Israeli Rabbi and Arafat

It was with profound sorrow that I read The Times article titled, “Former Israeli Chief Rabbi Calls on Jews to Kill Arafat” (June 9).

I once had the pleasure 30-plus years ago--it was a pleasure then--to interview Rabbi Shlomo Goren in Los Angeles. In those days he fell into the normal range of religionists, a range that includes the very liberal to the very fundamental, but not so liberal or so fundamental to act as if they were God and not God’s humble servants.

In his earlier period, Rabbi Goren was an Orthodox rabbi whose rulings were tempered by the fact that he served in the military whose command and personnel had special needs to make secure the new state of Israel.

It was not the same Rabbi Goren whose statements as reported would endanger the state of Israel or its negotiating partner, Yasser Arafat.

Alas, his former moderateness and his previous high rank obscure this extremism on his part. This obscene behavior makes normal fundamentalism look radical by comparison.

Jews everywhere, including in Israel, Jews everywhere, including in Israel, have reason to honor the Rabbi Shlomo Goren of yesterday and to have profound sorrow for the state of mind, faith and perhaps health to which he has descended.

How sad it is that among the ultra-extremist orthodox preservers of faith, be they Jewish, Christian, Islamic or otherwise, there is an unforgivable fringe that not only acts as if it were above the laws of men and women, but also above the laws of God.

RABBI WILLIAM M. KRAMER

Los Angeles

* The phenomenon, as you reported on June 9, of the past holder of the two politically appointed offices of chief military rabbi and chief rabbi of Israel issuing a religious ruling to kill Yasser Arafat must be examined in its context, which has very little to do with religious Judaism and more with the peculiar political personality of one individual.

Rabbi Goren has built an illustrious and photogenic career catering to the political winds in Israel in a manner that is envied by lesser politicians. Having no written constitution, Israel does not enjoy the protection of the separation of church and state. This situation in Israel has led to the strange phenomenon of religious official appointments being made largely by persons with no special religious affinity, and not based on any extraordinary Jewish religious merit or expertise.

Rabbi Goren received his military rabbi appointments, to a large extent, from Israeli political ministers and military commanders who, for the most part, were characterized by their Jewish irreligiosity and their socialist political orientation. Later, Rabbi Goren was appointed to the post of chief rabbi in Israel not by any religious body, but by a vote of members of the Israeli Parliament, the Knesset. The majority of Knesset members are not religiously observant Jews, but irreligious or secular Jews, atheists and also include Arab Muslims and Christians.

Within the strange situation of Israeli politics, it is easy to deduce that Rabbi Goren’s formal rulings are not binding on anyone. If Rabbi Goren attempts to carry out his own ruling, he would speedily find himself before an Israeli civil court being tried for his crime and probably end up sitting in prison from where he could continue to hand down his “formal rulings” to his extremist political sympathizers.

PINI HERMAN

Los Angeles