Rabbinate

The rabbinate as an extra-territorial entity - opinion

The rabbinical courts operate according to their own internal rules, with virtually no external oversight.

REPRESENTATIVES OF the Chief Rabbinate of Israel cross Jaffa Street in Jerusalem as they deliver a kosher certificate to a local restaurant.
People walk past a projection depicting Israeli and US flags on the walls of Jerusalem's Old City on Oct. 22, 2025.

Rabbinic diplomacy between Israel and US explored in new exhibition

Newly elected Tel Aviv-Jaffa Chief Rabbi Zevadia Cohen, April 26, 2026.

Shas-backed Zevadia Cohen elected Tel Aviv chief rabbi after High Court delays, political battle

A ‘MOHEL’ holds a scalpel as he performs a circumcision

Third complaint filed against man suspected of causing infant's death after circumcision


Woman denied divorce by rabbinate: 'I don’t want to be Michal Sela'

For some women in Israel today divorce seems like an impossible reality, as religious and legal barriers stretch before them every step of the way. One organization seems determined to change that.

MAVOI SATUM, together with several organizations, demands solutions the Jerusalem Rabbinical Court on International Women's Day

Jerusalem Rabbinate requires beards in job application for inspectors

In addition, the tenders did not state that the positions were open to women and neither were they written using both male and female language.

THE HEADQUARTERS of the Chief Rabbinate in Jerusalem, as seen here in 2013.

Cafe Kadosh moves to Tzohar kashrut after ‘illogical’ demands of rabbinate

Cafe Kadosh, located in downtown Jerusalem, decided to leave their Jerusalem rabbinate supervision earlier this year following demands that the establishment put dairy labels on all display items.

Cafe Kadosh

Israeli state rabbi spreads racism in the name of Judaism - opinion

The rejection of Ethiopian-Israelis’ Jewish identities is antithetical to Israeli thinking of the past 40 years, including that of Israel’s leading rabbis.

AN ISRAELI ETHIOPIAN woman prays during a ceremony marking the holiday of Sigd, in Jerusalem in 2019.

Why is the rabbinate making words non-kosher?

Since when is the Rabbinate in the business of certifying words as kosher or not? Since when does the Rabbinate employ mashgiachei milim (word supervisors)?


Chief Rabbi Lau to conversion judges: Ignore lies about you

"Do not heed to lies and false accusations that are being levied against you, ignore them. Your judgment is from above."

Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi David Lau.

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.