We have seen new parents offering for sale the right to name their baby.

I think this might be a little bit stranger. Kikar is reporting on an advertisement in a newspaper (they don't say which) in which a person says he cannot fast on 17 Tammuz and therefore is looking to buy the right to be sandek at a bris. Being that a sandek would not have to fast, he is willing to pay up to $1000 for this right.



Supposedly they called him and he confirmed it, and added that he will only considering buying the sandek rights from a shabbos-observant family. I don't know what is wrong with being sandek at the bris of the baby of a non-shabbos-observant family, as such a sandek still would not fast and it would be the same "segula" and honor, but that is what he wants.

It is definitely a unique way of getting out of a fast, albeit expensive. He probably also figures it is worth spending a lot of money on as being sandek is  considered a segula for attaining wealth. He probably just figures he'll get his money back sooner or later.

Unless this is a 13 year old child fasting for the first time (or avoiding fasting), I wonder if he has done this before or if he has fasted before. And, what does he plan to do on Tisha B'av and Yom Kippur that are even longer fasts and this solution won't really help.

A very strange story has come to light in which a convert was discovered to never having actually been circumcised during his conversion.

And no, we are not talking about a conversion performed by some renegade or maverick beis din, not some open orthodox or other type of defamed-by-the-rabbanut beis din (e.g. such as Rav Haskel Lookstein's). This happened in the prestigious beis din in Bnei Braq led by Rav Nissim Karelitz.

The story, as reported by Radio Kol Hai, is seemingly not one of fraud or deceit, but of a mistake. This fellow went to the beis din to convert, and at the end of the process when it was time to get the circumcision, a student mohel was appointed to perform the rite of passage. This student mohel did not do what he was supposed to do, but the convert was registered as a convert.

This was discovered when he went to the Rabbanut to register for marriage, and they wanted to confirm his conversion. During the investigation they somehow discovered that he was not circumcised.

The Rabbanut mohel says that this fellow refused to be physically examined when requested. However, he said, and I heard him say this on the radio, the refusal was not because he was hiding anything but because his conversion had been confirmed in the past by multiple rabbis and he thought another examination was improper and wrong, and it was probably confusing and upsetting for him to be put through this and to have his conversion suddenly called into question.

Eventually he was persuaded to participate, by realizing that he would not be allowed to marry if he did not participate, and the mohel realized that there was a problem, as he was not circumcised. A new circumcision was performed, his conversion was confirmed and he was allowed to marry.

Supposedly, there are many stories like this in which people are given geirus certificates without having actually completed the circumcision requirements.

This is a very strange story:
1. Rav Karelitz's beis din has a reputation of being very thorough, and thusly very well respected. I don't understand how this can happen.
2. How does a mohel perform the bris but not actually perform the bris, without realizing, and give the approval?
3. how does a student mohel perform circumcisions without supervisions and oversight? especially in a beis din like that of Rav Karelitz...
4. when a convert applies for marriage do they really ask him to drop his pants? why did they suspect this convert and not just accept Rav Karelitz's confirmation paper?
5. Will incidents like this affect the standing and acceptance of the private batei din in the Rabbanut?

The Knesset just passed some laws in their final readings and advanced some others. Here are a couple of the more interesting ones:

  -- The flag law was passed in its final reading.
This law intends to protect the sanctity of the flag (and other State symbols). According to the law until now, someone desecrating the flag would be liable for a fine of up to 300 lirot - yes, lirot - a currency that no longer even exists. According to the new law passed, that fine has been changed to being up to 58,400nis, along with the possibility of up to 3 years in prison.

As well, anyone caught burning the flag shows by his actions that he "does not want to be a citizen of the State" and will lose some of his or her benefits from the State they so despise. Examples of benefits they might lose are bituach leumi stipends and allowances, health care subsidies, academic stipends and subsidies, etc.
source: Knesset website

It is going to be interesting to see if this actually gets applied in practice and if the threat of the law minimizes the inclusion of flag burning in the multitude of protests and riots held by various communities on a fairly regular basis.

   --- the law allowing a division of "nursing hour" between fathers and mothers in the workplace was passed unanimously (by 42 MKs).

Until now a new mother back to work has been allowed, by law, to take an additional hour over the course of the day to be used for nursing her baby. This daily hour is limited to the first four months after returning from maternity leave.

The new law will allow both parents to divide this hour between them and decide whether the mother will use it to feed her child, whether the father will or whether they will split the time between them. The term "nursing hour" would be changed to be called "parenting hour".
source: Knesset website

This reminds me of the gemara that describes a man whose wife died, leaving him a newborn baby to care for. He was too poor to be able to hire a wet-nurse, so he davened to Hashem for a solution. Sure enough, he grew breasts like a woman and began lactating, thus he was able to feed his baby (the amoraim of the gemara debated whether this was a good thing or a bad thing).

That guy would have been able to fully take advantage of this law, even without changing the name to "parenting hour".

Regardless of that, it is a good thing to allow both parents the opportunity to spend the bonding time through feeding with the baby.

When I was in yeshiva I had a rebbe who said that professional sports, such as football and baseball, is really a good thing. He explained that football and baseball games keep hundreds of thousands of people off the streets, busy and distracted with these sports games. If not for the daily baseball game, if not for the weekly football game, many of those people, whether the athletes or the fans in the stands and watching on tv or playing it themselves and trying to emulate the athletes, would be turning their attention to the Jews. Basically, professional sports keep thugs and anti-semites off the street and distracted.

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman wants to channel that sentiment and apply it to the Palestinians.

According to Galei Tzahal News, Lieberman is planning to build ten football (soccer) fields in the Palestinian areas. Lieberman is hoping that having nice football fields to play in will keep them busy and distract the Palestinian youth and take them away from violence and attacking Jews with stone throwing at Jewish cars in the streets.

Lieberman plans, in general, to use the carrot and stick method - he plans on coming down with a hard hand on areas from which violence emanates, and be generous and supportive of areas that are cooperative and maintain the quiet. He says that the football fields is just one initiative he is planning, but there will definitely be more and the Arab areas that keep law and order will be rewarded with better lives.

I don't know if ten fields is enough to make a significant difference, but it is, I think, a good idea, and at least a good start. Maybe he should also section off sections of professional stadiums and encourage Palestinians to watch the professional sports, which would naturally encourage the kids to spend more time playing and following sports, distracting them from the streets.

And. considering their highly developed throwing skills (from throwing all those rocks), Lieberman might consider building them baseball fields as well and teaching them how to use a baseball bat. Or maybe putting another potential weapon in their hands is a bad idea.

If you build it they will come.

the Knesset held a question-time session with the Prime Minister - the first one with him, though question-time has been held before with other ministers.

I don't know what they changed in the process, but the Religious Council of Bat Yam has sped up the process of registering for marriage and cut out a lot of bureaucracy. They say it takes 4.5 minutes under the new system to register.

if they are making the system better and more palatable to the people, more power to them!

and it is a cute video.

Rabbi Wolf gave his blessing and left, without saying anything personal or political. Probably very smart in the current climate (the one that forced Rabbi Lookstein to reverse his decision about this)

this is a nice idea.. people fly all over and have stopovers for several hours in cities they might never see.. these two people want to guide you in figuring out how to take advantage of those few hours and show you what you can see...

MK Yoav Kisch (Likud) and MK Betzalel Smotritch (Habayit Hayehudi) have proposed a law, signed on by many other MKs, by which the State would annex Maaleh Adumim and apply Israeli sovereignty and law over the area, equating Maaleh Adumim with the rest of Israel-proper.

Minister Ayelet Shaked said that everyone thinks that this is correct. I would bet that not everyone thinks so, but it is mostly a location that has a broad consensus in agreement that it should and will remain Israeli even if a peace deal should ever be reached in which Israel gives land to the Palestinians.

Shaked further said that this is a n issue that should be on the table and should be open for discussion, both internally among the Israeli people and externally toward the world.

This law, should it pass, will allow Israel to develop Maaleh Adumim further than it has been able to until now.

source: Srugim

Maaleh Adumim deserves it, if any place does. And it is good to see some actual initiation of projects, even if controversial, rather than just reactive behavior and stagnation.

Weither Dubois, a 24 year old student from a village near Brussels, Belgium decided to take a trip to Israel. He decided not to take the easy way out, like most of us, and book a flight on an airplane and get here within a few hours... Rather, Dubois decided to walk to Israel.

Yes, you read that right. He decided to walk to Israel.

Walking from Belgium to Israel took him 4 months. I'd say he cheated because he decided to walk through Italy and then hopped on a boat from Cyprus to Israel, rather than walk all the way through Turkey (he was worried about the security situation there). I'd say that, but instead I'll just say he must really not like El Al.

Dubois says the first 20 days were difficult, but after that his body got used to it.

Dubois says he was following in his fathers footsteps who came to Israel many years ago (though he does not say if his father also came by foot, though that is implied). Dubois arrived in Tel Aviv and will spend 2 weeks wandering around the country as a tourist.



  

if any party tries to force a conflict on Israel , any conflict will have to end with a decisive conclusion. We have to wipe away all motivation by our enemies to try us a second time, if they try us once.

  -- Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman

He entered the office with much fanfare but has been pretty quiet ever since... this is his opening shot, I guess. Maybe it is his attempt to avoid another summer war by scaring the enemy into not starting trouble...

it is a small sample size,  but, despite that, I am a bit surprised by the overwhelming responses in one direction...

Smotritch does a good job holding his own...  Smotritch speaks his mind, speaks well and intelligently, and isn't afraid to argue and defend his opinion.. it is pretty obvious why he just came out number 2 behind Bennet in a poll of Habayit Hayehudi MKs theoretical placement in theoretical primaries...