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August 11, 2000/10 Av 5760, Vol. 52, No.48
Holocaust victims reincarnated 'sinners'?
NAOMI SEGAL
Jewish Telegraphic Agency
JERUSALEM - The spiritual leader of Israel's fervently Orthodox Shas Party is facing public condemnation and ridicule for saying that the Jews murdered in the Holocaust were the reincarnated souls of sinners.
During his weekly sermon on Aug. 4, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef also referred to the Palestinians as "snakes."
Prime Minister Ehud Barak, who was also targeted in Yosef's remarks, said the statements were not fitting for a rabbi of his standing.
This is not the first time Yosef's comments have sparked controversy.
Last Purim, Yosef likened Yossi Sarid, the leader of the secular Meretz Party, to the evil Haman in the Book of Esther, and he called on supporters to wish for Sarid's destruction.
In the latest incident, as in previous ones, Shas leaders said the rabbi's remarks were taken out of context.
"Don't take a monopoly on interpretation of the Holocaust," a Shas legislator told Army Radio. "The rabbi's commentary was based on Judaism."
For his part, Yosef backed off from his comments on Aug. 5, saying that all the Jewish victims of the Nazis "were holy and pure and complete saints."
Some people - including President Moshe Katsav and Chief Ashkenazi C. Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau - said the concept of reincarnation is a theological attempt to understand why the Holocaust happened.
But Lau, himself a Holocaust survivor, said that perhaps the pain of the tragedy of the Holocaust is still too acute for comments such as Yosef's.
He defended the Shas rabbi, saying Yosef has a very "emotional attitude" toward the Holocaust and that he did not say that the victims of the Holocaust were sinners.
Katsav said he regrets any statements that hurt people's feelings.
"At this time, we must make every effort to reduce tension and demonstrate more unity," said Katsav, who vowed to pursue tolerance and national unity when he was sworn in last week as Israel's eighth president.
The comments were interpreted by some political observers as an indication that Shas is not inclined to rejoin Barak's government after bolting the coalition on the eve of last month's failed Camp David summit.
Yosef's comments brought a stinging criticism from the head of the secular Shinui Party.
"It's slander from an old fool who is regretfully the spiritual leader of a large community in Israel," said Yosef "Tommy" Lapid. He accused Yosef of "confirming what Hitler said - that the Jews are people who sin."
During the weekly Cabinet meeting, Barak criticized the Shas Party as well as Yosef.
"From a movement whose banner is emblazoned with the demand for unity and closeness, its leaders should speak in a manner that would strengthen this claim," Barak said.
Referring to Barak's efforts to reach a peace deal with the Palestinians at the Camp David summit, Yosef said, "Where are this man's brains?"
Addressing Barak, the rabbi added, "You bring snakes next to us. How can you make peace with a snake?"
Calling the Arabs "evildoers," Yosef said the Talmud teaches "that God is sorry he ever created those sons of Ishmael."
Yosef's remarks also drew criticisms from Palestinian officials.
Yasser Abed Rabbo, the Palestinian information minister, said, "The statements of this idiot and racist are a disgrace for every Israeli."
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