Knesset passes Basic Law declaring Torah study 'foundational' state value

(JNS) — Israel’s parliament on Monday night gave final approval to a new Basic Law declaring Torah study a foundational value of the Jewish state.

The 120-member Knesset passed the Basic Law: Torah Study in its second and third readings by a vote of 63-52.

While Israel does not have a formal written constitution, the set of Basic Laws passed since the country’s founding in 1948 have quasi-constitutional status.

The legislation, sponsored by lawmakers Yaakov Asher and Moshe Gafni of the ultra-Orthodox United Torah Judaism party, states that “Torah study is a foundational value in the heritage o...