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Chief Rabbinate of Israel
September 25, 2017, 2:31 pm
My father the rabbi performed my wedding
If only the Israeli Chief Rabbinate understood that with great power comes the responsibility of great kindness
By Atara Newberger Zafir
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visits the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City, a day after the Israeli general elections, March 18, 2015. (Photo credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
September 19, 2017, 3:12 am
Netanyahu defends freezing Western Wall deal, Israel’s religious status quo
PM says politicians who loudly condemn him for folding to ultra-Orthodox pressure are quietly offering to do the same after the next election
By Raphael Ahren
Rabbinical Courts Administration Director Shimon Yaakovi speaking during an interview in his office in Jerusalem, July 27, 2015. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90/via JTA)
September 17, 2017, 1:09 pm
Rabbinate expanding marriage blacklists for ‘questionable’ Jewish immigrants
Report says Israel is methodically blacklisting olim of Jewish heritage, who are subsequently unable to marry in the Jewish state
By Andrew Tobin
Israelis at a restaurant in downtown Jerusalem, on Saturday, November 01, 2014. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
September 13, 2017, 1:47 am
Restaurants okayed to say food kosher without rabbinate’s approval
Landmark High Court ruling finds informing consumers about food's origins cannot be prohibited, denting monopoly by ultra-Orthodox-controlled state rabbinical body
By TOI staff
Members of the Reform and Conservative Jewish movements hold torah scrolls during mixed men and women's prayer at the public square in front of the Western Wall, in Jerusalem's Old City, on May 18, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
September 11, 2017, 7:10 pm
600 Conservative rabbis, leaders demand Netanyahu honor Western Wall deal
In letter to PM, denomination heads call on Israel 'to embrace Jewish pluralism,' end Orthodox rabbinate's monopoly on religious issues
By JTA
The building of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel in Jerualem. (Flash90)
September 6, 2017, 1:27 pm
Four arrested for fraud in bids to become city rabbis
Police suspect men forged their qualifications, sent others to take exams in their stead
By Stuart Winer
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 1, 2017, 2:27 pm
With muddled decision on Western Wall freeze, court appears wary to intervene
Bizarre High Court stance with no teeth asks the state whether the court can legally enforce the pluralistic pavilion plan; leaves petitioners 'with a lot of questions'
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
A man stands outside the Jerusalem Rabbinical Court. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
August 31, 2017, 11:42 pm
Jerusalem rabbinical court refuses to grant couple a ‘get’ until prenup voided
Penalizing a man for refusing to grant his wife a divorce constitutes coercion, ruling states, even if both parties agree to such a stipulation
By Yaakov Schwartz
Pope Francis waves to the faithful as he arrives for his weekly general audience at St Peter's square on August 30, 2017 in Vatican. (AFP PHOTO / ANDREAS SOLARO)
August 31, 2017, 10:53 pm
Rabbis seek pope’s cooperation in fighting Islamic extremism
Despite deep differences between the two faiths, Orthodox Jews leaders and pontiff seek to deepen dialogue and partnership
By JTA
Conservative Jews pray at the temporary egalitarian Robinson's Arch prayer pavilion at the southern end of the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City on July 30, 2014. (Robert Swift/Flash90)
August 31, 2017, 6:32 am
Could a 1924 British Mandate law kill the Western Wall pluralistic pavilion?
A long-awaited High Court hearing will assemble petitioners on both sides of a frozen government decision to stake their claims at Judaism's holiest site
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
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)
August 22, 2017, 8:42 pm
Chief Rabbinate challenges court jurisdiction to rule on Western Wall deal
Supreme Court has no authority to rule on matters of religion, or whether 'holy sites can be desecrated,' rabbis say
By JTA
Shani (R) and Ran Maaman enjoy the company of camels at their wedding in the Judean Desert, May 11, 2017. (Dana Bar-On/JTA)
August 22, 2017, 4:27 pm
Cue the camels! Israelis are throwing themselves one-of-a-kind outdoor weddings
Young couples have become dissatisfied with the 'copy and paste' approach of wedding halls, which they view as inauthentic
By Andrew Tobin
Catalan police officers detain a suspect in Ripoll during a search linked to the deadly terror attacks in Barcelona and the seaside resort of Cambrils, on August 18, 2017. (AFP Photo/Pau Barrena)
August 22, 2017, 2:30 pm
Barcelona terror cell planned big attack on monuments – report
Chief Rabbinate challenges court jurisdiction to rule on Western Wall deal; Netanyahu to raise Iran's presence in Syria with Russia's Putin
By TOI staff
The honorees from the first generation of Conservative women rabbis pose for a photo at the 2015 Conservative Rabbinical Assembly celebration of 30 years of women in the rabbinate. (Yossi Hoffman)
July 16, 2017, 2:52 pm
Why there are no women on the Chief Rabbinate’s ‘blacklist’
'A woman rabbi is like a unicorn, so why would you include a unicorn on the blacklist?' says VP of Conservative Rabbinical Assembly. 'We’re not even on their radar screen'
By Ben Sales
July 16, 2017, 2:30 pm
Hitting back
A philanthropic strategy that responds to the Western Wall controversy (and doesn't withhold donations from hospitals)
By Alon Tal
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