Haredi
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Breaking News Israel Lawmakers Vote 67-1 To End Blanket Ultra-Orthodox Draft Exemption
Israel’s parliament on Wednesday approved a contentious law that abolishes blanket military exemptions for ultra-Orthodox Jewish seminary students, ending a tradition upheld since the state’s foundation. Finalised after months of political wrangling and likely to spark ultra-Orthodox rage, the legislation will be implemented fully in 2017 and limit the annual number of ultra-Orthodox men excused…
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Opinion The ‘Draft Dodgers’ in Our Midst
When 50,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews flooded the streets of lower Manhattan this past Sunday, clogging the alleyways that curl through the Financial District with black hats and single-minded devotion, they did more than recite psalms in protest at what is now a new law in Israel. They introduced a new challenge to the Israel conversation at…
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Breaking News Jewish Press Fires Online Editor Yori Yanover for Criticizing Ultra-Orthodox Anti-Draft Rally
A Brooklyn-based Jewish newspaper apologized for a column that was sharply critical of the haredi Orthodox community and fired its author. The Jewish Press dismissed Yori Yanover, its Israel-based online editor, after he published an article Monday with the headline “50 Thousand Haredim March So Only Other Jews Die in War.” Yanover was writing about…
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Breaking News Israel Lawmakers Raise Electoral Threshhold for Knesset Seats
Israel approved a change to electoral law on Tuesday that raises the percentage of votes needed for seats in parliament, an amendment that critics said targets Arab and ultra-Orthodox Jewish minorities. The opposition in the Knesset, or parliament, boycotted the 67-0 vote which supporters said will bring greater stability to government. Many of Israel’s governing…
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Breaking News Mother and 5-Month-Old Infant Belonging to Lev Tahor Sect Taken Into Custody
Canadian authorities have taken into custody two more members of the fringe haredi Orthodox sect Lev Tahor. On Sunday, officials at Calgary’s airport seized a 17-year-old and her 5-month-old daughter. They are scheduled to fly back to Toronto. The mother and baby were part of a group of 14 Lev Tahor children who fled just…
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Israel News IN PHOTOS: Ultra-Orthodox Jews Protest Israeli Draft Bill in New York
It must have been a confusing sight for tourists. Some 50,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews crammed onto Water Street in lower Manhattan on Sunday afternoon, showing their support for their Haredi brethren in Israel. This week, the Knesset will vote on a bill to make conscription into the Israel Defense Forces mandatory for Haredi men. Sunday’s “Great…
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Opinion Leaving the Ultra-Orthodox World — With No Other Choice
A young ultra-Orthodox Jewish woman once contacted me with a serious question: ”Should I leave the ultra-Orthodox community?” My reply to her was, “Since you have asked, ‘Should I?’ — then the answer is, ‘No!’” Leaving the ultra-Orthodox Jewish fold is called in Hebrew yetzia bishe’elah — literally, “leaving with a question.” It is a…
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Breaking News Ultra-Orthodox Jews Protest Israeli Draft Bill in New York
(Haaretz) — The scene was completely surreal: A crying cantor beseeching the Lord in Yiddish-accented Hebrew to hear his prayers; high-octane loudspeakers amplifying the cry throughout lower Manhattan; tens of thousands of black-coated ultra-Orthodox Jews earnestly repeating the Psalms in the freezing cold; some of New York’s finest, duly exasperated; and the looks of astonishment on…
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