'God's retribution' talk criticized by U.S. rabbi

JERUSALEM (AP) — Ovadia Yosef, the former Sephardic chief rabbi of Israel, is being criticized for a televised sermon that called Hurricane Katrina a punishment from God for President Bush's role in forcing Israelis to leave the Gaza Strip.

"It was God's retribution," Yosef said. "He (Bush) perpetrated the expulsion. Now everyone is mad at him. This is his punishment for what he did to Gush Katif, and everyone else who did as he told them, their time will come, too."

Gush Katif is the largest group of Gaza settlements.

In response, U.S. Rabbi Jerome Epstein, chief executive of the United Synagogue of Conservative Judaism, said the vast majority of Jews reject Yosef's "perverse belief" that "venomously and shamefully" claimed divine punishment.

"My understanding of God does not permit me to accept that every bad or good thing that occurs is a reward or punishment. There are times when bad things happen to good people," Epstein said. "We need consolation, not anger; love, not hate. The God I serve and pray to daily has charged me not to blame but to help."