April 1, 2010 (Section 1) (see also Section 2 and Passover edition)
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Editor – Joel Katz
Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.
By Dov Preminger www.jpost.com March 29, 2010
Several of Jerusalem’s non-kosher eateries are bracing themselves for various degrees of protest and even possible violence throughout the week.
Despite winning a lawsuit filed against them in 2007 for selling hametz during Pessah, these businesses are still blacklisted by segments of the religious population in the capital.
“They tried to burn our store twice last year,” says Lahav, “once a few days before Pessah. The second time, during the middle of the day, they tried to light the gas on fire. The police didn’t catch them.”
Rabbis: 'Kitniyot rebellion' continues
www.ynetnews.com March 31, 2010
A group of rabbis has announced that more Orthodox Jews are abandoning the practice of abstaining from eating kitniyot (beans and pulses) during the Passover holiday.
Rabbi David Bar-Hayim, head of the Machon Shilo institute, notes with satisfaction that the organization is frequently cited as having an impact on people’s decisions.
“Each year I am contacted by an increasing number of people who inform me that they are no longer adhering to the ban on eating kitniyot,” says Rabbi Bar-Hayim.
“They thank me for the permit to eat kitniyot and for providing clear halachic insight that makes Torah Judaism relevant for thinking people.”
Kashrut demands get stricter every year
By Irit Rosenblum www.haaretz.com March 24, 2010
"Every year the level of koshering utensils, which were never koshered in the past, rises; demands to replace utensils that were not replaced in previous years, which adds up to expenses of millions of shekels," said an Eilat hotelier this week, complaining about the stricter requirements of making Eilat hotels kosher for the week of Passover.
"In previous years we were able to reach agreements, but this year the Eilat Religious Council is putting on more pressure and larger monetary demands than in the past," said the hotelier, complaining about the requirements.
Crisis who? Business brisk at Tel Aviv hotels for Passover
TheMarker www.haaretz.com March 31, 2010
Economic crisis? Not at Tel Aviv's hotels. No less than a thousand people forked over NIS 1,100 to partake of the seder at the Hilton Hotel in the city.
Not only was the Hilton fully occupied: It also sold seder meals on wheels, takeaway feasts that cost even more per diner - 5,000 of them, in fact.
The Sheraton reported 90% occupancy and 350 people registered for its seder feasts at its various dining venues. The version with the cantor and the five courses cost NIS 990 per person, and there wasn't a seat to be had.
The seder sans singer cost NIS 700 per seat. Moving on to the Dan Hotel, we find seders starting at NIS 1,050 per adult and NIS 790 per child, and almost full occupancy as well. And so it went with the other big hotels.
Export matza sales surge by 30 percent
By Sharon Wrobel www.jpost.com March 30, 2010
Israeli food manufacturers enjoyed a 30 percent increase in the demand for matza products from Jewish communities in the US and Europe, according to a report by the Israel Export Institute.
Last year, export sales of matza rose 30% year-on-year and were worth $15.6 million compared with 12m. in 2008.
The surge was mainly led by sales to the US, which made up 64% of the total sales volume and amounted to $10m. Over the past six years, export sales of matza more than doubled from $7m. in 2003 to $15.6m. in 2009.
Hundreds of lone soldiers celebrate Passover in a Babel of tongues
By Anshel Pfeffer www.haaretz.com March 31, 2010
It's Monday night at Friends of the Israel Defense Forces recreational center in Givat Olga, and Maj. Malachi Rabad, rabbi of the IDF Human Resources Directorate, is responsible for leading the 580 assembled lone soldiers through the annual holiday ritual.
The IDF currently includes 4,600 lone soldiers, each without family to return to in Israel when on leave.
About 40 percent were born in Israel, but were either raised in broken homes or are otherwise estranged from their families. The rest are soldiers who immigrated to Israel alone.
Ethiopians: Let us celebrate Passover with families
By Yael Branovsky www.ynetnews.com March 28, 2010
A few dozen Ethiopians on Sunday protested in Jerusalem for not being able to join their families for the holiday.
The immigrants displayed a Passover Seder table in front of the Prime Minister's Office, on which they placed pictures of their family members – some of which have been waiting to make aliyah for many years. Next to the pictures, the immigrants placed bowls of Maror (bitter herbs) to symbolize the hardship they have experienced because of the long distance between them and their families.
For more articles on Passover, please click here for Passover edition.
Converts petition over rabbis' refusal to register marriage
By Yair Ettinger www.haaretz.com March 29, 2010
Rabbi Farber of the Itim Center, who married the Serdukovs, told Haaretz, "After years of experience, we came to the conclusion that we could no longer allow militants in the rabbinate to control Judaism in the State of Israel. Not registering converts does harm to their basic rights, especially on the eve of Passover, when we are supposed to remember that we were once strangers in Egypt, and we have a moral obligation to care for those whose position in society is fragile.
Petitioners: Recognize state-approved conversions
By Dan Izenberg www.jpost.com March 28, 2010
A convert to Judaism and her husband petitioned the High Court of Justice on Sunday against four rabbis who have allegedly repeatedly refused to grant marriage licenses to Israelis who converted to Judaism in Orthodox religious courts recognized by the state.
The petition was filed by Alina and Maxim Sardiyokov, Itim – The Jewish Life Information Center, and three other public petitioners including Maj.-Gen. (Res.) Elazar Stern, former commander of the IDF’s Manpower Directorate.
"This petition,” wrote attorney Aviad Hacohen, dean of Shaarei Mishpat Academic College in Hod Hasharon, “recounts the shameful and unacceptable practice whereby marriage registrars throughout the country refuse to register converts who converted according to the law and possess official certificates of conversion to Judaism issued by the State of Israel.”
Golani soldier gets Jewish burial despite incomplete conversion
By Aviel Magnezi www.ynetnews.com March 28, 2010
Staff-Sergeant Ilan Sviatkovsky, who was killed in clashes with terrorists in Gaza Friday, died before he could complete his conversion to Judaism, but on Sunday he was given a Jewish burial in Rishon Letzion's cemetery.
Sviatkovsky, who immigrated to Israel from Uzbekistan with his family in 1994, was on his way to completing a controversial IDF conversion process called the Nativ Course. He planned on completing the process immediately upon returning from his service in Gaza.
…Rabbi Shaul Farber, head of ITIM, a nonprofit that helps potential converts navigate rabbinic bureaucracy, is one of the petitioners to the High Court. He told Ynet that Sviatkovsky deserved a Jewish burial according to the halacha.
When a Kosher Conversion Isn't Enough
By Michele Chabin www.thejewishweek.com March 29, 2010
"Imagine receiving your drivers' license in Tel Aviv, only to be told in Ashkelon or Ashdod that you can't drive because your license isn't recognized there. The same is happening with conversion certificates."
"These four rabbis are brutalizing genuine converts in order to achieve their own political aspirations," Rabbi Farber charged.
"They're trying to show how haredi they are and are doing so on the backs of the converts. It gives them credibility in ultra-Orthodox circles, which seek to undermine the validity of the conversions performed in the state Conversion Authority."
Jpost.com Editorial www.jpost.com March 28, 2010
The time has come to do away with the Chief Rabbinate. This is the only conclusion any clear-headed observer, concerned about the way Judaism is being represented in the public domain, can draw.
The Barzilai Medical Center fiasco, the disparaging treatment of converts and the tendency toward holier-than-thou stringency are just some of the most publicized recent examples of how the Chief Rabbinate has become not merely obsolete but downright inimical to the Judaism it purportedly represents.
Held captive by extreme haredi elements, it is failing to uphold its responsibility to faithfully represent the rabbinic tradition while grappling with the contemporary challenges faced by the reborn Jewish nation.
Petition may lead to wider acceptance of common law marriage
By Ruth Eglash www.jpost.com March 25, 2010
A court petition filed last week by the Jerusalem Institute of Justice on behalf of a mixed-religion couple could have far-reaching consequences for Israel’s stringent marriage laws.
“There is a gap in the marriage law in Israel because there is no recognition of civil marriages,” said attorney Michael Decker, representing the Jerusalem Institute of Justice.
“People here cannot get married to someone of a different religion, and yet someone who is a permanent resident has no option to live in a common law marriage.
Israel must now introduce real civil marriage
By Nathan Jeffay Opinion www.thejc.com March 25, 2010
But this was not history in the making; no walls were being cracked. This was cynical Israeli politics at its worst.
…The State of Israel has become matchmaker for these 350,000 people. They are allowed to get married, but only so long as they marry one another. Yisrael Beiteinu may have ticked a box on its election checklist, but it has created an absurd situation.
Israel has an obligation to these citizens. They were brought to Israel by Israel, in accordance with the state's noble vision of "ingathering the exiles"- and also in no small part with the hope of increasing the Jewish demographic (in civil if not religious terms) in Israel.
Rabbis oppose Egged plan for audio-visual aids for deaf and blind
By Yair Ettinger and Barak Sher www.haaretz.com March 26, 2010
Click here for VIDEO [Hebrew]
Pressure from ultra-Orthodox rabbis could lead to revoking plans to install more buses with an on-board audio-visual system for people with sensory impairments.
The rabbis who object to the system, stipulated by the law for Equality for Persons with Disabilities, say the screens could be used for unworthy purposes.
…Some of the rabbis agreed to have the screens used for commercials, which would finance the service. Egged promised to project no images or pictures on the screens, which could offend ultra-Orthodox passengers' sensibilities, but only texts.
However, the more radical ultra-Orthodox rabbis objected to having the screens installed in the first place, agreeing only to LED screens displaying the name of the next station.
J'lem: New cinema, but not on Shabbat
www.jpost.com March 25, 2010
The Jerusalem Municipality Finance Committee approved a plan for the construction of a new cinema complex in the Haleom parking lot opposite the Supreme Court, on condition that it remains closed during Shabbat, Israel Radio reported Thursday.
Following the report, the Forum for a Free Jerusalem movement said that a cinema closed on Shabbat would not fulfill the needs of the secular population in the city.
Chief Rabbinate stands behind Orlev legislation
By Dan Izenberg www.jpost.com March 23, 2010
The Chief Rabbinate has announced that it will support a more moderate version of a bill submitted to the Knesset to extend the powers of the state rabbinical courts than the one being pushed by the haredi parties.
The moderate bill was submitted by Zevulun Orlev (Habayit Hayehudi) and called for allowing the rabbinical courts to arbitrate monetary disputes according to Halacha, in cases where both sides agree to do so.
The more far-reaching bill, submitted by MKs Uri Maklev and Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) calls not only for that, but also for granting the rabbinical court exclusive right to hear all disputes stemming from the court’s ruling on divorce agreements.
Takana's promise of secrecy to accusers keeping police from charging Rabbi Elon
By Yair Ettinger www.haaretz.com March 24, 2010
Rabbis close to Takana, the group that originally alleged sexual misconduct on the part of Rabbi Mordechai (Moti) Elon, say police are not pressing charges against the educator because Takana had promised confidentiality to Elon's former students who had complained.
"The police were dependent on us but we could do nothing," one rabbi said.
…Rabbis involved in the case said they were not surprised by the apparent closing of the police file. "In any case, the most serious incidents, to our minds, are not criminal according to the existing law. There is no such thing as a criminal offense stemming from the authority and powers of a rabbi" when the individuals involved are over 18, a source in the group said.
Interpreting the decision by the police not to prosecute Motti Elon for sexual misconduct
By Elana Sztokman Opinion http://blog.elanasztokman.com March 22, 2010
In short, I hope that the community does not conclude that because the police decided not to charge him that all is well and good.
Those involved (the police and Takana) all seem to be in agreement that Elon has been having sex with his male students.
The real implications of all this, and the impact on those students, need to be dealt with outside of the legal system.
A Showcase of LGBT Movies--April 8-29, 2010 in San Francisco
In honor of Israel Pride Month, the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival (SFJFF) teams up with the Consulate General of Israel this April to present the “Out in Israel” film series—a special showcase of new, recent and classic films from Israel exploring lesbian and gay life, imagery and stories.
Supreme Court: Restaurant Must Comply with Rabbinical Guidelines
By Yechiel Spira www.theyeshivaworld.com March 24, 2010
The High Court of Justice has handed down a decision that is indeed a victory for Ashdod Chief Rabbi Yosef Sheinen Shlita in the ongoing saga of a bakery owned by a Jew for “J”, owned and operated by Penina Comforti.
…In the ruling released on Tuesday, Justices Eliezer Rivlin, Salim Jubran and Ayala Procaccia explained that in order for the bakery to receive a kashrut certificate from the local rabbinate, it must comply with the directives set forth.
Last Day of Barak's Ultimatum to Hesder Students
By Hillel Fendel www.israelnationalnews.com March 24, 2010
Hesder army-students studying in Yeshivat Har Brachah were instructed to report to the Bakum (IDF Induction Center) Wednesday and choose which Hesder yeshiva they would like to enroll in.
They are being officially removed from the Har Brachah hesder arrangement, in accordance with a political decision made by Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
Several students agreed to “formally” be enrolled in another yeshiva, while continuing to study in Har Brachah.
Others announced that they are “on strike,” complaining that the decision by Barak is totally political and is harmful to the army. Still others are currently in the army, making the issue not relevant to them at present.
By Sarah Nadav www.jpost.com March 26, 2010
Dramatic shifts to both the Left and the Right over the past 50 years have left the modern Orthodox and national-religious movements fragmented. These divisions have been causing friction as some factions push for more stringent interpretations of Halacha, while others are pushing boundaries on formally sacrosanct issues.
…With the future of the movement uncertain, rabbis, intellectuals and members of the modern Orthodox community will be coming together at a conference during Pessah titled “Is modern Orthodoxy an endangered species?”
The conference is co-sponsored by the Institute for Jewish Ideas and Ideals, a US-based modern Orthodox organization, and Ne’emanei Torah V’Avoda, which is based in Israel. This is their first joint project.
Moskowitz Prize Winners for Zionism Announced – Nahal Haredi
By Hillel Fendel www.israelnationalnews.com March 24, 2010
Rabbi Yoel Schwartz is the founder and driving force behind the Nahal Hareidi – the first IDF unit organized especially for hareidi-religious soldiers.
The framework allows the soldiers to maintain their way of life, including scheduled time for prayers, Torah classes, kosher l’Mehadrin food, and the like. Rabbi Schwartz was originally shunned and persecuted within his own hareidi public for his work in Nahal Hareidi.
First Reform rabbi to receive honor on Independence Day
By Raphael Ahren www.haaretz.com March 26, 2010
U.S.-born rabbi Richard Hirsch is the first Reform rabbi to receive the honor of lighting a torch during the state's official Independence Day ceremony.
A committee under the auspices of the prime minister's office named him this week as one of fourteen Israelis to participate in the upcoming event on Mt. Herzl in April, which hundreds of thousands of Israelis traditionally watch either live in Jerusalem or on their TV screens.
Galilee Diary: Definitions III
By Rabbi Marc Rosenstein Opinion http://blogs.rj.org March 23, 2010
Our topic was "the 'streams' of Judaism in the Galilee."
After an introductory lecture on the development of the denominations, especially Reform, we went on to four encounters: …Conservative kibbutz, Hannaton…Kibbutz Lavi, one of the pillars of the Orthodox kibbutz movement…Khirbet Ammudim, a few miles away, where the ruin of a third century synagogue sits in the middle of a cow pasture….Kibbutz Yagur, famous for leading the way in producing an elaborate Passover seder every year, with an original Haggadah and original music.
Bus posters replace Al-Aqsa with Temple
By Shmulik Grossman www.ynetnews.com March 28, 2010
Two hundred Egged buses were plastered with posters Sunday that call for the construction of the third temple "quickly and in our time". The posters carry a drawing of Temple Mount without the mosques situated there.
J’lem posters call for 3rd Temple
By Abe Selig www.jpost.com March 29, 2010
The campaign’s organizers chose to plaster the posters on buses whose routes take them through predominately Arab neighborhoods of east Jerusalem.
Replace Temple Mount mosques with Jewish Temple, rightist campaign says
By Chaim Levinson and Haaretz Service www.haaretz.com March 28, 2010
A right-wing group announced a campaign Sunday ahead of the Passover festival calling for the construction of the Jewish Temple on the location of the existing temple mount mosques.
The extreme right-wing Our Land of Israel party (Eretz Israel Shelanu) said it intended to mount an extensive bus campaign, with the slogan "May the Temple be built in our lifetime," along with an artist's rendition of the completed Temple.
Right-wing MKs tour near Temple Mount
By Yaakov Lappin www.jpost.com March 25, 2010
Four National Union MKs overcame police attempts to block them from touring the Old City near the Temple Mount on Wednesday.
Lawmakers Uri Ariel, Ya’acov Katz, Michael Ben-Ari and Arye Eldad said it was their right to walk around in any section of Jerusalem they pleased, and expressed outrage when their attempt to tour in the vicinity of the Temple Mount was blocked by several special patrol officers armed with machine guns who had been deployed to the site by Jerusalem police chief Cmdr. Aharon Franco.
What does it really mean to be a Jew?
By Matt Lerner Opinion www.haaretz.com March 29, 2010
What does it mean to be a Jew? Is it solely a religious affiliation? Is it simply an affinity to an ancient cultural tradition? Or is it literally bone-deep?
…Does Jewish ancestry forty generations in the past really mean anything to the world's far-flung Jews?
Or is it their practice and culture that truly matter? Is information about distant ancestry truly relevant?
By Michael Freund Opinion www.jpost.com March 25, 2010
The writer served as deputy director of communications and policy planning in the Prime Minister’s Office from 1996 to 1999. He is the Founder and Chairman of Shavei Israel, which assists the Bnei Menashe to return to the Jewish people.
Prime Minister, I appeal to you: Please bring the Bnei Menashe home to the Jewish state.
Four months ago, I met with Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar and Interior Minister Eli Yishai, both of whom expressed their support for bringing the remaining members of the community to Israel. All that is needed now is for your government to take the courageous and historic decision to reunite this lost tribe with our people.
Palm Sunday marked in J'lem, W. Bank
AP www.jpost.com March 28, 2010
Hundreds of Christians from around the world marched from the Mount of Olives into Jerusalem to mark Palm Sunday, retracing the steps of Jesus 2,000 years ago.
This year the Roman Catholic, Protestant and Orthodox Churches mark Holy Week on the same dates. The Orthodox Church uses a different calendar from the others, but they coincide every few years.
April 1, 2010 (Section 1) (see also Section 2 and Passover edition)
Editor – Joel Katz
Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.
All rights reserved.
