Daughters of late Shas rabbi pan the party

Two daughters of the late rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the founding spiritual leader of Shas, have accused the party of abandoning their father's path:

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef’s daughters, Rivka Chikotai and Adina Bar-Shalom, sharply criticized the Shas leadership in an interview with Channel 12 News, claiming that the party has abandoned their father’s path and legacy.

The interview came amid the Attorney General’s decision not to allow state funding for the memorial marking Rabbi Ovadia’s passing, citing its proximity to the elections and concerns that the event could become an election rally.

Chikotai said the decision does not prevent the family from holding the memorial, but only from having it funded by the state. “All that is happening is that they won’t fund, at the state’s expense, a memorial that will turn into an election rally," she said.

The only problem here is, the late rabbi himself had a very lenient view on the Oslo accords that brought about the disasters we've seen since, including October 7, 2023. Ovadia Yosef was no hero, and truly, what legacy does he have based on that? His aides certainly exploited him for very poor purposes.

Interestingly enough though:

She also described what she said were difficulties faced by the rabbi’s daughters when visiting their father’s grave.

“We are daughters, so they put up a partition and keep the women far away. When we want to come and light a candle for our father, they don’t let us because we are women," she said.

Chikotai stressed that she grew up in a home where sons and daughters were treated equally. She recalled that family members drank from the Kiddush cup according to age, “not according to sons and daughters at all." When she encountered a different custom in her husband’s family, she said, she changed it.

Bar-Shalom claimed that Shas underwent a change following their father’s death.

“They changed the path," she said, arguing that the party now places greater emphasis on religious observance while neglecting “the mitzvah of treating one’s fellow man." She also accused the party of adopting characteristics associated with Ashkenazi, Lithuanian and Hasidic religious communities.

Chikotai said she believes the distancing from her father’s legacy began as early as the week he died. According to her, her husband, Yaakov, was not allowed to deliver a eulogy for Rabbi Ovadia because he wears a knitted kippah, despite being the rabbi’s son-in-law.

Chikotai said her children serve in the IDF and recalled her father’s pride in them.

“I even remember the pictures of Rabbi Ovadia, how he hugged the grandson who received an IDF award for excellence. How proud he was," she said.

The sisters also addressed Rabbi Ovadia’s position on military service. They said their father blessed Rivka’s children and sent them to hesder yeshivas. When they consulted him, he told them, “Go to hesder yeshivas. That is your path."

Even so, from what I remember myself, there were very bad things he did that damaged morale, and while some of that may be the fault of his aides, it still speaks poorly of him. His failure to recognize the validity of people like rabbi David Stav did more harm than good.

Regarding Shas chairman Aryeh Deri, Adina said she no longer has a relationship with him. She said that since he closed the college founded by her father, she has not spoken to him, adding that the sisters had restrained themselves for years and refrained from speaking publicly about the matter.

Bar-Shalom said their mother, Rabbanit Margalit, also disliked Deri and would leave the room whenever he entered.

According to Bar-Shalom, her mother called Deri “a hypocrite" and “a swindler," and she claimed that their father had also used those descriptions in the past.

Chikotai was asked why, after years of remaining silent, the two sisters decided to speak publicly.

“They finally drove us crazy. We couldn't take it anymore," she said, adding that she had hesitated before agreeing to the interview.

At the end of the interview, Chikotai claimed that people she meets on the street tell her they know the Shas leadership is not good, but continue to vote for the party because of her father.

She said her father would not want them to vote for a party that does not follow his path.

I do wonder - will any of those Shas party loyalists who didn't think for themselves before be willing to do so now? I know there's a new party being formed named HaTzibur HaHaredi, by a politician named Moti Leitner, that's more favorable to Haredis who want to serve in the IDF, and it's to be hoped the Shas electorate will be willing to consider them instead. What Shas has been up to under Deri in particular was absolutely terrible, and serious change is needed. And also careful security for polling stations during the elections, because there have been attempts to sabotage challengers in the past, and that was wrong. That too needs to be mended.