Showing posts with label medinat halacha. Show all posts
Showing posts with label medinat halacha. Show all posts
Dec 13, 2022
halachic state
It is one thing, and understandable, for people like Netanyahu and others in the Likud to try to calm people down and say they wont allow it to turn into a halachic state. They dont want that either.
What I dont get is the campaign from UTJ and Shas and DL parties saying it. Isnt that what they want? And if they do not want it, why not? Arent they not fully invested in the State just because it isnt and their ultimate goal would be to turn it into a halachic state? Why are they trying to calm everyone down and saying it is exaggerated and they wont turn Israel into a halachic state? Is it just marketing, despite the increased power they have they want to keep everyone calm while they do it or maybe they think they dont have enough power just yet? Are they not interested in doing that? Not Yet? not at all?
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Dec 8, 2022
Torah Finances
Here is a picture of the front cover of this week's Mishpacha magazine (Hebrew edition):
That s MK Betzalel Smotritch (Hatzionut Hadatit), seemingly incoming Finance Minister, on the cover. The quote on the cover is from their interview with him, saying I believe in a financial perception called "In my laws you will go". If we will implement the Torah we will merit an economic abundance. This will be a part of my professional perspective.
I have to say, I do not really know what that means. Is he saying we have to keep the Torah and then we will be blessed with abundance? is he saying the finances of the State will be directed toward Torah observance as a way of bringing prosperity? is he saying the State will follow the Torah in its financial decisions? the State will use the Torah as a guide when deciding where money goes, what budgets to allocate, etc? What guidance does the Torah give to a Finance Minister trying to do his job properly?
I am looking forward to reading the interview to understand more where he is going with this.
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May 23, 2021
Israel is not a halachic state, if halacha is even your issue
In light of what Moshe Gafni said regarding Har Habayit and the issue with Hamas and the Palestinians (see previous post if you are not aware of what he said), many of his peers have since commented, some agreeing and some upset at him for it (even some who agree with him in theory disagree about giving in to Hamas's demands on this). I would like to add my own thoughts.
I reserve the right to disagree with Gafni, but mostly on a non-halachic aspect of this.
Maybe Gafni is right. My opinion will be "EVEN IF GAFNI IS 100% RIGHT....." - and I do not think he is. We can argue the halacha until we are all blue in the face, the fact is many rabbonim prohibit the ascension to Har Habayit, and all the ones Gafni would consider relevant are of this opinion. I could argue that plenty of rabbonim allow it. I could argue that the Torah itself allows it. I could argue if there is a takana in place or not. But I don't want to argue the halachic aspect of it.
As I said above, EVEN IF GAFNI IS 100% RIGHT - even if Gafni is 100% right that it is not allowed to ascend Har Habayit, Har Habayit should still not be closed. That is not a reason to close Har Habayit to Jews.
First, if we are basing this on halacha (again, and let's say Gafni is 100% right that it is prohibited for Jews to go up), it is far worse for non-Jews to be on Har Habayit (in the prohibited areas, which are more in space for non-Jews than it is for Jews) than it is for Jews (in most of the area of Har Habayit - in the azara area it is pretty bad for Jews as well). So if it is also prohibited for non-Jews to be there, and Gafni's position is a halachic-based opinion, Gafni should be telling Netanyahu to shut Har Habayit entirely, for non-Jews as well. Is it really a sign of our deep connection tot hsi holy place by banning Jews because of the halacha, but lett8ing the non-Jews run around Har Habayit against halacha?
And that was without even mentioning proper decorum on Har Habayit. The Arabs on Har Habayit, besides for praying, also play soccer, eat, sit around (except for king of Davidic family, sitting is not halachically allowed in some parts of Har Habayit), in addition to occasionally rioting and getting violent... behavior very unbecoming for being on Har Habayit. If Gafni is so worried about the halachic issues of Har Habayit, let us hear him speak up about all these other issues there,...
And lastly, Israel is not a halachic state. it is not a medinat halacha. Israel is a democratic and Jewish state, but not a halachic one. If Gafni wants Har Habayit closed to Jews, besides for this only being selective on the Har Habayit issue, it is also selectively applying halacha. Why not insist the entire state be shut down on Shabbos? Insist on no selling treif meat. No non-kosher restaurants allowed. Non-religious couples are not allowed to marry. He might be right that it is not alowed, and even if he is right that it is not allowed, that is not a reason for him to be able to prevent me or anyone else who goes up from going. you want halacha to be the deciding factor in the State of Israel? Pass a law turning Israel into a halachic state.
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Mar 2, 2021
The Supreme Court is deciding for a secular State, not a halachic one
People are upset about the Supreme Court decision regarding conversions, but there seems to be a misunderstanding.
The Supreme Court is not taking a halachic position.
Also, the Supreme Court was filling a void, as the Knesset failed to legislate the matter for the past 13 years, yet it was "discriminating" acceptance of conversions based on political decisions without legislation. That can't happen, and the Supreme Court, after waiting for many years, finally said if the Knesset is not going to legislate the matter, we will. And, the Law of Return already accepted non-Jews, as being Jewish is not a requirement of the Law of Return. The Law of Return accepts immigration to Israel if one has a single Jewish grandparent, and thousands upon thousands of non-Jews have immigrated to Israel over the years based on that.
That being said, I don't think anyone is surprised by the decision, but many are angry. The thing is, the State of Israel is a secular state. it is not a State based on halacha and Torah, even with many religious and/or traditional citizens. It is a secular State based on secular law and secular society.
It always amuses me when people somehow expect secular politicians and a secular legal system to act according to religion, and get upset when they do not. For political reasons the secular politicians at times find it prudent to "throw bones" to the religious, or to consider the religious position when legislating or setting policy, but in general they are secular, think secular and are building secular society. They will do secular things, and will prefer secular things, except when it is not politically prudent. There is no reason to get angry or surprised when a secular State sets secular policy - that is to be expected. Until there is a halachic State in the Land of Israel, there is no reason to expect or even demand that they follow the halacha.
The Supreme Court is not deciding Reform converts are Jewish. The Supreme Court is saying that because you didn't legislate the matter, you have to equally recognize State-processed converts and privately converted converts.
Don't get upset when Netanyahu or Gantz or Biton or Akunis or Steinitz or whoever eats treif food, desecrates Shabbos, talks to the Reform, etc -they are secular Jews running a secular State. If they choose not to, it is for political considerations, but we can't expect better of them, because these are not their values.
And one more thing, people used to say the Reform should not get angry that they are legislated against or when policy is set against them. They say, if they want power, they should love here in greater numbers and attain the necessary power. Looks like this is happening now. The Reform are increasing their power. And it has been happening on the watch of the religious/Haredi powers.
So, if the decision stands, people will have to pay attention to whom they marry and look into their background. Just like everywhere else in the world.
If you cannot figure out how to function in a non-halachic State, found one.
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Sep 12, 2019
a halachic state or not
Among us religious people many of us say we want the State of Israel to be a halachic state. Maybe we don't have enough power to do it yet. Maybe there arent enough religiosu people yet for it to happen. The goal though is for Israel to become a religious and halachic state, at some point. Some of us say it, or believe it, or say we believe it, even if deep down we really dont want it (because we like our freedom to choose, or whatever other reason it might be). But we say it. We either really want it or we say it because we think we are supposed to.
Aryeh Deri, Minister of Interior and head of Shas, just said on the radio "enough of all the spin - we do not want a medinat halacha - a halachic state".
There you have it gentlemen. You do not need to feel obligated to want a halachic state or feel obligated to say you want a halachic state. The cat is out of the bag. It is fine to want Israel to be a Jewish state without aspirations of turning it into a halachic state run by rabbis you dont want telling you what to do.
Aryeh Deri, Minister of Interior and head of Shas, just said on the radio "enough of all the spin - we do not want a medinat halacha - a halachic state".
There you have it gentlemen. You do not need to feel obligated to want a halachic state or feel obligated to say you want a halachic state. The cat is out of the bag. It is fine to want Israel to be a Jewish state without aspirations of turning it into a halachic state run by rabbis you dont want telling you what to do.
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Jul 16, 2019
Quote of the Day
We will not participate and lend a hand to turning Israel into a halachic State. If there is a need to have work on Shabbos - it will happen. There will be work on Shabbos so as not to hurt the tens of thousands of soldiers and citizens who need to use the trains. This is not any breach in any way of the existing status quo.
-- Minister of Science and Technology Ofir Akunis
Akunis joined the increasing voices from within the Likud talking openly about allowing work and/or public transportation on Shabbos, despite the Likud relationship with its natural coalition partners (ie the religious and Haredi parties) being diametrically opposed to such policies. And, this is in direct opposition to Netanyahu telling his people, the Likud MKs and Ministers, at an election rally yesterday to not talk about the "medinat halacha" issue anymore in any way. Despite what Netanyahu ordered yesterday, Akunis spoke about this just this morning.
While I am not sure if Likud policy has changed or not, they are definitely speaking differently in public. If this continues, at some point the voices will get too loud for the Haredi/religious parties to ignore.
-- Minister of Science and Technology Ofir Akunis
Akunis joined the increasing voices from within the Likud talking openly about allowing work and/or public transportation on Shabbos, despite the Likud relationship with its natural coalition partners (ie the religious and Haredi parties) being diametrically opposed to such policies. And, this is in direct opposition to Netanyahu telling his people, the Likud MKs and Ministers, at an election rally yesterday to not talk about the "medinat halacha" issue anymore in any way. Despite what Netanyahu ordered yesterday, Akunis spoke about this just this morning.
While I am not sure if Likud policy has changed or not, they are definitely speaking differently in public. If this continues, at some point the voices will get too loud for the Haredi/religious parties to ignore.
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