Newly Elected Chief Rabbi Ignites Furor with Racist Remarks

Israel chose its new chief rabbis less than a month ago with the institution of the Chief Rabbinate wobbling under intense criticism and scandal, including the indictment of outgoing Ashkenazi (of European descent) Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger. It was only a matter of days until Metzger’s successor, Rabbi David Lau, created a mess of his own when he used racist language in a speech to seminary students. Referring to the divisive issue of drafting the so-called “ultra-Orthodox” students who, unlike the rest of their countrymen, are conscripted into army service at the age of 18, Lau was apparently admonishing those students that they are not helping their cause by being seen in public parked in front of televisions watching basketball games. Using the term “kushim” – a derogatory colloquialism for black people – Lau said, “Why do you care whether these kushim who are paid in Tel Aviv beat the kushim who are paid in Greece?” Lau’s point was that the argument – rejected by most Israelis, religious and non-religious alike – that the seminary students’ religious study is a worthy excuse for avoiding army service – is harmed by the sight of those same deferred students watching television. But the message was lost in the uproar of Lau’s language. One obvious voice not heard from on the subject was that of the Sephardic (Jews from Arab countries) chief rabbi, Yitzhak Yosef, who himself had used similar language last May. Both chief rabbis are the sons of former chief rabbis.