Article

2006-10-20 Israel-Palestine-Jordan

Rabbi Yisrael Lau denies running for president

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Posted by Fred 2006-10-20 00:00|| || Front Page|| [3 views since 2007-05-07] Top

#1 As an outside choice, the only holy man I would choose is Adin Steinsaltz .

I doubt they would choose Aumann. But they should.

Posted by Penguin 2006-10-20 02:14|| 2006-10-20 02:14|| Front Page Top

#2 Generally speaking, rabbis are no more holy than teachers or government health inspectors. Anyway, a Chief Rabbi already has a time consuming job, and in my opinion he's no business getting involved in politics.

Posted by trailing wife 2006-10-20 09:10|| 2006-10-20 09:10|| Front Page Top

#3 a Chief Rabbi already has a time consuming job, and in my opinion he's no business getting involved in politics.

Isn't that what the books of hisotry in The Bible are all about?

Posted by Nimble Spemble 2006-10-20 09:12|| 2006-10-20 09:12|| Front Page Top

#4 Do you mean the Prophets, Nimble Spemble? Or Samuel consecrating first Saul as king, then David? They were tapped by God for those jobs; rabbis are merely steeped in the Bible, Jewish history, and the body of rabbinical arguments and precedents that have developed over the last 2200 years. The best have earnt the respect we in the US accord to Supreme Court justices or law professors, except that their decisions are advisory rather than binding. There is no Jewish Pope.

Posted by trailing wife 2006-10-20 09:23|| 2006-10-20 09:23|| Front Page Top

#5 "the respect we accord Supreme Court justices..." That varies an awful lot, TW. I don't have laudatory enough words to express my respect for Scalia. I simply don't have any respect for Ginsburg, Breyer, Souter, Kennedy or Stevens. So how does this Lau guy rate?

Posted by mac 2006-10-20 10:17|| 2006-10-20 10:17|| Front Page Top

#6 I've no idea, mac, although the rabbi circles have always been highly competetive on the basis of raw knowledge and subtlety of analysis (I can't imagine they're spending much time on kosher/nonkosher masturbations, f'r instance). My knowledge is entirely theoretical. Daddy's mother was part of the Labour Zionist circle from the time the two of them arrived in Palestine in 1934. She used to kaffeeklatch with Golda Meir and design school curricula for the refugees fleeing Europe. Daddy became a chemist, using his skills to help the Haganah, and later helped set up the Israeli version of OSHA (steel-toed shoes and hard hats on the Haifa dockworkers cut deaths from 1/1000 man-hours to less than 1/year, that kind of thing) as part of Golda Meir's government. Daddy came over to the States for a short stint as a university professor, but then he met my mother...

I imagine gromgoru, Elder of Zion, liberalhawk or several other posters who actually understand Israeli politics can explain.

Posted by trailing wife 2006-10-20 14:15|| 2006-10-20 14:15|| Front Page Top

#7 Thanks, TW. If nothing else, one would think that as a rabbi he should be above the moral turpitude that has brought Katsav down.

Posted by mac 2006-10-20 19:19|| 2006-10-20 19:19|| Front Page Top

13:56 Anonymoose
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