Monday, July 20, 2009

Religion and State in Israel - July 20, 2009 (Section 1)

Religion and State in Israel

July 20, 2009 (Section 1) (continues in 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.


Ministerial panel approves very limited civil union bill

By Dan Izenberg www.jpost.com July 20, 2009

The Ministerial Committee for Legislation on Sunday approved the government's proposal for a bill allowing Israelis classified as having no religion to be registered as a couple and receive, though not immediately, the rights of married couples within Israel.

Although the couples will be registered as having entered a "couple union," they will not be considered married in the way that Israelis married in religious courts are so considered.


Coalition criticizes limited civil union bill

By Dan Izenberg www.jpost.com July 20, 2009

A coalition opposed to the legislation charged that it would create a separate sect within Israel whose members could only form unions among themselves, even though most of those registered as non-Jews considered themselves Jewish, mixed with the Jewish population in schools and the army, and were most likely to want to marry Jews.

The coalition estimated that of all the Israeli couples who married abroad, only 170 marriages per year involved partners who were both classified as having no religion. These couples constituted 3.8 percent of all the Israeli couples that married abroad, according to the coalition.

It also charged that the fact that the religious courts were the final arbiters of whether someone registered as not having a religion actually did have a religion was absurd.

In the case of many immigrants from the former Soviet Union who were not halachically Jewish but regarded themselves as Jews, and had often suffered in their homeland because they were Jewish, they would be put in the absurd position of trying to prove to the religious courts that they were not Jewish, even if they felt they were.


Committee OK’s marriage bill

By Aviad Glickman www.ynetnews.com July 19, 2009

Meanwhile, the committee also okayed the civil marriage bill, that will enable the recognition of the marriage of Israelis defined by the State as "non-denomination", i.e. – having no official religious affiliation. The bill was the initiative of Justice Minister Yaakov Ne'eman.

The minister proposed that a judge be appointed to manage the registration of married couples that are not defined as Jews, Muslims, Christians, Druze or Circassians, but are recognized as citizens or permanent residents of Israel.

If the proposal is approved by the Knesset, couples without an official religion will be eligible for the same rights as married.

Rabbi Gilad Kariv, of [Israel’s Reform Movement], who demanded civil marriage for all slammed the decision. According to Kariv,

"The Israeli government chooses to sell out the olim and the rest of the citizens of Israel to the rabbinical establishment for coalition agreements. This bill is a fraud that gives a marginal solution to less than four percent of the Israeli couples, who are forced to marry each year in foreign countries."


Israel Chief Rabbi forced to authorize funds for Reform conversions

By Matthew Wagner www.jpost.com July 17, 2009

A bureaucratic change slated to go into effect on Sunday will force Sephardi Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar to oversee funding of Reform and Conservative conversion institutes.

Until now, the Immigrant Absorption Ministry was responsible for financing conversion institutes that prepared potential converts to Judaism.

But as a result of a cabinet decision to adopt the Halfon Committee recommendations for reform in the state-funded conversion apparatus, all conversion activities will be centralized in the Prime Minister's Office under Amar.

…"Rabbi Amar has one of three choices," said Avigdor Leviatan, head of the conversion division in the Immigrant Absorption Ministry.

"He can accept the decree and agree to fund Reform and Conservative institutes, which will bring the wrath of haredi rabbis upon him; he can attempt to return the situation to the way it was before the policy change; or he can avoid discriminating against the non-Orthodox institutes by stopping funds for everybody, something which would totally destroy the entire state conversion system."


Panel upholds canceled conversion

By Matthew Wagner www.jpost.com July 16, 2009

In an encouraging sign for converts whose Jewishness has been questioned by the haredi-controlled rabbinic establishment, Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar ruled this week that a conversion annulled by a Haifa Rabbinic Court was perfectly kosher.

…Amar's ruling came weeks after the chief rabbi took over control of all cases involving conversion that reach the Supreme Rabbinic Court.

The move was aimed at bypassing Rabbi Avraham Sherman, a controversial dayan who has questioned the legitimacy of conversions performed by the Chief Rabbinate


Amar's conversion revolution underway

By Kobi Nahshoni www.ynetnews.com July 16, 2009

Amar recently announced that from now on he will oversee personally, as president of the Great Rabbinical Court of Appeals, every case related to the validity of a conversion.


MKs scuttle plan to pay Haredi schools that don't teach core subjects

By Or Kashti www.haaretz.com July 15, 2009

The Knesset Education, Culture and Sports Committee changed the bill introduced by MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) that sought to give ultra-Orthodox schools preferential treatment.

According to the original law proposal, the two existing ultra-Orthodox school systems which function independently from the state system would have received full funding of their activities instead of 75 percent.

…Einat Hurvitz of the Israel Religious Action Center said the new version of the bill was an improvement.

"It stops the discrimination in favor of the ultra-Orthodox which existed in the original version," she said.
"It's important that the Knesset stay on guard and make sure the current amendment won't rid the ultra-Orthodox schools from teaching their pupils the core curriculum."


Ashkenazi Haredi leaders to hold summit in challenge to Gur Hasidim

By Yair Ettinger www.haaretz.com July 20, 2009

Rabbinic leaders of the Ashkenazi Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) community will hold a rare summit in Jerusalem Monday to discuss the fate of the community's Hinuch Atzma'i school system.

The conference, the first in 29 years, is an open challenge to the Gur Hasidim, the largest Hasidic sect in Israel and one of the many sects within the broader Ashkenazi Haredi community.

The battle for control of Hinuch Atzma'i - which is extremely influential and controls vast budgets…


Challenging the state

By Rafi Israeli www.haaretz.com July 20, 2009 Opinion

The Haredim, meanwhile, are reared on traditional studies that do not prepare youngsters for tomorrow's world, and build dependence rather than creativity and progress. The results are low achievement and an ingrained culture of poverty and dependence.

…If there is a state school system subsidized by taxpayers, it must be forced upon everybody. Any minority that wishes to maintain a separate school system must do so at its own expense.


The battle in Religious Zionism

By Matthew Wagner www.jpost.com July 18, 2009

In the latest salvo in the ongoing war between two vying camps over the future of religious Zionism, haredi-leaning rabbis this week torpedoed the appointment of a liberal-minded professor as president of a popular teachers college.

…Prof. Glick teaches at the Schechter Institute, which also has a rabbinical seminary that trains Conservative (Masorti) rabbis. In addition, the Schocken Institute which he heads is associated with the JTS, the US seminary for Conservative rabbis.

In a letter to Lifshitz's board, which backtracked on a previous decision to ratify his appointment, Glick wrote that his "heart went out to Lifshitz, which used to be the flagship of national religious education and has since become a 'haredi-national' institution that values parochialism over openness, and separation over integration."


Religious college slammed for capitulating to rabbinic pressure

By Kobi Nahshoni www.ynetnews.com July 15, 2009

A decision by the heads of the Lifshitz College of Education in Jerusalem, a prominent religious institute for teachers' training, to call off the appointment of a new president following pressure from the national-haredi stream, is stirring the Zionist religious world.

Last week the institution's board went back on its decision to appoint Prof. Shmuel Glick as the school's new head, after rabbis affiliated with the ultra-Orthodox stream that supports religious Zionism, threatened to stop sending their students to the college if the appointment goes through.

According to the rabbis, Glick had in the past taught at the Schechter Institute for Jewish Studies, which is affiliated with the Masorti (Conservative) Movement in Israel.


VIDEO: Kolech Conference

Click here for VIDEO

Israel TV www.jpost.com July 14, 2009


Orthodox reformers?

By Matthew Wagner www.jpost.com July 15, 2009

Kolech’s conference, entitled "The Woman and Her Judaism," was conducted under the shadow of…allegations that Kolech was a "neo-Reform" organization.

In many of the sessions, speakers referred to themselves tongue-in-cheek as "proud neo-reformers," convinced that any changes in practice or approach could be fully justified in Orthodox Jewish law.

…Rachel Keren, Kolech's chairwoman, said that Monday's conference was probably the motivation for various comments by Shapira and other rabbis, such as Technion Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu Rachamim Zini.

"The Kolech conference raises many issues that demonstrate so clearly the need for change in the Orthodox world," said Keren.
"One of these issues is leadership. Suggesting that women can also be spiritual and community leaders undermines the existing hierarchies and frameworks.

…Rabbi Yehuda Gilad of the Religious Kibbutz Movement's yeshiva in Ma'aleh Gilboa, said that ordination of female rabbis was inevitable and that women had a special contribution to make to the development of Halacha.


Orthodox community chooses title for female rabbi

By Tzofia Hirschfeld www.ynetnews.com July 19, 2009

The Religious Women's Forum Kolech decided at their conference last week to choose a Hebrew title for a woman ordained as a rabbi by an Orthodox institution, although no woman in Israel yet holds this position.

The title chosen by a majority of conference participants is "rabba."

"The women's learning revolution has existed for quite some time," said Rachel Keren, chairwoman of Kolech's Board of Directors, to Ynet.

"Women are advancing in Torah study, but there is a glass ceiling hindering their advancement. The glass ceiling was already shattered in the course for female halachic advisors and on the issue of female legal counselors, but still hasn't been shattered in the field of rabbis and religious judges. This issue is of prime importance."


Meet the world’s first female Orthodox rav

By Simon Rocker www.thejc.com July 9, 2009

For many years, this animated educator kept a secret: she can lay claim to being the first modern-day Orthodox woman rabbi.

A flutter of excitement followed Rabbi Avi Weiss’s announcement a couple of months ago that he was launching a school in New York to train Orthodox women clergy — to be known as maharats (an acronym meaning leaders in law, spirituality and Torah) rather than rabbis. But Reb Mimi was quietly ordained 15 years ago.


Religious Zionists to Pick Candidate for J'lem Chief Rabbi

By Gil Ronen www.israelnationalnews.com July 15, 2009

The religious-Zionist camp’s candidate for the important position of Jerusalem’s Chief Ashkenazic Rabbi will be chosen from a field of seven right after Rosh Chodesh Av, in the course of the “Nine Days” that end on Tisha B’Av.

The candidate will be selected by a special committee that has been in charge of the matter for some time, under the leadership and guidance of Rabbis Chaim Druckman, Yaakov Ariel and Aharon Lichtenstein.

…There are reports that Barkat has sealed a deal with Shas according to which he will support their candidate for Chief Sephardic Rabbi, Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef – the son of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef – and Shas will support a religious-Zionist for the Ashkenazic post.


No glatt kosher for jailed recalcitrant husband

By Kobi Nahshoni www.ynetnews.com July 17, 2009

The Great Rabbinical Court has ordered the Israel Prison Service to deny a jailed long-time recalcitrant husband glatt kosher meals, as means to pressure him into granting his wife a divorce.

The court…sentenced the man to five years in prison, of which he has already served two. However, even after he was incarcerated, the man continued to present demands and conditions to his wife in return for a divorce.


Law of Moses or law of Israel?

By Susie Becher www.ynetnews.com Opinion July 19, 2009

Susie Becher is a member of the National Executive of The New Movement-Meretz

The State of Israel, “the only democracy in the Middle East,” expects Cphir to be ready to die for his country but will not allow him to marry because, according to the Rabbinate, his matriarchal lineage means that Cphir is not a Jew.


High Court Reverses Rabbinical Court Rulings

By Yechiel Spira www.theyeshivaworld.com July 19, 2009

The High Court of Justice last week reversed rulings of the Tel Aviv Rabbinical Court and the Supreme Rabbinical Court because of a “procedural issue” as the court put it, with the three-justice panel ruling the rabbinical courts ruled with only two dayanim, and therefore, they must begin proceedings against with three dayanim.


What are Jewish schools for?

By Anshel Pfeffer www.haaretz.com Opinion July 17, 2009

The JFS crisis is a classic example of the "Who is a Jew" debate. And just as Israel's political and legal systems have repeatedly ducked their responsibility to resolve this conflict, so will the British courts ultimately fail.

…Meanwhile, in all religious matters, the Israeli government and the British community will both continue to defer to the most extreme ultra-Orthodox rabbis, who have achieved a stranglehold over the rabbinates in both countries.


Israel’s Politician as Super Woman

By Netty C. Gross www.forward.com July 15, 2009

[MK Anastasia Michaeli Samuelson, Yisrael Beiteinu] immigrated to Israel from St. Petersburg in 1997 and converted to Judaism in 2000.

…Michaeli gives lip service to her party’s proposal for civil unions in Israel, where currently marriage is legally controlled by the state-funded rabbinate and the recognized religious heads of the country’s Muslim, Christian and Druze minorities.

This leaves thousands of secular Russian immigrants unable to marry because their status as Jews under traditional religious criteria is questionable.

…Michaeli does lament having had to regularly drive on the Sabbath to visit her husband’s now deceased father when he was ill. It is an infraction that could prompt the state rabbinate to revoke the conversion it granted her.

Today’s rabbinate insists that converts remain religiously observant. She wistfully expresses the hope that someday she can be frum. “I would love that,” she said.


Identity crisis in Israel

By Rabbi Michael Graetz www.ynetnews.com July 19, 2009 Opinion

Rabbi Michael Graetz, Rabbi Emeritus in the Masorti congregation 'Magen Avraham' in Omer, is one of the Founders of the Masorti Movement in Israel, its first director and past president of the Rabbinical Assembly in Israel.

The Masorti Movement in Israel, and the world wide Conservative Movement produces just such results. We offer a living example of just such a process of positive choice of Jewish and Israeli identity, with NO belittling of other ethnic groups or religious groups. It is a Jewish approach that we believe can repair the tear in the Jewish identity of many Israelis and many Jews.

…While some Orthodox leaders and the Chief Rabbinate conduct a public campaign of defamation of Masorti (Conservative) Judaism, we continue to believe in the positive approach of our movement of inclusion based on the intrinsic values of Judaism about the ultimate worth of every human being.


Rabbi Michael Melchior slated to become next WZO head

By Cnaan Liphshiz www.haaretz.com July 20, 2009

Rabbi Michael Melchior is slated to head the World Zionist Organization as of next month, after Kadima chairperson Tzipi Livni invited him to join the organization on her party's ticket


150 Latin American immigrants arrive in Israel

By Daniella Feldman www.jpost.com July 19, 2009

Just two days before the 15th anniversary of the AMIA bombing in Buenos Aires, 150 Latin American immigrants who traveled to Israel on a direct flight out of Brazil were welcomed to their new home in a ceremony on Thursday at the Western Wall.


NBN appoints new director to replace former diplomat Ayalon

By Raphael Ahren www.haaretz.com July 20, 2009

Nefesh B'Nefesh's new vice chairman is former Immigrant Absorption Ministry director general Erez Halfon, the immigrant assistance organization announced yesterday.

Halfon, 38, will assume his new post on September 1. He will be responsible for "enhancing the organization's strategic partnerships with Israeli government bodies and agencies, and furthering its ties within the Jewish World," NBN stated.


Conservative synagogue arson ignites religious tensions in Modi'in

By Cnaan Liphshiz www.haaretz.com July 17, 2009

The fire that gripped Modi'in's Conservative community last week has in turn ignited a fierce dispute between the city and non-Orthodox residents about who started it.

Worshipers accuse ultra-Orthodox "fanatics" and complain of municipal indifference, while the city speaks of petty vandalism, adding that claiming otherwise is "reckless and disingenuous.


Christian-funded centers vandalized

By Ruth Eglash www.jpost.com July 19, 2009

Three Acre-based youth centers, established with funding from the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), were vandalized earlier this week following on-going threats from local community members concerned that the programs run there are missionary in nature, The Jerusalem Post has learned.

In a letter to the IFCJ, which was obtained by Post, Acre Mayor Shimon Lankri explains that some of those living in the vicinity of the so-called Fellowship Centers "are suspicious of your intentions and distrust the organization.


Vatican teaching Hezbollah how to kill Jews, says pamphlet for IDF troops

By Ofri Ilani www.haaretz.com July 20, 2009

The booklet was published by the Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, in cooperation with the chief rabbi of Safed, Rabbi Shmuel Eliahu, and has been distributed for the past few months.


100 bibles in 100 languages

www.ynetnews.com July 15, 2009

The Bible Lands Museum Jerusalem Monday a unique project initiated by the Bible Valley Society together with the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The project is a global initiative wherein thousands of people unite together to hand-inscribe bibles in their native languages, building bridges of understanding between the many cultures and faiths united by a shared love and reverence for the Bible.


Religion and State in Israel

July 20, 2009 (Section 1) (continues in 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.

Religion and State in Israel - July 20, 2009 (Section 2)

Religion and State in Israel

July 20, 2009 (Section 2) (continued from Section 1)

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.


Haredi flyers incite against Hadassah hospital

By Ronen Medzini www.ynetnews.com July 20, 2009


Walls of haredi neighborhoods of Jerusalem have been plastered with provocative street posters – pashkevils – over the past few days, since the case of the mother suspected of starving her three-year-old son has become public knowledge.

The instigative posters and flyers all make serious slanderous accusations against the Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in the capital, which has been treating the toddler, accusing it with acts similar to the Nazi horrors of the Holocaust.

One poster's title read "Hadassah Ein Kerem 2009 – A modern-day Dr. Mengele".


Mother must undergo a psychiatric evaluation within 24 hrs


Gevalt!

Jpost.com Editorial www.jpost.com July 17, 2009

Perhaps we need a state commission to tell us not only why a volatile minority of hassidic sects periodically runs amok - but also how to discourage the culture of extreme insularity that lies at the root of their self-perpetuated estrangement.


Haredim of all sects unite against perceived vilification

By Matthew Wagner www.jpost.com July 20, 2009

Out of a deep feeling that the secular public is out to vilify and persecute them, the entire Haredi public - from the most extreme and insular hassidic sects to the most mainstream elements - formed a united front over the weekend to support the Jerusalem mother who allegedly starved her three-year-old boy.

…The sudden unification of all streams of haredi Judaism also represents a unique, rare situation. It's rare for Toldot Aharon, which totally rejects any cooperation with the Zionist entity, to turn for help to more moderate elements of haredi Jewry.

But in the current crisis, haredi figures such as Deputy Health Minister Ya'acov Litzman of the Gerer hassidic sect and public relations agent Dudi Zilbershlag of the Seret-Viznitz Hassidic sect, who are ideologically at odds with more insular sects like Toldot Aharon, were enlisted to help negotiate with the authorities.

"Just as I need to go to the grocer to buy food even though I may not agree with his opinions," said a spokesman for the Eda Haredit, "I also recruit the aid of people who know how to deal with the media and the state officials when I need to."


Persecuting the Haredim

By Dudi Zilbershlag www.ynetnews.com July 19, 2009 Opinion

Anyone looking for reinforcements to the claim that Israel is home to an anti-haredi campaign of persecution got what they were looking for, big time, with the story of the mother who allegedly starved her son.


Heavy price to pay

By Gadi Taub www.ynetnews.com July 16, 2009 Opinion

In Herzl’s and Ben-Gurion’s view, the State is the tangible expression of Jewish independence.

Yet in the eyes of the Haredim, the State constitutes a foreign regime, and just like in the Diaspora they try to get as much as possible out of it, while at the same time viewing it as a despicable force, whose future and stability are not a Jewish concern.


Family uses posters to claim 'blood libel' in case of mother accused of starving child

By Yair Ettinger www.haaretz.com July 16, 2009

The first sign of the family's intention was on Sunday, when they sidestepped a court-imposed gag order and instead engaged in the time honored ultra-Orthodox tradition of local community reportage via wall posters or pashkavilim - a common site on the bulletin boards and walls that line the streets of religious neighborhoods like Jerusalem's Mea Shearim, where she lives.


What about the Haredim's rights?

By Yishai Schechter www.ynetnews.com July 19, 2009 Opinion

So, why was the case handed over to the police? What do police investigators have to do with the personality disorders of a sick woman, who happens to be five-month pregnant?

What will they be investigating exactly? Why is the treatment of this woman not being handled by the welfare authorities, which are the natural, legal branch for treating her?

…Why were the police waiting for her upon leaving the welfare offices, contrary to the position of mental health officials, and arrested her in front of the press?

Where are the women's organizations when it comes to haredim? Where are the human rights groups?


Jerusalem mayor orders civil suits against Haredim

By Ronen Medzini www.ynetnews.com July 19, 2009

Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat instructed the city's legal counsel to file civil lawsuits against ultra-Orthodox residents following the violent haredi riots in the capital.

Last week the mayor suspended all municipal services to the haredi neighborhoods Geula and Mea Shearim in light of the protests.


Collective punishment against Haredim is unacceptable

Haaretz Editorial www.haaretz.com July 17, 2009

[Mayor Barkat’s] hasty announcement was a mistake. Both neighborhoods are inhabited by tens of thousands of people, of which only a tiny minority participated in the violence. There is no reason to punish the many for the sins of the few.


Haredi violence in Jerusalem abating

Haredim: No violence expected

Photos of Haredi demonstrations/riots

J'lem mother released to house arrest

Rav Sternbuch's letter regarding the riots

Jerusalem braces for violence as Haredi mother due in court

J'lem mayor halts services to ultra-Orthodox neighborhoods after another day of violence

City suspends services to Haredi neighborhoods

Barkat shuts down Mea She'arim and Geula welfare offices until Haredi violence stops


Jerusalem police chief: Where are the sane rabbis?

By Efrat Weiss www.ynetnews.com July 16, 2009

"I have not heard an outcry by rabbis or dignitaries calling for an end to the riots," Jerusalem District Police Commander Major General Aharon Franco said.

"There is no sane element in the ultra-Orthodox community that has stood up and spoke out against this phenomenon. Someone needs to wake up because eventually people will get hurt."


Court convicts Beit Shemesh mother of abusing children

Click here for VIDEO

Israel TV www.jpost.com July 20, 2009


Clashes over Sabbath Parking Lots Reveal Divisions among Jerusalem’s Jews

By Nathan Jeffay http://forward.com July 15, 2009

“The reason for the tension is not really friction between the ultra-Orthodox community and Barkat, the secular mayor,” said Hebrew University political scientist Abraham Diskin, an expert on Jerusalem politics.
“The reason is internal tensions within the Haredi community.”

…In Diskin’s formulation, “It’s the Eida Haredit vs. Porush, not the Eida Haredit against the municipality.”

He was referring to Meir Porush, the Haredi candidate who stood against Barkat in the mayoral election, whose faction, United Torah Judaism, now sits in his coalition.

The clashes are also thought to bring an added financial advantage to the Eida Haredit.

“They need this for raising money from abroad. As long as they are in conflict, they are going to their communities in the United States, and people will be more generous,” Shilhav said.


Mir Rosh Yeshiva to Students: Don't Go to Demonstrations

Haredim protest abusive mother's arrest

15 detained in Haredi protest over arrest of suspected child abuser


Hagon Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkle Says Going to Demonstrations Is Forbidden

By Dov Gordon www.theyeshivaworld.com July 16, 2009

The Rosh yeshiva of the Mir Yerushalayim, Hagon Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel Shlita, has written a letter forbidding any “Bnei Yeshiva” from attending any Hafganos in Yerushalayim.

The letter which was hung up in the Yeshiva today, is written in his own handwriting - a move which is very rare for the Rosh Yeshiva Shlita, who has not written a letter in many years due to an illness R”L.

The short 4-line letter is addressed to all Bnei HaYeshiva, and forbids anyone from participating in any demonstrations in any neighborhood - no exceptions.


Religious vs. secular / A Mideast spectacle of a different kind

By Ami Kaufman www.haaretz.com Opinion July 17, 2009

Ami Kaufman is a former Haaretz editor. This piece originally appeared in his blog, Half and Half.

The secular versus Orthodox saga has been on a constant low flame for decades. There's the usual protest against something opening on Shabbat, or rock throwing in Mea Shearim, or a Knesset member from the left whining about how much money yeshivas get, or Haredim protesting against new roads because they find ancient Jewish remains at the site. But every few years it seems tensions run on a slightly higher flame.

…The flames are still low, but I don't know. Is it just me, or is it getting hot in here?


Fierce secular-religious battle rages in Jerusalem's Kiryat Hayovel neighborhood

Click here for VIDEO

Israel TV www.jpost.com July 17, 2009


Israel Bank Chief to Haredi community: Men, women - get jobs

By Motti Bassok, TheMarker www.haaretz.com July 20, 2009

Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fischer on Monday called on the heads of the ultra-Orthodox sector in Israel to promote employment among Haredi men and women in order to minimize the prevalent poverty among them.

…According to Fischer, 60 percent of the ultra-Orthodox Jews in Israel were defined as poor in 2008, and that number has only grown since.

"There is an enormous pool of human resources in the Haredi sector, which, harnessed, could contribute another driving force for growth to the economy, while also minimizing the poverty," he said.


Bet Shemesh Gimmel Approved

By Yechiel Spira www.theyeshivaworld.com July 16, 2009

Despite significant secularist opposition, the Bet Shemesh Council on Wednesday voted 14-3 to approve the establishment of Ramat Bet Shemesh Gimmel approved in Bet Shemesh Council vote.

From the local municipal government perspective, this cleared the last hurdle and Deputy Mayor Rav Dovid Viner explains that with Hashem’s help, the decision will provide a concrete housing solution to additional chareidi families, adding in two years, over 1,000 housing units will hopefully be ready for living.

Viner explained the secularist opposition was formidable, fearing a total chareidi takeover of the area.


Chareidim Want Action - Over 70 Jerusalem Stores Operate on Shabbos

By Yechiel Spira www.theyeshivaworld.com July 16, 2009

The honeymoon between the chareidi community and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat seems to have been short-lived, with askanim calling on City Hall to enforce the law, pointing out at least 70 stores are operating in the Holy City on Shabbos, and this is simply intolerable.

City hall contacted the owner of the new 24/7 store that led to last week’s controversy, and the owner reportedly agreed to close shabbos after inspectors pointed out he lacks an operating license and the city would use all legal means at its disposal to enforce the law.


Shabbos Goy Suit in Tel Aviv Labor Court Unsuccessful

By Yechiel Spira www.theyeshivaworld.com July 17, 2009

A lawsuit filed by goyim employed in Bnei Brak’s Maynei HaYeshua Hospital seeking additional compensation for being the institution’s shabbos goyim was not successful.

The workers took their case to the Tel Aviv Labor Court, demanding payment according to the law which says a Jew who works on shabbos R”L must received additional pay.

The same does not hold true for non-Jews however. The petitioners told the court they view themselves as Jews in the true sense of the word, and therefore, they are entitled to the extra pay.


Religious minister's staff adopts modesty codes

By Ari Galahar www.ynetnews.com July 20, 2009

The appointment of Yakov Litzman (United Torah Judaism) as deputy health minister has led to a significant change in the ministry's offices.

Secular female employees working in proximity to the ultra-Orthodox minister have started wearing more modest outfits, and some even keep a shawl at the their desk's drawer in case they are asked to meet with Litzman directly.


Study: Haredi rejection leads to extremism

By Tzofia Hirschfeld www.ynetnews.com July 14, 2009

A study by sociologist Dr. Shlomi Doron of the Ashkelon Academic College argues that the rejection of formerly secular haredim by the ultra-Orthodox communities in Jerusalem serves as a catalyst for adopting extreme behaviors.


Haredi investors fear 'ilui' lost more than $30m

By Nati Toker www.haaretz.com July 16, 2009

Ultra-Orthodox investors who placed their money with Asher Shapranovich, the manager of Homesh Hashkaot B'Aliya, are afraid their money has gone down the rabbit hole.

…A spokesman for the Tel Aviv District police said they are not investigating the incident. Haredi investors apparently prefer not to let the authorities know the extent of their investments, and have not filed a complaint.


Downtown Jerusalem Food Market to Be Shut for Violating Shabbos Law

By Yechiel Sever http://chareidi.shemayisrael.com July 16, 2009

The Jerusalem Municipality's Legal Bureau and Licensing Department prepared an administrative closure order this week for a downtown food market that stayed open on Shabbos.

Once the order is signed by Mayor Nir Barkat, it will be immediately issued to the store owner for violating the Work and Rest Hours Law.

Last week the food store, located on Rechov Shlomzion Hamalka near Rechov Shlomo Hamelech, opened its doors with an open declaration it would remain open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The store did not even install a door.


Haaretz Cartoon by Amos Biderman July 16, 2009

www.haaretz.com July 16, 2009

"My ban on holding office is over"

"But who's counting?'


What will former Shas strongman Deri do upon his return to politics?

By Yair Ettinger www.haaretz.com July 19, 2009

Where exactly will he go? Will he become a senior minister? The leader of a social movement? Maybe even prime minister?

One of his confidants recently said Deri knows exactly what he will do, but this close associate, like others, is keeping things vague with statements like "It will be a big surprise."

But the most desirable option as far as Deri is concerned - the Shas leadership - is the one that seems least likely at the moment. That one is decided in the home of the party's spiritual leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.


A-G: Deri's 7-year wait may not be over

By Jonathan Beck www.jpost.com July 20, 2009

After former Shas leader Arye Deri announced last week that he was planning to come back into the political fold now that seven years since the end of his prison term had passed, Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz deflated these hopes Sunday, saying that period should be calculated according to his actual sentence and not according to the time he effectively served.


Group: Deri should wait another year before political return

By Tomer Zarchin www.haaretz.com July 16, 2009

The Movement for Quality Government yesterday told Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the chairman of the Central Elections Committee, Judge Eliezer Rivlin, that Aryeh Deri should have to wait until 2010, and not next week, for his return to public office.


As 7-year ban ends, Deri mulls forming new movement

By Gil Hoffman www.jpost.com July 14, 2009

Deri has hinted to confidants that he will soon form a new socioeconomic movement that will work to bridge gaps between rich and poor and among Jews of all levels of religious observance.

He will announce the movement's formation after the traditional three-week mourning period that ends with Tisha Be'av on July 30, and perhaps only after the fall holidays that end October 10.


The power to change

By Ron Leshem www.haaretz.com Opinion July 19, 2009

A healthy state would have denounced Minister Eli Yishai last week. Yishai would not have understood, however: He and many like him, despite their differences in religion, faction and ethnicity, are used to "the system."

…When Yishai sent Judge Drori his recommendation on official deputy prime minister stationary, he scared him. Innocently or deliberately, he interfered in a legal process, and made a veiled threat that this might affect the judge's future.


Religion and State in Israel

July 20, 2009 (Section 2) (continued from Section 1)

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Editor – Joel Katz

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