Israel’s High Court of Justice has ruled that women must be allowed to take the rabbinical certification exams. This was in response to a petition filed by the Rackman Center at the Faculty of Law at Bar-Ilan University, together with the Itim and Kolech organizations and petitioners – Avital Engelberg, Shlomit Flint, Sarah Segal-Katz, Rachel Keren, Michelle  Farber, and Shlomit Piamenta.

 

The ruling ends the discriminatory practice of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel that prohibited women from taking its halakhic knowledge exams. Success in these exams will enable women to compete for various positions in the private and public sectors, and is also significant regarding eligibility for a range of economic and employment benefits.

 

Prof. Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, head of the Rackman Center, said: “We welcome the courageous ruling of the Court that obligates the Chief Rabbinate of Israel to allow women to take the halakhic exams required for rabbinical certification. Finally, after six years of legal struggle against the Rabbinate, the High Court has mustered the courage to do the right thing. In his words, Justice Solberg states the obvious: “Preventing women who are ‘learned, righteous and wise’ from taking the exams set by the Chief Rabbinate constitutes forbidden discrimination.” This ruling represents a significant milestone in the struggle against the exclusion of women from leadership and guidance roles in Jewish religious life.”