Religion Magazine

Rabbinate and Politics Should Not Mixrabbi

By Gldmeier @gldmeier
Behadrei has an interview with Deputy Defense Minister Rav Eli Ben Dahan about the upcoming elections for chief rabbis of a number of cities, including Bet Shemesh and Tel Aviv, among others.
Ben Dahan is running the campaign on behalf of Habayit Hayehudi to position religious zionist rabbis in [some of] the relevant cities.
The interview focuses on the possibility of deals to be made with Shas to divide up the cities and grant a religious zionist rabbi the position in Tel Aviv while granting a Shas-affiliated rabbi the position in Bet Shemesh (and other cities would be considered as well for discussion).
Regardless of who gets what, who grants who what, which city gets which rabbi, and what, if any, agreement, the two political parties arrive at, in my opinion this is, once again,, a sad situation. And I have said it before.
Instead of the best candidate being chosen or elected; the rabbi with the best qualifications, the best match for the city residents, the most dynamic or knowledgeable or capable... the positions will be filled by political considerations, with or without a deal (i.e. shas would appoint shas-affiliated rabbis and habayit hayehudi would appoint DL-affiliated rabbis, or they'll make a deal to do that with agreement), and itt does not make a difference to them if the rabbi is good for the city and its residents. They would each elect the rabbi they wan to advance based on foreign considerations.
The rabbinate appointments are good for the politicians. If they happen to be good for the residents, that is a side issue. This is because there is too much politics in the rabbinate, and why the rabbinate must be removed and separated from the politics.
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