JERUSALEM — Critics of Israel’s chief rabbinate havelong complained that scores of U.S. converts toJudaism have trouble getting approval to marry inIsrael. Now, one such case with a celebrityconnection could break open the rabbinate’s long-standing secrecy over which foreign rabbis areapproved to conduct conversions.
耶路撒冷——歷久以來，以色列大拉比的批駁者一向埋怨許多改信猶太教的美國人很難在以色列獲準娶親。如今，有一個牽扯名流的此類案例，大概會破解大拉比軌制下歷久以來關於哪些外國拉比可以獲準主持皈依典禮的機密。
The case involves an American who, shortly after her Orthodox conversion in New York,became engaged to an Israeli, only to have the local rabbinical court in his hometown reject herstatus as a Jew when they tried to register for marriage.
在這個案例中，一名美國人在紐約皈依猶太教正統派後不久，與一位以色列人定親，不外當他們預備掛號娶親時，她的猶太身份卻受到男方故鄉的一個處所拉比法庭否定。
As it turns out, the rabbi who signed the woman’s conversion certificate also converted DonaldTrump’s daughter Ivanka, and officiated at her 2009 wedding to Jared Kushner, the newspaperpublisher now planning the presumptive Republican nominee’s potential transition to theWhite House.
給這位女生簽發皈依證書的拉比也曾主持唐納德·特朗普(Donald Trump)的女兒伊萬卡(Ivanka)的皈依典禮，並在2009年主持她與報紙出書人賈裏德·庫什納(Jared Kushner)的婚禮。庫什納今朝正在贊助穩獲共和黨提名的總統候選人進軍白宮。
The rabbi, Haskel Lookstein, is one of the most respected Orthodox rabbis in New York, wherehe has for 58 years led Manhattan’s Congregation Kehilath Jeshurun, after taking over thepulpit from his father. He recently received an honorary doctorate from Israel’s Bar-IlanUniversity in recognition for what it called “the influential role he has played in deepeningJewish values and heritage among American Jewry.”
哈斯克爾·盧克斯坦(Haskel Lookstein)是紐約最受尊重的正統派拉比之一，繼續父親的神職以後，引導曼哈頓的Kehilath Jeshurun猶太禮堂長達58年之久。前不久，以色列的巴爾伊蘭大學(Bar-Ilan University)為了表揚“他在深化美國猶太人的猶太代價觀和傳統方面施展了有影響力的感化”，付與他聲譽博士學位。
The case raises the question of whether Ivanka Trump — who said in a Vogue magazineinterview last year that she and her husband were “pretty observant,” keeping kosher and theJewish Sabbath — would be accepted as Jewish herself in all quarters in Israel.
這個事宜激發了人們關於伊萬卡·特朗普(Ivanka Trump)的猶太人身份可否在以色列全境得到承認的疑惑。客歲，她在接收《Vogue》雜誌采訪時表現，她和丈夫“嚴厲遵照”教規，持守猶太潔食和安眠日劃定。
More broadly, it illustrates a growing divide between Israel’s increasingly strict ultra-Orthodoxreligious establishment and many Jews abroad over the age-old question of “who is a Jew”that has complicated Israel’s relationship with the diaspora for decades.
在更廣層面上，它反應出以色列日趨嚴厲的極正直統派宗教威望與外洋許多猶太人對付“誰是猶太人”這個陳腐題目日趨緊張的不合。在曩昔幾十年裏，這個題目讓以色列與猶太外僑之間的幹系變得龐雜。
The Israeli rabbinate, which controls Jewish marriage and most Jewish burial sites in thecountry, does not recognize non-Orthodox streams of Judaism like Reform and Conservative,with which the majority of affiliated U.S. Jews identify. In rejecting Lookstein’s conversionand those of others in similar positions, the rabbinical authorities now risk alienating Jewsabroad who practice modern Orthodoxy according to Halakha, or Jewish law.
以色列拉比掌管猶太婚姻和該國的大部門猶太墳場，他們不承認非正統派猶太教分支，好比改造派和守舊派——美國的大部門猶太人都屬於這些非正統派分支。以色列拉比謝絕認可盧克斯坦和其他具備相似位置的拉比簽發的皈依證書，是以有大概冷淡外洋的那些依照猶太律法履行當代正統派教規的猶太人。
“Ten years ago, if an Orthodox rabbi in good standing performed a conversion, it would havebeen a given that it would be accepted here,” said Rabbi Seth Farber, the founder of Itim, anIsraeli organization that has been critical of the rabbinate and is pressing the case ofLookstein’s U.S. convert.
“10年前，假如是一位位置穩定的正統派拉比主持的皈依，人們確定以為它在這裏是會被接收的，”對猶太大拉比持批駁立場的以色列構造Itim的開創人塞思·法伯拉比(Seth Farber)說。該構造正在為盧克斯坦的美國皈依者奔忙。
He added, “I’d say this is unprecedented in Jewish history, that one group of rabbis rejectsanother.”
他彌補說：“我得說，這在猶太汗青上是亙古未有的——一個拉比集團否認另外一個拉比集團。”
Itim handles up to 150 cases a year of modern-Orthodox converts from the United States whoare struggling to get married in Israel or are experiencing other issues with the religiousestablishment. As Farber put it, “Almost everyone has problems nowadays.”
Itim每一年處置多達150起相似案件——美國當代正統派猶太教皈依者在以色列爭奪婚姻權或閱歷其他與宗教威望相幹的困難。按法伯的說法，“現在，險些每小我都碰到題目。”
The U.S. convert, who is appealing her case to Israel’s supreme rabbinical court, declined tobe interviewed, and the rabbis discussed her situation on the condition that she not beidentified in order to protect her privacy.
那名改信猶太教的美國女性正把本身的案件上訴至以色列最高拉比法庭。她謝絕接收采訪。為了掩護她的隱私，拉比們評論辯論她的情形時都防止裸露她的身份。
Her supporters said she converted just over a year ago, after about a year of study, and soonmet the man who would become her fiancé in Petah Tikva, a bedroom community near Tel Aviv.The rabbinical court there first ruled in April that her conversion was invalid.
她的支撐者稱，她在一年前剛改信猶太教，以前進修了一年上下，然後很快在特拉維夫鄰近的城郊室廬區佩塔提克瓦碰見了厥後成為她未婚夫的漢子。本年4月，本地的拉比法庭初次訊斷她皈依無效。
After a preliminary hearing in the supreme rabbinical court in Jerusalem, Rabbi Itamar Tubul,the director of the chief rabbinate’s department of personal status and conversion, wrote aletter to the Petah Tikva court saying that the conversion certificate signed by Lookstein was“approved by the chief rabbinate of Israel.” (Two other Kehilath Jeshurun rabbis also signed thecertificate.)
在耶路撒冷最高拉比法庭的開端聽證會以後，大拉比的小我身份和皈依部主管伊塔馬爾·圖布勒拉比(ItamarTubul)給佩塔提克瓦法院寫信表現，盧克斯坦簽發的皈依證書是“經由以色列大拉比同意的”(KehilathJeshurun猶太禮堂的別的兩名拉比也在這份證書上簽了字)。
But the Petah Tikva court issued a second ruling against the conversion June 8, saying it hadfound no mention of Lookstein on its lists of approved rabbis.
但在6月8日，佩塔提克瓦法院再次訊斷這一皈依無效，稱它沒有在本身的獲準拉比名單上看到盧克斯坦的名字。
Lookstein, 84, is now in an emeritus position at Kehilath Jeshurun, which has a membership of1,100 families, and is considered one of the most established and mainstream Orthodox rabbisin America.
84歲的盧克斯坦今朝是Kehilath Jeshurun猶太禮堂的榮退拉比，他被以為是美國最威望、最主流的正統派拉比之一。該禮堂的會眾包含1100個家庭。
In a telephone interview, he said this case was a first for him, though he was not aware ofanyone else who had been converted by him or his colleagues at Kehilath Jeshurun who thentried to marry in Israel.
盧克斯坦在接收手機采訪時稱，他初次碰到如許的案例，不外他其實不曉得是不是另有經他本身或KehilathJeshurun猶太禮堂其他同事之手皈依猶太教的人曾試下在以色列娶親。
“The irony is that this woman is very meticulous about her religious observance,” Looksteinsaid. “She is as Jewish as I am, and as Jewish as the rabbis signed on the certificate, except inthe eyes of the Petah Tikva rabbinate.”
“譏諷的是，這位女生一絲不茍地遵照猶太教規，”盧克斯坦說，“從猶太教身份的角度講，她和我和其他在證書上具名的拉比是同樣的，只有佩塔提克瓦的拉比不這麽以為。”
“The bottom line,” he added, “is that the rabbinate in Israel is not respecting and honoring thework of the Orthodox rabbinate in America on conversion.”
“實際上是，”他彌補說，“以色列拉比不尊敬和認可美國正統派拉比主持的皈依。”
Lookstein said he expected that the woman would ultimately win her appeal and be able tomarry in Israel. “But the battle is taking so much out of this woman and causing such pain at atime when she should be happiest in her life,” he lamented, adding that the Petah Tikva rabbiswere perpetrating “a terrible sin” because “the Torah is very explicit that a convert should betreated with love and never afflicted.”
盧克斯坦說，他願望那位女生能終極博得上訴，可以在以色列娶親。“然則，這場戰役消耗這位女生這麽多精神，給她平生中本該最快活的時間帶來偉大苦楚，”他太息道。他還表現，佩塔提克瓦的拉比主犯下“緊張的罪孽”，由於“《托拉》(Torah)明白指出，應當用愛看待皈依者，永不熬煎他們”。
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