Tzedek-Tzedek

The battle since the start of this school year , for Orot Banot School , has reached national status. 8 year old American olah, Naama Margolies, from Beit Shemesh, has become a national icon, due to a Channel Two News report aired this Saturday night. Naama explains how scared she is to travel the 300 metres from her home to school. And, in front of the cameras, and in spite of her mother’s words of encouragement, Naama refuses to walk there. Naama is clearly traumatized by the protesting Sikrikim (extremist chareidim) who have demonstrated outside Orot Banot modern-orthodox girls school for the past half-year. The demonstrators reportedly scream insults ("whores!""shikses!"), spit and throw various objects at the young school girls.  Her mother explains that, although her family is orthodox, in the eyes of the kanoim, they are not. The report continues by interviewing a chareidi-from-the-street (in his car) who justifies and apparently ag...

I fondly recall our rabbi in the synagogue I attended in England solemnly and loudly praying for the welfare of the Royal Family, in English, from the bimah. The older siddurim there had the names of kings, queens and princes long departed.  This is an ancient tradition in Jewish communities around the world, to pray for the welfare of one’s host countries and rulers, usually in the language of that country. The earliest source is Biblical: And seek the welfare of the city to which I have exiled you and pray to the Lord in its behalf; for in its prosperity you shall prosper. (Jeremiah 29:4-7) And in the Mishna, it states (Avot 3:2; and cf. Avodah Zarah 4a): Rabbi Hananya the Deputy High Priest says: Pray for the welfare of the Kingdom (= Rome ), for were it not for the fear of it, a man would swallow his neighbor alive. Rabbi Hananya lived at the end of the Second Temple period. He is saying that the Jews should pray for the Roman government for, if not for them, the...

As if the Flotilla, the Iranian threat and the Dubai assassination are not enough to occupy the political decision makers in the State of Israel … There are now also three hot-and-steamy battles, involving Israel ’s Ultra-Orthodox sector, which together could just bring the government to its knees. And even distract the rest of us from the World Cup. The bones in Jaffa ; the Slonim School in Emmanuel; and the National Insurance Supplementary Benefits. The previous struggle, by ultra-orthodox extremists, was over some ancient bones found at the building site for an emergency war-proof facility at the Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon . That struggle was won about a month ago by the Government. The ancient (and probably non-Jewish) bones were deftly moved to a new site, and the building work on the hospital commenced. In the language of the World Cup: Government of Israel - 1; Extremists – Nil. Having failed to stop the Barzilai hospital expansion in Ashkelon, the same rioters ...

As I headed off to synagogue this past Friday evening, there was a strong smell of woody fire in the air. My brother, who drove to Ramat Bet Shemesh shortly before Shabbat, told me he had seen flames in the forest on the way into town. Both Ynet and the Jerusalem Post  reported last week that firemen in Bet Shemesh had blamed three forest fires in the Ramat Bet Shemesh area, on ultra-orthodox demonstrators. Indeed according to these reports: “the haredim started the fires as an act of protest against the relocation of ancient graves in Ashkelon . The firefighters said they had to ward off haredim who were trying to disrupt the efforts to contain the blazes.” I haven’t yet seen reports that these fires continued, or were new fires, on Friday afternoon. I am appalled that anyone would deliberately start a forest fire. Such an act risks the lives of those who live nearby, or folks who could be caught in the fire, and of the firemen who are required to put out these fires...

I am often required to travel to Turkey for business – and with the downward spiral in Turkey/Israel relations, I have increasingly uncomfortable wearing my kippa in the streets of Istanbul and Ankara . Locals have advised me to remove my kippa, for my own safety. I have asked my rav (Rav Chaim Soloveichik) whether I can take my kippa off, if I feel this can put me at physical risk? He confirmed that I can (even should?) – or wear a hat if this will sufficiently disguise my identity (wearing a hat itself looks “odd” in Turkey ). Arutz 7 has published an article about a recent attack (what they call a lynch) upon a bunch of kids who were walking through Ramat Bet Shemesh (Bet) on their way back from celebrations, on Yom Ha’Atzmaut (Israel’s Independence Day). The article features graphic photos of bruised and bloodied kids, and tells a harrowing story of how they were attacked by a mob of local residents with rocks, metal-buckled belts, pots, shovels and other domestically-availa...

Jonathan Rosenblum’s latest article about Tiger Wood’s indiscretions is a clever analysis of how heroes can tragically fall. However, Rosenblum waffles his way into the trap of finishing his piece by disingenuously bringing the orthodox Jews into the picture, as a ‘neat’ contrast, wrapping up his article: I wish I could say that self-destructive behavior, like that of Tiger Woods, is unknown among Orthodox Jews, or at least among Orthodox rabbis. But I have no particular desire to make a fool of myself. Rosenblum would have wished to say that orthodox Jews don’t succumb to weaknesses of the flesh – in contrast to Tiger Woods. But, in view of this week’s scandal of Rabbi Tropper – such a claim would indeed “make a fool” of Rosenblum. So he goes for next best: I am not aware, however, of any figure revered by a large cross-section of Torah Jewry whose private behavior ever stood revealed to be wildly dissonant from his public image. Rosenblum’s argument is that some ort...

A group of leading Chareidi Rabbonim have recently specifically banned Chareidi blogs and forums. (see above notice). It seemed odd when this poster went up around town, because these rabbonim had already banned the use of the internet itself. So what's this with the chareidi blogs? Sure enough, under pressure from this latest sub-ban, several erstwhile chareidi internet sites have apparently now closed down. Although the majority have simply ignored it. For those who like to link the dots (such as  Frum Follies ), in order to see a more complete picture, you can note that the Rabbi Leib Tropper conversion-for-sex scandal was breaking simultaneously to the issuing of this rabbinical decree against chareidi internet sites. The Rabbi Tropper tapes of sexually intimate discussions were initially sent, presumably by Shannon Orand, the blonde in-process-convert, to these self-same chareidi blogs, for onward distribution. Shutting up the blogs may have been a ruse to shut up ...

Police hunt gunman who attacked Tel Aviv gay centre Israeli police are hunting for a gunman who shot dead two people in an attack on a support centre for homosexual teenagers in Tev Aviv. …..Homosexual activists and some politicians were quick to condemn what they called an atmosphere of incitement by elements in Israel's religious and specifically ultra-Orthodox society, including the Shas political party. At a demonstration through the streets of Tel Aviv immediately following the attack, hundreds of protesters marched and carried banners accusing Shas of incitement. ------------------ The horror of the recent shooting attack upon Jewish youths in Tel Aviv, gathered at a Gay support center, has evoked outrage across the spectrum. The theory that this attack was perpetrated by chareidim is, frankly, an emotional & hysterical response, rather than a logical one. It is true that chareidim and homosexuals are somewhat like oil and water, as the Torah explicitly forb...