Tomorrow, Tuesday, will be the last day to apply for the Jerusalem rabbinate. The media spotlight may be directed more toward the Sephardic arena, but there are also difficult struggles for the Ashkenazi rabbinate's throne.
Haredim10 is making order in the Ashkenazi arena:
The Gaon Rabbi Aryeh Stern - The agreed-upon candidate of religious Zionism for the position of Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem, and the one who was considered until recently to have the best chance of winning. He was the only Ashkenazi candidate, and enjoyed the overwhelming support of all religious Zionism, after the Religious Zionist Rabbinical Forum convened six years ago and, in an almost historic move, determined that Rabbi Stern was the candidate for the position.
Since then, all religious Zionists - rabbis and politicians - have been working to elect him. As part of this process, a "deal" was even proposed, whereby the Haredim would support Rabbi Stern in exchange for religious Zionists' support for a Sephardi-Haredi rabbi.
The 'deal' was previously proposed to the Chief Rabbi Yosef, but was rejected by the Graeme Zt'l. Why? Well, as we wrote in the past, there are several versions of the rejection of the deal, but a senior rabbinical source, who is familiar with the details, says that the deal was rejected because the Graeme did not want Rabbi Stern to be chosen.
At the same time, the Haredi public fought, in almost every way, against Rabbi Stern's candidacy. The Haredi representatives in the Jerusalem municipality succeeded, time and again, in postponing the election date, with every possible postponement being exploited to the fullest.
In recent weeks, things have begun to get complicated, from the candidate's perspective: The main problem is the rabbi's age, who will celebrate 70 in the upcoming month of Kislev, crossing the age threshold for election as city rabbi.
Even if he is elected before the age of 70, he will face difficulties in light of the new procedures of the Ministry of Religious Affairs, according to which a rabbi after the age of 70 must resign from his position.
Another complication was the rabbinical ordination of the rabbi. It was recently announced that Rabbi Stern does not have the appropriate qualifications to serve as city rabbi. Today, the Ministry of Justice is expected to decide on the matter, with the assessment being that he will overcome the obstacle and the certificate will be approved.
But if in the past Rabbi Stern enjoyed full support from religious Zionism, now other voices are also being heard. They are calling for the deal to be reversed: to elect a Sephardic Zionist rabbi and an Ashkenazi Haredi rabbi, or to nominate another Ashkenazi Zionist candidate - one that would be acceptable to the Haredi.
The rabbi's associates tell the Haredim10: "As long as Rabbi Stern is running, no one will run against him." But it is very possible that he will eventually withdraw from the race.
The Gaon Rabbi Eliyahu Schlesinger - Rabbi of the Gilo neighborhood, and the ruling rabbi in the Jerusalem Rabbinate. For years he was spoken of with respect, and he also received support from the late Rabbi Elyashiv.
Rabbi Schlesinger submitted his candidacy about three weeks ago, without official Haredi support. Now he hopes that Haredi Judaism will unite around him.
""There is no question that I have Haredi support," says Rabbi Schlesinger in a conversation with Haredim10. "And what other candidate is there?""
But he also knows that Haredi support alone will not bring him to the chief rabbi's throne. "There is no chance for a Haredi candidate," he states. "The Haredim do not have a majority, and support from outside is required.".
Referring to a possible 'deal' with religious Zionism, the rabbi says: "There is talk, they are talking about it all the time, and they are still talking about it. But so far nothing has come of it, because they don't want to.".
Rabbi Schlesinger reveals that there have been discussions with the people of the rabbi of Safed, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, regarding such a 'deal' - but as mentioned, without results, as of now.
Have you spoken with Mayor Nir Barkat or Minister Naftali Bennett?
""No," the rabbi replies, "they are locked on Rabbi Stern and are not willing to listen.
""The first sin," attacks Rabbi Schlesinger, "is that they are wrong in that they do not involve Haredi Judaism. This is the wrong move. We have 14 representatives on the council, and if they had acted in coordination, we would have saved all of this.".
The rabbi is surprising and talks about support specifically from the secular side: "I meet with many people, and there is support and there is listening from the other side, and I really hope that this will translate into support at the ballot box.".
A senior official in the Haredi factions in Jerusalem tells Haredim10: "We would be happy to see Rabbi Schlesinger serve as the city's rabbi, but there is no chance of electing a Haredi candidate without the consent of religious Zionism.".
The Gaon Rabbi Yaakov Shapira – Rosh Yeshiva Merkaz HaRav. Recently mentioned as a possible compromise candidate, one that would be acceptable to both the Haredim and religious Zionists, in the event that the rabbi who is not yet in office is unable to run.
Rabbi Shapira was also mentioned in a similar context in the elections for the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, when he also ran and lost.
Rabbi Shapira himself denies the reports, but if Rabbi Stern's candidacy is dropped for any reason, it is certainly possible. Although sources in religious Zionism claim that the yeshiva head is a straw candidate for the ultra-Orthodox, and that he will not receive the support of religious Zionism.
Another candidate who is reportedly being considered as a replacement for Rabbi Stern is Rabbi Yosef Carmel, head of the kollel for the 'Eretz Hemda' rabbinate in Jerusalem, and one of the most prominent in the religious Zionist rabbinical training schools. Although, it should be noted, this option is less likely, especially from a political perspective.
What will the High Court decide?
Now everyone is waiting for the High Court of Justice's decision, which is supposed to rule on the petitions filed by United Torah Judaism against the new regulations for rabbi elections and against the election process in Jerusalem.
If the elections are held on time - Tishrei 27, 5775 - the candidates will likely be Gra Schlesinger and Gra Stern, with the identity of the Sephardic candidates determining whether a 'deal' will be struck with one of them.
However, if the High Court accepts the petitions and decides to postpone the election date, then to a large extent the entire game will be reopened: Rabbi Stern will no longer be able to run due to his age, and then a new candidate from Religious Zionism will be nominated to run in his place.
Alternatively, the 'deal' may be reversed, and include a Zionist Sephardic rabbi and an ultra-Orthodox Ashkenazi rabbi.
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