Masorti Australasia
Schechter Institute Jerusalem, which trains Masorti rabbis in Israel has issued this timely responsum by the renowned authority Rabbi David Golinkin in light of the recent unseemly (and unfortunate) controversy in Israel:
From: Schechter InstituteSubject: Selling an apartment to a non-Jew in the Land of IsraelVol. 5, No. 2
December 2010Is it permissible to sell or rent an apartment to a non-Jew in the Land of Israel? (1)
By Rabbi David GolinkinQuestion: On December 7, 2010, The Jerusalem Post reported (Jpost.com) that a group of forty municipal rabbis in Israel published a letter which said that it is forbidden to sell or rent apartments to non-Jews (nokhrim) in Israel.Amongst the reasons given for the prohibition are the danger of intermarriage and the lowering of real estate prices in areas where non-Jews live. Gentiles' "different lifestyle from Jews" can endanger lives, they wrote.If a Jew sells or rents property to a gentile, his neighbors must warn him, and if he does not change his ways, the neighbors must avoid the person, and may not conduct business with him, according to the petition. A person who rents or sells to non-Jews also may not get aliyahs in synagogue.Amongst the municipal rabbis who signed the petition are Rabbi Yaakov Edelstein of Ramat HaSharon, Rabbi Haim Pinto of Ashdod, Rabbi Dov Lior of Kiryat Arba, Rabbi David Abuhazeira of Yavne, Rabbi David Bar-Chen of Sderot, and others.In addition, one of the best-known National-Religious rabbis, Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, signed the letter, as did [Rabbi Ovadiah] Yosef's son, Rabbi Yaakov Yosef...Another ten rabbis reportedly plan to sign the letter...
Is this really the standard and only approach to this question in Jewish law?
