Recently, I was a victim of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate. As an Orthodox rabbi, one who advocates for a more open and inclusive Orthodoxy, I’ve often attested to the Jewish status of congregants who wish to marry in Israel, as required by the Chief Rabbinate. I’ve been doing so for 45 years, but in October, one of my letters was rejected. Suddenly, my judgment had been found unacceptable.
Eventually, protests about that rejection moved the Chief Rabbinate to change its mind and restore my ability to attest for candidates for marriage. But the episode has propelled me to raise a larger issue: the Chief Rabbinate’s far-reaching and exclusive control in Israel over personal matters like marriage, and its intrusion into the affairs of the Diaspora. It is time to decentralize the Chief Rabbinate’s power and to give Jewish communities greater say in what is acceptable for their members.
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