Rabbis for Religious Freedom and Equality in Israel

A trans-denominational rabbinical network

Mikvaot

‘In Israel, the War of the Jews Over Pluralism and Religious Extremism Is Escalating’ by Rabbi Eric Yoffie, RRFEI Member

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Originally posted in Haaretz HERE Israel is at risk today less from the Palestinians than from the ominous and intensifying war of the Jews over pluralism, freedom of religion and religious extremism. In the last six months, Israel’s ultra-Orthodox parties have gone on an extremist rampage. They have infuriated Diaspora Jews in two ways: First, by blocking a compromise on … [Read more...] about ‘In Israel, the War of the Jews Over Pluralism and Religious Extremism Is Escalating’ by Rabbi Eric Yoffie, RRFEI Member

Updates on the Kotel agreement and the Supreme Court’s ruling on access to Israel’s public mikva’ot

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Since last week's bulletin, there have been a number of developments in the ultra-Orthodox political and rabbinical leadership's battle against the implementation of the Kotel agreement, as well as their battle against the Supreme Court's ruling to make Israel's public mikva'ot available for non-Orthodox conversion ceremonies. These developments reflect, in essence, an … [Read more...] about Updates on the Kotel agreement and the Supreme Court’s ruling on access to Israel’s public mikva’ot

Public opinion poll: only 63% of Israelis would abide by civil court rulings over religious edicts

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"In a situation when Jewish religious edicts were in conflict with civil court rulings, which would you follow?" Two weeks ago, the RRFEI bulletin [link] included an analysis of the Supreme Court landmark ruling on access for non-Orthodox converts to public mikva'ot, demonstrating that there is a lot more to this than first met the media's eyes. We … [Read more...] about Public opinion poll: only 63% of Israelis would abide by civil court rulings over religious edicts

The right of Jews to control our own religious lives

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The Chief Rabbinate under Rabbi David Lau has instructed all the public mikvahs in Israel to not permit any conversions from any movement [link in Hebrew], and in that manner to prevent Reform conversions to Judaism. This in the aftermath of the Israeli Supreme Court decision two weeks ago permitting conversions in public mikvahs by all of the streams equally. The Orthodox … [Read more...] about The right of Jews to control our own religious lives