Chief Sephardic Rabbi Shlomo Moshe Amar Shlita is organizing a gathering of Rabbonim against the recent state decision to give partial recognition to Reform rabbis.
The kenos, set for Tuesday, 6 Tammuz 5772 is intended to attract rabbonim from all around Eretz Yisrael towards combating efforts by the Reform Movement to expand and earn recognition in Israel as equals to torah-observant rabbonim.
As a result of the state’s decision 15 Reform rabbis will receive state salaries like frum rabbonim employed as official rabbis appointed by the Chief Rabbinate system. The decision by the state however only includes partial recognition but is viewed as a major breakthrough by the Reform Movement in Israel and as a significant threat by the torah observant community.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
Join the official YWN WhatsApp status
2 Responses
I don’t think ANY of these rabbonim, either frum rabbonim or reform/conservative rabbonim, should be paid by the government. Let each group take care of their own expenses and not rely on public sector subsidies. There is no reason Amar or his Litvasher counterpart need to have their salaries paid by tax dollars. The same for the Chief Conservative Rabbi (whoever that is). Along with government money comes government control.
GadolBe’einav, every Jewish community has always had a rov, whose salary is paid by taxes on the community. Only in modern times do we have the phenomenon of a rov for a shul rather than a community, and paid by the mispalelim of that shul. As a Jewish country, each city in Israel must have a rov to guide it, and the country as a whole needs a rov. That the governments don’t obey their rabbonim is bad enough, but at least they have them; if they didn’t have them at all then with what would they be Jewish communities?