The chief rabbi attacks Badatz Haeida Hachredit: "pure racism"
Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef said that "Ethiopian Jews are Jews in every respect."
(By Shaya K.)
The Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, strongly criticized Badatz Haeida Hacharedit, following the publication in Haaretz yesterday that following the demands of the Mashgichim , Ethiopian workers were fired from the Barkan winery in order to prevent them from being close to wine due to doubt about their Judaism. "I see very harshly the directive issued by those who call themselves a kashrut body to disqualify Ethiopian-observant workers from making wine," said Rabbi Yosef, whose father, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, led the halachic recognition of the Judaism of Ethiopian Jews.