In a letter sent this week to all the chief rabbis of cities and towns, as well as to those officials responsible for marriages in the country's municipalities, the director of Rabbi Metzger's office wrote, "Our office has received complaints about rabbis officiating at weddings who are not behaving in a way befitting a rabbi in Israel." Therefore, he announced, the Chief Rabbinate has established a special disciplinary court specifically to handle such issues.



The nation's municipal or neighborhood chief rabbis were asked in the letter to pass along to the Chief Rabbinate details of officiating rabbis about whom complaints have been made, so that they may be charged before the new tribunal.



Among the complaints received by the chief rabbi are instances of weddings arranged for days that are traditionally prohibited or that contradict instructions issued by the Chief Rabbinate, in addition to unacceptable behavior at the wedding ceremony itself.



In the letter, the chief rabbi makes it clear that complaints about officiating rabbis submitted to his office must be accompanied by some sort of documentation or other evidence. In order to avoid reckless defamation of rabbis, no complaint unaccompanied by such documentation will be adjudicated, the rabbi explained.



"I hope that in this, we will succeed in honoring the Torah and rabbinate in Israel," Rabbi Metzger concluded.