Mission upon you, Arad
No more silence / Ethan Michaeli

When I decided not to run again for a seat on City Council, I took it upon myself to refrain from making public announcements on the City’s matters. No more! Last Sunday evening, a strong stench rose from the parking lot to my apartment.

I came down to check the source of the smell, and found the assembly against the missionary activity in Arad, that was held in the synagogue in my neighborhood.

It was the stench of Xenophobia, the stink of intolerance, another chapter in a frequently violent activity against the small community of Messianic Jews in Arad. If indeed their actions are beyond the boundaries of the law, as alleged, the Police are welcome to investigate them.

In contrast, I find Rabbi Lipsker’s words in the assembly to be disrespectful to the Holocaust and inciting, by tying the Holocaust to the community of Messianic Jews. The religious council of Arad is up to its old tricks yet again; it went beyond its authority by giving patronage to the event. It isn’t a Halachic institute, and has no judicial or policing authority.

Its role is administrative, to provide religious services, according to the Jewish Religious Services Law, and that’s why the government and the local authority fund it.

I doubt if it’s legal for the Rabbis of Arad, who receive their salary from the State, to participate in an event such as this. But more than the Law, I question their educational and moral decisions in this case. And as for the attendance of our former Mayor, Bezalel Tabib, you see, he’s no longer a civil servant and it’s his right. A man’s will is his honor, even if there wasn’t much honor in the assembly.