I am very happy that Naama Yissachar was released from prison, and I am happy that PM Benjamin Netanyahu made tremendous efforts to get her out of prison and bring her back to Israel, and he deserves praise for is efforts and success.

Even if she did something wrong, she did not deserve what happened to her. She was being used as a pawn in an international political power play. But for her, for her family, she did not deserve that and the efforts to get her released were worthy and praiseworthy.

I am happy Naama Yissachar got out of the Russian prison and came home safe and sound, but the method of her coming home and the royal treatment she was given was a bit inappropriate and overdone. She could have gotten out of jail and gotten a flight home. She did not need to be picked up by the Prime Minister's plane and she did not need to be given a royal welcome.

לא א סיסי, לא אסד וגם לא חמינאי.
זו התמונה היחידה של מנהיג מזרח תיכוני שתלויה במסדרון הקרמלין המוביל ללשכת פוטין. מדהים pic.twitter.com/WtnHyaA6Qq

— אבי בלום (@avi__blum) January 30, 2020

This pashkevil, tossed around Jerusalem, bears a quip that is actually cute and funny.


The pashkevil very simply calls upon the righteous women, the honorable princesses, to sit in the inner section of the bus.. and then it concludes with a play on words, referencing the expression - kol kvoda bat melech pnima - the honor of the daughter of a king is internal - but they divide up the words differently to mean - the honor of the daughter of a king is inside.

cute

Kosharot posted the following update from the Rabbanut, about the kashrut of Coca Cola.


The announcement refers to Coca Cola produced in the Palestinian Territories, specifically in Bitunia. The labeling is printed in Arabic and bears no kashrut symbols. It is cheaper than Coca Cola in Israel, and people are confused as to whether or not they can consume it, as it is the same brand that is considered kosher in Israel.

The announcement says that this product is produced without any kashrut supervision at all. Because of that, people that are concerned about kashrut should not consume this product, both because of the lack of kashrut supervision and also from an educational perspective - not getting used to buying products without kashrut supervision.


The debate surrounding this topic is never-ending, with some saying Coca Cola is the same and kosher all over, and others saying it is always localized and requires supervision. The Rabbanut position as announced is that it needs supervision, and even if you think it doesn't you should still avoid it for educational reasons.

According to Kikar, a number of avreichim from Bnei Braq tried to register for training for positions of heads of ballot boxes for the upcoming elections. When they discovered that the training is held without gender segregation, they got upset and are talking about not getting involved and not taking these positions.

besides for earning some decent money on election day, these positions are influential and somewhat help the party ( I am not sure how much it really helps, but the party leaders all think it does, as they all try to maximize their representation).

One of the relevant avreichim explained that he is not going to register for the position and will just give it up. There is no way he is going to sit in a gender-mixed training session. it is ridiculous, he said, that he should be forced to sit without gender segregation.

I do wonder if this avreichm, and the others involved, are aware that the task he is trying to register for is more than just a training session. Is he aware that he will have to sit all day at a table with other electoral supervisors and some of them will be women? Is he aware that he will have to take teudat zehuts from voters, including female voters, and look at their pictures?

Perhaps we can establish a new policy in the Ministry of Interior that female citizens get their faces blurred out on their teudat zehut, or they can get a teudat zehut with no picture, so avreichim at the electoral table shouldn't need to look at their pictures.

So, back to the original, they can't sit in a training session int he same room as a woman, and definitely not next to, but even if that gets resolved how can they serve in the position they are registering for? Why is it ok there but not in the training session?

this is hilarious.. go to the 2:45 marker..

The electoral board invalidated Hiba Yazbek from running for Knesset on the Arab Joint List (under the Balad banner I think).

the electoral board also invalidated the Mishpat Tzedek party of Larissa Trimbobler from running.

Obviously both of these will end up in the Supreme Court for either confirmation or revocation.

I get why Yazbek was invalidated. Statements she made about attacking soldiers were referenced and she was accused of being racist, anti-Israel, inciting to murder soldiers, and the like. You might disagree with the decision to invalidate her from running, but at least the reason is reasonable and understandable.

I have yet to see a reason given for invalidating Trimbobler's party. Even if you think her goal is pointless, stupid and doomed to failure, why invalidate it? Let her run and fail on her merits. She has not said racist things (that I know of). She has not called for killing Arabs or prime ministers or soldiers or made any other somewhat treasonous statements or committed any such actions. She simply called for judicial reform to help her husband, heinous as his crime was (though she says he did not get a fair trial). This is the thought police. I say let her fail on her merits, because nobody is interested. As far as I am aware, Trimbobler did nothing to deserve invalidation. Correct me if I am wrong.

I can understand invalidating Yigal Amir from running for Knesset, should he try to, but what is the justification for invalidating Trimbobler and her party?

Mahmoud Abbas is a big fan of Mordechai Ben David... He today referenced one of MBD's greatest songs - Yerushalayim Is Not For Sale




Abu Mazen said "Jerusalem is not for sale... our people will throw Trump's Deal into the garbage can of history"

I hope he has to pay royalties to MBD for using that famous phrase from the song...

The Arab towns of "The Triangle" region in Israel, such as Umm Al Fahm, Baqa Al Gharbiyya, Taibe and others, are upset with Trump's Deal of the Century.

Since the beginning of peace talks between the Palestinians and the Israelis, way back in the early 90s, The Arab towns in The Triangle region were always considered potentially for land swaps in an eventual agreement, with these Arab villages going to a new Palestinian State with other lands going to Israel. They always opposed it, despite their hard-core and even extremist and fundamentalist stances against Israel. The populations of these towns are not, generally, friendly and cooperative Israeli Arabs, as the residents of Abu Ghosh, for example, are. These are often Israeli Arabs that are somewhat hostile to Israel and to Israelis. Yet they have always said they wish to remain part of Israel.

And they are saying it again.

The representatives of these towns are speaking out against Trump's Deal of the Century because the Deal calls for them to be absorbed into a new Palestinian State that would be founded.

These Israeli Arabs want to stay part of Israel and not become Palestinians.
source: Ynet

And they have a good claim. They aren't Palestinian Arabs with refugee status or some other non-Israeli status. Despite their hostile environment, they are full Israeli citizens. I can understand why they do not want to give that up and become part of a Palestinian state.

That's how bad the corruption out there must be - even the biggest supporters only want it for other people, but not for themselves...

It looks to me like many people think that if the Palestinians reject the Deal of the Century (seems likely) Israel will still be allowed to do whatever it wants and annex everything Trump gave us in the Deal.

I do not know why they think this. Maybe it is true, maybe not, but I am not sure what the idea is based on. Until now whenever the Palestinians said no, rejecting a deal, Israel was not given the free hand or legitimacy to then make unilateral moves. I am not sure why we all think this time will be different.

And even if it is, it does not take into consideration the possible removal of Trump from office as the next step of the impeachment situation (though this seems unlikely) or Trump losing the upcoming elections (more possible). If Israel is going to make unilateral moves, it better be while Trump is still in office, and even then, I am not sure how the president following him will deal with it.

I know it is complicated, but I think I [mostly] agree with this... I am not sure how much it helps if the other side does not agree to it, but still...

we Jews, or at least Israelis, love it when foreign leaders do things for us in Hebrew, so here goes..

תמיד אעמוד לצד מדינת ישראל והעם היהודי. אני תומך בחוזקה בבטיחותם ובטחונם ובזכותם לחיות במולדתם ההיסטורית. הגיע הזמן לשלום! pic.twitter.com/AtNnQtnGZs

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 28, 2020

UPDATE:
actually not. His Arabic tweet is a translation of his other tweet in English directed at the Palestinians..

This is what a future State of Palestine can look like, with a capital in parts of East Jerusalem. pic.twitter.com/39vw3pPrAL

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 28, 2020

you can expect this wont be pretty

US President Donald Trump has announced his Deal of the Century. It looks great to me, but I don't see how the Palestinians will ever accept it. The little I know of it gives them far less than more generous offers they have rejected in the past. From my perspective it might be a great deal, but if it goes nowhere it helps nobody.

Here are some of the details of the Deal of the Century:

• no Palestinians or Israelis will be uprooted form their homes
• Jerusalem will remain the undivided capital of Israel
• the Palestinians will get a capital in East Jerusalem
• the future Palestinian state will be contiguous
• the Israelis will keep to a 4 year freeze in construction of homes in the settlement areas, to allow a comprehensive agreement to be negotiated
• Palestinians will recognize Israel as a Jewish state
• Israel will have sovereignty over any lands put under their control in the agreement
• Israel will control Jerusalem but will work with Jordan to ensure Palestinians have prayer access by Al Aqsa (Temple Mount)

I am not sure what to do with this. I am not a "Messiah blogger", I do get a kick out of such statements, but my general attitude is halevai he should be right. From his mouth to God's ears.

Kikar is reporting that Baba Baruch, Rav Baruch Abuchatzeira, one of the son's of the Baba Sali, said that nothing is going to come of Trump's Deal of the Century, to be announced later today. According to Baba Baruch, nothing is going to happen because Mashiach is going to come before any of that becomes an issue.

According to Baba Baruch, with Trump as the president of the USA, we have all the signs of Mashiach (whatever they are). Nothing will happen because Mashiach will come and he will cancel everything. There will be no plan.

Things like this are way way way above my paygrade, so all I can say is "halevai". I hope he is right and Mashiach is right around the corner.

You've heard of the "Shabbos Goy"... now we've got the "Shaver Goy"...

A group of rabbis form a beis din in Bnei Braq, the beis din of Rav Silman, decided it was time to give kashrut certification to electric shavers.

To that end, they began looking into a variety of electric shavers to learn how they work and how close to the skin they cut.

For their testing they brought in a goy to test the shavers on his facial hair and see how they work.

According to what they say, most electric shavers are halachically problematic, as they get very close to the skin and pull the hair follicles up from beneath the surface of the skin and then cut them. The only existing certification on an electric shaver is given by the beis din of Rav Mordechai Gross, besides for several certified by the Tzomet Institute headed by National Zionist rabbis.

the rabbis testing the shavers on the shaver goy are investigating the various machines and will decide soon regarding any kosher shavers and their certification.
source: Kikar

Hey, you cannot test it on a Jew, just in case the shaver is no good! And that's how we get the "Shaver Goy"...

Looking for ideas... what else can we move the kashrut certification business into? What else can we use a goy for?

So, Netanyahu decide to revoke his request for immunity, saying that it was a done deal and he would not have been given a fair shot in the committee, so he is withdrawing the request and will fight the accusations against him in court.

There are still suspicions being floated that he has more tricks up his sleeve for the future, but for now we can take it for what it is. I think.

The news this morning said that with Netanyahu pulling the request, he, or the Likud, is requesting, or demanding, that the indictment only be served after the elections. Technically, Mandelblit can serve the indictment whenever he is ready and wants to - even today - and then the trial can get started according to whatever timeline the courts work with.

I don't know what will be decided about the timing of the indictment. We wait and see. (UPDATE: this post was written this morning. Early this afternoon the indictment was served)

I would say, though, that I see no reason to wait until after the elections. Netanyahu does not want it to be used against him in the Kachol Lavan election campaign, and I get that. If the elections we are having were normal elections, I might say that it seems fair to wait, though I also see the argument against waiting then too. With the elections so close, let the political side of it compete on ideas and politics. Even though it is fair for the legal issues to be considered as well, I would be fine with waiting a little bit.

However, because our election situation is not normal, things are different. This is the third election within the year. And who knows if a government will be formed after this one, and if we will find ourselves in a fourth election campaign within a few months after the candidates all fail to form a coalition again? So then we will have to wait until after the fourth election? and then wait until after the fifth?

I hope we get out of this stalemate at some point, but considering the situation we currently find ourselves in, I see waiting as being being not feasible or reasonable.

Trump is a dog, the son of a dog, a violent person who wants to force on us his plan that we are not interested in... he cannot threaten me. In the time I have left to live, I will not betray the Palestinian nation. I refused to talk with him, and I will bear thee ramifications of that, no matter what they may be..

  -- Director of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, Abu Mazen

the Palestinians, and Arabs in general, are always creative with their curses and insults...

US President Donald Trump said several interesting things today, about his Deal of the Century and Israel.

1. The plan will be announced tomorrow. 

2. Benny Gantz is here so there will not be claims that the USA is intervening in Israeli elections

3. They [Benny Gantz and Benjamin Netanyahu] are two good candidates. You have a very strange electoral system, being already in the third round of elections.

4. I think the Deal has a good chance.. people have worked on this for many years, I think we are very close..many Arab countries have already agreed to it and think it is a wonderful plan..

5. There is a great chance that the Palestinians will not accept the Deal. We know this, but we hope they will negotiate and discuss it. 

is this deal dependent on being accepted by both sides, plus other countries or s it going to be imposed no matter what?

how have the Arab countries already agreed to the plan if the details have not yet been made public? Has Israel been the last to be told? There was a news report earlier that Jordan has said it will reject Trump's plan - with Jordan probably being the most important Arab country on the Palestinian side, their refusal makes me wonder more about the Arab states that have accepted it and think it is wonderful.

Gantz's invitation to avoid looking like intervening is interesting.

We do have an unusual system, and the politicians do not want to fix it

The general psak among sefardim, at least in Eretz Yisrael, has been for the women to not wear wigs as hair coverings, but to wear tichels of various styles. Some do wear wigs, and I am sure it is supported by some rabbonim, but the general psak has been against wigs.

Rav Ofir Malka, a sefardi dayan and posek, has recently paskened in a shiur in Ashdod that a woman who gets a new wig should make the bracha of Shehecheyanu, made upon the joy of acquiring something new. This was surprising to the community and local rav, Rav Mashanya, stopped the shiur in protest.

When Rav Shlomo Ben Shimon, a Sefardic former Av Beis Din Hagadol was asked the same question, for confirmation, he scoffed and said a goy should make the bracha - a play on words of the hebrew word for a wig being "peah nochrit".

It seems to be a controversial psak.

A number of cities around Israel, including Bet Shemesh, went to the Supreme Court today with a lawsuit regarding the poor bus services provided in these cities, saying the people are being held hostage by the shortage of buses and the poor service provided. The petition to the court was accompanied by the mayor, Dr Aliza Bloch, and by support and assistants of MKs.

I know how bad the service is. Buses that don't come on time. buses that just don't come at all. Lousy schedules. Neighborhoods that only have buses that make extremely circuitous routes through the city, making a potentially short trip take a very long time. Overfilled buses, especially with school children. And more.

And the funny thing is that in Bet Shemesh the bus system is so much better than it used to be. And it is still lousy. I remember the days when the only local bus was pretty much the #14 and that took ages to wind its way through every single neighborhood of the city. Today there are so many more bus lines and so many more buses running on each line, and it still is not even close to adequate in supplying the needs of the city residents.

Now I am really not sure what the court is going to do, or is expected to do. Are they going to order the State to supply more buses? What is the role of the court in such an issue?

the bus companies cannot make any changes to their schedules, add or subtract buses or bus lines, without the approval of the Transportation Ministry. These are coalition MKs supporting the petition, so I am not sure why they have just not pushed the Ministry of Transportation, held by them for ten years now, to increase the number of buses and bus lines or do whatever is necessary to solve the problems in these various cities. They are petitioning the courts against themselves? They want the courts to force the coalition they sit in to improve the situation - why not just do it without the courts? I am not really sure how this works and what they are doing and what they expect to happen here.

Back in the days of Oslo Ayelet Shaked was doing kabalat shabbat in kindergarten - if they even had that where she was..

  -- Minister Aryeh Deri, responding to a warning from Shaked. After Shas put out a campaign video accusing many in the right wing bloc of not supporting Netanyahu yet Shas supports him more than the rest, Shaked warned Deri and Shas that if he continues this track of attacking within the bloc they'll start pulling out the clips against Shas, including how Shas supported the Oslo agreement...

UPDATE:
funnily enough, Shaked responded to Deri's quip/insult with a tweet of a picture of herself as Ima shel Shabbat in 1980..

1980#אמאשלשבת pic.twitter.com/6SIb7WbZOi

— איילת שקד ayelet shaked (@Ayelet__Shaked) January 27, 2020

interesting..

It is a shame that the head of a transitional government continues to disgrace the Knesset and the democratic regime and refuses to allow even his own people to participate in the discussion about his request for immunity - an immunity request that he himself initiated and requested in order to avoid standing judgement. Netanyahu requested an immunity discussion - Netanyahu will get it.

  -- Kachol Lavan spokesperson

I agree 100%. Netanyahu requested immunity. He and the Likud have no business acting upset that the Knesset is set to follow procedure and discuss, and decide upon, his request for immunity.

Kachol Lavan put out this statement in response to MK Miki Zohar of the Likud announcing "The coalition members will not participate in the plenum discussions regarding establishment of the Knesset Committee [to discuss immunity]. The Opposition is acting in a disgraceful manner via a majority that just happened to get via Kachol Lavan. Their behavior is against all rules since the establishment of the Knesset and this is not our way. We will not take part, and we will not cooperate, in their election campaign."

a majority they happened to achieve? Isnt that how the Knesset works? Votes go by a majority. Sometimes you achieve your majority and vote what you want in, and sometimes you don't? what does this even mean - a majority they just happened to achieve, as if that is not good enough or how the system always works?

Disgraceful? against the rules of the Knesset? Netanyahu requested immunity and they are working to establish the committee that is meant to deal with that request. What is against all the rules of the Knesset?

compare these two pictures..
the top picture is the Tiberias coastline, one year ago - January 2019
the bottom picture is the same Tiberias coastline today - January 2020

an amazing difference from just a few weeks of rain...though I do feel a little bad for all the people/businesses/city that invested money in building a boardwalk and structures and sites that are now destroyed and under water...

photo credit: Yuval Gesser)

Kanafe is one of those things I have been waiting for an opportunity, or excuse, to go taste...

cool

You may have heard of people breaking the world record for climbing the tallest mountain or even having the longest hair. But what about scooting? As in riding a scooter well leave it to Israeli Yonatan Belik for riding his scooter across 48 states and breaking a record for doing so.

The world loves dead Jews. Far more than live Jews. Israel is going through an historic few days with world leaders raining down on Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, to commemorate dead Jews. It is historic, even if it is for dead Jews. It used to be unthinkable even for dead Jews. It is a big show, and while some of it might include ulterior motives (eg Putin), this is a tremendous accomplishment of Israel, Netanyahu and Rivlin (and whoever else was involved). I tend to dislike the reinforcement of the connection of Israel's legitimacy with the memory of the Holocaust, but we take what we can get.

Among all the craziness, this might take the cake. German President Frank Walter Steinmeier started off his speech at the Forum with a few sentences in Hebrew, including the bracha of Shehecheyanu.

it is almost Shabbos, so this week's edition of Jewish Food with Amnon Lev and Yehuda Shlezinger is... cholent!

Online shopping has taken over the world. Even in Israel it has been increasing rapidly, and Amazon's entry into the Israel market has sent shock waves through the entire Israel brick and mortar retail industry. We've already seen businesses complaining about the effect of Amazon free shipping to Israel on their businesses, and they filed a lawsuit against Israel Post for giving Amazon priority service and hurting local businesses who suffer with delayed service because of Amazon.

According to a report on Hamodia.com, based on a Channel 12 report, a lawsuit has been filed by a group of businesses against Israel Post for not checking imported packages properly for payment of import duties.

As is known, personal import, meaning anything you buy for personal use on websites like Amazon, Next, ASOS, Ebay, Aliexpress or other sites, are tax-free up to $75. Once your purchase amount is over $75, you have to pay VAT (17%) and other duties. Over $500 and you will be hit with more duties.

The businesses are claiming that their businesses are being hurt because people are ordering from abroad and not paying the proper taxes, making it an uneven playing field. If the Israel Post would inspect properly and collect taxes that are due, many people would order less from abroad and buy locally.

The Supreme Court accepted the argument and as of February 15 Israel Post will be forced to inspect incoming packages more thoroughly to determine proper duties for collection.

Being how Israel Post can hardly keep up with the current workload, I do not see how they'll be able to function with such an added workload. Expect more delays in delivery of your packages. Maybe they will hire more handlers to inspect packages, and all this online purchasing that was thought to hurt the local economy and cause local unemployment will actually be a boon and increase employment in the Israel Postal Services...

The media watchdog website, The Seventh Eye, is reporting about class action lawsuits against many, most, news media sites and newspapers. The various claims are largely about misleading the public by selling content to advertisers while not disclosing to the reader the nature of the article being advertisements.

The site explains that similar lawsuits have been filed against a long list of news media sites. This issue is not uncommon. The interesting part of it is about the suit against Yated Neeman for 20 million shekels.

According to the report, the lawsuit against Yated Neeman was filed by a subscriber of the newspaper from Beitar Ilit. The severity of the issue is worse with Yated Neeman, so claims the lawsuit, because Yated is a sectoral newspaper for a specific slice of the Haredi community - Litvishe Haredi supporters of the Degel Hatorah party. This turns the Yated readership into a captive audience with no alternatives, no choices, and publishing hidden advertising in such a situation is worse - the Yated is the only medium through which most of the Yated readers are exposed to the outside world. And, the Yated is not just a news source for its readership but is also a window exposing the readership to the hashkafot of the Litvishe leadership, daas torah.

The lawsuit detailed many examples of hidden advertising in the Yated newspaper, but had no proof that money had been paid for these advertisements. The reason they have no proof is because while other newspapers or media have a slew of words that indicate in different ways some form of advertising sold, Yated gives absolutely no indication in these articles in any way. Many are even published in the section of the newspaper titled "News". Another specific complaint is that some of the "letters to the editor" in the "reshut harabim" section are also sold and written supposedly by readers writing about a personal experience or whatnot but are really advertisements.

the lawsuit demands the courts order the paper to stop such secret advertising and to establish a clear line between real articles and advertising and product placement.

While the lawsuit against the Yated is interesting, and in some ways unique, as described above, the more interesting part is the response of the Yated.

The Yated responded to the suit saying that they do not do this - they do not put in hidden advertising, but when they do, it is generally not for pay, and when it is for pay it is because of the competitors.

the say such hidden advertising is generally not for pay. They say they include it because it is content that enriches the newspaper and the readers appreciate this type of content.

Another defense is that there are generally slight indicators as to the different nature of these articles, such as a border around the article, a slightly different font or some other slight change. And, such articles are generally written using any of a few fake names which everyone knows are not real and therefore the content is not real news.

And, the last interesting part of their response is that some of the hidden advertising is really news. Such as, when a big rav or gadol calls on the public to support this or that tzedaka organization or a campaign for a specific tzedaka or goal - for this readership, such a call from a gadol is news for them, not advertising. the readers relate to such topics as news and newsworthy articles.

The arguments in response are not bad, though I really did not understand how they explain the times they do charge money for such ads (though they really do not), saying that it is because of the competitors, Hapeles, pressure on the advertisers. Briefly they are saying that they don't have hidden advertising, except when they do but then it is not in exchange for money, but when it is in exchange for money it is allowed for other reasons.

President Reuven Rivlin [C] and world leaders in a group photo taken in Jerusalem January 22 2020 (photo credit: KOBI GIDEON/GPO)

historic

If Netanyahu will fall - and it does not matter who would replace him, no serious Western leader will bother coming here, no Putin will trouble himself to make a goodwill gesture and release Israelis imprisoned in Russia rightfully or wrongfully, and the President of Romania will not be unsure of which picture came out better with anyone who is not Netanyahu

  -- Author and activist Chaim Walder

as the saying goes, the cemetery is full of people who thought they were irreplaceable..

Kikar brings an interesting court decision regarding working on Shabbos.

According to the report, the City of Herzliya sent enforcement supervisors on Shabbos to give out tickets to cars parked illegally. Someone appealed his 750nis ticket claiming that it was illegal for the City to give out tickets on Shabbos like that, unless the illegally parked car is a danger to the public. The claim is that employing the meter maids on Shabbos is illegal and against the Shabbos work-rest laws.

The court accepted the argument and decided that without an issue of pikuach nefesh it is against the law to use the meter maids on Shabbos. The judge lowered the fine to 1nis.

What I don't get about this is - why are these not two separate issues? Why does a ticket already given deserve to be canceled just because the employment on that day was illegal - the employment issue has nothing to do with the owner of the car but rather is between the employer and employee? And if the ticket does get canceled because it is deemed invalid, why was it only lowered to 1nis and not canceled entirely?

Further, the court was opposed, rightfully so, to the use of Jewish meter maids on Shabbos. Presumably, if the City used Druze or other non-Jewish meter maids that would be fine and the ticket would remain valid.

Interestingly, the Mayor of Herzliya recently refused to join the "public transportation on Shabbos" initiative led by Tel Aviv and was praised highly (by many) for his decision to stand up for Shabbos. It turns out he himself is employing workers on Shabbos, so I am not sure what his stance regarding public Shabbos-work really is.

World leaders and dignitaries are coming to Israel for some sort of holocaust conference hosted by Yad Vashem. Ok. Nice. I hope they learn a lot and develop sensitivity to anti-semitism and fascism and whatever the goals of the conference are.

Some are upset about a party being hosted by the mayor of Jerusalem, Moshe Lion, for the dignitaries and other invitees. Here is a copy of the invitation:



Some are upset that this party is happening. They consider it distasteful and inappropriate.

I see nothing wrong with it. People are coming from abroad. Just because they are spending the day learning about the Holocaust does not mean they cannot have other events at other times. As long as the party is tasteful and not holocaust-themed, I do not see a problem. I think it is good to show foreigners a good time when they are here and not just talk about death and holocaust and whatnot. This seems to be separate from the Holocaust event during the day, and Lion is taking advantage of free time in the schedule to host a party and keep them busy and bring some interest to the city of Jerusalem...

All this talk about annexing the Jordan Valley is blessed, but it is all just talk. I call upon the Prime Minister to bring the issue of annexation to a vote in the Knesset this coming Sunday..

  -- Minister Naftali Bennett

Bennett knows Netanyahu (like many politicians) likes to make campaign promises but not follow up on it...

@KalmanLiebskind on #קלמןליברמן: My mother was in Birkenau, starving. If she could see what the chef is preparing for the Aushwitz Memorial dinner, she'd explode. We've lost it. @PresidentRuvi.

— Ben Waxman (@benwaxman) January 22, 2020

A strange court decision just determined that Friday night is not Shabbos - only Saturday day is.

Traffic Court in Jerusalem heard a petition from someone who had received a ticket for driving on Friday night in an area in which it is prohibited to drive on Shabbos - in Batei Machse in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City of Jerusalem.

The driver drove onto the street despite a sign warning the public that driving there on Shabbat and Chagim is prohibited. The driver petitioned the court to have his fine canceled claiming that the description "shabbat and chag" is not clear enough and he thought that it is only prohibited form driving there during the daytime hours of these days, not at night. The obligation to adhere to road signage must require the signs to be clear and understandable.

The court actually accepted the argument and canceled the fine. The judge explained that it is not unreasonable to misunderstand the sign, especially when needing to make a split-second decision while driving and seeing the sign.
source: Kipa

I guess in the secular parlance, "Shabbat" is a day of the week - Saturday - not a halachic time from sundown on Friday afternoon/evening. That being the case, it is not unreasonable, as the judge said, that someone would misunderstand the sign in that split second and assume Shabbat means Saturday and not Friday night.

That being said, this fellow would not be allowed to drive there on Saturday night, after sundown, because in his mind the entire Saturday is prohibited from driving on that road. He found a great argument, but using it means he expects to be allowed to drive there Friday night and Saturday night, which goes against his argument.

Anyways, the result is that the court decision tells us that Friday night is understandably not part of Shabbat.

And, based on this court decision, will the police be rewording any such relevant signs? If they do not, make sure to appeal any tickets when relevant. If they do, I wonder how they will reword it to make it clearer and not just more complicated for drivers with too many words to see in the moment of driving by - no driving on Friday night from sundown until Saturday night 35 minutes after sundown.....

This is a weird exchange in the Knesset. It seems mostly to be a couple of politicians trying to each "out-man" the other...

Yesterday some Likudniks floated the idea of possibly trying to put Benny Gantz in a tight spot by taking advantage of Gantz forcing the Knesset to convene, despite the election season, in order to deal with making the Immunity committee official and proposing a law to annex the Jordan Valley.

I am not quite sure why that puts Gantz in a tight spot, as he has said he supports such an annexation. Maybe some of Gantz's potential coalition members are more left wing and would not like him voting on that. personally, from Gantz's perspective it seems like a better proposition for him to have the Likud propose it with his support than for him to propose it and have to rely on the Meretz votes to push it through (though he probably would not have to anyway because presumably right wing votes would be enough to push it through).

But ok, they suggested it. This morning Benny Gantz said that after the elections he would work to annex the Jordan Valley, with international support.

To me the addition of "with international support" sounds like he is turning it into a non-issue, as it is extremely unlikely he would have international support, but that's what he said.

To that PM Netanyahu responded asking why wait until after the elections rather than doing it right now with a broad concensus in Knesset? Netanyahu said he is waiting for Gantz's response, unless Tibi is vetoing the idea.

This is just a silly response. Netanyahu has been prime minister for ten years straight and has had every opportunity to propose the annexation, and has not. Suddenly he is in a rush and it is Gantz delaying, as if Gantz has any power right now? Netanyahu even said just a few weeks ago that he is going to propose the annexation in Knesset, but has yet to do so. So he is blaming Gantz for delaying such a vote, when he himself has been in a far better position to propose it and push it through but has failed to anything more than talk about it?

All the Jews go to Miami for the  winter... even the Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem (and formerly of Israel)..

Rav Amar went to Miami to visit some of the Jewish communities there (source: Kikar)...

Much wiser than going to Chicago in the winter as he did about ten years ago... I guess he's learned his lesson.. (though back then he went in October which is cold, but not too cold)




(hattip Yeranen Yaakov)

the following post has some very interesting information that I did not previously know... it was written in response to an article written against the recent women's siyyum hashas daf yomi, which I am posting here:

The Ministry of Finance is cutting budgets. Among other things, the budget allocated for yeshiva students and avreichim is also being cut.

The news has publicized a series of meetings that were to be held by leaders of the Haredi parties, the Ministry of Finance and PM Benjamin Netanyahu to try to find a solution, to try to persuade the MoF to scrap the budget cuts, to find alternate monies, or some other solution to save the yeshivas and avreichim from these cuts.

At the last minute the meetings were canceled by Netanyahu. Supposedly Netanyahu was concerned about the publicity the issue would receive in the press of him cutting budgets of various items but agreeing to increase the budgets for yeshivas, or at least cancel the planned cuts if not an actual increase.

In the grand scheme of things, it does not sound like a lot of money, but when bundled with all the other budget cuts it is probably pretty significant.

According to Actualic, the Prime Minister's Office told the Haredi politicians to lower their profile on the matter and not turn it into a crisis and not talk about this topic in interviews. UTJ seems to think that despite the efforts they plan to continue to make to avert the budget cuts, it is a done deal and there won't be anything for them to do.

According to Behadrei, the cuts are so significant that the new numbers are similar to what the yeshivas and avreichim received from the government back in the days of Yair Lapid's government (also under Netanyahu). The numbers they publish, if accurate, are pretty similar.

I am surprised. The Haredi parties have backed Netanyahu through thick and thin in recent years and have been unwavering in their support. This does not seem like so much money that Netanyahu would not agree to give it back, especially considering the support he received from them. Netanyahu has overseen significant budget cuts to the yeshivas a number of times already.

Back in the day Netanyahu, as Finance Minister in 2003 I think, cut yeshiva budgets and child allowances. Thart was harsh, but Netanyahu was quickly forgiven.

In 2013 Yair Lapid was Finance Minister under Benjamin Netanyahu as Prime Minister, and Lapid cut the yeshiva bdgets significantly. Lapid has been treated as an anti-haredi politician since then with Haredi politicians refusing to sit with him or even talk with him, yet Netanyahu who was overall in charge was let off the hook.

Now in 2020 Netanyahu is Prime Minister and the Likud holds the FInance Ministry and budgets are again being cut. I don't know what tomorrow will bring, but so far the Haredi politicians are making nary a peep.

Somehow Netanyahu gets a free pass on these issues. Not only does it seem the Haredi politicians won't be making much noise about this, but they will also likely continue supporting him for Prime Minister more solidly than anyone else...

Kikar has a story of a father who was arrested for breaking his 15 year old son's cellular phone. The mother, his wife, called the police on him and they came to the home in Geula neighborhood of Jerusalem to arrest him.

While this fellow has no prior criminal record, he was accused of violence against electronic devices in the home before, and was accused of violence against the children in the past but at the time denied the accusation and nothing came of it.

The courts denied the police request to extend his detention but released him to house arrest to be located in a local yeshiva. He will not be allowed to leave the yeshiva without permission form the court. He is also not allowed to be in contact with his wife or children. The purpose of this is so that he will not impede the ongoing investigation in any way.

It sounds to me like this fellow is abusive to his family. While he has found ways to avoid getting in trouble for it until now, it looks like the mother has had enough. For her to call the police over a broken telephone? Looks like this is far bigger than that.

A report on Kan 11 has revealed that the rabbinic council of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel met back in November 2019 and reaffirmed the Beta Israel community of Ethiopians as full Jews, as per the psak of Rav Ovadia Yosef some 47 years ago.
sources: TOI, Kipa, Haredim10

I do not know why they needed to reaffirm the psak now, nor is it known why this meeting and reaffirmation was kept secret until now, but it happened.

Whatever the reason, I would expect the Rabbanut to enforce the decision in whatever way is relevant, treating them as full Jews and fighting racism against this sector.