Rabbi Tamir Granot’s son, Capt. Amitay ZVI Granot, was killed shortly after the attack by Hamas on October 7 in an incident on the Lebanese border while fighting with Hezbollah.
The former Sephardic king of Israel and Mousa, Yitzhak Yosef, strongly criticized the head of Yeshivat Oroul in Southern Tel Aviv, Rabbi Tamir Granot, after the granot was recalled for haredi (Ultra-Orthodox) enlistment in the IDF.
Granot’s son, Capt. Amitay ZVI Granot, was killed shortly after the attack by Hamas on October 7 in an incident on the Lebanese border while fighting with Hezbollah. Josef said that Rabbi Granot was among several heads of Yeshiva who attacked him on television.
“Aren’t you afraid not to shame the scholars?” Josef asked him.
Josef continued, addressing the granot, “I think there are some of them, if they come to join the Minyan, they will not accept. They are heretics. Not all of them.”
Granot had fallen out with Yosef when he was the chief minister, after Yosef threatened to leave Israel if the authorities forced Haredi Yeshiva students to enter.
Haredim protest against the IDF Draft outside the Tel Hahomer Recruitment Base, April 28. (Credit: Avshalom Sassoni)
“You need to ask forgiveness from my wife, her tears, and go up to Mount Herzl and ask forgiveness from Ampitay, and from all the righteous, and from those who are not their subjects,” said Granot at the time.
“Going abroad so as not to fight a command war, a war with a national situation that threatens life?! Are we in Russia?” YNET quoted him as saying.
Controversy over moral issues, insults, vandalism
Finance Minister Breetrich criticized Josef’s comments, calling granot “a scholar of the Torah and a holy man who sanctifies the name of God before the public,” according to Maariv.
“He lost his heroic son, may his memory be a blessing, in the war, and since then he has dedicated his days to spreading light, unity and love. Anyone who allows himself.”
Smotrich adds that “he is proud to lead a community that embraces Torah and Derech Eretz (respectful behavior), knows how to respect those who think differently, and can handle disagreements for heaven’s sake.”
The Chairman of the Tzohar Rabbinical Organization, Ravi David Stav, said in response to the exchange that while moral debate is acceptable, “interference and blasphemy are prohibited.
“The speech of the Torah should be based on obedience, respectfulness, not the burden of the Word of God, not on personal attacks. No one can say that the Torah has all the Israelites and anyone who is dedicated to it should be respected and constructive speech despite disagreements.
Rabbi Stav continued, “According to YNET,” When a Rabbi in Israel chooses insulting and derogatory language to another Torah student, and especially to his deceased Father, it causes the Name of the Torah itself to be invoked. “
