Interior Ministry now seen ceding control to Chief Rabbinate of Orthodox converts seeking to make aliyah.
02/11/2011
Michele Chabin
Israel Correspondent
Jerusalem — Thomas Dohlan, who converted to Judaism in an Orthodox Canadian beit din, never anticipated that Israel’s Ministry of the Interior might question his Jewishness and block his bid to make aliyah.
But that’s exactly what’s happening, thanks to what appears to be a new policy that gives Israel’s Orthodox Chief Rabbinate, and not the Interior Ministry, the ultimate authority to decide which Orthodox converts are kosher enough for immigration purposes.
Submitted by Julie Wiener on Thu, 01/27/2011 - 12:20
I apologize for being such a delinquent blogger this past week. Part of it was being distracted by my reporting responsibilities (see my recent article on new Hebrew charter schools if you don’t believe me!)
But also I’ve been struck with something of a blogger’s block trying to decide whether and how to respond to my colleague Jonathan Mark’s “No, Not Everyone is Jewish Enough” post.
Submitted by Julie Wiener on Mon, 09/27/2010 - 11:27
I'm a guest blogger today at Mayyim Hayyim, the innovative community mikveh in Boston founded (in part) by Anita Diamant, the author of "The Red Tent," "How to Raise a Jewish Child" and many other works of fiction and nonfiction. Here's my post:
Over the last number of weeks, people with good intentions, and some with not such good intentions, have written and dealt extensively with the proposed Conversion Bill in Israel. I read what they are writing and wonder: do they really understand the Bill?
Following is an explanation, framed in a Question and Answer format.
Submitted by Julie Wiener on Wed, 08/25/2010 - 12:45
So, while I was gallivanting about Ann Arbor and Pittsburgh (with a very brief, rainy pit stop in Oberlin, Ohio), my intermarried pals Paul Golin and Laurel Snyder were busily advancing The Cause.
Gary Rosenblatt does not hesitate to tackle difficult matters, but his latest column about the Rotem Conversion Bill is off the mark.
For more than 15 years, as well as in our several meetings with MK David Rotem, we have emphasized our strong desire to address the issue of the status of olim from the former Soviet Union. There are multiple ways in which the situation could be meaningfully addressed.
JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he opposes a proposed conversion bill, which "could tear apart the Jewish people."
Netanyahu made the comments Sunday at the regular Cabinet meeting.
The bill, which has been roundly condemned by the Reform and Conservative movements in the United States, Israel and in other countries in the Diaspora because it centralizes conversion in the hands of the Orthodox Rabbinate, could come up for a first reading this week.
Submitted by Gary Rosenblatt on Fri, 07/16/2010 - 14:05
Amid all the furor from opponents of the proposed Knesset conversion bill that would turn the de facto Orthodox control into law, it’s instructive to note who isn’t speaking out, and why.
And one can appreciate how this controversy underscores the enormous gap in understanding between Jewish leaders here and in Israel.
