Rabbi Chaim Perl was selected on Thursday morning to be the new Chief Rabbi of the Fire and Rescue Department. The selection was made following Rabbi Perl’s passing through a selection process run by the Civil Service Commission.

Rabbi Perl (42) joined the Fire and Rescue Department in 2015 as the person in charge of enlisting charedim into the department and the deputy to the previous Chief Rabbi. Over the past six months Rabbi Perl has been the acting Chief Rabbi following the departure of  his predecessor.

Before he joined the Fire Department, Rabbi PEl served in the IDF in a variety of capacities including the Rabbi for the Arava Brigade, Chief Rabbi of the Ordnance Basic Training Base, and Chief Rabbi of the military prison in Atlit. Rabbi Perl has ordination from the Chief Rabbinate of Israel.

Fire Commissioner Dedi Simchi said: “Rabbi Perl has the training and demeanor necessary to fill this important position in our organization whose sole mission is to save lives and property.”

Rabbi Perl said upon his appointment: “I wish to thank the Commissioner for his faith in me. My vision is to provide a rabbinate of loving kindness for the Fire and Rescue Department. I will make it my mission to ensure that in Israel’s Fire and Rescue Department, which is a rescue organization in all senses of the word, that Religious and Charedi people can serve.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)