I actually laughed out loud, seriously, when I read this article. The article is about the success of a ridiculous new segulah that "has become popular in the haredi sector in recent years".

The story reported is that two yeshiva bochurim who have been having an unsuccessful time in the shidduch market went a while back to Rav Chaim Kanievsky to get his bracha for their success in finding their respective soul mates.

So far so good. No problem.

Then they decided to perform a segulah that "has become popular in the haredi sector in recent years". The segulah being that removing the schach from the sukka of the gedolei ha'dor is a segulah for finding your zivug.

That is the point of the article at which I laughed out loud. Ridiculous. They just make these things up and turn them into radition.

Anyways, they asked Rav Chaim Kanievsky for his permission to allow them to remove the schach from his sukka. He agreed to their request and they got to work. I hope he was just playing along and snickering at them, since he needed the schach removed anyway, rather than actually encouraging the stupidity.

After the schach was removed, they went in, Rav Kanievsky gave them his bracha.

Last week one of the two boys came back to Rav Kanievsky in tears informing him that he had found his zivug. Now they are waiting for word from the second boy.

It's a miracle! They are calling it a "mofes", an amazing wondrous occurrence by Rav Kanievsky. I am not sure what they are referring to - if it is the bracha he gave, he does that all the time and I am sure there are plenty of people who have gone to  him for brachas and feel his bracha helped them see success. If it is the "segulah" they performed, he did not do any mofes, but the segulah was successful. Anybody able to explain?

Mazel tov to Yosef Bondo, the youngest of the three young men who had been caught and convicted as drug mules smuggling drugs, though it was unknown to them at the time, upon receiving a pardon from Shimon Peres, with the approval of the Japanese government. he served time for his crime, and now he can start afresh.

Upon his release Bondo went to Rav Chaim Kanievsky to update him with the news of his release and his plans for the future, and to thank him for his encouragement and continued tefillos throughout the ordeal.

Upon Bondo's release, Rav Chaim Kanievsky said that "keeping the law is not a right, but a duty. When the gemara says "Don't steal from the tax authorities", it is not just giving a suggestion but is stating an obligation." (source: Bechadrei)

I wonder if they even ever told Rav Kanievsky about the fact that he had been carrying drugs, or if they only told him that these boys had been arrested for smuggling "something" for someone else. He didnt say a word, or at least he was not quoted as saying anything, about the fact that they carried drugs and the dangers inherent in drug use and the damage they cause and how they wreak havoc on people, families and communities, just about the obligation to not smuggle in general.

Jews are not big players in professional sports, though there have been a number of highly successful Jewish sportsmen in history. Even with the small number of Jewish professional athletes, they have mostly been concentrated in sports that are not violent sports, such as baseball. The more violent sports, such a American Football, has seen just a few Jewish players at the professional level.

That makes this report, of a National Football League player considering conversion to Judaism, to be highly unusual and interesting:

He even already wears a yarmulka!

After a disappointing season, in which his Miami Dolphins failed to qualify for the NFL playoffs for the second straight year, Ricky Williams appears to be taking comfort in his latest interest.


According to an interview conducted by South Florida radio station, WQAM-560, the 33-year-old running back has recently been learning about the Jewish faith.


Williams began by studying the Jewish alphabet, and is currently interested in the Jewish Shabbat, Judaism’s weekly holy day.


Williams noted that prior to Miami’s final home game of the season, a 34-27 loss to the Detroit Lions on December 26, 2010, he even made an effort to observe the holiness of Shabbat. Asked if he was actually able to fully observe Shabbat that day, Williams responded “to a certain extent.”


“I had to go to the hotel on Saturday, but I didn’t watch television. I opened the Bible and I read.” Prior to the commencement of Shabbat the previous night, Williams says he also used his hot tub as a mikveh.


“In my reading, I read that (Shabbat) starts at sundown on Friday, and that right before sundown, (a Jew) traditionally takes a bath. So I went outside in the hot tub. It wasn’t on, so it was cold. And I jumped in the hot tub and dipped three times.”


Williams began his professional career with the New Orleans Saints, after being drafted fifth overall in 1999. After three seasons with the Saints, the 5-foot-10, 230 pounder from San Diego, California was then traded to Miami, where he has achieved some of his best statistics.
[...]
Until then, Williams remains open-minded as he explores various Jewish customs and laws. According to Williams, his first real Shabbat experience appealed to his inner-spirituality. “When the day shifted from Saturday afternoon to Saturday night, even my thoughts shifted,” he recalled. “There was something very pure about that Saturday.”

I particularly enjoyed the line about using the hot tub as a mikvah. We can always use some new tough Jews and Jewish athletes, so if he is sincere, we will welcome him with open arms. And if not we will just watch Ricky Williams with curiosity.

The askanim are renewing their fight against the haredi weekly newspapers. They needed a new tactic, since the old ones have obviously not worked as rather than weeklies shutting down on their orders, even more are being published as new weeklies have joined the market.

Instead of fighting with the newspapers, who have obviously not been listening, they are attacking the readership. Not just by telling them that the gedolim say not to buy the newspapers (this method was already unsuccessfully employed), rather resorting to the tactics of Motka Bloi who tries to shut down the music industry (before Rav Amnon Yitzchak got involved). Bloi famously threatened that any haredim who would dare to go to the concerts would be photographed and their names and images would be publicized. They would take the information to the rosh yeshivas and get them thrown out of their yeshivas and seminaries and kollels.

The askanim are now adopting similar tactic, pointing to the "mazel tov" pages that run in all the weeklies. The "mazel tov page" is the page on which people can announce their simchas, usually used for announcing engagements.  These announcements are often free, and the paper covers it by targeting ads on those pages that are directed to the wedding industry, assuming that the engaged couples and their friends and people "in the parsha" will be regularly looking at these pages.


Besides for informing people which of their friends and acquaintances have gotten engaged the past week, it also tells askanim who reads the newspaper. I guess they assume that if you put your announcement in the paper it means you clearly read that newspaper. I am not sure the assumption is correct especially as the notices are generally free, as people might just announce their engagement in papers they dont read, as a way of making sure as wide an audience of their friends as possible will be exposed to the announcement. Bechadrei says that the existence of such announcements and people choosing to send them in provides a chizuk of sorts to the newspaper and encourages them to continue operating, and it gives the newspaper a sort of hechsher, as people will be under the impression that these papers are accepted and acceptable in the yeshivas and by the rosh yeshivas.

The askanim, for some reason who choose to remain anonymous, are now beginning to fax, on a weekly basis, to the various rosh yeshivas, the lists of their talmidim who announce their simchas in these weekly newspapers that go against the wishes of the gedolim, with the encouragement that the rosh yeshivas should speak out against this and should tell their talmidim to not announce their simchas in these papers.

When all else fails, the reign of terror will sometimes still work. I dont think it will work here though, just like it didnt with Motka Bloi and the concerts. The concerts still happen and people still go to them, and people will still read the weekly newspapers and make their simcha announcements in them. I wonder what they think of onlysimchas.com which is a million times worse because there are even pictures of women!

I am absolutely amazed that the remnants of the Labor Party have turned to Amir Peretz as the de facto leader of the party. He failed so miserably when he was the head of the Labor Party and was a major part of the labor decline, and now they turn to him as their leader (perhaps it is only until they stabilize and figure things out, but still..)..
Just Saying

At a recent protest in Bat Yam about strengthening the Jewish character of the city, and saying that Jewish girls should not date Arabs (it seems to be a problem in bat Yam, though I am not sure what a protest would accomplish in this issue), an Arab was caught on video talking about how he has dated tens of Jews, seduced many, and converted many to islam.

Mayor of Bet Shemesh Moshe Abutbol showed up to City Hall today with a cane. His son had a baby, making Mayor Moshe a grandfather, and the cane is his sense of humor. Mazel tov. Phot swiped form the Iryat Bet Shemesh Facebook page.

1. There's Something Wrong In Modiin

2. Bald Jewish Women

3. Are Burka Ladies A Threat?

4. Priorities

The kannoim got wind of this and decided that the Transportation Ministry was up to no good with nefarious motives.
They warn the community about representatives of the Transportation Ministry who are going around dressed up as haredim asking questions about the transportation in Bet Shemesh. This can cause great damage in various issues (RG: none of which he specifies), people should be wary of them and not answer any of their questions.

There you have Transportation Ministry clerks dressed up as haredim. Maybe they should save the costumes for Purim.

The only similarity between Ehud Barak and David Ben-Gurion is their height.

 -- Shulamit Aloni reacting to Ehud Barak's split from the Labor Party and his justification that Ben Gurion, Sharon and Peres all had made similar moves.

And in another "getting non-frum people to come to shul" post, the Beit Knesset HaGadol of Tel Aviv seems to be having the exact opposite problem that Rabbi Einhorn is having in Kfar Shmaryahu.

The Beit Knesset HaGadol of Tel Aviv is seeing a tremendous resurgence in non-religious people who are coming to the shul. They are not necessarily coming for davening on Shabbos (though I hear that is true as well), but they come to see, curiosity, simchas, tours, events.

The director of the Great Synagogue of Tel Aviv has called upon the rabbonim to address the public and inform them of how they should be coming to shul. He sees them coming in such immodest dress that he has had enough. It bothers him too much. The men come with their heads uncovered, and, worse, the women come in immodest dresses, mini-skirts, shorts and tshirts, and whatever else you can imagine people wear on a daily basis.

While every visit by a non-frum person is welcome and appreciated, it gets to a point where it is very disturbing and inappropriate, and people should be told and instructed, if they don't realize it on their own, how to dress appropriately.

Yitzchak Neeman, the director, adds that it is vitally important to keep opening the doors of the shuls to the general public and to make them feel welcome, but it is no less important that they be instructed how to show proper respect. Just like the rabbonim give drashas about candle lighting and holiday topics, so they should also give such drashas about proper respect for the shuls.

I add that I agree with Neeman. I find it very strange, and a bit uncomfortable, when people come into shul, even if just in the social hall, but even more so when it happens in the sanctuary, dressed in extremely immodest dress. While often they most likely do not know or realize, there is a certain modicum of decorum and/or dress that should be obvious and adhered to.

It is really hard to find a picture of cholent that looks appetizing.

Getting people to come to shul in a non-religious area can be a daunting task for a rabbi. They come up with all sorts of ideas to attract people, such as mixers, singles scenes, kiddush, shnapps, interesting topics for shiurim, speeches on current events and the like.

The rabbi of the shul in the upscale town of Kfar Shmaryahu has found a new way to try to get people into shul. He is holding a "cholent competition".

I don't know how it is going to work - will it be a cookoff? Will they test a different submission each Shabbos for a few consecutive weeks? Will it be one big kiddush with 20 different cholents?

However it works, I would never have expected the residents of Kfar Shmaryahu to chalish over a cholent competition (I would have expected perhaps more of a gourmet dish rather than cholent), so I am curious to see reports how successful this will be. Advance knowledge of a cholent kiddush (even a non-cholent kiddush, but especially a cholent kiddush) works to get the frum crowd into shul, but by the less affiliated crowd I am not so sure...

This is very cool