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16 Iyar 5765 - May 25, 2005 | Mordecai Plaut, director Published Weekly
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NEWS
Emergency Meeting to Protest Decline of Kashrus of the Jerusalem Rabbinate

by E. Rauchberger and B. Kahn

An emergency meeting was held at Zeviehl Hall last Thursday (10 Iyar) to protest the destruction of the Jerusalem kashrus department. The gathering, organized at the behest of maranan verabonon, was a great act of kiddush Hashem and proof all streams of the chareidi public are deeply disturbed over the damage done to the Jerusalem Rabbinate through the takeover of the Religious Affairs Council by Likud Party officials.

The gathering, which drew Litvak and Chassidic rabbonim representing both Degel HaTorah and Agudas Yisroel alike, opened with the recital of a chapter of Tehillim led by HaRav Chaim Green, one of the roshei yeshiva of Yeshivas Zera Yitzchok.

The emcee and first speaker, Rabbi Eli Weinman, a member of the executive board of Degel HaTorah in Jerusalem, explained, "We have gathered here today for an emergency meeting to discuss the destruction of the kashrus system in the King's Palace, Yerushalayim Ir Hakodesh, by officials who do not heed maranan verabonon shlita, and who go against their opinions . . . Based on a call by maranan verabonon shlita, we have gathered under the leadership of the rabbonim geonim shlita and the respective boards of Degel HaTorah and Agudas Yisroel, which represent the majority of chareidim ledvar Hashem in Jerusalem, to give voice to an outcry and to protest the transformation of the kashrus system of Yerushalayim, built up through years of hard work and sweat and which in the past operated under the directives of maranan verabonon gedolei Yisroel shlita, without deviating in the least from the path they set."

Rabbi Weinman then went on to describe the recent rapid decline of the Jerusalem Rabbinate, "a kashrus system that stands as an example, without equal in the Rabbinate kashrus system, and which even taught other rabbinates in the cities of Eretz Hakodesh to heed maranan verabonon shlita in the matter of kashrus."

He also voiced concerns other cities could follow suit if no action is taken. "In addition to the destruction of the walls of kashrus in the King's Palace, there is a risk that, chas vesholom, these lamentable acts will influence other cities, which could learn from their wayward acts."

HaRav Meir Horowitz, the rav of the Chassidei Boston kehilloh and the son of the Bostoner Rebbe, called for an announcement stating no restaurants or hotels with Jerusalem Rabbinate kashrus certification are kosher lemehadrin, and enacting a directive forbidding mashgichim from declaring any restaurant or hotel kosher lemehadrin. He also proposed encouraging Jewish visitors from chutz la'Aretz to raise an outcry and to avoid hotels supervised by the Jerusalem Rabbinate in order to apply pressure on the Religious Affairs Council.

"Chareidi Jewry chose to give power to the Likud Party," said MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni, "because it is a traditional party and we asked and expected that Judaism would remain as it is and that all that is dear and sacred to us would be preserved. But it turns out that the food has whet their appetites and suddenly they are rendering decisions in kashrus matters as well. Who to grant [kashrus certification] to, who not to grant [kashrus certification] to. This is unmatched chutzpah . . . which is liable to break the ties between the Likud and the chareidi public. If you think we gave you power in order to decide in matters of kashrus as well and to decide who the rabbonim will be, you are wrong. Beware."

HaRav Ephraim Tzemmel, chairman of Degel HaTorah in Jerusalem, spoke of the pain he witnessed during a recent visit with Maran HaRav Eliashiv, shlita, over the terrible decline of the Jerusalem Rabbinate. HaRav Shmuel Deutsch, one of the roshei yeshiva of Yeshivas Kol Torah, warned that the decline would not stop with kashrus, but would eventually affect other halachic matters under the Jerusalem Rabbinate such as marriage and conversion. Rabbi Menachem Porush, chairman of Agudas Yisroel in Jerusalem, emphasized the urgency of speaking out. And MK Rabbi Meir Porush pointed out the power the chareidi public yields in Jerusalem compared to the impotence of the Likud Party in the city.

Following the speeches Rabbi Weinman read aloud a series of decisions:

A. The conference expresses its shock and trepidation over the decline of religious services and kashrus in the Holy City of Jerusalem, the King's Palace.

B. The dismissal of rabbonim due to the interests and considerations of officials without a decision by the beis din is a tragedy that cannot be tolerated or accommodated.

C. Kashrus and halacha fall under the exclusive authority of rabbonim and dayonim and it is unthinkable for officials to interfere with the instructions of rabbonim.

D. The conference requests that whoever is in a position to act do so immediately to rectify the situation and to stop the general trend in this matter to prevent it from serving as a precedent for the destruction of religious services around the country.

The conference was well organized on very short notice by Deputy Mayor Rabbi Uri Maklev and MK Rabbi Meir Porush. Rabbonim in attendance included HaRav Ezriel Auerbach, HaRav Yitzchok Ezrachi, HaRav Moshe Schlesinger, HaRav Aryeh Dvir, HaRav Moshe Man, HaRav Moshe Frank, HaRav Aryeh Eliashiv, HaRav Shimon Chadad and HaRav Yechiel Turjeman representing Degel HaTorah, as well as HaRav Avrohom Dovid Auerbach, HaRav Ze'ev Ernster, HaRav Meir Heisler, HaRav Yisroel Eliezer Hagar, HaRav Levy Yitzchok Halperin, HaRav Shlomo Weinberg, HaRav Meir Zilberstein and HaRav Yaakov Sofer representing Agudas Yisroel.

A long list of prominent figures from both parties were also on hand. These included the mayor of Yerushalayim, the members of the city council from both Degel Hatorah and Agudas Yisroel, Members of Knesset from Degel Hatorah, and many more.

*

Following the dramatic emergency conference MKs Rabbi Gafni and Rabbi Porush contacted Yisrael Maimon, the secretary of the Prime Minister's Office, to demand an urgent meeting with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to discuss the dire situation at the Jerusalem Religious Affairs Council. Maimon notified them a meeting would be set as soon as possible following the Prime Minister's return from the US in the coming days.

Speaking in the Knesset earlier last week, Rabbi Meir Porush said, "Jerusalem residents do not have religious services." Rabbi Porush was addressing the Knesset plenum during a discussion of the government's request to transfer authority over religious services from the Prime Minister's Office to the Justice Ministry.

Rabbi Porush held the Likud and its political activists in Jerusalem responsible for the current situation. "Perhaps the solution for religious services is to transfer them from the Prime Minister's Office to the Justice Ministry, although the Likud is there, too. But perhaps by doing so at least they will stop handling everything related to religious services in the worst possible way."

Rabbi Porush went on to make cutting remarks about operations at the Jerusalem Religious Affairs Council. "The Likud brought in new management at the Jerusalem Religious Affairs Council and rabbonim are quitting in order to absolve themselves of responsibility for what is taking place there. One after the next. HaRav Binyomin Adler, the rav posek of the kashrus department, left. HaRav Yosef Efrati, the rav posek of the department for Eretz Yisroel mitzvas, absolved himself of responsibility for what is taking place in the department. And all this is being done by a fringe group of the political community in Jerusalem, the Likud, which barely has two mandates [on the city council]."

He also named a long list of prominent rabbonim, HaRav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, HaRav Shmuel Auerbach, the Admor of Erlau, HaRav A.P. Rabinovitz, HaRav Y. Grossman and dozens of other rabbonim from various Jerusalem neighborhoods, who have spoken out against recent developments at the Jerusalem Religious Affairs Council, yet officials there remain stubborn, continuing to operate as they see fit, trampling over all that was built in the past.

Rabbi Porush also said when it was decided to close the Religious Affairs Ministry representatives of the chareidi public voiced their objections, saying that state services could not be managed smoothly without a ministry in charge and that before the ministry is closed the administration of religious services must be transferred to another ministry in an orderly fashion, otherwise religious services would collapse. And this is just what is happening: over two years after the decision to close the Religious Affairs Ministry no acceptable arrangement has been made to provide religious services.

 

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