A group of people trying to put together initiatives to bring the residents of different sectors of Bet Shemesh together has put together a small melave malka for this Motzei Shabbat.

Because it is small, there is only room for men this week. A bigger one was planned but for technical reasons it had to be delayed. I was not involved in the planning, so I do not know what is on the itinerary.

The melave malka will be 8:30 PM this motzei shabbat. The meeting place will be across from the "Rasido mall" by a caravan for a shul called Aviezri on Dustai street (the first caravan).

The people behind this are good people with whom I have recently become involved and they are truly looking for solutions to bring peace among sectors. All [men for this week] are encouraged to join.

Interesting Posts #353

1. Letting Go.. A Little

2. Romney vs Obama: Edom vs Yishmael

3. Save Nachlaot's Children and Win $1800

4. Sheep in Haifa, Skunks in Sacramento

5. Let it Snow, Let It Snow.. Let it Rain

6. Rabbi Wein Got It Right

7. The Disappearing Shekel

Who knew a mouthful of spit could be worth so much?

Someone got a taxi in Jerusalem. The driver refused to run the meter, despite being obligated to and despite the passenger requesting it. The driver then stopped and picked up an additional passenger. When she asked him again to use the meter, he stopped and told her to get out of the taxi.

pretty cool place in Chicago

After that he thought she didnt shut the door fast enough, while she says he started to drive off before she could shut the door. He stopped the car got out and began screaming at her. Then he spat at her.

She sued. he lost. For her distress he was obligated to pay 4000 NIS to her. In addition, he was hit with a 15,000 NIS fine. On top of that 19,000 NIS, he was obligated to put down 5000 NIS for security to ensure that for the next 3 years he would not commit a similar offense. (source: Globes)

Who knew spitting could be worth so much?

Perhaps the people who were spat upon in Bet Shemesh should gather their evidence (some have it on video, along with witnesses) and sue the spitters. Bankrupting them might be a decent tactic.

The most interesting news item of the day, I think, is a lawsuit filed against the State of Israel. A group of individuals who are mostly former haredim are suing the State for not having enforced, when they were in school, the law that required schools to teach core curriculum.

the law was eventually changed in 2008, and schools in the haredi system were given the status of being exempt from teaching the core curriculum. Prior to that, the law requiring that basic education was simply ignored and the State preferred to not enforce it.

These plaintiffs, all of whom went to school when by law they should have been taught the basic subjects and are now adults trying to make a living, claim that because they were not taught what they should have been taught they have been caused tremendous damage. They had to go to special programs to learn the basics, costing them tends of thousands of shekels. Even after that, they say, while they were able to learn the basics they have still been harmed by not having learned those subjects as children as they are more limited as adults in their abilities. This has caused them difficulties in earning a living.

The court is not allowing this to be filed as a class-action suit, but each individual joining the suit must detail his personal financial losses caused by the ignoring of the law. (source: The Pulse)

Bechadrei adds that even among the members of the MAAVAR group, an organization that assists formerly religious people, there is a debate whether such a lawsuit is productive. One supporter, someone who claims to be Haredi, says the real problem is not necessarily the money, but to raise awareness to the real problem. The real problem, as he sees it, is that the askanim have created a situation in which parents in the haredi community cannot send their kids to obtain such an education even if they wanted to. The askanim tell, pressure, the State to leave the haredi system alone and not intervene, but the people who pay the price for that are the kids who grow up and eventually try to find a job.

I wonder what the next step is. Could they sue the schools for not following the law and thereby causing damage to the students? Would it be possible for them to sue their parents for having chosen schools that do not teach core curriculum rather than schools that do? This would apply even to kids after 2008. Can a person sue his or her parents for "damages" based on any parenting decision that the kid eventually blames his failures on?

In the past 12 years or so I have probably been to downtown Jerusalem less than a handful of times. Once was fairly recently, but the time before that was a few years ago during the construction of the Jerusalem Light Rail. I recall noticing how the local businesses had been devastated by the construction, with no cars able to drive in the area, foot traffic was very light, and it was a disaster. It felt like a ghost town. When I was back there recently, it seemed pretty busy again, with a bustling pedestrian crowd.

While the foot traffic has improved, it seems business has not picked up enough. The Committee of Business of Downtown Jerusalem has submitted a request to City Hall to declare the area of downtown Jerusalem as an area with no VAT. (source: Mynet)

They have lost a lot of business to the malls around Jerusalem. In downtown Jerusalem, as in pretty much anywhere else, one has to find parking, difficult as it might be, and then pay pretty hefty parking rates. If one were to go to the mall for his shopping, he would find parking much easier and for free. That alone is a big draw to the malls over the areas like downtown. As well, because of the light rail, supposedly the Iryah has gotten rid of a number of the parking lots near downtown, making it even more difficult to find parking for those who still need it.

Add to that the years that it was a real pain in the neck to go downtown and that got people used to going to the malls. So even if it has come back a bit, they say it is not enough. The shopkeepers claim to be struggling to survive.

Declaring the area of downtown to be exempt from VAT could be a big boon to the local businesses. People would see saving 16% off the top to be a big reason to go back. I am not sure it is enough to overcome the hassle they will encounter when they need to look for a parking spot, and then to pay for parking...

I don't know how common this is. I am not familiar with any area of business that was given the status of being exempt from VAT. Of course there is Eilat, but that is the entire city, and the government recently tried to cancel that status. Are there other places where the government canceled the VAT for the entire area? Did it help to improve the volume of business?

Pretty doomsday stuff going on over at the Herzliya Conference. With Chief of Staff Benny Gantz speaking yesterday at the conference describing the threats against Israel and explaining the need to continue disrupting Iran, today head of military intelligence Aviv Kochavi spoke about how 200,000 missiles are pointed at Israel at all times, the threat from Iran and what Iran currently has available and how quickly they could make progress to building nuclear devices.

The following video clip is a depiction of what a nuclear attack on Israel might have looked like. It has been up for a few days, and I think it is pretty difficult to watch, which is why I have not posted it here until now. With the speeches given by Gantz and Kochavi it seems more realistic. If you are overly sensitive, feel free to ignore...

The recent cyber attacks, which began with the theft and publication of thousands of Israeli credit card numbers, raises an interesting question - if one were to find one of those credit card numbers that still worked, could one use it?

Now it seems obvious that it is not allowed. It is clearly theft, illegal and against halacha.

Abbed Taripi, a Saudi Arabian religious leader, has issued a fatwa - an interesting psak - this week, declaring that the use of stolen Israeli credit cards is permissible. Taripi's rationale, as reported by financiall newspaper Calcalist, is that these cards were not issued neither by an "Islamic bank" nor in Muslim countrys.

According to this "psak", the Arabs would be allowed to use pretty much any stolen credit card issued in any of the western countries, and not just Israeli cards.

Minister Gilad Erdan, speaking from the Knesset podium, gives MK Ahmed Tibi a lesson from the Torah - he explains the first Rashi in the Torah.

Reb Moshe Feinstein Zt"l with Reb Yaakov Kamenetsky in Camp Agudah 1969

This is footage from 1969 that was just uploaded for the first time and made available to the public. It is always interesting to take a look at images of yesteryear...

A couple interesting clips from the Herzliya Conference..

Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz about what the coming war will look like:


Tzippi Livni, worried about the government as always:

Quote Of The Day

The secular also, who do not keep Torah and mitzvos, if they give up their lives for saving other people out of social love, they have olam haba just like the dead of Lod that gave up their lives for the sake of the people of their city....
The Mashgiach Rav Yechezkel Levenstein and the Chazon Ish said it is prohibited to hate [the secular]. There is no reason to hate them, one should hate the sins and should have compassion for them. The Ohr yechezkel and the Chazon Ish said explicitly that they are tinok she'nishbu and it is prohibited to hate them. We are allowed to admonish them, but today none of us know how to admonish...
There are those who are regularly involved with hating [the secular] and consistently publish pamphlets about hating the wicked, and eventually they end up scoffing at the gedolei yisroel. The Chazon Ish and the Steipler said to vote in the elections, and they are scoffing at the Chazon Ish and the Steipler. The result is that their entire goal that is expressed as hating the wicked is done not l'shem shamayim.

 -- Rosh Yeshiva of Ponevezshe Rav Gershon Edelstein (source: Kikar)

I am lumping together a few interesting stories that were in the news. They have no connection to each other, but individually they do not each deserve their own post.

• The grandson of the Spinka Rebbe married a girl in Israel last night, the daughter of Antania Rebbe (never heard of him, sorry). The Spinka Rebbe is in jail in New York and was unable to attend the wedding. His request was denied. The family decided that the Rebbe and his family would watch the wedding broadcast over the Internet, and would transmit a message to the chosson and kallah as well. (source: Bechadrei)
  
  I wonder if he is the first hassidic rebbe to use the Internet...
  
  
• A few days ago there was a news report about a blood drive by the haredi community in Ashdod. What made the news was the fact that it was for men only. There was really nothing new about it, so I did not even think about it. All over the place, for years already, the haredi community has been organizing blood drives for men only, though I do not remember seeing any blood drives for women only.
  
  What is interesting is the response. The haredi community of Ashdod feels betrayed by the journalist who wrote the article that got them in hot water. As part of the article the journalist asked Tanya Rosenblit (she of the mehadrin bus fame) for her response about the blood drive. The community feels that the article was hostile to them, especially because it involved Rosenblit.
  
  In response, the community has banned that specific journalist from receiving news updates and press releases from it. (source: Bechadrei)
  
  
• Bechadrei has publicized a story about Rav Chaim Kanievsky, and I find it puzzling. I always love a good story, but when they don't make sense they bother me.
  

  The Lederman Shul in Bnei Braq

  The story goes that the gabbai of the Lederman shul had gone to Rav Chaim Kanievsky a few days after Rebbetzin Kanievsky's death and asked if they should check the mezuzos. Rav Chaim answered that the mezuzos had recently been checked so there was no need.
  A few weeks later the gabbai returned. During his visit he mentioned to Rav Chaim that he had understood that he did not need to check the mezuzos. Rav Chaim said he should send the mezuzos to be checked.
  After checking 30 mezuzos from around the shul, it was discovered that they were all kosher. In the three mezuzuos from the womens section, where Rebbetzin Kanievsky was a regular, problems were found, though the mezuzos were technically kosher. the three mezuzos were brought to Rav Chaim who instructed them to replace the mezuzos immediately.
  
  My questions:
  1. Did the imperfect mezuzos kill the rebbetzin? Is that the implication of the story?
  2. Why did they ask about the mezuzos? Just because she had died? Do they check mezuzos after every time a member dies?
  3. If the mezuzos were kosher, why should they have "killed" the rebbetzin?

He did the crime, he paid the time. Somebody commits a crime - should that be held against him forever? if he went to prison and "paid the time time", should his crime still be held against him?

Omri Sharon was indicted and convicted of crimes with moral turpitude. Sharon sat in prison for 7 months.

He did the crime, he paid the time.

And now Omri Sharon is back, getting involved in politics again. Sharon has joined Tzippi Livni's team in a senior position of her campaign for re-election as head of Kadima.

Is that ok, because he paid his time? It definitely has a bad taste. Sharon was convicted of crimes with moral turpitude. You would think that in today's day and age a high level candidate would be overly sensitive to such questionable characters being involved. One wrong word, one suspicious incident, and the entire campaign can be lost (if it isn't already..)

The Channel 10 television show Hamekor last night ran an interview with moshe Friedman - the guy behind much of the fighting in Bet Shemesh.. It is in Hebrew, but with Hebrew subtitles and pretty simple and easy to understand..

It is a window of sorts into understanding, or at least hearing, their perspective. Friedman explains how the haredi community is harassed in a similar way to the way things happened in the holocaust, he claims no violence in bet Shemesh, he explains why anybody not keeping torah completely (I presume he means the way he does) is not keeping it at all...

Malcolm Hoenlein's Visit to Jonathan Pollard

Vaani Tefilati - Naftali Kalfa & Yosi Piamenta