On June 25th, rabbis, intellectuals, and Halakha scholars gathered at the Israel Democracy Institute, for a conference dealing with Zionist Halakha. The forum discussed several questions regarding the relation between Zionism and Halakha, mainly: Does a Zionist Halakhic perspective, i.e. a Halakhic perspective that is based on Zionist premises and characterizing Zionist rabbis, exist? If so, where is such a perspective most apparent? How could such a perspective fulfill the needs of Israeli society?
The conference began with opening words by Dr. Arye Carmon, President of IDI. He explained the importance of Halakha to Israeli democracy, the latter being based not only on universal values, but also on particular ones that are unique to the Jewish People, such as Halakha. According to Dr. Carmon "the Jewish code of values is important for the infrastructure of the life of the Jewish People in the land in which it is realized as a nation," and therefore "Halakha is a national asset for all of us." After these opening remarks, Dr. Carmon dedicated the conference to Prof. Avi Ravitzky, and wished him a quick recovery.