September 6, 2010 (Section 2) (see also Section 1)
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Editor – Joel Katz
Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.
Israel court: Private school can bar teacher from wearing hijab
By Dan Izenberg www.jpost.com September 5, 2010
The Jerusalem District Labor Court last week rejected a temporary appeal by a Muslim teacher at a private Christian school to allow her to continue working after she decided to wear a hijab in class after teaching without one for 27 years.
The school argued that the school’s dress code bans the wearing of the hijab “in order to create uniformity between the students and teachers from Muslim and Christian backgrounds.
Because of this, the students are required to wear school uniforms and the teachers must serve as an example to the students in this context, as well as others.
VIDEO: World's Largest Mezuzah at Ben Gurion Airport
The scroll, which is kosher, was written over a 3-year period by scribe Yitzchak Krichly.
http://cnettv.cnet.com/ September 5, 2010
Dalia Itzik to rabbis: Find a solution to daylight saving time crisis
By Haaretz Service and Jonathan Lis www.haaretz.com September 5, 2010
"You have the power to take action and prevent a rift in Israeli society," Itzik, a Kadima MK and former Knesset speaker, told Rabbis Yona Metzger and Shlomo Amar.
"You must find a solution that will bridge the gaps and help unite our society in time for the holidays.
Meretz MK drafts bill to prolong Daylight Saving Time
By Zvi Zrahiya www.haaretz.com September 5, 2010
A bill drafted by Meretz MK Nitzan Horowitz would push back the end of Daylight Saving Time, which currently ends between the Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur holidays.
The bill would not affect the time change this year - Standard Time returns on September 12 - since it will be debated only later this year.
90,000 sign petition against moving clocks back
By Ronen Medzini www.ynetnews.com September 5, 2010
Interior Minister Eli Yishai (Shas) said Sunday morning that he would consider moving back to daylight saving time after the Yom Kippur fast, but a ministry official clarified that clocks would not be moved forward again.
Online petition: Disregard end of Daylight Saving Time
By Ronen Medzini www.jpost.com September 2, 2010
"Even this pathetic excuse is completely warped since the fast lasts 25 hours in any case, and moving the clock only results in warmer hours for those fasting and praying," the petition noted.
By Adam Gonn http://themedialine.org September 5, 2010
Emily Levy-Shochat, chairperson of the Movement of Conservative Judaism in Israel, said that her opposition is not about the changing of the clock but about the politicization of religion.
“My position in this specific issue is less about when the clock should change and whether there is an extra hour,” she told The Media Line.
“It’s about what is happening to the politicization of Judaism in Israel, with political power being used by the ultra-orthodox to meet their demands. This not only infringes on other streams of Judaism but on the entire state and the entire economy.”
U.S. issues sterner condemnation of Ovadia Yosef comments than Netanyahu
By Yair Ettinger, Barak Ravid and Jack Khoury www.haaretz.com August 30, 2010
"We regret and condemn the inflammatory statements by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef," an American official told Haaretz.
"We note the Israeli statement that the rabbi's comments do not reflect the views of the prime minister. These remarks are not only deeply offensive, but incitement such as this hurts the cause of peace. As we move forward to relaunch peace negotiations, it is important that actions by people on all sides help to advance our effort, not hinder it."
See: Rabbi Ovadia Yosef plague on Palestinians
In swipe at Shas' Ovadia Yosef, Degel Hatorah mouthpiece slams 'extreme nationalism'
By Yair Ettinger www.haaretz.com September 5, 2010
The editorial in Yated Ne'eman, written at the initiative of the leader of Lithuanian ultra-Orthodoxy, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, is seen as a veiled reference to the spiritual leader of the Sephardi ultra-Orthodox movement, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.
Conservative/Masorti Movement Condemns Ovadia Yosef's Hateful Speech
www.uscj.org September 3, 2010
As leaders of the Conservative/Masorti movement, we deplore these recent comments of Former Chief Sephardic Rabbi Ovadia Yosef that, like many of his comments over the years, constitute irresponsible incitement to violence.
We view with hope the prospects for peace and security for Israel and her neighbors and recognize that such irresponsible and inciting comments harm these prospects at a crucial time.
Shas Eli Yishai: Lebanon war lost due to distance from God
By Yoav Zitun www.ynetnews.com September 1, 2010
Shas Interior Minister Eli Yishai also loudly lamented the state of secular education in Israel.
"It is unbelievable what is happening in education today – crime, violence, drugs, stabbings. When you study the Torah you don't need a police officer in school – you don't need a metal detector to see whether a student has walked in with a knife," he said.
"In the pure education according to the Torah there is no such thing."
Rabbinate bans sale of non-kosher meat
By Ari Galahar www.ynetnews.com September 2, 2010
Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger has ordered a complete halt in importers' sale of non-koshered meat to Israeli chains.
Metzger's decision has great implications for meat importers, who rushed to stop all sales after hearing it, according to him.
...Metzger ordered a complete halt in sales to supermarkets and other food chains. He did not, however, ban the importation of non-kosher meat. The rabbi hopes that in this way the meat will end up only in stores that service non-Jewish clients.
New army program aims to recruit Haredi women to IDF
By Anshel Pfeffer www.haaretz.com September 3, 2010
The IDF has launched an experimental project to recruit ultra-Orthodox women for the first time, tailoring the service to their way of life and providing them with a sought after profession. The project's success is not yet clear.
Until now the Finance Ministry has funded the project to recruit ultra-Orthodox men and women, hoping army service will pay off with their integration into the general labor market.
Nahal Haredi soldiers charged with abuse
By Hanan Greenberg www.ynetnews.com August 30, 2010
The Military Advocacy filed an indictment Monday against four soldiers from a Nahal Haredi battalion for abuse and illegal use of weapons.
Muslim, Jewish, Arab, Israeli and Now an IDF Soldier
By Aurin Rossner http://dover.idf.il September 1, 2010
Sometimes she uses a Jewish name, sometimes a Muslim one, sometimes she uses a Hebrew name, sometimes an Arabic one.
But with her many names, none can be published here for fear she will be recognized and targeted. For purposes of this article she will be referred to as Private A. She sometimes feels safest when she has no name at all.
Charedi extremism divides Israeli city
By Nathan Jeffay www.thejc.com September 2, 2010
"Someone is going to be killed," predicted Orthodox rabbi Natan Slifkin on his blog this spring. He went on to outline what exactly he thought would happen.
"A religious Jewish teenager is going to be beaten to death by a gang of religious Jewish men for the 'crime' of being in their neighbourhood and not conforming to their idea of Orthodoxy."
The scene of the crime, he wrote, would be a few hundred yards from his home in Beit Shemesh, a heavily "Anglo" city of 80,000 people, 10 miles west of Jerusalem. Specifically, the new part of town, Ramat Beit Shemesh.
Catriel Lev, a resident who has helped to organise demonstrations against the violence, said: "It's not about modesty, it's about power politics."
By Nir Hasson and Yair Ettinger www.haaretz.com September 3, 2010
On Tuesday, Keshet CEO Avi Nir shook hands with Rabbi Yitzhak Goldknopf, the head of a rabbinical organization that works to preserve the sanctity of the Sabbath.
The two had reached an agreement to enable the Sultan’s Pool show to proceed without interference − on condition that Keshet and Teddy Hafakot (the show’s production company) live up to their promise not to desecrate the Sabbath in the process.
Under the agreement, the dress rehearsal was slated for last night and all the preparations would be completed before the advent of Shabbat at 6:27 P.M. today in Jerusalem. The gates will open to the public at 8:30 P.M. tomorrow, an hour after the end of Shabbat, and during the day non-Jewish guards will secure the site.
Living in ultra-Orthodox closet
By Ravid Oren www.ynetnews.com September 2, 2010
Matan was not alone. He was part of a growing phenomenon found deep within ultra-Orthodox society, part of a large group of haredim of all streams and divisions who call themselves the "Marranos," secret Jews - haredim against their will, who have stopped believing, but are forced to live a lie and hide it from the people around them.
But contrary to haredim who openly leave behind the faith to live a secular lifestyle, these "Marranos" look ultra-Orthodox on the outside, but their inner world is the exact opposite.
Anti-fur bill doomed after Haredi MK pulls support
By Jonathan Lis and Yair Ettinger www.haaretz.com September 2, 2010
A bill banning the import of fur to Israel, the first of its kind anywhere in the world, is now likely to be withdrawn, after MK Menachem Eliezer Moses unexpectedly retracted his United Torah Judaism faction's support.
Anti-fur activists said the measure, which would have come before the Knesset Education Committee today, now has almost no chance of passing.
Ultra-Orthodox parties had originally opposed the bill because their traditional shtreimel hats are made partly from fox fur. But MK Ronit Tirosh (Kadima), the bill's sponsor, then added a clause allowing fur imports for religious purposes.
By Tamar Rotem www.haaretz.com September 3, 2010
Menachem Friedman, an authority on Haredi society, and an emeritus professor of sociology at Bar-Ilan University:
"In Haredi society, there is perpetual tension between the social monitoring of modesty rules and the natural, human desire to ease the restrictions. The more restrictive [life] becomes, the greater the desire for openness."
By Samuel Sokol and Avraham Zuroff www.18m.co.il August 26, 2010
While the recent global economic crisis has been undiscriminating in its path of destruction, it has nonetheless given rise to a somewhat bizarre marriage of convenience between two unlikely forces: Israeli high-tech firms and ultra-Orthodox women.
By Amir Mizroch www.jpost.com September 3, 2010
Officials working on the 22+2 plan argue that if, in the coming decade, the country doesn’t manage to bring in the haredi population, with a growth rate which is one of the highest in the world (second only to the Bedouin) into the workforce, it will face a serious budget deficit due to the increasing amount it spends for welfare.
They say that the more the haredi sector grows, the more it is dependent on government welfare.
Haredi employment up in Modiin Illit
By David Regev www.ynetnews.com September 2, 2010
A study conducted by the National Insurance Institute on employment in the ultra-Orthodox community of Modi'in Illit reveals that more and more haredi men are joining the workforce.
In the past year the number of ultra-Orthodox men joining the workforce rose by 16% and the number of working women increased by 7%.
Haredim caught debasing non-kosher deli
By Ronen Medzini www.ynetnews.com September 4, 2010
Two ultra-Orthodox residents of Jerusalem were arrested after being caught by police in the act of vandalizing a deli that sells non-kosher meat.
Police say the two arrived at the deli after morning prayers Saturday and smeared vomit on the door and windows of the establishment.
2 Haredim arrested for vandalizing non-kosher deli in J'lem
www.jpost.com September 4, 2010
Two haredim were arrested Saturday after police caught them smearing vomit on the door of a non-kosher deli in Jerusalem.
Singer gets flogged over 'forbidden' gig
By Kobi Nahshoni www.ynetnews.com August 30, 2010
On Wednesday, Rabbi Amnon Yitzhak and other rabbis conducted a rare ceremony in which they flogged Erez Yechiel, a newly religious singer who was seeking atonement for various religious offences he made in the past.
Cave of Patriarchs to remain open 24/7
By Kobi Nahshoni www.ynetnews.com August 31, 2010
For the first time in years, the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron will be open 24 hours a day for prayer. Following a special request from the Kiryat Arba – Hebron Religious Council, the IDF decided to allow prayer at the site around the clock during the 10 Days of Awe, the period of repentance between the Jewish High Holidays of Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.
Photo Essay: Return to the Hurva
By Toby Klein Greenwald www.ou.org Jewish Action Fall 2010
When I had the occasion to attend the brit milah of a family member this year on Yom Ha’atzmaut in the renovated Hurva Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem, I wasn’t expecting the magnificent grandeur that awaited us . . .
By Arie Morgenstern www.ou.org August 30, 2010
Dr. Arie Morgenstern is a senior fellow at the Shalem Center. He received his PhD in modern Jewish history from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Built in 1864 on the ruins of a shul destroyed in 1720, only to be destroyed again during Israel’s War of Independence, the Hurva Synagogue is a symbol of Jewish return from exile. It was dedicated anew in March of this year.
By Prof. Allan Nadler www.jidaily.com September 1, 2010
Among the many bones its various enemies pick with the Jewish state, one has been much in the news lately: bones, very dry bones, residing in cemeteries both real and imagined all across the country.
State of Har Hazeisim (Mount of Olives) Cemetery Incomprehensible, Newly Formed US Committee Finds
www.vosizneias.com August 30, 2010
Two members of a newly formed Committee for the Sanctity of Har Hazeisim said that the condition they found on a recent tour of Har Hazeisim in Yerushalayim “was beyond disgraceful.”
58% of religious public oppose questioning of rabbis
www.ynetnews.com September 5, 2010
A poll conducted by Ynet and the Yesodot Center for Torah and Democracy reveals that 58% of haredim and the religious public believe that rabbis should not be subjected to police interrogation. The majority of seculars and traditionalists, however believe that rabbis should report for questioning when called.
Bnei Akiva too religious for some Israeli parents
By Nathan Jeffay www.thejc.com September 2, 2010
In the past decade there has been a push towards separating boys and girls for activities, and in 19 of the 350 chapters, the genders are completely segregated. One of the movement's national summer camps offers a completely gender-segregated track for these chapters.
Rabbi Hartman, president of the Jerusalem-based Hartman Institute, said that Bnei Akiva was gradually turning its back on a modern Orthodox ideal of fusing secular and religious culture, in favour of a Charedi ideal of rejecting modernity.
"The easiest issues which one can use to lever a separation from modernity are dress and gender segregation - they are basically mechitzot (separation barriers) between them and the outside, while the movement was meant to be a bridge between secular and religious culture," he said.
Fired for hitting on girl or being religious?
By Tani Goldstein www.ynetnews.com September 3, 2010
On Sunday, he filed a claim with the Tel Aviv Labor Court claiming that he was fired because the municipality had changed its mind about hiring a worker who does not work on Shabbat.
Yaron claimed that his boss, Yaakov Sulam, who is the Netanya Municipality's beach supervisor, explicitly told him that it was unacceptable for him not to work on Saturdays. According to Yaron, Sulam did not change his mind even after he told him that the law prohibits him from firing a worker who refuses to work on Shabbat.
Neeman leaves it to president to decide on Shas former Minister Benizri pardon
By Tomer Zarchin www.haaretz.com September 5, 2010
Justice Minister Yaakov Neeman is leaving it to President Shimon Peres to decide whether former minister Shlomo Benizri (Shas) should be pardoned. Benizri was convicted in 2008 of accepting bribes, breach of trust, conspiracy and obstruction of justice.
Neeman's move to refer the matter without a recommendation is highly unusual, especially because the Supreme Court increased Benizri's sentence last year from a year and a half to four years in prison. He began serving the term about a year ago.
Rabbi Yosef comes out against wig-wearing
By Ari Galahar www.ynet.com September 5, 2010
During his weekly Saturday night lesson, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef again stirs up a storm. This time, the Shas spiritual leader addressed the large number of religious women who wear wigs as a form of head covering, particularly among the women of Ger Hasidism.
Photo Slideshow: Prayer notes removed from Kotel ahead of High Holidays
www.jpost.com September 5, 2010
On Accepting Contributions from Christian Groups
By Rabbi Aviner www.ravaviner.com August 30, 2010
Question: I don’t understand why the Rabbis have forbidden accepting money from Christian institutions such as the Christian “Friendship Fund”. After all, that’s a Christian organization that loves Israel, and I don’t feel like the money I received influences me the least bit in the direction of Christianity.
Answer: ...Let us be strong and courageous. Let us not accept from them even a penny. Let us not run awry after their dollar crusade.
Greetings Mixed with Criticism at an Iftar in Vadi Ara
By Ron Kronish http://icciblog.wordpress.com September 2, 2010
As an observer, I was a bit surprised at all the public criticism at what was meant to be a festive holiday occasion.
But I was told that this was normal for this kind of event, and that the minister of Interior, who is a veteran politician in Israel, would have no problem in dealing with this criticism.
Indeed, in his brief response, Rabbi Yishai rebuffed the criticism quickly and used the occasion to call for more dialogue among members of the major religions in Israel, an idea which we of course applaud.
False Arab Graves Also Found Near Eastern Old City Wall
By Elad Benari www.israelnationalnews.com September 2, 2010
Following Arutz7’s report, the faked tombs were removed by the Jerusalem Municipality and the Israel Lands Authority.
Now, it appears as though the same phenomenon is occurring also in the area of the Eastern Wall in Jerusalem (adjacent to the Western Wall). The Arabs are simply ignoring a law that deems the area a national park.
September 6, 2010 (Section 2) (see also Section 1)
Editor – Joel Katz
Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.
All rights reserved.
