Tel-Chai Nation

It's not really a surprise - though it does hint at what kind of terrible politicians the cities here have - but the elected rabbis are Haredis with potentially unreliable and the representative of Shas is definitely a bad omen. One is David Lau, son of a former chief Ashkenazi rabbi, Meir, who was decent in his time but there's no telling if the son will be as good, and the Sephardic one is Yitzhak Yosef, son of Ovadia, and he's certainly not one to trust.

The deputy religious affairs minister, Eliyahu ben-Dahan, says he's let down by the results, and:

...he hopes the secular public will not “give a kick to the institution of the Rabbinate” out of disappointment with the hareidi candidates elected. “They need to understand that the importance of the institution of the Rabbinate is much more important than the chief rabbis.”

No, I think that, if the government were to decide the chief rabbinate needs to be closed down to avoid potential corruption committed by the Haredis, then it's best to separate between synagogue and state, just like in America. There could be helpful advantages to do this, and it doesn't mean rabbis won't still have influence. It could actually get the rabbis to start being a little more honest in their business.

Labels: haredi corruption, Israel, Judaism