Safed Rabbinical Court Faces Closure After Tishrei

Israel's Finance Ministry is advancing a plan that could close Safed's regional rabbinical court after the Tishrei holidays and merge its work into Tiberias. The court serves hundreds of thousands of Jews across the Galilee and Golan Heights in divorce, inheritance and other rabbinical-court matters. Chief Rabbi David Yosef recently visited and told staff the court would not close, while rabbis wrote that the Safed court has operated continuously for at least 500 years. The Rabbinical Courts Administration says it is trying to stop the closure, and the Finance Ministry says the merger request was framed as economic and operational efficiency. Northern families deserve accessible Torah-based justice close to home.