rabbinical courts

January 11, 2021, 1:12 am

Amid virus crisis, lockdowns, Jewish Israelis saw drop in divorce rate in 2020

Rabbinical court reports number of case files opened also decreased compared to 2019, saying trend should be ‘welcomed’

By TOI staff

Israel's Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau at the Western Wall, in the Old City of Jerusalem, July 21, 2019. (Noam Revkin Fenton/Flash90)

September 12, 2020, 5:49 pm

AG’s office said to warn chief rabbi he risks contempt of court in graft affair

Rabbi David Lau has reportedly halted the work of a panel investigating corruption in religious trusts, in contravention of agreements with Supreme Court

By TOI staff

View of the rabbinical court in Tel Aviv on August 3, 2017. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)

June 7, 2020, 11:52 am

Man charged with setting off bombs in 6 religious courts

Zion Cohen accused of dressing as homeless person to set explosive charges in attempt to stop services to secular public, seeking to separate synagogue and state

By TOI staff

February 5, 2020, 2:33 pm

Infamous divorce refuser who fled Israel returns after 4 years, is arrested

Case of Oded Guez has set precedents, with state rabbinate publicizing his name to pressure him; after his 2016 escape under false identity, marriage was annulled in rare step

By Michael Bachner

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

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

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

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