stain on the Rabbinate

A[nother] sad day in the [Israeli] rabbinate.

Rav Avraham Yosef, Chief Rabbi of Holon, has come to a plea arrangement with the prosecutors and has agreed to step down from his position as well as removing himself from his position in the Rabbanut Religious Council. As well, he agrees to not submit his name for any public position for a period of 7 years. To remind you, Rav Yosef was convicted of promoting his families kashrut business over others using his position of chief rabbi to pressure people to take on that hechsher, thus his conviction for breach of trust. This was actually his second conviction for the same issue, as his first, for the same breach of trust, was during his days as a municipal politician on the city of Ohr Yehuda.

Rav Yosef gives a wonderful halacha shiur on the radio, and that is my exposure to him. For a long time I listened to that shiur regularly, and it is very interesting and he has a clear expertise and control of the materiel according to various customs and not just for sefardim (or for any one specific group). And he speaks nicely and is pleasant to listen to.

This is another stain, in a long line of recent black marks, on the [Israeli] Rabbinate.

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