The rabbi, Miri Gold, submitted her petition via The Center for Pluralism, the Reform community’s legal arm in Israel. The Kibbutz also sponsored the petition.
Gold contends that Israel practices a form of religious discrimination by not accepting Reform rabbis into the Rabbinate. “The Jewish liberal public is blatantly discriminated against. This is not just a case of religious discrimination, but one of gender discrimination as well,” reads Gold’s petition. Reform rabbis can be both male and female.
Gold has lived on Kibbutz Gezer for 30 years and leads a congreation in the village. She claims she provides its members with religious services. She wants to get paid by the state like her orthodox counterparts. “I want the job of [community] rabbi so the town can choose the rabbi it wants,” she said.
The Reform movement orignated in German and was imported into the United States by German Jewish immigrants in the late 19th century. The movement practices a non-halakhic form of Judaism. While Reform has a large number of adherents in the United States, the movement has a relatively small following in Israel.
The movement was originally ideologically opposed to a Jewish State, but many of its members now identify with Zionism.
Gold contends that Israel practices a form of religious discrimination by not accepting Reform rabbis into the Rabbinate. “The Jewish liberal public is blatantly discriminated against. This is not just a case of religious discrimination, but one of gender discrimination as well,” reads Gold’s petition. Reform rabbis can be both male and female.
Gold has lived on Kibbutz Gezer for 30 years and leads a congreation in the village. She claims she provides its members with religious services. She wants to get paid by the state like her orthodox counterparts. “I want the job of [community] rabbi so the town can choose the rabbi it wants,” she said.
The Reform movement orignated in German and was imported into the United States by German Jewish immigrants in the late 19th century. The movement practices a non-halakhic form of Judaism. While Reform has a large number of adherents in the United States, the movement has a relatively small following in Israel.
The movement was originally ideologically opposed to a Jewish State, but many of its members now identify with Zionism.