Village and Other Local Rabbis Earn a Pittance
Harsh statistics about rabbis’ wages revealed during Knesset Internal Affairs meeting, MK Asher: This Embarrassment for the State Can Not Continue
- Akiva Weiss
- כ"א תמוז התשע"ו
הדס פרוש, פלאש 90
The Knesset Internal Affairs Committee met on Monday to discuss the salaries of rabbis in the small towns and local councils. Committee members were shocked to hear how little rabbis who serve their communities around the clock as teachers, educators, family counselors, etc. actually made.
MK Asher wondered, “Where are all those who wanted to limit and others who criticize the rabbinical courts, who say that the rabbis are unfriendly and don’t smile enough. I never saw these same people caring about the rabbis’ most basic needs being fulfilled.” Asher invited the Committee members to accompany him on a tour of rabbinical courts and the secular courts and to witness the differences iyn the quantity and quality of manpower, building upkeep, equipment and furniture. “The – the judges – could certainly earn more if they had taken a different career path.”
MK Asher said that if the State wanted to strengthen the status of the rabbis it was untenable to have a situation in which they had to use most of their salary to pay rent. “That’s how the State relates to persons dealing with the holy – they just care about how to limit them. This cannot continue. This is hypocrisy on the part of the State.”
During the discussion, representatives of the small villages expressed their concern about the bare-bones salary the rabbis were earning in comparison to the long hours they work and the demands of the job, along with the limitations on them to seek additional types of work and the requirement that they live in the moshavim. It was shown in figures that were presented to the committee that many rabbis earn a pittance of 8 shekel per hour.
MK Asher wondered, “Where are all those who wanted to limit and others who criticize the rabbinical courts, who say that the rabbis are unfriendly and don’t smile enough. I never saw these same people caring about the rabbis’ most basic needs being fulfilled.” Asher invited the Committee members to accompany him on a tour of rabbinical courts and the secular courts and to witness the differences iyn the quantity and quality of manpower, building upkeep, equipment and furniture. “The – the judges – could certainly earn more if they had taken a different career path.”
MK Asher said that if the State wanted to strengthen the status of the rabbis it was untenable to have a situation in which they had to use most of their salary to pay rent. “That’s how the State relates to persons dealing with the holy – they just care about how to limit them. This cannot continue. This is hypocrisy on the part of the State.”
During the discussion, representatives of the small villages expressed their concern about the bare-bones salary the rabbis were earning in comparison to the long hours they work and the demands of the job, along with the limitations on them to seek additional types of work and the requirement that they live in the moshavim. It was shown in figures that were presented to the committee that many rabbis earn a pittance of 8 shekel per hour.
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