Several local rabbinates are refusing to allow women to testify towards a
person’s marital status for the purpose of marriage registration, The Jerusalem
Post has learned.
This policy is being enacted despite an explicit
directive from the Chief Rabbinate instructing local rabbinates to permit women
to testify in this regard.
Of five local rabbinates questioned by the
Post, three said they do not permit women to testify.
The ITIM
organization, an advisory NGO for religious services and a religious rights
advocacy group, says that it frequently receives requests for help from women in
particular who do not have male friends who know them well enough to testify on
their behalf.
In order to register for marriage, a person must bring two
witnesses who know them to testify before rabbinate officials that he or she is
unmarried.
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