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What does the Public think? (Hint: opposite to the position of the government!)

What does the Public think? (Hint: opposite to the position of the government!)

78% are opposed to the blanket exemption of the ultra-Orthodox yeshiva students


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How is this Passover different?

How is this Passover different?

The enslavement of the Israelites in Egypt is an important memory, but, on THIS holiday of freedom, no less important is our awareness of the ongoing battle for freedom of religion and conscience TODAY. Ironically, these are denied to people in Israel, especially to Jews!

Chief Rabbinate refuses to recognize Orthodox marriage

Chief Rabbinate refuses to recognize Orthodox marriage

Noam Oren and his wife married in a religious ceremony, but authorities refuse to recognize it due to their insistence on protecting each other from potential divorce refusal.

Chief Rabbinate once again seeks out Non-kosher Jews

Chief Rabbinate once again seeks out Non-kosher Jews

Rabbi Uri Regev was interviewed by the Israeli Russian language news portal “Detaly” on the matter of the Chief Rabbinate’s recently uncovered initiative to enshrine in law its right to compile a list of persons whose Jewish statuses are doubtful by its standards.

New polling reaffirms Hiddush finding.

New polling reaffirms Hiddush finding.

The January 2018 issue of the monthly Peace Index, published jointly by Tel Aviv University and the Israel Democracy Institute, touches upon key confrontation points along the spectrum of religion-state issues on the public's and political class's minds at this time.

Haredi city council lays down law on modesty, gender separation

Haredi city council lays down law on modesty, gender separation

An ultra-Orthodox municipality sent out a modesty rule book that prohibits men and women from traveling together or sitting near one another at work, rules out informal greetings such as “hello” and “goodbye,” and bans joking together or discussing issues not directly related to work.

Chief Rabbi Yosef rails against civil courts system

Chief Rabbi Yosef rails against civil courts system

Chief Rabbi Yosef says civilian courts are 'worse than gentiles' instances,' litigating before them is akin to 'kicking the Torah' and former chief justice Aharon Barak, who criticized a bill seeking to endow rabbinical courts with powers of arbitration in financial disputes, was a mere 'broken shard' to be cast away.

Rabbis are undermining the foundations of the State

Rabbis are undermining the foundations of the State

Yesterday, Defense Minister Liberman reacted to recent public pronouncements of leading Israeli rabbis from the "Zionist ultra-Orthodox" camp that were aimed against women's military service.

Highlights from the 2017 Israel Democracy Index

Highlights from the 2017 Israel Democracy Index

This week, the annual Israel Democracy Index was published by the Israel Democracy Institute, underlining that Israelis harbor deep distrust for their politicians, the media, and the Chief Rabbinate but are generally favorably inclined toward the courts and presidency.

New report sheds light on Haredim in Higher Education

New report sheds light on Haredim in Higher Education

A recent report by the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies in Israel sheds light on another important dimension of the official statistics on Haredim in Higher Education that are so frequently cited by government officials.

Religion & gender discrimination in Israel

Religion & gender discrimination in Israel

An important reaffirmation of Hiddush's assertion that addressing the challenge of religious freedom & equality requires a more comprehensive, systemic, proactive, and bold overhauling was published this month by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) in its sixth periodic report on Israel.

Religion & State was front and center at the 2017 General Assembly

Religion & State was front and center at the 2017 General Assembly

The religion-state stew is clearly boiling. This week, the General Assembly of the Jewish Federations of North America convened in Los Angeles, and these challenges were front and center.

Religious extremism emanating from Israel

Religious extremism emanating from Israel

Not content to exert their influence within the Haredi community, fundamentalist religious leaders and their sponsors have taken to attacking the Modern Orthodoxy community, which extols the virtues of Torah together with modernity and secular education.

What they say about non-Orthodox Jews

What they say about non-Orthodox Jews

Netanyahu told reporters in New York that the Reform and Conservative movements wanted to get recognition “via the backdoor, secretly, under the pretext of a technical clause of joint administration of the Western Wall.”

Former chief rabbi calls Reform Jews worse than Holocaust deniers

Former chief rabbi calls Reform Jews worse than Holocaust deniers

The chief rabbi of Jerusalem, Shlomo Amar, called Reform Jews worse than Holocaust deniers because they reject traditional Jewish law.

Justice Baron: Discriminatory laws should not be preserved indefinitely

Justice Baron: Discriminatory laws should not be preserved indefinitely

The High Court of Justice announced its ruling rejecting a petition submitted by same-sex couples to order the state to allow them and couples like them to marry in Israel. This came is no great surprise.

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