Court Recognizes Conversion After 4 Years - All the Lessons from the Rozani Reis Case
- פרנקל אמסלם ושות'
- 1 day ago
- 4 min read
In an important and precedential ruling, the judge exposed a harsh reality:
"The overall picture emerging from the respondent's conduct... indicates deliberate foot-dragging, unwillingness to conduct substantive examination, and a continuous effort not to approve the application and to reject it with frivolous claims and demands" - so ruled Judge Anat Zinger in a precedential judgment recently issued at the Jerusalem District Court. The ruling exposes the complex and frustrating reality faced by converts when seeking recognition of their conversion by the Ministry of Interior.
In this ruling, which constitutes a significant legal victory, it was determined that the Population and Immigration Authority is obligated to recognize the conversion of Rozani Michal Reis and grant her status under the Law of Return.
The decision came after four years of proceedings with the Ministry of Interior, during which her application was repeatedly rejected with changing and sometimes contradictory justifications, indicating a systematic policy of delay and obstacle creation.
The Ordeal of Exhaustion: The Story of Rozani Michal Reis
Journey to Judaism
Reis's story begins in 2005, when she arrived in Israel as a caregiver. During her work with religious families, she was exposed to Judaism and drew closer to it, until in 2017 she decided to convert. Reis underwent a significant process that included a year of study at the "Netivei HaZohar" ulpan (study program) in Bnei Brak, and in 2018 she converted at the International Beit Din "Ahavat HaGer" in Jerusalem, headed by Rabbi Chaim Amsalem.
The Bureaucratic Struggle: An Endless Obstacle Course
In February 2020, Reis's bureaucratic journey began when she submitted her first application for immigrant status at the Population Authority office. Already at this point, the cost of lacking legal representation became apparent - Reis learned of her eligibility only by chance, from an office clerk, without prior preparation and without deep understanding of the process awaiting her.
What began as a simple request for conversion recognition quickly became an exhausting bureaucratic ordeal. The Ministry of Interior, like in a cruel treasure hunt game, invented a new demand each time: first it requested detailed affidavits from the preparing rabbi and the converting Beit Din. When these were provided, questions suddenly arose about the connection between the ulpan and the Beit Din. When she relied on these as well, doubts were raised regarding the sincerity of the conversion, and finally - a new demand to prove affiliation with the "Giyur KeHalakha" (Conversion According to Jewish Law) network.
At each stage, Reis was forced to collect documents, obtain confirmations, and prove anew the sincerity of her intentions. Professional legal representation from the beginning could have anticipated many of these demands, prepared the required documents in advance, and documented the process systematically. Instead, Reis was forced to deal with each new demand retroactively, investing precious time, resources, and emotional energy.
The absurd climax came in 2023, when after three years of examinations and three comprehensive interviews, the Ministry of Interior requested to return to square one. Only determined legal intervention managed to put an end to the endless cycle of new demands and led to the long-awaited recognition of Reis's conversion.
Key Lessons from the Ruling
The Importance of Early Legal Representation
The case illustrates how the absence of legal representation from the beginning of the process led to unnecessary difficulties:
Lack of ongoing documentation and understanding of which documents to request at each moment of the process and from which authority made it difficult to prove facts retroactively.
Lack of preparation for anticipated difficulties in recognizing a private Beit Din, such as strange demands that caused Mrs. Rozani Michal to chase in vain searching for documents that cannot be obtained because they simply do not exist in reality.
Absence of professional response to the Ministry of Interior's changing demands may cause it to demand a "reassessment."
Significance of the Legal Precedent
The ruling constitutes a significant milestone in the recognition of private conversions in Israel in general and in the status of the "Ahavat HaGer" Beit Din in particular. As Judge Zinger emphasized: "At the head of this Beit Din stands Rabbi Amsalem who is a rabbi and posek (halakhic decisor), rabbinical advocate and author of many halakhic books and compositions... It cannot be accepted that the 'Ahavat HaGer' Beit Din is a Beit Din that converts through 'any three people'."
The Beit Din, operating under Rabbi Amsalem's leadership and accompanied by an advisory council that includes Rabbi Eliyahu Abargil - former head of rabbinical courts in Jerusalem, Rabbi Marc Angel - rabbi of the Shearith Israel congregation in New York, and Prof. Avi Sagi from the Philosophy Department at Bar-Ilan University, among other renowned rabbis and professors, is connected with over 30 communities worldwide. The halakhic position of the Beit Din now receives, through the court, again, official legal recognition, which joins the existing recognition among Jewish communities in Israel and worldwide of the high halakhic and rabbinical status of the Beit Din and its conversions.
Professional Recommendation
The conclusion emerging from the ruling is clear: the Ministry of Interior employs a deliberate policy of creating difficulties for converts seeking recognition of their conversion.
Professional and close legal representation from the beginning of the process can help cope with this policy and ensure the realization of rights due to the convert according to law. In order to ensure that the conversion process will also have solid legal status (from the state's perspective) and not only halakhic, Jewish status, one must prepare and act legally correctly from the beginning of the process.
Legal representation, particularly from the beginning, knows how to guide you to act correctly from the start, throughout the process, and until the state's legal recognition of it, whether at the Ministry of Interior, or, if the Ministry of Interior creates difficulties, through the court itself.
Our familiarity with Israeli law, Jewish halakha, the judicial system, the Ministry of Interior, Batei Din (rabbinical courts), conversion preparation institutes, and the complex bureaucracy on this subject helps us formulate for each person the specially tailored path for them, with close accompaniment throughout the entire way, so that you receive the state's recognition (and/or, in certain cases even the Chief Rabbinate itself) of the conversion process you underwent in the fastest manner possible, appropriate to your situation, without unnecessary delays.
