Big news. The Supreme Court just ruled in the case of the women suing to be allowed to run as candidates in Haredi political parties, specifically Agudat Israel. The court ruled that the party leadership has until September 2, 2018 to decide on its own to remove the clause in its charter that bans women from being members in the party and running for office. If they do not decide on their own to do so, the court will the rule on its own.

I am not quite sure what this ultimatum is - either you do it now because we tell you to or we'll make you do it later. I don't know what they gain by doing it now  "on their own...

Anyways, if this goes through all the way, and a month is a long time and anything can happen so who knows if it will turn out the way it looks as of now, this is a big change. The haredi parties will have to accept women as members and then theoretically the women will also be able to be candidates for office.

However, being that these parties do not have primaries, I am not sure how this helps, except in some sort of symbolic way. Maybe it is a first step. If the various Admorim or council of sages or rabbonim are the ones choosing the candidates and party list, they will continue to do so and will not select women, even without the clause banning women from being members.

And now MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ) is under more fire, mostly "friendly".

More leaks from internal Degel meetings have revealed that the Haredi parties basically supported the Nation State Law in exchange for passage of the Draft Law. UTJ wanted the Draft Law resolved and Netanyahu wanted the Nation state law passed. it was an easy and straightforward deal.

The Nation State law is something the Haredi parties would normally oppose, and i practice they really did oppose many parts of it, and other parts of it can come back later to hurt them (supposedly). Yet they supported it. In exchange for the Draft law.

Whether that actually happened or not, I do not know, but Gafni said it did. Members of the Likud criticized Gafni in general, but they also denied the existence of such a deal, so maybe it happened and Likud people are denying it or maybe it didnt happen and Gafni had a reason to claim it did.

Either way, I don't see the big deal with this. This is politics. This is coalition politics. I need your support for what I want to get done, and you need my support for what you want to get done. So we each compromise a bit and make an arrangement. If the Haredi parties want to be a part of the government, that includes some responsibility for playing along and supporting [some] bills that they don't necessarily prefer.

The biggest drama in this is how it will affect the internal politics of UTJ, especially with elections coming. It looks more and more like Degel and Aguda can no longer work together, and the split they have been talking about for a long time might have to happen. Whether the split does or does not happen, all this internal fighting cannot be good for the party..

I know of areas in Syria that fewer people are running away from than from the Labor Party. What is happening on the Israeli Left?

  -- Minister of Defense Avigdor Lieberman

if you thought the situation with the Ethiopian Jews working at the winery was resolved..it seems to not be so



as a result of this, MK Yaakov Margi (Shas) has tweeted out a call to boycott the Eida, saying nowadays there are enough other Badatzes that we can survive just fine with them...

לאור הגזענות הטהורה של בדצ העדה החרדי ביקבי ברקן אין מנוס מלהחרים אותם.
יש היום די בדצים מהדרין שאפשר לחיות בלעדיהם וחוץ מזה שזה מזמן עסק כמו כל עסק.

— חכ יעקב מרגי (@yakmargi) July 30, 2018

A Haredi MK calling for a boycott of the Eida is far different than a radical secular extremist, or someone who can be brushed away and branded as such, calling for a boycott of the Eida...

hmmm

kol isha

Sexual offenses can, and do, happen everywhere and anywhere. It is a fact of life. Whether it be in schools, in yeshivas, in libraries, in universities, in the workplace, in Shuls, in Churches, in sports locker rooms, in political parties and in the Knesset. In the last few years quite a few such incidents in the Knesset and among the various political parties have come to light...

It is, sadly, part of life.

The point of judgement is what people and organizations do to minimize the potential, and how those in the specific environment react when an incident is revealed.

MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ) is coming under fire right now, and it is "friendly" fire.

Something Gafni said in an internal Degel meeting was leaked to the public, and what he said has put him in hot water.

Here is the news report with what he said..

He is basically criticizing the players in Agudas Yisrael for their positions taken during the Draft law proposal and vote. Gafni is upset that first they threatened that if the law doesn't pass they'll leave the government, then they threatened that if the law does pass they'll leave the government. Gafni says that Aguda has caused that our fate is now in the hands of the Supreme Court and we have to wait to hear what they say on the matter. That and for driving Netanyahu crazy and not putting forth a unified position but going back and forth. And then when he was asked to bring the issue to the Council of Sages for a clear decision and instructions, Litzman said it is impossible right now - though shortly after he went with a potential candidate for Mayor of Jerusalem - Yossi Deutsch - to all the Admorim for their blessings and support, so why was it impossible to deal with this if it was possible to deal with that?

Some in UTJ are now calling for Gafni's ouster, saying that someone who criticizes the gedolim the way he did cannot be a representative of the gedolim, and he must be replaced.

I am going to defend Gafni here and say he is right. Not only is he right but he was not even criticizing the Admorim- he was criticizing Litzman. Unless you then say that criticizing Litzman is the same thing as criticizing the gedolim because he supposedly represents their positions, but that is a big stretch. Whether Gafni needs to be relieved of his duties or not and a capable replacement foudn is something Degel always needs to be looking at - they need to find the best possible person to represent them. That might be Gafni, that might be someone else, but that is for them to decide. This crisis is way overblown as Gafni did not attack any gedolim in his diatribe against Litzman and Aguda.

One thing is for sure - all this infighting between the various factions cannot be good for the overall situation with, both municipal and national, elections coming.
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this is an important project worth considering giving your support to...




on Cause Match

To remind you, in the Ramot Mall in Jerusalem the branch of Holy Bagel lost its hechsher (Rubin) on Tisha bAv due to a customer sitting down for some food in the afternoon instead of it being just open for take out, which would have been ok. The owner claimed it was a misunderstanding, the woman who sat down to drink was a pregnant woman, a wife of an employee, who was overwhelmed by the heat and needed a drink.

The good news is that Holy Bagel in Ramot Mall has received its hechsher back from the Rubin Kashrut organization. After listening to the claims and I guess investigating them, the Rubin hechsher administration decided that the restaurant was not in violation of policy and what the owner claimed had happened is really what had happened and they have brought the hechsher back to Holy Bagel in Ramot Mall.
source: Kikar

It is a shame that the investigation only happens after the fact. In the meantime people get hurt - the owner, the person who was surely attacked for eating/drinking not aware of the problems that would be caused, other customers who can't eat there in the interim, and surely others.

But all's well that ends well. The hechsher is back and anybody requiring that hechsher can now go back to their normal routines, ובא לציון גואל.

יאכלו ענויים וישבעו

According to a report on Ynet, Abu Kayak, a popular "white water" rafting site by the Jordan river, publicized a list of days in which they would enforce a modest dress code for entry. After being attacked for this, they explained that during this part of the summer 95% of their customers are religious and Haredi and out of consideration for their needs they have put this policy in place, and have even already implemented it on the first day, telling some men and women that they could not enter dressed as they were (they were refunded their money).


After threat of a lawsuit, according to Kipa, Abu Kayak has reversed this decision and is now open to the public as usual, with each person being allowed in without any modesty police stationed at the entrance. The interesting argument presented by the Secular Forum spokesperson is that if this is allowed to happen, the country will need to operate separate tourist sites for religious tourists and for secular tourists as the two communities will not want or be able to travel Israel together.

It is a shame that a solution cannot be found for Haredi/Dati customers, even if just for a limited amount of days over the summer. The overwhelming majority of Israeli tourists during these three weeks from 9 Av until 1 Elul are Dati/Haredi and having such just regular mixed rafting with no dress limitations make sit difficult for them, even if until many of them went anyway.

I understand that whatever the policy, and they can go another day or to another rafting site or other options, it is difficult when you have planned your trip and show up and see you can't go in - even if you can go somewhere else or a different day. Maybe the other day isnt available according to your schedule or you dont want to drive the 10 or 15 kilometers to the other site or you took a hasaa or bus and now it will cost more. Whatever. I get that it is difficult for some if such a policy is in place, but is there really no way to find a solution to make the site more amenable to the overwhelming majority of customers during this short period of time?

Anyways, according to the recent psak of Rav Mutzafi, the religious tourists shouldnt be going there anyway, even if a policy of modest swimwear is enforced, as there is definitely still a problem of mixed swimming and mixed gender frolicking in and around the water, even in modest swimwear...

The Nation State Law is really making waves. Even though it practically changes nothing, which makes one wonder why it was so necessary anyway, it has effected a wave of protests, and now last night MK Bahloul (Hamachaneh Hatzioni) announced, on live television during an interview with Rena Matzliach, that he will be resigning from the Knesset as he cannot stay in with such a law being passed on his clock.

Interestingly enough, Bahloul said he would submit his resignation to the Knesset at the end of the vacation period. That means that MK Bahloul, who is so deeply troubled by the passage of a specific law to the point that he cannot possibly stay in the Knesset and work from within to improve it or to change it or to bring down the government or whatever, has no problem taking 3 more months of salary for the 3 month vacation period of the Knesset and only resigning at the end of that. A man of very high scruples. He must truly be troubled by this law.

UAL, the United Arab List, has announced that its MKs are all considering resigning from the Knesset together, to make a point.

I do not know who the next 12 on the UAL list are, nor do I know their politics or style, but of these 12 I can think of a few that we will breathe a sigh of relief and say Baruch Shepitarani over their resignations... After all the efforts to get rid of a few of these MKs, all it took in the end is this Nation State Law.. and if that is all it accomplishes, dayeinu.

interesting discussion

Four chefs face off in the first ever internationally-aired kosher cooking competition. They'll face the ultimate challenge— and tough judges—to determine who will move on to the Food Fight Semi Finals and be one step closer to the ultimate prize!

Here is an interesting report from the Daily Star out of England.

To excerpt:

Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, one of the world’s leading Jewish scholars, revealed he believes the Jewish saviour was born this Saturday.
The 90-year-old predicted the world on the cusp entering the Messianic Age.
[....]
Kanievsky said he believes the current age of “hatred for those who learn the Bible” fits with prophecy about the Messiah
He added the “signs of redemption” are starting to appear – comparing the current age to the “sunrise”.
Rabbi Kanievsky said: "This generation displays absolute hatred for those who learn the Bible, especially in recent years.
"We are seeing all of the conditions described in the Talmud appear before us.
"It is for this reason that we anticipate the appearance of the Messiah at any moment, God-willing”.
He added he believed the Messiah was born this Saturday based on his reading of ancient texts – as it was the Jewish festival Tisha B’Av.

pic.twitter.com/01l9BDwoHp

— anytime55 (@ihatedeadends) July 25, 2018

Acting like a mensch is wonderful, and when it gets broadcast on video to millions of people it can even be a kiddush hashem.

During the summer vacation, in yeshiva known as bein hazmanim, it is common for Israeli yeshiva to run camps for the talmidim. The camps usually last 3 days to a week, and generally combine some learning time with tiyulim and other activities. One of the most exciting aspects of these camps is the guest speakers they bring in to either speak or sit on panel discussions. They bring in politicians or other askanim to talk about the various issues affecting the Haredi community and the yeshiva world.

MK Michael Malkieli (Shas) just participated in such a panel and said that they cannot rely on Netanyahu - all he is interested in is his survival. He went on to give examples and prove his point. This statement made by Malkieli is causing a bit of a stir right now.

Malkieli is 100% right. Netanyahu, like every other politician, is a politician. He is interested in pushing his agenda and succeeding politically. If something fits within the framework of that, all is good, but if it does not, he will do what he sees as necessary. In that regard Netanyahu is no different than Aryeh Deri or Michael Malkieli or Amir Peretz or Tzippi Livni or Moshe Gafni or Ahmed Tibi or anybody else. They are politicians and cannot be relied upon. If deals work out in everyone's favor, all is good. If not, look for another alliance.

Breaking news: Netanyahu is a politician! shocking.

What is surprising is that Malkieli is willing to upend the shopping cart with such an inflammatory statement, especially at such a sensitive time when there is already friction between Netanyahu and the Haredi parties. It might just be a silly statement meant to give the boys some exciting discussion said by a minor MK during a summer camp that will be forgotten in two weeks. Or not. But after 3+ years of Netanyahu giving the Haredi parties nearly everything they asked for, it seems unwise to upset that relationship now, especially with some serious issues still waiting to be dealt with. It seems unlikely that Malkieli would make such a statement without the ok from Deri, so perhaps this indicates a raising of the stakes...

also very personal, very interesting. especially seeing how nervous he is at many points. You think these guys are pros and do these concerts so often they wouldn't be nervous...

does anybody know what that is all about, ripping up the note before putting it by the grave?

as you can see, moving this little piece of stone is such a major operation, it makes it even more amazing and astounding thinking about how they built the wall in the first place and moved and lifted these massive stones...

Achdus, or calls for achdus, almost always means you should give up your own preferences and desires and follow me and do it the way I want. Almost always.

For example, Yossi Deutsch, of the Chassidic faction of UTJ in Jerusalem, has decided, upon consultation with the various Chassidic rabbonim, to run for the position of mayor of Jerusalem. As an aside, there are currently nearly as many candidates for that position as residents of the city, with more joining the race every day!

So Deutsch announced his candidacy. And he also put out a call that for achdus saying that Degel should support him as well. Obviously achdus in this case means for Deutsch to actually have any chance of winning he needs the support of Degel as well, but he calls it achdus.

Achdus would really have been if Aguda and Degel representatives sat together and discussed a list of issues important to each and discussed the potential candidates and together decided on a candidate acceptable to both of them that would work to promote their joint agendas and needs.

Whenever you hear a call for achdus, check to see what that person really wants from you.

NOTE: I was not paid to review this book. It is an unbiased and objective review. If you have a book with Jewish or Israel related content and would like me to write a review, contact me for details of where to send me a review copy of the book.

Book Review: Book Review: Jewish Guide to Practical Medical Decision-Making, by Rabbi Jason Weiner

The book Jewish Guide to Practical Medical Decision-Making by Rabbi Jason Weiner presents an interesting, and troubling, premise. From Rabbi Weiner's vast experience working within hospitals with families going through difficult times and needing to make sometimes supremely difficult medical decisions, he knows that patients, and their families, often do not have the tools to make the necessary medical decisions, from a ethical and halachic perspective. They just are not familiar enough with the issues and the ramifications of the various options and the halachic opinions on the matters being dealt with.



In Jewish Guide to Practical Medical Decision-Making, Weiner attempts to give over a summary, though not necessarily a brief summary, of many complex medical issues patients and/or their families might have to deal with, in order to help them be more informed when such a decision must be made. Rabbi Weiner is pretty clear that this book is not a halachic guide with which one can consult looking for a decision on issues such as what is the halacha regarding a DNR or intubating or the need to deal with time of death or brain death vs heart death or other complex issues. His purpose is to detail the various issues and halachic opinions just to give the reader familiarity with the topics so that should the need arise, God forbid, to make such a decision, the person will be more knowledgeable and not completely lost. Knowledge is power, as Sir Francis Bacon said, and having this knowledge will help people make better decisions.

I must say Jewish Guide to Practical Medical Decision-Making deals with some very weighty issues. Some of the topics were more complex and some less complex, but I would expect no less of a variety of issues dealing with life or death. And the footnotes - wow! 

I know from time spent dealing with medical issues, thank God none as weighty as those discussed in the book, that many of us are, or at least I am, simply ignoramuses when having to make such a serious decision. Our choice is basically to rely on the doctors opinion or maybe ask someone else, if there is time, for some guidance - and then there are the halachic issues to consider as well for which the doctor himself is often useless and maybe a person's rabbi isnt an expert either in these matters and one does not know where to turn. Going into these situation with some foreknowledge can be a major improvement in a persons - while it won't necessarily give you the answer of what your decision should be, it will give you some direction.

I can't say I enjoyed the book Jewish Guide to Practical Medical Decision-Making - how can one enjoy a book mean to somewhat guide you in making life or death decisions? - but I found it enlightening and important.

• buy Jewish Guide to Practical Medical Decision-Making on Amazon.com
• 
  

NOTE: I was not paid to review this book. It is an unbiased and objective review. If you have a book with Jewish or Israel related content and would like me to write a review, contact me for details of where to send me a review copy of the book.

PM Netanyahu is frustrated. He is specifically frustrated with the Haredi parties he has partnered with in government. After 3+ years of working pretty well together and getting a lot done, Netanyahu now sounds like he did shortly before he fired Yair Lapid from the Finance Minister position in the revious government.

Netanyahu is reported to be expressing his frustration. He complains that he is sick of having to deal with these situations that they come to agreements in private meetings behind closed doors, but as soon as the topics make it into the news the Haredi parties reverse their decisions. As well, they regularly threaten to topple the government, creating crises over issues that had already been resolved in private. And, the various Haredi factions and parties are now splintered and no longer present him one opinion or demand but each comes with a different list, sometimes conflicting, of demands. Netanyahu said he is sick of dealing with putting out all these fires created by the Haredi parties.

Will he fire them, as he did to Lapid over similar frustrations, and go to elections? I don't know. There is still a difference, as Netanyahu saw Lapid as someone looking to become Prime Minister in his place while the Haredi parties are frustrating but they are not looking to overthrow Netanyahu himself.

The Haredi media online (Behadrei, Kol Hazman) is saying that Netanyahu is considering replacing the Haredi parties with Yesh Atid led by Yair Lapid. I don't know if he is really threatening that or if whoever in the media is concerned about the situation is worried that it might happen. Either way, I think Netanyahu would prefer elections. Right now he is in a position of strength with he and the Likud polling very strongly, even if not as strong as a few weeks ago. Bringing Yesh Atid into the government instead of the Haredi parties, if they would even agree, would anger the Haredim and make a potential future government with them difficult to put together. As well, for Netanyahu it would mean bringing someone he really doesn't like back into the government. The Likud and Yesh Atid have been sparring throughout the government. While "that is politics", it has gotten kind of nasty and it is difficult to see them getting over that so quickly to come to a deal now, though I guess in politics anything can happen. From Yair Lapid's perspective, I would expect him to say no as he should not want to be treated as a rental.

As a rental? In baseball the term has become popular with teams trading for a player to fill a need even if knowing that the player will only be with them for a couple of months until the end of the season before going to free agency. That player is essentially a rental. They pay a high price looking for a high return in a short period of time.

In such a situation, Lapid would basically be a rental, and it would be likely Netanyahu would not invite him back into the next government, just as the rental player then goes to free agency and joins a different team. The difference being that in baseball the rental player is doing this by choice and preference, as it is his opportunity to make a lot of money, while with Lapid it would likely be being used as a wet rag to be disposed of as soon as his usefulness is over.

Lapid is always a wildcard. If I were Lapid I would not agree to this, if offered. However, Lapid recently voted for the Opposition ranks for a government bill (the Draft Law, specifically), thus propping up the government that could have been toppled at that time with the Haredi parties voting against. Lapid explained that this is a law they believe in and is very similar to the law they themselves pushed when in government, and they want to vote for good laws , even if it means missing the opportunity to take down the government. Lapid could, if offered, do something similar here saying that even if it is just short term it is an opportunity to take the Haredim out of the government and replace them and possibly reverse some of the laws hey instituted in the past 3+ years.

I don't know if Netanyahu will make such an offer of if Lapid will be ok being a rental, but it looks like we are headed for some interesting times...

lol

Trump with a hilarious anecdote about how he ducked world leaders calls on the Jerusalem embassy move until the decision was made so he could say "oh I didn't know you felt that way"

— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) July 24, 2018

Kan 11 is putting out a 6 part docuseries on "Chassidic singers". The first episode, presented below, is about Nissim Black. They did a really good job. He goes back to see his family, you hear what it was like growing up and the changes to his life, etc. Very touching and personal.

A Guest Post by Dr Harold Goldmeier

On the day after Tisha bAv we have merited to begin dealing with building [the Beis Hamikdash] and figuring out how to put the stone back in its place. I wish that just as we build the physical structure of the Kotel we will also succeed in building the spiritual structure, which is connecting the nation together in the direction of the Beis Hamikdash

  -- Chief Rabbi Rav Dovid Lau

in light of Labor chief Avi Gabay deciding to appoint Tzippi Livni as head of Opposition (because he himself cannot be as he is not an MK) after the resignation of Yitzchak Herzog from the Knesset due to his being elected to head the Jewish Agency...

Opposition to @netanyahu in largest opposition faction now led by former Likud voter, @netanyahu government minister and PM candidate @GabbayAvi; former Likud minister and opposition head @Tzipi_Livni; and former Likud MK and Betar head and @ZionistUnion faction head @HassonYoel.

— Gil Hoffman (@Gil_Hoffman) July 23, 2018

Remember how just a couple of weeks ago representatives from the City of Bnei Braq were complaining about how the city of Givat Shmuel was closing off its parks to residents of Bnei Braq? They even compared the leadership of Givat Shmuel to Nazis...

It turns out, though I had forgotten, 4 years ago the same thing happened. Givat Shmuel built a new Sportek park and prevented residents of other cities, i.e. specifically Haredim from nearby Bnei Braq, from using it. I would also point out that my solution and thoughts as I wrote them four years ago was nearly identical to the practical solution and thoughts I came up with a couple of weeks ago. At least I am consistent, even if wrong...

Back to the point of this post...

It turns out, according to a discovery reported in Kikar, Bnei Braq has built a new park with a petting zoo. You must get tickets to enter, and when you call to get tickets, you can only get them if your teudat zehut number is identified as being one of a resident of Bnei Braq. Residents of Givat Shmuel and other cities who have called were told they could not be granted entry.

I just love the irony of the leadership of Bnei Braq complaining about another city not allowing visitors from Bnei Braq into its park, while Bnei Braq does precisely the same thing to visitors from other cities.

While everyone seems to have parks at home, they also seem to want to go see other parks. And everyone just wants to keep their own parks to themselves... As it says in Pirkei Avos (5:10),  שלי שלי ושלך שלי, רשע - One who says what's mine is mine and what's yours is mine is wicked. I think any of the other 3 categories mentioned in the Mishna are better than being a wicked person, but specifically one who says what's mine is yours and what's yours is yours is a chassid. Both parties should work more towards being magnanimous in offering its parks to be open to all, and not demanding anything of the other.

A very frightening and unusual event happened at the Kotel this morning. A Kotel stone fell out of the wall and onto the floor in front of it. Thankfully nobody was hurt. The stone fell out in the Ezrat Yisrael section (aka the Reform Kotel), and a woman who was praying there ran off frightened after it happened.

Here is a video clip of the front half of the stone falling out onto the platform:

very frightening. those are big and heavy stones. It can do a lot of damage.



Thankfully the statement put out by Rav Shmuel Rabinowitz, rav of the Kotel, did not put spiritual blame on any one person or group, and thankfully he says the experts are going to investigate the incident. I hope they do a full survey of all the stones across the entire Kotel and ensure they are safe and solid and cemented in properly so we don't witness a more tragic re-occurrence of this, God forbid..

As the Medrash in Eicha Rabba (4:14) says, "כך אמרו לאסף הקדוש ברוך הוא החריב היכל ומקדש ואתה יושב ומזמר? אמר להם: מזמר אני ששפך הקדוש ברוך הוא חמתו על העצים ועל האבנים, ולא שפך חמתו על ישראל"

While everyone was arguing about the initiative of some secular extremists in Tel Aviv to pressure restaurants to stay open and service the public on Tisha bAv, a branch of Holy Bagel in Jerusalem, in the Ramot Mall, opened up on Tisha bAv afternoon.

It is somewhat culturally acceptable for food establishments to open in the afternoon, though not in the capacity of a sit-down restaurant. They can generally open up for the purpose of selling food for people to use to break the fast, and the like.

This afternoon the hechsher of Rabbi Rubin put out signs saying that their hechsher has been removed from Holy Bagel in the Ramot Mall and they are no longer responsible for the kashrut of the food there.



From the reports, it seems that after Holy Bagel opened, some people saw, and complained about, a woman, or two women, sitting and ordering food. Rabbi Rubin immediately pulled the hechsher. There is supposedly a video that went around showing this, though I have not seen it.

In response, the owner of the branch said that he opened for the purpose of preparing food for takeout for people to buy to break the fast. This one incident happened when he wasn't yet there and it was the wife of an employee who is pregnant and had some sort of medical urgency and desperately needed a drink so she sat down and had one. He is confident that he will get the hechsher back when it is all cleared up.
source: Kikar

I don't know what the rules are exactly, and it seems to be not so clear. Even though Tisha bAv was pushed off rather than on its official day, and therefore people can be more lenient about fasting if they have a need, it is still inappropriate for recreational activities such as sitting in a restaurant.

I have no idea if the hechsher in this instance investigated and discussed it with the owner to get the situation clear before making a decision or if they just pulled it right when they found out. On the one hand I wouldn't want people to take advantage and turn it into a recreational day using the excuse that they don't feel good. On the other hand, I would not want a restaurant to refuse to service someone who really does not feel good out of fear of losing the hechsher and instead prefer to let a pregnant woman suffer in the heat.

hmmm

A conservative rabbi was arrested, or perhaps just detained, in the early hours of the morning (5:30am, according to the news) for having officiated at private, non-Rabbanut, weddings.

Even if I disagree with this law, the law is the law. Anybody and everybody is welcome to break the law, as long as they know they are risking being arrested or fined or punished in whatever way the law mandates. This Rabbi Hayoun took the risk and was arrested, so I am not going to be overly upset about this.

I do wonder though why this fellow was arrested when so many others are ignored. Maybe it is a new approach by the Rabbanut, or maybe it is selective enforcement. A number of MKs very publicly perform private weddings, as so some Orthodox rabbis, and probably many other people as well, yet there is hardly ever an arrest for this. This might even be the first.

Interestingly, many expressing outrage over this are pointing out the irony of the fact that this rabbi was scheduled to give a lecture today in the President's House about the topic of Sinas Chinam - baseless hatred - and then the Rabbanut goes and reports this guy to the police and has him arrested for such a senseless thing, clearly sinas chinam in action.

While I happen to disagree with the Rabbanut and see no need for them to hold a monopoly on Jewish services, this has nothing to do with sinas chinam. They reported someone who was breaking the law. It is as simple as that. They are protecting their monopoly as it is protected by law. They don't necessarily hate this Rabbi Hayoun, though they might for other reasons, but this is an issue of power and money and control and legalities and not an issue of sinas chinam.

I was not aware of this, but it seems that in recent years some beaches have been designated as "haredi family beaches". 

What is a Haredi family beach? A haredi family beach is one in which families are allowed to all be present and swimming as long as the women are wearing tzanua swimsuits (a.k.a. burkini, frumkini, robes, etc). I dont know if there are also restrictions on the men, such as men must wear a tshirt.

Rav Bentzion Mutzafi was recently asked if it is ok to swim on such a beach, or rather, if not, could the rav publicly express his discontent with the issue and the current situation.

To that end Rav Mutzafi expressed his shock and dismay that Haredi men would go swimming with is wife and children when there are other families present and swimming.

The rav referenced a gemara that even just passing by such a place would be cause for someone to lose his portion in the world to come. if I remember correctly, the referenced gemara refers to passing by the area of the river where the women were busy doing the laundry and the person was passing by with intent to gaze at the women wading in the water laundering their clothes.

The rav also made a connection between some recent tragedies and these mixed beaches, though I dont know that the tragedies happened on mixed beaches - one he referenced happened in a hotel swimming pool. He also expressed shock that this would be an issue just 3 weeks away from the month of Elul and the beginning of selichos season.
source: Kikar

With all that, I am most surprised at the allowance of mixed swimming to the point that some beaches have been designated for this. You can often see such behavior when on a tiyul up north and all sorts of people are in the rivers or streams, but I have never seen it with formal swimming.

cute

Today was National Hot Dog Day.

It is a tragedy, and a travesty, that National Hot Dog Day is scheduled during the "Nine Days" when observant Jews cannot eat hot dogs.

to think that some people say anti-semitism is no longer...

some politician in Austria has proposed a plan to limit the availability of kosher meat to Jews who register and declare such a need as an observant Jew.

The requirement to register and declare oneself as Jewish with a list being kept for legal purposes is reminiscent of certain behaviors of Nazi Germany, and a number of organizations critical of this proposal have made these references in their arguments.
source: TOI

I am not sure if it is worse to try to ban shechita entirely, as some European countries are trying to do, or if it is worse to require Jews to register and declare themselves observant in order to get a dispensation for kosher meat.

I get that the purpose of the proposal is to limit what they consider a cruel method of killing animals for food while at the same time not saying Jews who need such meat can't get it. Even though the proposal is probably being done with good intentions, as the proverb goes, the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I don't expect the proposal to pass, as it is too offensive to normal democratic thought and behavior and will likely be shot down by the more normal politicians in Austria.

interestingly, in the last few days the DL online news media has published a number of articles about the upcoming elections for the head of the Shomron regional council. The candidates for the position have been Yossi Dagan and Gershon Mesika.

The specific news articles I am referring to were reporting about announcements from Rav Shmuel Eliyahu and Rav Dovid Abuchatzeira, and perhaps some others. These rabbonim announced that Yossi Dagan should continue in his position of head of the council.

Fair enough.

What is interesting about this is that the Dati Leumi regularly states that they do not conduct their affairs the way the Haredi community does. They ask the rabbonim, but more as a consultation rather than as a psak of daas torah, and they do not feel obligated or committed to follow the [political or social (rather than halachic)] announcements of the rabbonim. If their rabbinic leadership says something, they take it under advisement, but do not necessarily act accordingly. The DL rabbonim do generally say who or what they support in various political elections or other affairs, but, again, it isn't binding on the DL public and they don't really take center stage in these issues and discussions.

So, what is interesting is that in this case, the DL went very Haredi. Not only were the rabbinic positions given center stage, Mesika even pulled out of the race because of it. I don't know if it is a trend or a one-time affair, maybe this specific issue was more "Chardal" to start with, or maybe it was something else. Maybe someone who follows this community and its trends more astutely might weigh in with an explanation...

The Knesset debated and voted on the final readings of a law proposal that would require companies in Israel to shorten the amount of time in which they can get a human response on the telephone system when calling.

Meaning, when you call a company and have to go through computerized menu after computerized menu of options and if you need to speak to an actual human, it can take a while of clicking through submenu after submenu until you figure out what to press to get the human rep. The new law, that was voted on and passed, will require companies with such phone systems to offer the option to speak to a human rep immediately after the opening offer of "press 1 for Hebrew, 2 for Arabic, 3 for Russian, 4 for Amharic, 5 for English". Also, the wait time for getting a human rep to talk to will be limited to a maximum of 6 minutes.

The proposal passed by a vote of 58-0.

The law will go into effect in 1 year from now, and it will include banks and insurance companies, along with any and every other company.
source: Haredim10

Tisha bAv comes out this year on Shabbos and will therefore be commemorated on Sunday. On Tisha bAv we commemorate a number of events in Jewish history that were tragic, and worse, for the Jewish people.

The five main calamities that we commemorate on Tisha bAv are:
1. the spies sent in to Israel that came back with a negative report and tried to dissuade the people from entering the Land. Tradition tells us that this happened on Tisha bAv.
2. The First Temple was destroyed
3. The Second Temple was destroyed
4. Beitar was destroyed during the time of the Bar Kochba revolt against the ROmans, with a massive amount of deaths
5. Turnus Rufus plowed over the Temple Mount

Over the years, many other tragic events happened on tisha bAv as well.

Interestingly, a group of Christian leaders just met with the Speaker of the Knesset, along with some other, to apologize, or repent, for a long list of hundreds of horrific incidents throughout history that happened on Tisha bAv - because of Christians.
source: Jerusalem Channel, Root Source

I don't know who has the power or ability to accept an apology, and to forgive, for so many events throughout history, but it is interesting to see the initiative of these leaders trying to do something to sort of turn back the clock, as impossible as that might be.

The Jewish Press is reporting that a recent conference of North American jewish school principals held in Jerusalem dealt with finding ways to have the Israeli government help these North American Jewish Day Schools with tuition funding and economic support for Jewish children that cannot afford to pay the high tuition required there.

I am sure there will be a lot of discussions as to whether the Israeli government should or should not partially fund the school systems in the United States of America or other countries. if they decide to, it would be groundbreaking.

First of all, would the Israeli government get a say, or demand a say, in the educational content and curriculum of schools that take their money - can the Israeli government insist on the inclusion of Zionism, Israeli history, and modern Israeli politics, for example, in the school systems? If they do, will the schools still take the money?

Second, while Israeli schools are vastly subsidized by the government and therefore very cheap (with exception) for parents sending their children to Israeli schools, I don't know how much the Israeli government can send to North American schools and how much that will anger Israeli parents to see their tax money go to fund private schools abroad while they perhaps feel to be getting the short end of the stick back here in Israel with shorter school days, perhaps less (less than schools abroad, not less than what was taught here already) diversity in the curriculum, and with perhaps many other benefits or "pluses" in the school system abroad.

I don't know if it is a good idea or not, and I dont know if Israel has the money for it or not. I also dont know how it will actually affect the tuition and education in North America - will the kids really benefit from this or will the money go to funding higher salaries and whatnot, or even extracurricular activities, while the tuition is kept the same. Whatever the answers might be to those questions, I find it interesting that Israel used to be (and still is in many realms) the schnorrer and the Jews of North America (among others) used to be the benefactors, and those roles might very well be reversing...

a few years ago it was reported that the Italian hatmaker, Borsalino, had gone bankrupt. I don't care, personally, one way or the other, as I have no money in that game and don't stand to win or lose if they do or don't go the way of the dodo bird, but it is a slice of Jewish life and history and culture, so it is a bit melancholy, as any other cultural icon that disappears.

It is now being reported that the Borsalino company was put up for sale at auction, and a group of investors has submitted a bid and purchased the company. The company of investors to rescue Borsalino is called Haeres Equita.
source: Reuters

I have no idea what percentage of Borsalino hats manufactured and sold are in the frum "black hat" community, nor do I know how they will restructure and what divisions they will keep and what they will cut, but it seems very possible that along with seeing the iconic Borsalino hats in general, we very well may continue to see the Borsalino black hats in our shuls and yeshivas...

Incendiary balloon ignites hummus field in Sdot Negev Regional Council

  -- Ynetnews

now they've gone too far!