Toanot Rabbaniyot,[1] or Toanot (Hebrew: טוענות רבניות, "Women Rabbinical Advocates"),[2] refer to women who serve as legal advocates and representatives within the traditional Jewish courts of law.
Toanot typically argue cases on behalf of female claimants in the areas of divorce law.
[3][4] The innovation of Toanot has allowed women to practice Halachic expertise in a role that does not require rabbinical ordination.
[5][6][7] In the early 1990s, Open Orthodox[citation needed] Rabbi Shlomo Riskin issued a challenge in Israel's High Court to the laws that prevented women from serving as advocates in the rabbinical court.
Graduates of the program are trained in Jewish law (Halacha) pertaining to women's rights in marriage and divorce proceedings.