https://hiddush.org/subchannel-26-0-NonOrthodox_Conversion.aspx This is an RSS update from channel Non-Orthodox Conversion on Hiddush website Wed, 13 May 2026 22:19:23 GMT He-il https://hiddush.org/article-23586-0-“Who_is_a_Jew”_is_Back.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-23586-0-“Who_is_a_Jew”_is_Back.aspx Thu, 01 Dec 2022 22:10:00 GMT In recent days, there have been reports in the media from the coalition negotiation rooms that the Likud has accepted the demand of the ultra-Orthodox parties to change the law in a way that will prevent those who converted in Israel outside the Chief Rabbinate from receiving recognition as Jews, even at the civil level. This is not only a change to a long-standing ruling recognizing Reform and Conservative conversions in Israel, but also a step that is directed against Modern Orthodox conversions from the past few years, which are aimed at facilitating conversions of immigrants from the former Soviet Union. https://hiddush.org/article-23492-0-Only_40_support_leaving_conversion_under_Chief_Rabbinate.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-23492-0-Only_40_support_leaving_conversion_under_Chief_Rabbinate.aspx Tue, 18 May 2021 18:35:00 GMT In honor of the Jewish festival of Shavuot, Hiddush - for Freedom of Religion and Equality commissioned a public opinion survey to examine the attitudes of Israel’s adult Jewish public on the matter of conversion. https://hiddush.org/article-23479-0-The_Court_conversion_ruling_and_the_elections.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-23479-0-The_Court_conversion_ruling_and_the_elections.aspx Thu, 18 Mar 2021 02:40:00 GMT Non-Orthodox conversion and the Supreme Court are playing a key role in these elections, especially in the election propaganda of the ultra-Orthodox parties. https://hiddush.org/article-23473-0-What_they_said_about_the_landmark_Court_ruling.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-23473-0-What_they_said_about_the_landmark_Court_ruling.aspx Thu, 04 Mar 2021 23:06:00 GMT The Supreme Court was kind to Israel in issuing its ruling this week on the matter of the eligibility under the Law of Return for Reform and Conservative Conversions performed in Israel. Opponents of recognizing non-Orthodox converts rushed to condemn the Court and criticize it for not waiting another few weeks or months, after having waited 15 years, until after the next Knesset elections. However, the truth is that the ruling is of great importance in helping the public decide whom to vote for and what direction it wants the State of Israel to grow. It wasn’t the the verdict itself, which is important, but rather the violent [verbal] reactions , not yet physical] that erupted from the very moment it was published and the political demarcations that divide the responding camps. https://hiddush.org/article-23472-0-The_friend_of_my_enemy_is_my_enemy.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-23472-0-The_friend_of_my_enemy_is_my_enemy.aspx Thu, 04 Mar 2021 16:04:00 GMT Most people are familiar with the expression “the enemy of my enemy is my friend” – it dates back to the 4th century BCE, and one compelling example of its relevance is the case of the USSR partnering with the Western European nations and United States to defeat the Nazis. A more recent compelling example is the increasing closeness of the Gulf States to Israel, as Iran, a common enemy, threatens them both. https://hiddush.org/article-23449-0-A_FourWay_Circus_–_the_Conversion_Battle.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-23449-0-A_FourWay_Circus_–_the_Conversion_Battle.aspx Thu, 26 Nov 2020 20:55:00 GMT By Monday, the State Attorney’s Office is required to update the Supreme Court as to where the government is with regard to the “Who is a Jew?” issue in the context of a number of pending cases that have been before the Supreme Court for many years. https://hiddush.org/article-23437-0-Messing_with_the_Law_of_Return_again.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-23437-0-Messing_with_the_Law_of_Return_again.aspx Thu, 27 Aug 2020 20:55:00 GMT MK Smotrich's bill seeks to limit the horizons of Judaism and close the gates of conversion to the largest Jewish denominations of the Diaspora https://hiddush.org/article-23417-0-The_“Who_is_a_Jew”_War_is_Back.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-23417-0-The_“Who_is_a_Jew”_War_is_Back.aspx Thu, 18 Jun 2020 18:58:00 GMT Join us for two upcoming webinars on the “Who is a Jew” saga, which is returning to center political and legal stage. https://hiddush.org/article-23371-0-6_out_of_7_Israeli_immigrants_not_recognized_as_Jews.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-23371-0-6_out_of_7_Israeli_immigrants_not_recognized_as_Jews.aspx Mon, 23 Dec 2019 13:19:00 GMT 6 out of 7 immigrants to Israel in recent years - are not considered Jews according to Halacha (Jewish religious law). These data come from the Population and Immigration Authority’s response to Hiddush’s Freedom of Information Act request. https://hiddush.org/article-23254-0-IDF_Draft_controversy_renews_pressure_to_muzzle_the_Supreme_Court.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-23254-0-IDF_Draft_controversy_renews_pressure_to_muzzle_the_Supreme_Court.aspx Tue, 19 Jun 2018 02:31:00 GMT As many who follow Israel's political life know, cries of "wolf, wolf!" foretelling of the government’s imminent collapse are common. Two such crises are on the horizon now. https://hiddush.org/article-23251-0-The_Lesson_For_Diaspora_Jews_In_Israel’s_Deplorable_Conversion_Law.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-23251-0-The_Lesson_For_Diaspora_Jews_In_Israel’s_Deplorable_Conversion_Law.aspx Tue, 05 Jun 2018 11:11:00 GMT The best that can be said about the proposed State Conversion Bill is that it is destined to be thrown away into the waste bin that Israeli politics has designated for the recommendations of committees appointed mostly to put out political fires. The proposal is not only a slap in the face, disguised with a smile, to the non-Orthodox streams, but it also angers the ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) politicians. https://hiddush.org/article-23243-0-Inching_closer_to_the_next_Who_is_a_Jew_explosion.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-23243-0-Inching_closer_to_the_next_Who_is_a_Jew_explosion.aspx Thu, 24 May 2018 10:59:00 GMT This week, additional information leaked as to the nature of Moshe Nissim's recommendations regarding a new conversion bill. As our readers may remember, Moshe Nissim was appointed by PM Netanyahu to do damage control after Diaspora Jewry’s uproar last June when the government ceded to the demands of the ultra-Orthodox parties to pass a conversion bill aimed at preempting a pluralistic Supreme Court ruling in a pending case. This bill would further entrench the Orthodox monopoly over conversions performed in Israel. https://hiddush.org/article-23160-0-Conversion_compromise_postponed__again.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-23160-0-Conversion_compromise_postponed__again.aspx Tue, 19 Dec 2017 09:16:00 GMT Efforts to draft a compromise agreement between the Haredi political parties and the Reform and Conservative movements in Israel over the issue of Jewish conversion will not be finished before a six-month deadline arrives at the end of this month. https://hiddush.org/article-19132-0-Netanyahu_taps_exjustice_minister_to_review_conversion_policy.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-19132-0-Netanyahu_taps_exjustice_minister_to_review_conversion_policy.aspx Thu, 17 Aug 2017 12:27:00 GMT Moshe Nissim, 82, a former chief rabbi’s son, will work to ensure ‘Jewish unity’ in studying controversial bill https://hiddush.org/article-17131-0-Labor_Party_Chairman_Accept_Reform_Conversions.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-17131-0-Labor_Party_Chairman_Accept_Reform_Conversions.aspx Wed, 26 Jul 2017 21:05:00 GMT Newly elected Labor Party Chairman Avi Gabbay has come out strongly in favor of religious freedom on issues ranging from education, to public transportation on Shabbat, and to marriage & divorce. More recently, he's expressed support for the official state recognition of Reform conversions. https://hiddush.org/article-17123-0-Twothirds_Israelis_oppose_government_Kotel_and_Conversion_decisions.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-17123-0-Twothirds_Israelis_oppose_government_Kotel_and_Conversion_decisions.aspx Thu, 29 Jun 2017 11:03:00 GMT These Hiddush survey findings prove how far the government has swerved away from the public will and the needs of the State of Israel. Instead, the government leaders act as puppets whose strings are being pulled by the anti-Zionist, ultra-Orthodox political parties. https://hiddush.org/article-17115-0-Don’t_undermine_Jewish_unity__the_State_Conversion_in_Israel_bill.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-17115-0-Don’t_undermine_Jewish_unity__the_State_Conversion_in_Israel_bill.aspx Thu, 01 Jun 2017 20:01:00 GMT Minister Arye Deri’s is obsessed with eradicating any state recognition of Reform and Conservative Judaism in Israel. Now he’s submitted the “State Conversion in Israel” bill, which would for the first time legislate the exclusive authority of the state-established rabbinic bodies over conversion. https://hiddush.org/article-16929-0-Ritual_Bath_Law_passes_Jewish_Agency_plays_Haredi_parties_game.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-16929-0-Ritual_Bath_Law_passes_Jewish_Agency_plays_Haredi_parties_game.aspx Thu, 28 Jul 2016 13:10:00 GMT The discriminatory Ritual Bath bill proposed by MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni and his colleagues, which will ban the non-Orthodox movements from using Israel's publicly funded mikva'ot for conversion ceremonies was formally passed into law on Monday night, July 25. https://hiddush.org/article-16926-0-An_open_letter_to_Natan_Sharansky.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-16926-0-An_open_letter_to_Natan_Sharansky.aspx Sat, 16 Jul 2016 09:56:00 GMT Mr. Sharansky, you praised the rabbinate for “connecting the Jewish state with Judaism.” Sadly, you are wrong, for the monopolistic and coercive rabbinate is alienating Israeli Jews from Judaism. https://hiddush.org/article-16916-0-62_support_right_of_nonOrthodox_converts_to_use_mikvaot.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-16916-0-62_support_right_of_nonOrthodox_converts_to_use_mikvaot.aspx Tue, 28 Jun 2016 12:48:00 GMT 86% of Israel's secular Jewish population support this right, but 91% of the ultra-Orthodox population is opposed. Hiddush VP Shahar Ilan: "This Knesset vote was nothing less than spitting in the face of world Jewry. The best way to predict the Government Coalition's course of action on matters of religion and state is to poll the Israeli public and assume that the Coalition will do exactly the opposite." https://hiddush.org/article-16913-0-Israels_ritual_bath_controversy.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-16913-0-Israels_ritual_bath_controversy.aspx Thu, 16 Jun 2016 20:00:00 GMT Unsurprisingly, though extremely disappointingly, MK Gafni's partners in the Coalition Government have all bowed to his demands, and are supporting his legislative initiative to undo the landmark Supreme Court ruling on mikva'ot. https://hiddush.org/article-16907-0-Politics_casts_shadow_over_encouraging_legal_progress__public_opinion.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-16907-0-Politics_casts_shadow_over_encouraging_legal_progress__public_opinion.aspx Thu, 26 May 2016 09:07:00 GMT Hiddush derives encouragement from developments on the fronts of public opinion and the legal arena, but on the political scene, the news is more bleak than encouraging when it comes to issues of religious freedom & equality. https://hiddush.org/article-16844-0-Landmark_ruling_to_allow_nonOrthodox_converts_access_to_all_mikva’ot.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-16844-0-Landmark_ruling_to_allow_nonOrthodox_converts_access_to_all_mikva’ot.aspx Tue, 23 Feb 2016 09:01:00 GMT A new front, far more vicious and perilous, has emerged. The Chief Rabbinate and ultra-Orthodox politicians are gearing up to prevent the implementation of this ruling to further undermine the Supreme Court and demonize the non-Orthodox movements. https://hiddush.org/article-15754-0-2015_Religion__State_Index__support_for_religious_freedom_rises.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-15754-0-2015_Religion__State_Index__support_for_religious_freedom_rises.aspx Wed, 16 Sep 2015 14:05:00 GMT The good news, illuminated by the 2015 Israel Religion & State Index, is the continually increasing Israeli public support for freedom of religion and equality of burden. The bad news is the gaping divide between the public’s will on matters of religion and state and the Government’s coalition agreements. https://hiddush.org/article-15748-0-Revealing_interview_with_Chief_Rabbi_David_Lau.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-15748-0-Revealing_interview_with_Chief_Rabbi_David_Lau.aspx Tue, 08 Sep 2015 13:29:00 GMT Chief Rabbi David Lau reminds us once again why the mindset of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate is so misguided and objectionable. His manipulative approach is rejected throughout the Jewish diaspora and nowhere throughout the democratic Jewish communities would such “logic” hold water. https://hiddush.org/article-15744-0-Analysis_of_Israelis_from_the_Former_Soviet_Union.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-15744-0-Analysis_of_Israelis_from_the_Former_Soviet_Union.aspx Tue, 18 Aug 2015 22:41:00 GMT The graphs below show the opinions held by FSU olim in Israel, as compared to the general, Jewish Israeli public. It should go without saying that this demographic is the most adversely affected by the Orthodox Rabbinate's monopolistic powers, and there is no way one could envisage the successful absorption of the FSU immigrant population into Israel society if these issues are not resolved - first and foremost, the right to marry freely! https://hiddush.org/article-2552-0-Rescuing_Israels_relationship_with_world_Jewry.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-2552-0-Rescuing_Israels_relationship_with_world_Jewry.aspx Thu, 03 Oct 2013 12:55:00 GMT In light of the Prime Minister's Office's announcement of a $300 million plan to engage Diaspora youth, Rabbi Uri Regev points to the crucial factor missing out in this relationship: freedom of religion and equality. https://hiddush.org/article-2389-0-The_Joke_of_Israel’s_Civil_Partnership_Law.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-2389-0-The_Joke_of_Israel’s_Civil_Partnership_Law.aspx Mon, 16 Jul 2012 12:19:00 GMT Fewer than 1.5 couples register with the Civil Partnership registrar each month according to statistics the Ministry of Justice released to Hiddush. Hiddush President Rabbi Uri Regev: “The time has come for Yisrael Beiteinu to realize its mistake and demand the passage of a real Civil Marriage law.” https://hiddush.org/article-2366-0-The_Rabbi_Miri_Gold_Case_Demystified_.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-2366-0-The_Rabbi_Miri_Gold_Case_Demystified_.aspx Thu, 07 Jun 2012 14:44:00 GMT In this major achievment of Israel's move toward recognition of non-Orthodox rabbis, we must be careful to address challenges posed, and the road ahead. https://hiddush.org/article-2346-0-MK_Eichler_Reform_Jews_worse_than_Arabs.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-2346-0-MK_Eichler_Reform_Jews_worse_than_Arabs.aspx Mon, 05 Mar 2012 09:19:00 GMT Hiddush CEO, Rabbi Uri Regev: Eichler’s behavior reveals the sad truth of the ultra-Orthodox parties in the Israeli Knesset is deep hatred of the other, simply because they are other. https://hiddush.org/article-2217-0-The_Haredi_Establishment_Versus_Ruth_the_Moabite.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-2217-0-The_Haredi_Establishment_Versus_Ruth_the_Moabite.aspx Tue, 07 Jun 2011 08:16:00 GMT If Ruth the Moabite were alive today, no court in Israel would be able to let her convert, and King David would never have been born. The haredi establishment constitutes an almost impenetrable barrier on the road to Judaism, and its hand is very light on the trigger when it comes to overturning conversions. The time has come to dismantle the haredi monopoly. https://hiddush.org/article-2221-0-A_Free_Market_for_Beliefs.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-2221-0-A_Free_Market_for_Beliefs.aspx Wed, 01 Jun 2011 09:44:00 GMT A Hiddush program for privatizing religious services and eliminating the monopoly on them. https://hiddush.org/article-2242-0-Court_grants_nonOrthodox_conversions.aspx https://hiddush.org/article-2242-0-Court_grants_nonOrthodox_conversions.aspx Tue, 31 May 2005 13:50:00 GMT Supreme Court approves several local Reform and Conservative conversions; case marks first time local non-Orthodox converts granted citizenship