Instead, there has been fighting among themselves and then with the others whom they thought were their allies. There have been deals and backstabbing, name-calling and accusations and threats. Candidates are coming and going and coming back.
The entire process has turned into an embarrassment. I hope they wont be running every campaign and effort in a similar fashion. As it is, they do not even deserve to have their candidate, whoever it might eventually be, as the Chief Rabbi, and with all the potential for deal-breaking and backstabbing, it is probably more likely that they will be surprised to find a Haredi Chief Rabbi than to find one of their own end up in the office. And they will deserve it.
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the level of fighting is such that i suspect that the question of the chief rabbi's office is simply a diversion or a cover for the real fight. what is the real fight i don't know.
ReplyDeleteShas and UTJ are probably more convinced than ever that running a party by daas torah is the way to go.
There is still a chance that Rav Shmuel Eliyahu will be convinced to run, and having Rav Lau (the son) might not be a bad alternative either.
ReplyDeleteסוף מעשה במחשבה תחילה
I figure that I am the only one that was thinking of the new future chief rabbis when the Mafdal and Tkuma united to run together because this should have been part of their agreement as well as the agreement with Lapid to vote down the 'personal under 70s law' that was put into place specifically so that Rav Ovadia Yosef could not be reelected.
Instead, we got three candidates that did not really excite Torah world and no direction on the part of the Bayit Yehudi which zig zagged all over the place. And sorry, the National religious rabbis also woke up too late.
But what did everyone expect? The young and succesful Bennet was supposed to save the Mafdal from irrelevancy, bring in a fresh young leadership, and above all, get rid of Orlev. What we got was someone who does not share a particularly Torani attitude, who boasted to non-religious supporters that his wife was one of them, and certainly - he wants Rav Stav, the facebook rabbi, while most of the national religious world would rather have someone with a more serious image, stature, and basic stats. The chief rabbis are the head of the higher rabbinical court while Rav Stav is not even a dayan. Now, did anyone bother to think how someone who is not a lawyer can become the head of the supreme court? Electing Rav Stav to bring 'a nicer face of Judaism' is redundant to the changes that Rav Dahan is already making in the Rabanut/Ministry of Religion.
סוף מעשה במחשבה תחילה
The spectrum of Torah within the National Religious world is quite wide. Some want a strong Torani leadership, others do not want rabbis telling them what to do (specifically Bennet).
Two asides: I personally heard Rav Stav interviewed on the Haredi radio saying he would not differ one centimeter on giur from Rav Ovadia's psaks. Second, it is interesting to hear the Haredi talking heads on the radio who seem to assume that the Mafdal-types also share the respect of daat torah, yet just don't get it that people like Bennet and Orbach do not.
as far as i understand, Rav Stav IS a dayan. (i.e. has semicha as a Dayan - if not working in the Bet Din)
ReplyDeleteY, if you can correct me with a source, than the information I heard was false. Some of his followers were boasting about how all the restaurants in Shoham are under his supervision, but they failed to tell everyone that there really are not that many in the first place.
ReplyDeleteApparently, all the candidates have take on PR companies. In this day and age, it seems a necessity in order for the official word to get out. Rav Ariel has one, when asked by a reporter about 'Rav Ariel's people making statements', the company says that they deal directly with Rav Ariel and no 'people'. In contrast to another candidate who seems to have taken on a deeper campaign including an active facebook page in which someone is posting often. Posting often in facebook, means that these messages are then broadcast automatically on many of the people following that FB page. The other candidates are apparently not paying for that service.
Would be interesting if Rav David Lau gets the job - he is being described as a Charedi rabbi, but he is really one of the few people who straddles the Charedi - Dati Leumi divide (meaning that in Modi'in, many people think of him as "Too Charedi", on Modi'in Alit they theink of him as "Too Zionist").
ReplyDeleteAs a resident of Modi'in I would be sorry to see him leave our city for a higher position, he also is very young, still in his 40s. Personally I'd love to see him stay in Modi'in for another 10 years and then move to the Office of the Chief Rabbi.
Micahel, thanks for confirming. With the BY's recent stand, despite what the National Religious rabbis were trying to influence, I think I am going to support Rav Lau as well. Only Rav Lau can bridge between the Haredi, Dati_leumi, and non-religious.
ReplyDelete