At the Western Wall, a woman in her underwear protests modesty limits
Requirements for prayer at the Jerusalem holy site have long been contentious
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Fast Forward In Israel, politicians in trouble for bribery but with blessings, not money
Shas, the Israeli political party representing Mizrahi Orthodox Jews, was fined 7,500 shekels ($2,150) for giving voters supposedly holy amulets that would purportedly protect voters from the coronavirus, The Jerusalem Post reported. The amulets included a picture of Shas’ late spiritual founder, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, and came in a container with a Biblical quote about…
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Community How Much Should Jewish Law Control The Jewish State?
For decades, religious and ultra-Orthodox members of Knesset, backed and encouraged by their rabbis, have worked to inject the secular state with as much Judaism as possible. In an extended and collective effort, they have done all they can to pass religious laws, to base the governing of the state on Jewish law, and to…
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Fast Forward Israeli Minister Slams Modern Orthodox As ‘Borderline Reform’
JERUSALEM (JTA) — The head of the Sephardic Orthodox Shas party called members of the Religious Zionist movement “borderline Reform,” an insult among his Haredi Orthodox constituents. “Even the ‘knit kippot’ today, as some know even in very large communities, mainly in the center of the country, they’re already borderline Reform,” Aryeh Deri, who is…
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Fast Forward Reform Jews Would Convert Illegal Migrants, Israeli Interior Minister Suggests
Israeli Interior Minister Aryeh Deri suggested on Monday that opponents of a controversial recent conversion bill, which would prohibit all private conversions, are motivated by a desire to convert illegal African immigrants and promote intermarriage. The Times of Israel reported that at the weekly meeting of the ultra-Orthodox Shas party, Deri attacked Israeli Reform leader…
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Opinion To Fight The Kotel Decision, U.S. Jews Have To Understand Israeli Politics
One day in May 1935, Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin welcomed French Foreign Minister Pierre Laval to Moscow to discuss the rising Nazi threat and France’s defensive plans. How many troops mobilized? Armored divisions? Artillery? At one point, historians say, Laval asked Stalin to ease his harsh treatment of Russian Catholics in order to ensure the…
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Breaking News Sephardic Leader Calls Western Wall Deal ‘Horrible’ — Compares Reform Jews to Dogs
JERUSALEM — A former head of the Shas Sephardic Orthodox party slammed the Israeli Cabinet’s approval to expand the egalitarian section of the Western Wall, joining several politicians who have ridiculed the deal and liberal movements of Judaism. “This is a horrible disaster and an attack on the Holy of Holies,” Eli Yishai said in…
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Breaking News Ex-Con Shas Party Boss Returns as Israel’s Interior Chief
JERUSALEM — Shas party chairman Aryeh Deri was approved to serve as Israel’s interior minister more than two decades after resigning from the same position over corruption charges. On Sunday, the Cabinet unanimously backed Deri’s appointment to succeed Silvan Shalom, who resigned from the post and the Knesset last month in the wake of sexual…
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