The Fourth Annual Orthodox General Assembly, which took place in the Ramada Renaissance Hotel in Jerusalem this week, drew close to 300 rabbis and communal leaders from 43 countries around the world. The purpose, as explained by Rabbi Yechiel Wasserman, chairman of the World Zionist Organization's Diaspora Spiritual Services department, was to "discuss important issues on the agenda of contemporary world Orthodox Jewry."
A prime example was the proposal by Rishon LeTzion Rabbi Shlomo Amar that the Chief Rabbinate of Israel establish rabbinical courts around the world to convert non-Jews who wish to immigrate to Israel. Rabbi Amar said that this is particularly necessary in the former Soviet Union, where the motivation to convert is high among those who are about to immigrate, but decreases after they arrive in Israel.
Other topics on the table were The Modern Family in Jewish Life, The Woman's Role, and Literature and the Arts. Among the speakers were Chief Rabbi Yonah Metzger, Rabbi Mordechai Willig of Yeshiva University, IDF Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror, MK Sha'ul Yahalom, and others. Welfare Minister Zevulun Orlev said that the greatest threat to the Jewish People today is not from the Arab nations, but that of assimilation - "which is costing the Jewish People great numbers of its children." He said that the problem exists in Israel as well, noting, among other problems, that "most Israeli students do not learn enough Judaism" and that hundreds of thousands of new immigrants have not converted. Calling for an "emergency world-wide program to fight assimilation," Orlev said that both the State of Israel and Orthodox rabbis throughout the world must "fulfill their responsibility [and] arise against those who are trying to destroy the Jewish character of the State of Israel."
A prime example was the proposal by Rishon LeTzion Rabbi Shlomo Amar that the Chief Rabbinate of Israel establish rabbinical courts around the world to convert non-Jews who wish to immigrate to Israel. Rabbi Amar said that this is particularly necessary in the former Soviet Union, where the motivation to convert is high among those who are about to immigrate, but decreases after they arrive in Israel.
Other topics on the table were The Modern Family in Jewish Life, The Woman's Role, and Literature and the Arts. Among the speakers were Chief Rabbi Yonah Metzger, Rabbi Mordechai Willig of Yeshiva University, IDF Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror, MK Sha'ul Yahalom, and others. Welfare Minister Zevulun Orlev said that the greatest threat to the Jewish People today is not from the Arab nations, but that of assimilation - "which is costing the Jewish People great numbers of its children." He said that the problem exists in Israel as well, noting, among other problems, that "most Israeli students do not learn enough Judaism" and that hundreds of thousands of new immigrants have not converted. Calling for an "emergency world-wide program to fight assimilation," Orlev said that both the State of Israel and Orthodox rabbis throughout the world must "fulfill their responsibility [and] arise against those who are trying to destroy the Jewish character of the State of Israel."