Critical Essays on Israeli Society, Religion, and Government: Books on Israel, Volume IV

6. Sephardic Religious Thought in Israel: Aspects of the Theology of Rabbi Haim David HaLevi

6. Sephardic Religious Thought in Israel: Aspects ofthe Theology of Rabbi Haim David HaLevi ZviM. Zohar I. Introductionl f""'K:\ / In recent years. the electoral successes of Israel's ~ SHAS party have drawn attention to the resilience of Sephardic ethnic religiosity-or religious ethnicity?-in Israel . This resilience is all the more remarkable. in that it has emerged despite what many writers have seen as a determined establishment policy. in Israel's early years. to follow a melting-pot ideal, and to forge a new Israeli identity based on a modern secular. national-but not ethnic!-ethos. Yet. focus on SHAS threatens to exact a price-namely. the conflation of Sephardic political and religious spheres of action and thought-not only in the eyes of broad sectors of Israeli society. but also in the minds of academic observers. Indeed. the personality of SHAS leader Rabbi Ovadiah Yossef has contributed greatly to this conflation. Born in 1920. Rabbi Yossef is rightly regarded as one of the world's greatest post-World War II rabbinic scholars. His halakhic creativity is both broad and original. and his impact on Israeli society in general-and on the life of Sephardic/Oriental Israelis in 115 116 Religion particular-has been great. During the past decade. however. Rabbi Yossefs personality as a Torah scholar has becomeperhaps inextricably-entwined with his personality as a char-· ismatic leader of the SHAS rellgio-ethnic political movement. As time progresses. the task of differentiating between his activities in the capacities of master halakhist and political leader has become increasingly difficult-arguably. even for Rabbi Yossef himself. Yet, behind the shifting sands of politics. religious thought and creativity. remain mainstays of human life. even in postmodern Western societies-and. with greater reason. in Israeli-Jewish life. located as it is in the intersection of Western and Middle-Eastern cultures. Delving beyond ethnic politics. a student of Israeli society might choose to focus on the Judaism of Sephardic Jews in Israel since 1948. From an anthropology-of-religion perspective. important and illuminating work has been done by such scholars as Shlomo Deshen. Moshe Shokeid. and Yoram Bilu. However. the same cannot be said with regard to research on intellectual and philosophical aspects of Sephardic religious life. What has happened in the intellectual world of Sephardic/Oriental hakhamim or rabbis in Israel, since 1948?2 What have they written? What have they created? What is the content of their halakhic work? What are their theological-philosophical perspectives on major Jewish issues? Although almost half a century has passed since 1948. little research seems to have been done on these topics. For those engaged in Judaic Studies outside of Sephardic yeshivot. the entire intellectual domain of Sephardic/Oriental rabbinic culture in Israel is virtually unknown territory. Any move to engage in study of this realm must begin with recognition of the fact that. quantitatively. the field is vast. According to a preliminary survey which I have conducted . Sephardic/Oriental rabbis writing in Israel since 1948 have published at least several hundreds of volumes. and thousands of articles. in various genres of "Torah literature ." such as legal responsa. original interpretations Sephardic Religious Thought 117 (hiddushim) to the Talmud and Codes. Biblical commentary. ethics (mussar), kabbalah. theology/philosophy and others. At this point. no overview of the contents of this tremendous substantial body of work exists. and-with great reason -no serious discussion of trends. developments. or schools of thought can be conducted. Therefore. I attempted to locate an outstanding Israeli Hakham. who could in some way. be considered as representative of Sephardic religious intellectual creativity in Israel-and whose realm of activity is clearly religion. not party politics. Such a Hakham-no less a representative Sephardic scholar than Yossef. and perhaps more wide-ranging and original in creativity-exists in the person of Rabbi Haim David HaLevi. A close personal disciple of the great Sephardic Chief Rabbi BenZion Uzziel (d. 1953), HaLevi is unquestionably both a link in the grand tradition of Sephardic rabbinic scholarship. extending back to pre-expulsion Spain. and a Hakham active as a nexus of contemporary Israel. As a prolific author. HaLevi's Meqor Hayyim is the standard textbook of halakha (Jewish religious law) in all Israeli State religious schools. and his articles appear frequently in the Israeli press. Not affiliated with any political party. HaLevi has been Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Tel-Aviv since 1973. In this article...