Rabbinate

Popular Israeli singer Yehoram Gaon marries partner Ella Lusa at age 86

The couple reportedly first met on Facebook, after Lusa sent Gaon a message as a fan of his work. The two began talking on Skype, eventually met in person, and started dating.

YEHORAM GAON
Hannah and Ally Karpel-Pomerantz met as rabbinical school classmates at Hebrew Union College. They are set to be ordained at the end of the school year.

Surging LGBTQ enrollment in Jewish seminaries signals ‘astounding’ shift in US rabbinate

Inside a synagogue sanctuary, as new research sheds light on how fewer rabbis are choosing pulpit life.

First-ever empirical study of US rabbinate finds ‘shortage’ is more about fit than numbers

 The High Court of Justice in Jerusalem

High Court stands firm, denies Chief Rabbinate’s bid to block women from religious exams


Israeli court decision recognizes marriages performed in Utah by video

Hundreds of couples got married in Utah through Zoom about a year and a half ago and waited for a legal decision on the issue.

Couple touching their hand

There are more than 50 Orthodox egalitarian minyanim in Israel - Hadar

“There are currently about 50 halachicly committed communities in Israel, and are on the continuum of gender equality,” Dr. Rabbi Avital Hochstein, President of Hadar in Israel, said.

 Women at Hadar Institute in Israel.

Are Israel's kashrut, conversion reforms moving forward?

While the State of Israel in 2022 may not yet be fully redeemed, these words do provide a certain sense of optimism and renewal. 

 GABI GLUCK, owner of Caya Specialty Coffee in Ra’anana, holds Tzohar’s kashrut certification.

Why isn’t this Orthodox Jewish-Ukranian family considered Jewish in Israel?

Yael and Aaron Agpov look like your average Orthodox family but had to face off against Israeli bureaucracy because they weren't recognized as Jewish and could immigrate to Israel.

The  Agpov family.

Women's fates should not be held by men - opinion

When a Jewish woman wants to get divorced, she has to face a panel of three men who hold her future in their hands.

 THE RABBINICAL COURT’S Division for Agunot in Jerusalem. ‘It’s high time for there to be women’s representatives in the rabbinical courts.’

Save the rabbinate from Israel and Israelis from the rabbinate - opinion

There has never been a central, monopolist authority over conversions (or any other religious function) in Jewish history, nor does it exist in the present outside of Israel.

 ASHKENAZI CHIEF Rabbi David Lau.

Chief Rabbi Lau threatens to stop approving conversions if reform passes

Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman threatened to remove the chief rabbi if he stopped approving conversions.

Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi David Lau.

Mahanayim rosh yeshiva expresses support for Kahana's conversion reform

The rosh yeshiva of Mahanayim expressed support for Matan Kahana's plan to reform the conversion system in Israel.

 Rabbi Shlomo Wilk (left) and Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana (right)

Jerusalem Rabbinate chairman dismissed by Matan Kahana

The professional head of the Jerusalem Rabbinate has been accused of improper behavior in a series of incidents, highlighted by municipal comptroller reports.

 Minister of Religious Affairs Matan Kahana attends a plenary session at the assembly hall of the Knesset, the Israeli Parliament in Jerusalem, July 26, 2021.

Don’t turn ‘agunot’ into pawns - opinion

Her extremely complex case was brought before the official, state-authorized beit din of Tel Aviv.

 THE RABBINICAL Court’s Division for Agunot in Jerusalem: All possible leniencies should be employed to help in releasing an ‘aguna.’