Following the deficiencies in the certificate of qualification for city rabbi presented by candidate Rabbi Yitzhak AbuhatzeiraThe High Court of Justice has issued a temporary order prohibiting the elections for the position of Chief Rabbi of the city of Ramla from being held today (Wednesday) - and they will be postponed to a later date.
The Ramla City Elections Committee has decided, as a result, to temporarily postpone the elections for the position of city rabbi. The committee emphasized in its decision that it is not backing down from its position of qualifying the fitness of candidate Rabbi Yitzhak Abuhatzeira.
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However, the 10 ultra-Orthodox learned that, apparently due to the deficiencies in the certificate of competency presented, the police will be required to investigate the matter.
Rabbi Abuhatzeira, considered the leading candidate for the position, is supported by Shas. The party claims that he deserves "ancestral rights," as his father and grandfather were rabbis in the city of Ramle.
However, a day before the elections for the city rabbinate, a complaint was sent to the Ramla Elections Committee, indicating alleged serious deficiencies in Rabbi Abuhatzeira's certificate of eligibility for the Chief Rabbinate.
Attorney Orit Mashmush, from the Chief Rabbinate's legal office, noted in a published document that there are fundamental flaws in the certificate, and that he holds an unqualified rabbinical certificate.
Among other things, she noted that no documentation was found for the exam on which the certificate is based, that the original certificate is missing, that it contains formal errors, and that its issuance date falls on a Saturday.
In addition, the certificate was only implemented in the computer systems in 2016 - 16 years after the date listed on it.
""Regarding all the circumstances and documentation before us, including the lack of documentation for the exam that Rabbi Abuhatzeira claims to have passed and the doubts raised regarding the format of this exam, the lack of an original certificate, the formal gap between this certificate and other certificates issued at that time and the errors in the certificate, including the date the certificate was issued, which falls on Shabbat, Rabbi Abuhatzeira's young age at the time the certificate was issued, and the fact that the documentation for the issuance of the certificate in the computerized system was only integrated in 2016 - 16 years after the date that appears on it, and that it is inaccurate, and includes only the fact that it was issued without any supporting envelope of any additional reference from the systems of the rabbinate, there is no possibility of giving legal confirmation of the validity of the certificate in this matter," wrote Mashmush.
She emphasized that at this stage it is not possible to legally confirm the validity of the certificate, but clarified that if additional documentation is presented, the legal advice's position will be reconsidered.
Attorney Galia Klein, the legal advisor to the Ministry of Religious Services, also expressed reservations about the election process and requested that the elections for the rabbinate of the city of Ramle be postponed due to the deficiencies discovered in the rabbinate certificate presented by a Shas candidate.
In a letter she sent to Deputy Attorney General Carmit Yulis, Klein wrote: "In light of the doubts that have arisen regarding the matter, we will not accompany the election process unless it is our turn to do otherwise.".
According to a report on the Ynet website, since Rabbi Abuhatzeira submitted his candidacy, various parties have requested to receive the certificate indicating that he passed exams and was certified as a city rabbi.
At first, those officials encountered resistance from the rabbi's people, who did not want to present the certificate. Finally, after much persuasion, it was accepted - but puzzling details were discovered between its lines.
The certificate states that the rabbi's ordination stems from approval given at a meeting of the Rabbinical Council in Elul 5770, and that the certificate was given to him on the 11th of Tevet 5771.
However, the complaint received by the Elections Committee indicates that no meeting of the Rabbinical Council was held in Elul 5770 (September 2000), and the 11th of Tevet 5761 was on Shabbat. Furthermore, the rabbi was 28 years old when he received the certificate. Even when it comes to very high ordinations, the youngest receive the certificate of ordination as a city rabbi at the age of 32.
It also states that the certificate was issued subject to Section 3B(12), but at the time the certificate was signed, there was no such section in the Chief Rabbinate Law.
