this is funny.. they are both sharp and witty and make for a fun debate/argument..

I was not planning on mentioning anything about Rav Amnon Yitzchak's inane comments the other day that women are not allowed to drive. He said many rabbonim have prohibited it, and anybody who allows it is only a third or fourth tier rabbi just trying to look good in the eyes of the public. He said the car of today is like the wagon of yesteryear, and we never heard about women driving the wagon.

Perhaps it needs to be mentioned... Rav Yitzchak's reason for prohibiting women from driving is for tzniyus reasons, and not due to the stigma of them being bad drivers... :-)

I was not going to mention it - it is just another silly, extreme and radical statement form someone who makes them regularly. He is easily ignorable, and even many who used to respect him have stopped doing so after he ran in the national elections and Shas destroyed him because of it..

So why am I mentioning it now?

Because I want to commend the rabbis who spoke out against it.

According to Kikar, 2 rabbonim approached about the issue rejected his opinion.

Rav Yosef Sheinin, rav of Ashdod, said some say it is ok for women to drive and say it is not ok, but it seems there is not really a problem of tzniyus - a woman walking in the street is more noticeable and visible than a woman driving a car. Rav Sheinin says there is no problem, in his opinion, with a woman driving a car. He does not know why some rabbonim say it is a problem, and perhaps they should also prohibit women from walking in the streets.

Rav Mordechai Malka, rav of Elad, said that he paskens it is ok for women to drive. Women used to ride animals - we see in the parsha Rivka rode the camels, and in the gemara it talks about women riding the animals would sit more modestly then men. He also adds that today women must drive as part of the days reality of running a household - if the woman didnt drive to do shopping or carpool or other things, the husbands would have to and that would cause bittul torah - so it is a mitzva for women to drive. Amazing how he managed to be sexist at the same time as protecting womens rights to drive. Also, does that allowance only apply to women whose husbands are learning - if not though, then maybe the women aren't allowed to drive as they would not be taking the husband away from learning?

Anyways, Rav Malka concludes that women can drive, but should be careful about doing so modestly.

Kol hakavod to these rabbonim who reject the ridiculous statements and apply common sense and take current realities into account in their halachic approach.

I dont know if there is a concerted effort by someone or some group to keep the tension high between Amnon Yitzchak and the Yosef family along with Shas. I would have expected things to quiet down after the elections passed, especially with Amnon Yitzchak's party not winning any Knesset seats. Shas leaders continue to attack him, mostly blaming him for preventing Shas from winning a few more seats, though at a much lower level of intensity. Perhaps it is because Amnon Yitzchak has mentioned he is considering running candidates in municipal elections around the country in 9 months, so Shas still sees him as potentially taking power away from them, or maybe it is still just anger over the past.

Either way, while tension may be justified, to a certain extent, something like the following is either a really stupid mistake or part of a concerted effort to raise the tension level.

Kikar reports on a psak written by Rav Avraham Yosef, the Chief Rabbi of Holon and son of Rav Ovadiah Yosef. According to the report, a week after the elections Rav Avraham Yosef has written a psak stating that Amnon Yitzchak's supporters must abandon him and thy are not allowed to donate money to him or his organizations and institutions. Rav Yosef says this is necessary because supporting him is considered supporting idol worship, as haughtiness will make a person crazy and remove him from his ways and away from God.

Rav Avraham says that they would have been able to ignore it had the attacks come from someone who was empty and reckless, a drunk and imbecile. but because it comes from someone who had a good relationship with, and was treated well by, Rav Ovadiah, and it is his stupid lack of gratitude that brought him down to the lowest level possible, and after anyone goes on the radio saying anything about him he goes on the radio and threatens retribution using the courts... about him it is said "one can lose his entire world in one hour".

It is a pretty harsh attack, equating him with idol worship, along with the rest of the attack. The problem with it is that this did not actually happen a week after the elections has passed. It happened about a week before the date of elections, at the height of the campaigning, when such an attack is a bit more understandable - in the heat of the campaign, at the height of the retorts and attacks going in each direction.

the source for this psak is the original post by Rav Avraham Yosef on the "Ask the Rabbi" page of the Moreshet website. The date the question and answer was posted on Moreshet was January 15th, a week before election day. NOT  a week after elections, as reported on Kikar.

As I said, either it is a really stupid mistake, not noticing the date of the post, that was then mistakenly convoluted to turning it into a continuation of the high tension, or it is part of a concerted to keep those tensions high, assuming people won't look for the original (no link was provided) and notice the date.

.

Something horrible happened in Ohr Yehuda last night. Some people took the books of Rav Ovadia Yosef and of his son Rav Yitzchak Yosef, and burned them in the streets of the city.

Burning books is always horrible. It is an expression of the repression of freedom and intellect.

Attacking people is still worse than burning books.

Shas has accused Amnon Yitzchak and his people of being behind the burning of the books.
(source: Kikar)

First of all, it is horrible that elections has caused such a deterioration of relations between people who previously respected each other, and that it has even brought them to violence.

Second, the statement issued by Shas about the incident got my goat. They said that this is an escalation that is unprecedented in the haredi community.... )and then went on to accuse activists from Koach l'Hashpia as being behind it).

Escalation? Meaning the burning of books, as horrible as it is, is worse than physically attacking a room full of men, women and children, as openly active Shas activists did to an Amnon Yiztchak rally last week in Bet Shemesh?

I am not defending Amnon Yitzchak (who happens to deny that the book burner was an activist connected to his party). I am not supporting him, I don't like him and I think his running a party for political office was probably a tremendous mistake that will turn around and be found to be damaging to his life's work of bringing people back to Judaism.

However, I don't know that he was responsible for this incident (that is for the police to collect evidence and make a decision, arrest, convict, etc), and even if he was, I think the attack on people was worse than the burning of some books, as holy as they might have been (though the attack on Yitzchak's rally does not justify such a response).

There is something backwards and corrupt about a society that thinks that burning books is an escalation of violence greater and above that of attacking a roomful of men, women and children.

While I am not a supporter of Amnon Yitzchak or his political party, I fail to see why SHAS thinks Koach l'Hashpia should not be running, as if SHAS has a monopoly on Sephardi political parties (though Koach lHashpia has not said they are targeting Sephardim, it seems to be assumed that a lot of their support will come from that audience) and why they are fighting so strongly against Yitzchak and his party. I am not sure what they were so afraid of, and I don't know if the approach taken did more good or harm.

With all that being said, the colorful act of Amnon Yitzchak that promises, if his party should succeed in winning some Knesset mandates, to make the coming Knesset term very interesting (along with some other parties, should they succeed).

His latest episode is a ridiculous accusation that Rav Ovadiah's stroke never happened and was simply a ploy for the elections. So much so that, he says, SHAS leaders would even desecrate the Shabbos to get some more votes - they faked a stroke and they transported Rav Ovadiah to the hospital on Shabbos, and it was all just for some votes.

His proofs to the great acting by SHAS and Rav Ovadiah and that desecrating Shabbos on behalf of the elections is not beyond them, is twofold:
1. the three haredi newspapers did not mention Rav Ovadiah's illness (I guess in Sunday morning's editions), because they know it was not real.

2. Amnon Yitzchak said he and his group were in Nahariya for Shabbos. The mayor of Nahariya is associated with SHAS. Their bus was parked over Shabbos in a red-and-white zone (a no-parking zone). Red and white parking is not supposed to be enforced over Shabbos by city inspectors. Yet, a Jewish inspector, one who does not normally work on Shabbos, came by motorcycle and ticketed the bus, that had a Koach l'Hashpia sign on it, for parking in a no-parking zone. This bus was the only one to be ticketed despite the many other cars that were also parked in the red-and-white zone.
(source: Kikar)

Talk about a crazy accusation! His being colorful is one thing, accusations of this sort is another... He really needs to clean up his act.

A number of years ago there was a big debate over foreign college credits and degrees. the debate was whether the Israeli Ministry of Education recognizes certain foreign degrees, or college credits, and how they should be looked at and integrated into Israel. I remember the big problem was that if an undergraduate degree was achieved by using credits that Israel does not accept, or in a college/university that Israel does not recognize, then even if one had an acceptable graduate degree, or higher, that too would be rejected, because one cannot have a graduate degree without first having an undergrad degree!

Who would have thought that an election ticket could generate a similar discussion, but regarding usage of the title "haRav". The big question raised and discussed in the media and by the election board was the validity of calling Rav Amnon Yitzchak by the title "Rav". One would think he was running for the position of Chief Rabbi rather than simply being the guidance of and leadership behind a political party. His title is irrelevant in this situation.

Rav Amnon Yitzchak wanted the election ballot to bear not just the name of his party, "Koach l'Hashpia", but also to include the phrase, "under the leadership of haRav Amnon Yitzchak". With the reuqest about to be accepted, the SHAS representative to the committee protested Yitzhak's attempt to use the title "haRav", claiming that Yitzchak never received smicha - and he pointed to Yitzchak's own statements on the Internet, on his own website and on his followers websites in which Yitzchak says straight out that he is not a certified rav. Therefore, said the SHAS rep, the title "haRav" should not be affixed to Yitzchak's name on the ballot, but either it could say simply "Amnon Yitzchak" or it could say "Rabbi Amnon Yitzchak" - seemingly "Rabbi" is a less official title than "haRav"...

The issue needed to be checked, and eventually it was made into an official decision. The title haRav could not be used by Amnon Yitzchak, because he has not received smicha. The election ballot is an official document of the State of Israel, and titles can only be used on them if they can be backed up with documentation.

The official ballot will now say "Koach l'Hashpia, under the leadership of Rabbi Amnon Yitzchak".

Interestingly, Rav Amnon Yitzchak himself, until his request to use the title on the ballot, spoke proudly of how he does not have smicha and is not an official rav, and has even considered use of such a title to be degrading and a sign of personal interest and profit rather than of spiritual pursuits.

He has said so in many of his speeches, and one can easily find an explanation on the website of "the rav's fan club" which is linked to from Rav Amnon Yitzchak's own site.

In the FAQ section of the website, the one and only question displayed is if Amnon Yitzchak is a rav. In the author's answer, he takes pride in the answer being negative, he says haRav Amnon Yitzchak is much greater than just a rav. There are all types of rabbis, just like there are all kinds of doctors. Anybody can become a rav, after just some months or no more than a year of studying, with the most common type of rav being someone certified as a mohel or shochet or a wedding rabbi. Often someone with the title of rav has only expertise in one niche of Torah but does not know much from the other sections of the Torah.

Whereas, Rav Amnon Yitzchak, he continues, is an expert in all sections fo the Torah. there is not a wuestion he cannot answer. Also, Rav Shach did not have smicha from the Rabbanut yet he was the Ashkenazi gadol haDor, and all the ashkenazim listened to his psak and learned his Torah..

Getting smicha from the Rabbanut,he continues, is only for the purpose of someone getting a parnassa, while Rav Amnon Yitzchak never planned on getting a parnassa form his Torah, so he never bothered to get the smicha from the Rabbanut. He does not take the issue seriously because as he is such a talmid chochom that if he wanted one he would simply call the chief rabbi and ask him to print out a certificate for him.

In response to the issue above, of trying to get the title included in the ballot but the request being rejected, he derides the title even more saying everyone knows how the title haRav is the lowest possible title one can have... for many years they derided Rav Amnon saying he isn't a rav, but suddenly they forced upon him the title of "Rabbi" which is a much greater title than haRav, similar to Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai. Eventually he will even be given the even greater title of "Rabban".

As I have said, Rav Amnon Yitzchak and his party are definitely one of the more colorful aspects of this election season.

As reported on Bechadrei (you can hear the audio clip there) an avreich went to Rav Shteinman with a dilemma. He has voted UTJ in all the elections since he became frum, but many years ago Rav Amnon Yitzchak brought him to becoming a baal tshuva. Now that Rav Amnon Yitzchak is running his own party, maybe he has an obligation out of gratitude to Rav Yitzchak to vote for Rav Yitzchak's party?

Rav Shteinman's answer, after everything was translated to and from Yiddish, was that A person should have more gratitude to Hashem. Meaning, you should gratitude to Hashem by voting UTJ and that is more important than the gratitude to Rav Yitzchak.

I would note that this is consistent with the brouhaha over Rav Shteinman giving Rav Amnon the go-ahead to open his own political party, and when confronted the explanation given was that because his party is not targeting voters from the traditional haredi parties but is looking to bite into the votes from secular paties then it is ok to open the new party.

There is always interesting things happening in the various political parties come election time, but that is especially true in regards to the more colorful parties, like Koach L'Hashpia, Rav Amnon Yitzchak's party.

Besides for some of his recent statements of what they plan to do, such as legislate bread to be priced at 1 shekel, and raising the speed limit to 140 kmph, even greater is his most recent admission - he himself is not going to vote for his own party.

Obviously he is not running for a Knesset seat, but will be directing the party both spiritually and in the decision making, much the way Rav Ovadiah Yosef leads SHAS. So, not voting for the party is not directly not voting for himself, but it still seems pretty strange.

Why won't Rav Amnon Yitzchak be voting for the party he founded and leads? Because Rav Amnon Yitzchak is very extreme in his vews regarding the State of Israel. He is very close to Satmar in his views. He believes the secular State is passul and one cannot vote in the elections.

So, what about running a political party and participating in the democratic process of governance?

He has no problem with that, because while he himself does not vote, he does not have a problem asking people who do vote to vote for him, and he has no problem saying he wants to help, via the government,  those people who need his help.

As a matter of fact, he explains that the reason Rav Shteinman supported his opening this new party is because he has a public, outside of the haredi public, that wants to vote for him. It is a mitzvah to get those votes - better they should vote for Rav Yitzchak's party than for who they would have voted for. This approach fits in very well with his approach on voting - he himself won't but he is there to help those who will that at least they should do it right and get helped.

(sources: Kikar and Srugim)

Tzippi Livni's new party is polling currently at about 7 seats, so if Rav Amnon Yitzchak is right even he might soon have more political power than her.

After a few weeks of consideration and rumors, Rav Amnon Yitzchak has finally announced the formation of his new political party, The Power To Influence. According to Kikar, Rav Yitzchak said that after being asked repeatedly by his students and fans why he doesnt go to elections for the government and even to become prime minister, he decided to announce that he is doing so. He predicts double-digits of number of seats he will win, but he says that before he has even done any work the polls are already showing him with a minimum of at least 5 or 6 seats.

While he has not announced his party's platform on various issues yet, it seems he is not going to ignore the security issues like many of the small or new parties do when trying to focus on a niche sector, but he immediately spoke about his thoughts on the peace process. He says we need to speak straightforward with the enemy, and not let Obama decide for us and pressure us into doing things. A leader must serve the needs and desires of his people and not listen to world leaders who say things based on their own interests.

Had he not discussed this, I would have assumed his platform would consist of banning iphones and musicians..

In response to Rav Yitzchak's announcement, Satmar has said they will immediately halt the flow of donations to the Shofar organization (headed by Rav Amnon Yitzchak). (source: Kikar)

It seems that in the Satmar community they are fond of Rav Yitzchak and a significant amount of money is donated to him from Satmar because of that fondness. The question is why they find him so appealing. While some say it is because of his great work in bring people back to Judaism, others say it is because in his speeches he commonly denigrates the Zionists and secular politicians, making them into a joke, and that serves the interests of Satmar.

I don't know what voters Koach L'Hashpia will target. Will he target haredim, attempting to pull frm Shas and maybe UTJ? Will he go to the crowds that go to his speeches - the young people from traditional backgrounds who are not religious?

It looks to me like even the protest vote is going to be diluted in this election. With all these offbeat parties opening up, none of the parties hoping to win the protest vote might get enough votes to make it in...

With all the attacks on the iPhone (no, I do not have an iPhone) by haredi rabbonim and gedolim, the last thing I would have suspected was that the iPhone could be singled out as a necessary tool in an activity as holy as that of bringing disassociated Jews back to religion. I mean, if it has such a holy usage to it and is uniquely successful in that role, it should not be under such attack. And if it is so bad, either it's success in one role should not matter, or perhaps any success should not necessarily be attributed to the use of the iPhone but perhaps to a different aspect of the activity involved.

In an interesting sidebar, Rav Amnon Yitzchak was caught using an iPhone. I say "caught" because he has been as vocal as anybody in regards to the issue of not using the iPhone and other smartphones and how destructive they can be. So with him being opposed to using the iPhone, being spotted, on camera, using one himself is like being caught in hypocrisy.

Rav Amnon was getting a lot of heat after the picture was publicized, and decided to respond. On his website, Shofar.net, he publicized a statement justifying his use of the iPhone.


Rav Amnon Yitzchak writes that he (and his staff) has special permission from Rav Shteinman to use the iPhone for the purpose of being machzir b'tshuva. He is not just responding to those questioning his sincerity, but he is really going on the attack - he also says that anyone who questions or suspects his rebbi is as if he suspects the shechina [of wrongdoing], as well as starting off the message stating "regarding what the idiots are asking..".

Either way, permission or not, Rav Amnon Yitzchak is basically saying that the iPhone has a very holy purpose that cannot be performed as well by other means. Perhaps he is the first of the public rabbonim to acknowledge the benefits of technology and the affects their usage can have on Judaism...



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Picture Of The Day

Today is the day of Rav Amnon Yitzchak's big "temblevision" protest at which he was going to be disposing of 1000 television sets in front of the Broadcasting Authorities offices..

I neither went to the event, nor did I watch it streamed online on Rav Amnon Yitzchak's website...

From the picture itself, it looks like almost all television sets donated to the cause were very old CRT screens, the kind that take up the whole table and give you a hernia if you try to pick it up.. I only see a couple flat LCD screens... I wonder if the participants played along, but only were willing to throw out screens they wanted to get rid of anyway, saving their real televisions sets at home for continued watching.. we'll never know..

Rav Amnon Yitzchak always goes for the sensational. It is part of his fire and brimstone style, and it is how he is successful with the crowd that follows him. His latest plan, perhaps stunt, is that next Tuesday he will go down with a crowd of followers to the offices of the Broadcasting Authority and throw out, in large dumpsters prepared for the event, 1000 television sets, or as he calls them "temblevision" - temble being the derogatory word for an idiot.


Somebody just told me the term (regarding something else we were discussing) "he is a good Polish soldier". Rav Amnon Yitzchak is a good Polish soldier. The term means that at the turn of the 20th century the Polish soldiers were well trained and fought well. By the time World War II came around they still had a great cavalry and were well-disciplined, but the German tanks flattened them. the good Polish soldiers were well-prepared to fight a war from a previous generation, and were not prepared to fight the current battlefield.

Rav Amnon Yitzchak is fighting a war that was fought a generation ago. In the frum community, television is no longer an issue. Among some the fight has "been won" and they gave up on television, and among others they kept the television and the issue is now ignored for the most part. The fight was considered won.

Regardless of whether it was won 20 years ago or not, television is not a worthwhile fight nowadays. It is pointless. The Internet has the potential to be a million times worse for any specific person  than anything shown on television ever was. There is no point in fighting against televisions when people have internet. Firstly, most television shows can be watched via the computer and internet. Secondly, people have access to stuff much worse than anything on television.

And how crazy is it that he is fighting this fight while streaming the event live on the Internet?!

As someone else pointed out on Facebook - if you are looking for a free television, make sure to head on over to the Broadcasting Authority next week. You should have a great selection.

Everybody sees things from their own angle, from their own perspective. While nobody really knows the reasons why things happen, specifically why God allows things [that we see as bad] to happen, we each offer reasons that speak to us. Somebody focused on tzniyus will blame all bad events, tragedies, on lack of tzniyus. Somebody focused on achdut, will blame sinat chinam. Another will be focused on something else, and each subsequent person will see a different cause and effect. And some will just say Baba Elazar died because someone stabbed him to death.

Rav Amnon Yitzchak has been a leader in the Israeli baal teshuva movement. He is a fiery speaker, and he has a way to successfully connect with a certain crowd. Rav Amnon Yitzchak has more recently waged a war against the frum singers. It started off as a war against the singers who perform at "mixed" concerts, and eventually became a war against all singers.

Rav Amnon Yitzchak has weighed in on the tragic murder of Baba Elazar Abuchatzeira, looking at it from his perspective. He said:

For 9 months I have been screaming and fighting against the singers who are causing Israel to sin flippantly ignoring the Torah and the gedolei ha'dor and they sing songs that are assur and they perform to mixed audiences...  Immediately after Tisha B'Av all these invalid singers immediately have scheduled mixed concerts, and hassidim, dati, haredi all go to them against the psak of all the gedolei yisrael. Hashem hates filth, and all they do is filth....It says the departure of the tzaddikim is more difficult than the destruction of the beis hamikdash. There was a decree of destruction, after the beis hamikdash was destroyed the shechina was gone, millions were killed, the beis hamikdash was burned and the chachomim decreed to not listen to music with instruments until the ultimate redemption would come, except for in a seudat mitzva. It says in Shulchan Aruch that except for in seudat mitzva and during holidays listening to music is assur all year long. So, if the destruction of the beis hamikdash isn't difficult for us, so much so that we sing songs of the goyim and their tunes, and every day of the year has become like a holiday, so if the destruction of the beis hamikdash is not too difficult for us, so now we have been hit harder - the death of tzaddikim is worse than the destruction. Maybe this will wake us up.But it seems it is not too difficult for us. Concerts are already scheduled for right after Tisha B'av. The radio plays music during the Three Weeks....What was the disgusting murderer's name? Ashe Dahan. The gematriya of his name is 560. In Shulchan Aruch in siman 560 it deals with the decree of the destruction of the beis hamikdash. He killed during the Three Weeks, the gematriya of his name is equivalent to that of שירים - songs, and the siman dealing with the destruction is 560.Baba Elazar's main work was on guarding his eyes against filth.. The death of tzaddikim atones for us only if we aroused and strengthen ourselves in those issues the tzaddik had done.God forbid, we have not fixed anything. The great troubles are still ahead of us. If so many tzaddikim are taken from us at once, and we have reached such lows such as to murder a tzaddik..Because the tzaddik was careful about these things, the great message is we need to strengthen ourselves in these things, in the areas of holiness and tzniyus, and specifically not to listen to music that is not allowed and not acceptable from singers who are psulim and not allowed all year long. even from kosher singers all year round we can't listen to their music, and only during the holidays and at seudat mitzva. There is no clearer message than this.Someone who is lenient on this, if it turns out I am correct with what I am saying, he will be blamed in heaven for the death of the tzaddikim. Remember what I have said, and maybe we will finally have the intelligence to do teshuva  before the tsunami that is coming, as the tsunami in Japan and Haiti is nothing compared to the death of the tzaddik. (source: Kikar)

Wow.

There is some crazy campaign going on to sell televisions. This one is a bit more aggressive than the one bundling a sheep with a new tv set.

This campaign is getting women to smash their current tv sets, and then the husbands will go out and buy new ones. At least that is how I understand it. It does not really make much sense to me.



They got a bunch of women who are upset that their husbands watch too much sports, and they have these women surprise their husbands by coming out and smashing the television to pieces. The participants in the campaign all get new televisions, but people "at home" who try this are going to have to go out and buy a new one.. The article in Globes about this does not really say what the point of the campaign is, so I am assuming it is to get them to buy new television sets.

During the time they don't have the tv, they benefit from having a relationship again, and "finding" their spouse. And then the new tv comes a few days later, and I assume that at that point things just get back to normal.

Very strange, though the creators of the campaign say this is the most bold advertising campaign ever produced in Israel, and perhaps the most creative. I would say not creative but destructive.

Especially interesting is that he says they researched the best way to smash television sets. They didn't want explosions and injuries, so they had to figure what type of televisions would work the best in such a campaign, along with what type of hammer, and how to hit the television. The research was done by watching Amnon Yitzchak clips of smashing televisions. I wonder what he would think if he knew that his methods were observed for the purpose of buying new televisions.

They planned everything, and kept the husband in the dark about it so he would be surprised and shocked. And the rest is about to be history, as the campaign is about to air.

In light of this, I point out:

• Rav Elyashiv signed, despite having said he would not. What's that all about? Change of mind? He never said no? His askanim were paid off?
• What is the alternative for entertainment and pleasure for the hamon am, in his ideal world where there is no Jewish music industry?
• He says concerts are prohibited even if they are completely separate. Why? And if so, when Rav Amnon Yitzchak was attacking those who perform before mixed audiences and accepted their teshuva when they agreed to only perform before separate audiences, is he now going to attack them again?
• Newspapers can't advertise such performers - Is this only directed at the Yated, as all other newspapers are not allowed to be printed at all anyway?

In case you missed it, Bechadrei and Kikar Shabbos haredi news websites had articles yesterday about Rav Amnon Yitzchak renewing his attempts to fight against the "hassidic singers" and stop them from being so mainstream.

This is a crazy development in the conflict between Rav Amnon Yitzchak and the religious singers.

On Monday, the police arrested Shlomo Saklersky, a 40-year-old resident of Bnei Brak, on suspicions of extortion.

Saklersky is suspected of having shown nude pictures of the attorney associated with Rabbi Amnon Yitzhak in order to coerce him to withdraw his opposition to concerts before concerts with both men and women in attendance.

Saklersky allegedly sent the lawyer nude pictures of him and threatened to spread them should he not capitulate to his demand to cease pressuring haredi artists not to perform for mixed audiences. Saklersky denied the allegations, but admitted to speaking with a third suspect in the affair who was also arrested on Monday.

Tel Aviv Magistrates' Court extended Saklersky's remand by two days.

Saklersky has an existing criminal record that includes violent offenses. He said during his investigation that he was merely trying to mediate between the two sides because of his previous acquaintance with Rabbi Yitzhak.

Though the lawyer only recently filed a complaint with the police, the alleged incident occurred a number of weeks ago.

The investigation material reveals that Saklersky arrived at the offices of the Shofar organization headed by Rabbi Yitzhak where he presented the compromising photographs while noting that the rabbi is associated with people who are not mindful of modesty standards.

It's so crazy, I just had to share it with you..

As you can see in the pictures, that were posted today on Rav Amnon Yitzchak's website, from a kenes in Ofakim, that was for a religious and Haredi audience, the seating is mixed.

Yaakov Shwekey's wife gave birth to a baby boy while he was in flight to Eretz Yisrael. He found out as soon as he landed.

while there is a custom to submit oneself to a symbolic form of "malkos" before Yom Kippur as a sign of repenting, that is between man and God. The lashes might show a person's sincerity in repentance and get him off of God's blacklist.
Also, one's lashes before Yom Kippur is generally a private event. I remember once walking into a ceremonial lashing on Erev Yom Kippur by a chassidishe fellow in quiet side staircase. I dont remember ever seeing it done publicly.