Worst Haredi Hasbara of the Day #2 for 30.04.2013

I might have been too quick to hand out the last prize. NRG has this story title (translated)

Porush: finance non religious schools according to their levels of violence.

And here is my translation of the first paragraph:

The Haredi response to the non religious sector's demand to finance the Haredi education institutions according to their study of core subjects: a new law tabeled by MK Meir Porush would condition a schools funding according to the level of violence at the school

התגובה החרדית לדרישה החילונית לתקצוב מוסדות החינוך החרדי בהתאם לשעות לימודי הליבה בבתי הספר: הצעת חוק חדשה של ח״כ מאיר פרוש תתנה את תקציב בתי הספר החילונים בהתאם לרמת האלימות בבתי הספר.

The basic assumption being that violence is a problem that doesn't exist in Haredi schools.

Worst Haredi Hasbara of the Day

"Aren't there enough arguments? Do you want everything to go up in flames? if not for us, the Haredi public, there wouldn't even be a Kotel. There were people who said that it is only stones"

MK Moshe Gafni (Yahdut Hatorah) during a Knessett Committee discussion on the Women of the Wall. 

One has to think fairly hard to explain how the Haredim have any credit for the Kotel. I suspect that the answer is a fairly general one where the Haredim insist that they are the true representatives of Judaism through the ages. If that is true, its even more offensive. 

The Jewish World Pie Chart

From World Jewish Population, 2012, a report by Prof. Sergio DellaPergola, published by the Berman Institute – North American Jewish Data Bank at the University of Connecticut:

Some thoughts - as we can clearly see, Israel and the US dominate this graph. Most other countries barely manage to get a "slice" of the pie. I was also surprised to learn that France had the third largest Jewish population in the world, followed by Canada.

 Surprisingly the UK comes in only fifth. 

The Rabbi, The Egg and The Schnitzel

This video is doing the rounds (again...its old). Some of you can probably guess why.

Good Question on Rabbi Broyde's Latest Controversy.

 On April 12 TJC revealed  that Rabbi Michael Broyde, a leading Modern Othadox Rabbi had for years been using a "sock puppet" persona named "Rabbi Hershel Goldwasser" to publish academic works praising Boyde, and even worse to join rival rabbinical organisations.

Now the story has gotten even worse. Yesterday (April 24) TJC published a report claiming that :

 a second identity uncovered by The Jewish Channel might have gone farther down the road of academic misconduct than did the Goldwasser character. The second identity, claiming to be an 80-something Ivy League graduate and Talmud scholar in 2010, alleged he’d had conversations with now long-dead sages in the late 1940s or early 1950s. The alleged conversations were used to produce a manufactured history of statements from long-dead scholars that buttressed an argument that Broyde had made in a highly-touted article published in a peer-reviewed scholarly journal. Broyde, in a later publication, subsequently quoted this second identity’s alleged findings as further proof of his original argument. 

The  highly-touted article that was referred to is Broyde's 179 Page essay on Hair Covering and Jewish Law. Allegedly a fake letter was sent to Tradition (the magazine which published the essay) where:

Someone claiming to be David Tzvi Keter wrote one of those letters to Tradition from a Gmail account, establishing a biography in which he claimed he had “moved to Israel in 1949 after graduating from Columbia,” and that he then went on to learn at one of the most prestigious yeshivas in the world at the time, Jerusalem’s Etz Chaim yeshiva, under a major sage of the time, Rabbi Isser Zalman Meltzer.

The Keter character then goes on to provide a history in which he gathered the oral testimony of several prominent sages of the mid-20th-century on the topic of women’s hair covering. His letter provides their comments 60 years later to add them to the historical record Broyde had been analyzing in the Tradition article.

Simon Lerner on Twitter askes the following question:

i don't get it. guy writes 179page, well researched, paper. was some unknown 80yr old's hearsay from R' Shach really what was missing? why?!
— Shimon Lerner (@slerner) April 25, 2013

This question reveals much about our current state of affairs. It would seem that people are more likely to accept a position, if they can ascribe it to Rav Shach's offhand comment, then if they can ascribe it to a 179 page study.

Cartoon of the Day

"I wish he'd go back to Facebook" (UTJ MK's Meir Porush, Moshe Gafni re: Yesh Atid Finance Minister Yair Lapid)

Via: Religion and State in Israel

Did You Know That the Rulers of Qatar are Jews?

Spotted in the Guardian (oh, I read them all), in a piece describing the plight of Christians in Syria:

Bishop Khouri, who is known as an ultra-loyalist, accused western countries of betraying their own religious heritage by backing the rebels. "France likes to say that it defends Christians but they help terrorists to come to our country," he complained. "How is that Qatar can influence France and Britain with their money? It is well known that the leaders of Qatar are Jews."

As always, I'm the last one to know. I'm wondering how long before they start getting some schnorrers.

I Get Why Jews Is A Dirty Word, But Why Are Nightgowns?

Al-Monitor reports on academic censorship at a Gaza University:

“I was completely bereft when he pulled me by my hand and embraced me. … I felt warmth emanating from his chest.” This sentence in a short story titled “Love in War” was enough for Gaza's Al-Aqsa University to launch an investigation into faculty member Dr. Khoder Mahjez.

I could understand an Islamic "University" having problem with some light sexual comments. However it gets worse:

In an interview over the phone with Al-Monitor, Mahjez said that the obscene words — which he was accused of using by the investigation commission during the interrogation attended by the dean of the Faculty of Arts and a legal advisor — were present in a story he had used as an example in his book, which carries the same name as the course. He added that there had been objections to the use of certain words — such as "women," "sons of a bitch" and "Jews" — as opposed to using terms with ideological connotations that are preferable to the university, such as sons of "monkeys" and "pigs."

Ok, so we can't use the words "women" or "Jews" either. Could we get even sillier? oh, we can. This is how a University representative defended the University:

He added that he was ready to disclose the student’s complaint to the press. He repeated that Mahjez had used what he described as “obscene” expressions during his lecture, such as, "He cracked her bones when he embraced her," and other terms such as "nightgowns."

Nightgowns! What could be worse?

Whoops..Reuters Publishes Obituary of Still Living George Soros

I guess reports of his death have been greatly exaggerated:

Soros obituary published in error; financier is alive

Thu Apr 18, 2013 7:59pm EDT

Reuters erroneously published an advance obituary of financier and philanthropist George Soros. A spokesman for Soros said that the New York-based financier is alive and well. Reuters regrets the error.

Yair Lapid Has The Maturity Of A High-school Student

Alot of people already commented (mostly in a positive light) on Yair Lapid's responses to the heckles of the Haredi MKs at Monday's opening meeting of the Knesset's summer session. However I would like to focus on one line by our charismatic Finance Minister. At roughly 4 Min on the video above:

Knesset Speaker: [responding to heckles] " I would like to remind you that this is Yair Lapid's virgin speech here, and it is forbidden to disturb him."
Yair Lapid: "It has been so many years since virginity and I have been mentioned together"

Oh, so mature. Grow up Mr Lapid.

Chief Rabbi (Israel) Race Update..

• According to Kipa, Israel Beytenu is offering a deal to the Jewish Home - they will support the changes of legislation needed to allow Harav Ariel become Chief Rabbi, if the Jewish Home will support David Levi's bid to become president. 

• However, NRG reports that Yesh Atid is not happy with the whole "Rav Ariel" deal, and specifically the changing of the law. Harav Piron is quoted as saying that he will fight the nomination.

What Happens When A Haredi Boy Meets The Internet - a Spiral of Despair (Cartoon)

This cartoon, allegedly from Yated Ne'eman (I have doubts) is making the rounds on Facebook:

*Edit: The cartoon is read from right to left, starting at top right corner.

The Story as I understand it. The good Yeshivah boy is going to class, (far right) meets a RZ who shows him the internet. Immediately his Germarah learning is destroyed by strange ideas, and he starts reading PAPERS! This causes him to leave the Yeshivah world and go backpacking (using a GPS no less). While on his trip he meets a clown who is a drug dealer (aren't all drug dealers really clowns?), finds himself in jail, where thankfully he meets a kindly haredi man who helps him find some happiness in his miserable life.

Moral of the story is - Don't take drugs from dealers dressed as clowns. They are almost certainly undercover cops.

Low Standards? How to Remove The Hamas From EU Terror List

From Ma'an News Agency:

The new Hamas politburo, added Yousif, is expected to focus on benefiting from the Arab, Palestinian and Muslim communities in Europe to recruit support to Hamas in Europe, and try and take the movement’s name off terrorism lists. 

“Hamas will focus on convincing European countries to take its name out of the terrorism list. Hamas is certain that the US will not agree to take its name off the list. However, European countries set only one condition to do that -- avoiding martyrdom attacks inside Israel, and Hamas hasn’t carried out any attack since 2004.”  (emphasis added)

I really hope this is a Hamas daydream, and not an accurate retelling.

Bear in Mind This is an official US Gov't Account

#EarthDay tips: Eat Leftovers, waste less food. Ask your restaurant to pack up your extras so you can eat them later.
— USMission2ASEAN (@USMission2ASEAN) April 22, 2013

Not sure all the people in Asia, especially the starving ones need this advice.

Oh Those Brits.

The Qataris are wearing M&S underwear beneath their kanduras. They are eating in Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants. They are driving Land Rovers and phoning with Vodafone – and last year the UK exported goods worth a record £1.3 billion to Qatar alone; not bad for a place with only 1.8 million people. It was a joy to hear the natives speak spontaneously of their affection for Britain. I lost count of the number of times I was told: “London is my second home.”

- London Mayor Boris Johnson describing his trip to Qatar 

Will The Jewish Home Nominate Harav Ariel as Chief Rabbi?

From Yisrael Hayom:

Habayit Hayehudi is likely to back Rabbi Yaakov Ariel for the position of chief Ashkenazi rabbi of Israel. Ariel, who currently serves as the chief rabbi of Ramat Gan, is considered a prominent figure in the religious Zionist community.

Sources privy to the party's efforts on his behalf told Israel Hayom that the other religious Zionist rabbis vying for the position have been told that if Ariel agrees to run, they are expected to withdraw from the race.

Harav Ariel was the Religious Zionist candidate last time round (2002), when he lost to the haredi candidate Harav Metzger. In 2002 he was actually considered -across the RZ spectrum - a very popular candidate, despite being quite strict (and wearing a black hat). However, I think times have changed somewhat. Firstly, in the years that have passed Harav Ariel is slightly better known and is generally (though not necessarily correctly) considered to be a Hardalnick rather than a liberal.

Secondly, and despite his popularity in 2002, Harav Ariel is not really seen as a leader of the RZ movement. To be fair none of the other candidates for chief rabbi are either, but at least Harav Stav is fairly well known in the wider public.

According to Srugim, Harav Ariel's miraculous return is part of a parcel deal with Shas, where in exchange of Shas's support of Harav Ariel's (currently illegal) nominations as Ashkenazic Chief Rabbi,  the Jewish Home will support a second (currently illegal) term for Harav Amar as sephradic Chief Rabbi.

Good times.

Palestinians Nominate Site as UNESCO World Heritage Site, Then Bulldoze it

An amazing story. In 2012 the Palestinians nominated the ancient Anthedon Harbor in Gaza as a UNESCO World Heritage site. Just over a year later, Hamas Bulldozed it and built a new terrorist training camp on top of it:

"Earlier last month, amid overwhelming criticism from public figures and nongovernmental organizations, the military wing of the Islamic movement of Hamas, Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, bulldozed a part of the ancient Anthedon Harbor in northern Gaza along the Mediterranean Sea. The Brigades damaged the harbor in order to expand its military training zone, which was initially opened on the location in 2002, according to Ejla.
The Anthedon seaport, which dates back over 3,000 years to the Mycenaean era, is considered one of the most important sites in the Middle East and is the oldest harbor in Gaza. It was designated an international heritage site by UNESCO in 2012. The location was discovered in 1997 on the space of 180,000 square meters. It contains mosaic floors with historical pillars from the Roman, Byzantine and Islamic ages."

I sent the story to UNWATCH, which a letter to UNESCO director-general Irina Bokova. 

Who Wrote This and When?

Who knows when this was written and by whom? No Googling..

"הבושה והחרפה! דאגה ליהודי אמריקה, בשעה שששה מיליונים תלויים בשערה שרופה? בשעה שכפלים כיוצאי מצרים נתונים בידי חיתו-טרף ומוכנים לטבח - דברים על "תנאים רצויים להתפתחות יהודית"?!

Caption Contest! Picture of the Day - Cohen In A Bag

Caption Contest!

Relevant "Life of Brian" for Women of the Wall

Couldn't resist!

This Remains Sadly Relevant

Whenever I read too much religious writing, this keeps coming to mind:

According to the Washington Post, Netanyahu's "Red Line" Actually Worked!

From The Washington Post:

"A host of commentators both in the United States and Israel scoffed at what they called Mr. Netanyahu’s “cartoonish” picture of a bomb and the line he drew across it. The prime minister said Iran could not be allowed to accumulate enough 20 percent enriched uranium to produce a bomb with further processing, adding that at the rate its centrifuges were spinning, Tehran would cross that line by the middle of 2013.

Iran, too, dismissed what its U.N. ambassador called “an unfounded and imaginary graph.” But then a funny thing happened: The regime began diverting some of its stockpile to the manufacture of fuel plates for a research reactor. According to the most recent report of international inspectors, in February, it had converted 40 percent of its 20 percent uranium to fuel assemblies or the oxide form needed to produce them. As a result, Iran has remained distinctly below the Israeli red line, and it probably postponed the earliest moment when it could cross that line by several months."

People may begin to eat their hats now.

Shoes, Jews and Muslims

From The Economist:

Ms Nahshon, author of a book called "Jews and Shoes", reckons that in respect of footwear, Muslims and Jews sometimes copied one another and sometimes consciously differentiated their practices. One tradition holds that the prophet Muhammad initially encouraged his followers to pray with shoes on, because that was in contrast with Jewish practices of the day. He was then angelically inspired to tell his followers to remove their footwear. Since then, Jews in many parts of the world have been praying with shoes on; indeed an early form of Jewish morning prayer includes special supplications to be said when donning one's footwear: the right shoe first and then the left. But in Arab countries and further east, there is much evidence of Jewish barefootedness. In some cases, Jews were compelled to remove their shoes, at least when treading near a mosque; such rules existed in Morocco and Yemen. In Islamic theocracies, regulations governing clothing and footwear were often used to mark Christians and Jews as monotheists of a lower status. But Ms Nahshon, who is also a senior associate at the Oxford Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies, notes that there is an old formal family photograph of Indian Jews wearing gorgeous clothes, and nothing on their feet (pictured). That, she thinks, reflects not compulsion but a Jewish custom, one that may recall the bare-footedness of the beautifully robed priests in the Jerusalem temple.

Two Chickens, Books and Perhaps a Goat

I saw this great quote on Facebook (from Fred MacDowell) from Sefer Hasidim:

Great line in Sefer Chasidim about what should not happen when a man leaves his dog and his sefer to his sons. One of them should not say to the other "You take the book and I'll take the dog."

האב שהניח כלב וספר ויש לו שני בנים לא יאמר לאחיו קח אתה הספר ואני הכלב

To understand Sefer Hasidim's point you have to read the full paragraph:

האב שהניח כלב וספרים ויש לו שני בנים לא יאמר לאחיו קח אתה הספר ואני הכלב, וכן שני חברים שבאו לחלוק אל יחלקו דבר גנאי ביניהם לא ישימו לא כלב ולא בית הכסא כנגד ספר וכנגד תפילין, ולא יעשה אדם נגדן כגון קח אתה משקל כסף וזהב ואני אקח כנגדו הספר, ולא בשתי משאות להשים על החמור כגון ספר כתבי הקודש קשור יחד וספר פסול של כומרים מצד השני על החמור או על הסוס. וכן באותה תיבה שיש ספרים לא ישים בה כתבי כומרים דכתיב (דברים ז' כ"ו) ולא תביא תועבה אל ביתך

 My rough translation:

And two friends who have to divide should not divide something unclean between them, they should not put a dog or a toilet in equivalence to a book or Tefillin, nor should a man value them and say you take the weight of silver and gold, and I'll take the book, nor should you load them in two sides of the donkey, such as holy books together, and on the other side of a donkey or a horse, Priest's books. Additionally, in the same box with [Holy-BoT] books you should not place Priest's books...

My rough translation is enough to understand that the problem is placing holy Seforim on the same level as mundane or unclean objects. Sefer Hasidim is so extreme that he won't even let you balance a donkey's load of Seforim with other books!

During Shabbat, I came across the following joke, which you can see why I connected the two:

Two thieves broke into a farm and stole two chickens and a goat. After they got away, one of the thieves turned to the other and said "It is time we divide the plunder. Why don't you take one of the chickens, and me and the goat will take the other."

When the Jpost mixes up Avigdor Liberman and Yeshayahu Liebowitz

Classic:

Moments before approving the honor for Liebowitz on Thursday, Barkat said members of Likud, Shas, United Torah Judaism and Shas overwhelming disapproved of the initiative due to Lieberman’s outspoken Leftist ideology. (emphasis added)

I guess they both start with an LIEB, but still fairly funny.

(My guess is the JPOST will fix this error soon, but I couldn't take a screenshot).

Is it Legal to use Waze (GPS on a Phone) in Israel?

From Orin Kerr, on the Volokh Conspiracy:

Here’s an interesting question of statutory interpretation raised by the invention of smartphones. California law bans using cell phones while driving as follows:

A person shall not drive a motor vehicle while using a wireless telephone unless that telephone is specifically designed and configured to allow hands free listening and talking, and is used in that manner while driving.

In People v. Spriggs, the defendant was cited under this provision for looking at a map on his cell phone while driving and holding the phone in his hands. But was this “using” the phone for purposes of the provision? Or is this merely using the device that happens to also include the functionality of a phone? In other words, does the legal prohibition follow the physical device or just the app?

I recommend you read the entire post. The question however is equally relevant in Israel where the law states:

תקנה 28 לתקנות התעבורה קובעת כך: 

28. (א) נוהג רכב חייב להחזיק בידיו את ההגה או הכידון כל עוד הרכב בתנועה; אולם רשאי הוא להסיר יד אחת מן ההגה או הכידון אם עליו לעשות בה דבר להבטחת פעולתו התקינה של הרכב או לקיום כללי התנועה.

(ב) (1) בעת שהרכב בתנועה, הנוהג ברכב – 

(א) לא יאחז בטלפון קבוע או נייד, ולא ישתמש בהם ברכב אלא באמצעות דיבורית; 

(ב) לא ישלח או יקרא מסרון (s.m.s); 

(2) בתקנת משנה זו – 

"דיבורית" - התקן המאפשר שימוש בטלפון בלא אחיזה בו ובלבד שאם ההתקן מצוי בטלפון, הטלפון יונח ברכב באופן יציב המונע את נפילתו; 

 

"טלפון" - מכשיר המיועד לתקשורת אשר קיימים בו לחצנים לחיוג.  

According to the law, while driving you may not "hold a phone (mobile or otherwise), or use it except using a speaker. The Israeli law, similarly to the California law analysed by Orin, does not differntiate between different uses of a phone, nor specifically from using a phone as a device for talking, and just using it as a platform for other uses. It is also unclear from the wording of the law if the prohibition is just to use the phone while holding them (לא יאחז בטלפון) or also every other use (ולא ישתמש בהם).

My own guess is that an Israeli Court is far less bound by a literal interprentation of the text than the California one, and will permit any use of a phone which does not distract from the driver's attention.

Back From Vacation

Thanks for the patience! Regular blogging to return.