It is taught that one of the greatest rabbis of the Talmud, Rabbi Yohanan, was devastated when his combative study partner Resh Lakish died and he could find no adequate replacement among the greatest of rabbis, because all were yes-men.
This episode and, in fact, most of our Scriptures teach us that disagreement and debate are vital for the sustenance of a thriving and dynamic Judaism, which has flourished for thousands of years.
I know, like many yeshiva students, the joy of debate and discourse that is a central tenet to the havruta of the study hall. Simply put, Judaism relies on the back and forth, the disagreement and the verbal jousting until a point is arrived that is satisfactory to all.
That is why the government’s decision to support and pass a law that expands the Rabbinical Judges Selection Committee to include greater representation is so important. Increasing the number of voices on such an august panel to choose the next rabbinical judges will bolster the standing of the Rabbinical Courts, which should be important to us all.
This is a vital reform for both Judaism and Zionism.
What has made the Jewish people proudly unique throughout the millennia is that we cannot be properly defined as constituting a religion, but are more akin to a people and a nation. Our laws are not necessarily divine dogma that are immutable, but constantly evolving and adapting regulations and principles that are meant to speak to a particular generation and circumstances.
What was vital for our spiritual sustenance in the desert was not what the people of Israel required when we had a Temple. The sacrifices of the Temple were replaced by prayer, when we lost our sovereignty. How the sages of different eras in Babylon, Spain and Lithuania saw issues of Jewish practice differed mightily, even if they did not demand universal acceptance of their ways.
Now that we have returned to our ancestral and indigenous homeland, we can start to revive and retrieve the best of our national traditions in a way that is inclusive and diverse, allowing for our respective worldviews to coalesce to formulate a Judaism that is both exacting and flexible.
Former chief rabbi of Israel Rabbi Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel would hang on his office wall for all to see the words of the prophet Zechariah: “Love truth and peace.”
We need a Judaism that is faithful to our ancient and beautiful tradition, but we also need to bring about a new way of allowing greater representation in the decision-making process, and that is through increasing the number of seats at the proverbial and actual table.
As Uziel wrote in his classic work of Jewish thought, Hegyonei Uziel, written during the early years of our return to sovereignty: “From this same place of genuine love, let us conduct ourselves in the paths of true peace, respecting each other’s opinions and feelings, as well as respecting the differences among the factions in our country.”
Broadening the debate is a strength of Judaism. Our greatest rabbis, like Hillel and Shammai, differed greatly, but each was the better for their disputes with the other. This is why, perhaps unique among ancient texts, the Talmud records dissenting opinions for posterity. The fact that a wide variety of voices and opinions were painstakingly documented even if they were not the path chosen, aptly demonstrates the importance of inclusion and diversity.
The State of Israel faces many challenges in the years and decades ahead, and it is vital that our spiritual leaders and decisors on matters of Jewish law are selected by those who are best capable of meeting the challenges of the whole nation. This will be achieved by having greater representation from the different sectors of the nation in the decision-making process.
Each of our greatest rabbis, from antiquity to the present, had a verbal jousting partner, someone who would disagree with them, sometimes taking the direct opposite approach, forcing them to fine-tune their arguments.
This is what made them great rabbis and leaders of their communities and the Jewish people as a whole, and we hope that by increasing the number of members of the panel to choose the next rabbinical judges in Israel, we will increase the holy essence of debate in such an important body and increase its respect, representation and diversity of thought.
This will in turn bolster its standing among the people.
The writer is intelligence minister and has been involved in numerous developments on issues such as conversion and kashrut throughout his professional, military and political life.