The story of the young Israelis in Cyprus previously-accused of raping a British woman — demonstrates an important issue of religions. Watching the story evolving on TV, one could not escape the religious aspects popping up here and there. Many of the boys were suddenly shown with a “Kippah” (a Jewish traditional head cover) on […]

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 […]

What do you know… a large stone fell off the Western Wall. Almost hit a Jewish woman who was standing there praying. Here, see for yourself. What does one usually do when a large stone breaks apart from a big wall? Well, if it’s Berlin Wall – you do your best to keep it as […]

The Israeli ‘Games of Chef’ TV series has a history of picking “interesting” candidates for the competition. The last program (May 22, 2018) presented, among others, two men: Tamir, a person who recently became ultra-Orthodox, and, Leizer, who has left the “Haredi” (ultra-Orthodox) world and became secular. The two were preparing their dishes at the […]

Many of us are familiar with the “Brain in a jar” (also known as “Brain in a vat”) thought experiment. It talks about a hypothetical mad scientist who removes a person’s brain from the body, suspends it in a jar full of life-sustaining liquid, and connects its neurons to a computer which provides electrical impulses […]

It’s that time of the year again… when the number changes and people celebrate. Progress has taken its toll, and terms like “Christmas”, “New Year’s Eve” and “Silvester” have all mixed up worldwide into something vague, often called “the holiday season”. This may include vacations, Christmas trees and pictures or dolls of the imaginary Santa […]

Apparently, it’s very hard to leave an ultra-Orthodox Jewish environment not only in Israel, but also in the U.S.A. Netflix has released a wonderful new peace, describing the extreme difficulties of people trying to leave the “Hasidic” New-York community. The latter does its best to make life miserable for those who want to break free, […]

“Woman is the nigger of the world”— John Lennon There’s a lot going on in currently the land of milk and honey. Much of it has to do with the special attitude of religion towards women. Women are allowed to sing… as long as men don’t hear them. That is the up-to-date twist of the […]

Israelis were shocked to hear that the new candidate for the “IDF Rabbi” position referred to homosexuals as “perverts”, but they were soon calmed by the explanation that this was only an academic biblical discussion. What’s this nonsense – ‘only an academic discussion’ – or in its Jewish flavor – ‘only a halachic commentary’? As […]

A team of ex-religious young Jewish people are [rightfully] suing the State of Israel for failing to educate them while there were younger. The State of Israel has long surrendered to the political pressure of the ultra-orthodox Jewish parties in the parliament, to avoid giving proper education in ultra-orthodox religious schools. Those religious rabbis and […]