The courts approved the plea bargain arrangement in the case of Rav Avraham Yosef, finalizing today as another sad day in Israel in which  a rabbi gets convicted for a crime.

Rav Avraham, Chief Rabbi of Holon and son of Rav Ovadia zt"l, was convicted for breach of trust. As city rabbi he made constituents coming to him looking for a mehadrin hechsher for a restaurant under their ownership to go to the Badatz Beit Yosef owned and controlled by the Yosef family rather than grant the mehadrin hechsher via the Rabbanut.

According to the plea bargain, Rav Yosef agreed to immediately resign from his position as chief rabbi of Holon and to suspend himself from his position on the Rabbanut Rabbinic Council. Rav Yosef cannot put himself up for any public position for the coming 7 years. As well he gets a 5 months suspended sentence and has to pay a 75,000nis  fine.

His halacha show on Radio Kol Chai was always great. I wonder if they will let him continue in that role or if they will remove him. Considering that it is  a Shas-controlled radio station, they do not really believe convictions are a disgrace, so they might let him continue...

This psak is timely, with all the recent fighting over chilul shabbos - specifically regarding the work on the train lines.

Chief Rabbi of Holon, Rav Avraham Yosef, was asked if one is allowed to travel via train, considering much of the work on the train lines is done on Shabbos.

Rav Yosef responded very critical of Rakevet Israel, saying that they act with chutzpah, not taking into even minimal account the kedusha of Shabbos. Though the religious public might be relatively small, but the number of those who care about Shabbos is much greater than the number of people who keep mitzvos, yet Rakever Israel denigrates the thing that since the foundation of the State has been the Holy of Holies. If we ignore the Shabbos, the symbol of Judaism, we might as well call the State something else and not Medinat Yisrael. Using the name Medinat Yisrael symbolizes something from the people of Israel, and the minimum is Shabbos.

Rav Yosef then paskened that, in his opinion, it is prohibited to travel by train Israel on any line that is worked on on Shabbos, and in his opinion all the lines are worked on on Shabbos. It is very problematic for a religious Jew to use any of the trains.
source: Kikar

The 3 rabbinic councils met together last week and chose to not make any dramatic pronouncements beyond continuing political activity working against chilul shabbos. Rav Yosef's psak here is seemingly against the decision of the moaztzot, but he issuing a halachic psak to someone who asked and not a political decision in how to cause them to capitulate.

The real question is, considering the indictment and plea bargain recently arrived at with Rav Yosef, when will Radio Kol Hai replace him with someone else on the radio, and will the Rabbanut remove his rabbinic ordination, as they are considering doing with Rabbi Metzger and some other rabbis guilty of crimes.

Rav Avraham Yosef, Chief Rabbi of Holon, has spoken out against singers who officiate at wedding ceremonies, calling for them to be arrested and brought to trial.

Rav Yosef does not like the trend of people hiring performers for their weddings and have them also lead the services of the wedding chuppa. It is illegal, as they are [often] not certified by the Rabbanut to perform weddings, and they should be prosecuted for this..

Rav Yosef also suggested a public campaign to inform the public that it is illegal and that people present at such affairs or aware of such affairs should inform the Rabbanut and then the Rabbanut should begin legal proceedings against the offenders.
source: Kikar

1. maybe Rav Yosef is just looking for a cellmate for when he goes to jail. Rav Yosef was indicted for breach of trust for abusing his power as City Rabbi to benefit the private hechsher (Bet Yosef) of his family.

2. Rav Yosef might be going down the rabbit hole here. What they are doing is illegal, and he is right about that. But once it goes to court and becomes a public issue, who is to say that this will not be the start of yet another anti-establishment, anti-Rabbanut movement claiming that the Rabbanut is once again just using power to enforce its monopoly. The kashrut industry has been shaken up ever since the Rabbanut went down the path of chasing down people with private hechshers and is not yet sure what will happen when it arrives on the other side. Who is to say that this won't happen with life-cycle events in the same way, with the courts establishing that it is time to open up the market to other service providers besdies for the Rabbanut?

Is cheating allowed in school? copying work?

Surprisingly enough, it depends who you ask.

While many poskim will say it is prohibited to cheat in school, I can even see some giving perhaps a private, not public, psak saying ti is allowed. I cannot even think of any rationale that works, but I can fathom it happening. I cannot fathom a rav giving a public, general, psak that cheating is allowed.

Yet it happened.

Rav Avraham Yosef, Chief Rabbi of Holon, paskened so on the Moreshet "Ask The Rabbi" site.

The questioner asked:
My friend needs to submit work in university. She took work prepared by somebody else and asked me to help her rewrite it so it would not look noticeably the same (the original was submitted to the same professor).
I think the professor is aware of the industry of recycling schoolwork in his course (the fact is that he gives the exact same material), but I am not sure. Am I allowed to help my friend rewrite the work?

Rav Yosef answered simply:
It is allowed, and it is a mitzva of gemilut chessed (kindness), especially if she knows the material.

Understandably this psak raised a firestorm. I still cannot believe any rav would give such a psak in public.

A students organization wrote complaining about the psak saying it is prohibited by university rules, as well as immoral.

In all the various articles I saw regarding this subject, including on the frum websites, in none of them does Rav Yosef respond and explain his psak or his rationale.

It makes no sense to me. His answer does not even make sense to me. gemilut chessed to cheat?

In my attempt to be dan lkaf zchus, give him the benefit of the doubt, this is the explanation I was able to come up with.

Possibly, Rav Yosef misunderstood the original question. Perhaps he understood the question to be not about cheating and copying schoolwork, but to be about helping another student write the work rather than making her write it herself. Perhaps Rav Yosef understood the question to be if she can help her friend write her paper or not. And to that Rav Yosef responded that it is ok to, it is gemilut chessed, as long as the student knows the material, so the helper isnt the one really writing the paper.

That's the best I could come up with, though to be honest the question seems pretty straightforward and difficult to misunderstand. I wish he would explain himself, because as it is with this public psak out saying it is allowed to cheat, all it causes is a chilul hashem,



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I dont know if there is a concerted effort by someone or some group to keep the tension high between Amnon Yitzchak and the Yosef family along with Shas. I would have expected things to quiet down after the elections passed, especially with Amnon Yitzchak's party not winning any Knesset seats. Shas leaders continue to attack him, mostly blaming him for preventing Shas from winning a few more seats, though at a much lower level of intensity. Perhaps it is because Amnon Yitzchak has mentioned he is considering running candidates in municipal elections around the country in 9 months, so Shas still sees him as potentially taking power away from them, or maybe it is still just anger over the past.

Either way, while tension may be justified, to a certain extent, something like the following is either a really stupid mistake or part of a concerted effort to raise the tension level.

Kikar reports on a psak written by Rav Avraham Yosef, the Chief Rabbi of Holon and son of Rav Ovadiah Yosef. According to the report, a week after the elections Rav Avraham Yosef has written a psak stating that Amnon Yitzchak's supporters must abandon him and thy are not allowed to donate money to him or his organizations and institutions. Rav Yosef says this is necessary because supporting him is considered supporting idol worship, as haughtiness will make a person crazy and remove him from his ways and away from God.

Rav Avraham says that they would have been able to ignore it had the attacks come from someone who was empty and reckless, a drunk and imbecile. but because it comes from someone who had a good relationship with, and was treated well by, Rav Ovadiah, and it is his stupid lack of gratitude that brought him down to the lowest level possible, and after anyone goes on the radio saying anything about him he goes on the radio and threatens retribution using the courts... about him it is said "one can lose his entire world in one hour".

It is a pretty harsh attack, equating him with idol worship, along with the rest of the attack. The problem with it is that this did not actually happen a week after the elections has passed. It happened about a week before the date of elections, at the height of the campaigning, when such an attack is a bit more understandable - in the heat of the campaign, at the height of the retorts and attacks going in each direction.

the source for this psak is the original post by Rav Avraham Yosef on the "Ask the Rabbi" page of the Moreshet website. The date the question and answer was posted on Moreshet was January 15th, a week before election day. NOT  a week after elections, as reported on Kikar.

As I said, either it is a really stupid mistake, not noticing the date of the post, that was then mistakenly convoluted to turning it into a continuation of the high tension, or it is part of a concerted to keep those tensions high, assuming people won't look for the original (no link was provided) and notice the date.

.

In a conference on Thursday about different aspects of Pesach, one of the speakers, Rav Avraham Yosef discussed some of the stringencies we mistakenly keep and what the ramifications are.

Rav Yosef specifically related to ashkenazim who sell kitniyot to a non-Jew along with the chametz being sold. He called such people  ignoramuses. The halacha is clear that kitniyot cannot be eaten by an Ashkenazi (notwithstanding Rav David Bar-Hayyim opinion), but there is no need to sell it or treat it like chametz in any way.

A second issue related to by Rav Yosef was the hechshers we find on bleach, shampoo and other household items that have absolutely no need for a hechsher. Rav Yosef said that putting the hechsher on these items is blackmail, and is a method of advertising for the kashrut organization, and it has absolutely no basis in halacha.
(source: Kikar and Srugim)

The Eida in the past has defended the practice of certifying household items like bleach by admitting that it is not necessary, but claiming the people want it, perhaps out of ignorance, and the companies therefore also demand it. They have said the companies demand it also as advertising, as they then make claims that their products are certified by the Badatz.

Regardless of demands, ignorance should never be promoted. Instead of saying you have no idea what you are talking about so we will give you what you want and also charge you more for the product, they should explain that it is not necessary and not certify such products.

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Quote Of The Day

The separation of genders on the bus is superfluous. It is idiocy and it does not stem from the fear of God... You should keep your hassidus to yourselves, lower your eyes to the ground. Somebody who is uncomfortable sitting near women, he should get up and leave. It is a chutzpah and lacking the basic and most minimal understanding.... According to the Torah, sitting next to a strange woman is allowed. The increasing extremism causes the media to make a lot of noise against the haredi community...

--- Chief Rabbi of Holon Rabbi Avraham Yosef

Quote Of The Day

All my life I grew up in secular cities, and I raised my children in secular cities. All my children are thank God God-fearing and learn Torah - in the merit of having grown up in secular cities! Specifically because of the need to deal with a different atmosphere, and understanding the importance of living in such a city, that gives the spiritual and Torah strength...

  --- Chief Rabbi of Holon Avraham Yosef

Rav Yosef said this at a haschnassat sefer torah ceremony at the Yeshivat Hesder of Holon

2 items of interest happened in the past couple of days in the kashrus world. Probably more than 2 things happened, but 2 that meet both of the following criteria:

1. I am aware of the event having happened
2. I find it interesting

Rav Avraham Yosef, Chief Rabbi of Holon, dealth with an interesting, and always controversial topic in his halacha radio program today. The issue of making copies of discs. The variety of opinions regarding this issue is as wide as the variety of possible opinions.

Rav Yosef said that regarding discs of Torah shiurim, even though the rabbi worked hard to put out his shiur on a disc and spent money, one is allowed to copy the disc. Rav Yosef said that nobody owns the Torah, and therefore no matter how much work one puts into it, anybody can make copies of this type of Torah content. Rav Yosef adds that this remains the halacha even if the rav specifically speaks out that he forbids making copies - it remains allowed.

Rav Yosef differentiates between Torah and music. Where it is allowed to copy discs of Torah, it is prohibited to copy discs of music. The artist has ownership of his work, and copying discs, it does not matter how many, is theft. (source: Kikar)

Rav Avraham Yosef, Chief Rabbi of Holon, has a great halacha program on the radio, Radio Kol Chai. Rav Avraham Yosef is very clear, very smart and has a very broad base of knowledge of both sefardic and ashkenazic psak. I dont get to listen to his show often anymore, but when I used to have the opportunity, I found his show very clear and educational.

In his show today Rav Yosef discussed having female teachers teach young boys. Specifically, until what age can a female teacher teach young boys.

Rav Yosef was discussing the halacha, which he says is that a woman can teach a boy until the age of 9, and teaching boys older than that is pritzus and is prohibited. Rav Yosef said that "nowadays we unfortunately hear about the craziness of women to try to be equal to men. This is corrupt, it is the ideology of Pharoah who tried to equate the men and the women. There is an ezras nashim and that is the only place of the women."

That led to further discussion, with a caller asking if a women can teach torah reading to a bar mitzvah boy, or to even older boys who are already bar mitzvah.

Rav Yosef's response was to give a more general answer that a woman can only teach boys in a situation where there is no possibility of yichud with the parents of the kids, and only until 3rd grade. not any older than 3rd grade, being that 3rd grade is generally 9 years old. 4th grade and up is pritzus for a woman to teach as the boys already have an understanding. It is completely prohibited for a woman to teach boys in 4th grade and up.

Rav Yosef then said that he is aware of a yeshiva high school that has employed a female teacher. He says it is  shameful that they dont understand even the most minimal thing that this is a clear and simple halacha.

In regards to the specific question, Rav Yosef said that with all due respect to the woman that she knows how to teach the cantillation and the reading nicely, but it is completely prohibited for her to do so. There is not a God-fearing person who would allow her to teach a boy privately. There is the prohibition of yichud, which applies to a boy from 9 and up. This is an issur d'oraisa and people therefore have to be completely makpid about it.

We have recently heard of the craziness of women that try to be like men, with equality. This is a distortion, this is the ideology of Pharoah who equated men and women. Yet this is wrong. Hashem created us differently, and separately. A woman has her tools and her abilities, and she should not invade into areas that are not hers, to teach a bar mitzvah boy, this is a very serious transgression. (source: Kikar)

It seems to me that the issur of yichud is easily solvable, by having someone else, probably a parent, present, if the woman is teaching the boy privately. The issue of pritzus would still be an issue, and that would be an issue both in private lessons or in the classroom. The question is if a woman teaching boys older than 9 is a "clear and simple" issur of pritzus, and while Rav Yosef is usually very clear and good at breaking down the issues, he seems to be mixing the yichud and pritzus issues here..

I grew up in yeshivish schools, and we had female teachers (for secular studies) until well past the age of 9, 3rd grade. If it was a clear issur, rather than a local hanhaga, those schools I am familiar with would not in any way have employed female teachers (I have no idea if they do today or not, but 30 years ago they did).

Regardless of my thoughts, the Kolech organization, which is a forum for religious women who are committed to "halacha, Jewish tradition, and gender equality" has registered its response saying that "it is inappropriate to project such thoughts onto children at such a young age. Doing so is an expression of lack faith in the ability for women  and children to talk, which has an important educational value. Why did Rav Yosef not express his reservations of men as heads of institutions in which girls at the age of maturity learn, and many male teachers in these institutions as well? He who points to the problem of women teaching, and not to the problem of the other direction as well, is not acting with tzniyus, but with hypocrisy (נוהג בצביעות ולא בצניעות). There is a great need to reign in the immodest obsession with tzniyus which relates to people that were created in the image of God as people who cannot control themselves and have nothing else in their lives." (source: Srugim)


With all due respect to Kolech, just because people can control themselves, does not mean provoking such thoughts is correct. Just because a person can control himself does not mean it is right to put that person in the situation where he has to have those thoughts in his head and find himself in situations in which he has to control himself.


I am not saying it is wrong, as we all live in the world and daily find ourselves in such situations all the time. I am just commenting on their statement that Rav Yosef makes people out to be "people who cannot control themselves and have nothing else in their lives" - perhaps people can control themselves, but Rav Yosef feels putting themselves in that position, and creating a situation in which improper thoughts will almost definitely go through their heads, that alone is wrong, even though people can control themselves.


On the other hand, I do think their point about the complaint only coming regarding female teachers, yet it seems to be perfectly acceptable for men to teach in girls schools of all ages, to teach women, to run schools for girls and women, and that should be as serious a problem, is a perfectly good claim. As a matter of fact, I wrote the same thing exactly 4 years ago (minus 2 weeks) about men running an all-girls school. 

Rav Avraham Yosef, the Chief Rabbi of Holon, paskened a question on the Moreshet website.

The question posed was if women could drive cars or if it is not appropriate as it is not considered modest.

Rav Yosef's answer was that people should behave in each area according to the direction of the local rabbonim, so in a city like Bnei Braq women should not drive. In general, women who do drive should only do so in situations where it is necessary and not as a luxury.

NRG brings Tzippi Hotovely's response that "such piskei halacha will not deter the integration of women into the normal daily activities of today's life, such as driving. Specifically in the religious community where families have many children the car is a necessary tool for the family. Mothers take an inseparable part of the family life, such as performing the purchasing int he supermarket, family visits and carpools."

The psak is really nothing new, as many rabbonim in the haredi community have said the same. I would suggest that the psak is extremely outdated and it needs to be approached from scratch by those who oppose women driving. Even in Bnei Braq women drive as regularly as men. Even if the rabbonim have already paskened that it is wrong, they are missing the boat if they stick to that.

They should realize that at best they have made a gzeirah that the people cannot adhere to and therefore should just drop the subject, or allow it just like something as basic as walking outside the house is allowed. It really has become the same thing, just as basic a need for most people. Unless of course you also think it is not tzanua, and therefore not allowed, for women to walk out of the house as well. Since that is allowed them, or at least nobody publicly paskens against it, it is time to stop paskening against other basic activities such as driving.

I understand that in the past, 20 or 30 years ago it was not as basic a need, and female drivers were less common in the haredi and religious areas, so such a psak had teeth, Those days are long gone.

Sticking to one's guns on an outdated psak like this just makes you look foolish, and worse it forces people to ignore you and deem you and your psak irrelevant.

There is just so much in this article about what Rav Avraham Yosef said yesterday in an interview on the radio, I am going to translate the different quotes:

The drought has been caused by someone who expresses invalid ideas about religious issues, such as his opinion regarding the importance of those who learn Torah.


After stressing again that the RAMBAM said that to stop a drought we must do teshuva, but not just of our actions, but of our hashkafa as well. When asked why he doesn't name Rav Amsalem by name, Rav Yosef responded that he does not want to deal with politics.


Whoever says that learning Torah is just to produce gedolei torah and poskim is an apikores. The learners of Torah are the soldiers on the front lines.. without them we have no basis for our sustenance.


Regarding the former Chief Rabbi of the Army, Rabbi Weiss, and that which he wrote in his book that Rav Ovadiah wanted him to appoint certain rabbonim (i.e. relatives of his) to positions in the rabbinate to advance them but he refused to give preference to them, Rav Yosef said "this person - I don't know what happened to him.He was a ben-bayit in my father's house, and [my father] gave him all his attention... because he was not such a talmid chacham, [Rav Yosef] asked to appoint one of the best of the rabbonim of the army. Is there anything wrong with that?"


The Chief Rabbi of the Army is an appointment by the Defense Minister, but frequently the appointment is made without consulting with talmidei chachomim. Unfortunately, the results we see now...

I don't know right or wrong in these fights, and am not commenting on whether the Yosef family is right in their fighting against Ravs Amsalem and Weiss, or if Ravs Amsalem and Weiss are right despite the Ravs Yosef opinions. I will comment on the style of the fight - the Yosef family is coming off in this fight looking like the mafia - they attack everyone who does not follow the line set by them.

Yes, Rav Ovadia is one of the gedolei ha'dor, and Rav Avraham Yosef is a very well respected rav and talmid chacham (whom I like as well) by his own virtue. The way they, and other, have recently been relentlessly attacking all those who don't follow instructions, rubs many the wrong way. They really seem to come off like a gang of mafia pulling their weight.

Rav Avraham Yosef has paskened, on his radio show discussing halacha on Radio Kol Chai, that one is allowed to listen to female singers, and non-Jewish music.

The caveat is that you can only listen to such music when it is a recording and not being performed live. Going to a concert would be assur. He bases his psak on his father's (Rav Ovadia Yosef) rulings and said that going to a mixed concert, even one where they sing shirei kodesh is assur, but listening to their recorded music is fine.

Not only that, but he added that when his father wrote his teshuva on the matter allowing listening to such recorded music he was writing it for frum people and not for secular people.

In America such a psak is common and many people do listen to non-Jewish music, and female singers, with many variosu hetterim - either the fact that the singing is recorded and only live is a problem, or multiple voices singing at the same time, or other hetterim. In Israel, this psak is basically radical as the community in Israel is much mroe extreme.

I see a whole new market opening up - Madonna, Lady Gaga, Rhianna, Beyonce - no concerts, but they can all start selling their music now in Gal Paz!!!

Rav Avraham Yosef, the Chief Rabbi of Holon and son of Rav Ovadia, is a very clear orator and has the great ability to break down the halacha he is discussing in a clear and direct manner. And, he is an expert in all areas of halacha, and in both the psak and minhag of sefardim and of ashkenazim. Anybody who has heard his talks on the radio knows that.

Rav Avraham Yosef, the son fo Rav Ovadya Yosef, the Chief Rabbi of Holon and the host of a very interesting halacha program on Radio Kol Chai, said a psak on his program on Friday.

Rav Yosf said that one should avoid depositing checks into the bank (in Israel where the banks are owned and employed by Jews) on Thursday afternoon and Friday.

The problem with this is that, Rav Yosef says, the banks process these checks, and balances the data, on shabbos itself (Friday night specifically) with Jewish employees.

Rav Yosef adds that one could derive benefit from money deposited in this time-frame on Sunday morning, as the bank does these activities on shabbos for its own benefit, but one should refrain from it so as to prevent causing others to sin. i.e. if you can avoid on Sunday using money that was deposited on Thursday afternoon-Friday you should try to, but it is allowed.

Personally I am surprised to hear that the banks work on Shabbos and have employees processing transactions into Friday night. if it is true, why have the haredi askanim not yet prohibited us from using banks (whichever specific bank does this), or fought the banks to stop them from doing so. Instead of working Friday night, they could work Saturday night (if it has to be absolutely done at night between Friday day and Sunday morning and cannot wait until Sunday).

Are the banks fined for transgressing the shabbos laws of Israel?

Was it well known (to everyone except me) that banks work on shabbos? This is the first time I have heard such a thing.