Amid the impassioned and interminable disputes over the dispensability and moral comportment of certain chief rabbis, radical liberals have come up with a wonder cure: eliminating the office of chief rabbi altogether. And the scandals involving Rabbis Amar and Metzger have only added fuel to their fire.
| Radical Solution |
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| Do away with chief rabbinate / By Yossi Beilin |
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Recent events involving chief rabbis prove time is right for change |
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Both solutions wrong
However, given the current situation of growing numbers of Reform, Conservative and militantly secular Jews, neither of these two solutions is appropriate to meet the coming challenges of the future. There’s a growing and deepening cultural, communal and religious alienation between the nation living here in Zion and Judaism.
Additionally, one must find a pragmatic solution for the hundreds of thousands of immigrants from the former Soviet Union who have hitched their wagon to the state and are willing to die for the country, but whose Judaism is not legitimate enough for the Orthodox establishment.
Recognize Reform and Conservative
While Yossi Beilin has called for the abolishment of the rabbinate, this is a way of avoiding the real problem that, in 2005, the Jewish people can no longer afford the luxury only of Orthodox chief rabbis. The time has come to mainstream the other branches of Judaism.
The current crisis with the rabbinate allows for the opportunity for change.
All that’s needed is courageous leadership to grab the bull by the horns and to once and for all deal with the identity crisis facing the Jewish people. If this won’t happen, the State of Israel - the national home of the Jewish people - will lose its connection to the non-Orthodox branches, which are not getting equal treatment by the Orthodox establishment.
It’s time to extend a hand to the Reform and Conservative movements. In doing so, we will also be strengthening the rabbinate. Reform and Conservative candidates should have the chance to be chief rabbis. And who knows? Maybe the next chief rabbi could be a woman. That would definitely be a triumph for religious pluralism.
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