Media and Press Mentions

Here you will find links to articles and news stories in media and press covering my activities, the projects I lead, and my areas of expertise – Halacha and feminism, entrepreneurship and culture. The links include mentions and coverage of news stories referring to me, whether through direct quotes or journalistic reporting.

Interview in Haaretz on the Rabbaniot Petition and Its Implications

"The Rabbinate exams aren't Halakhic, they're administrative." said Rabbanit Sarah Segal-Katz

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Op-Ed: the Months in Which Registration for the Chief Rabbinate Exams Have Been Blocked for All

Ahead of the activity week of Israeli Rabbinate, dedicated this year to the theme “Torah, Leadership, and Choice,” Rabbanit Sarah wrote about the frustrating reality of the past six months: it has simply been impossible—for both men and women—to register for the Halachic examinations of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. This situation began not long […]

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Article on the Supreme Court’s Final Ruling Against the Chief Rabbinate

Israel’s High Court rejected the Rabbinate’s request to reopen the case and reaffirmed: women must be allowed to take all rabbinical exams, without restriction.

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Chief Rabbinate Will Let Women Take Some Rabbinical Tests

Chief Rabbinate seeks a further HCJ hearing and a stay, while offering women only partial exam access. Rabbanit Sarah Segal-Katz urges full compliance.

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Rabbinate: Limited Women’s Access to Exams

Interview with Rabbanit Sarah Segal-Katz on the Rabbinate’s plan to open only two exams to women: “If women can sit some exams, why not the others?”

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Rabbinate Seeks Rehearing Despite HCJ Ruling

The Chief Rabbinate seeks a further hearing and stay of the ruling mandating women’s access to its exams, proposing a narrowed track; dispute continues.

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Report: On the Rabbinate’s Bid to Suspend and Rehear the HCJ Ruling

After the HCJ ordered the Chief Rabbinate to let women sit its exams, the Rabbinate seeks a further hearing and a stay. With responses from Atty. Yair Mivorach-Shaag, Atty. Dr. Elad Caplan, and Rabbanit Sarah Segal-Katz.

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Moses the Faithful Shepherd – Dvar Torah, Parashat Vayelech 5786

As Moses steps down, he blesses Joshua with courage. Read in the Ten Days of Repentance, Vayelech stirs us to choose wisely—between life and death, blessing and curse.

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Sky and Waters Between Us and Hope – Dvar Torah, Parashat Nitzavim 5785

Tracing nearness and distance—Torah not in heaven nor beyond the sea—reflecting on pain since Oct. 7 and on hope for renewal and healing.

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How Many Years Can Children’s Mockery Reverberate? – Dvar Torah Parashat Ki Teitzei, 5785

Biblical teachings on not ignoring suffering applied to social ostracism in schools, featuring poetry and the Kanfei Dror intervention method.

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Orphaned Children Below Bar/Bat Mitzvah Age: Parashat Shoftim, 5785

This article explores the gap between halakhic exemption of minors from mourning and their lived grief, proposing Jewish rituals for bereaved children—tragically urgent since October 7.

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Dvar Torah for Re’eh 5785

Dvar Torah on Parashat Re'eh 5785: Choosing between blessing and curse, Levinas' "difficult freedom," individual and collective responsibility.

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The Tablets and the Broken Tablets: Parashat Eikev 5775

Dvar Torah for Parashat Eikev 5785: On life alongside rupture, the connection between physical break and spiritual tear, and living with memory.

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New Blog in The Times of Israel

New English blog by Rabbanit Sarah Segal-Katz on The Times of Israel: weekly Torah portions, Jewish calendar, current events, social initiatives, and poetics.

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Religion News Service Report about the Rabbaniot Bagatz

Orthodox Jewish women say Israeli rabbinate exam ruling creates opportunities. JERUSALEM (RNS) — Once men and women take the same exam, ‘every community can decide for themselves what kind of teacher or leadership model they want,’ said Michelle Shelemay Dvir, a religious student at the Bradfield Institute.

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Hadassah Foundation report on Baggatz HaRabaniot

The Hadassah Foundation proudly celebrates Israeli women rabbis, Maharat graduates, who together with various organizations - Itim, the Rackman Center, and Kolech - won their Supreme Court petition for women's right to take halakhic examinations at the Rabbinate institution. The Foundation supports Yeshivat Maharat and the Rackman Center.

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Jerusalem Post article about the Rabbaniot Bagatz

Unanimous vote: Landmark verdict rules women can take Rabbinate exams. The women spent years studying the necessary halachot for the exam.

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Opinion on Supreme Court ruling as a step for women and gender equality

The opening of the rabbinate to women is not merely a legal matter. The ruling marks an important step, yet the path remains long—through rabbinical courts, religious councils, public offices, and all arenas where women are still excluded.

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Reflections on Yeshivat Maharat’s Semicha 2025

Blessings revealed: Reflections on Yeshivat Maharat’s Semicha 2025, by Rabba Sara Hurwitz, Co-Founder of Yeshivat Maharat.

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Article on the High Court Ruling Allowing Women to Take Rabbinic Exams

High Court: Women must be allowed to take Chief Rabbinate exams. A landmark ruling advancing equality and opening new professional and spiritual horizons

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Report on the Supreme Court ruling allowing women to sit for the Chief Rabbinate exams

The Supreme Court ruled that barring women from rabbinical exams constitutes unlawful discrimination. The decision is historic, even if it directly affects only a small number of women at this stage. Reported in Haaretz on the landmark ruling.

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Coverage of the Supreme Court Ruling: Women Allowed to Take Rabbinical Exams

Supreme Court allows women to take rabbinical exams, granting certificates equal to academic degrees with salary benefits for teachers of religious studies.

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Coverage of the landmark ruling granting women access to rabbinical exams

In a historic ruling, the Supreme Court determined that the Chief Rabbinate must allow women to sit for the rabbinical ordination exams under the same conditions as men. Hanan Greenwood reported on this victory in the petition filed in 2019 by the organization Itim, led by Rabbi Dr. Shaul Farber, together with six rabbanit petitioners […]

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Israel’s High Court orders rabbinical exams open to women

Israel’s High Court ruled women must be allowed to take rabbinical exams, The story was reported on Polskie Radio’s website.

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Dvar Torah for Parashat Beha’alotcha 5784: On the Yearning for Clarity Amid the Fog

How do we find words when words are kidnapped? Rabbanit Sarah Segal-Katz on yearning for clarity amid fog, choosing to let light grow from within

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Founding Conference of the Brit Emunim Initiative – A Study Day on Safety in Israeli Jewish Communities

The Brit Emunim Conference (June 2023) gathered rabbis, leaders, and professionals to address emotional and sexual safety in Israeli Jewish communities.

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Article in Preparation for the Brit Emunim Conference

The “Brit Emunim” initiative launched with a covenant for ethical leadership in faith communities, promoting safety and support for survivors.

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Purity’s dangers: A Research Article on Religion and Public Health

An ethnographic study of women’s mikva’ot during COVID-19, exploring the tension between Taharah (ritual purity), hygiene, and navigating halakha vs. health.

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Blog post on mikvah hygiene and women’s safety

Rabbi Shayna Abramson shares her Covid-19 mikvah experience, highlighting hygiene lapses, women’s safety, rabbinic duty, and government accountability.

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Between Religious Duty and Health Orders: Article on Mikvahs’ Exemption from Corona Regulations

"There's an encounter here between religion and state, science and halakha," says Rabbanit Sarah Segal-Katz in an interview with Haaretz about the crisis in mikvahs management during the coronavirus period

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Coverage of the petition filed by women rabbis to the High Court of Justice

In 2019, six women scholars of Halakha and three organizations petitioned Israel’s High Court, challenging the Rabbinate’s ban on women’s exams as unlawful discrimination.

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Jerusalem Post Report about Women’s Protest

Israel condemns violence against women in mass rally. Protesters got their say as 'The Jerusalem Post' visited the women's rally in Tel Aviv.

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An Evening of Piyyut with 929

At the Segal-Katz home, a 929 piyyut gathering brought together a diverse audience, seeking to bridge worlds through open, respectful, and meaningful dialogue.