Chaim Rapoport

Rabbi Rapoport speaking

Rabbi Chaim Rapoport (b. Manchester, England, 1963)^[1] is an author, educator, lecturer and expert Judaic scholar. He lectures extensively in London and around the world on a broad range of topics pertaining to Jewish life and law and is the author of several scholarly books and articles.

Early Life & Education

Rapoport was born and raised in Manchester, England. After his schooling, Rapoport attended the Yeshivot of Manchester, Gateshead, Torat Emet in Jerusalem and the central Lubavitch Yeshivah in New York. After receiving his Rabbinic diplomas (semichah) and his marriage to Rachel Clara (née Elyovics) from Antwerp, Belgium, in 1984 he continued his studies in the United States.

In 1987 Rapoport and his wife joined the community Kollel in Melbourne, Australia, where, in addition to his post graduate studies, he officiated and lectured in several communities, including the far flung Launceston in Tasmania.

Career

In 1989, Rapoport took up position as head of the Lubavitch Kollel in Leeds UK, a position which he occupied until the end of 1994. In the years 1994 – 1997 Rapoport served as the Rabbi of the Birmingham Central Synagogue and the Head of the Birmingham Rabbinic Board.

In September 1997 Rapoport was appointed as Rabbi to the Ilford Synagogue, Beehive Lane. In February 2005, Rapoport was forced to leave his position due to a lack of involvement in the community including attending services late and not going to funerals and shivas, as was the synagogue's full-time extremely popular and hard working Chazan Avrom Levin, which led to a storm of controversy about the United Synagogue withdrawing funding from its smaller Jewish communities. The event caused a great deal of resentment within Ilford's Jewish community who accused the United Synagogue of, "insulting and degrading" Rapoport, whilst "leaving Ilford's community to die." In a statement made by the United Synagogue, they explained that the reason behind the decision was "the dire financial position of the community".^[2][3][4]

In 1998 Rapoport was appointed as a member of the Chief Rabbi's Cabinet and Advisor to the Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, on matters of Jewish Medical Ethics and served in this position until the retirement of Rabbi Sacks in 2013. In this capacity, he served as the Chief Rabbi's spokesperson to the media and as an intermediary between himself and the British medical establishment and several other prominent organisations. During this period Rapoport gave a regular lecture to the United Synagogue Rabbinate at the London School of Jewish Studies.

In 2005 Rapoport established 'Machon Mayim Chaim', an institution through which he promotes Jewish learning and disseminates his own teachings and perspectives on a broad range of subjects across the gamut of Jewish studies ranging from in-depth lectures and shiurim on the Talmud and Jewish Law, Chassidic thought and practice to addressing many contemporary, topical and controversial issues that are pertinent to the Jewish community in Israel and the diaspora. He is regularly flown to international locations to share his teaching, including France, Holland, Belgium, Austria, Denmark, Switzerland, the USA, Canada, South America, Israel and Australia. Since the establishment of Machon Mayim Chaim, Rapoport has served as a ‘scholar in residence’ in a number of North West London Jewish Synagogues, including the Bridge Lane Beth Hamedrash and the Ner Yisrael Community where he currently lectures four times a week.

Homosexuality & Judaism

Rapoport is widely recognised as the only serious Torah scholar to have written comprehensively about homosexuality from an Orthodox perspective. His book, Judaism and Homosexuality: An Authentic Orthodox View (Vallentine Mitchell, 2004), was prefaced by Dayan Berel Berkowitz, a senior Judge of the Beth Din of the Federation of Synagogues, where he describes it as "the first meaningful attempt to articulate a strictly orthodox perspective on the question of Homosexuality...which is clear and uncompromising as to halachic values and norms, yet at the same time compassionate and sensitive to those who find themselves in a religious predicament because of their sexual proclivities." The book's forward was written by the then Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks who described Rapoport as "a courageous figure who has written on a difficult subject that many would rather avoid" and a Rabbi who is "blessed with grace, loving kindness and compassion." The work stakes out a position on Homosexuality and Judaism designed "to mitigate the painful consequences of Orthodoxy's uncompromising rejection of homosexuality.".^[5] The volume explores the intersection between halakhah and homosexuality.^[6]

An article by Rapoport in which he further elaborated his views on this topic, was published by Hakira- The Flatbush Journal of Jewish Law & Thought, in 2012.^[7]

Controversy Surrounding Levy vs The Crown Sexual Abuse Case

In 2013, Rapoport gave a positive character reference for building businessman Menachem Mendel Levy during Levy's trial for sex offences that culminated in the latter's 2013 conviction and jailing on two counts of indecently assaulting a young girl. Specifically, he called him the “embodiment of repentance”. Regarding Rapoport's comments to the court, she said: “I was mortified. I was embarrassed to be Jewish. It was the last straw for me.”^[8]

Rapoport subsequently clarified his position on sexual abuse thus:

"I have stated my opinion in numerous public forums that paedophiles, as all criminals who constitute a threat to society, should be incarcerated in jail, if necessary – for life, the primary reason being: to protect their potential victims from abuse. I have likewise stated unequivocally that victims and those with knowledge or reasonable suspicion of abuse in the Jewish community must report such cases to the legal authorities in order to ensure that the victims are fully supported, the criminals are penalized and society is protected. I decry those people who exhibit a grotesque lack of sympathy or attempt to belittle the trauma suffered by victims, or, worse still, perversely portray the predators (and their active or passive accomplices) as the victims and cruelly penalise and ostracise victims and their families. I support institutions that are designed to help victims. I myself have been instrumental in setting up support apparatus for victims and have asserted myself to help them in every possible way. Now to the issue at hand:

The case of Mr. Levy and The Crown went before a Crown Court jury on two occasions. Ultimately verdicts of a hung jury on all rape charges and any other charges relating to post-16 activity were entered on the court record. The court was however satisfied that sexual conduct had started before Goldsobel was 16 and that it followed as a matter of law that she could not have consented to that activity, regardless of whether she had been a willing partner. Yet, when sentencing Levy, the judge stated explicitly that he does not constitute a threat to society.

From a Jewish perspective, even if the woman was over the age of 16 when (as the defendant claimed) a long-term consensual sexual affair began, the relationship undoubtedly constituted a transgression of Jewish Law and arguably an ethical misdemeanor. It was in this context that I stated in court that the age of legal consent is somewhat arbitrary, because whether a girl is 15 or 16 does not mitigate the religious misdemeanor and cannot truly be determinant in deciding whether the relationship was exploitative in nature. A clandestine relationship between a 16 or 17 year old girl and a man some ten years her senior may well be exploitative and constitute a breach of trust. Therefore, even according to the defendant’s version of the events, the woman was correct in not allowing the matter to be ignored and when she consulted with me, I offered her empathetic advice, encouragement and pastoral support. It is for this reason that, even before the case came to court, I counseled the defendant on penitential and spiritual ‘rectification’ and prescribed measures for his continuous ethical and religious rehabilitation, including the provision of financial assistance for the sexually offended.[...]

Given the defendant’s personal and family circumstances, his current lifestyle, and the assertion (shared by the judge) that he does not constitute a threat to society, it has been argued that in his case punitive and corrective measures other than jail may be more appropriate and helpful. It was in this context that I gave a current character reference about the defendant whom I have observed on an almost daily basis and personally counseled on many occasions. I have witnessed, over a number of years, his penitence and his progressive transformation from the religiously and morally wayward paths of his younger years. It is my impression that he is now a changed man, an ethically responsible member of the community in addition to being a good husband and father to his (soon) six young children. It is of course beyond my remit and area of expertise to determine the nature of the penalty, but it is my prerogative, if not duty, to provide the judge with information that may be relevant to his decision.

^[9]

Works

• Dinei U'Minhagei Rosh Chodesh (Kehot Publication Society, 1993)
• Kappei Chayim on Birkas Kohanim (Privately Published, 1994)
• The Messiah Problem: Berger, the Angel and the Scandal of Reckless Indiscrimination (Ilford 2002)
• Judaism and Homosexuality: An Authentic Orthodox View" (Vallentine Mitchell, 2004)
• Birkat HaChamah (Kehot Publication Society, 2008)
• The Afterlife of Scholarship: A Critical Review of 'The Rebbe' by Samuel Heilman and Menachem Friedman (Oporto Press, 2011) ISBN 978-0-615-53897-6

References

External links

• Interview on his views
• Article on heter mechirah
• Critique of the attack on Yeshivat Chovivei Torah
• Review of his book on Homosexuality and Judaism
• BBC audio on the permissibility of organ transplants
• http://www.somethingjewish.co.uk/articles/1246_rabbis_fear_for_futu.htm