March 28, 2011 (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.
Rabbinate freezes interfaith dialogue
By Kobi Nahshoni www.ynetnews.com March 27, 2011
The Chief Rabbinate of Israel has decided to freeze all types of dialogues held by its representatives with Muslim clerics in Israel, until the latter denounce last week's terror attack in Jerusalem and the ongoing rocket and mortar attacks on Israeli communities from the Gaza Strip.
Chief Rabbi demands PA religious leaders denounce attack
PM: Israel will act ‘vigorously, responsibly and prudently
By Herb Keinon http://www.jpost.com March 23, 2011
Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi Yona Metzger demanded that religious leaders in the Palestinian Authority denounce the attack, until which no interfaith dialogue would take place.
“Our neighbors have once again shown that we have no real partner,” he said. “So long as the inciting religious leaders won’t condemn the terrorists, the Chief Rabbinate will suspend its interfaith dialogue with them.
We expect the religious leadership to firmly denounce the terror attack in the heart of Jerusalem.”
By Anat Hoffman Opinion http://www.jpost.com March 22, 2011
The writer is executive director of the Israel Religious Action Center of the Reform Movement and president of Women of the Wall.
Some rabbis are manipulating Judaism to overturn democratic principles, paving the way for the secular leadership to push laws that can be seen as undemocratic.
Elon Moreh Rabbi Levanon: Katsav punished for backing pullout
www.ynetnews.com March 21, 2011
Rabbi Elyakim Levanon, who serves as chief rabbi of the Elon Moreh settlement and the regional rabbi of Samaria, says former President Moshe Katsav's conviction of two counts of rape is not directly related to his actions.
According to the rabbi, Katsav is being punished for not acting against the disengagement from Gaza as president.
By Sefi Rachlevsky Opinion www.haaretz.com March 23, 2011
It is not "just" state-funded Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu inciting against the Arabs and it is not "just" the leader of the racist world in Israel, Rabbi Dov Lior, who enjoys a respectable amount of funding and a variety of official posts.
It is not even "just" the fact that most first-graders in Israel who are defined as Jews receive religious and ultra-Orthodox education in which it is self-evident that a non-Jew is not a human being.
Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fisher: Poverty among Haredim, Arabs increased by 50%
www.ynetnews.com March 22, 2011
Governor of the Bank of Israel, Stanley Fischer presented data to the government indicating the poverty rate among haredim and Arabs in Israel has increased by 50% in the past decade. Meanwhile, the poverty rate has not risen among the general population, remaining at 13%.
Number of Haredim pursuing academic studies up dramatically
http://www.jpost.com March 28, 2011
The number of haredi students pursuing an academic education in Israel has gone from only a few hundred in 2005 to around 2,500 in 2010, according to a Bank of Israel report set to be released on Wednesday.
The report also states that the number of haredim studying in programs geared toward their sector climbed from around 2,000 to 6,000 over the same period.
Rebbetzin has twins after 33 years
By Akiva Novick www.ynetnews.com March 21, 2011
For 33 years, the Rebbe of the Mevakshei Emunah Hasidism in Jerusalem prayed for a miracle that would help his wife become pregnant and give him a son.
VIDEO: Financial district being built in ultra-Orthodox Bnei Brak
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Financial district being built in ultra-Orthodox Bnei Brak
By Sivan Raviv www.ynetnews.com March 23, 2011
Imagine a modern and prosperous financial district, located over 50 acres of land, comprised of 15 towers and employing tens of thousands of people.
Now imagine this district in the Israeli city of Bnei Brak. Among old housing units and garages in the capital of the ultra-orthodox community in Israel a new business center will be launched.
Some Hidden Dangers for the Chareidi Community
By Jonathan Rosenblum www.jewishmediaresources.com Opinion March 2, 2011
Over that same period of time, the chareidi community in Israel has been fairly confident that no government – even one without chareidim in the coalition – would push a full-scale confrontation with the chareidi community over army service because the IDF's manpower needs did not require chareidi soldiers. But just because that was once true does not mean it will remain so forever.
'Jobs bill' allows UTJ to select deputy mayor in Jerusalem
By Jonathan Lis www.haaretz.com March 23, 2011
The Knesset yesterday approved the second and third readings of the so-called "jobs bill," pushed through by United Torah Judaism, which will allow the mayors of large cities with balanced budgets to appoint an additional deputy mayor.
Ultra-Orthodox families squat in unfinished Neot homes in Modi'in Ilit
By Shlomit Tzur http://english.themarker.com March 24, 2011
Hundreds of ultra-Orthodox families have moved into unfinished apartments being constructed in Modi'in Ilit by the troubled development company Neot Hapisga, fearing that the tottering company might collapse and leave them with neither their money and nor their homes.
Haredi parents marry off 13-year-old daughter as 'penance' for flirtations
By Chaim Levinson www.haaretz.com March 25, 2011
A 13-year-old girl from the ultra-Orthodox town of Modi'in Ilit was married to a 16-year-old this week, after religious activists in the town told the girls' parents it would be penance for her romantic involvement with the boy.
'Andromeda Hill tombs belong to pagans, pigs'
By Yoav Zitun www.ynetnews.com March 27, 2011
The tombs uncovered near Andromeda Hill in Jaffa belong to pagan worshipers buried next to domesticated pigs, according to the latest findings revealed during excavation works at the site.
For the past year, the site has become a political and religious hotspot, with ultra-Orthodox frequently protesting what they claimed was the desecration of Jewish graves.
Orthodox Jews to Protest Jerusalem ‘Festival of Flavors’
www.israelnationalnews.com March 27, 2011
Orthodox and ultra-orthodox Jews to gather tonight at Jaffa Gate in Jerusalem to protest the ‘Festival of Flavors’. The attendees are intended to visit restaurants in the Jewish and Moslem Quarters, and partake of non-kosher food.
Haredi group to bury remains uncovered near Jaffa's Andromeda Hill
www.ynetnews.com March 27, 2011
Members of Atra Kadisha, an ultra-Orthodox organization that fought against the removal of graves found near Andromeda Hill in Jaffa, will hold a funeral for the bones uncovered there, claiming that they belong to 150 Jews.
'Religious troops must refuse evacuation'
www.ynetnews.com March 22, 2011
A majority of the national-religious public believes that religious Israel Defense Forces soldiers must not obey an order to evacuate Jewish communities in the West Bank, according to a survey conducted ahead of the Jerusalem Conference held in the capital last week.
VIDEO: Christian Woman Joins the Israel Defense Forces
El Al to fly Sun D'or flights as latter loses license
By Zohar Blumenkrantz http://english.themarker.com March 27, 2011
Sun D'or was set up so that El Al could have its cake and eat it too: It wanted to fly on Shabbat, but it didn't want to lose the business of religious customers.
For years Sun D'or flew on Shabbat in an arrangement that was accepted by both the religious public and by regulators. But it faced increasing criticism from both the CAA and European Union aviation authorities for its failure to comply with the regulations defining what an airline is or isn't.
Yeshiva Ohr Tmimim Kfar Chabad Brings Joy to Soldiers
http://chabad.info March 23, 2011
Students of Yeshiva Ohr Tmimim Kfar Chabad spent Purim at many army bases in the Chevron area. Together with the Shliach Rabbi Yosef Dahan they read the Megilah 18 times and gave out one thousand Mishloach Monos to soldiers and added great happiness to our brothers in arms.
250,000 kids study Bible for Shalit
By Tzofia Hirschfeld www.ynetnews.com March 23, 2011
Some 250,000 students, accompanied by hundreds of teachers and supervisors, are busy studying the entire Bible and Mishna this week as part of a campaign calling for the release of kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit.
The project includes all children from the age of three to the 12th grade studying in state religious schools, as well as teachers, education students, school principals and supervisors.
VIDEO: National Religious Soldiers on Enlistment Day in IDF
One cool cat performs for OneFamily
By Ruth Beloff http://www.jpost.com March 26, 2011
An Orthodox Jew who’s had a highly successful career despite some unfortunate run-ins with the law in the US, Shyne attributes his good fortune to God.
“It’s all from Hashem,” he kept repeating. Ending his speech on an inspiring note, he said that everyone can help
State: Jerusalem's 'Small Kotel' is Not a Holy Site
By Gil Ronen www.israelnationalnews.com March 21, 2011
The State's representatives have determined that the "Kotel HaKatan" ("Small Kotel" or "Small Wailing Wall"), a wall which is a continuation of the Kotel in Jerusalem, is not a holy site. The statement was submitted to the court as part of the reply to a damages lawsuit filed by a group of Jews who prayed at the Small Kotel on Rosh HaShana of 5767 (2006).
Desecration, attacks at ancient Jewish cemetery
By Josh Lederman www.forbes.com March 23, 2011
Israelis and American Jewish leaders are demanding that the Israeli government increase protection to ensure that those buried on the Mount of Olives can rest in peace.
AUDIO SLIDESHOW: Boyan Hasidim pay tribute to Rebbe on Mt. of Olives
By Mordechai I. Twersky http://www.jpost.com March 21, 2011
Click here for AUDIO SLIDESHOW [Click full-screen icon]
The Boyan Hasidim of Israel, together with their leader, the American-born Rabbi Nachum Brayer, recently braved wind-swept rains and cold temperatures to ascend to the Mt. of Olives to pay tribute to their legendary leader.
Hurva Synagogue full circle: Rabbi’s grandson celebrates bar mitzva
By Joshua Hamerman http://www.jpost.com March 25, 2011
Thursday was a historic day for the Hurva Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City: The great-great-grandson of the Hurva’s last rabbi before its destruction during the War of Independence became a bar mitzva at the Ashkenazi shul.
Milken Institute brainstorms funding for Israel heritage sites
By Michele Chabin www.jewishjournal.com March 22, 2011
The Milken Institute, a Santa Monica-based economic think tank, has come up with a plan to alleviate the problem.
Its recent report, “Cultural Heritage as an Economic Development Resource in Israel,” says the kinds of start-up financing models used in the private economic sphere “could not only help preserve and protect” the country’s 30,000 identified archaeological sites, “but also provide local and national economic growth.”
VIDEO: Redemptive Dreams, Stubborn Realities: The Past and Future of Religious Zionism
Sessions by Rabbi Shai Held
- Session 1 (March 1): Religious Zionism as a Revolution: Major Dreams, Challenges, Figures, and Movements
- Session 2 (March 8): A Real Place, or a Divine Mystery: The Land of Israel in Jewish Thought and in Religious Zionism
- Session 3 (March 15): Zionists and their Messiahs: (Non-)Messianism and its Implications
- Session 4 (March 22): Violence, Military Force, and the Jewish Ambivalence towards Power
- Session 5 (March 29): Is Democracy Jewish? And is Religious-Secular Co-existence Possible?
- Session 6 (April 5): A Vision for the Future of Religious Zionism
Religious Zionism: Praise and Warnings
By Hillel Fendel www.israelnationalnews.com March 25, 2011
While Religious Zionism celebrates its accomplishments, a former Knesset Member warns that it had better unite behind a religious authority if it does not want to disappear from the political arena.
Rabbi Yuval Sherlo: Car alarm overrides Shabbat
www.ynetnews.com March 25, 2011
The head of the Petah Tikva Hesder yeshiva and one of the leading rabbis in the religious-Zionist community has ruled that for the public's welfare it is acceptable to turn off a car alarm that goes off during Shabbat.
Rabbi Dov Lior: OK to Film Arab Attackers on Shabbat
www.israelnationalnews.com March 25, 2011
Rabbi Dov Lior, a leading religious-Zionist rabbi, has issued a groundbreaking new ruling in halacha (Jewish law) that allows Jews to film Arab attackers on the Sabbath. Normally, using cameras is forbidden on the Sabbath.
Two Years in Office, Israel’s Netanyahu Looks Stronger Than Ever
By David Rosenberg www.themedialine.org March 27, 2011
Dan Schueftan said Netanyahu’s great mistake was opting back in 2009 as he was enlisting coalition partners to go with parties mainly from the right of center and religious parties, instead of the center-left Kadima Party.
Schueftan is particularly critical of Netanyahu’s decision to bring Shas, which he sees as the driving force behind campaigns to enable Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Jewish minority to avoid army service and employment.
“The most important thing for him [Netanyahu] is the stability of the government and he starts on the assumption that you need a stable government and that means bringing in Shas,” he told The Media Line. “He mortgaged an important interest of Israeli society when he gave precedence to government stability over policy.”
Franciscan guardians of Holy Land sites launch new website
www.catholicnewsagency.com March 22, 2011
The Franciscans in the Holy Land, who've been charged by the Vatican with preserving Catholic sanctuaries in the area throughout the last 800 years, have launched a new website offering more information about the sacred sites as well as pilgrimages to the region.
March 28, 2011 (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.
