Chief Rabbinate extends Efrat chief rabbi's term

Council notes that it disagrees with many of Shlomo Riskin’s opinions on Jewish law but refrains from requiring his retirement

Rabbi Shlomo Riskin’s term as chief rabbi of Efrat was extended Monday by the Chief Rabbinate for five more years.

Riskin turned 75 last month, the age at which municipal rabbis are required to retire unless their tenure is extended five more years, as is usually done automatically.

Riskin said in a statement Monday that he was “pleased and honored to continue to serve the residents of Efrat, and the extended community, as the City Rabbi as he has done his entire life with an unwavering commitment to Halacha and the laws of the State of Israel.”

Late last month, the Chief Rabbinate declined to automatically renew Riskin’s appointment as Efrat’s chief rabbi and summoned him for the hearing. Some maintained the unusual move was linked to Riskin’s positions on female religious leadership and conversion, which are at odds with the Chief Rabbinate’s views.

Riskin has been the chief rabbi of Efrat since 1983, when he helped found the settlement in the Gush Etzion bloc of the West Bank.

Riskin recently appointed a woman, Jennie Rosenfeld, to serve as a religious leader in Efrat, giving her the title manhiga ruchanit, or spiritual adviser. He has also come under fire from the Chief Rabbinate for his views on reforming the conversion process in Israel, supporting a government directive that would allow municipal chief rabbis to form conversion courts rather than requiring potential converts to appear before a Chief Rabbinate-led court.

These issues were discussed in connection with summoning Riskin for the hearing.

During Monday’s hearing, the legal adviser to the chief rabbinate said that only health issues may be considered in determining whether to extend the term of a municipal rabbi. In approving the extension, the council said it disagreed with many of Riskin’s opinions on Jewish law, according to Israel National News. The rabbinic council also reportedly appointed a committee to establish new guidelines as to what can be discussed in extending a municipal rabbi’s term.

Earlier this month, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau said that “the issue of Rabbi Riskin’s continued service has been blown out of proportion.”

Israel’s chief Sephardi rabbi, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, slammed Riskin during his weekly sermon, saying he made “all kinds of innovations” regarding women and is “making a new war.”