What do the chief rabbis of Hadera have in common you might ask? Both the Ashkenazi and Sephardi chief rabbis have cut ties with Minister of Religious Services (Shas) Yaakov Margi, who is trying to appoint a new head of the city’s religious council, ignoring the objections of the city’s chief rabbis, Rabbi David Werner Shlita and Rabbi Shimon Biton Shlita.

Rav Biton sent a letter voicing his strong objections to Margi, expressing his shock after learning that Margi has been using people of influence in the community to win over the mayor to act contrary to the wishes of the city’s chief rabbis. These players, who are allegedly pushing Margi’s agenda, are trying to persuade the mayor to sign approving Margi’s selection over the objections of the city’s chief rabbis.

WHAT IS REALLY HAPPENING?
According to Kikar Shabbat, this is a “Shas political deal in the works”, a deal that is at the expense of the residents of Hadera. If Shas succeeds, a member of the Hadera City Council, one who is affiliated with the dati leumi camp (who happens to be a son of a member of the election committee for the Jerusalem Rabbinate Race), attorney Yair Gabbai would get the appointment.

Gabbai would be appointed to head the city’s religious council despite the fact he resides 120km (72 miles) from the city. It is interesting to note that Margi’s previous candidate was also not a city resident and he is blamed for a significant deterioration in religious services, including the state of the city’s mikvaos and eruv, which the rabbonim explain are is a “catastrophic state” due to the last Margi appointee.

As a result of the last appointment, the rabbonim called upon Margi to refrain from appointing anyone who is not a city resident. In this case, the rabbonim are recommending a suitable candidate, one and the same, both indicating a willingness to work with the individual to rehabilitate the city’s ailing religious services.

In an earlier letter sent by the rabbonim to Margi, they called for the appointment of Rabbi Yaakov Bornstein to head the religious council; an appointment they feel would benefit the city and result in a badly-needed boost in religious services. They add that his appointment would indeed be a “Kiddush Hashem”. In that letter, the chief rabbis cite the talents of Rabbi Bornstein, stressing the need to appoint a person of his caliber if there is to be any hope of salvaging and rebuilding the religious services in the city.

It should be pointed out that this it is indeed a rare if not commendable situation, in which Rav Biton is waving his support for the Shas candidate for the betterment of the city and religious services, with both of the rabbonim expressing a unified voice, desperately seeking to undo the damage caused during the past year. The rabbonim have also tried persuading Mayor Chaim Avitan to support their selection, a move they assure him will only benefit the city and its residents. He however appears influenced by Margi’s power brokers. The mayor is aware of the tensions between his chief rabbis and the minister, who they explained to him is simply is ignoring the wellbeing of the city and its residents.

Kikar draws an analogy between Hadera and Jerusalem, and opines a possible deal with the dati leumi favoring Shas in Hadera, even at the expense of Yiddishkheit in Hadera, as the report indicates is the case in the capital’s chief rabbinate elections.

This question was posed to Minister Margi’s office, and received the following response from Alon Nuriel, the minister’s media advisor. “With all due respect to the chief rabbis of Hadera, the minister prefers not to comment on the matter”.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)