It is not rare for the secular media to quote Maran HaGaon HaRav Ovadia Yosef Shlita, especially choice phrases from his weekly motzei shabbos shiur. This week, the rav’s words are being reported by many agencies, secular and chareidi alike as the gadol hador lashed out against secular judges and teachers. Rav Ovadia told the tzibur that one must not send one’s children to state schools, warning that sending a child to a non-frum school will “corrupt the child” and such a person is not fit to serve as a shaliach tzibur even if he is frum himself. The rav condemned the majority of the teachers in the schools and the material they teach the young impressionable children, lamenting how these children grow up without Yiddishkheit and as a result, are distanced from minhagei yisrael.
The rav went on to address the justices in the state’s secular court system. He cited how they follow state law, not Halacha and as such, they are pasul to be eidim at a chupah. He warned that anyone using such a person as a witness for a chasenah makes his wife a ‘zona’. The rav cited a case in which he invalidated a kesuva after learning one of the eidim was a judge.
Needless to say his words have resulted in a media storm.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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4 Responses
Rav Yosef seems to say lots of things which sometimes make him seem very “progressive” and at other time, to the extreme right of the litvish Chareidi rabbonim. In either case, his view are always given great deference and are certain to be manna from heaven for newspaper editors in a 24×7 news media cycle coming off a very quiet time (motzi shabbos) when there are very few other items to report.
Are there any Hareidi judges? There are some token “modern Orthodox” but that’s it. Most of the Israeli judges would be pasul for eidis even if they weren’t judges, so what’s the hiddush.
And it is probably permissable to be a judge if one avoids cases where the Israeli law contradicts Torah, so perhaps you could be an administrative judge dealing with traffic or sanitation offenses. Criminal law would be out since even goyim have a mitzvah to set up must courts, and the Israelis courts are kosher only if you are a bouncy marsupial
In the span of 2-3 days we saw the media criticizing Rav Ovadia’s discussion of basic Halachic principles and then meeting with ministers to discuss the possibility of a strike against Iran. His decision most likely being the deciding factor if brought to a vote.
The disrespect is incomprehensible, but he is a model lesson for us all to do what’s right REGARDLESS of popular opinion.
The secular media are nothing but the klippot’s representatives in this world – the more they scream, the more you know you are closer to the emes