Whad’ya know, it’s election time again in Israel. And in election time, the rules of nature change. While nearly everyone tends to look at things from the traditional “political left and right” point of view, it seems that almost every major political party tends to place at least one religious figure in its list of […]

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 […]

That’s me in the corner That’s me in the spotlight Losing my religion Trying to keep up with you And I don’t know if I can do it — R.E.M. Recently I’ve been confronted with an increasing number of people who are in the process of leaving their religion, but find it difficult. They may […]

I have often been asked how the State of Israel will look when its Haredi (ultra Orthodox) people are the majority of Jewish people. I admit this is a bit like asking for a prophecy, but in practice I can identify two conflicting trends. One trend is in favor of an increasing Haredi population and […]

Three major things differentiate ‘Israel Railways’ from most of the modern world: – The train still uses diesel fuel. – The train suffers constantly from malfunctions, accidents and worker strikes. – The service is offered only 5.5 days a week. No trains in the weekends. Those with sharp observation skills may come up with theories […]

Are most people religious or secular? In most Western countries with Christian orientation, the question itself is pretty obvious. ‘Belief in God’ for a typical American would usually be accompanied by some common Christian behaviors, and since many of these are optional, it could be translated into simple everyday habits. Nothing special that can be […]

The Talmud says ‘Kol Be-Isha Erva’. The direct literal translation of our sages in this case reads ‘A woman’s voice is her genitals’. Luckily, the meaning is not the direct translation, but it’s almost. The meaning is ‘a woman’s singing voice induces desire, and therefore is not allowed to be heard by men’. The origins […]

The essence of any country, as I (and not necessarily others) see it, is not the ethnic composition of the population, but rather the country’s “culture”. I – and many others – very much want to preserve the “nature” of the current state of Israel in many cultural ways: Language is just one example, and […]

There is a countrywide protest in progress now all over Israel. It has been going on for several weeks now, and the main slogan calls for “social justice”. The protest is generally based on economy issues. The middle class finds it harder than ever to survive these times, let alone acquire a decent place to […]

I often stumble upon the famous argument “Who is a Jew?” (or, rather, “What is a Jew?”). Unlike other related terms, Jewishness is used to express several very different things. In many countries of the world, there is some order in things. Let’s take Belgium for instance: You can be a Belgian citizen, while from […]