August 29, 2011 (Section 2) (see also Section 1)
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Editor – Joel Katz
Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.
VIDEO: Glenn Beck "Restoring Courage" in Israel
*Click here for a comprehensive collection of articles on Glenn Beck "Restoring Courage" in Israel
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Haredi men to sit at back of tram?
By Ari Galahar www.ynetnews.com August 23, 2011
The Eda Haredit plans to organize groups of ultra-Orthodox men who will travel together on the tram, in order to have quorums for the afternoon and evening prayers in the back car.
"If the rabbis see the tram working and gaining momentum, they'll instruct all men to sit in the rear car only," Kroiz believes. "If some women want to sit in the back car just to spite us, we won't object."
Haredim to set up 'modest' market
By Tzipi Malkov www.ynetnews.com August 25, 2011
Jerusalem's ultra-Orthodox sector is preparing to set up an alternative market as part of its boycott on the veteran Mahane Yehuda Market. The City Council's haredi factions convened earlier this week in a bid to locate a suitable area for the new market.
The haredim declared war on the market, its famous Mahneyuda restaurant and street parties held in the city center throughout the summer. They were mainly enraged by the Balbasta Festival held in the market, which they said were a demonstration of immodesty and immorality.
By Uri Blau www.haaretz.com August 26, 2011
New details about D. and his family, published here for the first time (within the limits imposed by the gag order in the case), paint a picture of a complex, unusual life, very distant from the image aroused by the allegations against him:
The man now accused of exercising absolute control over his wives and children was born to secular artists whose meeting with a charismatic Hasidic rabbi turned their world upside down.
Illegal ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem slaughterhouse back in operation
By Oz Rosenberg www.haaretz.com August 28, 2011
In an alley next to the slaughterhouse stand facilities belonging to "Torah V'yirah," one of the most radical, aggressive branches of the Haredi community.
The slaughterhouse's operators also have the support of the main leadership of the Lithuanian Orthodox stream in Israel; Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, who shuns meats other than poultry, lives near the slaughterhouse and supports the establishment.
The slaughterhouse is not back in full operation, since municipal officials confiscated pieces of equipment and butchers need to carry out much of their work by hand. But the intention is to purchase new equipment.
Senior Lithuanian Ultra-Orthodox rabbis: 'Escalation caused by lack of Torah studies'
By Ari Galahar www.ynetnews.com August 23, 2011
Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, head of the Ponevezh Yeshiva, said that "we are being struck by these disasters because of our sins. We lack the privilege of the Torah, which defends and saves us."
Rabbi Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman, one of the most prominent Lithuanian Orthodox leaders, said in response to the recent events that "the 'Bein Hazmanim' days are a dangerous period as people don't study Torah. Torah studies will lead to a calmer situation."
VIDEO: Concessions to yeshivas would cost NIS 100 million per year
www.mako.co.il August 27, 2011 (Hebrew)
Google Street View's 1st images to be from J'lem
By Meir Orbach, Calcalist www.ynetnews.com August 23, 2011
The street photography in Jerusalem is scheduled to begin in a month and a half and might cause a storm among the city's residents – mainly from the city's ultra-orthodox neighborhoods.
Rabbi Shlomo Aviner: 'No happiness in gay-lesbian shidduch'
By Ari Galahar www.ynetnews.com August 24, 2011
A new Web initiative seeking to match religious homosexuals and lesbians has sparked a row in the religious world. Although it has gained the support of a series of dignified rabbis, not everyone is pleased with the solution suggested by Rabbi Arale Harel and the Kamoha organization for Orthodox homosexuals.
"This initiative is unfair toward the children who'll be born as a result," senior Religious Zionism Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, an avid supporter conversion therapy, told Ynet.
"In order to have a healthy upbringing, a child needs parents who love each other, not parents who don't know each other."
By Eli Julian Opinion www.cross-currents.com August 22, 2011
Eli Julian, 28, is originally from Brooklyn, NY. After graduating high school in 2000 he came to Eretz Yisrael to study at Ohr David for a year. He ended up up staying for good, and learning for seven years in Yeshivas Toras Moshe. Eli lives with his wife and children in the Neve Yaakov neighborhood of Yerushalayim.
As a charedi soldier in the IDF, the issue [of religion in the IDF] is obviously of special interest to me. I would like to infuse the discussion with some up-to-date personal observations by sharing some of my experiences and those of my fellow charedi soldiers.
...This is only one example of a myriad of similar instances where the IDF has changed its own protocol in order to meet our Halachic needs.
But the general feeling conveyed by all this is It is clear to all of us who are chareidim that the army of today has seriously changed course regarding the religious community.
Israel Navy subs to get tiny Torah scroll
By Akiva Novick www.ynetnews.com August 28, 2011
Photo for illustration only
"Out of the depths I cry to you,' says the Song of Ascents in the Book of Psalms. These words will soon receive a different meaning, when a Torah scroll will be placed in Navy submarines for the first time in history.
Since the army began using submarines, no Torah scrolls have been brought in as hardly any religious soldiers served there. But the situation changed recently, after some hesder yeshiva students and even one haredi fighter joined the unit.
By Shula Kopf www.jpost.com August 18, 2011
When Nasrin objected to her husband’s plan to have a relationship with another woman, he beat her, threatened to kick her out of the house and to take custody of their three children.
But Nasrin, a 30-year-old Muslim woman from Haifa, refused to give in. Steering clear of the traditional shari’a [Muslim law] court, she turned to the secular Family Affairs Court.
The Family Affairs Court awarded custody to Nasrin. Speaking with The Report by telephone, refusing to be identified based on her lawyer’s advice, she says simply, “It is easier to get my rights as an Israeli citizen in the civil courts than in the shari’a. The civil courts take the children’s interest into account more.”
Until a decade ago, Nasrin would not have had the option of turning to the Family Affairs Court for issues of child custody, alimony, property division and so forth.
Prior to this, Muslim women were allowed to turn solely to the shari’a court system, even though Jewish women have had the option of turning either to the rabbinic courts or the secular courts since Israel’s founding.
For Israel’s Muslims, Ramadan a time to celebrate Islam in the Jewish state
By Jessica Steinberg www.jta.org August 23, 2011
Last week, Muslim and Jewish soldiers gathered after a day’s training to eat a communal iftar, the traditional break-the-fast meal eaten after sunset during the month-long observance of the Islamic holiday of Ramadan.
...The IDF, which has hundreds of Muslim soldiers, primarily Bedouins, observing Ramadan, makes accommodations for them to pray and eat at the designated times, according to Ramiz.
Jerusalem's online Ramadan quiz attracts interest from Muslim world
By Oz Rosenberg www.haaretz.com August 23, 2011
The Jerusalem Municipality's Internet site has been attracting a great deal of traffic from the Muslim world lately, due to an online quiz on the Ramadan fast that is being sponsored by the city's Arabic Culture Department.
Jerusalem's walls restored, idiosyncracies and all
AP www.ynetnews.com August 25, 2011
Israeli experts are nearing completion of an ambitious restoration of the five-century-old walls of Jerusalem, the holy city's dominant architectural feature and a unique record of its eventful and troubled history.
See also: Israeli experts near completion of Jerusalem walls restoration
Indictment filed against suspect in Abuhatzeira murder
By Joanna Paraszcuk www.jpost.com August 23, 2011
The Southern District Attorney's office filed on Tuesday an indictment to the BeershebaDistrict Court against Asher Dahan, the 42-year-old Elad resident suspected of murdering Rabbi Elazar Abuhatzeira in July.
Rabbi Abuchatzeira's suspected murderer indicted
By Ilana Curiel www.ynetnews.com August 23, 2011
According to the indictment, Abuchatzeira's murder was premeditated and fueled by Dahan's dissatisfaction with the victim's marital advice.
Rabbi Elazar Abuhatzeira's murderer hid knife with his tefillin
By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu www.israelnationalnews.com August 23, 2011
New details in the murder indictment in the shocking murder of Rabbi Elazar Abuhatzeira (Baba Elazar) three weeks ago reveal another shock – the killer his the murder weapon with his tefillin [phylacteries], which contain parchments with sections of the Torah and are worn by Jews when praying on weekday morning
Shefa Shuk changes name and logo to draw back Haredi customers
Hard to Fool Orthodox Kosher Customers
By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu www.israelnationalnews.com August 24, 2011
Blue Square is trying to bring back Orthodox Jewish customers. First, it sold the “chametz" for Passover, as required by Jewish law, in its 24-hour stores, but that gesture was largely ignored. Shefa Shuk sales sank drastically and the firm had to shut down 30 of its stores for lack of business.
The conglomerate then came up with the idea of changing the supermarket chain’s name to “Zol B’Shefa” and switched the name’s colors from green and red to black and red.
By Rabbi Gil Student Opinion http://torahmusings.com August 24, 2011
One scholar, Ariel Finkelstein, has published a comprehensive and impressive response — Derech Hamelech — that thoroughly and convincingly refutes the contentions of Torat Hamelech (the entire book Derech Hamelech is available for free download here: link).*
...He is meticulous and honest, acknowledging dissenting views but not allowing them to prevent him from advocating a comprehensive and convincing approach that allows for a rationalist and universalist Torah approach. Not every interpretation is unquestionable but the edifice Finkelstein has built is sufficiently strong to withstand minor critiques.
Nigerian Pastor of Millions Visits Samaria
By Gil Ronen www.israelnationalnews.com August 25, 2011
The RCCG claims to have churches in more than 100 countries, and Adeboye was named one of the world's 50 most influential people by Newsweek in 2008. His followers are said to number tens of millions in Africa, Europe and the USA, and he is sometimes referred to as "the African pope."
August 29, 2011 (Section 2) (see also Section 1)
Editor – Joel Katz
Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.
All rights reserved.
