In a 2009 photo, A yoetzet halachah, or Jewish legal counselor, answers a hotline for women with questions relating to Jewish laws on sex and intimacy. (Courtesy Nishmat)

(JTA) —  In a first, Israel will pay 21 women to be advisers on Jewish law in the Orthodox community, a concept that has spread in the United States but that Israel’s Orthodox establishment has resisted.

Matan Kahana, the deputy religious services minister, said in a release Thursday he will hire the women for “communities across Israel” this year.

Women advisers on halacha, or Jewish law, have flourished in recent years in the United States, where there has been a demand among women for counseling on issues considered too sensitive to bring to a male rabbi.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

The rabbinic establishment in Israel has resisted the concept, saying that certification may be seen as a form of ordination, which is prohibited for women across almost all of Orthodoxy. Polling in Israel has nonetheless shown that there is a demand for the service among Orthodox women, and the institute founded by Rabbi Yehuda Herzl Henkin, who died last year, and his wife Chana to train and certify “Yoatzot Halacha” is based in Jerusalem.

Kahana has become known for his efforts to accommodate non-Orthodox and more liberal Orthodox Jewish practices, and has come under fire from extremists for doing so.

This article originally appeared on JTA.org.

The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.

Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.

Readers like you make it all possible. We’ve started our Passover Fundraising Drive, and we need 1,800 readers like you to step up to support the Forward by April 21. Members of the Forward board are even matching the first 1,000 gifts, up to $70,000.

This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism, because every dollar goes twice as far.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

2X match on all Passover gifts!

$90 → $180 $180 → $360

$360 → $720

Other amount