During a meeting held in Jerusalem City Hall on Sunday, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat came out loud and clear in his call that at least one of the Jerusalem chief rabbis should be affiliated with the dati leumi camp. The mayor explained that it is only “logical and proper” that this is the case since “we are 70% of the population”, with “we” being the “Zionist camp”.
Also present was Rabbi Rafi Feuerstein, the rav of Jerusalem’s Har Nof Dati Leumi Shul and a leading personality in the Rabbanei Tzohar organization. In his remarks, Feuerstein broached the issue of the Jerusalem shabbos parking lot, taking advantage of his forum to take a jab at the chareidi priorities.
He asked rhetorically “who is in charge of the Knesset Finance Committee”, referring to MK (Yahadut HaTorah) Moshe Gafne, stating emphatically that funds approved for sporting events, which are held on Shabbos, are for more serious than opening a parking lot on Shabbos.
The event gives a boost to the dati leumi camp while serving to fuel the fires of dispute surrounding the election of an ashkenazi and sephardi chief rabbi in Yerushalayim.
(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)
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2 Responses
The mayor explained that it is only “logical and proper” that this is the case since “we are 70% of the population”, with “we” being the “Zionist camp”.
Barkat needs a Rav? Maybe he should appoint some Gerer or perhaps a reform clergyman
There is a certain bit of logic, since the big divisions among Shomer Shabbos Jews today is based on Hareidi vs Dati, rather than Ashkenazi vs Sefardi, and the later is dying out rapidly as the communities mix (which is also true of Dati and Hareidi).
Indeed, the real division in Eretz Yisrael is between Jews who are Shomer Mitzvos, and Jews (including non-Jews with Jewish ancestor) who aren’t Shomer Mitzvos. This is probably an good reason to consider abolishing the idea of a “state” rabbinate, since given the secular majority, they’ll want one of their own (a non-Shomer Mitzvos “rabbi”) to be in charge.