If there would be a concert of some singer every year, already a long time ago a 3-lane road in each direction would have been paved to the area. But when we are talking about a yahrtzeit celebration, this is how it looks. I want to advance this issue and as fast as possible.

  -- MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ), about the issues with the limited transportation available to Meron for Lag b'Omer and the Rashbi's yahrtzeit.

Gafni might be somewhat right (new roads have been paved, but I am sure there are also physical limitations considering the mountains and topographical specifics of the area, but maybe more can be done in that regard) but what's the point of screaming about it now, 3 days before Lag b'Omer? does he expect to scare the government into paving a new wide road this week and have it ready in time? Where was he 6 months ago?

Mr and Mrs decided to get a divorce and divide their possessions between them.

Mr had used the bottom of the air conditioner as a hiding place for a wad of cash, totaling 90,000nis,  that he had saved from an inheritance, after he put it in the safe only to discover that Mrs used her access to the safe to dip into the money and use it for household expenses.

Mr accused Mrs of having taken the 90k and tells the beis din that he wants the 90k deducted from her portions of the division of assets. Mrs denies having taken the money and says she'll submit herself to a polygraph to prove it. Mrs says Mr must have taken it and wants it deducted from his portion of the division of assets.

The background to the money is that Mr sold the apartment of his dead parents. The sale brought in 450,000nis. About half of it was used to pay off the mortgage, and he put the balance in his safe in the house. After a while he noticed a lot of the money was missing.Mrs then admitted to using the money for the household expenses, though the incident prompted Mr to move the money and hide it from his wife so it would not get used up.

Upon the decision to divorce, he opened up the air conditioner and found that all the money was gone.

Legally, according to the article, inheritance belongs to the inheritor and is not shared with the spouse. Unless the inheritor chooses to share it with the spouse.

Back to the divorce case...

The beis din in Haifa decided that because Mr did not deposit the inheritance money into a personal account that only he would have access to, but chose to bring the money into his house and leave it there, the money should be considered as hers as well, as he clearly chose to share it with her. Because Mr had no proof that Mrs took it from the air conditioner, and because she was willing to take a polygraph and he was not, the beis din decided to not take that money into account at all in the division of assets - the money is gone and was spent by the house.
source: Haredim10

everybody knows you are supposed to hide your cash in the cavity of a frozen chicken in the freezer!

buy The Battle of the Generation on Amazon.com




NOTE: I was not paid to review this book. It is an unbiased and objective review. If you have a book with Jewish or Israel related content and would like me to write a review, contact me for details of where to send me a review copy of the book.

Chief Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef said that people should not cancel their regular learning seders and chavrusas to go to Meron for Lag b'Omer but should continue with their regular learning schedules.

Rav Yosef said there is no mitzva to go to Meron on Lag b'Omer and doing so should not be at the expense of the yeshiva learning schedule. If you have a chalaka to do, why do you have to go to Meron - during the afternoon break make a stop at the grave of Shimon Hatzaddik (in Jerusalem) and do it there. Why cause bittul torah? Somebody who is not learning and does not have a yeshiva schedule to keep, he can go to Meron, but somebody with a learning schedule should not stop learning for this. If you would ask Rashbi whether he prefers people visit his grave or continue learning torah, what do you think he would answer? Is there any question that Torah is above everything and that you should spend your time learning Torah and not going to Meron?

Rav Yosef continued that there is bein hazmanim, so every few years you should go during bein hazmanim to various kivrei tzaddikim rather than ruining the yeshiva schedule. Meron has been turned into some sort of obligation - though it is mostly by the Chassidim and Sefardim, though the Ashkenazim have been ruined a bit by us as well. But for what? All the yeshivas and kollels should continue learning as normal. We just had vacation [a few weeks ago for Pesach] - how can we take another vacation now?
source: Kikar

this is just weird...

you cannot take the residents and residential areas and keep them separately [from commercial areas], without any income. Therefore, the Haredi population needs to be connects to non-Haredi cities

  -- Mayor of Bnei Braq Chanoch Zeibart, talking at a real estate conference, expressing his opinion that a Haredi city would collapse as it would not have enough taxes and income to sustain it. Zeibart explained why Bnei Braq is different, in his opinion, but believes this about other potential Haredi cities.

I am not quite sure what to do with this...

A group went to Rav Kaniesvky after deciding to smash their smartphones and they did so in front of him. Rav Kanievsky then gave them a bracha.

The article does not say Rav Kanievsky requested it or demanded it. They decided to do it and went to do it in front of him. The bracha he gave them, as written in the article, did not even have anything to do with the smashing of the phones but was a general bracha. I think Rav Kanievsky secretly wishes that people would just leave him alone to learn and not bother him with all their narishkeit.

And that isn't even getting into the idea of going for a smartphone smashing ceremony, as if you are being mesirus nefesh, but then recording the entire event on a smartphone.

According to the OU, many flavors of Pringles are now really dairy and no longer pareve or "dairy equipment". The recipe has been changed and if the ingredients state "whey" or "milk", the product you are holding in your hands is really dairy.

In the words of the Orthodox Union:

Pringles is changing many of their OU pareve potato crisps to OU dairy. This may or may not be a result of a product reformulation. If a Pringles product is marked OUD and ingredients state ‘whey’ or ‘milk’, it is real dairy. If the ingredients don’t state ‘whey’ or ‘milk’, it is dairy equipment. Those that have the plain OU designation are pareve. Consumers should always be careful to check for the kosher designation.  

don't just assume pareve as they always were...that is no longer the case.

interesting

http://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/23341005/los-angeles-angels-shohei-ohtani-mild-left-ankle-sprain

30 years ago Mr and Mrs got married in Uzbekitan. At some point they made aliya to Israel and lived in netanya, expanding their family with two children. 18 years ago Mr and Mrs show up at the local beis din asking for a divorce, and presenting a signed divorce settlement.

The settlement stated that Mr agrees to give the apartment in Netanya to Mrs. He also agreed that she would have full custody of the kids and that he would pay her 1500nis child support (monthly).

Now, 12 years later, Mr shows up in beis din requesting to cancel the divorce and the settlement saying it was fictitious and the purpose was only to avoid losing the apartment to his debtors. Mr explains that the restaurant he was running went into bankruptcy and he was stuck with heavy debt. They decided to fake a divorce in order to  avoid the debtors and the Hotzaa Lapoel - the Bailiff's Collection Agency. They came up with this plan and signed a settlement giving her all the assets, though immediately after the divorce was finalized he moved right back into the house, lived normal lives and even had another child together - nobody around them even knew they were officially divorced. Now they are actually fighting and possibly separating, so he wants his property back.

Mrs confirms the story but insists he willingly gave her his portion of the property, so it is hers.

The beis din discussed the issue and investigated the story and decided that the first divorce was valid, even though they meant it to be fictitious, but because they went back to living together as husband and wife, and even had another child together, to separate now they would require another divorce.

Regarding the original settlement, the beis din decided there was nothing unusual or extraordinary about the terms of the settlement, the two parties signed on it willingly and that is declared in the document and they also declare in the document that they will not appeal the validity of the document or any of the claims therein. The settlement is valid from both halachic and legal perspectives, so she owns the property. The beis din rejected the appeal to overturn and revoke the original settlement.
source: Kipa

Putin eats matzah all year round, says Russia's chief rabbi

  -- Ynetnews

Rabbi Berel Lazar further said, "Putin eats matzah while drinking tea....Putin said matzah is tasty, easy and healthy to eat. He eats the matzah I bring him," 

Is he makpid on hand matza or machine matza? shmura or plain? if he eats it with tea he clearly eats gebrokts (aka shruya), unlike Rabbi Lazar who brings it to him. I'd like to see Putin eat his matza over a bag like a real Chabadnik!

if I had to be stuck in an elevator for a few minutes with anyone, I am pretty sure Oren Chazzan would be at the top of the list. Chazzan is sure to keep things light and funny. Nava Boker disagrees with me, but he seems pretty good at diffusing a tense situation..



more details from the Times of Israel..

this is from the kipa march in Germany and that is a Muslim woman wearing a colorful kippah atop her hijab in solidarity with the German Jewish community

The Knesset recently published a tender for a new Rabbi of the Knesset. The responsibilities assigned to this position include responsibility for all religious issues such as kashrut, the Knesset shul, installing and maintaining mezuzot, selling the chametz, and more.

Initially the tender required applicants to hold rabbinic certification from the Rabbanut of Israel at the level of "Yoreh Yoreh". That requirement was just removed after the Reform Center For Religion and State petitioned the relevant parties with a complaint that this is discriminatory against women as the Rabbanut does not allow women to take their certification tests.

The Knesset authorities accepted the petition and changed the requirements to requiring applicants to hold minimally an academic BA along with certification as mashgiach kashrut for the Rabbanut - a certification women are able to attain.
sources: Srugim, Actualic
So theoretically, a woman, or any mashgiach kashrut, or any other non-rabbi meeting non-rabbi requirements, can qualify for the job of Rabbi of one of the most important government institutions.

Strange. I am even surprised the Haredi MKs did not block this change, as they have done with similar attempts in many other places in government.

Maybe we will soon see a female rabbi of the Knesset. That will definitely be interesting to see...

woah..that was unexpected

The Admor of Vizshnitz Bet Shemesh came out harshly criticizing the extremists in RBS B.

Over Pesach, Deputy Minister Meir Porush had been invited to the kehilla and when he arrived he came under attack from hundreds of the extremists.

The rebbe criticized them, said Porush is a welcome guest and is someone who helps anyone who needs help, no matter who they might be, and even invited him again to his grandsons bris. The rebbe said Porush should not be afraid from this minority of people who are regularly destroying the city. He said it is fine and nice that they do not take money from the State but they cannot come out against people. They can debate ideas and argue against opinions and methods, but they cannot go personally against any person.
source: Kikar

I dont know why he waited 3 weeks or so before saying anything, but ok. I am sure he has his reason. What I do find interesting is that he said anything at all. We regularly hear excuses when refusing to condemn the extremists about how we have nothing to do with them, they do not listen to us, we are not them and they are not us, it is insulting to be lumped with them that we have to condemn them, etc etc etc. Sure enough, when someone want to he has no problem condemning them.

Further, this raises the question why only when it affected his small community could he say something, and not when it is more general, when they do things affecting the entire city. He even says in his attack on them now that they are regularly doing things that destroy the city. So why not condemn them at other times? Let them know, and let everyone else know, that what they are doing is wrong. Maybe if important people speak up they will eventually feel pressured to stop.

The Supreme Court has upheld the police position, and the law as defined until now, by rejecting the appeal of a Jerusalem driver who had been ticketed with a 1500nis fine, and revocation of his drivers license, for holding his cellphone while driving.

The driver first appealed in the lower courts and lost his appeal twice, so he continued to appeal further to the Supreme Court. he must have money to burn, considering he had already lost on appeal twice.

Mr Driver felt he had a good case, admitting he had been holding his phone but claiming he had not been using it. Further, he claims to have been stopped at a red light at the time, and not actually in motion.

The courts decided to accept the claims of the police that he was actually in motion, though they also stated that being stopped at a red light is still considered being in a traveling vehicle and is the same as being in motion. The court therefore upheld the punishment levied on Mr Driver.

I would add that it has been stated before by the courts that just being stopped is not enough and one would actually have to have put the car in park - though I do not know if you put the car in park at a red light if that would be good enough or if you have to first pull over to the side of the road and park properly.

Back to the case, the Supreme Court stated that a driver of a car must hold the steering wheel (or handlebars) with both hands whenever the car is in motion. The driver can remove one hand from the steering wheel only if he needs to perform an action necessary for the integrity of the car or for fulfilling the rules of driving. As well, the court stated, his use, or lack thereof, of the phone while driving is irrelevant, as simply holding the phone while driving is prohibited and punishable.
source: Maariv

I would guess that this means to set the blinkers to warn drivers of your impending right or left turn, to hit the hazard button, to adjust the windshield wipers, and the like. As I have asked before, I do not know why it is ok to fiddle with the radio, considering the severity of the laws of holding cellphones and recently even holding or drinking coffee (and other drinks) or checking waze while driving. Adjusting the radio has nothing to do with rules of the road or integrity and safety of the car, so I dont get why adjusting the radio is not a ticketable offense. Or maybe it is and now it is time to figure out those newfangled buttons on the steering wheel that control the radio.

Regardless, drive safely. Forewarned is forearmed. Get a dash mount, keep your phone in your pocket, put it in the glove compartment, leave it at home - whatever, just don't hold it while you are driving.

Municipal elections are about 6 months away, and the situation in Bet Shemesh is already heating up.

For a city with 1 mayoral candidate, the incumbent, what could possibly get heated up?

The various news media have, nearly daily, articles about potential opponents to Mayor Moshe Abutbol. The main, and really the only, point of debate right now is whether Degel Hatorah will field a candidate against Shas's Abutbol. There is also some debate as to who that candidate might be, but for now the main issue is whether they will decide to support Abutbol or field their own candidate.

Degel leaders recently went to the rabbonim to discuss the issue but have so far been holding things close to their chest. Whatever it is they are waiting for, they have not announced any decision as of yet. It could be that no decision has yet been arrived at, it could be they are trying to improve their negotiating power trading support in bet Shemesh for more jobs and power or support elsewhere in the country.

Interestingly, this morning I heard an interview on the radio with MK Menachem Eliezer Mozes (UTJ) about the situation in Bet Shemesh, and more specifically about a letter of support the Hamodia newspaper printed today for Moshe Abutbol. Mozes thinks, like Hamodia and Aguda, that Abutbol should be supported and he hopes Degel decides to not field its own candidate but to also support Abutbol.

What Mozes  said was interesting though. Mozes is concerned that if Degel will field its own candidate, the city could fall into undesirable hands. He never said a name or even implied who or what type of person that might be, but I found the concern interesting considering the fact that Abutbol is the only candidate, and if Degel fields a candidate that means there will be two candidates, both Haredi. So who could he possibly be concerned about? Does he consider the possible Degel candidates (likely Shmuel Greenberg, maybe Moshe Montag, possibly an external candidate) to be undesirable and dangerous for Haredi interests?

If Mozes is worried that others might see a Haredi split and field a third, non-Haredi, candidate and might win due to a Haredi split, it would be easy enough to revisit the issue in such a scenario and agree to re-unite behind one candidate so as not to split the Haredi vote. He also did not say that if Degel fields a candidate another, non-Haredi, party might as well, so perhaps he considers anyone other than Abutbol (with whom Mozes is very close) to be undesirable and dangerous, even other Haredi candidates...

Regardless, the coming days will be interesting as decisions are made. Also regardless, who ever thought that an election campaign with just one candidate could be so interesting and filled with so much intrigue?

he is such a clown, he is always fun to watch and listen to, even when he is being serious..

According to this report in Actualic, Arabs from East Jerusalem have been pulling down flags in the French Hill neighborhood from parked cars. Police acted quickly and have arrested 3 people involved.

This tells me one of two things:
1. The police in Jerusalem function far more efficiently, and much more like actual police, than the police in Bet Shemesh
2. The Arabs are just not lucky enough to have been Haredi. For the same crime they would have been ignored.

Mishpacha Magazine (Hebrew edition) has been running an initiative recently promoting new young couples in the Haredi community take on their own mortgages instead of burdening their parents with the mortgage. This would allow the current system of the parents chipping in for the down payment, but instead of the parents also then paying the mortgage, the couple would, Parents in the Haredi community are struggling in debt as they take in 3, 4, 5 or more mortgages to pay for their kids apartments. This would put the burden of 1 partial apartment on the couple owning the apartment and living in it, and less of the burden on the parents.

This past week's edition of Mishpacha had several interesting letters, three letters out of many, to the editor in response to this initiative, and I thought it was worth sharing these three letters with you. The three are from three different perspectives and sides of the issue.

Letter 1:

I'll begin with introductions, out of courtesy.
I am married, BH, to a talented and learned husband. We are both in our 50s. We have married off 5 children and have 2 more still at home.
When we married, there was money. It is not pleasant to say, but we had money from the German reparations. That money helped our parents get us on our feet. We got an apartment near my parents, I found a job as a teacher and my husband learned for some years in kollel and then became a "Ram" (ie a rebbi/teacher) in a known yeshiva.
For 20 years we lived in a cloud. In a dream. We earned some nice money. It was enough to save a little bit. We thought we were smart and successful.
Then we married off one daughter.
Then the second.
Then the third child, a son. Then the fourth, another daughter.
They were all loved, successful and smart. Each one came with a mountain of debt and obligations.
The money we had saved was barely enough for the down payment of our eldest daughter. For the second daughter we had to borrow money, a horrible thing and something not recommended to do. This concluded with us selling our beautiful apartment. We have moved between small rental apartments since then. The third child was a son, but he had some health problems so we had to take on ourselves more obligations than normally done. Today, with the fourth, there is no more money. It is all gone.There are no more sources of funding for us. That's it.
We are paying 4 mortgages, plus rent. We start each month about 20,000nis in overdraft.
I work at 3 jobs. If the students I teach in the morning would know that in the evening I am working a shift at a far away nursing home, they would faint.
My husband is broken. He learns privately with students from morning to night. He has no satisfaction. He is embittered and grumpy. He feels no self-worth  and also feels that he cannot support his children as others supported him. Our marriage has gotten very shaky. When we are alone for Shabbos we do not buy fish and meat, though when our children come we buy 2 types of fish and 3 types of meat!
And I am frightened of the day when we will start talking about shidduchim for our next child!
Forgive me Hashem, but I fear that moment!
I am writing in tears. My husband is a tzaddik, he knows I am writing this and he is praying that someone will read it and do something about it. Do something!
Why in Belz is it legitimate to buy an apartment in har Yona for 600,000nis, in Zanz to buy an apartment in Tzfat for 500k, and Gur in Arad for 300k, and Vizshnitz in Afula for I dont know how much? Why by the sefardim is it ok to get married and live in Netivot and in Yerucham, and only by us, the "quality", if you buy an apartment in Bet Shemesh and Modiin Ilit - for 1.1 million shekels - you feel like you are compromising??!
I am certain that by the hassidim they also have problems with this issue, but by us it is a catastrophe!
Yasher Koach for bringing the issue to the forefront, and Hashem should help all of us.

a truly heartfelt letter, and I felt bad for the situation they find themselves in due to community and societal norms


Letter 2:

It is very easy for you to write that the children should take the mortgage payments upon themselves. But forgive us for asking: how exactly are to pay these payments? Why do you think that a young couple getting married at the age of twenty-something and the system sends them to learn in kollel and his wife to work at a tiny salaried job, can possibly consider paying mortgage payments?
If there are stories about people earning a good living, and they still let the shver pay the mortgage, they should be ashamed! but the rest of us - what is even the suggestion that we should pay?
I ask for forgiveness and will be a bit extreme: who educated us in this way that we just want to learn and go to kollel? Was it not our father? Of course it was! Our entire lives our fathers have put into our heads that their desire is just that we should build houses of torah. And now suddenly you are sending us to pay mortgages? Maybe it is difficult for the parents, but this is what they want! That we should sit and learn! Not that we should be looking for other things! This is a complete disconnect! This is not connected at all to our lives!
I am not saying this is ok in relation to our parents. But what at all is the thought that these young people will be able to pay? How exactly? Do we have some secret parnassa that brings us money? No, not at all. We sit in kollel exactly as our parents dreamed for us. As they educated us. We are the good results of our education. For the ones that left, nobody pays their mortgage.  So now that we have done everything they wanted from us, people are coming with complaints.
I dont understand it!

wow. talk about entitled! this hurt to read, but a different type of hurt than the way the first letter hurt. In the first letter they are suffering for everything they have tried to do for their kids. It hurt to see how much they are suffering because of it. In the second letter he is saying that this is their fault, this is what they want, and leave me alone. This hurt from the chutzpah and lack of care for the predicament the parents find themselves in - on their behalf! It is their problem, let them deal with it!

This is clearly the result of a bad system. Young people getting married with no plans for parnassa demanding or needing apartments, expensive no matter how much or little it might cost, with having to do this for multiple children - as each family has 5-8 children, or more, and God forbid talk about having less kids or having kids despite not being able to afford food for them let alone apartments and weddings. God forbid letting them build houses of torah while also having a way to support his/her own family. Maybe they should not get married so young with no ability to pay rent or a mortgage, or at least a plan to be able to do so soon.

It is not really the kids fault. This is the way he was raised. This is the way the system he grew up in works. The system failed him, and the system failed his parents, just as the system fails thousands of other people. Systems were not put in place to help individuals or to solve the problems of individuals, but to sustain the systems and the people and ideals behind them. The people who suffer from these systems are causalities of war. This young man isnt wrong - he and his wife are barely earning enough for the electricity bill, the phones, and the food, so from where should he suddenly be able to pay a mortgage? But he also is not right. And he should have some compassion for his struggling parents. He should recognize what they are going through - for him.

Letter 3:

I am the person you are writing about. I am one like this that makes a little bit of money but still my father pays my mortgage.
Maybe it is not right, but I want to explain myself.
I started out dealing with being agents and things like that. Thank God I had some success here and there. Nothing major but some money was coming in.
I save a bit, I invested a bit in my home by doing some critical and necessary renovations and fixes. Today, thank God, I have some income from this work.
I could go to my father and tell him that I am taking the 2500nis mortgage payments upon myself and I could tell my shver that he no longer needs to give us the 500nis monthly for food. And then I'll be in a situation in which all my income is being spent on day to day expenses.
And then I will not have any great chances.
I very much want to take the burden off of my parents.But before I do I need to earn enough that in another 15 years when my children want to get married I will be able to give them.
I think this is the hishtadlus I am obligated in.

I am not even sure what to say about this letter. Do their parents think they are supporting someone in kollel? Do they know they are supporting someone who is working but wants to save in addition to what he is earning? Are his parents capable of paying the mortgage and monthly expenses and ok with it? Are they being swindled thinking they are paying for a child learning in kollel? It seems unclear, though it leans, in my mind, to him supposedly being in kollel. Otherwise what is the relevance? If he is working and his parents want to help him out anyway, that has nothing to do with the situation being discussed by Mishpacha Magazine and the various writers on the subject. His parents are welcome to help him as much or as little as they want and are not part of the peer pressure system. If they help beyond their means, they have nobody to blame but themselves and can feel free to stop at any time. If they can afford it and want to, that is their business. So I suspect he is swindling his parents working, taking their money for learning, and using it to save for the future. And because he is writing on the topic, I suspect they are struggling with these payments, but he has justified them as necessary for his future. He might be shrewd but if that is what he is doing, I rue the day when his scam will be uncovered. Or maybe it is all innocent and they are simply trying to help out their kids and help them for the long term with their future and grandchildren in mind, and there is nothing wrong with that.

As I wrote above, the system is failing. It is failing itself and it is failing the people in it. The parents can't handle the struggle and burden of buying apartments for 5, 8, 10 kids and then also helping support them. The kids have become entitled and have no plan for themselves, getting married young with no financial options other than to take from the parents for the long term. The Mishpacha initiative is good to lessen the load somewhat from the struggling parents, but the ship is sinking. Having 6, 7, 8 or 10 kids in this generation when the parents and grandparents also spent their entire lives in kollel or teaching is not the same as the previous generations when people had 2 or 4 kids and the parents were working people. The ship is sinking.

a guest post by Dr Harold Goldmeier

The organization called Chotam put out a kashrut warning on its Facebook page yesterday.Kashrut warnings are normal for any organization in the industry, but there are kashrut warnings and there are kashrut warnings. This kashrut warning was written in such a patronizing and aggressive manner that Chotam really took a hit with over 3000 comments (as of this writing) written in response almost entirely scoffing at Chotam and criticizing their style and approach.

Chotam issued a warning about the kashrut of a restaurant chain named "Pasta Basta". Pasta Basta has become somewhat of the poster boy in the fight between the Rabbanut andd Hashgacha Pratit (which has sort of merged now into the new kashrut division of Tzohar), with Pasta Basta in Jerusalem being one of the early adapters of Hashgacha Pratit's alternate hechsher.

Here is the warning:



translation:

Pasta Basta!
Initially your branch in Mahane Yehuda removed the kashrut supervisers and brought in Hashgacha Pratit and caused hundreds of customers to abandon the restaurant.
Your branch in Petach Tikva had become a meeting place for many of the religious youth of Petach Tikva. And now, recently, you have thrown sand in the eyes of your supportive customers. Overnight you removed the kashrut of the Rabbanut and brought in the supervision of Tzohar.
In response to the questions of the customers, you responded that this is the policy of the chain - all branches have now moved over to the kashrut of Tzohar!
As if previous attempt sin Jerusalem weren't enough, you have again decided to rebel against the Rabbanut and against the community of kashrut observant people to whom it is important that wish to remain faithful to the organized kashrut authorities.
Again you decided to play along with the whims of kashrut organizations that get their praise from the Reform and criticism from great and important rabbis.
We will vote with our feet.
Whoever wants to eat kosher - will not go into Pasta Basta with Tzohar kashrut. We want to eat kosher!

if you scroll through the comments you will see the vast majority are scoffing at Chotam and talking about how now they will eat at Pasta Basta specifically because of the change and some just to show support for Pasta Basta even if they never intended before to eat there.

Personally I think their argument is silly. No restaurant chain is going to do something ideologically even though it hurts their own business tremendously, if they do not have a plan to bring in other customers. Pasta Basta would not chase away hundreds of its customers to change to a hechsher nobody likes and relies on. And if they did it in one location and it was so unsuccessful, they would not then go do it in the rest of their locations - they would look into changing back or doing something else. Yet they continued to change over the rest of the chain, meaning they found the change to be worthwhile from  a business perspective.

The approach of the Rabbanut and of Chotam and of Kosharot (that isnt involved in this specific attack but has been previously) is clearly wrong and even counter-productive. Tzohar is not even doing anything illegal, as determined by the courts, and as long as they follow legal guidelines, people can decide for themselves whether they want to rely on Tzohar kashrut or not, just like they can decide for themselves whether to rely on Rabbanut kashrut or not. I do not know this for sure, and I have yet to see the standards in use by Tzohar kashrut or what the actual problems with it (as per the Rabbanut's claims) are, but I would guess, if I had to, that most people relying on Rabbanut kashrut are also ok with relying on Tzohar kashrut and they probably use pretty similar standards.

The Vizshnitzer Rebbe spent some time in his Shabbos drasha to students in his yeshiva system going on the attack against the phenomenon of people buying the new style of shtreimel that has points, or "shpitzim", at the top - the mink fur is combed and set brushed upwards with the top coming to points, kind of looking like the tips of flames going up.

The rebbe told the students that he does not want boys from Vizshnitz buying these shtreimels with shpitzim, they are disgusting, and they look like the old shtreimels they used to wear on Purim. If everyone would refuse to by these before they get married, the shtreimel makers would stop making them.
source: Behadrei

I don't know much about shtreimels and which group of hassidim wear which shtreimels, besides for a few basic rules, but I have seen this often as they are common in a community I sometimes spend time in in Jerusalem. I thought they look nice (much nicer than in the picture included), though I could never identify which Hassidic sect they were associated with - I assumed it was just general hassidim without a specific rebbe. Most of the time, members of a hassidic sect wear specifically shaped and designed shtreimels, as per each groups specifics. This is also why it surprises me a bit to see the Vizshnitzer Rebbe warn his talmidim like this - why aren't they wearing the classic Vizshnitz shtreimel, whatever that may be? All these chassidim generally stick to the rules wearing the same glasses as the rebbe, the same shtreimel as the rebbe, same shoes as the rebbe, etc and now it seems the hassidim are getting caught up in some sort of fashion race in the realm of shtreimlech, instead of sticking to the rules and standards. I find that interesting, and even a bit surprising.

Further, I am somewhat impressed that this is such a serious problem that he has to express his concern about it. Online we call such things #firstworldproblems or #WhiteWhine - meaning, poor guy, he has nothing else to complain about other than that his Ferrari got a scratch on it, or something like that. Baruch Hashem one of the most pressing issues facing that community's new grooms is which shtreimel to buy and not anything much more serious than that..

Natalie Portman's decision regarding the Genesis Prize surprised me. Portman has always been a supporter of Israel, and is Israeli herself. She has visited Israel in the past and has spoken in support of Israel. I dont want to accuse her of supporting BDS, as she herself says she is not, even though BDS supporters will probably use her in their campaigns, but her decision is painful.

The way it seems to be going down, with Portman accepting the prize (a lot of money) but refusing to show up and give an acceptance speech, turns the entire enterprise into a farce.

Basically this prize has been to attach a celebrity face to Israel on the world stage. It has done a good job so far, until Portman's decision, but perhaps instead of honoring rich celebrities and calling it "the Jewish Nobel prize", they would do better with honoring people who really work tirelessly on behalf of some cause connected to Israel - medical research, the poor, hunger relief, the sciences, peace efforts etc. Giving rich celebrities money they do not need for what the Prize calls its mission as  "The Genesis Prize honors individuals who have attained excellence and international renown in their chosen professional fields, and who inspire others through their engagement and dedication to the Jewish community and/or the State of Israel." makes the entire thing kind of wishy washy.

The Genesis Prize should also include a clause requiring recipients to be present to receive the award, or else an alternate recipient will be selected. What's the point of giving a celeb the prize in order to highlight their connection to Israel if you are not given the opportunity to highlight their connection to Israel?

D.C. lawmaker who said Jews control the weather visits Holocaust Museum but leaves early

  -- The Washington Post

I hear he left early because of bad weather in the forecast

fascinating discussion with fascinating guests

lol

very cool, though dizzying at times...

here is the entire torch lighting ceremony. the actual torch lighting part of the ceremony begins at about 1:30:00 in and includes 12 wonderful and amazing people, each with touch and inspiring stories and words, including people such as, but not limited to, Dr Avshalom Kor, Racheli Ganot, Margalit Zinani and Zeev Revach whoput on a kipa in the middle and said the bracha of Shehechiyanu.

I don't like getting caught up in the minhag of the day of pointing out Haredim, or other people (as I personally witnessed today), who do not stand still, or do other things, during the siren.

What I would like to point out, and have pointed out before, that when Yom Haatzmaut and Yom Hazikaron are pushed off to be celebrated later, or pushed up to be celebrated earlier - as it is this year - to avoid chilul shabbos, and the anti-Zionist extremists do their protests and provocations on both Yom Haatzmaut and on Yom Hazikaron, it is the greatest sign that they recognize and acknowledge the day as determined by the State and the Rabbanut. It is the greatest sign of accepting their authority and right to make decisions.

After all, if the State had no authority, if the Rabbanut had no authority, the extremists would hold  protests on 5 Iyyar to protest the formation of the State on that day against, in their view, halacha. Yet they protest on 4 Iyyar and 3 Iyyar, thus confirming that they accept the authority of the State.

A Guest Post by Dr Harold Goldmeier