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What has Rishon L’Tzion HaGaon HaRav Yitzchak Yosef so concerned, compelling him to send an urgent letter to Deputy Minister of Health Yaakov Litzman? The issue at hand of Rav Yosef’s concerns surrounding chametz being brought into the nation’s hospitals during Pesach, with the Chief Rabbi pointing out that about 70% of the population is Jewish, and as such, chametz must be prohibited from hospitals during Pesach.

In the wake of legal petitions filed in which the court discussed the possibility of introducing chametz to hospitals during Pesach, Rav Yosef writes to the deputy health minister: “We at the Chief Rabbinate of Israel did and do everything in our power to prevent the possibility, the introduction of chametz into the hospitals through the decisions of the Chief Rabbinate Council over the years, and the provision of appropriate instructions, etc., but it is possible that the current legal situation may limit the chief rabbinate from issuing regulations on the subject.”

The rav explains “There is no need to detail the severity of the prohibition” and of course, the ramifications of permitting chametz into the hospitals, calling on Litzman’s office to act as it appears the hands of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel may be tied on the matter as per the ruling of the courts.

The rav feels that despite the court’s intervention, being that it oversees the nation’s hospitals, the ministry may be able to act on the matter while the Chief Rabbinate may not.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)