‘Unrecognized’ rabbis point to religious rift
Some Orthodox names included on Israeli list
JERUSALEM — Israel’s Chief Rabbinate has compiled a list of overseas rabbis whose authority they refused to recognize when it comes to certifying the Jewishness of someone who wants to get married in Israel.
The list, obtained by The Associated Press, includes a number of prominent Orthodox rabbis in North America. Among them are a New York social activist who has advocated for greater rights for women, a Canadian rabbi who is friendly with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and a colleague of the rabbi who converted Ivanka Trump.
The rabbinate, which oversees religious rituals for Israeli Jews, such as weddings, births and burials, would not say why it had rejected the overseas rabbis’ credentials or provide the criteria for securing their recognition. But it insisted its decision would not prevent them from re-applying in the future.
The list, which includes 160 rabbis from 24 countries, threatened to deepen a rift between overseas Jewish communities and Israeli religious authorities.
In order to marry in Israel, Jews born overseas must provide evidence of their Jewishness to the rabbinate, often through a letter from a rabbi in their country of origin. The Chief Rabbinate takes a strict line.
For instance, it does not recognize the validity of Reform or Conservative Judaism, which is practiced by the vast majority of North American Jews. But the new list included some prominent Orthodox rabbis.
Rabbi Avi Weiss, an Orthodox clergyman based in New York who advocates a “more open and inclusive Orthodoxy,” said he was unaware of the list and could think of no reason why he was placed on it.
“The whole thing seems to be nonsensical on every level,” Weiss said. He said its existence was “tragic” because it would “alienate” fellow Jews.
Another member of the list, Rabbi Adam Scheier, who leads an Orthodox congregation in Montreal and has ties with Trudeau, called it “an affront to the hard work and devotion of so many of my colleagues — of all denominations.”
Also rejected were rabbis teaching at Yeshiva University, the flagship university for the U.S. Modern Orthodox movement, a rabbi with the Chabad movement at Rutgers University in New Jersey, and prominent Modern Orthodox rabbis pushing for greater openness in Judaism.
The list was released following a legal challenge by ITIM, the Jewish Life Advocacy Center, an organization that helps Israelis deal with the rabbinate’s bureaucracy. Under court pressure, the rabbinate agreed to release the names of rabbis whose certification letters were rejected last year.
ITIM’S founder, Rabbi Seth Farber, said the rejections amounted to a blacklist. “The rabbis who had their letters rejected are essentially being told, ‘You aren’t rabbis.’ That is the blacklist term,” he said.