Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Rebuttal to letter by Israeli rabbis

A REBUTTAL to that letter from some Israeli rabbis arguing that Jews should not sell or rent property to non-Jews in Israel:
Falsifying Jewish law

Op-ed: Rabbis who ban home sales to Arabs distort Halacha, should go back to school


Michael Abraham (ynetnews.com)
Published: 12.13.10, 22:04 / Israel Opinion

The rabbis’ declaration banning the leasing of apartments to Arabs provoked many responses in favor and against. Many of these reactions – on both sides – were tendentious, selective and misleading. It is therefore important to make it clear that we are dealing with a document replete with distortions and demagoguery that has nothing to do with Jewish law.

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According to such simplistic interpretation, we should also be beating wives who misbehave, placing non-believing Jews in a pit, banning women from Torah studies, and possibly even adhering to the “eye for an eye” rule. Yet the art of interpreting Jewish law is the combination of original sources and application under changing circumstances. Those who fail to understand it have no idea what Jewish law means.

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Background here.