The Israeli Chief Sephardic Rabbi, Rav Shlomo Amar, said Sunday he does not object to the idea that women would sit on the Committee for Appointment of Dayanim. In an interview on Radio Kol Chai, Rav Amar said categorically, however, that women can never be rabbinical judges themselves.
“G-d forbid that this bad dream ever materialize,” he said. “It contradicts halacha to select a woman to sit on the Beit Din.”
“A rabbi cannot be a woman, a dayan cannot be a woman,” he stressed. “There are people who want to uproot the Torah in the most terrible way. This is an uprooting of the Torah.”
Two weeks ago, Rav Amar berated Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for her remarks regarding women’s status in Judaism.
The Secretary of State “has no real knowledge of what a Jewish woman’s modesty is,” he said. “The Nation of Israel respects women and gives them the status of queens and princesses. If Clinton had learned Torah from the right people, who are versed in halacha, she would see that the Nation of Israel respects women.”
For the first time in seven years, there will soon be no women on the Committee for Selection of Dayanim. This is the result of a deal reportedly struck by Supreme Court President Dorit Beinsich and hareidi politicians. Beinisch reportedly wanted the chareidi MKs to support her candidates for the committee that selects judges in the civilian courts. In return, she agreed to have no women on the committee that selects dayanim. More moderate feminists saw her move as selling out women’s interests to further a radical political agenda.
Read more: Israel National News
{Israel National News/Matzav.com Newscenter}
