Feb 28, 2022

travel on expired Israeli passport

Remember when the United States State Department decided to allow American citizens to travel on expired passports, with some conditions, due to the backlog in the embassies aroudn the world because of Covid closures?

Well, Israel just announced a very similar program.

The following announcement has been going around this evening. I confirmed it on the Misrad Hapnim website, though it is only a notice on the page and I am not able to link directly to the notice




It says, if you need to renew your passport, there are no appointments available until the end of May. To that end, it has been decided that until the end of May 2022 Israelis who hold a foreign passport will be allowed to travel and leave Israel using the foreign passport even without a valid Israeli passport.


This is surely going to be extended past May, as if there are currently no appointments until the end of May, in a few weeks the lack of appointments will extend into June or July. They might as well just say now that this will be in effect until the end of 2022 or pick a date by which they expect to get the Ministry activity back up to par.

And while this is a solution for Israelis who hold a foreign passport, many Israelis do not. I guess one thing at a time.



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Proposed Law: Tougher on get Refusers

According to INN, Minister of Religious Affairs Matan Kahane has proposed a law to step up the fight against get refusal. 

Kahane has proposed amending the law to expand the sanctions the beis din is allowed to impose upon someone deemed to be a "get refuser".

The new sanctions, if the law would pass, would give beis din the power and authority to prevent prevent banking and commercial services from such a person, prevent use of a credit card and other modern digital payment platforms, slap the refuser with direct fines, require immediate isolation in exceptional cases, and more, in addition to religious sanctions as well called Harchakot dRabbeinu Tam.

The Ministerial Legislative Committee has approved the proposal and it will now move to the Knesset for preparation and voting.



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Picture of the Day


The Breslav community in Uman is sheltering local residents in the mikva under the "kloyz"






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Quote of the Day

A little while ago I was in Mea Shearim. As I walked the streets everyone was coming over to take selfies with me, so it seems they do watch..

  -- Rotem Sela, Israeli presenter, actress, celebrity 

hmmmm.. even if the people of Mea Shearim are secretly, on their secret smartphones or computers with their secret internet connection, watching shows that Rotem Sela is in and can easily identify her, I still would have a hard time believing that the people of Mea Shearim are coming over to her in the street and taking selfies with her...




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#81: Behind the Bima - R' Dovid Bashevkin (video)







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PM Bennett | My most important message to the new IDF Officers (video)







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Super Soul Party 2022 ( New York City Chapter) (video)








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JERUSALEM TODAY. From Machaneh Yehudah Market to the Old City (video)







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Akiva Schechter - Tzadik -- (Official Music Video)







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Feb 27, 2022

interesting kashrut alert

There is an interesting kashrut alert in the latest update from the Chief Rabbinate.



The alert is on two food production companies, one producing frozen pastries - specifically rogelach - and the second producing pastry dough for choros. Both bear the kashrut certification symbol of the Rabbanut of Haifa, in addition to a secondary kashrut certification - on one the hashgacha of Rubin and the second with the Eida hechsher.

The alert is that neither of these are under the supervision of Rabbanut Haifa. Nothing is mentioned about the secondary hechsher being real or fake but on the both the Rabbanut Haifa hechsher is forged or misused.

If one is fake does it mean the second is also likely fake? Technically the Eida and Rubin cannot give a hechsher on a product without the Rabbanut hechsher - were they fooled as well thinking the product was certified by the Rabbanut or was theirs forged as well or did they give their hechshers knowing the Rabbanut hechsher was fake? Do these products have 0 hechshers, one hechsher or two hechshers? Is the Eida/Rubin hechsher worth anything without the Rabbanut hechsher?




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mehadrin foie gras making a comeback!

Over the past couple of decades the world has turned on Foie gras, as has the world of kashrut, considering the process to be cruel, along with prone to being treif.

Israel banned growing it locally, and the Chief Rabbinate stopped allowing it to be imported with kosher certification..

After a team developed a new program for raising the geese to produce foie gras to the satisfaction of the Chief Rabbinate, they decided to approve the arrangement with certification.

A slaughterhouse based in Hungary is going to be doing the production with rabbinic supervision over the process of fattening up the birds. The breeding and the fattening will have to be done on the same site - no transporting these birds. Additionally the method of stuffing the birds will have to be one that will not cause damage to the esophagus - grains being fed to the birds will not have sharp edges and the feeding will use a silicon tube instead of a metal one.

Assuming the process is monitored well and passes inspection, the foie gras will be certified as glatt kosher - mehadrin, chalak, glatt, whatever you want to call it.
source: Jewish Press

I cant wait to try it. I think I have only had it once in my life, at least that I can remember...



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Tweet of the Day

the irony of this tweet



while they are invading Ukraine they took the time to criticize Israel for settlement activity in the Golan Heights. And instead of criticizing Israel they criticize Tel Aviv.

Russia cracks me up, with their criticism of Israel on the Golan Heights at this time and sending in peacekeeping forces to the Ukraine, along with going in to "denazify" the Ukraine, despite Ukraine having both a Jewish President and a Jewish Prime Minister....... they know how to play the world...


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Headlines Podcast: 2/26/22 – Shiur 360 – An eye on Eretz Yisroel - Answer the call (audio)








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Tripping Kosher: Winter Fancy Food Show 2022 - Las Vegas (video)










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ISRAEL. Overlooking the JORDAN VALLEY. The Village of Hemdat (video)







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Sruli with Greiman and Elazar: Frozen from Cold (video)








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Feb 25, 2022

Israel and the Russian war on Ukraine

I dont understand what the Russian invasion of Ukraine is really about, though I have read some theories and analyses. I do understand, in my own mind at least even if it is not any official position, though why Israel is waffling in its response to this war far away but with local repercussions. And I don't even just mean the official Israel position but also a lot of individual Israelis, at least this is my impression.

From a practical matter, Russia is very influential in these parts of the world. With Russia basically controlling Syria, we cannot get on Russia's bad side, especially when we need their silent acquiescence to act in Syria and Lebanon against Iranian interests. That plus Russia being a big and powerful country with some sort of relationship that we want to keep.. Those are the practicals, but I do not think that is the main reason.

On the one hand, Russia is being an aggressor and invading the much smaller Ukraine and there is little Ukraine can do about it. And the reasons are not well understood by anybody. Russia is breaking agreements along the way, and the West not coming to Ukraine's defense makes Russia just look like an aggressive bully rolling over the little shrimp. So everyone wants to criticize Russia because they come off really bad here. If Putin cared at all about what other people think he would have started with a great marketing and public relations campaign to explain why this is justified, but he didnt, so he just looks like an aggressive bully.

On the other hand, we are Israel. We get accused of almost the exact same thing, though the circumstances are different and the world response is different, but my theory is that in the Middle East most of the world sees Israel as an aggressor having "invaded" Palestine, in some way, and taken land for themselves from a smaller and weaker group of people. I think that many Israelis and maybe the government feel uncomfortable criticizing Russia for something very similar to what the world criticizes Israel for, even if the circumstances are different.

(Why the world does not take moves against Russia the way it does against Israel is a different discussion)


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Feb 24, 2022

are you young enough for free land?

I dont know what qualifies as "young" but if you qualify you might be able to get some free land.

According to Israel Hayom, the Ministry of Agriculture wants to encourage young people to move up north, to areas of the Golan Heights and the Galilee. To encourage this they are offering tens of dunam of land, free of charge, to be used as farms and zoned to also build a home upon.

To be clear, only the land itself is free. Clearing it and building and all the rest will cost money, but at least the land itself will be free. There will be subsidies and loans for clearing the land and building as well.

The Ministry of trying to reverse the trend of people moving away from their family communities and abandoning farming for the big city with few people joining farming communities and taking up a life of agriculture.

So, go north, my friends, and work the land. If you are young enough to qualify.


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Rav Krim says only dairy foods that are karim

This is really just a simple Hebrew word play post but it is going to need some explanation due to the need to convert it somehow to English.

It seems the IDF has protocol in place that does not allow any dairy foods to be cooked  anywhere int he IDF - no kitchen can have hot dairy food.  they cook hot meat and hot pareve, and cold dairy is allowed. No pizza, no cheese burekas, no toast sandwiches, etc. This rule is in place to help preserve the kashrut of the IDF kitchens, so they do not have to worry about soldiers mixing hot milk with hot meat, dishes and the like. There are still plenty of problems that can arise, hot meat with cold dairy is just as much a problem, but at least one major potential problem is resolved by such a policy.

An additional policy is that during the Pesach holiday, no chametz is allowed at all on any IDF army base. Again, for obvious reasons.

Army brass has decided a while back to implement some reforms that will allow soldiers to get themselves their fix of hot dairy foods in the army as well to allow chametz on base during Pesach. This reform is being implemented in coordination with IDF Chief Rabbi Eyal Krim.

Yesterday at some conference of IDF journalists, Rav Krim said that as of now we are not yet ready and in agreement as to how to implement the reform and provide the hot dairy foods while adhering to kashrut standards so for now only pareve and meaty hot foods will be allowed in "the traklin", along with cold dairy foods - as has been the case until now. Pretty much similar response for the chametz issue.
source: Kipa, INN

basically though, to switch to Hebrew for a moment, רב קרים אמר רק מוצרי חלב קרים

Rav Krim has the perfect name, in Hebrew, for this decision...





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Q&A With Rabbi Efrem Goldberg, moderated by R' Ari Koretzky (video)







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Haredi Children Sing in Protest of Israel Police (video)

interesting - usually you see this at protests, not in recording studios...

----

The B'tzelem Elokim organization, which works to prevent police violence against haredim, on Wednesday morning released a video clip starring a choir of haredi children. In the clip, the children can be viewed singing a popular alef-bet (alphabet) song, with the words changed to reflect their protest against police violence. At the end of the video, viewers are invited to send footage and testimonies of police violence to B'tzelem Elokim, which promises to have a legal professional examine the materials and decide whether or not to file complaints against the police officers involved. In a statement, B'tzelem Elokim said, "We are continuing our important activities to expose the violence which many in the haredi community, as well as the broader public, have experienced, out of a belief that by creating an organized system for reporting these instances, we can cause rebellious police officers to think several times before they raise their hand against haredim or in general." "It is important for us to emphasize that the vast majority of Israel Police is made up of good and worthy people who work to protect us. It seems to us a shame that a small and violent handful ruins everyone's good name, and we have no doubt that it is in the interest of Israel Police itself to act to stop the violent police officers."





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Eli Beer launches the UH Fitness Challenge (video)

Eli is a genius at finding ways to raise money for his organization






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Lenny Solomon Live (video)




















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Shuli Rand and Amir Benayoun (video)







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Feb 23, 2022

the streets of Tel Aviv

This is interesting. And enlightening.

The Tel Aviv Marathon is scheduled to be run this Friday. No, I am not running in it. Even before I found out that a bad storm is forecast for Friday I was not planning on running in it. I can blame it on the below, but honestly that is not the reason either...

The Committee for Advancing the Standing of Women inspected the route of the Tel Aviv Marathon and discovered that over the entire 42.2 kilometers of the marathon course through the city streets, the marathon runners will not run on even a single street named for a woman.

According to what is quoted in the Ynet article, there are more than 3000 streets. Only 64 of them bear the name of a woman, and some of those bear the names of both the husband and wife that were being honored or memorialized together. 

And this is in enlightened Tel Aviv, not Bnei Braq or Ramat Bet Shemesh!

Honestly I did not know this was a thing. I have run in marathons in a few cities around Israel and I never paid attention to the street names, though obviously I was familiar with some of the streets I was running on. Women should not be distanced from being fairly honored and recognized on the streets of Israel - women built the country and did great things throughout our history just as men did. Surely we can find a few more women to honor by dedicating streets to them more fairly and more inclusively.

No, this is not the reason I am not running. I am just not up to it. And there is a storm scheduled for that day. This though is definitely something worth fixing.


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10,000 deaths

Just yesterday, I think, the 10,000th person in Israel died from Corona.

Each and every one of them is a tragedy, especially for the family of the deceased, but also for their respective communities and for the nation in general.

That being said.

As we approached, and then hit the 10000th death, there were a lot of calls for introspection to see what we could have done differently, what the government should have done differently, to look at if the government is abdicating its responsibility to the people, if the green passport should have been canceled, etc.

I don't think that is fair. The vaccines have been available for anyone who wants them for a long time already. The government encouraged people to vaccinate and protect themselves. The government had a mask mandate in place to protect people who are vulnerable. The government set lockdowns and closures and limitations, and whatnot. For the past year or so, maybe even a little more, few people have been following the rules. Many people have refused to fully vaccinate. From what I read, most of the critically ill and dead of the past year were people not vaccinated or not fully vaccinated. That means they made a choice to not take the protection that was offered. Everywhere I go most people are not wearing masks, and havent been for many months, unless they are absolutely forced to (such as in many supermarkets still) and even then they try to get away with as much as possible after walking through the door and passing inspection. The green pass was only enforced in few places, if at all, and many people refused to play along with it at all.

We can go on and on, but at the end of the day the governments of Israel, the current one and the previous, have done pretty much everything they could to protect the people from getting sick and dying, but the people largely refused to play along, after a certain point. The government can only do so much, and we each have personal responsibility as well to keep ourselves and those around us safe. If we the people won't fulfill our responsibilities, that is on us, not on the government.

People just like to complain and blame the government, no matter what policy they put in place. If they are strict on restrictions, we complain about overreaching government impinging on our freedoms, if they are too lax then we complain that they arent protecting us.

10000 deaths is a tragedy but the government does not bear all the blame, if any. It can be shared equally among us all, including some on the government, and mostly on the victims and those immediately around them.

ADDED:
I just saw this caricature cartoon and think it is very appropriate






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Facebook Status of the Day

what a story!






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Take 2 with Abie Rotenberg (video)







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US Ambassador to Israel Thomas Nides visit in KamaTech Bnei Brak (video)







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Holocaust survivor uses TikTok to share her story (video)







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Wandering Synagogue 8 (video)







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Hold On Tight • Vzakeini feat. Benny Friedman & Baruch Levine (video)







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Feb 22, 2022

Proposed Law: banning smoking ads

The Knesset Economics Committee today approved a law proposal to be voted on in the Knesset. The proposal would basically do away with all print advertising of cigarettes and smoking products.

MK Mosi Raz (Meretz) proposed a law that would cancel the exception granted to newspapers for advertising smoking products. The idea would be to phase it out slowly, with decreasing the amount of advertising allowed each year between 2025 and April 1, 2029 by 25%, until there will be no more print advertising of smoking products by the end of the decade. Between passage of the law and April 1, 2025 advertising will still be allowed but a counter ad opposite any smoking ad would be required that opposes smoking - warnings, dangers, etc. 
source: Hamechadesh

I think this is great and it is about time this is fully banned. I dont understand how any young person can start smoking nowadays, with all the knowledge we have today of the dangers and addictions. But they do. And I have kids that do as well, and it happens in both yeshivas and the army, but I still dont get it. Cigarettes should be outlawed like drugs are, but at least they should be heavily taxed and banned from advertising.



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no stability

The coalition is teetering on some very shaky legs right now. 

We dont have prophets today and everybody's predictions of the government lasting mere weeks or a month have already all been proven wrong, so I dont trust anyone's guess as to whether or not they will survive the current challenges and for how long, but it looks like it is going to get interesting in the near future.

With Eli Avidar resigning form the government and heading back to the Knesset with some bad blood, added to the RAAM party's fooling around with coalition discipline and now Kachol Lavan being upset about some issues they want taken care of, this doesnt look too stable right now....


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the self declared Chief Rabbi of Saudi Arabia

an interesting video is making the rounds on the Internet. A rabbi, in full rabbinic garb, is seen walking around Tehran, going to the market, and connecting with the Jewish community there.

I am not sure what is supposed to be so shocking or surprising about this. Rabbi Yehuda Gerami is the Chief Rabbi there and walks around in his rabbinic garb. They dont just kill Jews on site in Iran, even if it is an oppressive regime. The Jewish community there right now enjoys relative freedom and protection, at least similarly to the level of freedom of everyone else in Iran. Or so they say, but they might have to say that. Either way, even if things are not really great there for Jews, they still walk around relatively safely without getting killed on site. Most people seeing this person might not even identify him as a Jew. They probably do not know who he is or where he came from, just by looking at him.



The person in the video is Rabbi Yaakov Herzog. He is the self declared Chief Rabbi of Saudi Arabia. This is not an official appointment - Saudi Arabia prohibits any religious activity within the country other than Islam. Herzog is there and says he is trying to establish a Jewish community. His twitter feed is interesting and weird, traveling around Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries, dancing with people in the streets and building his brand.

I dont know why he feels it important or necessary to bring Jews to Saudi Arabia and build a community there, if he gets official permission from the rulers. 

Whatever. Different strokes for different folks. Whatever it is, at least be entertained....



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The Legend of the Churban (video)

The story of the Jewish rebellion against the Romans that led to the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash






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Why Jews Can’t Buy Land in the West Bank (video)







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FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF BAGHDAD!! (FEAT. LIPA SCHMELTZER) Episode 2 (video)








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Israel. The DEAD SEA. Secret Landscapes. Evening Walk in Winter (video)








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Yanki & Shmilly Rothschild - Al Hanisim (video)







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Feb 21, 2022

Quote of the Day

Minister [of Transportation Merav] Michaeli wants to implement public transportation on Shabbos. I plead with her to start first with public transportation during the week.

  -- MK Yisroel Eichler (UTJ)

Eichler always has a sharp and witty way about him, and even when I disagree with his efforts and opinions, he always has something sharp to say that is worth listening to. In this case I agree. Public transportation is inadequate in so many ways and in so many parts of the country - she might first put her efforts to making public transportation reliable and efficient in general, during the week when it is most needed, especially as Merav Michaeli repeatedly says she wants more people using public transportation and fewer using private cars. 

This reminds me of the famous story I heard of an MK pleading with then Prime Minister Moshe Sharet (I think it was him) to move Israel to a five day workweek, instead of a six day workweek. His respsonse was that first we should get the Israelis to work one day a week, then 2, then 3 and eventually we will get them up to working five days a week..



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support Magen


Today, I hope you'll join me in supporting this important cause:

In the aftermath of the Walder catastrophe, the number of victims and survivors that turned to Magen for support has drastically increased. Some called to disclose their abuse for the first time while others felt triggered and overwhelmed by the news and needed support, knowing that Magen was the address to turn to. Dedicated staff has spent countless hours fielding calls and offering resources and a listening ear.

This expose has raised critical awareness to the destruction that is sexual abuse, and has left us feeling helpless. Magen has been there all this time, doing the work  we are unequipped to do, and they need our help to continue saving lives, ensuring abusers are answerable to their crimes and helping one survivor at a time ( sometimes multiple at once).

Please join me today to Magen's campaign, to ensure they have the resources to go on smoothly.
Every bit counts. Thank you so much!




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have your hamantashen and eat it too

Roladin is a premiere bakery/cafe in Israel. They are known for making top quality pastries. Come Chanukah time and their elaborate sufganyot have become almost "must haves" for their uniqueness and style and flavors Their prices are commensurate with their reputation and they are among the more expensive of these types of shops. 

I did not know that they also make fancy, expensive, hamantashen, but it seems that is a thing now as well. The news reported last night, sending everyone into shock, that Roladin sufganiyot are being sold for 140nis per kilogram. The news report listed several bakeries and their prices, and Roladin was near the top but not quite the most expensive. Someone else is selling hamantashen for 168nis per kilo (I do not recall the name). I will assume these are not just poppy filled hamantashen!

I have no idea what they cost in your average bakery that average people normally shop in, though I have heard 30-50nis per kilo. The cheapest of the hamantashen listed in the report of the expensive prices was 80nis per kilo. 

Personally I dont particularly like hamantashen, though maybe if I tried a Roladin version that might change!

People flipped out, and the ridiculous price makes that understandable.

Roladin, though, along with those other fancy bakeries, have the right to charge whatever people are willing to pay. Supply and demand is how the mostly free market works. If they keep pushing the price up but people keep showing willingness to pay the higher and higher prices, it means the equilibrium has not yet been discovered. As soon as enough people decide this price is ridiculous and I wont pay it, Roladin and the others will start lowering the price to find that happy medium.

There is nothing to get upset at. No reason to get angry at Roladin. They are just charging what people are willing to pay. If it is too expensive for you, if you feel that is a waste of money, don't buy it. If enough people don't buy it, if people stop lining up outside the door of the local branch of Roladin to buy out the stock, Roladin will lower the prices.

you can have your hamantashen and eat it too, but only you can decide at what price you are not willing to buy



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#80: Behind the Bima - Ilana Toweg, Farmer Observing Shmitah (video)







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PM Bennett: 'West is about to pour billions into Iran's apparatus of terror' (video)







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Massive Israeli strawberry breaks Guinness World Record (video)







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Dead Sea Marathon – Rare video of the Dead Sea (My mid-life crisis?) (video)







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SHEMESH | Cover by Bracha Jaffe and Yaffush - For Women and Girls Only (video)







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Feb 20, 2022

The marriage that was never a marriage

Crazy story.

Haredim10 is reporting on a situation that came before a beis din, due to a divorce and custody battle.

What started off as a standard divorce case, with Mrs filing for divorce in the Rabbanut of Netanya  claiming that her husband had not been faithful - he had cheated on her. She was demanding a divorce along with custody of the children and payment of the ketuba. 

While, assuming she can prove he cheated on her, this seems straightforward enough, Mr's attorney denied the authority of the beis din to preside over the case and rule on the situation, considering he is not Jewish. Even though they had gotten married having registered in the Rabbanut of Hadera with him registering as a Jew with documentation. he is now claiming he is not Jewish.

Mr is now claiming that he only found out recently, a few years ago, from his mother that he is not actually Jewish, and she gave him the documentation to prove it - the original birth certificate. Momma is Russian and had come over to Israel with forged documents and they all registered as Jewish, but they really were not. When she left Israel 3 years ago for the greener pastures of Canada she revealed the truth to him.

He, and his twin brother, and a third brother, had all married as Jews to Jewish women and have had children, and they were not actually Jewish. The kids are, as the mothers are, but the fathers/husbands are not.

Whoa. Shocking revelation! Shocking argument to present in beis din to avoid a custody battle!

If true, they were not even married, halachically, and no divorce is needed, though she still has monetary claims on him.

Beis din decided to investigate the matter and after finding it to be accurate they hired external investigators to investigate and confirm. At the end of the day, there was nothing they could do as it was discovered and confirmed to be true, so they had no authority to rule on her divorce case. The beis din directed them to the regular courts to resolve the matter. 

Wild case.

And I will use it once again to show that deception and mistakes happen and can happen in every beis din, even in a centralized registry like that controlled by the Rabbanut. After the case in New Jersey of the Lebanese fellow who posed as a Jew, Israeli rabbonim pointed to that showing the importance of keeping the Rabbanut in its current format as the only way to combat such situations - the truth is it happens even with a centralized body like the Rabbanut.




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not afraid of an alligator

This morning's news was highlighted with a wonderful tidbit about some fellow in the Ramat Gan Safari. This shmegegie got out of his car and jumped the barrier and entered the alligator enclosure. I am not quite sure why - in the attached video it sounds like he is saying he wants to free to alligator, but I am not sure I am hearing it correctly. The viewer can see the interloper taunting the stoic alligator with screams, gesticulating hands and kicking dirt in its direction. 








Unfortunately, this idiocy, and "Darwin Award Quality Behavior", was wasted and we did not get to see the alligator jump him and have lunch.

I suspect the alligator must only eat healthy foods and considered this shmegegie unstable and therefore perhaps unhealthy eating. Or else it just had some mercy on the mentally deficient.

After this video came to light, the Safari administration was made aware of what happened and informed the police. If the guy isn't afraid of an alligator I am not sure he's afraid of the police, though the police might actually be more dangerous...





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Chumus Ahead of Chabad and Coca Cola

Chumus, or hummus, has gone on to become like Chabad and Coca Cola... you can pretty much find it anywhere you might go.


The Cygnus freighter yesterday launched sending several tons of supplies to the International Space Station.
source:  Space.com

It was not several tons of chumus being sent to the ISS, but among the several tons of supplies, the chumus might have been the most important of them.


Chumus was launched into space yesterday, on its way to be the focus of a research project to grow chumus in space. Among all the food supplies and equipment for scientific research is some Israeli chumus and a mobile lab for use in testing and growing the legume.

Good luck with the research. this could be crucial for the survival of mankind







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Headlines Podcast: 2/19/22 – Shiur 359– When Torah and science clashes (audio)







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Israelis: What do you think of the one state solution? (2021) (video)








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Meet Latin America’s pro-Israel country (video)








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JERUSALEM. Walk through the Old city. And then to the Сity сenter (video)







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Lulei - Eitan Katz Feat. Joey Newcomb (video)







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Feb 17, 2022

Eida partial boycott on Doritos

While there was some talk and a few calls for a boycott against Doritos due to the Doritos ad in support of same sex marriages, there was not actually anything organized and coordinated, or a concerted effort to actually boycott the brand. Maybe some people stopped buying, but there was no official boycoot and no mass protest.

To that end, the Eida Hachareidis has decided to officially boycott Doritos and other products produced by Strauss. The boycott would be temporary, just until after Pesach. This is being done, they say in a published letter, to express their pain and voice a protest. This is to show it is an important issue to us, and so that others will be wary of following suit.
source: Haredim10

I never really understood why businesses need to make such social statements in the first place. Besides for that, I am perfectly fine with the Eida putting their money where their mouth is. If it really bothers them so much. instead of just talking and complaining, good for them for actually trying to have some influence on the matter.

And on that note, I am wondering why they are only calling on the people to not buy Doritos (or other Strauss products) yet continue to give their hechsher. Perhaps they should withdraw the hechsher so that their name and logo will not be associated with such abomination..






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PM Naftali Bennett talks to students and entrepreneurs in Bahrain (video)







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Purim Pressure (video)







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KudshaBrichu - קודשא בריך הוא - Shlepping Nachas live on our Emuna Tour 2022 - Class 58 Nach style! (video)







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Lenny Solomon Live (video)










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Leil Shishi – Motty Ilowitz & Yedidim Choir (video)







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Feb 16, 2022

Tweet of the Day




that's weird. He could also go to his boss, Putin, and plead his case there....



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Quote of the Day

The formation of the State of Israel is the greatest accomplishment of the 20th century... The United States is proud to have Israel as an ally and will continue supporting its security and stability, amid the threat from Iran.

  -- Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, heading a congressional delegation to Israel




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all types of Israeli flags

Newspapers, old format of real papers along with modern online editions, are as prone as anyone else to making mistakes. This one is pretty funny.

This freedom convoy made some big news, protesting Covid-19 mandates and regulations. It was inspired from a protest in Canada, thus the Canadian flag in the picture as part of the protest.

The Jpost ran a story on the freedom convoy and posted a picture of a car with an Israeli flag and a Canadian flag. In the article they got it right, but the caption of the picture is pretty funny.

From the Jpost (I screenshot the picture with the caption in case they decide to fix it):



"Israeli flags adorned with maple leaves" is pretty funny

I dont know if the caption was written by the Jpost staff, by Reuters, or by the photographer.

I have seen plenty of altered Israeli flags, each intended to make some sort of political or religious point, but this is the first Israeli flag I have seen that was made to look like the Canadian flag!






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Proposed Law: Publicizing identity of victims

MK Mossi Raz (Meretz) has proposed a law to prohibit the publication of the identification of victims, such as injured or killed soldiers , or victims of a terror attack prior to an official announcement by an authorized government agency. 

According to the proposal, someone who jumps the gun and publicizes the identity of such a victim will be subject to a fine of 50,000nis. If it can be proven that there was intent to cause harm, the fine will double.

Too frequently in such times of tragedy the family finds out about a son/daughter/parent/sibling being injured or killed in an attack from social media posts and that can be shocking and traumatizing.
source: Actualic

If this passes, will the only person charged and fined be the original person to post and spread the information or will every person along the way who forwarded it also get fined? How will they determine who publicized the information and who just shared it?




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PM Naftali Bennett in Bahrain (video)











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Hanan Ben Ari: Makom - bench edition (video)







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ISRAEL. Walking in the HEIGHT of PANDEMIC. Evening JERUSALEM (video)







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Around The Piano With The Gifters (video)







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Feb 15, 2022

Interesting Psak: plastic cups for kiddush

The recent rise in the cost of living and some new taxes, in Israel, might have effected an interesting change in halacha.

It is commonly known that one should not use a disposable plastic cup for kiddush. Rav Moshe Feinstein paskened not to because its value is almost worthless, insignificant, so it has no importance and cannot be considered a cup for kiddush. I have seen some people refuse to use one cup for kiddush but they would double it up with two cups saying that at that point it is already significant.

Rav Shaul Alter commented on this in a recent shiur, saying that we used to throw away disposable cups because they were cheap and insignificant. Now that the prices have gone up and it is expensive, people don't throw them out so quickly, some even wash them, and the cup now has significance and value. The disposable plastic cups, nowadays, because of the new taxes, would be considered usable for kiddush.
source: Kikar


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private bus on the way

MK Uri Maklev (UTJ) has announced that with the increase in prices, due to cancellation of public transportation discounts in certain areas including some Haredi areas, he is going to work on establishing a private bus system for the Haredi community.

I am not sure what this entails. This has been done before and was shut down due to licensing issues. I hear that there are still some private bus lines out there. 

If they run a series of private bus line between Haredi cities, will they also be "mehadrin" in the sense of sending the women to the back of the bus? Will they be regulated? Can this be done cheaper than public bus lines that are partly subsidized by the government? Will they take rav kavs and qr codes or will it all be done by paying the driver, which has ben deemed dangerous and banned from public buses? I remember back in the good old days, with the private mehadrin buses you either had to pay someone in advance and sign up for a ride or someone would get on the bus at some point and take payment from passengers, rather than paying the driver. Maybe they would do this again.

If he can do it legally and make it work for cheaper, more power to him!

And if he can make it work, maybe it will indicate that it is time to end State-controlled public transportation. Maybe it will be time to privatize the entire thing, or at least as much as possible. 






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Jewish captain at the Super Bowl

check this out...




honorary captains for the Super Bowl were youth football captains from various leagues. One of them is Elisheva Ferszt from YULA High School in Los Angeles, an Orthodox young lady who plays in Orthodox modest dress. They joined Billie Jean King who performed the toin coss. It must have been an exciting day for a young Jewish athlete!





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Hillel Interviews Ryan Turell, the First Observant Jew Headed to the NBA (video)







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KOSHER HALFTIME SHOW 2022 | Nachum Segal Network | ft. Rav Shlomo Katz (video)







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SAFED at Night. A Unique Walk in a MAGICAL CITY (video)








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Shmueli Ungar - Tata Mama - (Official Music Video)







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Feb 14, 2022

Proposed Law: no funding for schools that discriminate

MK YomTov Calfon (Yamina) has proposed a law that would [attempt to] put an end to discrimination in seminaries based on ethnicity.

A known problem with many who suffer from it every year is the selection of students by seminaries, often based solely on ethnicity - with seminaries often leaving out many young ladies of Sephardic descent. In recent years this problem has come more to the forefront with many trying to find solutions, but unable to solve it in general as of yet. 

Calfon is proposing a law that would prevent the government from providing funding to any school that discriminates in this manner.

The proposal has been passed in the Legislative Committee and will move forward for passage in the Knesset. Members of the Coalition say this law has a clear majority and will be passed. In the past, Shas has demanded such laws but never proposed one itself and voted against when they were in government and Opposition members proposed it. They are expected to oppose it again, due to agreements with Degel, based on what the Shas talking heads have been saying.
source: Kikar






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