That the chief rabbinate in Petach Tikvah would not accept a conversion by Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, one of the most outstanding, compassionate and well-known Orthodox rabbis in the United States, would be the stuff of farce, were it not a tragedy for the bride-to-be. One can only hope that one day soon the Israeli rabbinate will wake up and realize that clear thinking and common sense should prevail, so that then Petach Tikvah can resound with the joyous ‘voice of the bridegroom and voice of the bride.’
Until then, certain rabbis in Israel should go back to their studies and relearn the basic principles of the Torah, whose “ways are ways of pleasantness and paths are paths of peace.”
Scarsdale, N.Y.
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