Yona Metzger (; born 1953) is an Israeli Orthodox rabbi and the former Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel. In 2013, while chief rabbi, a fraud investigation was opened. Metzger later pleaded guilty to a number of corruption charges, was tried and convicted, and after a plea bargain was rejected, served prison time.
Early life
Metzger was born in Haifa in 1953. He served in the Israel Defense Forces as a chaplain in the 7th Armored Brigade, and was discharged with the rank of captain. Metzger received his ordination from the Yeshivat Kerem BeYavne hesder yeshiva before working as a religious teacher. He served as rabbi of the Tiferet Zvi Synagogue in Tel Aviv, and was later appointed regional rabbi of northern Tel Aviv. Metzger has written ten books, two of which were awarded prizes by the President of Israel.
While Metzger is from a national religious family and educational background, he had been closely identified with Haredi Judaism, and often sought the advice of Degel HaTorah's late spiritual leader Yosef Shalom Eliashiv. Some observers claimed that this made Metzger an excellent candidate to represent both communities, with one reporter calling him "undoubtedly the most moderate and most Zionist candidate". His supporters have often compared him to his immediate predecessor, Yisrael Meir Lau, who was seen as having a foot in every camp, which helped him in dealing with different kinds of Jews, particularly secular ones.
Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel
Metzger was elected Chief Rabbi of Israel in April 2003. At 50, he was the youngest Chief Rabbi in Israel's history, until his successor, David Lau, who was elected at the age of 47 in 2013.
While Chief Rabbi, Metzger was active in attempting to reach out to diverse groups of people, both Jews and non-Jews. He attempted to facilitate the maintaining of kashrut standards in Israel by employing technology, for instance, by activating steam pumps via cell phone for cooking meat in order to avoid issues of bishul akum (the cooking of food by a non-Jew). Metzger was also involved in strengthening ties between Israeli and Diaspora standards of kashrut in order to make them more standardized and consistent.
Metzger was a prominent in keeping up interest in the cases of several "lost Israelis", notably Jonathan Pollard and Ron Arad. He repeatedly brought up Arad in the course of official meetings with various Muslim dignitaries. He was also involved in keeping up the pressure on both the Israeli and various Arab governments to protect the safety and negotiate the release of various Israeli prisoners taken captive by Hezbollah.
In 2004, Metzger announced an initiative to insert a special prayer for Jonathan Pollard into the daily prayer service. The prayer was written by Metzger, and is written in the style of a "Mishaberach prayer" intended for people in dire straits. Many Orthodox synagogues announced the adoption of the prayer into their liturgy.
Interfaith dialogue
Metzger worked to encourage friendly relationships with other religious communities. One idea that Metzger proposed was the establishment of a religious United Nations in Jerusalem. He first advocated this in late 2004 after mediating a highly publicized dispute between Jerusalem Haredim and the Armenian Christian community. Under Metzger's plan, the new body would contain representatives of the world's religions, as opposed to nations. Metzger has also suggested that the Dalai Lama could lead the assembly. The Dalai Lama was reportedly very excited at the idea, and pledged to help Metzger realize his plan. Other supporters include Frederico Major, the co-president of the Alliance for Civilizations, a Spanish lobby group for international conflict resolution.
On a February 2007 trip to India, Metzger joined other prominent rabbis in signing a declaration against violence with local Hindu leaders, as part of a summit organized by the World Council of Religious Leaders. One of the points emphasized by the participants was the commonality between Jews and Hindus, particularly in regards to ongoing violence at the hands of Muslims. Metzger noted in his remarks, "Jews have lived in India for 2,000 years, and have never been discriminated against. This is something unparalleled in human history."
In March 2008, Metzger supported an interfaith conference proposed by King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia.
Accepting
During the "bus conflict" about mixed seating between men and women, Metzger stated that this is not a "Haredi country", and urged the ultra-Orthodox to not push their opinions on the others and be more accepting.