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Nov 30, 2020

milk that isn't milk

We live in interesting times. Fascinating times. That is one thing we can be pretty sure about. 

With lab grown and plant-based meats already making its way to the restaurant tables, now an Israeli startup is working on lab grown dairy products. And not from any cow cells or milk cells but purely created in a laboratory.

According to the people behind Remilk, they have found a way to make milk without using a single cow in the process, by genetically recreating the proteins found in milk and inserting them into a single cell microbe, whatever that means. They then used a microbial fermentation process to increase the proteins and then dried it into a powder.

They claim this process has given them an identical copy of milk, but without the lactose and without the cholesterol.

This should be great for lactose-intolerant Jews.

When TOI asked if this milk will be pareve or dairy, they stressed that while not being a rabbi to make such a determination, not a single cell was taken from a cow (or any other animal) in the process. Yet, it is a milk protein like regular milk and he claims in the lab they are identical.

To me it seems this would clearly be pareve and not dairy. It is even better than the lab grown meat from an animal cell, on which there is a question and debate because of the animal cell used as the source. This is purely done in the lab with no animal cells. Maybe there would be a maris ayin issue, until this product becomes so popular and well known, but considering it as actual dairy seems unreasonable.

Soon you might be able to eat lab grown meat while drinking a cup of lab grown chocolate milk

I look forward to hearing the different opinions about this new development.



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Quote of the Day

The Ministry of Health is 100% disconnected form reality. When there were no more verified Corona patients, they made up some new measure called R and then began to go by that. It is not correct. Lockdowns have not helped in exterminating any virus anywhere in the world.

The Haredim acted properly band in this group they have created herd immunity for themselves. They are right getting their lives back to order. That is what the entire country should do, while protecting those with medical conditions.

  -- Dr Amir Shachar, head of Emergency Room of Laniado Hospital


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Behind the Bima (S2E10) Special Guest: Malcolm Hoenlein (video)








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Palestinians: The Quran says the Jews will return. So why don't you accept Israel? (video)







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Happy Thanksgiving from Ambassador David Friedman and the entire U.S. Embassy Jerusalem community (video)

a little late on this but I only just saw this..





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Lenny Solomon Live (video)









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Ishay Ribo - keter Melukha | LIVE (video)







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Nov 29, 2020

a holy death

According to his widow, slain Iranian nuclear chief scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh wanted to die the death of a holy martyr.
source: Ynet

On behalf of whoever was behind the assassination, allow me to say "You're welcome".




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Hamis Abulafia died and it didn't go unnoticed

Abulafia Bakery in Tel Aviv - Yafo is an interesting story. The bakery was opened in 1879 by an Arab baker, Masoud Abulafia (I have seen a variety of spellings of the Abulafia name and I do not know which, in English, is accurate, so I am just spelling it the easiest way of the options). The Abulafia bakery was very popular, eventually opening other branches, including a branch that is kosher mehadrin.

In 1969 the bakery began closing on Yom Kippur and Pesach. The story goes that a rabbi in Tel Aviv was concerned about Jews buying chametz during Pesach from the bakery and approached the owner, Sayeed Abulafia and asked what their profits are for the week of Pesach. Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Shtrouber agreed to pay Abulafia the profits for the week on condition the bakery would remain closed, and supposedly this arrangement continued for several years. At some point, Sayeed told Rabbi Shtrouber that it was unnecessary to continue the arrangement - Rabbi Shtrouber would not need to pay him to close the bakery as he has decided to close it anyway as they have seen nothing but blessings since deciding to close for Pesach. 

This decision has been in effect since then. Abulafia Bakery closes for Pesach, so as not to cause Jews to buy chametz on Pesach, even though they are an Arab owned bakery and it would be perfectly permissible for them to remain open.

One of the owners of Abulafuia Bakery, Hamis Abulafia, died this past week. Besides for his personal history of being pro-Israel and his history as a journalist and radio personality promoting good neighbor relations between the Arabs and Jews of Tel Aviv Yafo, Hamis and his brothers kept the original arrangement all these years by their own volition, and were clearly beloved for it. The various news sites, especially the Haredi news sites, all reported the death of Hamis, at the age of 60 years old, from Corona, with great respect. 

The Abulafia clearly did something good and were beloved for it. The fact that they did it on their own without pressure from the law and threats from the "establishment", makes it an even greater decision and made them more beloved and respected in the eyes of the public. Normally the death of an Arab baker would likely go unnoticed, if at all reported, but Hamis and his family have earned themselves a special place in the hearts of many Israelis.







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7-11 and Slurpees might soon be coming to Israel!

According to news reports, it seems there is a good chance 7-11 will soon be opening stores in Israel. And, as they say, when 7-11 enters a new country, it starts with at least 100 stores across the country. It doesn't just open 1 or 5 stores.

Interestingly, the chain would be brought in, if it works out, by a fashion group and a electrical goods chain, rather than by a corporation in the food industry. Not that it makes much of a difference to us, the average consumer.

Either way, they are in negotiations and looking to sign a memorandum of understanding which will then open negotiations on exactly how the Israeli franchise will work. 

While most products sold in 7-11 shops are packaged goods, and the merchandise sold will likely mostly not be special imported products that are sold in the USA chain but will largely be products already available in Israel, some of the things I wonder about would be the slurpees, the fresh sandwiches (and hotdogs) many branches of 7-11 sell, and the opening hours. 

Obviously slurpees would be a big thing here, the question is if they will have them or not. Maybe Freezee could enter the 7-11 market if 7-11 won't bring in the actual Slurpee brand.

Regarding the fresh sandwiches and hotdogs, kashrut would be a question, but hopefully at least in areas with high percentages of kosher-eating populations they would sell a variety of good quality kosher dogs and other meats and sandwiches, along with maybe other kosher foods similar to the 7-11 in Monsey that sells knishes and cholent and other Jewish delicacies.

And, opening hours. 7-11 is known to be open 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Obviously that would not work in Israel, for the most part. At least on Yom Kippur they would have to close, but Shabbos would also be a big issue. Even if they decide to close the stores on Shabbos in more religious areas, many religious people might not want to patronize the stores knowing that some of the stores are mechalel shabbos even if this specific one is not. That has been an issue with other chains, and I don't see why it wouldn't necessarily be with this one as well. We'll have to see how this plays out.

And, perhaps lastly, what about 7-11 day? Would it be on November 7 or on July 11 (like in the USA)? If they give out free slurpees, assuming they sell slurpees, for the day, we very well might bankrupt them - this is a country of people that love to take advantage of such deals!

What products would you most look forward to, should 7-11 actually end up opening here? And what would be your biggest concerns besides those already mentioned?





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Quote of the Day

We will discuss this week an outline for distribution of the vaccines [against Corona]. My policy has been, and still is, that we need to bring in as many vaccines as possible from as many sources as possible for as many citizens as possible as fast as possible. We can all see that this policy has proven itself, as there are different reports regarding the quality of the process of checking the vaccinations, at least with one of the companies. So, my policy has been to bring as many as possible...

We are constantly checking the data in regards to the guidelines we eased up on. If there will be a need, we will stop the easing up of the guidelines and will even tighten up those that already happened.

  -- PM Benjamin Netanyahu

 






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Headlines Podcast: 11/28/20 – Show 299 – You may be suprised how many Issurei Ribbis you can be Oiver; The Kashrus and Mesorah of Turkey (audio)







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exclusive tour of Ben and Jerry's Israel ice cream factory (video)








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The HatzalaCast Episode 1 | Moshe Braun - CEO and Director, Hatzala Beit Shemesh (video)









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Synagogues of Colorado Part 1 (video)








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Eli Friedman El Beit Avi (Official Music Video)







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Nov 26, 2020

Picture of the Day




That's the mayor of Hod Hasharon, Amir Kochavi, wading through the streets of his city flooded from the heavy rains...



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calls for Gantz to waive rotation rights increase

Recently the Likud has called on Minister Benny Gantz to waive the rotation agreement that would have him as Prime Minister late next year. For the good of the country. The Likud said that if Gantz gives up on the rotation, we can easily see this government serving its full term of 4.5 years.

Today Shas is joining the call. Deputy Minister Itzik Cohen also called for Gantz to give up the rotation agreement. Cohen said Gantz is a patriot and cares about the State of Israel, and by waiving the rotation the budget can get passed for the good of Israel.

I don't get it. What are they offering Gantz to waive his rotation agreement? Just give up the rotation and let Netanyahu be PM for the full term with nothing in return? Why should he agree to this? If you think you can convince him to give up the rotation, offer him something valuable in exchange. Gantz is only part of the government because of the rotation agreement. If they pressure him to give up the rotation, especially with nothing but "the good of the country" in return, he has no reason to stay in the government. That would of course mean new elections, as Gantz leaving the government after waiving his rights to the rotation would dissolve the coalition. I guess they are banking on Gantz waiving his rights but staying in the coalition, which makes no sense to me.

Perhaps Netanyahu should also be equally pressured to resign, or to honor the rotation and other agreements, for the vague "good of the country". Or maybe he should be pressured to pass the budget and not hold it hostage as a pressure point against Gantz.


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Mehadrin Domino's Pizza in Israel

According to JPost, Domino's Pizza in Israel will now be opening at least ten mehadrin branches across Israel, beginning by converting 2 currently kosher branches (in Petach Tikva) to mehadrin.

Mehadrin branches of Domino's will have different signage and boxes to make them easily distinguishable. The new mehadrin pizza boxes will be red instead of blue and black, and will also bear the kosher mehadrin stamp.


Having never eaten Domino's Pizza, the only thing I really know about it is the 30 minute delivery guarantee. Domino's was famous for guaranteeing that the pizza would be in your hands delivered within 30 minutes of placing the order, or else it would be free of charge. 

While this idea excited me - who hasn't been frustrated by ordering pizza from the shop and it only arriving 45 minutes later or even an hour or more while calling a few times to ask where the pizza is and being told it will be there in 3 minutes - it seems to be no longer true. A quick search turns up the fact that decades ago they stopped this policy. Oh well. In Israel they probably wouldnt have honored it anyway.



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leaky graves

Behadrei has news of an Eida pashkevil and protest (not hafgana, just a verbal protest for now) that taught me about a problem I didn't know existed.

According to the article, a few months back it was discovered that the area of Har Hamenuchos where the graves are built in "stories" above ground (though not halachically above ground because of the way they are constructed) had a problem. The graves were leaking. That's right, leaking. As the bodies decompose, fluids and juices were leaking out of the graves and down on to the pavement and basically running down the road.

When it was discovered this past summer, according to the article, ZAKA got involved in sponging up the leaking fluids and buried them while management worked to resolve the problem and plug the leaks.

Now, with the steady and heavy rains, the leak is back.

The Eida has gotten involved and sent its people over to check out the situation. They issued a kol koreh about the situation, along with parenthetically criticizing the IDF Rabbinate decision to bury Jewish and non-Jewish soldiers side by side (with a solution beneath ground to keep them from being "next to each other".

All I really have to say about this, is ewwww. gross. Bodies leaking out of graves! Yuch/yich/ichsa.

I hope they solve this. In addition to the kvod hameis issue, there are health concerns and there will also be emotional trauma involved if it continues.





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Harav Dovid Feinstein visits Artscroll's new facility in NJ (video)







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Israelis: What did your grandparents expect to happen with the Arabs when they came here? (video)







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Behind the Bima S2E9 - Special Guest: Ben Brafman (video)







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Bardak: the Eisenbach brand (video)






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Eli Gerstner - "Hodu Lo" Feat. Shlomo Schachter (Official Video)








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Nov 25, 2020

Kashrut Alert on Haribo candies

The following kashrut alert on Haribo candies has been making the rounds:

KASHRUS ALERT:
*Candies by HARIBO Company sweets are NOT KOSHER contain  E428 gelatin derived from pig ligaments * are distributed in all markets and kosher supermarkets in Israel and all over the world. 

These gelatin based candies are illegally labeled "strictly kosher" “badatz”, they are not labeled Halal for muslims either (which would confirm no pig is being used if the Halal stamp would have been on the package).
And it is written on the package - "without the consent of the rabbinical counsel ”
There is NO appointed mashgiach overseeing such production of any of the HARIBO Candies.
The rabbinical counsel of Israel has tried without success to remove the fake kosher label sticker added on the packaging. 

The sweets contains a NON KOSHER  ingredient such as pig ligaments gelatin based called E428. 
Please warn everyone, 
DO NOT BUY THOSE NON KOSHER CANDIES FROM THIS COMPANY.

In addition, Paskesz has now put out a statement to avoid confusion, as Paskesz produces a line of Haribo candies with their kashrut, but the candies witht he kashrut alert are not from Paskesz...



It is always good to be aware and educated...


Here is an image I found of the candies with the alert:







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Olmert vs Pollard

Upon hearing the news that Jonathan Pollard's parole had been terminated and he is now free to roam the world with no restrictions, former Prime Minister, and convicted felon, Ehud Olmert commented that Pollard should stay in the United States and not come to Israel.

Olmert said that Pollard worked for a lot of money, and that attention to the Pollard affair continues to cause damage to Israel.

I guess in Olmert's opinion, working for money disqualifies him from living in Israel. Unlike Olmert himself who was convicted for working for a lot of money and keeps blabbing his mouth at every opportunity about morals and ethics and proper policy and reminding the world of the Israeli PM who was convicted and sent to jail...




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Quote of the Day

They are calling me Dr. Mengele, the accursed Nazi murderer, because my Ministry is taking care to bring millions of vaccines for the entire population. Getting vaccinated is not an obligation. If you want to - get the vaccines, if you don't want to, don't get the vaccine.

  -- Minister of Health Yuli Edelstein

I have a strong dislike for comparisons of pretty much anything to the Holocaust...






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Proposed Law: Ma and Pa rather than parents

Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn pushed through reforms recently, ordering all forms filled out for children to now bear two lines detailed as "Parent 1" and "Parent 2". This opens the door for homosexual relationships and makes life just a little bit easier for same sex parents. 

Obviously this upset the Haredi parties, as they do not want to give an inch on such matters, as promoting such a lifestyle is against Torah values, and making it easier for them in any way can be seen as promoting the lifestyle.

To that end, MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ) has proposed a law that would require government offices to keep the original "Father" and "Mother" lines on all forms.

Gafni says that changing the forms to say "parent 1 and "parent 2" is against the values of the State of Israel as a Jewish state.
source: Hamechadesh

to me it is just semantics







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Bet Shemesh is on the map!

The other day I was up in the Eretz HaChayim cemetery outside of Bet Shemesh and spotted this vehicle driving around:



That is an Apple Maps car driving around with its fancy camera and imaging the streets of our wonderful area. I dont know if they got a picture of us as they mapped the cemetery, but it is entirely possible.

And today there have been reports in the local online groups of the car being spotted in various neighborhoods of Bet Shemesh.

So, Bet Shemesh is now on the map! Literally!




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Knesset recognizes day to fight violence against women (video)

I didn't watch the entire video of all the speeches in honor of the day for the fight against violence against women, kind of skipped around a bit. I particularly liked MK Abutbol at the beginning inviting Jonathan Pollard to move to Bet Shemesh.. no idea what that had to do with the issue of violence against women, but ok. He speaks again later, so maybe this first speech was leftover from something else. MK Baruchi (at about the 22:20 minute marker) was also interesting. I was impressed by how he could express an opinion opposed to the fight against violence against women - to be fair, he thinks women should not be singled out, not that this violence doesn't exist, but the opposition to violence should be to all violence within the family, including against children and husbands, along with against women.






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Behind the Bima S2E8 - Reflections on Rav Dovid Feinstein zt"l & Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks zt"l (video)






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Our Community - wear a mask (video)







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Lenny Solomon Live (video)

catching up a bit..












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Helfgot: Shehecheyanu (video)







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Nov 24, 2020

Bet Shemesh removes graffiti from RBS B, for now

Earlier today the city adhered to the court order to get rid of the graffiti decorating the streets of RBS B. I saw it happening as I drove by earlier today. 

It seems the city bought special equipment to remove the graffiti in a better way. Interestingly, the city workers were busy working on the graffiti as they were being protected by the police from the local bystanders crowding around expressing their opposition to the removal. Many of the bystanders (some right there and some a bit further back) upset were not wearing masks, and while the police could have bothered them for that, they did not (that I could tell) and were simply keeping them at bay.

That neighborhood could be as beautiful as most of the city is, but instead it looks like a public bathroom stall. I find this very sad. And that is separate from the hurtful messages painted all over the place there.


The biggest issue with this is that it is an exercise in futility. By tomorrow all the graffiti, and more, will be back, and possibly with even more hurtful messages. This has been done before and will be done again. This is a useless move, though it too must be done.

The city has to find a more useful way of dealing with this. They can't choose to ignore it entirely, because of the court order, but just removing it without dealing with the root of the problem is futile. I dont have the solutions but they likely include actually using the installed security cameras and heavily fining violators, along with talking with community leaders and coming to an understanding.

As futile as it is, removing the graffiti is at least a good start.

  


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Rabbanut clarifies kashrut removal policy

One of the frustrating aspects of a kashrut organization removing its kashrut certification form a product or company  or restaurant (or being removed by the company/restaurant) is the announcement of the kashrut removal. 

Sometimes, perhaps even often, the announcement is worded vaguely and sometimes makes one suspicious of troublesome behavior, or fraud or deception. Sometimes all that happened is the restaurant or company decided to switch to a different kashrut certification, yet the consumer sees the announcement of the kashrut being removed without necessarily seeing anything about the new kashrut certification and gets an impression that kashrut was removed because of a problem. That announcement stays in his head and he then suspects the place is no longer kosher, and might even not rely on the new kashrut, if he finds out about it, thinking they must be pulling something over on the new organization that they haven't found yet. 

The wording of these announcements, which are necessary, can be very pareve and neutral, or they can be dangerous and destructive.

The Rabbanut has issued a clarification regarding the wording of such announcements. Obviously this only applies to such announcements from the Rabbanut and not form other organizations, but at least they will be working according to rules of reasonable announcements, and that's a start.

According to the Rabbanut's clarification, it is important to make such an announcement of a kashrut removal, regardless of the reason, so that those who are kashrut observant and used to eating in an establishment with kashrut certification will know that it is no longer certified as kosher. If the removal of certification is due to breaking the rules of kashrut in a way that justified the removal, they reserve the right to announce the removal of certification along with the reason as it sees fit, along with a kashrut warning if deemed necessary. If the reason for the removal is initiated by the customer, whether financial or other reasons, the wording of any announcement should be carefully crafted to not give the impression of any wrongdoing or attempt to cause people to sin, and they should bear no kashrut warning to the public and just leave it as an announcement of the removal of the certification (with the reason) with the local Rabbanut bearing no more responsibility.

Hopefully this clarification will help the public know the true situation of any given restaurant and eatery and will not cause unnecessary damage, while still helping the public keep kosher and be educated about current realities.







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Picture of the Day




This minyan in the snow is in Thornhill, Canada. I don't know who took the picture, but Sivan Rahav Meir posted it to Facebook. I admire their dedication.



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Interesting Psak: toiveling during the day because of Corona minyanim

Ever since Corona began and the shuls were first closed, the outdoor minyan came into existence and has yet to go away, despite the shuls re-opening. 

Many people like the outdoor minyanim for a variety of reasons, and the shuls, even though open are limited in numbers (if they keep to the rules), and there are people who cannot go back because they are in risk groups or take extra precautions for other reasons. Some shul leadership are even concerned that a good percentage of people might never come back to shul and might just keep the outdoor minyanim going even when this is all over.

Many have thought that the winter would see the demise of the outdoor minyan, as the weather turns cold and rainy, and snowy in some places. That hasn't happened yet, but we haven't had the major rains yet, here in Israel.

All this has created a strange situation. Minyanim in the street and parks and parking lot all see situations in which women are walking by, and even through, the minyan in the middle of davening. Women have places to go, and that is just the way it is. Everyone is inconvenienced, and pretty much everyone has shown understanding and patience.  

But it is still a strange situation, and sometimes uncomfortable.

And sometimes it is very uncomfortable.

Women have complained about having to walk through street minyanim when going to the mikva on Friday nights, and that is very uncomfortable for them. Some women have complained about a lack of privacy in such situations, some about tzniyus concerns. I would even bet that some women have decided not to go to the mikva as scheduled on a Friday night so as not to need to walk through a bunch of men on the way and have instead decided to wait until they could drive to the mikva instead.

Rav Avi Gisser, rav of the community of Ofra, has issued an emergency psak - only until the end of Corona (and seemingly the end of the street minyanim).

Rav Gisser has paskened that women who find themselves in such potential situations and are uncomfortable can go to the mikva and immerse, toivel, within the hour before Shabbos begins. Rav Gisser qualifies that anyone who can continue to go to the mikva as normal, after nightfall, should as that is the halachic preference, and this allowance is only for those who cannot. Rav Gisser stresses that this is a horaat shaa - an emergency situation psak, only for the situation now during Corona times, and is not one to be used or extrapolated to other situations in normal times. 

Rav Gisser explains that the immersion in the mikva should be done as close as possible to Shabbos. The prohibition against touching between husband and wife will continue despite her already having immersed until after the time of "tzies hakochavim", the visibility of 3 stars, arrives bringing with it the time of official night.
source: Kipa







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lab grown meats in Tel Aviv restaurant

Growing meat in a lab from animal stem cells looks like it is going to be a big thing in the not too distant future. For the kosher consumer it raises complex halachic discussions and concerns, and being that it has been theoretical until now, as far as I am aware all halachic discussion about it has been tentative and theoretical with no real conclusions or consensus. It seems the biggest part of the debate is whether taking cells from a living animal and turning it into meat to be eaten is considered "eiver min hachai" or not.

With that brief introduction, it looks like it might be happening sooner than expected, though not yet on a massive scale of any sort.

SuperMeat is a Tel Aviv based food tech company and they are already putting out chicken meat grown from chicken cells. There is already a new restaurant in Tel Aviv, simply called The Chicken, serving this chicken, along with other plant based "meats". This isn't just the first restaurant in Tel Aviv, or in Israel, serving lab gown meats - it is the first such restaurant in the world!

Currently The Chicken isn't even charging for meals - it is serving to customers in exchange for feedback on the meats. They should get a lot of customers like this, and hopefully a lot of feedback that will help them improve their product.

While I do not know if the restaurant The Chicken is kosher or not, I suspect it is not, or at least not certified as kosher. I figure that if it would be certified as kosher, that would be massive news in the kosher industry and on the religious websites. A kosher restaurant serving kosher-certified lab grown meats? That would be massive news if it happens, as it would mean a reputable group of rabbonim, a reputable kashrut organization (and in Israel along with the Rabbanut because of the legal issue of anything declared kosher requiring a Rabbanut certification as a base) making a halachic decision on the issue of lab grown meats from cells. That would be news I would almost definitely not be able to miss, and I haven't seen any such halachic decision.

Of course, it is easy enough to go to the restaurant and check out the situation, but it seems to me that there is not even a need for that.





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Jonathan Pollard's Parole Terminated (video)

my personal opinion is that he committed the crime (much of which we don't know, no matter what people claim), he paid the time (likely a far greater punishment than it should have been), let him be... he can go where he wants and live where he wants, and that's it..











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My Sigd - The Jewish Agency for Israel (video)







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Bardak: Who is Haredi (video)








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The Magic of R' Eli Stefansky and his Daf Yomi Shiurim (video)







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Hanan Ben Ari: Amen for the Children (video)









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Nov 18, 2020

Meier/Max Funeral speech 17/11/2020

Meier/Max Funeral speech 17/11/2020

 

With today being Rosh Chodesh, we aren’t supposed to give a hesped, though I am told we are allowed to say our goodbyes. So here is my goodbye. Meier, or Max as you later preferred to be called.

As the older brother living far away since you were about 5 years old, I got to see and experience you much less than the rest of the family. I don’t have nearly as many of those daily stories and memories of your booming voice, your contagious smile, your infectious laughter, and your adventurous attitude.

But we did have the pleasure of hosting you a lot when you spent 2 years in Israel in yeshiva and then again when you came back for nearly two years as a volunteer in the IDF, along with other family visits at other times.

When you were in yeshiva you brought us the goose after rescuing her from the lively yeshiva boys and their Purim prank. You brought her to us as a baby. She became our pet and around 3 years later, after learning shechita together, we also enjoyed eating her together.

You came by often, usually whipping out your harmonica or guitar to concoct some crazy and whimsical song for the kids, or sitting with them and telling them your new versions of the family stories of the man with the golden arm or blackie the goat. If you weren’t coming to us, you were out exploring Israel and meeting new people. Like the taxi driver that invited you to a Moroccan Rosh Hashana dinner and then wanted you to marry her daughter.

Goodbye Meier. Goodbye Max. Our lives were that much richer for having you in them for the past 35 years, and that much poorer for not having you in them any longer.

I just want to finish by saying something we tell our kids regularly. Life isn’t fair. Just standing here today is evidence enough of that. But that’s not what I am talking about. We get to mourn our brother, our son. We have spouses and family and friends who knew Meier and loved him just as much and sometimes for nearly as long. They mourn Meier, or Max, but unofficially. While they mourn, the burden of keeping everything going falls on them, in addition to being there for us emotionally. Thank you Shifra, and Leslie and Ron and Rachel and all the kids and cousins and friends, for being there, for keeping everything running and for your love.

 



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Nov 15, 2020

Bereavement Time Off

Unfortunately I have to inform you of the untimely passing of my brother in Chicago. We are bringing him here to Israel for the burial, which will take place  on Tuesday. After that I'll be sitting shiva. 

 I'll be mostly offline until after the shiva. 

I can be contacted by email (comments to this blog get sent to my email, so if you don't already have my email address, feel free to comment on this post, or any other, or using the contact page at http://lifeinisrael.blogspot.com/p/advertise-on-life-in-israel.html and I'll get it) and Whatsapp (for those who have it)

Besorot Tovot. Good health, physical and mental, to all, and wishing you all a long life.

Here is something my siblings all wrote together:

With deep and abiding sorrow from depths we didn't know we had, the Goldmeier family wishes to inform you of the death of Max Goldmeier.
Max was a brother, a son, an uncle, and a friend. He served with distinction in the Israeli army, received a Masters in Chemistry alongside numerous other academic and professional achievements.
He was clever and funny, passionate and honest and kind. Max was generous with whatever he had, especially giving of his time, his heart, his skills and his energy. He loved nature, and reading, and music and was fiercely loyal. Max would do anything to help and protect and nurture his family and friends.
Despite all this and more, Max lost his decades long battle and succumbed to his mental health demons.
Max was deeply loved by many and will be missed dearly.



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Nov 12, 2020

the puppet minister that doesn't want to be a puppet minister

The Minister of Housing is resigning. Again. Sort of. Not really. It is a different Minister of Housing than the one that resigned just a couple of months ago, but ok. 

Yaakov Litzman resigned from the role a little while back, shortly after taking office, because he was upset at the government for imposing a lockdown over Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur.

Litzman then tried to work out an arrangement where someone else form a different party would agree to take on the Ministerial role in name only while allowing Litzman to be appointed as Deputy Minister and actually run the ministry. After some difficulty, he found a willing partner in Itzik Cohen of Shas. Cohen was appointed Minister of Housing about 3 weeks ago.

For whatever reason, Litzman has not yet taken on the post of Deputy Minister. but his people have been running the ministry anyway.

And now the Minister of Housing, Itzik Cohen, has announced his resignation.

I don't know if this is more or less dramatic than Litzman's resignation, but he is not resigning over chilul shabbos, and he isn't resigning over some new Corona rule or lockdown. In his official letter of resignation, Itzik Cohen explains that he is resigning because in this difficult time he feels he must dedicate all his time to the Finance Ministry in which he holds the position of Deputy Minister.




According to the report on Kikar though, the real reason Cohen is resigning is that he refused to just be a puppet of Litzman in the ministry and wanted some actual authority, which Litzman was not willing to give him.   

Which is funny, if true, because the entire position given to him, and the entire country knew it, was to be Litzman's figurehead at the top so that Litzman could run the ministry from slightly lower down.

Well, this puts Litzman up a creek for a bit. He cannot be appointed Deputy Minister without a Minister above him. Netanyahu can't be the minister, as he used to, because of the indictments on him, and so far nobody else has been willing to take that position.

This also puts Gafni and Degel in a bind. It seems that recent experiences have strengthened Litzman's resolve to no longer be a minister. That means, in the next Knesset, whenever that might be, Litzman will likely choose the head of the Finance Committee, that Gafni has held onto for a while - according to internal agreements, after the next election Agudah gets first choice of position. While Aguda has recently been willing to take ministerial positions, via Litzman, Degel never has and says they will not. If Litzman will get first choice, he very well may want to avoid all these problems in the future and go back to the Finance Committee that he held before Gafni. And then Gafni has to take a lesser position or figure out how to be a minister-equivalent without being a minister, or become a minister (or arrange a deputy ministerial spot under a puppet minister).

This is getting messy.







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Quote of the Day

We are in the middle of one long electoral system. It would be better to just end it, go to elections and finish with the whole thing in 3 months.

  -- MK Ayelet Shaked (Yamina)

I think Shaked is forgetting that even before this dysfunctional unity government we went to three elections within 1 year. Nobody knows that if we would go to elections now it would be all done with in 3 months. We might end up back in the same cycle we were stuck in prior to this unity government...



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Interesting Psak: burial of Jewish and non-Jewish soldiers in same cemetery

A policy decision was made recently that shocked and even upset many. 

Until recently, fallen IDF soldiers who were not Jewish were buried in separate cemeteries or sections of cemeteries, or with some clear division, than the Jewish soldiers they fought alongside. This was always based on halacha of not burying Jews and on-Jews together. This always upset some (they can fight together but can't be buried together? our son isnt good enough to be buried beside his friends and peers?), but it was the policy based on halacha.

The news recently reported that the Ministry of Defense in cooperation with the IDF Rabbinate have come up with a solution to allow Jewish and non-Jewish soldiers to be buried in the same sections near each other and without any noticeable distinction or separation. 

According to Kipa, until 2017, non-Jewish soldiers were buried in a separate section of the cemetery, or at least outside of the main section. Since 2017 they were buried in the same section but after a 2 meter gap from the last Jewish grave in the row, often with a bench or a tree placed in that gap.

The new policy is that the Jews and non-Jews can be buried in graves right next to each other, just like the way the rest of the graves are spaced, but the non-Jewish graves will be dug 20cm deeper than the Jewish graves. Inside the grave a mechitza of sorts, made of cinder blocks or some metal barrier will be placed around the body. Externally no difference between the Jewish graves and the non-Jewish graves will be visible, but in the grave itself the burial at different levels will mean they are not buried alongside each other, plus there will be a mechitza between them.

That was the report. I was not sure what to say about it. Good idea? bad idea? creative halacha? pushing the boundaries? I don't know. different families of fallen soldiers were in the news commenting, each in a different way, some supportive, some less so. 

A few rabbis, headed by Rav Dov Lior (formerly Chief Rabbi of Kiryat Arba) have now publicized official opposition to this decision by the IDF Rabbinate, as reported on Srugim. Rav Lior says that this psak of the IDF Rabbinate hurts not just the Jewish soldiers being buried next to non-Jews, but it also damages the status of the Rabbinate and the character of the IDF as the army of the Jewish people. 

Rav Sariel Rosenberg (head of the beis din of Rav Nissim Karelitz), Rav Yehuda Silman (Av Beis DIn of the beis din of Rav Karelitz), and Rav Yitzchak Zilbershtein (rav of Ramat Elchnonon) have also publicized an opinion in opposition to the new policy saying it is prohibited. . 




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The hetter mea rabbonim in use again, but only for some

A number of news websites last night posted about something that happened with a well known Israeli personality. All the sites have since removed their articles on this matter (one explained they had been asked to and even though he report was allowed legally and halachically they decided to agree to remove it), so in this post I am not going to name the person (if someone posts it in the comments I will not remove it), because the post is not about him.

A well known Israeli performer has been in a bad relationship for a while and it has been fairly public. About a year ago this couple split up and it was messy and in the news a lot, at the time. 

It seems that she has been refusing to accept a divorce, turning him into an agun - a chained husband. I don't know if she was making demands he wouldn't or couldn't acquiesce to, or if she was just flat out refusing. Ether way, he was stuck.

The news reports can still be found in some places, sans the names of the involved parties. Beis Din decided to give her the status as a "get refuser" and thus enacted the "hetter mea rabbonim" to allow him to remarry even without divorcing his wife first. She is, obviously, shocked and opposed to this and has protested the decision (beis din responded she has the right to appeal to the Beis Din Hagadol in Yerushalayim) and calls it bigamy. The truth is I never understood how the hetter mea rabbonim gets around the bigamy issue in western societies that have laws against bigamy and polygamy. In halacha, sure, but legally in the secular world I do not know how this works. How can he legally get married in Israel if he remains married to his first wife? I don't know, but that's a side point I guess. Maybe it is an explicit exception in the law in Israel, but the question would still remain open in other countries with similar laws.

I am not going to comment on the granting of the hetter mea rabbonim. I know so little about the case, nothing about the psak beside for the headline summary and almost nothing about the details of the dispute, that it would be inappropriate to comment on that - beyond my assumption that beis din judged fairly and honestly and surely went through all the possibilities before settling on this as the viable solution.

What I will comment on is the sad state of affairs that in just a year or so this dispute could end up with a hetter mea rabbonim, while so many others continue to drag on for years with no solution in sight or possible. And so many women in a similar situation have no solution at all. I am not going to solve the problem, and some problems don't even necessarily have a solution - many have been trying for a long time, and it is a halachic quandary that has yet to be resolved in a halachically acceptable manner for the masses (individual cases at times do have solutions) (hopefully soon some rabbonim will find an acceptable solution), but I can commiserate and lament the ease of implementation of a solution for men and the difficulty of having any solution for women.






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Interesting Psak: saying the bracha upon seeing someone exceptionally smart

There are a number of experiential blessings we are instructed to say at different times, such as when seeing an exceptionally beautiful person, or an exceptionally smart person or an exceptionally powerful person or upon seeing wonders of nature, and many more. One of those blessings, as mentioned, is said upon seeing an exceptionally smart or wise person, and the blessing said is blessing God for giving from His wisdom to those who fear Him.

During a shiur this week, Rav Yitzchak Zilbershtein, rav of the Ramat Elchonon neighborhood of Bnei Braq, was asked if today there is anyone who qualifies to have this bracha said for him. 

Rav Zilbershtein responded, with a psak, that this bracha is only said for someone exceptionally smart in the wisdom of Torah. Rav Zilbershtein said that the only person alive today upon whom this can be said, without entering any questionable area of the possibility of the bracha being in vain, would be Rav Chaim Kanievsky. 

Rav Zilbershtein added an anecdote that Rav Elyashiv, his father in law, told him years ago that back in his time the bracha could only be said upon seeing Rav Moshe Feinstein, the Steipler, and Rav Ahron Kotler. He later added Rav Shach to the list. Nobody else. And when someone wanted to say the bracha upon seeing Rv Elyashiv himself, Rav Elyashiv refused to allow it insisting it would be a bracha levatala.
source: Hamechadesh




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Discussing Aliyah with Hasidic Rapper Nissim Black (video)







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Hasidic Jew's Interactions With Muslims (Incredible!) (video)








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MK Abutbol tells Trump he went through the same thing in Bet Shemesh! (video)







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Yehudah Glick: Prayer for Biden on the Temple Mount (video)

I wonder, if Biden or Harris should happen to see and hear this, would they appreciate the prayer and blessing or would they be upset about it?





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Zalman Stub - Canaan Land (video)







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Nov 11, 2020

Ministry of Culture to sponsor free museum entry on Shabbos?

According to Kipa, the Ministry of Culture, headed by Minister Chili Tropper, is "looking into" the possibility of opening running a program called "Israeli Shabbat" (שבת ישראלית) . This Israeli Shabbbat program would include, possibly, the opening of museums on Shabbos for free, sponsored by the ministry.

It should be noted, the opening of museums on Shabbos would not be new (though not all museums have stayed open on Shabbos), but the sponsorship from the government would be new, ie free entry, to encourage people to go back to the museums and other cultural sites that were hit particularly hard by CoronaVirus as being among the first to close and last to be opened. This would give the return of culture a boost.

MK Moshe Abutbol (Shas), in his position as head of the Lobby for Keeping Shabbos, is perturbed by this program. He can't be too perturbed, officially, by the museums reopening on Shabbos as well, as that was always allowed and many museums did. What he is officially perturbed by is that the government would subsidize entry to the museums on Shabbos and thusly encourage people to go on Shabbos rather than during the week.

Among others, some of the issues upsetting MK Abutbol are:
 - were all museums approached by the ministry, even those that until now have not been open on Shabbos?

 - how will the ministry ensure the numbers of entrants are accurate and not being inflated?

 - the "Status Quo" agreement requires things to stay the same in regards to Shabbos observance. While museums have been allowed to be open on Shabbos and holidays, they were never funded by the government for that. If the plan is to change this, it should be cleared by the head of the coalition (ie and in agreement with the Haredi parties) - which has not been done.

 - museums are often located quite a distance form population centers, so Shabbos-observant people who might want to walk and take advantage of the free museum entry would not be able to.

 - Perhaps consideration should be given to open museums for free one day mid-week as well, so more people (including Shabbos-observant people) could benefit from this.

 - opening for free on Shabbos could hurt the museums during the week and shrink their revenues.

and some other concerns with funding and technical details that are less interesting [to me, because I don't care about "where the funding will come from, and other technical wrenches thrown in just to try to thwart the program]

The status quo issue seems to be the biggest of all the issues, the one the others are all thrown in to cover for. While I am not sure why where the funding is coming from makes it a breach of the status quo, open is open wherever the money comes from and if it was always open it can remain so, if that is actually how it works, it is an issue that needs to be resolved. I think it would also be fair to be concerned about museums that were previously closed on Shabbos that might now be encouraged to open to get a slice of this pie. I don't know if that would officially be a breach of the status quo, as they were allowed to open but chose not to, but it would be upsetting to see the government encourage additional chilul shabbos by tempting them with funding.

Also, opening for free on Shabbos might be discriminatory against the religious public, who often can't take advantage of the offer. 

I could see this program, if it takes off, leading to another problem. I can see this leading to, and re-opening, the issue of public transportation on Shabbos. People will complain that only people with cars can go to the museums for free, but people lower on the socio-economic scale who do not have cars will also not be able to go to the museums for free but have to pay during the week. 




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Osher Ad and Chevron

The boys of Chevron Yeshiva made the news yesterday. And so did Osher Ad.

The yeshiva bochurim learning in Chevron Yeshiva have been locked up in yeshiva leaning in "capsules". After an initial period of time, all the boys took Corona tests - anyone positive was separated, and everyone else who tested negative were then allowed to mix and function as a regular yeshiva, with no capsules and no masks. Many yeshivas opened with this process in place, and so far it looks to be fairly successful in keeping the yeshivas open with little to no spread of the virus. Additionally, many of these young men likely already had CoronaVirus.

After being locked up and out of touch with the outside world for a few weeks, the yeshiva administration organized with Osher Ad a special time that Osher Ad would open up one of its branches in Jerusalem just for these young men to do some shopping and stock up on nosh - the other night at 12:30am, when it is normally closed and nobody else is there.

The yeshiva arranged for a bus to take them door to door - straight form the yeshiva to Osher Ad, and back after the allocated time. And the boys went crazy during their night out on the town in Osher Ad, restocking their yoghurts and potato chips and Coca Cola.

The news reported on this seemingly boring and mundane event, because the boys went from the yeshiva to Osher Ad with no masks. Gevalt!

Here is the news report.



Obviously this upset many - Haredim, yeshiva boys, touting the rules, ignoring the need for masking and distancing. Again. Very upsetting. There was a bit of an outcry and the expected anger.

What the report did not explain was that this was arranged for a time when nobody else was there, the trip was arranged to avoid any and all contact with other people, the boys have been together the entire time with negative Corona tests. 

Maybe it could have been done better. Maybe it should have been organized better in coordination with the Health Ministry. Maybe they should have worn masks out in public even though they were alone with just the same boys they've been with for the past month with no masks, even if just for appearances. I hope Osher Ad disinfected after the boys finished their adventure to make sure it would be safe for shoppers the next day (I didn't hear anything about this in the various reports I saw, but it was the first thing I thought of).

but it is not really worthy of getting angry about. This was done taking all necessary precautions to keep everyone safe.

The most disturbing part of the story is that the yeshiva wanted to give the boys a break and let them get out for a bit so they sent them to a supermarket. I think I would prefer going for a night out for pizza and a bowling alley, maybe hamburgers and the batting cages, go karts, a night hike on a trail, maybe a swimming pool and/or a night barbecue... the boys needed to get out so the yeshiva sent them to a supermarket. Kind of sad, if you ask me.


.




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