.
Commentary;
Here’s a Rabbinic decision which is long overdue. It’s a shame that it apparently took a tragedy, the terror attack at Yeshiva Merkaz HaRav, to bring about the decision to Rabbinically ban employment of Arab workers by Jews.
One can only hope that practical application of the ban spreads from Yeshivas, restaurants and stores to the building and construction trades.
One can only hope that Rav Kanievsky, who issued the decision, is supported and not over-ruled in Hareidi circles and that the decision and its application are supported steadfastly in the inevitable future ensuing legal battles with the leftist Israeli “justice system” which are sure to arise. MB
Top Hareidi Rabbi Bans Arab Labor Following Merkaz HaRav Attack, by Ezra HaLevi (Israel National News)
“‘According to Jewish law, it is completely forbidden to hire Arabs, especially in yeshivas,’ Rabbi Kanievsky said. ‘There is a concern of endangering lives.’”
Excerpts;
Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, considered a top Torah sage of the generation in the Hareidi-Religious community, issued a Jewish legal decision banning the employment of Arab workers by Jews according to the Yom Chadash daily.
The rabbi issued the decision at a meeting with several administrators of yeshivas in B’nei Brak. The administrators told the rabbi that they had under their employ an older Arab man who they do not suspect of any involvement in terrorism. The administrators decided, nonetheless to seek halachic (Jewish legal) guidance following reports that the terrorist who carried out the massacre at Jerusalem’s Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva had been hired as a driver on occasion.
“According to Jewish law, it is completely forbidden to hire Arabs, especially in yeshivas,” Rabbi Kanievsky said. “There is a concern of endangering lives.”
The rabbi continued, explaining, “After all, we are at war with them…and are there not Jews that can work and make a living?”
Asked later on if his words should be publicized, Rabbi Kanievsky said: “Certainly.”
Rabbi Kanievsky went even further, saying that Jews should refrain from employing any non-Jews, not just Muslim Arabs, and instead grant livelihood to Jews, unless there exist huge disparity between the costs of the labor.
Rabbi Kanievsky is one of the most recognized authorities in Hareidi-religious society. He is the son of the Steipler Rebbe, Rabbi Yisrael Yaakov Kanievsky, and the son-in-law of Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, the leader of Lithuanian Hareidi Jewry.
1 thought on “Top Hareidi Rav Issues Ban on Arab Labor”
Comments are closed.