Proposed Law: qualifications for Chief Rabbi

In the last government there were a number of law proposals regarding the candidacy and election of the Chief Rabbis of Israel. Since then  things have been quiet on that issue.

Kikar is reporting that today MK Elazar Stern (Yesh Atid) is proposing a law that brings back the issue of the position and authority of the Chief Rabbi of Israel. I find two aspects of this issue interesting - the proposal itself, as well as the response to the proposal.

The proposal will obviously not pass, as it is coming from the Opposition, and specifically from yesh Atid and Elazar Stern, meaning even if it is a good proposal, the Haredi parties in the coalition would never allow it to pass.

Stern is proposing that to qualify for the position of Chief Rabbi, the candidate must first have experience as either an official rav of a city or as a dayan.

Besides for it seeming obvious that these should be requirements for somebody trying to be the Chief Rabbi of Israel, Stern points to the fact that the Chief Rabbis are each (dividing the authority) responsible for the various city rabbis and for the beis din hagadol and therefore should have that experience and knowledge in their background and portfolio, so as to be able to properly deal with the complex issues under their authority.

seems obvious to me, but despite that it is almost definitely not going to pass.

The other interesting aspect of this was the response to the proposal. An unnamed person from the Haredi parties commented on "how great of a miracle it is that the Haredi parties are in the government in order to be able to thwart this proposal, as if Yesh Atid was in the government it would pass easily".

I can understand playing politics and rejecting a proposal by their arch-enemy Elazar Stern and other Yesh Atid members, even if the proposal is a good one. I find it funny and ironic that they express glee and awe that they are in a miraculous situation to be able to prevent the Chief Rabbis from being qualified with relevant experience. I would have preferred them just playing politics, or explaining why they think the proposal is a bad idea.

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