Rabbanit Sarah Segal-Katz, Rabbi Aaron Leibowitz, and Rabbi Chuck Davidson were interviewed by Chen Artzi Sror, sharing the initiative of establishing “Chuppot” for those seeking a halakhic wedding outside the framework of the Chief Rabbinate.
Quotes from the article:
In Chuppot, not only rabbis officiate weddings, but also women—morot halakha (female halakhic authorities), some of them experts in the laws of divorce (gittin) and marriage (kiddushin). “When I stand under the huppah with a couple, you can see the amazement in the eyes of the crowd,” says Rabbanit Sarah Segal-Katz. “Mostly because my appearance is religious and my manner of speaking is fully halakhic. Many people approach me afterward, moved by the moment. We can sense the wings of history beating here. And part of the wonder is that the more religious and halakhically knowledgeable a couple is, the more likely they are to ask for a woman to officiate their wedding. Awareness today has shifted.”
Segal-Katz also volunteers as a balanit (mikveh attendant) and serves as a bridal instructor, alongside her many other roles. “When I see injustice, I feel called to act. In accompanying women through intimate moments—immersion, marriage preparation, or a wedding ceremony—I can offer something more holistic, not bureaucratic. I seek to give women autonomy over their intimacy. I believe there is discrimination, upheld by the entanglement of religion and state, when women are barred from officiating weddings as rabbis. This struggle is one matter. At the same time, I am responding very directly to what the public is asking for. My authority as a halakhic teacher and communal leader comes from the community itself. Today I hear that voice as both the call of the hour and the voice of this generation. And I know that my place within the world of Torah and scholarship opens a door for others to feel at home within Jewish life.”
