search
Uri Regev
Conservative Jews praying at Robinson’s Arch in Jerusalem, July 30, 2014. (Robert Swift/ Flash90/ via JTA/ File)
September 7, 2018, 4:31 pm
Israelis want American Jewish help in promoting religious pluralism, study finds
Overwhelming numbers of Israelis want a reduction in religious restrictions imposed by the Orthodox state rabbinate, even as most prefer Orthodox practice
By Ben Sales
Members of Women of the Wall hold up a Torah scroll during a prayer service marking the first day of the Jewish month of Elul, on August 23, 2017, at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City. (AFP Photo/Menahem Kahana)
September 15, 2017, 7:05 pm
Mayim Bialik, Michael Douglas join call for religious freedom in Israel
Statement signed by dozens of rabbis, leaders and celebrities across religious spectrum urges Israeli reforms, including for civil marriage and gender equality at holy sites
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
Jewish men pray during the holiday of Tisha B'Av at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem, on August 1, 2017. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
August 22, 2017, 9:54 pm
US State Department slams Israeli stagnation on religious freedom reform
Annual report homes in on hot-button areas of Western Wall pluralism, conversion and who has the right to pray at the country’s holiest sites
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Illustrative image of an ultra-Orthodox Israeli contractor greeting a Palestinian construction worker as he and others wait on the Palestinian side of the checkpoint at the entrance to the West Bank settlement of Beitar Illit. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)
April 20, 2017, 6:32 pm
Reform and Conservative Judaism left out of new Israeli pluralism index
Survey of 1,300 Jewish and Arab Israelis is a window into seeds of coexistence, and lingering prejudice
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Approaching a year to the Israeli government's cabinet decision to create a pluralistic prayer pavilion at Jerusalem's Western Wall, the implementation is stymied in politics. (Amanda Borschel-Dan/Times of Israel)
January 13, 2017, 1:20 pm
With a spotlight on the Western Wall, is this Israel’s Reform moment?
In an increasingly exclusionary religious Israel, Modern Orthodox Israelis are joining forces with a flourishing Liberal Jewry. Approaching a year to the announcement of a pluralistic prayer pavilion, will this partnership see it built?
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Illustrative photo of a ritual bath attendant, a woman who checks that the immersion in the bath is kosher according to the Jewish tradition. (Hadas Parush/Flash 90)
June 22, 2016, 6:33 pm
In about-face, rabbinate says attendant not mandatory in ritual bath
In Israeli religious authorities’ allowing women to immerse in the mikveh in privacy, some see a possible recognition of other ways of expressing Judaism
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Illustrative wedding photo. (JTA)
June 2, 2016, 3:58 pm
In Ottoman holdover, Israel doubles down on marriage restrictions
Knesset upholds 2-year jail term for Jewish couples who don’t choose an approved rabbi to conduct their weddings
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Israel Supreme Court Chief Justice Miriam Naor (seated, center) during a court hearing, October 29, 2015. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
April 1, 2016, 4:05 pm
Will Supreme Court’s bite out of rabbinate monopoly be upheld?
In landmark ruling aimed to embrace diversity of the Jewish people, conversions outside auspices of Israel’s religious authority are to be acceptable for immigration status. But will this decision too be ‘castrated’ by a coalition of religious MKs?
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Is the cohesion of the Jewish people about to be lost in an administrative shuffle? (Broken Star of David
March 14, 2016, 4:04 pm
What happens when two Jews means two different peoplehoods?
The clash between much of the Diaspora and Israel over conversion and the question of ‘Who is a Jew?’ means the Jewish state now has two de facto classes of Jews. Where will it all end?
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Illustrative photo of a couple having a wedding picture taken at the Western Wall, in the Old City of Jerusalem, April 2011. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)
January 12, 2016, 3:44 pm
660,000 Israelis unable to get married here
Prohibitions on civil and non-Orthodox weddings block 364,000 immigrants, 284,000 gays and lesbians, 13,000 non-Orthodox converts to Judaism, Knesset caucus told
By TOI staff and JTA
As Modern Orthodox Israelis begin grassroots efforts pushing for the demonopolization of the rabbinate, change is in the air. (Falling dominoes image via Shutterstock)
December 27, 2015, 9:56 pm
Will Orthodox Israelis’ revolt against the chief rabbinate spur a domino effect?
An in-depth look at a year of shifting sands in the notorious historical status quo of religion and state in the Holy Land
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Lawyers Rabbi Uri Regev (far right) and Edna Meyrav with their client from Elad at a Supreme Court hearing in 2014. (courtesy Hiddush)
July 27, 2015, 3:20 pm
Who writes the law for the Land of Israel? Supreme Court case asks
An Orthodox family excommunicated by a religious court fights back with help from a Reform rabbi, in a battle over freedom of — or from — religion
By Amanda Borschel-Dan
Illustrative: A Reform wedding in Tel Aviv, not recognized by the rabbinate. (Serge Attal/Flash90)
June 22, 2015, 12:37 pm
Poll: Most Israelis want equal status for non-Orthodox rabbis
Some 71% disagree with president’s decision to nix bar mitzva celebration officiated by Conservative rabbi
By Tamar Pileggi
Shas leader MK Aryeh Deri (right) speaks with United Torah Judaism leader MK Yaakov Litzman (left) during the opening session of the 20th Knesset, March 31, 2015. (Nati Shohat/Flash90)
May 5, 2015, 9:11 pm
Ultra-Orthodox parties aim to roll back religious reform
Back in power, Haredi parties hope to revoke legislation on national service, conversions, and education
By Ben Sales
Load More