There is a new government in Israel. For the first time ever, the prime minister of Israel is a formally religious man, wearing a traditional “kippah” (the Jewish religious head cover). He wouldn’t work during the Sabbath, unless some emergency life-saving issues. He prays several times a day as required. He eats only kosher food. […]

There is a big thing in Israel against Reform Judaism (a.k.a. Progressive Judaism). The opposition comes mainly from Orthodox Jews, but they have managed to indoctrinate many others into considering Reform Jews as some sort of evil. In fact, you can find many statements emphasizing that Reform Jews are “even” worse than “Goyim” – the […]

The recent couple of weeks have been chaotic in Israel. Even though the struggle against Covid-19 seemed to succeed – new challenges have popped, in particular the war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip and its implications inside Israel on the relationships between Jews and Arabs. This is not the proper place to describe the […]

This is the Middle East here, which means: If you don’t get religious coercion from one side – you get it from the other. Israel has just gone through its 4th elections within a period of two years. One of the main issues is the ancient religious rules that are mixed with modern Israeli law. […]

Rumor has it that during the “Black Plague” in the Middle Ages there were those who blamed the Jews for its spread, because of the lower mortality among them, which was associated with the religious customs of washing hands. Much water has flown since then, even in Jordan River. And nowadays? Miraculously, various elements related […]

Tens of thousands of Breslev Hasidic Jews intend to fly to Ukraine, to the town of Uman, in order to attend the yearly ceremony near the grave of their rabbi. This is generally an extremely crowded event, and the people in charge of public health in Israel want to prevent this madness from taking place, […]

The big parties in the Israeli parliament (the “Knesset”) quarrel over the image of the future government. One of the main issues? Things associated with a bit more separation of church and state. In particular: Public transportation in the weekends, the right of every couple to get married regardless of religious constraints, compulsory basic education […]

The Amazon rainforest is on fire, while many world leaders are troubled by customs wars, local disputes or elections propaganda. This just demonstrates the short-term thinking of the human mind. We generally don’t perceive the risks of global warming or overpopulation for the same reason we don’t really perceive animals’ and plants’ evolution. Ironically the […]

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 […]

And you thought a Jew is a Jew is a Jew. Maybe, but even if so, a synagogue is still not a synagogue. Following the terrible shooting of many Jewish people inside a synagogue in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the story was published and the act was condemned by every sane person worldwide. It was also condemned […]