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Marissa Newman
Marissa Newman
Marissa Newman is The Times of Israel political correspondent.
Illustrative. A wedding. (Shutterstock via JTA)
June 28, 2018, 9:31 pm
Foreign Ministry video spotlights couples who wed outside rabbinate
Spokesperson says clip should not be read as endorsement of nuptials outside religious authority, which aren't recognized by State of Israel
By Marissa Newman and Raoul Wootliff
Illustrative: A Jewish couple getting married. (Justin Oberman/Creative Commons)
June 25, 2018, 9:49 pm
Non-Israeli ‘chained’ women can now pursue divorce in Israel
Knesset passes 3-year law giving rabbinical courts international jurisdiction and sanction power over Jewish divorce-refusers, under certain conditions
By Marissa Newman
Likud Minister Zeev Elkin (L) and Moshe Leon in the Knesset on March 26, 2015. (Yonatan Sindel/FLASH90)
June 7, 2018, 6:55 am
Could the Haredim snatch Jerusalem mayorship from sparring Likud hawks?
Minister Elkin's looming battle with Moshe Lion, an associate of Liberman and Deri, could leave field wide open in capital's October race
By Marissa Newman
A private rabbinical court dissolves the marriage of Tzviya Gorodetsky (Courtesy of the Center for Women's Justice/Rachel Stomel)
June 5, 2018, 3:18 pm
In rare move, private rabbinical court sets ‘chained’ woman free after 23 years
'Tzviya Gorodetsky has suffered enough,' says ruling by panel headed by Rabbi Daniel Sperber, dissolving nuptials; decision unrecognized by rabbinate
By Marissa Newman
Israel's chief rabbis convene an emergency meeting with religious Zionist rabbis against a proposal to overhaul the conversion to Judaism system in the country on June 3, 2018 (Courtesy of the Chief Rabbinate)
June 3, 2018, 3:10 pm
Chief rabbis urge Netanyahu to ‘bury’ bill reforming conversion system
Interior minister vows to block proposed amendments giving official recognition to Reform, Conservative conversions abroad
By Marissa Newman and Stuart Winer
The Ma'asiyahu Prison complex in Ramle, near Tel Aviv. (Courtesy/Israel Prisons Service)
May 31, 2018, 6:17 pm
Haredi inmates to get prison-issued hats and jackets after minister steps in
Prisons had enforced ban on ultra-Orthodox civilian garb during prayers for fear of jailbreaks; Sephardic chief rabbi, Shas minister had protested move
By Marissa Newman
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (center), along with the IDF's then-chief education officer Brig. Gen. Eli Schermeister (right), and several participants in the army's Nativ conversion course on December 15, 2010. (Amos Ben-Gershom/GPO, File/Courtesy)
May 31, 2018, 2:45 pm
Army conversion track to close Friday over budget shortfall
Some 2,500 students converting to Judaism, many of them IDF soldiers, will be left in limbo as Nativ track set to end activities
By Marissa Newman
Jerusalemites at The First Station, which mixes kosher and non-kosher, Shabbat and non-Shabbat activities (Yonatan Sindel/Flash 90)
May 31, 2018, 2:45 pm
Jerusalem’s First Station to remain open on Shabbat
Planning committee overturns motion by ultra-Orthodox council members who sought to shutter promenade on Saturdays
By Marissa Newman
Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi David Lau (center) and Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef (right) attend a meeting of the Rabbinate Council in Jerusalem in November 2014. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
May 30, 2018, 5:52 pm
Diaspora rabbinical judges could have to take exams to get Chief Rabbinate’s OK
State-run religious authority releases proposed guidelines for recognition of Orthodox rabbinical courts abroad; activists slam 'unprecedented power grab'
By Marissa Newman
Shas MK David Azoulay during a Knesset committee meeting. February 13, 2013. (Miriam Alster/FLASH90)
May 29, 2018, 1:31 pm
Shas minister, chief rabbi protest hat and jacket ban for Haredi prisoners
Prison enforces order for fear of jailbreaks by inmates praying in civilian garb; among those affected is jailed former chief rabbi Metzger
By Marissa Newman
Venice's chief rabbi, Scialom Bahbout (YouTube screenshot)
May 28, 2018, 10:04 pm
Venice’s chief rabbi takes row with Israeli Rabbinate to Knesset
Scialom Bahbout protests Chief Rabbinate's refusal to recognize his conversions, says argument 'nearby' rabbinical courts in Rome, Milan are sufficient doesn't hold water
By Marissa Newman
Yeshivat Chovevei Torah, located at the Hebrew Institute of Riverdale in New York. (Courtesy, Yeshivat Chovevei Torah/JTA)
May 28, 2018, 8:34 pm
Rabbinate official appears to blacklist alumni of liberal Orthodox yeshiva
Rabbi Asher Ehrentreu rejects proof-of-Judaism letter from graduates of New York's Chovevei Torah; Rabbinate denies claim it's a matter of policy
By Marissa Newman
Woolen fleeces dyed in different colors with dye extracted from Murex trunculus snails (courtesy of Ptil Tekhelet/Moshe Caine)
May 28, 2018, 12:11 pm
Linking ancient snails to an Israeli flag in space, a common thread
The elusive dye used to create the biblical blue, 'techelet,' in the Ancient Near East is spotlighted in a new Bible Lands Museum exhibit, 'Out of the Blue'
By Marissa Newman
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, left, with coalition head and Likud MK David Amsalem at a Likud party faction meeting in the Knesset on May 21, 2018. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
May 24, 2018, 12:49 pm
Coalition whip submits bill to hamstring prosecution appeals
Attorney general, state prosecutor said opposed to Likud MK Amsalem's proposal, seen as bid to help Netanyahu should PM be brought to criminal trial
By TOI staff and Marissa Newman
In this undated photo, members of the Jerusalem Armenian community protest outside the Knesset, demanding that the State of Israel recognize the Armenian genocide. (Hadas Parush/Flash90)
May 23, 2018, 7:16 pm
As Turkey ties sour, Knesset to debate Armenian genocide recognition
Issue to be brought to full plenum discussion after MKs back proposal by Meretz lawmaker; government mum on its position
By Marissa Newman
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