Israeli Rabbinate slammed for pushing for DNA tests to prove Jewishness
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Israel’s Chief Rabbinate, which oversees marriage in the country, is under fire for allegedly quietly pressuring some Jewish people to undergo DNA testing to confirm couples are genetically Jewish as a condition for marriage registration.
At least 20 couples have come forward after having been asked to undergo testing in the past year, according to ynet news.
Rabbi Seth Farber, director of ITIM, an organization that helps people navigate the complexities of personal status in Israel, told Religion News Service he has handled nearly two dozen DNA-related cases in the past six months, all of them for immigrants of the former Soviet Union.
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Many people moved to Israel under the Law of Return, which requires immigrants to show documentation that they had at least one Jewish grandparent.
Even though the majority of the more than 1 million Soviet immigrants live Jewish lives, about 400,000 are not considered Jewish by the rabbinate because they do not have the documentation, RNS reported.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Farber told RNS the rabbinate’s push for DNA testing “goes against the Jewish principle of ‘hazaka’ – that rabbis don’t seek to undermine someone’s religious status.”
Farber referred to the Code of Jewish Law, which says “we must trust individuals when they declare their Jewishness unless we have a major reason to question them.”
“According to Jewish law, and that’s the way it should be in Israel, when someone brings papers attesting to their family’s Jewishness, they should be trusted.”
RNS reported Rabbi David Stav, chairman of Tzohar, an organization that works to make Jewish life accessible to secular Israelis by promoting moderate rabbinic leadership, called the rabbinate’s new push for DNA tests “a scandal.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“According to Jewish law, and that’s the way it should be in Israel, when someone brings papers attesting to their family’s Jewishness, they should be trusted,” said Rabbi David Stav, chairman of Tzohar.
According to RNS, Chief Rabbi David Lau released a statement earlier this month acknowledging that the rabbinate has pushed for DNA testing “in a small number of cases.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“It happens sometimes that someone claiming to be Jewish does not have the documentation to verify his claim, or alternatively there is a contradiction between his claims and what is discovered about him,” Lau said.
He said the rabbinate would never force someone to undergo testing, adding, “a DNA test is not used to determine Jewish status in accordance with Jewish law and only to assist in the clarification process.”
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Farber told RNS he rejects Lau’s claim that the DNA tests are voluntary.
“Since there is a precondition to prove one’s Jewishness in order to get married, they are essentially denying someone a basic Jewish right,” Farber said. “The rabbinate’s use of DNA tests to prove a citizen’s Jewish identity is an affront to Judaism and also Zionism, which is built on the notion of the ingathering of the exiles. It discriminates against immigrants, particularly those from the former Soviet Union."