this was the "kosher halftime show" during the Super Bowl on the Nachum Segal Network.. Lenny Solomon and SHlock Rock!

Finally a good solution in the public sphere, employing some form of compromise and goodwill, rather than the ramming through according to what I want, what I think is better, even against significant numbers of other people.

Mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat has changed his stance regarding the appointment of Chief Rabbis of the city, that was sorely lacking for many years. Barkat had been committed to getting "Zionist Rabbis" appointed to the positions. At the same time, other groups have their interests in getting either a Haredi rav, or specifically a Shas-affiliated (or maybe "Shas-approved" is a more accurate title), rav appointed. And of course it can be broken down further even among Zionist rabbis, among haredi rabbis, etc. what type of rabbi should get the position of chief rabbi.

Barkat's new position (though he says it is not new) is that the right thing to do in Jerusalem would be to get one Zionist Rabbi appointed, and one Haredi rabbi appointed.

Barkat said  there are various and diverse opinions as to what should be in Jerusalem. I believe the right thing for Jerusalem is to have one Zionist rabbi and one Haredi rabbi. This is what I believed in the past, and also today. I believe we are not far from starting the engines on the process of selecting 2 chief rabbis for the city. It is important for the city that they should represent all sectors - religious, haredi and secular. The challenge is for us to bring honor to Jerusalem via the selection of the rabbonim who will know to embrace and connect to all communities in the city.

As long as the model of two chief and city rabbis is still in effect, this is a good compromise position. The only problem is that there will still be fights, even if the proposal is accepted - Shas will want the Haredi rav to be from Shas, for the Sephardi position, while UTJ will want the Sephardi Chief Rabbi to be Zionist and the Ashkenazi rabbi to be Haredi. I don't know if the Zionist community will have a preference as to which rabbi is Zionist.

Walla News reports on a crazy story with MK Ahmed Tibi accusing a delivery guy of stealing his phone at a gas station..

Chaim Dayan from Tiberias, the manager of a delivery company, was on his way back up north to Tiberias last week when he stopped off at the gas station near the Glilot Junction.

Dayan says he recognized Tibi and nodded to him, noticing the suspicious glances thrown in his direction. Dayan also says he noticed Tibi's assistants photographing his car, but didn't attribute anything important to it, as he had a "for sale" sign on the car.

Dayan says he soon after drove off on his way back to Tiberias, when a few minutes later he received a phone call from a private, blocked, number. He says he recognized Ahmed Tibi's voice on the other end of the line, and Tibi was accusing him of having stolen his phone and was demanding it be returned. Dayan says at first he thought it was a prank, and he laughed, but Tibi responded that it is no joke, he is serious, and Dayan had better return his phone immediately.

Dayan explains that Tibi insisted Dayan had stolen his phone while he was in the bathroom. Dayan denied it and agreed to wait for them to catch up to him - he had driven as far as Kfar Shmaryahu at that point, and he would allow them to search his car for the phone to be convinced that he had not taken it.

He says Tibi's driver got out, intimidated and threatened him to give it back and end things pleasantly. Dayan invited them to search his car, and no phone was found. He decided to leave, and as he was getting in the car, Tibi himself banged on the car window and told him to return the phone and end things pleasantly.

Dayan's lawyer says he is filing a complaint with the ethics committee of the Knesset against Tibi, and might file a libel suit against Tibi. He already filed a complaint with the police against Tibi for having harassed him.

Tibi as well filed a complaint with the police against Dayan. Tibi also claims the manager of the gas station witnessed the theft. ..

What a crazy story! Though, I think I am most impressed that MK Ahmed Tibi uses gas station bathrooms.

"brothers" is an issue of definition.The settlers are not my brothers. My brothers are people with whom we have together a common language, and especially and what is most important in my eyes is that we have common values. The brotherhood of blood, Jewish blood, I don't believe in that...

  -- former MK Yossi Sarid

more on the round Noah's Ark.. interesting that they talk about various cultures having similar stories in their traditions...

John Kerry has, deservedly, taken a beating in Israel the past couple of days. After saying something stupid, everyone has come out swinging... I even suspect that the recent muscle flexing by PM Netanyahu over Bennet's criticism of Netanyahu's plan for eventual peace was really just in preparation for standing up to John Kerry - to give himself the strength and the appearance of being able to stand on principle..




Danny Danon on Kerry..


and Netanyahu as well...

I don't know if these predictions are correct or not (this was posted on schedule before the Super Bowl game was played), but I am impressed that this Eli Langer got to interview Dan Marino...

How kosher is the Super Bowl as a Jewish activity?

Who cares?

There is a lot of criticism floating around about Jews and communities getting together to watch the Super Bowl. There is a lot of criticism out there, some of it implied and some of it explicit of it not being a Jewish thing, not appropriate etc.

Surely the discussion itself is always appropriate, and maybe some people do get too involved, but overall I think too much of a deal is being made of it.

For 48 years Jews have been watching the Super Bowl, and football for longer. For decades more, Jews have enjoyed baseball, add to that basketball, other sports, other activities... Personally I do not know one person who left religion because he watched a football game... People enjoy it, its a hobby, something to be distracted with. Not everyone is going to spend every free moment learning Torah. It is nothing new, and I think it is best to be left alone rather than attacked. Attacking people for following sports will be a futile effort, and will most likely make people think you are detached from reality, disconnected, unrealistic, and they will ignore what you have to say on more important issues. Let people enjoy their harmless extracurricular activities.

A young Haredi man, a Chabadnik, showed up to the IDF draft offices, expecting to submit himself to the army draft, and ended up getting arrested for being AWOL.

The fellow had received a deferment from army service for learning in yeshiva. Eventually he finished his learning and traveled abroad in the capacity of being a "Chabad shliach".

As soon as he stepped out of the country, he was officially AWOL.

He returned to Israel in October and appeared at some point before the army draft board to be enlisted. He was immediately arrested for being AWOL. His excuse that he did not know he was AWOL fell on deaf ears and he has been served with an indictment.

Due to the involvement of the IDF Defense Attorney, he was moved to an "open arrest" which allowed him to begin his actual service and training. His commanders have reported that he is serving well, with high motivation, and despite officially being under arrest, he was able to get married and he has even been allowed out to go home for short periods of time.

His trial is coming up this week, and the prosecutor wants him in jail. The defenders defense is that doing so would harm the army's ability to attract other haredim to the service, and they shouldn't go hard on someone whose community they are trying to attract.
source: Walla News

Personally, I am against such arguments. AWOL? How difficult is it to inform the army of your situation, file the paperwork or do it properly? If a young man from Tel Aviv or Haifa had gone AWOL, should they not prosecute him just so that others don't see the army as being too harsh?

On the other hand, sometimes it is just bureaucracy getting in the way. Even a tight system should be able to be lenient when a situation calls for it. He was not caught hiding out avoiding service. He was caught because he came to their offices to serve! He made a mistake, he could be made to pay for it without being treated too harshly. While I disagree with the argument - don't punish him because it will look bad for other people, I do think there is room for leniency considering he came on his own to serve.

The most recent Rabbanut kashrut update had a warning about Roladin losing its hechsher.

The Rabbanut statement said that Roladin, with a factory in Kadima-Tzoren, has been receiving kashrut certification from an unauthorized rav. Some of the products have been found to include milk powder of chalav nochri.

As well, it was discovered that in the factory they have been violating instructions of the Rabbanut regarding the doughs, such as using dairy dough in hamantaschen.

forewarned is forearmed..

I don't know what is wrong with using dairy dough in the hamantaschen if they are marked properly, but if those are the rules of the Rabbanut they have to be enforced..

I love the odds!

this is great!

also, if you want to buy Soda Stream, Amazon is having a Super Bowl sale and is selling SodaStream soda machines, at discounted prices, and you get a $10 promotional credit for the Amazon store.. Check out the SodaStream Super Bowl store. This deal is available today only, February 2, 2014, in honor fo the Super Bowl.. so take advantage now!

in light of the fun and happy atmosphere of entering Adar.. he is the new shoe for stomping out Amalek..

cute idea for a new chumra, or hiddur, but I think the execution could have been done better...

somebody sent this to me.. at first I thought it was called the Penguin Dance just because it was haredi boys doing it - a common Israeli nickname for haredim is "penguins", because of the black and white.. I did some checking, and there really is a dance called the Penguin Dance. But then it was pointed out that this used to be called The Bunny Hop. Doing some more research discovered there is a lot of arguing how this originated, what it was changed from, who invented it, and all that.. either way, enjoy the new yeshivish dance - The Penguin Dance