Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, the Talmud, and Cablegate
I figured that I would take a quick look at the mother of all Wikileaks, Cablegate, and see what is there. The bottom line is that pretty much everybody wants to speak with someone from the American Embassy. Israeli activists from the left and right of the political spectrum seemed more than willing to tell someone from the embassy what they thought.
There are also many summaries of Israeli politics. I like this one about Shas’s election last campaign.
The Sephardi ultra-orthodox Shas party, which officially launched its election campaign at a rally on December 3, has adopted President-elect Obama’s campaign slogan, “Yes We Can,” in attempt to capitalize on a political moment when minorities feel empowered by Obama’s victory in the U.S.
Here is where Rav Ovadia makes an appearance.
The Sephardi ultra-orthodox Shas party officially launched its campaign for the February 10 elections at a large rally on December 3, which was headlined by party leader Eli Yishai and supreme authority Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, who promised a “ticket to heaven” in exchange for voting for Shas. The party, which generally avoids taking positions on foreign or security policies, except where the welfare of Jews is concerned, will campaign on the same three issues that have formed the core of its political efforts in the current government: education, welfare and Jerusalem.
The whole cable is a nice summary of Shas’s position before the last elections.
The Talmud made a few appearances. The following is from a 2008 cable that describes the attitudes of Indonesian Islamists.
[Gregg Rickman, the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat anti-Semitism] had a separate meeting on July 29 with members of the Majelis Ulama Indonesia (MUI), a semi-governmental group of religious leaders who issue edicts and advise the Indonesian government on issues regarding Islam. Muhyiddin Junaidi, chairman of MUI foreign relations committee, told Rickman that the Torah and the Talmud–the Jewish religious texts–were “corrupted by man” as opposed to the Koran–the Islamic holy book–which has “remained unchanged since revelation.” Junaidi and other members offered offensive religious views of George Sores saying he had “Jewish characteristics.” The overall sentiment from this meeting was that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was the root of anti-Semitism in Indonesia. The MUI members were highly critical of USG policy in the Middle East, particularly with regard to USG support of Israel, stating the American people were under the influence of “Jewish people.”
You can search to your heart’s delight here.
September 6th, 2011 at 9:47 pm
A “ticket to Heavan” indeed. I wonder if one can scalp this ticket? Is Rabbi Yosef copying the extreme Muslim idea that terrosits will get 70 virgins in heavan? But Rabbi Yosef is going to need to me more specific. How about if you vote for Shas you will get 36 shiksehs when you reach heavan.
September 7th, 2011 at 9:25 am
Whoever wrote this cable displays a gross ignorance of Israeli life. Basically, the writer seems to think that Sefardim = African Americans, or if you prefer, Blacks. The writer (obviously an ashkenazi betraying his own deep-rooted racism) thinks Sefardim, and perhaps all religious people, are so foolish and naive as to believe that a vote can buy their way into heaven. Riddiculous. What the Shas rabbinic leaders emphasized was that voting to support Torah – an official shas position – is a mitzvah. Mitzvos are what get people into heaven. It is self-understood that the vote mitzvah alone, without the accompanying mitzvah lifestyle, will not get you into heaven. That is a far cry from saying their leaders were basically selling indulgences, and that Shas voters gullibly swallowed it.
Likewise, this idea about Sefardim feeling “empowered” like African Americans is just so much rubbish. Shas won 17 seats in an election more than a decade ago already. Begin relied heavily upon Sefardim more than a generation ago. Sefardim were in Israel long before there was a state. While there are indeed some comparisons to be made between sefardim and blacks, the writer of this cable over-generalizes the case.