Non-Orthodox converts to Judaism eligible for free circumcision, High Court rules
Decision ends a 14-year legal struggle for treatment equal to that of males who undergo Orthodox conversion
Canaan Lidor is a former Jewish World reporter at The Times of Israel
Men who are recognized as having undergone a non-Orthodox conversion to Judaism are entitled to state-funded circumcision — a benefit already granted to those undergoing Orthodox conversion — the High Court of Justice ruled Tuesday, responding to a petition for equal treatment from 2009.
The ruling on circumcision, or brit milah, is part of a broader legal fight led in recent decades by non-Orthodox denominations — led by the Reform and Conservative, or Masorti movements — against what many view as discrimination by the government.
“The state is under no obligation to fund a circumcision procedure for completing a conversion process, but when it elects to do so it needs to proceed based on equality and respect for the freedom of religion of those faced with a choice between various conversion processes,” Justice Daphne Barak-Erez wrote in the ruling.
The Chief Rabbinate of Israel, an arm of government responsible for a religious Jewish court system that has binding legal power, recognizes only Orthodox conversions to Judaism. Some Rabbinate-affiliated rabbis have even nullified such conversions retroactively, citing alleged issues with the Orthodox rabbis – particularly in North America – who had overseen the disputed conversions.
Orly Erez-Likhovski, the executive director of the Israel Religious Action Center, the legal arm of the Reform movement in Israel, welcomed the ruling, saying in a statement that it ends a de facto “fine on those who choose a conversion that matches their worldview.”
It’s a reference to the cost of circumcision, which can be thousands of shekels.
Men who completed an Orthodox conversion to Judaism are referred by the government’s Conversion Authority to a medical facility to have the procedure done free of charge.
Rakefet Ginsberg, CEO and executive director of the Masorti Movement in Israel, wrote in a statement that “the People of Israel expects Israeli governments to initiate such moves in the future and repair legal gaps instead of waiting for the High Court to ensure equality among Jews in the State of Israel.”
Her organization and the Israel Religious Action Center in 2009 initiated the petition that produced Tuesday’s ruling.
They had initially agreed to suspend that legal action pending broader reforms in state recognition of conversions to Judaism.
In 2021, the High Court of Justice initiated one such reform in a landmark ruling that ordered the state to recognize non-Orthodox conversions performed in Israel.
Following that ruling, the appellants seeking state-funded circumcision also for non-Orthodox converts asked their appeal be reactivated, leading to the ruling Tuesday.
Jewish boys are typically circumcised eight days after birth by a mohel, a man who is qualified to remove their foreskin according to religious requirements. Parents typically pay mohels north of NIS 1,000 ($270) for this service, but multiple charities will perform it free of charge.
Older converts need to undergo the procedure, typically performed at a hospital by a surgeon, to finalize their conversion process. Without reimbursement, the cost can be NIS 3,000 ($810) or more, according to the appeal.
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