Yosef Says He Was ‘duped’ into Signing Langer Marriage Certificate

The feud between Israel’s two chief rabbis sharpened today when Sephardic Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef charged that he was “duped” into signing the marriage certif- icate of Hanoch Langer. Langer and his sister, Miriam, were freed from the taint of bastardy last month in a controversial ruling by Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren and a court of nine dayanim (rabbinical judges) which permitted them to marry their fiances. The ruling created a furor in right-wing Orthodox circles.

Rabbi Yosef has avoided the opprobrium heaped on Rabbi Goren by dissociating himself from the ruling although he has not publicly criticized it. He was reportedly infuriated Friday when a newspaper published a photocopy of the marriage certificate on which his signature was clearly visible. Rabbi Yosef, in a statement issued today, claimed that the certificate had somehow been slipped among the scores of marriage certificates he signs each week and that he sighed it unknowingly. He hinted that Rabbi Goren’s hand was behind the alleged subterfuge and demanded a commission of inquiry to find out how the certificate came to his desk and who passed it on to the press.

Rabbi Yosef reportedly tore the certificate to shreds in a fit of anger yesterday when it was brought to him by Pinhas Sheinman, chairman of the Tel Aviv Religious Council. A new certificate will be issued and will be signed by Rabbi Goren. Rabbi Yosef is in an anomalous position. Although he describes himself as a moderate in the interpretation of halacha (religious law) he was a member of the Rabbinical Supreme Court bench which in 1969 upheld the earlier ruling of a Petach Tikva rabbinical court that the Langer children were “mamzerim” (illegitimates). His open feud with Rabbi Goren is regarded by many Israelis as scandalous.

Several members of the Chief Rabbinate Council sent Rabbi Yosef a letter yesterday objecting to his recent charge in Jerusalem that Rabbi Goren was dictatorial. They stated that all Council meetings were conducted in a democratic manner by Rabbi Goren. Rabbi Yosef has complained frequently that he is a minority of one at Chief Rabbinate meetings. The five Ashkenazic members are all Goren supporters and the five Sephardic members had backed former Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Nissim against Rabbi Yosef in the chief rabbinate elections last year.