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Utah Weddings - Potential Breakthrough

Utah Weddings - Potential Breakthrough

In a precedent-setting decision, the Lod District Court ruled earlier this month that civil marriages performed via Zoom under foreign auspices for couples in Israel will be inscribed in Israel’s Population Registry.


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Assault religious freedom, assault democracy

Assault religious freedom, assault democracy

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.

So, who owns Judaism?

So, who owns Judaism?

MK Israel Eichler [United Torah Judaism] had this to say yesterday about the new Labor MK, Rabbi Gilad Kariv when the new MKs were sworn in and the new Knesset launched its anticipated stormy, possibly short lived, term. Kariv was, until recently, the Executive Director of the Israeli Reform Movement, and Eichler’s vitriol is not directed against him personally, but rather against all Judaism’s liberal streams:

A glimpse through the eyes of the English media

A glimpse through the eyes of the English media

There is not a day that the media in Israel does not deal with the meeting points Between the ultra-Orthodox and the secular, as well as between religion and politics in the context of the pandemic.

Agunah Day: For women in Israel, marriage is captivity

Agunah Day: For women in Israel, marriage is captivity

Dr. Susan Weiss, Esq., Executive Director of the Center for Women's Justice, writes a powerful article for 2019 International Agunah Day. In the spirit of the Book of Esther she challenges the common sense regarding agunot – Jewish women held, like Esther, in marital captivity.

"Israel is losing the Jewish people"

Former Israeli MFA Deputy Director General for North America, Baruch Bina, published an article in Hebrew titled ‘Israel is losing the Jewish people’. Hiddush shares some of its key assertions and observations in English here.

21 MKs responding to Pittsburgh - “Time for Equality”

21 MKs responding to Pittsburgh - “Time for Equality”

The MKs highlighted different aspects of the need to respond to the Pittsburgh massacre, not merely by identifying with the loss and pain of the Jewish community, not only by decrying growing anti-Semitic outbursts, but by changing Israel’s policies.

Israeli media speaks out for recognizing the streams

Israeli media speaks out for recognizing the streams

Anti-Semites don’t distinguish between Jews according to their denominations. That is a practice reserved for the Israeli government. Israeli media personalities and others have drawn conclusions from the massacre in Pittsburgh, which links this tragedy to Israel's religion-state policies.

Yom Kippur sermon 5778: Suite 117

Yom Kippur sermon 5778: Suite 117

The Israeli government’s decision to back out of its pledge to expand a non-Orthodox prayer space at the Western Wall, and ongoing discrimination against the Reform and Conservative movements, have brought to a head a crisis that has been brewing for decades. If not resolved, this crisis will destroy the relationship between the Jewish state and the Jewish people.

Rosh HaShana sermon 5778: Being a Good Jew

Rosh HaShana sermon 5778: Being a Good Jew

Most of us were born after the rise of a Jewish State, and can't imagine life otherwise. But some people consider it God's miracle.

The Bitter Taste of Victory - by Rabbi Pamela Frydman

The Bitter Taste of Victory - by Rabbi Pamela Frydman

On August 31st, the Israeli Supreme Court took up a matter brought by Hiddush, Women of the Wall and the Reform and Conservative Movements. The issue at hand is whether to require the government to adhere to, and implement, the Kotel agreement.

Comprehensive interview with Rabbi Shlomo Riskin in Israeli media

Comprehensive interview with Rabbi Shlomo Riskin in Israeli media

A recent detailed interview with Rabbi Shlomo Riskin appeared in the original Hebrew in Makor Rishon, with select paragraphs translated into English below.

A reflection for Pesach 2017

A reflection for Pesach 2017

We at Hiddush realize that we need to view the concept of freedom beyond simply delivery from slavery, and as we celebrate Passover this year, we are ever motivated to bring Israel more fully into a state of religious freedom and equality.

Sukkot 2016: Batya Kahana Dror, Esq.

Sukkot 2016: Batya Kahana Dror, Esq.

Batya Kahana Dror, Esq. writes, "Getting married via the Rabbinate is not fitting for all couples. Sometimes this clashes with their worldviews, and sometimes it creates bureaucratic difficulties in simply obtaining the Rabbinate's permission to marry at all. Divorcing through the Rabbinate is also more difficult."

Sukkot 2016: Rabbi Meir Azari

Sukkot 2016: Rabbi Meir Azari

Rabbi Meir Azari writes, "The recent years have seen a blossoming of Reform communities, Conservative, secular and the like, situated between what an Israeli would refer to as Orthodox and secular. Many are seeking a Jewish voice for good and equality."

Sukkot 2016: Tehila Friedman-Nachalon

Sukkot 2016: Tehila Friedman-Nachalon

Tehila Friedman-Nachalon writes, "The battles that Hiddush sees as battles for "religious freedom," I perceive as battles over the substance and understanding of the 'Jewish' in 'Jewish and democratic.'"

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