Following the loss of Rabbi Moshe Chaim Lau in his bid to become the next Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Yerushalayim, the Lau family released a statement lauding the “cohesiveness of the chareidi tzibur”. Lev L’Achim CEO Rabbi Eliezer Sorotzkin told Kikar Shabbos that “There is a bad feeling and the loss is painful for Yerushalayim and chareidi Yiddishkheit”. He explained there were supposed to be five additional votes for the chareidi slate, as obviously not everyone kept to their word since it was a secret ballot.
Rabbi Lau received 20 votes and the winner, Rabbi Stern, received 27 votes. One of the people who worked hard to get Rabbi Lau elected was Rabbi Eliezer Sorotzkin, Rabbi Lau’s brother-in-law.
Dati leumi candidate Rabbi Aryeh Stern was elected to serve as the Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi of Yerushalayim. Rishon L’Tzion Rabbi Shlomo Moshe Amar was elected to the post of Chief Sephardi Rabbi of Yerushalayim.
Rav Sorotzkin spoke with Kikar Shabbos following the defeat and opted to see the positive, stressing the fact the chareidi tzibur united behind one rav was a victory in its own right.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
4 Responses
“There is a bad feeling & the loss to Yetushalayim”…. Who is he talking to? What loss & what bad feeling?
Let us move forward b’simcha & with Ahuvah to work together..
“the loss is painful for Yerushalayim”
What about the non-charedim in Yerushalayim?
before i make my comment, i’d like to address charlie
thats like saying Obama is good for america, what about the republicans? good/bad isnt necesarrily what people want
how do the lau family know there was no backroom deals?
Who cares? What good is the position anyways. All it is is kavod.