ISRAELI COURT RULES CHAREDI POLITICAL PARTIES MUST LET WOMEN RUN FOR OFFICE

The High Court of Justice ruled Tuesday that Agudat Yisrael, one of the Ashkenazi haredi (ultra-Orthodox) parties that make up United Torah Judaism, must let women run for Knesset and for city councils.

In a ruling of five judges, the court ruled that Agudat Yisrael must remove a clause in its party charter preventing women from being members of the party. The judges told the party's representatives to go back to its Council of Torah Sages and change the rule by September 2, three weeks ahead of the deadline for mayoral and city council candidates to announce their candidacy in the October 30 municipal races.

"This is an important step on the historic path on the way to integrating women in politics and preventing all parties from submitting lists that do not include women," said Michal Chernovitski, an activist for haredi women who heads an organization called Ear Ve'em (City and Mother).

A representative of the state told the court that the party's rules were discriminatory but nevertheless advised the court to follow a legal opinion of Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit and refrain from getting involved in UTJ's internal decision.

Agudat Yisrael's lawyers said preventing women from running was not a matter of Jewish law but of haredi culture and values and showing respect for women. 

Meanwhile, in a blow to the prospective candidacy of Agudat Yisrael's Yossi Daitch for mayor of Jerusalem, Jerusalem city councilman Yitzhak Pindrus of Degel Hatorah, the other party that makes up United Torah Judaism, said it was unlikely Degel would endorse Daitch. 

"We cannot back a candidate who has no chance of winning," Pindrus told the haredi weekly newspaper Shaharit. "It is hard for me to believe that there is a haredi candidate who can win."

Arabs Say that ‘AHED TAMIMI LUCKY NOT TO BE IMPRISONED BY ASSAD REGIME’ Also Gains 9 Kilos 😂

Israel released Ahed Tamimi full of health and without a scratch,” wrote Syrian activist and photographer Yasser Wardh, contrasting her leaving prison “while thousands of Palestinians are killed in prisons of the Assad regime.”

Nedal al-Amari, a journalist from Deraa, also contrasted the brutality of the Syrian regime with Tamimi’s treatment. “The difference between Israel and Bashar al-Assad. Ahed Tamimi lucky girl because it was in Israel’s prisons, not Assad’s prisons.”

Dozens of similar tweets in Arabic mentioned her alleged “9 kilos” weight gain. “She was not tortured. She was not raped. Her weight increased by nearly 9 kilos. Her hair and face are more beautiful,” wrote Mahdi Majeed.

Iman Kais, who has 100,000 followers on Twitter, also contrasted Tamimi’s experience with Arab prisons. “She says she learned to love life, whereas those imprisoned in our Arab countries can reach a stage where they wish their mother didn’t give birth to them.”

Many tweeted photos of Tamimi next to a dead Syrian woman, trying to draw attention to the difference. “If people in Deraa and the south were detained by the Zionist occupation and they come out 9 kilos more, instead of arrested by the Assad occupation every day a list of the souls of the martyrs, more than 3,000 now,” one wrote. This was a reference to the thousands of names of those murdered in Assad’s prisons. The regime has recently released lists of those who have disappeared or been killed in the last seven years, many of whom died in prison.

Dr. Edy Cohen of Bar-Ilan University, an expert in inter-Arab relations, also wrote on Facebook on July 29 that Tamimi’s weight had increased 9 kilos in prison. “I wish Arab countries to release their detainees and see their situation reach the health of Tamimi,” he noted in Arabic. He shared an Arabic post that originated on a Facebook page with 51,000 followers that is related to Kurdish-Israel relations. The page fueled a debate about why the region’s media was focused on Tamimi rather than suffering in other countries.

Only Fake Jews Are Afraid of a Jewish State

{Originally posted to the Sultan Knish website}

The Palestinian Authority’s basic law and draft constitution states that “Palestine” is an “Arab” entity, that “Islam is the official religion”, that “Islamic Sharia” is the basis for its law and Arabic is its official language. Unlike Israel’s nation-state bill which defines the Jewish State as Jewish, there’s been no criticism of this PLO document. And the media has not labeled it as divisive or controversial.

The constitution of neighboring Jordan states, “Islam is the religion of the State and Arabic is its official language.” “The people of Syria are part of the Arab nation,” Syria’s constitution declares. “The religion of the President of the Republic is Islam; Islamic jurisprudence shall be a major source of legislation”. That means Syria may only be ruled by a Muslim. “The official language of the state is Arabic.”

Egypt’s constitution declares it to be an “Arab Republic” and “part of the Muslim world”. You will not be surprised to learn that, “Islam is the religion of the state and Arabic is its official language. The principles of Islamic Sharia are the principle source of legislation.” These same statements, with minor variations, hold true for most of the Muslim countries in the region, and excluding Arabic, throughout the world.

All of Israel’s Arab Muslim neighbors very clearly define their countries as Arab and Muslim. Their religion is Islam, their identity Arabic, variations of the same document declare, their language is Arabic.

These assertions of Arab and Muslim national identity are not criticized by the same gaggle of organizations, governments and reporters tearing their hair out over Israel’s nation-state bill.

"Alteh Kotchkeh" 85-year-old Ruth Bader Ginsburg wants five more years – at least

Supreme court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg called herself a “flaming feminist” on Sunday, and said she plans to spend “at least another five years” on the bench.

Ginsburg, 85, was speaking a little more than a month after the announcement of the retirement of another conservative justice, Anthony Kennedy. Trump has nominated Brett Kavanaugh to replace him, aiming to push the court right for decades.

Rabbanit Hadas “Dasi” Fruchter Will Open Her Own Shul in Phili

Rabbanit Hadas “Dasi” Fruchter

Taking on positions as clergy in a tradition where women have never been clergy before, they have adopted a variety of titles. Some call themselves rosh kehilah, meaning “head of the community.” Some go by maharat. Rabbanit. Rabba. And even rabbi.

That’s right. There are female rabbis now in Orthodox Judaism.

On Saturday, Rabbanit Hadas “Dasi” Fruchter, who has been an assistant clergy member on the staff of Beth Sholom Congregation in Potomac, announced she would move to Philadelphia to found her own Orthodox synagogue there. She is opening the new congregation with a grant from a new nonprofit established to seed female-friendly Orthodox synagogues, a sign of the rapidly growing institutional support for women in Orthodox leadership.

“I am blessed and so excited to be able to do what I was made to do. It used to be not an option for me,” Fruchter said this week. Once she dreamed as a teenager of marrying a rabbi, because she didn’t think she could ever be one. Now, in her office, she has two certificates of rabbinic ordination, hanging across from each other: her own, and her grandfather’s, from when he became an Orthodox rabbi in 1940. “I think about this amazing thing, that I am able to do what he did.”

Zionist State of Israel Will fund ultra-Orthodox tech entrepreneurs

Israel’s Innovation Authority, in charge of setting out the nation’s technology policies and funding startups in their earliest stages, said it was expanding its support for ultra-Orthodox tech entrepreneurs, to make it easier for them to access funding and integrate into Israel’s booming tech scene.

A statement from the Ministry of Economy and Industry said that under the revised terms of a program that has been in force since 2014, technology enterprises at least 33 percent-owned by ultra-Orthodox entrepreneurs will be eligible for funding for two years: 75% of their R&D expenses for the first year and 70% for the second. The original program only provided funding for one year.

These startups will also be eligible for grants of NIS 2.5 million ($682,000) in the first year and of up to NIS 4.5 million in the second year. The program originally granted NIS 2.3 million in the first year alone.

In addition, the startups will be taught how to “maximize resources and company success,” the statement said. This includes increasing their exposure to Israel’s tech environment and getting entrepreneurial training, and the possibility of using some of their grant money for business or marketing consulting.

Since the program to help integrate ultra-Orthodox populations into the tech sectors started, the authority has paid out some NIS 25 million in grants to entrepreneurs, the statement said.

Feiglin's soldier son, booted from combat position for calling to refuse orders that endanger soldiers during riots

Zehut party chairman and former MK Moshe Feiglin gave full backing to his son Avi, a soldier in the Kfir Brigade who uploaded a Facebook post calling to refuse orders that place soldiers’ lives in danger so as to minimize harm to Arab rioters. Following the post, Avi was tried and dismissed from his combat position.

"My son Avi received 10 days conditional imprisonment and was removed from combat duties, but I want to tell you that he is doing the greatest fighting that is required today," Feiglin said in a response. "What he did in the last 24 or 48 hours, is the real fighting for the lives of our soldiers, for the lives of our next recruits."

"Most of those killed in the IDF in recent years were killed on the altar of a baseless ideology of sacrificing the lives of our soldiers for the benefit of a hostile population," Feiglin said. "This must stop. Avi understood this, Avi called it out. The amount of support he is receiving from all sides is simply amazing. I am convinced that many will follow after him, and together they will establish a clear, moral red line. They will return the IDF to us, to the people and its values, and we will not find ourselves repeatedly sacrificing our sons, our soldiers, for the welfare of a hostile population. "

Yesterday, it was reported that Avi Feiglin was dismissed from his duties as a combat soldier in the Kfir brigade following his Facebook post over the weekend.

In the post, Avi related how, several months ago during a brigade educational evening, a ‘Charuv’ battalion commander from the brigade had spoken about an operational “success” over which he had commanded during the period of Operation Protective Edge, near the community of Migdal Oz in Gush Etzion.

Bnei Brak Child Drowns In Small “Tzimmer Pool” In Vacation Cabin

A child from Bnei Brak died as a result of drowning in a small “tzimmer pool” (pool inside vacation cabin) in his parent’s room in Yavniel late Sunday night.

The Bnei Brak family visited Yavniel for bein hazmanim vacation. According to a United Hatzalah report, they were in a tzimmer room with a pool. UH EMT Ezra Ochayon reported that he immediately began CPR upon arrival, calling for additional units, including advanced life support.

Advanced life support measures were implemented, and the child was transported to Poriah Hospital in Tiveria while CPR and advanced measures continued. Unfortunately, he was Niftar in the hospital a short time after arrival.

BeChadrei Chadarim reports 181 children have died as a result of drowning, in Israel, since 2008. A staggering 24 children have died as a result of drowning in Israel in 2018. For comparison sake, a total of 15 children died as a result of downing in all of 2017.

Chareidi Fanatic Attacks Beit Shemesh Mayor, Throwing Beer & Ice Cream

It should now be quite evident to all that the extremists among the chareidi tzibur in Beit Shemesh know no boundaries, and sadly, this hashkafa is spilling over to the youth, who are exhibiting signs of becoming increasingly fanatic and tenacious in their fight against the ‘Zionist enemy.’ This includes an unprovoked assault against the mayor of that city, Beit Shemesh Mayor (Shas) Moshe Abutbul, who himself is a member of the chareidi tzibur, however, a representative of the Zionist regime in their eyes.

On Sunday night, the eve of 18 Menachem Av, a man described as being a 20-year-old resident of the city, threw beer and ice cream on the mayor, hitting him in his face and spilling onto his clothing.

When police checked the suspect, he was found to be carrying pepper spray (which is legal) and a knife. He was arrested and will face charges of assaulting a public official, illegal possession of a knife, and possibly other charges. He was scheduled to be arraigned in the Jerusalem Magistrate Court on Monday.

The incident is reported on the Shemesh-Net website. The mayor is quoted saying, “According to eyewitnesses, it was timed, and when I came down from the stage after singing ‘Who believes not afraid’ – how symbolic – I went down and walked around the crowd and wished them well during the summer vacation. The suspect was arrested after throwing what he threw on me.”

The mayor is quoted adding he does not recognize the attacker, and that he hopes police will do their job for violence is unacceptable as there are norms defining what is and what is not acceptable, regardless of the intended target.

Mendy Israel Admits He Sexually Abused A Minor

In March 2016, Mendy Israel was arrested and charged with four counts of sexual conduct against a child and endangering the welfare of a child.

Over the last years, JCW staff members have watched the brave survivor and her family walk through fire in pursuit of justice. From the day of the first police report, they endured threats, harassment, and even blackmail. They had every reason to give up, but they kept fighting.

Two days ago on July 23rd, Israel pled guilty to two D felony charges of criminal sexual acts in the second degree and one A misdemeanor charge of tampering with a witness. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for October 3rd.

—

To the survivor: We are in awe of your courage. Thank you for standing strong, against both your abuser and against the most evil elements of our community that seek to silence the voices of sexual abuse survivors. The journey was harsh, but you helped make it just a little bit smoother for every survivor who comes forward after you. Be strong, and hold your head high.

Video of a Principal in an Israeli Cheder Molesting a 5 year-old Child

W

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The above video was originally 18 minutes but was censored by the authorities because they cannot reveal the identity of the 5 year old child

An Arab maintenance guy noticed that the principal would bring in children lunch time. . every day in his office and lock the door 

 The maintenance guy secretly installed the camera and handed it over to the Police. In the video you can see the Rebbe rubbing himself against the child and kissing him on the mouth

On the desk you can clearly see Seforim, Tefillen and ironically a "kosher" phone that doesn't G-D forbid have internet

Lakewood Becoming Capital of the anti-Zionists ..... Losing its name as the "Capital of Torah"

What is really ironic is that the "Capital of Torah" is now the Zionist "Medinah," where more Torah is being learned than anytime in Jewish history!

Trump’s demise has been greatly exaggerated

This time they’ve surely got him. Pack your bags, Mr. President. The game is up. Because this week we learned that . . . that . . . well, there’s this tape, see, recorded by Donald Trump’s lawyer Michael Cohen in September of 2016, during which the then-presidential candidate discussed setting up a company for the purpose of paying off alleged former paramour Karen McDougal to make her go away.

Did Trump and Cohen actually pay her off? No, but . . . but . . . c’mon, it would have been a campaign-finance violation! If it had happened. Or it was sort of a campaign-finance violation once removed, because the company that owns the National Enquirer paid for the rights to the McDougal story but then never ran anything on it, and maybe Trump knew about this!

New York Post Headline Fake News

The New York Post wants to follow the New York Daily News into oblivion!

Reading the headline, one would think that the IDF is randomly killing Palestinians, it's only in the article that you read what really happened, that the Palestinian was a terrorist and was setting fires to tires and shoving them toward Israeli forces unprovoked...

Another Palestinian teen died Saturday from wounds sustained at the Arab Terrorists riots along the border fence separating Israel and Gaza.

Moumin al-Hams, 17, was shot in the chest by Israeli soldiers guarding the border near the southern Gaza town of Rafah on Friday.

Images shared on social media by his friends and relatives showed him venturing toward the fence, setting tires ablaze and pushing them toward Israeli forces, AP reported.

His death brings the number of minors age 18 and under killed during the four months of protest to 18. They are among more than 140 Palestinians killedsince the border protests led by Gaza’s Islamic militant Hamas rulers started in March.

On July 20, a Palestinian sniper killed an Israeli soldier. Another soldier was wounded by Palestinian fire on Wednesday."

Frum Guy Set Fire to Apartment that Seriously Injured Cook For Mir Yeshivah in Yerushalayim

In a shocking development, the preliminary investigation into the fire in an apartment on Yosef Mizrachi Street in the Beis Yisrael neighborhood of Yerushalayim on Wednesday, 13 Menachem Av, was the result of arson.

An elderly woman, 80, who cooks in the nearby Yeshivas Mir Yerushalayim, along with a 30-year grandson who shares the apartment and learns in the Yeshiva sustained serious injury in the fire. Others were injured in the fire as well, B’chasdei Hashem, less seriously. 

On that night, a granddaughter also slept over. According to Kikar Shabbos News report released on Thursday afternoon, a male arrived at the apartment at about 4:00AM Wednesday morning, carrying a flammable substance with him. The suspect is not related to her but is an area resident who comes to visit periodically.

The suspect, ‘Y’, who is reportedly medicated for psychiatric problems (not confirmed), broke into the apartment according to statements from family members quoted in the report. The granddaughter woke up from the noise and heard him shout “get out or die!”. The granddaughter left the apartment and Y locked the door from inside and set the apartment on fire.

Eretz Yisrael ... The Land of Israel ...

by Rabbi Shmuel Knopfler

The people of Israel & The Land of Israel stand in unique unity. One cannot be separated from the other. For the Christian there is no one single land that lies at the center of his aspirations & imposes religious obligation to dwell there. 

For the Muslim or Buddhist or Hindu there is no one particular country that is set aside, not only as a sacred place to which to journey but also, as a mandatory place in which to live. The Jew, as in so many other things, is different.

Despite all attempts by those who have reformed Judaism in so many other ways, to change, mutilate, bury & ignore it, the fact remains that for the Jewish people & the Jewish faith from its very beginnings Eretz Yisrael, The Land of Israel, has remained central to Judaism as a place where a Jew was commanded to live, and a home to which he looked in agonizing longing during centuries & ages of pain as well as
persecution.

The shouts of outrage from assimilated Jewish leaders do not matter. No one can deny that Hashem told Avraham "And I shall give you & your seed after you all The Land of Canaan for an everlasting heritage." 

The angry gnashing of teeth of those who speak of American as being "different" & not really Galut (Exile), but "Tfutzot" (Diaspora) pales into irrelevance before the fact that there is a clear Biblical Mitzvah "And you shall settle in it (The Land) a thing that causes the Rabbis to declare that the settlement in Israelis "equal to all the Mitzvos of the Torah" (Sifre Re'eh 60). 

All the denials & self assurances will not wipe away the fact that the Torah could think of no greater punishment of the Jew than Exile from his land. The Torah is filled with innumerable admonitions that violations of Torah commandments would bring Exile from The Land of Israel. "And Hashem will scatter you among the peoples & you shall be left few in number among the nations whither Hashem shall lead you away." 

And twice in the Chumash does the Jew read, yearly, in hushed tones & swiftly (lest the pain be too overwhelming) the Tochacha or criticism which warns of that most dreaded of all curses ... Exile from the Jewish Land. "And Hashem shall scatter you among all peoples from one end of the earth into the other end of the earth ..."

Exile ... even to the most temporarily beautiful of all lands ...
has always been, for the Jew, a curse. It remains so.

It is only The Land of Israel that is held up to us as the blessing on our heads. 

"It is better to lodge in the deserts of Israel than in the palaces of other countries," state the Rabbis.

 "A man should forever live in The Land of Israel, even in a city that has a majority of gentiles rather than live outside of The Land of Israel with a majority of Jews for who lives in The Land of Israel is considered as having Hashem, while outside the Land is considered as not having Hashem."

To go to The Land of Israel you will find the Rabbis permitting leniency in certain Shabbat prohibitions & giving the wife grounds for divorce of a husband reluctant to go there to live with her. The religious obligation of a Jew to go live in The Land of Israel is clear & unchallengeable despite the denials & anger.

But it is more than mere religious obligation for the Jew. The reality of impossibility of permanent immunity from gentile hostility; the reality of Pogroms, Crusades, Inquisitions, humiliation, discrimination, tension & gas chambers, all led to a deep yearning & an instinctive understanding of the uniqueness of The Land as the sole solution to the Jewish agony & a deep Jewish yearning for it that became a passion & an obsession.

For two thousand years they bombarded his Maker with pleas, entreaties,  tears, promises, repentance, threats, recriminations & yet more tears. Home ... was his was his persistent and nagging plea to his Maker. 

When shall we be allowed to go Home?

Even Hashem can endure just so much. The unceasing persistence of a Jew can even wear down Omnipotence & at last He consented. 

In a drama unrivaled in the history of Man, a people that had begun its long journey into Exile twenty centuries earlier, Returned. The maddening patience was blessed, the unshakable memory of the hills of Judea was rewarded by return to their barren & rocky slopes. The mind boggles.

Can one really grasp the magnificence & the impossibility of it all?
Can one appreciate our fortune in having ... for some inexplicable reason ... been chosen as the generation to behold that which all the prophets of old never saw?

The return os a scattered, weak, contemptible, governmentless & defenseless people to a Land it had left at a time when most modern day people were attaining the cultural level of swineherders in dark & dank backwardness.

The rebirth of a language that moved from the petrified atmosphere of library & study hall into the streets, laboratories, jet fighter planes & start-up computer language of today.

The clear & unmistakable fulfillment of prophecy; the miraculous realization of vision. For thus did the Jewish seers & visionaries of old speak as the Divine hand touched them.

"Thus says Hashem: A voice is heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children; she refuses to be comforted for her children, because they are not. Restrain your voice from weeping, your eyes from tears; for your work shall be rewarded, says Hashem; and they shall come back from the land of their enemy." (Jeremiah 31)

"Then He said unto me: 'Prophesy over these bones, and say unto them: 

O you dry bones, hear the word of Hashem:
Thus says Hashem unto these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live."

"Therefore prophesy, and say unto them: Thus says Hashem: Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, O My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel. (Ezekiel 37)

"But you, O mountains of Israel, you shall shoot forth your branches, and yield your fruit to My people Israel; for they are at hand to come." (Ezekiel 36:8)

Talmud Bavli, Sanhedrin 88a discusses this verse as a sign for redemption of Israel.

Rashi explains: "When Eretz Yisrael will produce its fruits in an abundant manner & fine quality that is an uncontested sign for the redemption of The Jewish People."

Words spoken millenia ago; visions dreamed & dreams envisioned. Today they have come true. Indeed, there can no longer exist atheists among us ... only men who are blind.

To quote David ben Gurion;
"In Israel, to be a realist, you must believe in miracles".

בברכת התורה והארץ‎

שַׁבָּת שָׁלוֹם

B'Birchat Hatorah V'Haaretz

Shabbat Shalom

Yiddish Speaking Black Guy Admonishes Chassidim About "Hanging out in Casinos While the Wives Are in the Catskills"

Joe Lieberman's Daughter Makes Aliyah

AMAZON RESUMES FREE SHIPPING FOR ISRAELI BUYERS

Online retailing giant Amazon has reintroduced its free delivery service for Israeli buyers. Amazon first began its free delivery last month although it was halted by the time Prime Day rolled around last week and the shopping frenzy associated with it.

Now free shipping has been resumed although with certain caveats - only for purchases above $75 - precisely the sum above which Israeli buyers must pay 17% VAT for their purchases (and excise for purchases above $500). Tax payments are calculated according to the gross price including shipping (which is now free). The free shipping offer also does not apply to items deemed large and heavy.

As with the previous free shipping offer, it only applies to products bought directly from Amazon and not through third parties. When ordering items from Amazon, on the "I need it" Facebook page, it is important to choose the "Free Shipping" option, which is not the default option.

Some have claimed that Amazon first introduced free shipping last month as a trial to see if it was economically worthwhile for the US online retail company.

Viznitzer Bochrim Stand on Gravestones to Get a Glimpse of Their Rebbe That They See Every Single Day

This was at the funeral of R' Shlomo Steinmetz z"l

Santa Barbara Authorizes Jail Time for Handing Out Straws

Yes, you read that right. And knowingly giving another person AIDS is no longer a felony in California!

The city of Santa Barbara has passed an ordinance that will allow restaurant employees to be punished with up to six months of jail time or a $1,000 fine for giving plastic straws to their customers.

The bill was passed unanimously last Tuesday, and covers bars, restaurants, and other food-service businesses. Establishments will still be allowed to hand out plastic stirrers, but only if customers request them.

Santa Barbara’s ordinance “is likely the most severe straw ban in the country,” according to Reason, but it’s far from the only straw ban. Seattle banned plastic straws earlier this month, mandating a a $250 fine for violators. Santa Barbara, however, has gone much further than Seattle — even aside from the harsher punishments its law imposes. Santa Barbara has banned not only plastic straws, but also compostable straws. Oh, and each individual straw counts as a separate infraction, meaning that if someone got busted handing out straws to a table of four people, he or she could end up facing years behind bars.

Total Lunar Eclipse this Friday Night in Israel

While news from the sky may have been eclipsed by political developments, Israelis should be over the moon to learn that on Friday, from 8:14 PM in the evening until 2:28 a.m. on Shabbat morning, they will be able to view a total lunar eclipse.

ABC News reported on Monday that this will be the lengthiest total lunar eclipse during this century, and it will make the moon appear to be red-orange in color – a “blood moon.”
It will be visible from the Middle East, various areas in Asia and Africa, and India, but will not be seen from the United States.

In a total lunar eclipse, the Earth casts a shadow over the entire moon.

Another total lunar eclipse was visible from Israel this past January.

Time and Date AS, a Norwegian company that runs a popular website listing time zones and time-related events, wrote that the total eclipse – where the moon is “completely red” – will begin in Jerusalem at 10:30 p.m., and the maximum eclipse, where “[the] moon is closest to the center of the shadow [cast by the Earth]” begins at 11:21 p.m.

Some groups are using the cosmic event to run programming billed as being out-of-this-world.

Bateva, a guiding center based in Mitzpe Ramon near the Ramon Crater, is hosting “The Moon in Love” event, which ties the blood moon to the romantic Jewish holiday of Tu B’Av (15th of Av), which takes place the previous evening. The event will feature observatories, live music, and camping areas.

In a statement on Bateva’s website, tour guide and observatory owner Nadav Silbert said: “No child or adult should miss this rare sight, taking place just once every few decades, at this perfect ideal place… This is a wonderful opportunity to experience the desert around Mitzpe Ramon in all its glory, view the wonders of creation and understand why the Machtesh [crater] was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.”

The fact that the eclipse is viewable from Israel didn’t escape the orbit of the astrology-minded on Twitter.

A search for ‘eclipse Israel’ on Twitter shows that while some are simply treating the event as a sky-high experience, others think it portends tension and trouble for Israel.

“The longest ‘blood moon’ lunar #eclipse of the century will be on Friday and directly visible over Israel the entire time."

Let them walk out of Birthright and say Kaddish for Arab terrorists

Others may be sitting shiva (mourning) over the eight Jewish self-haters who recently walked out of Birthright programs in Israel to offer support and comfort for those in the Arab Muslim world who oppose Israel. But I am fine with it.

It is long overdue for Israelis and the rest of American Jews to wake up to the calamity that Reform Judaism brought about in America.  

They abandoned Torah. They abandoned Jewish tradition. They made a new religion out of the Democrat Party liberal platform with Bernie Sanders as one of their Chief Rabbis. And they have reaped exactly what they have sown.  The non-Orthodox Jews (Reform Jews, Conservative Jews) now have a 72 percent intermarriage rate. Most intermarriages are between a Jewish male and a non-Jewish female, so most of their grandchildren are not Jewish.  

To be sure, the Reform grandparents are Jewish.  The Reform halves of the intermarriage are Jewish. They always will be Jewish.  But the grandchildren are not Jewish.

232 Olim arrive in Israel 🇮🇱

232 North Americans are arriving in Israel on Wednesday morning on a special Aliyah flight chartered by Nefesh B’Nefesh in cooperation with Israel’s Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, The Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth Le’Israel and JNF-USA.

The passengers include 127 children under age 17, representing more than half of the flight’s Olim. 

This diverse group of newcomers to Israel also includes people from 20 U.S. states and one Canadian province, individuals ranging in age from 6 months to 80 years old, 34 families, 18 singles, three sets of twins, six future IDF soldiers, and 12 medical professionals.

Pedophile Chupah Witness Ruled Halachically Invalid, Greenlighting Annulment Of Aguna’s Marriage By Private Beis Din

An independent, Orthodox rabbinical court has voided the marriage of a woman whose husband refused to grant her a divorce for nine years. This is the second such case in the court in two months – of releasing women from long-term divorce refusers.

In this latest incident, Oshrat Ben-Haim had sought to divorce her husband for nine years, despite the marriage being over for all intents and purposes, and her estranged husband now living in the US.

An independent, Orthodox rabbinical court has voided the marriage of a woman whose husband refused to grant her a divorce for nine years. This is the second such case in the court in two months – of releasing women from long-term divorce refusers.