Modern Orthodoxy scored a rare victory in Israel on Monday as the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the Chief Rabbinate must allow women to take rabbinic exams alongside men, ending a six-year legal saga.

The ruling does not mean that the Chief Rabbinate will begin recognizing female rabbis, but they will be permitted to receive the same credentials for the purposes of employment. 

“We just wanted equal. Whatever the men get [from the exams, which] gives them economic benefit and social benefits, we want the women to have the same economic benefits and social benefits. That was our goal,” Rabbi Seth Farber, the head of the Israeli religion nonprofit Itim — one of the three organizations behind the petition — told eJP this morning. The religious women’s group Kolech and Bar-Ilan University’s Ruth and Emanuel Rackman Center for the Advancement of Women’s Status also backed the petition.

The petition, which was filed in 2019, hinged on the fact that rabbinic exams are used as a qualification for certain positions or pay increases in the public sector. For example, a civil service position may require a candidate to have either a bachelor’s degree or to have passed the state rabbinic exams. By denying women the right to sit for the exams, the state was effectively discriminating against them financially, the court ruled unanimously.

“I have come to the realization that preventing women… from the opportunity of taking the examinations that are held by the Chief Rabbinate amounts to forbidden discrimination, which does not have sufficient justification, or even justification whatsoever,” according to Justice Noam Solberg, who wrote the ruling. “Without any practical alternatives — I see no alternative… Therefore, we rule that the Chief Rabbinate must allow women to take its examinations.” In the ruling, Solberg noted that the court had given the state years to develop an alternative, equal solution.

Farber said that while the petition specifically dealt with six women who were demonstrably serious scholars and were unable to take the rabbinate’s exams, the ramifications were far wider. “It’s not only about the six women, it’s about the field and enabling the field [of female scholarship] to grow,” he said.

Under the previous Israeli government, a number of steps were taken by then-Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana to advance the status of women in the Israeli state religious framework, among other reforms. This included naming a number of women to head local religious councils. There was also an attempt to create an alternative rabbinic examination in 2022 through the Religious Services Ministry instead of the Chief Rabbinate, which Farber at the time described as akin to the Welfare Ministry offering a driving test instead of the Transportation Ministry. Since this government was sworn in, the current Religious Services Minister Michael Malchieli, of the Sephardi Haredi Shas part, has rolled back those changes.

The Israeli Chief Rabbinate, which adheres to an Orthodox interpretation of Jewish law, does not recognize female rabbis or non-Orthodox ordinations. Under Israeli law, there is no civil marriage — though some workarounds have been found — and, as all religious marriages must go through the Chief Rabbinate, it is illegal for non-Orthodox rabbis to perform marriages, though this is largely unenforced. 

In the ruling, Solberg acknowledged the significance of the decision as part of the wider debate within Judaism, particularly Orthodox Jewry, about the role of women. “In this petition before us, we can see another expression of this trend, of women who are asking to take part in ‘the toil of Torah,’ that ‘anyone who wishes to partake may come and partake,’” he wrote, quoting the Talmudict tract Avot deRabbi Natan.

Farber noted the significance of the fact that the ruling was written by Solberg, who is generally seen as connected to the Israeli right. “This is an important statement from the State of Israel and the Supreme Court, especially from a conservative judge,” he said.

The Chief Rabbinate has yet to comment on the ruling as of Tuesday. The decision was met with opposition in the Haredi press. The Yated Ne’eman newspaper, which is affiliated with the United Torah Judaism party, included the ruling on its front page with the headline “The judicial authority against the Torah: Forcing rabbinic examinations for women.”

Farber said it is not yet clear how the Chief Rabbinate will react to the ruling, if it will indeed allow women to take the examination or find a legal maneuver to circumvent the court’s decision.

In the meantime, Itim is looking to register women for the next possible exams. 

“Exams are supposed to be given in Av, but the registration for this is already closed,” Farber said, referring to the upcoming Hebrew month. “I told the staff, ‘Go figure out when the next exams are in Tishrei [the Hebrew month starting on Sept. 23], and get the women signed up because the registration is open.’ And on the registration, it asks you, ‘Are you male or female?’ And the women will say they’re female, and we’ll see what happens.”