Sephardic Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef expressed “sharp revulsion” today over a letter bomb addressed to Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren which police believe may have been sent by religious zealots who support Yosef in his most recent dispute with Goren. The lethal letter, which Mrs. Goren turned over to police Monday, contained a note stating “You have started trouble for Yosef so you will die.”
The feud which has simmered between the two chief rabbis since their elections two years ago flared anew last month when Rabbi Goren tried to fire Rabbi Shimon Efrati, head of the Chief Rabinate’s kashrut department. Yosef blocked the move and Efrati kept his job. But he is recognized only by Rabbi Yosef’s supporters and not by the Chief Rabbinate Council which is made up mainly of Goren supporters. Goren appealed to Yosef in a Shavuot eve radio address to meet with him and make peace. Yosef rejected the plea because it was made through the media, not directly to him.
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