There is something weird going on in Jerusalem.
There has been a dispute as to whether or not the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, Rav Aryeh Stern's, appointment as chief rabbi should be extended or not. I am not going to comment on that as I am not familiar enough with what he has done to deserve an extension or to be denied an extension. Even if you think Rabbi Stern's appointment should be finished and not extended, Rabbi Stern still deserves to be treated with respect.
It seems that Rabbi Stern showed up to his office the other day only to find the locks changed and no key left for him. Since then the fight has been moved to whether or not he will be let in to his office or given a key or not. He has not yet been given a key. This morning the head of the Religious Council in Jerusalem said he will not give Rabbi Stern the key.
All I have to say about this latest fight is that it shows that politicizing the rabbinate clearly is a major cause of bizui talmidei chachomim (the treating of talmidei chachomim in a degrading and deprecating manner), and that is probably the biggest problem with the Rabbanut - what should be completely rabbinic and communal in nature has become political....
funnily enough, in the guidelines the Rabbanut just drew up for new rabbis, main points they made was not to get involved in politics, and not to abuse their positions of power and authority...
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