Israel – while Israeli media has been reporting that Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, Shas’ spiritual leader, said that in principle, a woman could be the prime minister of Israel. according to VIN News sources, it was not Rabbi Ovadia that said that, it was his grandson Rabbi Yakov Sasson.
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The halachic ruling was given in response to a question sent to the rabbi, and clearly stated that it was only in principle and did not refer specifically to the general elections, a ruling which is to be given by the Council of Torah Sages.
Rabbi Sason discussed this issue at length saying, “Regarding appointing a woman as prime minister – if she conducts herself with dignity and honesty, and is instrumental in strengthening religion more than any man who submits his candidacy, then we most certainly should give preference to electing the woman.”
Despite the ruling, Sasson addressed the problematic aspects of the matter. He mentioned that the Sages of Blessed Memory learned from the verse, “Be sure to appoint over you the king the LORD your God chooses” (Deuteronomy, 17:15), that it should be a king and not a queen that would rule of over Israel, and therefore, a woman could not be appointed queen of Israel as long as there is a king who is as fit to rule.
He added that Maimonides wrote the above verse applied not just to kingship, but to all positions of public rule. Yosef continued to say that this was only Maimonides’ opinion, which the other sages, who said gender was only an issue in kingship, did not share.
Therefore, it seems there is no absolute restriction on woman taking on public authority posts, even as queen, as long as the path taken to leadership was taken with modesty.
Sasson also mentioned Rabbi Moshe Feinstein’s ruling in the case of a woman whose husband, a kashrut supervisor, passed away, leaving her with no way to support her family. The woman, being educated and God fearing, wanted to take on her husband’s supervising job, which would also entail ruling over a large group of workers.
“The question brought to Rabbi Moshe Feinstein,” wrote Yosef, “was if there is any reason to prevent her from this, when it is vital for her livelihood. After deliberating long and hard, and deciding to allow her to take on the position, one rabbi spoke out against him, saying his ruling in this matter would lead to a breakdown, when the State of Israel sees that such a great rabbi allowed a woman to be a kashrut supervisor, and will lead to having women in the State’s parliament.
“Finally, Rabbi Feinstein addressed the matter of the parliament in the State of Israel, where heretics and Shabbat desecraters are appointed, which is completely forbidden in the Torah.” Sasson said. “As Maimonides wrote, anyone who is not God fearing, even if they carry great wisdom, should not be appointed among Israel’s leaders. And the whole point of leadership in Israel is to strengthen the power of the Torah and not, heaven forbid, to weaken it.
“Regarding the appointment of women, it is clear that if the chance to vote between a woman who is fit and a man who is not fit arises, we should certainly give preference to electing the woman over the man who is not fit.”
In summary, Sasson said, “In regards to appointing a woman as prime minister – if she conducts herself with dignity and honesty, and is instrumental in strengthening religion more than any man who submits his candidacy, then we most certainly should give preference to electing the woman.
“It is absolutely forbidden to support any party whose representatives are not God fearing,” he added. “On the contrary, we must vote in favor of representatives that strengthen the power of the Torah. And if people who are not fit can be found in all the parties, then the ones that are closer to religion should be favored.”
Its the year of the woman I suppose in the US and Israel
What. A foolish statment “vote for the closesed to religion” ALL of them have nothing to do with religion!!!
I thought that Israel was a democratic country and the voting public decided who gets into office, not Rabbis. If they had their way, the country would be exactly like Iran.
Rachmono Letzlon …
What a relief
I have absolutely no problem with the concept of a country being governed by a woman — Margaret Thatcher was the best PM the Brits had since the days of Winston Churchill. However, Tzippi Livni would be a disaster for Israel, not because she is a woman but because she subscribes to the same discredited pro-appeasement baloney as the crook Olmert — Israel’s version of Neville Chamberlain — in whose government she served as Foreign Minister. Out with her — she is a “Peace Now” puppet.
Anonymous says that if the Rabbis had it their way, Israel would be like Iran. Wrong. If the Rabbis had it their way, Israel would be like Israel, that is, it would be governed by the Torah. Obviously, Anonymous has a problem with that. The Torah dictates how Eretz Yisroel should be governed. If Anonymous has a problem with that, he should be honest and say that he does not like the Torah’s requirements. Don’t criticize the Rabbis when, if he was honest, he would admit that his problem is with the Torah.
Salome Alexandra was the Queen of Israel during Hasmonean times, and she was praised by the sages. Helene of Adiabene was also a Queen and was also praised by the sages. Golda Meir was Prime Minister during my lifetime, and the National Religious Party was part of her government. In fact, in Israel’s first government, when Ms. Meir was a cabinet minister with authority, Agudath Yisrael was also part of that government. So I think the sages of the past may already have spoken.
Charlie Hall says that Salome of Alexandria, Helene of Adibene and NRP and Agudah participation in Golda Meir’s government means that the sages of the past have spoken. However, these cases do not necessarily prove anything.
Salome Alexandra succeeded her husband, Kings Yannai, who killed all of the Talmidei Chachomim, except for Salome Alexandra’s brother, R’ Shimon Ben Shetach. The situation that existed when Yannai died was so dire that the Gemoro tells us that if it were not for R’ Shimon Ben Shetach, Torah would have been forgotten. Thus, Salome Alexandra reigned during an emergency situation and the principle of “Eis Lasos Lashem Heferu Torosechu” , may have applied.
Helene of Adiabene did not reign in Israel or over Jews. Her monarchy was in Adiabene.
As for religious participation in Golda Meir’s government, it does not necessary mean an endorsement of a woman Prime Minister. After all, the religious parties joined her government even though there were major religious issues which divided Golda Meir and her party with the religious parties. The coalition arrangement was felt to be necessary to advance religious needs. It does not speak to the issue of a woman Prime Minister.
The question has to be resolved by Gedolim of today. Past history, as I just poined out, does not necessarily answer the questionl
You know what they say, “the man is the head of the house, but the woman is the neck, and she can turn the head any way she wants.”