Rav Chaim Kanievsky, Shlita, Bans Arab Labor Following Mercaz HaRav Attack

5 Towns Jewish Times, March 20, 2008

Ezra Halevi

Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, shlita, has issued a Jewish legal decision banning the employment of Arab workers by Jews, according to the Yom Chadash daily.

The rabbi issued the decision at a meeting with several administrators of yeshivas in B’nei Brak. The administrators told the rabbi that they had under their employ an older Arab man who they do not suspect of any involvement in terrorism. The administrators decided nonetheless to seek halachic guidance following reports that the terrorist who carried out the massacre at Jerusalem’s Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva had been hired as a driver on occasion.

“According to Jewish law, it is completely forbidden to hire Arabs, especially in yeshivas,” Rabbi Kanievsky said. “There is a concern of endangering lives.” The rabbi continued, explaining, “After all, we are at war with them…and are there not Jews that can work and make a living?” Asked later if his words should be publicized, Rabbi Kanievsky said: “Certainly,” according to News First Class, investigative journalist Yoav Yitzchak’s news site. Rabbi Kanievsky went even further, saying that Jews should refrain from employing any non-Jews, not just Muslim Arabs, and instead grant livelihood to Jews, unless there exists a huge disparity in the costs of the labor.

Rabbi Kanievsky is one of the most recognized authorities in chareidi-religious society. He is the son of the Steipler Gaon, Rabbi Yisrael Yaakov Kanievsky, and the son-in-law of Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, the leader of Lithuanian chareidi Jewry.

For several years a revival of the concept of avodah Ivrit—Jewish labor—has been taking place in the Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria regions, particularly in hilltop communities. Though a website listing Jewish labor businesses was closed down after a lawsuit from an Arab advocacy group funded by the New Israel Fund, a new hotline and e-mail account has been set up to provide avodah Ivrit solutions.

The hotline, for everything from gardeners, heavy equipment operators, painters, cement mixers, and handymen to catering and restaurants, can be reached by e-mailing mokedai@gmail.com. (Arutz Sheva)