Rabbis for our time

R. Israel Meir Lau

R. Haim Meir Drukman

Although I follow Sefardi rabbis, there are two Ashkenazi rabbis that have earned my respect, both for what they teach and how they act.

R. Israel Meir Lau I was "introduced" to R. Lau by my Syrian, son-of-a-rabbi brother-in-law (once removed)* who gifted me with a book R. Lau wrote when he was Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv. He later was Chief Ashkenazi rabbi of Israel.

I learned to respect the rabbi as I read his book, "יהדות הלכה למעשה". In it he cites halacha, noting that there are differences of approach according to the traditions of the many different groups that constitute Judaism.

Unlike the haridim of Mea Sharim or Been Brak, R. Lau realizes - as do most non-Shas Sefardim and Mizrahim - that "a Jew is a Jew" regardless of how he covers his head (velvet kippa or knitted kippa) or not at all. The Law - from the Torah as interpreted by the rabbis of the talmuds and the likes of the universally accepted Maran and Rash"i - is The Law. The rabbis, particularly those of the haridim, have remade The Law to suit themselves and have ostracized everyone who fails to follow their version of how they think The Law should be applied.

R. Haim Meir Drukman Perhaps there is something in the name Meir -מאור in Hebrew, Meir (ma-or) means "light" - like R. Lau is a Jew who might be called "modern Orthodox." Certainly he, like R. Lau, believes that "a Jew is a Jew" even if a converted Jew fails to keep all possible mitzvot. (I challenge anyone, even the most makped haredi - and that probably is redundant - to name any Jew alive in 2013/5773 who follows all the mitzvot he - or she - is obliged to follow.)

R. Drukman lives as a modern man in Israel. He ran, to the haredi establishment's displeasure, conversion programs for new immigrants and, in particular, for members of the IDF. In 1964 he founded the Ohr Etzion B'nei Akiva Yeshiva High school, where he remains Rosh Yeshiva. In 1977 he established the Ohr Etzion Yeshiva, which for many years was the largest Hesder Yeshiva in the country, and in 1995 founded the Ohr MeOfir academy for high school graduates of the Ethiopian community. Since 1996 he has also been the head of the Center for Bnei Akiva Yeshivot and ulpanot in Israel.

For those not familiar with the hesder yeshiva movement, the yeshiva students join the IDF and combine both military service and talmud study.

To me, what the haridim call "Judaism" is exclusionary and, in many respects, gives Israel's enemies justification for what they do - specifically refusing to sell property to a Jew; the good rabbis of the haredi sector ruled that Jews could not sell land to an Arab. Of course many of these same Jews don't recognize Israel as a modern state.

Judaism needs more leaders of the caliber of rabbis Lau and Drukman. Imagine, with leaders such as those two, maybe even Sefardim/Mizrahim could find common ground with their Ashkenazi cousins. (Of course the Ashkenazim would have to allow kitniyot during Pesach, but … )

* Shlomo is my sister-in-law's husband, but defining him that way is awkward.

We don't need

צה''ל  or Yeshiva students

when we have

MILLIONAIRE RABBIS

Rabbi Marc Angel, in his
Thoughts About Thinking: Thoughts on Parashat Nitzavim for September 15, 2012, writes that

"Some months ago, Forbes Magazine published a list of the 10 richest rabbis in Israel (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQM0zpTOP7Y&feature=player_detailpage). The rabbis’ net worths ranged from 9 million dollars to 335 million dollars! It appears that all (or nearly all) of these rabbis have reputations as wonder workers, Sephardic kabbalists, Hassidic Rebbes of huge dynasties. These rabbis have amassed huge fortunes because the public is willing to pay them for their blessings, amulets, holy water etc. It seems that a considerable segment of the public does not believe in its own ability to pray to God, but wants the intercession of holy men who supposedly have an inside track with God. Many people aren’t interested in a “spirit of inquiry”—they want “truth” as promised to them by wonder working rabbis.

"If these wonder working rabbis indeed have such magical powers and can control God, then why don’t they use these powers to disarm Israel’s enemies; to uproot anti-Semitism; to punish the wicked; to provide for all the sick, poor and hungry of the world?"

The rabbi's point is not to disband צה''ל, the Israeli armed forces, and not to close the yeshivot.

His point is that we - Jews - seem to increasingly depend on "wonderworking rabbis" and other holy men and women to intercede with HaShem for us. This, R. Angel contends, is not the Torah way.

The American rabbi is, in my opinion, correct in that Jews have, and should use, our "direct line" to HaShem, I have to wonder:

What if all the millionaire rabbis were to get together (that in itself might be a miracle) and together appeal to HaShem to convince our enemies - the Iranians, our Moslem neighbors near and far, the anti-Semite and anti-Israel people among the non-Jews and, perhaps more importantly, among ourselves, the anti-everything Jewish Jew.

Now is perhaps the most propitious time: יומי נוראים, the so called "High Holy Days," are nearly upon us. Days when, we are told, HaShem is particularly open to our prayers.

I don't think I'd depend solely (no pun intended) on the millionaire rabbis to seek HaShem's protection, but it would be interesting to see what influence these gadolim would have if they, together - putting aside their differences in approach to Judaism - appealed to HaShem to erase hatred from the world.

TO BE FAIR the rabbis' millions are not necessarily personal wealth; the millions include their charities and institutions.

Meanwhile, as it is written in my וזרח נשמש sedur for the daily amedah(עמידה):

" ומלכות הרשעה מהרה תעקר יתשבר יתכלם ותכניעם ותשמידם"