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Israelis take cover in a public shelter in Tel Aviv as a siren sounds warning of incoming ballistic missiles fired from Iran toward Israel, on February 28, 2026. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
March 6, 2026, 3:42 pm
With Israelis under fire, a rabbi offers guidance where Jewish law meets mental health
Rabbi Yoni Rosensweig says that for observant Jews, it can be challenging to observe laws like Shabbat while dealing with the anxiety and stress of missiles flying overhead
By Rossella Tercatin
The cholent served on Thursday nights at Hadar Geula in Jerusalem is scooped from giant pots behind a packed counter. (Philissa Cramer/ JTA)
July 17, 2025, 7:10 pm
Rabbi’s ‘ruling’ discouraging eating Shabbat stew on Thursday nights briefly roils Israel
Top Haredi authority Rabbi Yitzchok Zilberstein suggests that having cholent during the week isn’t healthy and takes away from the dish’s holy status – but doesn’t forbid it outright
By Deborah Danan and PHILISSA CRAMER
Alina Plahti, who was killed at the Supernova music festival on October 7, 2023, was buried separately from other Jews at a cemetery in her home city of Beit She’an. (Courtesy)
July 10, 2025, 9:58 pm
Knesset rejects bill to let all terror victims be buried in Jewish cemeteries
Civil society groups say vote shows Israel has failed to learn lessons from October 7, when some victims who were not considered Jewish by law were buried in separate cemeteries
By Rossella Tercatin
Rabbi Amichai Lau-Lavie dressed in drag, as his alter-ego, the Rebbetzin Hadassah Gross, as seen in 'Sabbath Queen,' a film by Sandi DuBowski. (Courtesy)
February 8, 2025, 2:46 am
From radical drag queen to rabbi, film depicts journey of a Jewish law breaker
‘Sabbath Queen’ follows gay scion of rabbinic dynasty Amichai Lau-Lavie for two decades as he challenges traditional Judaism’s norms and becomes a respected communal leader
By Renee Ghert-Zand
The Tel Aviv Rabbinical Court seen on August 3, 2017. (Miriam Alster/ FLASH90/ File)
February 4, 2025, 2:40 pm
Amid war, divorce rates jumped 6.5% last year, rabbinate says
Rabbinical courts obtained writs of divorce for 221 women in 2024 whose husbands had refused to hand them over, says authority, which holds monopoly over Jewish divorce in Israel
By ToI Staff
Illustrative: An Israeli reserve soldier and his wife pose for a picture after their wedding in the northern Israeli city of Kiryat Shmona, October 25, 2023. (Erez Ben Simon/Flash90)
November 22, 2024, 4:44 pm
IDF rabbinate opposes asking troops to sign form ‘unchaining’ wives in case of disaster
While conditional divorces can free women in case of a husband’s disappearance or loss of mental faculties in battle, rabbis say pushing such a document on soldiers may hurt morale
By Mati Wagner
Illustrative: A Woman removes her wedding ring. (Dragana991/iStock)
October 15, 2024, 10:52 pm
Haifa court rules divorce refusal is a crime, sentences husband to 18 months in prison
Man is 2nd to be sentenced to prison for refusing to give his wife a ‘get,’ after trapping her in marriage since 2004; rabbinic courts in US, Israel have issued rulings against him
By Mati Wagner
Col. Asaf Hamami, the commander of the Gaza Division's Southern Brigade who was killed on October 7, 2023. (Israel Defense Forces)
December 2, 2023, 8:05 pm
IDF says head of Israeli brigade on Gaza border was killed Oct 7, body held by Hamas
Col. Asaf Hamami, commander of Gaza Division’s Southern Brigade, recognized as ‘a fallen soldier held by a terror group’
By Emanuel Fabian
Head of ITIM Rabbi Seth Farber. (Courtesy)
November 24, 2023, 9:20 am
What Matters Now to Rabbi Seth Farber: Hostages and mixed burials in Jewish law
Issues of religion and state can take on more urgency in times of war. The head of ITIM, an NGO aimed at helping Israelis navigate the country’s religious bureaucracy, explains
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Israeli soldiers pray with a rabbi during a break in the southern Israeli city of Beit Kama, October 16, 2023. (Thomas Coex/AFP)
October 23, 2023, 12:53 am
Israeli rabbis are issuing guidance about how to adjust Jewish law during wartime
Since Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught, the rabbinic principle of pikuach nefesh, or preserving life, has taken precedence above all – though not everyone agrees on what it means
By Jackie Hajdenberg
Polly Bronstein speaks at the Ben Gurion Home on Sept. 10, 2023 in Tel Aviv, Israel. (Guy Anto)
September 12, 2023, 10:06 am
Fearing crisis, secular and devout unveil new Israeli manifesto at Ben Gurion’s home
The document, authored by prominent individuals from both sides of the religious divide, seeks to address what it means to have a Jewish state
By Canaan Lidor
Passengers try to figure out why a Waymo driverless taxi won't move while traffic backs up behind it in San Francisco, February 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Terry Chea)
August 28, 2023, 6:31 am
Can you roll on Shabbos? San Francisco rabbis on the robotaxis flooding city streets
New technology is taking us into uncharted territory in Jewish law – but opinions are mixed on whether added mobility will bring communities closer or drive them apart
By Maya Mirsky
Illustrative. Charging an electric car. (Scharfsinn86 via iStock by Getty Images)
July 28, 2023, 6:48 am
Conservative rabbis endorse use of electric cars on Shabbat, still divided on driving
Just 10 members of the movement’s 25-rabbi Committee on Jewish Law and Standards were in favor and 6 voted against, 5 rabbis abstained, 4 did not attend
By Jackie Hajdenberg
Shas MK Michael Malchieli reacts during a meeting of the Arrangements Committee at the Knesset, in Jerusalem, on June 9, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
July 17, 2023, 7:33 pm
Bill seeks to strengthen rabbinical courts’ jurisdiction over child support
Opposition lawmakers say draft amendment compromises women’s position and is part of a slide toward theocracy
By Canaan Lidor
File: Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau (L) and Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef convene an emergency meeting against a new proposal to overhaul the conversion to Judaism system, on June 3, 2018. (Courtesy of the Chief Rabbinate spokesperson)
May 25, 2023, 9:41 am
As demand for Orthodox Jewish conversion soars, the number of successful cases dips
The government’s protracted process is not appealing to most of the half-million Israelis who are not recognized as Jewish by the Rabbinate
By Canaan Lidor
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