MONTREAL —Immersion ceremonies for Jewish converts have resumed at the Mikveh Israel in Cote St. Luc after months of negotiations between Montreal synagogue rabbis and Rabbi Itche Gurary, the mikvah’s manager since its inception 27 years ago and the man who put the ban into place.

Rabbi Michael Whitman, of the Orthodox Adath Israel Poale Zedek Anshei Ozeroff synagogue, and Rabbi Lionel Moses, of the Conservative Shaare Zion Congregation, were among those praising Rabbi Gurary last week.

“He’s devoted himself to it, and its largely because of him that this agreement has come to be,” Rabbi Whitman said. “The whole community owes a debt of gratitude to [him] for his selfless service.”

Such comments were few and far between back in February 2007, when Rabbi Gurary officially banned immersions for all Jewish converts, a policy that was actually put in place in September of the previous year.

While Orthodox converts had alternative mikvahs to choose from locally, non-Orthodox converts were obliged to seek ritual immersions outside the city, usually in Ottawa.

At the time, critics said Rabbi Gurary’s real aim was to keep out non-Orthodox converts. But Rabbi Gurary insisted that the policy was related to maintaining the mikvah’s cleanliness.

According to Rabbi Whitman, the deal struck with Rabbi Gurary entails two “guidelines.”

The first is that conversion immersions will always be considered a secondary priority at the mikvah, compared to its first priority, which is to serve women for ritual immersion at night, and that conversion immersions must not interfere with the facility’s maintenance.

The second guideline is that the mikvah, while allowing converts from all Jewish streams to use its facilities “as a courtesy to the community,” is not thereby giving such conversions any form of religious sanction or imprimatur.

The mikvah “will not take responsibility for any of the conversions done there,” Rabbi Whitman said, “They are only under the auspices of whoever does that conversion. The mikvah itself is not in the conversion business.”

Rabbi Whitman said while Mikveh Israel, in any case, never gave official sanction to conversions before the ban, the agreement with Rabbi Gurary was a “clarification” of the issue.

Rabbi Whitman estimated that Montreal has about 100 conversions a year among all streams of Judaism.

He praised Rabbi Gurary for being “very, very helpful” in finding a resolution to the matter.

Asked what he thought made Rabbi Gurary reconsider the ban, Rabbi Whitman said, “I think it was the process of speaking together and seeing what was best for the community and the mikvah, the process of discussing it over a long period of time.”

Rabbi Whitman, who also heads the Rabbinical Council of Montreal, also praised one of his own congregants, Louis Drazin, whom he said played a pivotal role in negotiations. Another key figure was Rabbi Mordecai Zeitz of the Orthodox Congregation Beth Tikvah in Dollard des Ormeaux, he said.

Rabbi Moses said he was “ecstatic” about the ban coming to an end.

“All of the parties involved have all been exceedingly helpful in getting this all back together,” he said.

“And it’s working. We just had a meeting of the Montreal Board of Rabbis, and the update is that everyone is satisfied.

“So kudos to Rabbi Gurary and Rabbi Whitman and Rabbi Zeitz, and all the others who have helped make this happen.”

He said everyone is “delighted” with the “new operating principles.”

“I think it’s wonderful.”

Reached by phone, Rabbi Gurary  said he was not prepared to comment, other than to say “Baruch Hashem” about the dispute being over.

“Whatever Rabbi Whitman said, that’s good enough,” he added.