The Converts of Shushan

hroughout most of Jewish

history, conversion to
Judaism was a relatively
rare occurrence. As Jews were often
persecuted, and conversion to Judaism
was often illegal and potentially a
capital offense, there was limited
incentive to join the fold.1 There
were, however, notable exceptions in
Biblical times. The Gemara (Yevamos
79a) derives from psukim in Melachim
(I 5) that during the time of Dovid
HaMelech 150,000 people converted
to Judaism. Similarly, the pasuk in
Megilas Esther (8:17) indicates that
many converted during the time of
Mordechai and Esther:

:
In every province and in every city,
wherever the kings commandments
and decree reached, there was great
gladness and joy for the Jews, a feast and
a holiday. And many of the people of the
land became Jews because the fear of the
Jews fell upon them.
The proper interpretation of this
verse is a matter of dispute. Tosafos
(Yevamos 24b s.v. Lo) are bothered by
an apparent contradiction between
two passages in the Gemara. The
Gemara there quotes a beraisa that
during the days of Dovid HaMelech
and Shlomo HaMelech the Jewish
people did not accept converts, as
there was strong ulterior motivation to
benefit from the economic prosperity
that the Jewish people enjoyed at
that time. Yet the Gemara that we
quoted earlier refers to large numbers
of geirim during the time of Dovid
Hamelech. Tosafos suggest that the

Rabbi Michoel Zylberman

Rosh Chaburah, RIETS
Geirus Coordinator, RCA Segan Menahel,
Beth Din of America
geirim of that time converted on their
own and that the same was true of the
converts of the time of Mordechai and
Esther. That is the meaning of the term
misyahadim literally they made
themselves Jewish. The implication of
Tosafoss language is that the subjects
of Achashveirosh did not undergo a
formal conversion process but rather
conducted themselves as Jews. The
Vilna Gaon in his commentary on
Esther interprets this verse along these
lines they made themselves into
Jews but were not in fact full Jews.2
Rashba and Ritva (Yevamos 79a)
present a different resolution to this
question, which reflects a different
understanding of our verse. They
answer that the geirim of Dovid
HaMelechs time (and presumably
of Achashveiroshs time as well) did
convert, but they converted with a
beis din of hedyotos (laymen) and
not an authorized beis din. Such
conversions, while not prospectively
sanctioned, would have been valid
post facto, based on the conclusion
of the Gemara (Yevamos 24b) that
conversions performed for ulterior
motivations are still valid post facto.3
According to this interpretation,
misyahadim can mean that they
literally and formally converted.
This answer of Rashba and Ritva
is consistent with the words of the
Rambam (Issurei Biah 13:14-15):
25

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One should not think thatSamsonwho
saved the Jewish people, and
SolomonKing of Israel, who is called
the friend of God,married gentile
woman who did not convert. Instead, the
matter can be explained as follows: The
proper way of performing themitzvahis
when a male or a female prospective
convert comes, we inspect his motives
for conversion. Perhaps he is coming
for the sake of financial gain, in order
to receive a position of authority,or he

Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary The Benjamin and Rose Berger CJF Torah To-Go Series Purim 5776

desires to enter our faith because of fear.

geirus be performed in the presence
For a man, we check whether he focused of a beis din.4 Tosafos (s.v. Mishpat)
his attention on a Jewish woman. For a
explain that based on the Gemaras
analysis, we would require a beis
woman, we check whether she focused
her attention on a Jewish youth. If we
din of three mumchim, individuals
find no ulterior motive, we inform them
who possess semicha handed down
of the heaviness of the yoke of the Torah
from generation to generation back
to Moshe Rabbenu. Given that by
and the difficulty the common people
have in observing it so that they will
the time of the Tosafos (and much
abandon [their desire].If they accept
earlier) formal semicha ceased to
[this introduction] and do not abandon
exist, Tosafos question how we are
their resolve and thus we see that they
able to accept new geirim in our times.
are motivated by love, we accept them, as Tosafos (ibid. and Kiddushin 62b,
[indicated byRuth 1:18]: And she saw s.v. Ger) answer that our batei din are
that she was exerting herself to continue
licensed to accept geirim based on
with her and she ceased speaking with
the notion of shlichusayhu, or agency.
her. For this reason,the court did not
The Gemara (Sanhedrin 2b-3a and
accept converts throughout the reign of
Gittin 88b) explains that although
Davidand Solomon. In Davids time,
certain monetary matters must be
[they feared] that they sought to convert adjudicated in front of a beis din
because of fear and in Solomons time,
of three mumchim, the inability to
[they feared] that they were motivated by settle such matters in a generation
the sovereignty, prosperity, and eminence lacking mumchim would significantly
which Israel enjoyed. [They refrained
restrict commercial activity. Rather,
from accepting such converts, because]
contemporary batei din operate
a gentile who seeks to convert because
though shlichusayhu, namely we view
of the vanities of this [material] world
the dayanim of a beis din as the agents
is not a righteous convert. Nevertheless,
of the original mumchim and they are
there were many people who converted
therefore authorized to adjudicate
in the presence of ordinary people during such matters. Similarly, in cases in
the era of David and Solomon. The
which coercive measures may be
Supreme Sanhedrinwould view them
warranted as part of a get process,
with skepticism. Since they immersed
shlichusayhu is operative. Tosafos
themselves, they would not reject them,
explain that the same mechanism
but they would not draw them close until exists for accepting geirim.
they saw what the outcome would be.
Tosafos (Kiddushin ibid.) quote a
(Translation, Chabad.org)
second explanation in the name of
R. Refoel Aharon Yoffen (footnote
Rabbenu Nesanel. According to the
758 to Ritva, Yevamos 77a, Mosad
simple reading of this position, there
HaRav Kook edition) suggests that
never existed a requirement that a beis
the crux of the difference between
din for geirus consist of mumchim. The
the answers in rishonim may be the
Torahs use of the term ldoroseichem,
status of conversions performed by
for your generations in the context
a beis din of hedyotos. The Gemara
of conversion teaches us that geirus
(Yevamos 46b), based on the Torahs
may be performed at any time in
usage of the term mishpat, or
history, even when there are no
judgment, derives the requirement
mumchim.5
that the fundamental components of
26

The approach of Tosafos that the

non-Jews of the time of Dovid and
Shlomo (and of the Purim story) did
not legitimately convert assumes that
geirus in principle requires a beis din
of three mumchim, and absent that
possibility we utilize the mechanism
of shlichusayhu. When mumchim
do exist, though, as in those earlier
periods, there is no other option for
performing geirus. Thus, given that the
batei din of mumchim were unwilling
to convert people during the time of
Dovid and Shlomo due to suspect
motivations, these people were unable
to convert.6 The answer of Rashba and
Ritva that the converts of the time
of Dovid and Shlomo did convert
legitimately, albeit with a beis din of
hedyotos, assumes either that there
never was a requirement of mumchim,
or that even when mumchim existed
a geirus performed by non-mumchim
could be valid at least post facto.
R. Zvi Pesach Frank (Har Zvi, Yoreh
Deah 216) suggests a significant
practical difference between whether
contemporary geirus operates based
on shlichusayhu or not. In the 1920s
the Jewish community of Buenos
Aires, Argentina promulgated a
communal edict not to perform
conversions.7 What would be the post
facto status of conversions performed
in Argentina at the time by ad hoc
batei din, against the wishes of the
community establishment? R. Frank
argues that if contemporary geirus is
predicated on shlichusayhu, a beis din
cannot simultaneously flout the local
edicts and claim to be a legitimate
representative of batei din from
previous generations. For this reason,
in the particular case that he addressed,
he recommended that the individual
who had converted with an ad hoc
beis din that was operating against the
wishes of the established community

Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary The Benjamin and Rose Berger CJF Torah To-Go Series Purim 5776

undergo another act of conversion with

a more legitimate beis din.
A generation earlier, R. Meir Simcha
of Dvinsk (Or Sameach, Issurei Biah
14:13) made a similar argument.
According to R. Nechemia (Yevamos
24b), if an individual converts for the
sake of marriage to a Jewish partner,
the geirus is not valid. The Gemara
concludes, however, that if such
an individual did convert with the
requisite steps and commitments of
geirus, the geirus would be valid post
facto.8 R. Meir Simcha questions
whether a beis din that converts
someone whose motivation is for the
sake of marriage could legitimately
claim that mantle of shlichusayu. Since
the act of geirus itself is performed in
contravention to standard halachic
protocol, we cannot view the
members of that beis din as the agents
of the original batei din.9
R. Moshe Sternbuch (Teshuvos
Vhanhagos 1:610-611, 4:230)
quotes the Or Sameach and assumes
along similar lines that if a beis
din converts people despite clear
indications that the geirim will not
lead an observant lifestyle, their
conversions are invalid. Such a beis
din may not tap into the authority
of shlichusayhu. He argues further
that once we establish that such a
beis din may not invoke shlichusayhu,
any conversion performed by that
beis din, even in a situation of
unquestionable commitment on the
part of the convert, would be invalid.
R. Sternbuch assumes that even if
the authority to perform conversion
nowadays does not stem from
shlichusayhu, conversions performed
by such a beis din would be invalid, as
the dayanim are considered reshaim
for participating in such a system. R.
Avraham Sherman, a retired member

of the current Beit Din Hagadol, the

Supreme Court of Appeals of the
Israeli beit din system, accepts this
analysis in a well-publicized decision
of the Beit Din Hagadol.10
Taking a contrary position, R.
Gedalyau Axelrod of the Rabbanut
Beit Din in Haifa (Migdal Tzofim
3:39), claims that if the beis din
believes that they are following
accepted halachic standards, even
if others may dispute their analysis,
conversions that they perform on
candidates who possess the requisite
commitment are indeed valid.
Erroneously following a mistaken
halachic position does not in and
of itself disqualify the dayanim R.
Sternbuch himself acknowledges the
legitimacy of this approach. This latter
position has been followed by much
of the beis din establishment both in
the United States and in Israel.

A Novel Approach to
Drinking on Purim:
R. Chaim Zundel Maccabi,
Imrei Chaim no. 52, suggests
that the concept of drinking
on Purim has its roots in the
mass conversion that followed
the defeat of Haman. While
there were many who were
interested in converting because
they believed in the Torah,
there were others who were
not as sincere. Some were even
tacit supporters of Haman.
R. Maccabi suggests that
Mordechai wanted to see which
of these conversion candidates
were sincere so he instituted
that the celebration of Purim
the following year would be a
day of drinking wine. When one
is drunk, ones inner feelings
come out and therefore, through
the drinking of wine, Mordechai
was able to determine who was
sincere and who was not. Since
drinking wine was part of the
original Purim celebration, it
continued in subsequent years.

If we accept the validity of a

conversion performed by a beis
din of hedyotos, we must define the
minimal knowledge base required
of the members of such a beis din.
In the context of a beis din for
monetary matters, Shulchan Aruch
rules (Choshen Mishpat 3:1) that a
beis din of three may even contain
hedyotos. Rema there adds that a beis
din of three will invariably contain at
least one member who is proficient
in the relevant halachos; if none of
the members of a beis din have such
proficiency, that beis din is pasul.11

in such a situation is that the talmid

chacham will explain to the other
members of the beis din the details
of the steps of milah, tevillah, and
kabbalas hamitzvos.12

R. Moshe Feinstein (Igros Moshe,

Yoreh Deah 1:159) assumes that
the Remas qualification in Choshen
Mishpat applies to geirus as well.
In principle, as long as one of the
members of the beis din is a talmid
chacham who is proficient in hilchos
geirus, a geirus performed by that beis
din would be valid. The presumption

R. Moshe Wolfson (Emunas Itecha 1

p. 283, citing Mara Dearaa Deyisrael,
the biography of R. Yosef Chaim
Zonnenfeld) relates that R. Isser
Zalman Meltzer once asked R. Yosef
Chaim Zonnenfeld why he was so
scrupulous about immersing in a
mikveh. R. Zonnenfeld replied that if
immersion in a mikveh can transform

27

Torah To Go Editors

Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary The Benjamin and Rose Berger CJF Torah To-Go Series Purim 5776

a non-Jew into a Jew, then all the

more so can it have a transformative
impact on a Jew. R. Wolfson suggests
that this is an important lesson of
Purim. However we interpret the term
misyahadim, the miracle of Purim had
a major impact on the conduct of the
nations of the world. Should it not at
least have the same effect on us?
Notes
1 See Shut Siach Yitzchak (R. Yitzchak
Weiss), who lists 13 instances of geirim
referenced in Shas.
2 See the commentaries of Ibn Ezra and
Rabbenu Moshe Chalayo (in Mikraos Gedolos
Toras Chayim) and Ralbag who understand
the word misyahadim along these lines.
Manos HaLevi (R. Shlomo Alkavetz) writes
that the non-Jews of the time knew that they
would not be able to formally convert, but
they presented themselves as Jews and dressed
as Jews. Sfas Emes connects this to the custom
of dressing up on Purim.
3 While the Rashba only presents this
explanation, Ritva prefers an additional
resolution. He concludes:

,

.
It would seem that there is no question from the
outset. When the Gemara states that they did
not accept converts during the time of David
and Shlomo, that was only by default. The
assumption was that they were only doing so
because of fear of the war of David or because of
the wealth of Solomon. However, those who had
proven their desire to convert because they saw
the holiness of the Torah and the just measures of
its laws and statutes were accepted as converts.
4 There is a dispute among rishonim as to what
components of geirus are invalid even post
facto if not performed in front of a beis din.

Tosafos (Yevamos 45 s.v. Mi) assume that the

presence of a beis din is only necessary even
post facto for kabbalas hamitzvos, the formal
acceptance of the binding nature of Torah and
mitzvos and commitment to live an observant
lifestyle. As long as this declaration was made
in the presence of a beis din, even if the beis
din did not observe the milah and tevilah, the
geirus is still valid. Rambam (Issurei Biah 13:7),
however, assumes that beis din is necessary
even post facto for tevilah (and perhaps milah
as well). Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh Deah 268:3)
quotes both of these opinions.
5 Rashba (Yevamos 45b s.v. Mi) explains
within this opinion that shlichusayhu operates
in financial matters, utilizing the mechanism
of hefker beis din hefker, the authority of beis
din to render someones property ownerless,
and in matters of marriage and divorce,
based on the notion of kol dimekadesh
adaata derabbanin mikadesh (people enter
into marriage with the knowledge that
their marriage may be regulated by rabbinic
enactments). However, given that neither
of these mechanisms exist for geirus, the
theoretical power vested through shlichusayhu
would not be sufficient to allow an individual
who is non-Jewish by Torah law to marry a
Jew. See, however, Nesivos HaMishpat (1:1)
who argues that shlichusayhu operates on a
Biblical level, and thus someone converted
with such a mechanism would be considered
fully Jewish by Biblical law.
6 Maharm Shik (Shut Yoreh Deah 248)
assumes that even according to the explanation
that conversions may always be performed
based on ldorosaichem, when mumchim exist
they may only be performed by mumchim.
7 See R. Shaul David Sithon, Shut Devar
Shaul (introduction and 2-6), who, as
the rabbi of Buenos Aires, spearheaded
this effort and received the blessing of R.
Avraham Yitzchak Hakohen Kook. R. Kook,
in correspondence printed in that volume,
offered that any serious conversion candidate
could come to Yerushalayim and attempt
to pursue conversion with the Beis Din of
Yerushalayim. This edict was the forerunner
to more expansive edicts later promulgated by
Syrian Jews in the United States.

8 Many contemporary batei din take

the following approach to converting
individuals who seek to convert for the sake
of marriage. If the beis din is convinced that
the commitment of the prospective convert
transcends the relationship with the Jew, such
that if the relationship were to end the convert
would continue to lead an observant Jewish
lifestyle, the geirus need not be characterized
as being done for the sake of marriage. See, for
example, Achiezer 1:26 for a related approach.
9 See a similar analysis by R. Avraham
Yitzchak HaKohen Kook (Daas Kohen 152).
R. Moshe Feinstein (Dibros Moshe, Yevamos
pp. 481-482) assumes that R. Meir Simchas
analysis is theoretically correct, but notes that
common practice is to accept conversions
performed for the sake of marriage.
10 Ploni v. Plonit 4 Adar I 5768 available at
http://www.rbc.gov.il/Pages/PiskeDin.aspx.
11 This is based on Rosh (Sanhedrin 1:1) in
distinction to the position of Ramah cited in
Tur that requires three proficient members of a
beis din. See also Shach (Choshen Mishpat 3:2).
12 R. Moshe assumes this to be the position
of the Rambam (Issurei Biah 14:6), who
does not use the term talmidei chachamim
in describing the members of the beis din
(although the Gemara, Yevamos 47 b, does
use the term talmidei chachamim). R. Shmuel
Eliezer Stern (Geirus Kihilchasa Chapter 7
footnote 4) quotes R. Gershom Hagozer
(12th century Germany) in his Klalei
HaMilah who writes that a beis din for geirus
must consist of three talmidei chachamim or
three chashuvei hair, distinguished members
of the city (who are not necessarily talmidei
chachamim).
See, however, Meiri (Beis HaBechirah, Yevamos
47a s.v. Af al pi and 47b Umicheivan) who
requires three talmidei chachamim. Meiri
appears to understand hedyotos as contrasting
with mumchim, but not to the exclusion of
talmidei chachamim. Shut Mahram Shick
(Yoreh Deah 248) also requires talmidei
chachamim for a beis din for geirus. See also
Shut Binyamin Zeev 1:72.

Find more shiurim and articles from Rabbi Michoel Zylberman at

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