Charlie was previously a big supporter, and was even arrested at one point for helping get a Torah to the women to use in their services...

MK Yaakov Margi (Shas) has proposed a law that would lower the voting age in national elections to 17 instead of the current 18.

In his proposal Margi explains that the need for lowering the voting age is due to the low voter turnout in the lats elections (which is not true). The youth in Israel have strong interest in politics and allowing their participation would improve the turnout rate.

The Machon Lademocratiya is not opposed to the law, though it did issue an opinion that points out that almost no other country has such a young voting age.

Margi has so far been able to draw wide support for his proposal
source: BHOL

Is this a smart move by Margi? In the long term it looks like something Shas might benefit from. With about 30% of students today in Haredi schools, and of those a significant majority are probably in Shas-affiliated schools, this seems to give Shas, and Haredim in general, an edge in any given election in the future, even though in the short term it might not help them any more than any other specific party.

Also, Haredi voters have higher turnouts than general population voters, so getting more Haredi voters into the system will also help the Haredi parties in general, even short-term.

What other reaosn would there be?

Rav Zilberstein, a great posek with very interesting shiurim in halacha, has said, while commemorating a month since the horrific bus accident with the 402 bus line that killed 6 people (all Haredim), said something noteworthy.

Rav Zilberstein quoted from the writings of Rav Wosner zt"l who wrote that women should not be allowed to learn to drive as it causes immodesty and is the opposite of "kol kvoda bat melech pnima", as when driving she is putting herself in the markets and streets in front of people and causing them to "stumble". Rav Wosner continued to write that he had a feeling that women driving is one of the causes of the terrible road accidents in Eretz Yisrael, when connected with all the other sins in the roads that create the dangers in the roads.

Rav Zilberstein went on to say that Rav Wosner was the posek of the generation, so in heaven they pasken like he did down here.
source: Kikar

I am not anybody to argue, and I have no information one way or the other as to what causes such road accidents, but I do sometimes wonder how they come up with these ideas of cause and effect, how they make these connections, and what they base it on. For example, in this case of the 402, the driver was not a woman, so why connect female drivers to the issue?

And, it does not seem to me that it has to be a tzniyus problem to have a owen driver... see below for explanation:




though despite it not being a tzniyus problem it will still be in conflict with kol kvoda bat melech pnima...

were you planning on participating in the 3-day fast that is set to start this evening in order to affect the security situation?

You might (or might not) want to rethink that. According to Yaki Adamker, the Chief Rabbi, Rav Yitzchak Yosef, has said that people should not fast - we are not in the days of Mordechai and Esther and this would cause bittul torah. Rav Yosef said it is enough to fast on Taanis Esther.

I think it is responsible of the Chief Rabbi to speak against it publicly. Such an initiative today should probably only be spread among those close to the initiating mekubalim and not made as a public proclamation. Too many people out there might try it without being able to or taking the proper precautions and get harmed because of it.

If you want more information about the fast and to see what they say about it and how to survive it, or ideas for smaller methods of participation, they set up a website promoting it with all the information, called Hatzom.

I have not heard the term "Orthoprax" in a few years, though for a while it was popular and perhaps trendy. I think, if I remember correctly, the descriptor "Orthoprax", at least when used in reference to the frum community, referred to people who were Orthodox Jews and continued to appear so and have stayed part of the frum community both socially and in appearance, but in private they do not practice religion, or they do but to a lesser degree than they used to and than what is normally expected in a frum community.

According to Kikar, a question was asked to the "gedolei poskim" recently regarding people who are Orthoprax, though I doubt this term was used. The question posed was:
what is the status of people who are no longer frum but they still dress like Haredim though in private, among others in the same category, they desecrate the shabbos - if they would send a Whatsapp message in their own group would that classify such a person as a mechalel shabbos bfarhesya and turn the wine they touch into yayin nesech?

Rav Mordechai Gross responded that if the Whatsapp group contains tens of people, that would be enough to consider him a mechalel shabbos bfarhesya, but if there were only 5 people in the group, even though they will pass along the message or let others know about this person, then he would not be considered a mechalel shabbos bfarhesya.

 Rav Nussboim (I am not familiar with who this is) responded similarly saying that if he sent the message in such a group he would be considered a mechalel shabbos bfarhesya, but if he sent it to individuals in a way that each thought he was the only one to receive it, then this fellow would not be considered a mechalel shabbos bfarhesya.

A different Rabbi Gross (with whom I am also not familiar) responded a bit differently. He said that if everyone in the group keeps the content of the group private and they do not publicize their chilul shabbos, and nobody but they know about it, then these people would not be considered mechalelei shabbos bfarhesya.

I find each answer interesting, each for its approach. And, more so, I find the fact that they are dealing with the issue at all to be particularly interesting. I wonder if it being sent to the gedolei haposkim now implies that the Orthoprax community is now so significant that it is an issue that must be dealt with.

Also, being that the question was specifically about their chilul shabbos via whatsapp, and not in general chilul shabbos in front of other people, it must deal with the question of cellphone use on shabbos and what category of chilul shabbos it falls under - derabanan, deoraisa, etc.

And, mostly humorously, none of the responses included a comment about their use of whatsapp ans smartphones putting them in a worse category than the actual chilul shabbos

We are only strong as we are United!

Written and sung by Rachel B. 
Produced, Directed, Composed by Yehuda Gelb
Rapped by Jones

This is a powerful video showing the greatness of Israel and the incredible things Israel does as well as all the amazing people who come from so many different backgrounds who make up this incredible country

this was hard to watch (at least parts of it), but I like the message...

cute arrangement by talented people..

Some boys pulled a Purim prank. In Iran.

They spray painted "Death to Haman" on a building.

The authorities did not think it too funny.

The boys were arrested.

After explaining and convincing the authorities it was all just a joke, authorities said they would be released, though it has not yet happened.

more from the algemeiner:

Two 17-year-old Iranian-Jewish teenagers were arrested in Tehran this week after they were caught spray painting the words “Death to Haman” on a building.
“Based on the details that came from Iran, the Tehran police promised to release the two boys, both 17, after it was made clear to them that this is not a political act, but a simple Purim prank, but as of now, the boys have not been released,” said an official familiar with the case, according to Maariv.Jewish groups in the US have become involved in advocating for the boys release. The Iranian Jewish community, which numbers about 13,000 people, has also expressed concern about the safety of the boys due to previous cases in which Jews were imprisoned in Iran and later disappeared. The status of the boys has not yet been determined.
“Although the authorities in Iran and the Muslim population are not connected to the story that took place in the historical Persian capital of Shushan, conservative factions in the country refer to the Book of Esther as the story of a massacre committed by the Jews against their enemies,” an American Jewish official handling the case said.
Tradition states that the city of Shushan, which is mentioned in Purim’s Book of Esther, is today the modern city of Hamadan in the northwest of the country. Although the boys have indicated that the graffiti was intended as a prank, the wording “Death to Haman” could still be interpreted as a provocation against the current regime.

Dr. Ruth Quips About World’s Oldest Man: ‘Is He Single?’

  -- the algemeiner

Facebook chatting became a central issue in divorce proceedings in the Rabbanut beis din.

Srugim reports that a husband in divorce proceedings claimed that his wife was cheating on him via Facebook, as she was chatting with other males and not being intimate with him, in an attempt to get out of paying her the money he would owe her from the kesuba.

The wife was claiming the value of her kesuba, 55,555nis (there are those hamsa values again), while he claimed he owed her nothing due to her spending her nights chatting with other men on Facebook instead of spending them with him. He even presented a printout of her chats via Facebook and Messenger as proof, of both their existence and that they took place well into the nights and also showed that she had called some men, even past midnight.

She admitted to having used Facebook, but claimed it was not that much and only for searches but not actual chatting and was for the purpose of getting her husband to pay attention to her. She brought the mikva attendant as a witness that she dunked in her scheduled time and was not refusing that.

After deliberations, the beis din decided that she had only used it for searches and there was no proof of actual partners on Facebook chats, it is clear she was using it as she said - to get her husband to pay attention to her. They said that even though this is not proper behavior, it is not enough to qualify her as rebellious. And they ruled in her favor that he had to pay up.

I am not sure that the mikva lady testifying really proves anything. All she knows is that the woman went to the mikva. she does not know anything about what goes on at home. Just because she went to the mikva does not mean she is refusing her husband or that she isn't having an affair. Though, obviously, if she had refused to go to the mikva that would give her the status of a moredes baala, so this testimony avoids that.

The discussion itself is interesting, but even more so that it implies that had they discovered evidence of actual chatting, and not just searches, they would have considered her rebellious and stripped her of her kesuba, even without proof of her having an actual affair. Maybe I am reading into it incorrectly, but this is what looks implied to me.

I have refrained from posting about several topics (some of which you can probably guess) over the past couple of days. It has taken some self-control and willpower.

Just so you do not think the lack of posts was out of laziness.