Monday, September 15, 2008

Religion and State in Israel - September 15, 2008 (Section 1)

Religion and State in Israel

September 15, 2008 (Section 1) (continues in Section 2 & Section 3)

Editor – Joel Katz

Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.


Reform Movement calls Tal Law deal 'outrageous'

By Matthew Wagner, www.jpost.com September 15, 2008


Volunteer work with Chabad Lubavitch will be recognized as a legitimate alternative to IDF service under the Tal Law, which allows young haredi men to contribute to the state without doing army duty.

Encouraging fellow Jews to wear tefillin or to light Shabbat candles will not be recognized as national service, but aiding the sick and poor and helping young boys prepare for their bar mitzvas will be.

Rabbi Gilad Kariv of the Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), the Reform Movement's legal arm, called the deal with Chabad "outrageous."

"It is scandalous that an organization which preaches religious adherence is receiving recognition and funding from the state to be an alternative to IDF service," said Kariv.

"I have nothing against Chabad per se. But the state has no right to substitute blatantly religious activity for mandatory military service. There must be clear criteria for national service that is devoid of religious content.

"The haredim have been given enough shortcuts with the Tal Law. This is going too far. We will fight it in court."


Minister Ayalon: Increase number of haredim in National Service

By Roni Sofer, www.ynetnews.com September 11, 2008

Minister Ami Ayalon is expected to ask cabinet to sanction a new four-year program aimed at increasing the number of ultra-Orthodox who volunteer for National Service.

Minister Ayalon, who holds the National Service Portfolio, said his proposal in meant to advance the implementation of the previous government decisions to that effect, such as the Tal Act.

Ayalon wants to have 2,000 haredim enlist in the service every year by 2012, as opposed to the 200 who volunteer today.


Ashkenazim, Sephardim fight over Chief Rabbinate appointments

By Matthew Wagner, www.jpost.com September 15, 2008


A dispute between Sephardi and Ashkenazi rabbis over the appointment of Shas mentor Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's son has prevented the two camps from joining forces to take control of the Chief Rabbinate's governing council.

Next Tuesday, a voting body of 150 rabbis and public servants will convene to vote for the Chief Rabbinate's governing council (Moetzet Harabanut Harashit), the final authority on issues such as criteria for kosher supervision, deciding who is a Jew for the purpose of marriage and the appointment of new rabbis and marriage registrars.


Candidates Line Up for Chief Rabbinate Council Elections

By Hillel Fendel, www.israelnationalnews.com September 11, 2008

Elections for the Chief Rabbinate Council will be held in less than two weeks, and candidates are lining up.

The Chief Rabbinate Council is the supreme public religious body in Israel, entrusted with determining policy on many religious issues.

It comprises 16 rabbis: Six permanent members - the two Chief Rabbis of Israel, and the Chief Rabbis of Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa and Be'er Sheva - and ten other rabbis.

It is these last ten seats that will be filled in the coming elections.


Shas Supports Merkaz Rosh Yeshiva for Nation’s Torah Council

By Yechiel Spira, www.theyeshivaworld.com September 11, 2008

In a meeting this week… the [Shas] forum decided that among the names of rabbis it will support for the Chief Rabb

inate National Council of Rabbonim is HaGaon Rabbi Yaakov Shapira Shlita, the rosh yeshiva of Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva in Yerushalayim to fill one of the five slots for Ashkenazi rabbonim.


Egged Mehadrin Bus Lines

By Jonathan Cook, www.thenational.ae September 8, 2008

The Israel Religious Action Center is currently petitioning the Supreme Court to force the national bus company, Egged, and the transport ministry to end their official co-operation with the practice on 30 routes. 

Many additional routes are informally segregated, enforced by ultra-Orthodox passengers.

“We do not, in principle, dispute the right of the Haredim to demand segregated buses inside their own communities,” [Einat Hurvitz] said. 

“But our petition is designed to stop Egged and the transport ministry from using public funds to enforce segregation on services open to the general public.”

Ministry officials have washed their hands of the issue, saying the mehadrin lines are the outcome of agreements between Egged and the Haredim. 

However, the court has ordered a response to the petition from both Egged and the transport ministry by the end of this month.

Ms Hurvitz said a growing number of bus routes between major towns have become segregated in the past few years following demands from ultra-Orthodox passengers, although none is marked as segregated.

“Egged has caved in because it knows that the Haredim feel strongly enough that they will stop using the services and set up their own unlicensed bus lines. 

It also knows that in most cases the non-Haredi public has no choice but to carry on using the lines, even when they are segregated.”


UK rabbi helps woman refused divorce

By Neta Sela, www.ynetnews.com September 11, 2008


Ynet recently received a document describing the ordeal of a woman whose husband refused to grant her a divorce for five years.

The husband declared he would never give his wife a divorce, the judges in Israel's religious courts were indifferent, and then the man fled to Britain with the help of his family, leaving her to take care of their disabled daughter.

The woman thought she would remain abandoned forever, until Rabbi Yisroel Yaakov Lichtenstein of London entered the picture.

So can the solution for abandoned women in Israel only come from rabbis abroad? Here is something for Israel's religious judges to think about.


Violence isn’t grounds for ‘get’ (Hebrew article)

By Batya Kahana-Dror, www.acheret.co.il 

Issue Number 46 July-August 2008


From agunah to freedom

By Elana Maryles Sztokman, www.jpost.com September 11, 2008

See also blog posts at http://blog.elanasztokman.com/


It doesn't happen all that often, but I recently received a phone call that filled me with hope and optimism.

My friend Sara, who had been an agunah for over six years, whose story is saturated with some of the most painful and trying aspects of human manipulation and abuse, called to tell me she has remarried and has a baby.

I must admit, there were times when I never thought she would reach this point.

"You see," she said, "miracles do happen."


Tzohar on Halachic and Civil Marriage

By Hillel Fendel, www.israelnationalnews.com September 11, 2008

The Tzohar Rabbis Organization calls on the members of the [Chief Rabbinate Council] voting body to consider the following points when making their decision:

It must strive to increase Jews' desire to marry according to Jewish Law, and to address the matter of those who cannot establish a home in the framework of Jewish Law.

Rabbi Stav, contacted by IsraelNationalNews, explained that the reference is to the 300,000 non-Jews who are not registered as having any religion.

"If we don't give an answer to all these people who live here and allow them to marry each other, then the situation will explode and there will be civil marriages in the whole country."

He emphasized that he was not referring to Jews who are not permitted to marry specific types of women.


Mavoi Satum honors Prof Naomi Cohen

By Elana Maryles Sztokman, www.kolech.org.il September 15, 2008

Leading Orthodox feminist scholar and activist Prof. Naomi Cohen of Haifa is this year's honoree at the annual Leah Globe (z"l) dinner of Mavoi Satum , the organization providing legal, rabbinic and social services to agunot.

What changes would you like to see in the future?

Religiously, I would like to see a change from the conceptualization of women as a “purchase” (kinyan) of the man. 

This is the starting point for dealing with the halakhic root of the problem of agunot, both in the classic and the modern sense.


Rabbinical Courts Most Wanted List



Gavison on Haredim and a Jewish State

By Abe Selig, www.jpost.com September 14, 2008

 Hebrew University of Jerusalem law professor and former Winograd Committee member Ruth Gavison:

"The haredim are unwilling to introduce core citizenship studies and integrate into the economy and society," Gavison said on Sunday.

"And a significant number of them do not serve in the army and are not integrated into the workforce. This trend was recently backed by the political system for coalition considerations.

"I want the haredim to be educated in a way that they are integrated and they accept the principles of the state in which they are citizens. That does not include Jewish theocracy."


Girl admitted to Haredi School under court order

By Neta Sela, www.ynetnews.com September 10, 2008

Following several days of uncertainty, a child that was initially denied entrance to an ultra-Orthodox school was finally allowed to attend, as the result of a court order.

On Tuesday, Tel Aviv's administrative court ordered the Beit Yaakov School in the central city of Elad to admit the child to the first grade.

The child's parents asked for the court's intervention after their child was denied entry, apparently due to the family's "oriental descent."

…Four other girls who were not accepted by the school have remained home without a scholastic framework.

The five girls appealed to the Education Ministry, and although the ministry ruled in their favor, the school itself has yet to supply an approval letter, admitting the girls to the school.


Ahavas Yisrael - Sadly, Not in Ramot!

By Yechiel Spira, www.theyeshivaworld.com September 12, 2008

With Rosh Hashanah only a number of weeks away, one can only lament the realities surrounding the situation in Ramot A regarding a Dati Leumi school being used to provide a [temporary] solution for the Beis Yaakov system.

The battle being waged over a Ramot A school building will without a doubt leave bad memories for all concerned as parents battle it out on the streets, City Hall, and in court, compelling the students to ‘take side’ against one another.


Acheinu Reports 1,200 Students Enrolled at Torah Institutions

By Yechiel Sever, www.chareidi.shemayisrael.com September 11, 2008

Following a summary meeting, organization heads announced that 5768 brought an increase of over 20 percent in the number of placements at Torah-based schools and yeshivas. 


'Kiryat Yovel may soon become Bnei Brak'

By Lia Levin, www.ynetnews.com September 9, 2008

The residents of Kiryat Yovel in Jerusalem are on a mission: To stop their neighborhood from becoming ultra-Orthodox.

"This neighborhood should be a pluralistic neighborhood with secular and national religious residents. 
In one month, the haredim have managed to cause so much tension in this city, something we haven't seen in years… 
If we lose Kiryat Yovel, we'll lose the entire city," says Michael Ben-Avi, director-general of the communal administration.

…There are 17,500 people living in Kiryat Yovel today, including 350 ultra-Orthodox families, 200 of whom only arrived in the neighborhood this year. 

This has caused a public debate on issues which have been penetrating the neighborhood below the surface for three years now.


Gavison: Zionist education is critical to state's survival

By Abe Selig, www.jpost.com September 14, 2008

Students in Israel's education system are unaware of the importance of a Jewish state and do not know why the fight for its very existence is still going on, according to Hebrew University of Jerusalem law professor and former Winograd Committee member Ruth Gavison.

"In a state like Israel, educational policy should reflect the national, religious and cultural plurality, but also the joint objectives of the entire state," Gavison said in her speech.

"In practice, Israel gives predominance to a multitude of minority groups, and fails to sufficiently stress the joint civil core, and the education for a rich identity of the Jewish-Zionist enterprise's key group - the Zionist group which does not observe mitzvot.


Israeli women fear writing on the wall

By Jonathan Cook, www.thenational.ae September 8, 2008

Einat Hurvitz, of the Israel Religious Action Center, associated with the more liberal Reform Judaism movement, said modesty patrols have probably been a feature of Haredi life for decades.

But she said there was a growing trend of religious extremism among the ultra-Orthodox, as well as more generally in Israeli society. 

“Older ultra-Orthodox women report that their daughters cannot wear clothes that they themselves wore when they were their age,” she said.

She said that in most Haredi communities men and women remain strictly separate in public places, with examples of segregated shops and even pavements. 


Even among the ultra-Orthodox

By Shahar Ilan, www.haaretz.com Opinion September 12, 2008

Clearly, every family has the right to bring as many children as it likes into the world. But it does not have a right to require the taxpayer to pay for them.

In the past, the taxpayer paid for most of the cost of raising Haredi children. Today, thanks to the cut in the subsidies, he pays for a smaller and fairer share. 

…Thus for all the hardship it caused, reducing the allowances was evidently the correct way to extricate the Haredi sector from the trap of poverty, and integrate it into the Israeli economy.

We must therefore reject the Shas party's demand that we turn back the clock on the allowances.


Rabbis black-list non-kosher music

By Wyre Davies www.news.bbc.co.uk September 12, 2008

"They are leading the public astray and are causing a great negative influence on the young generation," says Rabbi Efraim Luft, head of an ultra-orthodox organisation in Israel called the Committee for Jewish Music.

Supported by leading Haredi rabbis, Rabbi Luft has drawn up a black-list of musicians and bands - music that he says that is not kosher and cannot be played at ultra-orthodox weddings or public events because of its decadent nature.

Because of the loyal relationship between [ultra] orthodox Jews and their rabbis, the influence of bodies like the Committee for Jewish Music and the Guardians of Sanctity and Education is considerable.


A mission from Gad

By David Brinn, www.jpost.com September 11, 2008


"This is going to be a very, very special night," Shlomo told his rapt audience, "because tonight, for the first time in Caesarea, we have separate seating.

"Over here," he said, pointing to the left section "is only for men. The middle section will be mixed, and over on the right is the women's section.

…What he's attempting is no less than the reconciliation of religious and non-religious Jews around the world.

Gad Elbaz is on a mission from God, and he wants Jews to come together - over him.

"The fact there's religious and non-religious musicians and crew, and the fact that he pulled singers that are not religious but have religious souls together for one show I think is a major accomplishment by itself," he says, motioning toward the mix of people onstage.

"Tonight we have over 150 people working together to put on this religious show. Shlomo Gronich came to me and said, 'You've already done what you wanted to do.'"


Krias Kodesh for All to Follow Modesty Guidelines Established by Beis Din Mishmar HaTorah

By Yechiel Sever www.chareidi.shemayisrael.com September 11, 2008

"In our generation, unlike previous generations, many dams have burst, especially in matters of modest attire.

In the past the legacy was passed from mother to daughter and there was no need to explicate and clarify this matter, which was clearly understood, but in our times this situation has changed and now many outside influences have penetrated, even into the best homes, unfortunately…”


Yeshiva students demand religious newspapers on IDF bases

By Kobi Nahshoni, www.ynetnews.com September 11, 2008

Two yeshiva students who were discharged from service in the hesder program (combining advanced Talmudic studies with military service in the IDF), turned to the army, religious Knesset members and brochure editorial boards, with a request to allow them to disperse brochures to various military synagogues.

“As you know, the Ma’ariv, Yedioth Ahronoth and Haaretz newspapers are distributed free of charge to soldiers on various IDF bases,” they wrote in their plea.

“As people who served and are serving in the IDF, who read the distributed newspapers for lack of any other choice, we personally feel the great need to introduce diverse media into the IDF.”


Israel's Female Soldiers Face Military Inspection

By Brenda Gazzar, www.womensenews.org September 12, 2008


Israel's military has convened its first international conference to highlight women's integration in the last 60 years.

But most Israeli combat roles are off limits and activists say there is still room for progress in tackling "inbuilt chauvinism."

Proponents of expansion face opposition, particularly from religious leaders and parliamentarians who oppose male and female soldiers mixing too closely.

…Naomi Chazan, a former parliamentarian who was instrumental in amending the 2000 service law, says women are still not being integrated into all combat roles they want due to "inbuilt chauvinism" in the army and pressure from national religious groups.


Religion and State in Israel

September 15, 2008 (Section 1) (continues in Section 2 & Section 3)

Editor – Joel Katz

Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.

Religion and State in Israel - September 15, 2008 (Section 2)

Religion and State in Israel

September 15, 2008 (Section 2) (continued from Section 1) (continues in Section 3)

Editor – Joel Katz

Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.


Time to ‘Retool’ Jewish Agency

By Stephen G. Donshik, www.thejewishweek.com Opinion September 10, 2008

Stephen Donshik, formerly director of the Israel Office of UJA-Federation of New York, has worked in Israel for 25 years in the area of Israel-Diaspora relations and international philanthropy. He now teaches and has a private consultation firm.


The Jewish Agency for Israel should be reengineered to be a “Foundation for the Jewish People” rather than a functional agency.

The emphasis would be on raising funds for the purpose of planning and providing the funding for programs to assist the Jewish people around the world. 

It would no longer be a provider of services.


'Only the Jewish Agency can connect the Jewish world'

By Haviv Rettig, www.jpost.com September 10, 2008


The Jewish Agency may have "outsourced" the important function of bringing aliya from the world's largest Jewish community, but it remains for the foreseeable future the only body connecting the diverse communities of the Jewish world together, according to agency director-general Moshe Vigdor.

The Jewish Agency's smart decision on aliyah

By Alex Sinclair, www.haaretz.com Opinion September 15, 2008

Dr. Alex Sinclair, who made aliyah in 1998, is a lecturer in Jewish Education at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies, as well as an adjunct assistant professor at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America.

Aliyah is a fine and wonderful thing to encourage. I've even done it myself.

Nefesh B'Nefesh should go from strength to strength. But the Jewish Agency's job must be to advocate for and initiate 21st century Israel education and engagement.

It is possible to create commitment to Israel through complexity and conversation. Let us stop negating the Diaspora and start talking with it.


Sheetrit: Nefesh takeover of N. American aliya shows Jewish Agency's ineptitude

By Gil Hoffman, www.jpost.com September 9, 2008

The Jewish Agency's agreement to allow Nefesh B'Nefesh to become the primary promoter of North American aliya to Israel shows that the Agency was "unable to handle" immigration from the US, Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit said Monday.

Nefesh B'Nefesh was doing a good job, so the Jewish Agency said 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em,'" Sheetrit told The Jerusalem Post.


Amidror: Stop spreading Judaism through street stands

By Kobi Nahshoni, www.ynetnews.com September 15, 2008

Jewish culture is thriving, tefillin stands are multiplying, but strengthening Judaism and the connection to our roots is mostly made possible in the academia, Major-General (Res.) Yaakov Amidror believes.

In a speech delivered last week he ruled that "those who think infiltrating Jewish values into the State's identity will be made through culture, or through street stands, is wrong. This influence will be sparse.

The main way to influence the character and identity of the State will be through the academia and research."


Ethiopian rabbi named head of Holocaust survivors' [synagogue]

By David Regev, www.ynetnews.com September 14, 2008

The odd visitor to the Kedoshei Israel [synagogue] in the southern city of Kiryat Gat may be in for a little surprise:

The rabbi presiding over the temple's ceremonies – which are largely attended by Holocaust survivors – is of Ethiopian descent.


Community religious leader becomes ‘kosher’ coacher

By Yael Eichenwald, www.ynetnews.com September 12, 2008

Finally you can deal with the problem and with yourselves in a series of meetings with the first “kosher” coacher – Rabbi Uriel Genzel.

The rabbi from the West Bank’s Revava settlement will train you to release yourselves from barriers and suffering while utilizing Jewish sources.


A conversation with Laizy Shapira, Srugim director

By ben, www.jerualemite.net September 14 2008


Laizy Shapira, 32, spent his childhood in Philadelphia, where his father served as a shaliach of the Jewish Agency. 

After moving back to Karnei Shomron, he served in a Hesder program for yeshiva studies combined with IDF service. 

Shapira graduated from Jerusalem's Ma'ale School of Television, Film and the Arts, the only communications production program in the country targeted towards observant Jews, when he was in his late 20s.

…An association with producer Yonatan Aroch eventually landed Shapira a deal to co-create, co-write (with long-time collaborator Chava Divon) and direct Srugim (literally, "knitted"), a surprise hit for Yes TV.

The show, which focuses on the lives of five central 30-something religious Jerusalemite bachelor and bachelorettes in a manner that is refreshing and clever, has taken Israeli pop culture by storm.


Don't worry about the Bible, it can take care of itself

By Michael Handelzalts, www.haaretz.com Opinion September 10, 2008

A move is afoot to publish the Bible in contemporary Hebrew. In other words, to translate the Bible into Hebrew. To rewrite it, in the same language, using different words.

I am not concerned about the Bible and its language, nor am I worried by contemporary Hebrew. 

They have enough admirers…Hebrew knows how to take care of itself. The Bible is eternal, due to its own merits. The only thing they have to fear is teachers with good intentions.


War of the worlds

By Tamar Rotem, www.haaretz.com September 12, 2008

Emunah College of Torah and Art in Jerusalem

"His Jewish insights are those of an artist who comes from a secular background.

The girls, young graduates of ulpanot, come with a world that is worded differently. It's an explosive encounter between two languages or behavioral codes.

Especially in the matter of revealing that which is personal, traumatic, psychological, which is the ABC of contemporary art. The ultra-Orthodox world lives behind masks and walls.

Within the religious world, some exposure is possible, but only to a moderate degree.

It's possible that the exposure was too aggressive, by teachers for whom the world of the college is a feminine world that they don't understand." 


Bnei Akiva recasts old kibbutz program

By Raphael Ahren, www.haaretz.com September 12, 2008


For the first time in over 20 years, a North American Bnei Akiva delegation has arrived in Israel for a one-year "hachshara" (pioneering preparatory) program.

The 23 young men and women from all over the U.S. and Canada joined about 300 other participants in similar programs from around the globe last week for a kick-off event in the Old City of Jerusalem. 


NewPharm Stores Close on Sabbath

By Hillel Fendel, www.israelnationalnews.com September 9, 2008

All 56 stores in Israel's 2nd-largest drugstore chain - NewPharm - will be closed on Sabbath by next month, its owner says.

Of the 56 NewPharm stores, 18 were open on Sabbath until early this year; seven of them were closed several months ago, and the remaining 11 will be closed by next month.

Shavit also owns a controlling interest in the giant HaMashbir LaTzarchan department store chain.  

In 2005, two years after he purchased it, Shavit closed its 30 stores on Sabbaths.


Tailoring an ancient law for today's world

By Yair Ettinger, www.haaretz.com September 10, 2008

This year, a new organization is combining the loan amnesty precept with charity.

The Israeli Fund for Loan Amnesty - Nedivei Eretz, established by the Torah & Land Institute and the Paamonim charitable association, has invited the public to observe the amnesty by depositing money with the fund as a loan that will be forgiven on the last day of the shmita year, which this year falls on September 29.

On that day, the loan will become a donation that will be given to needy families, religious and secular, to help them pay their debts. 


Israeli Stores That Sell Pork Products Bought Out By Orthodox Brothers

www.hamercaz.com September 10, 2008

The religious-owned "Almost for Free Warehouses" chain has bought up three non-Kosher "Tiv Taam" food stores, in order to put a stop to the sale of the non-Kosher meat and other products sold there.

Brothers Ronnie and Adi Tzim, owners of the Kim'at Chinam (Practically Free) chain, say they have no economic interest in buying the stores.  

They explain that their only goal is to rid the country of the sale of pig meat and other non-Kosher items Tiv Taam is noted for selling.  

Sources at the chain say the brothers continue seeking out other non-Kosher stores that they can acquire and make Kosher.

The newly-purchased stores are in Modiin, Nazareth Illit, and Haifa.  The changes at the Modiin store have already begun, with the Mashgichim of the Kashrus L'Mehadrin organization supervising the process.  T

he stores in Haifa and Nazareth Illit will undergo the same process in the coming weeks.


Shas' careless mistake

By Harel Peleg, www.ynetnews.com September 10, 2008

The haredi population of Tiberias was surprised to see a Shas banner – endorsing local faction leader and Acting Mayor Eli Zigdon in the upcoming municipal elections - hanging over a non-kosher deli earlier this week.


Jerusalem Municipality to Boost Enforcement of Proper Treatment of Chickens during Kaporos

By Yechiel Sever www.chareidi.shemayisrael.com September 11, 2008

Inquiries conducted in past years reveal that many of the suppliers of chickens for Kaporos do not adhere to the veterinary requirements for transporting and caging poultry birds destined for shechitoh and many are taken from one location to another, deliberately deceiving the public.


Parents angry over lack of kashrut on Poland trip

By Miriam Bulwar David-Hay, www.jpost.com September 11, 2008

Parents of students at one Ra'anana high school are furious that the youngsters were unable to obtain kosher food during their recent week-long visit to Poland, reportswww.local.co.il. 

A municipal spokesman said that out of the 127 students, five had requested kosher food in advance, and this had been prepared in Israel and supplied to them for the entire trip. 


Resting in peace?

By Aviva Lori, www.haaretz.com September 9, 2008

Two-level burial is one of the most efficient solutions to cemetery crowding to have been introduced in recent years.

It saves space, a valuable resource when it comes to cemeteries in Israel, and leaves plots available for future generations.

But this is only one side of the equation.

On the other side, there is money, lots of money. 


Gov't to continue Falash Mura aliya

By Ruth Eglash, www.jpost.com September 15, 2008

Interior Ministry representatives will continue checking the eligibility for aliya of some 3,000 Ethiopian Falash Mura, who claim that under a 2003 government directive they should be allowed to immigrate to Israel, the government announced Sunday.

The government's most recent decision will see the arrival in Israel each month of 100 families, a fall from the previous quota of 300.


Ethiopian community fights for aliyah

By Yael Branovsky, www.ynetnews.com September 14, 2008

The government's decision to approve the aliyah of a thousand more Falashmura from Ethiopia on Sunday did not do much to quell the protests on the part of the community's representatives in Israel.


Islamic Fundamentalism Threatens the Existence of Arab Christians in Jerusalem

www.infolive.tv September 8, 2008

Click here for VIDEO

Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other radical Islamic groups refuse to accept anyone else other than the Moslem population.

When they talk about waging a jihad against Israel they also refer to the Arab Christian population, this issue should be realized by the entire world.

Infolive.tv presents only a small example of a much greater problem, between Islamic fundamentalists and Jews and Christians.


Tourists may tread 'Pilgrim's Route,' visit W. Bank Christian sites by next year

By Irit Rosenblum, www.haaretz.com September 9, 2008

Some three million tourists are expected to visit Israel next year.

And when they arrive, they will discover a new "Pilgrim's Route" leading from Jerusalem to the Dead Sea.

Along the way, they will be able to visit the site where the New Testament story of the Good Samaritan took place; the Qumran caves; and the site where, according to the New Testament, John the Baptist baptized Jesus.


Religion and State in Israel

September 15, 2008 (Section 2) (continued from Section 1) (continues in Section 3)

Editor – Joel Katz

Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.