Minister of Religious Services Naftali Bennett and Deputy Minister of Religious Services Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan are working to bring more dati leumi rabbonim into the state system as chief rabbis of cities. They are radically changing the system of electing chief rabbis on the municipal level by putting most of the power in the hands of the local religious council, taking it from the askanim in a city that have controlled elections to date.
A body numbering 16 to 48 people elects a city’s chief rabbi, usually when one retires or one is niftar. Due to an inability to reach agreement in Yerushalayim for example, the city has been without chief rabbis for over a decade, since the petira of the Ashkenazi and Sephardi chief rabbis. Today, about half of the voting body is comprised of representatives of large shuls in a city; a quarter is elected by the local religious council, and the other quarter by the city’s council. Bennett and his colleagues feel that today most of the chief rabbis around the country are chareidi while the populations are not generally chareidi. He hopes to change this.
If they succeed in amending the regulations, one-half of the votes will come from a city council and one one-quarter from representatives of large shuls. The local religious councils will be out of the voting process, and that remaining quarter of the vote will be placed in the hands of rabbonim handpicked by Bennett and public officials that both Bennett and city mayors agree to. In short, Bennett hopes to change the demographics to have dati leumi rabbonim fill the voids in cities like Yerushalayim, where chief rabbis must be elected.
In most cities, the city council is far from chareidi and this will work to the Bayit Yehudi party’s favor. Elections for city chief rabbis are set to take place in the coming months in a number of cities including; Haifa, Ashkelon, Kfar Saba, Yerucham, Nesher and Yerushalayim. However, regarding the latter the election process has begun so it remains unclear if Bennett will be able to implement his
change in this election. This must be determined by the legal experts.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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5 Responses
Nobody elected Rav Elyashev ztz”l. Nobody elected Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach ztz”l. Nobody elected Rav Moshe Feinstein ztz”l. Nobody elected Rav Akiva Eiger, the Chasam Sofer, the Chazon Ish, or Rav Shach zeicher tzadikim li’vrachah. And none of them appointed themselves through some political coup or maneuvers. Just as Maran Beit Yosef (Rav Yosef Karo) became the posek for the Sefardim and the Rema (Rav Yisroel ben Yisroel (Israel’s)) the posek for the Ashkenazi, so too all true leaders, transmitters of the mesorah, became the leaders.
mazel tov
What a good move, why should the DL have charedi rabbonim who are out of touch with their hashkafic needs, b’h for bennet!
To avoiceofreason: “out of touch with their hashgachah needs”? Seriously, I never knew there was more than one hashgafah (i.e. outlook / goal). Aren’t we all focused on serving the Ribono shel Olam? Don’t we all Bible there is one G-d, that there will be t’chiyas ha’meisim, that there is one Torah, that Moshiach is coming, etc.? Are there multiple Shulchan Aruchs from which decisions regarding kashrus, marriage, geirus are made? Unless you mean there are people who want the Torah to fit into their lives and lifestyles rather than learn and grow to fit into the Torah’s way of life. No there is not one way. And yes, certainly, not everyone is on the same level or should be.
” And none of them appointed themselves through some political coup or maneuvers.”
Which enhances the contrasts between the gedolim you mention and the political maneuvers used to elect less distinguished charedi Chief Rabbis and City Rabbis in Israel. The last election was a particular shame as not one but two outstanding dayanim, Rav Boaron and Rav Igra, were passed over as they had neither the political connections nor the family connections.
It didn’t use to be this way. Rav Herzog z’tz’l and Rav Uziel z’tz’l, the first Chief Rabbis of the state of Israel were arguably the most outstanding Ashkenazic and Sefardic Religious Zionist rabbis alive at the time.