The news announced that Belz is in the final stages of moving its chain of schools to the Bnei Yosef umbrella organization. The Belz schools, starting with a pilot of 2, will learn full core curriculum studies and in exchange will qualify for full government funding.

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.

The news is reporting that the Belz people (educational committee, representatives of the Admor and whoever else is important there) have been negotiating with the government to convert the Belz educational system and all, or most of, its schools, into joining the public school system. They would become what has become known as "MaMaCh" - Mamlachti Haredi schools. That is the public school system for the Haredi community.

Haaretz just reported last night on the veracity of a big rumor a little while back that was vehemently denied. (note, I can't post to the Haaretz article because of their paywall, so I am posting to Kikar's republishing of the article instead)

The brouhaha over women driving in London in the Belz community did not interest me all that much. That's part of being hassidic, and part of being a member of any relatively small and insular group. You don't like it, leave. You like it or are willing to put up with it for the other benefits, that's your choice.

From the perspective of the authorities, I am not sure how much say they should have in internal affairs of any community. I don't know that any legal questions were raised, so meddling in the religion of a group is problematic, and can lead to just more meddling. On the other hand the schools are state-funded...

Anyways, it was not all that new or interesting to me.

The latest development is..

Now that the authorities in London have voiced their opinions and have turned them into a mockery and meddling has begun, rightfully or wrongfully, Belz has retracted. or said the original was a mistake. Or said it was an unauthorized statement. or whatever. call it what you want. They have retracted.

I find that fascinating. In Israel they, or any other Haredi community, would never back down to the authorities once they claimed something as an expression of their religious beliefs, while in London they did this u-turn pretty quickly.

hmmmm. according to this article in Bechadrei, the Admor of Belz instructed his people to not say Tachanun on Wednesday due to the celebration of the electoral victory of Moshe Abutbol in Bet Shemesh. He also drank a "lechayim"...


we all know that many hassidim find pretty much any and every excuse to skip tachanun, so it is almost not surprising.. but still - skip tachanun for winning the election of a mayor?


comparisons to other days of equal or greater miracles keep running through my head, and I wonder if they skip tachanun of any or some of those days as wel....

The big, and shocking, news item of the day seems to be the announcement of the Belzer community that they are preparing for a mass "yerida" in the event that the new draft law should pass.

They say they have some senators who have promised to work for them on getting them refugee status, which would allow them entry into the United States.

According to the definition of refugee status, I can see how this can happen. they can make a case for being members of a persecuted social group. Whether the case will be strong enough for the US government to accept it or not remains to be seen, but it looks feasible.

That being said, I wonder what will happen when they become refugees in, let's say, New York City. Will they suddenly discover that the vast majority of their Belzer brethren in the USA already work for a living and aren't in kollels for a very long time? Will they suddenly discover that the government gives welfare, in some places more than others, but in very few places are there mass movements to live off of welfare, because you can't really. Are they going to live in refugee or DP camps? Where will over 7000 families suddenly live? Are there 7000 homes available and open for them? Will they drive the price of rentals through the roof?

They may not have to go to the army, if they move to the USA, but their lifestyles will definitely change.

Besides for that, I am not sure if they think they are making a promise or a threat. While I think all Jews should be in Israel, and it would be disappointing to lose so many Jews back to the Diaspora, it doesn't really harm me or most people personally or directly in any way. It might even bring real estate prices in Jerusalem down a bit.

As the ultra-Orthodox community continues to get more and more stringent, and restrictive, in what is considered acceptable behavior, the crazy gets crazier and more interesting.

The latest in the hyper-tzniyus craze comes from the Kiryat Belz neighborhood of Jerusalem. They have now hung up a notice in the area around the main shul directed at women. The notice tells the women that they should make sure to hurry home so as not to be outside in the streets at all when the men come out of shul, as the honor of our women, the princesses of Israel, is internal.
(source: Mynet)

The Belzers actually put to shame the Eida people of the Kirya Haredit of Bet Shemesh. In the Kirya of Bet Shemesh they only asked/demanded that women cross the street and not walk right outside the shuls, while Belz tells them to go home and get off the streets completely. It says a lot when one can actually outdo the extreme Eida community of Bet Shemesh.


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The sirens announcing the arrival of Shabbos are a beautiful thing. Along with that, they bring back the ancient custom of announcing Shabbos by blowing trumpets in the community. Different areas use different ttypes of sirens for this. The standard siren is just a long wailing siren. In some neighborhoods, they add to that a siren blaring music - generally a Shabbos tune.

I particularly used to love the siren. In the winter, I am usually still home when the siren blares, as in my neighborhood many people keep candlelighting according to the custom of Jerusalem to light 40 minutes before sunset rather than the Bet Shemesh custom of 20 minutes prior to sunset. In the summer, when I make early Shabbos, I am usually walking home from shul when the siren blares, and then I get to embarrass my kids as I often sing along with the music. I say "used to" because recently it has started getting on my nerves.

The local people running it have added so many warning sirens they are making me crazy. It is no longer a siren just at candlelighting time, or a 2 minute warning prior to candlelighting time. Now, there is a siren 20 minutes before candlelighting time, then 10 minutes prior. I think there is also 5 minutes prior as well. That is in addition to the regular two sirens. I counted last week and if I remember correctly there were 5 sets of sirens blasted. At first I couldnt understand how candlelighting time had gotten so early, then I realized they are warning sirens.

Anyways, the Belz shul in Tel Aviv just had to cancel their siren to avoid fights. Belz plays Lecha Dodi over the siren system, and a number of secular residents of the area have been asking them to stop playing it. Initially they lowered the volume, but they have now decided to cancel the entire siren altogether. The gabbai of the shul said that they have been in that location for over 50 years, and have never tried to take over the neighborhood or anything. He said they have never tried to force anybody to do anything, but if people are going to complain about this, it isnt something necessary to fight about. When other people asked why they stopped it he told them that he is not interested in waging any battles.

I think the Belzer gabbai in Tel Aviv made a wise decision. he recognized which way the winds are blowing right now, and realized this is not something worth fighting over, and causing hatred towards his shul among the locals.

I recently heard the following story that was quoted from a book written in 1962. The story has to do with Rav Aharon Rokeach, the former Belzer Rebbe, and his attitude to Yom Ha'Atzmaut.

The story goes that Rav Rokeach, the Belzer Rebbe at the time, was approached by someone who asked him that on Yom Ha'Atzmaut some Jews dance joyously, while in Mea Shearim there are Jews who dress in sackcloth and act in mourning, and what is the Rebbe's attitude to this?

The Rebbe's response, the story goes, was "when Jews are happy, I am happy".

The OU printed a booklet of articles related to Pesach for distribution in Israel.

One of the articles was about the various issues related to hand matza and machine matza, and why some prefer one over the other.

The article concluded quoting the Belzer Rebbe explaining why machine matza is no good and one should only use hand baked matza. The Rebbe's reasoning is that no matter how good they made the machine matza, no matter how well they cleaned out the machinery, and no matter how strict they were regarding the process, at the end of the process an angel comes and drops a little bit of chametz into the machine matza. So machine matza cannot be good for Pesach, and one should only eat hand matza.

I have no complaints against the Belzer rebbe. chas v'shalom. if he wants to believe something so ridiculous like that, it is his prerogative. No hard feelings. However, I think the OU should have used more discretion and not included such a ridiculous claim in their article. They should have stuck to how hard it is to clean the machine properly, the issues of whether a machine can be considered lsheim mitzva, whether than hand matza can be done properly or fast enough, etc. and they should have left the heeby jeeby claims alone. How many people will now be afraid to buy machine matza because of the fear of some angel dropping chametz?

Shearim brings us a picture of the Belzer Rebbe wearing his new shtreimel. The Rebbe changed his shtreimel, not just for a brand new shtreimel, but for a different type of shtreimel. Shearim posted a picture of the event, and quipped "as if a Shtreimel is that important"..

I would like to know why he made the switch. Is it a Belz minhag that at a certain time you switch? Is he starting somethign new? Was it based on the expense - maybe the new one is cheaper, so he is encouraging his followers to go with a cheaper brand? Is it to save an animal from extinction by switching to a different source of fur? I would like to know why. Rebbes usually don't do things with no reason..

Is the war almost over? The Belzer Rebbe thinks so...

He told a Belz fundraiser who was concerned about being away from home for too much time and leaving his wife and kids in Ashdod by themselves. The Rebbe told him not to worry, as the war will be over soon.... (source: Ladaat.net)

I hope the Rebbe is right, but that when it is over we have accomplished our goals (whatever they are), and end up in a good position.