Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the chief rabbi of Tzfat, issued a sharply worded public letter Thursday after learning that Israel's district court was set to hear a request to release Rabbi Yosef Shuvali, who stands accused of rape, into an alternative form of house arrest.
Eliyahu said he was stunned to learn of the hearing, stressing that Jewish law equates rape with murder, no less severe. He said it was shocking that the court would even entertain easing the conditions of someone accused of destroying homes and causing psychological, physical, and spiritual harm to numerous victims, adding that leniency toward such a person amounts to cruelty toward the victims themselves.
The rabbi's letter went further, issuing what read as a near-explicit warning to the suspect. He said it was important to make clear, to Shuvali and to any other person accused of rape, that they would not be welcomed in Tzfat or anywhere else, not only because the city holds sacred status, but because the sanctity of every life in Israel demands it.
As the city's chief rabbi, Eliyahu said he wanted to make it plain that Shuvali would be unwise to return there under house arrest, warning that residents would commit to making life difficult for him day and night, and would do the same to any other accused rapist who considered coming to the city.
The case adds to a pattern in which Eliyahu, who also heads a rabbinical court dealing with sexual abuse cases, has taken a public and often forceful stance against alleged sexual predators within religious communities, a position that has at times drawn both praise and controversy.
