The following partially-translated article appeared in one of Israeli ultra-Orthodox Jewish religious newspapers, “Yated Ne’eman” (name roughly translated into “Faithful Tent-Peg”) on May 2000. It was written by Rabbi Chaim Shaul Karelitz, one of the most prominent leaders of the Jewish ultra-Orthodoxy at the time, and largely reflected the Jewish ultra-Orthodox attitude towards the state […]

“The State of Israel … will ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex …” — From the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel Wait a minute… Suppose someone’s religion is in favor of killing innocent people? Does he or she still […]

Baby Moses, as you all know, was saved from a bitter end – by being put in the famous ark. Other Hebrew babies were not so lucky, which tells us that all other Hebrew babies born in Egypt after Moses were… murdered. Moses, as you all know, walked 40 years in the desert, and then […]

It’s the little things that piss you off. The government may use your tax money to finance anti-education, to pump huge money into close associates’ bank accounts, even to spend it on luxury trips abroad. But you’re used to all that. It’s the little things that can really annoy. One of them being the Ministry […]

A common tactic among those who try to preach religion, is applying the phrase ‘out of context’ to many quotations taken from religious texts by secular people – quotations which demonstrate the bad things in religion. Wikipedia explains ‘out of context’ as “a passage removed from its surrounding matter in such a way as to […]

I love blues. The music that is. I can listen to long programs playing this genre. Friends of mine love different kinds of art: Some like to visit the theater, others do sculpting. There are even those who go to the opera, god forbid. There is one thing in common with all of the above. […]

Last Saturday, while walking in some known Israeli town, I couldn’t help noticing the renowned pattern of an El Al plane passing above in the sky. An El Al airplane? On Saturday? For a moment I thought the Messiah was already here, and then I remembered the old airline trick of “On Tuesday my name […]

(Original version in Hebrew: http://hofesh.org.il/articles/halacha/talmud_logic/talmud-logic.html, using http://www.daatemet.org.il for many resources) “New generations are inferior to older ones” – this is a common idea in Judaism, somewhat reversing the known facts of human and cultural development. According to this idea, the ancient sages are said to be “closer to God” in spiritual power, so they surely […]

The art of inventing excuses is an old art. Most of our ancient “sacred” texts contain a myriad of contradictions and conflicts, but being “sacred” – these contradictions and conflicts must be resolved… How can the gods be mistaken? The good news is that it’s relatively easy to come up with solutions to practically everything. […]

How do you teach “History”? Israeli Ministry of Education apparently solved this puzzle. The solution: It’s not the contents, but rather the title, that matters. I’ve been volunteering for several months, helping small children in the age of 10 years or so with their homework from school. Many of them attend what is known as […]