a convert make aliyah? Absolutely! …But it may not be pleasant. Granted, the process of making aliyah can be unpleasant for anyone. However, in a way, converts have easier paperwork: we have a sheet of paper that says “so and so is Jewish.” Born Jews may have to find a local in Europe to photograph tombstones in Jewish graveyards. So that’s something to be thankful for?
The Basics of the Law of Return
Who Is a Jew: The Law of Return defines “Jew” (ironically enough) according to the same criteria used by the Nazis in their Nuremberg Laws: Anyone with one Jewish grandparent or who has a spouse with at least one Jewish grandparent. (Note that any halachic Jew who “voluntarily changed his religion” is ineligible for citizenship under the Law of Return.) Immigrating under the Law of Return means you can get expedited citizenship, certain government benefits that encourage immigration, and be labeled as a “Jew” on your ID card. (I’m still very confused by the labeling of people by religion as an ethnicity on the ID cards. Any Israelis care to explain that one to me??)
Convert Requirements: It’d be easy if making aliyah just meant you had to turn in your conversion paperwork. It’s not. There are unwritten regulations, and there is always doubt whether they’re still in force or not or whether a particular bureaucrat will enforce them or not. The Israeli Supreme Court declared these regulations illegal in 2006 or 2007, but after an investigation by ITIM, the Interior Ministry admitted they secretly reinstated the rules about a year later. I believe another court case invalidated them again after that. So who knows what the status of them is now. It’s easier if you can avoid the problem altogether if you can. (If you run into problems, contact ITIM for help.) These rules apply to all converts, not just orthodox ones.
(1) Converts may be required to have lived in the community of their conversion for one year after the mikvah. This comes up most frequently when someone tries to make aliyah within the first year after conversion, but it can potentially be applied the rest of your life. Get a job two months after your conversion and move out of state? You just can’t fix that. This rule could basically bar you from making aliyah for life. That doesn’t seem to be what happens in most cases, but #MurphysLaw. It is a requirement of the Ministry of the Interior, NOT the Rabbinate. Thus, the much-maligned Rabbinate may be fully willing to recognize you as a valid convert and Jew, but the state bureaucracy may deny you citizenship under the Law of Return for failure to prove yourself to be a Jew! So if at all possible, live in your converting community for at least one full year before moving somewhere else.
(2) Your converting or sponsoring rabbi (it’s not clear whether it can be either) will be required to write a letter detailing your conversion process and your involvement in the community after the conversion. What’s more uncertain is that supposedly now your conversion must have taken a minimum number of hours (350 it seems), which must be supported and detailed by your rabbi in his/her letter. I guess if it didn’t take that many hours, you’re banned from ever making aliyah?? Further, I know that some female rabbis in the liberal movements have male counterparts actually be the converting rabbi and letter writer simply to avoid making the convert’s life any more difficult. A sadly practical move.
(3) You’ll also have to write a letter about your conversion process, and it sounds like a long one. You’ll need to discuss why you decided to convert, your conversion process, and your involvement in the Jewish community since conversion. Think of it like the worst Shabbos table interrogation from a bubbe.
(4) As you can imagine, you will need to provide a valid copy of your conversion certificate. I don’t know what makes something an invalid copy, but I’m sure that’ll be a problem for some unlucky fellow.
Specific Situations
Can you make aliyah before you convert? No, not unless you qualify for aliyah through another relative. You can make aliyah if your spouse or at least one grandparent (of you or your spouse) was halachically Jewish. You need to be able to prove that person is Jewish, which may be easier said than done.
Just because you have an orthodox conversion doesn’t mean you need to make aliyah based on that conversion. If you have an earlier non-orthodox conversion, it can usually be easier to make aliyah based on that conversion. For example, if you convert with a “Rabbinate non-approved” orthodox rabbi, it’s probably easier to make aliyah under your reform or conservative conversion. Of course, that would leave you outside the purview of the Rabbinate. It may sound really nice to avoid those rabbinic politics, but that would mean you cannot marry, divorce, or be buried as a Jew in Israel. That’s a little inconvenient for most people. If you are orthodox but have a “non-approved” conversion, it may be worth getting a geirut l’chumrah (a second conversion to be stringent “just in case”) through the Rabbinate after making aliyah on your earlier conversion. ITIM can help you get a Rabbinate conversion.
But what if you need to make aliyah on your orthodox conversion? Ideally, you submit the paperwork detailed at the top of the page, including the required letters from rabbis, and they rubber stamp your application. Easy peasy when it works. You know, as easy as the intense Israeli bureaucracy can be. You may be asked to submit follow-up paperwork or answer some questions.
On the bright side, if you successfully make aliyah on your orthodox conversion, you should hopefully be cleared for life. Recent news stories about the Lookstein convert suggest that may not be the case, but traditionally people have been able to marry through the Rabbinate without issue after jumping through these “are you a Jew” hoops during the aliyah process. Born Jews who make aliyah have not been as lucky because the Rabbinate marriage offices often request more proof than the Interior Ministry does.
What if your orthodox conversion doesn’t get approved for aliyah? All’s not lost! Let’s look at some possible situations that can still get you converts back to the Land of Milk and Honey!
a) You’re married (or get married) to a Jew! You were going to do that anyway, right? If you got married (or were married before your conversion) to a Jew of any stream, you can make aliyah as a Jew, all internal regulations aside! No needing to wait a year, and no worrying about the hours requirement. Like you really needed the state of Israel to jump on the “What, you’re 22? Get married and have babies already!” bandwagon.
b) You have a father or at least one grandparent who is Jewish. Proving that can get tricky, though. However, people do it all the time, so it can be done.
If you are making aliyah and run into roadblocks because you’re a convert (or for any other reason), contact ITIM for help. They’ve done remarkable work for converts in Israel.