‘Is this Iran?’: Gender-segregated Modiin Illit park stops dads taking daughters

 An amusement park in an ultra-Orthodox city told parents they could not accompany children of the opposite gender into the grounds due to gender segregation rules, despite directives from state officials forbidding such practices in public spaces, according to a report Thursday.

The amusement park in Modiin Illit had separate hours for boys and girls, but parents of the opposite gender were not allowed to enter to look after their young children, Channel 13 News reported.

“This is terrible, is this Iran? It has never been like this,” a father of four young girls told Channel 13 after he was denied entry.

According to the report, even boys younger than five were refused access during the “hours for girls,” forcing them to wait outside until later in the day.

The current law forbids gender-based discrimination, though it does allow separation under certain extraordinary conditions such as in the case of a group with specific religious needs.

However, such segregation has been forbidden by the attorney general’s office at state or municipal-sponsored events, or events held in public spaces.

The park in Modiin Illit was in a public space according to Channel 13.

“I saw fathers who arrived with eight girls, the eldest was maybe ten years old, so at first they stood on the side until they cried and went home,” another witness told the network.

“It is not a private area, it’s a municipal area that the city hall rents out to the amusement park operators. How can they choose entrants like this?” he added.

No clear answer was given from the park in response to the allegations, however a representative told Channel 13 that he “thinks if a girl is four years old, they would let her in,” but added, “I don’t know.”

Amid controversy in 2019 over a number of men-only concerts, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit published guidelines for authorities saying that gender-segregation could be permissible if the separation were voluntary and desired by the target audience, men and women had equal conditions, and separation did not unduly impact those opposed to it.

However, the statement clarified that the target audience for a gender-segregated event should not be children and families.

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Reform Siddur Has a blessing for coming out of the closet

 

The new daily prayer book is an innovative combination of Jewish traditions with new liturgy. Its topics include modern issues including pluralism, democracy and women’s rights.

“Tefillat HaAdam” is a compilation of modern Israeli poetry (such as the Hannah Senesh poem that gave the book its title) and literature, alongside traditional blessings and new blessings altogether, such as a communal blessing for one coming out of the closet.

We’re speaking with its two editors, Rabbi Dr. Dalia Marx and Rabbi Dr. Alona Lisitsa. Both rabbis teach liturgy at Hebrew Union College in Jerusalem.

Rabbi Marx is a 10th-generation Jerusalemite, whereas Rabbi Lisitsa was born in Kyiv. She is also the first female rabbi in Israel to join a religious council, in Mevasseret Zion in 2012.

We speak about the prayer book and the status of Liberal Judaism in Israel today — even as former head of the Israeli Reform movement Rabbi Gilad Kariv enters the Knesset with the Labor party.

To close, each rabbi will offer up a gem to spice up our Passover Seders.

The Times of Israel podcasts are available for download on iTunes, TuneIn, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, PlayerFM or wherever you get your podcasts.

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CBS Sixty- Minutes Deliberately Excluded Florida Gov Interview on Publix Vaccine Distribution

 

WATCH: CBS and @60Minutes excluded context from Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in which he explains the steps his government took to make the decision to partner with Publix on vaccine distribution.

The 60 Minutes version is first, followed by the full answer from DeSantis. pic.twitter.com/2KRQKPLOe7

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) April 5, 2021

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Jerusalem rabbi arrested, suspected of negligence in student’s drowning

 

A rabbi of a yeshiva in Jerusalem is arrested after a teenage student dies by drowning in the Shomron, apparently during a school trip.

The rabbi is suspected of negligence after the teenager’s death at Nahal Prat (Wadi Qelt).

No further info at this time.

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Shimon Peres' decision to reduce sentences of convicted terrorist murderers is the reason Moshe Tamam's murderer is out of prison

Moshe Tamam z"l

 Yesterday morning an Israeli Arab was released from prison and received a hero's welcome in the town of Baqa Al Gharbia near Hadera.

About thirty years ago our hero murdered a young Israeli soldier, Moshe Tamam. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

After Shimon Peres left politics without ever attaining his dream accomplishment - being voted prime minister - he decided that president of Israel was a good second prize.

In order to become president, one needs a majority of Knesset members' votes.

In Israel, Arab MKs have the right to vote and influence the nature and direction of the Jewish state. Many Jews think this makes sense and is the apex of morality -in fact an example of Jewish morality.

In Israel, Arab MKs have determined the path of the Jewish state at some of its most vital junctures. The Oslo Accords and the expulsions of Gush Katif and Shomron residents were decided with Arab MK votes.

The same votes decide who will be Israel's president.

Aware that his ambition depended on Arab MKs, Peres did what was necessary and invoking humanitarianism, promised to reduce the sentences of Arab terrorists if elected president.

it worked. He was elected and promptly kept his side of the bargain.

Which brings us to yesterday morning.

The Israel/Jew hating murderer from the Israeli town of Baqa can thank Shimon Peres for his freedom and hero status.The family of the murdered Jewish soldier are reliving their nightmare and protesting. The Arab murderer's family are celebrating.

And at the same time, Israel is undergoing a transformation.For the first time in its history, the majority of its Jewish politicians openly court Arab parties for their political support and consent to govern the Jewish state. This was considered outside the pale by Ben Gurion and the vast majority of Israel's Jewish population..

A few still believe that if this last barrier is broken, there is no longer a moral argument to be made for a Jewish state. The National Religious party (six seats) led by Bezalel Smotrich and the much-villified Otzma Yehudit of Itamar Ben Gvir are among these few. Because they refuse to "change with the times" and accept the popular sell out to the anti-Israel Arab MKs, they are demonized by the rest.

These are indeed fascinating and critical times for the still Jewish state.

I am convinced that there is a happy ending to this drama. God did not perform so many miracles for His people for nothing.

Shalom Pollack is a veteran tour guide, who says: "I have the oppportunity to observe many sides of our beloved country. As a Jew who has come home, I am passionate about sharing my observations and thoughts." He can be reached shalompollack613@gmail.com

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Abbas Refuses Call From Blinken, Demands Direct Call From Biden

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas refused to accept the phone call of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken phone in mid-February, demanding that President Biden himself call him, Kan News reported on Thursday.

To date, Biden has still not called Abbas.

Instead, US and PA officials are currently in discussions regarding a phone call between Blinken and PA Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh or senior PA official Hussein al-Sheikh.

Despite the lack of direct contact between the president and Abbas, the Biden administration has been quietly increasing assistance to the Palestinians, allocating nearly $100 million for the Palestinians, only a small portion of which has been publicized.

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R’ Mordechai Anshel Lax 55, Longtime Boro Park Hatzolah Volunteer Dies Suddenly

 

 R’ Mordechai Anshel Lax Z”L, longtime Boro Park Hatzolah volunteer was nifter, He was 55.

His passing was a shock to his family and friends. He returned from Florida on Monday morning and was taken to the hospital where his condition turned critical. He was Niftar on Monday night.

He was known in Hatzolah by his unit number “B36”.

Hatzolah members described his devotion and dedication to Hatzolah. They described how he would personally make sure that every new member who joined Boro Park Hatzolah had their equipment in prefect top-notch condition, and spent time explaining everything to the new younger members who were just starting out.

He is survived by his wife and children.

His passing is a triple blow to Boro Park Hatzolah, as he is the third member that was Niftar in just the past month: R’ Moshe Dovid Kish Z”L (B-219), and R’ Aharon Yochanan Fleishman Z”L (B-34).

The Levaya will take place on Tuesday morning at 10:00Am at the Vishnitzer Bais HaMedrash on New Utrecht Avenue and 53rd Street, where the Niftar davened for years.

The Kevura will be in the Vishnitzer Bais Hakvaros in Monsey.

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Rabbi Dr. Zecharia H. Senter 84 Founder of Kof-K Niftar

 

Rabbi Dr. Zecharia H. Senter, CEO and founder of Kof-K Kosher Supervision Services, passed away on the last day of Pesach at the age of 84.

Rabbi Senter was a musmach of Yeshivas Rabbeinu Yitzchok Elchonon and a close talmid to Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik zt “l. He was also a Rav in North Bergen , N.J. and then in Teaneck where he lived for the past 50 years.

Rabbi Senter maintained a close relationship with many esteemed Rabbanim including Rav Moshe Aaron Poleyeff, his wife’s grandfather, Rav Ahron Soloveitchik , whom he also considered to be his Rebbe, Rav Aaron Felder, Rav Shlomo Gissinger and many others.

Rabbi Senter built the Kof-K into the internationally recognized hechsher that it is today. The Kof-K is now run by two of his sons, Rabbi Daniel and Rabbi Ari Senter.

Rabbi Senter is survived by his wife Chana, his children, grandchildren and great grandchildren – bnei Torah, involved in chessed, chinuch and harbatzas Torah in their communities and beyond.

The Levayah is took place, Monday, April 5, at RYNJ, located at 666 Kinderkamack Road in River Edge, NJ, at 10:15 a.m. The aron was flown to Eretz Yisroel for kevurah on Har Hamenuchos in Yerushalayim.

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My Son, the Orthodox Jew

 

by JUDITH COLP RUBIN

About seven years ago, two Orthodox Jewish men carted off the contents of my kitchen. I watched as they took boxes filled with items that for them were tainted, but for me carried precious family memories: the dinner plates my recently deceased husband had lugged back from a store in Rome’s Piazza di Spagna; the ceramic cake pan purchased in a small Alsatian village that I used to bake my children’s birthday cakes; the delicate hand-painted tea mugs for which I’d bargained after we toured the Forbidden City in Beijing.

Within a few hours, the men brought the items, now damp and smelling of chlorine, back from the mikvah. I bristled when I heard that one of the irreplaceable Roman plates had broken. The flatware looked tarnished. I washed the rest and put it away in my newly configured kosher kitchen, which I needed a roadmap to navigate. Now I’d be doing all the cooking on a tightrope, in service of a belief I didn’t even hold. Then my youngest child affixed his blue eyes upon mine.

“I really appreciate this, Mom,” Daniel said.

I had done it for him. At age 14, Daniel had become a religious Jew, or baal teshuva, a phrase that in the beginning stuck in my throat. In the early days, when he was a teenager, it was easier to focus on the small changes. He was keeping kosher, and the prospect of his refusing to eat my meatloaf or mushroom tart was painful. But making my kitchen kosher felt important during a time when I needed to keep my family together. Taking a stand for the right to cook how I wanted didn’t seem a battle worth fighting. So I did it all: the cleansing of my cabinets and refrigerators of any item not marked kosher, the purchase of a Shabbat hot plate, the cessation of cooking Friday at sundown, the running of my dishwasher on empty between the meat and milk cycles.

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Pesach at the Kotel in the Year 1913

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