May 19, 2008 (Section 2) (continued from Section 1)
Editor – Joel Katz
Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.
IFCJ suspends Jewish Agency payments
JTA May 14, 2008
The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews suspended its May 1 payment on a $45 million charitable commitment it made to the agency this winter.
The IFCJ's founder and president, Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein, told JTA in an interview Wednesday that the payment was suspended because the Jewish Agency had not yet fulfilled its end of the partnership.
A key issue, he said, is that Jewish Agency stationary still only lists the organization's historic partners, the United Jewish Communities and Keren Hayesod, but fails to mention IFCJ.
Aliyah and Israel-Diaspora Relations Discussed at Peres Conference
By Ezra HaLevi, IsraelNationalNews.com May 18, 2008
Moderated by Dr. Ruth Calderon of the Alma Home for Hebrew Culture in Tel Aviv, the panel included Nefesh B’Nefesh’s Danny Oberman, Jewish Agency Treasurer Hagai Meirom, senior Jewish Federation official Dr. Steven Nasatir, and student activists Aharon Horowitz of the PresenTense Institute for Creative Zionism and Jason Lustig of ImpactAliyah.
…The Nefesh B’Nefesh official also credited programs like Birthright and Masa, who bring young people to visit Israel, with providing the sparks that ignite an increasing number of young, single Jews to make the move to Israel.
“Of the over 3,000 people who came last year – 1,000 of them were singles.” He noted that 65 percent of the singles were non-Orthodox – almost all of whom moved to Tel Aviv. He joked that the other 35 percent all moved to Jerusalem’s Baka neighborhood.
EJC head proposes a Jewish ‘House of Lords’
By Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz May 16, 2008
A leader of France's Jewish community suggested setting up a "House of Lords" in Israel, consisting of 120 representatives of international Jewish organizations, communities and intellectuals.
Speaking at the President's Conference, European Jewish Congress President Pierre Besnainou proposed a "supreme house of representatives of the Jewish world" to advise rather than replace the Knesset.
"Israel is part of the life of all the world's Jews, and they too should have a say in issues like Jerusalem's future," he said.
The latest reality show: 'A social activist is born'
By Nehemia Shtrasler, Haaretz Opinion May 16, 2008
Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Eli Yishai (Shas) understands that cutting NII allotments would decrease the number of children in large families.
Indeed, the cut in child allotments has already led to a change in ultra-Orthodox society: More and more Haredim are going out to work these days, and there has also been a decline in the birthrate.
In the Haredi town of Betar Illit in the West Bank, the birthrate dropped from 8.9 children per woman in 2001 to 7.7 in 2006, while in Modi'in Illit, the birthrate dropped during those years from nine children per woman to eight.
Therefore, anyone who truly wants to decrease poverty must continue the policy of cutting the allotments, along with encouraging education and employment.
Anyone who is truly concerned about Haredi children must ensure that they study the "core curriculum" instead of fighting to eliminate it from their schools.
The moment they study science, mathematics, English and history, they will have the tools and ability to enter the labor market and earn well, exiting the cycle of poverty.
Tel Aviv's bar owners and caterers have come out fighting against a demand by the city's religious council that as a condition for being granted kashrut certificates they sign contracts raising the salaries of kashrut supervisors, reports Yediot Tel Aviv. Several bar owners questioned the legality of the contracts and said they would raise their costs significantly.
According to the report, Tel Aviv's kashrut supervisors are demanding that bar owners and caterers sign a contract agreeing to pay each supervisor NIS 100 per event plus NIS 50 for travel inside Tel Aviv, or NIS 130 per event plus NIS 100 for travel outside the city, as well as paying for other "social conditions."
One bar owner said that until now, he had simply paid NIS 37 per hour for kashrut supervision.
"This is completely absurd," the owner said. "It works out that we have to pay each supervisor a much greater salary, with various additions, and all at our expense. They are holding us [by the throat]."
IDF to build 'Jewish heritage' campus in J'lem
By Yaakov Katz, JPost.com May 18, 2008
The IDF is in the final stages of receiving municipal permits to build a new college-style campus on Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem that will house a school offering mandatory courses for military commanders in Jewish heritage and tradition.
The school will be home to the Education Corps's newly-established Mehzavim program, a Hebrew acronym for "Educational Military Leadership in Jerusalem."
The project was launched just under a year ago and is held monthly - one week for lieutenant colonels, one week for majors and another week for junior commanders.
Since its opening, close to 1,600 officers have been through the course, which is conducted in conjunction with the Jerusalem-based Hartman Institute.
At Grave of Famed Rabbi, Feuding Trustees Find Little Common Ground
May 15, 2008
Rabbi Shimon bar Yohai’s burial place on Mount Meron, near the northern Israeli city of Safed
Just who owns his grave and the surrounding area?
As revelers link arms and dance together, organizers will be locked in a bitter, ongoing behind-the scenes feud.
Shalvash’s Sephardic trust and a rival Ashkenazic one both claim full ownership of the site.
The row is “paralyzing” the development of the site, the most visited religious place in Israel after the Western Wall, according to Jerusalem lawyer Shmuel Berkovitch, an expert on Israel’s holy sites.
MKs: Make Hebrew the only official language
By Shahar Ilan, Haaretz May 19, 2008
MK Limor Livnat (Likud) and three other leading MKs from Kadima, Likud and Shas are set to propose this week that the Knesset remove Arabic from its list of the country's official primary languages.
The bill would make Hebrew the only official primary language, and Arabic, English and Russian would become official secondary languages.
In addition to Livnat, the MKs behind the bill are Shas faction whip Yakov Margi and deputy Knesset speakers Otniel Schneller (Kadima) and Yuli Edelstein (Likud).
Actor Jon Voight: God gave this land to the Jewish people
Click here for VIDEO Interview
By Haaretz Staff and Channel 10 May 13, 2008
Academy Award winning actor Jon Voight is currently in Israel to express his fervent support for the Jewish people and his opposition to exchanging land for peace with the Palestinians.
On Tuesday, Voight visited Sderot, the western Negev town that suffers regular Qassam rockets strikes from the Gaza Strip. On Monday, he met with terror victims, and welcomed a group of children brought to Israel through Chabad's Children of Chernobyl program.
Voight is best known for his breakthrough role in Midnight Cowboy in 1969, and his parts in 1970s films including Deliverance and The Champ. These days however, he may be even better known for being the father of Angelina Jolie.
By David Brinn, JPost.com May 18, 2008
Voight was visiting the country as a guest of Chabad and their Children of Chernobyl program, for which he has acted as spokesman for 15 years.
Clergymen find bond at law school
By Matthew Wagner, Jpost.com May 14, 2008
What do a Melkite Catholic priest, a Druze spiritual leader, a rabbi and a qadi enrolled in a law school have in common? At first glance, not much - besides the desire to get a law degree.
But over the past two years, a diverse classroom full of Israeli clergymen - Christian, Muslim, Druse and Jewish - at the Ono Academic College in Kiryat Ono have discovered that while they may not agree on issues of faith, they can still learn to like each other.
…Also, all the religious leaders have a common gripe against the secular legal system. Over the past decade, especially during Aharon Barak's stint as president of the Supreme Court, there has been a gradual weakening of powers held by the religious courts.
…The feeling of discrimination shared by the different religions vis-à-vis the secular Israeli legal system creates a feeling of unity.
By Nadav Shragai, Haaretz May 13, 2008
Jerusalem's local planning and construction committee yesterday approved plans for the controversial Mugrabi bridge near the Temple Mount, intended to provide access to the Mugrabi Gate in lieu of the ramp that collapsed in 2004.
The plans are now in the hands of the district committee, which will meet in about a week to rediscuss objections by the Ir Amim nonprofit organization, Arab MKs, the Al-Aqsa foundation and archaeologist Meir Ben-Dov.
The plan entails building a raised ramp supported by several columns, and will enlarge the women's section at the Western Wall plaza.
Tel Aviv Municipality to supply firewood for Lag B'Omer
By Reuven Weiss, Ynetnews.com May 16, 2008
The Tel Aviv Municipality has decided to try and put a stop to the wood pilfering plaguing the city's construction sites every year, around Lag B'Omer time.
In an attempt to try and avoid this year's firewood raid, the Tel Aviv Municipality announced Thursday that come Lag B'Omer day – next Thursday – it will operate three firewood distribution centers in the city.
…"We intend on transporting the mass quantities of lumber to three locations in the city, and anyone who needs firewood is welcome to come and get it."
Reform Zionism Comes To Baltimore
By Neil Rubin, Editor JewishTimes.com May 16, 2008
Interview with Rabbi Andrew Davids, Executive Director, ARZA
"We want people to know that Israel is a place where real people live and where Hebrew culture is being developed and that it’s a place with a lot of tension.
Our mentality is that Israel is a complex place and we think people can develop a more mature, deep loving relationship."
An Open Conversation about Reform Zionism - by ARZA
In May of 2007, the Institute for Reform Zionism (IRZ), a small think tank run by ARZA, called for the creation of a concise definition of Reform Zionism.
What seemed at first glance to be a simple task quickly revealed its many levels of nuance and complexity. Instead of a succinct, clear definition, we decided to embrace the complexity and create a less brief, less succinct, but far more useful definition.
The initial definition was written by Rabbi Peter Knobel, Chair of the IRZ and a member of ARZA’s board.
[ARZA] then recruited six commentators to argue with Rabbi Knobel and with each other on the page, thus creating a document that is true to the ancient Jewish tradition of “machloket l’shem shamayim” or a dispute for the sake of Heaven.
Appeal on Waqf land to be heard behind closed doors
By Yigal Hai, Haaretz May 13, 2008 [print edition]
See also: “State refuses to release list of Waqf-owned properties in T.A., Jaffa”
By Yigal Hai, Haaretz November 14, 2007
The Tel Aviv District Court ruled Sunday that the state’s position on an appeal in the matter of assets belonging to the Waqf, the Muslim religious trust, will be held behind closed doors, without the presence of the appellants, because the information revealed might damage Israel’s foreign relations.
The appeal was submitted by the Jaffa Association for Human Rights and four activists in the Muslim community in Jaffa, against the Custodian for Absentee Property.
It demands that the Custodian provide them with an exact list of Waqf property in Tel Aviv-Jaffa and the rest of the country, and incomes from that property.
Citizens protest destruction of Muslim cemetery
By Anat Shalev, Ynetnews.com May 17, 2008
The posters were put up in protest against the decision to destroy a Muslim cemetery in Jaffa's Tel-Kabir neighborhood and build a commercial center in its stead.
A legal debate over the property has been going on for 35 years, ever since the board approved the sale of the cemetery's land to a private party.
Recently the High Court determined that the sale was legal, and demanded that the Waqf transfer the graves to another location. The verdict caused rage to break out among the Arab population in the area.
Sergei Courtyard to be handed over to Russia
By Ranit Nahum-Halevy, Haaretz May 15, 2008
The government will hand over ownership of the Sergei Courtyard site on Heleni Hamalka Street in Jerusalem to the Russian government in July, following extensive discussions between the two governments.
The Sergei Courtyard is named after Sergei Alexandrovich, the heir apparent of Czar Nicholas II.
…Last week the Russian press reported that Vladimir Putin had allocated 10 million rubles (about $430,000) for the renovation and preservation of the Sergei Courtyard, and that the prime minister is coming to Israel in June or July to sign the final agreement.
The Imperial Orthodox Palestine Society, a Russian-Palestinian organization, will be responsible for the renovation work.
War and peace over Russian properties
By Ranit Nahum-Levy. Haaretz May 19, 2008
Attorney Nurit Mazower-Rez, whose expertise includes real estate law and the Tenant Protection Law, claims that in recent years there has been an increase in suits against protected tenants by churches that purchased land in Jerusalem in the 19th century.
The Ethiopian church tried to evict protected tenants on Ethiopia Street, and the Greek Orthodox and Armenian churches have filed petitions against tenants on Shlomzion Hamalka and Yoel Solomon streets (the pedestrian mall), on Nevi'im St. and in the Old City.
…The awakening of the churches concerning their properties has aroused fears among Jewish tenants, who until now had enjoyed peace and quiet.
Some of the churches rent the properties at realistic prices to interested Jews, but others are considering bringing in foreign elements.
Thus, for example, it is still unclear what the Russian government will do with the Russian Compound, although it will probably be used for diplomatic or consular purposes.
May 19, 2008 (Section 2) (continued from Section 1)
Editor – Joel Katz
Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.
