June 14, 2010 (Section 1) (see also Section 2)
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.
Chief Rabbi Amar mediating in Emmanuel controversy
By Jonah Mandel and Dan Izenberg www.jpost.com June 10, 2010
In yet another attempt to reach a compromise agreement over the integration of the Beit Ya’acov girls school in Emmanuel, Sephardic Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar has begun conducting talks with the sides involved in the dispute, to see if there is enough ground to reach understandings that could prevent court penalties and the possible exodus of Slonim Hassidim from Emmanuel.
Following a request from Emmanuel Mayor Ezra Gershi, Amar has already met in recent days with Rabbi Yaakov Yosef, the spiritual mentor of Noar Kahalacha head Yoav Lalom, whose NGO has petitioned the High Court of Justice demanding that all elements of discrimination against Sephardi pupils be removed from the school, and representatives of the hassidim.
By Larry Derfner www.jpost.com June 11, 2010
Bar-Ilan University professor Menachem Friedman:
“Hassidic movements like Slonim have a whole culture, a tradition, and their general feeling is that Sephardim are culturally inferior – not only in Emmanuel, but throughout haredi society."
Luria, a Slonim Hassid:
“From the time they can walk, I raise my children in a hothouse. There’s no computer at home, no TV, no movies. I don’t want my children to be exposed to such things, so I don’t want them to go into a home that has such things, which means I don’t want them making friends with children who live in homes like these.”
Sami Michael to protest 'racism' at Immanuel girls' school
By Maya Sela www.haaretz.com June 8, 2010
Author Sami Michael said he supports the stance of the Supreme Court against attempts by a school in the ultra-Orthodox settlement to segregate its students into Sephardic and Ashkenazi groups.
Hundreds rally in Ramat Aviv: Haredim, leave us be
By Yoav Zitun www.ynetnews.com June 7, 2010
A week after Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai criticized Chabad's activity in Ramat Aviv, some 800 of the neighborhood's residents demonstrated Monday evening against the attempt by the ultra-Orthodox movement to influence local secular teens.
During the rally, which was organized by the Free Ramat Aviv foundation and held outside the Chabad House in the center of the neighborhood, protestors waved signs reading, "Stop the Haredi mission" and "Haredim, leave our children alone."
By Nehemia Shtrasler Opinion www.haaretz.com June 13, 2010
Imagine what would happen to me if I went to Kfar Chabad, rented an apartment and dared to open a class to teach a modern interpretation of the Bible, or women's rights or Darwinism. In the evening I'd go out and roam the neighborhood, trying to persuade their children to visit my home on Shabbat to see what a nonobservant Jew does on the day of rest.
...The battle in Ramat Aviv isn't just about the neighborhood's character. It's a battle over Israel's image, and the 800 residents who got up and left their homes and went out to demonstrate last Monday are just the harbingers.
Metzger: Chabad controversy testimony of success
By Kobi Nahshoni www.ynetnews.com June 7, 2010
Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger expressed his support for Chabad's activities in Ramat Aviv and criticized the methods used against the group by the Tel Aviv neighborhood's secular campaign.
During a speech at Chabad's annual leadership conference on Thursday, Metzger, himself a resident of north Tel Aviv, complimented the organization's activists, saying that the highly publicized conflict in Ramat Aviv is "the biggest compliment testifying to the success of the (Chabad) activities."
By Peggy Cidor www.jpost.com June 11, 2010
Is a new religious war looming on the [Jerusalem] city council? Unless some local sheriff minds the gap (in the coalition), the Haredi parties will vote against the annual budget of the Kiryat Hayovel community council.
'State to blame for lack of haredim in workforce'
By Jonah Mandel www.jpost.com June 8, 2010
MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism), head of the Knesset’s Finance Committee, delivered a provocative address, praising the haredi educational system, which he determined was superior to the secular education system.
Gafni blamed the state’s mechanisms of setting thresholds for certain positions, such as high school matriculation and university degrees, instead of reworking the conditions to pave the way for haredim who have different diplomas and training.
MK Gafni: Divine providence got us through recession
By Tani Goldstein www.ynetnews.com June 8, 2010
Speaking at an Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry conference on religious sector employment, Gafni said that contrary to past predictions, "the haredim, who 30 years ago were foretold as the market's ruination, have prospered, and with them Israel, which suffered last from the global recession and was the first to recover.
"I would say this is a case of divine providence."
When asked by one of the reporters present if he was serious, Gafni answered "absolutely."
Israel's ultra-Orthodox turn to consumer clout
By Amy Teiblel AP www.examiner.com June9, 2010
Israel's ultra-Orthodox community, which has traditionally used violent protests and political clout to push its agenda, is turning to a new tactic to get its way in this overwhelmingly secular society: market power.
The fast-growing community has emerged as a consumer powerhouse, using classic market muscle to drive the development of products catered to their needs, and to push companies to curb practices it finds offensive.
IAA excavates ancient Nazareth graves despite haredi protest
www.jpost.com June 7, 2010
In one day of intense work, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) completed on Sunday the excavation of ancient burial caves, uncovered at a construction site on Paulus Road in the center of Nazareth.
Groups of haredim, who arrived at the site in the early morning hours, protested what they considered disrespect to the dead. Police detained 49 of them for disturbing the peace and trespassing on the private property of the entrepreneur who is erecting a commercial center there.
Rabbi Eliahu Caufman, who was asked by the Atra Kadisha to help mediate in the affair [said]: “We have different standards than the Antiquities Authority for determining the identity of graves,”
Haredim step up protests over Nazareth excavation
By Eli Ashkenazi and Yair Ettinger www.haaretz.com June 7, 2010
Unknown individuals damaged the car of the director of excavations and surveys for the Israel Antiquities Authority, Gideon Avni, between Saturday evening and Sunday morning. The car, which was parked in Maccabim-Reut near Modi'in, had its tires punctured. The car's locks were filled with glue, and bags of a foul-smelling substance were thrown into the yard of Avni's home in the community. A similar incident occurred about three weeks ago at the home of IAA director general Shuka Dorfman.
Meah Shearim Moves Ahead With Boycott of Electra
By Yechiel Spira www.theyeshivaworld.com June 13, 2010
Asra Kadisha and the Eida Chareidis began targeting Electra with threats of a boycott a number of weeks ago, as was reported by YWN-ISRAEL since the electronic company giant is the owner of a company involved in the Jaffa excavations involving ancient burial locations.
Report: Electra Angered at Eida Boycott Threat
By Yechiel Spira www.theyeshivaworld.com June 14, 2010
Electra on Sunday afternoon released a message to the media, with company officials angrily insisting there is no connection with the company involved in the Jaffa excavations and the electronic company which also manufactures air conditioning units.
By Yechiel Spira www.theyeshivaworld.com June 10, 2010
Egged plans to request from the Ministry of Transportation to approve removing Meah Shearim from its bus routes.
The Mother-Of-All-Pashkevilim!
www.torahlab.org June 2, 2010
Hat tip: David Morris, http://tzedek-tzedek.blogspot.com/
So, with the help of my esteemed congregation, Kehilas Shivtei Yeshurun in Ramat Beit Shemesh, I designed a pashkevil of my own. The pashkevil is a verbatim letter of the Chofetz Chaim, signed by the Chofetz Chaim. We will cover every Pashkevil we can find with our pashkevil.
This is the pashkevil to end all pashkevil!
Bnei Brak signs: Don't employ Arabs
By Ari Galahar www.ynetnews.com June 8, 2010
Notices against employing Palestinians in Israel without a permit have been posted around the religious Tel Aviv satellite town of Bnei Brak after a Palestinian was caught hiding in a haredi seminary last week, causing uproar.
Haredi protestors hurt 3 policemen
By Shmulik Grossman www.ynetnews.com June 12, 2010
Three police officers were lightly injured Saturday during an ultra-Orthodox protest against Shabbat desecration in Jerusalem's Mea Shearim neighborhood.
4 Yeshiva students suspected of mosque vandalism
By Ahiya Raved www.ynetnews.com June 10, 2010
Police forces arrested four Yeshiva students from Kfar Hasidim, suspected of spraying graffiti on a mosque in the adjacent town of Ibtin late Tuesday.
Mosque vandalized in Bedouin village near Haifa
By Jack Khoury www.haaretz.com June 9, 2010
A mosque in the Bedouin village of Ibtin, east of Haifa, was vandalized overnight Tuesday with graffiti.
Former Chief Sephardic Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu dies
By Ari Galahar, Kobi Nahshoni www.ynetnews.com June 7, 2010
Former Chief Sephardic Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu died Monday, after a lengthy hospitalization. He was 81.
Eliyahu passed away at the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, where he was hospitalized some two months ago.
Former Chief Rabbi passes away at 81
By Yair Ettinger www.haaretz.com June 8, 2010
Eliahu, considered a key spiritual leader of the religious Zionist community, played a major role in moving parts of this community closer to ultra-Orthodox thought and practice, spawning what became known as the Hardal movement (a Hebrew acronym for ultra-Orthodox religious Zionist).
In particular, he is the one who turned the term Da’at Torah - signifying that a given issue must be decided a certain way because that is "the Torah's opinion" - into a commonplace in national religious circles.
Rabbi Eliahu’s legacy of integration
JPost.com Editorial www.jpost.com June 8, 2010
Importantly, by joining the NRP, a party that strove to incorporate both Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jews, he helped to break down old boundaries between the two. For some time now, marriages between Ashkenazim and Sephardim in religious Zionist circles have been just as common as in secular Israeli society. The same is not true in the haredi community to which Yosef’s Shas belongs.
Tales of 'miracles' at shiva for former Chief Rabbi Eliyahu
By Ari Galahar www.ynetnews.com June 10, 2010
"There are so many stories about Rabbi Eliyahu which don't reach the public because of his modesty," one of the Rabbi's associates said. "Now is the time to tell the public so that they understand what a great rabbi he was
Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu – an eloquent racist
By Anshel Pfeffer Opinion www.haaretz.com June 11, 2010
With Rabbi Eliyahu, everything was part of a deeper religious ideology. His statements were measured and considered, they did not stem from emotion.
He fostered a generation of rabbis in the national-religious camp for whom this particular brand of Jewish racism is a matter of instinct.
But not all the rabbis and politicians who rushed to eulogize him this week share these views. Many of them find them abhorrent.
In the old Jewish tradition, however, after the death of a great rabbi not a word can be mentioned against him.
How many more young impressionable religious Israelis will fall under the spell of silver-tongued racists before they speak out?
Rabbis Porat and Bakshi-Doron Remember Rabbi Eliyahu
By Hillel Fendel www.israelnationalnews.com June 9, 2010
Rabbi Chanan Porat, Torah scholar, former MK, and settlement leader:
"Rabbi Eliyahu knew how to combine the traditional Torah world, some of which was perhaps far from the Zionists' views, with uncompromising adherence to the Land, as well as love of the country and the army and its self-sacrificing soldiers."
Rabbi M. Eliyahu's Prayer - Found
By Hillel Fendel www.israelnationalnews.com June 13, 2010
Rabbi Shmuel Zaafrani, Rabbi Eliyahu’s longtime assistant, found an important, 53-year-old note in the rabbi’s wallet, just two hours before the late Chief Rabbi was buried last night in one of the largest funerals ever held in Jerusalem.
Estimates of 100,000 people on Monday night were reported by Israel TV on Tuesday as having been revised to over 200,000..
www.jewishideasdaily.com Opinion June 7, 2010
Institutional reform of the chief rabbinate is highly unlikely any time soon. The ultra-Orthodox political parties, Ashkenazi and Sephardi alike, show flexibility when it comes to matters of national import like borders and security so long as they are satisfied on what matters to them most: maintaining their institutional prerogatives and funding.
Waves of anti-rabbinate sentiment have come and gone in Israeli politics, only to dissolve amid other concerns.
Changing the situation, if it can be changed at all, may require a public that cares enough about Judaism to want to create—or dismantle—institutions in light of its own commitments and vision.
Rabbi Metzger: Let us keep Jerusalem
www.ynetnews.com June 8, 2010
“We say to all the nations, please let us keep this one holy place. It is our only one; we have no other,” then repeating Israel’s pledge to uphold freedom of worship for all faiths in the city, and to keep Jerusalem as a 'city of peace.'"
Chief Rabbi: 'No mourning Gaza exit'
www.jpost.com June 8, 2010
Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yonah Metzger has issued a halachic ruling that prohibits mourning Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and Northern Samaria, Israel Radio reported on Tuesday.
Rabbi Metzger said that such mourning is divisive and exacerbates conflicts within the general public. He was writing in a publication devoted to religious rulings.
Meet the Hitachdut Kehilot HaChareidim Hechsher
By Yechiel Spira www.jerusalemkoshernews.com June 8, 2010
This new hechsher, which is up-and-running today, is the result of months and months of planning, the result of joint efforts by many of the Chassidic Courts in Israel.
Giant Synagogue in the So-Called Secular Capital of Israel
By Rachel Sylvetsky & Yoni Kempinski www.israelnationalnews.com June 10, 2010
As of this week, Shenkin Street, the street that epitomized the “Tel Aviv Spirit” in the cosmopolitan, beta+ rated world city "that never sleeps”, and from where the most exciting mainstream and alternative music, theater and dance groups emerged during the 80s, has an unexpected, renewed landmark.
The dilapidated Geulat Moshe Synagogue, built there in 1937 by the Georgian Jewish community, that stood out like a sore thumb in the renewed street, has been renovated by the World Congress of Georgian Jewry and will be run by the Chabad Lubavitch Movement.
By David Morris http://tzedek-tzedek.blogspot.com June 11, 2010
Bet Shemesh Weekly News is published with kind permission of Rabbi Dov Lipman.
The Minister of Religion, Yaakov Margi (Shas) met with the head of the local religious council, Yehuda Medizadeh, and Rav Spector, and voiced his objections to the recent mikva agreement [in Beit Shemesh].
June 14, 2010 (Section 1) (see also Section 2)
Editor – Joel Katz
Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.
All rights reserved.
