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| Who Is a Jew? Maybe Not Woman Converted by Esteemed New York Rabbi | Who Is a Jew? Maybe Not Woman Converted by Esteemed New York Rabbi |
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| JERUSALEM — Critics of Israel’s chief rabbinate have long complained that scores of American converts to Judaism have trouble getting approval to marry in Israel. Now, one such case with a celebrity connection could break open the rabbinate’s longstanding secrecy over which foreign rabbis are approved to conduct conversions. | JERUSALEM — Critics of Israel’s chief rabbinate have long complained that scores of American converts to Judaism have trouble getting approval to marry in Israel. Now, one such case with a celebrity connection could break open the rabbinate’s longstanding secrecy over which foreign rabbis are approved to conduct conversions. |
| The case involves an American who, shortly after her Orthodox conversion in New York, became engaged to an Israeli, only to have the local rabbinical court in his hometown reject her status as a Jew when they tried to register for marriage. | The case involves an American who, shortly after her Orthodox conversion in New York, became engaged to an Israeli, only to have the local rabbinical court in his hometown reject her status as a Jew when they tried to register for marriage. |
| As it turns out, the rabbi who signed the woman's conversion certificate also converted Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka, and officiated at Ms. Trump’s 2009 wedding to Jared Kushner, the newspaper publisher now planning the presumptive Republican nominee’s potential transition to the White House. | As it turns out, the rabbi who signed the woman's conversion certificate also converted Donald Trump’s daughter Ivanka, and officiated at Ms. Trump’s 2009 wedding to Jared Kushner, the newspaper publisher now planning the presumptive Republican nominee’s potential transition to the White House. |
| The rabbi, Haskel Lookstein, is one of the most respected Orthodox rabbis in New York, where he has led Manhattan’s Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun for decades, after taking over the pulpit from his father. He recently received an honorary doctorate from Israel’s Bar-Ilan University in recognition for what it called “the influential role he has played in deepening Jewish values and heritage among American Jewry.” | The rabbi, Haskel Lookstein, is one of the most respected Orthodox rabbis in New York, where he has led Manhattan’s Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun for decades, after taking over the pulpit from his father. He recently received an honorary doctorate from Israel’s Bar-Ilan University in recognition for what it called “the influential role he has played in deepening Jewish values and heritage among American Jewry.” |
| The case raises the question of whether Ms. Trump — who said in a Vogue magazine interview last year that she and her husband were “pretty observant,” keeping kosher and the Jewish Sabbath — would be accepted as Jewish herself in all quarters in Israel. | The case raises the question of whether Ms. Trump — who said in a Vogue magazine interview last year that she and her husband were “pretty observant,” keeping kosher and the Jewish Sabbath — would be accepted as Jewish herself in all quarters in Israel. |
| More broadly, it illustrates a growing divide between Israel’s increasingly strict ultra-Orthodox religious establishment and many Jews abroad over the age-old question of “who is a Jew” that has complicated Israel’s relationship with the diaspora for decades. | More broadly, it illustrates a growing divide between Israel’s increasingly strict ultra-Orthodox religious establishment and many Jews abroad over the age-old question of “who is a Jew” that has complicated Israel’s relationship with the diaspora for decades. |
| The Israeli rabbinate, which controls Jewish marriage and most Jewish burial sites in the country, does not recognize non-Orthodox streams of Judaism like Reform and Conservative, with which the majority of affiliated American Jews identify. In rejecting Rabbi Lookstein’s conversion and those of others in similar positions, the rabbinical authorities now risk alienating Jews abroad who practice modern Orthodoxy according to Halakha, or Jewish law. | The Israeli rabbinate, which controls Jewish marriage and most Jewish burial sites in the country, does not recognize non-Orthodox streams of Judaism like Reform and Conservative, with which the majority of affiliated American Jews identify. In rejecting Rabbi Lookstein’s conversion and those of others in similar positions, the rabbinical authorities now risk alienating Jews abroad who practice modern Orthodoxy according to Halakha, or Jewish law. |
| “Ten years ago, if an Orthodox rabbi in good standing performed a conversion, it would have been a given that it would be accepted here,” said Rabbi Seth Farber, the founder of Itim, an Israeli organization that has been critical of the rabbinate and is pressing the case of Rabbi Lookstein’s American convert. | “Ten years ago, if an Orthodox rabbi in good standing performed a conversion, it would have been a given that it would be accepted here,” said Rabbi Seth Farber, the founder of Itim, an Israeli organization that has been critical of the rabbinate and is pressing the case of Rabbi Lookstein’s American convert. |
| He added, “I’d say this is unprecedented in Jewish history, that one group of rabbis rejects another.” | He added, “I’d say this is unprecedented in Jewish history, that one group of rabbis rejects another.” |
| Itim handles up to 150 cases a year of modern-Orthodox converts from the United States who are struggling to get married in Israel or are experiencing other issues with the religious establishment. As Rabbi Farber put it, “Almost everyone has problems nowadays.” | Itim handles up to 150 cases a year of modern-Orthodox converts from the United States who are struggling to get married in Israel or are experiencing other issues with the religious establishment. As Rabbi Farber put it, “Almost everyone has problems nowadays.” |
| The American convert, who is appealing her case to Israel’s supreme rabbinical court, declined to be interviewed, and the rabbis discussed her situation on the condition that she not be identified in order to protect her privacy. | The American convert, who is appealing her case to Israel’s supreme rabbinical court, declined to be interviewed, and the rabbis discussed her situation on the condition that she not be identified in order to protect her privacy. |
| Her supporters said that she converted just over a year ago, after about a year of study, and soon met the man who would become her fiancé in Petah Tikva, a bedroom community near Tel Aviv. The rabbinical court there first ruled in April that her conversion was invalid. | Her supporters said that she converted just over a year ago, after about a year of study, and soon met the man who would become her fiancé in Petah Tikva, a bedroom community near Tel Aviv. The rabbinical court there first ruled in April that her conversion was invalid. |
| After a preliminary hearing in the supreme rabbinical court in Jerusalem, Rabbi Itamar Tubul, the director of the chief rabbinate’s department of personal status and conversion, wrote a letter to the Petah Tikva court saying that the conversion certificate signed by Rabbi Lookstein was “approved by the chief rabbinate of Israel.” (Two other Kehilath Jeshurun rabbis also signed the certificate.) | After a preliminary hearing in the supreme rabbinical court in Jerusalem, Rabbi Itamar Tubul, the director of the chief rabbinate’s department of personal status and conversion, wrote a letter to the Petah Tikva court saying that the conversion certificate signed by Rabbi Lookstein was “approved by the chief rabbinate of Israel.” (Two other Kehilath Jeshurun rabbis also signed the certificate.) |
| But the Petah Tikva court issued a second ruling against the conversion on June 8, saying that it had found no mention of Rabbi Lookstein on its lists of approved rabbis. | But the Petah Tikva court issued a second ruling against the conversion on June 8, saying that it had found no mention of Rabbi Lookstein on its lists of approved rabbis. |
| Rabbi Lookstein, 84, is now in an emeritus position at Kehilath Jeshurun, which has a membership of 1,100 families, and is considered one of the most established and mainstream Orthodox rabbis in America. | Rabbi Lookstein, 84, is now in an emeritus position at Kehilath Jeshurun, which has a membership of 1,100 families, and is considered one of the most established and mainstream Orthodox rabbis in America. |
| In a telephone interview, he said that this case was a first for him, though he was not aware of anyone else who had been converted by him or his colleagues at Kehilath Jeshurun who then tried to marry in Israel. | |
| “The irony is that this woman is very meticulous about her religious observance,” Rabbi Lookstein said. “She is as Jewish as I am, and as Jewish as the rabbis signed on the certificate, except in the eyes of the Petah Tikva rabbinate.” | “The irony is that this woman is very meticulous about her religious observance,” Rabbi Lookstein said. “She is as Jewish as I am, and as Jewish as the rabbis signed on the certificate, except in the eyes of the Petah Tikva rabbinate.” |
| “The bottom line,” he added, “is that the rabbinate in Israel is not respecting and honoring the work of the Orthodox rabbinate in America on conversion.” | “The bottom line,” he added, “is that the rabbinate in Israel is not respecting and honoring the work of the Orthodox rabbinate in America on conversion.” |
| Rabbi Lookstein said he expected that the woman would ultimately win her appeal and be able to marry in Israel. “But the battle is taking so much out of this woman and causing such pain at a time when she should be happiest in her life,” he lamented, adding that the Petah Tikva rabbis were perpetrating “a terrible sin” because ”the Torah is very explicit that a convert should be treated with love and never afflicted.” | Rabbi Lookstein said he expected that the woman would ultimately win her appeal and be able to marry in Israel. “But the battle is taking so much out of this woman and causing such pain at a time when she should be happiest in her life,” he lamented, adding that the Petah Tikva rabbis were perpetrating “a terrible sin” because ”the Torah is very explicit that a convert should be treated with love and never afflicted.” |
| The case has not only roiled American Jewish leaders and Israeli critics of the rabbinate’s monopoly, it has unfolded into a byzantine power struggle between the Petah Tikva court and Rabbi Tubul’s department, with each side accusing the other of overstepping its authority. | |
| Rabbi Tubul said that the office of the chief rabbinate was “in shock” over the challenge posed by the local Petah Tikva court and that he had advised the convert to appeal to the supreme rabbinical court in Jerusalem. | Rabbi Tubul said that the office of the chief rabbinate was “in shock” over the challenge posed by the local Petah Tikva court and that he had advised the convert to appeal to the supreme rabbinical court in Jerusalem. |
| Rabbi Tubul denied that the rabbinate was rejecting modern Orthodox rabbis, and said that “dozens” of rabbis in America were approved to conduct conversions. | Rabbi Tubul denied that the rabbinate was rejecting modern Orthodox rabbis, and said that “dozens” of rabbis in America were approved to conduct conversions. |
| The list of such rabbis has long been shrouded in secrecy. Itim, Rabbi Farber’s group, recently sued the rabbinate in a Jerusalem civil court to force it to make the list public. The rabbinate provided a partial list of rabbis it said had been certified over the previous six months; Rabbi Lookstein and other major Orthodox rabbis in the United States were not on it. | The list of such rabbis has long been shrouded in secrecy. Itim, Rabbi Farber’s group, recently sued the rabbinate in a Jerusalem civil court to force it to make the list public. The rabbinate provided a partial list of rabbis it said had been certified over the previous six months; Rabbi Lookstein and other major Orthodox rabbis in the United States were not on it. |
| Rabbi Tubul said that he was pushing to have a list of approved rabbis published on the chief rabbinate’s website. Among the main criteria for getting on the list, he said, are that rabbis overseas be ordained in a seminary recognized for high standards of learning, and conduct themselves and their congregations according to Orthodox religious law. | |
| Rabbi Lookstein received his ordination in 1958 from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary in New York, which is part of Yeshiva University. | Rabbi Lookstein received his ordination in 1958 from the Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary in New York, which is part of Yeshiva University. |
| “People who do their work in a God-fearing manner and with clean hands will receive the recognition of the chief rabbinate of Israel,” Rabbi Tubul said. | “People who do their work in a God-fearing manner and with clean hands will receive the recognition of the chief rabbinate of Israel,” Rabbi Tubul said. |