it is always election season in Israel

I am really not sure what to think about the latest developments in the inquiry into the Meron tragedy. Yesterday they sent warning letters to several people involved. Aryeh Deri so far hasn't been warned of an impending indictment and seems to have convinced them he was not responsible, but Netanyahu as Prime Minister for 12 consecutive years with overall responsibility and awareness of the dangerous situation was warned, as was Amir Ohana the Minister of Internal Security at the time, along with several police officials and other central figures. Maybe more will be coming to other people, maybe not.

The Likud has attacked this decision to send these letters now, claiming it is a political ploy, as the letter is sent during an election season - another way of hurting Netanyahu and trying to weaken him before elections.

The committee until now has been praised all around as being serious, not political, and fair and determined to reveal the truth. Just because some people dont like the interim conclusions does not mean all that has to now no longer be true. 

And the thing is, at least in the past 3 years, but even before that as well though not as in extreme a manner, in Israel we are always right before an election. Nothing would ever get accomplished, as little as gets accomplished as is, if they always had to worry about the ramifications and effect on an upcoming election!

Similar to the way Hamas ends military campaigns with a cease fie to give themselves time to prepare for the next one, Israel concludes an election season just to give itself a bit of time to prepare for the next one.

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an agreement that is probably good for everyone

So the Finance Ministry and the Teachers Union came to an agreement. School will start on time, the agreement is for 5 years or so so as long as the two sides keep their end of the deal there should not be any strikes in the coming years, and kids will be able to go to school.

I am not smart enough on these issues to know who "won" in this standoff - the teachers or the Finance Ministry. At the end of the day, if they came to an agreement, everyone must have won, and the important thing is that the kids go back to school. There are aspects of this deal that still give too much power to the teachers and prevents even bad teachers from being fired but there are also aspects of this that are good in general and things the teachers have never before agreed to, such as moving around vacation days to be more in sync with the workforce vacation days and also long summer school sessions.

From a financial perspective, I have no idea. From a social perspective this seems to largely be a good arrangement.

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sovereignty on Har Habayit without presence

on the day of the yahrtzeit of Rav Kook, who himself was strongly opposed to Jews ascending Har Habayit, Chief Rabbi Dovid Lau spoke out against those who got o Har Habayit today.

Rav Lau said, "We need to be careful and bot bring ourselves into questions and concerns of karess. There are other ways for us to show sovereignty. We must safeguard the holiness of the place."

Not to discount his opinion on going to Har Habayit - this has been the mainstream opinion for decades until recently, and even today it might still be mainstream - but what does he mean there are other ways to show sovereignty over Har Habayit? What are those ways and are we doing anything else to show sovereignty? Is the Rabbanut, which is opposed to Jews on Har Habayit even as a form of showing sovereignty, pushing other forms of showing sovereignty? I want to know what he meant.

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Math teacher surprised by students with funds to buy car (video)

nice!

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"What would the Rebbe say?" - The man behind 'Netanyahu is good for the Jews' supports Shaked (video)

interesting that he also supports Shaked in this elections.. Pollard announced support for her yesterday and then reports later int he day say he retracted that support. He was probably pressured by the verbally violent Bibists...

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Lenny Solomon Live (video)

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Beautiful ISRAEL. Walking from Holon City to Bat Yam (video)

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Beri Weber - Chag Sameach | | Official Music Video

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Jonathan Pollard supports Ayelet Shaked (video)

Jonathan Pollard today put out a rare political statement. Pollard came out supporting Ayelet Shaked and asking people to vote for her, noting she made mistakes in the past but he believes she has acknowledged her errors and will not repeat them

will this give her a boost and help Ayelet Shaked surpass the minimum threshold? We'll find out soon. 

Honestly I would not have expected Pollard to support Shaked. if anybody, maybe Netanyahu/Likud and maybe Ben Gvir. Supporting Shaked in her current situation is a bit of a surprise to me.

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from Poland, Iraq and Egypt: the largest aron kodesh in the world (video)

I just read about this fascinating aron kodesh in 2 different magazines...not sure why this is hitting the public so much right now  but enjoy!

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What Hebrew phrases and words should visitors learn? (video)

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United Hatzalah A Day in the Life of 360 (video)

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JERUSALEM Is Especially Beautiful in The Evening. Walking from The Central Station to The Old Town (video)

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Benny Friedman - YAMA (Official Music Video)

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Belz and Degel back to square one

Back in January it became known to the public that Belz was negotiating with the Ministry of Education to establish its internal school systems as Haredi public schools, in which their students would study core curriculum subjects, and they worked out a deal regarding supervision and inspections along with full financial support. Belz was upset that Degel Hatorah was not allowing them to join the Chinuch Atzmai system, and they needed a solution to their deep financial crisis, and could no longer go it independently. Belz came under heavy criticism from other Haredi factions, but Degel persisted int heir refusal to allow new members into Chinuch Atzmai.

It seems that Belz pursuing this arrangement with the Ministry of Education, and having come to an agreement, is actually what is behind the potential split between the Degel Hatorah and Agudat Yisrael factions of UTJ. Degel Hatorah is incensed that Belz would take on the core curriculum studies in exchange for money, something that they have fought valiantly against until now and has made this issue one of their central issues. Even though Belz is only doing it because Degel refuses to let them into Chinuch Atzmai. 

Agudat Yisrael is now proposing a compromise, that would seemingly solve the entire dispute and allow the two factions to run together as a united party.

What is the proposed solution?

They are proposing that Degel Hatorah allow Belz to join Chinuch Atzmai and get funding for its schools through them and they will then put an end to their program to join the Ministry of Education.

I would note this is what they have been proposing all along, with Degel regularly refusing. this proposal is nothing new, just couched in the political framework of the upcoming elections.

While there is no word yet as to a response from Degel Hatorah, unless they now feel backed into the corner I dont see why they would change their opinion now when they have not all along.  Degel is confident they can run it alone, if their rabbonim tell them to, so they probably dont feel much pressure to accept the deal now. I am not saying they shouldn't, just that I dont see anything special about this offer that is different form what happened until now, so don't see why they would - unless the rabbonim tell them to accept it just to avoid splitting the party. Basically, 9 months later they are still arguing about the same exact thing they were back then with each side still standing firm on the same exact spot that they were before.. 

As I said back then, keep saying no without providing an alternative, a solution of some sort, and they will go find their own solution, one you might not like. This is true almost 100% of the time in almost all situations. And now they, both sides, are stuck with the consequences of those decisions. 

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Israel should stay out of it

Back in the days of COVID-19 I thought that the Israeli government should not get involved in deciding whether the Breslav pilgrims should go to Uman or not. Uman is the problem of the Ukranians, not the Israelis. If Ukraine was concerned about Covid they could stop travel, to Breslavers as well, of foreigners into the country, and if not not. It should not have been Israel's business or concern. Israel could issue a travel warning, and it could definitely make the return entry to Israel dependent on things like testing, quarantine, etc., but the travel from Israel to Ukraine should have been Ukraine''s business and decision to make, not Israel's.

I think the same now, with the war in Ukraine.

The PMO, Prime Minister's Office, tried to bring in the heads of the Haredi parties for a consultation to determine policy on travel to Ukraine. It ended up not happening because the Haredi MKs decided there was no point, largely because Breslavers would not listen to them anyway.

In my opinion, Israel can publicize its opinion that people should not travel to the Ukraine, it is unsafe, etc. Whatever they want to say. But anything beyond that is the decision of the pilgrims themselves and the Ukranian government. Every potential pilgrim can decide for himself if he wants to go despite the risks or not. And more importantly the Ukranian government can decide if it wants to let foreign travelers in or not. Israel should not be a part of this situation, except to issue a travel advisory.

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Gefilte Pops

Remember when Manischevitz announced their line of Gefilte Dogs?

Well, now they are announcing their line of Gefilte Pops, even though summer is almost over. 

You asked for it...#ComingSoon #gefiltepops#gefiltedogs pic.twitter.com/pFbbawt1Th

— Manischewitz (@ManischewitzCo) August 28, 2022

they will have to have combo flavors, such as gefilte pops with a streak of chrein, another one with mayo, another with tehini, etc.

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Ben Shapiro: My Trip to Israel Didn’t Go as Planned.. (video)

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Palestinians: Maybe God sides with the Jews? (video)

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we need to forgive ourselves as well (video)

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Israel. RED SEA. The City of EILAT. Walk from Evening to Night (video)

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Cover M.B.D.) | Bluz Dem Shofar - Akiva Groman) (video)

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Strauss making its return!

the Ministry of Health has announced that it will be recertifying Strauss as adhering to the health codes and Strauss products, including chocolate, will be making their way back to the shelves of our supermarkets.

To remind you, bird droppings and other things were discovered in Strauss factories after some salmonella cases came to light. The factories went through inspections and were shut down due to an abundance of violations, or something like that.

I am curious if you will go out and buy Strauss products or if you will wait a couple of weeks to see if there is another salmonella outbreak. I think I might wait a little bit, but not sure yet.

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road safety vs home safety

Minister of Transportation Merav Michael is running a campaign against husbands who murder their wives. Well, sort of.

Firstly, it is an important campaign in general in light of some recent horrific incidents of husbands murdering wives, in addition to some other incidents of family members murdering each other.

Secondly, while anybody can speak up about anything, as a campaign this seems to be more in line with the Ministry of Internal Security and less in line with the work of the Ministry of Transportation. Michaeli's voice is surely important on such matters but as far as running a campaign it seems this should be the realm of Internal Security and not Transportation.

On the third hand (haha), this phrasing seems to indicate that every wife is worried about possibly being murdered by her husband. I hope my wife isnt worried about that. I hope most women are not. This seems to indicate that most husbands are possible murderers and women need security from that. I like to think that the husbands who are potential murders are a minority, an extreme minority, and the women who have to worry about it are not average women in average marriages but in bad marriages with husbands who already have violent tendencies. Those situations need to be dealt with, but I dont think painting the entire society as one of women with husbands who might murder them is helpful.

On the fourth hand (again, haha), maybe Michael as Minister of Transportation should be more worried about the type of security involving bus drivers murdering their passengers and other pedestrians, such as in the recent bus accidents in Jerusalem, along with traffic accidents in general. Maybe she should be running campaigns to calm things down on the road and not so much in the bedroom.

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Quote of the Day

It is impossible to close off the fields of produce entirely from mice. Even the IDF and Iron Dome aren't 100% successful in preventing all the rockets

  -- Chief Grower for Snofrost (no name mentioned by Yedioth)

ok, now it makes sense..

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safe and sound

BH it seems, only anecdotally, that most of the time people, adults, reported (at least publicly) as missing, in Israel, it is intentional. That is not to say the concerned family members should not worry, as they have no idea, but it does seem the missing adult is almost always missing because he or she wants to be "missing".  Sometimes there is mental illness, or even physical illness, involved and the person must be located, but from the news I see, most of the time BH everyone is safe and it is just a matter of personal concern. I am not commenting on whether or not they should be looked for, just that the end result seems to usually be that everyone is ok and he was only lost in the minds of the people who did not know where the person was, not in the person's own experience.

Eliyahu Delouia (sp?) from Netivot disappeared the other day. Delouia is 47 years old and the father of 22 children. You read that right - 22 children!

Delouia reportedly went out to travel to Meron for a few days of prayer. it seems this was normal in the life of the Delouia family - every now and then he would go to Meron for upwards of a week. He would be totally disconnected from the outside world and practically unreachable - he does not carry a cellphone. Right now he could not even call home if he wanted to as they recently got a new phone and like most people nowadays he would not know the number by heart. Mrs Delouia is aware of this and is fine with his trips to Meron.

When Eliyahu did not return to Netivot on Thursday in time for his 7th child's engagement party, Mrs Delouia got worried. She called the police, they opened a case and started to look for him, posting his picture around Tzfat.

Eliyahu Delouia was located a short while later in a local shul, in Netivot, his home town. He went home but didnt bother going home. BH, Eliyahu Delouia is safe and sound, and just needed time away from his family. Of course being scheduled to be away he thought nothing of it, he was scheduled to be away, his wife knew he would be away, and nobody should have been concerned, from his perspective. I dont know how any of this jibes with the engagement party and if he was scheduled to be there or not, and why he chose not to go home for it.

With 22 children, is anyone surprised he needs some time away every now and then?

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Impossible Human

Remember the Impossible Pork product that was technically kosher but the OU kashrut organization decided to not certify it as kosher because of the name - pork. They didn't want to cause confusion, with people thinking pork is kosher.

Well, there is a new product on the market that should also technically, possibly, be kosher, and I am wondering if they would be able to get a hechsher if they wanted one.

According to news reports, a Swedish based company called Oumph has created a plant based hamburger that supposedly tastes like human flesh. Being that this burger is plant based, it should likely be kosher, dependent on the spices and other ingredients included, but I can't see the OU or any other kashrut organization certifying "tastes like human flesh" as kosher. Maybe if they dont call it "Impossible Human" they will find a way to get it certified.

I am not quite sure how they came up with the idea for a human flesh tasting burger, nor am I sure how they know what human flesh tastes like (that question seems to go unanswered in their material), nor am I quite sure how many people would want to eat such a burger (though I do think there will be some curious people)..

I guess this will become the go-to product for cannibals who go vegetarian.

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Headlines Podcast: 8/27/22 – Shiur 385 – Back to School - Do we need to adhere to all school rules? If we don’t, can we sign the school handbook? (audio)

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The Jewish Foodie Ep07: Shakshuka in Texas with the Jewish Cowboy (video)

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JERUSALEM CITY HALL. Virtual Walk Outside (video)

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Yoeli Dikman - Nofel Ve’kam (video)

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The Jewish Foodie: Ep06: Challa, burekas and Rugelach in Arkansas (video)

it is all not kosher, even though it is very Jewish, but the conversation over dinner about the local community and anti-semitism is interesting..

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Aviv Gefen performs in Bet El and asks for forgiveness (video)

he's come a long way..

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ISRAEL. Walking from The JORDANIAN BORDER to THE EGYPTIAN BORDER. Red Sea, Eilat (video)

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Mi Yiten Li - Cedars of Lebanon - (Official Music Video 2022)

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Personal Electoral Reform only makes things worse

According to Kol Hai News, Minister Benny Gantz is planning to present some electoral reform laws after discussing the issues with experts from the Israeli Democracy Institute.

Gantz's plan for passing laws to reform the system includes items like:

• requiring a minimum of 70 MKs to bring down a government and disperse the Knesset (this is less than the 90 MKs Avigdor Liberman recently spoke about)
• an as of yet undetermined amount of time between elections
• term limits for Prime Minister, set at a maximum of 8 years
• failing to pass a budget would not automatically cause the collapse of the government

Some of this is clearly influenced by his own experience with Netanyahu breaking their rotation deal and letting the government fall instead of passing a budget so Gantz would not take office, and the most recent government collapsing, with the repeated elections of the past 3 years.

Personal experience can ring a bell on what needs to be done, but if he just fixes what he was hurt by, without fully reforming the system, next time it will be something else, or next time his own minor reforms will come back to hurt him.

The Knesset has no long term planning. Maybe that is understandable considering Israel being a young country and one surrounded by enemies looking to destroy it. No long term planning also means each person tries to adjust the laws to whatever he thinks will help him in the short term. Netanyahu changed the law a while back to hold direct elections for PM with a separate ballot for Knesset because he thought it would help him. it did, but the unintended consequences included hurting the Likud because people could vote for him and other parties. So he changed it back. Gantz is doing the same thing. Gantz suffered from a government collapsing due to no budget, so he wants to change that, thinking it will help him, and thinking requiring 70 MKs will prevent his future government form collapsing so easily. When he passes this and then cant take down Netanyahu's government it will be his own fault. These guys all think reforming the system means making changes that will help a specific individual.

We need electoral reform, but it needs to be in the hands of professionals who can figure out exactly what our electoral system should look like without personal bias.

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canceling mortgage interest rates

Actualic is reporting that in light of the current increase in cost of living, with the Bank of Israel raising the interest rates again in an attempt to somewhat curb inflation, MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ) is working on a plan that would exempt young couple from paying the increased interest on mortgages.

According to Gafni, young couples wont be able to take mortgages now to buy their first apartment, because with the increased rates they wont be able to make the payments. Gafni would help them by keeping the interest rate on such mortgages at the lower rate from prior to the increase.

Gafni says that he is going to make this demand absolute in future coalition negotiations - if they work to join the next government led by Netanyahu (or anyone else), this will be a requirement for the ruling party to agree to.

If Gafni is already going to cancel the interest rates increases on mortgages, he should do it for everybody, not just young couples. Everybody is struggling with inflation, not just young couples.

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Otzma Yehudit's witty and unimpressive number two

Srugim interviewed Yitzchak Wasserlauf (sp?), the candidate in the number two slot for the Otzma Yehudit party list for Knesset. I never heard of him before and know nothing about him, but I do find him, from just this interview, to be both witty, which I like, and unimpressive, which I dont like, at the same time.

Specifically referring to the portion of the interview in which they discussed the Otzma Yehudit policy they want to push in the next government should they be a part of it that will have anyone deemed unfaithful to the State of Israel banished from Israel - Wasserlauf explains that anyone who throws rocks or molotov cocktails at IDF soldiers or does other things to harm the State of Israel and supports murderers of babies will be banished.

So I like that he has already worked out that the way the deportation will work is that they will take the same people who planned the banishment of Jews from their homes in Gush Katif back in 2005 with fully staffed professionals who worked out all the details. Those same people who did such a good and professional job evicting thousands of Jews from their homes and deporting them to other part s of the country should be able to put together a plan to banish and deport people who are disloyal to the State of Israel.

Now that is witty. I like that.

What I think is unimpressive and what I dont like is that with all this time that he had until now, all he can come up with is a headline - we will deport the unfaithful - but has no actual plans. When asked for even the most basic details of his grandiose plan, such as how it will work, how they will determine who is unfaithful, where to deport to, how to deport, he has no answers and says they will have to work that out but right now they just want to talk about the concept.

Sorry, but that is unimpressive. If this is something they actually want to do, they need to be ready to present a plan, even knowing it will have to be adjusted and amended later. If all it is even in their own heads is a headline, this is something that is never going to happen and something they never intend on even trying to push forward.

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trying anything to find Moishi Kleinerman

This tweet is heartbreaking

מגיע לקבר שמעיה ואבטליון בצפון ואז רואה מכתב בכתב יד עם טוש בצבעי שחור - אדום מאמו של מוישי קליינרמן "אברהם משה שלי אנחנו אוהבים אותך לא כועסים רק מתגעגעים תתקשר בכל שעה, אבא אמא וכל המשפחה"

לי זה עשה צמרמורת בגוף, הורים שמנסים בכל דרך לאתר את הבן האבוד שלהם בכל דרך אפשרית pic.twitter.com/Vvda9y0H8y

— אהרון נוראני (@Aaron_Norani) August 23, 2022

Ahron Norani, a Haredi reporter, tweeted that he went to the graves of Shmaya and Avtalyon up north. He saw a sign there in the wall, handwritten in black and red markers, written by Moishi Kleinerman's mother. She wrote "My Avraham Moshe, we love you and are not angry at you, we just miss you, please call us at any time, (signed by) Father, Mother and the entire family".

Moishi Kleinerman has been missing for more than 150 days, with seemingly no known trace (not made public at least) as to his whereabouts. 

To note, they added that this was pasted up with permission of the gabbai and should not be removed. Also to note, some idiot added his own comment as if it is Moishi writing saying "I dont remember your phone number" - there is funny, there is cynical, but this is just cruel.

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Nili Block talks Israel, Muay Thai, Kickboxing, MMA, Combat Sports in Israel, Women in Israel, ATT (video)

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1,200 year old rural estate discovered in Israel's Negev (video)

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Lenny Solomon Live - Elul is next week! (video)

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JERUSALEM. Machaneh Yehudah Market. Colorful Middle Eastern Bazaar (video)

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Bentzi Klatzkin - Yedidim & Neranenu (video)

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JERUSALEM. Walking from Mount Zion to City Center (video)

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shmulik klein - Yaamoid (video)

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Top Gun

Yesterday was my birthday and my wife surprised me with an excursion to Herzliya to a flight school to get an introductory lesson in flying.

I have no plans at this point to continue and get a pilots license, but as a start it was a nice thrill and a crazy experience for a day, and was not something I ever thought I would do....

And, like a terrorist, I didn't bother learning to take off or to land. I guess that will be for future lessons if they ever were to happen.

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curiosities in Jerusalem

Hamechadesh has two pieces that are curiosities that seemed interesting and quirky enough to point out

1. Yoelish Krausz, known as the Operations Officer (kambatz) of the Eida Hachareidish is already busy building his sukka. Even for the people who build early to add mitzvas before Yom Kippur don't start this early.

When asked why he started so early, Krausz explained that the City of Jerusalem is about to publish a statute of some sort that will not allow anyone to build a sukka in public areas - no sukkas in streets. And the old joke of "you have 7 days to remove it" isnt going to happen - people who do will be subject to fins and the sukkas will be dismantled right away and confiscated. He thinks that by building it in advance he will be grandfathered in and will be able to keep it up during sukkos.

I wonder if he also plans to leave it up for future years just because he is grandfathered in and will just leave it there all the time...

If true, that will negatively affect many people in Jerusalem who have very small porches or even no open porch at all. So many people build their sukkas out in the streets.

2. Eli Hawala, the Lebanese avreich who wasnt Jewish but then claimed to be and now may be in the conversion lchumra process was spotted at a demonstration in the Shimon Hatzaddik (aka Shiekh Jarrach) neighborhood of Jerusalem.

When approached Hawala said "Likud - Bibi, the king of Israel!"

I guess he has found his place in Israel...

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Quote of the Day

Contributing to the nation of Israel is important to me, but my place is not in the Knesset - I think I have already suffered more than enough

  -- Jonathan Pollard, responding to reports that Itamar Ben Gvir has offered him a spot on the Otzma Yehudit party list for Knesset

he's witty too!

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Finance Minister Liberman: Winter is Coming (video)

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Ultra-orthodox women: Do you feel second-class in your society? (video)

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2022 Nefesh B'Nefesh Charter Aliyah Flight (video)

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A Tale Of Two Synagogues (video)

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Barak Grossberg: It's All You (video)

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Facebook Status of the Day

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Headlines Podcast: 8/20/22 – Shiur 384 – My child was not accepted into any school!!! School Acceptance Policies - Discrimination (audio)

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The Jewish Foodie Ep05: Meat and Whiskey, Eating with Elvis (video)

the food in this one is all kosher... no idea about the whiskey...

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Ben Gvir: It would be an honor to have Jonathan Pollard on our list (video)

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Jerusalem. Lifta Natural Spring and the Abandoned Village (video)

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Avi Ilson - Yesh Li Hakol (Official Music Video)

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SHWEKEY - Baruch Hashem It’s Shabbos (video)

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Hadar Muchtar can't run but can be appointed

Just a short while ago Hadar Muchtar formed a political party for the young adults of Israel, with her main issue being the high cost of living and how difficult that is for the young community to see a future for themselves, if they wont be able to afford housing, among other things. The name of the party is Tzeirim Boarim (I called the Lit Youth party).

Muchtar herself is unable to run, due to just barely missing the cutoff - she is not yet 21 years of age which the laws says is the minimum age required to run for Knesset. Her party list would not to be made up of only members older than 21. Muchtar petitioned the Supreme Court to allow her to run, arguing that if 18-20 year olds can serve in the army and fight in wars they should also be able to run for Knesset.

It took a little while but what seemed like the obvious decision has now been made official. The Supreme Court said no. The law is the law, the Knesset can change it, but the Supreme Court will not. Hadar Muchtar cannot run this time around, as she misses the cutoff date. her party can run, with eligible candidates on the party list. Hadar Muchtar herself, really the face of the party, cannot run for Knesset but if her party gets in, she can be appointed to a Ministerial position, as that does not have the same requirements.

Without having any real idea how well her party might have done with her leading the list, though she claims polls indicate about 6 mandates for the party, I wonder how her not being able to lead the list might affect it.

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Agudat Yisrael threatens to run with Chabad and Peleg

The Haredi media is labeling all the infighting comments as threats.

Gafni is "threatening" to have Degel Hatorah faction run independently from Agudat Yisrael faction, if his concerns about fair leadership of the joint party (ie Degel gets more power) are not addressed.

Aguda has been responding that Gafni should stop threatening and if he wants to run alone, he should just go ahead and do it, Aguda will pass the threshold, and only the gedolim, the Moetzes, will decide what they do, not Gafni and his threats.

Now Agudat Yisrael is threatning back. Their threat, though I am not sure why it is a threat, is that if they run independently, they will run jointly with Chabad and with Peleg Yerushalmi instead of with Degel. 

In my opinion this is not much of a threat. It is especially not overly intimidating.

Regarding Chabad, they have never officially supported nay political party in Israeli elections. They at times have unofficially encouraged support for a specific party and at times for a vague political direction, but they never ran their own candidates and never officially supported any party. I find it hard to believe that they will suddenly officially start supporting Agudat Yisrael and maybe even run a joint list with them, though it is possible. Doing so though, should they break with tradition, is hardly a threat. It would bring more votes for the Haredi parties, as many Chabadniks until have supported, or leaned to supporting, candidates like Ben Gvir, and while some surely supported the joint Haredi party, many did not, and an official Chabad position or run would surely get more Chabadniks to vote for the relevant Haredi party instead of for other parties. Degel might lose a few votes form it, probably not too many, but Haredi politics in general would probably gain a lot more votes.

Regarding Peleg, the threat seems to be that Agudat Yisrael would be brining them into the political scene, and Degel and Peleg dont get along. Still not much of a threat, as again it would be increasing the Haredi vote in general, as in previous elections most Peleg people didnt bother to vote because they didnt want to support Degel Hatorah.I would recommend Agudat Yisrael be careful about who they get into bed with and the Peleg extremists are not going to make life easy for them, but it will likely bring in some votes, at least for the one upcoming election, even if they break it off afterwords and dont run again together in the future.

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Facebook Status of the Day

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Quote of the Day

Kever Yosef is a crazy delusion. I have been there many times. It is insane.  Just thinking about IDF soldiers that can get killed in order to secure a group of Haredim who did not even serve in the army.

  -- MK Yair Golan (Meretz), regarding a group entry to Kever Yosef last night that was attacked by local Arabs

yes, the army's role is to secure its citizens, yes, even the one you dont necessarily like and the ones that behave differently. The IDF is supposed to defend all Israelis and all areas Israel lays claim to, including this holy site.

Additionally, having been there many times myself (though not recently), while plenty of the people who go are mainstream Haredim, many of whom likely did not serve, many are Breslav baal teshuvas and Sefardi chozrim who mostly did serve in the army, in addition to many from the "settlements" community of Datiim who mostly serve. So even if he is right, which he isnt, he is identifying the public incorrectly.

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Thank You Naftali Bennett (video)

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Inspiring: We're excited to come home (video)

welcome home

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Heart Shaped Box Nirvana Instrumental Version - Ariella Zeitlin x Yosef Hutner (video)

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REFRESHING NIGHT. Walking from South Tel Aviv to Jaffa (video)

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Three little words- Avraham Fried & Yossi Hecht - Asher to the Yatzar (video)

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will Lapid save Rosh Hashana?

Kol Hai News has a report that PM yair Lapid will be meeting with Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on August 24 to discuss, I guess amongst other things, the issue of Breslavers traveling to Uman for Rosh Hashana.

Because of the war with Russia, the entire issue is a big question mark. Some in Ukraine have said the pilgrimage wont be allowed this year due to the danger of the war and Ukraine cant take responsibility for having people come into their danger zone, while others have said that region is relatively quiet (even though there was a recent attack in the area) so the pilgrimage will be fine.

According to the report, the Ukranians are saying that if they agree to allow it, it will only be allowed if Israel takes full responsibility for the event, including local security with Israeli police. honestly this sounds weird to me. I get the idea of overall responsibility for Israeli citizens (and Jews from elsewhere somehow represented symbolically by Israel) traveling into a war zone with danger, but they want Israel to send in the police forces and operate on Ukranian soil? That's just weird. Besides for the fact that the Israeli police are barely able to keep things under control in Israel, they want the police to travel to another country and keep things under control there, where they might not even have full authority? 

Either way, it seems funny and ironic that it is Yair Lapid, the big hater of Haredim and lousy prime minister (sarcasm to be noted), who it seems likely will make arrangements for the Breslavers to go to Uman while Netanyahu as PM didnt do anything to help them when Ukraine said no during Covid times... and Ukraine said no when the Israeli officials told it to...

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Haredi Nationalists

I found it interesting and surprising to see in the news that a group of Haredim in Gush Etzion established an illegal outpost with 11 temporary structures and a water tower of some sort. They named the outpost Derech Emuna in memory of Rav Chaim Kanievsky (though I wonder if he would consider this act a merit for his memory or not). They said that the purpose was to ensure Jewish continuity in the area in the face of increasing Muslim takeover of areas in the region. They also wanted to show the public that the housing crisis can be easily resolved by establishing new communities outside of the typical cities.

When I first saw the notice my first thought was to wonder how quickly the government will dismantle it. It turns out just a few hours later I saw in the news it had been dismantled, though it also seems it has been up for four days already though I just saw it now.

Haredim usually dont take part in these types of nationalist events and ideas, so this was a bit of a surprise. Good on them.

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Quote of the Day

If we want to go over the past, go ahead. I have 50 slaughters that Israel committed….50 massacres, 50 slaughters, 50 holocausts.

  -- Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas

when asked at a press conference in Germany if he will apologize to Israel for the Munich massacre at an event commemorating the 50 year anniversary of the massacre

let's not forget that Abbas literally has a doctorate (from a Russian university) in holocaust denial. I guess he only denies 1 holocaust and makes up as many others as he wants

50 holocausts in the past 50 years? Israel must be totally incompetent to be committing 50 holocausts and yet the Palestinian population numbers continue to increase instead of severely decrease by the millions or even hundreds of thousands...

despicable

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MK Itamar Ben Gvir on running separately, on the deportation law and on Guy Meroz (video)

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PM Yair Lapid at the Police Academy (video)

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The Jewish Foodie Ep04: the Jewish food making Memphis crazy (video)

one is kosher, one isnt (but maybe should be)..

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JERUSALEM. ALL GATES. Around the OLD CITY (video)

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Back On My Feet (Official Music Video)

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fixing public transportation

Transportation Minister Merav Michaeli announced today that she is going to put together a team of inspectors to secretly check bus line sin Jerusalem, Bnie Braq and Bet Shemesh to see that women are not being discriminated against and forced to the back of the bus.

Ok.

On its own that is a good thing and a good project. These guys who force their way onto other people terrorize the community, and it is not just the non-haredim who suffer but even the general mainstream haredim who suffer from their abuse.

That being said, Michaeli should be sending inspectors to, as well, in addition to the above, ensure that there are enough buses, that the buses are running their routes in a timely fashion, that the buses are not overcrowded. The public transportation system is a mess. Michaeli's goal in this position was always to encourage people to use public transportation rather than personal vehicles, but with the way the pt system is so messed up, that is not going to happen. The reason to fix the public transportation system is not so people give up their cars, even if that is her main goal, but because people need to be able to rely on public transportation to get where they need to go in a timely fashion. If buses dont show up, if they run late, if they are overcrowded and cant pick up passengers, the system is worthless.

Fix the discrimination against women, but also fix the system itself so people, men and women and children, can uses the buses reliably.

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Netanyahu trying to break another promise

According to a report in Srugim, it looks like Netanyahu is trying to find a way out of his promise to Idit Silman for her part in bringing down the government. Netanyahu promised Silman a guaranteed slot on the Likud list for Knesset.

Netanyahu has found a creative way to get the Silman problem off his back - he offered her as a compromise in the Ben Gvir - Smotritch dispute as a neutral candidate for the 7th slot on their joint list.

Right now that is off the table, with Ben Gvir having announced the end of negotiations and his going it alone, but it could come back as the deadline for party list submissions nears.

Breaking this promise is dangerous. If he does find a way out of it, if he cant form the next government and tries to bring down whatever government does form, he will have a much harder time finding defectors willing to trust him with their future.

Netanyahu is no different than any other politician, and maybe worse than most in this regard. He is a serial promise-breaker. I dont know why anyone trusts him with their future.

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sue Egged for everything

Aryeh Ehrlich is reporting that 5 days since the horrific accident in Jerusalem in which an Egged bus ran over and killed a mother and two kids and injured others including a young woman who lost her legs in the accident - and nobody from Egged has yet to be in contact with the families and the injured - not to express remorse, not to see what assistance might be needed, nothing.

I hope they sue Egged out the wazoo, even for everything Egged has. 

In an accident where the details might be disputed and blame might not be so clear, it might be understandable, so as not to declare yourself guilty. This accident was clearly Egged's fault with tens of witnesses and a video feed. 

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Tweet of the Day

this is big news, if true...

בכיר ב'כחול לבן' אומר לי כך:

"מתן כהנא לא יהיה השר לשירותי דת בממשלה הבאה. הוא יודע את זה וגם החרדים יודעים את זה. המסר הועבר והם מקבלים את זה". לשאלתי הוא מוסיף, "אם ש"ס תסרב להצטרף לקואליציה בראשות בני גנץ, תיק הדתות יוצע לגפני".

— זאב אלפרוביץ (@zeevalperowits) August 15, 2022

Zeev Alperovitz reports on Twiiter:

A senior member of Kachol Lavan told me:

Matan Kahane will not be the Minister for Religious Affairs in the next government. He knows it and the Haredim also know it. The message was passed on to them, and they accept it. He added in response to my question, if Shas refuses to join our coalition headed by Benny Gantz, the Minister of Religious Affairs will be offered to Gafni.

They need to try to persuade the Haredi parties to join their coalition, so I get it. I don't like it, but I get it. This just makes them like the Likud, on religious matters - just outsource the entire thing to the Haredim and dont get involved. They can promise the Haredi parties it won't go to Kahane but will go to someone else - it doesnt have to be promised to them in advance, while they are saying they wont join a Gantz coalition. Negotiate positions after elections, not before. And if the Haredi parties still refuse to join, would he then give it to Kahane? Would they then accuse him of breaking a promise?

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