The Orthodox Jewish radio station Arutz 7 reported that a Jewish-born woman from a remote village in the former-Soviet republic of Georgia recently went to her local rabbinical court and demanded that she be identified as a Jew in order to immigrate to Israel, despite the fact that she and her children are baptized Christians.

Born to a Jewish mother and married to a Gentile, the woman says she has maintained a Christian lifestyle since childhood, and refuses to undergo the Orthodox Jewish halachic process of returning to Judaism, as is customary for anyone who wants to be officially recognized as a Jew.

The regional rabbinical court rejected her request to register as a Jew, and would not even permit her to undergo the ceremony to return to Judaism (if she so chose) based on the clear evidence that the woman continues to live as a Christian together with her Christian husband.

Frustrated, she went to the top, appealing to the Rabbinical Court of Jerusalem. After long deliberation, judges Rabbi Eliezer Igra, Rabbi Aharon Katz and Rabbi Shmuel Shapira published a...

Israel Today Membership

Become a Member

• Read all member content

  Get exclusive in-depth reports from Israel.

• Get exclusive in-depth reports from Israel

  Connect with Israel, right from your home.

• Lift up the voice of truth and hope

  Support Jerusalem-based Zionist journalism.

Become a Member

Already a member? Login here.