Former Chief Rabbi Amar Blasts High Court Decision on Female Rabbis
Former Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar calls for the abolition of the State Rabbinate rather than allowing women to take rabbinical exams. Amar backed the current Chief Rabbis' refusal to hold tests, calling the High Court's mandate a "desecration" and "idolatry."
In a fiery weekly lesson at the Ner HaTorah synagogue in Jerusalem, the former Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, Shlomo Amar, issued a stark ultimatum regarding the High Court of Justice’s (Bagatz) mandate to allow women to take the Chief Rabbinate’s rabbinical and judicial exams.
Rabbi Amar stated that it is better for the official State Rabbinate to be completely abolished than to allow women to participate in the examinations. "We will establish a private Rabbinate, just like abroad," he suggested.
He backed up the current Chief Rabbis, David Yosef and Kalman Ber, who have refused to hold any exams as long as the court order stands.
He described the idea of women testing for the rabbinate as "literally a thought of idolatry" (*Avodah Zarah*), warning that allowing women to test would inevitably lead to their appointment as rabbis. He also accused the High Court of being close to "Reform views" and claimed that the movement has brought "destruction to the Jewish people." He emphasized that "all matters of the Rabbinate belong to men," arguing that this is not a slight against women but a matter of traditional honor and Torah law.
Rabbinical exams in Israel have been frozen for an extended period due to the High Court's ruling on gender equality. While some within the religious establishment have suggested letting women test without appointing them, Rabbi Amar firmly rejected this compromise, calling on the Chief Rabbis to remain steadfast despite external pressure.