A letter to the Jerusalem Post‘s Aliyah expert confirms my worst fears about the state of Modern Orthodox conversion and relations with the Israeli rabbinate.

“Q: I recently converted in the United States via a modern orthodox rabbi. Although both my husband (who is Jewish) and I would love to live in Israel, I am extremely worried that I would not be considered Jewish (given everything I have read in Jpost concerning how Israeli Rabbis are not recognizing Orthodox conversions outside of Israel). If I have children, I want them to be considered Jewish, etc. I have heard horror stories from some of my friends in the State who have converted via Orthodoxy – having to undergo another conversion in Israel and how extremely difficult it is. Please tell me if my fears are real.

A: I don’t know what you mean by “a modern Orthodox Rabbi”. You must ask him whether the Council of Rabbis that he belongs to performs conversions that are recognized by the Israeli Rabbinate. If you are not sure then you might want to send me the details of your conversion. I assume that you also had your children converted when you converted.”

Dear Aliyah Expert,

What she is in fact asking is: will my Modern Orthodox conversion be good enough for the haredi rabbinate?