Followup: Rabbi sues Israeli government on behalf of Orthodox converts

A couple of months back I wrote about Rabbi Seth Farber and his battle with the office of the Israeli government’s Chief Rabbinate, which had refused to register converts to Judaism as Jewish. At the time, he was looking for allies to apply political pressure to quietly settle the matter.

So much for that approach. Now, the Jerusalem Post is reporting that the rabbi has gone to court.

The ITIM institute petitioned the High Court of Justice Thursday against the
Ministry of Interior’s refusal to grant citizenship to Orthodox converts who
converted abroad. The lawsuit, submitted by the Jewish Life Information Center
on behalf of Canadian convert Thomas Dohlan, called on the court to order the
ministry to explain its decision to refuse him citizenship under the Law of
Return and prevent the ministry from taking action to expel him from the
country.…

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“Unfortunately, the only way to
protect converts is through the High Court of Justice,” said ITIM founder and
head Rabbi Seth Farber. “This is how the issue of military conversions was
resolved in our previous petition, and what we hope to see this time.”