A hearing opened before the Israel Supreme Court yesterday on applications by two couples for injunctions to order the Interior Ministry and the Safed Rabbinical Court to recognize their marriages as legal. The couples indicated their goal was to win a ruling to upset the exclusive jurisdiction of Israel’s rabbinate over personal status matters.
The couples, both from collective settlements, were married before witnesses without participation of a rabbi in 1964. The Safed court refused to issue marriage certificates, contending that there were doubts as to the qualifications of the witnesses.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
