Oct 20, 2013
BS elections: Rabbi Myers clarifies his position
Rabbi Myers asked to have his statement clarifying his position posted here: To all of the residents of Ramat Beit Shemesh & Beit Shemesh: It is important for me to clarify that while I have endorsed Moshe Abutbol for mayor, I do not agree with *neither *the content *nor *the tone of the 'Kol Korai,' and I do not endorse any one particular political party for city council. I apologize that I was not more careful before agreeing to include my name on a letter before clarifying its entire content. I have great respect for my esteemed colleagues, the Rabbonim of the Dati Leumi communities, and view our differences of opinion on this subject as a "Machloket L'shem Shamayim." Lastly,I have much respect for Eli Cohenand do believe that he has good intentions for the city. My vote for Moshe Abutbol should not be interpreted as a rejection of Eli Cohen. I do not condone any negative campaigning and distance myself from all divisive rhetoric. Danny Myers
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In other words, my vote for Abutbol is only to make sure Darchei Noam gets a building. #SELLOUT
ReplyDeleteIn other words, people are entitled to opinions that are not yours. If you really want to discuss his reasoning you can contact him and ask him.
Deleteif I am not mistaken, the signature on the letter was in his capacity as rav of a shul. as principal he is not allowed to endorse any candidate.
ReplyDeleteFrom what I am told, his decision to endorse Abutbol is based on halachic considerations only, considering that when all things are considered equal the halachic preference is for the frum candidate. One could debate whether all things are considered equal and if this halacha therefore applies or not, but Rabbi Myers is basing it on that halacha.
sorry, is this apology referring to just the kol korei or to his school's illegal promotion of abutbol too?
ReplyDeleteand machlokes lshem shomayim? please dont insult us
it refers to his signature on the kol korei.
Deletethe endorsement by the school was illegal and inappropriate, but his name was not used. it was put out by heads and members of the school board, not the principal.
The clarification is in reference to the Kol Koreh. The school's letter was done without Rabbi Myers knowledge. That was made clear when those involved took responsibility for their actions.
DeleteAs for Lshem Shomayim, the 20 DTL Rabbi's in this community are in touch with each other. He discussed the election with them in the process of making his decision. He feels that his discussion and working to try to make the best decision is based on trying to determine what is best for the Kehilah.
let's be real here. there is no doubt that if he was not affiliated with DN or they already had a building he WOULD NOT have endorsed Abutbol. He can hide behind "halacha" all he wants. by the way, what exactly is this halachah???
ReplyDeleteI am sure someone else can quote the sources, but he gave a shiur in his shul with all the sources.
DeleteThe Halacha is based on two qualified candidates you vote for the frum one. There is a lot of subjectivity when evaluating the candidates. He did give a shiur with sources. If it is important to you, you can contact him directly to find out what they are.
DeleteHe has not endorsed a political party. If Aliza had one the seker he would not have endorsed a Mayoral candidate. The same applied last time around with Lerner vs Abutbol when he also didn't endorse a candidate.
My vote for Moshe Abutbol should not be interpreted as a rejection of Eli Cohen.
ReplyDeleteHuh?
I have heard a similar sentiment before. not speaking for Rabbi Myers, but the way it was explained to me by other people who said it that the person has a preference for Moshe Abutbol for whatever reason (in rabbi myers case do to a certain halachic opinion), but not because he thinks Eli Chen is bad or will do a bad job in the position.
Deletevoting against, is as you said, to a certain extent a rejection of the other candidate, but in his mind he is voting in favor of one, not against the other.
He feels that both people are qualified to be Mayor and would do a good job running the city. He has nothing bad to say about Eli Cohen as a person or as a potential Mayor. He is still supporting Abutbol.
Deletei still don't see any clarification?
ReplyDeletehe endorses abutbul but does not agree with the kol koreh to vote for him?
and respects and does not reject eli cohen.
so why is he endorsing abutbul?
doesn't say?
I don't see what is difficult to explain: he doesn't agree with the kol koreh, because it discusses other issues than just endorsing Abutbol (e.g. voting for Chen).
DeleteHe respects Eli Cohen, yet nevertheless prefers Abutbol. Why is it impossible to respect two people yet to endorse one of them?
his signature was only for moshe abutbol. the letter had also included the party chen (degel) for city council, but he says he never recommended them and didnt sign for them (I am told he had said in shul that the letter he signed was different than the one plastered all over town).
DeleteI am done answering questions and offereing explanations for him. I dont know any more than the answers already provided. I would recommend one speak to Rabbi Myers directly for further clarification. He has encouraged people to call him about this.
He is not retracting his decision to support Abutbol. He is rejecting the Kol Koreh and the langauge that it used. He is not endorsing any political party. He is rejecting the fact that his opinion was printed as a "Daas Torah" psak. He is only offering his opinion. No one is halachically obligated to follow his opinion.
Deletebut he wrote "I do not agree with *neither *the content *nor *the tone of the 'Kol Korai", sounds a bit more than he just didn't want to include chen.
ReplyDeleteand while still not explaining his choice, it does seem to me that whoever writes up these kol kores for abutbul and chen are lying and forged the rabbis signature to what he didn't sign.
He didn't like the harsh tone. He didn't like the implication that one has a halachic obligation to vote for a particular candidate. He also doesn't support any political party in this election.
DeleteHe took full responsibility for adding his signature to a document that it didn't belong.
He has explained his position to his Kehilla. It is based on a case where you have two qualified candidates one should choose the frum one. Rabbi Myers feels that both candidates are qualified enough that this halacha applies. However, there is room for interpretation and it is not a psak halacha.
Kol Hakavod to Rabbi Myers for having the backbone to say he messed up (by putting his signature to a Kol Korei which he apparently didn't see/read, and with which he disagreed with most of the content) and apologising for that.
ReplyDeleteWhile leaving a lot of questions unanswered, this is a major step forward for Rav Myers' relationship with his shul community, most of whom were not Abutbol and certainly not Chen supporters, and who had been directly insulted by Rabbi Myers in the Kol Korei ("poresh min hatzibur").
I await Rabbi Malinowitz issuing a parallel admission of guilt and his apology.
Although Rabbi Malinowitz is going to have a tougher time explaining that he signed his offensive document by mistake, as he wrote it himself, and then published it as broadly as possible.
A person who can can write so disrespectfully about a rabbi - probably wouldn't take into account Halachic considerations.....
ReplyDeleteso whats the point in arguing??