Chief Rabbinate opens state rabbinical exams to women after High Court ruling
Historic court-backed move ends years-long ban, opening key state-recognised religious qualifications to women
The Chief Rabbinate of Israel has opened registration for its rabbinical certification exams to women for the first time, following a series of High Court of Justice rulings that found the long-standing exclusion to be unlawful discrimination.
Registration opened this week and will remain open until the end of February, with the first exams scheduled to take place after Passover. Women will be permitted to sit the same certification tracks as men under the Rabbinate’s existing examination framework.
The move marks the implementation of a unanimous High Court ruling delivered in July, which held that women could not be barred from the Rabbinate’s exams because of the tangible civil and professional consequences attached to the certificates. The judgment was authored by Deputy Chief Justice Noam Sohlberg.
The court ruled that the exams are not merely internal religious rites but function as state-recognised credentials, particularly within the public sector, where first-tier certification is treated in some cases as equivalent to an academic degree for eligibility and salary purposes.
That practical role, the justices said, meant the Rabbinate could not rely on claims of exclusive religious autonomy to justify exclusion.
For several months, no new exam dates were set as legal proceedings continued over whether women would be allowed access to the testing track, affecting thousands of candidates. In October, the Rabbinate sought a rehearing and attempted to limit women’s participation to certain subject areas, a move critics described as an effort to dilute the ruling.
That request was rejected in November by Supreme Court President Isaac Amit, clearing the way for full implementation.
The petition was brought by six women together with ITIM, the Rackman Centre and Kolech – the Religious Women’s Forum – after previous attempts to establish alternative certification frameworks outside the Rabbinate failed to address the discrimination.
In its response to the opening of registration, ITIM described the development as a historic milestone.
“The women… believe deeply in the justice of their cause,” the organisation said. “This is a historic event by any measure, and we are moved and proud to have led this effort, enabling women who love Torah study and certification. This is a development that is good for Torah, good for Israeli society, and good for the future of Jewish life in Israel.”
The Rabbinate has said a professional committee is examining broader reforms to the examination system. For now, however, women will be able to register for and take the same exams administered by the Rabbinate’s examinations unit, including Yoreh Yoreh and additional tracks linked to neighbourhood, local, regional and city rabbinic certification.
The decision brings to an end a legal battle that has reshaped the boundary between religious authority and state-backed certification, with implications for gender equality across Israel’s religious institutions.
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