Rabbinate in strike threat

V THE CHIEF Rabbinate of Israel is threatening to go on strike if the High Court compels it to provide rabbinical training to women.

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.

The coalition are not seeking for women to be ordained as rabbis, but simply that they can be trained and sit the exams. The groups claim that it would boost social mobility for women, secure higher paid work and apply for positions within the civil service that would otherwise be unattainable.

The High Court will hear the petition later this month.

The Chief Rabbinate of Israel said it was “not an institute for higher education” and that its role was “to certify rabbis”.