Wait and see

The ballots are counted and two chief rabbis are elected.

It seems to have been a race on both sides, but like Dallas, dynasties rule.

Unfortunately, unlike strictly political elections, Jews are “stuck” with David Lau, the son of former Ashkenazi chief rabbi Israel Meir Lau, and Yitzak Yosef, a son of former Mizrachi chief rabbi Ovadia Yosef, for 10 years – unless, of course, scandal drives them out of office, as it did the departing Yona Metzger.

R. Israel Meir Lau was known for being open-minded regarding customs of Jews of all traditions. His son claims he is, and will continue to be, a rabbi for all people. “Young” Yosef – he’s 61 now – is said to be more “moderate’ than his father.

The Yosefs had to pull strings In order to get Yitzak elected to serve as Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel and Rishon Lezion on July 24 of this year. Candidates for chief rabbi must be municipal rabbis.

In 1980, Yitzak Yosef was ordained as a rabbi and judge by the chief rabbis of Israel (his father being one) and by chief rabbi of Jerusalem Shalom Messas. With the beginning of the second class, he was appointed head of the school.

Older brother Avraham Yosef , chief rabbi of Holon, had been expected to be endorsed by his father, but a police investigation into accusations of breach of trust and conflict of interest which has been re-opened against him in recent days seemingly ended his candidacy

In 1980, Yitzak Yosef was ordained as a rabbi and judge by the chief rabbis of Israel (his father being one) and by chief rabbi of Jerusalem, Moroccan-born Shalom Messas. With the beginning of the second class, he was appointed head of the school.

Will anything change following the election of the few?

Will the helonim accept either chief rabbi’s authority?

Will the extreme haredi accept either chief rabbi’s authority.

Ovadia Yosef is the dominant Mizrachi rabbi; unlike the Ashkenazim, Mizrachi haredim generally are not fragmented. North Africans are less likely to follow Yosef until he proves himself.

Perhaps a greater question will be: Will Lau and Yosef be able to work together?

Yosef, like his father, has been known to rail against Mizrachim and Sefardim giving up their own traditions, often under duress, to conform to Ashkenazi customs. (At the same time. Yosef and other Shas rabbis dress in the Ashkenazi mode. As one rabbi put it, it is the expected uniform for a rabbi today.) http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3506765,00.html

It will be interesting to watch as the two new chief rabbis start to influence their constituents. It also will be interesting to see any changes when Ovadia Yosef no longer casts a shadow over his son.

Who’s evil? Look inward

Is Ovadia Yosef senile?

According to numerous reports, Iraqi R. Ovadia Yosef is calling Ashkenazi R. David Stav “a wicked man,” someone “dangerous to Judaism” who had “no fear of God at all.”

Electing R. Stav as Israel’s Chief Ashkenazi rabbi would be “bringing idolatry into the temple,” according to R. Yosef.

His inflammatory and derogatory statements are blamed for an attack on R. Stav by haredi youth as he was leaving a wedding in Jerusalem. (http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=10059)

Does R. Yosef know this man personally? One Web site stated that they had never met. So one assumes the Iraqi has been following R. Stav’s activities at Tzohar. One source suggested that R. Ovadia knows nothing about R. Stav but the Iraqi has become a tool of his “advisors.”

The Mizrachi rabbi may have reason for concern. R. Stav says he wants to make not only rabbinate offices more welcoming, but also remodel the Israeli face of the Jewish religion in general. “I am from the world of Torah and Zionism. I am not subordinate to the ultra-Orthodox functionaries or to the politics of the Haredi Torah world,” Stav says.

In a statement, Tzohar called R. Yosef’s remarks a testimony to “the urgent need for change across the rabbinate” and said he should “repent and ask forgiveness.”

“We protest the incitement voiced yesterday by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef,” Tzohar said. “Israel needs a rabbinate that will connect it to Judaism, and not antagonize.”

Yosef sustained criticism from several rabbis, most of them religious Zionists. Yosef has "crossed every boundary," said Rabbi Haim Drukman.

"Does he think that speaking that way about someone you've never met is ethical? Halachic? Jewish?" said Education Minister Rabbi Shai Piron. “Why? Why does Rabbi Ovadia have to curse [Rabbi Stav],” he wrote on Facebook. “Does he think that that this will bring people closer to Torah and to Judaism? Does he think that to speak this about a person he has never met is moral? Halacha? Jewish?”

Meanwhile, religious Zionist Rabbi Benjamin Lau on Monday called for all political leaders "from the president on down" to cease all meetings with Yosef. "It's a humiliation," he said.

The religious Zionist movement, the organization noted, did not need the permission of Torah sages to field candidates and “knows how to manage the religious Zionist tradition for all of Israel.”

Assuming that R. Yosef is responding to information fed him by his advisors, it remains fairly certain that R. Yosef is suffering from senility. His recent pronouncements, both within a religious context and within the political context, leave no question as to his deteriorating mental capacity.

Israel needs another Israel Meir Lau or Yosef Messas, rabbis who guard halacha while keeping it alive and in the current era.

The competition of the Ashkenazi (!) chief rabbinate – in which the Iraqi should have no voice – has turned into לשון ברע … just in time for Rosh Hodesh Av.

R. Yosef and Shas should be ashamed.