There has been a long-standing debate as to what the true size in modern measurements of the halachic measurements "kzayit", the size of an olive, and "kbeitza", the size of an egg.

The debate is commonly referred to by the sizes determined by Rav Chaim Naeh and the Chazon Ish. The Chazon Ish size is very large and the explanation given is that the ancient olives, and eggs, were much larger than what we are familiar with today. Without going into the various explanations of the opinions and sizes, if considering the debate in regards to how much matza one must eat on the upcoming holiday of Pesach, those who follow Rav Chaim Naeh's opinion will eat a minimum of 26cc while those who follow the Chazon Ish will eat a minimum of 50cc.

Recent advancements in technological capabilities have now allowed archaeologists to do a 3D image reconstruction of eggshells they discovered from Temple times. The imaging technology is normally used for reconstructing pottery shards, but someone had the idea to try to use it for the eggs to see if it can be determined how large eggs were in Talmudic and Temple times.

After a successful reconstruction, it turns out the size of the egg was very similar to our eggs we have today. It fell well within the range of our eggs of varying sizes, and was not unusually large as suggested by the Chazon Ish.
source: TOI

I do not know how many, if any, poskim will change their opinion on the halachic measurements based on this finding. the archaeologist himself says he will not be changign how much matza he eats anyways since as a Yemenite their tradition has always been using the sizes of our modern eggs being similar to the ancient eggs, so the discovery does not change anything for him. It would only potentially change things for Ashkenazim who follow the Chazon Ish.

We have found numerous items, sometimes dating further and further back. They are always interesting, even fascinating, and often shed light on what life was like in our land so long ago.. Rarely do these findings potentially affect our own behavior in a significant way. This is one of those findings that potentially could.

What Avigdor Lieberman is doing right now, potentially holding up a coalition with his demands that contradict the demands/desires of all the other parties, is symbolic of what is wrong with the electoral system as employed in Israel. Mind you, Lieberman right now is doing nothing different that what other parties have done in the past when they found themselves in similar situations, as holding the key to the coalition despite being small in size. And, Lieberman does not need to give up his ideals just to make a coalition, just as no other party needs to.

That being said, the fact that a small party can throw a wrench into the functioning, or in this case the formation, of the government, is problematic and unstable.

Of course, Netanyahu can choose a different party. He can look for a party other than Yisrael Beyteynu to join his coalition, or he can find a party or parties other than Shas and UTJ to join his coalition, or he can negotiate and pay one of his potential coalition members off to compromise. Solutions are available - perhaps (and if not, new elections again). The point is that the small parties wield an exaggerated amount of power in the formation, and sustainability, of government in this system.

Yediot is reporting that the City of Tel Aviv will be operating two bus lines through the city to bring people to the Eurovision events on May 17 and May 18 - that is a Friday and Shabbos.

The two bus lines will operate on pre-determined routes and schedules and will be free of charge. The purpose of these lines is to bring tourists in town for the Eurovision competition to the events, but Israelis will be allowed to use the lines as well.  The city will be putting 600,000nis into these lines, while the State will not be funding any of it.

According to Yediot it also seems that locals are upset about this - besides for the frum  people who are, or will be, upset about this city-sponsored public transportation on Shabbos, seculars are upset that this is only being done for the Eurovision, for international tourists, but not for them on a normal weekend and on an average normal weekend, if they want to cross town to visit someone or go for entertainment they have to spend a lot of money on taxis.

It seems to me that if they hire non-Jewish drivers, there should be little halachic problem with this, but the appearance will be the big issue. Any opposition to this will surely only happen at the last minute, as that is the modus operandi of the frum parties, when it is too late to be effective, unless they insist on brute force. Either way, they'll turn it into an issue in a way that will magnify the snowball effect. Whether this happens in the end or not, this will raise the demand for public transportation on Shabbos in cities like Tel Aviv.

 

ahhh... for from Zion shall come forth Torah.. We will be a light unto the nations... I still hope he does well...

According to a report on Haaretz, tweeted out by the reporter Aron Rabinovitz, and then re-reported in English in the Times of Israel, there was an incident on election day in which the Gerrer Rebbe went to go vote with a group of his chassidim.

Upon arrival, the chassidim noticed that one of the workers in the polling station was a woman working there as an observer on behalf of the Likud. The chassidim decided this would be a problem for the rebbe, as he does not look at women. To solve the problem so that the rebbe would be able to go in and vote, they tried to persuade the woman to leave the polling station for a bit. They even offered her money to do so. When she persisted in her refusal, the chassidim contacted Likud headquarters requesting they remove her so the rebbe can vote. The Likud sent someone to replace her temporarily, ordering her to leave a take a lunch break, and then return after the rebbe would finish his voting.

The explanation given was that no insult was intended - the rebbe has nothing against her personally - , but his request should be honored out of respect, just as a request made by a President or Prime Minister would be honored and respected.

Personally I have no problem accommodating people's needs and requests. My question is what would have happened if someone did the same exact thing from the other perspective - say a secular leader would have requested any haredi poll workers and observers be removed form the polling station so he could vote. Nothing personal, but he normally avoids Haredi people and does not receive them, and his request should be respected just like a request by the President would be respected and honored. Would that have been allowed to pass quietly? I don't think so, nor should such a request be allowed to pass quietly. it is unacceptable. If you don't want to look at other people, don't leave your house and don't go where other people are.

The Gerrer Rebbe recently spent time in the hospital visiting with his sick wife - I have yet to find any report of him asking the hospitals, in Israel and in the USA, to clear out female workers, female doctors, female nurses, from the area he would be in. Perhaps in the case it was not the Gerrer Rebbe behind this but his over-zealous chassidim just assuming that is what he would want - but then it is a failure of him transmitting the proper behavior and tradition to his students.

The Likud should have refused the request, and I am disappointed that they did not. They should have left the decision up to the relevant worker.