Rabbinate

ITIM organization asks High Court to bar draft evaders from Rabbinate exam benefits

ITIM asked the High Court to bar men from using yeshiva study completed without regularized military status to qualify for Rabbinate certification.

The Supreme Court convenes to maintain the freeze on the law limiting enforcement against haredi (ultra-Orthodox) draft dodgers, July 28, 2026.
A Tzohar kashrut sticker in a window

High Court sets Tuesday deadline in Tzohar kashrut-license dispute

A Tzohar kashrut sticker in a window

Chief Rabbinate Council disputes Tzohar kashrut approval hours after authorization

KASHRUT CERTIFICATION at a Jerusalem eatery – will the rabbinate’s monopoly be broken?

What does the kashrut reform repeal mean, and could it raise food prices? - explainer


Convicted sex-offender Moti Elon relinquishes his rabbi title

"Elon was convicted of child sexual abuse, yet the Rabbinate steadfastly refused to remove his Rabbinic authority."

Rabbi Moti Elon 300

Agunas are 'strangled' in abusive marriages - so they protested

"The pain in my heart is deep as I remain in a state of perpetual waiting," said Rivka, 41, one of the women featured on the posters in the protest.

A poster illustrating the chained marriage of Rivka, 41, who has been refused divorce by her husband for 17 years, February 25, 2021.

Supermarket chain sued after chef’s Jewish status called into doubt

The Jewish status of a chef born in Ukraine and working in the ready food department of the Yochananof supermarket chain was challenged by the store’s kashrut supervisor due to his origin.

People waiting in line outside Yochananof supermarket in Jerusalem on April 7, 2020. The government ordered on a partial lockdown, in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The Israeli government's ploy to prevent marriages through consulates

This is not just an issue that concerns Israelis, for it also concerns Diaspora Jewry.

An illustrative photo of a Jewish wedding in front of the Mediterranean Sea.

High Court gives rabbinate 90 days for solution to women’s Halacha exams

The interim ruling comes following a petition by three NGOs to the court, which argued that women are discriminated against by the state since they cannot obtain the same qualifications as men.

High Court of Justice May 3, 2020

The 9th of Av, 1920, the promise of return and our responsibility

We, exactly 100 years later, who are undergoing our own extended tumultuous period of the Three Weeks of mourning, must remember how far historically the Jewish people have come

The western wall male side on Tisha B'av, 2018

It's time for Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef to step up or step down

The government needs to present Yosef with a choice – either help or get out of the way.

SEPHARDI CHIEF Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef

Chief rabbi patronizes women studying halacha, says Reform Judaism is fake

Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef casts aspersions on ability of women to learn advanced Jewish law, accuses women seeking state accreditation for Torah studies of ‘imitating Reform Judaism’

SEPHARDI CHIEF Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef

‘Aguna’ – a midcourse Jewish history correction

Anecdotes are not scientific research. But these and 100 others like them define the widely held communal paradigm regarding iggun. Let us extrapolate some views:

THE BUILDING of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel in Jerusalem.

Rabbis with knives between their teeth are needed

How is it possible the religious parties have failed to inspire the majority of Israelis to feel closer to Judaism and to foster a greater appreciation for the Jewish way of living?

THE RABBINATE High Court of Appeals, Jerusalem, 1959. From left: Rabbi Yaakov Ades, Rabbi Ovadia Hedaya and Rabbi Betzalel Zolty.