Rav Chaim Kanievsky has a sense of humor!

Different rabbis become famous for different things they have expertise in. People flock to rabbi this for his knowledge in taharas hamishpacha issues, to rabbi that for his expertise in kashrus issues, and to rabbi the other for his expertise in determining of a persons name is spiritually appropriate or if it needs to be changed.

While some base there opinions on whether a persons name need be changed on kabbala and mysticism, i.e. they can see that the names do not fit the persons character, or this person should not marry a person with that name, others base their opinions on simpler, more straightforward, considerations.

Mynet has an article on Rav Chaim Kanievsky's recent opinions regarding people coming to him with name issues. Rav Kanievsky bases his opinion not on kabbala, but on Tana"kh. According to Rav Kanievsky, the only names a person should bear are names based in Tana"kh. Names that are made up are no good. Even names based in Tana"kh cannot be used if they are names of evil people. As well, a person should always use his Jewish name rather than a non-Jewish name.

Regarding names that are made up, Rav Kanievsky was asked about the name "Shira" for a baby born on Shabbos Shira. Rav Kanievsky responded "and if she was born on Shabbos Para would you name her "Para"???"

Rav Shmuel Eliyahu was asked by a young student if it is ok to upload class pictures to Facebook, without asking first, when the pictures include photos of other classmates and friends.

Rav Eliyahu's response was that it is never allowed to photograph someone without their express permission. Therefore one could also not publicize pictures of other people on Facebook without their permission.

The residents of Shchunat HaTikva, the neighborhood in South Tel Aviv that is most affected by the Sudanese refugees, held a hafgana yesterday urging a solution to be found as they say they are suffering terribly from the influx of refugees and illegals.



Netanyahu put out the following message warning people not to take the law into their own hands and that the government is working on finding solutions to the problem within the legal system.

  -- JPost

Remind me please what peace process Abbas is referring to that is at risk because of "Israeli aggression"

In this week's free edition of the Yated Neeman there was an interesting letter posted in the community board page.

The author writes (I am providing a rough translation):

I turn to anybody who has the ability to work to improve the deteriorating situation at the Kotel HaMaaravi. When I can get there in the morning, it tears my heart from pain to see:

Many times the number of people davening there is about 30% while the rest of the people are non-Jewish tourists dressed in a frightening way. It is clear to me that in no other place in the world would they allow, not Christians or Muslims, to treat their holy sites with such disrespect. There you need to be quiet and behave in a restrained manner, yet at the holiest place in the world there is no guarding [of sanctity] and only of security...and it becomes a historical tourist attraction. 

On Mondays and Thursdays many "distant" Jews come, and b"h they are at least searching for some close connection to the House of God to celebrate their sons bar mitzvahs. Due to lack of knowledge there is a tremendous amount of disrespect for the place by immodest dress, idle chatter, calling out from the mens side to the womens side and vise versa. It is very disturbing for those who have come to daven, and it is disrespectful to the holy site.

"Religious" youth groups come there at special occasions and turn it into a cheap carnival. Mixed singing very loudly. On the night of the eve of 9 Av they sang there happy songs in a mixed environment at a great disturbance to everyone around. When I approached one of the counselors and pointed out that it is a time of mourning and not of wild celebration, he apologized saying I was right, and while I expected them to stop singing, all they did was change to sing more "serious" songs.

Please direct this to anyone who has the ability to make changes to the situation that they should appoint people in charge of tzniyus, noise, etc.

It happens to be that overall I agree with him. What goes on at the Kotel can be very unsettling at times, along with disturbing. Personally, the sense that all these people are coming to the Kotel in my mind is more important that the fact that they dont know how to act appropriately in the place. Despite their missing a constant connection (some of them), they still feel the importance to come and daven, come see it, stick a note in a crack, take pictures as a remembrance of their visit, have their significant family events there.

Besides for that the Kotel is really just a wall that some people (granted, a lot of people) converted to a shul. It is not the holiest site on earth, nor is the plaza in front of it really special in any way. the holiest site on earth lays behind it. As a matter of fact, in the times of the Beit Hamikdash, where the wall was just one of many and was just an entry point into the Har Habayit and Temple complex, there was an active market, a shuk, along the wall.

The shuk, like any other shuk I imagine, had people fighting over business. While much of what was sold was relevant to the temple, such as animals for sacrifices and oils and wines and flours, etc. there were also money changes and I am sure they must have had vendors selling other things too. I can imagine the calls for "2 pigeons for 10" or "get your lamb here!" and "hot fresh falafel for only 5 coins" and other similar calls. Just go to Mahane Yehuda and imagine what the shuk at the wall must have sounded like.

Yes, all the tourists can be disturbing. I personally find it very difficult to daven at the Kotel. I will almost never daven there, and if I do so, I plan to daven there at vasikin before the crowds show up and cause their distractions and disturbances. Any other davening for me is a brief personal prayer and one can easily go further in and find a place where his concentration will not be disturbed for a short amount of time.

And I have come to enjoy the crowds, as a reminder to me that people still feel connected, and still want to feel connected, no matter how they appear. Whenever I do go, I spend some time after my davening to just enjoy watching the crowds, watching the bar mitzvah celebrations, watching the people connect. I find that, often, even more inspiring than davening at the Kotel itself.

Bibi took a mohel's knife and cut away everything from the Haredim! There remain another 7 days and if by then there is no dramatic change in the housing crisis situation, we are out [of the coalition]

  -- MK Menachem Moses (UTJ)

Jerusalem has a problem that it has many apartments that sit empty most of the year. Many foreigners buy homes in Jerusalem and only use them for when they come to visit, leaving them sit empty the rest of the time, refusing to rent them out. This is considered a problem because it hurts the atmosphere of the neighborhoods having so many empty apartments - often they are clustered in specific areas. In addition, the phenomenon takes many apartments off the market, driving up housing prices making it difficult for young couples and students to be able to afford housing in the city, in addition to simply not having enough apartments available.

Jerusalem has 250,000 housing units, of which 11,161 are held by foreigners. Some of those are rented out, and some are sitting empty.

The City of Jerusalem is looking for a solution.to this problem, and is trying to promote that the owners should be willing to rent out the apartments, via a company employed by the city to manage these properties. Mayor Nir Barkat has been contacting owners of such properties to try to get them to agree to sign up for the program and allow their apartments to be rented out.

Good luck to him, but I dont see how people who have luxury homes in Jerusalem that should be available for whenever they feel like coming to visit are going to rent out their homes. If they rent it out, and they decide to make a trip, are the renters going to have to disappear for a couple of weeks? Anybody who holds property and doesn't want the apartment sitting empty, but takes advantage of the ability to rent out, is probably already doing so. People who not rent out their apartments choose not to because they dont want people in their apartments, they want them available for when they decide to come and visit.

Despite the difficult times, fighting over budgets, private donations decreasing, kollels struggling to get by, a new kollel has opened its doors. Not just opened, but very quickly it even doubled the stipend it was offering to participating kollel members.

The kollel is the the new haredi kollel for learning mishnayos on Har HaBayis, headed by Rav Yosef Elboim, a Belzer hassid and one of the most active people around in promoting the aliya l'har.

Rav Elboim started the kollel offering 50 NIS per day for learning mishnayos. The police made it difficult, realizing the groups intentions, and does not let them up. Because of the additional challenges, Rav Elboim upped his stipend to 100 NIS per day in order to encourage more people to participate.

Starting a kollel in today's financial climate is crazy enough. Starting one with the express purpose of getting people onto Har Habyit - completely out of the box. I hope it works.

I came across this video of Arlo Guthrie singing his father's famous song "This Land Is Your Land". I dont know if Woody Guthrie was Jewish, but he was definitely married to a Jew and Arlo is jewish. David HaIvri told me on twitter that Rabbi Meier Kahane was the bar mitzva teacher who prepared Arlo for his bar mitzva (confirmed by Wikipedia.
There is nothing specific about this video right now, but I thought it was funny and I liked Arlo's message..

After Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu yesterday responded to a plea by Mrs. Esther Pollard requesting that he make a direct request to US President Obama for clemency for Jonathan Pollard by saying he wished to think about it for 24 hours to come to a decision, Bibi has now responded.

INN is reporting that Netanyahu has announced his decision to act on behalf of Mrs. Pollards request and file a formal request with President Obama to grant clemency to Pollard.

Netanyahu's announcement was met with much praise from members of Knesset from various factions who have worked on behalf of Jonathan Pollard's freedom.

1. Interview With A Soldier About Religious Accomodations

2. Status Of Mishne Brura

3. Service Economy In Israel

4. How Google Killed God

5. The Mikvah Is Lost On Me

Scientists almost discover that Sodom and Gemorroh were destroyed by volcano, and then they don't.

The above incident was really just a by-product of a study going on in the Dead Sea. Scientists are studying minerals at the deepest point. the New York Times has an article on it describing all sorts of science stuff that doesn't interest me, so you can read it there.

As a by-product, they suddenly at a point experienced temperatures much higher than expected, leading them to believe that the area was at one time exposed to volcanic activity. A second reading a bit later showed more normal and expected temperatures, making them give up the idea of Sodom and Gemorroh being felled by a volcano.

There was a momentary hint of another mystery at dawn on a recent Friday, when the scientists on the drilling platform announced that they had just registered a temperature of 104 degrees inside pipes about 1,300 feet down, a finding much higher than expected.


The reading gave rise to thoughts of volcanic activity, right in the area where Sodom and Gomorrah — the biblical cities described in Genesis as having been destroyed by God with fire and brimstone because of their residents’ sins — were believed to have stood.


A later reading, however, showed a lower temperature, within the range that had been anticipated.

I request 24 hours to decide whether I will present an open letter to Obama calling for him to release Jonathan Pollard... In my first term I worked for the release of Jonathan and was almost successful. We are very close.. When I was a private citizen I visited with him. During my current term, I have raised the issue six times during my meetings with President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton..

  --- PM Benjamin Netanyahu (in a meeting yesterday with Esther Pollard)

In halacha, agreements made regarding a wedding are very serious. Much more so when tnnaim are performed. Breaking off the wedding is very serious and has financial ramifications. I know a rav who has said that if the situations comes up where they want to break it off, better that they should get married and divorced right away rather than breaking off the engagement, considering the complexity of the financials and making sure the right people get what they are supposed to, along with some sort of a bad omen.. I don't think I agree with that, as the financials can be worked out in beis din if necessary and taken care of like any financial dispute, whereas a get will disallow her from marrying a kohein along with making it much more difficult for her to find a mate considering her status as a divorcee, but I mention it just to show how complex it can be to break off an engagement.

In Haifa, a young Haredi couple got engaged after a short courting period. As they prepared for the wedding, somehow they signed an agreement to split the costs of the wedding. Somehow, she signed the agreement, laying out an initial 10,000NIS, and he got away without signing saying he would do so at a later time and would give his portion a bit later.

After a bit, as they were preparing for the wedding, after they met with the band, he changed his attitude and then broke off the engagement.

She is suing him now in small claims court for 30,000 NIS for a combination of the money she laid out that she has to take a loss on (in part), along with the trouble, trauma and stigma she will now be suffering.

In his defense, he claims that when he came to Israel he was stricken with the Jerusalem Syndrome, which basically makes people a little crazy, often they move to more religious extremes, at times even to the extreme point of the person thinking he is the mashiach. He claims his suffering from Jerusalem Syndrome is what made him propose marriage to her, but he later realized that she is not as she had presented herself, neither as educated nor as healthy, and he felt he had to break it off. He claims he discussed his doubts with her, asking her to hold off preparations so as not to incur any additional expenses, and she continued anyway taking on the expenses on her own volition.

The judge decided in her favor, saying that his claims of her misrepresenting herself have no foundation and he was aware of her true situation before he proposed. The court awarded her about 18,000 NIS, covering court costs, financial loss, and a bit for her trouble. The decision says nothing about Jerusalem Syndrome being a factor.