Four aspirants for the two posts of Chief Rabbi–Ashkenazi and Sephardic–intensified their campaigning, one week before the long delayed chief rabbinate elections will take place. The target of next Sunday’s balloting is not the population at large but a 150-member electoral college selected after weeks of haggling in part by local communities and religious councils and in part by the government.
Conservative supporters of the Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi Isser Yehuda Unterman already are charging that the government stacked the college in favor of his challenger, Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren of Tel Aviv. They are seeking a member of the electoral college who would be willing to appeal to the Supreme Court against the government’s alleged bias.
Meanwhile, the incumbent Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Nissim, faces a determined challenge by the much younger Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv Ovadiah Yosef. Rabbi Nissim reportedly has made common cause with Rabbi Goren. Claims that a rift existed between the two were emphatically denied by Rabbi Goren’s followers who said they are “like brothers with one heart.”
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
