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Apr 9, 2013
Who can have an opinion on the race for the Chief Rabbinate?
Rav Aviner responded to a question from an unnamed rav in America about whether they, the rabbonim in the USA, should just follow along with whatever happens here and not "mix in", or if they should be expressing their own opinions as to whom they consider desirable as the next Chief Rabbi of Israel.
Rav Aviner's response has far-reaching implications, much farther than the way he applied it in his response.
Rav Aviner starts off by saying that the selection of the Chief Rabbi of Israel is really an internal matter to the rabbonim of Israel. The rabbonim of Israel select the rav whom they want as their leader - the one they wish to listen to as the final word. The rabbonim of America, with all due respect, do not have any need to listen to the Chief Rabbi of Israel and therefore have no need to get involved in the selection.
Rav Aviner then goes further and says on the other side of the story is the secular public of Israel. They too, he says, should not get involved in the selection of Chief Rabbi. The secular have no intention of listening to the Chief Rabbi's decisions - they actually want him to listen to them, which is a form of idolatry. Since they have no interest in listening to the Chief Rabbi or any other rav, they should not be involved in selecting the chief rabbi.
He then goes on to say that the reality is that the rabbonim in the USA are affected by the Chief Rabbi of israel in many situations, such as conversion and other issues that such weighty decisions also affects things in the USA. So, he says rabbonim in the USA can express their opinion on the matter but should not exert influence and get involved in the actual selection.
(source: Srugim)
So, rabbonim in America should not mix in, because it does not involve them, as they are not obligated to follow the decisions of the Chief Rabbi. The secular should not mix in because it does not involve them, as they have no interest in listening to the Chief Rabbi anyway.
The one thing he does not say, but it holds true according to his opinion, is that the charedim should also not mix in, as they too do not listen to the decisions of the Chief Rabbi.
Basically, according to Rav Aviner, only the Dati Leumi have the right to be involved in the selection of the Chief Rabbis of Israel. It does not seem right to me to say that only a certain sector should have a say in the identity of the Chief Rabbi of Israel. Like it or not, the Chief Rabbi is of all of Israel,not just for the dati leumi communities. The secular, even if they personally do not have an interest in the halachic decisions of the chief rabbinate, are still directly affected by such decisions, in every aspect of their life but perhaps most directly in lifecycle events. The charedim are also affected by chief rabbinate decisions, albeit on a much lower level because they follow their own set of rabbis and halachic decisions.
Rav Aviner's response has far-reaching implications, much farther than the way he applied it in his response.
Rav Aviner starts off by saying that the selection of the Chief Rabbi of Israel is really an internal matter to the rabbonim of Israel. The rabbonim of Israel select the rav whom they want as their leader - the one they wish to listen to as the final word. The rabbonim of America, with all due respect, do not have any need to listen to the Chief Rabbi of Israel and therefore have no need to get involved in the selection.
Rav Aviner then goes further and says on the other side of the story is the secular public of Israel. They too, he says, should not get involved in the selection of Chief Rabbi. The secular have no intention of listening to the Chief Rabbi's decisions - they actually want him to listen to them, which is a form of idolatry. Since they have no interest in listening to the Chief Rabbi or any other rav, they should not be involved in selecting the chief rabbi.
He then goes on to say that the reality is that the rabbonim in the USA are affected by the Chief Rabbi of israel in many situations, such as conversion and other issues that such weighty decisions also affects things in the USA. So, he says rabbonim in the USA can express their opinion on the matter but should not exert influence and get involved in the actual selection.
(source: Srugim)
So, rabbonim in America should not mix in, because it does not involve them, as they are not obligated to follow the decisions of the Chief Rabbi. The secular should not mix in because it does not involve them, as they have no interest in listening to the Chief Rabbi anyway.
The one thing he does not say, but it holds true according to his opinion, is that the charedim should also not mix in, as they too do not listen to the decisions of the Chief Rabbi.
Basically, according to Rav Aviner, only the Dati Leumi have the right to be involved in the selection of the Chief Rabbis of Israel. It does not seem right to me to say that only a certain sector should have a say in the identity of the Chief Rabbi of Israel. Like it or not, the Chief Rabbi is of all of Israel,not just for the dati leumi communities. The secular, even if they personally do not have an interest in the halachic decisions of the chief rabbinate, are still directly affected by such decisions, in every aspect of their life but perhaps most directly in lifecycle events. The charedim are also affected by chief rabbinate decisions, albeit on a much lower level because they follow their own set of rabbis and halachic decisions.
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Chief Rabbinate,
Rav Aviner
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Interesting analysis, Rafi, but I think there's the following fatal flaw: Most datim leumim also don't listen to the chief rabbi - they listen to their own rabbaim or roshei yeshivot. So in effect, by this logic, nobody should be involved in selecting the chief rabbi!
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me, though, that this opinion is not at all in the spirit of what Rav Kook had in mind for the chief rabbinate. My understanding is that he wanted the chief rabbi to be the rabbi of the entire country, and especially of the secular public, the people that do not have their own rabbi. At least that's what I've always understood, I hope someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
His premise is factually flawed. The Chief Rabbinate does directly affect the lives of non-datiim and non-Israelis through the application of their decisions vis-a-vis kashrut and personal status. American batei din have changed their approach in the latter category due to direct influence from the Israeli rabbinate.
ReplyDeleteWhether or not the chilonim have any interest in listening to the Rabbanut is irrelevant--they aren't given much of a choice.
Why should this position exist and why should it be filled by democratic elections?
ReplyDeleteRav Aviner is not a member of the main rabbinical council, so his opinion is only his opinion and not any policy. A few weeks ago, a lot of rabbis met up and put their support firmly behind Rav Igra. The attitude was that first, the chief rabbi needs to be a talmid chacham, and only then 'a face to the public'. Since then, more have come out indirectly against Rav Stav's candidacy because the chief rabbi is automatically the head of the Upper Beit Din and Rav Stav is not even a dayan, essentially saying it's absurd to make someone the head of the supreme court and they are not even a minor judge.
ReplyDeleteMost recent rumour is that teh Mafdal might be supporting a 'new' candidate - Rav yaakov Ariel. Rav Ariel was the leading DL candidate last time, but the Haredim squeezed Rav Metzger in instead.
Current members of the national Rabbincal Council:
http://www.rabanut.gov.il/show_item.asp?itemId=131&levelId=61664&itemType=0