Is the Eida Haredis moving away from its extreme, anti-State positions, or is the local Bet Shemesh branch an anomaly? Or does everyone, including Eida people, just pretty much do what they feel like doing, what is right for them, despite ideology?

The local Bet Shemesh branch of the Eida Haredis hosted a sheva brachos last Thursday for the son of the mayor, Moshe Abutbol. The sheva brachos was held in the home of the Eida dayan's son. They tried to keep this under wraps, but a chatty neighbor supposedly aid a little too much and word got out. This threw the Eida for a loop, as they are unsure of how to react.

Rav Kopshitz was always a bit of a maverick, and that is why his appointment as dayan in the Eida had been delayed for so long and only recently went through. But it was silly of him to think he could do this and keep it quiet - there was no obligation for him to host the party, and even if he is friends with Abutbol and it was not just politics he would have had a good enough excuse - his involvement with the Eida - to not host it.

But perhaps it is not really scandalous but a sign of the Eida's coming closer to general society, or to the general haredi society at least...