Israel Religious Action Center
Encyclopedia
The Israel Religious Action Center (Hebrew: המרכז לפלורליזם יהודי) also known as IRAC, was established in 1987 as the public and legal advocacy arm of the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism
. It is located in Jerusalem, Israel
. IRAC aims to defend equality
, social justice
, and religious pluralism
within Israel, through the Israeli legal system, lobbying and propaganda. Recent campaigns include an effort to ban gender segregation on Israeli public buses, a successful public campaign for the abolition of income guarantees to kollel
students, and a lobbying campaign in defense of human rights organizations operating in Israel. Anat Hoffman, currently the executive director of IRAC, is also the director of Neshot HaKotel, an organization of women who pray at the Western Wall
in an egalitarian manner.
Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism
The Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism is the organizational branch of Progressive Judaism in Israel. It currently has around 30 communities around the state of Israel including two kibbutzim, Yahel and Lotan, Israel....
. It is located in Jerusalem, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
. IRAC aims to defend equality
Social equality
Social equality is a social state of affairs in which all people within a specific society or isolated group have the same status in a certain respect. At the very least, social equality includes equal rights under the law, such as security, voting rights, freedom of speech and assembly, and the...
, social justice
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
, and religious pluralism
Religious pluralism
Religious pluralism is a loosely defined expression concerning acceptance of various religions, and is used in a number of related ways:* As the name of the worldview according to which one's religion is not the sole and exclusive source of truth, and thus that at least some truths and true values...
within Israel, through the Israeli legal system, lobbying and propaganda. Recent campaigns include an effort to ban gender segregation on Israeli public buses, a successful public campaign for the abolition of income guarantees to kollel
Kollel
A kollel is an institute for full-time, advanced study of the Talmud and rabbinic literature. Like a yeshiva, a kollel features shiurim and learning sedarim ; unlike a yeshiva, the student body of a kollel are all married men...
students, and a lobbying campaign in defense of human rights organizations operating in Israel. Anat Hoffman, currently the executive director of IRAC, is also the director of Neshot HaKotel, an organization of women who pray at the Western Wall
Western Wall
The Western Wall, Wailing Wall or Kotel is located in the Old City of Jerusalem at the foot of the western side of the Temple Mount...
in an egalitarian manner.