Israel's Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that conversions performed by Ahavat HaGer, a private rabbinical court headed by Rabbi Haim Amsalem, must be recognized for the purposes of the Law of Return and the population registry. The three-justice panel unanimously rejected an appeal by the Population and Immigration Authority.
Supreme Court Conversion Ruling
Court Backs Rabbi Amsalem's Conversions
A three-justice panel unanimously rejected the Population and Immigration Authority's appeal in the case of a Filipino citizen who converted at the private Ahavat HaGer rabbinical court in 2018.
The ruling came in the case of Rozeni Michal Reyes, a citizen of the Philippines who converted to Judaism at Ahavat HaGer in 2018. The authority had appealed in an effort to avoid recognizing her conversion. Justices Yitzhak Amit, Yael Willner and Khaled Kabub all voted to dismiss the appeal, bringing the appellate stage of the case to a close.
At the heart of the case was whether a conversion carried out by a private rabbinical court, rather than a state one, qualifies under the Law of Return. That question matters to anyone who converted at Ahavat HaGer and wants the state to recognize the conversion under the law.
According to Kikar HaShabbat, the ruling arose from Reyes's individual case but also bears on the recognition of other conversions performed at Rabbi Amsalem's court.
The outlet also drew a distinction between recognition under the Law of Return and recognition for other purposes. It reported that the decision addresses the status of the conversions under the Law of Return. No broader ruling was reported on recognizing them for halachic purposes, such as marriage or other matters under the authority of the state rabbinical courts.
