Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Religion and State in Israel - June 29, 2009 (Section 1)

Religion and State in Israel

June 29, 2009 (Section 1) (continues in Section 2)

If you are reading in email or RSS feed, please click here to read ONLINE

Editor – Joel Katz

Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.


Rabbinate demands Haredi control over conversion

By Matthew Wagner www.jpost.com June 24, 2009


Rabbi David Stav, a senior member of Tzohar Rabbis, an organization of moderate Orthodox Zionist rabbis, called Sherman's comments scandalous.

"Sherman is committing the biblical sin of insulting the convert," Stav, who is chief rabbi of Shoham, said on Tuesday.

"A group of haredi functionaries are willing to place under suspicion thousands of converts just because they want to wage a political power struggle.

Stav said haredi activists were using the conversion issue to shore up their rabbinical clout vis-à-vis the Orthodox Zionist establishment.

Stav, who serves as the Chief Rabbinate's marriage registrar in his town, said he accepts all converts converted by a legitimate Rabbinical Conversion Court.


Chief Rabbi versus Chief Rabbi on Conversions

By Michele Chabin www.thejewishweek.com June 24, 2009

Knesset Member Uri Orbach of the Jewish Home party said Rabbi Metzger should be fired.

“The honor of the converts supersedes that of the chief rabbi, who does not recognize the conversions of his own system.
If the chief rabbi believes his job is to obey and flatter his haredi sponsors, it would be best to find him employment outside of the Chief Rabbinate of the State of Israel.”

In a statement to journalists, Rabbi David Stav, co-founder of the national-religious Zohar Rabbinical Organization, which works with rabbinical courts to help new immigrants authenticate their Jewish roots, said it is “inconceivable that the chief rabbi of Israel can be speaking in front of a privately run conference and expressing complete distrust in the system of judges that he is meant to be heading.”

Rabbi Seth Farber, founder of ITIM, which helps converts and others overcome hurdles related to personal status, said his organization has received several calls in recent days from worried Conversion Authority “graduates.”

“Until now a conversion certificate from the State of Israel was an unassailable certification of one’s Jewishness. Now the chief rabbi has intimated that no convert can feel secure in his or her Jewishness,” Farber said, explaining the disquiet.


Orthodox Zionist rabbis break law to help converts

By Matthew Wagner www.jpost.com June 25, 2009


Modern Orthodox rabbis have organized to violate the law to help converts who are unable to marry because they are not recognized by haredi chief rabbis of cities.

"I know several Orthodox Zionist rabbis of cities who agree to register converts for marriage even when neither the convert nor his or her partner live in the rabbis' cities,"
Rabbi David Stav said on Wednesday. He is a senior member of Tzohar Rabbis, a group of moderate Orthodox rabbis.

Rabbi Seth Farber, head of ITIM, a non-profit organization that helps people navigate the Chief Rabbinate's bureaucracy, said city rabbis should be compelled to register all converts converted by the Chief Rabbinate.

"These rabbis are employees of the Chief Rabbinate and they receive a salary from the State of Israel. Therefore they have a duty to recognize conversions performed under the auspices of the Chief Rabbinate," Farber said.

"If their intellectual integrity does not allow them to recognize conversion performed by the Conversion Authority then they should resign."


Amar moves to bar controversial rabbinic judge from conversion cases

By Matthew Wagner www.jpost.com June 26, 2009


In a move that pits him against the haredi rabbinical establishment and endears him to thousands of converts to Judaism, Chief Sephardi Rabbi Shlomo Amar issued a written order that effectively bars a controversial haredi rabbinical judge from adjudicating in conversion cases.

Amar's directive would allow him to remove from a conversion case any judge - but it is seen as being directed, in particular, at Rabbi Avraham Sherman, a judge on the High Rabbinical Court who one week ago issued his second highly controversial halachic opinion on a divorce case involving a woman who converted to Judaism.


Chief Rabbi Amar commits to Conversion Authority

By Matthew Wagner www.jpost.com June 26, 2009

In a meeting with Absorption Minister Sofa Landver on Wednesday, Amar reiterated his commitment to recognize all conversions performed by the Conversion Authority, according to Landver's spokesman.

Landver voiced her concern that Sherman's attack on the Conversion Authority would discourage potential converts from converting.

"No one will be willing to go through the trouble of converting if there is a real fear that, sometime down the road, the conversion will simply be annulled," she said.


Israel no longer nation for Jewish people

By Rabbi Seth Farber www.jpost.com Opinion June 28, 2009

Memo to the board members of the Jewish Agency

We need to reinvent conversion in Israel as part of a dialogue between the modern Orthodox and the Reform and Conservative communities. We should insist that the State of Israel sign on to a modus operandi that will not keep us beholden to the views of a select few.

As an Orthodox rabbi, I believe that we can create a conversion system that does not compromise Halacha in any way, but maximizes transparency, integrity and commitment. We need to set goals and develop a program that will take us there. We cannot afford to wait another six months or a year.

In the immediate sense, I believe you can insist that Israeli marriage registrars register converts. In fact, I have proposed a bill in the Knesset that would sanction marriage registrars who refuse to register converts (incredibly, registrars in at least 8 major cities refuse to register converts!)


Aliya and Conversion Question

By Maurice Singer www.jpost.com June 26, 2009

The expert is Maurice Singer, an Independent Consultant and former Senior Aliyah Consultant at the Jewish Agency.

Q: My father is Jewish, and from a very observant family. My mother converted to Judaism before I was born. I was bar-mitzvahed. a) Am I a Jew? b) Could I become a full citizen of Israel?

A: If your mother completed an Orthodox Conversion then you are recognized by all as a Jew.

If it was not, then the Orthodox Rabbinate won't recognize you as halachically Jewish. But you may still make aliyah and be a full citizen of Israel.


VIDEO: Haredi riots over Jerusalem parking lot

IBA www.jpost.com June 29, 2009

Click here for VIDEO


Haaretz Cartoon by Amos Biderman

www.haaretz.com June 26, 2009


“Where to?”

“First the Gays, then the Parking Lot”


Eda Haredit decides to intensify protests in J'lem parking lot row

www.jpost.com June 29, 2009

The Eda Haredit has decided to intensify its protests over the Jerusalem parking lot row.

In a meeting Monday night, heads of the organization, led by Rabbi Tuvia Weiss, decided to hold a mass prayer rally on Saturday as well a demonstration outside the Jerusalem Municipality sometime next week to protest the Shabbat opening of the Carta lot, located near the Old City.


Taliban Judaism does not work in modern world

By Gil Troy www.jpost.com June 28, 2009 Opinion

The writer is a McGill history professor


Unfortunately too many Orthodox Jews and religious Zionists are not just bystanders to haredi and rabbinic extremism but enablers. Too many fear the extremists.

This cowardice comes from a brand of religious one-upsmanship extremists the world over have mastered. People from the center, no matter how passionate or pure, end up having their credentials questioned by the ayatollahs in religion and the commissars in politics.

Too many modern Orthodox Jews and religious Zionists act insecure when amid their more radical brethren.


Fateful dates

By Peggy Cidor www.jpost.com June 25, 2009

When asked by this journalist at Tuesday's press conference announcing the decision to reopen a parking lot on Shabbat, if he planned to draw conclusions regarding the behavior of his haredi coalition members, Barkat answered that on the contrary, "it is time to embrace them as they are also going through difficult times."

Difficult times? The United Torah Judaism members off the city council coalition?

The same United Torah Judaism members who failed to explain to the mayor who trusted them that in such delicate issues as Shabbat their word is worth very little as soon as the tough guys from the Eda Haredit see things differently?

Had they been a little more reliable or courageous, they might have spared the mayor from showing the extremist faction of haredi society that he doesn't really know how to handle them.


Jerusalem needs peace

By Dudi Zilberslag www.ynetnews.com Opinon June 30, 2009

The sane Orthodox majority expects his secular brethren to show greater understanding to its ideological distress, and seeks to at least maintain the symbols, if not the entire pot.

Even if you did not feel it, we showed restraint many times. We made many concessions for the sake of peaceful life in the city.

…The leaders of this city, headed by Nir Barkat, have the holy duty to return the situation to what it used to be, and to engage in a process of self-reflection: Is it worthwhile to stir conflict among the city’s residents for the sake of 450 vehicles of central Israel residents who travel to Jerusalem on Shabbat and park at the Karta parking lot?


Jerusalem haredi city councilmen to fight parking lot

By Matthew Wagner www.jpost.com June 29, 2009

One Haredi councilman - Rabbi Shmuel Yitzhaki of Shas - has already resigned from Barkat's coalition in protest.

The other three Shas representatives are waiting to hear what their spiritual mentor Yosef tells them to do.

The five Ashkenazi haredi representatives from Degel Hatorah and Agudat Yisrael are also presenting a firm front.

But with only nine council seats among them out of a total of 31, the haredi representatives lack the political strength to force Barkat's hand. The only tool the community has is street demonstrations.


For haredi protesters, a free Shabbat ride to jail

By Etgar Lefkovits www.jpost.com June 29, 2009

They are protesting the opening of a parking lot in Jerusalem, claiming to be pained by the desecration of Shabbat.

Yet for those haredim who rioted on Saturday, the possibility of being arrested and forced into a police van to be driven to the city lockup on Shabbat did not seem a sufficient deterrent against violence.

Boaz, a haredi protester:

"Look, the haredim have nothing to lose - they are not losing money or work by coming to the protests," he said. "In contrast, the police and the city have to amass forces, which takes time and money."

The protester noted that a previous dispute over Shabbat traffic on a major city thoroughfare, Rehov Bar-Ilan, took years to resolve.

"It's going to be a hot summer," he concluded.


What about the peace?

By Neta Sela www.ynetnews.com Opinion June 26, 2009

For some reason, the sense that emerges is that some people protest not because of the Shabbat and the peace, but rather, for the sake of the action.

Or in other words, in the spirit of the story about Rabbi Zonnenfeld, and as an Orthodox Jerusalem resident said this week:

“We need to protest and that’s it; without too much philosophizing and weekly discussions before and after on what we’re allowed and not allowed to do.”


Police probe threats to Barkat's life

By Etgar Lefkovits www.jpost.com June 29, 2009

"As an observant person, I believe in keeping Shabbat but I can understand the mayor's position," said city councilman David Hadari of the National Religious Party. "We need to live side by side, religious, secular and haredim in peace."


We must support Barkat

By Hanoch Daum www.ynetnews.com Opinion June 26, 2009


Members of the ultra-Orthodox sect are very lonely and very bored. For those who are unfamiliar with them, I am referring to a radical sect within the broader Orthodox community where the men are born into a demanding and uninspiring life path: Religious studies every day, the whole day, until the end of time.

Jerusalem shaken by riots

1 gravely hurt in Shabbat parking riots

Six hurt in ultra-Orthodox protests in Jerusalem

J'lem mayor seeks deal to avert secular-haredi crisis

J'lem bracing for more Haredi riots as mayor vows Shabbat opening

Thousands of Haredim protest against opening of Jerusalem parking lot

Court orders J'lem's Karta parking lot be open on Shabbat

2 police officers wounded by rioting haredim in Jerusalem

Court postpones parking lot hearing


Gay Pride in Jerusalem

www.time.com June 25, 2009



Nitzan Horowitz, an openly-gay member of Israel's parliament, led songs in Jerusalem's gay pride parade as protestors yelled anti-gay epithets.


Pride and prejudice

By Margaret Stoner www.jpost.com June 25, 2009


Yonatan Gher, executive director of the Jerusalem Open House:

"As of last year, there has been no more controversy. Through conversations, we were able to help them [the haredim] cease their protests," he reports.

Gher says that Open House has had a subtle relationship with the Orthodox leadership for a number of years.

"What we are doing this year is explaining that the issue has nothing to do with them. We are not holding [gay] pride events in Jerusalem because of them but because we are a part of this city, and we want to have to the visibility we deserve as residents of the city."


The Many Sides of Jerusalem’s Gay Pride Parade

By Erika Solomon http://blogs.reuters.com June 25, 2009

Na’ama, a member of Bat-Kol, an organization for Orthodox Jewish lesbians, agreed, adding:

“It’s not like a protest-it is a protest. I don’t want to take it for granted that I can walk here. But we also have to fight for other rights, like the right to marry. And we still have a struggle with the rest of the Orthodox community to get them to accept us.”

Reform Jews such as the youth group Netzer participated in the pride parade in large numbers, to show solidarity.

One member said, “We want to show that Reform Judaism is open. There’s more than one way to be Jewish. We can’t follow egalitarianism in one sense and not another.”


Gay Pride in the Holy City?!

By Rabbi Andrew Sacks www.jpost.com Opinion June 22, 2009

The Masorti Movement has never been an official sponsor of the Pride event although Masorti rabbis and members have always participated.

But with regard to the right of the Gay community to hold the event, a Masorti position was officially stated, by its head, some years back:

"What we are doing is protecting the community's right to hold this event in the face of so much hatred. We're doing this in the name of free speech and tolerance."


Religion and State in Israel

June 29, 2009 (Section 1) (continues in Section 2)

If you are reading in email or RSS feed, please click here to read ONLINE

Editor – Joel Katz

Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.

Religion and State in Israel - June 29, 2009 (Section 2)

Religion and State in Israel

June 29, 2009 (Section 2) (continued from Section 1)

If you are reading in email or RSS feed, please click here to read ONLINE

Editor – Joel Katz

Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.


Court rules rabbinate can't deny kashrut certificate to Messianic Jew's bakery

By Tomer Zarchin www.haaretz.com June 30, 2009


Following a lengthy legal battle, the High Court of Justice on Monday ordered the Ashdod Rabbinate to grant kashrut certification to a local bakery owned by a Messianic Jew.

Justices Eliezer Rivlin, Yoram Danziger and Salim Joubran ruled that both the Ashdod Rabbinate and the Chief Rabbinate Council, which backed its decision, had exceeded the authority granted them by the Kashrut Law when they demanded that the bakery meet special conditions not demanded of other enterprises solely because the owner is a Messianic Jew.

The court [said] the only considerations the rabbinate may consider in granting kashrut certificates are those directly related to kashrut. As long as the applicant's personal beliefs do not affect the kashrut of the food, the rabbinate has no right to discriminate on account of these beliefs, it ruled.


Court declares Jew for Jesus 'kosher'

By Matthew Wagner www.jpost.com June 30, 2009

"It's absurd that the Supreme Court is telling rabbis how to keep kosher," Ashdod Chief Rabbi Yosef Sheinen said in a telephone interview with The Jerusalem Post.

"What does the Supreme Court know about kashrut?" asked Sheinen. He said that according to his understanding of Halacha, an apostate Jew could not be trusted to adhere to the laws of kashrut.

Justice Eliezer Rivlin wrote that his court accepted the distinction made in the Raskin case between "core" kashrut issues and considerations that were not directly pertinent.


Messianic Jew's kashrut certificate revoked

By Aviad Glickman www.ynetnews.com June 30, 2009


The judges wrote in their ruling that:

"The Rabbinate's conduct indicates that as far as it is concerned only Jews can receive this much coveted kashrut certificate."

They also ordered the Rabbinate to issue Konforti a certificate as long as she adheres to the usual requirements.


Justice Minister to propose civil marriage solution

By Aviad Glickman www.ynetnews.com June 30, 2009

Justice Minister Yaakov Ne'eman has prepared a brief concerning civil marriage in Israel, which states that it should be made possible for couples who are either not Jewish or are consider to have no religious denomination.

The brief, drawn up as part of Yisrael Beiteinu's coalition agreement with the Likud, reviews a previous bill proposed to the Knesset by Yisrael Beiteinu and is expected to be presented to the government on Tuesday.

The coalition agreement between the two parties stipulated that the government must push for a law regulating marriage for non-Jewish couples.


Million dollar baby?

By Rivkah Lubitch www.ynetnews.com June 28, 2009

Rivkah Lubitch is a rabbinical advocate working at the Center for Women’s Justice

A Haifa Rabbinic Court recently ruled that a husband was required to pay his wife the "ketubah money" (the sum of money a husband stipulates in the ketubah) - in this case, one million dollars, since that was the amount he promised her under their chuppah.

This is apparently not the first time, nor the last, that a Rabbinic Court has ruled that a husband is required to pay ketubah money amounting to an astronomical sum.

So where are the rabbis that marry these couples?

We can imagine who the foolish groom is who writes a NIS 1 million sum in the ketubah - but who is the wise rabbi who allows such a thing to occur?

Doesn’t the person in charge of the wedding ceremony have a responsibility not to allow a groom, in a moment of arrogance or social pressure, to fix a sum that he can never realistically pay, if and when that day should come?

Where is the Chief Rabbinate that should be issuing a decree in this matter?


Legislation committee bill awards more funds to haredi schools

By Aviad Glickman www.ynetnews.com June 29, 2009

The Ministerial Committee on Legislation approved a bill by MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism) demanding additional funding for ultra-Orthodox schools.

Gafni, who serves as chairman of the Knesset's Finance Committee, proposed a bill allotting additional funds to private schools belonging to United Torah Judaism and Shas. The funds will be extracted from the local authorities, according to the bill.

The new bill also awards the ultra-Orthodox institutions funding for 100% of school hours, whereas they currently receive funding for only 75%. Gafni claims the bill reinstates the status quo from a number of years ago.


MK threatens to challenge 'Gafni bill' in High Court

By Zvi Zrahiya www.haaretz.com June 29, 2009

Kadima MK Ronit Tirosh will appeal to the Supreme Court if the "Gafni bill" on state sponsorship for religious schools is passed in its present form, Haaretz has learned.

The bill, proposed by MK Moshe Gafni (United Torah Judaism), suggests that the only private schools to enjoy state funding will be the Independent Education Institutes affiliated with UTJ and the Ma’ayan educational network affiliated with Shas.


Lingerie wars

By Stewart Weiss www.jpost.com Opinion June 30, 2009

The writer is director of the Jewish Outreach Center of Ra'anana


Driving down the streets of Ra'anana a couple of weeks ago, motorists noticed large posters of a scantily-clad young woman, promoting a local lingerie store called Hope.

Only problem was, on most of the posters, the woman was almost completely obscured by heavy black lines that had been drawn to block out almost everything except the name of the company.

But who had done this?

You could almost picture these intrepid members of the modesty patrol, surreptitiously sneaking around at night, paint brush in hand, merrily masking the maiden, and so sparing the innocent and the pure from the sexy, scandalous scenes that had invaded their neighborhood.

But lo and behold, it soon was learned that it was


Cockroach closes down Knesset cafeteria

By Amnon Meranda www.ynetnews.com June 23, 2009


"One of the Shas ministers invited me for lunch, so I came. We all sat there together, Knesset Member Yitzhak Vaknin (Shas), Deputy Finance Minister Yitzhak Cohen (Shas), and some others."

According to one of the cafeteria's owners, "Following a debate that arose after the cockroach was found on one of the diner's plates, the kosher overseer decided to revoke the kosher certificate. Therefore, at this stage, the buffets are closed."


Nazareth Illit to build haredi neighborhood

By Sharon Roffe-Ofir www.ynetnews.com June 25, 2009

The initiative has received the support of Interior Minister Eli Yishai, who publicly urged haredim to settle in the new neighborhood. Six-hundred families have already signed up.

Approval to construct a new neighborhood on the marked land was granted a decade ago, and the Ministry of Construction and Housing has already invested some NIS 130 million ($32.6 million) to build a neighborhood that will include 10,000 housing units in the area.

Yishai expressed his willingness and even asked to have his picture with the planned neighborhood in the background published in ultra-Orthodox newspapers, and discussed the matter with Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.

"Minister Yishai said he has given us his blessing," Gapso said.


Fur flies as Knesset bill threatens 'shtreimel' supply

By Rebecca Anna Stoil www.jpost.com June 25, 2009


MK Ronit Tirosh's bill to ban imports of fur products from East Asia earned the rare support of the coalition but irked haredi MKs who worried that nothing less than a centuries-old tradition could be at stake.

One house faction, however, was less than satisfied with the bill. UTJ Faction Chairman MK Menahem Eliezar Moses, who represents Agudath Israel, immediately jumped into action, fighting to preserve the round fur hats known as "shtreimels" worn by a number of hassidic groups as well as by members of certain other Jerusalem haredi communities.

Although no UTJ members were present during the voting, the bill did earn the support of a number of their haredi counterparts in Shas.


Kiryat Degel HaTorah Slated for Ramat Beit Shemesh Gimmel

By Yechiel Sever http://chareidi.shemayisrael.com June 25, 2009

Members of the Beit Shemesh branch of Degel HaTorah convened a special meeting to survey the work of the faction's representatives on the city council and to discuss various matters on the local agenda, including new construction in Ramat Beit Shemesh Gimmel.

Today the chareidi education system in Beit Shemesh comprises the majority of the Municipal Education Department. While government and government-religious schools have a total enrollment of 10,000 students, chareidi institutions number 15,000 students.


1st 'Museum of Jewish people' to open in Tel Aviv

www.ynetnews.com June 27, 2009

The world’s first museum to tell the story of the Jewish People will open to local and international visitors in Tel Aviv in 2012.

The $25 million project was announced in Tel Aviv on Thursday at a meeting of the International Board of Governors of Beth Hatefutsoth, by its chairman, Leonid Nevzlin


Israeli Rock Finds Religion

By Robbie Gringras http://forward.com June 24, 2009


‘I feel like a fish that spent its entire life in an aquarium and has suddenly discovered the sea,” Kobi Oz enthused, prior to going onstage with his new set, “Psalms for the Perplexed,” all of it written after several years of his “soaking in the rich marinade of Judaism.”

So what’s happening? Has secular Israel gone frum?

The answer is far more complex, fascinating and hopeful. It would seem that unexpectedly, unpredictably and in often contradictory ways, Jewish learning and literacy has become a significant part of Israeli popular culture — regardless of belief or observance.


Fla. judge tosses out embezzlement case against to Nefesh B'Nefesh donor

By Raphael Ahren www.haaretz.com June 26, 2009

American-Israeli businessman and philanthropist Guma Aguiar was cleared last week of embezzlement charges, brought before a Florida court by his uncle, who claims he misused funds because he believed he was the messiah.

Aguiar, who recently made a name for himself by donating several million dollars to Nefesh B'Nefesh and other Jewish organizations, denies believing he is the messiah, calling his uncle's accusations absurd. He is currently in the United States and does not give interviews to the press.


Businessman and philanthropist Guma Aguiar lawyer’s warning letter against blogger

By Raphael Ahren www.haaretz.com June 26, 2009

Besides dealing with two lawsuits and a soccer club in financial straits, he is also going after bloggers he feels are defaming him.

In May, Aguiar's lawyer Eitan Gabay wrote a letter to an American-Israeli blogger who questioned Aguiar's motives for leading a Jewish life. Aguiar has acknowledged publicly that while he was born a Jew, his parents raised him as an Evangelical Christian from the age of two.

"Written material in the blog is evidence of a serious violation of the prohibition of 'lashon harah' (libel) and harassment," stated the letter, which was posted on the Web and confirmed by Aguiar's spokesman, adding that some statements on the site "border on defamation" and "infringement of privacy."

The letter continued by stating that Aguiar considering filing a police complaint and a lawsuit if the blogger didn't immediately delete the contentious posts.

The blogger, an Orthodox rabbi, reacted by quickly deleting all entries dealing with Aguiar's past.

"I am simply not in the position that I can afford to be hounded by a billionaire," he told Anglo File last month.


Report: Rav Ovadia will Nix Deri’s Bid to Return to Political Arena

By Yechiel Spira www.theyeshivaworld.com June 28, 2009


According to the daily Yisrael HaYom, Maran Rav Ovadia Yosef will not give his bracha to Rav Aryeh Deri to announce a return to the political arena, with many reports stating he will seek to return to his former position as head of the Shas Party.

Is Aryeh Deri planning his political comeback?

By Yair Ettinger www.haaretz.com June 28, 2009

Deri will soon end the seven-year period of moral turpitude that began the day he left prison after serving his sentence for receiving a bribe, fraud and breach of trust that prevents him from returning to politics.

It has been known for a long time that Deri would reenter politics - Deri himself has said so - but it is unclear in which framework.

The source said Rabbi Ovadia Yosef is not only satisfied with Yishai; he has deep reservations about Deri, who in 1999, when Shas was at the height of its power with 17 seats, seemed to outshine Yosef whenever the two appeared together.


A league of their own

By Gail Lichtman www.jpost.com June 25, 2009

Some 260 women from all over Israel, ranging in age from 16 to over 80, joined together for the 10th Anniversary National Masorti Women's Study Day, which took place at the Schechter Institute of Jewish Studies in Jerusalem on June 19.

Prof. Alice Shalvi adds that having the symposium only for women gives them the chance to be taught by women teachers who can serve as role models.

"It is very important for the self-image of women to see that women have reached such high levels of knowledge."


Judaism gets in touch with its feminine side

By Margaret Stoner www.jpost.com June 27, 2009

Naama Kelman, the newly appointed dean of the Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem, is the first woman to be appointed to this position in Israel.

She was also the first woman to be ordained in Israel. The number of women and men entering the reform seminaries in the United States is now equal, but in past years there have been slightly more female students, Kelman said.

There are challenges to being a woman rabbi in Israel, though, according to Kelman.

"Here," she said, it's an equal opportunity for discrimination to be a non-Orthodox rabbi in Israel. That's a huge challenge because of the Israeli culture and religious establishment. They are just recently opening up to religious alternatives."


Rabbi Riskin Explains 'Resurrection' Remarks

By Hillel Fendel www.israelnationalnews.com June 29, 2009



A Christian Embassy video features Rabbi Shlomo Riskin using language that some Jews charge is theologically problematic. Speaking later with Israel National News, Rabbi Riskin retracted part and explained the rest.

The video, circulated by the International Christian Embassy of Jerusalem (ICEJ), shows Rabbi Riskin – a highly-respected Orthodox rabbi and scholar who founded the city of Efrat in Gush Etzion and is now its Chief Rabbi – speaking of the “grafting” of evangelical Christianity onto Israel and "resurrecting" G-d.


Pope doesn't pull in tourists

By Danny Sadeh www.ynetnews.com June 27, 2009

Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the Holy Land did not have the expected impact on Israel's tourism industry as was originally thought.

Figures published this week by the Israel Hotel Association reveal that May, the month of the pope's visit, saw a 31% decrease in the number of tourist lodgings in Israel.


Reform Movement’s HUC campuses will stay open

By Cliff Peale http://news.cincinnati.com June 24, 2009

The Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion college's board of governors late Tuesday endorsed a plan to keep its four campuses open while restructuring and cutting costs to close a budget deficit of more than $3 million a year.

It also will continue to recruit to campuses in Cincinnati, New York, Los Angeles and Jerusalem while expanding online classes. But it will integrate programs at the campuses to save administrative costs.


Madonna to take new daughter to Western Wall

By Itamar Zohar www.haaretz.com June 25, 2009

Madonna plans to bring her newly adopted 3-year-old daughter with her to Israel this September, when she is slated to give two concerts here, the British newspaper The Sun reported yesterday. Inter alia, Madonna plans to take daughter Mercy to see the Western Wall.

"The Wailing Wall is a very sacred place for anyone with links to the Jewish faith, and she wants all the children to see it," a source close to the singer told the Sun. Madonna, though not Jewish, is intensely interested in kabbala.

Mercy was adopted from Malawi earlier this month. Madonna will also be bringing her other adopted child, David Banda.


Religion and State in Israel

June 29, 2009 (Section 2) (continued from Section 1)

If you are reading in email or RSS feed, please click here to read ONLINE

Editor – Joel Katz

Religion and State in Israel is not affiliated with any organization or movement.