Please join AAJLJ on Thursday, June 26, at 12:00 Noon ET, for a webinar with Rabbi Uri Regev, Esq., on "Religion and State in Israel: Current Legal Challenges." Even as Israel confronts the existential threat posed by the Iranian regime, it is crucial that we continue to attend to and learn about other issues before the Jewish state.
Rabbi Regev is an internationally renowned leader and advocate of religious liberty and Jewish pluralism in Israel and around the world. Rabbi Regev serves as the President and CEO of an educational and advocacy Israel-Diaspora partnership, “Hiddush - Freedom Of Religion for Israel” and of its Israeli counterpart, “Hiddush – For Religious Freedom and Equality,” which he founded in 2009.
AAJLJ had the honor to meet with Rabbi Regev during our mission to Israel in March. As he discussed with our delegation, Hiddush espouses a vision of full equality regardless of religion, including in the context of such issues as the freedom to marry; voluntary submission (or not) to the jurisdiction of religious courts; a common core curriculum for all schools; and equitable application of the draft. We look forward to Rabbi Regev sharing his perspective with our members and friends.
Prior to founding Hiddush, Rabbi Regev served as president of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, a global umbrella organization of the Progressive, Reform, Liberal and Reconstructionist movements. Before that, he served as founding chair, and later as executive director and legal counsel, of the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), the public and advocacy arm of the Reform movement in Israel. At IRAC, he led the organization's legal team to historic victories in the Israeli Supreme Court in cases involving the “Who is a Jew?” issue, equitable funding for Reform and Conservative institutions and the fight for representation in the religious councils. He has also defended the rights of Sabbath-observant Jews and argued cases involving many other central issues of religious pluralism and human equality for all Israeli citizens.
A cum laude graduate of Tel Aviv University Law School and the Hebrew Union College-Institute of Religion in Jerusalem, where he was ordained in 1986, Rabbi Regev served in the IDF (Israeli Defense Force) as an assistant legal advisor in the Gaza Strip and Sinai and as military prosecutor for the Israeli Navy. He retired from military service with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He lives in Jerusalem with his wife, Garri.
