Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron
Encyclopedia
Eliyahu Bakshi-Doron is a former Sephardi
Chief Rabbi
of Israel
.
yeshivot
. He was appointed Chief Rabbi of Bat Yam in 1972, and later, Haifa, in 1975, a position he held until 1993, when he became Chief Rabbi of Israel.
Rabbi Hamza Bakshi-Doron has written several books and articles on religious subjects. In 2000 he and his Ashkenazi counterpart, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau
made headlines in the Jewish world when they met with Pope
John Paul II. While some, particularly in the haredi community, denounced the meeting as demeaning, even blasphemous, most Jews and Israelis supported the ecumenical spirit of the meetings. The meeting with the Pope was later seen as a historical precedent for a 2005 meeting of Chief Rabbis Amar and Metzger with the new Pope, Benedict XVI.
Bakshi-Doron is a widower; his wife Esther, the daughter of the former Chief Rabbi of Akko
, died in 2005. The two had ten children.
Bakshi-Doron is the first Chief Sephardic Rabbi of Israel since Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel (1939-1954) who is not of Iraqi origin.
, Bakshi-Doron declared that he was in favor of giving away parts of East Jerusalem
to the Palestinians in exchange for peace in the Arab-Israeli Conflict. He added that any agreement would have to include the Temple Mount
remaining in Israeli hands.
He also received attention in 2002 when he took part in an inter-faith conference in Alexandria
, Egypt
, along with the former Archbishop of Canterbury
, Dr. George Carey
, Rabbi Michael Melchior
, and the mufti
s of Bethlehem and the PA police forces. The conference resulted in a written agreement in which the religious leaders denounced the ongoing violence in the Middle East
. Although the accord received the support of both Ariel Sharon
and Yasser Arafat
, it seems to have had little practical effect. Bakshi-Doron continues to participate in interfaith activities and currently sits on the Board of World Religious Leaders for The Elijah Interfaith Institute
.
In 2004, Bakshi-Doron spoke out in favor of ending the Orthodox
monopoly over marriages in Israel, saying that the law had become irrelevant and was now a source of division and hatred between Orthodox Jews and their Masorti
, Reform
, and secular counterparts. Bakshi-Doron's comments marked the first time any member of the Chief Rabbinate had recommended relinquishing its authority, and some in the Orthodox community described the speech as a "bombshell."
Bakshi-Doron came under fire by the Israeli Reform Movement in 1996 after a sermon in which he compared the movement with the biblical Zimri
, who was killed by another man, Pinchas, son of Eleazar, for sleeping with a Midianite woman. Bakshi-Doron responded by dismissing the complaint as a publicity move, saying it was "unthinkable" that anyone would seriously consider his speech as an incitement to murder. He was attacked by the Reform Movement again in 1999 after comments which Reform leaders claimed compared Reform Judaism
to the Holocaust.
In 2002, he accused Yasser Arafat
of attempting to commit "a Holocaust against the State of Israel."
Bakshi-Doron briefly received attention in January 2005 for attending the First World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace in Brussels
, Belgium
. The Congress was made up of around 180 notable Jewish and Muslim religious representatives, authorities and scholars from all over the world, and released a statement that called for the promotion of peace and understanding between Jews and Muslims.
In August 2005, Bakshi-Doron, along with Modern Orthodox
rabbis Norman Lamm
and Aharon Lichtenstein
, condemned calls by other prominent rabbis for IDF soldiers to disobey orders to dismantle Jewish settlements as part of the Gaza Disengagement.
prohibitions of shmita
, in which farmland must lie fallow once every seven years, Sephardi and Zionist
Ashkenazi rabbis had traditionally issued "sales permits", with which farmers could symbolically sell their land to non-Jews for the sabbatical year, letting them continue to farm. That year the permits came under fire by Haredi
Mitnagdic authority Rabbi
Yosef Shalom Eliashiv. Chief Rabbis Bakshi-Doron and Lau, along with former Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef
, ruled that the permits were still valid, and Bakshi-Doron publicly told farmers to go ahead with the sales.
Eliashiv also said that unless Bakshi-Doron backed down, he would no longer be recognized as a rabbi among Haredim. In response, an emotional Bakshi-Doron met with Israeli President
Moshe Katsav
, where he reportedly burst into tears. Despite the open support of Katsav and Prime Minister
Ehud Barak
, Bakshi-Doron ultimately bowed to Eliashiv's threat. This was widely seen by members of the National Religious
camp, which Bakshi-Doron belonged to, as a surrender to the Haredi community.
Sephardi Jews
Sephardi Jews is a general term referring to the descendants of the Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the Spanish Inquisition. It can also refer to those who use a Sephardic style of liturgy or would otherwise define themselves in terms of the Jewish customs and...
Chief Rabbi
Chief Rabbi
Chief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities...
of Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
.
Background
Rabbi Hamza Bakshi-Doron was born in Jerusalem and studied in several prominent Religious ZionistReligious Zionism
Religious Zionism is an ideology that combines Zionism and Jewish religious faith...
yeshivot
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
. He was appointed Chief Rabbi of Bat Yam in 1972, and later, Haifa, in 1975, a position he held until 1993, when he became Chief Rabbi of Israel.
Rabbi Hamza Bakshi-Doron has written several books and articles on religious subjects. In 2000 he and his Ashkenazi counterpart, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau
Yisrael Meir Lau
Yisrael Meir Lau is the Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, Israel, and Chairman of Yad Vashem. He previously served as the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel from 1993 to 2003.-Biography:...
made headlines in the Jewish world when they met with Pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
John Paul II. While some, particularly in the haredi community, denounced the meeting as demeaning, even blasphemous, most Jews and Israelis supported the ecumenical spirit of the meetings. The meeting with the Pope was later seen as a historical precedent for a 2005 meeting of Chief Rabbis Amar and Metzger with the new Pope, Benedict XVI.
Bakshi-Doron is a widower; his wife Esther, the daughter of the former Chief Rabbi of Akko
Acre, Israel
Acre , is a city in the Western Galilee region of northern Israel at the northern extremity of Haifa Bay. Acre is one of the oldest continuously inhabited sites in the country....
, died in 2005. The two had ten children.
Bakshi-Doron is the first Chief Sephardic Rabbi of Israel since Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel (1939-1954) who is not of Iraqi origin.
Policy positions
Bakshi-Doron has become somewhat notable for his willingness to depart from the conventional Religious Zionist party line. In 2000, while visiting the tiny Jewish community in SingaporeSingapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
, Bakshi-Doron declared that he was in favor of giving away parts of East Jerusalem
East Jerusalem
East Jerusalem or Eastern Jerusalem refer to the parts of Jerusalem captured and annexed by Jordan in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and then captured and annexed by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War...
to the Palestinians in exchange for peace in the Arab-Israeli Conflict. He added that any agreement would have to include the Temple Mount
Temple Mount
The Temple Mount, known in Hebrew as , and in Arabic as the Haram Ash-Sharif , is one of the most important religious sites in the Old City of Jerusalem. It has been used as a religious site for thousands of years...
remaining in Israeli hands.
He also received attention in 2002 when he took part in an inter-faith conference in Alexandria
Alexandria
Alexandria is the second-largest city of Egypt, with a population of 4.1 million, extending about along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea in the north central part of the country; it is also the largest city lying directly on the Mediterranean coast. It is Egypt's largest seaport, serving...
, Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
, along with the former Archbishop of Canterbury
Archbishop of Canterbury
The Archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and principal leader of the Church of England, the symbolic head of the worldwide Anglican Communion, and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. In his role as head of the Anglican Communion, the archbishop leads the third largest group...
, Dr. George Carey
George Carey
George Leonard Carey, Baron Carey of Clifton PC, FKC is a former Archbishop of Canterbury, holding the office from 1991 to 2002. He was the first modern holder of the office not to have attended Oxford or Cambridge University...
, Rabbi Michael Melchior
Michael Melchior
A renowned Jewish leader, thinker and activist, Rabbi Michael Melchior is a leading advocate for social justice in Israel, quality education for all, Jewish-Arab reconciliation and co-existence, protection of the environment, Israel-Diaspora relations and the strengthening of Civic Society as a...
, and the mufti
Mufti
A mufti is a Sunni Islamic scholar who is an interpreter or expounder of Islamic law . In religious administrative terms, a mufti is roughly equivalent to a deacon to a Sunni population...
s of Bethlehem and the PA police forces. The conference resulted in a written agreement in which the religious leaders denounced the ongoing violence in the Middle East
Middle East
The Middle East is a region that encompasses Western Asia and Northern Africa. It is often used as a synonym for Near East, in opposition to Far East...
. Although the accord received the support of both Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon
Ariel Sharon is an Israeli statesman and retired general, who served as Israel’s 11th Prime Minister. He has been in a permanent vegetative state since suffering a stroke on 4 January 2006....
and Yasser Arafat
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...
, it seems to have had little practical effect. Bakshi-Doron continues to participate in interfaith activities and currently sits on the Board of World Religious Leaders for The Elijah Interfaith Institute
The Elijah Interfaith Institute
The Elijah Interfaith Institute is a nonprofit, international, interfaith organization which was founded by Rabbi Alon Goshen-Gottstein in 1997. Its mission is to foster peace between the world's diverse faith communities through interfaith dialogue, education, research and dissemination...
.
In 2004, Bakshi-Doron spoke out in favor of ending the Orthodox
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
monopoly over marriages in Israel, saying that the law had become irrelevant and was now a source of division and hatred between Orthodox Jews and their Masorti
Masorti
The Masorti Movement is the name given to Conservative Judaism in Israel and other countries outside Canada and U.S. Masorti means "traditional" in Hebrew...
, Reform
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
, and secular counterparts. Bakshi-Doron's comments marked the first time any member of the Chief Rabbinate had recommended relinquishing its authority, and some in the Orthodox community described the speech as a "bombshell."
Bakshi-Doron came under fire by the Israeli Reform Movement in 1996 after a sermon in which he compared the movement with the biblical Zimri
Zimri (prince)
Zimri was the Prince of the Tribe of Simeon during the time of the Israelites in the desert. At Shittim he took part in the Heresy of Peor, taking as a paramour a Midianite woman, Cozbi...
, who was killed by another man, Pinchas, son of Eleazar, for sleeping with a Midianite woman. Bakshi-Doron responded by dismissing the complaint as a publicity move, saying it was "unthinkable" that anyone would seriously consider his speech as an incitement to murder. He was attacked by the Reform Movement again in 1999 after comments which Reform leaders claimed compared Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism
Reform Judaism refers to various beliefs, practices and organizations associated with the Reform Jewish movement in North America, the United Kingdom and elsewhere. In general, it maintains that Judaism and Jewish traditions should be modernized and should be compatible with participation in the...
to the Holocaust.
In 2002, he accused Yasser Arafat
Yasser Arafat
Mohammed Yasser Abdel Rahman Abdel Raouf Arafat al-Qudwa al-Husseini , popularly known as Yasser Arafat or by his kunya Abu Ammar , was a Palestinian leader and a Laureate of the Nobel Prize. He was Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization , President of the Palestinian National Authority...
of attempting to commit "a Holocaust against the State of Israel."
Bakshi-Doron briefly received attention in January 2005 for attending the First World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace in Brussels
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. The Congress was made up of around 180 notable Jewish and Muslim religious representatives, authorities and scholars from all over the world, and released a statement that called for the promotion of peace and understanding between Jews and Muslims.
In August 2005, Bakshi-Doron, along with Modern Orthodox
Modern Orthodox Judaism
Modern Orthodox Judaism is a movement within Orthodox Judaism that attempts to synthesize Jewish values and the observance of Jewish law, with the secular, modern world....
rabbis Norman Lamm
Norman Lamm
Norman Lamm is a major American Modern Orthodox rabbi, scholar, author and Jewish communal leader. He is presently the Chancellor of Yeshiva University....
and Aharon Lichtenstein
Aharon Lichtenstein
Aharon Lichtenstein is a noted Orthodox rabbi and rosh yeshiva.Rabbi Lichtenstein was born in Paris, France, but grew up in the United States, studied in Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin under Rabbi Yitzchok Hutner...
, condemned calls by other prominent rabbis for IDF soldiers to disobey orders to dismantle Jewish settlements as part of the Gaza Disengagement.
Farming controversy
In 2000, Bakshi-Doron became involved in a disagreement with some of the leading rabbis in Israel. In order to get around the HalakhicHalakha
Halakha — also transliterated Halocho , or Halacha — is the collective body of Jewish law, including biblical law and later talmudic and rabbinic law, as well as customs and traditions.Judaism classically draws no distinction in its laws between religious and ostensibly non-religious life; Jewish...
prohibitions of shmita
Jubilee (Biblical)
The Jubilee year is the year at the end of seven cycles of Sabbatical years , and according to Biblical regulations had a special impact on the ownership and management of land in the territory of the kingdoms of Israel and of Judah; there is some debate whether it was the 49th year The Jubilee...
, in which farmland must lie fallow once every seven years, Sephardi and Zionist
Religious Zionism
Religious Zionism is an ideology that combines Zionism and Jewish religious faith...
Ashkenazi rabbis had traditionally issued "sales permits", with which farmers could symbolically sell their land to non-Jews for the sabbatical year, letting them continue to farm. That year the permits came under fire by Haredi
Haredi Judaism
Haredi or Charedi/Chareidi Judaism is the most conservative form of Orthodox Judaism, often referred to as ultra-Orthodox. A follower of Haredi Judaism is called a Haredi ....
Mitnagdic authority Rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
Yosef Shalom Eliashiv. Chief Rabbis Bakshi-Doron and Lau, along with former Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef
Ovadia Yosef
Ovadia Yosef is the former Sephardi Chief Rabbi of Israel, a recognised Talmudic scholar and foremost halakhic authority.He currently serves as the spiritual leader of the Shas political party in the Israeli parliament...
, ruled that the permits were still valid, and Bakshi-Doron publicly told farmers to go ahead with the sales.
When Bakshi-Doron gave farmers the green light to go ahead and work during the sabbatical year, the haredi newspaper Yated Ne'eman leaked threats that he would be excommunicatedCheremCherem , is the highest ecclesiastical censure in the Jewish community. It is the total exclusion of a person from the Jewish community. It is a form of shunning, and is similar to excommunication in the Catholic Church...
. He and his family were also threatened with ostracism, which would have meant that no member of the haredi community could have contact with them.
Eliashiv also said that unless Bakshi-Doron backed down, he would no longer be recognized as a rabbi among Haredim. In response, an emotional Bakshi-Doron met with Israeli President
President of Israel
The President of the State of Israel is the head of state of Israel. The position is largely an apolitical ceremonial figurehead role, with the real executive power lying in the hands of the Prime Minister. The current president is Shimon Peres who took office on 15 July 2007...
Moshe Katsav
Moshe Katsav
Moshe Katsav is an Israeli politician. He served as the eighth President of Israel, a leading Likud member of the Israeli Knesset, and a Cabinet Minister in its government....
, where he reportedly burst into tears. Despite the open support of Katsav and Prime Minister
Prime Minister of Israel
The Prime Minister of Israel is the head of the Israeli government and the most powerful political figure in Israel . The prime minister is the country's chief executive. The official residence of the prime minister, Beit Rosh Hamemshala is in Jerusalem...
Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak
Ehud Barak is an Israeli politician who served as Prime Minister from 1999 until 2001. He was leader of the Labor Party until January 2011 and holds the posts of Minister of Defense and Deputy Prime Minister in Binyamin Netanyahu's government....
, Bakshi-Doron ultimately bowed to Eliashiv's threat. This was widely seen by members of the National Religious
National Religious Party
The National Religious Party ) was a political party in Israel representing the religious Zionist movement. Formed in 1956, at the time of its dissolution in 2008, it was the second oldest surviving party in the country after Agudat Yisrael, and was part of every government coalition until 1992...
camp, which Bakshi-Doron belonged to, as a surrender to the Haredi community.
Quotes
When I see all of the imams and rabbis coming together, this is a message to the Creator that we are here to do your will, that is to bring peace.- Bakshi-Doron at the conclusion of the First World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace.
Sources
- Chief Rabbis- Greetings to Pope John Paul II
- Interview with Bakshi-Doron
- Jewish Agency Bio
- Imams and Rabbis for Peace
- http://www.imamsrabbis.org