Elections for Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi go to second round

Gavriel Fiske is a reporter at The Times of Israel

Committee members at the elections for Israel's new chief rabbis in Jerusalem, September 29, 2024. (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)
Committee members at the elections for Israel's new chief rabbis in Jerusalem, September 29, 2024. (Arie Leib Abrams/Flash90)

The elections for Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi will go to a second round, the Rabbinate announces.

The results were 40 votes for Rabbi Micha Halevi, chief rabbi of Petah Tikva, and 40 votes for Rabbi Kalman Bar, the Ashkenazi city rabbi of Netanya.

Rabbi Meir Kahana, head of the Jewish religious court in Ashkelon, received 30 votes, Rabbi Moshe Chaim Lau, a community rabbi in Netanya from a prominent dynasty, received 23, and Rabbi Eliezer Igra, an experienced religious court judge, received just 6.

Some 140 members of the assembly voted on Sunday afternoon in Jerusalem. The next round is to take place tonight, from 9:30-11:00 p.m., with all the candidates participating.

The results for the Sephardic Chief Rabbi position are to be announced shortly, the announcement adds.

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