City rabbis and local morei horo'oh, community leaders
and neighborhood rabbis around the country are continuing to
protest the High Court's brazen attempt to force local
rabbonim to allow the sale of heter mechirah produce,
despite clear halachic rulings that leave no room to rely on
it. The High Court is even threatening to appoint other
rabbis in these places in order to allow the sale of heter
mechirah produce.
The High Court decision incensed rabbonim and public figures
in Eretz Yisroel as well as the Diaspora, who said
that the High Court cannot dictate to the rabbonim how to
conduct halachic affairs, particularly when its directives
are in complete opposition to the directives of gedolei
Yisroel shlita, who are the only ones qualified to issue
halachic rulings to Klal Yisroel.
The rabbonim were astonished that the court even tried to
impose its view within their respective communities,
especially their unprecedented threat to appoint a "bypass
rabbi." (Never has a proposal been raised to appoint a
"bypass judge.")
This dangerous development marks the start of a new battle
against the rabbinical establishment in Eretz Yisroel
and carries the risk of sparking a culture war.
Local rabbonim are also warning against the possibility of a
situation in which certain rabbinates, fearing the
appointment of other rabbis to circumvent them, would permit
the sale of heter mechirah agricultural produce. The
High Court's proposal to sidestep rabbonim — anti-
religious coercion of the worst kind — was raised
during a hearing attended by High Court President Judge Dorit
Beinish and Judges Edmund Levy and Chanan Meltzer.
