President Biden said last night that he warned Israel to not attack Haifa.

Back in the day, specifically the initial lockdown a year ago, the streets were so empty of human traffic, foot or vehicular, that all sorts of wildlife were seen entering cities and wandering around, maybe looking for food or entertainment... in some places this continued much longer, to different degrees, even though people were out and about, it was still much quieter than normal and more welcoming for the animals.

The court hearing the case in Haifa against the Kumzitz for men by Mordechai Ben David and Motti Steinmetz has decided, based on the recommendation of the Attorney General Avihai Mandelblit to disallow the event.

The court basically said that if they want to have an only men event and not meet the criteria set by Mandelblit, they should fund it themselves and not have it sponsored by the Irya from public monies. Mandelblit had set criteria for gender-segregated events that the Irya must be able to defend sponsoring the event by showing that women have an equal (but separate place) - meaning, if the event is separate and women are treated equally, with a mechitza but not squashed into the back or somewhere they cannot see or hear, that would be fine. if the event is for men only, the women are being left out. If the women don't have a similar event for them, the women are being left out.

When Mandelblit announced his support for gender-segregated events, meeting the criteria he laid out, the Haredi askanim were happy that their needs were being recognized. Now that an event not meeting the requirements is being canceled, they are once again upset that their needs are not being met and the Haredim are being left out of the public sphere. Really all they need to do is make their events to treat men and women equally, but separate, as they supposedly wanted to in the first place, and Mandelblit says it can happen. Now they don't want to do that either and still want it to be able to happen.

(update: the producer of the event says he is insisting the show must go on at any cost and they will forgo the Irya funding and put it on fully private, and people will buy the tickets, and they are even willing to take a financial loss to make sure it happens)

The responses have been sharp from the haredi askanim, but, as always, none as sharp as MK Yisroel Eichler (UTJ). Eichler said if we are weak, the judges from the North will come to us in Jerusalem as well. When you want to make a bris for your son, the court will not allow you to make it separate seating.

It is a cute and funny attack, as per Eichler's normal style, but he, as he often does, is convoluting, probably intentionally, what is going on. The only time the court might not allow you to make your bris separate is if somehow you get the Irya to sponsor your bris. And even then it might get a religious exception, the way prayer services get. Again, the courts are not saying, at least not yet, private events cannot be gender-segregated. They are syaing public events cannot be segregated and even public events can be segregated if care is taken to give equal space to men and women.

The coalition of the local government in Haifa has always been a curious one, since the last municipal elections, but Haifa has always been a little different than the rest of the country. In the coalition sits the religious and Haredi parties alongside a Conservative rabbi (Rabbi Dov Hayoun who was famously arrested/detained last summer for performing weddings outside of the Rabbanut), and others.

It looks like whatever working arrangement between the Orthodox and the Conservative was peaceful until now might finally come into conflict.

The City of Haifa is sponsoring a series of events in the summer. One of these events is a series of "alternative kabbalat shabbat" events. These will be weekly, starting this Friday, through the beginning of September. It will be held between 18:30 and 20:00 on one of the Haifa beaches and will be run by the pluralistic Bet Tefilla Yisraeli organization. There will be activities for kids along with a musical kabbalat shabbat. This is actually pretty popular and similar events are held in various locations around the country, including in Jerusalem at the First Station complex (though I dont know how frequently).

The Haredi representative in City Hall is upset about this and considers it a breach of the status quo. The event will cause large scale chilul shabbos and should not be sponsored or promoted by the City. The representative of Agudat Yisrael in haifa sent a letter to the mayor, Dr. Einat Kalish, complaining about this and Kalish promised to look into it.

sources: ColBo News, HaiPo, Haskupim

With chilul shabbos always being acceptwed in Haifa, I am not sure how this is breaking the status quo. They have always had buses running on Shabbos there - the only city in Israel to officially allow it. A little bit of singing and guitar playing, most of which will not even be on Shabbos (being that the event ends at 8pm which is not even tzeis yet for most of the summer), does not seem like such a breach in the status quo. I wonder how this will play out. And, it is happening on the beach, not in front of a shul or at a local park, so most of the people there are likely being mechalel shabbos anyway - perhaps such an event will open them up a bit to some traditional Judaism...I think it would be better to turn a blind eye to such an event rather than turn it into a fight.. I guess we will see what happens..

In Haifa the new mayor, Einat Kalish Rotem, has decided to appoint City Councilman Raja Zatara as a deputy mayor. Minister of Interior Aryeh Deri is disturbed by this upcoming appointment as Zatara is an avowed supporter of both Hezbollah and Hamas, supports the BDS movement and also supports and promotes activities against the State of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. Deri is working to prevent the appointment. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has now said that he agrees with Deri's opinion on the matter and supports his efforts.

I agree with all of the above. An enemy of the State should not be allowed to attain such positions.

I go further though. Such a person should be disqualified from running in the elections at all. His citizenship should, perhaps, be stripped. Should the deputy mayor position the only thing he cannot do? Why let him run in elections and be involved in politics at all, if you are not going to let him be deputy mayor?

view from a drone of some of the destruction of Haifa from the recent fires..

I assume that you have not seen the actual statue, and you are basing your complaints on rumors [of what it will look like]. I recommend that you should go back to the person who whispered in your ear and you should tell him he should stop seeing everything around him as an abomination, lest he will begin to see immodesty even in electricity poles, wood and mailboxes.

  -- Mayor of Haifa Yona Yahav

It was reported (I saw it in the Yediot metro paper) that Haifa will be installing a statue of a giant female image near the entrance of the stadium in Haifa. Representatives of the local Haredi community are campaigning against it as they are saying the statue will not be "dressed".

Rav Gedalya Axelrod, one of the rabbonim of the haredi community of Haifa, has protested to the mayor, Yona Yahav. The location is near the entrance to the city and is overlooking a religious mixed neighborhood of Jews, Arabs and Christians, and such a statue is pornographic.

Yona Yahav's response is above.

I do not know what the statue will look like. If it is of an undressed woman, I agree that even as art it can be inappropriate and perhaps should be in an art museum or located somewhere else where less kids will be exposed to it. If it is not really a provocative statue than no big deal. Perhaps protests should be delayed until actual information is known.

The "Malshinon", the snitch line, of the tax authority for people to anonymously call in and snitch on others who are not paying their taxes, has been so wildly popular that the city of Haifa decided to operate their own snitch line. For Chametz.

According to NRG, the laws against selling chametz in public during Pesach have never before been enforced in Haifa. stores openly sold chametz. This year, City Hall has decided to put an end to it. They have instructed city inspectors to be very strict about handing out fines to businesses selling chametz, and are encouraging residents of Haifa to call the municipal line, 106, to report any business discovered selling chametz.

City Councilman Shai Blumenthal says that Haifa is a complex city, as it is a city mixed with Jews and non-Jews, and in the non-Jewish neighborhoods selling chametz is permitted. The city inspectors have instructed the merchants as to where selling chametz is allowed and where it is not.

Depending on the success of the snitch line for chametz, we will have to run a contest to come up with other great ideas for usage of a snitch line.