The Rabbinical Court is an Extraterritorial Court within the State
Israel’s rabbinical courts are funded by public money, hold power over the personal lives of millions — yet operate with zero transparency, zero female judges,
May 24, 2026
Israel’s rabbinical courts are funded by public money, hold power over the personal lives of millions — yet operate with zero transparency, zero female judges,
April 27, 2026 — a historic day in Israel and the Jewish world.For the first time ever, women were allowed to sit for the Chief
Last night (March 23rd, 2026), amid an ongoing war on multiple fronts, the Knesset voted and approved, in its second and third readings, the bill
Breakthrough: The Chief Rabbinate Opens Rabbinical Exams to Women. Following a High Court of Justice ruling, in response to a petition we filed at the
Israel’s Ministry of Welfare and Social Security now supports legislation to define domestic violence in Israeli law. In addition, the bill recognizes all forms of
Since 2015, the Rackman Center has promoted the Electronic Monitoring law. This law allows courts to track potentially violent partners. In 2020, we drafted the
Attorney Shelly Blat Zak, Director of the Rackman Center, was interviewed by Yael Goldman on Radio 102 FM about the Center’s recent activities. She described a challenging period on several levels: Family Law Legal Aid Line – The Center is receiving an increasing number of calls from women facing domestic
Following the approval of a bill to expand the authority of rabbinical courts over child support, Prof. Ruth Halperin-Kaddari spoke out. She stated: “It is time to regulate the entire issue of child support in Israel through organized legislation, but this is not the way to do it. Fifteen years
In July, the High Court of Justice ruled that women must be allowed to take rabbinical certification exams. The ruling followed a petition filed by the Rackman Center, Itim, Kolech, and individual petitioners Avital Engelberg, Shlomit Flint, Sara Segal-Katz, Rachel Keren, Michelle Cohen Farber, and Shlomit Piamenta. Despite the ruling,
The Rackman Center Faculty of Law has just opened the new academic year. We welcomed new students to the Legal Aid Clinic for Women in Family Matters. We also welcomed new interns to our program for emotional support of women going through divorce proceedings. Last week, we held an orientation
This week, a bill to expand the jurisdiction of rabbinical courts passed its first reading. According to Prof. Ruth Halperin-Kaddari, the bill creates a parallel halakhic legal system. She warns that this situation does not exist in any other democracy. As a result, the expansion has major consequences. Rabbinical courts
We opened the new year of activity with a festive event for our “Woman by Your Side” volunteers. For the first time, we brought together veteran Rackman Center volunteers, active since 2016, and volunteers from local authority programs launched in the past two years in Ramat Gan, Yehud, Harish, Be’er