Tagged non-Orthodox conversions

Israeli conversion ruling dents Chief Rabbinate’s control of ritual

Tzipi Hotovely, Israel's deputy transportation minister, marrying Or Alon in central Israel, May 27, 2013. (Yossi Zeliger/Flash 90)
April 4, 2016 / Ben Sales, JTA

TEL AVIV (JTA) — The Israeli Supreme Court decision on Jewish conversion changes almost nothing. But down the line, it could change a lot. Under the March 31 ruling, the state of Israel must recognize Jewish conversions performed in private Orthodox conversion courts not run by its Chief Rabbinate.… Read more »

Why there is no Chabad house in Havana
February 17, 2015 / Josh Tapper, JTA
Chabad emissaries won't set foot in Havana's Orthodox synagogue, Adath Israel. (Josh Tapper)

HAVANA (JTA) — On the freshly painted, salmon-colored walls of Alberto and Rebeca Meshulam’s apartment, two portraits of the late Lubavitcher rebbe, Menachem Mendel Schneerson, frame the entranceway leading to a wide, airy vestibule. Miniatures of the same portrait sit atop a glass-covered countertop near an image of the… Read more »

Israel’s marriage blacklist said to break privacy laws
May 5, 2014 / Ben Sales, JTA
More than 5,000 Israelis are on a list of people restricted from marrying based on prohibitions in traditional Jewish law. (Ekaterina Lin/Shutterstock)

JERUSALEM (JTA) — When she decided to split up from her husband, she went before an Orthodox rabbinical court and, after two perfunctory hearings and little discussion, received a religious writ of divorce. It was only months later that the woman learned that the court had flagged her as… Read more »