June 9, 2008 (Section 2) (continued from Section 1)
Editor – Joel Katz
Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.
Issue 4, June 10, 2008
A Reform synagogue built with government funds makes a small crack in the Orthodox monopoly on religion in Israel
"Today is a celebration for the Israel Movement for Progressive Judaism, which has won recognition as its right and not as an act of charity," said IMPJ Executive Director Iri Kassel at the dedication ceremony.
"This is a breakthrough for us; this is equality," Kassel declared, calling the occasion "a celebration for the congregation, the movement, and the Jewish people."
…It was [in 1996] that [Rabbi Kinneret] Shiryon, who lives in Maccabim, adjacent to Modi'in, decided to build a Reform community from scratch.
"There was enormous potential here. I wanted to start a community where I could realize my vision of a Jewish outlook that would speak to secular Israelis and give them a religious home."
Orthodox-Conservative-Reform trio tries to 'heal the world'
One woman prays in a synagogue where gender separation is strictly enforced. Another is a member of a mixed-seating congregation that bars homosexuals from rabbinical ordination. A third belongs to a movement unfettered by Halacha but with a rock-hard Jewish identity.
Though these three Jerusalem women represent Orthodox, Conservative and Reform streams of Judaism, respectively, they have put aside theological and ideological differences in an idealistic attempt to transform Israeli society.
"The idea was born in the Reform Movement," Na'ama Dafni-Kellen said this week.
The "idea" referred to by Dafni-Kellen is Kehillat Tzedek, a grassroots movement aimed at increasing social activism within congregations of all denominations.
Since it was founded four years ago, 80 congregations have joined - 50 of them already have active social programs - representing the entire rainbow of Judaism, including congregations that define themselves as "secular" or "nondenominational" such as Nigun Halev on Moshav Nahalal in the Jezreel Valley or Beit Tefila Yehudit in Tel Aviv.
Jewish NGO May Be Expelled from UN
Click here for VIDEO interview
Interview with World Union for Progressive Judaism U.N. representative David LittmanIsraelNationalNews.com June 5, 2008
Effort Afoot To Expel Jewish Group from U.N.
By Benny Avni, www.NYSun.com June 4, 2008
Bringing up a contrary argument "did not go over very well," the president of the World Union for Progressive Judaism, Rabbi Uri Regev, told The New York Sun.
'Insult' may cost Reform Jews UN status
The United Nations Committee on NGOs met in New York Wednesday with an agenda that included possibly stripping the umbrella organization of Reform Judaism of the observer NGO status it has held since 1972. The decision was later delayed until Thursday.
"Sanctioning the World Union would be extremely unjust and unwarranted," said World Union of Progressive Judaism president Rabbi Uri Regev.
"It would be a sad statement as to the way that the decisions and considerations play out in the UN today."
'Birthright is changing the Jewish world'
By Haviv Rettig, Jpost.com June 4, 2008
"Israel is the greatest classroom the Jewish people has at its disposal, and Birthright is succeeding in bringing it to life," Prof. Barry Chazan, who together with Prof. Leonard Saxe wrote the just-released Ten Days of Birthright Israel: A Journey in Young Adult Identity, told The Jerusalem Post in the capital on Monday.
More Christians join Birthright
By Jackie Len, Jpost.com June 8, 2008
According to Birthright Israel's Web site, participants are eligible if they are recognized as Jewish "by the Jewish community or by one of the recognized denominations of Judaism, or if either parent is Jewish and the applicant does not actively practice another religion."
But it is evident that this criteria is not always used when selecting participants.
Thousands of Young Jews from All Over the World Celebrate In Israel & Discover Their Roots
www.Infolive.tv June 4, 2008 Birthright-Israel VIDEO
Flexible aliya plan presented to Knesset
By Haviv Rettig, Jpost.com June5, 2008
According to the new initiative, Jews from around the world will be able to move to Israel for a period ranging from several months to several years, during which they will be able to work, study and volunteer in the country.
This might mean eligibility for state-funded Hebrew courses, but not for the tax breaks and partially funded university studies contained in the aliya absorption package, while the compulsory military service of olim would not be required but other unspecified civic duties could be imposed.
Report unveils 'humbler' gov't Diaspora policy
By Haviv Rettig, Jpost.com June 4, 2008
[Cabinet Secretary Ovad] Yehezkel "would like to see a doubling, tripling, even quadrupling of the state's funding of Birthright Israel and Masa," which today reaches $18 million annually for Birthright alone.
…Specifically, the change must include cutting down on the number of organizations that claim to represent the Israel-Diaspora relationship, making the communication between the communities more efficient, and accepting the new, humbler relationship.
New plan to offer tax breaks to Western immigrants
By Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz June 5, 2008
A new program will offer Jews from Western countries tax breaks and other accommodations, as incentives to immigrate to Israel.
The program, proposed by the Jewish Agency and the Absorption and Interior ministries, will offer new Jewish immigrants temporary residency status, and would exempt them from most taxes and national service for several years. Immigrants who continue to run businesses abroad also will receive tax exemptions.
…In order to balance its budget, the Agency has had to reform its aliyah encouragement setup. As a consequence, dozens of Jewish Agency emissary positions have been cut.
Jewish Agency officials hope that a new global information center will take the place of foreign emissaries in providing information to potential immigrants.
Knesset wants Jerusalem to be capital of the Jewish People
By Shahar Ilan, Haaretz June 5, 2008
The Knesset yesterday passed in preliminary reading an amendment to the Basic Law whereby Jerusalem would be not just the capital of Israel, but also the capital of the Jewish people.
The amendment, submitted by MK Zevulun Orlev, the National Religious Party faction whip, passed by a majority of 58 to 12.
First Nativ emissary to Germany arriving this summer
By Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz June 4, 2008
Nativ, an organization that encourages immigration to Israel from former Soviet bloc countries, is to send its first emissary to German Jewish communities in about two months, after a delay of several months caused by opposition from the Jewish community and the German government.
…The Jewish Agency remains irate over the move. "It's a waste of resources, since the Jewish Agency is already operating there," an agency official said.
In about-face, government may open doors to Falashmura immigration
By Anshel Pfeffer, Haaretz June 3, 2008
In a reversal of its position, the government has decided to consider examining the eligibility for immigration of an additional 8,700 Falashmura.
But people at the meeting on the subject at the Prime Minister's Office on Sunday complained that the decision was politically motivated and contradicted the recommendations of professional bodies.
…Prime Minister Ehud Olmert recently agreed to reconsider the 2005 decision - even though the Interior Ministry representatives responsible for checking eligibility left Addis Ababa six months ago, in line with that decision. His staff is currently studying the issue, and Olmert is expected to make a final decision in a few weeks.
By Steve Lipman, www.thejewishweek.com June 4, 2008
UJC informed major Jewish federations in April that earmarked funds from the $160 million Operation Promise fundraising campaign, launched three years ago, would run out at the end of May. Part of the money went to Jewish communities in the former Soviet Union.
Portman avoids Falash Mura issue
By Ruth Eglash, Jpost.com June 6, 2008
Hollywood actress Natalie Portman, who was born in Israel and is known for her commitment to Jewish values, visited Ethiopia this week in order to gain a greater understanding of the trials and tribulations faced by Ethiopian immigrants as they adjust to life in Israel, The Jerusalem Post has learned.
They only appear to be supporters
By Colette Avital, Haaretz Opinion June 3, 2008
MK Colette Avital (Labor) served as Israel's Consul General in New York.
The Israeli public is so thirsty for love that it becomes very excited by the support it gets from Christian groups;
this is the case when the support comes in the form of political support or in the form of millions of dollars in cash that flows generously to various causes in Israel, some of them questionable.
Yad Vashem urges Latin Patriarch to maintain Schindler's grave
Yad Vashem has appealed to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem to maintain the graveside of the internationally-renowned Holocaust hero Oskar Schindler following complaints by survivors that the site was in need of maintenance and upkeep, Israel's Holocaust Memorial said Monday.
The Latin Patriarchate is charged with the upkeep of the cemetery.
Tel Aviv dedicates first gay municipal community center
By Ofri Ilani, Haaretz June 5, 2008
A mezuzah painted the colors of the gay pride flag was affixed yesterday to the doorpost of the Dov Hoz School building in Tel Aviv. For years, the building housed the elementary school of the Labor party elite. Then it housed a vocational high school.
As of yesterday, the old building became home to a new organization, the first such in Tel Aviv: a municipal center for the gay community.
"Every person, whoever he may be, was created in the image of God," said Conservative Rabbi David Lazar, as he recited the blessing over the mezuzah. "And therefore this place is not just a house for the community, but a house of God," he said.
Shas city councilor sees red over Gay Pride in TA
By Yigal Hai, Haaretz June 5, 2008
Tel Aviv councilor Doron Levy (Shas) yesterday filed a police complaint against the municipality for holding the Gay Pride parade in violation of the law, which prohibits advertising, organizing and displaying abomination.
The city spokesman commented:
"Tel Aviv has always been a free, liberal, pluralistic and tolerant city that respects all its residents and will remain so."
Councilor Itai Pinkas, a leader of the gay community, said the complaint was a "pathetic attempt to prevent the parade."
Religious MK’s take anti-Pride steps in Jerusalem
By Shahar Ilan and Yigal Hai, Haaretz June 5, 2008
A group of right-wing and religious MKs decided yesterday to promote an amendment to the Jerusalem Basic Law banning the Gay Pride parade from taking place in the city.
The bill was submitted last year and passed its preliminary Knesset reading.
They also decided to protest the parade, scheduled for June 26, by holding 10 mass demonstrations across the capital the day of the parade.
National Union faction whip MK Uri Ariel said "the majority of Jerusalemites find the Pride parade intolerable, and it shouldn't take place anywhere. But, at least, leave Jerusalem alone."
Rabbinic Court head supports use of prenuptial agreements
By Matthew Wagner, Jpost.com June 3, 2008
Rabbi Eliyahu Ben-Dahan, administrative head of the Rabbinic Courts, recently expressed his support for prenuptial agreements as a potentially important remedy to the tragic situation of agunot.
Careful to sidestep a potential confrontation with Rabbinic Court judges who oppose the use of prenuptials, Ben-Dahan made it clear that his comments expressed his personal opinion and were not to be construed as representing the official Rabbinic Court policy.
Wiessman may exit stores in ultra-Orthodox areas
By Nati Toker and Adi Dovrat, Haaretz June 5, 2008
Blue Square chairman Dudi Wiessman may be planning to sell about ten branches of the company's Shefa Shuk supermarket chain, located in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods, say sources close to the versatile businessman.
Wiessman himself says he intends to pull out of his involvement in the ultra-Orthodox sector, following the boycott declared against Shefa Shuk due to the operation of Wiessman's AM:PM convenience store chain on Shabbat.
The two chains are not related except by ownership.
Haredis, who live off of dollar donations, set their own exchange rate
By Haaretz Staff and Channel 10 June 4, 2008
The sinking rate of the U.S. dollar against the shekel has profoundly affected the ultra-Orthodox, many of whom survive off of donations from the United States.
The dollar rebounded very slightly on Wednesday, trading at 3.322 shekels after dropping last week to its lowest rate in 11 years.
But some Haredi communities have found a clever solution to combat their shrinking budgets.
In Bnei Brak and in ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods in Jerusalem, a second economy has sprouted, where the dollar is set at four shekels.
Fear and loathing in Beitar Illit
By Tamar Rotem, Haaretz June 6, 2008
For two weeks now, the streets of Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) Beitar Illit have been rife with tension. Bulletins have been posted throughout the city, denouncing problematic youths and sowing panic.
Residents have taken to the streets to demand that the troublemakers be expelled from the city, riots have erupted and rumors have spread.
…According to official municipal figures, Beitar Illit's current population numbers some 38,800, 63 percent of whom are minors.
In this small city, however, there is no alternative educational framework for youngsters who do not find their place in the Haredi system. There are no professional learning tracks, no sports, no facilities.
“…The Ashkenazim don't want us in the town. I was born in this town, but I'm Sephardic. They don't give me or my parents the permit we need to buy an apartment, just because we are not Hasidim."
Book Week, with a Haredi twist
By Yair Ettinger, Haaretz June 5, 2008
The secular Hebrew Book Week has been adopted by the ultra-Orthodox, hand over fist.
Under the auspices of the Hamodia newspaper, the fourth Jewish Book Week opened this week at an events hall in Jerusalem, where separate hours have been arranged for women and men, in addition to more veteran book fairs operating at shopping centers in Jerusalem and Bnei Brak.
Jail Time and Fine for Operator of Kol HaEmet Radio
By Yechiel Spira, www.theyeshivaworld.com June 5, 2008
The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday sentenced Rabbi Shmuel Ben-Atar to nine months in prison and a NIS 100,000 fine for illegally operating the Kol HaEmet Radio station.
The rabbi was found guilty of a number of offenses including broadcasting without a license, illegal operation of a telegraph device and using radio frequencies without authorization, which communications ministry officials stated posed a danger to air traffic.
Air Force Compels Frum Jews to Remove Beards and Payos
By Yechiel Spira , www.theyeshivaworld.com June 5, 2008
Sadly, cadets entering the IDF’s pilot training program are prohibiting from keeping or growing beards and payos, and on day-one of the elite course, they are compelled to remove them in the presence of a base non-commissioned officer.
The Office of the IDF Spokesperson responded to the report stating that the air force and the pilot program “have maintained a unified appearance for years.
There is no trend to remove beards or payos elsewhere in the IDF or even in the air force. Quite the contrary – chareidim are serving in different units and are respected.
The issue of the pilot training program will be investigated again by the air force’s commander.”
Lawyer for Jailed Pioneer to Appeal on Tuesday
By Hillel Fendel, israelnationalnews.com June 8, 2008
Rivka Meirchik, 29, from Kiryat Ata near Haifa, was arrested during one of the violent evictions of the Shvut Ami outpost in Samaria over two months ago.
She, like others before her, has refused to recognize the authority of a Jewish court system in the Land of Israel that refuses to recognize Jewish rights to the Land.
She therefore has not posted a bond guaranteeing her presence at future court sessions, nor has she cooperated in any way with the legal system.
Balaniyot Outraged Over Jerusalem Religious Council Decision
By Yechiel Spira, www.theyeshivaworld.com June 4, 2008
The women in charge of Yerushalayim mikvaot are outraged over the implementation of a cost-saving plan which they say is resulting in deterioration in the condition of women’s mikvaos in the capital.
By Michael Green, Jpost.com June 8, 2008
Making that connection is the mission Judelman has been on since he and other religious Jews set up the Torah and Ecology program at Simchat Shlomo in 2006.
A number of the yeshiva's graduates [are] staffing the SPNI's Derech Hateva environmental education program, as well as the New York-based eco-NGO Hazon ("Vision").
Religious texts to become available online for free
By Ofri Ilani, Haaretz June 5, 2008
Thousands of Jewish religious and other texts in Hebrew will be made available online for the first time by Bar-Ilan University, as part of an initiative sponsored by President Shimon Peres.
The texts, which will be accessible via a special search engine, will be funded by donations raised by Peres.
The works slated for inclusion in the project will be selected by academics from Bar-Ilan and other universities over the next few months.
In addition, a section of the data us Hebrew texts, spanning the timeline from the Enlightenment until the modern era. The database will only include texts whose authors have been dead for over 70 years, and whose copyright has become available to the public.
The Web site operators, however, plan to make excerpts of more recently written texts available to Internet surfers with the approval of the authors. Such excerpts will feature links to the publishers' Web sites where the books may be purchased in their entirety.
June 9, 2008 (Section 2) (continued from Section 1)
Editor – Joel Katz
Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.
