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How were Rabbinate nominees certified?
Kobi Nachshoni
Published: 23.07.13, 14:06
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23 Talkbacks for this article
1. Chief Rabbinate Is Just Another Zionist Incorporation
Ariel ben Yochanan ,   Kfar Tapuah, Efraim   (07.23.13)
B"H - Chief Rabbinate has no Jewish significance, it's just another deception of the Zionists to make people think they have something to do with Judaism. The "rabbis" who know the secret and don't speak up are part of the problem.
2. Why do we need Chief Rabbis?
Dee Bee ,   Israel   (07.23.13)
Marriages, funerals, "conversions", kashrut and all the other Halachaic rules and regulations, including the enforcement of Religious Coercion, are the responsibility of City Rabbis or Local Council Rabbis. Chief Rabbis earn high slaries and have a huge staff who are not exactly earning the minimum wage. In these times of cut-backs do we really need figure-head rabbis? In any case, wasn't one of the principle issues of HaBait HaYehudi that the Chief Rabbis should be from the Orthodox Zionist movements which support the State of Israel and whos people serve in the IDF? Another Naphtali Bennett back-down!
3. Why don't you name him outright?
Lila ,   Jerusalem, Israel   (07.23.13)
Ynet, your bias is showing. Rav Shmuel Eliyahu took both oral and written exams, but you only refer to him as "the latter." Shame on you!
4. Charlatans
Sagi   (07.23.13)
selling snake oil.
5. Oral exams are very hard.
Yakov ,   Jerusalem, Israel   (07.23.13)
Try thinking on your feet when taking an exam. The written exam is relatively easy because you have time to think and go over your answer 3 or 4 times with an eraser if you make a mistake. Try doing that in-front of someone. Try quoting your sources in an argument orally. Your logic and memory have to be perfect.
6. Minimum requirement should be passing Bhinot Bagrut.
Michael ,   California, USA   (07.23.13)
While those rabbis are not needed, they should still possess some minimum education to be citizens like everybody else, to be able to function like all the other citizens. High school education should be the minimum. No teudat bagrut, no government salary. But they can still be allowed to sweep the streets.
7. Requirements for a Rabbi
Ezra ,   Canada   (07.23.13)
Just because you take the test doesn't make you a rabbi, and you can be a rabbi without taking the test. I know many rabbis in Israel who could easily pass these tests but they don't take them because they take up too much time and are unnecessary to what the rabbis actually do.
8. SEPARATE RELIGION FROM STATE!
nadav ,   tlv   (07.23.13)
how much more evidence is needed to show that the Rabbinate, the so called Ministry or religion, and the religious councils have NO business being part of the government and operating with TAX payer public funds! Separate religion from state and let the communities decide which rabbi they want to follow! It's the 21st century, not medieval Europe or Iran! Stop wasting government time and money!
9. They are not the chief rabbis of Israel
Taxpayer ,   Hod Hasharon   (07.23.13)
Whichever of these gentlemen is elected one thing is clear they represent a very specific minority section of the population and have nothing to offfer in any function for the overwhelming majority - time to stop calling them the chief rabbi of Israel - perhaps the head of the religious extremist meshugina frum community
10. Voodoo men
Michael ,   Haifa   (07.23.13)
Even the practioners of Voodoo in Haiti have to meet higher standards than their counterparts here.
11. DOES THIS MEAN half of all Rabbis' are below aveage?
DAVE ZEE ,   AMERICA THE BEAUTIUL   (07.23.13)
why am I not surprised...YES! and how many Rabbi's are ultra's, or conservative, reformed and/or just Jewish friends and supporters, and throw in the 80% majority of non ultra/orthodox, who is more Jewish? I had a bris but I don't go to or belong to any Schul...am I excluded as a Jew? (So, I may as well toss in the secular Jews.) ONCE AGAIN, are there good Jewish who are more Jewish than others? Should there be a national Jew-off? Like an Olympics for Whose the Most Jewish ? Should the Judges be non Jews to keep unbiased holiness? Frankly I also favor the idea of a national TV reality show... we can call it "Israeli Idle" zee
12. rabbi eliyahu took both written tests
jimmy ,   usa   (07.23.13)
i dont see a scandel with rabbi eliyahu;s smicha if he took both written and oral test's the askenazi is the head of bet din so no need for rabbi eliyahu to have yadin yadin
13. Haredi exemptions seem to permeate all religious life.
(07.23.13)
One would have thought that honest g-d fearing people would believe in sticking with honest verifiable rules rather than bypassing or exempting themselves.
14. Blame in on the Zionist
shimon   (07.23.13)
Its all well and good to blame the "zionists" for this problem buy it appears the main abusers are the Hareidim.
15. No Test Needed!
Yoni ,   Shomron   (07.23.13)
Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu is the most worthy candidate to be the next Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, irregardless of how many test he took. How do I know? Simple. If all the lefties, Arab MK's, and Attorney General are against his candidacy, he must be the right guy!
16. Ovadia Yosef
Haim ,   TA   (07.24.13)
The unmitigated arrogance of Ovadia Yosef only serves to drive a further wedge between people raised secular who may have a small spark of interest in religion. This man, this so called "rabbi" is a bloated goat whom G-d will profoundly punish. His service is to his cult followers the weak and vulnerable members of society who bleat at his side, kissing his hand only to further bloat his twisted ego. His ignorance of how he appears to the world and how he represents Judaism to the world, who like all other cult figures before him actually is only concerned about the power and the money , which 7 convicted and jailed Shas MKs on charges of serious fraud and corruption go's to prove. This man is a grave sinner and a fraudulent representative anything and everything holy. He is a criminal that wraps himself in religious garb of the most flamboyant nature yet flaunts the very basic laws he claims to represent.
17. New rules on how to chosoe Chief rabbi
eddie ,   London UK   (07.24.13)
a) haredi rabbis should be kept out of the Rabbanut. They have their own rabbanut, and the general public do not want a haredi Chief rabbi. b) Only candidates from Modern and national religious should be accepted c) Only those fully qualified. d) None who have fathers who were previous chiefs - this is nepotism. At least not those who are still alive and pulling strings. In Eliyahu's case, since hsi father has died, he can now stand.
18. article has it backwards
Menachem ,   California USA   (07.24.13)
Anyone who has received Rabbinical Ordination will tell you that the oral test is harder than the written test. With an oral test, you must have the answers immediately, which means you've really got to know your stuff. With a written test, you can look up the answers at your leisure. The written test is just more time consuming.
19. Oral exams #5
g ,   Tel Aviv   (07.24.13)
Emphasis on the word LOGIC. That sure explains religion: people living inside whales, giving birth at 90-whatever, a talking burning bush, turning water into real blood. These are the guys are say that one may even eat pig if it is the only thing that will save a life, but smoking, medically certified as a cause of death, is cool. Logic indeed.
20. those who did not pass written exams should be disqualified
Cipora Julianna Kohn   (07.24.13)
do we pass doctors based on an oral exam, or on the recommendation of their fathers, or pilots, or engineers?? now it turns out that even well known rabbis are not really qualified to be rabbis. so not only do they want exemptions from army service, but also exemptions from written exams to become rabbis. who can respect them, and on what basis?
21. Name the Pope as the new Rabbi of Israel
Philip Barnett ,   London UK   (07.24.13)
Like this no need to have another Mafia ruler paid by the Israeli government. Since the Pope seems to be a good religious leader I am sure he will unite jews and christians alike.
22. Chofetz Chaim
Sherlock Holmes ,   London England   (07.25.13)
Yisrael Meir Kagan, author of Chofetz Chaim and Mishnah Brurah, did NOT have semicha until he needed it later in life to facilitate travel. If their peers recognise their Halachic competence -- Rabbi Yosef authored a major halachic compendium, then they are suitable candidates.
23. Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef
Yehoshua Coren ,   Jerualem Israel   (07.25.13)
Um.... Unless I'm missing something here, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef is the author of the Yalkut Yosef, an unbelievable work of Torah scholarship. I find it laughable that this article raises questions about his Rabbinic credentials.
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