Jerusalem – Former Shas leader Eli Yishai on Thursday sharply criticized the cabinet decision this week to upgrade and legally sanction an egalitarian prayer space at the Western Wall.
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In an Army Radio interview, Yishai warned that the decision gives a foothold to the Reform Movement in Israel.
He added that Reform Jews could use newfound power to perform interfaith weddings with priests.
“This is a horrible disaster, and an attack on the Holy of Holies,” Yishai charged. “The next thing we’ll see is [Reform Jews] putting tefillin on dogs and calling them up to the Torah.”
In a thinly-veiled criticism of Interior Minister Arye Deri, his successor as head of the Sephardic ultra-Orthodox faction, Yishai said that had the party’s mentor, the late rabbi Ovadia Yosef, still been alive he would have not permitted such a decision to be made.
This was not the first reference to dogs in criticism of the Western Wall decision by ultra-Orthodox politicians this week. United Torah Judaism MK Meir Porush told the Knesset on Monday that the Women of the Wall should be “sent out to the dogs near Dung Gate,” the location of the designated egalitarian prayer site.
He’s obviously right. They already have “bar mitzvahs” for pets.
Funny, all of the Sefardimi know are smart.
He’s 100% right
As the Kotske Rebbe said. “Not everything that you think, are you michuyov to say, and not everything that you say are you Michuyov to publish”. While Rabbi Yishai may or may not be right ( I personally do not stay up at night worrying about dogs putting on Tefillin) how do his remarks change anything, and more importantly, do they advance Koved Shem Shamayim, or challila the opposite?
No pleas for unity this time, huh?
What a foolish waste of words. He knows, everyone knows, that what’s done is done. All the hareidim know that it’s a disgrace. Where’s the percentage in using such ugly words? Wouldn’t it have been enough to simply say that it is extremely disrespectful of our mesora?
Mr. Eli meant monkeys, everyone knows dogs don’t have arms!
The gate to wisdom is silence, why say such a thing ,perhaps to find favour with your constituents .
Convict moron. Only Shas and only in Israel.