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religion and state in Israel
Reform female and male rabbis pray together at Robinson's Arch, the Western Wall site slated for future egalitarian services, on Thursday, February 25, 2016. (Y.R/Reform Movement)
September 19, 2017, 6:33 pm
In response to court, state shuts door on Western Wall deal
Asked to rethink freeze on implementing 2016 compromise agreement, and whether it could be forced to implement the plan it agreed to, government answers with a no and a no
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Jewish men pray during the holiday of Tisha B'Av at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem, on August 1, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
August 22, 2017, 9:54 pm
US State Department slams Israeli stagnation on religious freedom reform
Annual report homes in on hot-button areas of Western Wall pluralism, conversion and who has the right to pray at the country's holiest sites
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Kulanu MK Rachel Azaria outside the Old City walls in Jerusalem, March 23, 2015. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
May 24, 2017, 1:16 pm
Jerusalem-born MK sees ‘living, breathing city’ choked by lack of building
A former deputy mayor, Rachel Azaria is not clamoring for US embassy move, calls capital a microcosm and trailblazer for the nation
By Marissa Newman
Dr. Susan Weiss (center), head of the Center for Women's Justice, sits with staff in its Jerusalem offices. (courtesy)
March 9, 2017, 7:44 pm
Maverick women’s rights lawyer looks to change the game, not play it
Ahead of International Agunah Day, attorney Susan Weiss describes her fight against windmills in the dual Israeli religious and secular courts
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Dov S. Zakheim (center), co-chair of the American Jewish Committee's Jewish Religious Equality Coalition (J-REC), speaks at the Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Committee at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on January 11, 2017. (AJC)
January 11, 2017, 2:03 pm
At Knesset Diaspora committee meeting, US Jews work to convince the convinced
With Chief Rabbinate, Diaspora Ministry, and coalition MKs no-shows, the pluralism-promoting choir again preached to itself
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
December 5, 2016, 2:49 pm
We must do ‘Jewish’ the non-Orthodox way
Democratic Israel should recognize that the majority of Jews welcome women as equal participants in worship
By Tamar Zandberg
Eli Groner, director of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office, addresses journalists in Jerusalem on Sunday, December 4, 2016 (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
December 5, 2016, 12:40 am
PMO chief to Diaspora journalists: Israel can’t separate religion and state
At Jewish media summit in Jerusalem, Eli Groner also urges reporters to focus more on domestic issues; Rivlin: Don't only report the bad news
By Raphael Ahren
In this photo taken Thursday, Feb. 25, 2016, American Reform Rabbi Zachary Shapiro, center left, and other American and Israeli Reform rabbis pray at the Western Wall. (AP Photo/Sebastian Scheiner)
From the WebSeptember 28, 2016, 5:42 pm
Israeli and American Jews: Deep ties, profound differences
Recent surveys by the Pew Research Center of Jews on both sides of the Atlantic paint portraits of two very different communities
Illustrative photo of a ritual bath attendant, a woman who checks that the immersion in the bath is kosher according to the Jewish tradition. (Hadas Parush/Flash 90)
September 23, 2016, 8:07 pm
Religious Services Ministry okays private immersion at ritual baths
Decision follows similar move by chief rabbinate, echoes rabbis' warning that performing rite alone can affect its kosher status
By TOI staff
Shachar Shpaier, a 16.5-year-old raising soccer star in Kfar Saba's highest youth league, is the sole religiously observant player on his team. (Courtesy Moshe Shpaier)
September 14, 2016, 1:26 pm
In Israel, many religious athletes must still choose sports or spirituality
A new grassroots movement aims to push a predominantly secular Israeli society to thwart the 'twisted' exclusion of Shabbat-observant sportspeople
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Illustrative photo of a ritual bath attendant, a woman who checks that the immersion in the bath is kosher according to the Jewish tradition. (Hadas Parush/Flash 90)
June 22, 2016, 6:33 pm
In about-face, rabbinate says attendant not mandatory in ritual bath
In Israeli religious authorities' allowing women to immerse in the mikveh in privacy, some see a possible recognition of other ways of expressing Judaism
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
MK Rachel Azaria (Kulanu) is ejected from the Interior Affairs Committee meeting on a law proposal for changing regulations ritual bath use, on June 6, 2016. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
June 7, 2016, 11:39 pm
As ritual bath bill faces stormy waters, women debate Lysistrata-like boycott
With the Knesset resembling reality TV, could a Greek comedy hold the key for religious women protesting more governmental regulation over traditional practices?
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Illustrative wedding photo. (JTA)
June 2, 2016, 3:58 pm
In Ottoman holdover, Israel doubles down on marriage restrictions
Knesset upholds 2-year jail term for Jewish couples who don't choose an approved rabbi to conduct their weddings
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Liberman announce their coalition agreement, May 25, 2016 (Yonatan Sindel/FLASH90)
May 30, 2016, 5:01 pm
Reform Jewry waits for answers as Knesset reboots
With a new coalition deal, will Israel's non-Orthodox Jews see further reversals of newly granted 'reforms'?
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
A bird flies towards the minaret of a mosque in the West Bank refugee camp of Jenin, June 28, 2014. (photo credit: AP/Mohammed Ballas)
March 8, 2016, 1:05 am
Bill barring mosques from blasting call to prayer withdrawn
Jewish Home party MK pulls legislation before committee vote after failing to garner coalition support
By JTA
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