Jewish American Heritage Month

Posted By simmons on June 26, 2017

'The People of the Book have become the People of Commerce,' Tel Aviv's retiring Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau tells Israeli newspaper

Former Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau told an Israeli newspaper over the weekend that Jews have become greedy and that Americanization is driving secular Israelis away from religion.

In an interview with Yedioth Ahronoth, Lau slammed shops that open on the Sabbath, and was also aggrieved by Tel Avivs Gay Pride Parade.

Lau, who served as Ashkenazi chief rabbi from 1993 to 2003, is officially retiring as Tel Avivs rabbi this month, but he leaves unhappy with both the state of the city and country.

At the end of the day, what lies behind the opening of supermarkets on Shabbat? Greed. A few supermarket owners who are chasing money, Lau told the daily. The People of the Book have become the People of Commerce, who are running after every penny their entire life.

Will anything happen if you let go of the money for just one day a week, be with your family, open a book? he inquired.

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Lau blamed the malaise on what he called a decades-long educational failure, which stops people from understanding the essence and value of Shabbat and what they are missing out on.

He also saw the failure as indicative of a wider problem in Israel society, leaving him to question what is left of the Jewish state People are married by an entertainer, they are buried in a kibbutz which is commercializing the whole thing, they open stores on Shabbat, and its all OK. So what is left of the Jew here? he asked.

Lau reserved most scorn for Tel Avivs annual Gay Pride Parade. It doesnt belong in the city, he said, adding, I just dont know if such a parade solves the problem of people with a certain inclination. What are they solving by raising their problem so high? I cant see and cant understand how the publicity helps solve the problem. If theres a person who has a personal problem, does he help solve it by dancing on a truck on the citys streets in the middle of the day?

Lau continued: This parade doesnt solve these peoples problem, the issue of how to have children, how to start a family.

He also rejected interviewer Amira Lams assertion that pressure on secular Jews to be more observant was driving them away from religion. What drives them away is the Americanization, in many areas, Lau responded. We are importers of a foreign culture.

Lau also linked disgraced rabbis such as Yoshiyahu Pinto and Yona Metzger, who have been jailed for corruption, with the nations decline. What happened to the religious public happened to the entire Israeli society, he said. The religious public doesnt live on a different planet. They live in this society, and everything has changed. The corruption outside has somewhat penetrated the religious leadership as well.

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Originally posted here:

Former Israel Chief Rabbi Reproaches 'Greedy' Jews for Breaking the Sabbath - Haaretz

Category: Ashkenazi
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