search
rabbinical courts
A ledger From Bergen-Belsen's Rabbinical Court for 'chained' spouses in wake of the Holocaust (Kedem Auction House)
December 3, 2019, 5:35 pm
Sale of Bergen-Belsen ledger of eyewitness accounts of Jewish deaths put on hold
Association of survivors of Nazi camp had denounced planned auction as ‘trade in the Holocaust,’ saying documents don’t belong in private hands
By Marcy Oster
The Rabbinical Court in Tel Aviv on August 03, 2017 (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)
June 1, 2019, 11:37 am
Tel Aviv rabbinical court uses loophole to allow divorced woman to marry a kohen
Though Jewish law says a divorced women can’t marry descendant of priestly class, advocacy organization helps void woman’s first wedding, finding that the witnesses were related
By Cnaan Liphshiz
Yeshivat Torah HaChaim head Rabbi Shmuel Tal gives a sermon on December 27, 2018. (Screen capture/Youtube)
May 30, 2019, 10:15 pm
Top rabbi blows lid off rabbinic scandal, rocking national religious public
Shmuel Eliyahu accuses spiritual leader Shmuel Tal of having inappropriate relationships with female followers, justifying them by claiming ‘holy spirit’ was revealed to him
By Jacob Magid
View of the rabbinical court in Tel Aviv on August 3, 2017. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)
April 17, 2019, 11:45 pm
Rabbinical court rejects man’s Jewishness, 23 years after approving his sister’s
ITIM organization protests decision in letter to chief rabbi, says judge rejected Beit Din of America letter attesting to man’s religion
By Marissa Newman
Illustrative. (iStock)
April 4, 2019, 9:35 am
Jerusalem woman finally gets Jewish divorce after husband fired from job, jailed
With help from legal aid center, Ilana, an immigrant from India, is granted a ‘get’ after sanctions by rabbinical court
By Marcy Oster
Illustrative: A man stands outside the Jerusalem Rabbinical Court. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
November 27, 2018, 5:32 pm
Rabbinic court awards custody to father suspected of sexually abusing his kids
Attorney for mother says judges gave no reason for ruling, which Rabbinical Courts Administration says was made ‘in accordance with the well-being of the children’
By TOI staff
Illustrative wedding photo. (JTA)
October 3, 2018, 4:36 pm
In rare move, rabbinical court sanctions woman for refusing divorce
Haifa teacher placed on leave by Education Ministry, barred from leaving country, has driver’s license suspended; court threatens to release her name, have her jailed
By Marissa Newman
View from the halls of the Rabbinical Court's Division for Agunot (literally, chained women), Jerusalem, September 17, 2017 (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)
August 6, 2018, 4:00 am
For first time, Israeli rabbinic court appoints woman to senior position
The naming of Shira Ben-Eli as a judicial assistant comes nearly two years after a lawsuit calling for equality in Jewish religious courts, particularly for non-rabbinic positions
By JTA
Illustrative: A Jewish couple getting married. (Justin Oberman/Creative Commons)
June 25, 2018, 9:49 pm
Non-Israeli ‘chained’ women can now pursue divorce in Israel
Knesset passes 3-year law giving rabbinical courts international jurisdiction and sanction power over Jewish divorce-refusers, under certain conditions
By Marissa Newman
Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi David Lau (center) and Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef (right) attend a meeting of the Rabbinate Council in Jerusalem in November 2014. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
May 30, 2018, 5:52 pm
Diaspora rabbinical judges could have to take exams to get Chief Rabbinate’s OK
State-run religious authority releases proposed guidelines for recognition of Orthodox rabbinical courts abroad; activists slam ‘unprecedented power grab’
By Marissa Newman
Venice's chief rabbi, Scialom Bahbout (YouTube screenshot)
May 28, 2018, 10:04 pm
Venice’s chief rabbi takes row with Israeli Rabbinate to Knesset
Scialom Bahbout protests Chief Rabbinate’s refusal to recognize his conversions, says argument ‘nearby’ rabbinical courts in Rome, Milan are sufficient doesn’t hold water
By Marissa Newman
Illustrative: A Jewish couple getting married. (Justin Oberman/Creative Commons)
May 10, 2018, 6:10 am
To ‘unchain’ Jewish women, rabbinate could extend reach across borders
Amid heavy criticism, Knesset debates bill to grant Israel’s rabbinical courts oversight of Jewish divorce cases, including for those wed in civil unions
By Marissa Newman
Illustrative: A Jewish couple stand underneath the 'chuppah' during their wedding in a synagogue in Paris, France, July 21, 2013. (Serge Attal/Flash90/via JTA)
March 16, 2018, 1:25 pm
New Israeli bill would punish Jewish foreigners with ‘chained’ wives
Move comes at behest of European rabbis looking to punish husbands who refuse to grant divorces; ‘Today among Jews in Europe, everyone has relatives in Israel’
By JTA
Yesh Atid MK Aliza Lavie at the Knesset, February 13, 2018. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
March 5, 2018, 11:44 pm
Bill allowing aid to non-citizen ‘chained’ women passes first reading
Legislation would enable rabbinical courts to sanction non-Israeli Jewish men who refuse to grant their wives a divorce
By TOI staff
Jeffrey Saks
November 15, 2017, 2:41 pm
Jeffrey Saks
Divorce: Achilles’ heel of Jewish law
Why my town of Efrat is actively protesting a local get-refuser
Load More
Join us!
A message from the Editor of Times of Israel
David Horovitz

For as little as $6 a month, you can help support our independent journalism — and enjoy an ADS-FREE experience, as well as special benefits and status as a Times of Israel Community member!

Read more

The Times of Israel covers one of the most complicated, and contentious, parts of the world. Determined to keep readers fully informed and enable them to form and flesh out their own opinions, The Times of Israel has gradually established itself as the leading source of independent and fair-minded journalism on Israel, the region and the Jewish world.

We've achieved this by investing ever-greater resources in our journalism while keeping all of the content on our site free.

Unlike many other news sites, we have not put up a paywall. But we would like to invite readers who can afford to do so, and for whom The Times of Israel has become important, to help support our journalism by joining The Times of Israel Community.

So join now - and for as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel website ADS FREE on desktop and mobile, as well as special benefits and status as a Times of Israel Community member.

* The ADS-FREE experience will still show sponsored content. It will become available on the TOI smartphone app in the near future.

Join the times of israel community Join our community Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this