SELESTRIA, Bulgaria – A new religious movement could be just
the thing to shake up religion’s role in Israeli politics. The mass movement
Shuva Yisrael counts among its supporters – and potential voters – tens, if not
hundreds, of thousands of Israelis.
But Shuva Yisrael is not a political party, and does not
intend to become one, according to the man behind it, Rabbi Yoshiyau Yosef
Pinto. Speaking to The Times of Israel 30,000 feet above Bulgaria on his way to
a graveside pilgrimage, Pinto said that “politics is a lie. In the future I
believe that religious political parties will wither away.”
For his supporters, among whom Pinto counts some of Israel
and the Jewish world’s economic, political (and underworld) elite, it’s a
message powerful enough to ward off the effects of allegations of bribery,
influence peddling, and even suicide that have dogged the rabbi and his family
for the past year.
And in a twist for a rabbi who is seen by some of his
followers as being able to perform wondrous acts, Pinto derided the rabbis who
portrayed themselves as kabbalah experts capable of working miracles via charms
and amulets, so popular among some groups today.
“The great rabbis of the
generation, the Kabbalists themselves, have said categorically that these
things do not work. They are a waste of time,” he said.
The fact that Pinto’s maternal grandfather was Rabbi Yisrael
Abuhatzeira, the Baba Sali, considered a man of miracles by many Jews around
the world, does not deter him from denouncing reliance on “magic” to solve
problems. “When a Jew is in need, he needs to pray and repent, and that is the
way to salvation,” he said.
Born on Rosh Hashanah in 1973 in Ashdod, Pinto descends from
the Abuhatzeira family on his mother’s side, and the revered Moroccan sage
Rabbi Haim Pinto (1748-1845) on his father’s. He is married to Rivka, the
daughter of Rabbi Shlomo Ben-Hamo, the Chief Rabbi of Argentina. Pinto studied
at various yeshivas, including Ma’alot Hatorah in Jerusalem, under Rabbi Shmuel
Auerbach.
When he spoke to The Times of Israel this week, Pinto, along
with about 700 of his followers, was on his way to the grave of Rabbi Eliezer
Papo, referred to as Peleh Yo’etz (“Wondrous Advice”), which is the title of
Papo’s best-known work.
This is the 13th year that Pinto, often called “Rabbi
to the Tycoons” thanks to his close relationship with moneyed followers inside
Israel and abroad, has made the trek to the gravesite.
“Rabbi Papo is a rabbi who speaks to this generation,” said
Pinto. “He balances observance with positive relations and kindness between
people, and this is something the generation today needs to hear badly.”
While the penitential prayers (selihot) he planned to lead
at the gravesite could be recited just as well inside Israel, or indeed
anywhere, “we draw spiritual strength from our rabbi,” Pinto said. “In his
writings, he said he would from heaven help those who ‘do him a favor’ by
remembering him at his gravesite.”
That grave is in the rural Bulgarian city of Selestria,
where Rabbi Papo is remembered by locals (there is a small museum dedicated to
his memory in City Hall) for the wonders he is said to have accomplished there.
His latest “wonder,” said Pinto, is to serve as a unifying force for Jews from
all backgrounds. “We have secular, religious, Sephardic, Ashkenazic, Hassidic,
and all other sorts of Jews who join together to celebrate Rabbi Papo’s life.”
That fits right in with Shuva Yisrael’s agenda, which, said
Rabbi Yossi Elituv, an Israeli journalist and Pinto’s media liaison, is to
“unify all Jews wherever they are.” More than an educational and social service
group, Shuva Yisrael has turned into a type of modern Hassidic movement, with
Pinto at its center.
“We accept all people, no one will ever turn a cold
shoulder to someone who does not wear a kippa or dress in a certain way,” said
Elituv. “Our emphasis is on encouraging people to perfect the way they treat
each other, the ‘man to man’ commandments.”
It’s a philosophy that appeals to many. Shuva Yisrael counts
at least 20,000 people in Israel and abroad as direct members (those who
regularly attend functions or donate money), “but our circle of influence
includes as many as 120,000 people,” said Elituv. Pinto himself is an extremely
popular figure; his weekly radio lecture draws more listeners than the one
conducted by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, spiritual leader of the Shas political party,
according to ratings issued by the radio stations Pinto is heard on. Pinto
splits his time between New York and Ashdod, and has many followers in the US.
Pinto counts among his followers mayors of several cities
(including Ashkelon, Kiryat Malachi, and Lod), political and media figures
(disgraced former Ehud Olmert aide Shula Zaken was on the trip), and
businesspeople (Jay Schottenstein and George Soros are among the “regulars,”
said Elituv).
Less heralded but prominent on this week’s trip were alleged
members of Israel’s organized crime elite, among them members of the Harari
family and associates. All Jews deserve a chance to be part of the Jewish
people, according to Shuva Yisrael’s approach. “We don’t check the fringes of
anyone to see if they are ‘kosher’ or not,” said Elituv.
Generally the event draws as many as 2,000 people, but
because of the coincidence of the pre-High Holiday days with the August
vacation season, Shuva Yisrael could only arrange for flights to Varna,
Bulgaria (the airport closest to Selestria) several days before Yom Kippur, “a
time when many of those who would have participated were too busy. But it was
important for us to do this during the High Holiday period,” he said.
The group’s main activities, said Elituv, are feeding the
hungry, running Torah classes, and operating yeshiva programs for married men
(kollelim). “On Rosh Hashanah and Passover we feed about 15,000 people with
food packages and holiday meals, and we provide thousands of packages for the
needy each week.”
The group operates kindergartens and yeshiva programs for
post-high school students — the same population the state is seeking to
persuade and/or force to join the IDF. As far as Pinto is concerned, “any
student who is not learning seriously should be working or going to the army.”
Pinto defies the stereotype of a mass movement religious
leader. “All of the ‘techniques’ people use to get God to grant them favors are
not allowed,” and that includes the popular method of relying on the merit of a
dead righteous man to “get in good” with Heaven, said Elituv. “Personal effort
and prayer is a must for everyone. We are against these tricks.”
Pinto does not include holding prayers at a gravesite in
that category; the idea of such a trip is to inspire participants to strive for
their own personal perfection. “That’s what we teach,” said Elituv. “We try to
make sure that point is well understood.”
It’s a point that Yaakov Emanuel, deputy mayor of the
settlement city Ariel and a follower of Pinto’s for 20 years, understands well.
“It’s true that you could hold these prayers in a synagogue in Jerusalem, but
the traveling is just an excuse to be with the rabbi and to be inspired by him.
You need the experience, the atmosphere. Some people can learn ethics and
proper behavior by studying, but many cannot.
The idea of getting on a plane
and going far away to say prayers brings people closer to Judaism than if they
just went to a synagogue to hear a speech.”
The stories of financial mismanagement and corruption that
have dogged Pinto over the past year or so have not deterred Ariel’s faith in
him as a leader.
“Very often people like the rabbi are surrounded by less than
scrupulous people looking to benefit somehow,” Emanuel said. “Regardless of the
stories, it does not take away one bit from the wonderful work that he does,
the people that he feeds and the unifying force he has become.”
That sentiment was echoed by at least a dozen other
participants who weighed in on the matter. In a speech after prayers at the
gravesite, Pinto fretted over the headlines, saying that he deeply regretted
that his name had been involved in any scandal, “even though we have done
nothing wrong and have no reason to feel bad.” Nevertheless, Pinto said, he
felt he had to make up for it and correct the negative perception of himself
and his organization, “and we will do so in spades during the coming year.”
Last year, the FBI opened an investigation into followers of
Pinto’s who exceeded campaign contributions for a New York congressman, Michael
Grimm. Former US representative Anthony Weiner, who is close to Pinto, said the
rabbi had previously complained to him that Grimm had been blackmailing him,
and that he had alerted the FBI to the allegations.
A Pinto follower was said
to be behind the extortion attempt, with Pinto claiming that he had been
threatened with a “smear campaign” if the rabbi did not persuade his wealthy
followers to donate to the Grimm campaign. Grimm has denied the charges,
although one of the organizers of the extortion scheme recently pleaded guilty
to visa fraud related to the fundraising scandal. In the wake of the FBI
investigation, Pinto was investigated in Israel as well.
For believers in Pinto’s ways, it’s going to take a lot more
than stories like these to derail their faith. Many of them feel they are onto
something big — a “revolution,” as Pinto himself terms it.
Among the travelers to Selestria were as a wide a variety of
Israelis as one could hope to see – bareheaded teens in T-shirts and shorts,
well-coiffed designer-dress-clad women and girls, ultra-Orthodox bewigged women
and behatted men and boys, religious Zionist knitted-kippah wearers,
long-nailed women in jeans, prosperous looking businessmen, street toughs —
and, of course, the aforementioned mobster-types.
Speaking off the record, a photographer for an international
news organization who accompanied the group said that although he was not
observant himself, the rabbi’s brand of Judaism was the most appealing he had
found. “Although my forbears were very religious, having lived in Jerusalem for
18 generations, I find myself disillusioned with much of organized Judaism
today. But I am a great admirer of Rabbi Pinto; his ability to unify all Jews
and lack of a political agenda is the most refreshing thing I have seen in the
Jewish world in many years.”
Of course, there are limits. Pinto is no reformer, and
doesn’t accept the Reform, Conservative, or other approaches to Judaism — as
independent streams, that is. “We accept all Jews as they are, as individuals,”
Pinto said. “All Jews belong to Judaism. We don’t believe in stigmas, and we
also don’t believe in labels. They are just there to divide people. That’s why
this is such a revolutionary movement.”
That revolution includes a complete change in the paradigm
that has guided Israeli politics over the past few decades — the one that has a
large secular (or more correctly, general interest) party allying with one or
two religious (Zionist, ultra-Orthodox, or combination thereof) parties to form
a government. In this deal, the large party handles the “heavy stuff,” like
security and finance, while the religious partner tends to social (and of
course religious) issues.
But that paradigm is coming to an end; Israelis have had
enough of it and are looking for a change, and that change, said Elituv, will
be the one Pinto and Shuva Yisrael bring about. “We don’t have any enemies, and
we get along with everyone, but our concepts make some people uncomfortable,”
he said. “We don’t believe in the idea of religious parties. Religious people
should be, and are, a part of all segments of Israeli society, including its
political segments.
“All our services are geared towards everyone — we don’t
feed only religious poor people, for example. The mayors who support us are
supposed to take care of everyone and everything in their city,” and that goes
for the national level too, Elituv said. “Rabbi Pinto has no match in Israeli
society today.
His revolution is advancing quickly. If the Messiah does not
come before then, Shuva Yisrael will be a major force in all of Israeli society
five years from now.”
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