There has been significant controversy surrounding the relationship of the Chief Rabbis and the conversion process. It was revealed that they held a list of Beth Dins whose conversions it will recognise, and maintained a secret blacklist of rabbis whose conversions they would not recognise. This list caused controversy, since there were a number of well-regarded Orthodox rabbis on the list, including Avi Weiss and Yehoshua Fass. The list also included some Conservative and Reform conversion programs, which the Chief Rabbis do not accept ideologically, but left many off the list. These lists were kept secret, offering no opportunity for outside review or appeal, and led to some confusion.
