| Hofesh | |
| Full Name: | Hofesh - Freedom from Religion |
| Formation: | 1987 |
| Purpose: | Advocating separation of religion and state in Israel and objecting to religious coercion |
| Headquarters: | Tel Aviv, Israel |
| Location Country: | Israel |
| Affiliations: | Atheist Alliance International |
| Website: | |
Hofesh (Hebrew: חופש, lit. "freedom"), officially Hofesh - Freedom from Religion (Hebrew: חופש – עמותה לחופש מדת) is an Israeli organization advocating separation of religion and state and stopping the religious coercion in Israel, objecting to and going against activities whose goal is to persuade secular or moderately religious Jews to adopt a more religiously observant lifestyle. The organization is an affiliate of Atheist Alliance International.
The organization's goals are:
In Israel of the 1980s, there was an activity of ultra-Orthodox and religious associations, and the phenomenon of "repentance" among the secular public increased. At the end of 1985, a number of parents of a teen "returning in repentance", i.e. adopting an observant (frum) lifestyle, began to organize as a group and locate other people like them. In May 1986, the group established an association called "Victims of Repentance" (Hebrew: נפגעי החזרה בתשובה, Nifga'ey HaHazara BiTshuva), whose goals were:
According to the association's website, the association succeeded in "outlawing missionary work in schools and IDF bases".[1] In 1987, the association changed its name to "ע.ל.ה", a Hebrew acronym for "Association for the Prevention of the Haredi Takeover" (Hebrew: עמותה למניעת ההשתלטות החרדית), and started dealing with issues other than repentance, such as the prevention of religious coercion and the prevention of the establishment of a Halachic state in Israel.
In 1998, the association merged with the Hofesh website, and changed its name to "ע.ל.ה – חופש". Since then, the association's activity has been conducted simultaneously online and offline. The Hofesh website was established in November 1997 and is operated by volunteers.[2]
In September 2004, a decision was made to change the association name to "Hofesh - Freedom from Religion" (Hebrew: חופש - עמותה לחופש מדת).
In July 2016, the association, along with a number of other petitioners, filed a petition with the Supreme Court, demanding the Minister of Transportation, Israel Katz, and the Ministry of Transportation consider operating public transportation on Shabbat, in light of their refusal to do so.[3]
The organization is an affiliate of Atheist Alliance International.[4]
The organization is objectionable among the religious Zionist and Haredi public.[5]