Rabbi Dr. Benny Lau, the rav of the Ramban Shul in Yerushalayim, is not certain if the candidacy of Tzfas Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu in the Chief Rabbinate race is a fitting one.

Rav Lau said that while Rabbi Eliyahu is “moser nefesh” for Am Yisrael, he is not certain if the rabbi is a suitable candidate, one who is correct for the position. In his Facebook page posting, Rabbi Lau explains that a candidate must be “connected to the state and the Zionist enterprise.”

Regarding one’s connection to the state, Rabbi Lau says “the connection must be with the government and its institutions. The Chief Rabbinate is a state institution and the selection of a candidate who does not identify with all aspects of democracy cannot faithfully serve all the citizens. Candidates must state in a clear unequivocal voice that he accepts the laws of the country (including full equality for non-Jewish citizens).”

Regarding the Zionist vision the candidate must identify with “the ingathering of the exiles and a return to Tzion”, Rabbi Lau adds. This demands finding an acceptable solution for hundreds of thousands of citizens living in the state, the many new immigrants who are not Jewish according to Halacha but maintain a connection with the Jewish People. Cutting off from these people is tantamount to cutting oneself off from the Zionist enterprise.”

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)