After his home and office were raided by police and being questioned ‘under warning’ by police, Chief Rabbi Yonah Metzger was released to house arrest with restrictions. The rav faces allegations which include accepting bribes and money laundering.
The rav must remain home and is prohibited from entering his office for five days as the investigation moves ahead. In addition, the chief rabbi is prohibited from leaving the country and he may not be in contact with others connected to the case. Police report there others have been arrested in connection to the case, including the rav’s aide, Chaim Eisenstatt. The detention of the rabbi’s aide was expended for eight days.
Rabbi Shimon Korkovski, who runs the Beis HaTavshil nonprofit in Bnei Brak, was also arrested. His remand was extended for six days and the third suspect was remanded for an additional seven days.
Attorneys David Libai and Elad Roth, who are defending Rabbi Metzger, stated on Thursday, 12 Tammuz 5773 “The chief rabbi was questioned by police today for a number of hours. The rav responded to all of the questions and he denies the charges being leveled against him.”
Rabbi Metzger was questioned for ten hours ‘under warning’. When a suspect is told he is questioned under warning, this generally means there is sufficient evidence against him and a criminal indictment in the case is very likely.”
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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12 Responses
I am curious as to why you have no problem reporting this story about the Chief Rabbi of Israel, yet when your Rabanim run into trouble with the law, the story is MIA. Why?
I’m quite sure it’s all part of the religious war going on. Perfectly good timing to paint the Chareidi chief Rabbi in a bad light.
Reply to #1
Not sure what you mean by “your Rabanim”, with the “your” referring to those rabbonim supposedly favored by YWN. I find the coverage here quite balanced with editiorial judgement focused on avoiding articles that use hyperoble or slander gadolim with no real evidence. I’ve had multiple postings edited or deleted because I may say somthing viewed as crossing the line but its never been because of the segment of the chareidi kehillah I was addressing. Overall, considering the editorial guidelines I find the mods to be generally fair and non-partisan.
In reply to #1, the basically disparity is that the Israeli Chief Rabbis are elected, whereas in the US the process of attaining rabbinical leadership status is akin to sausages, meaning it is not for the squeamish to watch the process.
#1, actually R’ Metzger was not the DL’s choice for Chief Rabbi, but he was the one pused in by the charedi parties.
Git Meshige: You are assuming the reporting is critical of Rabbi Metzger. Given the lack of power of the Chief Rabbi of the Medinah (you really think he can tell the government what to do – or that they would even ask him a shailoh), the charges are very dubious. You need power in order to abuse it. The article is critical of the Israel criminal justice system. It illustrates that their policy of persecuting frum people, already well established for hareidim, is expanding.
He is not “in trouble with the law”. It is the “law” that is in trouble. You may have taken similar charges against hareidim as being legitimate, so this may be a shock for you. The zionist legal system is merely showing they are equal opportunity bigots. Welcome to the club.
I think Git Meshige makes an excellent point.
The point I am making is very clear, there is a double standard. The reason why I refer to the phrase ” your Rabanim” is simply because those Rabanim get a pass when they get into trouble with the law. And it is obvious that they get extra special treatment because the folks at YW have a soft spot for them. To me a Rov is a Rov whether he is elected or not. If you find it neccesary to report this story, report every story that involves Rabanim getting into trouble with the law.
#4 – In American rabbis are chosen by their kehillah. Some hasidic rebbes in effect appoint themselves and then have to recruit supporters. If our rabbis were appointed by President Obama and confirmed by the Senate, no one would listen to them.
#6
Is 100% correct
And GitMeshige; well is git meshige!
“The rav must remain home and is prohibited from entering his office”
question from a former Brisker:
If you say that the rav must remain home and is prohibited from entering his office
if The rav must remain home isnt it obvious that he is prohibited from entering his office???
“actually R’ Metzger was not the DL’s choice for Chief Rabbi, but he was the one pused in by the charedi parties”
Correct. The Datim wanted Rav Ariel, one of the gedolim of that community. Rav Metzger didn’t even have the required yadin yadin semicha.