Israel's Religious Courts Under Fire

In "Analysis: Divorcing the rabbinical courts" ANSHEL PFEFFER makes a case that all sorts of Jews in Israel are "disengaging" from the rabbinate.

The appointment of 12 haredi dayanim by the Rabbinical Courts Appointments Committee on Monday, the decision of the Institute for Jewish Studies to stop sending its students to the special rabbinical conversion courts, and religious feminists' call to stop carrying out marriage ceremonies within the mainstream Orthodox framework are symptoms of the growing chasm between the rabbinic establishment and those who want a more flexible view....

In some liberal Orthodox circles, there is a growing feeling that it isn't worth fighting any longer for the appointment of Zionist rabbinical judges. The system can't be changed in any real way. Last week, veteran religious feminist Dr. Hanna Kehat told a conference that young women, especially secular ones, should be discouraged from getting married under the auspices of the rabbinate, because it puts them at the mercy of dayanim if they have to divorce. Her statement, which caused a minor uproar, was an early signal that even many religious Israelis with a basic commitment to Halacha are becoming so disillusioned with the rabbinate that they are willing to divorce from it.