Chief Rabbinate
Israel’s Supreme Court cracks open door to female participation in state rabbinate
By David I. Klein — January 22, 2024
(RNS) — Women rabbis, common in the United States, have for decades struggled for recognition from the state.
A pope, two rabbis and a new concern about supersessionism
By Eric J. Greenberg and Eugene Fisher — September 17, 2021
(RNS) — Both traditions are still learning how to speak to one another about their self-understandings.
Israel’s rabbinate asks Pope Francis to explain comments about Judaism
By Yonat Shimron — August 26, 2021
(RNS) — In a homily on Aug. 11, the pope said the Torah does not offer life, which only belief in Jesus can fulfill.
Will Naftali Bennett’s diverse coalition lead Israel to recognize Jewish diversity?
By Michele Chabin — June 16, 2021
JERUSALEM (RNS) — Many Israelis and Diaspora Jews are hoping the new government will unlock the decades-long monopoly that strictly Orthodox Jews have had on everything from marriage to public transportation.
Six Israelis. Three weddings. One Statement.
By Yonat Shimron — March 25, 2019
(RNS) — The couples cannot, or will not, submit to Israel’s ultra-Orthodox rabbinical rules regarding marriage. So they've arranged an American alternative.
In Israel, a Conservative rabbi’s arrest reopens religious freedom debate
By Yonat Shimron — September 19, 2018
HAIFA, Israel (RNS) — Rabbi Dov Hayun's recent arrest is giving Israelis reason to atone for their country’s stranglehold on Jewish religious expression.
Why Jewish giving to Israel is losing ground
By The Conversation — August 20, 2018
(The Conversation) — Israel's increasingly conservative policies on social and religious issues appears to be playing a role.
Rabbinical court in Israel rejects ‘liberal’ American rabbis
By Paul O'Donnell — May 30, 2018
JERUSALEM (RNS) – Israel’s rabbinical court system no longer recognizes the authority of more than 120 rabbis ordained at a modern-Orthodox rabbinical school in New York, a recently discovered document has revealed.
Kosher? Historic ruling lets Israeli diners decide
By Lauren Markoe — September 26, 2017
JERUSALEM (RNS) — The court’s kashrut ruling comes at a time of mounting legal challenges to the ultra-Orthodox religious establishment’s control over everything from Jewish marriage and divorce to who is considered a Jew and who isn’t.
Israel’s rigid Chief Rabbinate challenges the identity of Diaspora Jews
By Yonat Shimron — July 16, 2017
JERUSALEM (RNS) — The rabbinate, which requires all Jews wishing to marry in Israel to provide proof of their Jewishness, has rejected the authority of many North American Orthodox rabbis.
Israeli blacklist of US rabbis points to widening rift
By Yonat Shimron — July 9, 2017
JERUSALEM (AP) — The list includes 160 rabbis from 24 countries and includes a number of prominent Orthodox rabbis in North America.
US rabbis outraged by Israeli rabbinical court’s treatment of convert
By Yonat Shimron — July 14, 2016
(RNS) The woman who was identified publicly as “Nicole” underwent an Orthodox conversion by New York Rabbi Haskel Lookstein in May 2015.
Israeli lawmakers vow to annul court ruling recognizing all Orthodox conversions
By Michele Chabin — April 1, 2016
JERUSALEM (RNS) The Israeli court ruling is a crushing defeat for the Orthodox Rabbinate, which until now has enjoyed sole authority over Jewish institutions in Israel.
Some Israelis hope to be recognized as Jews through alternative courts
By Michele Chabin — August 21, 2015
JERUSALEM (RNS) A group of modern Orthodox rabbis established a more welcoming conversion court to serve the 350,000 non-Jewish Russian immigrants and their descendants who consider themselves Jewish, but are not recognized as such by the Israeli government.
Israeli hotels no longer banned from mounting Christmas trees
By Michele Chabin — March 9, 2015
JERUSALEM (RNS) Formerly hotels that included “references to gentile holidays” could lose their kosher food licenses.
Page 1 of 2
