After nearly seven years of legal struggle, months of evasion of the Supreme Court ruling, and calculated delays — Israel’s Chief Rabbinate has announced that registration for halakhic examinations is now open to women as well. This is a first in the history of the State of Israel. It is a moment of historic victory, but also of vigilance: between joy at the breakthrough and concern over new barriers the Rabbinate may place before women.
In an op-ed published on the Hartman Institute website, Rabbanit Sarah Segal-Katz, one of the six petitioners who led the legal effort, welcomes the achievement but calls for close attention to the fine print. Among other things, she points to language in the Rabbinate’s announcement that may be laying the groundwork for new obstacles — such as refusing to grant certificates to women who pass the exams.
Rabbanit Segal-Katz traces the path from the absurd rejection in 2018, when she was told that “only a man can be tested on the laws of niddah,” through the filing of the petition to the ruling that enshrined a fundamental principle: in a democratic state, qualifications and knowledge are not contingent on gender. She calls on more women to register for the exams.
