Israeli Supreme Court Overrules Chief Rabbis On Shmita

The Jerusalem Post reports Israel's Supreme Court just ruled that the decision made by Israel's chief rabbis to allow local rabbis to bar heter mechira produce from their cities is illegal:

According to the court, the Rabbinate's decision harmed farmers as well as the general public. It further stated that the Rabbinate should have heard farmers' representatives as well as the position of the Agriculture Ministry prior to making their decision.

What does this mean?

The ruling said the Rabbinate must authorize other rabbis to provide permits in places where the local rabbis refused to do so.

This is the beginning of what may be a long battle against the overreaching chief rabbis and their haredi puppet masters. But so far the score looks good: Jewish people 1, corrupt, haredi-dominated rabbis 0.

More complete coverage from Ha'aretz here.

[Hat Tip: KK]

Comments

[The Monsey Tzadik]

See what a great generation is our !!! Thousand of years ago Hillel “invented” prozbol, very similar process. Today Lom-Lom Elyhasiv and his clones are much greater than Hillel. If Hille was alive today he would considered a lowly rabbi.

Also, Hillel was a convert so he probably will never find a shiduch in the charedi community.

[Shmarya]

I'm pretty sure Hillel the Elder was not a convert.

[LubabNoMore]

Is it just a matter of time until the Israeli Supreme Court will need to defend selling chametz?

[Shmarya]

LOL!

I was just reading you on XGH …

[Michelle]

B"H

A good time to remind ourselves that the Chief Rabbinate is NOT a RELIGIOUSLY APPOINTED position, it is a POLITICALLY APPOINTED position--with everything that entails. It would make sense that they have to listen to the courts--and that they have to approve of the corrupt government that is in office.

[Mordecai]

Unlike the benign Rabbi in "Fiddler On the Roof" whose pacific countenance and sagacious advice engenders warmth in the Jewish community, the Israeli rabbinical authorities, if they had their way, would seek to coerce and compel us to follow a narrow line.

Our Jewish philosophical history is nothing if not relpete with factionalism: Saduccee against Pharasee; Karaite against Rabbinate Judaism; Chassid against Mignathdim. The average Jew appears to be caught in the middle somehow forced to take sides amidst the current debate of the day.

It is not enough even to have Modern Orthodoxy. There must be a left, right, and central wing of that group. No wonder so many of us have assimilated and faded away as if to say count me out of all of this mushuganah schtick and nahrishkeit.

We hold in high esteem Maimonides but forget that he was excommunicated by the Rabbis of north France.

I look at this panorama of Jewish intellectual history and reflect that they are all nuts but me. But then I am not even sure about myself.

[Ariel Sokolovsky]

B"H
Whenever a non Jewish government or a secular Jewish government gives gives a rabbinic organization authority to impose standards on the whole Jewish community in that partcular country it eventually tends to in very creative lenient rulings. The rabbis want to retain the support of as many community members as possible because they feel it is important to maintain the unity.
They also don't want to be replaced by others.
And if they buck the system like in this case the goish or secular "overlords" can intervene.
Another example was Morocco. Listen to a lecture by Marc Shapiro here:
A Non-Orthodox Traditional Approach: Reflections on the Authority of the Moroccan Rabbinate." http://www.michtavim.com/Marc_B_Shapiro_Authority_of_Moroccan_Rabbinate_March_20_2007_YU.WAV

[Ben Qor'ha]

"B"H
Whenever a non Jewish government or a secular Jewish government gives gives a rabbinic organization authority to impose standards on the whole Jewish community in that partcular country it eventually tends to in very creative lenient rulings. ....They also don't want to be replaced by others."
says the poster above.
on one hand, i am grateful for the reference to the very interesting lecture.
on the other hand, i don't understand how one could generalise and derive such totally crazy conclusions from the lecture.
on the other hand yet, one is not to engage minim into a conversation...

[Ariel Sokolovsky]

B"H
Perhaps I am over generalizing , but it is not only that lecture. If you look in history ther are many other examples of this besides modern Israel and Morocco.

[Ariel Sokolovsky]

B"H
The conclusion is not derived from the lecture.
The lecture is linked to as another example of a somewhat similar situation that lead to such halachik results compared to a Jewish communities in a country like the USA where the situation is different.
.

[Mordecai]

To my dear brother Ariel. When you refer to "leniency" please do not forget the lessons of our history. Were the mithnagdim lenient when they conspired against the Alte Rebbe resulting in his imprisonment? Let us look at Rabbi Akiva -- a great man no doubt. Certainly this is the view we are taught by the Rabbis. Do not forget that Rabbi Akiva encouraged and lent support to Bar Kochba who was a false messiah. This false messiah and his fanatical followers under at least some rabbinic "authority" decided to challenge the awesome might of the Roman Empire. There were moderate Jews then as there are now. Those moderate Jews sought compromise and dialogue. The result of this was a holocaust of the Jewish people. Cassio Dio estimate that 580,000 Jews were killed. What contribution did rabbinic "authority" play in this great tragedy? Satmar rabbinic "authority" would deconstruct the state of Israel. Is there anything "lenient" about this? Naturei Karta is even more extreme apparently giving succor (as opposed to succouth) to the modern day Hitler in Iran. Are they lenient. Yet they base their beliefs on biblical "authority." I could go on with examples ad nauseum of Rabbinic "authority" that is NOT moderate.

I personally respect and admire CHABAD. However, where does Rabbinic "authority" come off to excommunicate Shmarya? Because he is a critic? Is he a critique of G-d almighty? Is he a critic of Moise? He criticized the Rebbe? He criticizes the Rubashkins. Baruch Spinoza was excommunicated as well. He was a genius of the higest order. I do not appreciate his philosophy of rational and impersonal ethics which Einstein found so appealing because this leads, in my view to totalinarianism as a final outcome. His view teaches that the more universal an ethic can become devoid of a personal G-D tge better.

But history does not smile upon excommunications. Maimonides was excommunicated (by the Rabbis of northern France) because he he sought to reconcile Aristotelian philosophy with Rabbinic Judaism. At the same time rabbis of southern France put a herem on those who opposed Maimonides. History does not smile on that excommunication. A herem was put on the chassidic of Vilna by the mithnagim. Of course I am referring to Jewish excommunication but similar examples occur in the non-Jewish world that history has scorned.

Judaism has always been suspect of the aggrandizement of an individual. Many orthodox look with suspicion on the hassidic dynasties with the near saintly reverance of a particular Rebbe as being antithetical to Judaism itself. FOr instance the portrait of the Rebbe hangs in seeminly all Chabad centers though not exactly in the synagogue proper but just a bit too close to the Torah, just being divided by drywall-- too for comfort of many. Again I personally admire Chabad. Many of the Chabad Rabbis are the finest people I have met. But we Jews need dialogue. Sometimes that dialogue may become uncomfortable, maybe strident, maybe bitter but at the end of the day we are Jews.

[Ariel Sokolovsky]

B"H
Dear Mordecai!
1) I didn't say that creative linient rulings are invalid or wrong (imagine the modern life without pruzbul, sale of chametz , heter iska and many other such rulings). I simply pointed out that in certain circumstances linient rabbinic rulings are more prevalent.
(In some cases same type of situation may lead to stringent rulings stricter prohibitions against gambling even recreational gambling by the sefardim mirroring ban of gambling in the Muslim Shariah for example. The whole point is that living under goish or secular Jewish government effects the rabbinic rulings and often even their worldview and philosophy.)

2)Bar Kochbah didn't have the status of the false Messiah rather (interestingly) a "failed messiah". In fact the laws of hezkas Moshiach- someone presumed Messiah in the Rambam's Mishne Torah are derived in part from Bar Kochbah's case.
3)I presume the Chabad Rabbis in Minisota who excommunicated Shmaryah for the #1 reason mentioned here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherem#In_the_Talmud

I don't know why you bring it up in your comment though.
What is the connection to me personally or to the issue at hand?

[Mordecai]

My dear friend Ariel:

Whether Bar Kochba was a "false messiah", a "failed messiah" or just plain a schmuck these seems to be distinctions without a difference and somewhat indicative of the failure of the rabbinical approach on ocassion to be able to see the forest for the trees.

These semantic distinctions certainly serve no useful purpose to the 500,000 dead Jews brought about by the more religiously zealous of our people. They wern't called "zealots" for nothing you know.

As far as what my post had to do with you: It has nothing to do with you in your individual capacity (I am sure you are a fine gentleman), it has to do with disagreeing with a concept or idea you have expressed.

You have constructed a logical syllogism in your argument as follows: Whenever a non Jewish government or a secular Jewish government gives gives a rabbinic organization authority to impose standards on the whole Jewish community in that partcular country it eventually tends to in very creative lenient ruling."

I have presented for your consideration examples of dangers of rabbinic authority. The rabbinic authority that supported and encouraged Bar Kochba nearly destroyed our people. I believe my propostion was straight forward.

This does not mean I disparage rabbinic authority. I certainly have my differences which has its roots in the fact that G-D gave me sachel and a brain.

Clearly the discussion of the JEwish version of "Dueling Banjos" -- the mutual exommunications of Maimonides and excommunicating those who excommunicated Maimonidess must be viewed upon by history and reasonable men either as a tragedy of the highest order, the pathetic relgious parochialism of klein-shtedeldica morons, or simply punishment of petty men to ensure the validity of their continued authority and predominance.

Pardon me for my long winded response. May G-D grant us the wisdom to love one another. It is a challenge for me sometimes.

[Ariel Sokolovsky]

B"H
Mordecai
1)A "false Messiah" and a "failed Messiah" is not a minor destinction. A "failed messiah" is someone who tried to earnestly fulfill the mission of the Messiah , but failed while a false Messiah is a charlatan a false prophet who pretended to be Messiah.
2)I admit I didn't express myself correctly I meant to say that rabbinic rulings are effected by time and place they are made in both towards liniency and towards stringency. When they are made in the context of a non Jewish (or secular Jewish)ruling regime and especially when the rabbis making the rulings derive their authority over the Jewish community from that ruling regime they can't help themselves but be effected by it.
(Cherem of Rabbeinu Gershom against polygamy is another example of this. )
3)Mimonides when he had the power to do so persecuted the Karaites you admire so much and had them thrown out of Egypt.
The rabbis as any other authority us means available to them to enforce their rule.
Cherem (excommunication) is one of such tools.
There is nothing inherently evil (according to the Torah) about issueing a "cherem" just as there is nothing inherently evil about a death penalty when appropriate or a declaration of war. It depends on the context.

[Mordecai]

So my brother Ariel -- what was the Rebbe:

(a) False Messiah
(b) Failed Messiah
(c) Rebbe King Mosiach
(d) Great Jewish Sage
(e)________________ (fill in the blank)

Please let me know.