Rabbis in the Diaspora help to vouch for the Jewish status of prospective immigrants to Israel, who subsequently qualify to immigrate to Israel under the “Law of Return” after demonstrating their Jewish identity. However, Israel’s Chief Rabbinate is in charge of approving other rights for Jews in Israel such as marriage and burial in Jewish cemeteries.
Both Orthodox and non-Orthodox Rabbis are included on the list of Rabbis whose verification letters of one’s Jewish status have been rejected by the Rabbinate in 2016.
The list was obtained by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA) from the nonprofit organization Itim that helps Israelis “navigate the depths of the religious authorities’ bureaucracy in Israel.” Itim had acquired the list after filing a freedom-of-information request in 2015 for a list of Rabbis in the Diaspora approved by the Rabbinate.
Prominent orthodox Rabbinic figures on the “blacklist” include not only Rabbi Avi Weiss, the founder of the liberal orthodox stream known as “open Orthodoxy” who had been rejected by the Rabbinate once before, but also Rabbis associated with more traditional streams of orthodox Judaism such as Rabbi Joshua Blass, a student adviser at Yeshiva University’s Rabbinical seminary.
Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, co-founder of Nefesh B’Nefesh, an organization that helps facilitate the immigration process of Jews from English-speaking countries, is included as well.
Itim’s executive director has deemed the list to be a “blacklist” demonstrating which Rabbis have not been trusted by the Rabbinate. However, the Rabbinate’s spokesman Kobi Alter insisted in a phone interview with JTA that “there is no list of unrecognized Rabbis.”
The following Rabbis have been verified by the JTA as included among the list, according to their respective affiliations:
Alberto Zeilicovich, Conservative
Alexander Davis, Conservative
Alfredo Winter , Conservative
Amos Miller, Conservative
Arthur Rulnick, Conservative
Arthur Weiner , Conservative
Arthur Zuckerman, Conservative
Avi Weiss, Orthodox
Barry Dolinger, Orthodox
Baruch Goodman, Orthodox
Bernard Gerson, Conservative
Dan Ornstein, Conservative
Daniel Kraus, Orthodox
David Rosen, Orthodox
David Wortman, Reform
David Zaslow, Renewal
Eli Kogan, Orthodox
Eliezer Hirsch, Orthodox
George Nudell, Conservative
Gerald Serotta, Reform
Gil Steinlauf, Conservative
Harold Berman, Conservative
Irwin Groner, Conservative
Isaac lehrer, Conservative
Jacob Max , Orthodox
Jason Herman, Orthodox
Jay Rosenbaum, Reform
Joseph Potasnik, Orthodox
Joseph Radinsky, Orthodox
Josh Blass, Orthodox
Joshua Skoff, Conservative
Ken Carr, Reform
Kenneth Roseman, Reform
Leonard Gordon, Conservative
Leonid Feldman, Conservative
Marcelo Bronstein, Conservative
Mario Karpuj, Conservative
Michael Pont, Conservative
Michael Siegel, Conservative
Morris Allen, Conservative
Paul Plotkin, Conservative
Paul Schneider, Conservative
Paul Yedwab, Reform
Peter Grumbacher, Reform
Pinchas Chatzinoff, Orthodox
Sam Fraint, Conservative
Seth Adelson, Conservative
Seymour Siegel, Conservative
Shay Mintz, Orthodox
Shimon Paskow, Conservative
Shimon Russel, Orthodox
Stephen Denker, Reform
Stephen Goodman, Reform
Stephen Mason, Reform
Stephen Steindel, Conservative
Steve Schwartz, Conservative
Yaakov Kalmanofsky, Conservative
Yaier Lehrer, Conservative
Yehoshua Fass, Orthodox