Yosef Kibita, a Jewish convert from Uganda, woke up especially early this morning to catch the first bus from his kibbutz to Eilat. It had taken him weeks to set up an appointment at the Interior Ministry branch in Israel’s southernmost city, the closest to his home in the Arava desert, and he didn’t want to miss it. When he arrived, he presented the clerk on duty with his official request to obtain citizenship in Israel under the Law of Return.
Kibita, 33, has converted to Judaism three times through the Conservative-Masorti movement – most recently in April. This last conversion, unlike the others, was conducted in Israel. Its timing is significant, coming a month after the High Court of Justice ruled that the state must recognize conversions performed in Israel by the non-Orthodox movements for the purpose of citizenship.
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Kibita is the first person converted in Israel by one of the non-Orthodox movements to apply for citizenship under the Law of Return since this landmark ruling. The non-Orthodox movements, therefore, view it as a test case.
“I am hopeful,” he said in a conversation from the road on his way back to his home on Ketura, a kibbutz that has connections with the Conservative movement, where he has been living for the past three years. “In fact, I never lost hope.”
Kibita is also the first member of the Abayudaya community in Uganda to apply for citizenship in Israel. The Abayudaya, who do not have Jewish roots, embraced Judaism about 100 years ago. However, members of this community only began undergoing formal conversions about 20 years ago. Rabbis affiliated with the Conservative movement oversaw the bulk of these conversions. Most of the 2,000-strong community reside today in several villages in eastern Uganda, with a tiny number in Kenya.
Under the Law of Return, converts are eligible to immigrate to Israel and obtain automatic citizenship as long as they have been converted in a “recognized Jewish community,” irrespective of the presiding rabbi’s affiliation.
Along with a large group of Abayudaya, Kibita was first converted to Judaism in 2002. At the time, the Jewish Agency had yet to deem the Abayudaya a “recognized Jewish community” because they did not have their own rabbi and because they had not yet been approved for membership in the international Conservative-Masorti movement. In 2008, the community had its own rabbi, Gershom Sizomu, ordained. Kibita, along with many other members of the original group of converts, went through a second conversion shortly thereafter, hoping to be finally recognized by Israel.
He is among a handful of Abayudaya members to obtain special visas that allow them to study in Israel. Kibita first arrived in the country four years ago on a special program sponsored by Masa. The program combines studies at the Conservative Yeshiva in Jerusalem with volunteer work on Ketura.
“Once I came, I fell in love with the country and wanted to stay,” said Kibita. “As a practicing Jew, I felt I belonged here.” A graphic designer by profession, he has been working at the guesthouse on Ketura for the past few years.
In 2018, he applied for citizenship under the Law of Return but was rejected. The Interior Ministry told him that his conversion did not meet the required criteria. In response, Kibita, together with the Conservative movement in Israel, petitioned the High Court. They were represented by the Israel Religious Action Center, the advocacy arm of the Reform movement in the country.
In February, the court ruled in favor of the Interior Ministry, noting that Kibita was converted in 2008 – a year before the Abayudaya were accepted into the international Conservative-Masorti movement and a year before they obtained recognized status from the Jewish Agency. Kibita’s work visa was, however, extended until the end of December, and the court recommended that in the meantime, he convert again in a recognized Jewish community.
When the High Court ruled a month later that non-Orthodox conversions performed in Israel would be recognized for the purpose of the Law of Return, the Conservative movement decided to take up the court’s suggestion and have him converted in the country. Since Kibita had already been practicing Judaism from a young age, the movement decided to suffice with a quick conversion that did not require the usual lengthy period of study.
As a matter of principle, the Conservative and Reform movements only convert people in Israel who have temporary residency status. Since Kibita did not have temporary residency status, his conversion required the approval of a special exceptions committee appointed by the Conservative movement.
“It is very fitting that the first case to come to the Interior Ministry since the High Court ruling would be from the Abayudaya community,” said Nicole Maor, director of the Legal Aid Center for Olim at IRAC who has been representing Kibita. “This is a community that has been recognized for more than 10 years, and unfortunately, because of a technicality, Kibita was unable until now to obtain citizenship in Israel. What it shows is how committed the Conservative movement is to the Abayudaya in general and Kibita in particular.”
Kibita did not receive an answer on the spot during his appointment at the Interior Ministry’s Eilat branch on Sunday morning. Rather, he was told that his file would be transferred to Interior Ministry headquarters in Jerusalem and that the process could take time.
If his application for citizenship is approved, Kibita said, he would like to move elsewhere in Israel. “I love Ketura and the people here who have been so welcoming, but I would also like to experience something else in Israel,” he said.
The court’s 8-1 ruling in March came in response to two petitions submitted in 2005 and 2006 by 12 individuals who had undergone non-Orthodox conversions in Israel, but whose requests for citizenship had been rejected by the Interior Ministry.
The Reform and Conservative movements in Israel convert on average about 300 people a year. The vast majority of these converts – about 90 percent – are eligible for citizenship under the Law of Return because they already have at least one Jewish grandparent. Kibita is, therefore, among the small minority of converts for whom the ruling is relevant.
He said he has a few friends in Uganda who were also considering aliyah but have been deterred by Kibita’s experiences. “This seems to be discouraging them,” he said.
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