Shul and State until death do we part

This morning Rav Shimon Baadani passed away. Baruch Dayan Haemmes.

I am not going to talk about him but something that struck me when I heard the news reports of final moments.

The news was reporting Rav Baadani's status in critical condition, of the viduy, of his impending passing and all the reports (at least the ones I heard) mentioned that Rav Aryeh Deri (and fellow Shas Minister Yoav Ben Tzur, but he's less interesting) was present in the hospital room.

Now, of course I can understand and would expect his family - children, grandkids, wife, etc - to be with him. I might even be expecting to hear about his gabbai or some close talmidim being in the room with him. But Aryeh Deri? Why is a politician in the room with him in his fial moments?

And this isnt unique to Rav Baadani's situation. This has come up numerous times before when rabbonim pass. In their final moments the politicians flock to their bedside. Sometimes it might be understandable - Rav Ovadia Yosef and Aryeh Deri were extremely close, Rav Shteinman and Rav Kanievsky with maybe Moshe Gafni for example. In some situations maybe they are close enough that it makes sense to be one of the few surrounding the bed. Besides for those unique situations I think this is a sign of how our rabbinics have gotten way too enmeshed in politics. And from the other side, it shouldn't be a time for the politicians to try to be scoring points with communities and followers. The politicians will also surely speak at the funeral. That should be left to the children and talmidim, not to the politicians.

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