The prison services has reportedly decided to no longer allow the Haredi prisoners in Maasiyahu Prison to have hats and jackets for use in the shul during davening. Rav Metzger personally was disallowed from wearing his frock and homburg in the Torah wing of the prison. Another Harredi prison, a businessman, complained through his family that he was disallowed from wearing a hat and jacket this past Shabbos during the services.

ShABAS - the prison services authority -  responded saying that the rules do not allow prisoners to have hats and jackets in the prisons. Prisoners in the religious wings are allowed to have black pants and white button-down shirts..
source: Actualic

Let them feel like they are in prison, rather than in yeshiva. Make them all wear orange jumpsuits. This is not a halachic issue that they need these things, such as kosher food or time to daven, ability to observe Shabbos, or the like. I don't know why it was allowed until now and suddenly stopped, but it should never have been allowed in the first place.

Why should this fall under an allowance under the category of human dignity while other prisoners have to wear prison garb? If some people say their uniform is important for their dignity, every prisoner should be allowed to wear whatever clothing style he or she wants and prefers and there should be no prison uniform at all.

Rabbi Yona Metzger has submitted a request for a presidential pardon. He seems to have agreed to not apply to serve in any official capacity as a rabbi, though he is also requesting that he not be stripped of his title.

Metzger has done nothing wrong by requesting a pardon. It is part of the process and he is fully entitled to try to take advantage of it.

I do hope President Rivlin rejects the request, at least now after just a year of jail and with the request to not be stripped of his title. The chilul hashem he caused is much worse than the actual crime. He doesnt need a pardon. Only Hashem can pardon him for his crimes. He can get out early for good behavior like any other convict.

Legal Counsel of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel has announced that it is going to be holding a disciplinary hearing against former Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger to deal with the question as to whether or not they should revoke his title of "Rav" because of his conviction for bribery. If they decide to revoke, they will be revoking his various titles and qualifications, including "neighborhood rav", "city rav", and his certification for officiating at weddings.

They plan to do the same for Rav Avraham Yosef, Chief Rabbi of Holon, because of his indictment, but will only do so after a conviction. There has already been a plea bargain announced in that case, so presumably, unless something changes drastically, that is going to happen at some point.

Regarding Rav Yoshiyahu Pinto, no action will be taken because he does not have any semicha certification from the Rabbanut.
source: Kikar

If they go down this road they will be pretty busy dealing with all the rabbis in the prisons, especially with the politicians from Shas. At least they will mostly only have to deal with one prison, as that is where most of the criminal rabbis get sent to.

According to an interview with the new broadcasting agency Kaan, Rabbi Metzger seems to really be enjoying hsi time in prison.

Metzger is in what is considered the "VIP" ward of Maasiyahu prison and says he is living the good life and as happy as can be.

According to his responses in the interview, Rabbi Metzger says conditions there are better than in a dormitory and far better than conditions on reserve duty. He has an air conditioned beis medrash to learn in with comfy furniture and nobody bothering him. Everybody gets along, comes to davening, eats together, cooks together.... and the food is amazing and there are chefs there making food that even at home he has nothing like.
source: Haredim10

I hope his wife is not insulted by how he happy he is in prison, especially with the food but also with all the other conditions he is so impressed with.

Maybe he is just being positive and trying to make the best of a bad situation. Or maybe prison really isn't that bad - at least not in the VIP ward.

I am telling you now - I have sinned. There is no need to punish me any further.

  -- former, disgraced, Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger, to the courts while appealling the rejection of the plea bargain agreement the court nullified recently

ahh, if only it was this easy. The judges and courts would have much easier jobs if all the criminals were supposed to say was "I sinned, no need to punish me"...

Haredi journalist Benny Rabinovitch went on an interesting rant regarding Naftali Bennet and Rav Metzger, in light of the plea bargain agreement sending Metzger to jail for 3.5 years.

Basically, Naftali Bennet criticized Metzger for the crimes he committed and for the chilul hashem he caused.

Rabinovitch got upset and went on a rant against Bennet accusing him of never speaking out against criminals within his own camp - the Dati Leumi camp. He called Bennet a rasha - evil, wicked, person - for this. He said it is obvious that he has hatred for anybody who seems to be Haredi. He also claimed that Bennet spoke out against Metzger just to divert attention from his situation with Amona and the residents being angry at him.

Rabinovitch pointed out, as an aside, that Metzger really isnt Haredi and did not learn in Haredi yeshivas, and only is thought of as Haredi because the Haredim supported him for the position of Chief Rabbi back in the day.
source: Srugim

for mroe information on the Haredi support for Rav Metzger as Chief Rabbi, see Rationalist Judaism

thoughts:

1. Metzger really was not Haredi. As Rabinovitch said, he had not learned in Haredi yeshivas. He never claimed to be Haredi, and nobody claimed he was Haredi. He was supported by the Haredi parties and askanim and rabbonim, and in exchange he agreed to implement certain Haredi policy as Chief Rabbi (such as issues regarding kashrut and shmitta)

2. Bennet did not say Metzger is Haredi, so I am nto sure why Rabinovitch thinks Bennet's criticism of Metzger has anything todo with Bennet thinking of him as a Haredi. Maybe he is criticizing Metzger as a Dati Leumi. Or a s a Chief Rabbi. Or as a person. Why does Rabinovitch accuse Bennet of attacking him as a Haredi, and then go on to say he isnt Haredi. Is he or isnt he? If he isnt, then Bennet's attack also had nothing to do with being Haredi. And if he was, then own it and dont say he really wasnt.

3. Rabinovitch's criticism might be right or might be wrong. I dont know. Bennet did not go on the attack against the recent accusations against Slomiansky. But then again, Bennet also said nothing about Metzger until there was a final plea bargain agreement. Maybe when Slomiansky ends up in jail Bennet will criticize him as well.

4. Rabinovitch's criticism might be right or might be wrong. I dont know. However, Rabinovitch also does not criticize and attack the criminals within his own, the Haredi, camp. He did not criticize Metzger, but maybe Metzger isn't Haredi. I dont remember him criticizing Aryeh Deri, or the rosh yeshivas, mashgichim or rebbeinm who were ever arrested for molestation and abuse, or Haredi heads of gemachs who went to jail for fraud and tax evasion or Haredim who went to jail for drug smuggling..

Way too much candy ends up in mishloach manot. Today there is an increased awareness to eating healthy, and many people minimize the unhealthy foods used in mishloach manot preparation. Despite that, just walk into any supermarket in the week leading up to Purim and you will see that many many people still use a lot of junk food in their mishloach manot.

I am not sure this will help much, but Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger publicized a call to people to minimize the inclusion of such foods in mishloach manot and to include more healthy foods instead.
(source: Srugim and Mako)

Rav Metzger said:

Unfortunately in recent years the phenomenon has spread of stressing the beauty and externality of the mishloach manot. This is the opposite of what it should be. Because of that, it is common in many shops, especially in the time of Purim, to find all sorts of sweets that are based on artifical ingredients, containing chemicals, food colorings, things that can cause damage to the body, and especially to children whose body's are not yet strong enough.

Experts in this field have enlightened me that in not so few countries marketing these products has been prohibited, due to their bad influence. These products are sold, usually, at cheap prices, due to low manufacturing costs that do not require a lot of resources. And, there are those who buy them so the package will externally look beautiful and impressive.

The truth of the matter is that we should take care to be concerned that the mishloach manot will not include any such items at all, to pay attention to the ingredients with which the sweets are manufactured, and during Purim when a lot of mishloach manot come into the house the small children could get out of hand eating these sweets and thereby cause damage to their bodies, upon which we have been commanded to protect.

I call with endearment to all our brethren to pay attention to the ingredients of the sweets that are sold in the stores and minimize the mishloach manot that include health damaging products, and by doing this we will merit to fulfill the mitzva of mishloach manot in an elegant way that also has a benefit to the recipient, and will thereby prevent any damage to the health of the recipient and his household.

So, if you have not yet come to this conclusion yourself that you should not be including so much candy and artificial stuff in your mishloach manot, now you have rabbinic counsel informing you of the problem!

The rav of the Kotel, Rav Shmuel Rabinovitch, is looking into the possibility of replacing the current mechitza with a new one constructed of one-way glass. Obviously, the glass would be installed i a way that allows the women to see into the mens section, but prevents the men from looking into the womens section.

Women have approached both Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger and Rav haKotel Shmuel Rabinovitch and have asked for a solution, specifically suggesting one-way glass, as during events and family celebrations (such as bar mitzvahs) the women have very little ability to see the proceedings on the other side. The women have been able to peek between the cracks in the stones, or some always can be found standing on chairs and looking over the wall. Most women, though, cannot do that, and even that is an uncomfortable solution.

So they have requested the mechitza be changed, to make it better for them to participate and view their family simchas on the other side of the wall.

According to JDN, Rav Metzger is in favor of the idea of one-way glass and is pushing for its implementation. According to Kipa, Rav Rabinovitch was approached and he is investigating the possibility. This solution is already in place in the tunnel area of the Kotel, but the solution may not work as well outdoors because of the way the sunlight falls. the one-way glass may not be effective outdoors the way it is indoors, and if the men can see into the womens side this will not be the solution. Currently, testing one-way glass panels has shown to be a problem, and a solution, perhaps additional tinting or frosting of the glass, is still being sought.

The hetter of Rav Moshe Feinstein to use glass for a mechitza clearly will not be applied here. The first reason is for obvious ones - the ultra-Orthodox just won't accept it. Even in regular Orthodox shuls glass partitions are not common, so while that hetter of Rav Moshe might be usable in some situations, it is not commonly applied. The second reason is because the hetter of Rav Moshe is only for glass to be ok as long as there is no issue of tzniyus - the women on the other side of the mechitza are all dressed modestly and covered up properly. if the women are not, then Rav Moshe would not allow glass to be used as a mechitza. And we all know that at the kotel, women come dressed in all ways and fashions. they might wrap the "Kotel skirt" over their waists, but that does not necessarily solve the tzniyus issues.

Hopefully a solution to the one-way glass will soon be found and applied, so that the women can feel more involved and will be happier with their visits to the Kotel.

Tu b'Shvat is coming and the organizations are getting into high gear with their campaigns for planting trees...

It is a really nice experience to go out on Tu b'Shvat, if you can, and plant a tree. In many of the JNF/KKL forests they will have organized tree planting events where people can come and help plant the trees. You can also sponsor a tree, or often you can even just help by planting trees that were sponsored by others.

The first Sephardic Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rav Bentzion Meir Hai Uziel, wrote the tefilla, HaNotei'a, that is said when planting trees on Tu b'Shvat (or any other time) in the JNF forests.
(for the text of Ha'Notei'a, see the bottom of the post)

An interesting question was raised and submitted to Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger. With the KKL finding new ways of fundraising, new questions arise, even halachic in nature. The question posted to Rav Metzger was regarding the KKL's recently launched initiative by which people who can't, or won't, go out to an actual KKL forest and plant a tree can still be involved, all via their computer. They go to the KKL website and find the "click and plant" program. For the price of 36NIS per tree, you can virtually plant as many trees as you want. After you submit your virtual planting order, they will have their foresters plant actual trees.

The question asked was can a person who plants virtual trees in this fashion say the actual prayer when he places his order, or perhaps the prayer HaNotei'a can only be said when accompanied with the physical act of planting a tree in the ground?

Rav Metzger responded with his psak that even someone planting a tree virtually via the Internet can say the prayer. The reason being that while it is better for one to actually plant the tree himself, if he cannot then this is a way he can participate and be a partner in the result of building Eretz Yisrael. Even by planting the tree via the Internet he is showing his faith in Hashem and in the mitzva of yishuv eretz yisrael, and should say the prayer.
(source: Srugim)

תפילת הנוטע

Last night I heard on the radio a chat with various residents of southern Israel. They were describing how difficult life has been, and how difficult it is with the escalation. One of the points mentioned that stuck in my mind was describing how normal life has been disrupted - not just by having to go to bomb shelters in the middle of the night or covering one's kid with his or her own body to protect from possible shrapnel or debris, but even the less obtrusive disruptions. Such as, how does one plan a wedding, not knowing if it will be able to take place due to rocket fire?

Simple get-togethers are difficult to maintain. Think of a kiddush or a shalom zachor, an engagement party, a birthday party. Normal life and a normal schedule with normal activities has been difficult to maintain. No matter what you want to do, you consider what will happen i a rocket is launched to the area. Plans for activities must be kept to within range and ability to get to shelter quickly.

To that end, the Chief Rabbi, Rav Yona Metzger has announced that people should not postpone or cancel weddings that were scheduled to happen in the near future. Rav Metzger recommended that alternate locations be found - either in a house with limited numbers of guests, or to hold it in other parts of the country... but the show must go on!
(source: NRG)

Let us close the week with these encouraging words from Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger about the results of the US elections.

The Chief Rabbi said that "while it seems to us that not changing the leader in America would be, God forbid, bad for us, that is not so true. We need to look at the world through the eyes of faith.... everything God does is for the good... I heard Rav Elyashiv vall America the "malchus of chessed - the kingdom of kindness. We know the hearts of kings and ministers are in the hands of God. It is not so clear cut who is good for the Jews and who is not.... I hope that now that these elections are over [Obama] will have more courage to release Jonathan Pollard. I have more than hope that he will quickly be released during this term."
(source: Srugim)

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Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger Affixes Mezuza On Doorpost Of New Jersey Supermarket

Note, Rav Metzger says the bracha without Hashem's name. Because it is a place of business and not a living quarters, there is a machloket whether it requires a bracha, and Ashkenazim tend to follow the opinion of not making a bracha under these circumstances..


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Quote Of The Day

When synagogue attendance is lagging, as is the case on holiday evenings or prior to the Sabbath, more IDF soldiers are injured and killed.... The more Jews that learn Torah, the stronger our military will be. Just as there is an Air Force and a navy, there must also be a God Force.

 -- Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger

(doesnt Chabad already have what they call Tzivos Hashem?)

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Quote Of The Day

It pains me greatly that there are Israelis who are unable to forgo bread during Pesach. The advancements of technology have provided alternatives for all types of foods that can be kosher for Pesach... this range of foods available did not exist when I was a child, and definitely not in the time of our parents who had nothing more than matza, potatoes and eggs to eat on Pesach.  What's the problem for one week to identify with the Jewish people and not eat bread and pita publicly? 

  -- Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger

see the full interview for more..

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Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger said in his Shabbat HaGadol drasha that women should be an active part in the seder and are able to read portions of the Haggadah, just as men are. Not only that, but they should be active participants and not just can read, such as when husbands are away, but should read portions, even when everyone is present.

According to the Israel Hayom report:

Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger publicly declared that women are allowed, according to Halachah (Jewish law), to lead the Passover Seder, and it is even obligatory to allow women to read parts of the Haggadah,


Metzger addressed the issue during his sermon over the weekend at the Great Shabbat (Shabbat Hagadol) celebration at the Jerusalem Great Synagogue. The Great Shabbat celebration, observed on the Shabbat before Passover, includes a special Haftarah reading (a portion from either the Prophets or the Writings read on Shabbat, which usually correlates with the week’s Torah portion) and a lengthy sermon to the community on Saturday afternoon.


Metzger delivered his sermon to hundreds of people, explaining that in the event that a woman’s husband is not at home – serving in reserves duty or traveling outside the country for example - the woman is allowed to lead the Seder herself. Metzger noted that many religious people are unfamiliar with this Halachah, which was recently reiterated in a book by the late Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, citing the rulings of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.


Metzger added that even if the husband is at home on the night of the Seder, the family should rotate reading sections of the Haggadah and the wives and daughters should read as well. He says that it is forbidden that the women only hear the Haggadah, they must also be part of telling the story of the Exodus from Egypt.

“People think that in deference to modesty, they should forbid women from reading aloud. Many religious people do not know it, but there is actually a law [against this],” Metzger told Israel Hayom on Saturday night.


“A negative impression regarding the exclusion of women has become prevalent,” he added. “Women aren’t excluded from everything. When it comes to such an important mitzvah (commandment), which only happens once a year and tells the entire exodus from Egypt, women are a key part of the event.”

I must say, this is exactly what we do, and have always done. We rotate the reading among all the family members, including the women and girls. While some people feel they need to read along at the same time, because the female reading cannot read for him, such people usually read along no matter who reads - even when men are reading, because they also believe that every person must read every word of the Haggadah.



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For a long time Jews have been finding ways of serving and enjoying kosher foods that are made to taste like non-kosher foods. Mock shrimp and mock bacon come to mind at the moment, though there were probably others as well. I never really understood the need for such foods, except perhaps for baalei teshuva or converts who might miss, and have a desire for, such foods that they enjoyed previously, though at the same time I know there is nothing wrong with making such foods to taste similar to non-kosher foods.

I also seem to remember some statement from Chazal, though I don't remember the source, that every non-kosher animal has a kosher animal that tastes the same. When Hashem created something that is prohibited, He also created a way to have the same thing in a permissible manner.

Srugim is reporting that at a conference held in Kaplan Hospital (in Rehovot) discussing the future of food service in hospitals Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger announced that he has recently approved the import of a kosher goose from Spain that expert chefs testify taste exactly like pork. They are not similar. According to Rabbi Metzger based on what he was old by experts, they are 100% the same.

The Goose That Used To Be Our Pet. She Did NOT Taste Like Pork, as far as I know

Rabbi Metzger explained that there is nothing wrong with eating foods that taste like non-kosher foods. The gemara talks about a case of Yalta, the wife of Rav Nachman, who had a craving for pork. Rav achman instructed her to eat the Shibota fish which is known to taste the same.

Mock foods are not the same as real foods. Fake liver is not the same as real liver, no matter how good it is, and mock shrimp is not the same as real shrimp, I don't believe, and mock bacon can't be as good as real bacon.

If this goose meat ever shows up on the shelves of my local supermarket, I am looking forward to trying bacon and eggs. I would never try mock bacon, but this is the real thing, supposedly, and not just something made to taste like something else.

While some feel that when there is a religious conflict in the army it is an attempt by the army to "stick it" to the religious soldiers, to the religious community, I feel there is more ignorance involved than maliciousness. Most of the time they probably have no idea what the religious soldiers want or need.

The IDF has been so caught up in its own system for so long, it cannot be easy to suddenly have to recognize new issues, find solutions to complex societal problems that they never before realized existed. When they are aware of an issue, they often try to accommodate as well as they can. Some readers will point to Israel's leadership of the 1950s and 1960s, to the IDF of those days as well, and say that they are anti--religious, they have their agenda to secularize all the religious people. I would suggest that the country has changed. they realize the religious people are not going to secularize en masse, and they are not going to leave. The religious community will continue increasing and it is better to build a society together than not.

Israel is now 2011 and no longer 1950.

Are things perfect? of course not. There are still situations where anti-religion bias comes out and there are situations where ignorance prevails. Things will continue to improve, as religious people take more leadership roles and help shape our society, and as more religious soldiers take leadership roles in the army and help shape the face of the Israeli army.

A good example of this is the report that the IAF, the Israeli Air Force, has installed a "shabbos elevator" in its central facility, the famous "bor" where systems are controlled in real time in a deeply underground bunker, for the religious soldiers. They will no longer need to be transgressing anything, even if it was allowed because of pikuach nefesh.

Did the army need to do this? They have not felt the need until now. Any soldier who had a problem with it could have easily justified the use of a regular elevator by pointing to the urgency and level of pikuach nefesh. Yet they installed the shabbos elevator anyway to remove any level of conflict a soldier might have and question the need for using an elevator. Now no soldier working there needs to worry that he might be transgressing Shabbos.

The army needs to figure out how to accommodate the soldiers in ways that were previously not necessary. They need to figure out solutions to complex  problems and conflicting needs - such as the need for equality of women and the needs of more and more religious soldiers to not compromise their religion and religious standards. To me it looks like the army is trying.

While a solution must be found, and it was really the courage of some soldiers to put themselves on the line that has forced the issue, it is probably long overdue, now that it is out in the open, soldiers, until a solution is worked out, should go in advance to their rabbis and to their rosh yeshivas and to their mentors and figure otu in advance how to deal with such situations should they arise, rather than finding oneself in a position and having to make such a last-moment decision.

Interestingly, Chief Rabbi of Israel Yona Metzger finds himself in such situations frequently. As chief rabbi he is required to participate in many ceremonies in which women and girls are singers and members of choirs and performers. Rav Metzger has never walked out of a ceremony when a woman got up to sing. Rav Metzger said that when such a situation arises he says verses of tehillim to keep himself distracted from listening to the woman singing.

Israel's Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Blesses Glenn Beck's Restoring Courage Event

Obama promises to work toward Jonathan Pollard's release. Not President Barak Obama, but his half-brother who is Jewish.

Obama's father was married to a Jewish woman and they had a son named Mark Obama Ndesandjo. Mark Obama lives in China and runs an Internet company. Last week he came to Israel on a private visit.

While in Israel Mark Obama met with Chief Rabbi Yonah Metzger who urged him to work on behalf of Jonathan Pollard. Obama promised to make an effort on his behalf. (source: JPost)

You never know from where the divine intervention will come and who will be His messenger...