Tuesday, July 25, 2023
Torah Bill Law submitted by Agudat Yisrael will not be promoted by the coalition.
MK Moshe Roth (United Torah Judaism) and members of the Agudat Yisrael faction on Tuesday submitted a bill to pass, "Basic Law: Torah Study."
The United Torah Judaism (UTJ) party is comprised of two factions: the Lithuanian-haredi Degel Hatorah, and the hasidic Agudat Yisrael.
The proposed bill would recognize Torah study as significant service to the State of Israel and the people.
According to the bill, "The State of Israel as a Jewish state sees great importance in encouraging Torah study and those who study Torah." In accordance with this, the bill proposes "to anchor appropriately in a Basic Law the great importance and enormous value which the State sees in Torah learning, and its desire to encourage Torah study."
"Those who take upon themselves to devote themselves to the study of Torah, for a significant period of time, will be considered as those who serve, in a significant capacity, the State of Israel and the Jewish nation, and this will influence their rights and obligations."
Roth said, "In the coalition agreement it was agreed that this bill would be a government bill, but this was not done in the agreed-upon timetable. Therefore we have decided to submit this law as a private bill on behalf of the entire party, so that we will be able to advance the law immediately at the beginning of the winter [Knesset] session."
Sources close to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu fumed, with the Likud publishing an announcement that said, "The bill on Torah study is not on the agenda and will not be advanced." The Sephardic-haredi Shas party and the Degel Hatorah faction expressed amazement at the bill's submission, saying that this was a step which was not taken in coordination with them.
Degel Hatorah also emphasized that from their perspective, there is no need for such a law: "This bill was signed around a month ago. If it is advanced, it will be in coordination with the coalition parties."
Several Likud MKs also expressed dissatisfaction with the bill.
The United Torah Judaism party responded, "As was agreed in the coalition agreements, we will find a solution for the draft issue which is agreed upon by all of the coalition parties. We prepared the bill, at the time, as part of a comprehensive solution. The time that the bill was placed on the Knesset's table is coincidental, and the entire issue will be handled in agreements between the coalition parties. We are sorry for anyone who tries to blame this bill for what it does not have."
Bobov, Lelov, Sanz, Nadvorna, Erlau, Shomrei Emunim, Seret Vizhnitz, and 7 other Hasidic groups order: Young boys should wear flat caps only
Several Chasidic sects in Israel have instructed parents to buy young teenagers flat caps instead of fedoras.
In a letter sent to parents of students in 15 haredi schools, the institutions' management instructed that beginning at the start of the next school year, young teens must come to school wearing flat caps only.
Among the hasidic sects to make the change are Bobov, Lelov, Sanz, Nadvorna, Erlau, Shomrei Emunim, Seret Vizhnitz, and others.
"Preserving the Jewish dress which has been accepted for generations was one of the foundations of the ways of behavior in hasidic communities for generations," the official letter to the parents read. "As part of this, it was customary among hasidim in previous generations that the young married men and the boys would wear a wide hat on their heads, or a small hat called a 'kasket' (flat cap - ed.)."
"The common denominator between these two types of hats is that they showed that the wearer was one of the hasidic community and one who fears G-d. It is true that since the Second World War, since this has become more common, the custom is to wear a wide hat, and the number of those who wear the flat cap has diminished."
"As those who merit to stand at the head of the educational systems, we have learned from experience that while older teens know how to take care of their hats for several years, the boys who are still in their bar mitzvah year, within the walls of the school, have a hard time taking proper care of their hats. And so in many cases, just a few months after the bar mitzvah, the hat is no longer usable, and the parents are forced to buy a new hat for a high sum of money."
Gerer Bullies Prevent 3-4 year-olds from Entering Elevator because they belong to R' Shaul Alter's Kehilla
Guys it's sick, and getting sicker out there every day. By them the Rebbe is God and therefore it is a mitzva to harass toddlers in the three weeks! I think worshipping Rebbes should be banned!
Young followers of the Gerer Rebbe, physically harass 3-4 y/o children of Rav Shaul Alter's kehilla, block them from entering elevator to arrive home safely. https://t.co/RUf1oaki3I
— ira sorry (@SorryIra) July 24, 2023
Monday, July 24, 2023
Knesset approves first phase of judicial reform
The Knesset plenum on Monday afternoon approved changes to the reasonableness standard, passing the bill with a majority of 64 Knesset members.
As the bill passed its second and third Knesset readings, opposition MKs yelled, "shame!" and "destruction!"
The reasonableness standard is an amendment to Basic Law: The Judiciary, and allows the court to rule against the validity of elected official's decisions that in a justice's opinion are beyond the scope of what a reasonable authority would undertake. It passed its first Knesset reading earlier this month, and is now being prepared for its second and third Knesset readings.
Ministers Bezalel Smotrich (Religious Zionism) and Yoav Gallant (Likud) pushed for a last-minute compromise, despite the harsh opposition by ministers Yariv Levin (Likud) and Itamar Ben Gvir (Otzma Yehudit). The two also pushed to delay the legislation for judicial appointments for a period of more than six months.
The Prime Minister weighed the suggestion and even stepped out to discuss it with a number of ministers, in an attempt to soften the legislation. The President's Residence was also involved in the negotiations.
The attempts to reach a compromise between the coalition and the opposition continued until the last moment, but opposition leader MK Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) announced that negotiations had failed and blew up the talks.
In light of the opposition's position, it was decided to continue to advance the bill as originally planned.
Man Has Bail Set for $40,000 For Stealing Satmar Chickens!
Sullivan County resident Jimmy Pagan, age 58, of Swan Lake, a hamlet of Liberty, was busted on Friday, July 21 after police noticed he looked like a man wanted for the break-in.
The incident took place around 4:30 a.m., Friday when the video security shows Pagan enter the building of the Satmar Boys Camp at the site of the former Stevensville Hotel on Briscoe Road in Swan Lake, said Sullivan County Undersheriff Eric Chaboty.
Police reviewing the video said Pagan can be seen taking the raw chicken which was thawing on a counter and then a set of keys and driving off in a 2020 Honda Odyssey, Chaboty said.
Later in the day, while on patrol on Birch Lane in Swan Lake, an officer spotted Pagan who matched the description of the early-morning burglary.
Chaboty said deputies found the Honda Odyssey in a field behind Pagan's home with the license plates removed and were even able to recover the box of chicken.
Pagan was charged with felony burglary and grand larceny and petit larceny.
He was arraigned in the Town of Neversink court and sent to the Sullivan County Jail in lieu of $40,000 bail.
Why French, US) protests are so much more violent than Israel’s
Israel and France have both been flooded with mass protests in recent weeks, but the differences are striking, telling and important.
Demonstrations in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and throughout Israel against proposed judicial reforms have been peaceful and generally orderly.
Israeli lawmakers are expected to pass the first part of the plan to overhaul courts Monday, with a bill that would bar the Supreme Court from invalidating government decisions simply because judges find them “unreasonable.”
Despite the calls for civil disobedience by some former prime ministers and other protest leaders, there has been little to no violence.
Passions are high and tempers have flared, but no one has been seriously injured, and no buildings have been burned or destroyed.
This may change over time as extremists on both sides move further apart and eschew reasonable compromises Israeli President Isaac Herzog and other centrists offer.
At the moment, despite the anger and even hatred, the Israeli protests have been models of what our First Amendment guarantees: the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition government for a redress of grievances.
Demonstrations in Paris and other French cities, prompted by the police shooting of a young Arab man, quickly turned violent — with the desecration of a memorial to French Jews deported to their deaths during the Holocaust, burned buildings and cars, rioting and injuries.
Previous French protests over economic and social issues have also included violence, as have some American protests over police killings and other racial issues.
What are the possible explanations for these differences?
Watch Jerusalem Train Station: Going up the escalator, are supporters of the judicial reform, going down are the opponents.
They might be on opposite sides, but they shake hands and show only respect.
Notice: Only Kipas Going Up
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