Share
Email
PrintChief rabbi blames Holocaust on Reform
Israel’s Reform movement expressed outrage after a former chief rabbi of Israel suggested that the Holocaust was the result of Reform Judaism in Germany. Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, a former Sephardi chief rabbi, told a fervently Orthodox radio station last week that Jews as a whole were not to blame for the Holocaust, “but the Reform movement started in Germany, those who changed the religion began in Germany. And because it is written that God was angered, even He did not differentiate among the righteous, and it was done.” Members of The Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism said in a statement that “Rabbi Eliyahu’s statements are no less serious than Holocaust denial, and the Israeli public must respond accordingly. The public in Israel has had enough of rabbis’ cursings.” Other groups, including the Anti-Defamation League and the Jewish Agency for Israel, also condemned the Eliyahu’s comments.
Click to login and write a letter to the editor or sign up for the Daily Briefing.
This article was made possible by the support of readers like you. Donate to JTA now.
Featured Content
Need to know? Get JTA's free e-newsletters!
- Citing Palestinian conflict, rocker Cat Power cancels Tel Aviv show
- Jewish groups praise Obama contraceptives compromise
- Holder: U.S. urged Israel not to release killers of Americans
- Turkish FM: We will never endorse striking Iran
- Israeli missile defense test a ‘milestone’
- Sarkozy: Iran solution should be non-military
- Marines’ SS photo condemned by Jewish groups
- Grandson of Auschwitz survivor takes the ice for Germany
