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Israeli Rabbinate threatens to strike if forced to train women

High Court to hear a petition from Israeli feminist groups later this month

July 7, 2020 08:10
Israel's Sephardi chief rabbi Yitzhak Yosef
1 min read

The Chief Rabbinate of Israel is threatening to go on strike if the High Court compels it to provide rabbinical training to women, a statement said last week.

The rabbinate said that it would stop administering exams to ordain state-authorised rabbis.

The move followed Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit’s statement to the High Court that the state was seeking to have women take the same ordination exams as men.

The Attorney General’s announcement formed part of a response to a petition by a coalition of feminist groups, including the Jewish Life Advocacy Group, Bar-Ilan’s Rackan Centre for Advancement of the Status of Women, and Orthodox feminist organisation Kolech.