Hamechadesh is reporting on an interesting psak issued by Rav Meir Mazuz.

Rav Mazuz called on the Haredi MKs to fight to the end against the Kotel deal that is meant to grant a space for prayer to the Reform groups. He told them not to worry, even if necessary to bring down the government for this..

That much I get and can appreciate.

The part I find confusing is when he says in wonderment how they are "charging" on Jerusalem, as if it interests them when it never did before and they considered it an "old grandmother that should be given an honorable burial. Rav Mazuz says that they should leave Jerusalem alone and make for themselves a Kotel in Tel Aviv and they can do there whatever they want..
source: Haredim10

Really? The Haredi MKs are instructed to let them do whatever they want in Tel Aviv? They can have their buses on Shabbos and build their temples and the Haredi MKs will leave them be?

I was not aware that this is the Haredi position, or maybe Rav Mazuz is simply disagreeing on that with all the other rabbonim telling the Haredi MKs what to do about the fights in Tel Aviv..

Rav Meir Mazuz had some interesting comments during a recent shiur about shmitta produce.

According to Radio Kol Hai, Rav Mazuz  railed against the sharp increase in prices for shmitta produce. He said:

there is the "hetter mechira" in shmitta. I am not in favor of using the hetter mechira, but people who have no other choice but to eat from this have great rabbonim to rely upon that allowed it, including Rav Yitzchal Elchonon, the Yisa Bracha, Simcha L'Ish, Rav Kook, and even Rav Ahron Kotler and Rav Moshe Feinstein.
There are those who sell the same vegetable sin shmitta that were in the stores before shmitta, but suddenly right after Rosh Hashana the price jumps fourfold. Why? Because it is shmitta! Idiots - why do you increase it fourfold? It is the same produce from the 6th year. What happened to you? It is shmitta, they have to sell everything for more... it is prohibited to do this. Why are avreichim treated as less than the farmers?
So, even though one shouldnt use hetter mechira produce, it depends on the merchants. If they charge normal produces, ok, don't rely on hetter mechira. But if, say, the store in Netivot sells cucumbers for 1 shekel and the shmitta store in Bnei Braq sells for 4 shekels! Why? Why are you stealing? Every shmitta year they set up a fund to support the farmers so they have with what to sustain themselves for the year? So why not also think of the avreichim? They don't have what to eat and live with the minimum - can you really sell to them at prices four times the regular amount?
We in yeshiva are stringent and buy from the shmitta store, but we look for the store selling at reasonable prices. Think of them [ the avreichim] no less than the farmers.one wise guy from jerusalem said to me "so what - because it is expensive we should eat treif? and I am printing my book soon so answer me quickly!" I said to him - if you are talking about treif, there is no argument, as you have to deal with the actual situation. But if you take the position that all the gedolim that allowed it and ate from it were eating treif , then that is it, this is where the "tchum shabbos" ends. print what you want and I won't answer you, and even if you print it a thousand times it does not matter as "wasted words don't last. You cannot say Rav Ovadia Hadaya ate treif, Rav Ovadia Yosef ate treif,.. what happened to you? there is a limit to the craziness!
So, it depends on the prices. They need to take into account the public. When Hillel the Elder saw people stop giving loans int he 6th year because soon the loans would be wiped out by shmitta, he established the pruzbol. The truth is it already existed,, but it was only in use privately as the Mishna says...but Hillel established pruzbol to make it widely used. Same thing with this.

words of gold.

The comparison between Netivot and Bnei Braq isn't that good because the store in Bnei Braq might be paying for greater overhead than the store in Netivot, so naturally his prices will be higher, but when the same store increase sits prices by 4 from before shmitta to during shmitta that really shows the problem.

I do not know why he is talking about this now, during the first year after shmitta is over and 6 years away from the next shmitta. Let's see him instruct people to eat hetter mechira, even if just to pressure the storekeepers to lower the prices, during the shmitta year and not 6 years before the shmitta year.

The customs of what can and cannot be done during the "Three Weeks" varies somewhat from community to community. Even on the issue of music alone there is a variety of customs - not to listen to live music, not to listen to any music including recorded music, acapella being ok or not, etc.

The religious radio stations, at least here in Israel, all take the position of playing almost no music at all, with some exception made for acapella that is low-key.

Someone from the USA asked Rav Meir Mazuz if haredi radio stations in the USA could play music during the Three Weeks. He explained his question as being based on an assumption that if the Jewish stations are not playing music, there will be many listeners who would turn the dial to a non-Jewish radio station and end up listening to secular music. And, he added, the Haredi music gives chizzuk to many people.

Rav Mazuz responded with a psak that they can play regular music during the Three Weeks in order to prevent the listeners from switching to secular stations playing secular music.

Rav Mazuz did qualify it as saying they could play soft music, serious music, and not loud, energetic music. Rav Mazuz compared it to the allowance to sell meat even during the week of Tisha b'Av so that people won't chas vshalom eat treif meat instead.

Rav Mazuz also stated that he himself listens to music on Friday afternoons in order to bring Shabbos in in a state of happiness and joy.
source: Srugim

I don't know if they are doing this in the USA on the haredi radio stations, but here in Israel this would not fly.

Today the courts will be handing down the verdict in the case against Haim Ramon.

My prediction is that he will be exonerated. I think that the case has almost no merits and is ridiculous. And I do not even like Ramon as a politician.

He might be exonerated with some criticism, which might make it difficult for him to return to his old post as Justice Minister. He might need to take up a new position in the government, which is why Olmert has waited for the ministerial shakeup he has been talking about for a while now. He is waiting to see what he can give Ramon.

And on that note, there have been some calls that if Ramon is found not guilty that would "require" the Attorney General Manny Mazuz to resign. The logic behind this is if he brought such a case to court against such a high ranking public figure and there is no basis to the case and he is found innocent, then manny Mazuz must resign. He will not be able to continue working in his position, as he would have to work closely with Ramon who would return to his position as Justice Minister.

I disagree with that position. Just because he felt there was enough evidence to indict and convict does not gaurantee a conviction. Guilt has to be proven in a court of law and the fact that the prosecuters did not successfully do so should have no bearing on Mazuz's position.