Rabbinate

Chief Rabbinate Council sets new financial range for ketubahs

The new range aims to prevent grooms from pledging sums they cannot pay while preserving a meaningful minimum that provides wives with genuine financial protection.

 The groom hugs the bride from behind, the bride holds a wedding bouquet. (illustrative)
The Supreme Court convenes to maintain the freeze on the law limiting enforcement against haredi (ultra-Orthodox) draft dodgers, July 28, 2026.

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

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


Utah’s online weddings doesn't solve the Israel Rabbinate problem - opinion

Israel has become a world leader in Zoom weddings performed by the State of Utah. Out of all applicants, 5,316 are Israeli, comprising one-third of applications from outside the United States.

Marriage

An installation in Pennsylvania marks a milestone in the journey of Orthodox women rabbinic leaders

Orthodox women break the glass ceiling by leading their own congregations.

 Yeshivat Maharat students attend a graduation ceremony in New York, June 17, 2019.

Breaking the mold: A historic opportunity for the chief rabbis to revitalize Judaism - opinion

The continued erosion of trust in the rabbinate risks polarizing and marginalizing Judaism within Israeli society even further. The new chief rabbis have a historic opportunity to reverse this trend.

 PRESIDENT ISAAC HERZOG sits with the incoming chief rabbis, Ashkenazi Rabbi Kalman Ber (right) and Sephardic Rabbi David Yosef, at their swearing-in ceremony at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem earlier this month.

Rabbi Kalman Bar appointed new Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi

The elections for Chief Rabbi are conducted by a 150-member statutory electoral body. The final tally was 77-58 in favor of Bar.

 Rabbi Kalman Bar

Israelis seek alternatives to Chief Rabbinate as elections approach - opinion

The Rabbinate’s establishment's reputation is at a historic low, as elections for the leadership of the Chief Rabbinate in Israel approach.

 A WEDDING is conducted by Chuppot Rabbi Chuck Davidson.

Israelis want civil marriage, to break rabbinic monopoly in new Tu B'Av poll

When asked which way they would like their children to marry, assuming all options were available, only 50% of Israeli Jews chose an Orthodox marriage.

 Ten Israeli couples with a member serving in the IDF taking part in a mass wedding ceremony part of Chabad of Savyon’s “Marrying the Warriors”, in Tel Aviv Port, March 5, 2024.

Navigating rabbinical ordination and leadership in Israel’s modern context - opinion

After completing the rigorous process for rabbinical ordination, I faced an unexpected hurdle due to the lack of a chief rabbi in Israel. Here's my journey.

 The writer meets with President Isaac Herzog, then serving as Jewish Agency chairman, in 2020, holding a discussion on the subject of rabbinic heritage.

This Jerusalem beit midrash ordains women as Orthodox rabbis

Rabbi Herzl Hefter, dean of Beit Midrash Har’el, ordains both men and women as Orthodox rabbis – and says that the Torah ‘has to be real.’

 RABBI HERZL Hefter: ‘If the Torah can’t be in the world in a real way, then it has failed.’

Arye Deri and his party threaten Israeli democracy - comment

The Broad Perspective: It is a good thing that this rabbis bill was shot down. I don’t typically give Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu much credit, so this is a special occasion.

 ARYE DERI, head of the Shas Party, leads a faction meeting in the Knesset this week.

Without a plan from the government, IDF gains in Gaza will be lost - opinion

The Israeli public, and indeed the world, deserve to hear a plan that goes beyond military tactics and addresses the big question – where do we go from here? 

 SMOKE RISES following Israeli strikes in Rafah. While the government could get the IDF to drag out the operation in Rafah for an extra week or two, it won’t be able to do that for long, the writer argues.