BICOM

Israel has agreed to recognise for the first time rabbis from non-Orthodox backgrounds and pay the wages of those serving communities. Until now, only the wages of Orthodox rabbis had been paid by the religious services ministry via local councils.

Non-Orthodox communities employing a rabbi had to pay them with funds raised through the payment of membership dues. It follows complaints that one strand of Judaism was being given preferential treatment over others in Israel.

In 2005, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court by Rabbi Miri Gold of Kibbutz Gezer and the Reform Movement in Israel, which demanded equal financing of non-Orthodox religious services. The Supreme Court recently asked Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein to reconsider the existing rules.

Weinstein agreed the State would recognise “a rabbi of a non-Orthodox community” and that they would be entitled to financial assistance equal to the wages paid to Orthodox rabbis.

The assistance will be paid via the regional councils by the ministry for culture and sport, rather than the ministry for religious services. The decision is currently limited to regional councils and farming communities, and does not extend to large cities. It was also written that those listed under the new title of “community leaders” will not have any authority over religious and halakhic (Jewish religious law) matters. So far, the State has committed to financially supporting 15 non-Orthodox rabbis.

The head of the Reform Movement, Rabbi Gilad Kariv, said the attorney general’s decision was “an important breakthrough in the efforts to advance freedom of religion in Israel”, Haaretz reported. “This is the first, but significant, step toward comparing the status of all streams of Judaism in Israel and we hope the state will indeed ensure the court’s commitments are fully applied,” he said.