Yair Ettinger

Ruling comes in response to request by Minister Limor Livnat, who heads a committee on how to keep women from being shunted away from the public domain.

Descendents of the Baba Sali known for working miracles - which seem to include accumulating bills and coins – top the list.

Panel says conversions by the state rabbinical courts are preferred.

Prior to the signing of the agreement with Tzohar several days ago, the Chief Rabbinate limited the authority of rabbis to perform weddings.

Official suggests Haredi families be given discounts on municipality tax school fees and housing only after the parents prove they have made efforts to find work.

Religious Services Minister Yaakov Margi responds to announcement that Israel is prepared to recognize Reform, Conservative rabbis; MK Shelly Yacimovich, Rabbi Julie Schonfeld and Gerald Skolnik also respond.

State to support salaries of non-Orthodox rabbis; 'rabbis of non-Orthodox communities' will not have authority over religious and halakhic matters.

Avraham Sherman, blasted for calling into question thousands of conversions, insists he staved off a catastrophe for the Jewish people.

Reform will significantly expand the ability of Tzohar rabbis to perform weddings.

Some 62,000 attend mass rally calling for kosher web; spokesman says event aimed at learning how to use the Internet responsibly.

Marchers attack three left-wing protesters trying to document the flag procession; police clash with hundreds of the Palestinian protesters near Damascus Gate.

Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar appointed Rabbi Yifrah to the post despite receiving complaints had prompted him to remove the rabbi from the list of candidates for the Great Rabbinical Court.

Party chairman Eli Yishai says will not send representative to committee headed by Kadima MK Yohanan Plesner, accusing it of putting on a 'populist' show.

Netanyahu may not need the Haredi parties for his coalition, but he is unlikely to propose mandatory conscription for yeshiva students.

Shas is a middle-sized faction with 11 MKs in a coalition of 94, and United Torah Judaism’s situation is worse. Even without the Haredi faction, Netanyahu is left with 78 votes in the plenum.

Golden Dawn party wins 7 percent of the country's popular vote - twice the minimum threshold level required to send representatives to parliament.

Local burial society to invest NIS 10 million in the Cemetery for the Jews of Jaffa, with the aim of turning it into a tourism site.

The Haredi parties may well find themselves in the opposition after the upcoming election. They hope to use 'enemies' like Yair Lapid and Avigdor Lieberman to unify the camp.

Former Shas wonder boy and ex-con expected to unveil new party next week, after the Knesset officially moves up Israel's elections to September 4.

At launch event for his new political party, Yesh Atid, Lapid unveils a plan that he says could save the state billions of shekels, while integrating ultra-Orthodox Israelis into the army, welfare sector, and workforce.

The prospect of elections later this year has Likudniks thrilled, Kadima supporters anxious, and Yair Lapid volunteers flocking by the thousands.

Religious groups come out in favor of the High Court decision that affirmed thousands of conversions previously in danger of being overturned.

Decision comes after petition was filed by two Israeli women whose conversions were retroactively overturned by rabbinical courts, 15 years after the conversions had been recognized by the state.

Rabbi Meir Porush until recently a MK of the United Torah Judaism party, celebrates as Israel morns its fallen.

Rabbi Baruch Shochat is known for his openness to art and culture, and encourages his followers to take an interest in art and archaelogy.