Interesting Posts #111

1. The Muqata excerpts an interview where the interviewee said the most intimate thing a prime minister had told her was Ariel Sharon's dream.

2. Geulah Perspectives discusses why Jerusalem.

3. Cosmic X discusses the recent engagement of Chelsea Clinton to Marc Misnevsky...

4. Lion of Zion has an Israeli shadchan directory

5. Geshmak Dvar Torah has a nice explanation of the story of Yaakov fighting with the angel of Eisav...

6. If you are Israeli, West Bank Mama says you can vote on renaming the Hebrew name of 2 planets...

Guest Post: Should I go haredi or dati leumi?

A Guest Post by Yehoshua Shapiro

Dear Rafi,
Thank you for allowing me space on your blog so that I can hopefully get some direction from your readers and you as well because you have very good insights.

Just a bit of background about myself: we made aliyah just over 7 years ago to Yerushalyim. We are going through an identity crisis now as we can not figure out if we are Charedi or Dati Leumi, or perhaps I should say our dilemma is which direction to pick for our children.

I would think we are Dati Leumi because if there would be no State of Israel we would not be living here. We realize that the government does not exactly always run to our liking, but then we are grateful that we have a government and hopefully one day the government will be run to our liking.
My children all learn in the local Mamad Torani school. One son we send to Rapaport and another kid is still young and goes to a private gan in a house. My daughter now must look for a high school and I am told now is when one has to make a decision of "what you are".

My daughter visited a school today that is considered a charedi leumi school though neither my wife nor my daughter were happy with it. We can look at real Charedi schols or there are the schools for girls that are very strong into the beliefs of Rav Kook and I think they have serious students. I guess we are leading towards that direction now.

What I am very curious to know is why it is that so many people people choose the Charedi route after they make aliyah. I came from a similar background to many of the people who decide to choose the charedi route yet they look at me like I am crazy that I send my children to the Mamad.

There seems to be problems with both types of schools, but my feelings are that there are less problems with the Mamad Torani system. It seems to me to be the most similar system that we had back in the US. I would be very appreciative if someone can explain to me why so many people don't choose the mamad torani schools.

I once mentioned my dilemma to a leading Rabbi who is a zionist but learned in Ponivitche Yeshiva, and when my girls were in grade school I expressed my concern where they should go to school. He said that it is not a concern - they can always go to Ofakim after they finish HS and be acceptable to all communities. I think that is what he meant.

My reservations of the Mamad system is they look to please everyone and sometimes you really don't please anyone that way. The maamad torani system ends after 8th grade, so I must choose something else now.

Some of my concerns in the non charedi system are the level of tzinut and wide usage of internet, though I feel some of these things can be dealt with at the home level.

I have a few questions to address those who have decided to choose the charedi route. The people who come collecting for money are all dressed in charedi clothes, the fliers that this one or that one died all look charedi, can it be that the charedi system can cause people to get physically sick, especially if one has numerous daughters and one is expected to buy them each an apartment?
I think, god forbid, I might get sick as well in that situation. The idea of having to buy an apartment is very frightening to me. I know some very well respected talmdei chachmim who now have to marry off their daughters, and their daughters deserve the cream of the crop, but in order to get the cream of the crop one has to put up a lot of money. At the present time I would not be able to afford this method, though who knows what the future will bring - perhaps I do not have enough bitachon.

I have one niece married and and a nephew married. By both couples the husband is learning full time and neither one has an apartment. I don't recall that there were any demands made on any of the parents. I guess they are considered dati leumi, although I hate labels. I have great respect for these - people perhaps this is what I should encourage for my children.

If anyone has some solid advice I would greatly appreciate it. Any advice on a high school for my daughter - we are only interested in non-dormitory high schools.

Sincerely,

Yeshoua Shapiro

Hey, Tootsie

Haven't you always wanted a Tootsie Roll?

Now you can have them! They have gone through the process of getting kashrut certification with the OU, and are now kosher.

Too bad they don't sell them in Israel...

Is there anything left in America that is not yet kosher? I mean, besides pork and lobster, of course.

Remaining silent

I am not a lawyer nor any expert in law, but this does seem strange to me.

There was, allegedly, a shocking attempted rape the other day. The shock is especially great because the alleged perp is an officer in the army.

Guilty? Innocent? I have no idea. Let the trial run its course. Not my issue.

What did irk me is something the judge said in the pre-hearing after some initial claims were made and the basic evidence was laid out. After the alleged perp initially gave his version of the events with his denial, he has since remained silent.

the judge who reviewed the situation discussed some of the evidence and then he also said that the defendants silence makes him look guilty. Somebody innocent makes sure to proclaim it as often as he can in whatever way he can.

The judge might be right about that, and to us casual observers, remaining silent often does look guilty. However, the judge is not a casual observer. the judge is the legal expert deciding the case. To him, a defendant using his right of silence is not supposed to look more guilty because of it. The judge is supposed to use the evidence and decide the case (there is no jury in the Israel legal system) - to use the defendants silence, when he has the right to choose silence, no matter how guilty it might make him look, the judge should not be using that as part of his consderations.

Am I wrong? I saw the statement by the judge and this bothered me.

An unusual memorial to Rabbi Kahane (video)

Palestinian stabs guard (video)

Here is the security camera video of the Palestinian woman stabbing the security guard at a checkpoint...

Great dancing (video)

Interesting Posts #110

1. Moving on Up describes his experience of making a living in Israel...

2. The Temple Mount Antiquities Salvage Operation is looking for help to continue its sifting project

3. Going Home notes the differences from back in Chicago about now to what December is like in Israel.. ahh the furniture saving the parking spots.. memories...

4. Frum n Flippin compares the different opinions on whether attraction is important

5. Joe Settler wonders who will sit longer in jail...

6. Bob Martin posts a couple videos about when the Arabs discovered Palestine.

Quote of the Day (qotd)

If it was up to me, I would return the Kotel to the Turks. Only they knew how to preserve its holiness....
The protests don't bother me. they provide some "action", and there is no need to take them seriously.... I was at a protest and saw someone call a policeman a Nazi. I simply went over to him and slapped him across the face...

----- Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, director of Zak"a (at a religious-secular event sponsored by Hidabrut)

Jewish weightlifting

(hattip to @rabbigreen)

Is Abutbol a sfardic or ashkenazic name?

Mayor Moshe Abutbol did the Rabbi Circuit to prepare for the upcoming hearing in court about issuing the tenders for construction in RBS C/G/3.

Needless to say, they all gave him their blessings and told him he would be completely victorious in court.

What I find especially interesting, and this happened before the elections as well, is that almost all the rabbis the mayor went to for blessings were Litvishe Ashkenazim. He went to Rav Ovadya of course, but in the list quoted, aside form Rav Ovadya, the rest were all Litvishe Ashkenaz.

Does Abutbol have a complex? Does he not realize he is sfardi? Why does he pander to the ashkenaz rabbis when he has plenty of sfardi rabbis to get brachas from? I can understand mixing it up a bit and going to the main ones for brachos and for appearances.. but when he goes almost completely to the ashkenazim for the brachas, something seems strange about it.

Once again, as I have said often, Abutbol, I think, is a good guy with decent intentions. I think he just cannot lead, especially with a strong UTJ faction. He is being led around by Degel HaTorah, and that will eventually be his undoing.

Interesting Posts #109

1. The guy who believes he is the only one who can define what "authentic judaism" is is now starting and leading a crusade against Mishpacha Magazine. I am not sure why, but he says they are trying to present their form of Judaism as authentic when it is not. I guess he will give real examples in later posts. It is funny - when I first read the post I understood that he was complaining the Mishpacha mag is too frummie of a mag. Then I saw the comments and understood that his complaint is that they are not frummie enough.. People like this should ignore everyone else and only read Yated.

2. Tikun Olam comments on the Dubai financial crisis...

3. Parshablog discusses the comments of various gedolim on the latest Kupat Ha'Ir segulah - you know, the 9 minute thingy that made no sense to anybody.

4. Modern Uberdox on judging books by their covers...and hair spray as well.

5. How to be Israeli has great water saving tips. They cut her water consumption literally in half!

6. Point of Pinchas talks about living in Israel during a time of recession.

7. In light of what seems to be a new trend to tattoo holocaust numbers on arms, this teshuva of Rav Oshry quoted by Daas Torah is very interesting. He discusses whether one should go through surgery to remove the Nazi tattoo. His answer is that he should not, but should keep the tattoo as a reminder, and should wear it proudly as a sign against our enemies. He does not discuss new tattoos as a sign of remembrance, and I am sure he would not approve, but it interesting nonetheless.

8. Rabbi Enkin discusses Semicha on Hirhurim..

9. Rabbi Fink discusses some tv show called Amazing Race. The latest episode was set in Prague and dealt with the Golem and the shul of the Maharal...

10. A Mother in Israel heard a talk by someone who escaped from the hijacked Entebbe plane. fascinating story.

Quote of the Day (qotd)

Jerusalem was the capital of Israel many years before Sweden was even established, and before all the other insolent people opposing this reality..

---- MK Ophir Akunis (Likud)

Mental Health Care is now mehadrin (video)

Deputy Minister of Health Yaakov Litzman has announced that they are going to convert two mental institutions to work in a mehadrin format, one being converted to men only and one to female only.

This of course caused an uproar, as many, including in the medical field, are calling it religious coercion, and they point out that nowhere in the world is this done.

Litzman's response is that he receives a lot of complaints about what goes in in the hospitals. He says many people refuse to provide the necessary treatments because of it. He is simply taking two hospitals that are not at full capacity right now and running his trial system on them. I would note that he does not specify what the problems are in the mental hospitals, just that they exist and because of them people do not provide treatment to members of their families who require it.

Now even if you are crazy you have nothing to worry about. No need to look at women... I imagine that if Litzman had been made Deputy Minister of Transportation (it was suggested at the time of the building of the coalition to give the Transportation Ministry to the UTJ, but was rejected because it was not prestigious enough), we would all be riding in mehadrin buses and trains right now...

In the video you can see Litzman respond on the issue. I have no idea what the main topic of discussion was, as he is sitting with the various haredi mayors, and I see no reason why this would be their topic of a meeting, so they were probably talking about something else when this issue came up...

The government now has frozen immigration

Jameel wrote up a great piece of satire regarding the construction freeze, as if Israel had announced a freeze on immigration..

Truth is, that in today's climate, an immigration freeze is not so far fetched. Where are people going to live? If there is no construction in Judea and Samaria, and there is almost no construction in Israel proper (what sector is not going through a housing crisis simply because the State hardly releases land for construction), it is not too far fetched to suggest that they might freeze immigration saying we have nowhere to put anyone right now so temporarily, until the situation with the Palestinians is resolved, we are freezing immigration.

Anyway, the satire can also be taken further - no construction anywhere in Israel. After all, the dispute is not just over the "Occupied Territories", but over all of Israel. The Arabs want the West Bank and half of Jerusalem, but they also want the right of return to everywhere else in israel, such as Jaffa, Lod, Acre, Haifa, Tel Aviv and every other major area. I can see the next step being a construction freeze in all of Israel in an effort to promote peace and not upset them by building on areas they have a claim to...

It is just a matter of time...

The newest hi-tech battalion in the IDF

The Israeli government representatives have spoken a number of times about fighting Israel's battles in cyberspace. They actually wanted to recruit bloggers to do so (for free of course) and provide them with training and talking points.

While that has not really panned out, the IDF has taken the initiative.

After starting the newest battalion of shadchanim, the latest is a battalion of tweeters, youtubers and facebookers... It brings the army into a whole new era of the digital age. "Push the Button" no longer just means to send a smart bomb to a remote location while sitting in a Lay-Z-Boy smoking a pipe and sipping bourbon, and it no longer refers to a song by Tipex..but it refers to pushing the button to publish your tweet and your youtube video.

Ya gotta love our hi-tech army!

You've come a long way baby!

I get all the emails about depositing money in my bank account for some Nigerian prince, so I want to know how come I did not receive the mass email announcing Chelsea Clinton's engagement to Jewish guy Marc Mezvinksky?

What's the connection? Mezvinksky's father sat in jail for his involvement in the Nigerian fraud scheme... so they must have my email address on record....

Anyways, mazel tov to the couple. It seems that Chelsea has no plans to convert to Judaism unlike a different celeb named Ivanka who recently converted and married a Jew. At least there are no reports of her planning a conversion.

I guess there are two sides to an intermarriage - while it is a shame, it is horrible, that he wants to marry a shiksa, the other side of it is that a shiksa celebrity wants to marry a Jew! You've come a long way, baby!

Interesting Posts #108

1. This post by Hadassah is a day old, and it started out as a simple, fairly personal post. Somehow the post has taken on a life of its own and is up to 76 comments, as of right now, with a fascinating discussion of priority in spending.

2. Tzedek-Tzedek on whether Motti Borgers suicide will make any difference..

3. The Muqata on the hebrew names of the planets...

4. Tzvee on the Talmud and the art of motorcycle maintenance.

4.5 months away

Whoa... Did the Vilna Gaon really say this? That construction on the Third Beis Hamikdash will begin upon the completion of the contruction of the third completion of the Hurva shul on the Old City?

As the Hurva Shul is nearing its completion, and is scheduled to be rededicated on March 15th for the third time, the Gra's prediction means that on March 16, 2010 construction on the third Beis Hamikdash will begin.

Interestingly, looking at a calendar will show you that March 16 is Rosh Chodesh Nissan. We know that the gemara says in Nissan the Jews were redeemed [from Egypt] and in Nissan the Jews will again be redeemed.

I never know how to relate to such predictions, but here at Life in Israel we wish it will come true, b'mehaira b'yameinu..

Join the army, get married!

Only in Israel where everything is heimishe, even the non-religious are more heimishe than they are outside of Israel, could this happen.

The army unit of Netzach Yehuda, a.k.a Nahal Haredi, has found a way to attract new recruits. They have hired the services of a shadchan to help set the soldiers up with dates to find their soul mate!

This actually is meant to make up for the fact that in the haredi world having served in Nahal Haredi has come to lower (whatever that means) a persons prospects in the shidduch scene. While in the general society the more or higher one serves in the army the better the "shidduch" he will be offered, in the haredi world it is the opposite.

So the shadchan was hired to help them get over this barrier. (source: NRG)

Headline of the Day (hotd)

Censorship is harming the Shalit deal

--- Haaretz

this is just a few days after the headlines were how they are keeping everything quiet because too mucyh publicity harms the deals. So which is it? too much publicity or too much censorship? or is it whatever is against the newspapers interests??

Quote of the Day (qotd)

...I wish that they would have children and increase. Today, they have a hostility to having children, so they should start having more children. There should be unlimited child-births. The greatest calamity is that they limit their child-birth. They should bring children - and we will manage with them. They can also do teshuva.

---- Rav Menachem Porush

Interesting Posts #107

1. I love the title of Yeranen Yaakov's post, Bai Bai Miss American Pie...

2. Torat Yisrael hosts Haveil Havalim #245.. His first hosting of HH..

3. Joe Settler on Bibi's settlement freeze..

4. A Mother in Israel on letting kids walk to school alone..

5. Parshablog's Thanksgiving post on whether the Pilgrims wore tzitzit or not.

6. Not Brisker Yeshivish mentions some of the things we have to be thankful for..

Lack of understanding in the Jerusalem protests

The haredi groups are upset about the secular protest against religious coercion this past shabbos.

R' Goldknopf, head of the rabbinic committee for guarding the sanctity of shabbos, doesn't understand them. He says we are all Jews, and how can they protest for chilul shabbos. We all heard the same commandments to keep shabbos. "I don't understand how any Jew can protest against the shabbos".

That might actually be a large part of the problem. They don't understand. The secular are not protesting against shabbos. They are protesting against people who are trying to enforce their way of life on others who do not want to be bound by that lifestyle. The seculars say you keep shabbos and leave us alone.

The seculars are not protesting against shabbos, at least not most of them (perhaps there are some more extreme secular who are, but that is not true for most of the secular). They are protesting against the haredi coercion.

This lack of understanding is also the source for the shock the haredim have expressed that religious people took part in the protests. They do not understand that the protest was not against religion or against shabbos, but against religious coercion.

Perhaps if we would spend less time protesting and fighting, and more time listening to the other side and understanding their concerns (this applies to both sides of the protest lines), it would be easier to come to agreements and arrangements..

The fight over the Taba in RBS C/G/3

Regarding the court case over the tenders in RBS C/G/3:

The court issued a stop order on the tenders and set a date for 2 weeks from now for hearing the two sides of the argument.

I stioll don't understand the argument of Mafdal and why they think the court will support them in stopping the tenders from continuing. I see no reason for the courts to get involved, no matter how right the Mafdal's position might be, and I see no basis for the courts preventing any specific group from being awarded the plots for construction or for the courts to legally stop or allow any specific group from buying in any specific area.

Regardless of that, the mayor and his supporters have been giving interviews since the court announcement. They have been saying the expect nothing but minor delays, as the courts will uphold the city's position. That remains to be seen, but what was interesting is that Yaakov Litzman announced that it turned out to be a good move that Gur signed with Shalom Lerner before the last elections. The reason why it turns out to be a good move, Litzman says, is because that agreement they signed back then will now serve the city well in presenting their case before the court. They will show that Lerner agreed to give the whole RBS 3 to the haredim, and therefore has no right to make any claims now about giving too much to the haredim.

Perhaps the understanding of the document below can be disputed, but the fact is that in the signed agreement below it does not say that Lerner agrees RBS 3 will be given to the haredim. It does say that they both agree that the Taba - the construction planning registered with the Israel Lands Authority, will be the same as RBS A and RBS B.

A statement like that is extremely vague, but it does not mean the haredim, or specifically Gur, will get everything. The fact that RBS A was bought out by about 40%-60% (depending which numbers you believe) over time does not have anything to do with the registration in the Lands Authority. The gareement was per the registration. RBS B was registered and planned as haredi, but RBS A was registered and planned as "Klali" - for the general population.

Perhaps Litzman is looking at the final results of who bought, and see RBS A as haredi even though it is mixed, and is therefore understanding the document that the Taba of C will be haredi just like RBS A and B turned out. But the agreement is only on the Taba, comparing it to the Taba of A and B - not comparing it to the final population mix.

Rav Shwartz: Releasing terrorists for Gilad Shalit

Rav Yisroel Schwartz is the dayan of Kehillas HaYeraim in Yerushalayim. Rav Schwartz lost his wife in a terrorist attack - the bus bombing of the Number 2 bus on Shmuel HaNavi street in 2003. Bechadrei went to Rav Schwartz to ask him his opinion on a possible deal to release terrorists in exchange for Gilad Shalit's freedom.

I sat with Rav Schwartz a few times in the past, and I know Rav Schwartz to be a very straight person with halachic considerations at his consideration at all times.

I know the halacha can be debated, and I understand both sides have valid points over whether or not terrorist murderers should be released. Also, I generally believe that while people who lost relatives have the right to, and should, voice their opinions about such things, the State has an obligation to not listen to them but to do what it feels is right. The families of the victims speak from an emotional position. The State has to do what it feels is right for the country - diplomatically, security, socially, etc. It has a lot more to take into consideration.

Rav Schwartz in the video interview supports releasing terrorists in exchange for Shalit. His main halachic argument is the "Bari V'Shema" argument. We know Shalit is in danger. We don't know for sure that the terrorists will do any more damage once released than they already do with these guys in jail. He says that they don't care about specific people - they educate their children to hate and kill us regardless of whether someone is released or not. So it is doubtful whether anything will change if they are released. Therefore, Rav Schwartz holds, it is incumbent upon us to release terrorists to make the exchange.

The video interview

The number of life (video)

A touching video... unfortunately it is becoming more and more trendy to commemorate the holocaust and its victims in this fashion which is assur....Would the victims want to be remembered in this way?

Perhaps it would be appropriate, for the girl who just found out what the number means, to first go read a book or watch a film about what happened in the holocaust? She just found out there was such a thing and she right away romaticizes getting a tattoo - she has no idea what she is even remembering.

It seems to be trendy nowadays to tattoo a number on one's arm in commemoration, but what about first studying the history? reading the various books that tell the stories of real people who survived, and of those who did not?

Interesting Posts #106

1. Yeranen Yaakov points to a video of Rav Batzri exorcising a dybbuk... for some reason it feels "wrong" that these things are done in public.. By "wrong" I don't mean he did something wrong, but it seems like such publicity, allowing the crowds to watch, etc. make it more of a media spectacle and less believable.

2. Yeshiva Guy on tormenting games...

3. Hadassah on the issue of the schools asking for tips for the teachers from the parents.. and Dov Bear on the same topic.

4. Parshablog discusses some moral lessons from Parshat VaYeitzei

5. Geshmak Torah has a nice dvar torah on the parsha about being united...

6. Oh oh. According to Mystical Paths I have to change my ice cream light bulbs back to old fashioned ones...

An historic evening in a haredi girls school

Last night was historic, as far as I know, unfortunately.

For the first time, that I am aware of, my daughters school had a parents teachers conference and invited the fathers to participate.

I say "unfortunately" because if they were already inviting me to come talk to the teachers, there was no way for me to get out of it! So I went.

Other mothers were surprised I was there, as I was the only father to show up. By the end of the evening another father had showed up.

It was an historic evening for fathers everywhere...

Haredizing the Kotel

Is the Kotel going through a process of "haredization"? It depends who you ask.

There have been complaints recently by some dati leumi and secular organizations that it is being "haredized". They point to various changes in the Kotel area that indicate new rules are being implemented. The flags at the back of the plaza were removed, signs calling for separation of the sexes were placed around the plaza area, stationing of tzniyus guards around the area, disallowing civil ceremonies ni the plaza above the kotel, along with some other examples.

After sending protests and complaints, some of those have been rescinded. The flags have been returned to the back of the plaza. most of the signs calling for separation of the sexes have been removed from the plaza area.

The various organizations claim that their protests and complaints have helped and they say they plan to continue complaining about various other examples of what they call the haredization of the Kotel until it is all resolved. Rav Rabinovitch has an answer for each of the claims, as he denies there is any such haredization going on.

The flags, Rabinovitch says, were removed due to renovations going on in the area. The renovations have been completed, so the flags were returned to their places. Separation, he says, was never demanded in the plaza area, except during special prayer gatherings (where large crowds were expected) - one sign remains on a partition that had been erected for construction purposes and that will soon be removed.

Basically, it is a figment of their imagination, and is all just a matter of coincidental timing, according to Rav Rabinovitch.

Another example has come to light, this one far more serious. Yediot Acharonot has published today an article (I saw it in the newspaper but not yet online) claiming that haredim at the Kotel are destroying siddurim, specifically Rinat Yisrael, that contain the prayer for the State of Israel. They are ripping the pages that contain the prayer. They showed pictures of some siddurim that were torn on said pages.

I find it hard to believe that haredim would do this - tear a siddur. At least not as a group or as a directed project. Perhaps there are some hotheads who might consider such a prayer to be heretical and maybe they do it on their own, but as a group, as part of a ploy to haredize the kotel - I don't believe it.
Of course such people should be prosecuted, if they are caught, and steps should be taken to prevent it from happening. But to consider that as a directed attempt to change the status of the kotel is too much for me to believe..