Ethiopian Rabbis Demand Equal Pay
Seventeen Ethiopian religious leaders in Israel wrote last week to the office of Prime Minister Sharon, demanding that they be paid the same wages as rabbis who are not of Ethiopian origin. Sharon’s office has been in charge of religious services since the Religious Affairs Ministry was disbanded.
The request was based on a government decision from 1992 that Ethiopian rabbis and kessim (spiritual leaders) are to be accepted as equal members in the religious councils and receive the same wage as neighborhood and regional rabbis, including social benefits, vehicle maintenance expenses and a pension plan.
“We are not seeking charity, but what is our due by law,” said Reuben Yaaiso, 38, the regional rabbi of Gedera and Bet Shemesh, He earns $780 per month. “The government ministries are not treating us as required by law. We are at the point where we have no money for a hot meal on the Sabbath and holidays.”
Kes Avihu Azaria, 37, chairman of the Council of Priests of Ethiopian Jewry in Israel, said that the religious councils had turned the Ethiopian clergy into hostages. “The salaries of the keses and Ethiopian rabbis are swallowed up by the coffers of the religious councils,” Azaria said.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
