A haredi Orthodox sect has pledged not to impose gender segregation in the streets of Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood. The Toldot Aharon Chasidic sect in discussions with the Jerusalem police and municipality agreed not to impose gender segregation, including using special ushers on the streets to maintain the segregation, Ynet reported. A safety fence will be erected to maintain order during the massive Simchat Beit Hashoeva celebration, however. Segregation on the streets of Mea Shearim and other …More

Israeli-British magician Uri Geller has endorsed Rabbi Shmuley Boteach as the next UK Chief Rabbi. Though current Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks won’t step down until next September, the race to name his successor has already begun. Geller penned an open letter in support of Boteach Tuesday. In the letter, Geller observes that Jewish faith in Britain is under a “sustained attack” from “the media, from political movements and from the self-destructive fashion for atheism.” Geller …More

Tanya Rosenbilt, the Israeli woman who made headlines last month when she refused to move to the back of a bus when told to do so by an ultra-Orthodox male passenger, said Wednesday that she has received death threats. Speaking before an inter-ministerial committee on the exclusion of women from the public domain, Rosenblit said that she received the threats by phone, email and Facebook. Rosenblit has even filed a complaint with the Yarkon District police. Committee member Minister Daniel Hershkowitz suggested …More

The Chief IDF rabbi pledged that he would not allow religious extremism to affect the women serving in the Israeli army, according to an Army Radio report Friday. Referring to the recent turmoil in Beit Shemesh, Rabbi Rafi Peretz wrote to IDF commanders to address the issue. "The same oversight that occurred in Beit Shemesh will not occur in the IDF," Peretz promised. Those "events were immoral, they go against the way of the IDF and its values, and are utterly opposed to the spirit of Judaism." The rabbi said …More

Israeli president Shimon Peres urged Israelis Tuesday to join the rally against ultra-Orthodox Jews imposing codes of conduct on women and girls in Beit Shemesh. "We are fighting for the soul of the nation and the essence of the state," Peres said during remarks to reporters at his official residence. Peres continued, "We saw yesterday how the officers fight for basic equality in Beit Shemesh on behalf of the entire country. If they value women so much, let them move to the other sidewalk. No one has the right to …More

The Israeli town of Beit Shemesh has become the epicenter of the battle over “modest” dress. This weekend, Channel 2 aired an expose, showing an 8-year-old Orthodox American girl afraid to walk to school because of the harassment she endured from men who felt her attire was not modest enough. The special brought the issue of gender segregation to the forefront of national discussion, with activists, news organizations and politicians scrambling to the defense of young Na’ama Margolese. Tsviki …More

Activists say gender segregation in Jerusalem is on the rise, in spite of efforts to combat it by the courts, government, and more liberal elements. Despite an Israeli court ruling outlawing enforced segregation on buses, voluntary segregation is still permitted, and often performed on public transportation. During Sukkot, temporary barriers were erected to divide the streets into gendered corridors even though they had been outlawed in previous years. With the blessing of their rabbis, male soldiers have walked …More

The High Court of Justice directed on Sunday that barriers separating the genders during Sukkot in Jerusalem’s Mea She’arim neighborhood must be taken down. Judges Dorit Beinish, Asher Grunis and Hanan Melcer ruled that the actions of an ultra-Orthodox minority were adversely affecting many residents of the neighborhood. This ruling comes as a response to a petition filed by Jerusalem City Councilwoman Rachel Azariah on Friday, demanding the enforcement of last year’s High Court verdict that …More