These Israelis Are Breaking the Silence on Getting Married in Israel

Vitaly Paperin moved to Israel from Kiev at age 9 in 1990. He would eventually change his name to the more Israeli-sounding “Tal,” rebel against his ultra-secular family by becoming religious, and marry and divorce.

Three years after that divorce, Paperin fell in love with another woman and was ready to marry again. And so, like any other Jewish couple seeking to wed in Israel, he and his fiancée went to their local office of the Chief Rabbinate and asked to register.

To even consider the request, Paperin was informed by the state rabbinical authority, he would need to provide proof that he was Jewish.

Paperin naturally wondered why he would he need to prove he was Jewish, since he had done exactly that the first time he got married in Israel.

skip
– “On the Steps of the Rabbinate.”