Kol Chai chareidi radio is under fire in Israel today after senior host, Avi Mimran, told Rabbi David Stav “you’re not a rabbi”, resulting in Rabbi Stav hanging up the phone and ending the live interview unilaterally.
Mimran is a senior host and the interview was conducted during the station’s main evening news magazine, on Monday evening 25 Menachem Av. The discussion surrounded the announcement a short time earlier in the day of an alternative beis din for giyur headed by Rabbi Nachum Rabinovitch Shlita, including Rabbi David Stav and other well-known rabbonim.
At some point, Rabb Stav responded to a question. Mimran then called the rabbi’s response “demagogic”, to which Rabbi said “You should not tell a rabbi that his response is demagogic” to which Mimran said “you are not a rabbi in Israel”. Rav Stav then stated “and you are a rabbi” to which Mimran stated “No, I am not and we both are not rabbis”. Rabbi Stav then hung up the phone.
Channel 2 correspondent Ilan Segal was first to announce he will no longer work with or interview with Kol Chai until Mimran and the station issue a formal apology, a public apology. He is joined by Bayit Yehudi MK Yinon Magal and prominent PR personality Shimon Riklin, who stated “It is unacceptable that the chareidi tzibur extend kovod to its rabbonim while insulting dati leumi rabbonim One may argue and one does not have to agree but one must remain respectful and conduct oneself with derech eretz…”
At the time of the writing of this article, Mimran has refused to apologize. Kikar Shabbos quotes him explaining “Rabbi Stav was given semicha by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel and today, he and others have decided the Chief Rabbinate is not the only body that may rule, but other rabbonim may do so as well. I act just as he does and I eliminated the decision of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel which bestowed the title ‘rabbi’ upon him and I relied on the decision of Maran HaGaon HaRav Ovadia Yosef ZT”L who said Rabbi Stav poses a danger to Yahadut”.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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12 Responses
Congrats to Mr. Mimran for fearlessly calling a spade a spade right to Mr. Stav, who couldn’t handle the affront to the honor he demands for himself.
It never ceases to amaze me how the hareidi tzibur has such little P.R. smarts that they always play into the hands of these media hungry people.
They just give them the publicity that they so desire.
Wasn’t it enough with the Riskin “rejection”, how many weeks of mileage did they get out of that one?
Wise up fools, Am Yisrael stands to lose from this game, and BTW, stop insulting, too.
Bayit Yehudi MK Yinon Magal and prominent PR personality Shimon Riklin: who stated “It is unacceptable that the chareidi tzibur extend kovod to its rabbonim while insulting dati leumi rabbonim ”
Hey! it works two ways!
you guys no playa the game you guys no makea the rules
#3
You are so mistaken, there is respect & honor shown to Rabbonim & Rebbes by the Dati Leumi world (which is far from homogenous).
Kol hakavod for Rav Stav to even agree to a live interview & a pure chutzpah to the moderator.
great! even further down the road of sinas chinam!
first it was agudah and shas against degel and now this!
Radio Kol Chai and Avi Mimran have issued a public apology to harav Stav.
If at the time of Rav Stav’s semicha from the Rabbanut, he and others recognized the Rabbanut as legitimate, it is doubtful that Rav Stav’s would lose his semicha retroactively (lemafre’ah). Interesting question as to whether a musmach who no longer
the mesamech as legitimate can no longer claim his semicha for the future (mi-kan u-le’haba)? Any thoughts?
#7- Neither harav Stav nor any of the other rabbanim leading this initiative has ever said that the Rabbanut is illegitimate. Why would you attribute such a statement to any of them? The claim is that the Rabbanut is failing to sufficiently address an issue of great importance.
@#2: “Wise up fools… and BTW, stop insulting, too”
Are you trying to be a living example of noshim daatom kalos?
No.8 Thanks for your reply. Did not mean to attribute such a statement to Rav Stav’s, or to anyone. Thank you for the clarification. In any event, any thoughts on the Halakhic aspect that I raised?
#10. Given the fact that ‘smichah’ in our time has no real halachic ramification (as opposed to historic smichah which entitled one to judge cases of dinei nefashot, knasot etc.) it isn’t clear to me why there would be any halachic nafka mina to ‘losing’ smichah. The only nafka mina that I can think of would be for employment purposes, where the employer requires the employee to have received smichah. Were the smichah to have been revoked by the masmich that would likely be cause for termination but I can’t see how a statement from the musmach such as you posit could be cause for termination.
@#9
“noshim daatom kalos”
Sorry, but I never am good at “transliteration.” I don’t know what that means, (I think it’s that “women are light headed Yes, I am light headed if it means, in this case, that I respond to my emotions, rather than a long involved thought process,) but I think that people who give an excuse for negative publicity to the hareidim need a slap in the face(figuratively) to wake them up to how much negativity against the tzibur they are responsible for.
They are acting like “fools”, that is not meant as an insult, but pointing out that it is the manner in which they are acting.
Now, your response to me would seem to be an insult, I will accept your sincere apology.