Then-Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger surprised many people when he decided to participate in June 2009 political conference of a Haredi organization, following Rabbinical Court judge Avraham Sherman’s decision to nullify thousands of conversions carried out in the national conversion rabbinic courts. Metzger told the Haredi audience that Sherman was a “man of truth.”

It seemed at that point four and a half years ago that Metzger was basically spitting in the face of the government system, or sucking up to his Lithuanian Haredi patrons who were waging an all-out war against rabbis suspected as Zionist. Now it turns out, according to suspicions, that despite his lofty words, Metger’s true motive was greed. While he joined the Haredi choir in attacking Rabbi Haim Druckman’s conversions, saying they did not include taking on all the mitzvot (religious commitments), he was running an alternative system of issuing conversion documents, propelled mainly by cash flowing into his pocket.

When Metzger was first arrested five months ago, it was thought the investigation focused on the cut he was taking for himself in fundraising events. On Monday it turned out that according to suspicions, he accepted bribes while fulfilling his essential duties over the past decade as chief rabbi and Rabbinical Supreme Court judge, a post equivalent to a Supreme Court Justice.

Metzger is no longer chief rabbi, but the structure of the rabbinate still allows top officials to pocket millions. Only last week the problematic nature of the process of rejecting or approving the evidence of Orthodox rabbis abroad was revealed. It seems the Israeli Rabbinate keeps personal "white lists" of rabbis abroad, based mainly on rumors and gossip instead of clear criteria. Could certain payments have also contributed to these names making the list?

Some claim that there are also "black lists" of rabbis, but while the rabbinate denies these claims, the suspicions against Metzger might indicate an even more sinister reality: The rabbi who aided the delegitimization of Israel’s conversion system is suspected of selling Judaism for money.

Sometimes even the purest intentions can cause a dangerous proximity between chief rabbis and cash. Metzger and his Sephardi counterpart, Rabbi Shlomo Amar, participated in dozens of fundraising events abroad for Israel or for various causes, though the law prohibits them from taking part in such events, even for free. During Metzger’s tenure the attorney general issued specific directives banning civil servants from attending fundraising events.

Have things changed with the end of Metger’s term? Only recently a Sephardi Haredi radio station began airing a spot featuring present Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef calling on listeners to donate to an organization called The National Center for Purity of the Family. Responding to Haaretz’s query, Justice Ministry officials said, “We are aware of the issue and will soon publish directives dealing with the matter.”