Chief rabbinate of israel

Parashat Vayechi: Keeping Israel Jewish – without coercion

We should value democracy, safeguard it within Israeli society, and participate actively wherever we reside, cherishing the liberties and dignity it secures.

EXPRESSING SUPPORT for separation of church and state.
DESPITE BEING fully recognized by the Chief Rabbinate, many Orthodox converts are living in legal and social limbo, denied citizenship, as they face systemic bureaucracy and discrimination at the Interior Ministry. Here, women pray at the Western Wall.

Recognized by the rabbinate, Orthodox converts trapped in legal limbo over Israeli citizenship

SUPREME COURT Justice Noam Sohlberg attends a ceremony for fallen Israeli soldiers whose burial place is unknown at Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem on March 6.

Rabbinate seeks retrial on ruling allowing women to take exams, blames 'halachic noncompliance'

 Women studying at Matan Women's Institute for Torah Studies in Jerusalem.

A small and insufficient victory: Female Torah scholars - opinion


Court rules Safed Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu must have disciplinary trial

Apparently racist and political comments made by Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu are not permitted for public official, and Chief Rabbinate must hold disciplinary trial for him.

Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu

Israel is the Jewish state, but Judaism does not belong to anyone

We all should be able to choose our Judaism, to live according to its basic values, and not according to halachic definitions of Orthodox Judaism.

MK BEZALEL SMOTRICH speaks during a Knesset plenary session on August 24.

Opening up kashrut certification is a step in the right direction

Wrenching complete kashrut control out of the hands of a body with a vested economic interest in retaining it is not going to be easy, but the first steps are to be welcomed.

KASHRUT CERTIFICATION at a Jerusalem eatery – will the rabbinate’s monopoly be broken?

High Court gives rabbinate 90 days for solution to women’s Halacha exams

The interim ruling comes following a petition by three NGOs to the court, which argued that women are discriminated against by the state since they cannot obtain the same qualifications as men.

High Court of Justice May 3, 2020

It's time for Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef to step up or step down

The government needs to present Yosef with a choice – either help or get out of the way.

SEPHARDI CHIEF Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef

The battle of forcing religious reform upon the government

RELIGIOUS AFFAIRS: Religion and state reforms are not on the coalition’s agenda, but the High Court may bring them front and center once again.

ISSUES INVOLVING religion and state could be foisted upon a reluctant government.

Chief Rabbinate declines to revoke accreditation for disgraced rabbi Elon

Elon, who was convicted in 2013 of two counts of indecent assault by force against a minor, has instead committed not to seek appointment to a state-paid position until the age of legal retirement.

Moti Elon

Head of Chief Rabbinate kashrut to be indicted for bribery

Rabbi allegedly took cash in return for bypassing supervision procedures

THE BUILDING of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel in Jerusalem.

Israel's Chief Rabbi calls for public fast day amid coronavirus outbreak

For those who can't fast, Lau asked that they take on a "ta'anit dibur," a practice in which one abstains from all speech that does not concern Torah or prayer.

Chief Rabbi David Lau prays at special prayer service during coronavirus outbreak, March 2020

Is the Rabbinical Court’s best good enough?

The Rabbinical Court must set itself free to set the agunot free.

THE RABBINICAL court of Tel Aviv. It has been said that rabbinical courts allow men to hold back consent to divorce their wives in order to extort the women into agreeing to unfair overall terms.