Many years have passed since then. The following quotes are from today’s most important Israeli Orthodox Jewish newspapers and from statements made by current ultra-Orthodox Jewish leaders: “He who sues his friend in their secular court – his sin is unforgivable.” (Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, book published in 1981) “Thus, a harsh edict, almost incurable, in […]

“My definition of a free society is a society where it is safe to be unpopular.” – Adlai E. Stevenson Jr. You’ve probably heard of the term “Separation of Church and State”. What does it mean? For many it means exactly what it says: Let each and every religious person (or community) go about their […]

Circular logic of one kind or another is common in many religions. Christianity teaches us to believe in God because the Bible tells us to, and that the Bible must be correct because God wrote it. Not allowing to question and doubt is also some sort of circular defense mechanism of religions: Questioning means you’re […]

“’Contrariwise,’ continued Tweedledee, ‘if it was so, it might be; and if it were so, it would be; but as it isn’t, it ain’t. That’s logic.’” – ‘Through the Looking-Glass’, Lewis Carroll I had an argument recently with someone over the Internet. It had to do with the origins of the Hebrew names for God, […]

In the movie “Annie Hall”, Woody Allen plays the character Alvy Singer. In one scene he is standing in line near a guy who is pontificating about the media. The screenplay goes like this: Man: It’s the influence of television. Yeah, now Marshall McLuhan deals with it in terms of it being a-a high, uh, […]

“Wise men make proverbs, but fools repeat them.” – Samuel Palmer How do we know God wants us to refrain from stealing from others? How can we be so sure the Almighty is against adultery? After all, it’s kind of difficult to pinpoint any individual meeting with him (her? them?) recently. Yet, millions of people […]

(Original version in Hebrew by Naor Livne, may be found here) The Daily Planet’s roof. Superman is standing on the roof, looking down. Even an ordinary man with no super powers would notice the situation down below is far from ideal. The town is on fire, and in the few places still untouched by the […]

Here is a short and very partial list, just to get an idea of some of the more peculiar religious Jewish verdicts mentioned in the Israeli media during the last few years. All have good religious explanations. Note that some of them obviously contradict others: It’s not allowed to pick your nose on the Sabbath. […]

Some two millenniums ago, Jewish priests were not allowed to be near dead people or even cemeteries. This ancient law evolved into religiously forbidding people carrying the last name of, say, ‘Cohen’ (Hebrew for ‘Priest’) from entering cemeteries. But what is the extent of a cemetery? It appears that the Jewish god also regards the […]

“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.” – Vincent van Gogh Picking your nose in public is certainly not a nice thing to do. Picking your nose in private is probably okay… unless it’s Saturday and you’re one of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef’s followers. The interesting verdict […]