Mostly Kosher

Who is "Torani"/ Hardalnick?

2013-06-16T02:16:00.001-07:00

I wrote in the past about the increasing use of the term "Torani" to rebrand the term "Hardal" (חרדי דתי לאומי). In the ten months that have passed since I wrote that post, the rebranding has more or less become a done deal. As I wrote in my previous post:

However, if Hardal was offensive to "Hardalnickim" the new term they are using "Torani" (Literally "those of the Torah") is even more offensive for those of us who consider ourselves true Religious Zionists. Torani implies that the rest of us are somehow less religious than they are - that somehow they are closer to the Torah.

This past weekend, Harav Eliezer Melamed was quoted as saying that the Hardalnick education system was superior to the Dati-Leumi one, because it had a much lower rate of people who became non-religious. In the article he gave the following definition of who is "Torani":

"אני מעדיף את ההגדרה הציבור התורני (על פני ההגדרה החרד"לי). הציבור התורני מכיל את כל מי שקובע עיתים לתורה באופן משמעותי, והוא לומד על מנת ללמוד לשמור ולעשות, או לכל הפחות מצהיר שהוא מחוייב לשולחן ערוך, ציבור זה בדרך כלל לא מסתפק בשליחת ילדיו לבית הספר ממ"ד, אלא מפנה אותם לבית ספר תורני או דואג שיוסיפו וילמדו תורה מעבר למה שהם לומדים במסגרת בית הספר ממ"ד. בדרך כלל הציבור התורני חי בקהילות תורניות יותר. אמנם יש לא מעטים שחיים בקרב הציבור הרחב, תוך הקפדה אישית על קביעות עיתים לתורה".

Roughly translated:

I prefer the term Torani (as opposed to Hardalnick). The Torani public includes all of those who set substantial time for Torah learning, and learns inorder to keep and act, or at the very least declared that he is committed to the Shulhan Aruch. This public ususally is not content with sending his children to religious-state schools, but sends them to a Torani school or makes sure they learn Torah beyond what they are taught in the Religious-state school. Normally the Torani public lives in more Torani communities, even though there are not too-few who do live in the wider community...

And there you have it. This is how the Hardal community sees all non Hardal Dati-Leumi. We don't learn torah, we don't have a commitment to Halacha...

Kamtza Meet Bar-Kamtza

2013-06-16T01:48:00.002-07:00

Rav Ovadia Yosef stated last night that Rav Stav is an 'unworthy candidate" who "is dangerous to Judaism, the Torah and the rabbinate," and that "His friends from the Mafdal, his party have testified before me - that this man is dangerous to Judaism, to the Torah! How can I stay silent".

Some points:

The word "friends" is being used very very liberally.
When the Religious-Zionists loose the race to the Chief-Rabbinate (and if there is any justice in the world, they will), I think some of us would like to know who these friends were.
Kamtza, meet Bar-Kamtza.

And some of the reactions:

Rav Benny Lau, Elli Rif, Tzohar, Harav Cherlow.

Is Superman "Christian"?

2013-06-15T13:33:00.000-07:00

I've (yet) to see the new Superman movie, but I did spot this blog post on CNN:

Baltimore, Maryland (CNN) - As the new Superman movie takes flight this weekend, filmmakers are hoping the Man of Steel lands not only in theaters, but also in pulpits.

Warner Bros. Studios is aggressively marketing "Man of Steel" to Christian pastors, inviting them to early screenings, creating Father’s Day discussion guides and producing special film trailers that focus on the faith-friendly angles of the movie.

The movie studio even asked a theologian to provide sermon notes for pastors who want to preach about Superman on Sunday. Titled “Jesus: The Original Superhero,” the notes run nine pages.

“How might the story of Superman awaken our passion for the greatest hero who ever lived and died and rose again?” the sermon notes ask.

I suggest you read the entire post, where some of the Christian allegory in the movie is explained. Here is a small sample:

The movie focuses on the origins of Superman, who was sent from the planet Krypton as an infant to save his species.
He is raised by surrogate parents who help him grapple with his special powers, even though they don’t fully understand the source of his extraordinary abilities.

When he turns 33, Superman must willingly sacrifice himself to save the human race.

Of course the Miami Herald argues for Superman's Jewish roots:

Much as the baby prophet was floated in a reed basket by a mother desperate to spare him from an Egyptian Pharaoh’s death warrant, so moments before Kal-El’s planet blew up, his doomed parents tucked him into a spaceship that rocketed him to the safety of Earth. Both babies were rescued by non-Jews and raised in foreign cultures — Kal-El by Kansas farmers named Kent — and all the adoptive parents quickly learned how exceptional their foundlings were. The narratives of Krypton’s birth and death borrowed the language of Genesis. Kal-El’s escape to Earth was the story of Exodus.

Clues mounted from there. The three legs of the Superman myth — truth, justice and the American way — are straight out of the Mishnah. “The world,” it reads, “endures on three things: justice, truth and peace.” The explosion of Krypton conjures up images from the mystical Kabbalah where the divine vessel was shattered, and Jews were called on to perform tikkun haolam by repairing the vessel and the world.

The Rav Stav Question In A Single Sentence

2013-06-12T08:18:00.003-07:00

I think I can now phrase the Rav Stav debate in a single sentence:

Is the Chief Rabbi meant to be the Chief Rabbi of the Rabbis, or the Chief Rabbi of the nation?

Understanding the Levitating Trick

2013-06-12T02:06:00.000-07:00

This video from "America's Got Talent" is making the rounds:

The trick of course revolves around the cane:

Mr. "Special Head" must have something anchoring the cane hidden under the rug.

More On The Opinions Against Rav Stav

2013-06-11T13:35:00.002-07:00

Rav Tzair posted some of the opinions being used by the religious opposition to Rav Stav. I've posted a brief summary of the main thrust of the arguments, though I now regret having not kept their various analogies in my summary. Rav Tzair's original post has generated quite a few insightful comments. Two intriguing ideas I found in the comments (but I've taken them a bit further):

The Hardalnick rabbis are trying hard to force their theological conceptions of a hierarchy of holiness onto the real world. They are possessed by a metaphysical understanding of how "Israel" and the process of "redemption" is meant to unfold. they are unwilling to accept any compromise of their metaphysics. In this specific case, they believe that the hierarchy of holiness is that the Rabanut is meant to be the spiritual leader of Israel, raising Israel ever higher. The influence however is meant to be a fairly one way process. The rabanut will guard the true word of God, which will slowly spread to the entire nation. In their eyes, Rav Stav represents the "bending" of the lofty Rabanut to the whims of the nation. Stav represents the opposite process, whereby the nation influances the Holy of Holies - the halacha.

The second idea is that the Hardalnick rabbis see themselves (and Har Hamor specifically) as the natural leaders of the Dati-Leumi community. Since the Rabbanut was created by Rav Kook, in has for them a mystical leadership role. The appointment of Rav Stav to chief rabbi is interpreted by the Hardalnicks as the public rejection of their leadership.

The Opinions Against Rav Stav

2013-06-11T04:23:00.001-07:00

I'm going to do everyone a favor and just present a quick summary. On the positive side, I'm happy to see that at least those opposing Rav Stav are now attempting to give some explanation:

Rav Aviner - Those who criticize the Rabbanut are Apikorsim.I think this shouldn't be read literally, but more along the lines that you can't wish to head the Rabbanut, if you are basing your candidacy on how terrible it is.

Rav Ariel Bareli - Rav Stav doesn't accept Rabbinic Authority - proof: he didn't abandon his campaign in favor of Rav Ariel. Rav Bareli also seems to think that Tzhoar as a whole has adopted a method of paskening Halacha that is too independent of the "Talmeidei Hachamim".

Rav Avraham Yeshua Tzuckerman - If I understood correctly, (which I admit I always find it difficult to read the "Kav" Yeshivot writings) the ideological objection is that Rav Stav is too eager to please the community at large. This goes against the natural role of the rabbi as a leader of the community, and not as one that is led by the community. Rav Tzuckerman uses various midrashim (including Korach) to talk of the proper duty of the leader to lead and against the argument that the entire community is equally holy.

Rav Micha Levi - Two arguments. The first is similar to Rav Tzuckerman, that Rav Stav is too eager to please the different communities, and is in practice bending halacha to please them. I think the tone of the argument is slightly softer that Rav Tzuckerman - Rav Stav is even compared to Aharon (as opposed to Korach), but the bottom line is the same. A second argument is that too many local rabbis oppose Rav Stav, which would make it impossible for him to lead them.

Hat tip: @RavTzair

Oh Satmar...If Only You Had A Sense of Humor

2013-06-11T04:01:00.001-07:00

From Algmeiner:

The Satmar Chasidic movement held a massive rally this weekend in Manhattan to protest the Israeli government’s efforts to draft yeshiva students into the military. Some estimates had attendance at an impressive 30,000.

In Williamsburg, Brooklyn, home to a large Charedi population, organizers placed posters around the neighborhood to promote the rally. But one set of posters was rapidly removed according to a community source who spoke anonymously to The Algemeiner, for fear of damaging his business with the community, because the poster’s rallying cry accidentally contravened the Satmar movement’s official line.

“Shall your brothers go into battle while you remain here?” the poster screamed in large red print, encouraging Charedim in New York to take to the streets in support of the struggle faced by their brothers in Israel. Taken from the bible, the words are spoken by Moses as he chastises the tribes of Reuben and Gad both of which propose settling in Transjordan rather than Israel, and imply that they do not wish to take up arms for the conquest of Israel...

The source noted that this biblical phrase wherein Moses commands the tribes who wish to opt out of military service to in fact take up arms for Israel, would appear to promote IDF enlistment rather than reject it. The source said that the posters were on “every street pole” but that the Charedim in the area seemed to wise up soon after, as they were taken down not too long after the error was spotted.

One of the Most Embarrassing Divrei Torah

2013-06-08T23:38:00.001-07:00

MK Adi Kol (Yesh Atid) was invited by Galei Tzahahl Radio station to give their weekly 2-3 minute talk on this week Parasha (weekly portion of the torah) - which happened to be Korach. After speaking for a minute or two on how she was embarrassed that neither she nor any of her immediate associates have any idea what the Parasha is about she gave the following interpretation:

תחושה הזאת שאני לא מספיק "משהו", הביאה אותי ללמוד, לקרוא, ולחקור את פרשת השבוע. פרשת קורח. ואני יכולה להציע לכם פרשנויות רבות ומקוריות, מורכבות, או אקטואליות לפרשה, אבל הן לא יהיו שלי. אני לקחתי מקורח משהו אחר: קורח היה שותף להרגשה שלי, שהעם לא יודע מספיק על יהדות, אבל זה לא הופך אותו ללא ראוי. לא הופך אותו ללא מנהיג. הוא יצא למרד כנגד משה ואהרן תחת האמירה החזקה שכל העדה כולה מוקדשים, ואין סיבה שזה יתנשא על קהל.

ובכן, אני לא בקיאה בפרשת השבוע, ורוב חבריי לא, אבל זה לא הופך אותי לפחות, פחות משהו. לא פחו

יהודיה, לא פחות ראויה להנהיג את העם הזה. שבוע טוב.

Roughly translated:

The feeling that I'm not enough "in it", brought me to study, read and investigate the Parasha. Parashat Korach. And I can offer you many original and complex, as well as actual interpretations for the Parasha, but they wouldn't be mine. I walked away from Korach with something different: Korach and I share the feeling that the nation doesn't know enough about Judaism but that doesn't make him unworthy. Doesn't make him not a leader. He opened a rebellion against Moses and Aharon, under the strong saying that the entire congregation is holy, and there is no reason that he [Moses] should be above the congregation.

So I'm not well read in the Parasha, and neither are my friends. But that doesn't make me less, less worthy. Not less Jewish, not less worthy to lead the nation. Good Week.

Yesh Atid as has some of the best current minds on creating a new Israeli identity based on a mixture of Jewish learning and secular values. . It is unclear whetherMK Kol simply has no idea how the story of Korach ended, or whether she simply rejects the idea that someone can be found unworthy (by god). However, to come and declare that you wish to be like Korach, without at least explaining some of the differences between you is simply put- embarrassing. I expected better from members of Yesh Atid.

**Update:

It appears I'm way behind on this one. Adi Kol published this "correction/apology" on Facebook - in which she clarifies that: A. She does actually know the ending of the Korach story. B. She is equally aware that Korach is considered "bad". C. Her position was merely that one can't determine someone's Jewishness" merely based on a lack of knowledge. I suggest you read the whole post, as its somewhat hard to understand her point.

Baby Coca-Cola Moses

2013-06-05T03:31:00.001-07:00

It's silly, but I smiled.

H/T: דוסים מצייצים

Cartoon Midrash - Educating Young Minds

2013-06-04T10:31:00.000-07:00

A few months ago I wrote a short commentary on a similar educational cartoon. Today I saw that on Reddit, someone linked between my commentary on the previous cartoon and this picture.

There are two opposing ways of understanding this cartoon. Is the teacher taking away the natural gifts of her students and imposing on them her own worldview? or is the wise teacher taking the children's childish thoughts and patiently reshaping them to a more mature worldview?

A Jewish Approach to Life Coaching

2013-06-02T22:37:00.000-07:00

In recent years life-coaching has become more and more popular. As opposed to psychology, the process of life-coaching is very focused on specific goals or problems. People who turn to life-coaching are not seeking help for serious emotional or psychological problems, but rather help in achieving their own personal goals in life – making a critical decision, romantic hardships or difficulties in their professional life. One of the great advantages of life-coaching is the relatively short process. A typical training session consists of only 10 meeting or phone calls. The life-coach and the client together plan how to achieve those goals through both practical measures and through personal growth. Much like a typical "coach", a life-coach accompanies the client in the process of achieving those goals, helping him stay focused and overcome setbacks and challenges. Typically, a coach will often set the client specific tasks to accomplish between the meetings, that are geared towards achieving his larger goals.

Jewish Life-Coaching (Known in Hebrew as Kavanah) is an Israeli sub school of life-coaching that was developed nearly a decade ago my Mati Wexler. Jewish life coaching combines the basic tools of classical life-coaching with deeper lessons gained from the greats of Jewish thought. Many of the techniques and terminology that is used in the process are based on various insights that originate from Hassidut – ranging from the Talmudic insights to Hassidic doctrines of the soul. However, the Jewish emphasis is not confined to simply restating coaching in religious language.

My wife Shira is an aspiring life-coacher, who is completing her training as a Jewish life-coacher. As well as studying Jewish life-coaching she is also a qualified life-coacher from the Open University-Tut Communications (Alon Gal) and combines the best of both methods.

If you are interested in experiencing a session of Jewish life-coaching (in Hebrew) - the first session is free - or have further questions, call Shira at 0528345620 or via email Wei.Shira@gmail.com.

Please also feel free to pass this along to anyone who you think might appreciate some life-coaching.

Sivan Rahav-Meir "Taking The Worst From Both Worlds"

2013-06-02T00:38:00.001-07:00

As always the erudite and humorous Sivan Rahav-Meir gets it exactly right:

בחזרה לרבנות. אם הציונות הדתית רואה עצמה בדרך

כלל כגשר בין העולמות, פה היא מצליחה לקחת את הרע

משניהם: מהעולם החילוני נלמדו הקמפיינים, תקציבי

הפרסום, הספינים והלוביסטים, ומהעולם החרדי נלקחו

ההדלפות מחצרות הרבנים והבחישות מאחורי הגלימות.

התוצאה — בלגן.

Translation:

Back to the Rabbanut. If the Religious Zionist movement normally sees itself as a bridge between the two worlds, in this instance it manages to take the worst from both: From the non religious they learned "Campaigning", Public Relation budgets, and the use of spin doctors, from the Haredi world they took the news leaks from Rabbinic courts and the back room deal making. The result - one big mess.

Oh "Olam Katan" has been Punked..

2013-06-01T13:38:00.002-07:00

The poem above was published in the very popular Shabbat leaflet "Olam Katan". The poem is titled "Talks of Holiness". However as someone on the Facebook group "דוסים מצייצים" points out, if you take the first letter from every line...

Worst Haredi Hasbara of the Day (30.05.13)

2013-05-30T01:02:00.002-07:00

This is a sign allegedly hung up in Me'ah Shearim neighborhood of Jerusalem. It warns the army that for every Haredi imprisoned for refusing to serve in the army (and for every day he is held), a secret group called "the underground against Haredi Enlistment" will "whip" a soldier 18 lashes.

This is clearly a fringe group of nutcases (or a single bored kid), and not representative of Haredi society at large.

Hat Tip: @bneibraki

Worst "Women of the Wall" Hasbara of the Day

2013-05-29T10:10:00.002-07:00

From Kikar Hashabat:

Anat Hoffman: "Every group brought to Israel their own [cultural] import. The Moroccans brought the Maimuna, and Americans brought equality"

We've Reached a New Low

2013-05-29T05:49:00.000-07:00

In an interview on Galei Yisrael, Rav Elyakim Levanon claimed that Rav Stav threatened a senior rabbi that he'll "open the files" on him. Rav Levanon doesn't explain who that rabbi is, but gave his opinion that Rav Stav must now withdraw from the Chief Rabbi race.

I've personally had it with the Hardalnick rabbis. One can't understand how they think that after weeks of them insulting, bullying and threatening Rav Stav.he is not even allowed to hint that some of them have in their past some skeletons? So far those who have been acting like little children, ruffians and yahoos have been those supporting Rav Ariel.

However, I've actually had it with this whole issue. I have been convinced that the worst thing that could happen to the Religious Zionist community would be the election of a Religious Zionist rabbi. We should all pray to God and Shas to save us from ourselves.

World's Oldest Torah Scroll Found?

2013-05-28T12:51:00.002-07:00

From the BBC:

The University of Bologna in Italy has found what it says may be the oldest complete scroll of Judaism's most important text, the Torah.

The scroll was in the university library but had been mislabelled, a professor at the university says.

It was previously thought the scroll was no more that a few hundred years old.

However, after carbon dating tests, the university has said the text may have been written more than 850 years ago.

The university's Professor of Hebrew Mauro Perani says this would make it the oldest complete text of the Torah known to exist, and an object of extraordinary worth.

The university says that in 1889 one of its librarians, Leonello Modona, had examined the scroll and dated it to the 17th Century.

However, when Mr Perani recently re-examined the scroll, he realised the script used was that of the oriental Babylonian tradition, meaning that the scroll must be extremely old.

Another reason for the dating is that the text has many features forbidden in later copies under rules laid down by the scholar Maimonides in the 12th Century, the university says.

Correction of the Day

2013-05-28T05:40:00.000-07:00

From the New York Times:

An earlier version of this article misidentified the "Sesame Street" character with whom Ryan C. Crocker, the former United States ambassador, was photographed in Kabul. It was Grover, not Cookie Monster.

Is Shorter Hesder Service Morally Defensible?

2013-05-28T04:47:00.001-07:00

One of those bizarre ironies that are the hallmarks of Israeli politics, is that it appears that in the future Haredim (minus 1800 prodigies) will serve two full years of army service, while the "Zionist" Hesder boys will serve only 17 months. I'm a former Hesder boy myself, but I've never managed to fully justify the Hesder position. The current debate is therefore of special interest to me.

Here are some of the arguments people are making to explain why Hesder remains a valid idea:

Rav Haim Navon - Argues that the entire Hesder program, together with the "Yeshivot Gevehot" is less than the 1800 or so Haredi "prodigies" who would receive a full exemption from army service. As such the Hesder boys are the Dati Leumi prodigies - who still do a long meaningful service. However, the differnce is that the Dati Leumi public sees army service as a virtue, while the Haredim see it as a forced conscription. The 1800 or so "prodigy" program does not reflect a general acceptance to waiver army service for the benefit of Torah - its only signifies a political necessity. Harav Navon's answer failst to explain why Israelis at large should agree to compromise with the Dati Leumi public.
Rav Tzair - normally I'm a big fan of the erudite Rav Tzair, but in this case his argument seems ridiculous. His basic argument is that Hesder comes at a cost. People who join the program forego the option of serving in elite units, and end up in the standard infantry and armor divisions. All of this is true. However, is the public really so anxious to serve in elite units that its willing to forego over a year's service from Hesder boys just so they won't compete in those units? I'm not even doubtful. Firstly there is is a certain amount of elitist thinking underlining his argument. Are really all Hesder boys such a great catch? are they all destined otherwise to serve in elite units? honestly - I studied in the Gush - probably the most elitist of Hesder Yeshivot. Many of us were fairly smart kids, and would probably have made it into good Jobnick roles. But physically? sheesh, average Yesivah boy with his thick glasses, is lucky to make it into Infantry. Secondly... Isn't it possible to argue the exact opposite? the army looses some high quality minds to the hesder program. Perhaps the army would prefer to have those young hesder geeks, instead of loosing them?
Yeshivot Ha'hesder - Argues that Hesder soldiers continue to be available to the army l during their time in the Yeshivah. Hesder boys are the first to be called up in times of national emergency or when the army suddenly needs a large reserve. This is actually quite a common argument, one that is factually true, but mostly irrelevant. Firstly it is extremely rare for the army to actually call up the Hesder talmidim outside of their regular army service. Offhand I have no statistics but I'm willing to bet you could count the instances in the last decade on one hand. Secondly - surely actually having all the Hesder boys serve all the time would be a greater contribution to the army then a short call up?
Better Miluim Attendance Rates - a common argument is that Hesder is worth it to the army because Hesder boys have a great attendance rate for Miluim. In other words, Hesder boys really end up serving a longer service if we look at a 20 year span and not a 3 year span. I've no idea if statistically the argument is true or not. However, just one question - if you didn't have a shorter service, would the same Hesder boys not show up to miluim? Do hesder boys show up more than students of Mechinot?

Some of these arguments were slightly more convincing when we were favorably compared to the Haredi community. However, now that the equality of burden is likely to become the norm, our arguments are somewhat hollow. It is time for us to think again about the Hesder Program.

Worst Haredi Hasbara Of The Day

2013-05-27T09:48:00.001-07:00

From Kikar Hashabat:

MK Gafni: If You Harm the Torah, Missiles Will Fall on Tel-Aviv

MK Gaffni elaborated that if you harm the Yeshivot not only will missiles fall on Tel Aviv but also Israel's credit rating will plummet.

Do We Deserve A Zionist Chief Rabbi?

2013-05-27T00:34:00.001-07:00

In one word: NO.

לא חרב החלום לרב ראשי ציוני, אלא בשל שנאת חינם

Following the results of the last election, there was a brief period of time where the Dati Leumi public imagined that we were both united, and accepted by the wider Israeli society. For the first time in decades there was a dream that the Dati-Leumi movement could again appoint a zionist chief rabbi. However, we have managed to destroy any such dream through an orgy of self hate and mudslinging. The sad truth is that we no longer deserve to have a Zionist Chief Rabbi.

Waiting for Rav Druckman to Publicly Endorse Rav Stav

2013-05-27T00:23:00.001-07:00

No this isn't a comedy routine. One would hope that after the Amar-Ariel deal has finally become irrelevant, and after he has managed to tear the Dati-Leumi community apart, Rav Druckman would do the only thing that can really save the chance for a Zionist Chief Rabbi.

Don't hold your breath.

Coca Cola The Hareidi Version..

2013-05-26T00:39:00.002-07:00

It would be funnier if the boys names were more Hareidi, but you get the joke..

via RavTzair (on facebook)

WAZE - Successful Because Israel Has The World's Worst Drivers?

2013-05-24T07:42:00.001-07:00

From The Atlantic:

But even with all those people using the service, it kind of feels like Waze came out of nowhere, doesn't it?

That might because the New York and San Francisco tech press uses it a lot less. Seriously: What Instagram was to brunch for the tech set, and what Tumblr was to their personal blogs of meaninglessness, what is Waze? At its best, Waze is a driver's mapping tool, especially popular in areas notable for their terrible drivers. Namely: Israel, a country known for the world's worstdrivers. (During my first 30 minutes in the country earlier this month, my driver ran into a guy on his scooter.)