In a landmark decision, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that mikvahs in the country must open up to non-Orthodox conversion rites.
Until now, Israeli mikvahs have denied access for conversion immersions to Reform and Conservative converts. Israel’s mikvahs are run by Israel’s Religious Services Ministry, which operates in lockstep with the Orthodox-dominated Israeli Chief Rabbinate.
The Feb. 11 ruling, based on a case brought in Beersheva, forces all of Israel’s public mikvah ritual baths to allow access to groups wishing to perform non-Orthodox conversions.
“I think this is one of the most important constitutional rulings by the Supreme Court,” said Gilad Kariv, the president of Israel’s Reform movement.
Kariv said he believes the ruling will help the non-Orthodox movements score victories in other areas related to religious discrimination in Israel, such as lack of public funding for non-Orthodox streams of Judaism and restricted access to other public religious facilities by non-Orthodox Jews, clergy and institutions. — jta