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Abolishthe Chiefrabbinate עמוד 1 jfeCommentaryDavid Golinkin AbolishtheChiefRabbinate Let every IsraeliJew choose hisor her rabbi forkashrut, marriage,divorce and conversion AS WE celebratethe festivalof Hanukka, we rious reform. After closelyobservingthis from 3102-3002and puppet of the Ash- recallthat accordingto the Second Book of corruptinstitutionfor 40 years, believe kenazi Haredim, was arrested in June and Maccabees, the harsh anti-Jewishdecrees of thatitisway beyondreform and needs to be againin November 2013 on suspicionof the Seleucid King Antiochus were brought abolished as quicklyas possible. takingbribes, fraud, money-laundering, about by endless infightingamong the high obstruction of justiceand suborningwit- priestswho constantlyoverthrew one anoth- The sad fact of the nesses. er via briberyand even murder. When one In the July2013 election,Yitzhak Yosef of the deposedhighprieststriedto capture matter isthat the Chief was elected because he isthe son of Ova- Jerusalem force,Antiochus that dia and Rabbi David Lau, the son of by thought Rabbinate is coercive Yosef; the Jews were revoltingagainsthim. He took former chief rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, be- Jerusalem, killed 000,08Jews, outlawed Jew- bureaucracy without cause both he and his father are beholden ishpracticesand defiledthe Temple allon to the Ashkenazi Haredim. account of the lustforpower among the reli- constituency As result,the Chief Rabbinate isno Ion- giousleadersofthe Jewish peopleat the time. ger the religiousZionist institutionitonce was reminded of this tragicepisode was, but rather Haredi strongholdop- duringlast summer's unsavory election The Chief Rabbinate was founded in posedto alllenienciesin Jewish law.This is campaignforthe Chief Rabbinate. Itinclud- MandatoryPalestine in .1291The first evident from the followingexamples: ed curses, newspaper ads, and politicaldeals chief rabbis for lifewere the revered reli- The Chief Rabbinate holds monopoly between candidates and politicalparties.giousZionists and Torah scholars Rabbis on conversions. For years ithas not recog- Yehudit Yosef, the daughter-in-lawof the Kook and Uziel,followed by Herzog,Nis- nized Conservative or Reform conversions late Rabbi Ovadia Yosef invited the 150 sim and Unterman. Rabbis Shlomo Goren because it does not accepttheir rabbis as electorsto the venerated rabbi'shome to re- and Ovadia Yosef, who served from 1972 rabbis.Now itis doingthe same to most ceive personalblessingsin return for voting to ,3891were widelyrespectedfor their Orthodox rabbis. It decided in 2008 that forhis son Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef. Torah knowledgeand courageous halakhic only 15 Rabbinical Council of America The onlythingmissingfrom most of the decisions,but theyspent gooddeal of time rabbinic courts and only40 rabbinicjudg- campaigningwas religiousmessage. In- bickeringwith each other.As result,the es in the entireUnited Sates could perform deed, the election was not about bringingpoliticiansgot involved and limited the conversions and the RCA gave in to this Israeliscloser to Judaism but about politicalchief rabbis'terms to 10 years in order to dictate.Thus, the conversions performed power; about who would control the vast deposethem. In retaliation,Yosef estab- by most Orthodox rabbis in the US are no and highlylucrativemechanism of kashrut lished the Shas Partyand since 1983 chief longerautomaticallyrecognizedin Israel. supervisionand who would bestow rabbinic rabbis are chosen not for their merits but In May ,8002the ChiefRabbinate's High appointmentson relativesand fellow party for politicalreasons: An Ashkenazi chief Rabbinical Court ruled the many thou- members. rabbi can onlybe elected ifhe issupported sands of conversions performedby Rab- Rabbi David Slav, one of the onlycandi- by the Ashkenazi Haredim and Sephardi bi Haim Druckman and Israel'sNational dates with religiousmessage and the one chiefrabbi onlyifhe issupportedby Shas. Conversion Court from 8002-9991retro- whom the publicat largewas rootingfor, This sad state of affairsreached itsna- activelyannulled and declared Druckman thinks the Chief Rabbinate isin need of se dir when Rabbi Yon Metzger,chief rabbi one of the most respectedreligiousZion עמוד 2 istrabbis in Israel and his fellow judges The Chief Rabbinate holds monopoly quorum of three rabbis from any reli- "disqualifiedjudges;'Althoughthis deci- on kashrut. recentlyasked the owner of giousmovement should be able to perform sion was repealedfour years later,due to pizzashopwhy he did not have kashrut conversions recognizedby the state. Any interventionby the SupremeCourt and the certificate.He repliedthat the kashrut su- rabbi should be able to perform marriage. Tel Aviv Rabbinical Court, itstillserves as pervisorshows up once month for five Any rabbi should be able to providekashrut deterrentto thousands of Russian immi- minutes and he has to pay him thousands supervision.Any synagogue that has more grantsconsideringconversion. of shekels,More and more Israeliswho care than certainnumber of members should be The Chief Rabbinate holds monopoly about kashrut are lookingforalternatives. ableto get subsidyforthe rabbi'ssalaryor on marriage.When young peoplemake The sad fact of the matter is that the to construct building.In short,itisnot the aliya,it demands that theybring letter Chief Rabbinate is coercive bureaucra- Stateof Israel'sjobto decide who is "real" from theirlocal rabbi statingthat theyare cy without constituency.Itisdislikedby rabbi or which form of Judaism ismore au- Jewish and unmarried. Ithas never accept- Haredim, religiousZionists,Conservative thentic.Let the publicdecide justas theydo ed lettersfrom Conservative or Reform and Reform Jews and secular Israelis,and in the Diaspora. rabbis.We now know from an articlepub- many of itsactions are hilhd hashem or One could argue thatthiswill lead to dis- lished in October by Rabbi Avi Weiss, desecration of God's name. It onlyexists unitybut, unfortunately,disunityalready prominentmodern Orthodox rabbi from so that politicalpartiescan use itas tool exists.Haredi Jews do not recognizethe New York, thatitno longeracceptshis let- of influence and patronage. kashrut and conversions of the Chief Rab- ter either.Apparentlyhe isno longeron the This is not somethingthat can be fixed. binate;the Chief Rabbinate does not recog- ever-shrinkinglistof approvedrabbis. The Chief Rabbinate needs to be abolished nize the conversions of most rabbis,and so Since the Marriageand Divorce Law of forthe sake of Judaism in the Jewish State. on and so forth.The Chief Rabbinate might ,3591all matters of marriageand divorce Or, to use the Mishnaic phrase,"Rabbi have served as force to unifythe Jewish have been in the hands of the Chief Rab- Nathan says: They have transgressedYour people.But since ithas failedmiserablyat binate or of Karedi rabbis approvedby Torah;itistime to act for the Lord." thattask,itistime to trysomethingradically the Chief Rabbinate. On the other hand, What is the alternative? do not have different. civillicense from abroad is recognized allthe answers, but here are few general Let every IsraeliJew choose his or her rab- by the Ministryof the Interior.This law guidelines: bi for kashrut. marriage.divorce and con- forces thousands of coupleswho are not Civil marriageand divorce must be le- version.Let the rabbis compete in the free halakhicallyJewish or who wish to be galizednot because theyare ideal but be- marketplaceof ideas.The end resultwill be married by Conservative or Reform rabbis cause democracymust providethese op- more and more Jews feelingcloserto Juda- or who simplyrefuse to get involved with tionsfor some 000,033Russian immigrantsism and to theirrabbis. the Chief Rabbinate to get civillicense who are not halakhicallyJewish. abroad every year. Indeed. the number of There are few areas where the state must Prof. David Golinkin, Conservative couplesmarried by the Chief Rabbinate providereligiousservices. For example,rabbi, is the President and Jerome and has been in steadydecline for years. For there must be kosher food in the IDF so that Miriam Katzin ProfessorofJewish Studies example,in ,010225 percentof Israelicou- allsoldierscan serve in the army. But most at the Schechter InstituteofJewish Studies, piesmarried in Cyprus.Bulgariaand the otherforms of Judaism should be privatized non-denominational graduateschool in Czech Republic entirelyor partiallyfunded Jerusalem.
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