Orthodox group opens ‘alternative’ marriage service with Tel Aviv rabbinate

The Tzohar rabbinical organization has opened a marriage registration branch in Tel Aviv in cooperation with the local rabbinate, a first.

Tzohar’s “alternative” marriage registration service, which also has offices in Jerusalem, Lod and Haifa, helps couples navigate the bureaucracy of registering for marriage, independent of the direct involvement of the rabbinate.

The new branch was opened at the Tel Aviv Port and is located in the office of EasyWed, an organization that provides a variety of event-planning and related services to help Israeli couples marry.

The Tel Aviv office is the organization’s first collaboration with a local rabbinate. After Tzohar takes care of the registration bureaucracy, it will pass the couple’s file to the Tel Aviv rabbinate for registration.

As part of the service, Tzohar provides a rabbi to conduct the wedding ceremony free of charge. Tzohar rabbis are known for creating a non-religiously threatening or coercive atmosphere for wedding ceremonies for secular Israeli couples.

“Strengthening the connection between Tzohar and the local rabbinical councils is an important objective of our organization and we welcome this first initiative which allows us to partner with the Tel Aviv Rabbinate.

“We are confident this will allow us to positively contribute to helping these couples build healthy new relationships and families in accordance with halacha [rabbinic law] and the laws of the State of Israel,” Rabbi David Stav, Tzohar founder and chair, said in a statement.