President Yitzhak Herzog today (Tuesday), at the swearing-in ceremony of 28 new dayanim, called on Chief Rabbis Rabbi Kalman Bar and Rishaltz Rabbi David Yosef to declare a day of fasting and abstinence for the kidnapped.
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""I call on you to join me, and I suggest that you act with all your might - first and foremost, to declare a day of fasting and general lent for our sisters and brothers who are in the hands of murderers," the president said.
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The Chief Rabbis granted his request. The Chief Rabbi replied: "We accept the President's request and will announce it in the coming days.".
Rabbi Yosef, President of the Grand Court, said during the ceremony: "You dayanim are entering new positions, you are excited, I am excited to stand before you and congratulate you on the completion - 28 dayanim, glory and honor to the dayanim system. We appoint dayanim, and I can say with all my heart that they are all worthy, all excellent, there is no doubt that each of the dayanim here can be defined as the best. I am happy that we were able to reach such a broad consensus, we conducted a transparent and clear process, and I am happy to congratulate you on the completion.".
He added: "In the last few months since I took office, I have entered the courtrooms, met the judges, seen the sacred work they do, writing quickly and discussing the rulings. I have set myself the goal of continuing the path of Maran Avi Mori and expanding and strengthening the system.".
""The phenomenon of divorce refusal, thank God, today is small because of the dedication of the dayanim - we need to eradicate the phenomenon of divorce refusal, a woman who is refused a divorce - is agunah! I go to prisons to meet with those who refuse to grant a divorce. I trust you dayanim to work to eradicate the phenomenon.".
Chief Rabbi Gaon Rabbi Kalman Bar referred to the importance of the place of Jewish law in the State of Israel and raised the great need to allow anyone who wishes to litigate in a Torah court. "The president bears the name of his grandfather, Rabbi Yitzhak Isaac Herzog zt"l. There was no chief rabbi who was as concerned and concerned with Torah law in the State of Israel as Rabbi Herzog, who wrote foundational books on the subject, and this was a life's work for him.".
He mentioned: "At the time, it was published that Rabbi Goren proposed that there would be a system according to the entire Torah law and a second system, according to the nations of the world, which of course would not contradict the Torah law, but it would be a civil system. But Rabbi Herzog strongly opposed this. He said that it would be unthinkable that the state would abandon living water cisterns and hew out broken cisterns.".
The Rabbi noted: "Unfortunately, Rabbi, we are in a place where even when both sides want to litigate before a court, the legislature does not allow it. We need to hold onto a piece of Rabbi Herzog's teaching and vision - to promote and strengthen the courts that litigate according to Torah law as much as possible.".
Continuing his remarks, the Chief Rabbi addressed the judges: "Moses our Lord sat on a bench, and as is narrated in the story of Yitro, he judged the people from morning until evening, until Yitro arrived and gave him the advice to appoint ministers of tens, hundreds, and thousands. And the question arises: Couldn't Moses our Lord and the people of the generation of wisdom have thought of Yitro's advice alone? And the answer is that they saw the faithful shepherd, how he truly cared for them and was entirely concerned with their case. Therefore, the people did not complain, and neither did Moses our Lord, because from their perspective, this was the standard form. Therefore, Yitro and his advice were needed.
""We learn from this how great the duty and mission of the judges is that every case and every litigant be "their" matter, that they should feel the litigant's distress, and do everything to adjudicate a just case with patience, listening, and good-naturedness.".
""We were successful and all the judges who were appointed are worthy judges, men of the book and spirit, whom the Chief Rabbinate has blessed and the people of Israel have blessed with," the Rabbi added, "but in order to sail a large ship properly, one needs not only good sailors but also an experienced captain. We were successful and the one who currently steers the ship of the Great Court and the ship of the Chief Rabbinate is my friend, the Chief Rabbinate, Rabbi David Yosef, who has a lot of experience in ruling and vision, and is entirely dedicated to improving and further advancing the courts and all the institutions of the Chief Rabbinate. I am sure and convinced that he will continue to lead this ship with wisdom and prudence in the face of the storms of the times.".
