The rabbonim of Bnei Braq, including Rabbis Chaim Meir Wosner, Yiyzchal Zilbershtein, and Shimon Baadani, have decided to issue a psak jointly calling on the public to not cross the street against a red light.

The impetus for this historic psak is an increase in the number of traffic accidents in the city. To combat the increase in accidents, the city has installed new traffic lights around town at intersections that previously did not have any. Despite that, there are still many people who cross against the light and put themselves and other people in danger - and the children learn from seeing the adults behavior that it is ok to cross on a red.

Ergo, the psak says, based on the commandment of guarding your safety, every person is obligated to wait at the light and crosswalk patiently and only cross when the crossing light indicates green. And people must realize the tremendous responsibility they bear in being an example for the youth.
source: Kikar

Benny Gantz gave his big speech the other day. People are now laughing at him and saying he is clearly too inexperienced. Why? Not because of anything specific he said, or did not say, which would be reasonable to disagree with or criticize. Rather, they are laughing at him because of what he did with what he said.

After the big speech, Gantz left the podium and eventually the room and everyone moved on. A journalist found Benny Gantz's notes from his speech left behind on the podium. The notes were in addition to the teleprompters commonly used. The notes were marked up with comments and reminders,  such as where to pause and for how long, where to wait for Boogie Yaalon to walk in, what to stress, and whatever other little reminders he thought he might need.

People are blasting him as inexperienced, a fake or fraud - all because his speech notes were marked up.









Benny Gantz is definitely an inexperienced politician. As much as it took in a political sense for him to maneuver through the IDF all the way up to the position of Ramatkal, Chief of Staff, in the political world he is a novice. Regardless of what he did with his speech notes.

That being said, Gantz's notes indicate nothing about his character or inexperience. It is common for anybody giving a speech, especially for important speeches, to have notes and to mark them up with reminders. While some public speakers are talented enough to speak with no notes, that is usually a speaker who is going around repeating the same speech a thousand times in different places and has it all memorized and worked out. And most of those guys usually use notes and/or teleprompters as well. Most politicians, especially for a big speech, will have notes to help them remember when to pause, when to stress, when to display something, etc. I see absolutely nothing wrong with that.

The moment that Gantz said he is in favor of public transportation and gay marriage he proved that he is a Leftist. Gantz is the one that pushed to give money to Hamas and to come to a cease fire..

  -- Minister Miri Regev

he might, or might not, be a Leftist, but the Prime Minister and Defense Minister (and even when he was not DM, he was still overall responsible and mostly calling the shots) should not be passing the blame for givnig money to Hamas, when it was Netanyahu's explicit decision and for the cease fire... if he did not like the deal, as Regev is implying, he should not have agreed to it, let alone pushed for it

I must say, the one thing Benny Gantz has successfully done is ensure that everyone is talking about him and turning him into the big issue.

the question is so ridiculous it is funny

New York State Senator Simcha Felder has proposed a really cool idea called "Food For Fines". According to the program, drivers would get reductions of their parking ticket fines in exchange for donating food to the needy via charitable organizations.

Felder thinks many people would feel much better about paying their tickets knowing that much of it is going to feed the poor, and it would increase the pool of people donating - presumably, people would feel so good about donating to pay off their tickets that they will continue to do so even without any tickets that need to be paid off. This would be the classic "מתוך שלא לשמה בא לשמה"

There are already a few cities in the USA that have successfully instituted similar programs. People seem to be more ok with paying their fines when they know think they are getting a good deal, either with discounts during an amnesty program or via charitable deeds.

I love the idea. I figure there will eventually be a published list of which organizations are affiliated with the program by which donations can be deducted and I expect this can only help the charitable organizations help the needy and hungry..  maybe eventually such programs can be adopted elsewhere, and maybe they can also be expanded to helping pay off other types of tickets and fines as well..

source: Matzav 

I dont know who to give credit to for taking this picture, but it is going around today "virally"..

caption contest!

Yesterday a new party was formed. Benny Gantz is the star there. He made a dramatic announcement about the health system.  He said that he commits to opening two new hospitals, one in the North and one in the South... if I were Gantz I would fire his adviser. Go tell Gantz that the Health Ministry is in the middle of planning the construction of two new hospitals, one in the South in Beer Sheva that is already going through the process of getting the permits from the construction planning authority and the second in Kiryat Ata up North. What is he saying new? He should say "Litzman is building two new hospitals and i will support him". I'll be very happy if he supports this..

  -- Deputy Minister of Health Yaakov Litzman

The news media are excited about a new poll that indicates that if Gantz, Yaalon, Lapid and the rest of the Left would all join forces and run together as a united party, they would defeat Netanyahu and the Likud. The poll shows they would obtain 34 seats compared to Likud's 27 seats.

Forgetting for a moment that polls are almost useless in Israel, as they are almost always way off, and only might be good for showing trends rather than predicting results, what I find interesting about this poll is the proposition of unity among the Left to defeat Netanyahu.

The problem I see with it, besides for the unlikelihood of it happening due to ego and other issues is that even if the Left does unite and gets 34 seats and surpasses the Likud... with what other parties will they make a coalition? 34 seats might make you the biggest party but without other parties to sit in a coalition with, they still cannot form a government. I am sure Shas and UTJ would find a way to justify going on, despite all their talk about not sitting with Lapid or Gantz or others who talk about Reform Kotel and drafting Haredim and chilul shabbos, but that still does not get them a coalition.. the other parties are all mostly to the Right and would not naturally be options, though perhaps another 1 or 2 small parties might succeed and sit with them.

So, unity might be great but I still do not see, not from the recent polls, how it gives them enough to form a government

Last night Benny Gantz, candidate for Prime Minister in the upcoming elections, finally spoke out and laid out his ideas and goals... Some of what he said upset the Haredi representatives, causing them to warn him and even dismiss him as a serious candidate. Specifically, Gantz spoke about support for the "Reform Kotel", gay marriage, fighting against "hadarat nashim", army service and civil service for Haredim (and others), supporting public transportation on Shabbos, among other things..

OK. it is to be expected that the Haredi MKs and ministers will criticize him, will warn him, will dismiss him.

What is interesting is that shortly before Gantz gave his speech, Behadrei ran an article about an interview MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ) gave to Kan in which he said that he deeply respects Benny Gantz and would not rule out sitting with him as PM, and eve though it looks like they would support Benjamin Netanyahu for Prime Minister, UTJ is in nobody's pocket and he can see them sitting with Gantz.

Shortly after that Benny Gantz gives his first public speech as a candidate and says his positions on just about everything that the Haredim are opposed to...

Among all the critiques on Gantz's speech from the Haredi MKs and deputy ministers, I did not notice Gafni saying anything. I wonder if he is eating his words or hoping it all just goes  away..

Benny Gantz laid out his plans and ideas for when he will be Prime Minister...

and here is the article from the New York Times that Bill Maher is joking about...

The Shalva Band continues its meteoric rise with a performance of an original song. It brings in outstanding numbers, especially compared to other performers in this round, and gets them into the semi-finals.

I really hope something can be worked out so they do not have to drop out, but even if they do, they have been amazing and we can say dayeinu....

this horrible and shocking picture is the sight of a shul in Kiryat Hayovel, Jerusalem that was vandalized. When the vandals could not get into the safe serving as an aron kodesh storing the sifrei torah, they cut through it using a "disk" - an electric saw.

However much the residents want to fight with each other about the type of people that can populate the neighborhood, such actions, if done by someone involved and for that purpose, are way way way beyond the pale, and will not even help his side. I hope this is found to be totally unrelated to that issue and, at least, not done by Jews.

A seasoned surfer was out surfing off the coats of Herzliya the other day when he wiped out and injured himself on the rocks. A hassidishe fellow, some reports say he himself is a surfer that had chosen not to surf that day after seeing the rough waters, saw the incident and jumped in and saved the surfers life.

Kudos to photographers Dror Ezra and Nisim Aton who got pictures of the incident and publicized it.

seems like he lost his kipa while rescuing the surfer

this has made a tremendous kiddush hashem, but more importantly he saved a life...and gave us some great pictures while jumping in to the water in full hassidic garb..

With driving teachers being on the road more than anybody else, it seems they could be made good use of in keeping the roads safe. The City of Rishon Letzion has drafted 120 drivers to assist in keeping the roads safe by appointing them to the status of "traffic observers". While they are out on the roads these driving instructors will keep an eye on other drivers and report any dangerous driving to a Whatsapp group that will then be sent to a city hotline and will be dealt with.
 source: Israel Hayom

Obviously this sounds like a pretty good idea. And, if you are driving crazily because you do not see any police around, be aware that now any driving instructor, or maybe even other people if this gets expanded, can turn you in. And if it works, presumably other cities will adopt this program as well.

The only thing is, I would say in part that it is the driving instructors that are at least somewhat at fault for the situation on the roads - they have taught all these kids, and eventually adults, to drive, yet the drivers are horrible, speeding, passing dangerously, crossing bold lines, parking illegally, etc. Add that to some other factors regarding the way the lessons and testing works (not relevant here), and I would say the entire driving lessons system in Israel needs to be overhauled.

Besides for that, shouldn't these instructors be paying attention to their students and be teaching them, rather than paying attention to other drivers? Obviously they might notice something egregious that another driver does, but to be paying attention to other drivers and taking details while giving a lesson seems like it might create more problems.

this episode includes Fulda where my grandfather and most of his family were from

Bracha "Beatie" Deutsch is a phenom. Beatie is a frum mother of 5 kids living in Jerusalem, who works full time and has taken up running in recent years. She first made headlines a couple of years ago when she ran her first marathon while 7 months pregnant. After getting back to running post-birth, Deutsch ran another marathon, much faster.

Recently she became the Israeli champion for the half marathon distance, and then in the recent Tiberias Marathon became the Israeli (female) champion runner, winning the marathon with a time of 2 hours and 42 minutes (and some seconds). She has previously expressed interest in representing Israel in the Olympics, and after her victory in Tiberias, she has been added to the Olympic team. One can follow Beatie on Instagram and Facebook and see her messages of faith and inspiration, which she regularly talks about as giving her the strength and push to succeed.

Besides for being a kiddush hashem just by her actions, messages and style, Deutsch has been giving interview after interview in which she repeats her message of faith in God, being a mother first, adhering to the rules of modesty. And now she has been featured in the premier running magazine in the world - Runners World. Who would ever expect a frum woman to appear featured in such a magazine???

Kol Hakavod to Beatie Deutsch and we wait to see and follow your continued successes...

It is sad, but it was bound to happen.

The Shalva Band has taken off like a meteor in the competition to represent Israel in the upcoming Eurovision. They are just wow and bring what it takes, from a musical, a social and a show standpoint to compete.

But they are religious, and they represent a religious-administered organization. That means they will not be able to perform on Shabbos, and the Saturday full dress rehearsal is one of the requirements of the Eurovision format.

According to Ynet, the producers of the competition asked upon entry into the competition of all the relevant contestants what they would do about the Shabbos issue. It seems the Shalva people did not think they would go far, so they did not express any concerns. They just wanted to compete for as long as they could. Now that it is relevant and the Shalva Band is approaching the finals with a strong case, perhaps even as favorites, for representing Israel, the Shalva Band suddenly has to deal with the issue.

So, now that the issue is back, the Shalva Band recently informed the producers that it is highly likely they will have to drop out, because of Shabbos. They are now consulting with a rav before making a decision. To that end, the producers do not want them to drop out and have said they would see what they could do to resolve the issue (seemingly to avoid the Shabbos dress rehearsal) - should the Shalva Band make it to the end and become the Israeli representative to Eurovision.

The Shalva Band should be proud of their accomplishments, regardless of whether this gets worked out to let them continue or not. And it is impressive that they are so good, with the potential to win, that the producers are willing to try to work something out. In all the various song competitions, nobody religious has ever gone that far and the producers never made special accommodations - though I am not sure if maybe they just were not good enough to deserve it or if they did not make it that far because of the glass ceiling. Yet for Shalva Band the producers are looking to try to work it out. That alone is another accomplishment.

As part of the international Jewish project called "International Lay Tefillin Day", also known as "World Wide Wrap Day", on Sunday February 3 2019, the Women of the Wall group has decided to participate and will set up a stand in downtown Jerusalem to offer female passerby, in addition to males, to lay tefillin. This will actually be their fourth year of this project.

Though the Jerusalem City Hall at first rejected the permit request from Women of the Wall, they have now approved it and WoW will move ahead with it.
sources: Jewish Press, Kipa

I admit that when I first heard the news blurb on the radio, I thought Women of the Wall will be opening a tefillin stand at the Kotel, offering female daveners to lay tefillin, "competing" with the Chabad stand on the mens side of the Kotel mechitza. I am a bit surprised that this is not the case and they will be opening a stand only in downtown Jerusalem...

It is surprising they got the permit from the new City Hall. Perhaps that is an indication that there will be little, or no, fighting over this and everyone will just let it pass quietly and uneventfully...

uch. this is horrible. I dont know why anyone still holds this man up as a rabbi or leader...

Roseanna, SHmuley Boteach and Miri Regev all together.. Birds of a feather flock together.. But truthfully, we are happy and excited for any and all of our friends...

by now you must have heard the story of the religious couple removed from a n American Airlines flight due to complaints of bad body odor....

this is the best of all the news reports on that story..

Lenny Solomon, Shlock Rock, has been putting up some old music videos on Youtube.. these were the classics...

A video is going around social media in which construction workers from the Gesher Yehudit project can be seen taking a break from their work on Friday night to make kiddush and eat some dinner. They are in full construction gear and make kiddush while reading the text from a cellphone with the construction site in the background.

The reactions to this clip are varied, from shock to insulting to impressed to demeaning to insulting to insulted, and to all sorts of other reactions. Some feel bad that these people are forced to work and resort to making kiddush like this, while others think they are idiots, or worse, for making kiddush amidst such serious chilul shabbos, while others yet think they are wonderful for trying to keep some tradition despite the circumstances.

Life is complicated. It is not back and white, as many people make it out to be. Israel has a very high percentage of people who are not religious but keep some level of tradition. Many make kiddush on Friday night and have a family dinner, even while watching a football game n television or a movie or using their cellphones. These people were not forced to work on Shabbos against their will. At the same time that they felt it necessary to work, whether for the higher paycheck or for professional advancement or for belief in the task at hand or for whatever reason, they still felt it important to commemorate the day in their traditional manner. Had they been home, they also would have been mechalel shabbos. No religious Jew is being forced to be mechalel shabbos - at least none is evidenced in this video.

As an aside, I find it cute that they pass around the wine for drinking according to age. One might think, ok they did something traditional, but the overall chilul shabbos would show they don't care too much. That might or might not be true, but most, or many, people do what they know, what they grow up with, whether it makes sense or not, even if/when it contradicts other aspects of their lifestyle. I find it somewhat endearing. 

Shalva sang together with Harel Skaat, the original composer of the song and one of the judges, and advances to the semi-finals!

I have no idea how thye will deal with the Shabbos issue, should they win, or what their plans are. At leasts ome of them are religious, if not all, and the organization seems to be run by frum people, so this will definitely an issue that will need to be dealt with at some point.

We already had one rabbi paskening that one cannot divide up a purchase into multiple purchases in order to benefit extra times from the 4nis rebate given by Yesh.

Someone asked the same question, witha slight twist, to Rav Yitzchak Zilbershtein, rav of Ramat Elchonon in Bnei Braq.

The question posed to Rav Zilbershtein was: This fellow was in Yesh and saw someone in the self-checkout lane processing his items and after every 25nis he would sop and pay and then continue. He says he asked the fellow what's going on and the fellow explained that because Yesh was sued and has to pay out 8 million shekel, they are giving 4nis back on every purchase over 25nis. So, he says, I have a 400nis purchase here and am breaking it up every 25nis. So, on a 400nis purchase, I am getting back 64nis, this fellow explains. He says sure it takes a few more minutes, but it is worth my time.

So, the questioner poses the question to Rav Zilbershtein:
1. I want to do this as well - am I allowed to? They are only giving the money because they were sued, not because they want to. Perhaps one is not really halachically allowed to take this money at all!
2. can one break up the purchase and cause delays to other shoppers waiting in line?
3. He says he heard the branch owner say that one is not allowed to divide up a purchase to benefit extra - does he have a right to decide that?

Rav Zilbershtein answered that one is allowed to divide up his purchase and benefit multiple times from the rebate. If possible, the chain administration/owner should be asked what his intention was when he came to the agreement - did he intend to distribute the money to as many customers as possible, or did he just want to dismiss the suit as quickly (and as cheaply?) as possible. If he does not clarify or does not know, one is allowed to break it up.
source: Kikar

Rav Zilbershtein does not need my support, but his opinion makes more sense to me than the opinion brought earlier of Rabbi Kanner.

I love how people go to the news with every problem they have with authority, justified or not.

The latest top headline on Kikar is about someone who went to RBS (the RBS C/Gimmel neighborhood, I think, based on the picture in the article, but not sure) for Shabbos and parked on the sidewalk. He woke up on Shabbos morning to discover that the police had ticketed his car on Friday night. He had received a 500nis ticket for blocking the pedestrian walkway.

The fellow complains that he had arrived right before Shabbos and had his elderly 90 year old grandmother with him who can hardly walk and couldnt find appropriate parking in the immediate area and the sidewalk there is very wide so he was not disturbing anything and parked the way he did and the police should not be giving him a ticket for that especially on Shabbos but should be fighting crime and dealing with the high number of break-ins in the area.

As if the police are supposed to know that he had a grandmother that could not walk. As if the police are supposed to know and discount that he showed up minutes before Shabbos and did not have time to look for a better parking solution. As if the police are supposed to take any of that into account anyway.

My approach on this time of crime, breaking parking laws and the like, is that go ahead and park illegally if you want to, but you are taking a risk of getting a ticket. 9 times out of 10 you might get away with it with no ticket, but don't complain when you do get a ticket - you took the risk knowing the chance was there that you might get the ticket. the sidewalk is for pedestrians and the street is for cars.

Should the police be dealing with illegal parking on Shabbos? I don't know. I think that might be new.

I would add that until recently I was not aware of the disturbance caused by cars parking like this, when it is a wide sidewalk. I think most drivers are not so aware of what pedestrians have to deal with and what bothers them, just as I think most pedestrians are not aware of what goes through the drivers mind and what challenges drivers deal with (such as pedestrians in dark clothing that are difficult to see, pedestrians that step out into the street with no warning, bikers and runners, etc). I was recently made aware of the difficulty some pedestrians have with cars parked like this when they have to deal with strollers or wheelchairs, and more somebody in crutches or using a cane that is not walking in a stable way and obstructions on the sidewalk and be a big problem for them even if there technically is enough space. On Shabbos especially maybe it is taking up space from where kids would be playing.

Anyways, as I said, park illegally if you want, but do not complain when you get a ticket. The sidewalk is for people and the street is for the cars.

very cool. I had no idea


and more details from the comments:
After losing their sponsorship from the YMHA, Gottlieb, Passon, and Black approached the South Philadelphia Hebrew Association about sponsoring the team. The association agreed to sponsor the men, and provided funding for uniforms to the team. The new uniforms featured the acronym SPHA in Hebrew (ספהא) across the front. Again, their sponsorial relationship was short-lived, as the SPHA withdrew their sponsorship shortly after for an unspecified reason.[5] The men had better financial solvency this time around, as they opened a sporting goods store, calling it P.G.B. Sporting Goods.[5] With the store, they created new uniforms, but kept the Sphas moniker as a way of paying tribute to their upbringing. Douglas Stark, author of The SPHAS: The Life and Times of Basketball's Greatest Jewish Team, noted that "[f]or a number of years, the team was known as the Wandering Jews, because the team did not have its own home court."[6]

According to a report on Matzav, the upcoming elections might not mean as much as they have been made to be.. As a matter of fact, they might be meaningless. They might not even happen at all!

The story goes that someone from abroad went to visit Rav Chaim Kanievsky and get a bracha. he asked Rav Chaim Kanievsky if he should make aliya so that he will be able to vote for Degel hatorah in the upcoming elections.

That's dedication!

Rav Chaim Kanievsky responded that there is no need for this. Rav Chaim explained that Mashiach will be coming before the elections!

The young man was startled and before leaving he asked a grandson of Rav Chaim to confirm and make sure he understood correctly. When the grandson asked Rav Chaim Kanievsky to confirm what had been said, Rav Kanievsky confirmed it.

So, whatever troubles you've got, just hold out until April 9... and don't get too worked up about elections and election campaigns, as they won't really be relevant!

I wonder if Rav Kanievsky is instructing Degel Hatorah to not bother working too hard for these elections...

According to reports, one of the candidates in the Likud primaries is pushing an initiative to start a crowd-funding campaign for the defense team for Benjamin Netanyahu.

Moshiko Pesel, the man behind the initiative, says that it is absurd that Netanyahu has to be busy with submitting forms requesting permission for funding for a legal defense, and he needs to be busy dealing with the defense situation of the country.

With Benjamin Netanyahu being a multi-millionaire, besides for a few die-hard close fans of his, and some wealthy donors he is close to, I find it hard to believe too many regular people will contribute to his legal defense fund.

This is nice shtik a candidate in the primaries found to find a way into the good graces of the head of the Likud.

Blessings to Ron Huldai for the decision to do the work on the Yehudit Bridge. Gafni should not tell us what to do in our home, and we won't tell him what to do in his home..

  MK Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid), commenting after Mk Moshe Gafni (UTJ) said they will look into passing a law to prevent such work on Shabbos and holidays

this is funny because Lapid spends a lot of his time telling Gafni and Gafni's constituents what to do in their homes - what to study in school, when to go to the army, etc

I saw the following updates in a Whatsapp news group I am in..



they came one after the other...

the first says Minister Ayelet Shaked on Twitter: During a political campaign we can adhere to respectful dialogue. This evening I signed on to the "clean elections treaty" of Rabbanei Tzohar.

the next says Yair Netanyahu on Facebook: Guy Peleg is simply Satan

talk about irony!

Often we find people blaming the victim when an episode crops up involving the extremists from Mea Shearim or RBS B. If the violent extremist thugs attack someone walking through the neighborhood, people say she should have been more sensitive to the culture of the place and worn longer sleeves, or not walk through at all, or the soldier should have known not to go there, or the like.

Kikar is reporting that today in Mea Shearim a young man was attacked, thankfully only by threatening mobs and screams but it did not get to actual physical violence, when he went to daven mincha in one of the local shtiebels. He was attacked because he was wearing olive green pants and someone thought he might be a soldier of the IDF, so he gathered the mob to throw him out.

The poor fellow left the shul, and the neighborhood, quickly, to avoid problems, so the thugs got what they wanted.

Should we blame him for wearing green pants? What was he thinking - dressing like a soldier! he was asking them to attack him! he provoked them by his insensitive attire.

There is no way to know what will tick off an extremist thug. One day it might be this, another day it might be that. There is no way to predict such a thing.

Thugs are thugs and should be dealt with appropriately. We needn't blame the victims, when it is the thugs causing the problems.

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.

Book Review: Passover Haggadah Graphic Novel, by Jordan B. Gorfinkel and Erez Zadok

The book, the Passover Haggadah Graphic Novel is very cool, and it is even cooler seeing who the creative genius behind it is. Jordan Gorfinkel is a comic book creator and an a capella singer. Gorfinkel was an editr at DC Comics and managed the Batman franchise. I think it is very cool that he would use that talent, skill and creativity to publish a new haggadah for Pesach.

The Haggadah of Pesach is probably the [Jewish] book that has the most diverse versions and publications throughout the generations. Whatever the attraction is that of all the Jewish books on the bookshelves, the Haggadah draws so much attention, this version, the Passover Haggadah Graphic Novel still finds a way to stand out and make a splash.

The Passover Haggadah Graphic Novel is unique in that it is filled with the storytelling of the exodus from Egypt by way of a cartoon. This haggadah is not like an Archie comic book or a Batman comic book. It is the haggadah itself, but is enhanced with a new translation, and that translation is written in the form of a comic. 

The haggadah also contains instructions that are uniue. No more just "now the master of the house washes is hands", "now the matza is uncovered", and "lift the cup here and say". Instructions in this haggadah are detailed and explained and also conveyed via the medium of comics and graphics.

The graphics are beautifully drawn with tremendous detail and vivid color. Even more, the graphics of the comics add to the enjoyment of reading the haggadah. If you pay attention you will find a number of "Easter eggs" (I know, it is ironic to say a Pesach Haggadah contains Easter eggs) in the graphic translation - such as in the songs at the end of the haggadah.

I would say that the Passover Haggadah Graphic Novel will enhance the haggadah experience of any mature child reading it, but that would be underselling it - it will enhance the haggadah experience of adults reading it as well!

• buy Passover Haggadah Graphic Novel 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.

According to INN, Habayit Hayehudi has approached Tzippi Hotovely and offered her the position of Chairman/Chairwoman of the party. She would be numero uno on the Habayit Hayehudi list.

Hotovely refused the offer. She said her place is in the Likud, as is the place of all religious Zionists...

While I admire her loyalty to the Likud and her lack of desire to jump between parties and possibly end up looking like the other Tzippi, Tzippi Livni, sadly I think this decision might mean the end of her Knesset career.

I don't make predictions, and I do not know how Tzippi Hotovely will do in the upcoming Likud primaries, nor do I know how well the Likud will do in the upcoming general elections.. but I do know that we have hardly heard from Tzippi Hotovely in this past Knesset term. At least I haven't. What has she done? What has she been involved in? When she entered politics, she came in with a strong voice and got herself elected to two Knesset terms, but I haven't really noticed her or her activities in a few years now... The Likud has a crowded field f quality candidates. If she hasn't done anything to stand out from the rest, her chances of election will be slim, unless she somehow qualifies for a reserved slot (though as a veteran MK the likelihood of that seems slim, as the reserved slots are usually reserved for new candidates form specific sectors).

So while this decision to stay in the Likud is honorable, it might be the end of her current Knesset career, at least in the current format.

if they [the Haredim] wouldn't be here, we would not have a state....I have always felt Haredi - I must admit. I am happy to be part of you. We are one nation. We are all flesh and blood. We love one another...

  -- MK Oren Hazzan (Likud), in an interview on Radio Kol Berama

this is a relatively rare mitzva.. the donkey realized it as well so he responded with the crowd...

this performance was interesting...

hattip to Kosharot

The question is, is the hechsher of Rabbi Rubin on the sandwich bags or on the sandwich pictured that has both turkey pastrami and yellow cheese inside?

50 ק"ג של פירות וירקות מוברחים נתפסו היום בשני מקרים בנתב"ג ובמעבר אלנבי. על טיסה שהגיעה מצרפת לישראל נתפסו לא פחות מ- 30 ק"ג  אננסים שהוברחו ע"י תייר צרפתי. במעבר אלנבי נתפסו 20 ק"ג פירות שמקורם באינדונזיה (צילום: מכס טרמינל 3)
מיכל ורסמן pic.twitter.com/xx0i4Xt28v

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) January 21, 2019

The Israeli supermarket chain is currently giving a 4nis rebate on every purchase. The rebate is the result of a class action suit that had been filed against Supersol, owners of the Yesh chain, for overcharging on products that were advertised as being on sale. The agreement arrived at to avoid the suit was that Yesh/Supersol would give back 8 million shekel to the public - 4 shekel on every purchase over 25nis.

The rebate program has already begun. Many people are trying to maximize their 4 shekel discount by breaking up their purchases into multiple purchases, qualifying for the 4 shekels each time, instead of just once on a larger purchase. This is commonly done to benefit in all sorts of ways - such as sales that put a limit on how many items you can buy at the discounted price, and the like.

Rav Yehuda Kanner, a rabbi in Modiin Ilit, pasked that one is not allowed to divide up one's purchases in this manner to benefit extra times from the discount. Doing so, Rav Kanner paskens, is theft.

According to Rav Kanner, the purpose of this arrangement is to give back money to the wider public and to pay the 4nis return to as many customers as possible, thus returning the overcharged monies to the public. Somebody dividing his purchases to obtain the 4nis discount multiple times on the same purchase, he says, is preventing the company from giving the money back to the public and from properly compensating the public. However, the caveat is, that you are not allowed to divide your purchase, but if you already did so, you do not have to return the money to anybody. 
source: Kikar

A lot is being made about the women's march in the USA and the connection the founders have to anti-Zionist and BDS groups and individuals, along with the anti-semitism of the founders and organizers themselves with a clear and overt anti-semitic message.

What I do not get is why a group marching for women's rights has to take a stand on the Israel-Palestine conflict or on anti-semitism and Jews at all. What is the relevance? Can't they just march for women's rights and make their agenda completely and entirely about the goal of their organization being women's rights? 

I see all this discussion online about this group and their events and how they relate to Jews and Israel and I just don't get why they get involved in these issues at all as it seems to me to be so off-topic for them.

interesting finale..

amazing

Israel-bound flier caught at Berlin airport with boa constrictor in his pants

  -- TOI

this is just too good

The saga in Tiberias continues with Ron Kobi continuing with his street parties on Shabbos on the boardwalk. The casualties so far, besides for Shabbos itself, now include the first restaurant to lose its hechsher. The restaurant named Basel decided to open on Shabbos to benefit from the large numbers of visitors and potential business, and the hechsher was immediately pulled.

Interestingly, the hechsher on this restaurant was mehadrin under the certification of Rabbanut Tiberias Mehadrin and Chug Chatam Sofer (Petach Tikva). It surprised me to hear that of all the restaurants that might have decided to forgo the hechsher and open on Shabbos, the first one to do so would be a mehadrin restaurant. I guess with no business on Shabbos it paid to be mehadrin to get the more religious business, but that did not override the ability to do business on Shabbos.

I heard Ron Kobi, the mayor, justify this saying that Shabbos isnt a factor and no more coercion, and the Rabbanut isn't necessary as Tzohar is available and restaurants and hotels can switch to Tzohar.

I have no idea what Tzohar's rules and requirements are, but I would be surprised to hear that they would be part of allowing chilul shabbos and will give a hechsher to a place open on Shabbos without being able to certify it. Perhaps they have other solutions the Rabbanut would not consider, I do not know, but my guess is that the switch to Tzohar will not make a big difference in this rgeard. There might be other reasons and benefits for them, but I have a hard time believing that all the restaurants in Tiberias that want to open on Shabbos will just switch to Tzohar certification and will suddenly be able to do so.

the following ad, anonymously sponsored, has gone up around the country..



The ad calls for the politicians/parties on the Left to unite in order to win, or to not lose votes.

While the public, for now, does not know who is behind it, I suspect some clues might give us some direction..

1. Benny Gantz is pictured front and center - right in the middle. He is, for now, Netanyahu's main challenger.

2. Ehud Barak isn't even running, and while rumors have spread about the possibility of him joining a political party, it has not happened yet and there is no real indication that it will. He has spent the lats year or so very publicly calling for Netanyahu's downfall.

3. Lapid, Gantz, Yaalon and Ashkenazi have all been called Left by Netanyahu and others on the Right, though the reality about them is either different or ambiguous. Lapid is somewhere in the center but at least lapid's position can be debatable, as he has been in politics and his positions are known. Gantz has remained silent and nobody knows which way he leans or what his positions are no anything. Ashkenazi isn't even in politics, though he has been rumored to be considering joining the fray - though his positions are not known and one of the rumors had him possibly joining the Likud. Yaalon is a former Likudnik, though possibly more towards the Center, ie left end, of the party than the Right edge. Yet all of these people have been labeled as Left by Netanyahu, Likud and others following suit on the Right.

In my opinion we will eventually find out that this ad is someone on the Right, maybe even from the Likud or someone close to Netanyahu, throwing shade at these wannabes.

Another interesting thing about this ad is that in the signs that went up in Bnei Braq, the image of Tzippi Livni was left out. Livni's face was left out because Bnei Braq will not approve public ads bearing he images of women.

In response to this, Livni has put out a call as if she is a representative of all the women - Bnei Braq was not removing her but the faces of all women. As if she has been fighting the fight of all women and represents them. She's right that Bnei Braq erases all women from public spaces, as is done in many other places around Israel and even abroad, but Tzippi Livni is not representative of that and women who vote for her to fight this fight will most likely be sorely disappointed when she does not, as she has not.