Jerusalem – Israel’s Attorney General has announced that non-Orthodox rabbis serving their communities will receive state funding for the first time.
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Up to now the state has recognized and supported only Orthodox rabbis, leaving the more liberal clergy and their congregations without state funding.
The decision was in response to a 2005 appeal by the Reform movement for one of its rabbis, Miri Gold. She welcomed the decision in an interview on Army Radio Tuesday. “This is a historic move of justice in our country.” she said.
The Justice Ministry said religious councils could employ liberal rabbis, but they would be called “community leaders,” not rabbis.
Unlike in North America, the two liberal streams of Judaism in Israel are tiny compared to the stricter Orthodox.
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this is what happens when orthodox rabbis don’t behave. it makes us look bad and makes the other faith systems more attractive
more reason not to pay full taxes there.
Israel should have separation of “church” and state, just as we do here. If the Orthodox can’t influence the secular in any way except by forcing them, then what’s the point. Besides, why should Rabbis be employees of the State?
There is no reason that they shouldn’t get financial support since all Israelis pay taxes and should be allowed to rely upon any rav they choose. That doesn’t change the law regarding kiddushin and gets being handled al pi halahca only by Orthodox rabbonim.
I thought reform was opposed to rabbis being “state parasites” but it’s OK now that they are the parasites?
Time to support another State of Israel?
Good, now they can fund JforJ also
Is Israel is going to pay non-Orthodox “rabbis” who might not even be halakhically Jewish? I have no problem with Israel paying halakhically Jewish rabbis from the non-Orthodox movement, but only if they agree that a “Jew” is halakhically Jewish by matrilineal descent or by halakhic conversion, whether or not they claim the honorific “Rabbi”
Israel should try to be the Jewish homeland. Reform and conservative are not Judaism but aberrations of Judaism. We just finished the holiday of the giving of the Torah-reform and conservative do not recognize the Divine authority of the Torah and Jewish law as handed down through the generations.
A woman as a “rabbi” here and a gelt you can not enjoy there.
Funding and official status are big. Maybe it is time for the State to take a definite stand and stop trying to be all things to all people. It is time for Israeli leaders to understand the Jewish element in the State is not the product of a majority Jewish demographic but the soul of the country and should reflected both in its laws and their enforcement. After all because religion governs matters of personal status what makes Reform or Conservative more worthy of State funding than J for J particularly if one uses democratic values as one’s basis?
What a pile of RUBBISH!! WOMAN rabbi’s. Talk about WOMAN Rights totally out of control!! Moshe Rabbainu gave us the torah its 100’s of years old, You don’t like it that’s okay, STOP TRYING TO AMMEND IT.
FUND? the only thing I would do is hand them RE-FUNDS!! for the circus, which is exactly what they are turning our torah into!!
Next thing u know they will be requesting rights to write a sifria Torahs! What is the holy land coming to
In 1940 before the Nazi uprising the REFORMS Where warned by the Minchas Eluzer that there will be a price to pay for all those who don’t keep shabbos AND for those who take the torah into they’re own hands. The cost was a bitter 6 million!!! Playing with fire is hazardous! !! How many times we have fallen and still there r those who think they know better!!!!