Religious Services Minister Naftali Bennett (Habayit Hayehudi) and his deputy, Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan, on Sunday announced the launch of a dramatic reform to the procedure of obtaining marriage licenses. The new reform will make obtaining a marriage license easier and aims to make regional religious councils more efficient. The first step in the reform will be to adopt the proposed "Tzohar Law," which allows couples to register for marriage anywhere in Israel, as opposed to being restricted to the rabbinate only in the city of their residence, and bound by the protocols laid out by that district's chief rabbi. The Religious Services Ministry hopes that the reform will prompt competition between the rabbinates, which earn 600 shekels ($164) for each license they grant, and thus improve the service provided to couples. "The religious councils will provide the best possible service, and will no longer have a captive audience. These are brave moves, which haven't been attempted in this arena for decades. The Religious Services Ministry will make religious services friendly to all citizens, and the reform will bring every Jew closer to the traditions of his grandparents," Ben-Dahan said. "We are revolutionizing [the religious services industry] -- a revolution like the one in the ports, only times three. This is a historic change -- the idea is to make religious services more accessible, to provide an opportunity [for Israelis] to get closer to God, to bring the Israeli people closer to Judaism. This is not a change in Judaism, but in the services surrounding the religion," Bennett said. Ministry officials maintain that the reform will be implemented in the coming weeks. One significant change will be the reduction of the number of regional religious councils -- currently there are 133, and the new plan calls for a reduction to 80, which in turn will save the state a significant sum of money. One ministry official stated that the money saved will be returned to the public in the form of improved religious services in those cities. The ministry also intends to change the election process of religious council heads, to make appointments based on merit and not politics, and will form professional selection committees to carry out the elections. The Tzohar group praised the ministry's decision. "Our organization has been working for years alongside policy makers to open up new areas for marriage licensing. This [reform] is part of the organization's comprehensive plan that had been suggested to the Chief Rabbinate, and we hope that implementing the first stage of the plan will lead to the implementation of the rest of the steps. The presented reform will make things easier for Israeli citizens and will lead to competition between marriage license offices, to the benefit of the people."
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שיתוף כתבה
Religious Services Ministry announces marriage reform
First step will be adopting the proposed "Tzohar Law," which allows couples to register for marriage anywhere in Israel, as opposed to being restricted to the rabbinate in the city of their residence • Bennett: We want to bring Israelis closer to God.