The Torah portion recently read in

synagogues throughout the world (Kedoshim) included these lines:

“When a convert dwells among you in your land, do not taunt him.

The convert who dwells with you shall be like a native among you,

and you shall love him like yourself, for you were aliens in the

land of Egypt – I am Hashem, your God” (Leviticus 19:33-35). By

dispiriting coincidence, that was the same week that the Chesed

Shel Emeth Society announced that it was setting up a separate

cemetery for those Jewish converts who are not allowed to be buried

in the cemetery it has operated for more than 100 years.

The Light article depicted this action as positive and inclusive,

notwithstanding our tradition’s clear prohibition against singling

out converts for disparate treatment. The board of Chesed Shel

Emeth cannot be faulted for trying to find a practical solution for

persons who converted under Conservative or Reform auspices and who

wish – understandably – to be buried in a Jewish cemetery. The

Society has done everything it can to make inconspicuous the

distinction between the cemetery where all Jews can be buried and

the one for those whose conversions are not recognized by all

segments of the Jewish world. But Chesed Shel Emeth – and by

extension, the entire Jewish community – is put in this very

difficult position because our rabbinic leadership has failed to

agree on standards for conversion that would be recognized by all

streams of Judaism.

This is a failure of the entire Jewish community, not the rabbis of

any particular movement. The process by which we have arrived at

this juncture is a complicated one that cannot easily be summarized

in a short letter, and these observations are offered by someone

who does not pretend to be an expert in religious law.

Many times in our history, the Jewish people have skirted close to

the abyss of schism. But the principle of K’lal Yisrael-the

unshakeable unity of all Jews, no matter what their type of

religious observance-has always prevailed. No one is advocating

trivial standards for recognizing converts. It is important to

scrupulously observe traditions regarding the sanctity of a Jewish

cemetery, just as we should scrupulously observe the requirement

reiterated many times in the Torah to love the convert. Before we

go further down the road of setting up parallel institutions

throughout Jewish life, perhaps we can remember the imperative of

our tradition and find a way to agree on recognition of all who

sincerely want to join their destiny to the Jewish people.

Lawrence C. Friedman

St. Louis