The Israeli Ministry of Education and Culture ruled today that Reform rabbis are permitted to participate in “Welcome to Sabbath” exercises held every Friday afternoon in schools at nearby Ramat Gan. Reform rabbis, however, were told they could not make “permanent arrangements” for such participation in school assemblies.
The ruling, handed down here today by Yaacov Niv, an inspector for the Education Ministry, concerned a previous ruling made by the municipality of Ramat Gan. The city had ordered that Rabbi Tovia Ben-Horin, trained for the Reform rabbinate in the United States, must halt his participation in the “Welcome to Sabbath” assemblies held each Friday afternoon in two elementary schools, until the Ministry could rule on the issue. Earlier this week, the Religious Affairs Ministry announced that one of the two Torah scrolls donated by a committee in London will be given to a Reform congregation in Israel.
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