Editor – Joel Katz
By Aviad Glickman www.ynetnews.com April 24, 2012
Some three and a half
months after they filed a petition with the High Court of Justice against the
Transportation Ministry, police, Egged Bus Company and Cnaan Media PR, the
court on Sunday served an order ruling that the State must, within 30 days,
provide the court with an explanation as to why it does not stipulate that
licenses for operating public transportation will only be issued to companies
that avoid activities that may include gender-based discrimination.
The court also
demanded that the State offer clarification on why it does not impose real
sanctions on Egged when it goes against basic constitutional principles.
By Naomi
Paiss Opinion http://jewschool.com
April 18, 2012
Naomi
Paiss, Communications Director for the New Israel Fund.
Today, a
full-page advertisement supporting the New Israel Fund will appear in the New
York Times. Paid for by a generous donor who is launching a matching-gift
campaign, the ad features a news photo of an actual billboard in Jerusalem,
with a poster of a woman’s face that has been clawed and defaced by
ultra-Orthodox extremists.
The ad
specifically references the troubling growth of gender segregation and the
exclusion of women in Israel, a phenomenon now in the public eye but not yet
defeated.
More
provocative is the back-story to the new campaign. While the ad alludes to
longtime donor Murray Koppelman, according to an email sent to NIF supporters
(it was forwarded to me by someone who has donated to the group), Koppelman has
pledged to match NIF donations up to $500,000.
“What
prompted Murray to put this much money on the line?” writes Daniel Sokatch,
NIF’s CEO.
By Jeremy
Sharon www.jpost.com April 24, 2012
Several religious
soldiers requested last week to wear earplugs or listen to MP3 players during a
Holocaust Remembrance Day ceremony in which women were singing, as well as for
upcoming ceremonies for Remembrance Day and Independence Day.
The army refused the
request but said that the soldiers could take a book of Psalms into the
ceremony to read from if they wished.
By Jeremy
Sharon www.jpost.com April 24, 2012
Leading
national-religious Rabbi Dov Lior, municipal rabbi of Hebron and Kiryat Arba,
ruled on Sunday that men should not attend theater performances in which women
perform, even if the women do not sing and are dressed modestly.
According to Lior, who
was writing in response to a question on the Yeshiva.org website, attending such
events are not compatible with the Jewish concept of modesty.
The Tal Law will be
reformed in a "responsible" manner to address the social and manpower
problems it has caused, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said during a cabinet
meeting on Sunday according to Israel Radio.
By Shira
Rubin www.timesofisrael.com April
22, 2012
The first coalition
official to visit the camp, Erdan signed the petition to replace the current
Tal Law, which virtually exempts yeshiva students from army or national
service, with a law that would require all Israeli citizens to participate in
military, national or civilian service.
Kadima MK Yohanan
Plesner added, "In the upcoming Knesset summer session, Kadima will an
alternative to the Tal Law put on the table whose primary guiding principle
will be the obligation for all to serve."
See also:
Former IDF chief Ashkenazi at reservists' protest tent:
Every Israeli citizen must serve his country
Knesset Speaker Reuven
Rivlin met on Thursday afternoon with leading ultra- Orthodox figure Rabbi
Aharon Leib Shteinman to discuss a possible compromise for the replacement of
the Tal Law regulating haredi enlistment in the army.
During Thursday’s
meeting, which took place at Shteinman’s home in Bnei Brak and was also
attended by MKs Moshe Gafni and Uri Maklev, both of UTJ, Rivlin opined that the
coming months would be a test for both the broader public and the haredi
community “to reach an agreement and an understanding.”
Lapid also
referred to the Supreme Court's annulment of the Tal Law, which regulated the
limited army enlistment of ultra-Orthodox men, saying that the law was not
really undone and urging the installment of civil service for Haredim.
"I
read in the paper that the law was annulled. Well, it wasn't. On August 1,
another law will be invented and given a different name," Lapid said,
adding: "I understand the disparity between ultra-Orthodox and the
military environment, they don't have to all go to Golani [infantry
brigade]."
Am Shalem is seeking
unusual partners for a party led by a haredi rabbi, working hard to attract
secular Israelis and English-speaking supporters, building its social-media
presence and negotiating with other, non-haredi parties, in keeping with its
platform of promoting Jewish unity.
...In fact, [Rabbi
Dov] Lipman added, there are many similarities between Am Shalem’s goals and
those of Yair Lapid, such as requiring all haredi schools to teach the
Education Ministry’s core curriculum and having most haredim serve in the IDF.
By Rabbi Dov Lipman Opinion www.jpost.com April 23, 2012
The author is an ordained
rabbi, author, educator and community activist in Beit Shemesh. He is the
director of the English Speakers Division of the Am Shalem movement.
I am a Zionist on
every level. This created a challenge for me when I studied in a haredi
(ultra-Orthodox) yeshiva in Jerusalem where rabbis never mentioned Israel’s
Memorial Day, Israel’s Independence Day, or Jerusalem Day.
No prayers were said
for the state or on behalf of the IDF soldiers. These omissions disturbed me
but my arguments about the magnitude of our return to Israel and Jerusalem fell
on deaf ears.
By Kobi Nahshoni www.ynetnews.com April 23, 2012
A recent study conducted by the Industry, Trade
and Labor Ministry predicted that Israel will see a 6% drop in its workforce
within 20 years, especially due to the growing ultra-Orthodox and Arab
population shares. But activists in the religious sector dismiss the forecast,
noting the growing rates of employed haredim.
"I don't see the pessimistic predictions coming true," said attorney Yoav Laloum, chairman of the Noar KaHalacha, an organization that advocates against discrimination in the haredi sector.
Governor of the Bank of Israel Prof.
Stanley Fischer: "Another problem is poverty in Israel, which is very serious.
The prevalence of poverty in the non-Arab and non-haredi population is
stable, but poverty among Arabs and haredim is rising. Dealing with this
is one of most important challenges facing Israeli society.
We cannot continue
on this road - something will have to give."
By Yair
Ettinger www.haaretz.com April 23, 2012
The head of the Karlin-Stolin Hasidic dynasty
received a behind-closed-doors tour of the Israel Museum last week, the first
official visit there by a major ultra-Orthodox leader.
Tuesday's
visit came at the behest of the Israel Museum, which is planning an exhibition
on the world of Hasidism, due to open in June.
Exhibit: June 12, 2012 - October 29, 2012
Location:
Bella and Harry Wexner Gallery, Israel Museum, Jerusalem
Curator:
Ester Muchawsky-Schnapper, Curator, Julia and Leo Forchheimer Department of
Jewish Ethnography
This ethnographic exhibition highlights facets of
Hasidic culture that may not be known to the wider public.
It
illustrates the Hasidic experience through the rich, complex attire of men,
women, and children and through objects with meaning for the group’s social and
spiritual life, which revolves around its charismatic leader, the Rebbe.
Photographs,
films, and music from life-cycle events and other rituals and celebrations will
also be presented, offering visitors an opportunity to enter, for a moment, the
intriguing world of a vibrant ultra-Orthodox community of today.
By Yair
Ettinger www.haaretz.com April 22, 2012
Prof.
Omer Bonne, director of the psychiatric department at Hadassah University
Hospital, Ein Karem, was interviewed in this initial report.
Like
other psychiatrists mentioned in the report who treat several Orthodox patients
in private clinics, Prof. Bonne claimed that he operates on the basis of purely
professional considerations, and strictly upholds medical ethics.
Yet
Prof. Bonne adopted what he called a professional position sanctioning the
possibility of prescribing antidepressant pills from the SSRI family (most
commonly used for the treatment of depression, anxiety disorders and some
personality disorders) for yeshiva students who masturbate excessively, or have
sexual relations with other men, yet do not suffer from depression.
City officials
explain they are not opposed to shuls, but the law is the law and one cannot
simply open a shul without proper permits and in total disregard of zoning
laws.
City Hall adds
there is significant opposition to the shul so officials are compelled to act
towards enforcing the law.
City Hall stresses
it is not opposed to shuls but there is a procedure that must be followed prior
to opening a shul in any area.
By David Lev www.israelnationalnews.com April
6, 2012
The latest dedication took place last Tuesday,
April 5th – on Rosh Chodesh Nisan – and the Torah was rededicated by communal
activists Rabbi Jay and Ruby Karzen of Jerusalem and their kind friends, on the
occasion of the 25th Anniversary of their Aliyah to Israel.
During a
very meaningful ceremony that included joyous singing and dancing in a rain
downpour with the I.D.F. band playing, a festive meal,, the scroll was placed
in the ark of the synagogue located in the IDF’ base outside Alon Shvut, in
Gush Etzion.
By Melanie
Lidman www.jpost.com April 22, 2012
Youth for Jerusalem is
spearheading the new “Adopt a Fallen Soldier” program to encourage high school
students to learn about a single soldier buried on the Mount of Olives and
visit their grave on Wednesday morning.
Many of the soldiers
were Holocaust survivors who were the only remaining member of their family and
were killed fighting in the War of Independence.
By Chaim
Levinson www.haaretz.com April 20, 2012
A
high-profile religious-Zionist rabbi - and the father-in-law of the IDF officer
who hit a protester with his rifle last week - says Jews from North Africa and
the Middle East are "purer" than European Jews but are no match for
them intellectually.
By Yair
Ettinger www.haaretz.com April 20, 2012
A
prominent Chabad figure has been accused by participants in an ultra-Orthodox
online forum of adopting Christian symbols to describe a Jewish event,
following an article he wrote in an official Chabad publication.
www.ynetnews.com April
22, 2012
The parents of a baby
who underwent a circumcision (Brit) ceremony carried out by Rabbi Avi Zarki on
Tuesday may be feeling more than a little offended as later that day he tweeted
about his surprise at the small size of their son's penis.
A plan
to relocate the Megiddo prison and build in its stead a tourist site featuring
the remains of the world's most ancient Christian church is moving one step
closer to fruition.
An international tender is expected to be published in
coming days, in an attempt to find an investor that will construct and manage
the site. The price tag is an estimated NIS 26 million.
A group
of pro-Israeli Indian Christians has bought the penultimate 20th floor of the
Migdal Ha'Ir tower in central Jerusalem to serve Indian visitors.
The
group aims to develop tourism from India in Jerusalem and hold educational
tours for Indian Christians.
By Meredith Mandell www.jta.org April 11,
2012
Every Friday night, Scott and Theresa Johnson
host Jewish Shabbat dinners for lone Israeli soldiers. The meal begins after
sundown, preceded by the Kiddush blessing over the wine and singing of
"Shalom Aleichem," the traditional Hebrew song greeting the Sabbath.
There's one catch, however, made evident by the
Christmas cards hanging in the kitchen: The Johnsons are not Jewish.
April 23, 2012 (Section 2) (see
also Section 1)
Editor – Joel Katz
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rights reserved.
