In the final days before the Knesset dissolved (due to lack of budget), the negotiations between Kachol Lavan and Likud to come to an arrangement to keep the Knesset coalition intact had focused largely around Avi Nissenkorn, the Minister of Justice.

This story is related by Kikar, and is described as "the story that is driving the yeshiva world wild"..

here it is:
At the beginning of the week, 5 yeshiva bochurim from Yeshivas Ateret Yisrael were injured in a car accident. They were on the way for some R&R down south by the Dead Sea. Driving along the Highway 90, the car flipped over. The driver was critically injured, and the four passengers were injured as well, albeit only light injuries. The driver was whisked away to Hadassah Ein Kerem where he went straight into surgery, and is still fighting for his life (Chizkiyahu Aryeh Leib ben Tova, if you wish to daven for him)..

The story, as related by one of the other passengers, is that as they were driving down the curvy road toward Ein Bokek, they were all talking about a former fellow student in the yeshiva. They were making fun of him and talking about him - only the finest lashon ha'ra.

The driver had just put an end to the conversation, saying that it is not appropriate to talk about the fellow like that, and when they get back they would have to ask his forgiveness.

Moments later, everything flipped - on one of the sharp curves the driver lost control of the car, ended up being trapped in the flipped car and was in critical condition.

As soon as the passengers were released from the hospital after being treated for their light injuries they went to the victim of their lashon ha'ra, concerned there might be a "kpeida" on them and the driver, and asked his forgiveness.

The fellow gave his forgiveness immediately, saying in front of them 3 times that all is forgiven, and then he gathered a minyan of 10 people and said it before them as well and davened for his recovery..

Now that is immediate justice, if I have ever heard of any... except for the fact that he is the one who stopped the lashon ha'ra, so why is he the one that was punished?

lots of lessons here:
 - don't leave yeshiva for some vacation mid-zman
 - don't talk lashon ha'ra
 - drive safely
 - pay attention to the road, especially on a windy, curvy road
 - drive safely, no, that cannot be repeated enough

either way, refuah shleima

Another Nazi brought to justice. 5 years is a joke considering he assisted in the murder of 27,900 Jews, but he will likely be dead before the end if his sentence anyway.

From Haaretz on the Demjanjuk sentencing:

A German court found John Demjanjuk guilty on Thursday of helping to kill 27,900 Jews at the Nazi death camp Sobibor during the Holocaust.


The Munich court sentenced the 91-year-old to five years in prison as an accessory to mass murder as a guard at the Polish camp during World War Two. Defense attorneys had said during the 18-month trial they would appeal any guilty verdict.
Earlier Thursday, when Asked by judges whether he wanted to say any final words Thursday, Demjanjuk - speaking through an interpreter - replied: "No."

I am not sure why he needed a translator in order to say "No".

He should rot in hell.

There is a common type of posting that elicits excitement and interest among readers. That woudl be the "Only in Israel" post. Today I offer you the "Only in America" post. Actually, it is not really "only in America" but is more like "not in Israel".

Ever fly El Al (or probably most other airlines)? Ever get stuck sitting in a bad seat?

You know the type:

• the seat near the bathrooms.. that seat sitter has to suffer much of the flight with bad odors, crowds of people waiting for the bathroom, if it is a flight with a lot of religious people maybe the davening is happening right next to him, etc.
• the seat near a bunch of kids - they make a lot of noise, get antsy, fight at any of numerous times during the flight, spill their food, etc.
• seat near the front of each section called the bulkhead. This might be the worst of all the bad seats as you have to contend with nursing mothers, babies crying in the middle of the night waking everyone around them up, baby toys all over the place, dirty and smelly diapers, and lots of other disturbances as harried parents try to find ways to keep the little ones occupied and entertained for, what seems to them to be, the longest day in the history of the world.

Ever consider suing the airline if you were assigned a seat in one of those "danger zones"?

Well, somebody did. Somebody sued El Al for exactly that.

A guy flying to Berlin on El Al checked in requesting a window seat, far from the bathrooms and from the noisy areas.

He ended up being seated right in the bulkhead section - yep, next to all those screaming babies. He had a very uncomfortable flight, and decided to sue.

The airline responded that they guarantee no specific seats and seating is based on the ticket purchased.

The courts ruled that the airline is not at fault. The judge said that the defendant has no right to claim that the airline should not fly the children or to place them only in a designated area far away from other adults. The judge also said that not every discomfort or dissatisfaction with a service is worthy of a day in court, while every person has a right to seek compensation in court, others have a right not to be disturbed by unnecessary and frivolous lawsuits.

The judge rejected his claim against El Al and required him to pay the airline 750 NIS for court costs.

Had this person sued in the US, there is a better chance he might have gotten some sort of compensation. In the US there is a culture of suing for the slightest discomfort, and what the Israeli judge called a frivolous lawsuit, may very well be a winner in the US. Think back to the person who spilled a hot cup of coffee on herself while driving and sued because the coffee was too hot. And won.

I wonder though, had he won the case in Israel, would I have been able to sue after traveling with my kids and being seated near them?

So the courts said that these types of lawsuits are still not going to be happening in Israel anytime soon, despite people trying to bring that culture to Israel.

Today the courts will be handing down the verdict in the case against Haim Ramon.

My prediction is that he will be exonerated. I think that the case has almost no merits and is ridiculous. And I do not even like Ramon as a politician.

He might be exonerated with some criticism, which might make it difficult for him to return to his old post as Justice Minister. He might need to take up a new position in the government, which is why Olmert has waited for the ministerial shakeup he has been talking about for a while now. He is waiting to see what he can give Ramon.

And on that note, there have been some calls that if Ramon is found not guilty that would "require" the Attorney General Manny Mazuz to resign. The logic behind this is if he brought such a case to court against such a high ranking public figure and there is no basis to the case and he is found innocent, then manny Mazuz must resign. He will not be able to continue working in his position, as he would have to work closely with Ramon who would return to his position as Justice Minister.

I disagree with that position. Just because he felt there was enough evidence to indict and convict does not gaurantee a conviction. Guilt has to be proven in a court of law and the fact that the prosecuters did not successfully do so should have no bearing on Mazuz's position.