In the coming days, Maran Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv will be convening a meeting with representatives of the chareidi community and chareidi members of the Knesset to discuss how to deal with fact that the Bagatz, the High Court of Israel, has continued to intervene and involve itself in matters of halacha, thereby hindering the ability of the greater chareidi community to follow Torah law in Eretz Yisroel.
The news comes on the heels of a meeting that took place earlier tonight between Rav Elyashiv and Rav Simcha Hakohen Kook, chief rabbi of Rechovot, as well as Rav Chaim Blau, chief rabbi of Ashkelon. The meeting addressed, among other things, the fact that the High Court commanded Ashdod’s Chief Rabbi, Rav Yosef Sheinin, to issue a kashrus certificate to the Pnina Pie bakery, as first reported here by Matzav.com Israel last month. Rav Sheinin had revoked the bakery’s hashgacha after it was discovered that its owner is a Christian missionary. While the bakery’s owner successfully petitioned the Supreme Court last June, Rav Sheinin refused to follow with the court’s decision on grounds that kashrus certificates can only be granted to establishments that adhere to halacha and the laws of kashrus. A local court subsequently charged him with contempt for refusing to obey the High Court ruling.
Another issue discussed was conversions performed by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, which many city rabbonim deem to be invalid because the geirim do not embrace a Torah lifestyle. Ashkelon Chief Rabbi Rav Chaim Blau was involved in one such case in which he refused to marry a couple after the local rabbinical court verified the kallah‘s conversion. That decision was followed by calls for the firing of Rav Blau from his position.
“This is a scandal,” one person involved in the efforts told Matzav.com. “Geirus is one of our most basic matters. Something that cannot be compromised. It is from the yesodei Yahadus. How can the court call for the dismissal of a rov who is simply following halacha?”
The intervention of the High Court in matters of religion is nothing new. In the 1990s, a massive demonstration against the court’s intervention in religious matters drew unprecedented crowds. With the Bagatz back at it on a regular basis, legislating halacha from the bench, it is no longer an issue that can be ignored, say those involved.
{Yair Alpert-Matzav.com Israel}
Just as the great rally against the Bagatz, this issue should become a rallying point for ALL streams of religous and traditional Judaism. Rav Simcha Kook is well known as a bridge between “Charedim” and Dati Leumi. There should be a convention of many rabbis from Badatz, Aguda, Shas, National Union, Bayit Yehudi, etc. across the entire spectrum to convene and create a unified Torah platform. It should also address the negation of Yeshiva Har Bracha from the Hesder system. I am not a big fan of Hesder, but I am a believer that uniting all God-fearing Jews is necessary to bring about the Geula.