It doesn’t matter if you make my country more “Jewish” or more “democratic”, even if you promote lots of “heritage” lessons in your schools or you don’t, even if your judges base their verdicts on ancient Biblical ruling or ignore it completely, even so you “mark” some organizations but not others, no matter how much […]

The ultra-Orthodox members of any religion – Judaism in particular – find themselves in a new kind of problem. Building walls between themselves and the outside world has always been a good strategy for nourishing religious contents, as silly as they may be. Alas, here comes the end of the 20th century with television, cellular […]

In February 1999 there was a big ultra-Orthodox Jewish demonstration against the Israeli Supreme Court in Jerusalem. Hundreds of thousands of Haredi (ultra-Orthodox Jewish) people demonstrated against the court’s recent decisions, which they seemed to dislike. In a nearby park, a much smaller demonstration was spontaneously formed, of non-religious people who protested against this mass […]

Egyptian el-Sisi and Turkish Erdogan represent two completely opposite models: The former “sort of” took leadership by force, but seems to impose democracy and relative secularism. The latter reached power democratically, but seems to impose a religious theocracy. The built-in weakness of democracy is the option to eliminate it from within, using democratic tools. This […]

This one really pissed me off. All this talks about the “Chosen People” always makes me feel uncomfortable. I am a Jew but I am not “chosen” in any way. Either I am the only person aboard (and all the rest are products of my imagination, a la Descartes) or everyone else is similarly “chosen”. […]

This morning I watched the Israeli Channel 2 morning program. The interview that caught my attention hosted two known figures, Dov Halbertal and Emily Amrusi, allegedly representing “left” and “right”, eagerly discussing “from both sides of the fence” the future of the Jewish nation and the State of Israel. Two people who believe that some […]

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. […]

“Religion is the opium of the people” is one of the most frequently quoted sayings of Karl Marx. Religion and economy don’t mix well, like oil and water. Together, they tend to form a vicious circle: Religion promotes poverty, which promotes religion. It takes a great leader, someone like Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, to pull a […]

“Religious media” is much like “religious university” – sort of oxymoron. The purpose of media in general and newspapers in particular is to convey information and opinions about the world around us. Religiously-oriented media and newspapers often convey information and opinions, but about another world. Want some examples? Sure you do. Here are some references […]

The Wailing Wall is considered as one of the most sacred Jewish places. Historically it is said to be the western wall of the ancient Jewish temple, known also as the Western Wall “It is a remnant of the ancient wall that surrounded the Jewish Temple’s courtyard, and is arguably the most sacred site recognized […]