Yosef's scandalous statements never seem to cease

Chief Rabbi Yosef calls immigrants to Israel non-Jewish communists

Almost every news broadcast in recent days, whether on radio or television, has included a segment on the scandalous statements made by Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, denigrating the olim from the former Soviet Union, as well as the numerous public and political reactions to his vile, violent message.

09/01/2020 22:02

Tags: Yitzhak Yosef ·  olim ·  Benjamin Netanyahu ·  Hiddush polls ·  Law of Return

Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, source: Wikipedia

Chief Rabbi Yosef’s outburst arose directly in response to the data that Hiddush recently obtained from the Population and Immigration Authority, which we made public. Our release described the current make-up of immigration to Israel, 68% of which consisted of olim from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, and Moldova, two-thirds of whom received Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return, as family members of Jews who themselves are not considered Jewish according to the legal definition in Israel.

Hiddush published this data, emphasizing that Israel’s embrace of family members of Jews is historically, sociologically, and morally justified. This should bring Israel to realize the need to ensure equal rights for all its citizens, including the right to marry. We also stressed the urgent need to abolish the monopolistic authority granted to the Chief Rabbinate over conversion, enabling it to require olim that wish to convert and marry in Israel to walk through a virtual Via Dolorosa, forcing them to make false promises regarding religious observances and sometimes reversing their conversions retroactively if they fail to adhere.

We have since pursued the issue further, commissioning a small-scale public opinion survey in which we wanted to gauge the views of the Jewish population, in terms of what it would accept as sufficient to determine that these immigrants are Jewish. More details on this important question below.

Of course, Hiddush promptly issued its response to Yosef's outrageous remarks:

The majority of the Israeli public is open to embracing as Jews those immigrants who have moved to Israel under the 'Law of Return', even if their mothers are not Jewish but their fathers are Jews, or if they have undergone conversion with Reform, Conservative or Modern Orthodoxy...

"Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef must be ousted immediately, and the anachronistic establishment of the Israeli Chief Rabbinate must be abolished. It is absurd that this outdated institution presents itself as the voice of "true" Judaism.

"Rabbi Yosef is a politician, as he has demonstrated repeatedly in previous elections by serving as a player in the Shas party's election campaigns.

"Recent Hiddush surveys show that the Israeli Jewish public's confidence in the Supreme Court of Israel is more than three times higher than its level of trust in the Chief Rabbinate, and a great majority of the public opposes the Chief Rabbinate's authority to determine people's statuses as Jews (or non-Jews) and monopoly over full recognition of conversions.

"The majority of the Israeli public is open to embracing as Jews those immigrants who have moved to Israel under the 'Law of Return', even if their mothers are not Jewish but their fathers are Jews, or if they have undergone conversion with Reform, Conservative or Modern Orthodoxy, even if Israel's xenophobic Chief Rabbinate refuses to accept them as Jews."

Prime Minister Netanyahu was quick to condemn Yosef’s words, saying, “It’s an outrageous comment. The immigrants from the former Soviet Union are a great blessing to the State of Israel and to the Jewish people.” While we appreciate Netanyahu’s dissociation from Yosef’s comments, we should realize that these are mere words, aimed at placating the offended parties whom he is trying to recruit as voters in the upcoming elections, without taking any tangible action against Rabbi Yosef himself for his repeated offenses against major sectors of Jewish society in Israel.

Benny Gantz’s denunciation was similarly restrained, as he avoided addressing the core problem of Israel having a Chief Rabbinate that doesn’t enjoy the public’s trust in the first place, and specifically a Chief Rabbi who is a source of agitation, exclusion, and hate speech. Clearly, Gantz’s mild rebuke had to do with political calculations, considering his desire to enter into a ruling coalition with the ultra-Orthodox parties. He fears upsetting the sacred “balance” with them, and he’s unwilling to rock the boat.

For us at Hiddush, the only responsible conclusion to draw is the urgent need to not only remove Rabbi Yosef as Chief Rabbi, but to abolish the entire institution of the Chief Rabbinate. For Yosef himself, this was not his first outrageous outburst, and one may recall his attacks on the Supreme Court, gender equality Women of the Wall, etc., as well as his public pronouncement that Reform synagogues are equivalent to idol worship and entry into them is prohibited, and no less his active involvement in the Shas party’s election campaign, which is explicitly illegal (regretfully, the AG’s office refused to act on our complaints on this matter).

The only responsible conclusion to draw is the urgent need to not only remove Rabbi Yosef as Chief Rabbi, but to abolish the entire institution of the Chief Rabbinate.

Following the storm, which erupted after he spoke, Yosef reacted, claiming that his words with misconstrued, but reading his lame follow-up statement, one cannot conclude anything other than that this updated version of his comments is no less preposterous and hypocritical (claiming, for instance, that barring their Aliyah is intended for their own good) than the original one. He still owes a sincere apology to the olim and to the Israeli public.

In the special survey that we commissioned we asked the question:

“Many have immigrated to Israel under the Law of Return and have integrated into Israel in all walks of life. Some have immigrated as the family members of Jews, as the Law grants, though they are not considered Jews according to the current legal definition, which requires a Jewish mother or religious conversion. Do you accept that those immigrants with Jewish fathers and non-Jewish mothers should be recognized as Jews, or should they be required to convert to Judaism as a condition of their being recognized as Jews?”

34% opined that, “Such immigrants should be recognized as Jews.” An additional 28% responded that, “They should be recognized as Jews if they undergo religious conversion, whether Orthodox, Conservative, or Reform.” Only 38% responded that, “They should be recognized as Jews only if they undergo religious conversions approved by the Chief Rabbinate.”

Clearly the time has come to revisit the question of who is a Jew in the civil context of the State of Israel, and whether the time has not come to expand the legal, civil definition beyond the current formula, which requires either maternal Jewish lineage or religious conversion. Clearly the public is ready for such a reevaluation, even if Israel’s politicians continue to resist it for all the wrong reasons. We intend to do so shortly, and we’ll share an expanded analysis of our call. There is also the opportunity to remind ourselves of the approach we and our multi-denominational rabbinic and cantorial network (Ruach Hiddush) have endorsed (see: Vision Statement on Israel as a Jewish and democratic state), which states:

“Those who wish to convert to Judaism must have the right to undergo this process with rabbis of their choice, by rabbis who are duly ordained and recognized by their respective major religious movements. These conversions must be accepted as valid proof of Jewishness by the State of Israel, even as we respect the prerogative of the different religious groups to apply their own criteria for conversion.”