Jerusalem – Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar said Sunday night that he would be convening an emergency meeting of the Council of the Chief Rabbinate next week to discuss the state’s recent recognition of non-Orthodox rabbis and its decision to pay their wages.
Subscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
“With God’s help, a great voice [of protest] will come out against this shameful phenomenon in which they [non-Orthodox rabbis] insist on describing themselves as rabbis at the same time as they uproot the foundations of Judaism,” Amar told haredi radio station Kol Berama.
“We have tried to explain the great damage they cause,” he continued. “There is a great danger here to the Jewish people. It is well known that the greatest danger in our times is assimilation and they recklessly enable this phenomenon.”
Last month, the Attorney-General’s Office announced that the state would recognize non-Orthodox rabbis working in regional council jurisdictions, kibbutzim and other small communities as “rabbis of non-Orthodox communities,” and would fund their wages from state coffers.
This decision came in response to notice from the High Court of Justice that unless the state changed it’s position, it would issue a ruling in favor of the non- Orthodox Jewish groups who filed a petition with the court against the state on this matter back in 2005.
Orthodox rabbis serve in state-funded positions such as rabbis of cities, towns and neighborhoods. Non-Orthodox rabbis have been excluded from such positions, and the attorney-general’s decision covers only positions in small municipal jurisdictions.
Several non-Orthodox movements have already petitioned the High Court to allow non-Orthodox rabbis to be selected for positions in larger jurisdictions as well.
In addition to convening the Council of the Chief Rabbinate, Amar will also be inviting rabbis from across the country to participate in the meeting in order to form a broad coalition against state recognition of non- Orthodox rabbis.
Reaction to Amar’s comments was strong, with non- Orthodox groups condemning him as unrepresentative of Israeli society and the broader Jewish community.
Reform Rabbi Gilad Kariv, director of the Reform Movement in Israel, called for Amar to resign, and until then to internalize the principles of democracy.
“Amar’s intentions to work against the decision of the state, supported by the High Court of Justice, proves how much the Chief Rabbinate has lost its state function and how much it is disconnected from the heart of broader Israeli society, which is fed up with the Orthodox monopoly.”
Reform Rabbi Uri Regev, head of the Hiddush religious- freedom lobbying group, added to this theme saying that Amar’s proposal was “proof of how disconnected the rabbinate is from the values of democracy, the rule of law and equality.”
Regev accused Amar of seeking to recruit rabbis in a struggle against “the majority of the Jewish people, which is non-Orthodox” and putting Israel on a “collision course with the Jewish people.”
Yizhar Hass, head of the Masorti Movement – the branch of Conservative Judaism in Israel – said in response that Amar was abusing his position as a state official to promote hatred instead of respect, and was responsible for the declining perception of the rabbinate.
Olam hafoch hu
The frei yidden in EY pay taxes and are entitled to have their leaders get the same government handouts as Amar, Metzger and their cronies. The answer is to stop govenment payment to all rabbonim, orthodox, conservative or reform and let the mosdos of each group pay for their own leadership. Until the, a reform rav is entitled to get the same payments as his frum counterpart.
Oh how Reb Yoilish from Satmer saw this happening 50 plus years ago and he warned us to stay away from it…
I thought they complain that rabbis who take money from the government are “parasites.” So why do they want to become “parasites”?
This might be worth the penny to watch.
Good. This is the way it should be.
so why not j4j rabbis. they’re just as legit as reform.
the simple solution to all is, stop government funding of the rabbinate and keep religion and state separate
What are the ‘certain criteria’?
Only 15 out of “some 2,000 of their Orthodox and ultra-Orthodox brethren” doesn’t sound like much of a threat. Get over it and move on.
The photo displays a mockery of authentic Judaism. The heads of state fit right in, so what’s the chiddush?
Non-Orthodox “rabbis” are not rabbis.
This tragedy is just the latest in the war of the secular zionists against the Torah. this politically correct move flies in the face of the intent of the founders of Israel who at least understood what religion was. These morons think that it is a question of fairness – the same way that the Cuomos and the Bloombergs think it is a question of fairness to let two homos marry each other (not to mention the idiots in Conn. Mass. and (Maine)? A reform and to a lesser extent a Conservative Rabbi is the same as a homo who wants to get married to another homo. He has no business preaching the Torah.
Baruch Hashem Israel has a ministry that deals with kashrus, mikvaos, weddings, gittin and the like, maintaining a lowest common denominator standard that ensures that everyone has access to kosher food, mikvaos and helps avoid problems of mamzeirim. This is part of the pains we experience when we fail to bring our brothers and sisters back to the shabbos table. Of course they want their religious leaders represented!
We must be very careful when approaching people who are religiously engaged and are not Orthodox. Bashing their current faith does little to bring them closer.
Several years ago, a well known and respected Brooklyn ריש מתיבתא, told me that the reason חרדים are not in control of א”י, is because they never really wanted it!
Hard to say whether they are really rabbis. I mean, I will refer to them as a rabbi to their face, but in reality, I do not think of them as anything other than their first and last names. They really are not rabbis as a rabbi is called to serve.
conservative and reform rabbis are bringing assimilation in america as well. Just look
and see how many gairus there is not al pi halacha and children who are goyim
with jewish sounding names. They are making a charuv on klal yisrael.
If only the Rabbis would learn from history. In the late 1400, Rabbis banned printed books (after an erotica book was printed . The first two book were bibles and the third book erotica). I guess R’ Yosef Karo did not hold from the ban since he printed his Shulchan Aruch in the early 1500. History repeated itself (e.g banning the internet, then well the internet is here to stay…exactly like the printed books).
Here we go again, by having this “emergency meeting” the Rabbis have now guaranteed that the reform/conservative movement will take hold in Israel.
Its a shame that our Rabbis don’t study history. That is, history beyond the Talmud. Had they studied history they would have been equip to respond in a way which would help the situation they are trying to solve – but that ain’t happening. This is the real gulus we find ourselves in.
The fact is, that the Jewish religion has always undergone changes. The Rabbis of each generation decide what is apprpriate.
We used to blow the Shofar and Shake the Lulav even when Yom Tov fell on Shabbos. We used to bring animal sacrifices years ago, even on Bommohs, but when the Goyim stopped, so did we.
We used to do Yibbum, but now, Chalitza is first choice. We used to marry multiple wives. Eye for an eye was also stopped right before the times of Chazal and the Chazal labored to fit the monetary payment into the Posuk. Yiddishkeit has always evolved.
if you think this is some extremist ultra orthodox view, look in to Igros Moshe R’ Moshe Feinstiens seforim (who no one can suspect of being an extremist) when referring to conversions or marriages of reform or conservative rabbis, how basically it has zero meaning because they aren’t really Jewish or Rabbis.
so for example a woman who was married by a reform rabbi and didn’t get a divorce and had kids with another man, the children are not Mamzeirim and so on.
To 41
“”based on methodologies handed down via…””
Based on those Methodologies they have permitted driving to Shul on Shabbos, so as not to cut people off from the connection to Jewishness. We have also stopped blowing Shoffar on Shabbos based on certain methodologies.
We have also stopped forcing a man to devorce his wife when Tashmush causes her to stain (Roeh Dom Machmas Tashmush); Why? so as not uproot the whole Family.
Everything evolves.
“Reform Rabbi Gilad Kariv, director of the Reform Movement in Israel, called for Amar to resign, and until then to internalize the principles of democracy.”
Maybe Gilad needs to internalize the principles of Torah.
And evidently his last name should be Rachik rather than Kariv.
“Based on those Methodologies they have permitted driving to Shul on Shabbos, so as not to cut people off from the connection to Jewishness.”
Which Orthodox Rabbi allows a Jew is to drive to Shul on Shabbos?
On Shabbos and Yom Tov, either a Jew walks to Shul, or else he prays at home.
At the end of the day, masorti and reform have no real constituency. They are fringe groups that attract a handful of anglo immigrants and a few “spiritual” misfits who pass through their synagogues of Soton on their way to some new age avoido zoro before they finally wind up in Uman. Maybe they can now get some non-Jewish Russians to attend mass at their facilities. Let their clergy get whatever money they want and choke on it. In a generation they’ll be gone.
Much of this discussion is, IMHO, beside the point. Does anyone here have any idea how damaging inter-denominational warfare really is? Do you realize how many unaffiliated types this turns off? This just isn’t worth the cost, and trust me, the cost is big. Do you think Chabad would spend time publicly deriding other movements? Not on your life. They understand whats constructive and whats not.
I’m reading lots of disrespect and insults, but nothing about the what constitutes the ‘certain criteria’. Before dismissing Conservative and Reform, why not evaluate what the REAL differences are based on these criteria and not blind ?
Again: 15 out of 2000+ doesn’t pose much of a threat to anybody. Why is this such a big deal and why does it merit such venomous prejudice?