Israel's most visible rabbinic defenders are not recognized as rabbis by the Jewish state - opinion

New York, home to some 960,000 Jews, is the largest Jewish city in the world.

Buchdahl, a Reform rabbi and the first Asian-American to lead a major congregation, has just released a memoir detailing her singular Jewish story – one that has earned her a place on talk shows and in the national conversation.

Both rabbis have appeared on CNN, Fox, and CBS – a feat in itself – articulating the moral and historical case for Israel to audiences often indifferent or hostile.

And here lies the irony: the two most visible Jewish defenders of Israel in the world’s largest Jewish city are rabbis whom Israel’s own religious establishment does not recognize as rabbis.

As an Orthodox rabbi, I’m not raising this point to revisit the debate over denominational recognition in Israel. That’s not the issue here (though it is an issue).

At a moment when Israel faces unprecedented scrutiny and hostility, some of its most eloquent defenders are Jewish leaders who operate entirely outside the official religious system. That reality should give us pause.

The question isn’t about religious legitimacy; it’s about moral leadership. Who is speaking for the Jewish people when it matters most? Who is standing up publicly, with clarity and conviction, to defend Israel’s right to exist and the Jewish people’s right to self-respect?

Buchdahl and Cosgrove have become, for many Americans, the Jewish voices they hear – thoughtful, grounded, emotionally resonant, and deeply connected to Israel.

Whether one shares their denominational commitments is beside the point. When the cameras are rolling and the criticism is relentless, they are the ones showing up.

This moment reminds us that Jewish representation in the world doesn’t always align with institutional authority. The Chief Rabbinate can issue certificates of recognition; the public square awards a different kind of legitimacy – the kind earned by courage, empathy, and clarity.

To the average viewer, a rabbi defending Israel on television is not Orthodox, Conservative, or Reform. They are simply “a rabbi,” a Jewish leader.

And in that space, denominational boundaries disappear. What matters is not who conferred the ordination, but whether the voice speaks to the conscience.

The fact that Israel’s most effective advocates in New York are rabbis unrecognized by Israel’s establishment says less about them than it does about us – about how expansive the Jewish world really is and how porous the boundaries of leadership have become.

We are a people defined not by bureaucracy but by covenant. Throughout history, the Jewish story has been carried forward by those willing to speak when silence was easier.

In that sense, Buchdahl and Cosgrove stand in a long tradition of Jews who understood that defending Israel – and defending Jewish dignity – is a collective responsibility, not a denominational one.

It is one of history’s small ironies that the State of Israel, founded to unite the Jewish people, still maintains a religious system that divides them. But beyond those divisions, there is also hope.

On television screens and public stages, those boundaries blur. What remains is a shared sense of purpose: the defense of Israel, the affirmation of Jewish identity, and the insistence on continuity.

The future of the Jewish people will not hinge on who the Rabbinate recognizes. It will depend on who shows up – and speaks – when Israel and its people need to be defended.