Bennett slams rabbinate’s attempt to ‘stifle’ Riskin

Education Minister Naftali Bennett rebuked Israel’s Chief Rabbinate Thursday, coming to the defense of embattled Rabbi Shlomo Riskin whose reign as chief rabbi of Efrat in the West Bank is being challenged by the conservative rabbinate.

The US-born Riskin is known for his relatively liberal opinions on conversion to Judaism, among other social issues, and is a prominent figure in the Modern Orthodox Jewish world.

“I will not accept an attempt to stifle voices and pressure a civil servant in Israel because of his views under the false pretense of age,” Bennett said.

By law, municipal rabbis who assumed their positions between 1974 and 2007 must retire at 75. However, the Chief Rabbinical Council can vote to extend a rabbi’s term until his 80th birthday, which it has so far refused to do for Riskin.

“Rabbi Riskin established a great and important city in Israel and has inalienable rights; he should not become the target of political reprisals,” Bennett said. “It is permissible to have different opinions, but it is impermissible to stymie voices. Do we want civil servants, and specifically spiritual leaders, to be afraid to express their views because they will be suppressed?”

Efrat Rabbi Shlomo Riskin (courtesy office of Rabbi Riskin)

The Chief Rabbinate responded strongly to Bennett’s criticism.

“It’s a shame that the education minister is bringing politics into a purely professional issue. It is being discussed as a procedural matter on account of the rabbi’s turning 75,” a statement from the Chief Rabbinate said.

“I would not expect the judicial appointments committee to appoint a judge that consistently criticizes the justice system,” a rabbinate source was quoted by the Ynet news site as saying. “The rabbi [Riskin] will come and be questioned in regards to his role and his performance based on what has been done up until this point and what will be done in the future.”

Another source in the rabbinate told Ynet, “We will not fold. Any efforts or pressure made by other bodies and organizations won’t help. Rabbi Riskin got his summons for the end of the month and he will come to the Chief Rabbinical Committee.”

The committee is staffed by people with strong links to the Sephardic ultra-Orthodox party Shas: Holon Chief Rabbi Abraham Yosef (son of the late Shas founder Rabbi Ovadia Yosef) and Beersheba Chief Rabbi Yehuda Deri (brother to Shas leader Aryeh Deri).

The rabbinate was set to terminate Riskin’s tenure this past Monday but agreed to allow him to come before the panel for a hearing before a decision is made in his case. The deferral was due to the insistence of Jerusalem Chief Rabbi Aryeh Stern, Israel National News reported.

Recent days have seen an outcry from public figures in the rabbinic and political spheres against what is seen as an effort to end Riskin’s tenure for opinions on socioreligious issues that run counter to the policies of the rabbinic body.

“Above any effort to depose Rabbi Riskin flies a clear red flag of revenge directed against his positions and halachic decisions,” the liberal Orthodox Tzohar group said in a statement. “Instead of exalting his accomplishments, figures in the rabbinate are choosing to force the rabbi into early retirement because of their political considerations.”

“I will remain the rabbi of Efrat for as long as the people of Efrat want me to be their rabbi,” Riskin told JTA on Tuesday. “I don’t believe it’s up to the Chief Rabbinate.”

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.