October 6, 2008 (Section 2) (continued from Section 1)
Editor – Joel Katz
Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.
Protestors support targeted Sternhell
By Ronen Medzini, www.ynetnews.com October 2, 2008
"Our coming together here on this day is not fortuitous.
The Fast of Gedalia is the only Jewish holy day that does not center on foreign enemies, but rather on domestic actions," said Kariv, adding that it was imperative to learn from the past.
"We are here to warn that if we do not have the presence of mind to stop the violent zealots, we will find ourselves in the same situation the Jews were after the destruction (of the first Temple in Jerusalem) following the murder of Gedalia son of Achikam, or alternately, where Israeli society was 12 years ago after the murder of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin."
Sneh's new party calls for religious equality
By Gil Hoffman www.jpost.com October 6, 2008
The platform on matters of religion and state, which was written by former Shinui MK Erella Golan, calls for equating all the Jewish religious streams in the law and granting full rights to everyone who arrived by the Law of Return without the need to convert to Judaism.
"In my view, if someone's mother is gentile, but he served three years in the Golani Brigade, he doesn't need a religious procedure to become an Israeli with full rights," Sneh said.
Petition to Pressure Israel on Status of Progressive Rabbi
www.wupj.org October 2, 2008
The Israel Religious Action Center is circulating a petition calling on the State of Israel to immediately recognize and pay the salary of Rabbi Miri Gold, who serves as the spiritual leader of Birkat Shalom, a Progressive congregation at Kibbutz Gezer, half-way between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
It is also calling on the state to do the same for all of her non-Orthodox peers, and to provide equal funding for all streams of Judaism.
So far, only Orthodox rabbis receive government salaries for jobs such as pulpit work, officiating at weddings and burials, and kashrut supervision.
By Hila Shay Vazan www.ynetnews.com October 1, 2008
…The high school principal refused to respond and directed us to the Modiin Municipality's spokesperson, who said that "nothing is stopping those who wish to put on tefillin at the school privately and personally.
The student was asked not to bring his tefillin to school and to persuade others to join him."
Secular Israelis Accept Orthodox Services
By Nathan Jeffay www.forward.com October 2, 2008
…For Yom Kippur, Tzohar’s program is known as Praying Together, and Tzohar expects to offer it to 50,000 people this year — double the number from just five years ago.
The services, which are run by some 2,000 rabbis, yeshiva and seminary students, and young couples recruited by Tzohar, are informal and, most importantly, free of charge.
TV Interview with Itay Epshtain, Director Alma Haifa and Special Projects
www.jpost.com October 1, 2008
Alma institute offers alternative 'slichot' in Yarkon Park
Jpost.com staff www.jpost.com October 1, 2008
Tel Aviv's Alma Home for Hebrew Culture is organizing an alternative slichot event tonight at the Wohl Amphitheater in Yarkon Park on Thursday.
The evening of study and music, held in the open under the autumn night sky, offers a mixture of traditional and modern liturgy with Hebrew songs of introspection and yearning.
…Calderon notes that, over the past decade, "Israelis who do not define themselves as 'religious' and for whom the synagogue does not play a central role in their lives, have returned to the custom of slichot - prayers of atonement.
This year's gathering will features lectures by Calderon ("The lure of the forbidden - on the nature of sin in Talmudic stories") and Yair Lapid ("Jacob and Esau - the forgiveness that never was"), and live music by Abate, Shem Tov Levy and Rona Kenan, performing traditional and modern arrangements of songs of prayer and liturgy.
Mayoral candidate promises more non-kosher delis
By Nitsan Yanko www.ynetnews.com October 3, 2008
Is Genadi Borshevsky the new hope of secular residents of the central city of Petah Tikva? At least according to his platform he is.
Borshevsky, a council member on behalf of Yisrael Beiteinu, promises to allow the opening of stores selling pork in the city center and to operate public transportation on Shabbat.
"I am certain and believe that the entire public in the city from all streams should be respected, and I believe this should all be done in mutual agreement.
However, it's unthinkable that people want to travel somewhere on Shabbat and are not allowed to do so."
Hadash says may build church in Carmiel
By Galit Peri www.ynetnews.com October 3, 2008
The Hadash movement on Thursday presented its first ever Arab list for the upcoming municipal elections Carmiel, vowing to work for the establishment of a church in the northern city, if needed.
…The third point is caring for the different groups which have special needs in Carmiel, like Christian new immigrants, Arabs in the city and the freedom of religion and culture."
"There are thousands of Christians living in the city of Carmiel in underground conditions without freedom of religion and ritual, and it's about time they get this right to freedom as all other religions in the country."
Will you work to build a church in the city?
"If needed, we'll definitely want to build a church and focus on the celebration of Christian holidays in the city.
We want life in Carmiel to be kind to people of other religions, alongside cooperation and coexistence with the Jewish population in the city.
‘Get’ - 15 years after husband's disappearance
By Miriam Bulwar David-Hay www.jpost.com October 6, 2008
The Netanya Rabbinical Court recently took the unusual step of hiring a firm of private detectives recently to track down a husband who disappeared 15 years ago, leaving his estranged wife an "aguna", reports www.mynet.co.il
And the rabbinate's efforts proved successful.
The husband was eventually found in Beersheba, from where, with the help of police, he was brought back to Netanya to give the woman a divorce.
Status of Jewish women was better in the Middle Ages than now, says Prof Naomi Cohen
By Elana Sztokman www.blog.elanasztokman.com October 3, 2008
Current rabbinic attitudes towards women have in some ways regressed in the modern era, argued Professor Naomi Cohen, speaking to a packed crowd at the Annual Leah Globe Memorial Evening of Mavoi Satum in Jerusalem.
One of the key initiatives for change is the program for the Alternative Beit Din, a plan in collaboration between Mavoi Satum, Kolech, and Neemanei Torah Va’avodah to start a religious court that is outside of the state bureaucratic apparatus.
“We need a system that is not just outside the Beit Din but also has a whole different way of thinking – an openness, tolerance, and an understanding of modern society,” said Kahana Dror.
Rabbi Haim Druckman: The 'darling' of religious Zionism
By Matthew Wagner www.jpost.com September 25, 2008
Occasionally, due to circumstances beyond their control, some public figures break out of their roles as run-of-the-mill institutional heads and become an embodiment of a cause.
That is precisely what happened to Rabbi Haim Druckman, outgoing head of the National Conversion Authority.
Druckman's nearly overnight metamorphosis into the darling of religious Zionism was the direct result of an unprecedented attack launched on him by Rabbi Avraham Sherman, a member of the High Rabbinical Court.
Expanded Diaspora affairs ministry may be on tap
By Haviv Rettig www.jpost.com October 6, 2008
The Post has learned that no Diaspora-related issues, including questions of religion and state, have been raised in the current coalition negotiations.
The Post has learned, however, of a meeting Monday morning between Yehezkel and the part-time Diaspora Affairs Minister Isaac Herzog (whose primary portfolio is Welfare and Social Services) at which the two will discuss fashioning a new Diaspora Affairs Ministry.
The new Diaspora affairs minister, under a plan conceived in the Prime Minister's Office some three months ago, would combine many of these functions - combating anti-Semitism, promoting Jewish identity inside and out of Israel, managing Masa and other agencies, and the day-to-day connection to the Diaspora - into one permanent cabinet-level position.
By Lynn Harris www.nextbook.org September 26, 2008
I've been screamed at before.
Protests at abortion clinics leap to mind; I've held signs, silently, as the more vocal among the anti-abortion activists howled and shouted the rosary, the volume of their clamor matching the depth of their conviction.
But I’d never been screamed at like this before. And this time, I was the one trying to pray.
…This particular service was the monthly gathering put together by Women of the Wall (WOW), an interdenominational group that has fought since 1988 in courts and in situ to allow women to pray as a group at the Kotel, wearing tallitot, and handling, being called to, and reading from Torah.
By Neta Sela www.ynetnews.com September 30, 2008
As before every Rosh Hashana, a campaign was held at the Western Wall in recent days to clean the stones from the thousands of notes placed between them every day by the many visitors.
The cleaning campaign was held to mark the tradition of "Yashan mipnei chadash totzi'u" (remove the old because of the new – Leviticus 26:10)
Orthodox join growing Israeli trend of spending Yom Kippur in hotels
By Eli Ashkenazi www.haaretz.com October 6, 2008
Israelis in growing numbers, including the Orthodox, are choosing to spend Yom Kippur in hotels and inns.
A Haaretz study shows that resort villages in the Galilee and the Golan Heights which will be open on the Day of Atonement this Wednesday night and Thursday are reporting an average of 60 percent occupancy.
Women look for shidduch in synagogues
By Tova Dadon www.ynetnews.com October 4, 2008
A new phenomenon has emerged during the penitential prayers held in the southern city of Kiryat Gat after midnight:
Young girls arrive in masses at the synagogues' women's gallery, and while seeking forgiveness for sins they committed over the past year, they search for potential mates among at the young men praying at the temple.
Meanwhile, the boys appear to cooperate, many of them telling of dates which take place at the end of the prayers.
Chief Rabbi: False use of kippa despicable
By Neta Sela www.ynetnews.com September 30, 2008
"I cannot judge someone's heart," said Rabbi Metzger.
"If someone has committed a crime and truly wished to repent, it is, by all means, the right thing to do; but this new thing we're seeing, where killers are arrested and then they wear a kippa when appearing before the judge, is despicable.
"It is an abuse of religion and a complete disregard of the judges' intelligence," he said.
By Kobi Nahshoni www.ynetnews.com October 3, 2008
Enrollment has long since been suspended, and both students and faculty have come to terms with seeing the curtain close on the yeshiva in Kibbutz Ein-Tzurim.
Considered the flagship rabbinical school of the religious kibbutz movement, the decision to close down the yeshiva was not an easy one.
…The proliferation of hesder yeshivas and pre-army prep institutions (mechinot) both contributed to the loss of interest in the yeshiva's once unique program.
As shmita ends, gardeners gear up for hard work
By Eli Ashkenazi www.haaretz.com October 3, 2008
"I have to relearn how to hold a hoe," joked Haim Step, who is responsible for beautifying the gardens at Lavi, a religious kibbutz in the lower Galilee.
Step had waited eagerly for the end of the shmita (sabbatical) year, during which the fields must lie fallow, according to Jewish law.
Now that the new year is here, he said, he expects to find a lot of work waiting for him.
Contrary to popular belief, which holds that shmita is a year of rest for farmers, Amra said that "from the point of view of work, the shmita year is a regular work year.
We continued to produce saplings, but we had a strange feeling - we worked and worked, but the saplings remained here and were not distributed.
But at the same time, shmita is a good and healthy thing for nature, because it is a year of rest for the soil."
Religious Jews sign prozbul, promise to pay off debts
By Yair Ettinger www.haaretz.com October 3, 2008
The end of shmita - the sabbatical year during which, according to Jewish law, the land must lie fallow - was marked by a rare event in Jewish communities around the world: the signing of a prozbul, a document that enables loans to be collected even though all debts are supposed to be forgiven during shmita.
…Though the commandment of doing away with debts is in fact null and void, this year, certain members of the religious Zionist movement tried to "revive" it.
The Torah and Land Institute, along with the Pa'amonim charitable association, conducted a national campaign over the past few weeks to collect money from the public as "loans."
Russian immigrants explore their Jewishness at Limmud event in Israel
By Dina Kraft www.jpost.com October 2, 2008
Interest in the event, which had to be expanded after hundreds more than expected registered for it, reflects a growing curiosity among immigrants to Israel from the former Soviet Union about their Jewish heritage.
Almost 20 years since the historic immigration of some 1 million Jews to Israel began, immigrants both old and young are examining their Jewish identity as they try to make sense of their place in the Jewish state.
Russia's chief rabbi: Living in Israel weakens faith
By Neta Sela www.ynetnews.com October 2, 2008
Russia's Chief Rabbi Berel Lazar has harsh words for Israeli society, particularly the ultra-Orthodox community, in regards to its treatment of Russian Jews who immigrated to Israel.
…Lazar says that the reason for the failure of Russian integration is the fact that the immigrants were not prepared for their new lives, as well as the cold shoulder they got from the haredi community.
This, he said, pushed them into the embrace of Israel's secular public.
…"Even the gentiles understand that religion is not meant to be divisive, and it's a shame that not all Jews understand this.
The official recognition helps our struggle against Reform and Conservative sects, who seek to take over Judaism."
Israelis guard Haredis' return from Kiev
By Zohar Blumenkrantz www.haaretz.com October 3, 2008
On Rosh Hashanah eve, advertisements showing scantily-dressed women were removed from Ben-Gurion Airport to spare the Hasids' feelings as they passed through.
The duty-free shops also removed pictures and advertisements that might embarrass the ultra-Orthodox pilgrims.
The Airports Authority also prepared special compounds for the Hasids' check-in and security checks, set up separate passport control counters and stationed ushers to help maintain order.
In addition, it set aside prayer areas and offices for the pilgrims' travel agents in the airport.
At the Hasids' request, the authority also delivered special kosher food to Ukraine, on top of the single food box each traveler was allowed to take on the plane.
By Israel Bardugo, Uman www.ynetnews.com October 6, 2008
Some 20,000 Israelis visited Rabbi Nachman's grave in the Ukrainian city of Uman, which became an Israeli town for a week.
Ynet photographer Israel Bardugo spent the Jewish New Year with Breslov Hasidim and prayed as part of a Chabad quorum.
Here is a peek into his festive journey.
Jewish-Christian NPO paid exec $824,000 salary
By Anshel Pfeffer www.haaretz.com October 3, 2008
According to the tax return, the IFCJ raised $75 million in 2007, out of which it distributed some $42 million in donations to various programs and paid $30 million in wages and administrative expenses.
An IFCJ spokesman in Chicago told Haaretz:
"Rabbi Eckstein's wages were just a little more than $400,000. Another sum of $400,000 was put into a pension fund for him, because until now, no pension allocations had been made for him.
In light of this, his salary is reasonable for an American charity of this magnitude.
We have an independent board of trustees that sets Rabbi Eckstein's wages according to the accepted norms for large Jewish organizations in the U.S."
October 6, 2008 (Section 2) (continued from Section 1)
Editor – Joel Katz
Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.
