There was absolutely no reason for the USA to take the announced construction plan as such an insult to its efforts to mediate peace talks.

Jerusalem was specifically excluded from the construction freeze. North Jerusalem neighborhood expansion is not a new settlement, nor is it 16000 settlements.

Perhaps the US (i.e. Obama) was just looking for an excuse to come down hard on Israel, just like the Palestinians have been looking for an excuse to capitalize on the US being upset at Israel. They are rioting over the restoration of an ancient synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem because they know now is a good time, as the Israelis have fallen out of favor in the United States. The US might also just be taking advantage of the recent construction announcements to criticize and berate Israel, for unknown reasons, despite knowing that israel had every right to continue construction in Jerusalem and never agreed to freeze anything.

There was no reason, other than perhaps diplomatic courtesy, for the announcement to not have been made during Biden's visit. It did not go against any principles Israel had announced or agreed to work with. Just the opposite - it was perfectly in line with Israel's public positions on Jerusalem and the peace process.

Is Barak Obama destroying the relationship Jews have always had with the Dmeocrat Party? Is his demeaning attitude toward Israel, despite some mistakes Israel might have made, going to harm the party at large rather than just him?

Barak Obama is in big trouble in the US. Many don't like him, and many of thse who supported him have become disenfranchised, realizing that while he sang a nice tune, his charisma and speech-writing abilities are not really enough to be president or to bring peace in the Middle East.

While perhaps the average person in the United States does not really care about the intricacies of the Middle East peace process and of the details of the conflict between Israel and the Arab nations, at least we can talk about the Jews.

While in recent elections we have been seeing a swing of Jewish votes toward the Republican candidates, much of that swing was from the Orthodox community. The lions share of Jewish votes has remained in the Democrat camp. Yet, with the way Barak Obama has mishandled the Middle East issues, and how he has been one-sidedly against Israel all along, perhaps Jews are moving further away from supporting Obama, and perhaps from supporting any future Democrat candidate.

I suspect we are going to see a greater swing of Jewish votes toward the Republican cnadidate in the next election as a result of Obama's policies. The question is really after Obama is gone, will the Jewish vote continue moving towards the Republicans, or will people only punish Obama and not the Democrats?

Somebody in RBS is working on opening a Yeshiva High School.

There are new posters plastered up around the neighborhood descrying the fact, and saying nobody should assist him, parents should not register their kids there, and chas v'shalom to touch even a small bit the framework and appearance of the holy yeshivas. Parents should only send to the holy yeshivas, and only then will they see nachas and success from their children.

The poster is not signed, but some name sof gedolim are printed. Does that mean they support this poster or that the printer felt like adding their names at the bottom?

I am not sure what the point of this is, as I thought the government already voted on it and decided not to move the graves, based on Litzman's opposition, in Ashkelon on behalf of construction of the new emergency room for the hospital.

Yet perhaps the fight goes on because they think they can get it back on the table and get the emergency room built.

The fight until now has been based on those who accept the Rabbanut psak that the graves are almost definitely not of Jewish origin and therefore can be moved, respectfully of course, compared to those who accept the psak of the Asra Kadisha who say that the graves are likely to be Jewish and cannot be moved.

Along come the rabbonim of Tzohar and have thrown a onkey wrench into the works. They have offered a new psak. They say that even if the graves are Jewish they can be moved, respectfully of course. The halacha says that graves can be reinterred to new location when the graves cause damage to the public. The rabbonim of Tzohar say that these graves are causing a clear danger to the public, by preventing the emergency room from being built, and they can therefore be respectfully moved.

Is this enough to get the issue back on the table? Will the government suddenly reverse its acceptance of Litzman's position simply because the rabbonim of Tzohar offered an alternative psak, not even supported, yet at least, by the Rabbanut? I doubt it. I think it will only serve to fan the flames of public opinion against Litzman, though as part of the overall halachic debate it is a worthy opinion that should be publicized.

Sorry for not having the "Interesting Posts" editions over the past 2 weeks. I have been swamped with other obligations and have not had time to read other blogs. My Google reader feed was exploding from the blog feeds I was not reading, so I cleared them and all and am starting from scratch. I will, hopefully, get back to it soon.

A fight between two Haredi parties over a school building is now causing a municipal coalition crisis in Jerusalem.

The Gerrers have a building for their yeshiva. Shas has been allocated a building for their girls school in close proximity of the Gerrer yeshiva building.

Ger is worried that having this Shas girls school nearby will be a problem of tzniyus for the yeshiva, and are therefore threatening City Hall that they will pull their reps out of the coalition if the allocation to Shas is finalized.

A solution is being worked on which might include a series of building swaps that would move the Shas girls school further away and put a boys school next to the Gerrer yeshiva. (source: mynet)

I hate it when every little thing has to become a coalition crisis - both on the local city level and on the national level. Barkat should tell them to take a hike, calling their bluff, and see if they are really willing to pull their hands out of the municipal pie over this. His coalition doesn't really need them anyway. Problems can be resolved without making them into crises.

However, it has now been announced that Jerusalem District Police have closed the Temple Mount to visitors for the next three days due to fears of Moslem riots… How ironic that in the very place which the prophets of Israel tell us is the secret of world peace, the very place which is to be the ‘house of prayer for all nations,’ care must be taken to ensure that there be no religious freedoms - lest Muslim sensitivities are offended

---- Rabbi Chaim Richman (Temple Institute)

So why should the restoration of an ancient Jewish synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of the Old City be a provocation to cause rioting among the Palestinians?

The festivities of the restoration of the Hurva Synagogue began yesterday, with the actual opening and rededication ceremony scheduled for Tuesday, Rosh Chodesh Nissan.

Yesterday they held a hachnassat sefer torah ceremony at the Hurva.

Kikar Shabbos has a whole slew of beautiful pictures of the shul and the event. Check it out.

The Prime Minister is in the middle of a fight for our eternal rights in jerusalem, so I agreed to his request to delay the [Likud Merkaz] meeting due to the pressure he is under right now.

--------- MK Danny Danon (Likud)

Danon agreed to delay the Merkaz meeting. Hopefully Netanyahu is actually fighting for our rights in Jerusalem and not just going to give in on everything. On the other hand, I would not put it past Bibi to have arranged this whole crisis just in order to get the meeting delayed, after he failed in his previous attempts...

Another Toyota Prius was in trouble today when the car began to speed up unintentionally and the driver could not get it under control in New York, after it just happened in California the other day.

While this time the driver was lucky and he had only just pulled out of his driveway, sending the car speeding across the street into his neighbors wall, suffering only some injuries, this disaster by the Japanese auto maker is a serious problem with more and more life-threatening situations happening at more regular intervals. Get all those Toyotas off the road!

While I should not joke about it and take this lightly, I do wonder if this is a good "out" when a cop tries to stop and ticket for speeding someone driving a Toyota. When the cop pulls up behind him and call for him to pull over to the side of the road, the driver should speed up even more increasingly and call out that his car is out of control. I wonder if that would get him out of a speeding ticket..

Why can't supermarkets just sell food anymore? Why do they have to become banks and peddle credit cards? Is the food industry not profitable enough?

I am so sick of being pestered to sign up for a new credit card, I am, bli neder, going to avoid certain stores as much as possible, even if it means paying slightly more on some items at other stores.

Every time I walk into the supermarket it is the same shpiel - do you have our credit card? no? why not? it is free of charges for the first year! blah blah blah. Do they think we just came from the moon and have not heard the shpiel every week or two for the past 6 months?

I am not interested in my supermarket becoming my bank and my creditor. Just sell me my milk, cornflakes and toilet paper and let me go home in peace.

While unfortunately this whole thing is portrayed inaccurately in the world press - "1600 settlements" etc. when it is adding on to a Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem that was specifically excluded from the construction freeze - unfortunately it is something that needs to be dealt with...

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