The suit aims to force the Chief Rabbinate to release its secret list of foreign rabbis who are accepted by the Chief Rabbinate for the purpose of vouching for an immigrant’s Jewish status. Without having their Jewish status vouchsafed, immigrants cannot marry in Israel.
Above: Chief Rabbis David Lau, left, and Yitzhak Yosef, right
ITIM Sues Haredi-Controlled Chief Rabbis Over Secret Rabbis List
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
ITIM, a nonprofit which helps Israelis and Diaspora Jews navigate Israel’s byzantine state religious apparatus – an apparatus that is primarily haredi controlled – has filed suit in a Jerusalem court against Israel’s haredi-controlled Chief Rabbinate.
The suit aims to force the Chief Rabbinate to release its secret list of foreign rabbis who are accepted by the Chief Rabbinate for the purpose of vouching for an immigrant’s Jewish status, the JTA reported. Without having their Jewish status vouchsafed, immigrants cannot marry in Israel.
ITIM also wants the court to force the Chief Rabbinate to release its standards for approving the foreign rabbis the Chief Rabbinate relies on to vouchsafe Jewish status.
Over the past two years, Itim sent several letters Chief Rabbinate asking for the rabbis list and the Chief Rabbinate’s standards used to approve the rabbis on it, but the Chief Rabbinate did not respond to any of them.
The Chief Rabbinate reportedly has 45 days to respond to the lawsuit. If it refuses to release the information sought by ITIM, the issue will reportedly be decided by the court within three to four months.
Modern Orthodox Rabbi Seth Farber founded and heads ITIM. He told the JTA publicizing the standards is necessary in order to hold the Chief Rabbinate accountable to the public it is supposed to serve.
“[The suit will] let them know that someone’s watching them. They can’t get away with arbitrariness at a major point of entry into the Jewish people,” Farber said.