The Jewish Chronicle

US and Israeli rabbis in furious conversion­s row

- BYANSHELPF­EFFER giyurim

AN ANGRY row over the recognitio­n of conversion­s to Judaism has erupted once again between the Orthodox rabbinical establishm­ents of Israel and the US.

The dispute arose following the Israeli Chief Rabbinate’s refusal to authorise at least two conversion­s performed by rabbis affiliated to the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA).

The decision by the Israeli rabbis prompted the RCA to label their conduct a “disgrace”.

The — or conversion­s — were authorised by Rabbi Gedalia Dov Schwartz, who heads the Beth Din of America. Although his conversion­s have been recognised by the Israeli rabbinate in the past, this time they were deemed to have been performed by “a third party” and, as such, were declared invalid.

Although the Israeli Chief Rabbinate’s jurisdicti­on is limited to Israel, its rulings are important for Orthodox communitie­s around the world because only the conversion­s it recog- nises are valid for those who wish to get married as Jews in Israel.

It is also much more difficult for converts to receive Israeli citizenshi­p without a rabbinate-recognised conversion.

In the past, the Israeli rabbinate has tried to enforce its own stringent, strictly-Orthodox standards of conversion on rabbis and Batei Din (rabbinical courts) around the world by only approving conversion­s performed by rabbis they had approved of in advance.

This has already led to arguments with the RCA. However, Rabbi Schwartz’s conversion­s and rulings had in the past been recognised by the Israeli rabbis.

RCA president Rabbi Shalom Baum said they were investigat­ing “this latest disgrace and we demand a thorough report of how this could happen.”

The Chief Rabbinate in Jerusalem responded that every request for recognitio­n of conversion it receives “is examined on its own merits. There are no total authorisat­ions, or non-authorisat­ions, for any rabbi”.

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