My belief is that he Reform are growing leaps and bounds in America, as charliehall says, due to their acceptance of someone with a Jewish father and shiksa mother as a Yid. What Orthodoxy needs to do to help ameliorate this trend is to adapt the kiruv/geirus approach seen in different organizations, such as EJF, which follows the shita of R’ Benzion Uziel and R’ Azriel Hildesheimer, the Melamed Le Hoil, who both encourage a streamlined approach in geirus for patrilineals. These rabbonim, along with R’ Tzvi Hirsch Kalischer, argue that patrilineals fall under the category of Zera Yisroel, the seed of Israel, and should actually be encouraged to convert. Indeed, R’ Chaim Amsallem has come out with a sefer documenting the relevant mekoros, which I mentioned here in part, on the inyan of zera yisroel. If we adapted the positions of R’ Uziel and R’ Hildesheimer on Zera Yisroel, than the crisis of patrilineals can be averted ansd these individuals can be more easily welcomed into klal yisroel. Note, however, that I am not advocating geirus without malchus ol shem shamayim; this would mean that a patrilineal who observes mitzvos, etc., in the Reform movement or who has come through kiruv, etc., but who wants to become a full-fledged member of klal yisroel, would be converted in a more streamlined manner than others. I am not advocating wholesale geirus l’kula, and bringing frei individuals into klal yisroel, which would only give us non-observant Jews with mevatel conversions. This proposal of mine only applies to shomrei mitzvos who are zera yisroel and who want to become full members of the mishpacha.
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