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Part Four - Judaism, Culture and State

Chief Rabbinate of Israel

The Chief Rabbinate at the time of its establishment by Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook expressed a courageous and visionary attempt to create a governmental, national and fresh institution that would represent and lead Judaism in the Land of Israel, with the hope that this institution would develop and grow in the future into spiritual leadership of the entire People of Israel, in the form of the long-awaited Sanhedrin.[37]

Intentions are one thing and reality is another. The limited authority of the Chief Rabbinate on the one hand[38], and the constant erosion of its public legitimacy both in the secular public and the religious public on the other,[39] have led to a long and twisted, if continuous, process of deterioration to the point at which we find ourselves today. The Chief Rabbinate is not perceived as a spiritual, innovative and legitimate leadership by almost anyone, especially in the national sphere[40], but only as a clerical mechanism designed to regulate certain aspects of life that are relevant to religious issues. Whether it is regrettable, or whether this situation should be seen as an opportunity, this reality is an existing fact.

Zehut does not oppose the very existence of a Torah leadership. On the contrary! Together with the rest of the people of Israel, we participate in the prayer that our judges should be restored as they originally were, and our counselors, as they were at the beginning, which is said three times a day and refers to the establishment of a united and recognized Torah leadership. Zehut, like Judaism itself, believes that there is no real rebirth of Judaism without such a Torah leadership. However, there is no point in pretending that the Chief Rabbinate of Israel is this leadership. It is not, nor is it meant for that.

Zehut is of the opinion that in order to allow, on the one hand, for the growth of authentic, local, communal and perhaps national leadership in the future, and on the other hand, to reduce the state's involvement in the lives of the citizens by means of the Rabbinate, the Rabbinate must be significantly reduced to dealing only with public issues and be "the rabbinate of the government and state institutions."

As a rule, it is important to know that the Chief Rabbinate is, in fact, a very small body, relative to any other state institution. Its total budget is about 20 million shekels per year, and it has only about 80 permanent employees, and no permanent structure. The vast majority of the Israeli citizen's encounter with the so-called "rabbinate" is part of his contacts with the local rabbinate.

The current functions of the Chief Rabbinate

As surprising as it may be to someone not versed in the subtleties of the matter, the Chief Rabbinate has taken upon itself to be the rabbinic authority of every Jew in the State of Israel. Everyone agrees that within a neighborhood synagogue, the rabbi's authority as regards the worshipers is greater than that of the Chief Rabbi of Israel, even if he is present. Even in the area of kashrut, which is the dominant and most extensive area of the Chief Rabbinate's activity, the Chief Rabbis today have no authority to enforce a uniform standard of kashrut on the local rabbis who are responsible for kashrut. From the start, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel was not intended to rule on Jewish law for each and every Jew, but rather to constitute a public body that would regulate public issues, at the level of the State as a whole.

National Positions

As part of the status quo, in which it was decided that the activities of the government and its institutions would comply with Jewish law in the areas of Shabbat and kashrut, the Chief Rabbinate was given the task of fulfilling this agreement in practice.

In addition, every issue of Jewish law that arises at the national level regarding government activity, such as questions related to the nature of the activities of Israel Electric Company's and the Mekorot Water Company, as well as questions related to the implementation of large-scale infrastructure work, is decided, at least in principle, by the Chief Rabbinate.[41] These roles also include issues that require national preparation, such as the Heter Mechirah for the Shemitah year,[42] the sale of chametz for Passover, etc., and these too are handled by the Chief Rabbinate. One of the most significant national areas of the Rabbinate is the administration of Holy Places.

Representative positions

Another aspect of the rabbinate's activity is the ceremonial aspect, which is the most prominent of all in the public eye, but the least significant of all in practice. The Chief Rabbis of Israel are given the honor of reciting Kaddish and prayers for the peace of the State during major state ceremonies, and that is the end of their representative role. In addition, they serve, like the president, as ambassadors, when necessary, who meet in Israel and abroad with world leaders, especially religious leaders around the world, as well as with Diaspora Jews.

National regulatory body

The Chief Rabbinate has various regulatory functions with powers to grant licenses and certificates and enforcement powers.

Head of rabbinical courts and rabbinates

The Chief Rabbinate is responsible for the institution of the Grand Court of Appeals, which is the supreme judicial authority recognized by the State in the field of conversion, marriage and divorce.

Changing the functions of the Chief Rabbinate

Unlike the local rabbinates, where Zehut proposes near revolutionary change, the proposals for the Chief Rabbinate are quite minor, and some are intended to strengthen the rabbinate so that it can fulfill the functions incumbent on it.

From kashrut monopoly to standard

In the current situation, the State of Israel has ownership of the word kashrut, which is expressed in the fact that the law forbids calling a product kosher unless it is recognized as kosher by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel or by local Rabbis with the authority to issue kosher certification.

This situation has led to large-scale and embarrassing corruption in the various kashrut departments at many levels, but even without this corruption, the very fact that the kashrut system is monopolistic has led to exorbitant prices for kashrut supervision relative to the quality of service of that supervision.

Another aspect of the kashrut monopoly, specifically as regards the religious public, has been arbitrary decisions in the area of kashrut that have harmed the customs of various communities in these areas, and have constituted the basis for opening private associations in the form of "Badatzim," which provide "supervision," but are not legally permitted to call products "kosher".

In contrast to the accepted meaning of the term, "Badatz" does not constitute an expression of kashrut requirements which are more strict than the requirements of the rabbinate, but rather constitutes private kashrut supervision.

Zehut believes that the kashrut system must cease to be a monopoly in the hands of the Chief Rabbinate and local rabbinates. In place of the Chief Rabbinate and local rabbinates controlling kashrut, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel should create standards for the field of kashrut.

The kashrut standard will oblige anyone who advertises his product as kosher to indicate whether he complies with the Kashrut Standards of the Chief Rabbinate, in order to prevent fraud and exploitation of the customers' lack of familiarity with the many details of kashrut and its laws. The kashrut standard will not deal with the requirements of supervising the kashrut of the product, but with its ingredients and the manner in which it is prepared. Fraud regarding kashrut certification will be grounds for action against the advertised business, and will result in severe penalties like any consumer fraud.

Kashrut of imports

As in the case of local kosher food, the restrictions on the import of non-kosher food to Israel, where it exists, will be removed, and in place of the obligation to approve all food imported to Israel as kosher by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, an obligation will be imposed to report on its compliance with the Rabbinate's kashrut standard. If the product turns out not to be kosher, the financial responsibility will be borne by the importer and not by the manufacturer abroad, which will ensure the importer's concern to buy from reliably kosher suppliers, whose products have been approved by the local rabbinates abroad.

Kashrut and animal cruelty

One of the complaints heard in the State of Israel against the kashrut systems is related to alleged or not-alleged cruelty in the conditions in which animals are slaughtered, brought to slaughter, or even raised for slaughter, and so forth. Changing the government's supervision of kashrut into a standard opens the way for organizations and courts that grant kashrut supervision to toughen their animal welfare requirements and demand that their customers meet these requirements in order to receive their certification.

This will be good both for the animals and for Jewish law, which views animal cruelty as a grave and cruel sin. In such a situation, the public's demand to improve the treatment of animals will be able to create a natural and desirable consensus on the part of the public to consume kosher food. A natural connection, because a large part of kashrut requirements in the first place, such as the prohibition of the "trefah", deal indirectly with the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout their lives, and the conditions of modern industrial growth demand further stringencies.[44]

Registration and marriage for those interested

With the cancellation of the marriage registry,[45] the need to come into contact with the Chief Rabbinate and local rabbinates regarding marriage will cease. Those who are interested in the services of the rabbinate in this field will be able to continue to use its services and register for marriage. This registration will be useful in proving Judaism in cases where this may be required in the future for their offspring.

Supervision of mohels and the circumcision standard

The profession of circumcision, because it is essentially related to surgery and health risks, justifies government licensing, but in this area the Chief Rabbinate interferes much less than is appropriate. Zehut will act to strengthen supervision of mohels, and to prohibit circumcisions without a license.

The training of mohels in Israel is also plagued with corruption and often requires deception in order to attain accreditation. Zehut will act to regulate this ungoverned area, for the benefit of the public.

In the wake of these unfortunate phenomena, the phenomenon of "circumcised doctors", who are marketing themselves to the public as performers of circumcision with a qualified medical staff, which they have as doctors[46]. Often, these circumcisions do not meet the basic halakhic requirements for the observance of circumcision, which has always unified the majority of the Jewish public. Zehut views this situation severely, because it is a serious deception of a large part of the public.

In the area of circumcision, the Chief Rabbinate will also be able to establish a standard, and anyone who markets himself as a mohel will have to indicate whether he is in compliance or not, as Zehut has proposed in the areas of kashrut and marriage.

Towards a state sabbatical

The mitzvah of the Sabbatical Year is one of the elements of the national life of the Jewish people in its land according to Judaism, and it is difficult to overestimate its value in Jewish eyes, given that the Torah itself defines it as the foundation of the covenant with the People of Israel in its land, and its violation as an act leading to exile and destruction.

For the past 100 years, the main way to deal with the obligation to fulfill this mitzvah has been to circumvent halakhic rulings in a way that is intended to facility a normal life, while technically avoiding an explicit violation of the laws of the Sabbatical Year.

It is important to note that the mitzvah of the Sabbatical year can not be implemented in a real way, even in a private manner, without preparation on a national scale, and instead of focusing on the Heter Mechira, which bypasses the Sabbatical Year, we must begin examining state models that will help to fulfill this mitzvah nationally, perhapes even extending it beyond its original agricultural boundaries. The mitzvah of the Sabbatical Year has the power to become the basis of a cultural renaissance on a comprehensive national scale.

The Rabbinate's ordination system

The area of ordination by the Chief Rabbinate will remain in its hands, since it is an accepted standard, recognized and in demand by the public. Many thousands take the rabbinic ordination exams every year. In addition, this ordination will continue to serve as the anchor for changing the structure of the local rabbinates proposed in the next chapter.

[37] "I testify to Heaven and Earth, that Rabbi Kook assembled the Chief Rabbinate Council from twenty-three rabbis, so that this would be the basis for a small Sanhedrin." Rabbi Yehuda Leib Maimon, in the book "Renewing the Sanhedrin in Our Time", p.57.

[38] For example, the lack of authority in Jewish law beyond matters of marriage and divorce.

[39] For example, the regulations of the Chief Rabbinate which oppose to levirate marriage and chalitza, unlike the custom of the Sephardim, and defines non-glatt meat as kosher, unlike the Sephardic custom, the extension of the enactment of Rabbenu Gershom regarding marrying two women over the entire population, unlike the custom of all Sephardic communities.

[40] For example, regarding the Temple Mount, the Chief Rabbinate has ruled for fifty years that Jews are forbidden to enter it, contrary to the opinion of many of the rabbinic authorities of this generation, and refrains from taking an active position regarding it, such as requiring it to be included in the list of places holy to Judaism, despite this being in its purview.

[41] We write that this is theoretically so, since in practice it depends entirely on the relative authority of the Chief Rabbis. When the rulings of the Chief Rabbis are insufficient to prevent a coalition crisis with various factions, following the objections of their rabbis, the matter is often settled directly with these rabbis.

[42] See below.

[43] Rabbinic Judging, Neighborhood Rabbinics, Municipal Rabbinics, Rabbinic Judging For Conversion, Supervision of Kashrut, Kosher Slaughter, Circumcision, Ritual Writing, and more.

[44] The above does not negate direct governmental legislation prohibiting animal cruelty from the non-halachic-kashrut angle. There is certainly room for this.

[45] See below in the chapter on canceling marriage registration.

[46] The gap in the fee between an circumcision by a surgeon and circumcision by an expert mohel is enormous and usually stands at over 1,000 shekels.

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