he? RJ TH Te
his ho ent en
a judge finds that his best available interpretation of the law cannot account for certain"data" of legal history, he has no choice but to declare those data to be mistaken, contradicted by the preponderance of the precedents upon which he relies.” The failure of Maimonides and Karo to codify the rule of Bekhorot 30b, a silence that deviates from the traditions consistent emphasis that the proselyte accept the Torah in its entirety, is such a mistake, and it therefore does not constitute evidence that the rule itself is not authoritative. And since, as far as Kook is concerned, the vast majority of converts today do not accept the Torah unconditionally and in its entirety, a ban on conversions has powerful halakhic justification.
This interpretation of the law similarly allows Kook to address another"hard case": when an insincere proselyte undergoes the conversion ritual, is his conversion a valid one? Again, the "data" are conflicting. On the one hand, the codes rule that once a person undergoes the ritual, even if he does so for ulterior motives, "he is a convert”. That is to say, the ritual brings about an automatic change in the person’s legal status, regardless of the intentions he brought with him to that moment. On the other hand, those same rulings add a proviso concerning this person:"we watch him carefully until his sincerity is proven", suggesting that insincere intent might render the rituals ineffective.’> Kook resolves this contradiction of rules as follows: the conversion of an insincere proselyte is valid("he is a convert”) only when subsequent investigation("we watch him carefully") reveals that his conversion was"complete", that is, accompanied by observance of the mitzvot. When both factors, religious sincerity and religious observance, are absent(as they are clearly absent in the vast majority of cases of conversion for the sake of marriage), we conclude that regardless of the ritual no real conversion ever took place.” For this reason such persons should never be permitted to convert and, should they convert, should never be permitted to marry Jews .
19