The idea of a single Chief Rabbi is closer to becoming a reality...
this morning the Legislative Committee of the Knesset approved the draft of the bill to change the Chief Rabbinate to a system of a single Chief Rabbi.
The bill, submitted by MKs Moshe Feiglin (Likud Beyteynu), Aliza Lavi (Yesh Atid) and Dov Lipman (Yesh Atid) was passed in committee and now must be prepared for Knesset voting.
The backers of the bill praised the committee for passing it, saying that this is a message of unity and an exodus from the divisive exile... hopefully the decision will influence the next generation of rabbis to be significant to everyone.
MK Feiglin added that this is what he went to the Knesset for - to disconnect from the exile. Just like there is one president and one prime minister, the time has arrived for one chief rabbi.
MK Lipman added that the polarization starts at the top and trickles down to the entire nation. This law is an important step in coming to full unity of the people...
I asked MK Lipman about some of the reasons people oppose this reform. His answer was basically that today the rabbonim (my comment: at least the high level rabbonim) all know both minhag ashkenaz and minhag sefard and the differences in psak and therefore how to apply psak and decisions to each relevant questioner and situation. Having two chief rabbis simply creates a level of polarization that trickles down to everybody.
The next level should be, I think, something similar to what Rav Dovid Bar Chaim of Machon Shilo advocates - one minhag, and one psak, for all based on minhag Eretz Yisrael. The differences between our psak, between Sefard and Ashkenaz, and between the sub-societies of both sefardim and ashkenazim, also come from the long exile and the influences of the different societies we lived in. Living together back in Eretz Yisrael, perhaps it is time, or nearing the time, for us to move to Minhag Eretz Yisrael instead of Minhag Polin, Minhag Hungary, Minhag Belz, Minhag Gur, Minhag Morocco, Minhag Yemen, Minhag Iraq, Minhag Satmar, Minhag Chabad, etc.
Then again, considering the arrest today of Rabbi Metzger, former Chief Rabbi, perhaps it is time to entirely do away with the Chief Rabbinate. Recently the Chief Rabbis, both the individuals and the campaigns for the positions have brought little, if any, respect to the Jewish people...
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