really?

This image has raised quite a ruckus..


The image was a promo for the television satire show "Eretz Nehederet". As you can see, they are standing in a shul and wearing tallitot. The image was used as a promo for the show, entering its 13th season, using the theme of it being their bar mitzva year.

The religious and Haredi MKs, who were notably quiet regarding the deal with the Reform about the Kotel division, are extremely upset about this cynical use of a shul. Rabbonim are upset. The Chief Rabbis are upset. The Rabbanut religious council is upset. There are calls to have Eretz Nehederet censured and even to put the producers in jail for denigrating religion.

It seems all they did was take this picture in the shul, not video an entire episode in a shul setting. I am not sure what is so bad. People go to shuls for photographs all the time. Religious singers make music videos inside shuls. Bar Mitzvah boys, people getting married, politicians, rabbis having meetings, etc. Shuls are used for all sorts of things, and I do not see why this taking a picture is so bad, compared to everything else done in our shuls.

The worst thing I can think of being done in a shul, far worse than this photograph, is how some communities use their shuls for political rallies during election seasons. They bring in politicians to talk in front of the aron kodesh. They bring rabbonim to talk about elections in front of the aron kodesh. That seems far more denigrating to the shul, and also really seems assur according to the halachot of appropriate behavior in a shul, and far more inappropriate than this one photograph above..

Now playing armchair psychologist, I think the reaction is likely a result of the Reform deal at the Kotel. They have taken so much criticism for quietly allowing the deal to go through that perhaps they feel they now have to take a strong public stand defending the honor of a synagogue. I can't think of another reason to turn this into such a big deal.

the first part in a series about the Disengagement from Gaza

because they are so good at predicting Israeli election results, why not try their hand at US election predictions??!!

It looks like the women of Net Source called the owners bluff.

To remind you, their was a labor dispute between Net Source, a company that was supposedly opened in order to provide jobs for Haredi women and was not profitable - actually the owner claimed to be operating at a loss -and between the employees who wanted to unionize and fight for better work arrangements (i.e. more money).

Without understanding all the details, they seem to have come to some agreement about working out an arrangement, after the Labor Union threatened to sue Net Source.
source: Kooker

I have no idea if this will work out, but I would be surprised to hear they are really operating at a loss but still willing to put up with all this and keep operating while knowing that they'll probably have to allow the women to unionize, or at least improve their terms of employment.

It looks like the women called their bluff. Good for them, and I still hope it does not backfire on them, though it looks like they are out of the woods..

I am not really sure what to say about this picture, but it was going around the other day and I find it strangely captivating.

Ted Cruz. oy, Ted Cruz.

Ted Cruz got himself into a little bit of trouble when he garnered an endorsement by a Christian pastor that has commented about Hitler having been sent by God to target the Jewish people.

Now, no candidate can control everything said by every leader who gives them endorsements, but Cruz initially praised the endorsement and even defended the pastor, raising the ire of Jewish groups.

Now, Cruz has responded to the Times of Israel stepping away a bit. He praises the pastor for his work but on this specific issue Cruz repudiated what the pastor said and insisted that "God did not intend anything in Hitler's evil, and it is wrong to suggest otherwise"

With that Cruz seems to have satisfied the Jewish groups that were upset by the initial endorsement and support.

Somehow, though, this is puzzling.

According to Cruz's clarification, God had no intentions with the evil perpetrated by Hitler, i.e. the Holocaust. And Jews are good with that. Do the Jews who were previously upset really believe that God was not involved? It does not seem, to me, like a very Jewish belief to take God completely out of the equation.

I would not have gotten upset initially at the pastor's statement, and actually find Cruz's clarification more disturbing.

I guess you can't make everyone happy all the time.

Shtar advanced further to the next round with this performance, in the quest for Eurovision..






and their competition - female singer, and Shtar didn't sit in the audience for this but went backstage..



and while we are on the topic, another religious singer advanced this week as well..

tzniyus alert: Nili is dressed like a kickboxer..