The new HCJ decision on “Tal Law” – the service of Haredim (Ultra Orthadox) is fascinating for many reasons, and will probably be an ongoing source for some of my future posts. Read More »

It has been some four years since I last bought a shaver, and I’ve decided its about time that I get a new shaver. Last time I bought a shaver, I spent alot of time reading up on what is considered a “Kosher Shaver” and which brands have a Hechsher. Read More »

In last week’s (Feb 11th) Economist, they reviewed the book “Hope: A Tragedy” by stating: EVER since Abraham’s idol-smashing outburst in the Hebrew Bible, a strain of iconoclasm has run through Jewish literature. The problem is that Abraham does not smash any idols in the bible, Hebrew or otherwise. Read More »

In a New York Times Op-ed , the religious struggles of a basket-ball player (Jeremy Lin) – humbleness vs Playing for glory, are compared to Rav Soloveitchik: Soloveitchik plays off the text that humans are products of God’s breath and the dust of the Read More »

Rav Slifkin has an interesting post on how the Dati Leumi (which he insists on calling Modern Orthadox) public shows respect to the Haredi world, but that respect is not replicated: – Modern Orthodox/ Dati Leumi synagogues support Charedi charities, but Chareidi synagogues do not support Modern Orthodox/ Dati Leumi charities. Read More »

This video is certainly offensive, and yet it does more or less capture how the hardcore non religious public see the Haredi community. This is a video from the satirical “Eretz Nehederet” TV show on channel 2: As an afterthought, I should point out that it is also quite funny. Read More »

The first is a surprising video by the controversial, and normally not cited by open zionists like myself, Norman Finkelstein. Read More »

From MyJewishLearning : “Every culture has its legends of paranormal monsters — including Judaism. It’s no surprise, then, that contemporary fiction’s obsession with vampires has spawned Jewish varieties.The novel The Last Jewish Virgin: A Novel of Fate by Janice Eidus takes itself incredibly seriously. Read More »

Ynet has published this picture of a young Rav Ovadia Yosef. They have rightly focused on two issues: The first is that Rav Ovadia’s wife is wearing only a partial head covering – one that the wives of Shas would certainly not be seen with today, and additionally her neckline is far lower that would be expected. Read More »

A host of Chabad Rabbis have called on educators to teach their public that they should be getting married at a younger age – namely 20. What is interesting in this particular story, is the justification given. Read More »

What we’ve all been waiting for! Introducing the Kosher Camera -”To answer the need for images without the display of women and girls, our dedicated scientists have developed the Kosher Camera. Sophisticated, built-in facial recognition software analyzes a scene and detects all the faces within the frame. Read More »

This is American Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor: And from a few years ago, Israeli Supreme Court Justice Dalia Dorner: Read More »

I’ve wanted to write a review of Rabbi Yoel Ben Nun’s book “The Miracle of the Gathering of Israel”, but unfortunately despite having finished it months ago, I seem to not have found the time. This is a great shame, since the book is a Dati-Leumi masterpiece, and has not gotten the level of attention it deserves. Read More »

Ha’aretz has a follow up article [Hebrew] about Gur Hasidim’s teachings on “holiness” – whereby sexuality becomes a sin, and relegated to a “procreation” only approach. Read More »

These videos are all from Channel 10, which seems to have a much more interesting relationship with the Israeli Haredi Community than Channel 2. The first video is an Israeli version of “black like me” where the journalists dress up as Haredim and travel around Israel to feel and check whether Haredim are discriminated against. Read More »

This cartoon was published today in the Canadian paper The Globe and Mail. The two people on the right, are Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and Minister of Finance Jim Flaherty both of which are currently in Israel, and voiced their support of Israel. Read More »

If the video doesn’t work you can also watch it here I’m happy that Harav Elon is no longer hiding behind his students, and is now openly attacking the forum “Takana”. The interview is somewhat painful to watch, due to the high regard which Harav Elon is still held in the Dati Leumi public. Read More »

Spotted this picture on an Afghan Forum (I read them all). Clearly very offensive, but I’m sure that someone will sooner or later make a similar picture for the Jewish Burqa Cult: Read More »

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That seems to be the line of defence used by the Haredi man who was arrested for Sexual Harassment after he called a female soldier a “whore”.”Unpleasant remarks are heard every day in Israel, including some which may be considered humiliating, and most of them are based on a person’s sexuality. Read More »