search
conversion
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, meeting with US Jewish leaders in New York on September 28, 2018. (PMO)
September 29, 2018, 8:00 pm
Netanyahu suggests Diaspora is drifting away from Judaism
At US meeting, PM says he sought to reassure Jewish leaders on Israel’s commitment to pluralism, democracy
By Raphael Ahren
Convert 'Katya' and her daughter sit before the independent Giyur K'halacha conversion court, led by Rabbi Nahum Rabinovitch (center) on August 10, 2015. (courtesy)
September 13, 2018, 12:35 pm
In first, Israeli judge recognizes conversion to Judaism by private court
New ruling says becoming Jewish even outside auspices of state rabbinate entitles one to be recognized in population registry
By TOI staff
Singer Nasreen Qadri, whose conversion to Judaism was not accepted by the rabbinate. (Screen capture: YouTube)
September 4, 2018, 7:26 pm
Israeli-Arab singer’s conversion to Judaism rejected by Rabbinate
Nasreen Qadri reportedly underwent the process with an independent rabbi, who said she could convert while continuing to sing in public
By TOI staff
Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi David Lau (center) and Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef (right) attend a meeting of the Rabbinate Council in Jerusalem in November 2014. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
May 30, 2018, 5:52 pm
Diaspora rabbinical judges could have to take exams to get Chief Rabbinate’s OK
State-run religious authority releases proposed guidelines for recognition of Orthodox rabbinical courts abroad; activists slam ‘unprecedented power grab’
By Marissa Newman
Venice's chief rabbi, Scialom Bahbout (YouTube screenshot)
May 28, 2018, 10:04 pm
Venice’s chief rabbi takes row with Israeli Rabbinate to Knesset
Scialom Bahbout protests Chief Rabbinate’s refusal to recognize his conversions, says argument ‘nearby’ rabbinical courts in Rome, Milan are sufficient doesn’t hold water
By Marissa Newman
Convert 'Katya' and her daughter sit before the independent Giyur K'halacha conversion court, led by Rabbi Nahum Rabinovitch (center) on August 10, 2015. (courtesy)
April 24, 2018, 2:04 pm
Will new conversion bill help 400,000 Israelis of ‘no religion’? Not likely
Activists predict dire consequences as draft legislation circumvents High Court rulings recognizing private conversion courts that help immigrants become Jewish
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Convert 'Katya' and her daughter sit before the independent Giyur K'halacha conversion court, led by Rabbi Nahum Rabinovitch (center) on August 10, 2015. (courtesy)
April 22, 2018, 7:33 pm
Draft bill said to give Orthodox sole control over Jewish conversion in Israel
Proposed legislation comes amid tensions between Israel and Diaspora communities, and a coalition crisis with ultra-Orthodox parties
By TOI staff
Amar’e Stoudemire at SCOPE Miami, where a painting he commissioned on the destruction of the Second Temple is exhibited. (Patrice Worthy/Times of Israel)
April 11, 2018, 6:17 am
Amar’e Stoudemire is converting to Judaism
Former NBA All-Star has long claimed to have Hebrew roots
By JTA
Rabbi Yisrael Rosen (Gershon Elinson/Flash90)
November 2, 2017, 10:35 pm
Rabbi Yisrael Rosen, founder of chief rabbinate conversion program, dies aged 76
Pioneering authority set up Zomet institute that found technological solutions to modern issues of Jewish law
By TOI staff
Rabbinical Courts Administration Director Shimon Yaakovi speaking during an interview in his office in Jerusalem, July 27, 2015. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90/via JTA)
September 17, 2017, 1:09 pm
Rabbinate expanding marriage blacklists for ‘questionable’ Jewish immigrants
Report says Israel is methodically blacklisting olim of Jewish heritage, who are subsequently unable to marry in the Jewish state
By Andrew Tobin
Former cabinet minister Moshe Nissim. (Wikipedia/שי דגני/GFDL)
August 16, 2017, 2:27 pm
Netanyahu taps ex-justice minister to review conversion policy
Moshe Nissim, 82, a former chief rabbi’s son, will work to ensure ‘Jewish unity’ in studying controversial bill; Reform protest choice
By TOI staff
Rabbi Avi Weiss leading a vigil and march in New York City in remembrance of the three Israeli boys who were kidnapped and killed in the West Bank days earlier, June 30, 2014. (Andrew Burton/Getty Images via JTA)
July 9, 2017, 6:22 pm
Here is the Chief Rabbinate’s ‘blacklist’ of American rabbis
Some 160 rabbis wrote letters confirming Jewish identity of prospective immigrants which were rejected in 2016
By Ben Sales
Rabbi Avi Weiss during a memorial service on June 17, 2014, outside the UN in New York, for the three Israeli teenagers kidnapped in the West Bank. (AP/John Minchillo)
July 9, 2017, 2:21 am
160 rabbis, including top US Orthodox leaders, on Israeli Rabbinate ‘blacklist’
List of those not recognized to authenticate Jewish identities of immigrants includes Avi Weiss of Riverdale, dozens of Reform and Conservative leaders
By Ben Sales
Men and women of the "Women of the Wall" organization wear prayer shawls and pray on the plaza near the Western Wall in Jerusalem on July 8, 2013. (Zuzana Janku/FLASH90)
June 26, 2017, 11:30 pm
Conservative Jewry, US federations decry ‘deplorable’ Western Wall reversal
Masorti movement sees ‘rising influence of an intolerant religious establishment as existential threat to future of Jewish people’
By TOI staff
Illustrative: Union for Reform Judaism president Rabbi Rick Jacobs participating in a prayer service at the Western Wall in Jerusalem, July 4, 2016. (Courtesy of the URJ)
June 26, 2017, 5:45 pm
Charging ‘betrayal’ over Western Wall, Reform leaders cancel Netanyahu meeting
‘We cannot go about our scheduled meetings as if nothing has happened,’ says Rabbi Rick Jacobs; PM reportedly invites US Jewish federation leaders for sit-down
By TOI staff
Load More