JERUSALEM (VINnews) — A resident of the village of Itamar in northern Samaria has petitioned Israel’s Supreme Court to order the Chief Rabbinate to explain why it is not declaring a leap year and postponing Pesach by a month due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Join our WhatsApp groupSubscribe to our Daily Roundup Email
Yedidia Meshulami explained in his petition that halachically another month of Adar can be added until the 29th of Adar which falls next Wednesday. Meshulami based his petition on the Gemara (Sanhedrin 11-12) and on the Rambam who states that leap years can be performed in Eretz Yisrael even in our time when necessary and the present situation warrants taking such a step.
“This is not the place to discuss in detail the severity of the situation in Israel regarding individual autonomy as well as public stability in matters of health, economy, society, governance and justice, all as a result of the corona outbreak,” Meshulami wrote, adding that making a leap year could be a form of “first aid” for the Israeli public this year.
Meshulami also claimed that the present situation could lead to the sale of Chametz on Pesach in violation of the law which prohibits such activity. Moreover in the present situation of partial isolation which may yet become more severe it will be impossible to obtain all that is necessary to perform the mitzvot of Pesach properly.
The petitioner claimed that he had not succeeded in contacting the Chief Rabbinate and due to the urgency of the request he petitioned the court in order to rouse public opinion on the matter.
The as anti Torah Supreme Court will also request that Jews discard the entire Torah so that there be no shuls or yeshivas. First let’s see if this Supreme fake Court will ban pork in Israel as well as tattoos as gay parades as well as chillul Shabbos as well as the ignorance of Torah of over a million Jewish children in public schools.
Opening a can of worms right there. You think all the gedolim around the world gonna agree that the chief rabbinate of the state of Israel has the power to make a leap year????? Your in such dream world it’s beyond description. Even if your right that technically we have the power these days
Ridiculous. The secular Israeli court has no authority to tell the observant Jews when to eat matzoh and refrain from chammetz. Neither do a couple of rabbis who get their salary from the secular government. It would require a Sanhedrin, which is not happening without Eliahu HaNavi.
No such thing. We have no Sanhedrin now & Hillel was masaken the calendar so it is what it is. I THINK. Check out Rambam yourselves. This article is misquoting. Perek 5 Halacha 1 explicitly states that when there is no Sanhedrin we can not establish leap years.
R’ Eliezer Fried: it may cause some confusion, and there may be disagreements, but “one of the greatest disasters ever to happen I Judaism”?? Come on, let’s not exaggerate. This wouldn’t be the Spanish Inquisition, gzeiras tach v’tat, gzeiras shmad l’mineihem or the Holocaust. Let’s keep things in perspective.
Someone suggested this last month to push off purim as well as pesach, but they seem to be missing the point. Its only going to get worse in the following month, making it even harder to make pesach a month later.
Take the time now to plan for pesach, its still over 2 weeks away, and it only lasts for 8 days, 7 in Israel.
perhaps this year the gedolim should eliminate the 8th day of pesach
just like in our holy land
I didn’t realize that it was optional… Seriously, that messes up the whole calendar for centuries to come.
Relax. The yid who petitioned the court said he did this to publicize this idea to the rabbonim. He wants them to consider it, not that the court should pasken. It was a ploy to garner publicity.
The whole suggestion is ridiculous. Why would pushing off pesach help fight against Coronavirus?
It’s going to be much much worse in a month, so it’s a stupid idea.
The petitioner of this motion is clearly a member of the anti-Torah movement. He personally has no cincern about Pesach.
He and his movement should be immediately flushed.
Next month is going to be worst. I just learned art the beginning of masechet brachot that one office the things the chachamim didn’t agree with king hichizkiyahu was that he, towards the end of adar, added a second adar making it a leap year. The commentary said you could only do it before adar starts. I’m no chacham and very likely got a bunch of stuff wrong but I will leave it to the Rabbis to figure this one out. Not to the secular court.