(will this concert be banned?? :-))



The Likud held their "Haramat Kosit" or "toast" in honor of Pesach last night. In this short clip, you get a fleeting glimpse of the illustrious mayor of Bet Shemesh Danny Vaknin sitting in the row behind Bibi. Moshe Feiglin can be spotted enjoying himself, also sitting in the row behind Bibi just a bit further down the row.

Bibi is not going to win any awards for his singing abilities. Definitely he will not qualify as a contestant on American Idol or Kochav Nolad.

Bibi took the opportunity to talk a bit about the finance and economic situation. He also used the podium to call upon Shas to leave the government.

Kol Hakavod to Keren lev Yisrael (I think they are a subdivision of the Kupa shel Tzedaka RBS A) in RBS.

With the great expense Pesach has become, especially in these days of a faltering economy, Keren Lev Yisrael stepped up to the plate and hit a home run. They sold basic food items, from matza to meat to eggs to veggies to paper goods and more, at prices that were much cheaper than the stores. This allowed families to save a lot of money in their Pesach purchases.

Aside from that, they also had a subsidized plan for people who are in a very bad financial situation. I do not know what you had to do to qualify for the extra subsidy, but the prices were even cheaper for them.

I did not see any numbers how many people bought products through them and how much money overall was saved, but I am sure it was a bundle. There were hundreds of people, of all types, taking advantage of the program that Keren lev Yisrael offered.

Kol Hakavod.

This whole "banning concerts" thing is not going away as fast as some people thought it would.

After Lipa's big concert was recently banned, and he caved in and canceled the performance, many people thought it was a one time event, specifically targeting Lipa because of his style.

I did not think so at the time, as experience has shown that when "they" get their way, "they" become emboldened and demand more. It is never a one time thing for these committees and organizations that fight for Purity of the Camp in whatever field they might specialize in (be it music, cellphones, internet, shabbos, tznius, whatever).

Chabad has scheduled their annual concert for tonight in Bloomfield Stadium in Tel Aviv (I was at last years concert, but the couple we went with then did not invite us this year, so either they are going with other people or they are afraid of the ban and are not going - he is a reader so I will take this opportunity to call him a scaredy cat). The stars of the show are MBD and Shweckey.

Chabad has generally stayed out of the various bans and cherems. They run their own system and are usually oblivious to what these various vaads say. After all, the various vaads all ban Chabad anyway because of their own issues, so why should they care what the vaads say about Chabad functions?

Yet this year, the Committee Guarding Sanctity and Education has come out swinging. They decided to ban the Chabad concert and pressure Shweckey and MBD into canceling their participation. The concert is fully separated between men and women.

So why the ban? I doubt anybody really knows. In the end it is because the guy running the vaad does not like something. He says what happens outside the stadium is horrible - the guys and girls meet there. He says he has pictures from previous concerts of haredi guys and girls doing dreadful things. At this rate, he should ban hotels, houses, cars, parks and anything and everything else because dreadful things are sometimes done there. Is that the reason - I don't know. That is an excuse he uses as a claim. He also says these concerts are not the way of the frum world - if you want simcha, come to an event at Yeshivas Chevron or the Yeshiva of Vishnitz and you will see real simcha. These concerts are not real simcha. So he is against concerts.

The other day, Yaakov Shweckey responded to the threats during an interview with Menachem Toker (the scheduled emcee for tonight's event, and a popular Radio show host that deals with the Jewish Music world). The interview is not yet online - on menachem Tokers website it says the interview with Shweckey will hopefully be online today, but as of a few minutes ago it still has not been uploaded.

Shweckey said he has a letter from rav Ovadiah Yosef, his Rebbi, allowing him to participate in the concert (the letter from Rav Ovadiah can be see below). He claims, "These people will never be happy. After Rav Ovadiah, they want all the other Rabbonim to sign and then their Sanhedrin will approve. It is all shtuyot."
"If somebody can find a psul in the concert of me and MBD, either he has a problem, or somebody is deceiving him. Nothing will move me from my decision to participate [in tonight's concert], just like nothing stopped me from participating in the concert at Teddy Stadium, after Chacham Ovadia has permitted me to."

When Toker asked Shweckey that maybe the Vaad members are doing this with pure intentions following instructions from their own rebbeim, Shweckey responded, "They are not activists of the public. They are "simcha stoppers". They do not have the concept of "l'shem shamayim". Maybe they did not like my last album (entitled "Lshem Shamayim")." "They are unsuccessful in getting involved in Avraham Fried concerts and others, so they try me next."

Somebody involved in the music industry in Israel confirmed Shweckeys claim. He said that since the last concert of MBD in Israel was canceled, there were attempts at having other concerts, even only for men, with MBD. Even after the Gerrer Rebbe approved of it, these askanim opposed it to the point that the financiers of the concert backed out. He says they will never approve a concert, so the only way to deal with it is the way MBD did for many years - ignore them. He suspects Lipa will never seriously perform again. He will put out albums and perform at weddings and small events, but never will he do a serious concert. This is because he gave in to them once already.

Mordechai Blau, the head of the Committee against all Concerts and Anything Fun (not the official name of the committee), responded sharply to Shweckey's claims.

Blau is not backing down and he is starting now with threats. He says anybody who shows up to tonights concert will be photographed. His picture will be passed on to the relevant parties, be it Rosh Yeshiva, Seminary head, etc.

Blau is very upset at MBD, claiming they had a silent agreement and now MBD is openly breaking it. Blau has been meeting intensely with MBD's mentors and rebbeim and is hoping to see results immediately. Blau threatened MBD directly saying if he does not cancel his participation, they will forbid the music stores from selling his albums, they will ban his concerts and any personal appearances before Rabbonim, they will teach children in schools about the horrible stumbling block he took part in.

When asked about Rav Ovadiah Yosef's letter supporting Shweckey's participation, Blau said he doubts Rav Ovadiah even saw the letter. he brought the letter to Rav Wosner who said this is a concert like any other and he doubts Rav Ovadiah signed such a letter.

Rav Ovadiah Yosef's letter can be seen here:

So for any of you who thought the ban was a one time thing, this is only the beginning. This is what happens when these askanim get some power.

According to this article, a group of people led by Professor Hillel Weiss, is suing to be allowed to offer a Korban Pesach in the place of the Beis Hamikdash.

the Korban Pesach is the only korban rthta does not need the actual Beis Hamikdash, just needs to be sacrificed in the same place. As well, the Korban Pesach is the only korban that can be offered in our state of impurity, even though normally one is not allowed to enter the area of the Mikdash in a state of ritual impurity.

The group had previously requested permission from the Prime Minister's Office and the request had been denied. They are now suing on the basis of Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Movement, and Freedom of Expression.

The court is expected to hand down a decision in the coming days whether or not to allow it.

If I was putting money down, I would guess the courts will not allow it saying that technically it is allowed but it is up to the discretion of the police to decide whether it will cause riots and danger. And the police will disallow it just like they disallow prayer, or even moving one's lips (only if you are a religious Jew) while on Har Habayit.

Everything has a plus and a minus. I think the plus here is that he will probably not need a bathroom break, thus giving him a reasonable advantage over his competition!

Esser Agoroth is hosting the Pre-Pesach edition of Haveil Havalim. Lots of reading...

This week I went from Bet Lehem to Bet Lehem. This time, the Bet Lehem was in the north side of Israel. There is a small village called Bet Lehem HaGlilit. They do not have a Kever Rachel there, and it is not under PA control.


Bet Lehem HaGlilit is a small moshav that was originally built by teh Templars. They built a few villages around Israel. They were chased out at the end of World War II, as they had collaborated with the Nazis (this is according to the history they told us in the village). The refugees from Europe were not sympathetic to the Templars (who were of German origin, and supported the Nazi movement, albeit quietly).

The company I work for goes on an annual day of Tiyuling (called Yom Gibush). This year we went to Bet Lehem HaGlilit. The activities lined up for us included "Tractoronim" A.K.A. "Rangerim" (or in English "Dune Buggies"), a bike ride, and a treasure hunt.

I won't describe the treasure hunt, other than to say my team won!

The Tractoronim were great. We were led through the countryside in these dune buggies (the one in the pic is a dune buggy driven by one of the guides - our dune buggies were a little bigger and held 2-3 riders). "The countryside" includes uphills, downhills, rocky terrain, dirt and dust, streams and fields.

Then it was my groups turn for the bike ride. Actually they gave us a choice of either biking or a lesson in Tai Chi. I have already taken 6 months of Tai Chi and found it boring and for old people, so I chose the bikes. Man was that a bad choice! I did not realize I was about to embark on a 10 kilometer mountain bike ride offroad, through mountains and fields, experiencing rocky terrain, dirt, uphills and downhills.

To be blunt, the downhills were not the problem. Except for the one downhill that was literally at an angle of 85 degrees! Yet I lived to tell the tale, and I can be proud of myself that I made it the whole way riding my bike. I did not have to get off to walk my bike even once! I could barely move by the end, and I made it the whole way with a lot of huffing and puffing, but I made it. I have not gone biking in a very long time, and I now think it is time for me to get back into shape a bit (though not by biking).

The real benefit of going on the bike ride was getting the tour from the leader of the group. He described the area and the other villages (Moshavim) in the region.

One nearby was called Alonei Abba (Alon is an Oak Tree, and there were a lot of Oak Trees in the area). The vineyard you see below is part of Alonei Abba. The guide told us that they call this "Provence" because it is so similar to Provence, France which is a wine region in France. He described how wine and grapes has been the major product of this area for 2000 years, with documentation of this being a star area for wine in the Roman Empire.

The area was full of ancient wine presses, one of which we stopped to take a look at (the pic is part of it).

Then it was dinner and home.

This was an ad placed in a Haredi weekly ad booklet distributed in Bet Shemesh. I get a kick out of it.
The ad starts off as a satirical ad selling a product called the Kippah Wig - a toupee to wear instead of a Kippah.

The translation:
The Kippah Wig for Bnei Torah - To be with, but to appear without!

A new collection has arrived of Kippot Wigs made from synthetic hair. For orders, send a sample of hair from your beard or payos for specific customization. Ben Torah!

Why don't you buy for yourself a Kippah Wig? Then you and your wife can wear matching wigs! You are afraid to appear as if you are bareheaded, or like a secular jew? Then why do you let your wife look like that?

The prohibition of hair by a woman is much more serious than the prohibition of hair by a man (comment: prohibition of hair by a man? What prohibition?). All the Gedolei Yisrael have paskened that a wig that is like hair is prohibited according to everybody, because all prohibition of hair is due to pritzus. And today's wigs cause more stumbling than regular hair, as any little boy and girl know.

You also know very well how much the yetzer ha'ra causes you regarding the wig of other women, so how is it that you go with a kippah but you are not afraid that your wife goes with a wig and causes the public to sin in a terrible way billions of times in her life. The Rambam writes, whoever causes others to sin has no portion in the World to Come.

The Admor of Lelov says it is better for one to remove his beard and peyos rather than let his wife wear a wig.

if you have not yet been convinced, or if you have questions, call 02-582-5891 during the evening hours.

I think this is the funniest ad I have seen in a very long time...

Update (updates usually go at the end of a post, but I felt like putting it on top):

These are the pashkevilim against the wedding that I found that were hung up and thrown around Yerushalayim..they are very sharply written...

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An anonymous commenter left a strange comment here, and on some other blogs, the other day. It was about a wedding that was due to take place, supposedly against the wishes of her parents who are prominent members of the London Jewish community. There were few details mentioned and little background.

The wedding took place and the story, with a few pictures, has been reported in Ynet (in Hebrew only, at this point).

It seems, according to the article, that the family had sent their daughter to a seminary in Jerusalem to study for the year. While in Israel she met a guy and they decided to get married. The parents did not approve of their potential son-in-law who is described as a "shababnik" - a yeshiva dropout.

Despite her parents' objections, she, and her chosson, decided to go ahead with the wedding anyway.

The parents, unable to convince their daughter to break it off, went to Rabbonim to oppose the wedding, assuming that the kids would call it off if the Rabbonim were against it.

I saw the letter yesterday (but could not get a picture of it) from the Rabbonim decrying the abomination of this guy breaking up a family and them not listening to the rabbonim and people should protest the "nevala".

That did not help either, as the kids decided to still go ahead with the wedding. The wedding was last night, with Haredim in attendance outside the wedding hall in full protest garb. They got a bit violent and police had to come in to the scene.
(pictures are taken from the Ynet article)

The Haredi askanim claim there is a moral and ideological difference between the regular settlement enterprise, and between the settlements of the Haredi public (such as Modi'in Illit and Beitar Illit).

The difference is that while the settlement enterprise has its goal of taking over Eretz Yisrael and settling the land (mind you, it is a mitzva), the Haredi public simply requires cheap housing for its public, and these places provide cheap housing with a Haredi environment. For some reason, they think that that should give them a pass, politically speaking, and even when all building everywhere else is frozen, but in the Haredi areas it should be allowed to continue. After all, we are not living there because we are ideological and believe in settlements, but we just need the cheap housing.

There is a Halachic issue with living in the settlements, and this is one the Haredi community is generally very quick to use in their defense (such as why not to go to har Habayit, why not to support settlements, etc.). The concept is known as "Lo L'hisgaros Ba'Goyim" - not to do anything to contravenes the wishes of the nations of the world.

This "prohibition" (which is not clear in halacha whether it is an actual prohibition or not), is very vague, and it is based on, if I understand it correctly, the idea that we were sworn by God not to start up with the nations and return to Israel by force. So any time we do anything that might be against the wishes of the Goyim, you will hear people screaming not to do it because we are being "misgareh ba'goyim" - starting with the goyim.

I am not going to discuss the actual halachic standing of this concept, as I am not the expert and many of you could probably argue it either way much better than me. I just wanted to give that intro as background.

So somebody wanted to buy an apartment in Beitar, a Haredi settlement in the Gush Etzion area, but was unsure whether he was allowed to, as it might be considered dangerous and it might be considered "starting up with the goyim".

He went to Rav Gershon Edelstein to ask for a psak to his question.

His answered was published:
The psak says - Rav Edelstein said that in previous governments there was room to believe that building ni these areas would fall under the category of "starting with the goyim". However, with the current government and their statements to the public and their actions, they cannot be described as starting with the goyim. Their also is not considered a danger to live there (the article does not explain why).

He then told the guy asking the question that he should also go to Rav Chaim Kanievsky to ask for a psak in this matter, and Rav Kanievsky agreed with Rav Edelstein's psak.

So, any Haredi living in Beitar or other Haredi settlements (Modiin Ilit, Emannuel, etc.) that moved to these places during previous governments did so against halacha? But regardless of the past, it is now permitted to live there.

Due to a recent wave of comment spam, I unfortunately had to disable anonymous commenting. Hopefully it will help and make the spammer move on to a different site and then I will be able to open it up again..

Thanks in advance for you patience.

Yesterday we read reports, and sings were plastered around Haredi areas, saying the [threat of a] cherem of Shefa Shuk has been removed and the Haredi public can buy there. This was in response to the owners willingness to negotiate and his having, as a sign of good faith, closed a number of branches this past Shabbos from their regular operations.

Nobody really knows what is going on. There are lots of claims and rumors back and forth, both regarding what the real reason for the [threat of the] cherem, and regarding its status.

A major response to yesterdays signs was that they were not placed by the Committee for the Sanctity of Shabbos or any of its appointees or reps, but was placed by representatives of Shefa Shuk as a way of confusing consumers into thinking they could now shop at Shefa. The rumor even said that tomorrow (now it is today) signs would be up all over the place claiming that Shefa was behind the previous signs and people should still refrain from buying there.

In my neighborhood there were still the signs up saying that people could buy at Shefa Shuk, and there were no signs claiming that the other signs were sponsored by Shefa and that they were false. I have also not yet heard about any such counter signs going up in other areas.

For the meantime at least, I take that to mean that the original signs were and are authentic and if that is where you prefer shopping but have stopped because of this brouhaha, you can now return to Shefa Shuk. As we say "M'chlal Lav Atah Shome'a Hen" - from the lack of protest you can deduce that yesterdays signs were kosher.

If anybody has information otherwise, feel free to share it with me.