US-born, Jerusalem-based lawyer Dr. Susan Weiss founded of the Center for Women’s Justice in 2004 to lead the legal battle for equality, dignity and justice for women under Jewish law in Israel. Among other issues, the center is currently involved in a high-profile case involving the Israeli chief rabbinate’s revocation of Jewish status from a three-generational family with roots in the Former Soviet Union. The brief: When the matriarch came to Israel over 30 years ago, like all immigrants, her Jewish status was checked and confirmed. Likewise, during her own and her two daughters’ subsequent marriages. But during one of the daughters’ divorce proceedings, her disgruntled husband alleged his wife is actually not Jewish. After a series of court hearings and opaque checks, the rabbinate has since declared the entire family not Jewish — including the children born here in Israel to parents married by the rabbinate itself — and that all of their marriages are null. So who you gonna call? Teaming up with an organization called DOR 1.5 that is made up of young Russian-speaking Israelis, Susan’s center has recently petitioned the Israeli Supreme Court over what she labels the rabbinate’s over-reach. Image: Dr. Susan Weiss, founder of the Center for Women's Justice. (courtesy)