I dedicated three years of my academic life to studying the rulings and leadership of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef. I discovered an incredibly knowledgeable and brave expert in Jewish law. He was a daring young rabbi, who served as deputy chief rabbi in Egypt and struggled against a degenerate communal establishment. As a young rabbinical judge, he argued before senior rabbis, demanding they return to the community's former glory and shape Jewish law in line with the thinking of Rabbi Joseph Karo, the author of the last great codification of Jewish law, the Shulchan Aruch. In all of his rulings and in his conduct, Yosef never surrendered to, nor was influenced by, what was happening in the streets. So now, when I hear that the rabbi has decided to allow Aryeh Deri, a convicted criminal who has served prison time, to return to a leadership position in Shas because the people in the streets love him, I am convinced that this isn't the great rabbi I once knew and studied. I think we are dealing with meddlers working under the rabbi's cloak; these people are working to bring down the most revolutionary movement in Jewish history since the rise of Hasidism in the 18th century. Yosef can't avoid personal responsibility; even 50 volumes of "Yabia Omer" [a compendium of halachic decisions by Yosef] won't cover up this shame. It is unfortunate that this great man was seized by his smaller fellows to serve their own interests. Yosef will be surprised to discover that the ultra-Orthodox Sephardi public is not just a herd of blind sheep; they won't support a party whose name can now be interpreted as an acronym for "sarayich sorerim" ("your ministers are corrupt"). Last week, I met an old acquaintance who was a member of the Likud Central Committee for many years before resigning in 2005 to join Kadima. As a member of the Likud Central Committee, he managed to make a small fortune promoting issues in the Israel Lands Administration and opening doors to government offices. In the Knesset cafeteria and at social events, he could be seen in the company of ministers and MKs who sought his help in primary elections. Just looking at the contact list on his phone, one finds government leaders who always returned his calls. I was surprised to hear that he had returned to the Likud. He explained to me that Kadima was like a mistress and that Likud had always been his home; he had decided to go home. What can I say? I have no appreciation of or compassion for a woman who is beaten, humiliated and betrayed, and then ready to have the treacherous man who abandoned her during times of need come back to her. The establishment of Kadima saved the Likud from ethical and moral damage. After years of corruption, the Likud needed a process of correction and catharsis. The move by many politicians, who served only their personal interests, to Kadima cleaned out the Likud, allowing for its rehabilitation and return to power. The idea that those who left for Kadima might now return to Likud leadership, including convicted criminals, seems surreal and patently immoral. Those who are responsible for such, even in senior positions, are building a monument to lost integrity with their own hands. Convicted criminals on the Likud list would diminish the party's ability to confront other parties about the criminals on their own lists. Parties of the Left and Center also hope for the return of a convicted criminal. Those who previously stood for values and integrity now wish to coddle and protect certain unsavory characters as if they were delicate etrogs. The next Knesset is likely to look like a rehabilitation center for former convicts. It is an ugly vision to present before Israeli society, but as we know well, every society gets the leadership it deserves. It's true that in a democratic country, the public chooses its representatives, not the media, most of which are driven by economic considerations wrapped in pop ideology. Despite media propaganda in favor of the corrupt, the public has a very heavy responsibility weighing on it in the upcoming elections: to decide whether Israel is a modern, well-functioning country or a fourth-world banana republic. This election is of unparalleled importance, for now and for future generations.
Deri's return: Even the rabbi is mistaken
מערכת היום
מערכת "היום“ מפיקה ומעדכנת תכנים חדשותיים, מבזקים ופרשנויות לאורך כל שעות היממה. התוכן נערך בקפדנות, נבדק עובדתית ומוגש לציבור מתוך האמונה שהקוראים ראויים לעיתונות טובה יותר - אמינה, אובייקטיבית ועניינית.
