MK Simcha Rotman, Chairman of the Law, Constitution and Justice Committee, stopped the intention to appoint hundreds of neighborhood rabbis for a fee under the Urban Rabbis Law. In the updated version of the law, which is currently being discussed in the committee, the chapter dealing with the appointment of hundreds of rabbis was omitted.
Shouts of "shame" at MK Simcha Rotman in the Mahane Yehuda market//Israel Hayom, News
The issue of appointing hundreds of neighborhood rabbis aroused great anger after its publication and approval in a preliminary reading in the Knesset, on the grounds that it was a clause that would allow the granting of jobs to cronies. In the original law, which was approved in a preliminary reading, it was proposed to appoint about 1,000 additional paid rabbis.
The current version of the bill, which is expected to be discussed again on Wednesday, was replaced by a softened version that states that the Minister of Religious Affairs can appoint one or more neighborhood rabbis in a city with more than 50,<> residents. "The Ministry of Religious Services proposes that instead of the proposed chapter of neighborhood rabbis, an arrangement be established that will include the qualifications clause, as well as a general authorization clause," reads the text distributed to Knesset members.
He may appoint one or more neighborhood rabbis in a city with more than 50,90 residents. Minister of Religious Affairs, Michael Malkieli, Photo: Jonathan Zindel/Flash<>
"In the committee's deliberations, it emerged that the initiative is far from ripe, and quite a few questions were raised on the subject," MK Simcha Rotman told Israel Hayom. "I can't legislatively create an arrangement that won't work. We need to appoint city rabbis properly and see where the shortages are coming from, and accordingly, the Ministry of Law will bring regulations to the committee for approval."
This is not the only dramatic change in the bill. According to the current proposal, for the first time, an essential part of the kashrut reform will be canceled. One of the clauses in the reform is the opening of kashrut zones, meaning that city rabbis will be able to provide kashrut in other cities as well.
Now Rotman has decided to block the clause in the Urban Rabbis Law, and allow a city rabbi to provide kashrut only within his city. According to him, he wants to significantly strengthen the manner in which a city rabbi is chosen by the locals, but in the current situation, residents of a city in the north of the country will choose a rabbi who can provide kashrut in the south of the country, which makes no sense.
"There was a lot of criticism that local residents should choose the city's rabbi, so we decided that 50 percent of the voting body would be from the city – but it can't be that a local rabbi elected by his residents will give kashrut elsewhere," Rothman said.
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