For the first time in the 76-year history of the state of Israel, the country does not have a chief rabbi. While that’s not a particular cause for alarm, the reasons why it has happened are far more disconcerting, as they are driven by a disappointing mixture of politics, religion and self-interest.
Until this month Israel had two chief rabbis — Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau and Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yizhak Yosef. Their 10-year terms expired on July 1.
Israeli law provides that new chief rabbis must be elected at least 21 days before the end of the then-current chief rabbis’ term. But the Religious Services Ministry was unable to hold the election promptly because of disagreements over the makeup of the 150-member body that is supposed to elect the chief rabbis and the 15-member Chief Rabbinical Council.
The 150-member election body is comprised of 80 rabbis and 70 elected officials. The 80 rabbis are supposed to include municipal rabbis, neighborhood rabbis, representatives from the religious courts and the military rabbinate and 10 rabbis chosen by the outgoing chief rabbis.
Last month, Israel’s attorney general ruled that the outgoing chief rabbis could not appoint their 10 representatives, since they had a conflict of interest, as both had family members interested in running for the position of chief rabbi. So, two other members of the Chief Rabbinical Counsel were chosen to make the appointments.
But there was another problem: Last January, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled that the 10 “rabbis” appointed by the outgoing chief rabbis could include women and directed the chief rabbis to “consider” some women who are halachic experts in their selection process.
Both chief rabbis took offense at the directive and refused to consider women in their 10 rabbi appointments. Their refusal was sustained in a May ruling by the Chief Rabbinical Council which held that appointing women to positions reserved for “rabbis” was not permitted under Jewish law. That ruling has been appealed to Israel’s Supreme Court.
And then there are the ugly political and self-interest components. On the Sephardic side, Shas Party Chairman Aryeh Deri wanted to appoint his brother, Yehuda, as the next Sephardic Chief Rabbi. But his brother is ill and unable to take the job. So now, Deri is leaning toward David Yosef, the brother of the outgoing chief rabbi — sort of keeping the job in the family.
On the Ashkenazi side, there is growing tension between haredi parties and the Religious Zionist Party over whether the Ashkenazi chief rabbi should be chosen from the haredi ranks, as in the past, or whether it is time to appoint a religious-Zionist chief rabbi for the first time.
As these issues are being sorted out in court and through negotiations behind closed doors, Israel will do just fine without figurehead chief rabbis. But, with the mixed record of the Chief Rabbinate — complete with allegations of corruption and overreach — and with only 44% of Israeli Jews reportedly saying they “accept the Chief Rabbinate of Israel as a religious or spiritual authority,” the real question is whether the rabbinate itself will be able to continue in its position of prominence and influence.
