Rabbinical court

Rabbinical court chaos leaves Israelis trapped in a broken system - opinion

System failures, from missing files to postponed hearings, in Israel’s rabbinical courts are delaying justice and trapping families in legal limbo.

THE CHIEF RABBINATE’S Supreme Court for Appeals in Jerusalem: Israelis deserve a religious court system that honors both Halacha and human dignity, the writer asserts.
Red shoes are displayed to mark International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, in Tel Aviv on Tuesday. Be brave – in the small, everyday ways, the writer urges.

Ending violence against women starts with refusing to look away - opinion

US President Donald Trump addressing the Knesset in Israel, following the release of the last 20 living hostages from Gaza, October 13, 2025.

Knesset advances bill expanding rabbinical courts’ power over civil matters

PRESIDENT ISAAC HERZOG and Sephardi Chief Rabbi David Yosef attend a ceremony inaugurating new judges in the rabbinical courts at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem in June.

The rabbinical courts: Sick system at the heart of society - opinion


17-year prisoner for divorce refusal could be released from incarceration

Tzviya Gorodetsky’s request that the rabbinical courts close her divorce case with Meir Gorodestky was granted by the Jerusalem Rabbinical Court on Tuesday.

Zvia Gordestski (left) holding the rabbinical court document freeing her from her marriage, alongside Center for Women’s Justice attorney Nitzan Caspi-Shiloni

Rabbinical Court refuses to accept ruling freeing 20-year Agunah

An independent court ruled to annul the marriage, but the rabbinical court has instead opened proceedings against the imprisoned husband.

Zvia Gordestski (left) holding the rabbinical court document freeing her from her marriage, alongside Center for Women’s Justice attorney Nitzan Caspi-Shiloni

Father of divorce refuser fined 5,000 shekels a day

The Tel Aviv rabbinical court ruled nearly five years ago that the man was obligated to grant a divorce, but he ignored the ruling.

Silhouette of a woman [file]

First woman ever appointed as legal advisor to rabbinical courts

Attorney Shira Ben-Eli was the woman selected, and it appears that she will work in a central office as an advisor for all the rabbinical courts.

THE RABBINICAL COURT of Tel Aviv

Private court annuls marriage of long-term ‘agunah’

In cases where a man refuses to grant a divorce for an extended period of time, voiding the marriage on the basis of an invalid witness is an effective tool in freeing the agunah, or chained woman.

Oshrat Ben-Haim (center) stands before the rabbis of the independent rabbinical court alongside her rabbinical court representative and Mavoi Satum director Attorney Batya Kehana-Dror

Law for rabbinical courts to hear non-Israeli divorce cases approved

The law is seen as controversial since it expands the jurisdiction of the state rabbinical courts to non-citizens on the highly charged issue of divorce refusal.

File photo: Divorce.

Groundbreaking ruling in rabbinical court frees 23-year 'chained woman'

Annulment of Zvia Gordestski’s marriage could and should pave the way for private rabbinical courts for divorce, says Center for Women’s Justice.

Zvia Gordestski (left) holding the rabbinical court document freeing her from her marriage, alongside Center for Women’s Justice attorney Nitzan Caspi-Shiloni

Rabbinical court judges to get female legal advisers

This is the highest position ever achieved by a woman in Israel’s rabbinical courts.

THE RABBINICAL court in Tel Aviv

Walking the desert... to help unchain women

"Chained women" and allies from across Israel gather for a hike for support and sisterhood.

Agunot and former agunot during Yad L’Isha’s  first-annual Eshet Hamidbar (Woman of the Desert) 22-kilometer walk

Would-be converts must marry or leave partners, Knesset committee told

The practice has been called "coercive and unfair."

Tania Beider in 2018