The entire issue of the Rabbanut belongs to the men, and it is not a disgrace against women - it is honorable for women, each person with his flag...better that the Rabbanut should be dismantled than changing tradition and allowing women to be tested by the Rabbanut. Even if it will cause there to be np more rabbis, no more beis din, no more Rabbanut at all in Israel - so we will created a private Rabbinate, every comunity will appoint its own rabbi, as was done in the Diaspora throughout the generations...

In light of the Pride Parade in Jerusalem this past week, Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem Rav Shlomo Amar spoke about the issue in a recent shiur. And he spoke about it harshly.

A number of hospital rabbis have asked Rav Shlomo Amar, Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, regarding getting vaccinations on Shabbos. It seems the medical clinics are preparing to also provide the vaccinations on Shabbos, using pikuach nefesh as justification. The hospital rabbis and some doctors are unsure about this and sent the question to Rav Amar.

Rav Shlomo Amar, Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, spoke out against marriage proposals.

Yes, Rabbi Amar wants people to get married. he is not against people going on shidduchim and deciding to get married. Rav Amar is opposed to the "marriage proposal".

According to Rav Amar, this is a recent trend. It used to be the parents would speak and close the deal and all was good. But a new thing has crept in, even among the haredim and among yeshiva bochurim (though not true ones), and they get baloons and other stupidities and propose. Sometimes it might even cause a halachic problem is certain words are said and other people are present witnessing it. This is hefkerus, degrading. "woe tot hem" Rav Amar said, as he said their craziness has no limits. Religious people should do this? People who keep mitzvos?

Rav Amar wants the Roshei Yeshiva to put a stop to it and prohibit their students from doing such proposals.
source: Kikar

Far be it from me to argue with Rav Amar. I see some of these proposals and they do seem to be out of hand and silly. I am just surprised that Rav Amar is only discovering it now and thinks it is a recent trend. it has been going on for years.

All the Jews go to Miami for the  winter... even the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem (and formerly of Israel)..

Rav Amar went to Miami to visit some of the Jewish communities there (source: Kikar)...

Much wiser than going to Chicago in the winter as he did about ten years ago... I guess he's learned his lesson.. (though back then he went in October which is cold, but not too cold)




(hattip Yeranen Yaakov)

Rav Shlomo Amar went to Bahrain for a conference of religious leaders...

Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem Shlomo Amar went to the "Reform Kotel" to daven today as an act of protest against the compromise deal regarding the Reform usage of the area.
source: Kikar

Last week a group of Haredi MKs went to the "Reform Kotel" to see it firsthand and mark their own protest.

In the United States the Orthodox rabbonim would never go to a Reform shul to daven in, even as an act of protest. In everything they do here in this fight they continue to give more and more legitimacy to the Reform and Conservative, in a way that would have never happened abroad.

A while back I mentioned how Gafni had given legitimacy, even if unintentionally, by allowing the deal to go through. I recently read an interview with Gafni and in it he discussed the deal on the Reform Kotel., He said that after the fact he realized that he had unintentionally given them legitimacy, especially when he saw them proud of their achievements in the deal, and that is why he started to fight against the deal that he had initially allowed to go through. So, yes, even though this is not the intention, Rabbi Amar is giving them legitimacy, in a similar way to how the Haredi MKs have as well.

And then they complain when Habayit Hayehudi MKs, or non-religious MKs, go to visit Reform schools abroad.

It used to be that if you did not have emunas chachomim the haredic community would consider you problematic. Maybe you can't be trusted for kashrus, maybe kids shouldn't be in the standard schools, etc.

Nowadays this has changed. Nowadays you have to have emunas askanei chachomim, or maybe emunas dovrei chachomim.

Rav Amar, the [Sefardi] Chief Rabbi of Yerushalayim, has been critical of the deal giving the Reform and WoW a location along the Wall for their egalitarian prayer. He, among others, has been critical of the Haredi MKs who have quietly let the deal go through.

Today in an interview Rav Amar said "what is being said in the name of the gedolim [about the deal surrounding the Kotel areas] must be checked, and I don't want to expand on that".

He did not question the gedolim.. Rav Amar questioned the people who are, supposedly, quoting the gedolim. Did people with an agenda portray the picture properly to the gedolim to get a true answer and clear direction, or did they misconstrue the information in order to get a specific answer? Did they relate the response from the gedolim in an accurate and precise manner, or did they tell the public more or less what the gedolim said, fudging on the clarity? Too bad Rav Amar does not expand on this.

I think if Rav Amar had heard from the gedolim their position, and he questioned them, that might be a problem, but I do not think questioning the askanim around the gedolim is really much cause for derision.

I would like to believe that someone in the position of a Rav Amar could go directly to the source and clarify what the situation is, and even present his own opinions and understanding for consideration. I know the political aspect surrounding Rav Amar and why he is now considered persona non grata among some of the gedolim, and perhaps that is why he was not able to confer directly with them on this issue.

Anyways, as mentioned, Rav Amar questioned the people quoting the gedolim. That drew the ire of Motka Bloi, one of the top Degel askanim. Rav Bloi called Rav Amar Reform, with a troubled history.

So Rav Amar is now Reform because he does not have enough emunas askanei chachomim. Considering how they fought him in the past and basically tarred and feathered him, I am not surprised he has no faith in them.

Rav Amar paskened, describing it as a claimant in court against the defendant (God), that God must send Mashiach to us...

Baruch Hashem we have solved all our problems and can busy ourselves with fighting over the color of the cloak of this or that rabbi.

Either that or the haredi commentators have added a "style column" to their repertoire.

At last night's "mimouna" celebrations in the Moroccan community, [former] Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar made his appearances wearing his honorary robes, as former Rishon lTzion. What has everybody in a tizzy, and I feel almost like TMZ right now, is that he wore his robes that are embroidered with the, sit down, gold threads, rather than the robes with the silver threads!

The problem? Not really sure, but they say that he has only worn the silver robes in recent years, so this looks like he is planning something bigger.

The questions are why? what is he aiming for? is he making a move to be the next Maran? Is he trying to bring the new Chief Rabbi down a notch?

Rav Amar, of course, denies all this. Even says he has worn the golden robes at various functions over the past few years.

And sure enough, someone even went and checked that. They probably had to sift through hundreds of pictures, but they did! They discovered that, at least in public fundtions, he only wore the silver robes in recent years.
source: Kikar

Baruch Hashem, our big concerns are now gossip-column material. "Fashion and Style of the Gedolim" is going to be the newest feature in Haredi newspapers.

In what has been reported in all the frum press and media, Chief Rabbi Rav Shlomo Amar has issued a psak that is surprising in nature.

Bug-free veggies has become something of a staple for kashrut in Israel. Many hechshers require it of restaurants, and don't allow "regular" lettuce, cabbage or other greens to be used, not relying on the process of washing and cleaning to rid the veggies of possible bugs. The stores present in the frum neighborhoods, and especially the haredi neighborhoods, carry the bug-free greens almost exclusively, despite the fact that the bug-free vegetables are far more expensive than the "regular" veggies.

So, to suddenly have a psak issued that bug-free vegetables should be avoided is a bit of a surprise. But that is precisely what Rav Amar just paskened. Rav Amar said people should go back to using regular vegetables that were not grown under any special care and then clean them, as we used to.

The problem with the bug-free vegetables, according to Rav Amar, is the way they are treated with pesticides. the amount and type of pesticides used put those who consume these veggies in grave danger.

Rav Amar mentions a few reasons that pushed him to issue the psak:

1. people have come to think that regular vegetables are impossible to clean, and only by growing them in a special way to be bug-free are they kosher, but that causes a health concern (from the pesticides)
2. It is not possible that specifically those who want to be concerned about kashrut problems have to pay so much more for their vegetables, and then those veggies are dangerous to eat!
3. Those who have less income are paying more for their vegetables  and due to the expense might not buy these foods for their children, due to the expense... 

According to Rav Amar, the vegetable growers use pesticides that are especially strong, some of which they are not allowed to use, and some use them in concentrations that are greater than those allowed. Somehow these growers, that are supposedly under supervision, are using 8 to 10 times the amounts allowed by the Ministry of Health, according to laboratory testing that has been done. And, he points to studies in increasing numbers showing that many chronic diseases around the world are caused by pesticides. With danger being something to be even more concerned about than issur, these vegetables should not be eaten.

If the above claims are true, and laboratories have tested and found them to be using illegal pesticides and pesticides in amounts greater than those permitted, I would expect Rav Amar to send his findings to the Ministry of Health. They should be investigating how these products have been allowed to be sold on the shelves of the supermarket, considering the types and amounts of pesticides being used. If the claims are true, they should be shut down or forced to change their milkshake of pesticides. And, if the claims were to be investigated and found to be not true, I would expect Rav Amar to retract his psak.

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In today's day and age, everybody has a voice. Like it or not, freedom of speech is a reality, even in countries where there is officially no freedom of speech. Twitter and Facebook have even been used to overthrow governments in countries where such sites were blocked and officially inaccessible. That's just the way it is.

A month ago, Rabbi Avi Zarki, a rav in north Tel Aviv and a popular mohel, made the news when he used his Twitter account to comment on the unusually small size of a baby's genitalia along with a recommendation of changing the procedure of circumcision.

Rabbi Zarki is in the news once again, and again it is for his use of Twitter.

Rabbi Zarki seems to be in a fight with Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar. I don't know how it began, but according to the Maariv article on the matter, Rabbi Zarki turned to twitter after Rabbi Amar asked him to stop acting as the rabbi of north tel Aviv. He also threatened Zarki that unless he were to sign such a commitment, Rabbi Amar would work to get him removed from the list of rabbis approved to perform wedding services. Rabbi Zarki adds as well that Rabbi Amar has pressured Radio Kol B'Ramah to cancel his radio program.

I obviously don't know all the details of this, but it seems the fight is because of his tweet last month about there no longer being a need for "preeya" (he claims to have developed a method of mila that renders preey to be redundant. he claims to have rabbinic approval, including from Rabbi Amar himself). Rabbi Amar called a committee to investigate and decide whether Rabbi Zarki is making changes to the traditional circumcision procedures. According to Rabbi Zarki's twitter updates, the committee was loaded with Rabbi Amar's men, people appointed by protexiaץ Despite that he claims he had a knockout punch for the committee when he pulled out rabbinic letters, including one from Rabbi Amar himself, saying that they had investigated his method and found it to be halachically acceptable.

In response, Rabbi Zarki has turned to Twitter to vent his frustration. He posted numerous "tweets" on his twitter account in which he accuses Rabbi Amar of intimidation, being a liar, deceit and calls him all sorts of names. I guess it is understandable, considering the attack he has been under, for unclear reasons, but I must say it is very unbecoming.

Not only has Twitter empowered the world with an unprecedented level of freedom and ability of speech,m giving a voice to people who had none, Twitter is also becoming the platform of rabbinic fighting.


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There have been lots of interesting events, incidents and news stories regarding Yom HaAtzmaut, but the one I find most interesting is the one regarding the tefilla led by Rav Sharki at the Kotel last night.

Rav Uri Sharki , head of the beis medrash of Machon Meir, started, a few years ago, leading a festive holiday tefilla at the kotel. It started off small, and has grown every year, with now thousands of people participating. Rav Sharki is of the opinion that halachically it is necessary to say hallel, with a bracha, on the night of Yom HaAtzmaut as well, as an expression of faith in the redemption.

At the tefilla last night led by Rav Sharki, according to this report on Srugim, the chief rabbi, Rav Shlomo Amar, decided to participate. Just before the chazzan was about to begin the hallel, Rav Amar told rav Sharki that he is prohibiting him from making a bracha on the hallel.

Rav Amar explained that Ravv Sharki's opinion, that had been published and publicized in a journal and detailed as well in a pamphlet of tefillot for Yom HaAtzmaut,, is incorrect. Rav Amar explained one cannot make a bracha on the hallel, and if he does it is a bracha l'vatala.

After some back and forth between them, Rav Sharki decided to stand down and not argue with the chief rabbi. Rav Sharki decided that hallel would be said but with no bracha.

After the tefilla, Rav Amar explained to the crowd that his decision and statements were not personally against Rav Sharki, but were to clarify the halacha. Rav amar explained that in Morocco and North Africa they used to say hallel with a bracha, but in Eretz Yisrael the psak of "Maran" (Rav Yosef Karo) is accepted to not say the bracha on hallel, and definitely once Rav Ovadiah Yosef has paskened that way.

After Rav Amar left, Rav Sharki said he had not responded so as not to argue with Rav Amar publicly, however he feels that the bracha must be said and Rav Yosef Karo was only referring to hallel on Rosh Chodesh and not the full hallel as it is said on Yom HaAtzmaut, as we make the bracha on Hannukah as well. Rav Sharki said that next year he will say the bracha on the hallel, and hopes by then to convince the rabbonim as well that that is what is correct.

With so many different opinions of what to do on Yom HaAtzmaut, Rav Amar should have either kept quiet, relying on the eilu v'eilu approach, or else not participate. He was a guest in someone else's minyan. I would not walk into a shul as a guest and tell them that their customs are wrong. If I don't like it and think they are doing something that according to my opinion is wrong, I would daven elsewhere.

That being said, rav Sharki's response was dignified, and his submitting to Rav Amar's opinion was honorable. Is the bracha of hallel more important than a public dispute? I don't think so. It initially reminded me of the famous story of Rav Baruch Ber Lebovitz who tore up his own writings when he met and became a student of Rav Chaim Brisker - though then I realized it is not the same. Rav Sharki submitted just to keep the peace, not because he became a talmid and accepted the opinion.

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Chanukah candle lighting at the Western Wall

I thought this was interesting.

The Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Shlomo Amar, had something interesting to say about a few topics in the news:
Regarding the "veiled women cult" issue, Rav Amar said, "Nobody should tell me how women used to dress in a previous time. I lived in those times and I know how women dressed then. There are clearly defined rules if tzniyus, but this dress is extremism.  It is prohibited to wear a wig (which is one of the claims of common and unchallenged pritzus the veiled women use in their defense). One must cover her hair with hats or tichels, and if a little bit of hair shows it is not a big deal. But one does not need to cover her face - we never heard or saw such a thing.

Regarding the mehadrin bus issue, Rav Amar said it is some specific people who want to make a "fence" for themselves, but it is not a halachic requirement, we have such a psak from Rav Moshe Feinstein. It is only a hiddur.

Regarding the issue of women singing, Rav Amar said that the entire request was to allow any interested soldier to leave when women would sing. Obviously it should only be done respectfully and without causing shame and embarrassment. The Torah insults nobody and is very stringent n this issue, and gives respect to women.
(source: Kikar)

About 5 months ago it was reported that a woman in Kiryat Malachi had gone to visit her husband's grave and discovered that in the plot she had purchased adjacent to her husbands grave was buried a different women! She sued, demanding the dead body be exhumed, and that the religious council pay 50,000 NIS in damages. The judge gave time for Chief Rabbi Amar to investigate and decide whether the body could be exhumed or not.

According to Kikar, a decision has finally been arrived at. In an unusual decision, Rabbi Amar said that the buried woman should be exhumed and moved to a different grave.

After attempts to reach a compromise, offering alternate plots, moving the husband's body to a different section and giving her an adjacent grave (in the original section the plots are next to each other, from head to foot, but not adjacent side by side) were unsuccessful, Rav Amar decided the only option was to remove the body and rebury her in a different plot. She was buried in a plot that belonged to someone else, and she must be moved.

The body has not been moved yet, as this was Rav Amar's decision, but the court still has to give its final decision on the case before it.

When a marriage ends on the rocks, it is not always easy to get out of. There are some cases of aguna where the woman is stuck because the husband disappeared, war, overseas, etc. and nobody knows what happened to the person to the point of halachically acceptable testimony that would release her. More often than not, the husband refuses to give the get, holding it over her as a negotiating tactic - holding out for a larger settlement, custody of the children or just to be mean.

Different rabbonim have found, over the years, different ways to release some of these women. One of the great challenges any beis din has is in dealing with agunot and finding acceptable ways to release them from their chains.

A recent case led to an interesting psak by Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar. 15 years ago a secular couple married, via the Rabbanut I assume, in a proper halachic marriage. Over the years the couple had children, but eventually the marriage went sour.

Initially they agreed to divorce, and even worked out all the issues and finances. Eventually, the husband changed his mind and decided not to give the get. He ran off, leaving the country, and refused all summons from beis din.

The case went from one beis din to the other until it landed on the table of the beis din of Rav Eliyahu Abergil in Beer Sheva. Rav Abergil looked into the story and paskened that because the witnesses at the wedding, 15 years prior, were mechalelei shabbos, the wedding was invalid to begin with and she therefore does not require a get. She simply was never actually married. Other dayanim disagreed, and the issue got kicked up to the higher court for a decision.

After much debating of the psak in the higher court of the beis din of the Rabbanut, they affirmed Rav Abergil's psak and decided she had never been married, and Rav Amar put out an official psak, that received the agreement of Rav Ovadia Yosef, to that effect. (source: Behadrei)

I might add that frequently, though obviously not all the time, when conducting a wedding where the participants are secular, the Rabbanut rabbi officiating will usually bring his own set of witnesses as he might not be sure if there will be kosher witnesses present. There are also still other issues, such as that they lived in a Jewish community as husband and wife, and even if the original marriage was no good, some opinions would still require a get. Perhaps that is what some of the debate was about.

This morning I woke up, as we all did, to the shocking news of someone having murdered Rabbi Elazar Abuchatzeira, the Baba Elazar, of Beer Sheva. Baba Elazar was the 70 year old grandson of the Baba Sali.

Someone Has Been Sitting In My Chair!
A woman in Kiryat Malachi went to the cemetery to pay a visit to her departed husband's grave. To her surprise she saw the grave adjacent to that of her husband was buried a women, despite the fact that she herself had purchased that plot. She had purchased the plot, for 4000 NIS, to be used at a future date, so she could be buried next to her husband.

Consider her shock to discover the plot she owns next to her husband is containing someone else!

Filed A Complaint
She right away complained to the religious council of the city, who is responsible for the cemetery, and received a wholly unsatisfactory response. She was told that 11 years ago there was a mess of the paperwork, and everything got messed up, including the plot registered under her name. Somehow they lost the registrar information of the plot and thought it was available.

The religious council offered her a different plot nearby, but she was not satisfied by the proposed solution. It was her plot and she expected to be buried next to her husband! She insists that they exhume the body and re-inter it in a different plot. She sued the religious council to that effect, along with for 50,000 NIS in damages.

Interestingly, the judge refused to come to a decision of removing the body without first having halachic permission to do so. Who says the courts are so liberal?

Both parties agreed that the Chief Rabbi, Rav Shlomo Amar, is acceptable to make such a decision, and whatever he says would be agreed upon by all sides.

They now have to go to Rav Amar and explain the case, and receive a judgement from him. After that they will bring his decision back to the court by the end of the month for the court's consideration and final decision. (source: Mynet)

Interesting
It must happen on occasions, but I find such cases fascinating. She is sticking to her guns, perhaps rightfully so. They are sticking to their guns, probably because of the seriousness of removing a body. It does not even say what the family of the buried woman think. And the judge wont decide without first hearing from a rav. Fascinating, while being the source of great distress for the parties involved of course.