Tomorrow, February 1, 2014, is International Ice Cream for Breakfast Day (specific formula is "the first Saturday in February).

Ice Cream for Breakfast Day was founded by a young Jewish girl..

for more details...

and enjoy!

This story is related by Kikar, and is described as "the story that is driving the yeshiva world wild"..

here it is:
At the beginning of the week, 5 yeshiva bochurim from Yeshivas Ateret Yisrael were injured in a car accident. They were on the way for some R&R down south by the Dead Sea. Driving along the Highway 90, the car flipped over. The driver was critically injured, and the four passengers were injured as well, albeit only light injuries. The driver was whisked away to Hadassah Ein Kerem where he went straight into surgery, and is still fighting for his life (Chizkiyahu Aryeh Leib ben Tova, if you wish to daven for him)..

The story, as related by one of the other passengers, is that as they were driving down the curvy road toward Ein Bokek, they were all talking about a former fellow student in the yeshiva. They were making fun of him and talking about him - only the finest lashon ha'ra.

The driver had just put an end to the conversation, saying that it is not appropriate to talk about the fellow like that, and when they get back they would have to ask his forgiveness.

Moments later, everything flipped - on one of the sharp curves the driver lost control of the car, ended up being trapped in the flipped car and was in critical condition.

As soon as the passengers were released from the hospital after being treated for their light injuries they went to the victim of their lashon ha'ra, concerned there might be a "kpeida" on them and the driver, and asked his forgiveness.

The fellow gave his forgiveness immediately, saying in front of them 3 times that all is forgiven, and then he gathered a minyan of 10 people and said it before them as well and davened for his recovery..

Now that is immediate justice, if I have ever heard of any... except for the fact that he is the one who stopped the lashon ha'ra, so why is he the one that was punished?

lots of lessons here:
 - don't leave yeshiva for some vacation mid-zman
 - don't talk lashon ha'ra
 - drive safely
 - pay attention to the road, especially on a windy, curvy road
 - drive safely, no, that cannot be repeated enough

either way, refuah shleima

President Shimon Peres today awarded 8 recipients with the "President's Award".

From the website of the President:

The President’s Award is an award conferred by the President of the State of Israel on individuals who have made an outstanding contribution to the State of Israel or to humanity, through their talents, services, or in any other form.
The object of the award is to enable the President of Israel to express his appreciation and esteem to deserving individuals, and at the same time, use this award as a means to motivate others to contribute their talents and efforts for the well-being of the State of Israel and to improve the world.
The President’s Award will be presented to a candidate who meets at least one of the following criteria:
A. A candidate who has made a unique contribution to the State of Israel, or to improving the world, or has made a mark on society in an area relating to his/her activities or achievements.
B. A candidate who has enhanced the prestige of the State of Israel and significantly contributed to its image in the world.
C. A candidate who serves as a model and example in entrepreneurship, innovation, creativity and vision.
The contribution can be in the form of a single deed or ongoing activity. Working alongside the President will be an advisory committee that will present the President with appropriate nominees for the President’s Award.

This years recipients are:
 * Avigdor Kahalani for his courage and leadership in the Yom Kippur War, as well as his contributions to Israel's security and his work on behalf of the soldiers of the IDF
 * Avner Shelo, the Director of Yad VaShem, for working tirelessly to imbue Jewish-Zionist and universal values into Israeli society and the world, specifically in relation to the memory of the Holocaust.
 * Lea Van-Lear, for her work on behalf of the advancement of the Israeli theater.
 * Rav Yitzchak Dovid Grossman, for his work in Israeli society on behalf of youth and children in distress, and advancement of the periphery.
 * Rav Elimelech Firer, director of Ezra UMarpeh, for his work on behalf of assisting sick people.
 * Dr. Tzvi Tavor, for his work  int he fields of science and his quest for finding alternative sources of energy, concentrating on the use of solar energy.
 * Avi Naor, founder of Ohr Yarok, for his work regarding road safety, towards saving lives in traffic accidents.
 * Jack Mahper, for his philanthropic work

At least 1/4 of the recipients of the President's Award, this year, are religious and even Haredi. Does this point to any anti-haredi or anti-religious bias in the upper echelons of government?

Freedom of speech out the window, thought police front and center.. That's been the trend. Even when it sometimes makes some sort of sense, such as when it was proposed to make it illegal to call someone a Nazi, or when it does not make all that sense, such as when Yair Lapid threatened the Chief Rabbis for sticking to an opinion held by the Chief Rabbinate for 65 years.. either way the thought police are gaining more traction.

Now, they want to further legislate what can and cannot be said..

Minister of Justice Tzippi Livni and Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs Rabbi Eli Ben Dahan are cooperating to propose a law that would limit the freedom of expression for rabbis employed by the State of Israel as city rabbis.

The main part of the proposal is that it would be illegal for City Rabbis to express themselves in opposition to a position held by the government, by a government ministry or by the decision of any minister.

The proposal would also have a judge at the head of the disciplinary board for city rabbis, instead of the way it is today with a dayan at the head of the disciplinary board. This makes rabbis different than other State employees, in that others, such as judges, lawyers, accountants, and other State employees are judged by their professional peers.
source: NRG

Examples of the ramifications of this law proposals:
 * if a city or chief rabbi speaks out against women being drafted to the army..
 * if a city or chief rabbi speaks out against public transportation on Shabbos
 * if a city or chief rabbi speaks out against some aspect of the peace process
 * if a city or chief rabbi speaks out against the television tax
 * if a city or chief rabbi speaks out against migrant policy
 * if a city or chief rabbi speaks out against price regulation of milk and bread
 * if a city or chief rabbi speaks out against gay rights
 * if a city or chief rabbi speaks out against the drafting of yeshiva bochurim
 * if a city or chief rabbi speaks out against forcing general education in the haredi school system

(regardless of my position on some of these issues, I do not believe people who think differently than me should not be allowed to express their opinion)

and so on and so forth. you get the point. Basically, if the rabbi says anything against government policy, if he expresses what he thinks the halacha or Jewish tradition should say in opposition to any government policy on anything, he will be brought for disciplinary hearings and possibly fired. If he appeals the decision of the disciplinary board, the case will be heard by the Supreme Court.

I can understand not letting a State employee, chief or city rabbi included, speak against government policy regarding issues not relevant to his job... but to not allow a rabbi to voice his opinion on halacha or Jewish tradition just because it goes against government policy? What's the point of the rabbinate of that's the case? If this becomes law, it is just another reason to cancel the State rabbinate - it is a meaningless office if their only mandate is to uphold any position held by any minister, no matter its position in regard to the Torah.

I feel bad for the Members of Knesset of Israel. They are treated badly, probably don't earn much of a salary for their work on behalf of the public, their movement is restricted, they are basically tormented in their service of the public.

I feel horrible. All that they have to suffer, just so they can serve little old me and you.

MK Nissim Zeev (Shas) complained about the recent trip nearly 60 MKs took to Poland for International Holocaust Day.

Right when he got back from Poland he went to the Knesset and complained about the trip - Zeev said they got to Poland, and the trip was important and the Knesset was able to send a strong international message. However, the trip could have been done in a more bountiful way - they didn't get to sleep, they had to eat sandwiches much of the day, and sometimes they were in places with no lavatories. Zeev said they should have been able to stop at a hotel to relax, have a tea and coffee, etc.
source: NRG

poor baby. they had to eat sandwiches. sandwiches they didn't pay for. They only make upwards of 35,000 NIS per month (some make more), in addition to having additional budgets for various types of expenses, and trips that are paid for either via private sponsors or from public coffers.. Poor Nissim Zeev and other MKs just had to suffer through 2 days of a trip to a foreign country and had to sustain themselves with just sandwiches.

What do people expect of their rabbis?

Chief Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef was recently criticized in the media for a psak he gave regarding a woman who was hoping for a get, divorce papers, from her husband who was a 'vegetable' and could not give it. After analyzing the case, Rav Yosef paskened that the get could not be given. They took this psak out of his sefer, and criticized him for it as unnecessarily stringent and accused him of following in the footsteps of Beis Shammai instead of Beis Hillel..

At a rabbinic conference, Rav Yosef responded accusing them of taking one psak of his and ignoring all the rest. He also said that at the committee for appointing dayanim, he was requested to appoint dayanim who are lenient and use the "koach d'heteira" - like Beis Hillel rather than dayanim like Beis Shammai.

Rav Yosef criticized his attackers asking "do they expect to bring me pork and me to allow it? Using the power of leniency like Beis Hillel, should I allow pork? They don't understand, they don't know what is koach dheteira and what is halacha! using koach dheteira can only be within the framework of halacha, we have a Shulchan Aruch and poskim".
source: Kooker

Rav Yosef is right. I have no idea if he leans to the more stringent psak in his decisions or to more lenient. It does not matter to me. People and newspapers should not dictate to a rav how to pasken. The rav must pasken as he sees fit after analyzing the cases before him and coming to a decision.  No rav will always pasken leniently, or stringently. Every rav has some mix of lenient decisions and stringent decisions. And not every case can be easily solved with a valid leniencies. Some cases are more complex, some don't have the flexibility or the leniencies that are relevant. Really, to demand that a rav pasken a specific way, according to your expectations, rather than to be true to his halachic analysis, is chutzpah.

If one does not like the trend of a certain rav in his halachic analysis, that person can find a different rav to consult with. But to demand that the rav pasken differently just because you want him to? That's chutzpah.

to show support for SodaStream and Scarlett Johansson, here is the original ad that was to be shown at the Super Bowl... the ad was disqualified from being shown, due to the last line of the clip. I imagine it was changed a bit and will show in some format at the Super Bowl. Soda Stream really got great PR out of this clip and the BDS debate..



and, Johansson has just announced that she is stepping down as ambassador for the Oxfam organization after it criticized her due to their support for the BDS. source: AP

that being said, the director of SodaStream has spoken out about the BDS issue..  he admits the location of the factory in Maale Adumim has caused more of a headache than it is worth, but he also says he will not move the factory because doing so would cause 500 Palestinians to lose their jobs. He also talks about the possibility of keeping the factory in its place even under future Palestinian rule (if it should happen).. read the interesting interview

this is strange..

Party Motivators from Peter Atencio on Vimeo.

from the same people who produce Bubbe Mayses.. another unusual and unexpected performance..

The "cash cow" that is the business of going abroad to "shnorr" donations might be coming to an end.

It might be good for some people - those who complain about being bombarded in shul in every major city with a Jewish community in the USA and Europe, and it might be bad for others - those who rely on it for their organizations and institutions or their personal needs, or it might be bad for everyone - those who give even though they complain might lose a tzedaka opportunity that literally comes right to them (though there will always still be plenty of local opportunities wherever they are)...

The director of the Tax Authority, Moshe Asher, said, not specifically about the "shnorrers", you have a person who travels 10 times a year, but by us he registered as earning minimum wage. Or, a person who has four apartments and does not report the rental income he brings in from them - and according to reports submitted he earns less than minimum wage.

Asher says the tax authority is working to identify the people who should be submitting reports as to their true income but are not. Based on many new parameters being taken into account, tens of thousands of possible tax evasion situations are being discovered, Asher said. People will soon begin receiving letters informing them to submit reports, and taxes will be collected for years that they were not paid.
source: The Marker

Kikar has taken Asher's words and concluded that the industry of shnorrers is now at risk.

Kikar spoke to a couple of people who are worried about the report and think it might affect them.

One person said he travels 12 times a year but barely makes a living, and has a very low salary. This person runs a chessed organization. He says he would have to start filing detailed reports of each trip, how much was spent, how much was collected, etc. - he says "[the organizations] are barely getting by as it is with the donations being down and the subsidies being cut, and now to add the requirement for reporting and bureaucracy?"

Another person said he travels for personal needs several times each year. He says shnorring might not be a respectable profession, but for many in the haredi community it is a basic need for subsistence. He says people in the community make do with the minimum because they dedicate their lives to Torah and spirituality and there are social pressures, such as marrying off kids, that require people to travel abroad frequently. He says he lives hand to motuh and is in debt just so that he can marry off his kids... he lives off his kollel stipend, and everything he collects goes to his kids and family, and now, half would go to the tax authorities. he wants the askanim of the haredi community to fight and prevent this.

I feel bad for them. it is tough going through such a major change, that will require serious change in the entire system, and might hurt a lot of people. However, this collecting of money and not reporting it is no different than any business. Nobody wants to pay taxes. People work hard for their money. There is no reason to expect that a business should have to pay a lot of money in taxes but other people should not.

As long as they were able to get away with it, more power to them. I dont think people should choose to live their lives lechatchila looking for handouts, but if thats what they choose and they can find a way to do it without being obligated to pay taxes or if they think they do not need to, that is their choice, their business. But I do not think it is wrong for the government to change the system. Until now they got away with it, because it was not regulated properly, but really they are no different than anyone else. Your average employee is living from paycheck to paycheck as well, many living in the red - that is not a reason to demand that the State let them not pay taxes. Obviously people will have to pay at the tax rate based on the income - if he is making such a small amount of money, as he claims, he will pay less taxes.

I feel bad for them, but I am not impressed with the complaint.

What started out, by the Partition Plan, as a Two-State Solution, eventually became a One-State Solution. Peace negotiations has most, or at least many, Israelis at a consensus for a Two State Solution. In reality, even with a Two State Solution, if it should ever happen, it would really be a Three-State Solution, because Gaza and the West Bank authorities are not working together and do not get along, and would most likely remain separate entities. It might even become a Four-State Solution.

Baruch Marzel is proposing the establishment of a new state called Judea. To me this sounds like going back to the days of Herod and earlier.

Marzel said that in the event of a peace deal in which land is given to the Palestinians, the stetlers should have the option of remaining in their homes. However, theywould not agree to remaining under the authority of a terror state, and would instead establish their own state. the plans have already been drawn up, after much work and investment, and they would establish a new State, called Judea, between the State of Israel and the State of Palestine.


Another thought - a lot of people accuse US President Barak Obama of hating Israel and working against it. The thing is, when thinking about it, that it seems Obama is really right in line with what many Israelis want, and what PM Netanyahyu keeps saying he wants -a Two-State Solution (see above for the actual number).

It is really the Palestinians who seem to reject every offer and it is the Palestinians who want a One-State Solution.

That being the case, it would seem that Obama really hates the Palestinians, not the Israelis.

photo credit: Yaakov Lederman

looks like Moshe Abutbol has come up with his new campaign slogan - no forging, vote Moshe Abutbol

good news for Bet Shemesh commuters... at least in the long-term.

The next stage in the planned upgrade and renovation of Highway 38 has been arrived at!

The winners of the tender for doing the work between the Shaar HaGay Junction and Bet Shemesh have been chosen and announced.

The Einav company will do the work on the road itself, while Y.D. Barzani will do the work on the overpass to cross the train tracks and the new entrance to Bet Shemesh.

Minister of Transportation Yisrael Katz said he will accelerate the project due to its importance. The cost for the roadworks will be 800,000,000 NIS, and should be completed in 3 years.

Mayor of Bet Shemesh Moshe Abutbol thanked the Minister for his efforts for putting all else aside and getting this done and solving the distress of the 100,000 residents of Bet Shemesh, not just in quality of life but also due to the dangerous road conditions that have cost many lives.
source: INN and Bechadrei

For the next 3 years, from whenever it starts, the traffic will probably be worse. But in the long-term it should get better!

In what might be considered a strange announcement, Mayor of Netanya Miriam Fireberg said she refuses to be a tadpole.

Not too long ago the Academy of the Hebrew Language introduced some new words into the Hebrew language, as it does on occasion. One of those words was a feminized version of an existing word. The word for head, rosh, was adjusted for women to roshat - the usage being in the word for mayor or prime minister - instead of having a woman be called "rosh ir" or rosh memshala", a woman could, or maybe should, be called "roshat ir" or "roshat memshala".

Fireberg protests the new title, and even did so when she was introduced as "roshet ir Netanya" before her speech at an academic institution in Netanya. Fireberg said "I am not a roshat, not a roshan, but a rosh ir". A roshan is a tadpole. Later, on radio, Fireberg said again that she disapproves of the new words - she is just a rosh ir she said - "what is a roshat? I am not a tadpole." Fireberg said she should be called "rosh ir" and that's it, or she could be called Giveret Rosh Ir - Ms. Mayor, but she is not a rosha, a tadpole or a frog.

I just thought it was funny that Fireberg is protesting the similarity of the new title for its similarity to the word for tadpole. But she even has support for Dr. Avshalom Kor - probably the most famous linguist in Israel and the foremost expert on the Hebrew language and grammar.

Kor said Fireberg is really right - the word is not correct or necessary. The Academy created it due to social needs and wants, and they based it on a single source in Tanakh where the word "rosh" was feminized, but the reality is that the noun rosh does not have a feminine form - the word rosh is used in both male and female forms.
source: Ynet 

BH the second sonhas also now shown signs of improvement, but tefillos are still needed

1. the new book "People of the Book" is on sale at Feldheim. it looks really interesting, so now would be a good opportunity to buy it at a discounted price
described as:
The invention of the printing press created a revolution for Jews everywhere. Who could imagine at that time the extraordinary benefits that printing would bring to world Jewry?

“People of the Book” vividly describes the invention itself, and then takes us through five hundred years of Hebrew printing, from the earliest products of fifteenth-century printers to those of modern times.

Author and teacher Akiva Aaronson introduces us to the first printed editions of the classic sefarim: Talmud, Rambam, Arba’ah Turim, Shulchan Aruch, and many more. Meet the famous Hebrew printers of previous generations: Soncino, Bomber, Romm, Heidenheim, Bak and others. Visit the Jewish communities where Hebrew printing took place, from its earliest days until the present: Venice, Salonika, Prague, Amsterdam, Slavita, Warsaw and Vilna, to name a few.

Weaving lively text with over two hundred magnificent, full-color photographs of original Hebrew volumes, “People of the Book” is truly a journey through time- Jewish time- over five centuries of Hebrew printing. Follow its odyssey, from persecution and censorship to survival and triumph, set against the phenomenal history of the times in this beautiful coffee-table edition.

2. a Yiddishe Mama in every Israeli

3. Sherlock Homes, Tzohar style

4. whose memory is a blessing? - Rabbi Adlerstein's brilliant critique of a letter to the editor in Hamodia.. best line? "The reader has a point. When Sharon ignored orders and led his troops across the Suez Canal within striking distance of Cairo, thereby singlehandedly turning the course of the Yom Kippur War back in favor of Israel, he could not have been acting as a proud Jew. Chances are, he was just in the mood for some treif pizza, and Cairo seemed like a good place to pick it up."

5. a park for Stella

6. if you need someone to do something, ask someone who is already busy

7. about the round Noah's Ark

8. a nation connected by fishing line

9. how schools can help students find meaning in tefillah

10. can you identify this ship?

11. irresistible, immovable, investigation imminent (super bowl related)

12. how would you like to be called the bdieved ideal?

13. being there for others

this message was sent by the Director of the Knesset to all the 54 MKs in Poland for International Holocaust Remembrance Day... perhaps it could have, should have, been worded differently..

courtesy of Haaretz

translation:
message #6
message from the Director of the Knesset
all groups should please come urgently to the crematorium by the parking lot of Auschwitz

A short while ago it seemed like the "Chardak" campaign was over. It had gone on a long hiatus, and then there was a court case against somebody who had been exposed as the original artist and owner of the artwork who was being sued for inciting violence.

Recently, though, some new "chardak" posters have gone up in various areas. In my impression, the art-work on the new signs looks different than the originals - it is not as good or effective, and, the new posters have not been spread as widely as they had been previously. I don't know why, but I suspect that it is now different people behind it than those who were originally there.

Anyways, a law is being proposed by which verbally or physically attacking a haredi soldier regarding his service will be punishable by 6 months in prison and a 250,000 NIS fine.

Yaakov Vieder, head of the Haredi branch of the Likud, has initiated the law proposal and has garnered support for it from MKs from all the parties in Knesset.

As explained in the law proposal, fringe groups have in recent years selected haredi soldiers as an easy target for their hatred, and as targets for verbal and physical attacks, knowing no significant criminal processes would be initiated against them. This law will send a unilateral message of the IDF standing strongly beside its soldiers and delineate clearly the balance between freedom of expression and incitement.

The Attorney General, however, let Vieder know that there is no need for such a law proposal - there is already a law against attacking or insulting soldiers and State employees, and haredi soldiers are included in this.
source: Kikar

2 questions:
1. if the law already protects haredi soldiers just like any other, why has little or nothing been done to that effect?
2. what happens if they don't know who is behind the insults and incitement, such as with this anonymous chardak campaign? How do they know who to punish? How does this new law (if it will pass) or the old law help protect the soldiers in the situation of the chardak campaign?

Super Bowl history is full of mishaps, especially in the halftime show. Recent mishaps include a famous wardrobe malfunction, an entertainer flipping her middle finger at the camera, power outages, and more..

For the first time ever, there will be a kosher alternate halftime show. The halftime show wont be a bunch of shiurim, like the Torah Halftime Show sponsored by YU last year, but will be hosted by the Nachum Segal Network and will feature performances by Avromie Weisberger, Jonathan Rimberg, Ari Boiangiu, and Ethan Bill, some other surprises, and will be headlines by King of Shlock Lenny Solomon.

From JNS:

"The halftime show is a key component of the big game, and the NFL consistently brings the biggest names in contemporary music to play on the main stage. The only issue is that those acts often don't appeal to the Jewish crowd," said radio host Nachum Segal. "We are proud to be providing a quality, kosher alternative that will entertain Jewish audiences and maintain a family-oriented vibe even during halftime."

The program is sponsored by Cedar Market in Teaneck, NJ, Empire Kosher Party and Buffalo Wings and Chicken Nuggets, and the Orthodox Union. After the game, the video will continue to be available for viewing on the network's website, on Youtube ("NachumSegalNet"), and on the network's Facebook page ("Jewish Radio World with Nachum Segal").
"We chose the songs that we believed would make the greatest impact in the short amount of time we had to work with. We wanted to make sure that the positive energy and musical intensity that we felt in the studio would burst off the screen and right into your living room," said Lenny Solomon. 

Even if you could not care less about the teams competing in the game, it looks like it will be worth tuning in for at least the Kosher Halftime Show...

it looks like this plan has been averted... the Deputy Minister of Interior, Fania Kirshenbaum, along with MK Eli Yishai (Shas), sent letters to the Minister of Interior of the Ukraine, in addition to intensive work by representatives of Breslav along with government representatives.. and the proposed law has been shelved.. for now or for good, remains to be seen.. Ukranian parliamentarian Anton Yazenko explained that he had been misled and will work in cooperation with the Breslav organizations to ensure the best situations for both the hassidim who come to pay visits to Rebben Nachmans grave and for the local residents.

The big talk of the day is that PM Netanyahu let it be known that when Bennet gets back later today from Poland, he will be called on the carpet for his criticism of Netanyahu's statement regarding allowing the settlers to remain as citizens of Palestine in the event of a peace agreement.

There are a lot of assumptions flying - Netanyahu is upset that Bennet ruined his "spin", his attempt to show the Palestinians as being responsible for rejecting peace, or Bennet crossed a line, or whatever.

The truth is I did not see anything so unusual or serious about Bennet's criticism. In its written form it was about 3 sentences long, it was harsh but not unusually so, nor was it personally against Netanyahu. Netanyahu's been criticized before - it is not like him to get so upset about something like this.

My theory is that Netanyahu is calling Bennet on the carpet in order to regain the appearance of being serious about his suggestion, and in an attempt to throw the ball back into the court of the Palestinians. Let them reject it, rather than the Israelis. The plan is only theoretical, so it can float out there with or without Bennet's criticism, but  taking Bennet down a notch for his criticism makes it seem that Netanyahu is serious about this unrealistic proposal.

It seems convoluted, but so does the entire story from beginning to end.

Was PM Netanyahu bluffing when he said that settlers could stay in their houses in a Palestinian State if or when a peace deal will happen, or did he really mean it?

It is hard to believe he really meant it. The State did not allow Gush Katif residents to stay in their homes and communities when Israel gave the Gaza Strip to the Palestinians (Hamas). There really is not a reason to assume the State would allow it in the West Bank either.

Would it even be realistic, would that it were true? would settlers who express the desire to stay in their homes under Palestinian rule be considered idealistic or foolish?

Naftali Bennet has a different reason to oppose the idea - other than the common belief that Jews remaining under Palestinian rule would either get slaughtered fairly quickly or at minimum would be regularly harassed and targeted. Bennet's opposition to the idea is based on the idea that we have not dreamed of a return to Eretz Yisrael so that we could live under Palestinian rule.

So, what's Netanyahu's game? Was he serious? Not likely, but maybe. Was he bluffing, but Bennet and other MKs messed it up before Abbas could reject it? Maybe. Is it even possible? I doubt it.

What do you think? What's going on here?

Netanyahu: There will be the second Israeli astronaut in the coming years

  -- Walla News

Way to go! Hopefully they will be more successful this time, and hopefully the second astronaut will be as mindful and sensitive to Jewish heritage as Ilan Ramon was..

Does Mk Meir Porush (UTJ) make a good point?

A report was just exposed to the public that says the IDF is planning to reform its system of service for administrative positions - due to having a surplus of soldiers. They have so many soldiers with nothing to do that they have set up a committee to analyze the situation and recommend a solution - possibly the shortening of army service for certain parts of the army, from 3 years of service to 2.

Porush says in response to the report that behind the slogan of "shivyon bnetel" clearly lies only a desire to fight against those who learn Torah. It does not make sense that they have to forcibly draft haredim, claiming the army needs them, when the army already has thousands of unemployed soldiers that the army has no use for.
source: Bechadrei

does he have a good argument? while there is a surplus of soldiers n certain parts of the army, there is also a shortage in other parts - such as combat units. While some haredim would go into administrative positions, in which there is a surplus, some will also go to combat or other units where there is a need.

While there might be room to discuss percentages, and length of service, and take into consideration that status of different units and divisions, I do not think there is a place to say the entire thing is a farce and no haredim are needed. That is not true. no haredim are needed in certain units, but in other units they are needed just like every other sector of society is.

Unfortunately the Haredi MKs refused to cooperate and participate in the discussions and debates in finding an appropriate solution, so coming now with claims that things were not done 100% properly is disingenuous. They had a chance to influence the makeup of the haredi draft, but decided the right thing to do was not participate.

I do not know if MK Porush is right or wrong. But even if he is right, he should have worked to make the haredi draft more efficient and targeted over the past months, and not just stand around complaining as if that is going to stop it from happening.

Add him to the list with Dmitry Salita and Yuri Foreman.. the new type of rabbi...



but if he keeps punching like that, so politely, he will eventually get beaten..

from Fox Sports:

Now all of his students can say: “My rabbi can beat up your rabbi.”
A California rabbi stepped into the cage for his first amateur MMA bout recently and won via TKO in the second round, according to FOX News (via The Algemeiner). Yossi Eilfort began training just six months ago under former UFC fighter Thierry Sokoudjou and said he never hit anyone in the face before.
His goal was to promote self-defense and fitness in the Orthodox Jewish community. Eilfort wanted the “physical, personal, mental challenge” -- not to injure someone.
“I believe if we’re not challenging ourselves, then we’re wasting time,” Eilfort said.
Sokoudjou was clearly impressed.
“I never thought that a rabbi would be interested in fighting,” he said. “But I was stoked. He never quits.”
Eilfort, 22, trained just about every day while juggling his duties at the synagogue. He even trained on Friday mornings, but had to skip his last few days of preparation before the fight to observe the Shabbat.
The big match was for Mansion Fights in North Hollywood. Before his bout, Eilfort saw a fellow fighter carted out on a stretcher.That would not be his fate. About 20 friends, family and congregation members watched him take his opponent down and beat him up, winning by TKO. Eilfort wasn’t even giving all he had -- he couldn’t.
“It was very uncomfortable hitting someone,” he said. “I actually held back, but I proved what I wanted.”
The next step? Eilfort wants to become a police chaplain and give self-defense seminars to students.
That sounds like New York rabbi and former cop Gary Moskowitz, who trains his students in mixed martial arts to defend against the awful “Knockout Game” trend. Maybe some promoter will match those two guys up in the cage. Just don’t try to hold that blockbuster on a Friday night.

Go, rabbi!

interesting.. and it reminds me how much I miss having people like Moshe Arens in Israeli politics.

song for International Holocaust Day

I am not quite sure how to describe it, but I think that in my Jewish practice and belief, I believe I can be described as fairly (though not completely) rational, while also being fairly traditional. I don't chase after rebbes for brachas, but I don't discount them, I am not a big grave hopper, but I do go on occasion to some, I am not very mystically oriented and I don't put much power in segulahs and the like, but I am aware of and respect their place in our tradition and practice and even find myself doing some as well... while at the same time in my politics I find myself more liberal than conservative..

So, many of these issues that we are witness to today leave me a bit confounded as to what the proper approach might be. I am thinking specifically of situations like Women of the Wall, and now the women who want to put on tefillin (such as in the SAR high school).

I am a firm believer in equal rights and opportunities for women, while recognizing that men and women are not the same. But I am confounded as to what is the right approach. I am traditional and admit that it grates on me to see the womens minyan at the Kotel, women wearing tefillin - even though there can be halachic justifications and allowances - the fact is it has not been traditionally done. Doing it now, with all the explanations and justifications in the world, is breaking with tradition.

On the other hand, it can be justified both socially and halachically. And, even more, I do not see how it can be stopped, which means it should probably be ignored.

And, just curious, but if Rashi's daughters wearing tefillin (whether they actually did or did not does not matter) is such a strong argument, why hasn't it been done [publicly] in the 900 or so years since then? Why do we have to go back 900 years to look for a good example of women wearing tefillin? Sorry, but that argument always bothers me. I don't think it helps their cause.

Anyways, is it really so significant and serious to the frum community if two women put on tefillin (there are probably some more who do it with less public fanfare anyway)? Does it cause so much damage to the Jewish community? We are 14 or 15 million strong, and an overwhelming majority of those are not religious, and many are not even affiliated at all - so does it matter if a few daven in a minyan or put on tefillin? I am more inclined to ignoring the phenomenon than to fighting it.

PM Benjamin Netanyahu has been receiving praise for "keeping shabbos" while in Davos, Switzerland for the World Economic Forum, by walking, with his wife, more than 2 kilometers back to their hotel in the snow rather than being driven.. They first participated in Shabbos services and meal sponsored by the jewish community, and then prepared for their snowy walk and went on their way. And he deserves that praise for publicly keeping Shabbos in the name of the State of Israel.

Unfortunately, at the same time, it became public knowledge, when the PM himself let it slip, that his son is dating a girl from Norway.

 Sandra Leikanger is Yair Netanyahu's girlfriend, and they've been dating for months. They met at IDC in Herzliya, where she is getting a degree, as is Yair. Unfortunately, while her family is very pro-Israel, they are evangelical Christians...

Parents don't always have control of what their kids do and don't do, especially when they are already adults, and he shouldn't necessarily be blamed for it,  but it is not good that the Prime Minister's son is dating a non-Jew... they haven't gotten married yet, so they could still break it off, maybe she is planning on converting, or it might just not work out, so there is still hope..

As we head closer towards the shmitta year, we get closer to the fights over hetter mechira that we saw in previous shmitta years.

The smartest approach to it is that expressed by Chief Rabbi Dovid Lau in the recent rabbinic conference on shmitta issues.

Rabbi Lau said "we prefer that farmers will completely cease all work, as commended in the Torah, and we should propose to them the option of 'Otzar Beis Din".. and even those who choose to rely 'bdieved' on the hetter mechria they should do so according to halacha and precisely follow the instructions relevant to the four types of work that are prohibited.... I recommend that instead of every seven years that rabbis speak against each other and present their arguments in their opinions regarding shmitta, that each person should follow his rabbonim and respect others."

Rabbi Lau also said that today arguments between rabbonim are unfortunately painted as chilul hashem and divisiveness. Every word from a rav that is said put of place can cause a great chilul hashem and lead to disregard for rabbonim and other people.

I would qualify Rav Lau's words and point out that nobody expects all rabbis to agree with each other. it is not for the opposing opinions that leads to an impression of divisiveness and chilul hashem. it is the bitter way in which some rabbis try to impose their opinion on everyone else and expect other rabbis to not have any other opinion (regarding shmitta as equally as regarding many other topics of halacha).

Rabbi Lau's conclusion is perfect, but we already know what the chances are of this happening..

The tragedy in Jerusalem in which 2 young girls died from poisoning and their brothers are still fighting for their lives has led to an unfortunate but interesting psak halacha.

On Thursday Shimon and Michal Gross buried their daughters while still accompanying their sons in the Schneider Hospital in Petach Tikva.

The dilemma of the situation is that the parents should be sitting shiva for the daughters, while being there in the hospital for the sons. What to do?

They asked Rav Ezriel Auerbach, rav of Bayit Vegan in Jerusalem, what to do about mourning the daughters while dealing with the sons situation.

Rav Auerbach paskened that the parents do not have the laws of mourning right now and should not sit shiva. The reason is based on Shulchan Aruch that says someone sick and his attendants are exempt from sitting in a sukka.

Obviously the boys need their parents by their bedsides, and it is clear that of not for the mourning the parents would definitely be there, so they are exempt from all mitzvos and should not now sit shiva. Rav Auerbach added that if they insist on sitting shiva now, the mother should not sit at all but should stay with her children, and the father could sit for just a few minutes after the morning services.
source: Bechadrei

Rav Auerbach did not say, or at least it is not quoted in the article, but I would guess that when the boys get better, IYH, then the parents will need to sit shiva on the daughters.

Such a sad and unfortunately necessary psak.

Jewish Actress Scarlett Johansson has come under fire recently from supporters of the BDS movement - for contracting to advertise for an Israeli company in the upcoming Super Bowl.

The advertisement she will act in is for the Israeli company SodaStream. Soda Stream has factories in the West Bank and is therefore a regular target for the boycotters. The irony of the Soda Stream boycott has always been that Soda Stream employs hundreds of Palestinian Arabs in their factories and pay them decent wages - equivalent to those of the Jewish employees. Soda Stream treats them well - they get better employment conditions working for Soda Stream than they do working for Palestinian companies.

Soda Stream should really be supported by these people, but they promote a boycott, in essence attempting to harm the Palestinians who benefit from their factory.

So Scarlett Johansson has agreed to advertise for Soda Stream in the greatest venue of television - the Super Bowl. She has therefore drawn the ire of the boycotters to target her.

After a week or so of incessant attacks on Johansson. she has finally spoken up in response.

From The Huffington Post:

While I never intended on being the face of any social or political movement, distinction, separation or stance as part of my affiliation with SodaStream, given the amount of noise surrounding that decision, I'd like to clear the air.I remain a supporter of economic cooperation and social interaction between a democratic Israel and Palestine. SodaStream is a company that is not only committed to the environment but to building a bridge to peace between Israel and Palestine, supporting neighbors working alongside each other, receiving equal pay, equal benefits and equal rights. That is what is happening in their Ma’ale Adumim factory every working day. As part of my efforts as an Ambassador for Oxfam, I have witnessed first-hand that progress is made when communities join together and work alongside one another and feel proud of the outcome of that work in the quality of their product and work environment, in the pay they bring home to their families and in the benefits they equally receive.
I believe in conscious consumerism and transparency and I trust that the consumer will make their own educated choice that is right for them. I stand behind the SodaStream product and am proud of the work that I have accomplished at Oxfam as an Ambassador for over 8 years. Even though it is a side effect of representing SodaStream, I am happy that light is being shed on this issue in hopes that a greater number of voices will contribute to the conversation of a peaceful two state solution in the near future.

good job, Scarlett, and stand strong. You are doing a good thing.

If you aren't using SodaStream for the health and financial benefits, you should consider supporting SodaStream to oppose the boycott efforts..

cute

he has a nice voice, but somehow doing this in Auschwitz disturbs me a bit...

The Badatz announced yesterday that we should add the tefilla aneinu for rain - despite having already had some serious rain, but recently we've had 40 dry days..

Now Chief Rabbi Dovid Lau has also called for people to say the aneinu prayer for rain. Rabbi Lau said the Rabbanut will be publicizing the call for rain prayers in the coming days.

Rav Yaakov Ariel, Chief Rabbi of Ramat Gan, also called for aneinu to be recited.
source: INN

This is Rabbi Leonard Matanky of Chicago who tweeted this picture and wrote "Met the Pope today. Suggested he might want to try an ICJA kippah! :) "

ICJA is the Ida Crown Jewish Academy in Chicago

 looking for an update about the hearing in the Supreme Court about the Bet Shemesh elections request for appeal?

There has been no decision yet.

Lawyers for all relevant parties presented their arguments. When arguments concluded, judges left, said decision would be announced in coming days.

Deputy Minister of Religious Affairs Rav Eli Ben Dahan has been working on reforming the system of the local Rabbinate. One of the changes is putting all new local city or town rabbis appointed to be under a system of supervision by the Ministry of Religious Services.

The new system will include that the rabbis will need to clock in and out at the beginning and end of the workday. They will also need to report monthly about vacations days used, and every three months they will have to submit a report about the services they provided during the period.
source: NRG

Obviously the rabbis are not happy about this. Just like in any workplace, the employees don't like changes to the system, especially when it makes things harder for them or possibly indicates a certain lack of trust.

The truth is that i think for most rabbis this will be damaging, if not irrelevant. I think the vast majority of rabbis provide service far more than what a workday might include. Is the rabbinic workday defined as 9 to 5? Maybe it is 7 am until 3 pm? Maybe some other range of hours? Many rabbis start their day early in the morning, with services and maybe a shiur before or after davening, and end in the wee hours of the night responding to questions, consulting and hearing people's problems, giving shiurim, etc.

How will clocking in and out define the workday of a busy rabbi? And if a set of hours is defined, will rabbis employed by the State now stop taking those late night calls because they already clocked out?

Sure, there are probably some rabbis that abuse the freedom the current system provides. And I don't question the need for improving the current system in some ways. And I dont see any problem with having the rabbis submit monthly and quarterly reports on their activities. I just don't know that having them clock in and out will actually improve rabbinic service - I think it might even hinder it.

Hmmmm.. a group of religious female soldiers, ina  program through Midreshet Lindenbaum meshing Torah studies for women with army service, have just completed a grueling 5 month army course. They celebrated the completion of the course, as soldiers sometimes do, but in a different way than how most soldiers celebrated.

These female soldiers celebrated their successful completion of the course by completing a couple of tractates of Gemara and making a siyyum. Some finished Gemara Brachos, and others finished Gemara Chagiga.
source; Srugim

So, does army service mean you also cannot do any learning during the duration of the army service? Does serving in the army for 2 or 3 years mean that for those 2 or 3 years learning Torah will not be possible or allowed?

If these girls can do it, the yeshiva boys can't?

Is this better or worse then girls putting on tefillin?