Rabbi Avi Weiss
The Chief Rabbinate of Israel has stated that due to
American Rabbi Avi Weiss' "questionable" commitment to Jewish Law, it
has decided not to accept letters from him attesting to the personal status of
his congregation members who seek to immigrate to Israel or get married in the
country, until the matter is clarified.
This is the first time the Rabbinate provides reasons for
its strict attitude towards Weiss and other liberal rabbis affiliated with the
Orthodox community.
In a response to the religious-Zionist Ne'emanei Torah
Va'Avodah movement, which has been supporting Rabbi Weiss' struggle for
recognition by the Chief Rabbinate, the Rabbinate said it had received
testimonies from well-known rabbis in the United States, some of whom are
member of the Rabbinical Council of America (RCA), that Weiss' halachic
opinions – reflected in different incidents and circumstances – "cast doubt
on the level of his commitment to the customary and acceptable Jewish
Halacha."
'It's not enough for a rabbi to say he is Orthodox'
The Rabbinate's legal advisor, attorney Harel Goldberg,
wrote to attorney Assaf Benmelech, the movement's representative, that the
Chief Rabbinate was looking into the American rabbis' claims against Weiss.
Until the matter is clarified, Weiss' congregants have been asked to obtain
certificates on their Jewishness or personal status from other rabbis.
Goldberg added that should the Rabbinate seek to
"disqualify" the Rabbi Weiss, the examination's findings would be
brought to his review and he would be able to comment on them.
"We must not ignore the difficulty facing Rabbinate
representatives, who are required to check hundreds of rabbis across the
world's Jewish Diaspora, whose certificates have been submitted to the
authorized elements in Israel for the purpose of registering a couple for
marriage," attorney Goldberg wrote.
He noted that the Rabbinate was checking and cross-checking
information with rabbis it trusted who were capable of testifying about
colleagues seeking recognition.
"The Rabbinate examines whether the rabbi who signed
the submitted certificate indeed serves as the rabbi of an Orthodox
congregation, how he was certified as a rabbi and the level of his commitment
to Halacha, in order to ensure that the Judaism certificates he issues can be
trusted," the lawyer wrote. "The Chief Rabbinate believes that it is
not enough for a rabbi to identify himself as Orthodox in order for the Judaism
certificates he issues to his congregants to be recognized."
The legal advisor clarified in his letter that the Rabbinate
recognizes Judaism certificates issued by a very wide variety of rabbis, but
that it cannot do so when its representatives are convinced that a rabbi's
halachic perception, lifestyle or the way he leads his congregation deviate
from the acceptable Orthodox framework.
'Modern Orthodoxy unwelcome in Rabbinate'
Upon receiving the Rabbinate's response, attorney Benmelech
said it was unfortunate that documents of "an important rabbi among modern
Orthodoxy in the United States" were being rejected on "unclear
grounds."
According to Benmelech, "The decision to disqualify
Rabbi Weiss appears to have been made some time ago, and the unfamiliar
examination procedure mentioned in the letter appears to be aimed at
legitimizing Rabbi Weiss' denunciation retroactively without even receiving his
response."
The decision shows, Benmelech said, that "the circles
of modern Orthodoxy, which are courageously dealing with the challenges of our
generation within the boundaries of Halacha – are unwelcome in the Chief
Rabbinate.
"It is every person's right to disagree with a
different rabbi's halachic opinion – but there is a long way between that and
rejecting his testimony on the Jewishness of his congregation members," he
added.
"The existence of an examination process with no
transparency should bother any person who fears for the existence of a
disagreement culture and for Israel's Jewish image," he concluded.
"The Ne'emanei Torah Va'Avodah movement believes that the discussion on
the boundaries of Halacha and on rabbis' authority is important, but it should
be done publicly and openly."
Rabbinate rejects claims
The Chief Rabbinate said in response that the examination
process, as described in attorney Goldberg's letter, was homogenous and
referred to all rabbis abroad. As for the claim that the process lacks
transparency, Rabbinate officials said Rabbi Weiss or his representative had
never contacted them for the testimonies about him, and that if they were to do
so – they would be given access to the information.
The Rabbinate rejected the claim of a hostile attitude
towards modern Orthodoxy circles, noting its tight relations with the RCA,
which includes most American rabbis belonging to this stream, and the
cooperation agreement signed between the parties recently.
Rabbi Avi Weiss, who leads a large community in northern New
York, has been waging in recent weeks a public battle against the Rabbinate,
which he says has stopped recognizing him and his colleagues over their liberal
worldview. His protest has reached the Knesset, and he also plans to petition
the High Court of Justice with the help of prominent Jewish American lawyer
Alan Dershowitz.
Rabbi Weiss is a graduate of Yeshiva University. Among the
most influential Orthodox rabbis in America (and perhaps in the world), he is
probably the most liberal.
Weiss is known as the founder of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah for
the ordination of rabbis and Yeshivat Maharat, which is the first institution
to ordain Orthodox women as clergy – a move which was one of the causes of the
serious dispute between him and the central stream of modern Orthodoxy in the
US.
One of the symbols of his permissive worldview, according to
his critics, is his definition of a woman graduating from Yeshivat Maharat as a
"rabba" – as the Reform and Conservative do – rather than as a
"rabbanit."
Several rabbis serve under him in his New York congregation,
which includes senior officials like the American secretary of the treasury and
AIPAC heads pray. One of those rabbis is a woman.
Amid the dispute, Weiss quit the Rabbinical Council of America
(RCA) and is competing against its rabbinic ordination institutes. In his blog
post, he slammed the RCA for failing to back the community rabbis against the
Chief Rabbinate, and even implied that his rivals in the US rabbinate had
turned their colleagues in Israel against him and his colleagues, as if they
were not necessarily part of Orthodox Judaism.
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