Former Ramat Gan chief rabbi found guilty of bribe taking

The former chief rabbi of Ramat Gan, Yitzhak Barda, was found guilty on Sunday of accepting bribes. Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court Judge Daniel Be'eri found the rabbi guilty of taking thousands of dollars in bribes from people who wished to convert to Judaism. In exchange, Barda referred the conversion candidates to a rabbi in France.

The ruling states that the conversion candidates were referred to Barda by a woman named Eva Tzror.

The defendant claimed during the trial that Tzror never passed on the full amount, paying him smaller amounts of NIS 400-500 to distribute to employees at the mikveh (ritual purification bath) who worked odd hours. The judge however ruled that Barda's version of events was not credible.

Barda did admit that he had sent 20-30 converts to a rabbi in Paris to speed along their conversion process, taking $2,500-3,000 from them as a "handling charge" and as payment to the French rabbi.