Because of the Corona epidemic: The rabbinate also allows digital documents to be transferred remotely • Founder of the project, Rabbi Israel Riani: "Learning is optimal, there is no ease but accessibility"

• Rabbi Meir Riani // Photo: Ezra Trabelsi

In the line for the newlyweds: for the first time, due to the corona, it is possible for married people to perform the registration procedure, from A to Z, by digital means.

The procedure includes a full marriage registration through WhatsApp, including the two friends or acquaintances who must attest that the future spouses are single, as well as the bridal guidance to which each woman is committed before obtaining marriage approval from the rabbinate.

This is another upgrade of the "Benoam Danieli" project, which was established about three years ago and has set itself the goal of helping married couples in the process with the rabbinate and the religious councils.

In 2019, the project was unveiled at Israel Today, and the couples were informed that for the first time they would be allowed to submit required documents, such as their parents' marriage certificate and bachelorhood certificate, via WhatsApp directly to the religious council - a move that reduced the need to attend religious only.

The "Noam Danieli" project is part of the Danieli Foundation, which was established in memory of Danieli Sonnenfeld, a 20-year-old woman who was killed in a car accident when she returned from volunteering in the oncology department at Schneider Hospital.

The closure and isolation that came with the epidemic led to a particularly significant upgrade of the venture, which actually makes the whole process completely digital. If in the past couples were required to physically come to the religious council to complete the marriage registration, they are now allowed to perform the entire procedure at home, in front of the computer.

Recently, they started a project to guide brides using the zoom, thus completing the "digitization" of the procedure. "We wanted to do the training like this a few years ago, but not all the rabbis were enthusiastic about it, so we froze the idea. Now, because of the situation, it has come to fruition," says Rabbi Israel Meir Riani, founder of Noam Danieli. "Everyone is familiar with the story of the halls, but the issue of marriage registration has also become a challenge, because there are couples who cannot physically reach the religious councils."

Rabbi Riani emphasizes that although this is not a physical meeting, there is no relief in the way of guidance. "Learning is optimal. There are no facilitations but only accessibility," he clarifies.