Thousands of signatories joined an extraordinary petition demanding to diversify the committee to select the chief rabbi: "The committee to select the chief rabbi must include women, public figures, rabbis and female rabbis, diverse and different denominations." Today (Sunday) the committee of rabbis is expected to convene to select the religious Zionist candidate for the position of chief rabbi – when in the shadow of the committee a large protest is developing in the national religious community.
Towards a decision: Religious Zionism will choose her position as Ashkenazi chief rabbi
"We, many women and men of religious Zionism, express our protest against the establishment of a limited committee of rabbis to select the next chief rabbi. We call together for the establishment of a broad committee that includes women, public figures and rabbis of various denominations. Sign the petition for a broad and representative committee to select the chief rabbi With these words, over the weekend, Daniel Goldman and Dr. Dafna Etzion, two senior and well-known figures in religious Zionism, addressed thousands of sons and daughters of the national religious sector with the demand to sign a petition that would prevent the establishment of the Israeli Rabbi Selection Committee for Israel in its current form.
The petition gained impressive momentum and soon reached thousands of signatories who joined the call to diversify the committee. The leader of the campaign, Daniel Goldman: "It is hard not to hear the voices and feel the frustration felt by a significant portion of the sons and daughters of religious Zionism. Many people feel that the religious Zionism in which they grew up is being taken away from them, and that today there are many parties who are trying to take control of religious Zionism at any cost and transform it to a current that is not in line with the values of religious Zionism as we know it and we love it so much. The chief rabbi of Israel is a figure who should represent the entire nation of Israel and as such should be chosen by a broad and diverse committee, which will represent all the citizens of Israel."
As a result, it was decided to hold a secret vote whether to hold the vote in favor of electing a candidate for today's chief rabbi or to postpone the vote. At the end, 27 voted in favor of holding the vote today against eight who opposed. Five rabbis were absent.
