Couples planning to wed in Israel may soon encounter an unpleasant surprise.
Israeli Radio reported last week that the Religious Affairs Ministry has compiled a list of some 10,000 people who, for a variety of reasons, are forbidden by Jewish law to marry.
The report said, by way of example, that the rabbinate might declare a person illegitimate, and therfore unable to marry under Jewish law, if documents cannot be found regarding the faith or fate of a grandparent.
Before a couple can marry in Israel, the union must be approved by the rabbinate.
The report said the names on the list were gathered from government agency files and the rabbinate.
Ze’ev Rosenberg, director-general of the Religious Affairs Ministry, said that those people whose names appeared on the list are informed of the fact immediately.
But some people told Israel Radio that they only discovered they were on the list when they began filing marriage applications.
Rosenberg also refuted claims that there are 10,000 names on the list.
He said there were only 4,000 names — of which about 400 are based on claims the individuals are illegitimate.
He said a name may also appear on the list because a person did not receive a religious divorce.
He also said that any of the rabbinical rulings could be appealed.
Sephardic Chief Rabbi Eliahu Bakshi-Doron meanwhile said the rabbinate was the sole source responsible for which names appeared on the list.
He said most of the cases simply required clarification, and that the work of the rabbinate is carried out with discretion and in full accordance with the law.
But Jerusalem City Council member Anat Hoffman, of the left-wing Meretz bloc, took issue with the existence of such a list.
She called it a pure violation of Israel’s Basic Laws on an individual’s right to liberty.
“I plan to take this to court,” she said.
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