Jewish, Jewish, Everywhere, & not a drop to drink
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Sorting out Conversion Chaos in Israel
Chief Rabbinate prepares bill to remove converts from Law of Return
By Amiram Barkat, Haaretz Correspondent
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/790448.html
Thu., November 23, 2006 Kislev 2, 5767
Converts will no longer be recognized as Jews under the Law of Return, according to a bill formulated by the Chief Rabbinate and presented to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert a few days ago. The revolutionary bill is now awaiting a decision by the prime minister whether to make it a government-sponsored bill.
The bill was initiated by Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar in an effort to block the possibility that the High Court of Justice could recognize Reform conversions carried out in Israel. Amar expects the government to adopt the initiative after other solutions proposed by the state to the High Court, such as a recent suggestion to establish a second Ne'eman Committee to discuss conversions, seemed no more than stall attempts.
The Chief Rabbinate said Monday the proposal was an egalitarian one that would withstand the scrutiny of the High Court. It argued the bill would "close the loophole" in the Law of Return that allowed foreign workers to convert in order to receive Israeli citizenship.
However if the law passes, it is likely to lead to a major crisis between Israel and the Diaspora.
The bill would give rabbinic courts and the Chief Rabbinate sole authority over conversions, as another bill, which did not pass, had also stated. The main element in the bill is a change in the clause defining a Jew for the purposes of the Law of Return. At present the clause defines a Jew as a person born to a Jewish mother or who converted to Judaism. The bill proposes that an the only individuals recognized as Jewish by the Law of return will be those born to a Jewish mother.
In the past, the Orthodox political parties had attempted to change this clause to include only Orthodox converts in accordance with halakha (Jewish law). This demand was rejected by successive Israeli governments due to concern over relations with Jewish communities outside of Israel, especially the Jewish establishment in the United States, where non-Orthodox Jews predominate.
The Chief Rabbinate argued Monday that Interior Minister Roni Bar-On supports the initiative. However an Interior Ministry spokeswoman said Bar-On was not familiar with it.
The Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC), the legal advocate of the Reform Movement in Israel, called Monday on Olmert to reject the Amar initiative, which it said would "bring about a rupture between Israel and most of the Jews in the world."
IRAC's Rabbi Gilad Kariv said Monday, "It turns out that Rabbi Amar's hatred for non-Orthodox streams is so great that it leads him to harm the basic principle that there is no difference between a convert and an individual who is born Jewish."
MK Zevulun Orlev, the chairman of the National Union-National Religious Party, expressed his support Monday for Amar's bill, which he said would "protect the unity of the Jewish people and prevent a rift that would be caused by recognizing Reform conversions." Orlev added that the passing of the bill would be a test of the ability of Shas as a member of cabinet to impact the Jewish character of the state.
The Conservative Masorati Movement in Israel said it opposed Amar's bill, which it called an attempt to detour around the High Court of Justice.
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Simshalom responds:
False claims by Reform rabbis
The claim by a Reform rabbi is false and a provocation: "IRAC`s Rabbi Gilad Kariv said.. `.. Rabbi Amar`s hatred for non-Orthodox streams is so great that it leads him to harm the basic principle that there is no difference between a convert and an individual who is born Jewish`." To frame the discussions as "love-hate" misses the point entirely. Rabbi Amar is a recognized Torah scholar and published serious works on Halachah. What Rabbi Amar and the Chief Rabbinate propose is basic Judaism 101 (not just "Orthodox Judaism") and is necessary to stop the chaos of establishing who is really Jewish, because for instance, the Reform changed the rules of "Who is a Jew" about 30 years ago by accepting PATRILINEAL DESCENT (having a Jewish father ONLY) makes one Jewish, which neither the Orthodox nor the Conservatives accept, which this article does not mention. Would Reform appreciate it if they were accused of "hating" their fellow Jews by accepting gentile women as fake "Jewish mamas"?
"Frank" replies:
Title: To Sim - patrilineal descent
Name: Frank
City: Tel Aviv
Jewish ancestry in the Bible is by patrilineal descent only - later on, Rabbis changed it to matrilineal. The questions I have are 1) did they have the right (hutspa?) to do this? 2) Are the reasons they did it still relevant, now that the diaspora is ending?
Simshalom's response to Frank:
See FAQ: What is the origin of Matrilineal Descent?: www.scjfaq.org/faq/10-11.html The Torah does not always state every law explicitly. In the case of Matrilineal Descent, the practice is derived from Deuteronomy 7: 4, "Because he will lead astray your son from before Me" To understand this verse, look at the preceding verse, which states: "And you shall not intermarry with them, your daughter you shall not give to his son and his daughter you shall not take for your son". Verse 4 should have stated "Because SHE will lead astray your son", for the non-Jewish girl that your son married (`your` meaning Jewish) should be the one that would lead your son astray. So who is the `HE`? It might be the girl`s father, but in general, women leave their father`s house and live in their husband`s house; they would then not be living with her father. Hence, it would not make sense for the girl`s father to lead "your son" astray if your son doesn`t live with him.
The Rabbis concluded that `HE` is the man that your daughter married, and `your son` mentioned in verse 4 is your grandchild, meaning Jewish grandchild. Thus, v 4 is referring back to the middle section of v 3. It reads like this, "your daughter you shall not give to his son because he will lead astray your son" This shows that the child of a Jewish girl and a non-Jewish boy will be Jewish. It is not uncommon for the Torah to refer to a grandchild as an actual child. For instance, Kings I 15: 11 states, " And Asa did that which was correct in the eyes of God just like David his father". David was not Asa`s father. He was his great-great-grandfather. Leviticus 24:10 speaks of the son of an Israelite woman and an Egyptian man as being "among the community of Israel" (ie, a Jew). But in Ezra 10:2-3, the Jews returning to Israel vowed to put aside their non-Jewish wives and the children born to those wives. They could not have put aside those children children if those children were Jews.
Friday, November 10, 2006
Reactions to homosexuals' need for a parade in Jerusalem.
Condemnation of the parade by Agudath Israel of America:
The following ad, sponsored by Agudath Israel of America, appeared in
Wednesday's (9 Novemeber 2006) issue of the Jerusalem Post:
"Israel is a free country, but Eretz Yisrael is a Holy Land.
In a free society, any group can promote any cause, no matter how ill-conceived or offensive.
But the holiness of Eretz Yisrael is defiled when behavior the Torah considers deeply sinful is celebrated on its soil.
All the greater is the insult when the Holy Land's holiest city, Jerusalem, is chosen for the dishonor.
An event like the planned "gay pride parade" is a deliberate provocation, an unprecedented affront to the Jewish religious tradition and all who cherish it.
Threats of violence against provocateurs are indefensible, but raising our voices in anguish is necessary.
No one sensitive to the import of holiness, no on e who faces the Holy City each day in prayer, can suffer the thought of the planned event in silence.
May our pain and our tears at this reminder of our Exile and the debasement of our Torah be a merit for the safety and security -- and ultimate redemption -- of the Jewish People."
Agudath Israel of America
The Rabbi Moshe Sherer National Headquarters
42 Broadway, New York, NY 10004
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Culture Clash In Jerusalem : Hoping to stop a gay pride march, fervently Orthodox protesters riot in the streets.
Joshua Mitnick - Israel Corresponent
http://www.thejewishweek.com/
Friday, November 10, 2006 / 19 Heshvan 5767
Jerusalem — Smoke billowed up out of the dumpster on the edge of the fervently Orthodox neighborhood of Mea Shearim, though few pedestrians took notice of it.
Jerusalem has once again become the focus of a violent religious dispute, but this time it has nothing to do with the Muslim-Jewish rifts that normally put relations in Israel’s capital on edge.
Outraged by plans to hold an international gay pride parade in the holy city on Friday, residents of the neighborhood — most of them teenagers — launched a street war this week against Israel’s police by throwing stones, burning cars and destroying traffic lights. The rioting spread to other religious neighborhoods in the city, and protesters even tried to block off traffic at the entrance to the city.
“The rabbis are saying to demonstrate, so everyone interprets it on their own,” said Netanel Nehamia, a 17-year-old yeshiva student. “The problem is that this is the Holy Land and that they are coming and polluting Jerusalem.”
The escalation of tensions with the police was an effort to pressure law enforcement agencies to postpone or cancel the march — a strategy that worked only partially. While the police recommended postponing the march, Attorney General Menachem Mazuz ruled that not holding the march because of fears of violent demonstrations would injure Israel’s democracy.
Now the police are girding for a potentially explosive conflict, and said they’ll be armed with 12,000 officers to secure the event. In the last week alone, police officers arrested 60 rioters and counted one Molotov cocktail.
“All of the violence has turned this into a symbol of something more than the community. It’s a march of civil liberties,” said Raluca Ganea, a spokeswoman for Open House Jerusalem, the main sponsor of the march. “It’s not a struggle between straights and homosexuals, it’s not a struggle between religious and secular: It’s a struggle between people who are violent and those who are attacked.”
This will actually be the fifth year there is a gay pride march in Jerusalem, but Ganea speculated that the reason for this year’s severe protest is because the fervently Orthodox have been bracing for a “World Pride” event, which was cancelled back in August, but would have made the normally staid march into a much more risqué affair.
Religious residents argued that holding the parade in Jerusalem constituted an affront to their sensibilities and a provocation. Why not hold the march in Tel Aviv, they asked?
The police decision to move the march out of Jerusalem’s city center hasn’t appeased the fervently Orthodox, and every night this past week demonstrators hurled stones and smashed traffic lights while police responded with armored vehicles equipped by water cannons.
One poster in Mea Sha’arim called for a “War Against Amalek,” the biblical arch nemesis of the Jewish people that represents the embodiment of evil. Another stated, “It is forbidden to stay at home at a time that the Torah of Israel is being trampled.”
The melees made the cobblestoned streets of Mea Shearim resemble the warrens of the West Bank city of Nablus.
Nehamia said that although he didn’t agree with the violent demonstration he did have some insight into the logic of the protesters.
Just as violent action like rock throwing helped the fervently Orthodox close down a central Jerusalem’s roadway on Shabbat nearly a decade ago, the lesson was not forgotten and now the rioting this week was aimed at feeling out the new government. “They think that this is the only way it will succeed. Words won’t help,” he said.
Ganea of the Open House said that the marchers this year will be mostly Jerusalemites marching in their home city. She added that gay rights parades in Jerusalem are much more modest than the provocative pageants routinely held in Tel Aviv. Beyond that, the Jerusalem parade is an important outlet of free expression for the gay and lesbian residents of Israel’s capital.
“In Jerusalem a homosexual couple can’t walk hand in hand because they’ll be spit on,” Ganea added. “This gives them a public forum.”
Saar Menanel, an openly gay city councilman, called the conflict “a struggle for the character of Jerusalem and for the State of Israel.”
“We want to be tolerated for what we are,” Menanel said. “We are not going to flaunt our sexuality.”
Rabbi Israel Eichler, a former parliament member from United Torah Judaism, had a different take: “It’s a parade to declare war against the holiness of Jerusalem.”
Leaders of the Young Israel movement in the United States came out harshly against the gay pride march in a letter to Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Jerusalem Mayor Uri Lupolianski.
The rabbis expressed “outrage, concern and embarrassment of the planned gay march and parade. ... We are concerned of the possible violence that will occur to Jewish, Christian and Muslim citizens when they will be forced to protest this abomination. ... We implore you; it is not too late to cancel the event. The physical and spiritual security of our people are at stake.”
In an unexpected twist to the controversy, several prominent secular figures also criticized the decision to hold the march in Jerusalem, concurring with the argument that Israel’s capital was not an appropriate place to hold such a march and that the Jerusalem homosexual community should rethink the location of the demonstration.
A former chief of Jerusalem police, Arieh Amit, appealed to the organizers of WorldPride 2006 to think about relocating. Gay pride parades and mixed “love parades” are regularly staged in Tel Aviv without incident.
“Just as no one would dream of holding such an event in the Vatican or in Mecca, so should the considerations be regarding Jerusalem,” Amit said. “It is not worth the risk of serious injury, or worse, just because someone insists on holding this event in Jerusalem rather than anywhere else in Israel.”
JTA contributed to this report.
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From: TORONTO ZIONIST COUNCIL
israelkaplan@yahoo.com
To: undisclosed@recipients.com
Subject: URGENT CALLING TO WORLD JEWRY
Date: Thu, 9 Nov 2006 16:03:00
Dear Diaspora Leaders,
Our Torah demands of us to place great emphasis on preserving the sanctity of The Holy City of Jerusalem, on defending the integrity of traditional values, and on protecting our children from the influences of those who wish to sanction homosexual practices and openly promote other sexual proclivities proscribed by the Torah.
Many in Israel have devoted energies toward a petition campaign, approaching rabbanim, lobbying delegates of the Word Zionist Organization, meeting with and petitioning Jerusalem's police chief, participating in Knesset committee debates, and meeting with government health officials.
In addition to the above there have been a variety of independent efforts which have included, radio programming, published articles, television interviews, public relations/poster campaigns, peaceful and legal demonstrations, lectures, boycotts of institutions promoting homosexual rights, and pressuring the police to ban public homosexual events.
Several weeks ago Councilwoman Fenton appeared at a High Court panel hearing in an attempt to prevent the successful appeal of Jerusalem Open House to have the Gay Pride Parade. In one of her first acts as new Supreme Court President - and much to our disappointment - Dorit Beinisch approved of an arrangement which would allow for the parade to take place on November 10th (this coming Friday afternoon)
Ironically, this is the week in which our Parsha deals with the destruction of Sodom and Amorah. It is also the day marked for the remembrance of Kristallnacht. Israel currently faces serious existential threats and we are greatly concerned that a nation which fails to firmly establish its internal and personal boundaries will have great difficulty defending its external borders.
As Torah observant, G-d fearing Jews, we find the very concept of pride and egotism, in relation to a forbidden sexual practice, to be an anathema and an affront to the values we hold dear.
We had been greatly disappointed by the lack of response by our rabbinic leaders in Israel to respond to this profound spiritual threat. But we are now pleased to report that rabbinical leaders from across Israel's orthodox religious spectrum are joining together and taking a firm and vocal stand against the parade.
We remain frustrated by the submissive reaction of the secular government leaders, by the High Court, and by the Attorney General's endorsement of the event. It amounts to a maligning of the basic Jewish principle of respect.
It should be noted that advertisements were seen hanging throughout Jerusalem depicting the city symbols of the lions of Judah copulating. The caption read: Jerusalem is Proud and Free. We have every reason to believe that pro-gay factions were behind these efforts. The marchers have received permission via the High Court to use the city seal in order to promote the November 10th event (we hope and pray that this obscene perversion of the seal was not part of that High Court provision)
We feel that it is imperative at this time that rabbinic leaders in the Diaspora as well as organizational leaders with integrity step forward and take a firm, unequivocal, and vocal stand against a gay pride parade (and the overall issue of homosexuality) in the streets of Jerusalem. We feel a joint and poignant statement by North American and European Diaspora leadership would offset the media's attempts to besmirch the religious community in Israel by portraying it as medieval and violent.
The Torah observant world, and many traditionally-minded Jews in Israel and the Diaspora are seeking moral guidance and clarification. A unified stand in favor of Torah and Jewish values, and against the Gay Pride Parade, is urgent and obligatory at this time.
IT IS NOT TOO LATE TO MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD. SO PLEASE SEND URGENT MESSAGES TO THE FOLLOWING KNESSET MEMBERS:
yvaknin@knesset.gov.il , nzeev@knesset.gov.il , eyishay@knesset.gov.il , egavrieli@knesset.gov.il , ggamliel@knesset.gov.il , mgafni@knesset.gov.il , gezra@knesset.gov.il , gerdan@knesset.gov.il , meitan@knesset.gov.il , zaevb@knesset.gov.il , efye@knesset.gov.il , yedri@knesset.gov.il , yedelstein@knesset.gov.il , ndahan@knesset.gov.il , izchakec@knesset.gov.il , amncohen@knesset.gov.il , eaflalo@knesset.gov.il , uria@knesset.gov.il , ravraham@knesset.gov.il , dazulay@knesset.gov.il , rbaron@knesset.gov.il , slomob@knesset.gov.il , nblumentl@knesset.gov.il , dbenlulu@knesset.gov.il , belon@knesset.gov.il , gfinkelshtein@knesset.gov.il , mgorlovski@knesset.gov.il , ysteinitz@knesset.gov.il , davidt@knesset.gov.il , sshalom@knesset.gov.il , nslomianski@knesset.gov.il , avrahamsh@knesset.gov.il , oritn@knesset.gov.il , ylitzman@knesset.gov.il , hkatz@knesset.gov.il , akara@knesset.gov.il , iherzog@knesset.gov.il , rbrison@knesset.gov.il , avilan@knesset.gov.il , mnahari@knesset.gov.il , yhazan@knesset.gov.il , eichler@knesset.gov.il , marens@knesset.gov.il , zhanegbi@knesset.gov.il , yiskatz@knesset.gov.il , llivnat@knesset.gov.il , dnaveh@knesset.gov.il , s_peres@netvision.net.il , bnetanyahoo@knesset.gov.il , ndoron@knesset.gov.il , iyasinov@knesset.gov.il , vbrailovsky@knesset.gov.il , ulandau@knesset.gov.il , pm_eng@pmo.gov.il , mkatsav@knesset.gov.il , sar@mof.gov.il , sar@mfa.gov.il , sar@tourism.gov.il , sar@mops.gov.il , minister@most.gov.il , sar@moia.gov.il , sar@education.gov.il , sar@mot.gov.il , sar@mod.gov.il , sar@matat.health.gov.il , sar@mofa.gov.il , sar@mni.gov.il , sar@environment.gov.il , ArieC@court.gov.il , sela25@sela.pmo.gov.il , feliw@tourism.gov.il , paofficer@miami.mfa.gov.il , yshtern1@KNESSET.GOV.IL , maliz@moag.gov.il
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Police on highest alert level ahead of J'lem gay pride rally
By Yuval Yoaz and Jonathan Lis, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and Itim
http://www.haaretz.com/
Fri., November 10, 2006 Cheshvan 19, 5767
Police on Friday have raised alert to its highest level in the face of piling terror warnings across the country and high tesion in Jerusalem ahead of the gay pride rally scheduled for 11.00 A.M.
Police approved Thursday the Jerusalem Open House proposal to replace the gay pride parade with a rally at the Hebrew University stadium at Givat Ram.
The organizers of the parade proposed the alternative venue in the capital due to the high security alert declared after the shelling in Gaza that killed 19 Palestinians.
Police closed down for traffic on Friday morning the streets Ruppin, Wolffson and Hamada near the Givat Ram Campus, as well as all the roads leading to the Western Wall in East Jerusalem.
3,000 police officers were deployed to secure the gay pride rally, instead of the planned 12,000. The entire remaining manpower of operational policemen is deployed across the country to prevent possible terror attacks, Army Radio reported on Friday morning.
Ultra-Orthodox leaders agreed to the compromise proposal following a meeting held Thursday between Jerusalem police commander Ilan Franco and a delegation of ultra-Orthodox leaders headed by Rabbi Yitzhak Tuvia Weiss.
The ultra-Orthodox leaders requested clarifications regarding the parameters of the demonstration, and asked Franco for assurances that the event will be held in a closed and defined area and that the participants will not display any symbol of gay pride outside of the event area.
In addition, the delegation asked that all anti-parade protesters who have been arrested in recent days be released.
According to sources in the ultra-Orthodox community, the sides have reached agreement on all issues with the exception of the release of the protesters and the dropping of all charges against them. The sources said that on that point, the understandings have yet to be finalized.
The delegation was in contact throughout the talks with Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and the leader of the ultra-Orthodox Lithuanian community in Israel, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliashiv, both of whom support reaching a compromise on the issue.
Following the compromise, the High Court of Justice on Thursday rejected the petitions calling for the parade to be cancelled, and authorized the rally. Representatives of the Open House promised the court they would not hold any form of parade.
On Thursday afternoon, ultra-Orthodox leaders in Jerusalem began dispersing leaflets throughout the city calling for an end to the public demonstrations against the march.
Nonetheless, police anticipate there will be protests as well as attempts to disrupt the rally. Far-rightists led by Baruch Marzel are planning to protest against the rally. Additionally, police some ultra-Orthodox Jews who are not followers of the rabbis involved in the compromise to protest as well.
The "Open House" organization suggested holding the rally in the wake of police opposition to the march going ahead through the streets of the capital.
During a High Court of Justice hearing, a representative of the State Prosecutor's Office, Eran Ettinger, told the judges the state prosecution had been briefed by police about the heightened state of alert that had been announced over fears militants would try to stage attacks in Israel.
He said the prosecution would not make a decision on the matter before holding a joint consultation with security forces on Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, the Vatican said it asked its envoy to Israel to convey its regret over the decision to allow the parade to take place.
"The Holy See has reiterated on many occasions that the right to freedom of expression... is subject to just limits, in particular when the exercise of this right would offend the religious sentiments of believers," the Vatican said.
"It is clear that the gay parade scheduled to take place in Jerusalem will prove offensive to the great majority of Jews, Muslims and Christians, given the sacred character of the city of Jerusalem," it said.
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Subject: RE: When rabbis' gay-hate turns murderous
To: bburston@haaretz.co.il
From: Simshalom
Date: Friday, November 10, 2006 8:52 AM
Dear Bradley,
I read your column/blog:
"When rabbis' gay-hate turns murderous"
http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/784974.html (see below) and I was very sorry to see that you only focus on the negatives of one side, the Haredim and the Orthodox.
Why don't you also write about the provocative nature of the pro-gay activists? particularly if it is known well-ahead of time by all concerned that no Orthodox Jews can make peace with behaviors that are forbidden by the laws of the Torah.
You are aware, I assume, that the Torah specifically forbids male homosexuality in Leviticus 18:22: "DO NOT LIE WITH A MALE AS YOU WOULD WITH A WOMAN, SINCE THIS IS A DISGUSTING PERVERSION" so for any Haredi or Orthodox Jew it's as obvious as daylight and as simple as A-B-C or 1-2-3 that homosexuality is a no-no.
And now here come along gay rights demonstrators, actually they are revolutionaries very similar to Bolsheviks, who wish to come with red flags into a field of many quiet "bulls" who are minding their own business and now are confronted with "red-flag-waving" gay activists, and guess what happens? The bulls start snorting and are driven to run at the stupid provocateurs waving their red flags...and then along come the reporters and media people with cameras to "reveal" and "scream" that, hey, look at that, the "bulls" are chasing the "nice people" when it was the bulls who were incited to charge at their cruel tormentors in the first place.
Don't you know, that even the youngest Haredi child is taught that they must give up their lives if they are faced by three tests that go against the Torah?:
(1) Serving an alien religion or idol ("Avodah Zarah")
(2) Forced to perform an act of sexual perversion ("Gilui Arayot")
(3) Told to kill murder someone ("Shfichut Damim")
For these three, Jews must give up their lives and allow themselves to be killed rather than transgress them. It is for this that Orthodox Jews would die, and not for the silly "pulsas" you dwell on, over and over again.
But if you provoke religious Jews long enough, by giving away the land they had fought for against the Arabs (yes, many Jews still believe in fighting the Arabs because that's what the Israeli army is for), and if you make it difficult for them to educate their children and raise them according to a Torah lifestyle in yeshivas (and not accoring to the disco MTV ways), and then if to add insult to injury you allow provocative parades designed to provoke them, like the gay pride parade, in the middle of where they live and do their business, in Jerusalem -- then do you really expect them to "go like sheep to the slaughter" and not express their hate for the gays with a passion?
Don't you see how you are contributing to the over-all problem by being one-sided and that you are not "solving it" by only focusing on Haredi negatives that make it seem like the gays are "angels from heaven" when many of them are HIV-positive and AIDS patients to boot? Yes, that is the bitter truth, that there is a high rate of HIV infection and AIDS among male homosexuals and under different circumstances, they would not even be admitted into the country because they represent a clear and present danger to the state, which no sane person could ever deny.
Try to focus on the gays' negatives and you will see that they carry a much worse and very real "pulsa" that could and DOES destroy many lives.
Think it over!
Yours sincerely,
Simshalom.
-----Original article-----
When rabbis' gay-hate turns murderous
By Bradley Burston
bburston@haaretz.co.il
This was going to be about tolerance.
It could turn out to be about murder.
This was going to be about courageous steps taken by police officials and leaders of both the ultra-Orthodox and gay communities, to reduce the friction, the fury, the hurt feelings, and the possibility of violence in the dispute over the planned Gay Pride Parade in Jerusalem.
This was going to be about the many gay activists who were concerned about the sensitivities of Orthodox residents of Jerusalem and worked to see that the parade would not be held in their neighborhoods.
This was going to be about a well-intentioned if ultimately futile attempt late Monday by members of the ultra-Orthodox Eida Haredit organization to calm tensions and curb rioting.
Members of the group used megaphones to try to stop Haredi youths who were pelting police officers with large stones, blocks, bottles, angle irons, and wood planks, telling them that the Torah forbade taking actions that endangered lives and declaring a curfew.
Then this.
"The Rabbinical Court has held a special session and discussed placing a pulsa danura on those who have a hand in organizing the march," Rabbi Shmuel Papenheim, editor of the Eida Haredit's weekly magazine "Ha'eidah" told Army Radio on Tuesday.
The curse could also be cast "against the policemen who beat ultra-Orthodox Jews," Papenheim added.
If words can kill, 'pulsa danura' is a weapon of mass destruction.
It may be said with certainty that Badatz, the Eida Haredit's rabbinical High Court, intends no physical harm to those connected with the parade or those charged with guarding them.
But there is an entirely inexcusable element of irresponsibility in citing the pulsa danura in connection with a powderkeg issue that mines and exacerbates political, religious and cultural tensions all at once.
The mere mention of the concept bears explosive force in the supercharged climate of woe and worry and fear of the Other - fear of the Other even if the other is, in fact, one of yours.
It's the hallmark of the tribalism of a Holy Land in which we're all related, though history, through blood, through Genesis, through the hourly news.
There is another point that we all know but take pains never to discuss, all of us who live in the Holy land and its holiest city: the high incidence of mental illness among our political fanatics.
Although frequently over-simplified and misunderstood as a Talmudically rooted kabbalistic curse of death, the contemporary meaning of pulsa danura - as a voodoo tool of the psychotic right - has taken on a deadly power of its own.
As a fringe group with worldwide adherents, Voodoo Jewry happens to hold many views that align with the far-right and very religious. But Voodoo Jewry, whether Kahanist or quasi-kabbalist or revisionist Hasidic in nature, goes well beyond.
Consider Avigdor Eskin, who told reporters that on the night of October 6, 1995, he pronounced the following curse on "Yitzhak, the son of Rosa Rabin," for signing the Oslo peace agreements and speaking ill of the settlers:
"Put to death the cursed Yitzhak. May he be damned, damned, damned!"
"Angels of destruction will hit him. He is damned wherever he goes. His soul will instantly leave his body," Eskin intoned, "and he will not survive a month."
Eskin's publicity-grabbing curses accompanied more descreet rulings by extremist rabbis, who cited the concepts of "din rodef" in implying that Rabin deserved to be put to death.
On November 4, 1995, Rabin was gunned down by law student Yigal Amir, who has since become perhaps the central role model, idol, and, for many, sex symbol, of Voodoo Jewry.
The lunatic fringe of Voodoo Jewry received further reinforcement when Ariel Sharon was stricken with a massive cerebral hemorrhage in January, six months after radical opponents of the then-prime minister's disengagement from Gaza gathered in a graveyard in Rosh Pina to ask the Angel of Death to kill him.
None of this deterred the Badatz from placing the pulsa danura on the docket.
Rabbi Papenheim was similarly unfazed. He told Army Radio on Tuesday that the ultra-Orthodox rioting in the streets of Jerusalem was not the exercise of violence but "conducting a campaign."
As for the parade and the pulsa danura, "We've done what we could to uproot this evil from Jerusalem. The moment we see that we've done all that we could from here, we will engage higher forces, with their Torah powers, so that they will take care of this matter, which we see as the most grave."
Moving the parade to another area of the city would make no difference, he continued. "First of all, we would not allow such a thing in Jerusalem, nor anywhere else in the world. This is against the halakha, against the Torah, and against all morality.
"In this case, when we're speaking of a public obscenity, and greatly harms our children and their upbringing, we've taken it upon ourselves to fight this with all our power."
According to the rabbi, the Badatz of the Eidah Haredit had not instituted the pulsa danura for 50 years, since Jerusalem opened its first pool for mixed swimming of men and women.
"We know that all those who had a hand in the Pool of Abomination did not end up well," Rabbi Papenheim said, noting that then-Jerusalem mayor Gershon Agron's life "did not last out the year."
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Thirty gay activists detained for attempt at spontaneous parade
By Yuval Yoaz, Jonathan Lis, Yair Ettinger and Nadav Shragai, Haaretz Correspondents, Haaretz Service and Itim
http://www.haaretz.com/
Fri., November 10, 2006 Cheshvan 19, 5767
About 30 activists in the gay community were arrested on Friday after planning to hold a spontaneous parade leaving from Gan Hapa'amon Park in Jerusalem.
The activists had planned the spontaneous march in protest of the decision, approved by police, to turn the planned march into a rally at the Hebrew University stadium at Givat Ram.
Police also detained five religious men at Gan Hapa'amon caught with clubs, knives and a licensed pistol in their possession.
Only a few hundred participants arrived Friday morning in the Givat Ram campus at the designated hour of 11.00 A.M. to attend the rally. By 12.00 A.M. the crowd was estimated to include some 2,000 attendees.
Writer Sami Michael gave the opening speech at the rally, saying "there is more than one way to be Jewish."
A man in his fifties tried rushing onto the stage at the stadium calling out anti-gay slogans. He was detained by police and removed from the premises.
The organizers of the parade proposed the alternative venue in the capital due to the high security alert declared after the shelling in Gaza that killed 19 Palestinians.
Police on Friday have raised alert to its highest level in the face of piling terror warnings across the country and high tesion in Jerusalem ahead of the rally.
3,000 police officers were deployed to secure the gay pride rally, instead of the planned 12,000. The entire remaining manpower of operational policemen is deployed across the country to prevent possible terror attacks, Army Radio reported on Friday morning.
Witness: Police used excessive force
Right-wing activists who were also at Gan Hapa'amon confronted the gay activists, and one of the anti-gay protestors was also arrested.
According to the gay activists, the police exerted excessive force against them.
One of them told Haaretz that "police decided to arrest us only after we agreed to its proposed compromise that we leave the park in groups of three, quietly, with no posters and escorted by policemen."
According to him, when the activists began leaving, the police used "outrageous violence" against them, and several activists were beaten up.
The government complex area in Jerusalem is currently fenced off, and all by-passers in the area are inspected by police.
Earlier on Friday, a 14-year-old ultra-Orthodox Jew was arrested in Jerusalem with spikes on his person.
Some 250 religious school students marched in protest of the gay pride rally a short time later.
Police closed down for traffic on Friday morning the streets Ruppin, Wolffson and Hamada near the Givat Ram Campus, as well as all the roads leading to the Western Wall in East Jerusalem.
Ultra-Orthodox agree to compromise
Ultra-Orthodox leaders agreed to the compromise proposal following a meeting held Thursday between Jerusalem police commander Ilan Franco and a delegation of ultra-Orthodox leaders headed by Rabbi Yitzhak Tuvia Weiss.
The ultra-Orthodox leaders requested clarifications regarding the parameters of the demonstration, and asked Franco for assurances that the event will be held in a closed and defined area and that the participants will not display any symbol of gay pride outside of the event area.
In addition, the delegation asked that all anti-parade protesters who have been arrested in recent days be released.
According to sources in the ultra-Orthodox community, the sides have reached agreement on all issues with the exception of the release of the protesters and the dropping of all charges against them. The sources said that on that point, the understandings have yet to be finalized.
The delegation was in contact throughout the talks with Shas spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef and the leader of the ultra-Orthodox Lithuanian community in Israel, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliashiv, both of whom support reaching a compromise on the issue.
Following the compromise, the High Court of Justice on Thursday rejected the petitions calling for the parade to be cancelled, and authorized the rally. Representatives of the Open House promised the court they would not hold any form of parade.
On Thursday afternoon, ultra-Orthodox leaders in Jerusalem began distributing leaflets throughout the city calling for an end to the public demonstrations against the march.
Nonetheless, police anticipate there will be protests as well as attempts to disrupt the rally. Far-rightists led by Baruch Marzel are planning to protest against the rally. Additionally, police some ultra-Orthodox Jews who are not followers of the rabbis involved in the compromise to protest as well.
The "Open House" organization suggested holding the rally in the wake of police opposition to the march going ahead through the streets of the capital.
During a High Court of Justice hearing, a representative of the State Prosecutor's Office, Eran Ettinger, told the judges the state prosecution had been briefed by police about the heightened state of alert that had been announced over fears militants would try to stage attacks in Israel.
He said the prosecution would not make a decision on the matter before holding a joint consultation with security forces on Thursday morning.
Meanwhile, the Vatican said it asked its envoy to Israel to convey its regret over the decision to allow the parade to take place.
"The Holy See has reiterated on many occasions that the right to freedom of expression... is subject to just limits, in particular when the exercise of this right would offend the religious sentiments of believers," the Vatican said.
"It is clear that the gay parade scheduled to take place in Jerusalem will prove offensive to the great majority of Jews, Muslims and Christians, given the sacred character of the city of Jerusalem," it said.
Jewish polititians proliferate, but what do they do for the Jews?
Number of Jewish lawmakers worldwide reaches record high
By Amiram Barkat
http://www.haaretz.com/
Fri., November 10, 2006 Cheshvan 19, 5767
Tuesday's U.S. elections brought the number of Jewish parliamentarians worldwide to an all-time high, according to the International Council of Jewish Parliamentarians.
Following yesterday's results, the number of Jews in the Senate rose from 11 to 13 and in the House of Representatives from 26 to 30. However, the United States is still only in third place worldwide for the number of Jewish legislators, after Israel and Britain.
Britain, despite having a Jewish community 20 times smaller than that of the United States, has 59 Jewish members of parliament, including 18 in the House of Commons and 41 in the House of Lords. The latter number includes seven barons whose seats in the house were hereditary until recently. However, the umbrella organization of British Jewry said that in fact, the number of Jews in the House of Lords is even higher, totaling at least 46.
After Britain and the United States come France and Ukraine, with 18 Jewish legislators each, followed by Russia (13), Brazil (11), and Canada and Hungary (10 each). The only Arab country with a Jewish member of parliament is Tunisia.
According to the ICJP, there are 246 Jewish legislators worldwide (excluding Israel), up from 208 in 2005 - an increase of about 18 percent. This is the highest number recorded since the organization was established in 1988.
The organization noted that it does not use the halakhic definition of a Jew in determining whether a legislator is Jewish.
The director of the World Jewish Congress's Israel office, Bobby Brown, said the data reflects Jews' growing success in integrating into the countries where they live. Brown, who coordinates the ICJP's work in Israel, also noted that in recent years, cooperation among Jewish legislators worldwide has increased.
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