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NEWS
Members of Haifa Religious Council Boycott Meeting
by Arye Zisman
Obeying instructions of the gedolei haTorah, all
members of the Haifa religious council boycotted a council
meeting on Monday, 15 Cheshvan, due to the participation of
a Conservative member. The council was due to convene upon
order of the investigating committee appointed by the
Religious Affairs Ministry. As a result, the meeting was
postponed by a week.
On the meeting's agenda was the election of the council
chairman, treasurer and board of directors. The meeting had
been scheduled even before the petirah of the former
chairman, Rabbi Yitzchok Getz zt"l, who was
niftar a week-and-a-half ago. Because the meeting did
not take place, the investigating committee appointed by the
Religious Affairs Ministry decided to appoint a special
committee to investigate the matter. However, before
finalizing this decision, the council was given an
additional opportunity to convene.
The former chairman had instructed the members of the
council to meet according to the law, but in obedience to
the ruling of the chief rabbis, he made every possible
effort to cancel it. A meeting was called for 15 Cheshvan,
and could have taken place had at least half of the members
been present. However, all of the members--without exception-
-obeyed the directives of the Chief Rabbinate and the
rabbonim of Haifa and boycotted the meeting. The
Conservative member was the only one to come.
Religious Affairs Ministry aide, Chaim Weitzman, who was
appointed to conduct the meeting, noted that since it lacks
a legal quorum, the meeting must be dispersed. He later
announced that according to the law, the meeting would take
place the following week at the same time. The following
week, only a third of the members must be present for the
council to be operative. Currently, there are 27 council
members.
The chief rabbis of Haifa have announced that in the next
week too, they will not enable the meeting to take place and
will instruct the members not to come. In that case, the
council will be dispersed once again, and within a short
time, an appointed committee of three members will be
elected according to the model of the Religious Affairs
Council in Jerusalem. The members of the appointment
committee will be chosen on a purely professional basis.
They and the chairman will receive no fee for their work,
but will appoint a director on their behalf to direct the
Religious council.
The chareidi and religious community in Haifa has expressed
satisfaction that no representatives appeared at the meeting-
-including those of the secular parties. Nonetheless, it is
feared that before the upcoming meeting, members with
ulterior motives will seek to exploit the opportunity to be
elected to council positions, since only a third of the
members of the council must be present. As a result, the
chief rabbis of Haifa have announced that they will not
cooperate with any representative chosen at a joint meeting
with elements alien and dangerous to Judaism, with whom
gedolei Yisroel have forbidden us to sit.
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