Elections for the positions of

Chief Rabbis of Israel Chief may refer to: Title or rank Military and law enforcement * Chief master sergeant, the ninth, and highest, enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Space Force * Chief of police, the head of a police department * Chief of the boa ...

were held at the Leonardo Hotel in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

on 24 July 2013. The elections were to elect the chief rabbis for the

Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...

and

Sephardi Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...

communities.

Background

The position of chief rabbi is a position that places the winning candidate at the head of the state religious infrastructure. This includes kosher certification, all Jewish marriages and deaths in

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. They also have significant influence over the question of

who is a Jew "Who is a Jew?" ( he, מיהו יהודי ) is a basic question about Jewish identity and considerations of Jewish self-identification. The question pertains to ideas about Jewish personhood, which have cultural, ethnic, religious, political, ...

. The position is for a 10-year term, with incumbents unable to run for reelection. As such the incumbents

Yona Metzger Yona Metzger ( he, יונה מצגר; born 1953) is an Israeli Orthodox rabbi and the former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel. In 2013, while chief rabbi, a fraud investigation was opened. Metzger later pleaded guilty to a number of corruption c ...

and

Shlomo Amar Shlomo Moshe Amar ( he, שלמה משה עמאר; ar, سليمان موسى عمار; born April 1, 1948)Gantz, Nesanel. "A Chief Rabbi of the Past and Future". '' Ami'', November 5, 2014, pp. 26-27. is the former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Isra ...

were unable to be candidates. The elections were conducted at the Leonardo Hotel, with 150 eligible voters. These were made up by 80 rabbis representing the religious councils, and 70 other people representing the government, Knesset and local authorities. There was a push to include 40 women in this group, but at the election there was only 10 women voting.

Candidates

There were a number of candidates for each position. This represented a divide between the ultra Orthodox and Zionist communities. There were 4 sons of former chief rabbis standing for elections, David Lau son of Yisrael Meir,

Yaakov Shapira Yaakov Eliezer Kahana Shapira ( he, יעקב אלעזר כהנא שפירא, born 26 December 1950) is the rosh yeshiva of the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva in Jerusalem and a member of the Chief Rabbinate Council. Biography Shapiro was born in Jerusale ...

son of

Avraham Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jews ...

Yitzhak Yosef Yitzhak Yosef ( he, יצחק יוסף, born January 16, 1952) is the Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel (known as the Rishon LeZion), the rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Hazon Ovadia, and the author of a set of books on ''halakha'' (Jewish law) called Yalk ...

son of Ovadia and Shmuel Eliyahu son of

Mordechai Mordecai (; also Mordechai; , IPA: ) is one of the main personalities in the Book of Esther in the Hebrew Bible. He is described as being the son of Jair, of the tribe of Benjamin. He was promoted to Vizier after Haman was killed. Biblical acco ...

. There was a legal effort to have Eliyahu eliminated from the elections due to racist and extremist views. Yehuda Deri, who is the brother of minister Aryeh and related to former Chief Rabbi

was also a candidate. The other major candidates were

David Stav Rabbi David Stav ( he, דוד סתיו, born 13 May 1960) is the chief rabbi of the city of Shoham, the chairman of the Tzohar organization, and serves as a rabbi for the Ezra youth movement. Biography Stav was born in Jerusalem, the son of ...

who is the head of the Tzohar organization and a voice to fundamentally restructure the Rabbinate, and Zion Boaron.

Results

Only 147 of the 150 eligible voters turned up to vote. David Lau and Yitzchak Yosef were the successful candidates, both getting 68 votes after the non

Haredi Haredi Judaism ( he, ', ; also spelled ''Charedi'' in English; plural ''Haredim'' or ''Charedim'') consists of groups within Orthodox Judaism that are characterized by their strict adherence to ''halakha'' (Jewish law) and traditions, in oppos ...

vote was split. The results were as follows:

References

{{reflist 2013 elections in Israel Chief rabbis of Israel Rabbinical organizations