Rabbinate

ITIM demands equal conditions for women in upcoming Chief Rabbinate exams

After women faced severe delays during historic first exams, ITIM threatens legal action against the Chief Rabbinate to ensure equal venues and testing conditions for upcoming certification tests.

Three women who arrived in the morning to sit the Rabbinate exams finally do so at a four-hour delay, April 27, 2026
 The groom hugs the bride from behind, the bride holds a wedding bouquet. (illustrative)

Chief Rabbinate Council sets new financial range for ketubahs

The Supreme Court convenes to maintain the freeze on the law limiting enforcement against haredi (ultra-Orthodox) draft dodgers, July 28, 2026.

ITIM organization asks High Court to bar draft evaders from Rabbinate exam benefits

A Tzohar kashrut sticker in a window

High Court sets Tuesday deadline in Tzohar kashrut-license dispute


A civil argument against civil marriage - opinion

Unfortunately, allowing civil marriage, here, would open a Pandora’s Box that promises nothing but trouble.

 ARTEM DOLGOPYAT reacts during competition at the European Artistic Gymnastics Championship in Munich, last month. ‘I feel bad for him. I really do,’ says the writer, regarding the matter of marriage.

Conversion in Israel: The tug of war between the state, rabbinate

How did conversion to Judaism get caught in up the midst of an Israeli political controversy over the Law of Return and identifying who is a Jew?

 A WOMAN stands before the rabbinical court.

Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi appointed senior role in European rabbis org

Mizrachi said that representatives of the CER “asked me to be the president of the rebbetzin training program on behalf of the CER.”

 Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi speaks to orthodox Jewish women at the Public Security Ministry offices in Jerusalem

Can remote civil marriage break the Chief Rabbinate’s monopoly?

SOCIAL AFFAIRS: The decision could have wide-ranging implications, including opening an additional loophole for same-sex marriages and other legally disputed unions.

 IN A DECISION announced earlier this week, the Lod District Court ruled that the Interior Ministry must recognize those civil marriages performed remotely via an online ceremony in Utah.

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.