The State Prosecutor's Office notified the High Court last
week that there are no grounds to prevent the abolishment of
the special botei din commissioned by the Chief
Rabbinate to verify whether immigrants registering for
marriage through the rabbinate are indeed Jewish. The
decision came in response to an appeal filed by the New
Family Organization, which claims these botei din were
never authorized to investigate whether immigrant marriage
applicants are Jewish and, in the case of geirim, to
investigate whether the giyur was performed in
accordance with halochoh.
The State Prosecutor's Office said these botei din
would now be optional. Since marriage registrars will no
longer be required to refer immigrants for verification of
their Jewishness, new concerns have arisen over yet another
major breach that could allow more goyim into Kerem
Beis Yisroel.
The Chief Rabbinate's legal counsel, Attorney Shimon Ulman,
says the botei din were set up to avoid having to turn
to regular botei din where the procedure is much
longer. "Obviously the Rabbinate does not have to authorize
the marriage of an individual whose Jewishness is
questionable, and therefore in order to continue making the
more convenient procedure available to immigrants, we have
decided that marriage registrars will not be required to
refer applicants to the botei din, and will inform
them of two options: the regular Rabbinate beis din
and the special rabbinical court," said Ulman, according to
an article appearing in Ha'aretz.
The Vaad HaRabbonim Haolami LeInyonei Giyur, founded by the
late HaRav Chaim Kreiswirth, has over ten years' experience
verifying Jewishness and maintains close ties with experts in
the field. Based in its vast knowledge and experience, the
Vaad says that properly checking out a person's Jewish
identity can only be done by botei din with experience
in this specific area, who work in conjunction with outside
experts.
The Chief Rabbinate's marriage registration directives have
prohibited immigrants who arrived in Israel after 1990 from
marrying without proof of Jewishness from the local Rabbinate
beis din or from the Vaad Birur Yahadus set up by the
Chief Rabbinate. These directives were last updated in
1998.
The spokesman for the Vaad HaRabbonim LeInyonei Giyur agreed
with Ulman's remarks last week, saying the State Prosecutor's
Office will merely create an impediment for immigrants trying
to obtain the necessary certification. "Recently several
politicians have taken over the marriage registration system
in a number of important cities in Israel that lack an active
chief rabbi and they marry immigrants without adhering to the
accepted procedure. The Vaad hopes these breaches will be
closed and that the Chief Rabbi will stand firm in marrying
only couples whose Jewishness has been proven according to
proper procedures."
According to Vaad figures, half a million non-Jews have
immigrated from the former Soviet Union over the past twelve
years. "This number exacerbates the severity of the problem
of registering marriages in Israel," said the Vaad
spokesman.
