Israel's Disgraced Haredi-Controlled Chief Rabbinate Causes More Shame
The Jews in Israel have two spiritual leaders - one is under house arrest and the other, in voluntary exile.
Sefardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, left; Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger, right.
Ha'aretz reports:
Ever since taking up his post four months ago, the head of the Anglican Church, Archbishop Justin Welby, had been looking forward to meeting Israel’s two chief rabbis.…
The visit was scheduled, with due pomp and circumstance, at the offices of the Chief Rabbinate in Jerusalem on Thursday. But a few days ago, when it emerged that Israel's Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger had become embroiled in a criminal investigation [into his alleged fraud, breach of public trust, money laundering and embezzlement], and was placed under house arrest, the plans changed.
Explanations were given, schedules were reshuffled, and the Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar was set to meet Welby without Metzger. But with all due respect to interreligious dialogue, Rabbi Amar suddenly found he had to extend his visit to Spain, one of his many visits abroad.
The official reason given to the archbishop was that a change in the schedule of King Juan Carlos I of Spain forced Amar to stay out of the country. However, according to an associate of Amar’s, the chief rabbi has become so key to the election of Israel's next chief rabbis that the family of [the Sefardi haredi] Shas [Party's founder and] spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, which is losing control of the body that elects the chief rabbis, is hounding him, and “he wants peace and quiet.”…
[T]he archbishop…may have learned an important lesson about the faith with which he wants to dialogue: The Jews in Israel have two spiritual leaders - one is under house arrest and the other, in voluntary exile. …
LOL
Posted by: Jake | June 27, 2013 at 04:15 PM
I don't think these 2 politicians are anybody's "spiritual leaders." The official rabbinate is not followed by chareidim and has alienated everybody else, including MO.
Posted by: Yochanan Lavie | June 28, 2013 at 07:07 AM
and has alienated everybody else, including MO.
It's really sad, YL where is one to turn?
Even the MO's are far from unanimous in their choice.
עמוס ה יט:" כַּאֲשֶׁר יָנוּס אִישׁ מִפְּנֵי הָאֲרִי וּפְגָעוֹ הַדֹּב וּבָא הַבַּיִת וְסָמַךְ יָדוֹ עַל הַקִּיר וּנְשָׁכוֹ הַנָּחָשׁ".
Posted by: Yosef ben Matitya | June 28, 2013 at 09:56 AM