RECONVERTING AN EX-NUN

QUESTION:

A Jewess had converted to Catholicism and had become a nun. Now she wants not only to return to Judaism, but to become a teacher of Judaism in a Jewish educational system. Should there be some special procedure for her reconversion? Should such a reconvert be permitted to become a teacher of Judaism under Jewish auspices? (Asked by Rabbi David Polish, Evanston, Illinois.)

ANSWER:

THE QUESTION of reconverts has come up rather frequently in recent years chiefly due to the decades of danger and oppression which European Jewry has had to endure. The questions generally were of the following nature: A boy who had been baptized by his parents for safety sake is now of Bar Mitzvah age. Should the rabbi permit him to become Bar Mitzvah? A young lady of a European Jewish family who had been baptized and raised as a Christian now wants to be married to a Jewish young man. Should such a marriage be conducted by a rabbi? Is there some preliminary reconversion needed, etc.?

It happens, of course, that in the traditional legal literature there is a great deal of discussion on the question of reverting proselytes, since experiences analogous to those of the last few decades had occurred many times in the past, as for example the conversions of Jews to Christianity in the Rhineland during the Crusades, and three centuries later in Christian Spain. Many of these converts to Christianity returned to Judaism when things quieted down in the Rhineland, or when they fled from Spain to Turkey and North Africa. Most of the Halacha on the question developed as an outcome of these events.

As far as I know there has been no systematic study of the varying attitudes of the Halacha to reverting apostates from era to era. But even at first glance it would seem that in those countries where there was comparatively little experience with mass conversion and, therefore, with mass reconversion, the rabbis tended to be stricter than in those countries where it was important to encourage the great mass of ex-Jews to return to the parental faith. This can be seen in a contrast between the statement of Joseph Caro and of Moses Isserles. There was no mass conversion in Poland and hence no great need for making it easy for apostates to return. Therefore Isserles, to Yore Deah 268:12, mentions the rabbinical requirement for a reconvert to take a ritual bath and to promise loyalty (chaverus). Of course he admits that this is not a Torah requirement but only a cautionary rabbinical requirement. But Joseph Caro to this section of the Shulchan Aruch makes no mention at all of any such a reconversion ritual. Nevertheless Caro in his Bays Joseph to the Tur does make a reference, but it is entirely different from that of Isserles. He cites the de cision of Solomon ben Shimon Duran (Rashbash 89) who lived in North Africa after the first mass conversion in Spain in 1396 (and Caro himself was a refugee from the great mass conversion in 1492). Duran, as quoted by Caro, says it is wrong to require any ritual. Reconverts must not in any way be discouraged from returning.

However it is clear that there are a number of differences between the specific case asked about here and those referred to by Joseph Caro and his source, Solomon Duran. There is no discussion in these Spanish sources of any reconversion of Jews who had become monks or priests or also those reconverts who would want to become active and practicing teachers or Cohanim again in Judaism. While we have no references to the return of Jews who had become nuns or priests, we do have cases of Cohanim who reverted to Judaism. The question with regard to them arose immediately, as to whether they are entitled to the special sanctity which Judaism confers on a Cohen, to be called up to the Torah first, to bless the people at the Duchan. This reference is found, not among the Spanish Jews, but among the Rhineland Jews. Rabbenu Gershom, the “Light of the Exile,” discusses exactly such a question, namely, whether a revert, born a Cohen, regains all his former Kedusha when he reverts. His answer (in Machzor Vitri, p. 96) is headed “Letter of peace” and urges that they should be restored to all their full sanctity and no one should ever remind them of their unhappy past. This answer of Rabbenu Gershom covers at least half of the question asked here; not with regard to the status while Christian of some ex-Catholic priest or nun, but with regard to the desired status when returning to Judaism; i.e., a reconvert reachieving a sanctity or special religious status in Judaism.

There is still a further difference between the present case and the precedents of the past. The chief sources of the law arose in periods of oppression when Jews were driven into Christianity by fear of their lives. But it is not clear in this case whether this young lady lived under dangerous European conditions and fled into Christianity for fear of her life, as had happened to many. Even if she were a European, there was nothing to compel her to become a nun. If she did become a nun the presumption is that it was because of deep Catholic conviction. If there was such a deep Christian conviction in her and now when she returns she has a Jewish conviction so deep that she wishes to teach Judaism, this situation raises the question of her emotional stability. A teacher should be normal and balanced, and not subject to such sudden and extreme changes of conviction.

The situation therefore calls for caution. Even when the rabbi or the other Jewish authorities concerned become convinced that there is no emotional imbalance here, they should not accept her outright as a teacher of Judaism. This young lady is a person who had been deeply impressed with ritual procedures, and so it might be well therefore in her case to follow the counsel of Isserles, who suggests some ritual to impress the reconvert.

If this matter is supervised by a Reform rabbi, then there will necessarily be less ritual than if it were supervised by an Orthodox rabbi. An Orthodox rabbi would, as Isserles suggests, have her go to the mikvah. We do not generally require the mikvah, even for converts who are born Christians. But the other part of the ritual should surely be observed, namely, that in the presence of three, she should declare divre chaverus. She should make a statement under rather solemn circumstances that she will devote her heart and mind to the faith of her fathers. When this is done, we would then follow the mood of Rabbenu Gershom, never mention her past again and let her take up the sacred and priestly function of Jewish instruction.