The haredi-controlled Council of Israel’s Chief Rabbinate decided not to automatically renew the tenure of the Chief Rabbi of Efrat, Modern Orthodox Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, the Jerusalem Post reported. The move brought immediate and vociferous opposition from a wide swath of non-haredi political and religious leaders in the country – but complete silence from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud Party, whose shaky coalition government exists only because of the votes of haredi political parties.
Above: Rabbi Shlomo Riskin
Revenge: Haredi Chief Rabbis Move To Strip Job Of Modern Orthodox Rabbi Who Supports Conversion Liberalization
Shmarya Rosenberg • FailedMessiah.com
Monday, the haredi-controlled Council of Israel’s Chief Rabbinate decided not to automatically renew the tenure of the Chief Rabbi of Efrat, Modern Orthodox Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, the Jerusalem Post reported. The move brought immediate and vociferous opposition from a wide swath of non-haredi political and religious leaders in the country – but complete silence from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud Party, whose shaky coalition government exists only because of the votes of haredi political parties.
Israeli law allows local chief rabbis appointed between 1974 and 2007 to obtain a five-year tenure extension once they reach the age of 75. The process is almost always only formality – especially if the rabbi in question is haredi – and such rabbis are rarely, if ever, called in for a hearing by the Chief Rabbinate’s Council.
But instead of renewing Riskin’s tenure, the council asked the 75-year-old to appear before it for a hearing – which means the Council is likely not to approve his request to have his tenure extended.
According a report in the Times of Israel based on a report in teh right-wing Zionist Orthodox Arutz Sheva website, the Chief Rabbinate's Council wanted to vote Riskin's tenure down immediately. But the Zionist Orthodox Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem Aryeh Stern demanded that Riskin be granted a hearing first, and the haredi rabbis reluctantly agreed.
Riskin is a proponent of liberalizing Israel’s official state process of conversion to Judaism – something haredi rabbis, who have made the processes ever stricter, strongly oppose. He told the Post he would be happy to attend a hearing at the Rabbinate’s Council, but he also said he had only heard about the demand through the media and noted that the polite thing for the Council to do would have been for it to personally tell him. Riskin also pointed out that his legitimate positions on issues of halakha (Orthodox Jewish law) should not cause such a hearing to be held.
“My position on conversion, which is completely in accordance with Jewish law, should not be cause for deliberating as to whether I should continue as chief rabbi of Efrat,” Riskin said.
Despite a large amount of evidence to the contrary, a spokesman for Israel’s Chief Rabbinate reportedly insisted that all rabbis who reach the age of 75 are required to present themselves to the Council of the Chief Rabbinate if they want their tenure to be extended. The decision not to immediately approve Riskin’s request should therefore be considered normal. The Rabbinate’s spokesman also claimed Riskin would receive formal notice of when the hearing is scheduled.
Besides a wave of political and non-haredi rabbinic opposition to the Chief Rabbinate Council’s move against Riskin, the local state religious council of Efrat, the settlement Riskin helped found more than three decades ago and where he is is chief rabbi, issued a statement saying it would continue to view Riskin as chief rabbi no matter what Israel’s Chief Rabbinate does, and will would work to block the election of another rabbi to take Riskin’s place.
Riskin is a top member of the liberal Zionist Orthodox Tzohar rabbinical organization. Before making aliya to Israel in the early 1980s, Riskin was the top rabbi at Manhattan's Lincoln Square Synagogue, the larges and most vibrant Modern Orthodox synagogue in the city. He was also a supporter of the early kiruv (outreach) movement.
[Hat Tip: YBM.]