(photo credit to Reuven Castro)

This is new MK Gadi Yevarkan (Blue and White) kissing his mother’s feet when she entered the Knesset for his inauguration.

A while back it was announced that Amazon is working on opening a shipping hub in Israel. That has not yet happened, but they are starting to work in Israel in a different way.

According to TheMarker, Amazon is opening a local Israeli website and will have Israeli sellers selling their merchandise to the Israeli public - and maybe to elsewhere in the region.

Amazon has been sending invitations to Israeli merchants to join the program in Israel to sell their goods.

This will probably hurt independent online sellers, and maybe also a service like Zap.

This has not yet fulfilled the long-standing Zionist dream of Amazon in Israel, but its fulfillment is now definitely another step closer...

yes, that's Miri Regev complaining that the Knesset cafeteria no longer serves shnitzel. I hope she's joking and being playful and not actually complaining about this in public...

The list of demands presented by [the Haredi parties and the Ichud Hayemin party] are wildly exaggerated..

  -- PM Benjamin Netanyahu about coalition negotiations

If anyone thought this would be a walk in the park just because Netanyahu has worked so well with them in the past, they have another think coming..

The Pinizia glass factory in Yerucham has been on the brink of closing for years. Every so oftne they announce the threat of closing and the government comes up with some program to bail them out and save the factory and a couple hundred jobs.

Pinizia is in the news again with an announcement that they are on the brink of closing. I don't know what the real cause is but the Gerrer chassidim are taking credit for it because they have a ban on the factory and won't buy their glass, including wine using bottles made in the Pinizia factory, due to the chilul shabbos in the functioning of the factory. The owners, in the past, have refused to close the factory on Shabbos. A senior director of the factory confirms that they have suffered tremendous losses because of the ban. The owners claim the factory is struggling now through a difficult period, but there is no imminent threat of the factory closing.

I guess time will tell how much damage this boycott does to the factory.
source: Kikar and Kikar and Calcalist and Ynet

Online people are taking this news report and pointing out the irony of a group of people who do not work being the cause of so many people who do work to lose their jobs. Not just online but the director of health services of the town of Yerucham as well said this.

To that I would say, first of all, this is a boycott by the Gerrer chassidim, not the entire haredi public (though some might follow along and it might or could easily take on a life of its own). It happens to be that among haredim in general and among chassidim in particular, the Gerrer sect of chassidim happen to commonly work much more than many of the other groups.

And, second of all, whether they work or do not, they are not obligated to buy their glass from any specific factory and have a right to support issues dear to them. They claim they were and are willing to work with the factory to come to a resolution and continue buying this glass, but Shabbos is dear to them and they do not want to make kiddush on Shabbos using wine bottled in bottles made with chilul shabbos. Just like other people won't support factories that have become sweatshops or use child labor and barely pay their employees or that destroy the rainforests or whatever. These people have the same right to choose to not support a factory that goes against their ideals and hurts what they consider dear to them. Irony aside, these people "who don't work" have no obligation, social or moral or legal, to buy from this specific factory.

Minister of Interior Aryeh Deri has announced that as of Yom Haatzmaut 2020, next year, performers performing for city Yom Haatzmaut celebrations will no longer be able to charge whatever they want, with top performers charging upwards of 250,000nis. Rather, they will be limited to 70,000nis for an hour long performance.

Deri's reasoning, based on the recommendations of a committee appointed to review the matter, is that cities should not have to spend so much public funding from taxpayers money that will come at the expense of other city services. For 70k, the city residents can get a quality performance at a reasonable rate and continue to get all the regular city services.

As well, Deri says, this will give an opportunity to other performers to perform - older, more senior performers, local performers. They normally get pushed aside in favor of the bigger names who are trending, but with the bigger celebrity performers likely not willing to perform for significantly lower rates than what they normally pull in, the spaces will open up for the lower-ticket performers.
source:  Channel 13 News

I'm not sure why they should mix in. A city that can afford to pay more should be able to pay more. A city that can't, should pay what it can afford by hiring a performer in its price range. It is a bit of a shame that residents of poorer cities will not have the opportunity to see a top tier performer once a year. They probably normally can't afford to see that on their own.

On the other hand, if the government will have to bail them out for spending too much to make residents happy and then being unable to provide city services such as welfare services or garbage pickup or whatever, I can understand the government saying we won't bail you out if you spend more than x. The thing is, this one-time annual expense is such a small part of any city's budget that it is unlikely to make a real dent. This new limitation, if it goes into effect, is a waste of time unless it is part of a larger overhaul of city spending with limitations on all spending relative to income from arnona and other revenue.

The fighting for jobs, authority, ministries and responsibilities, is at its height right now.

I don't intend to talk about demands made in public by various parties, because it is all jockeying for positions and bluffing and negotiations with parties saying one thing and hoping they get something else. Everything said in public right now has a purpose and is not necessarily true on its own out of context.

However, Moshe Gafni said something interesting, and it was not about what job or role they are demanding. Gafni said that after every election during coalition negotiations, UTJ fights for clauses and agreements that will be to the benefit of the Haredi community and the Torah velt, and in exchange UTJ always even gives up jobs in exchange for agreements on different issues important to them. Gafni continues, Deri then comes along and does a copy paste and puts the same agreements in his agreement, and takes credit for what he achieved for the Haredi sector but also then tells the Likud that they require more jobs and more budget allocations. This time, Gafni says, we will not take a drop less than Shas - we will not give up on any little thing we are deserving of, even the level of positions offered - nothing less than what Shas gets.

And Gafni is right. I dont know if he is right about Deri just taking credit for what UTJ accomplished. I have no idea, but I wouldn't put it past him - I wouldn't put it past any politician. But he is right about demanding equal roles, equal ministries, equal jobs, equal budgets, equal responsibilities.

Both parties, Shas and UTj, are bringing 8 potential mandates to a coalition. One is not better than the other. The more mandates, the more positions. When they both have 8, they both should get the same amount of roles and responsibilities. There is no reason UTJ should take a back seat to Shas or to any other party.

And they are not hurting Shas by saying this. They just need to negotiate to get the positions they want and stand strong. it won't be easy. Each and every party has demands, many conflicting with the demands of other parties, and Netanyahu's people will need to put a coalition together like a jigsaw puzzle agreeing to some demands and refusing others, but from the perspective of the parties, UTJ is bringing as much to the table as Shas is..

Here is a good example of what some people call politics in kashrus, or the kashrus mafia, but is at minimum some sort of underhanded behavior..

The Rubin hashgacha announced a few days ago, during Pesach, that they removed the hashgacha from a pizza shop in Har Nof, Jerusalem that had been under their hechsher. The reason given is that  it was discovered during the holiday that there was activity in the shop, so they immediately removed the hechsher.


I dont know who would buy pizza in Har Nof during Pesach, but that's the announcement.

A few days later, the following gets publicized:


The Eida Hachareidis announced that they are giving a hechsher to that same pizza shop in Har Nof. The one that just a few days before had been accused of "activity" during Pesach.

The following letter was published, the same day the original hechsher was removed, by a group of local rabbonim in order to clarify:




basically, to be brief, before the holiday they had already decided to switch hechshers from Rubin to Eida. During Pesach a worker went into the shop to do some work checking the equipment and making sure everything was ok for the upcoming switch. They mention this is frequently done and it happens under all the hechshers and often permission is given for such activity. They recommend the Eida continue with the process of giving its hechsher.

I have no problem with a hechsher announcing in some way that it is no longer giving the hechsher on a restaurant that had previously been under its supervision. It must do so, so people will know. People can decide on their own whether or not to rely on the new hechsher. But to turn it into a scandal as if the pizza shop was in business on Pesach and therefore the hechsher had to be removed, that is deception. They lost a customer. I am very sad for them. Maybe if they would treat their customers, or former customers, with more menschlichkeit, they would get more business than they lose..

I could not decide between the following two quotes as to which would be the better qotd, so I chose both...


From our perspective there is no problem to finish the coalition negotiations quickly. We are not dragging it out intentionally, but we will not support a government that advances the country to being a halachic state..

  -- MK Oded Forer (Yisrael Beyteynu)



Lieberman is performing a bullying political blackmail. To come along and ell us to change our lifestyle is chutzpah.

  -- MK Yisroel Eichler (UTJ)

long summer days with kids playing outside a lot without supervision...

good for him!

One of the things we are not supposed to do on Chol Hamoed is writing. Nowadays most regular people do not write much on a daily basis anyway - we mostly type into computers and on smartphones, with little activity actually involving pen and paper. Growing up, before the advent of smartphones and when computers were not yet so common, writing was done a lot. Back then, if one had to writeon Chol Hamoed, either you just wouldn't or you would do it with your left hand when possible, thus employing a "shinuy".

People today wonder if that prohibition against writing on Chol Hamoed applies to the modern day version of writing - typing, using a computer and smartphone.

The question was posed to Rav Menachem Perl, Director of the Tzomet Institute.

Rav Perl paskened that one is allowed to type into a computer or smartphone despite the prohibition against writing on Chol Hamoed. Rav Perl explained that the prohibition is for writing with lasting material on lasting material - ink or graphite on paper.

Writing that does not last is allowed, as most melachot meant only for the short-term are allowed. Typing into computers is not a lasting act - each additional letter typed pushes over the letter to the next space, essentially erasing and rewriting it. Typing in a computer is similar to writing and achieves a similar result but it does not qualify as a melacha. Printing a document might be a problem, but typing on a computer is not.

Rav Perl qualified that this discussion is specific to the typing itself. If one is using the computer (or phone) to send messages of a business nature, that is a different problem as business should not normally be conducted on Chol Hamoed.
source: Kipa

Among the victims of the horrible shooting in the shul in San Diego is an injured 8 year old girl, Noya Dahan, along with her uncle who had been visiting from Israel for the Pesach holiday.

Dahan's family had moved to San Diego from Sderot, looking for some peace and quiet after living under regular rocket attack for so long. There really is not any place more quiet and peaceful than San Diego (until now)... Dahan's uncle, Alon Peretz, was visiting his relatives for the holiday, also from Sderot.

As George Bush said, you can run but you can't hide. If God wants you to live under fire, it will happen no matter where you run to. Every bullet has its address. This twist in the story reminded me somewhat of the story of Jonah trying to run away from God and avoiding having to deal with His message but finding that God follows him with His message wherever he goes. I don't know what God wants from these people, but they must be special. And, San Diego is the home of Sea World with all their whales (and originally Shamu the Whale)...

MK Avigdor Lieberman (Yisrael Beyteynu) has written an op-ed in Maariv in which describes his memories of growing up with his connection to the Ribnitzer Rebbe and his beautiful memories of how accepting the rebbe was, how he worked to resolve disputes among Jews and bring peace to the community, how he was dedicated to Judaism and spirituality and peace. Beautiful memories laced with nostalgia.

Lieberman then attacks, in the op-ed, the Haredi MKs for being divisive, for causing disputes and argument between sectors and people, for religious coercion, for not bringing religion in a loving way to the people... and then Lieberman explains his positions on the various issues on which he is in direct conflict with those Haredi MKs...

Lieberman has it wrong and he is misunderstanding the role of the Haredi MKs and the parties they represent. The job of the Haredi MKs is not to be the local spiritual mentor to the villagers, nor to be the "big brother" or fatherly figure to which they can turn when they are in need of guidance or a warm shoulder to cry on.

The job of the Haredi parties and MKs is to represent the desires and needs of their constituents who voted them into government, just as Lieberman's job is to represent the needs of the people who voted him into government. The constituents of the Haredi MKs want them to work on their behalf for the sustainability of the yeshiva system, for cheap housing, for increased public Shabbos observance, for increased Jewish tradition in the public sphere, and for other issues.

One can argue and debate if those MKs are doing a good job or not representing their constituents, but it seems their constituents largely think they are doing a good job and have decided to continue giving them the power to represent them.

One can also debate, for some of the reasons mentioned by Lieberman and perhaps others as well, whether religion should be a part of Israeli politics or not, but as long as they are, as long as there is no "separation of shul and State", the Haredi MKs are there not to satisfy the nostalgia of Avigdor Lieberman and other Russian expats but to work on behalf of their constituents for the issues they consider dear to them.

Israeli news is reporting that the government has decided to release 2 Syrian captives held in Israel as a goodwill gesture in light of the recent return of the remains of Zachary Baumel. One is the Syrians is in jail for drug smuggling and the other for an attempted attack on an IDF base. The anonymous government source speaking says this was not part of any deal but is a recent decision as a goodwill gesture.

Personally I think this is a reasonable price to have paid, deal or not, however the process is flawed. There is no report of the security cabinet meeting to debate and come to a decision about this. There were no reports of an official discussion to release the captives in exchange for the remains. The issue of exchanging prisoners for dead bodies has always been a highly charged issue and one that was always debated fiercely in the public realm, and not least in the government.

This decision was taken by PM Benjamin Netanyahu alone, and that is a problem. There is a process for releasing captives in place, yet Netanyahu just circumvents it when he wants to. Another example of why term limits are needed. Not because this is not a price that Israel is willing to pay but because Netanyahu think she is the only person running the country and can do whatever he wants and to hell with everyone else.

she wants her side to be heard, so here it is, though her argument is pretty stupid and childish...

this is an outdated ad for something but Modi, as always, is very funny...

That is Mayor of Bet Shemesh Aliza Bloch tying the shoelaces of a young soccer/football player.

Yesterday Bloch and Bet Shemesh inaugurated the new football field with a number of events including an exhibition match between the youth teams of Beitar Jerusalem and Muni Bet Shemesh. Bloch noticed the loose shoelaces of one of the young players and went over and tied it for him, making no fuss and demanding no attention, and then returning to her seat. It only became noticed, with the picture later going viral, after the father of the young athlete posted online the picture he had snapped.

I think he didnt want to take the ball he didnt catch himself, and dint want to take it away from someone who did. I dont think he had a problem with the Orioles...

an updated version..

this is pretty funny from a website that analyzes athletic uniforms..

An all-Jewish softball team, playing in a church league, contacted the brand manager of Hebrew National asking for permission to use the name "the Hebrew Nationals" for their team. They decided to not just allow the team to use the name, but ended up sponsoring the team and designing a new uniform for them...

an excerpt:

UW: Tell me about your team and the league that you play in.
SF: It’s a city league, called the Church League. Almost every team is affiliated in one way or another with a church. There’s a church on every corner here in Albuquerque, so there’s a lot of teams, in five divisions.
Our team, we’re not a super-religious bunch, but we were affiliated for many years with one of the four Jewish synagogues here in Albuquerque. But we recently decided to change the name of our team, and also to end that specific affiliation. Most everyone on our team is Jewish, and maybe involved with the Jewish Community Center, the Jewish Federation, or any number of other Jewish organizations, but we didn’t feel we needed that connection to this one synagogue.
UW: Are the other teams all affiliated with Christian churches, or are there Muslim teams, Buddhist, or whatever?
SF: I wish there was more diversity, but all the other teams are affiliated with Christian churches. At one point a few years back our group had enough players to field a second team, so there were two Jewish teams.
UW: What was your team’s previous name?
SF: We were the Congregation Albert — that’s the name of the synagogue — Lions.
[...]
UW: I think a lot of people would have just chosen the name and not worried about asking the company for permission. I mean, if you had simply gone ahead and done it, they probably would never have heard about it, and probably wouldn’t have cared even if they did hear about it, don’t you think?
SF: Probably. But we have some lawyers on my team, and I was thinking I might as well call them, because I didn’t want to get in any trouble. But I had another motive, which was this: If they were okay with us using the name, would they also be willing to send us a logo that I could put on our jerseys? I liked the font, the colors, the whole thing.
UW: So instead of that, they offered to make a full uniform set for you?
SF: Exactly. Dan Skinner, our contact at Conagra [Hebrew National’s parent company], he said, “I don’t know if it’s okay to use the name — let me check with our legal department.” And then he got back to me and said, “Not only are we fine with it, but we all love the idea and want to sponsor the team.”
UW: And what was your reaction?
SF: I was like, are you kidding me? That sounded great! I said yeah, let’s do that.

I just want to know if any Orthodox Jews are willing to play on the Hebrew Nationals team...

The 4 Corners Project and Lenny Solomon and Shlock Rock are proud to present Transnistria. The Song Transnistria is a Legal Song Parody of the Song Africa from the group Toto. Using the Fair Use Doctrine this parody educates people about Transnistria - The Romanian Concentration Camp during the Holocaust. . Transistria Parody of Africa – Toto Songwriters: David Paich / Jeff Porcaro Africa lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd. The drums of war slowly dimmed the light Herding Jews from Europe into camps of concentration Bobby Hinda escaped before that plight But she heard the ghetto deep in sadness and deportation She stepped on soil in the USA Was hoping to hear survivors from Romania and her family They died she had no words to say, "Except boy don’t forget that you’re a Jew" This was a lot for us to all go through Over 400 thousand Jews met their doom I’ll say a prayer for Transnistria Don’t let the world cover up what they did World War sent the Jews in flight Afraid of camps like those in Poland, Austria, and Germany They starved us and killed us on sight Took Jews from Bessarabia, Bukovina, and Chernivisti, There was no place for us to hide, frozen with the fear the end would come This was a lot for all of us to go through Over 400 thousand Jews met their doom I’ll say a prayer for Transnistria Don’t let the world cover up what they did Except boy, don’t forget that you’re a Jew" This was a lot for all of us to go through Over 400 thousand Jews met their doom I’ll say a prayer for Transnistria I’ll say a prayer for Transnistria (I’ll say a prayer) I’ll say a prayer for Transnistria (I’ll say a prayer) I’ll say a prayer for Transnistria I’ll say a prayer for Transnistria (I’ll say a prayer) Don’t let the world cover up what they did

I will bring a proposal to the government to call a settlement in the Golan Heights to be named after Donald Trump

  -- PM Benjamin Netanyahu

will this be a new settlement or will they rename an existing settlement?

Congratulations to stand-up comedian Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelensky, a fellow Jew, for winning the presidential elections in the Ukraine. They say Zenensky played a Ukranian president on television.

That's right. Zelensky just became President of the Ukraine.

I am not sure if this is more surprising because Zelensky is a stand-up comedian or because he is Jewish.

And by the way, I know nothing about Ukranian politics, nor about Zelensky (beyond what I wrote) nor about how he accomplished his landslide victory. But congratulations!

I am always happy to see a Jew succeed. Hopefully he will do well by his country and by the Jews everywhere under his  influence.

I am no Yiddishist but I love this version of Who Knows One in Yiddish..

a "we are the world" type mashup of Israeli singers... maybe a "we are the Israel"...



participants, in alphabetical order:
אברהם טל, אליעד, אניה בוקשטיין, אסתר רדא, ברי סחרוף, דודו אהרון, דויד ברוזה, דיקלה, דנה ברגר, דני רובס, הראל סקעת, חנן בן ארי, ירדנה ארזי, לאה שבת, ליאור נרקיס, מוקי, מוש בן ארי, מירי מסיקה, מרינה מקסימיליאן, נסרין, סאבלימינל, סטטיק ובן אל תבורי, עברי לידר, עומרי גליקמן (התקווה 6), עידן חביב, עידן רייכל, עילי בוטנר וילדי החוץ (אדר גולד, אוהד שרגאי, תום גפן), קובי אוז, קובי אפללו, רוני דלומי ושמעון בוסקילה.

גורמים במשטרה מזהירים: זה מה שיקרה אם רגב או סמוטריץ' ימונו לשר לביטחון הפנים. @moshennewsdesk עם הפרטים המלאים: https://t.co/Z7bugykSvX pic.twitter.com/JVUWp9yWVL

— החדשות (@NewsChannelIL) April 18, 2019

What is especially interesting about the recent election results is that it is all pretty much the same as the previous government - with some minor changes and a few mandates moving around a bit, but overall it is pretty much the same players and the government coalition will almost definitely look nearly the same way it looked before the elections.

This makes one wonder what, if anything was accomplished. If it is all the same people, same parties, same issues, what is going to change now? If Lieberman had to pull out of government last time and essentially bring it down (though it took a few weeks longer), why should it be any different now?

Coalition negotiations have not yet begun, but Netanyahu will surely be a magician to get this to work. The same issue that brought downt he last government, the IDF draft bill for Haredim, looks like it will be the biggest obstacle to forming this new government. Lieberman is insisting on a condition of entry that the law as drafted in the previous government be passed as is with no change or he won't join. On the other hand, the Haredim are insisting on dropping it altogether or making major changes - even the Haredim who were ok with it before are now not ok with it, as now they are stronger with more representation and have a stronger hand. Litzman is saying that if the draft bill is a condition of the coalition, they won't join the coalition, though Litzman was against it before as well.

Gafni said that the entire draft should be canceled. He suggests that with today's weaponry of smart rockets and advanced technology he is not so sure there is a need any longer for the draft. We need a new concept to deal with the modern challenges...

Regarding the public demands made by Lieberman about the passage of the draft bill, Gafni says Lieberman has 5 mandates and we have 22. This bill is not from the Defense Ministry (rg: Lieberman claims it is) and we will request a normal law after the coalition is formed. And if necessary we will go back to new elections.

All good and dandy. It is nice to have another day off every now and then. Election day was nice. And we already know that chances are small that things will turn out any differently next time, or the time after that, so this could become an endless cycle.

That being said, I like how Gafni points to Lieberman being only 5 mandates and therefore not really having a right to make such strong demands against 22 others with the opposite position. As if UTJ never made strong demands when they were small. 

Just a short while ago we went out on a new path. Like Nachshon ben Aminadav jumped into the waters of the Yam Suf that then split in the story of the Xodus from Egypt, so we did and went on the path. In just a few months, and with the help of thousands of good people, we reached an exceptional accomplishment.

  -- MK-elect Benny Gantz (Kachol Lavan)

all true, except Nachshon went where nobody before him had or was willing to go. Plenty of people have gone into politics before Gantz did...

the Chief Rabbis of Israel, Rabbis Lau and Yosef, selling the chametz owned by the State of Israel and by the thousands of people who sold their chametz through them, to Huseein Jabbar of Abu Ghosh

Baruch Hashem you can now get a bed with a teudat kashrut



----------

Now it is not just immodest to write the name or show the picture of a woman... it is even considered immodest to write the word "lady"...


-----------------------------

now tissues have a hechsher. Not just do they have a hechsher, but they are even certified kosher lpesach!

In Bet Shemesh there was a situation in which Haredi activists tried to do an ethnic expulsion to us, and it is a shame that they ruined the sensitive relations in the city of Bet Shemesh

  -- MK-Elect Keti Shitreet (Likud)

I wonder if this will make trouble for the upcoming coalition negotiations between Likud and the Haredi parties...

Rav Yitzchak Meir Morgenstern, a mekubal, has pasked for his talmidim that they should make sure to join a group membership for the korban pesach before Pesach. He also requested that they arrange membership in such a group for him.

According to Rav Morgenstern, as reported by Mendel Ratta (Roth), one of his talmidim (and now famous as a mashpia and musician), there is no halachic problem preventing us from bringing the korban pesach today. Being obligated today to bring it means one should do what he can, such as joining a group, so if it becomes physically possible to bring, everything else will be ready.

According to Rav Morgenstern, for the korban pesach. tumah held by the entire public is permitted and no red heiffer ash is necessary to remove the tumah. And, we do not need external miracles to facilitate us bringing the korban pesach - it is simply in our hands to do with normal hishtadlus to obtain permission from the authorities, and therefore we have an obligation today to bring it.

Rav Morgenstern quoted the Gra, the Vilna Gaon, that at the moment when the Jewish nation will bring the Korban Pesach in the right time in Jerusalem, the true redemption will be opened before us.
source: Kikar

There has been a long-standing debate as to what the true size in modern measurements of the halachic measurements "kzayit", the size of an olive, and "kbeitza", the size of an egg.

The debate is commonly referred to by the sizes determined by Rav Chaim Naeh and the Chazon Ish. The Chazon Ish size is very large and the explanation given is that the ancient olives, and eggs, were much larger than what we are familiar with today. Without going into the various explanations of the opinions and sizes, if considering the debate in regards to how much matza one must eat on the upcoming holiday of Pesach, those who follow Rav Chaim Naeh's opinion will eat a minimum of 26cc while those who follow the Chazon Ish will eat a minimum of 50cc.

Recent advancements in technological capabilities have now allowed archaeologists to do a 3D image reconstruction of eggshells they discovered from Temple times. The imaging technology is normally used for reconstructing pottery shards, but someone had the idea to try to use it for the eggs to see if it can be determined how large eggs were in Talmudic and Temple times.

After a successful reconstruction, it turns out the size of the egg was very similar to our eggs we have today. It fell well within the range of our eggs of varying sizes, and was not unusually large as suggested by the Chazon Ish.
source: TOI

I do not know how many, if any, poskim will change their opinion on the halachic measurements based on this finding. the archaeologist himself says he will not be changign how much matza he eats anyways since as a Yemenite their tradition has always been using the sizes of our modern eggs being similar to the ancient eggs, so the discovery does not change anything for him. It would only potentially change things for Ashkenazim who follow the Chazon Ish.

We have found numerous items, sometimes dating further and further back. They are always interesting, even fascinating, and often shed light on what life was like in our land so long ago.. Rarely do these findings potentially affect our own behavior in a significant way. This is one of those findings that potentially could.

What Avigdor Lieberman is doing right now, potentially holding up a coalition with his demands that contradict the demands/desires of all the other parties, is symbolic of what is wrong with the electoral system as employed in Israel. Mind you, Lieberman right now is doing nothing different that what other parties have done in the past when they found themselves in similar situations, as holding the key to the coalition despite being small in size. And, Lieberman does not need to give up his ideals just to make a coalition, just as no other party needs to.

That being said, the fact that a small party can throw a wrench into the functioning, or in this case the formation, of the government, is problematic and unstable.

Of course, Netanyahu can choose a different party. He can look for a party other than Yisrael Beyteynu to join his coalition, or he can find a party or parties other than Shas and UTJ to join his coalition, or he can negotiate and pay one of his potential coalition members off to compromise. Solutions are available - perhaps (and if not, new elections again). The point is that the small parties wield an exaggerated amount of power in the formation, and sustainability, of government in this system.

Yediot is reporting that the City of Tel Aviv will be operating two bus lines through the city to bring people to the Eurovision events on May 17 and May 18 - that is a Friday and Shabbos.

The two bus lines will operate on pre-determined routes and schedules and will be free of charge. The purpose of these lines is to bring tourists in town for the Eurovision competition to the events, but Israelis will be allowed to use the lines as well.  The city will be putting 600,000nis into these lines, while the State will not be funding any of it.

According to Yediot it also seems that locals are upset about this - besides for the frum  people who are, or will be, upset about this city-sponsored public transportation on Shabbos, seculars are upset that this is only being done for the Eurovision, for international tourists, but not for them on a normal weekend and on an average normal weekend, if they want to cross town to visit someone or go for entertainment they have to spend a lot of money on taxis.

It seems to me that if they hire non-Jewish drivers, there should be little halachic problem with this, but the appearance will be the big issue. Any opposition to this will surely only happen at the last minute, as that is the modus operandi of the frum parties, when it is too late to be effective, unless they insist on brute force. Either way, they'll turn it into an issue in a way that will magnify the snowball effect. Whether this happens in the end or not, this will raise the demand for public transportation on Shabbos in cities like Tel Aviv.

 

ahhh... for from Zion shall come forth Torah.. We will be a light unto the nations... I still hope he does well...

According to a report on Haaretz, tweeted out by the reporter Aron Rabinovitz, and then re-reported in English in the Times of Israel, there was an incident on election day in which the Gerrer Rebbe went to go vote with a group of his chassidim.

Upon arrival, the chassidim noticed that one of the workers in the polling station was a woman working there as an observer on behalf of the Likud. The chassidim decided this would be a problem for the rebbe, as he does not look at women. To solve the problem so that the rebbe would be able to go in and vote, they tried to persuade the woman to leave the polling station for a bit. They even offered her money to do so. When she persisted in her refusal, the chassidim contacted Likud headquarters requesting they remove her so the rebbe can vote. The Likud sent someone to replace her temporarily, ordering her to leave a take a lunch break, and then return after the rebbe would finish his voting.

The explanation given was that no insult was intended - the rebbe has nothing against her personally - , but his request should be honored out of respect, just as a request made by a President or Prime Minister would be honored and respected.

Personally I have no problem accommodating people's needs and requests. My question is what would have happened if someone did the same exact thing from the other perspective - say a secular leader would have requested any haredi poll workers and observers be removed form the polling station so he could vote. Nothing personal, but he normally avoids Haredi people and does not receive them, and his request should be respected just like a request by the President would be respected and honored. Would that have been allowed to pass quietly? I don't think so, nor should such a request be allowed to pass quietly. it is unacceptable. If you don't want to look at other people, don't leave your house and don't go where other people are.

The Gerrer Rebbe recently spent time in the hospital visiting with his sick wife - I have yet to find any report of him asking the hospitals, in Israel and in the USA, to clear out female workers, female doctors, female nurses, from the area he would be in. Perhaps in the case it was not the Gerrer Rebbe behind this but his over-zealous chassidim just assuming that is what he would want - but then it is a failure of him transmitting the proper behavior and tradition to his students.

The Likud should have refused the request, and I am disappointed that they did not. They should have left the decision up to the relevant worker.