Three months ago, Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Dovid Lau and Rishon L’Tzion HaGaon HaRav Yitzchak Yosef changed the division of responsibility. Rav Yosef assumed responsibility over the nation’s kashrus system and Rav Lau became av beis din of the Supreme Beis Din and in charge of state giyur, with the latter being a part of the responsibility of the av beis din.

The transfer of authority was held up by the political echelon, as the responsibility for the state’s giyur, while under the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, must be assigned by the cabinet. The cabinet for reasons that are not known to anyone, did not vote to transfer the authority for three months.

Deputy Defense Minister (Bayit Yehudi) Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan, a former director-general of the Chief Rabbinate Batei Din, became involved and asked Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to have the authority taken from Rav Yosef and assigned to Rav Lau, as should have been done months ago.

The letter sent by Ben-Dahan did the trick, and the cabinet on Sunday, 26 Marcheshvan, during its weekly meeting, authorized the transfer of authority.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)