Editing Mihu Yehudi (section)

== The Struggle to Amend the Law ==
On Purim 5730 (1970), several days after the law was enacted in the Knesset, the Rebbe addressed it publicly for the first time, and attacked the law at great length. The Rebbe explained at length the absurdity of the law, its dangers, and responded to the claims of the law's supporters.

The Rebbe began efforts with Knesset members, and wrote that the main reason the law wasn't amended was for political reasons. The Rebbe tried to influence the press to publish about the matter because: "I received news that the initiators of the said decree seized the opportunity to silence public opinion through general silence on this issue." The Rebbe argued that "Jewish" is a halachic concept and therefore "Who is a Jew" must be decided according to halacha, and not allow the Knesset and Supreme Court to decide on the matter, especially since it had already been decided in Ben-Gurion's survey that conversion is done only according to halacha, and until Shalit's claim it was clear to everyone what conversion was, and the issue only resurfaces for political reasons.

On 27th Tishrei 5731 (1970), a conference was held on the subject with hundreds of Anash participating. Among the participants were [list of rabbonim provided in the original text].

In 5732 (1972), 32 gedolei hador (great Torah leaders of the generation) signed a letter of protest against the law. The Rebbe in a subsequent talk cried about the fact that getting 32 rabbis to sign was called a "religious achievement," when it should have been something routine.

On 24th Tevet 5743 (1983), a massive rally for amending the law was held at Binyanei HaUma in Jerusalem, led by the Gerrer Rebbe, the Lev Simcha. The rally expenses were split equally between the Rebbe's secretariat and the Gerrer Rebbe's fund, and throughout the gathering the Rebbe was immediately updated about every rabbi who entered the hall, showing satisfaction. The rally was attended by, among others, the Erlauer Rebbe Rabbi Yochanan Sofer, the Gerrer Rebbe at that time Rabbi Simcha Bunim Alter, the Rosh Yeshiva of Sfas Emes at the time and later Gerrer Rebbe Rabbi Pinchas Menachem Alter, the Slonimer Rebbe, and others.

In Cheshvan 5744 (1983), the "Million Signature" petition began, initiated by the Committee for the Completeness of the Nation, which gathered about a million signatures from Israeli residents to create pressure on Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir to amend the law.

At the end of the signature collection, the Prime Minister refused to meet a delegation from the Committee and receive the signatures himself. Much pressure was applied, but nothing helped. One evening the Committee members sat in a meeting, feeling quite discouraged. They knew the Rebbe had inquired about the matter just two days before and didn't know what to do. Then R' Zushe Wilimovsky said: "If the Rebbe said so, we must press on." His determination moved them to approach the Prime Minister's office again, and surprisingly, this time there was a positive response.

They arrived at the Prime Minister's office in the Knesset, Mr. Shamir received them and told them to transfer the signatures to his office in the Government Complex. The signatures were transferred, and the petition signing campaign came to its proper conclusion.