Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar Shlita, who is also the head of the nation’s Rabbinical Supreme Court, earlier in the week appointed ten new giyur rabbinical justices, rabbanim who Rav Amar explains are among the most qualified, capable of serving a rabbonim of cities or in other senior capacities.

The question now remains if Attorney General Menachem Mazuz will approve the appointments now, ahead of the general election, explaining that it is questionable if Mazuz will accept civil service appointments during the period of the transition government.

When Rav Amar made the appointments at a Sunday meeting, outgoing State Conversion Authority Director Rav Chaim Druckman Shlita was present, along with Civil Service Commissioner Shmuel Hollander and Yaakov Ne’eman, who headed the Ne’eman Conversion Committee addressing the ‘who is a Jew’ issue and conversions.

ITIM director Rabbi Shaul Farber however is not applauding the appointments, stating what is really needed is a replacement for Rav Druckman but this is being held up due to ongoing disagreements between Rav Amar and officials in the Prime Minister’s Office. ITIM is a non-profit organization that walks conversion candidates through the process, providing them with support and logistical assistance.

In another giyur related news item, reports from Riga indicate dozens of bogus conversions have recently been performed, permitting people to ‘become Jews’ without accepting Torah and mitzvos.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)