MK Rabbi Avrohom Ravitz is trying to amend the Chometz Law
before Pesach in order to bypass an outrageous ruling by
Judge Tamar Bar Asher Tzaban of the Jerusalem Municipal
Court, who held that selling chometz inside stores and
restaurants is permitted as long as it's not sold in public
view.
The Chometz Law forbids selling chometz "in public," which
the judge interpreted to mean in the street, but not out of
sight indoors.
Rabbi Ravitz is now trying to have the words "in public"
deleted from the law, but since the Knesset plenum is on its
Pesach recess private bills cannot be submitted at this time.
Therefore Rabbi Ravitz sent an urgent letter to Knesset
Chairwoman Dalia Itzik (Kadima) requesting that the Knesset
be specially convened to allow the amendment to be passed
through an accelerated legislating process of three readings
in a single day.
As part of her convoluted effort to prove that "in public"
means outside, Judge Tzaban even had the audacity to quote
Rashi, who notes in his holy commentary that "reshus
harabbim" is a public place visible from every spot.
Rabbi Ravitz says that the Judge's interpretation of the law
is clever but disingenuous and clearly contradicts the intent
of the legislation. He called for the legislative branch to
amend the law to avoid subjecting it to court interpretation,
which has proved once again that it is bent on taking over
religious life in Israel.
MK Rabbi Moshe Gafni said, "I would like to appeal the
decision, which has no relevant legal foundation. The
legislative intention is perfectly clear...Any child can
understand the meaning of the words `in public' and this is
not in dispute. Would anybody imagine selling inside a store
or supermarket is not called something done in public? Judge
[Tzaban] has no basic knowledge of reading comprehension, or
else she is making a laughingstock of the State of Israel as
a state of law."
According to MK Ophir Pines (Labor), "The Chometz Law is a
far-reaching law that should have never been passed in the
first place. It's a law that came into the world more as a
declaratory law than as legislation. It's a law that cannot
be enforced and the first time people went to court asking
that it be enforced the judge cancelled [the indictments
against the businesses that allegedly violated the law], and
rightfully so." Pines said he would not hesitate to raise for
discussion a proposal to do away with the Chometz Law
entirely if Ravitz' request is honored by the Knesset
Chairwoman.
Despite speculation that Shas would leave the coalition if
the Chometz Law is not amended, this week Minister Ariel
Attias revealed that Shas plans to stay. He says the law
should be amended in order to preserve the Jewish character
of the state, but at the same time he noted, "Shas does not
feel it's necessary to get involved in what Israeli citizens
eat, and I don't foresee any coalition crisis over the
Chometz Law."
MK Rabbi Shmuel Halpert initiated a gathering to discuss the
scandalous court ruling. Over 40 MKs from UTJ, Shas, Likud
and HaIchud HaLeumi-NRP signed the request to the Knesset
Chairwoman to convene the Knesset during the recess. Rabbi
Halpert demanded the Knesset convene before Pesach, but the
Knesset Chairwoman has yet to set a date.
