Haver

Via the Jerusalem Post :

"A project was recently launched by hard-line sectors of the haredi community in Beit Shemesh to discourage the use of the Internet and the devices that enable easy access to it. The idea behind the initiative, called “Haver,” is to encourage members of the haredi public to sign a declaration in front of their community or synagogue rabbi that they either have no access to the Internet at all, or that they have only rabbinically approved devices, with content filters, which they need for work purposes. 

Anyone signing this declaration will be awarded a membership certificate which, in the language of the publicity material, “testifies that he counts himself among those who fear the word of God.”Haredi rabbis and communal leaders have waged an ongoing and increasingly fierce battle against access to the Internet, in large part due to the proliferation and availability of pornography.The Haver initiative has only just been rolled out and a big membership drive was launched on Thursday, with many hundreds of people signing up."

The funny thing is that on our computers, there is software, both in the office and at home can block disreputable sites,so that is all this group's Posek or Rabbis need to say, if that is the issue/problem/concern. 

The article continues : 

"Concerns have been voiced, however, about the second stage of the Haver project. After the initial sign-up period, lists of those who have signed up will be posted at synagogues in the haredi neighborhoods of the city, which organizers say will be “to glorify the names of the members.” 

It is feared that membership in the Haver program could be used as a de facto way to determine someone’s haredi identity and that those who do not sign up will be excluded from communal benefits such as access to community charities, schools and other institutions".

Ah, so is  this really because the community leaders here wish to control information that their people read on the net & don't want them to be influenced by other, outside ideas . That just won't work; the Mullahs of Iran try to police ideas on the internet, so does China. But not even they can completely control the flow of information on the web. It is futile to think that you can do so and it is better in my view to have frank and full discussions about ideas or theology, even heretical ones. Shutting down debate or other views without any discussion or explanation means, to me, going from a religious community to the slippery slope of a cult.

Discuss.

More Madness - this time its Sephardi(sadly) !

From what passes for Sephardi among the echelons of the Rabbinic leadership. Via the the Jewish worker  and the Jerusalem Post,Rabbi Shalom Cohen the spiritual leader of Shas (the Sephardi Haredi political party -it pains me to put Sephardi and Haredi together in a sentence, it really does!) has ostensibly banned Sephardi-Haredi  women from attending academic colleges :

The letter goes -

"We are witnesses today that there are students who learned in [Charedi] seminars who are applying and requesting to learn academic studies.
Our Rabbis, the Gedolei Yisroel, completely opposed academic studies even in Charedi colleges since a number of the lecturers are university graduates and don't have the pure torah ideology that we are raised on.
Likewise, the coursework in the colleges is based on academic and scientific methodologies which contradict daas torah.
Therefore,  female students should not even consider going to learn academic studies in any setting, because this is not the path of Torah."

This is ironic for 2 reasons.

First one of the great Sephardi Rabbis, Moses Maimonides, was himself a man of science and medicine and firmly advocated that there was no contradiction between science and Torah, indeed he opined that the Torah was misunderstood if science contradicted it. 

The second is that the actual founder of the Shas founder Rabbi Ovadia Yosef explicitly approved the establishment of institutions of higher learning designed for haredim, including the one founded by his eldest daughter, Dr. Adina Bar-Shalom.

As for myself. Oy, I've printed off the edict and ignored it. I'm Sephardi & Orthodox. This belongs in the toilet. But we'd wipe more on than we'd get off,if you get my drift, apologises for the crudeness, but it is the only way I can rationalise this BS. I've been married twice, my first wife had a degree and went on to further studies, my second wife is also university educated. I have 4 sisters. All of them are educated to Masters level, 2 to PhD. All of  them are devout Jews, in their own way. My eldest daughter is currently reading English at University. I have no time for these idiots that are trying to ban women from being educated. 

I'd like to add the word especially given the Haredi setup of men studying the Torah and expecting women to earn money via a job  & look after a family in the traditional Jewish way. This is  a tall order if you ask me, I have no problem with both partners earning and taking joint responsibility for child raising, but it is TOO MUCH to except anyone to be in effect a single parent, but married at the same time... OK it isn't my community, but if you are Haredi and this is what you do; you aren't going to help the situation or your poverty by denying the main bread winner an education to get a better job, to support the family etc. 

Why?

A BIG *SIGH* here. 

I wondered how long it would take for some religious zealot to explain why the 3 Israeli Yeshivah students were kidnapped by terrorists; yup it is 'divine punishment'. Yep! It is either because Israel recently passed a draft for Haredi OR because Israel has been passing 'anti-religious (read chipping away at Haredi dominance of the Israeli Rabbincate) & is willing to provide land for peace ! Why not go ahead and blame gays, women's education & tzniut ?!?

Well, I'm not the best scholar in the world, nor am I the worst. But this I do know: the age of Jewish Prophets is over (which is why, incidentally, Jews rejected Mo, but that's a different story). So no-one has the right to claim the G-d is punishing Israel for whatever reason  and I believe that is well within Halakhah to give up land for peace. Furthermore I would argue that the ultimate Mitzvot, save the exceptional circumstances when we must Yehareg ve'al ya'avor,is -Pikuach Nefesh, the preservation of life. A peace treaty with the Arabs is essential in the long term, but it is a matter of timing and context that will determine this, though. I'm not G-d, so I'm not even going to give any possible spiritual answer as to why these things happen. In the same respect, when people ask me about the Shoah. I'll be honest. I don't have any words, any glibness, no hidden spiritual insight. As a famous Sephardi Rabbi [Judah ha-Levi] once said "If I understood Him, I would be Him". What I do know is that we can do our upmost to Daven[pray] for the return of these boys, alongside the practical actions that the IDF and others are doing . Furthermore, what needs to happen now is to put in place practical ways which will prevent further kidnappings. 

As for the reasons given  -

Well studying Torah academically is good, but if you really grasp it you'd realise that there is a life outside it and that is the real thrust of Judaism, besides which, ah you've heard me enough to know my views on this one, but I will turn to it in greater depth in another post ... & I can't see exactly what is damaging about the various issues mention in the article about the current Israeli government being 'anti-religious', e.g. the change to the conversion process, I will write about this at greater length another time, but I think there does need to be more leniency here.I read an article a couple of months back about how a famous Israeli actress wanted to convert- she had a Jewish father, not a mother- and stuck to all of the modesty rules, dietary rules and they apparently ended the conversion process because she was an actress, doh !!!

So if you are a self-righteous nutter or follower of a conclave of Mullah type Rabbis, who think they can interpret the divine will, turn this into a disgraceful political statement to suite your own needs, then go ahead. No-one else wants to know,  we are too busy praying and being practical in our efforts to bring back our boys. 

Thank you.

'Amidst everything we do, we say Hashem, please help our soldiers bring our boys back home.'

UPDATE (1 hour later) - I have the privilege of reading through my sister's notes for her book. She passionately expresses in her notes much of my feelings, so I will not need to discuss further the issues I said I would above.

Haredi Orthodoxy & Pharassies or we don't have the Magestrium in Judaism

Hi All, 

This is something I posted on my favourite Jewish blog, Dovbear,  but I've added to it. This is in reaction to this ludicrous post, on a site called  'Cross Currents', what is in effect a Haredi (that is strict Ultra Orthodox)  propaganda site. It constantly pisses me off, for a variety of reasons.So I'm having a rant about it. I can't do this all the time as I'd be spending every day on a rant. So I have to be selective here .

OK, well here is my view, won't be popular, but I don't care, 'cause you're gonna bloody well hear it anyways -

I'm not going to accept that a sect of Judaism- because that is exactly what Haredi Judaism is - which was created less that 200 years ago and then claims itself to be the one true Orthodox path, has any right to dictate to the rest of us, what we should and shouldn't believe or follow. I'm a Jew. I love Orthodoxy, but I also love the rest of Judaism in all its rich tapestry.

I try to follow the Mitzvot as best as I can. But I like our faith because it gives a wide breathing space for varying views and schools of thought. There is no way I would follow someone just because they said so. Who do these guys think they are, Jesus -y? Oy, no, no no!The Haredi gedolim & certainly not Rabbis are not a Jewish Magestrium a la the Catholic Church. Judaism does not work like this, we don't have Popes and Cardinals or Apostolic succession; yes we used to have a Sanhedrin, but the Haredi  under their Gadols Rabbis are not a new Sanhedrin, whatever they may think. Judaism requires us to debate, to think, to reason, to do. Otherwise we simply wouldn't study the Torah at all, but leave it to the Priestly caste...No, they are wise men with gandolf like beards, we can listen to them, but what fool - and you are a fool- if U slavishly following a religion whose holy men think that their adherents should just go along to get along , even though they, as is argued in the cross currents  article  " may even be wrong by all reason and logic".

Hello? Who is using the family brain cell here? 

Since when did being an mindless automaton become authentic Judaism?

U know the big, big problem with the likes of Cross Currents is that it is 'exhibit A' of those who argue against Judaism. It reeks of the Christian critique (a view once held by my non Jewish housemates) that Jews follow a bunch of impossible to fulfil rules, that Torah is a burden, not something cool, that we are all heartless 'pharassies', who place the letter of the Torah, above the spirit of the Torah. That we are all like Shammai, not like Hillel or in a Christian context Saul and not Paul . 

I see that the latest post on Cross Currents bemoans how the current Israeli government has 'forced' people to stop studying Torah to get a job(!??). Welcome to the real world guys. Most of us have to go to work to pay a mortgage (in my case me and 4 others), the bills, the taxes and if we are lucky we get a bit left over. So sorry, but you should bloody well work to put bread on the table & to support those who genuinely are unable to work.

That is authentic Judaism. So sorry, but I'll not bend the knee to a 200 year old sect, as if it were the only, real and true traditional or Orthodox Judaism .

Rant over... I feel better (:

Jurassic Judaism!

Via the BBC -

"Fossilised bones of a dinosaur believed to be the largest creature ever to walk the Earth have been unearthed in Argentina, palaeontologists say.
Based on its huge thigh bones, it was 40m (130ft) long and 20m (65ft) tall.
Weighing in at 77 tonnes, it was as heavy as 14 African elephants, and seven tonnes heavier than the previous record holder, Argentinosaurus."

But of course, this doesn't stop people from denying that dinosaurs ever existed; in 0.31 google seconds I came up with 1,220,000 internet articles about 'dinosaurs didn't exist'. More interesting than this  was that some sites suggesting that they are a conspiracy theory to 'prove' evolution. OK, I guess if people wish not to believe in facts  & even though, as the picture shows below it is pretty conclusive that dinosaurs did exist that is up to them.

                                                                   Pause .Oy vey !

For us Orthodox Jews and for the thinking person of any faith, I'd suggest the Judaism & religious belief  has always been compatible, if not comfortable,  with science. Our great Rabbi Maimonides  noted that  seeming conflicts between science and the Bible arise from either a lack of scientific knowledge or a misunderstanding of the Bible; furthermore that  science is one of the primary paths to knowing God which is the reason why the Bible commences with a description of creation . Indeed Chazal of the Talmud always viewed Torah knowledge in light of prevailing scientific theory.

Secondly there is possible reference in the Torah  dinosaurs, as it says: "And God created the giant Tanin" (Genesis 1:21). What is a Tanin? In Exodus 7:10, when Moses throws down his staff before Pharaoh, it turns into a "Tanin," translated as a "snake." Thus a Tanin is in the reptile family. They are also the only creatures in the creation account referred to as "giant," and indeed, dinosaurs were the largest creatures ever to walk the earth. What happened to them? The Talmud (Baba Batra 74b) says that God caused the extinction of the giant Tanin soon after their creation, because had the Tanin been fruitful and multiplied, the world would not have been able to endure before them. And as we know the dinosaurs became extinct, although there are various theories (asteroid, climate change etc) as to why this occurred. 

Huge, fearsome & magnificent creatures that they were, dinosaurs can't possibly be a threat to the religious Jew. As G-d's creations, they are another example of His wondrous might. There's nothing to be afraid of in acknowledging the fact of dinosaurs or learning about them.

Military Service

In Israel there is ongoing controversy over the exemptions for military service for the Ultra Orthodox community (some 10% of Israel's population) and a few days ago there was a mass rally from this community against having their children conscripted at aged 18- like any other Israeli Jewish citizens- into the Israeli Defence Forces. I had gotten a wonderfully crafted written up on this, but somehow I lost it. So as I just don't have the time to write it back up, I'd simply say that there shouldn't be one rule for one and one for another; the law of the land is the law of the land after all. Israel could be snuffed out at any time, if and when the will is there for the increasingly Islamized (as opposed to secular nationalist) Arab governments topple, wobble and discover that whipping up hate and nationalism, via  the guise of religious devotion, is far easier way of maintaining control, than actually dealing with problems. Therefore Israel needs ALL of her strength and might to continue.

If Israel falls so will the Ultra Orthodox. Do you want to live in a Jewish state or go back to the pogroms, the ghettos, the Inquisitions  of Europe and the religious taxes & restrictions  of the Islamic Caliphate in the Middle East (this is assuming you'll be allowed to exist at all in a Palestine state ruled by Hamas).  I also find that those of us who are NOT in Israel, those of us who tirelessly defend Israel to our Non-Jewish friends, who defend Israel against a tide of Jew hate from both Islamists and the trendy left, are left increasingly distraught about the logic if you are not prepared to defend your country, how or why are we going to obtain allies to help Israel and the Jewish nation (for allies is exactly what we need to survive).

I would also add, on a personal note, that I KNOW what it is like to have to served in armed forces. I may not have served with the IDF-although their prestige is known worldwide- but with an army of a  gentile nation, called Great Britain,  in which I was never forbidden to study or read Torah, or told to not be a Jew, but did my part for Queen and Country; I saw comrades, I saw death, I saw duty to defend a country. 

There is clearly a choice here. Which is it? Discuss.