The Rabbinical courts are part of the Israeli legal system, which operates religious courts in parallel to the civil court system. The system, inherited from the previous British mandate system, grants religious courts jurisdiction over personal status matters such as marriage and divorce. Such courts exist for the recognized religious communities in Israel, including Muslim courts, Christian courts, and Jewish Rabbinical courts. These courts adjudicate personal status according to their respective religions,

Jewish law ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is based on biblical commandments ('' mit ...

in the case of Rabbinical courts. Heichal Shlomo Interiors IMG 7328

Structure

The body responsible for the rabbinical courts is the administration of the rabbinical courts. At the head of the rabbinical court system is the Great Rabbinical Court of Appeals in Jerusalem, headed by one of the two chief rabbis of Israel. Since 2013, the Great Rabbinical Court of Appeals is headed by Rabbi

David Lau David Baruch Lau (; born 13 January 1966) is an Israeli rabbi who served as the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 2013 to 2024. He previously served as the Chief Rabbi of Modi'in-Maccabim-Re'ut, Israel, and as the Chief Rabbi of Shoham. La ...

, who also serves as President of the Great Rabbinical Court. There are twelve local Rabbinical courts in Israel, in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

Ariel Ariel may refer to: Film and television *Ariel Award, a Mexican Academy of Film award * ''Ariel'' (film), a 1988 Finnish film by Aki Kaurismäki *, a Russian film directed by Yevgeni Kotov * ''ARIEL Visual'' and ''ARIEL Deluxe'', a 1989 and 1991 ...

Ashdod Ashdod (, ; , , or ; Philistine language, Philistine: , romanized: *''ʾašdūd'') is the List of Israeli cities, sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District (Israel), Southern District, it lies on the Mediterranean ...

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

Rehovot Rehovot (, / ) is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of . Etymology Israel Belkind, founder of the Bilu (movement), Bilu movement, proposed the name "Rehovot ...

Safed Safed (), also known as Tzfat (), is a city in the Northern District (Israel), Northern District of Israel. Located at an elevation of up to , Safed is the highest city in the Galilee and in Israel. Safed has been identified with (), a fortif ...

Petah Tikva Petah Tikva (, ), also spelt Petah Tiqwa and known informally as Em HaMoshavot (), is a city in the Central District (Israel), Central District of Israel, east of Tel Aviv. It was founded in 1878, mainly by Haredi Judaism, Haredi Jews of the Old Y ...

Netanya Netanya () () or Natanya (), is a city in the "Planet Bekasi" Central District (Israel), Setanyahu of Israel, Israel BAB ih, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is north of Tel Aviv, and south of Haifa, between the Poleg stre ...

Tiberias Tiberias ( ; , ; ) is a city on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in northern Israel. A major Jewish center during Late Antiquity, it has been considered since the 16th century one of Judaism's Four Holy Cities, along with Jerusalem, Heb ...

Ashqelon Ashkelon ( ; , ; ) or Ashqelon, is a coastal city in the Southern District of Israel on the Mediterranean coast, south of Tel Aviv, and north of the border with the Gaza Strip. The modern city is named after the ancient seaport of Ascalon, ...

and

Be'er Sheva Beersheba ( / ; ), officially Be'er-Sheva, is the largest city in the Negev desert of southern Israel. Often referred to as the "Capital of the Negev", it is the centre of the fourth-most populous metropolitan area in Israel, the eighth-most po ...

Jurisdiction

Civil marriage is not available under the laws of the

State of Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, and the Rabbinical courts are granted exclusive jurisdiction over the

marriage Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

of Jewish citizens. The non-religious aspects of divorce proceedings, such as child custody, child support, visitation rights and division of property can also proceed in civil courts. The courts also have jurisdiction over matters of

conversion Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''The Convert'', a 2023 film produced by Jump Film & Television and Brouhaha Entertainment * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * ...

to Judaism. In February 2023 a bill was proposed in the

Knesset The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel. The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...

to provide rabbinical courts with the same arbitration authority as civil arbitration, such that rabbinical courts could act as arbitrators in civil matters based on religious law if both parties so choose. According to the Bill, parties may elect to have their claims heard by the rabbinical courts instead of through the civil judiciary.

Criticism

Critics say that the Rabbinical courts are biased against women and lack any women judges, so their authority should not be expanded. Critics state that there are cases in which a husband may require the wife to consent in advance to using rabbinical courts in the event of a future divorce, preventing the wife's ability to use the civil system.

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Jewish courts and civil law Orthodox Judaism in Israel

Structure

Jurisdiction

Criticism

See also

References

External links