August 31, 2009 (Section 2) (continued from Section 1)
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Editor – Joel Katz
Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.
Haaretz Cartoon by Amos Biderman August 27, 2009
"Darkei Noam - Private religious elementary school"
"You can go to the School of Hard Knocks" (English edition)
“Not in our School” (Hebrew edition)
Petah Tikva schools ordered to take in Ethiopian students
By Or Kashti www.haaretz.com September 1, 2009
The Education Ministry, the Petah Tikva municipality and the three private religious schools that have refused to take in Ethiopian students have reached an agreement just 12 hours before the beginning of the school year.
According to the deal, 48 of the 110 students in question will begin studying at the three private schools without undergoing any vetting. Other students, however, will be allocated to schools not sponsored by the state, rather than to national-religious schools, which have so far absorbed most of the Ethiopian students.
In the deal, the three private schools - Lamerhav, Daat Mevinim and Darkei Noam - will take in 48 students: 30 of them already live in Petah Tikva and 18 are due to arrive in the coming weeks. The other 62 students will be sent to national-religious and fully-private ultra-Orthodox schools.
VIDEO: Compromise reached on Ethiopian pupils will allow them to attend religious schools
IBA TV www.jpost.com August 31, 2009
Schools to take in Ethiopian students
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef threatens Shas principals who refuse to accept Ethiopians
As Israel school year kicks off, Ethiopian kids can finally enroll
Education minister says ministry to monitor implementation of compromise
Rabbi Amar tells Sa'ar he cannot approve request on Ethiopian pupils
www.jpost.com August 31, 2009
Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar notified Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar on Monday morning that, according to Halacha, he cannot approve the ministry's request for some 100 students of Ethiopian origin to attend classes in secular schools and receive extra Judaism classes.
'Ethiopian students are in ghetto'
Petah Tikva: Ethiopian deal nixed by ministry
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef: Shas schools must accept pupils
Chief Rabbi: Ethiopian students can't be integrated for halakhic reasons
Aschalo still doesn't know where he will be studying
Private Petach Tikva religious schools lose state funding over refusal to enroll Ethiopian pupils
Ethiopian students' crisis: Petah Tikva schools to appeal budget cuts
Funding of Petah Tikva schools refusing Ethiopian students cut
Private Petach Tikva religious schools lose state funding over refusal to enroll Ethiopian pupils
Petah Tikva PTA rejects compromise on Ethiopian pupils
Compromise: Ethiopians to be accepted into Petah Tikva schools without exams
Schools that exclude Ethiopian immigrants could lose funding
Peres: Refusal to enroll Ethiopian students a disgrace no Israeli can accept
Ethiopians ask for Chief Rabbis' help
Ministry to fine schools that deny Ethiopian students
Petah Tikva schools won't budge on accepting kids of Ethiopian immigrants
Settlers offer to take in Ethiopian students from Petah Tikva
'What does it matter that we're black?' ask Ethiopian students
Patches on the education minister's eyes
By Amnon de Hartoch www.haaretz.com Opinion September 1, 2009
The writer is an attorney specializing in education law and a former head of the Justice Ministry's funds-allocation division.
The destruction of state education started years ago, immediately after Israel's leaders decided to allocate public funds to private schools.
The first to gnaw at state education was the ultra-Orthodox system, whose leaders demanded complete autonomy for their schools. But the state's leaders were responsible for this; they agreed because of their lust for power.
Then came the national-religious, who demanded in the name of equality - and received - permission to establish their own private schools. This is how religious state education collapsed.
Then came various secular groups, who set up several private schools of their own.
…With these patches on our eyes everyone knows what the final stop is - wiping out state education in Israel.
High Court of Justice Orders Ultra-Orthodox School to End Segregation
August 2009 www.nif.org August 25, 2009
Tmura – The Israel Anti-Discrimination Legal Center, which brought the matter to the attention of Noar Kahalacha, has also submitted a civil suit to the Haifa District Court on the matter, claiming $14,000 per student for the psychological damage caused by the discrimination.
Israel’s Real Crisis: Education
By Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie www.thejewishweek.com August 26, 2009
Rabbi Yoffie is president of the Union for Reform Judaism.
My suggestion is that the time has come for the State of Israel to create a core curriculum for all of it schools.
For the Jewish school systems, its purpose would be to tie all Jews in the Jewish state to each other and to the Jewish people throughout the world, and to strengthen the central symbols and institutions of the State of Israel.
The curriculum would be pluralistic and tolerant, but openly and assertively Jewish, and rooted in Jewish religious tradition. It would address issues of religious values and practice in a way that would aspire to transcend ideology and historical circumstance.
As a core curriculum, it would occupy only a segment of instruction time, leaving each school system free to teach the remaining subjects in its own way; but the core elements would be required in all Jewish schools in Israel, and would be available, in adapted form, for use in diaspora Jewish schools
Sa'ar plans schools overhaul with new funding awards, more Jewish studies
By Or Kashti www.haaretz.com August 28, 2009
Education Minister Sa'ar's plan for values education includes the inclusion of a new subject - Jewish heritage and culture - to be taught from fourth to ninth grades beginning in the 2010/2011 school year.
The new subject will focus on elements such as role models in Judaism and Zionism, the Jewish life cycle, and social and moral values in Judaism and Zionism.
Study: Arab, Haredi schools growing in number
By Abe Selig www.ynetnews.com August 30, 2009
The decreased hegemonic status of the public school track can also be seen in absolute terms. It is the only track that decreased in its number of students in the past nine years with a drop of 3%.
Simultaneously, the number of students studying in the ultra-Orthodox track jumped by 51%.
The number of students learning in the Arab track grew by 10%. The national religious system saw an increase of 8% in its student body since 2000.
Study: 48% of pupils are Arab, Haredi
By Abe Selig www.jpost.com August 30, 2009
"In light of the rapidly changing demographics within Israel, the Taub Center concludes that it is vitally important for the country to begin focusing on what is being taught to the children who will be the majority population in a generation, and asks whether they are being given the basic skills to work in a modern economy and live in a modern society," a press release from the center said.
Taub Center Executive Director Prof. Dan Ben-David said that for now, the answer was an overwhelming "no."
Beit Shemesh residents protest holding Haredi classes in secular school
By Ronen Medzini www.ynetnews.com August 30, 2009
Some 100 Beit Shemesh residents protested on Sunday against the municipality's plan to open four classes for ultra-Orthodox students at the secular "Languages and Cultures" school.
The City of Beit Shemesh said in response that the school has the capacity to house 480 students, but only 180 are registered there.
VIDEO: Charedim Block Roads in Protest of Parking Lot's Opening on Shabbat
By Darren Whiteside http://blogs.reuters.com August 28, 2009
Haredim stone police car in Jerusalem
No end in sight for police-Haredim confrontations in Jerusalem
Haredim block murder investigation in J'lem
16 haredim remanded for 1 more day over Shabbat riots
4 haredim arrested during protest against autopsy of murder victim
J'lem: Haredi injured in parking lot protest
Police chief: Zero tolerance to 'Nazi' chants
Six police officers hurt as Haredi riots renew in Jerusalem
J'lem: Haredi injured in parking lot protest
J'lem haredim pelt police with rocks, block Yehezkel Street
By Nahum Barnea www.ynetnews.com Opinion September 1, 2009
The group referring to itself as the Eda Haredit is a collection of radical Hasidic camps that constitutes a ghetto within a ghetto:
As opposed to most members of the haredi community, members of the Orthodox sect are unwilling to reconcile themselves to the State’s existence, boycott the elections, reject the authority of the rabbis, and object to the existence of ultra-Orthodox parties.
The Eda Haredit radicals have the right to live their lives within the ghetto walls they built for themselves, yet the moment they seek to impose their Taliban rules on their surroundings – the haredi street in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh, public transportation, and life in Israel’s capital – the State’s duty is to regain their sanity.
Most haredim will never admit it, but deep in their hearts they will be grateful.
ZAKA’s Yehuda Meshi-Zahav: “Give Haredim Autonomy on Welfare Matters”
By Hillel Fendel www.israelnationalnews.com August 26, 2009
Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, a former anti-Zionist zealot who now heads the ZAKA organization and has come to the conclusion that the hareidi establishment must work with the State and not fight against it:
“There must be full autonomy for the hareidi population. The two worlds will never meet and the secular public will never understand the hareidi world.
…“They speak a different language, and therefore there is no point in trying to bridge between the two sides. We must rather have our own professionals, just like we have built alternatives in many other areas.”
Beit Shemesh: Haredi man arrested on suspicion of attacking women
By Abe Selig www.jpost.com August 26, 2009
Police in Beit Shemesh have arrested a haredi man in connection with an attack on two women early Wednesday morning.
The man, whom police said was upset by the "immodest dress" of the women, also allegedly damaged their vehicle during the incident.
Court fears 'starving mother' poses danger to her kids
'Survivor' ads censored in Bnei Brak
By Yoav Friedman www.ynetnews.com August 30, 2009
Billboards in the central city of Bnei Brak advertising the next season of the Israeli "Survivor" were "censored" by municipality workers.
Notices were posted on the large signs with the words "This ad is illegal" written in bold red letters.
The ads themselves were completely modest, and did not include any images of women.
Rav Simcha Hakohen Kook: Finding Common Ground in Rechovot
By Moshe Shapiro http://matzav.com/ August 27, 2009
Reprinted by Matzav.com with permission from Yated Neeman.
In Rehovot, the communities are mixed, with many apartment buildings housing both religious and secular residents.
How is it that in Rehovot religious-secular relations are growing warmer everyday, while in the rest of the country they have soured to the point where analysts discuss the possibilities of a civil war breaking out?
Report: Avraham Yitzchak Institutions on Verge of Collapse
By Yechiel Spira www.theyeshivaworld.com August 27, 2009
Toldos Avraham Yitzchak is facing a critical financial crisis, with Chareidim reporting one of the chassidus’ talmidei torah in Yerushalayim was saved at the last moment by a temporary influx of funds but a shul in Beit Shemesh affiliated with the Rebbe Shlita was closed, unable to make rent payments.
Hasidic Tales to Become Part of School Curriculum
www.theyeshivaworld.com August 30, 2009
For the first time ever, Hasidic stories are to become part of the Israeli high school curriculum.
The stories will now become a mandatory part of the Israeli high school literature examinations.
Askanei Eida Chareidis – Karta, Meah Shearim Mom & Kever Rashbi
By Yechiel Spira www.theyeshivaworld.com August 26, 2009
Some of the Eida Haredit’s recent successes include the thousands who attended the Birchas HaChama tefilla, the protests on behalf of the Meah Shearim mom, and the ongoing shabbos protests against Karta parking lot and Jerusalem City Hall.
Insiders explain the Eida must keep these going as a testimony to their control, strength and support among the tzibur.
Jerusalem Municipality Provides Full Funding for `Recognized But Unofficial' Schools
By L.S. Wasserman http://chareidi.shemayisrael.com August 27, 2009
The Jerusalem Municipality has decided to allow full funding of educational institutions designated "recognized but unofficial" following intense efforts by chareidi representatives and by Rabbi Yitzchok Pindrus, who serves as deputy mayor and holds the education portfolio.
The decision puts an end to a three-year campaign to secure municipal funding from various authorities for Chinuch Atzmai and Maayan Hachinuch Hatorani schools, which were not including in the city's budget for cleaning, janitorial and maintenance costs for local schools suddenly a few years ago, after having been budgeted for decades.
Court rejects appeal by Haredi father who killed infant son
By Aviad Glickman www.ynetnews.com September 1, 1009
The Supreme Court on Tuesday denied the sentencing appeal filed by Israel Valas, an ultra-Orthodox man convicted of killing his three-month-old son, and ruled that the original sentence of six years imprisonment stands.
Haredi girls paid not to wear makeup
By Ari Galahar www.ynetnews.com September 1, 2009
The Darchei Rachel seminary for girls in Jerusalem imposed a new regulation recently: Each girl agreeing not to put on makeup for her wedding will receive a scholarship worth NIS 1,000 (about $265).
Moshe, whose sister studies at Darchei Rachel, says the new plan was initiated by the institution following a rise in the use of makeup among ultra-Orthodox girls.
According to Moshe, before their wedding the girls are exempted from the school's strict rules, leading many brides to put on heavy makeup.
Haredi Web site: Put Tel Aviv gay club chiefs on trial for murder
By Uri Blau www.haaretz.com August 26, 2009
Under the headline, "Put the club's directors on trial for the murder!" the ultra-Orthodox Web site Tsofar last week published a piece about the shooting attack at a gay and lesbian community center in Tel Aviv last month.
Attorney Eran Lev, representing the National Gay, Lesbian, Transgender and Bisexual Association, has demanded that Tsofar retract its accusations and pay the association compensation of NIS 500,000.
Legal analyst Moshe Negbi says that it is possible to act by using the clause in the law referring to inciting hate crimes.
Petach Tikvah’s Kosher Festival – Is Everything Kosher?
By Yechiel Spira www.jerusalemkoshernews.com August 26, 2009
Rabbi Rafi Yochai, who heads the Chief Rabbinate of Israel Kashrut Fraud Division, confirmed that while a “Kosher Festival” is held in Petach Tikvah, no one bothered to approach the Petach Tikvah Rabbinate for kosher supervision.
Keter Kashrut verses the Chief Rabbinate of Israel
By Yechiel Spira www.jerusalemkoshernews.com August 27, 2009
In the beginning of September, the Chief Rabbinate of Israel will appear at a hearing before the Supreme Court, prompted by a bizarre chain of events.
The head of the unauthorized Keter Kashrut organization has turned the tables on the Chief Rabbinate, summoning the nation’s kosher certifying agency to Israel’s highest court to justify why Keter Kashrut is labeled “unauthorized” and therefore, removed from many stores.
Keter Kashrut maintains that just like the Chief Rabbinate permits many other agencies to provide kosher certification in addition to the local religious councils, such as the many legitimate Badatz agencies, it too should be permitted to do so.
Keter is demanding to understand why it is deemed illegitimate while others are not, placing the burden of proof on the Chief Rabbinate.
More on Kashrus and Opening on Shabbos
By Yechiel Spira www.theyeshivaworld.com August 28, 2009
On August 11th, YWN reported that Rabbi Shalom Levy grants kashrut certificates to a number of eateries in the north despite operating on shabbos.
The rabbi explains that the mashgiach locks away the ‘kosher’ vessels when he leaves for shabbos, and only he has the key.
While opening on shabbos is not ideal he maintains, by granting kosher supervision from Sunday through Thursday, many visitors and summer vacationers to the north are eating proper kosher food, while without his supervision, this would not be the case.
Chief Rabbi Shlomo Moshe Amar Shlita may dismiss Rabbi Levy, but it appears such action is unlikely.
August 31, 2009 (Section 2) (continued from Section 1)
If you are reading in email or RSS feed, please click here to read ONLINE
Editor – Joel Katz
Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.
