It was a festive event in Knesset earlier this week as a new Sefer Torah was donated to the Knesset Shul. That report stated the Knesset legal counsel ruled that since the Knesset is not permitted to accept gifts, the Sefer Torah will not be permitted to remain in the shul.
Kol Berama Radio’s Ronen Katz reported on Wednesday 23 Sivan that the Sefer Torah has already been returned to the donor.
Ladaat News contacted Knesset officials to inquire into the decision of the legal counsel, learning that not only has the Knesset accepted gifts in the past, some of them are on display as seen in the accompanying photo. The gifts are proudly displayed at one of the entrances to the building.
In response to the report, Knesset counsel Eyal Yinon explains his comment was not intended specifically regarding the new Sefer Torah, but to the law regarding all gifts. He adds that during his five years in the position the Knesset has not accepted gifts. Yinon concluded the Sefer Torah was not the first time a gift was made to the Knesset Shul and in the past the item was declined politely due to the same law.
If one looks in the shul in Knesset one will find gifts there too, including a keter for a Sefer Torah which is enclosed in a holder aside the Aron Kodesh.
The Knesset Spokesman’s Office has yet to respond.
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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6 Responses
Hard to believe what these anti torah Jews are doing in the holy land
This sums up all that is wrong with this third world country. A former Minister, the convicted criminal Aryeh Deri, sat in jail for serious financial crimes but is now a Minister in the Government again. That is ethically quite acceptable in the banana republic but the gift of a Sefer Torah to the Knesset is regarded as wholly improper.
Tempest in a teapot. What would the sefer Torah actually DO in the Knesset, but languish on display. Put it in a new neighborhood that needs it and let it help Klal Yisrael grow and expand.
There’s an Abie Rotenberg song (on one of the Journeys CDs) about a sefer Torah saved from the Holocaust that winds up in a museum. LONELY!
The building was also donated.The land was taken away from the Poneviezer Rav.Taxes were never paid.Liars to the fullest.
#4
Explain
It was in lieu of land that was snatched from Baron Rothschild
Why can’t the members of the Knesset buy letters or words in the Torah so that they can say they bought it and it wasn’t a gift? Wouldn’t that be the most sensible thing to do? They can be mekayem the mitzvah of writing a sefer Torah that way too.