Editor – Joel Katz
Religion
and State in Israel is not affiliated
with any organization or movement.
Special Women of the Wall edition coming soon
Special Women of the Wall edition coming soon
Alongside
the spin and sloganeering that always accompany coalition negotiations, the past
week also witnessed a genuinely unprecedented political event: Almost every
day, leading ultra-Orthodox rabbis were hosting religious Zionist rabbis at
their homes, at the request of the Haredim themselves.
“Every time he would
come to the king, they would talk about security, about the coalition and the
opposition,” he said.
“Everyone would be discussed between them and he would
give him advice on how to act: ‘Don’t go with Lapid. He is wicked, he hates
yeshivas.’
"We must
integrate the haredim (into society) because without them there will not be a
true political process," Netanyahu said, explaining the desire to include
everyone in the coalition.
"On the other hand, in order to promote equal
distribution of burden, you cannot establish a government that is dependent on
the haredim."
Lapid on Wednesday
released a statement saying he saw Torah study as “part of the existential
fabric of Israel” and praised those who devoted themselves to it full-time.
But
that was no excuse for not teaching English and mathematics to young children
in the ultra-Orthodox community, he wrote, or “for 18-year-olds not serving
their country, or for 28-year-olds not entering the workforce.”
The attack against
Bennett was okayed, if not ordered by Rabbi Ovadia Yosef's house," one of
the paper's editors said.
"I represent a
very large public, both religious and not, and I cannot accept nor do I
understand the meaning of these attacks," Bennett wrote on his Facebook
page.
By Nehemia Shtrasler
I'm
unashamed to admit: I enjoyed myself. I enjoyed seeing Shas spiritual leader
Rabbi Ovadia Yosef writhing. …
The Jewish
people are better off with a Netanyahu-Lapid-Bennett government, together with
Livni and Mofaz, but without the Haredim.
That will also give Rabbi Ovadia,
Deri and Yishai time to do some soul-searching, to acquire some modesty,
moderation and respect for others. It will do them good.
By Amir Mizroch
Look at the faces
and ages of the rabbis in the first picture. They represent the past, old men
[and only men] who will do anything to live their lives [at the expense of
others, of course] as things were in the ghettos of Eastern Europe at the turn
of the last century.
Change is their greatest enemy. For them, there is no
future, only the past. And it must be preserved at all costs.
By Aluf Benn
How can the next Israeli government
bridge the growing secular-religious divide? …
Increasingly, demographic trends have
made Jerusalem more religious and Tel Aviv the bastion of liberalism.
Many
seculars have moved out of Jerusalem, leaving neighborhood after neighborhood
to the Orthodox. Most non-kosher restaurants have gone with them. The current
mayor, Nir Barkat, is a secular businessman who encourages students to live in
the old city center in order to recreate a more balanced demography.
But it’s
an uphill battle, when elsewhere in Jerusalem women sit at the backs of buses,
and advertisers avoid female faces on billboards. The convenience store on King
George Street, at the heart of Jerusalem’s center, is probably named “24/6.”
By Reuven Hammer
How ironic, then, that
the educational system of the ultra-Orthodox community and of the Shas school
system is the exact opposite of this very broad and open education that Kook
advocated. It is so narrow that even the basic subjects of math, science,
literature and foreign languages are shunned, to say nothing of “doctrines of
ethics and religion in every nation and tongue.”
Even the so-called “core
curriculum” that is required by the Education Ministry is not taught in these
schools, without which it is difficult – if not impossible – to find employment
in the modern world.
“I share
the same value system,” [MK] Rabbi Dov Lipman said, citing the importance of
studying Torah, the “fears about societal influence” and the desire to limit
interaction between men and women. “The Haredim have done themselves a
disservice by saying it’s us against them and we will not be part of Israeli
society.”
He said he took his four
children, now ages 8 to 15, out of ultra-Orthodox schools because he wanted his
son to be able to play baseball and his daughters to marry men educated to work
as well as study Torah.
Year: 2012 Author:
Benjamin Brown Series: Hebrew Books Softcover | 122 pp. | Hebrew
What do Haredim have
against democracy? Many have no problem with it and are pleased to live in a
democratic country and enjoy its benefits. Several of their spokespeople,
however, express harsh criticism of democratic rule in general and Israeli
democracy in particular.
By Aner Shalev
In the
state of the ultra-Orthodox, apartments are listed for sale at half price, and
young people are given special funding to learn Torah instead of working or
being drafted. The residents of the ultra-Orthodox state pay almost no taxes,
and their financial and security needs are met by the State of Israel − which
many of them do not recognize.
Israeli
governments have developed this pathological structure, creating outrageous
inequality. The hidden message here is that the Torah and the land are more
important than the people.
This situation must cease immediately, and the means
to stop it are primarily economic. Israel cannot afford to support an education
system that does not include core studies, thereby fostering unemployment and
poverty. Cutting the budget for yeshivot should force the ultra-Orthodox into
the army and the workforce.
By Izhar Oplatka
For decades we
seculars have watched with disbelief as you – those who do not serve alongside
us in the army, do not celebrate Independence Day and do not teach your
children the country's heritage – received so much funding just because our
leaders were willing to sell us (the majority that works and loyally serves the
country) out for Knesset seats.
… But the younger
generation is not willing to think in terms of Left and Right, nor is it
willing to enslave itself for your political support; the members of the
younger generation refuse to be your suckers anymore.
By Gideon Levy
Like every
kind of hatred, hatred of the ultra-Orthodox has its sources, motives and
reasons, only some of which are justified. Everything about the ultra-Orthodox
is different − their language, values, culture and, of course, faith. They
remind us of the Diaspora of our ancestors, which we want to forget.
They are
perceived as “parasites,” who live off society and do not serve in the army,
almost a crime in Israeli society − they do not “share the burden.” The fact
that, nevertheless, they are one of the two poorest groups in the country does
not arouse any compassion or sympathy.
Book Review by Shahar Ilan
Beshem
Hatevunah (“In the Name of Reason:
Conversations with Rabbi Chaim Amsellem”) by Ari Eitan. Yedioth
Books (Hebrew)
This book
is a harsh indictment of the fact that a large percentage of ultra-Orthodox society
evades army service, work, a secular education and participation in the Zionist
enterprise. It is an indictment of Shas, which instead of “restoring the crown”
of moderation to the Sephardi public, became an imitation of Ashkenazi Haredi
extremism.
Amsellem
admits in the book that in the past he, like every other ultra-Orthodox
politico, defended the community’s “learning society.” He even led a kollel (married students’ yeshiva) himself. “I too was
brainwashed. ... It’s permitted and even desirable for a person to be able to
say ‘I was wrong!’”
By Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie
Finally, the taboo has
been shattered. For more than 3 decades, Israeli politicians have
not talked seriously about the need to get haredi men into the army and into
the workplace. And haredi rabbinical leaders have not talked about it either.
The politicians were silent out of fear of losing haredi support in
government coalitions they hoped to create.
Haredi rabbis were silent because
they did not want to expose their young men to the dangers of secular culture;
and furthermore, neither were they prepared to relinquish the near absolute
control that the yeshiva system gives them over the lives of their people.
But all of that is now
in the past.
Members of the Gur
hasidic sect have joined Zionist youth organizations for the 2013 Youth
Movement Congress at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial on Thursday.
This year’s event,
organized by the Education Ministry and Yad Vashem’s International School for
Holocaust Studies, marks the first time that the hasidic movement, one of the
largest in Israel, sent representatives to the coeducational event.
In a slow
process, awareness of the danger of sexual crimes in ultra-Orthodox communities
has increased in recent years. More and more, rabbis and modesty patrols,
especially in the cities of Jerusalem and Bnei Brak, are cooperating with
police and social services.
This year, a book was added to the curriculum in
Haredi girls' schools to raise awareness of sexual abuse and sexual assault
with the idea that is preferable to be on the side of caution.
However,
raising awareness of sex crimes is a long and complex process and a sense of
fear among crime victims remains.
Avi
lives in one of several communal apartments subsidized by Hillel, an NGO that helps facilitate ex-Haredis’
transition into mainstream Israeli society.
One night last week, five boys who
share another Hillel-subsidized apartment across town sat around checking out
pictures of their former selves on their smartphones.
Against the backdrop of
the Israeli basketball game on TV, some smoked cigarettes, and they swapped
advice on army units and university programs.
In an op-ed written
in response to Rabbi Shlomo Aviner's a declaration that women are forbidden to
serve in the Knesset, IDI Vice President of Research Prof. Yedidia Stern
discusses the struggle between the integrationist and isolationist trends
within Religious Zionism and calls on the silent majority to present a
spiritual-religious alternative to the "Hardal" way of life.
By Rabbi Shlomo Brody
Unfortunately, Rabbi
Metzger allowed for the municipal burial societies to determine local practice,
thereby preventing an appropriate resolution in all cities. One hopes that the
next chief rabbi will ensure that the sensitivity of Jewish law will be
reflected at all funerals and other life-cycle events.
By Rabbi Aaron Leibowitz
By publicly
embracing her music and breaking societal ranks, while refusing to abandon her
care for religion, she has found her voice and become a voice for many who seek
an autonomous path to God and Torah.
… As an
Orthodox rabbi committed to all the precepts of halakha, I find watching this
process both challenging and fascinating.
One thing is for sure: it is a sign
of the times. To use a musical metaphor, we live in the age of the “remix”:
young Jews are permitting themselves to choose their own way, challenging the
classic definitions and traditions of Judaism.
Says
filmmaker Zuria: “After ‘Sentenced to Marriage’ I did major research on
fundamentalist religion’s obsessive hypocrisy regarding women. I came to
realize that today, in part of the religious Jewish world, there is an attempt
to define driving by women as something that is immodest.
Yaron
Ratzon, director of the Philatelic Service responded: "The Philatelic
Service issues stamps dealing with various issues, while strictly observing
that 50 percent of the figures on the stamps are women. It must be noted that
the stamps, official symbols of the State of Israel, are sold in all post
offices to all populations in a uniform fashion. Therefore we take special care
that the issues, illustrations and photos do not insult the feelings of any
segment of the population."
The Chief Rabbinate’s
kashrut division sat down this week with the heads of Israel’s burekas industry
to discuss the shapes of burekas and their impact on the general populace.
Factory owners warned that many of
the proposals were inviable on an operational level, either because of the
baking process or concerns over the final product. The industrialists also
insisted that the proposed laws of kashrut be enforced in bakeries and
confectioneries nationwide.
"El Al must fly on the Sabbath,
because there is no other way to survive in the world of global aviation,"
El Al Israel Airlines Ltd. controlling shareholder Izzy Borovich told
"Globes" today. Borovich owns 17% of Knafaim Holdings Ltd., which
owns the 39.3% controlling interest in El Al, but he has no active position in
the airline.
They had come to
harness the power of a dead rabbi, Yonatan ben Uziel, a man they believed would
intercede on their behalf in heaven, granting any Jew a match within the year
-- as long as they prayed at his tomb or paid a fee.
Judie
Oron’s gripping young adult book “Cry of the Giraffe” (Annick Press, 208 pages,
$12.95, in paperback; also available as an e-book), a fictionalized account
based on the events of her daughter’s life and written from Wuditu’s point of
view.
He was renowned as an
expert on the subject of the applicability of Jewish civil law in a Jewish
state. In 1973 he published a book on Jewish civil law that is considered an
important work in the field.
In 1979, Elon was awarded
the Israel Prize for Hebrew law.
Editor – Joel Katz
Religion
and State in Israel is not affiliated
with any organization or movement.
All rights reserved.
