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HALAKHAH AND ULTERIOR MOTIVES
in result, it would seem, do not necessarily mean a difference in nature or essence. This last point, which grows out of a study of halakhic responsa through the prism of the literature of contemporary jurisprudence, suggests that the field of legal theory has much to offer us toward the understanding of halakhah in general and of liberal halakhah in particular.
Notes
* Tam indebted to two of my students at HUC-JIR -Cincinnati, whose rabbinical theses helped in no small measure to direct my thinking on the issues covered in this essay. They are Rabbi Ilene Lerner Bogosian("Discourage with the Left Hand and Draw Near with the Right": An Exploration of Ambivalence Toward Gerim in Jewish Law and Practice, 1992) and Rabbi Mark Bryan Goldfarb(An Analysis of Modern Responsa on the Question of Proper Motivations for Conversion, 1991). Harbeh lamadeti mirabbotai...(Ta‘anit 7a).
1. This acceptance, known as qabalat ha-mitzvot, is taken quite seriously. While all the steps of the conversion ritual are in theory to take place before a Bet Din, if circumcision and/or immersion are performed outside that context they are valid bedi‘avad. Not so qabalat hamitzvot: should that statement be made in the presence of two rather than three judges, or at night, etc., it and the conversion are not considered valid at all. Shulhan Arukh Yoreh Deah 268:3 and Taz, n. 9, in the name of R. Asher(b. Yeb. 4:31).
2. b. Bekhorot 30b.
3. See the position of R. Nechemyah and R. Yehudah, Tractate Gerim 1:7(1:3, ed. Higger), cited as well in Yeb. 24b. The clear distinction between gerei‘arayot(i.e., the Samaritans , who converted out of fear of wild beasts; cf. II Kings 17:24-41) and"true proselytes" is maintained by the setam Talmud in b. Baba Kama 38b, b. Sanhedrin 85b, b. Hullin 3b, and b. Niddah 56b. And see below for the discussion of the opinions of Rabbis Kook and Herzog on this question.
4. M. Ye. 2:8: one who is suspected of a sexual liaison with a Gentile woman who has since converted may not marry her; if, however, he does marry her, she remains his legitimate wife. The Talmud (24b) draws the conclusion that her conversion is valid (hagiyoret miha havya) and cites the statement of Rav that those who convert out of ulterior motives are valid proselytes. This, I should stress, is the predominant view of the "final" halakhah; as we shall see, some contemporary posqim question whether modernday insincere conversions qualify as valid.
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