Religion

Rabbis call lack of pay an Israeli power play

JERUSALEM - Thousands of rabbis were on strike in Israel on Wednesday, threatening to marry couples in parking lots and lock cemetery gates, and refusing to ritually slaughter livestock to protest months of salary delays and government moves to curb their authority.

Unable to completely forgo religiously mandated duties, rabbis said they would conduct weddings, but on street corners and in parking lots rather than in elaborate banquet halls.

The government has not paid salaries to 3,000 rabbis and employees of municipal rabbinates and religious councils for more than half a year, said Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger. A smaller number have gone without pay or pensions for more than a year.

Metzger said there were concerns the withheld earnings were part of an official plot to undermine their authority over the personal lives of Israelis.

The threats of parking lot weddings weren't carried out Wednesday. Hundreds of guests thronged a wedding hall, and a rabbi carried out the ceremony under the traditional canopy inside.

Only Orthodox rabbis are allowed to conduct Jewish wedding ceremonies, because the Orthodox rabbinate is the only recognized Jewish authority in Israel, controlling marriages, divorces, conversions and other aspects of personal lives. Reform and Conservative streams have no standing.

While Orthodox Jewish political parties held pivotal positions in previous Israeli governments, their places have been taken by Shinui, a secularist party whose main goal is to clip the wings of the Orthodox establishment.

Though government officials refused to comment on the plot allegations, there was evidence that Israel's economic malaise contributed to the lack of money for salaries. Many cities have been unable to pay their workers, and services have been reduced countrywide because of budget cuts.

The unpaid wages add up to more than $65-million, said Rabbi Moshe Rauchberger of Israel's chief rabbinical council. He said if no deal is reached in a week, many rabbis plan to launch a hunger strike.

"We have not sinned. We work all the time. There is no reason for it," he said.

In protest, rabbinates stopped issuing marriage documents on Monday.

However, the owner of one wedding hall in Jerusalem said the strike would likely lose some of its punch because couples would probably slip the rabbis extra cash to hold ceremonies indoors.

Hours for funerals have also been limited, and cemetery gates will stay locked except for burials, rabbis said.

No animals can be slaughtered for meat because rabbinate officials who oversee kosher conditions at slaughterhouses walked off the job.

Inspectors who make sure restaurants adhere to strict religious dietary laws will continue to patrol, but new restaurants cannot apply for kosher certificates.

Also, some rabbis were shutting doors in front of those seeking counseling.

Circumcisions and coming of age ceremonies - bar mitzvahs for boys and bat mitzvahs for girls - were not affected because they don't require official rabbinic supervision.

Metzger said he did not know how long the strike would last. He is one of two chief rabbis in Israel, representing Jews of European descent. Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, who leads Jews of Middle Eastern ancestry, told Army Radio on Wednesday that the government is seeking to destroy services from religious officials in Israel.

World and national headlines

Election 2004

© 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times 490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 Contact the Times | Privacy Policy Standard of Accuracy | Terms, Conditions & Copyright