‘Israelis should stand up to Haredim’ By Itamar Eichner http://www.ynetnews.com February 17, 2012 Rabbi Julie Schonfeld, executive vice president of the International Rabbinical Assembly, the association of Conservative/Masorti rabbis: “Israel must have civil marriage. It must allow people to get married according to their own choice. Read More »

Ingathering and inclusion By Brian Lurie Opinion http://www.jpost.com February 18, 2012 Rabbi Brian Lurie is the incoming president of the New Israel Fund. But there are also other trends affecting the haredi community that need to be considered. More haredi women have entered the workplace. More haredim are going to college, more will join the army. Read More »

Jewish (officially) at last! By Gloria Deutsch http://www.jpost.com February 10, 2012 For Danielle Gossman-Vitory, the hardest part of aliya was proving she was Jewish enough to become an immigrant and, even more, Jewish enough to get married in Israel. Her parents had married in a Reform synagogue and had no valid ketuba (marriage certificate). Read More »

Students to challenge yeshiva tax exemption By Lior Dattel http://www.haaretz.com February 12, 2012 Activists from several student unions plan to submit an urgent High Court of Justice petition on Sunday against Interior Minister Eli Yishai’s plan to exempt yeshivas from property taxes. Read More »

‘Appoint non-Orthodox Jerusalem rabbi’ http://www.ynetnews.com January 31, 2012 The Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) petitioned the High Court of Justice on Sunday, demanding that it instruct the State to appoint a non-Orthodox rabbi in Jerusalem in a bid to end the alleged discrimination in religious services given to the capital’s residents. Read More »

Ex-Haredim to sue State for damages By Kobi Nahshoni http://www.ynetnews.com February 3, 2012 Will the State of Israel be forced to pay for missing core studies? Dozens of former ultra-Orthodox men and women are seeking to sue the State for damages they Read More »

Netanyahu: Knesset must find alternative to IDF deferment law By Jonathan Lis, Moti Bassok and Ophir Bar-Zohar http://www.haaretz. Read More »

A Jewish State: The Challenge of Haredim By Donniel Hartman Opinion http://www.hartman.org.il January 30, 2012 Israeli society needs to begin a new conversation, not merely with the haredim, but first and foremost with itself. Read More »

IDF Personnel Chief: All Israelis including ultra-Orthodox should serve in military By Jonathan Lis http://www.haaretz.com January 23, 2012 Head of the Israel Defense Forces’ personnel directorate Major-General Orna Barbibai : “There is no dispute that the challenging security reality demands that we enlist everyone into meaningful service,” Barbai said. Read More »

Lechery, Immodesty and the Talmud By Rabbi Dov Linzer http://www.nytimes.com January 19, 2012 DovLinzer , an Orthodox rabbi, is the dean of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School in the Riverdale section of the Bronx. Read More »

Israelis Facing a Seismic Rift Over Role of Women By Ethan Bronner and Isabel Kershner http://www.nytimes.com January 14, 2012 In other words, while rejecting the state, the ultra-Orthodox have survived by making deals with it. Read More »

Netanyahu to ratify Tal Law extension By Moran Azulay http://www.ynetnews.com January 16, 2012 The Israeli Forum for Equal Service condemned the cabinet’s intentions to once again extend the law and claimed that the law has failed. Read More »

Civil service formally bans gender segregation By Ophir Bar-Zohar http://www.haaretz.com January 5, 2012 The Civil Service Commission on Wednesday banned gender segregation at all government agencies and official events, as Israel ramps up its efforts to battle the separation of the sexes by some parts of the religious community. Read More »

Unorthodox thinking required By Anshel Pfeffer Opinion http://www.haaretz.com January 6, 2012 The Haredi leadership is even more narrow-minded and, out of concern for its own weakening hold on an increasingly independent-minded constituency, is emphasizing obscure chumrot under the bogus banners of modesty and purity as never before in Jewish history. Read More »

High Court petition: Stop exclusion of women in ads By Aviad Glickman http://www.ynetnews.com January 2, 2012 … Read More »

Ultra-Orthodox extremism is a reto growing reform in the community No stopping the flood By Yair Ettinger http://www.haaretz.com December 30, 2011 Are the rabbis – and the Sicarii – sensing dramatic internal changes within ultra-Orthodox society itself? … Read More »

Orthodox convert from US ordered to leave Israel By Jeremy Sharon http://www.jpost.com December 23, 2011 The Interior Ministry has rejected an application for permanent residency by an Orthodox convert, after the Chief Rabbinate informed the ministry it did not recognize her conversion. Read More »

Haifa Haredim at job fair: Leaving bubble is a must By Hila Weisberg http: //english.themarker.com December 21, 2011 Six hundred people turned out on Tuesday for an employment fair in Haifa targeting the Haredi community. Read More »

I won’t sit at the back of the bus By Tanya Rosenblit Opinion http://www.ynetnews.com December 18, 2011 Why is limiting the rights and freedom of someone else considered fair when it comes in the form of adhering to Jewish law demands? Since when does the Read More »

Mea Shearim elections disqualified after violence By Melanie Lidman http://www.jpost.com December 18, 2011 The Jerusalem Municipality was forced to disqualify the local election for community council in the ultra-Orthodox Mea She’arim neighborhood on Tuesday, after extremists stormed into the counting room and destroyed some of the ballots. Read More »