The Chief Rabbinate; A Blessing or a Curse? part 14

 There have been, in recent years, movements that have challenged the status quo in the Chief Rabbinate, as well as their American proxy, the RCA. While receiving much criticism, and even threats of violence in some cases, they have, nevertheless, made some important advances. When the Chief Rabbinate passed from the hands of the Religious Zionist camp in 1993, a group of Zionist, inclusive rabbis formed a counter rabbinate, called Tzohar. Two official community rabbis, Rabbi David Stav of Shoham, and Rabbi Shlomo (Steven) Riskin of Efrat, organized many Zionist rabbis into a formal alternative for those seeking a return to Jewish observance, or at least a connection with it, without having to change everything they have been raised with. Rabbis were offered for weddings and other life cycle events who spoke good, colloquial Modern Hebrew (Several Chief Rabbis when interviewed on Israeli TV would have subtitles under the picture as they spoke), who had done military service, and were generally part of the "Israeli experience". Numerous people responded positively. Soon, they began to do "illegal" conversions. They were illegal in that they were not approved of by the Chief Rabbinate. But they were completely in line with halachah. Recently, the Chief Rabbinate ruled that Tzohar converts may not marry Jews (!!!)The Chief Rabbinate was, and is, vehemently opposed to this group. They saw it as a threat to a  central halachic authority. One periodical called it "Reform with a skull cap". But the community support was much too wide for this group to be pushed into oblivion.  Recently, the Chief Rabbinate announced that they were certifying twenty new dayyanim (rabbinic judges), half of whom would be from the religious Zionist camp. Is this a partial surrender to public demands, or an attempt to conscript these rabbis into the old system? Only time will tell.
In the United States, one remarkable man has caused an earthquake. His name is Rabbi Avi Weiss. He was for many decades the rabbi of a large New York congregation, while serving as a professor in the Yeshiva University system. He was long known for political activism, especially regarding Soviet Jewry and Israel. Although connected with the RCA, he was always his own man. Although a product of institutions inspired by Rabbi J.B. Soloveitchik, he incorporated many other ideas from Hasidism, especially Rabbi Nachman. In 1999, he founded his own Yeshiva "Chovevei Torah", coining a new term "Open Orthodoxy". He resigned his position at YU. Critics claimed that "Open Orthodoxy" is essentially what the Conservative movement was in the 1920s and '30s. In 2009, he opened a rabbinical college for women, called Yeshiva Maharat. Shortly after, a woman, Sara Hurwitz, was ordained with the title "Rabba". (I met her once, and I must say I was greatly impressed). Rumors spread that Rabbi Weiss had been ousted from the RCA (which does not recognize his ordination of rabbis, male or female), and more right-wing organizations branded him as no longer Orthodox. For the sake of peace, he gave over the operation of his yeshivot to associates, as he remains in the RCA, pushing for liberalization from within. He has recently retired, but, like the Tzohar people in Israel, his influence remains and grows. A more open/user friendly  Orthodoxy seems inevitable. As Rabbi Weiss has always been active in dialogue with Non-Orthodox rabbis, this leaves me with hope for greater unity, without compromising integrity.
Next, we shall look at challenges to the Chief Rabbinate from the secular camp.