Konvertera till judendomen

By the time you sign up with the Ministry of Defense in person in Israel you have to submit a confirmation stating that you are Jewish (or if you are Zakai Aliya that one of your parents or one of your grandparents is/was Jewish), signed by a rabbi residing outside Israel. The confirmation must have a detailed letterhead with name of the Jewish community, address, phone, fax and email. The exact name of the rabbi must be clearly readable.

The rabbi's confirmation is a prerequisite for the confirmation issued by the Israeli Interior Ministry that you are entitled to immigrate to Israel under the Law of Return (Zakai Aliya Lefi Hok Hashvut), which is a prerequisite for enlisting in the IDF. All these are quite simple but sometimes time consuming procedures.

Mahal-IDF-Volunteers.org can not confirm the validity of documents for the purpose of Israeli immigration. This will be done by the Israeli Ministry of Interior after your first stop in Israel (the meeting at the Ministry of Defense). However, if you know for sure that one of your grandparents is Jewish but you do not know how to validate this, please contact the Jewish Agency Aliya Representative for your country which may be able to assist you.

Is your overseas conversion legitimate for the purpose of aliya (immigration to Israel)? If yes, as is usually the case, there is no difference between born Jews, converts of the Conservative, Reform, Reconstructionist and Orthodox streams of Judaism and Zakaiei Aliya (persons with at least one Jewish grandparent) - all qualify for Mahal IDF programs.

According to a 1988 Israeli Supreme Court decision, the criteria determining the aliya eligibility of converts are that the overseas community and rabbi through which they converted must be recognized as legitimate, and that in turn, the community and rabbi recognize the convert as a Jew and a community member in good standing.

For Conservative and Reform converts the verification process is simplified by the centralized community bodies for each religious stream, which can easily confirm whether someone has converted through their offices.

The lack of a central umbrella body for all Orthodox communities makes this verification much harder for Orthodox converts, resulting in the confirmation of aliya eligibility of these converts being contracted out to the Israeli Chief Rabbinate. Historically, instead of addressing the legal requirements as stipulated by the Supreme Court, the Israeli Chief Rabbinate approved or rejected a convert’s aliya application based on its own criteria. Due to this, Orthodox converts found it much harder to make aliya than those who had converted through other streams of Judaism.

In cases in which the Jewish Agency cannot verify an Orthodox conversion, the Interior Ministry may consult with the Chief Rabbinate.

Needless to say, also when your conversion is legitimate, you must get a confirmation stating that you are Jewish, signed by a rabbi residing outside Israel. The confirmation must have a detailed letterhead with the name of the Jewish community, address, phone, fax and email. The exact name of the rabbi must be clearly readable.

You do not qualify for Mahal IDF programs if your conversion process is not complete yet or the conversion is not legitimate for the purpose of aliya (immigration to Israel) eligibility Israel. In such cases please do not register on our website. Neither Mahal-IDF-Volunteers.org nor the IDF can check the legitimacy of your conversion. If you want to pre-check the legitimacy of your conversion for the purpose of Israeli immigration (and IDF service) before arriving in Israel, please send your conversion certificate to the Jewish Agency Aliya Representative for your country.