The dedication today of the Heichal Shlomo, the new seat of the Israel Chief Rabbinate, was boycotted by the Agudas Israel and Poale Agudas Israel, two Orthodox parties, because they were not consulted in the management or activities of the new building. (See page 2 for earlier story.)
Noting that the building also will serve as a Supreme Religious Center, the Agudas Israel also charged that with the Mizrachi party “in sole control,” the center could publish edicts for Jews throughout the world.
Moshe Shapiro, Israel Minister of Religions, told the press that the action of the two Agudah parties was not a surprise, since they have been boycotting the Israel Chief Rabbinate since its inception. He said that if the two parties would join in the Chief Rabbinate, they would be represented in the Centers activities. He compared the Agudah stand with a hypothetical case of the ultra-Orthodox Neturei Karta seeking Knesset representation while holding firm to its refusal to recognize the Jewish State.
The ceremony also was without the participation of Rabbi Judah L. Maimon, who rejected an invitation to attend because, he said, he was asked at the last minute not to make any reference in his speech to his long-advocated proposal for the reestablishment of a Sanhedrin. Rabbi Maimon has advocated the new seat of the Chief Rabbinate as the site for a reestablished supreme Jewish religious legislature-court, which is opposed by the two Agudah parties.
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