Address to the Minister of Religions: "Changing the Procedure for Clarifying Judaism - A Strange Decision" Israel today

MK Elharar demanded not to transfer the process of clarifying Judaism in the Ethiopian community to the tribunal • She said "they managed to preserve their Judaism for thousands of years, why change?"

• Ethiopian Jews, Archive

  Photography: 

  Oren Ben Hakon, those photographed have nothing to do with the content of the article

MK Karin Elharar (Yesh Atid) appealed to the Minister of Religions, Yaakov Avitan (Shas), to leave the process of clarifying Judaism among the Ethiopian community intact, following the news in "Israel Today" that the ministry wants to transfer the clarification of Judaism to the rabbinical courts. 

"Through the determination of the Judaism of the Beta Israel community, it was understood from the beginning in light of the unique difficulties of this community, unlike other immigrants. For example, the immigrants from the Beta Israel community do not carry documents, and a significant number of immigrants "The rabbinical court, therefore, is run by the community's rabbis. Ethiopian Jews are experiencing many difficulties, both in the immigration process and in the absorption process in Israeli society. They often experience racism and discrimination, and find it difficult to integrate into society and feel a part of it."

"Therefore, it is puzzling to me that the decision, after about 40 years, to change such a basic element in the identity of the Beta Israel community, and to change a procedure that has taken root for decades," wrote MK Elharar.

"The rabbis of the community are more proficient, than any other figure, in Ilanot and have been immune from a community that has managed to preserve its Judaism for thousands of years. I see no reason to expropriate this authority to the rabbinical court, which does not know the community as well. .

On Sunday, it was reported in "Israel Today" that the Ministry of Religions seeks to change, for the first time in decades, the method of clarifying Judaism in the Ethiopian community, which infuriates rabbis in the community, who claim that this is abuse.

A year ago, the Ministry of Religions began to lead a controversial move that provokes much anger in the Ethiopian community.

Instead of community rabbis deciding who a Jew is, the ministry said, the rabbinical courts will do the same, as with any new immigrant seeking to prove his Jewishness.

They also sought to establish a computerized system that would monitor Jewish inquiries.

The rabbis, for their part, were very angry at the whole proposal and rejected it outright.

They sent an angry response letter to the chief rabbis.

"The chief rabbis and the chief rabbinate council understood that the Ethiopian community is special. Unlike immigrants from other countries, the community's immigrants do not have any documents. In some cases there is not even a date of birth. The court will not have the tools to handle applications," a community source told Israel Today.

The move was frozen for a year, with a complete rift between the rabbis of the communities and the Ministry of Religions in the background, and when both sides blamed each other for the situation, and about a week ago it came up again on the table.

In a detailed letter sent by Rabbi Hezekiah Samin, director of the religious services department at the Ministry of Religions to all senior officials of the ministry, the chief rabbinate and the administration of the courts, he recommended that the responsibility for Jewish inquiries in the Ethiopian community be transferred "to its natural place in the rabbinical court" urgently.

At the same time, he proposed an alternative in the form of appointing other rabbis as Jewish enlighteners, such as those who "would undertake to work in an orderly manner."

This is in view of the rift and the confrontation between the parties.

At the end of his letter, he criticized the opponents of the move, claiming that "the Jewish investigators of the Ethiopian community in their behavior deepen and sharpen the gaps in Israeli society, due to the desire to preserve their power despite the severe harm to the Ethiopian community."