Abie Rotenberg sings "It's Time to Say Good Shabbos" for Shabbat.com



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Cantor Helfgott Sings "Esa Einai El Heharim" at KMR Summer 2011



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If you thought the issue of women being allowed, or not allowed, to eulogize their loved ones was simply an emotional and sensitive issue, think again.

With the Moatza HaDatit, the Religious Council, having recently issued new instructions to the chevra kadishas of Israel instructing them to allow women to eulogize if they should so want, it seemed like the story was over. If a woman would get up to eulogize, the chevra kadisha would have to bite their lips and allow her to.

Turns out that it is an issue that is bigger than just emotions and sensitivity. It is now also a monetary issue.

Ladaat is reporting that a family just sued a chevra kadisha from somewhere in southern Israel  for not allowing the widow to escort the body of he rhusband to the grave, for forcing gender-segregation at the ceremony against the family's wishes, and for not allowing the daughter of the deceased to eulogize her father.

They sued the chevra kadisha for 31,900 NIS (I dont know how they came to that number).

The chevra kadisha's response was that it was not them, but it was the rabbi who insisted on all that. he does not work for them, they said, but was independent. According to the chevra kadisha, they have received the instructions regarding womens participation, and they act accordingly.

After testimony was received proving that the claims were true regarding the segregation at the ceremony and that the daughter had not been allowed to eulogize, the chevra kadisha apologized and took responsibility. They also said that they are renewing their instructions to all the rabbis affiliated with them to allow women to eulogize and be a part of the ceremony, should they want to.

The court granted the verdict in favor of the family and obligated the Moatza HaDatit to pay the full sum of 31,900 NIS.


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MK Nissim Zeev (Shas) proposed a new law this week that is upsetting many in the establishment. They are seeing it as an attempted haredi takeover of the army.

Can you imagine that? Picture the headlines side by side - one headline reads something like "Haredim refuse to serve in army, fight against new law that would draft them" while the second headline would read something like "Haredim trying to take over the IDF".

Huh?

Zeev's proposal would legislate the identity of who qualifies to be appointed to the position of the IDF Chief Rabbi. According to the proposed law, the qualifications would have nothing to do with army service (not even as an additional point), but would say that the candidate must have served as a dayyan or rav of a city prior to the IDF appointment. as well, the appointment would only happen after consultation with the Chief Rabbis of Israel.

Zeev explains in his proposal that with the issue of army conversions coming before the Supreme Court, and with the army increasing its activities in this realm, the appointment of the IDF Chief Rabbi should be in line with the criteria of good governance, in consultation with the Chief Rabbis and set in law.

In order to avoid the situation where the army performs conversions using different criteria then what the haredi gedolim require, Zeev's best option is to make sure the IDF Chief Rabbi is also haredi (or at least approved by the haredim), thus ensuring similar standards.

The critics are calling this an attempted takeover, since in recent years the situation has become one in which most city rabbis and dayyanim are more aligned with the haredi parties, rather than the dati leumi party[ies]. if the law were to pass, by definition only haredi or haredi-approved rabbis would qualify.

The haredi political power has not, until now, really had much of an effect on the IDF. This would change that instantaneously. This really is a cynical move. if it included that the candidate be someone who served in the army and moved in the ranks accordingly, and was simply adding a new qualification of stature, that would be more acceptable. Anybody who qualifies, even a charedi soldier, is acceptable. To say though that the only qualified people to serve this position are those brought in from the outside is a cynical suggestion.

Of course, with the new law regarding the drafting of Haredim coming out now and possibly changing the IDF forever, it might very well be, it is not unrealistic to assume, that haredi soldiers will eventually be among the eventual candidates for the position of IDF Chief Rabbi.




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This is amazing. I don't know how I missed it until now. I only saw this item for the first time yesterday when it was reported in Ladaat..

The UK, hosting the London Summer Olympics beginning at the end of July, has chosen its team of torchbearers for the ceremony before the opening of the Games. One of the torchbearers is a 22 year old Hassidic Jew from Stamford Hill in London.

Efrayim Goldstein was given the honor of being a torchbearer during the relay due to his already long career in charity work and other work on behalf of London's Jewish community. By age 16, Goldstein had already established 7 charities! Goldstein's organizations are run with over 3000 volunteers. Goldstein is also active in other organizations and charities.

Goldstein told VIN:

“I am very proud to show that there will be a Yid holding the Olympic torch,” Goldstein told VIN News.  “I am honored to have been accorded such a special privilege.”
Torchbearers will wear specially designed gold and white uniforms during their route.“My tzitzis and kappel will be visible with my uniform,” said Goldstein, who will run his three hundred and thirty yard leg of the relay on Sunday July 23rd in Lewisham.

Goldstein has clearly already made a kiddush Hashem with his great work for the community and for the needy. This experience should give him and his organizations some nice exposure, along with the well-deserved honor and recognition.

Kol Hakavod!

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The details of the Plesner Committee's recommendation for the replacement to the Tal Law about drafting haredim into the IDF are still vague. What kind of sanctions will be applied if boys don't go to the army at the designated time - personal or communal on the yeshiva? What the exact numbers will be, etc.

According to Ynet, "Haredi elements in the Knesset" responded to their inquiry by saying that "if the revised Tal Law will include quotas and personal sanctions on yeshiva students "all out war will break out." The elements said that rabbis can issue halachic rulings against military service adding, "What will they do? Put in tanks in Bnei Brak?."


That being the case, I dont think anyone has anything to worry about. they are saying it will be an all out war... but since haredim don't go to the army, they wont be fighting in it... (humor, people, humor..)

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Headline Of The Day

Islamic Movement outraged at Putin's visit to Western Wall

Wearing a kippah (a skullcap worn by religious Jewish men), Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the Western Wall — Judaism's holiest site — in Jerusalem on Tuesday, sparking the rage of many Israeli Muslims.
The official spokesman of the Islamic Movement — a group that advocates Islam among Israel's Arab citizens — issued harsh criticism against Putin, saying that the "Russian bear, who licks the blood of our relatives in Syria" had adopted a stance that "sucks up to the Israeli institution at any cost."
Putin's visit to the holiest site in Judaism was held in the early hours of Tuesday morning, following a day of meetings with Israeli leaders on Monday.
Al-Aqsa Foundation for Endowment and Heritage — a part of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement — posted a statement on its website saying "We say to Putin and his ilk that the Buraq Wall is a holy Muslim site that is exclusively Muslim."
Muslims often refer to the Western Wall as the Buraq Wall — a reference to the wall where the Prophet Muhammad tethered his miraculous winged steed.
"[The wall] is an integral part of the blessed Aqsa mosque," the statement went on to say. "No one but the Muslims have a right to this wall or to the blessed Aqsa mosque, and all historical documentation proves the Islamism of the Buraq Wall, including the British Shaw Commission." (The Shaw Commission investigated the reasons behind the rioting in Palestine in late August 1929).
"We would like to remind Putin that the Israeli occupation, having occupied east Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa mosque 45 years ago, destroyed an entire neighborhood, including all its homes and buildings, and turned it into a Jewish prayer grounds without any authorization or right, and later carried out extensive excavations, including excavations along the blessed Aqsa mosque," the foundation added.
During these "extensive digs, the [occupation] destroyed Muslim and Arab artifacts, and suffice it to say that the excavation caused cracks and collapse of walls in Al-Aqsa mosque and its structures. The occupation Judaized the place, and we want to stress that every stone and every structure in Al-Aqsa carries the mark of Islam and every stone in Jerusalem represents the Muslim and Arab character of Jerusalem."

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Israeli Horse Riders Experience Samaria Firsthand



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"Jewish Nobel Prize" Worth $1 Million to be Awarded in Science and the Arts



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Serving Your Country: Jewish Canadians joining Israeli army



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Interesting Posts #392

1. Rav Kaminetsky on the moon and whether chazal can be wrong - the title does sound like Rav Kaminetsky is on the moon, but it is about the moon landing...

2. If There was an Israel in the '30s, maybe my father would have lived

3. How Rocket Fire Nearly Ruined A Young Bride's Special Day

4. Nachal Charedi - Reality check

5. Does College Football Need a National Champion?

6. Update on the Steamroller in Jerusalem

7. Time for Vegan Tefillin



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One of the fundamentals of banking is that a deposit into a bank account is like a loan to the bank. The depositor is lending the bank money, of which a large percentage of that can be used by the bank to lend to other people.

The banks take deposits, but offer no interest on a bank account with a positive balance. On the other hand, they do collect interest on credit, on loans and on bank accounts with a negative balance. Bank accounts with a negative balance, also known as overdraft, minus and being in the red, are considered as if the bank gave the account holder a loan, and they collect interest on it.

While "fair" is never really a good word to use, this situation is unfair, or perhaps unbalanced. the banks do not pay interest on the money lent to them in the form of deposits, but the bank collects interest on the money  lent out by them in the form of overdraft and credit.

Yesterday, MK Avraham Michaeli (Shas) proposed a new law by which, if it were to pass, banks would have to pay interest to account holders with a positive balance.

The law has been unsuccessfully proposed in the past.
(source: The Marker)

I hope this law passes, It is absurd that we lend the banks money but get no interest, even if it would only be a little bit, while they take high interest on our overdraft.

If this passes, it will require us to relook at at our hetter iska and possibly create a need for new arrangements. Right now we have hetter iskas with the banks so they can collect interest from us. For us to collect interest from them, we might need new arrangements.

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This is just too much! It is so pathetic that I laughed when I first read it. In today's day and age? And then to just shrug it off rather than immediately correct it?

Feldheim Books in conjunction with Egged advertised a special sale that upon presentation of an Egged smart card and a minimum purchase of 30 NIS, the cardholder would be given a free siddur with his name imprinted on the siddur.

It turns out, this deal is only applicable to Ashkenazim, as they did not include any Sephardi siddurim (nusach Eidot Mizrach) in the deal. Sephardim who tried to collect their prize, asking for a Sephardic siddur, were told they are not included in the deal.


When Kikar asked Feldheim representatives about this, they did not even realize the PR disaster they were about to walk into. They should have apologized for the oversight and immediately moved to correct it.

Instead, they just shrugged it off and explained that the deal is not to choose a siddur, but you are given a siddur. Sephardim who want to take advantage of the deal can claim their siddur and give it to an Ashkenazi friend. The rep said they printed for this deal siddurim in nusachei Ashkenaz and Sephard (hassidic), but not Eidot Mizrach - and what's the big deal, we can't answer everybody's needs!

Egged's representative laid the blame on Feldheim. They said the deal was until supplies last from a repository of siddurim. They had been of the impression that the stock of siddurim was a mix of all the various nusachs.

Amazing. Astounding.

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Headline Of The Day

Putin 'at a loss' after Bethlehem street named for him

 -- Yahoo News

When Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Bethlehem yesterday, he was taken to see the road they named in his honor. Putin was surprised, considering the European custom being to only name after someone who is dead.

Sounds like the difference between Ashkenazim and Sephardim. Ashkenazim only name babies after dead relatives, considering it an honor to the dead, while Sephardim name after living relatives considering that to be an honor to the [usually] grandparent.

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This nice story was in the Yediot Metro yesterday. It's always nice to hear a nice story reported, rather than just the usual fighting and anger and bitterness.

Here's the story:
Last week a fellow named Eliyahu from Tirat Carmel traveled by bus to Jerusalem in order to try to raise money for his son's wedding.


At the end of the day, Eliyahu got back on the bus (the 940 line) to go home after having raised 42,000 NIS (RG: wow! where'd he raise so much money??) in cash. He had stashed the cash, along with two diamonds and a ring that he had been given by Rav Kaduri many years ago as a segulah, into his tefillin bag. 


Eliyahu fell asleep on the bus, waking at the end of the route. Rousing himself, he got off the bus, forgetting his tefillin behind. A passenger getting off at the last stop noticed the tefillin bag and gave it to the head of the security department, who passed it on to the head of the lost and found department. Yaakov Meimon, head of the lost and found, said he opened the bag and saw a large amount of money. He immediately instructed everybody in the northern region of Egged to immediately inform him if someone comes looking for a lost tefillin bag.


A few hours later, Eliyahu realized what he had left behind. He went right away to the station and told them that he had lost his tefillin. He was immediately put in touch with the head of lost and found, who later said how surprised he was that Eliyahu had only kept asking about his tefillin and had not even mentioned the money. After he gave over details of the package he had left behind, Meimon returned the tefillin and the money to him.

I dont know if the guy who found the bag opened it and knew there was money inside. I presume not because if I had found such a tefillin bag with money I would definitely have tried to locate the owner myself and not deposited it in the lost and found. Still, between all the various people involved, it took good people to ensure that this guy got his money and tefillin back.


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An Inside Look at the IDF Border Crossing Unit



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