At the end of the another hearing, which took place on Wednesday 7 Tammuz at the Supreme Rabbinical Court in Jerusalem, the outcome was that Rabbinical Court didn’t recognize the conversions of Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, Rabbi of Kehilath Jeshurun (KJ) community in New York and a prominent rabbi in the United States.

The dayanim have even gone as far as to force the convert, around whom the hearing revolved, to undergo a quick conversion. In response, the convert said that “I feel humiliated, what they are saying is that they don’t recognize my Judaism. I love Rabbi Lookstein, he is my rabbi, he led me into the Jewish world and I don’t want his conversion to not be recognized.”

As the hearing commenced, the dayanim asked the convert and her representatives on behalf of the ‘Itim’ organization, attorneys Elad Caplan and Jenny Brenner to leave the courtroom. Upon their exit, the dayanim tried to pressure the convert’s chosson, with whom she is to marry soon, to convince her to undergo a rigorous conversion during the hearing. Eventually, with no other choice left for them, the convert and her spouse agreed to the demands of the dayanim in order for them to marry on the date that has been set for the wedding, about a month and a half from now.

During the hearing, one of the dayanim explained the reasoning behind the move by saying that. “I am not familiar with the nature of Rabbi Lookstein’s conversions, the approval of the Chief Rabbi is not enough… because there is no list of approved rabbis and there is no order. Every conversion needs to go through a Rabbinical Court.” This comes in contrast with what the chief rabbis and representatives of the Chief Rabbinate have previously said. stating that they recognize Rabbi Lookstein’s conversions.

Despite what the dayanim have said, the convert implored them to reconsider. “I ask that even if I do pass this process today, you would still recognize Rabbi Lookstein’s conversion. For if you don’t, you should know that myself, and many others like me, would lose their trust in the Chief Rabbinate”, she said.

The hearing at the Supreme Rabbinical Beis Din was headed by Rabbi Nachum Gortler along with dayanim Rabbi Yitzhak Elmaliach and Rabbi Maimon Nahari – The three were appointed as temporary judges. Two of them received a permanent appointment to the Supreme Beis Din this week. This, in fact, is their first ruling on the duty.

In light of the ruling, Rabbi Dr. Seth Farber, head of ‘Itim’, the organization that represented both the convert and Rabbi Lookstein in the process, said that “Today, the Supreme Rabbinical Court has imposed a heavy cloud upon the conversions of thousands of converts, who were converted by Orthodox rabbis in the United States. This is a sad day for the converts and this is a sad day for the relations between the state of Israel and the United States Jewry. In their ruling, the dayanim have humiliated not just the convert, but also hundreds of rabbis in the diaspora and their congregations.”

Rabbi Farber adds that “Our struggle is not over and we intend to continue the fight until the Chief Rabbinate will recognize the rabbis in the United States and take a more welcoming approach to their converts. We would not have come to this, had the Chief Rabbinate accepted our demands and regulated a list in which all the rabbis approved for conversion appear.”

Chief Rabbinate of Israel spokesman Daniel Bar released a statement on Thursday afternoon, 8 Tammuz, that despite the above-mentioned case, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel does indeed recognize conversions performed by Rabbi Lookstein. He adds that the decision not to accept the convert is the above-mentioned case is unique to this case, and does not reflect the Chief Rabbinate’s position concerning Rabbi Lookstein.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)