The letters threatened to kill hundreds of haredim and both the
state-funded chief rabbis if Women of the Wall is not allowed to openly
and fully conduct their monthly prayer service Sunday. The letters each
contained a picture of a handgun as well as direct threats of murder.
Sefardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, left; Rabbi of the Kotel and other Holy Sites Shmuel Rabinowich, center; and Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger, right.
Israel’s Haredi Chief Rabbis Receive Death Threats
Shmarya Rosenberg • Failedmessiah.com
Identical letters threatening to kill hundreds of haredim were reportedly received by both Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger and Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar today.
The letters threatened to kill hundreds of haredim and both the state-funded chief rabbis if Women of the Wall is not allowed to openly and fully conduct their monthly prayer service Sunday. The letters each contained a picture of a handgun as well as direct threats of murder.
The Chief Rabbinate’s director general gave the letters to the security officer of the Prime Minister's Office, who is also in charge of security for the Chief Rabbinate, Arutz Sheva reported.
In a statement, the Rabbinate noted that this was the first time death threats against the chief rabbis had ever been received.
Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich, the state-funded haredi rabbi of the Kotel and other holy sites, reportedly received a simlar threatening letter late last week, which Women of the Wall strongly denied having any part of sending, adding that the threats saddend them.
Last month, haredim rioted as Women of the Wall tried to pray at the Kotel, openly wearing tallits (prayer shawls) and tefillin (phylacteries) for the first since a Jerusalem court ruled that the government’s policy of barring them from doing so is illegal.
Also last month, longtime Women of the Wall board member received a death threat, which was painted on the hallway of her apartment building along with the slogan "Torah Tag," a play of the price tag attacks carried out by Hilltop Youth and other right wing settlers against churches, mosques, Arabs, other minorities and, occasionally, against the IDF and border police.
Dozens of riot police were needed to restore order and protect the women from harm.
While condemning violence no matter its origins, the chief rabbis made it clear again today that they oppose Women of the Wall’s prayer behavior, specifically noting that Women of the Wall should be banned from wearing tallits and tefillin and from praying together out loud as a group at the holy site.