Israel – Akko’s Chief Rabbi Yosef Yashar has asked the imam of the al-Jazar Mosque, Sheikh Samir Asi, to instruct Arab business owners in the Old City to avoid selling chametz (leavened food) to Jews during the Passover holiday. The sheikh has agreed to do so.
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“I believe that if a Muslim cleric issues this request as an authoritative religious decree, the Arabs will honor it and won’t sell chametz to Jews during Passover,” explains Rabbi Yashar.
The rabbi visited the sheikh’s home earlier this week and asked him to forbid Arab business owners in the Old City to sell chametz to Jews.
“The sheikh welcomed me with a lot of respect. We are good friends. I turned to him and said, ‘Look, we are strict about respecting your religion and do everything not to hurt you, and we expect you to do the same. Please, do something about the Jews who come to the Old City, buy and eat Chamez during Passover. It really hurts our feelings.'”
“In recent years, Akko has become a center of attraction for Jews looking to buy chametz. We want this thing to stop, so that the stigma attached to this city as a place that sells chametz will be removed,” the rabbi said.
It would be a great idea if Rav Yashar would engage is some outreach efforts to encourage frei yidden to avoid chometz during yom tov but he has no business dictating what they can do. We should not make the muslims an enforcement arm of the rabbinus to assure that yidden don’t eat chometz. Will the quid pro quo be that the vaad hakashruth for Akko will report any muslims who eat non-hallal meat to the sheikh?
Kol Hakavod! Mitoch Shelo Lishma Bo Lishma.
Not a good idea at all.
‘Hello, can i have some bread’
‘Are you jewish?’
‘Why?’
‘If you are i can’t sell it to you’
‘But that’s illegal’
‘So are the settlements’, as he takes out gun…………………………
Clearly, the best of intentions. But I have serious issues with involving Gentiles in mitzvah enforcement. How would you feel about asking them to not sell kitniyot products to Ashkenazim? OK, it’s a minhag. But once you start with this, where does it stop?
It was a very great initiative. I don’t understand the critics of some. The reason why he asked muslim to be enforcers is because non-observant Jews are buying their chomets to them. So it’s quite logical that muslim are asked not to sell chomets to any yid during the holiday.
great idea i am moving to Israel or some enterprising Israeli will set up shop and sell chumats during paseach and make extra money since the Muslim won’t sell to Jews Jews will
maybe he has a side business going
If some muslim sheikh would ask us not to sell pork to his townspeople you’d all be yelling what a great mitzva it would be to go along with that. But if a rabbi god forbid asks them for help, then it’s terrible and all sorts of awful comparisons come out with terrible consequences.
Self-hating Jews!
If some muslim sheikh would ask us not to sell pork to his townspeople you’d all be yelling what a great mitzva it would be to go along with that. But if a rabbi god forbid asks them for help, then it’s terrible and all sorts of awful comparisons come out with terrible consequences.
Self-hating Jews!
This seems unorthodox to me. To ask them not to sell Chometz is to indicate that you don’t believe that our people are truly guided by Orthodox Voices. You are strong handing the entire operation and that means that you believe that our people need an overlord to guide them as well. We should be guided by Jewish minds rather than government discretion as far as religious practices are concerned. And who knows, it might be an elderly person who does not eat matzos due to digestive difficulty and wants some bread to consume. Just my thoughts.