A Shandah in Spain

by Joel Rembaum

URL: http://www.jewishjournal.com/opinion/article/a_shandah_in_spain_20091216/

This past Monday I sadly learned that last week 13-year-old Gai Ben-David died in Madrid, Spain, from the brain cancer he had been fighting for a quarter of his young life. Gai was born of a non-Jewish mother and halachically converted by a Conservative rabbi. His family’s pain was compounded by the shocking news that he would not be granted the right to be buried as a Jew. The authority behind this decision is Rabbi Shlomo Amar, the current rishon l’tziyyon — Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel — whose opinion was sought by the Orthodox chief rabbi of Madrid. Rabbi Amar ruled that because of Gai’s non-Orthodox conversion, he had to be buried in a section of the Madrid cemetery reserved for those whose Judaism is questionable.

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Comments:	A friend has recommended you read the following from The Jewish Journal... A Shandah in Spain This past Monday I sadly learned that last week 13-year-old Gai Ben-David died in Madrid, Spain, from the brain cancer he had been fighting for a quarter of his young life. Gai was born of a non-Jewish mother and halachically converted by a Conservative rabbi. His family’s pain was compounded by the shocking news that he would not be granted the right to be buried as a Jew. The authority behind this decision is Rabbi Shlomo Amar, the current rishon l’tziyyon — Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel — whose opinion was sought by the Orthodox chief rabbi of Madrid. Rabbi Amar ruled that because of Gai’s non-Orthodox conversion, he had to be buried in a section of the Madrid cemetery reserved for those whose Judaism is questionable. http://www.jewishjournal.com/opinion/article/a_shandah_in_spain_20091216/ Sign up for our free email news alerts at http://www.jewishjournal.com/email.

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