NPR

Have Israel's Religious Authorities 'Blacklisted' 160 Rabbis?

Who is a Jew? The latest chapter of this debate reflects the growing schism between Israel's Orthodox religious establishment and rabbis around the world.

Israel's state rabbinate has released a list of 160 rabbis — from the U.S. and 23 other countries — whose certifications of a person's Jewish identity it rejected last year. Jewish immigrants in Israel often must present such certifications from their rabbis abroad to prove their Jewish identity.

Rabbis from liberal Jewish movements, which Israel's Orthodox religious establishment sees as too religiously lenient, unsurprisingly appear on the list. But so do prominent Orthodox

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