KOWTOWING TO PUBLIC OPINION IS THE HALLMARK OF A POLITICAN, NOT A CHIEF RABBI

The Rebbe saw back then how the institution of the rabbinate was being dragged into politics. Candidates for rabbinical posts talk like politicians, rather than openly expressing their opinion on Torah matters.

Translated by Michoel Leib Dobry

The recent election campaign for the chief rabbinate of Eretz Yisroel looks more like a campaign for political office than for a religiously hallowed position. Instead of respected and esteemed rabbanim occupied with the teaching of Torah and spreading G-d’s Word, some of the candidates are taking a cue from the politicians’ playbook, tailoring their public statements to impress the media as they seek to win the battle of public opinion.

Even the career politicians haven’t remained indifferent as the campaign grows more intense, and they’ve eagerly been stirring the pot. Knesset Members and Cabinet ministers think that since they sit in the government or the legislature, they too have the right to express an opinion on who will be the next chief rabbi of Eretz HaKodesh. From their vantage point, this is a political position, and therefore, politicians should carry considerable weight in deciding who will run the country’s chief rabbinate. They seem to forget that this is a position connected with the world of Torah, and its occupant’s fitness for office must be determined according to halachic standards and other relevant parameters. Rather than dealing with the question of who will proudly lead the cause of Yiddishkait in the Jewish homeland, the politicians discuss which rabbinical candidate is closest to their party’s ideology and who will give jobs and positions to more of their people.

But worst of all, the media conducts the campaign from a public relations perspective. They portray the rabbanim as politicians who choose their words with extreme care, i.e., only making statements that are “politically correct.” In the past, a rav could freely express Torah-based opinions, whereas today, rabbanim seeking positions of high authority are forced to invent all sorts of convoluted rationalizations. The main thing is not to make any proud declarations in the name of Torah, out of a concern that they might say something inappropriate in the eyes of the omnipotent and ever-present state-run media.

For example, the chief rabbi of Tzfas, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, known for his steadfast and uncompromising stance on the issue of shleimus ha’aretz, may soon apologize for his halachic ruling barring Jews from renting out apartments to Arabs in Tzfas. According to media reports, this apology is being demanded by the chairman of the Bayit Yehudi Party, Mr. Naftali Bennett. In exchange for Rabbi Eliyahu retracting his p’sak din, the party will support his candidacy for the position of chief Sephardic rabbi, once held by his late father, Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, of blessed memory.

Just a couple of weeks ago, a rabbi from the national religious sector told me that he had been asked to serve as a member of the board entrusted with the responsibility of electing the new chief rabbis. A few days after the rabbi gave his consent, he placed a condition on his membership: his name would not appear on the list of electors. He said that ever since it had been reported that he was about to be appointed to the “electoral college,” he has been unable to give his regular Torah classes. Every few minutes he gets a phone call from another PR representative, demanding to speak with him about his client running for the chief rabbinate.

This is an example of the situation that prevails today. A campaign for the election of rabbanim should only deal with Torah-related issues. Instead it has been transformed into a public relations circus with media spins and newspaper headlines.

WHERE WERE THE RABBANIM DURING THE GUSH KATIF EXPULSION?

Anyone familiar with the history of electing the chief rabbis in Eretz Yisroel knows that the Rebbe, Melech HaMoshiach, fought long ago against the absurd practice of compelling rabbanim to step down after a decade in the chief rabbinate. According to the Torah, a rav is elected without term limitations, serving in his rabbinical post for the rest of his life. This situation where a rav concludes his rabbinical duties in a given post after ten years is totally unacceptable under Torah law.

When rabbanim were first compelled to step down at the end of their tenure, the Rebbe protested forcefully. In a reply to Rabbi Shlomo Goren, then a candidate for the office of chief rabbi of Eretz Yisroel, the Rebbe wrote: “…In accordance with my position during the previous elections for the chief rabbinate, a position based upon what is explained in numerous places, among them the well-known responsa of the Chasam Sofer, I am against removing a rav from his post when the contract expires, etc., and this in no way means to insult the opposing candidates, as I wrote during the last election.”

Afterwards, efforts were made to allow the incumbent chief rabbis to run for a second term of office. Here too, the Rebbe cried out and explained that if the rabbanim have to stand for election at the end of a term, they still might be afraid to express Torah opinions, out of fear that they won’t be re-elected.

The Rebbe saw back then how every rabbinical institution was being dragged into politics, as rabbanim were forced to consider their election prospects before taking any steps or issuing any statements. Instead of rabbanim being elected to serve for life, and the need to choose new chief rabbis occurring only once every few decades, the regularity of electing rabbanim has become the norm in Eretz HaKodesh. Candidates for rabbinical posts now talk like politicians, rather than openly expressing their opinion on Torah matters.

Today, as rabbanim go around with PR professionals who censure anything they say to the media and make certain that they kowtow to the prevailing political atmosphere, the Rebbe’s opinion on the rabbinate becomes even more relevant. Over a period of many years, the Rebbe declared that rabbanim must state the position of Torah firmly, proudly, and fearlessly. The Rebbe demanded that the rabbanim of Eretz Yisroel fight to preserve the territorial integrity of the Holy Land and against false conversions that weaken the protective walls of Yiddishkait.

Regrettably, the term of the outgoing chief rabbis will be remembered for the terrible disgrace caused by the expulsion from Gush Katif, as these rabbanim failed to raise their voices in protest against this act of national brutality. In fact, when the Rishon L’Tziyon, Rabbi Shlomo Amar, visited the Gush Katif memorial center six months ago, he spoke with pride about how he forbade the disengagement soldiers to refuse orders, demanding that they carry out the expulsion, throw the Jews out of their homes, and disinter the dead from their graves.

STRENGTHENING THE PRINCIPLES OF TRADITIONAL JUDAISM

On the issue of “Who is a Jew?” things only got worse throughout the previous rabbinical term. We recall the affair over the conversions in the Israel Defense Forces that enraged rabbanim all over the country. It was revealed that the chief rabbinate had refused to recognize hundreds of conversions made within an IDF framework, as soldiers received a conversion certificate on the sole basis of their military service on behalf of the Jewish state. The IDF conversions were considered so “borderline” that even the rabbinate wouldn’t accept them. However, there was a group of rabbis determined to prevent any insult or injury to those serving in the Israeli army, and they fought for the recognition of these “quickie” conversions.

Rabbinical letters publicized that winter brought chilling testimony on how these conversions were made hastily without any compliance in accepting the yoke of Torah and mitzvos. Even rabbanim with moderate views, such as Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, attacked these bogus conversions and those who recognized them. They claimed that it was impossible to say that these people wanted to be a part of the Jewish People or intended to fulfill mitzvos. As a result, their status must be established with the utmost stringency, as the lenient process of their “conversions” left no room to suggest that they might be valid.

The firestorm continued until the chief Sephardic rabbi decided to intervene. Sure enough, he declared the conversions as legitimate. The very fact that a rav succumbed to external pressure is alarming, especially when the issue at hand was something so crucial and important to the Jewish People and their future generations.

We can only hope that the newly elected chief rabbis will not follow the path of their immediate predecessors, and will take action with unyielding consideration for the teachings of our holy Torah. The new rabbanim must know that they bear a heavy responsibility to fight with pride for traditional Jewish values, not just cheerfully teaching Torah. They must also convey the message of Torah to the Jewish People on the pressing issues of our time, fulfilling their true mission to enforce the laws of the Torah and bring the word of G-d in the ways of pleasantness and the ways of peace with firmness and resolve.

THE REBBE FORESAW THE DETERIORATION

In a letter sent to Mr. Yaakov Rosenthal on the 5th of MarCheshvan 5731, the Rebbe wrote in very harsh terms about the state of the chief rabbinate:

“According to the deterioration in this area, even in our Holy Land, we can presume that the future composition of the chief rabbinate has been placed in doubt. Furthermore, as is known, they claim in the name of democracy that since there are Reform and Conservative temples, etc., surely they too have the right to have representatives from their rabbis, etc. Who knows? Maybe even the Karaites will join under the flag of Ahavas Yisroel, Jewish outreach, and the like.”

In light of the current political shenanigans surrounding the elections for the chief rabbinate as well as recent legislation in support of funding for Reform “rabbis,” what sounded groundless back then looks like it can realistically happen in the immediate future r”l.