On Sunday, The Rabbis Made Peace fine designer furniture - the latest looks, lines and colors 20,professional designers on staff P tfegant accessories for every taste Unique and unusual gifts for all •e e e KoccAsions LARRY DERFNER ISRAEL CORRESPONDENT ■ t. 411 erusalem — Not in modern memory has there been so much public sniggering in Israel over the sexual exploits of a man of the cloth. It began with anonymous. charges from several women in the Tel Aviv weekly, Ha' ir; that Rab- bi Yisrael Meir Lau, the city's chief rabbi and one of three candidates for Ashkenazi ,l eee, e e O e eeeee< Iffe ' e * e t . . '''', 7 Sherwood... : it's worth itt. Courteous service, always Complimentary gift wrapping Bridal registry Always 20% off mfr. sugg. retail chief rabbi of Israel, had tried to force his affections on them. Someone then dredged up a decade-old tale that Rabbi Lau had been seen in an Eilat hotel with ex-model, Hanit Bankobaski. And just as Ms. Bankobaski denied that snide snippet, astrol- oger Talila Sten told Hadashot that Lau had tried to kiss her while they rode around in his car 20 years ago. She also passed a lie- detector test. Rabbi Lau sued Ms. Sten and the paper for libel. The gossip about Rabbi Lau was not the only outrageous feature of what has been called the most vicious campaign for a rab- binical post in Israel's histo- ry. During the race, Shear Yishuv Cohen, Haifa's chief rabbi, was charged with fl: nancial irregularities, and a candidate for Sephardi chief rabbi, Eliyahu Bakshi- Doron, was charged with ac- cepting bribes. Despite the campaign, which the two incumbent chief rabbis denounced as "not befitting rabbis or the rabbinate," Rabbi Lau, 56, and Rabbi Bakshi-Doron, 52, 6644 Orchard Lake Road at Maple Road 855-1600 Mon-Thur-Fri 10-9 The-Wed-Sat 10-6 Sun 12-5 '7) Auclo8 US-TOO CHAPTER OF SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN PROSTATE CANCER SUPPORT GROUP FOR PATIENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES "NEW CONCEPTS IN THE TREATMENT OF PROSTATE CANCER" Guest Speaker: DUKE K. BAHN, M.D. CHIEF, DEPT. OF RADIOLOGY, CRITTENTON HOSPITAL Thursday, March 18, 1993 7:30-8:30 p.m. MICHAEL D. LUTZ, M.D., COORDINATOR Jewish Community Center • Maple/Drake Bldg. 6600 W. Maple PLEASE CALL LISA AT 353-3060 FOR MORE INFORMATION JEWELRY APPRAISALS At Very Reasonable Prices. Call For An Appointment 0 11itellee established 1919 FINE JEWELERS Lawrence M. Allan, Pres. GEM/DIAMOND SPECIALIST AWARDED CERTIFICATE BY GIA • IN GRADING AND EVALUATION 30400 Telegraph Road Suite 134 Bingham Farms, MI 0.010 (313) 642-5575 DAILY 10-5:30 THURS. 10-7 SAT. 10-3 1, of marriage, divorce, and other critical aspects of "personal status." An er- ratic and lethargic bureau- cracy, the biases of the rab- binical judges, and their removal from — if not outright aversion to — modern egalitarian values has spawned an enormous degree of resentment toward the rabbinate among Israel's secular Jews. Tales of arbitrary, even hostile treatment by rabbis and rabbinical courts in Israel would fill a whole shelf of books. If a woman is caught cheating on her hus- band, for example, even if they have long led separate lives under separate roofs, the rabbis can grant him a divorce while prohibiting her from ever marrying her lover. No similar treatment has ever been given a man caught cheating on his wife. Once such a ruling has been passed, appeal is impossi- ble in civil courts because Israeli citizens don't have "civil" rights in matters that fall under religious jurisdiction. It is for this reason, rather than just the standard demands of propriety, that rumors about the rabbis were front-page news. But when it came to balloting, the personal conduct of the candidates seemed to matter little. Instead, as in so many other spheres of Israeli life, all that counted was politics. It's no secret, for instance, that Rabbi Bakshi-Doron was elected Sephardi chief rabbi because of a deal to trade Labor's votes for him for Shas's support for Labor candidate Ezer Weizman in won the election recently. Their first duty is to restore the dignity and prestige of their shared post, which is in question- able condition, anyway. this month's Knesset vote for the presidency. Rabbi Lau's victory is The post of chief rabbi was established during the British Mandate as a holdover from the Turkish system. (It wasn't known in eastern Europe, just as it doesn't exist in the United States). Divergent traditions required that chief rabbis be appointed for both Ashkenazi and Sephardi communities. The tradition has stuck over the years. The system over which the two rabbis preside has far- reaching powers over the personal lives of Israel's citizens, especially as it is the sole authority in matters largely explained by the fact that he received the backing of Shas patron, Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef. Shas, in fact, emerged as the real winner of the election, having won the chief rabbinate away from the more moderate Zionist National Religious Party, which dominated the institution (as well as the Ministry of Religion) for th past four decades. The two chief rabbis ar expected to compleme each other. But for now, many Isra wonder about the linger effects of the campaign.