A court last week ruled the bracha for supporting a candidate was not a violation of the law, upholding Or Yehuda elections.
The petition to the court sought to challenge an election promise for voters who support Rav David Yosef that they would receive a bracha from his father, HaRav Ovadia Yosef Shlita.
Following his victory in the election, the petition was filed with the court. The court ruled that the petition was not valid, stating it was only filed after the petitioner lost in the election, and it did not prove that the bracha promised was a violation of the law or that it slanted the election in the favor of one candidate.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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3 Responses
It is hard for an American to imagine a situation in which a secular court attempts to regular who can give a bracha, to whom, and about what. We are far better off in the US where the constitution guarantees everyone the right to bless whomever they want, without government approval.
There are places in the world where a father would studiously avoid being seen to encourage votes for his son, to avoid the appearance of moral turpitude. Alas, modern Israel is not one of them.
#3 – even if Israel were a Jewish state, no court has any business telling anyone to whom they can, or cannot, give a bracha — these are not matters left to government regulation even if it was our government
–and in Israel, it is the secular courts that believe they should be able to rule on such matters
(remember the objections to amulets a few years ago – a rav might condemn them, but the courts).