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  • Civil Marriage – are we getting closer?
    Written by on 17/02/2022
    It's time to change direction; and, instead of illusions and creating friendlier-acting Orthodox substitutes for the Chief Rabbinate, Israel’s politicians should recognize that the real and only solution is turning the Declaration of Independence’s promises of freedom of religion and equality into constitutionally protected principles.

  • Depicting Israel's leadership as antisemitic villains
    Written by Uri Regev on 16/02/2022
    The Haredi politicians and media are still focused on posturing as innocent victims that are picked upon by antisemitic Jewish politicians like Avigdor Liberman, crooks like PM Naftali Bennett, and heretics bent on destroying Judaism like the Reform Movement, which masterminds many recent moves aimed at bullying “Torah-true” Jews.

  • 2021 Israel Democracy Index
    Written by on 27/01/2022
    The political system has largely lost its sensitivity to hypocrisy, hate speech and religious coercion. In the eyes of many of its leaders, buying the votes of the ultra-Orthodox parties justifies paying the price of surrendering to their demands, even knowing that they are hurting the country's economy, its security, and the freedom of religion promised by the Declaration of Independence.

  • Hiddush: Ultra-Orthodox leaders employing extortion by threats
    Written by on 06/01/2022
    On Tuesday, Hiddush filed a complaint against senior rabbis in ultra-Orthodox Judaism following their declaration that city rabbis who dare to act in accordance with the law after the adoption of a kashrut reform in the Knesset and certify food as kosher outside their city limits will have their kashrut certification banned everywhere, including in their own cities, and they will be considered as " having departed from the congregation of God and transgressing against the will of God." The declaration is signed by Rabbi Shalom Cohen, the spiritual leader of the Shas movement and Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky and Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, the leaders of the ultra-Orthodox-Lithuanian community.

  • Just when you thought it couldn’t get any lower…
    Written by Uri Regev on 06/01/2022
    Since Hiddush last newsletter, Israel was exposed to two new records in rudeness and hatefulness of expressions by Knesset members’, one from the Chairman of the Agudat Israel faction, Former Minister MK Rabbi Yaakov Litzman, and his colleague MK Rabbi Moshe Abutbul of Shas. The other was on the part of former Minister MK David Amsalem [Likud]. Litzman's statement from the Knesset podium was an expression of the growing frustration of the ultra-Orthodox leadership with the Government's policies and the presence and influence of MK Rabbi Gilad Kariv, Chairman of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee.

  • Haredi leaders employing extortion by threats
    Written by on 05/01/2022
    On Tuesday, Hiddush filed a complaint against senior rabbis in ultra-Orthodox Judaism following their declaration that city rabbis who dare to act in accordance with the law after the adoption of a kashrut reform in the Knesset and certify food as kosher outside their city limits will have their kashrut certification banned everywhere, including in their own cities, and they will be considered as " having departed from the congregation of God and transgressing against the will of God." The declaration is signed by Rabbi Shalom Cohen, the spiritual leader of the Shas movement and Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky and Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, the leaders of the ultra-Orthodox-Lithuanian community.

  • So, what transpired in 2021?
    Written by on 23/12/2021
    It has been a challenging year for the whole world and naturally for us at Hiddush as well, but as the year ends, we can look back with satisfaction and pride.

  • When we thought the discourse could not deteriorate further...
    Written by Uri Regev on 09/12/2021
    From the Knesset rostrum, MK Azoulay (Shas) launched a flurry of insults towards MK Rabbi Gilad Kariv, (Labor) and all attempts by the Speaker of the Knesset to stop his hysterical slur shouting were to no avail. Kariv, for his part, retorted that “This will not help you; and you will hear me many more times, whether that suits you or not.”

  • Court rules against rabbinical court judge for "Writ of Refusal"
    Written by on 09/12/2021
    Hiddush's legal advocacy continues, with its submission of a petition to the Supreme Court against the IDF for religiously coercing soldiers to keep kosher on Passover, as well as yet another petition on behalf of an Israeli couple married legally via videoconference in Utah County, Utah.

  • The discourse deteriorates even further
    Written by on 09/12/2021
    Tomorrow, on December 10, the world marks International Human Rights Day. Unfortunately, this day and the event it commemorates (the adoption by the UN of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December 1948) are not widely known in the US.

  • IDF forcing soldiers to keep kosher for Passover
    Written by on 25/11/2021
    Next week, Hiddush will submit a petition to the Supreme Court against the IDF, demanding that it change its regulations regarding its policy on chametz on Passover in army bases.

  • Assault religious freedom, assault democracy!
    Written by on 25/11/2021
    As we’ve written, the word "Reformers" has long since become a generic invective used by politicians and the ultra-Orthodox rabbinical establishment. In recent days, another example presented itself in the words of the leader of Agudat Israel in the Knesset, MK Rabbi Litzman.

  • Assault religious freedom, assault democracy
    Written by Uri Regev on 25/11/2021
    Half of Israel was up in arms earlier this week, when a tape from a political meeting held by Likud MK Dudi Amsalem leaked to the media. When you read the following selection of his outbursts, you will understand why the media and public reaction was so harsh.

  • Hiddush on the legal front
    Written by on 11/11/2021
    Hiddush continues its legal advocacy for religious freedom on multiple fronts, in addition to public opinion polling, making presentations at Knesset committees and fighting for religious freedom and equality in the court of public opinion.

  • Extremism and outright deceit
    Written by on 11/11/2021
    A picture is worth a thousand words. This photo, which was posted by the Women of the Wall, show the Chairwoman of WOW Anat Hoffman and its former director Lesley Sachs sitting on the ground and protecting the Torah scroll, which they intended on bringing into the women’s section of the Kotel so that their fellow worshippers could read from the Torah during this Rosh Chodesh service, which they have been holding, without fail, for over thirty years.

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