I am going to submit a proposal to cancel the television tax, for every shekel that the citizens of Israel spend for television is a waste of money and theft from the public monies. It is like bringing a dinosaur here and thinking that everything should function as it did millions of years ago.

  -- MK Eitan Cabel (Labor)

Radio Kol bRama ran this reality program looking for the new spokesperson for the haredi community

it's getting pretty bad out there...

1. Mel Brooks' top 10 Jewy Jewish scenes - yes, I have seen them all...

2. Lt. Zehava Elias: born on the way to Israel

3. parsha sheets: garbage, geniza or recycle

4. worst hasbara of the day award

5. Oleh problems - cute new blog idea

6. new Eli-Shiloh bicycle path

7. of course I am right, and so am I..

8. Lapid, Livni, Peres and Bibi all make the same dangerous mistake

9. Jerusalem: more than riots

10. Zohar predicts groups of Jews today

A yeshiva, of all things, is causing a major fight within the haredi community of Bet Shemesh.

A couple of months ago it became known that Mayor of Bet Shemesh Moshe Abutbol allotted an unusually large plot of land to a yeshiva, Yeshivat Torat Zeev, from Yerushalayim. The 7 dunam plot of land is in RBS C.

Initially the allotment was protested by Eli Friedman, city councilman from the TOV party. He protested, and voted against the allotment, in the city council vote. His opposition is due to the size of the plot and that this yeshiva is not a local institution - 7 dunam is an unusually large size, and is inappropriate especially when there is already known to be a shortage of schools and plots for local institutions. Most institutions are allocated plots to the size of up to 1.5 dunam.

City Councilman Shmuel Greenberg (UTJ) was responsible for the allocation, and has attacked Friedman for his opposition. Greenberg's attack including a scathing op-ed in the Yated Neeman accusing him of opposing yeshivas and Torah study, while ignoring the actual issue. He has so far failed to explain why he agreed to give 7 dunam of land to a yeshiva from outside of Bet Shemesh while local institutions flounder and fight for every inch of land they can get.

According to Bechadrei, this has boomeranged on Greenberg. The opposition has increased as residents began to understand that their interests are being overlooked in favor of personal interests of their representatives. It seems a group of residents has sent a letter to Minister of the Interior Gideon Saar asking him to delay the allotment until the courts can hear and decide on the issue. They are preparing to file a lawsuit against the allotment, stating that they are not opposed to the yeshiva and have nothign against the yeshiva opening its doors in Bet Shemesh - the only thing they are opposed to is specifically this allotment of land, of this size, and that it smells of corruption.

According to the groups representative, Daniel Spiegel, besides for all the information already mentioned, the allotment happened after activists and the mayor himself met with the sponsor of the yeshiva, a philanthropist from France, the allotment was agreed to and approved. As Spiegel says, "Without casting suspicion on anyone, the issue should be investigated to discover the causes behind the disproportionate decision..."

I find it humorous that he casts suspicions while saying he is avoiding casting suspicion....

Bechadrei quotes another resident, left unnamed, who also stressed that they have nothing against the yeshiva itself, but are protesting against the distorted set of priorities of Iryat Bet Shemesh, giving a disproportionately large plot of land to establish a yeshiva that is not from Bet Shemesh itself while there is already a shortage of classrooms for local institutions.

Will the fight over a yeshiva bring about the downfall of the [largely] inept leadership of Bet Shemesh? It might be part of it, as more and more residents even within the Haredi community are realizing that their representatives dont have the interests of the local residents at the top of their lists of priorities..

Shechita is commonly referred to, by Jews at least, as the most humane way to slaughter an animal. Not just that, but I have heard many times, and it seems at least most people I know are under the same impression regarding shechita, that shechita is considered to be painless. The reasons I have heard are - the knife is so sharp, the cut is so quick, the cutting of the arteries makes it instantaneous, and maybe some other reasons that don't come to mind right now.

Ever since I learned shechita and shechted animals - chickens, duck, goose, turkey, sheep, and cows - I have questioned the original assumption. From my experience, both in witnessing shechita done by others and by my own performance of shechita, it looks to me to be anything but painless.

Granted, I have no idea what the animal actually feels at what point. I am not a biologist or a scientist, I do not talk to animals - or at least I do not understand when they talk to me, and I have no scientific studies to back me up. But it does not look to be painless.

True, halacha declares the animal to be dead immediately upon the cutting of the trachea and/or esophagus, so halachically the animal is immediately dead. And perhaps the animal feels nothing of what it experiences after the simanim have been cut. And perhaps out of all the possible methods this is still the most humane method and perhaps it is the method that gives it the last amount of pain possible. it just, to me, never looks to be painless.

Mind you, I do not have a problem with pain in shechita. It is not tzaar baalei chaim as it is for a purpose and for a benefit. We have to minimize the pain and distress as much as possible - but some pain, however much is necessary at minimum, is acceptable in halacha and therefore to me. As long as the process is not excessive in the pain it causes and does not cause unnecessary pain, it is acceptable.

Last year there was an expose on Tnuva's slaughterhouse (Adom Adom). What looked like tremendous cruelty to the cattle was exposed to the public in the expose. After the expose, haredi activist Ruth Colian sued Tnuva for cruelty to animals, rendering the animals possibly even not kosher in some situations and at least not mehadrin after such cruelty.

With the suit soon coming to court, Tnuva has issued a response. They do not deny the allegations of cruelty, but their defense is to confirm the cruelty. Tnuva says that shechita does cause pain to animals. "in order to slaughter the animals, they have to be gathered into a trap box, totally conscious and sometimes groaning in fear. In this box they are grabbed and pressed with force against the body and head. After that they are flipped over 180 degrees and then slaughtered - the neck is sliced through and they are left to bleed to unconsciousness. Even though the behavior shown in the video is completely legal and standard, it would definitely cause shock and pain to most unsuspecting viewers."

Furthermore, Tnuva rejects the claim that they should have informed the public of the process and of the pain the animal goes through. Tnuva says that the consumer never knows the process of production of the products they consume. They do not know the process of how sports shoes are made, how cornflakes are made, or toilet paper. The same, they say, with meat production - this information is what the consumer specifically does not want to know. They want to be able to enjoy their meat while pushing away the thought of the pain caused to the animal in the process.

Tnuva basically confirmed what I learned from being involved in shechita.

That is not to say that what Tnuva was doing, what was exposed in the video, was perfectly ok. It must be analyzed and judged to see if they were using excessive force and unusual cruelty. Tnuva claims that they looked into the incidents recorded and say it was an exception to their normal practice, and they have taken steps to rectify it. The factory manager was fired, the contract workers who were abusing the animals were let go, procedures were changed and rules were tightened, there were changes to the actual physical implements and structures in the factory, video camera surveillance was installed, electric shockers have been banned form the premises, etc. Tnuva regrets what happened and is working to ensure it won't happen again.
(source: Kikar)

So, no. Shechita is not painless, but excessive cruelty and causing unnecessary pain is unacceptable.

One thing I thought of after the horrific tragedy yesterday in the bank in Beer Sheva has to do with gun control.

When the USA discusses the possibility of stricter gun control, one of the arguments often heard is the comparison to other societies and how they relate to guns relative to the level of violent crime perpetrated with guns in those societies.

One of the societies often looked at is Israel. We in Israel have guns all over the place in plain sight. Whether it is soldiers walking around with their M-16s slung over their shoulders or be it citizens who carry their Glocks or whatever else or be it security guards with their Uzis. There are guns in plain sight all over. And violent crime, especially crime with guns, is very low, even practically non-existent.

Then an incident like yesterdays rampage in a bank happens. While one incident does not really change things, necessarily - the number of violent crimes is still very small - but it should make one rethink the theory. Maybe the low level of violent crime in Israel is not because of the presence of all the guns in plain sight. Maybe the two are entirely unconnected. There are a lot of guns, and there is little violent crime.

But maybe the potential criminals are not dissuaded by the fact that there are so many guns everywhere one looks. Maybe it is an entirely different factor within the society that effects a low level of violent crime. I don't know what factor that might be - it could be anything.

Just thinking.

Enemies? doesn't matter..

One of the participants in this contest is Mayim Bialik!

cute clip.. enjoy

Nili Block, of RBS (!), is now the world champion in Thai Boxing in her weight class!

1. Jewish girls gone wild? Marijuana lab found in haredi school

2. Israel's shame

3. I wouldn't hire haredi women either - it is illegal to say these things when hiring or not hiring, but I have heard such sentiments many times

4. may the Sotah take bitter waters intravenously?

5. Shavuos is a tough sell in the age of 140 characters 

6. the importance of preemptive strikes

7. security is paramount

8. things you don't need a phd to know

9. Satan's grip on our Jewish women

10. shul casting call - every shul needs characters from this list...

11. fear-mongering, guilt-tripping, and shidduchim

12. Ferrari in Israel

13. Sabra Sabba

14. you gotta be kidding! - now that would make a real kosher phone...

15. with Jews like these, who needs enemies?

16. 6 things we can learn form the Kabbalah Center

Over 2 years ago Mayor of Jerualem Nir Barkat was looking for a solution to the issue of the ghost towns of Jerusalem. Some neighborhoods have many apartments that sit empty, as the homeowners live abroad and use these homes as vacation homes. At the same time, they choose not to rent out their apartments. This takes many apartments off the market, which causes rental prices to increase, making it difficult for young people and students to find affordable housing.

Barkat was coming up with suggestions for ways that would entice such homeowners in Jerusalem to rent out their empty apartments and make them useful instead of sitting empty.

Yesterday, Minister of Interior Gideon Saar, who seems to be working during his week of sheva brachos, signed on to an executive order that would charge double arnona from homeowners of apartments and homes that remain unoccupied. I think this was one of the ideas originally proposed by Barkat, but either way it is now in effect. The order must be approved by the Finance Minister (Yair Lapid), but that is not expected to be a problem.

I have not seen any explanation of how long the home must be unoccupied in order to be considered unoccupied for this purpose. An additional clause is that homeowners living in Israel, who own only one apartment/home but do not live there for whatever reason, will not be charged this increased rate. Only homeowners living abroad who leave their local homes unoccupied along with Israeli homeowners who own more than one apartment and leave them unoccupied, will pay this increased arnona rate..

(sources: Ynet, INN)

Rav Eliyahu Abergil, a dayan, actually Av Beis Din of the Jerusalem Rabbinical Court, who has been featured here a number of times for his unique approach and intersting piskei halacha, has now issued another interesting psak.

According to NRG, Rav Abergil has paskened that people who smokers are not valid witnesses. His explanation of the psak is that when a person has knowledge as to the dangers involved in smoking cigarettes and continues to smoke anyway is transgressing commandments in the Torah.

While the Shulchan Aruch and the Gemara state specific behaviors or transgressions that invalidate one from being a witness, and smoking is not listed, it seems the logic here is that a willful transgression with foreknowledge is just as bad as anything listed, and maybe makes one a rasha.

Rav Abergil adds that using drugs also definitely invalidates one from being a witness for he destroys his body and soul by doing so.

Rav Abergil adds that a smoker cannot be considered a shogeg anymore, as the dangers are now known to all and the warnings are printed in large right on the cigarettes packages.

So, some say you cannot be a witness if you smoke, while others say you cannot be a witness if you use an iPhone. The two at times likely overlap in the same person, forming perhaps the devil incarnate, but plenty of other times a witness might do just one of the two. So, according to the iPhone users, the smokers weddings are invalid, while according to the smokers the iPhone weddings are invalid. this could lead to an awful lot of children who are born with spiritual blemishes coming from such unions.. I wonder if this would be treated as a situation similar to that recorded in the mishna that despite the arguments between the houses of Hillel and Shammai that did not prevent them from marrying into each others families...

A big deal is being made regarding the reforms now implemented by the Minister of Religious Affairs and his Deputy Minister (Naftali Bennet and Rav Eli Ben Dahan). They themselves, and their supporters, are making a big deal about the significance of the reform, and the haredi politicians are all over the airwaves making a big deal of the reform stating that this is a step in destroying religious services and is a direct attack on religion.

The reform consists of 3 main features:

1. the ability to register for marriage at any Rabbanut office around Israel, no longer being required to do so in your own home town's office
2. separation of religious services from politics
3. the unification of religious councils

40 years I am in the Rabbinate, my father and my grandfather were in the Rabbinate, in my entire life I never heard of the concept of a "deal". To make a deal between rabbonim to be selected? Whomever is selected via a deal is not a rav and cannot be a rav.

  -- Chief Rabbi of Rehovot Simcha HaKohen Kook

they're baaaaack!!


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There is an ancient tradition of women wrapping in tallit and donning tefillin, for they desire to fulfill the mitzva even if they are not obligated to - they want to do so out of closeness to Hashem. This is well known to us from the sources. Beginning in ancient times, through the Middle Ages and up to the New Age... 
Also the haredim know very well that there is no prohibition involved, but the act seems to them to be provocative, and specifically because of that one must tread carefully between the action and the protest..

  -- Rav Benny Lau

Yes, those little innocent bimbas, with little innocent children on them, can be dangerous.

They go flying down roads on Shabbos at high speeds. Until now the main form of damage caused was to the kids shoes that are used as brakes. There was possibly the occasional injury as well. The main problem until now has been complaints about the noise caused by these bimbas, disturbing people resting in their homes.

This past Shabbos in Bnei Braq an 80 year old rav was involved in a bimba crash. As he was on his way home from shul on Friday night, was hit by a speeding bimba. The rav was knocked over and broke his nose in the process.
(source: bechadrei)

Maybe the State should regulate bimba driving and require licenses and driving regulations...

Due to the difficulties of graduates of the Nahal Haredi army units to integrate back into the regular haredi communities after the conclusion of their service, a combination of government offices are investigating the possibility of forming a new community for these graduates.

The new community would be a haredi agricultural kibbutz, and different locations are being considered in the eventuality that this idea is finalized.

Obviously as more and more haredim finish their army service, more such communities would need to be established in the future, along with room for growth within each one. And some might very well choose to go back to the regular cities.

They say there is initial interest and there is already agreement to being trained in agriculture.
(source: INN)

I cannot imagine every one of them will want to work in agriculture. Put any group of people together, and there will be diversity in their interests. There already are some successful haredi agricultural-based communities, and there is no reason why there cannot be more.

Perhaps some future communities should be moshavim and yishuvim, and not just kibbutzim. Also, with the way the kibbutzim have gone in the past 15-20 years, with minimizing their agricultural efforts and turning to other industries, some of these haredi kibbutzim could also specialize in other industries and not just agriculture...

yes, that is Amar'e Stoudemire wearing a big black kippa.. Stoudemire, who claims to have Jewish roots, donned the kippa for a practice on Shabbos hoping it would bring some spiritual luck for game 6 of the playoffs against the Pacers.

The Knicks went on to lose the game, and the series, last night despite Stoudemire's kippa for practice. Maybe he should not have practiced on Shabbos, instead of just wearing a kippa...

Sgt. Gilad Schalit said the Hagomel Blessing – the blessing said by those who are delivered from danger – for first time since his release, on Thursday. The blessing is said in a prayer quorum by those who have journeyed over the seas, have been released from prison, recovered from a serious illness or have travelled through the desert. He said the blessing at an event in the memory of IDF hero Lt. Col. Emanuel Moreno Hy"d, which was also attended by Minister Naftali Bennett (Jewish Home Party). Bennett was a close friend of Moreno, who fell in the 2nd Lebanon War and who served in such a sensitive position that his picture has still not been releasd to the public.