Rabbinic Reformers

In an contemptible and ignorant opinion screed, the JPost writes:

Rabbinic Reform. It's time for Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef to step up or step down: The government needs to present Yosef with a choice – either help or get out of the way. JPost

In a speech last week, Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef issued an all-out attack on Reform Judaism, describing it as “fake” and “falsified,” while also casting aspersions on the ability of women to study Jewish law at an advanced level.

It was the latest in a long list of attacks by Israel’s Sephardi chief rabbi and halachic authority against one of the largest Jewish movements in the world. It was also the latest proof why the Chief Rabbinate as an institution has lost its way and needs to be defunded by the government and eventually shut down.

In a speech first reported by the Kikar Shabbat ultra-Orthodox news site, Yosef condemned the recent legal pressure on the Chief Rabbinate to allow women to obtain state-recognized accreditation in advanced Jewish law and repeated his comments that he would never allow such accreditation through the Chief Rabbinate.

He accused women who seek such accreditation, who are overwhelmingly from the moderate wing of the religious-Zionist community, as seeking to imitate Reform Jews, and then embarked on an anti-Reform diatribe.

“How can they be examined on all of ‘Issur V’heter’ (laws pertaining to kashrut)?” Yosef exclaimed. “Do they know the laws of forbidden mixtures of foods?” he wondered. “How could they be examined on all of [the laws of] Shabbat?” he asked incredulously.

In his attack, Yosef shows an ignorance of what is happening in the Orthodox world when it comes to women’s Torah learning. His mistake is not knowing that there are plenty of women today who actually know these laws and are no less experts than many of the men whom he ordains annually. Institutions like the Matan Women’s Institute for Torah Studies or Midreshet Lindenbaum have high-level courses and programs for women that do not fall from the quality or depth of the programs taught at national-religious and ultra-Orthodox yeshivas and rabbinic academies.

As a chief rabbi in the Jewish state, Yosef’s role should be in opening up Judaism and making it available and welcoming to any Jew who is interested in participating in the Jewish experience. He should be encouraging all men and women to learn about their religion and to study the ancient texts that serve as the backbone of their religious identity.

How Low Will The Jerusalem Post Go to Sell Papers?
The Jerusalem Post has stooped to the level of the MSM, CNN, and all the other deplorable propaganda disseminaters.