Tagged Israeli rabbinate

Reform and Conservative leaders to Israeli president: We want equal rights

Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, left, met U.S. Jewish religious leaders, including Union for Reform Judaism President Rabbi Rick Jacobs, in New York, Dec. 11, 2015. (Courtesy of the Union for Reform Judaism)
December 11, 2015 / Uriel Heilman, JTA

NEW YORK (JTA) – It was all hugs and smiles when Israeli President Reuven Rivlin met Friday with leaders of America’s three main Jewish denominations at an event hosted by UJA-Federation of New York. But when it came time to speak, the Reform and Conservative leaders made clear they… Read more »

Targeting modern Orthodox rabbi, Israeli rabbinate draws battle line

Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, rabbi of the Jewish settlement of Efrat conducts the Pidyon HaBen ceremony for a 30-day-old first born son in Efrat, West Bank, May 25, 2015. (Gershon Elinson/Flash90)
May 28, 2015 / Ben Sales, JTA

TEL AVIV (JTA) — There’s no shortage of Israelis who want to reform the office of the Chief Rabbinate. Ranging from advocates of religion-state separation to leaders of Israel’s non-Orthodox movements to newspaper columnists, some want to end the Rabbinate’s monopoly over the country’s religious services; others want to dissolve… Read more »

Follow Israel’s lead on ending animal cruelty
November 11, 2013 / Jeffrey Cohan, JTA

(JTA) — Diaspora Jews often find themselves exasperated with the Israeli rabbinate. But on one significant issue, an Israeli rabbinic authority is looking far more enlightened and merciful than his peers in the United States. Recently elected Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau surprised more than a few people last… Read more »

New Haggadahs: Reform version, novelists’ take and Ethiopian flavor
March 16, 2012 / David A.M. Wilensky, JTA
Some new Haggadahs for this Passover: "Sharing the Journey," the "New American Haggadah" and "Journey to Freedom."

SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. (JTA) — Leading a Seder for the first time this year? There’s an app for that. Entries in the annual stream of new Haggadahs this year include a Reform version that comes in hardcover, paperback and iPad app editions. Two others  feature a gorgeously designed Haggadah… Read more »