Religious Services Minister Michael Malkieli agreed to appoint ten women to the Chief Rabbinate Council following pressure from Zionist religious women’s organization, "Emunah," according to a statement on Thursday.
Yifat Sela, Chairwoman of Emunah, appealed to Malkieli on Wednesday to appoint ten women to the Electoral Assembly of the Chief Rabbinate.
The Minister has the authority to appoint ten new representatives to the Assembly, who can take part in the vote to elect the Chief Rabbis and the Chief Rabbinate Council.
The Electoral Assembly of the Chief Rabbinate elects both Chief Rabbis (Ashkenazi and Sephardi) and the Chief Rabbinate Council, which, among other things, helps interpret halacha, issues kosher certificates, and approves Rabbinical Judges.
The Council is composed of 15 members, ten elected representatives, split evenly between Ashkenazi and Sephardi, the four Chief Rabbis of Israel's major cities (Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Beersheba, and Haifa), plus one of the Chief Rabbis on a five-year rotational basis. At the same time, the other is head of the Great Rabbinical Court.
Women and the Rabbinate
Sela challenged the current composition of the Assembly, saying the lack of women undermined the authority of the Rabbinate.
She wrote to Malkieli, "In practice, the structure of representation found in the law is structured in a way that places female representation at a significant disadvantage. Both because of the relative minority of women as heads of large local authorities and because there is no female representation among the list of rabbis."
"Despite the fact that the Chief Rabbinate provides services for both genders in a variety of fields, some of which are even designated only for the female public, the Law of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel does not include a provision guaranteeing adequate representation for women in the Electoral Assembly," Emunah argued.
The 150 Assembly members are composed of 80 Rabbis, who are always men by virtue of their position, and 70 heads of local authorities and religious councils, of which few are women.
The Religious Services Minister has the authority to appoint up to ten representatives to the council, meaning that this year, all the appointees will be women.
The Israel Democracy Institute noted that in 2018, only five out of the 150 assembly members were women.
Sela thanked the minister for his choice to support him, saying, "I am hopeful that this will be the beginning of a binding tradition and another step to deepen the representation and involvement of women in the assembly that elects the Chief Rabbinate. The Emunah movement will continue to be the leading voice of women so that they receive adequate representation in all the centers of influence of Israeli society, and in particular in the public religious community in the State of Israel."