Where - or When - Does Compassion Fit into Halachic Decision-making?

Very interesting. There was a gut-wrenching, emotionally-charged attack by Andrew Sacks in his blog on Jerusalem Post online called, sharply, ”Lies My Rabbi Told”. I found the comments section actually more informative. The case: a Spanish family is converted Conservative-style (the father is halachically Jewish according to tradition, we’ll call it orthodox for now - I’ll define that later). When the son reaches barmitzvah age, he is diagnosed with a brain tumour and deteriorates rapidly to a point where he is really unable to function without being attached to machines (he later dies). This is a tragic, tragic story, no question.

While he is bedridden, the parents ask the orthodox chief rabbi in Spain whether he can be buried in the Jewish cemetary. It appears (according only to the aforementioned blog post and comments) there is some dithering either on Dahan’s part or on that of the Israeli Sephardi chief rabbi Shlomo Amar’s. Dahan deferred to Amar’s judgement.

The decision came out that he was not considered Jewish, and the conservative movement were up in arms, using it as yet another opportunity to show the supposed callousness of the unbending, backward, old-school orthodox world.

Dissecting the Case Unemotionally

An ‘Orthodox’ Jew’s reaction? He was converted conservative, so that doesn’t count. Interesting. But if you read in the comments, one person discusses a rather salient point: the boy was converted before majority. Therefore, while it was incumbent upon the family to lead him properly in the 613 mitzvot, the boy was actually not legally bound to keep halacha. A convert/adopted child, as far as I’m aware, have the same status: they choose at the point at which they reach majority, whether to continue living a Jewish life or not.

Now. Look at the conversion itself: apparently involving brit milah, mikvah immersion and standing before three Jews who welcome him into the Jewish family (which is technically all that is required in halachah – you don’t need three rabbis to officiate – only three male Jews, just as technically you don’t need a rabbi to officiate to get married orthodox [though you might argue minhag yisrael established the practice as such in both cases]).

Assuming the three on the panel were male and actually halachically Jewish, the conversion might stand. Then you have the question as to whether the child ever intended to live a halachically Jewish life. Prima facie the answer is no, because Conservatives don’t hold by halacha in the same way as the Orthodox/traditional/’authentic’. However, as mentioned before – this wasn’t a question for the child because he was a minor.

Lastly, the question remains what mental state he was in at the time he turned 13, whether this poor boy’s mental faculties remained. And if so, whether he affirmed a decision to live a halachically Jewish life, according to orthodox halacha - despite how he may have been raised – then he might indeed belong in the Jewish part of the cemetary.

This might be a more interesting case than most realise. What I’ve intentionally left out in discussing the case is emotion. But any thinking Jew knows that feelings and sensitivities do certainly play a role in determining halacha. Where, then, might the peoples’ feelings fit?