Israel’s new government has opened the gates to challenge the Chief Rabbinate over that eternal mystery “Who is a Jew?”

Here is an insider’s report on the battle for Jewish identity between the Israel’s new government and the Chief Rabbinate from an interview with Leah Aharoni.

Israel Today: Our new Minister of Religious Affairs Matan Kahana has put forward Tzohar, an organization representing over 1,000 rabbis trying, among other things, to reform the process of deciding who is a Jew.

Leah Aharoni: Tzohar brings a friendlier face to rights-of-passage like Jewish marriage and who can marry in the State of Israel. The problem is that the organization became more politicized with an agenda to create an alternative to the Chief Rabbinate. This is where it is serving goals that will be counterproductive in the long run.

Because there is no separation between “church” and state in Israel, the Chief Rabbinate oversees the regulators...

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