Menachem Mendel

A few days ago a program was broadcast on Israeli TV that featured the final moments of prayer and supplication in the synagogue of the Neve Dekalim settlement in the Gaza Strip before the Israeli withdrawal.

Posted on September 2nd, 2010 under Israel, Liturgy. Comments: None

From the BBC: The remains of a huge 12,000 year old feast have been found in a cave in Northern Israel. Archaeologists working in Hilazon Tachtit found what they thought was a late Palaeolithic campsite, when they discovered tools and animal bones. However they soon realised they were looking at a large burial site, with [...]

Posted on September 1st, 2010 under Israel, archeology. Comments: None

Rabbi Benny Lau has written a strongly-worded column (Hebrew) on Ynet, wondering what religious zionist rabbis are doing defending Rabbi Dov Lior and anything having to do with the book Torat ha-Melelkh.

Posted on August 20th, 2010 under Israel, Jewish Law, Jewish Thought, Jewish-Gentile Relations, Religious Zionism. Comments: None

Thanks to relative quiet of the past few years, the concrete wall that was constructed in order to protect the residents of the Southern neighborhood of Gilo is being removed. Ynet is reporting that the concrete wall was part of the eruv around Gilo, and that this section of the eruv must be rebuilt. Having [...]

Posted on August 16th, 2010 under Israel, Jewish Law. Comments: None

Kikar ha-Shabbat is reporting (via Rabbi Yosef’s Facebook page) that Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef cancelled the recitation of seliḥot that were suppose to be recited late at night in the synagogue found in the apartment building where he lives, because of complaints by the neighbors. Some of the neighbors said that the noise makes it difficult [...]

Posted on August 14th, 2010 under Israel, Jewish Law, Rabbinic Authority. Comments: 2

AIWAC has begun a series of posts titled “A Partial Guide to Non-Observant Israeli Jews.” See his first post here on the Traditionalist.

Posted on August 13th, 2010 under Israel, Rabbinic Authority, Religion. Comments: None

This Friday, the 3rd of Elul, is the 75th yarzheit of Rav Kook, and lots of people are writing about it. One interesting column is by Yair Lapid on Ynet. One of Rav Kook’s famous acts was his trip that he took to the new moshavot (also here) with Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld and a [...]

Posted on August 12th, 2010 under In Memoriam, Israel, Zionism. Comments: 3

Tomer Persico has a post (Hebrew) discussing Elchanan Shilo’s article, “A Continuous Judaism Between Halakhah and Hiloni”, and some reactions to the original article. See here for a previous post on Shilo’s article.

Posted on August 9th, 2010 under Israel, Jewish Law, Jewish Thought, Rabbinic Authority, Religion, Religious Zionism. Comments: None

Elyashiv Reicher, a journalist and teacher who lives in Yeruḥam, has posted an interesting statistic on his blog, דרומי. Reicher notes that the majority of kibbutzim that have been established in the last two decades have been urban kibbutzim. There are currently over two thousand people living in numerous communal frameworks within urban areas in [...]

Posted on August 8th, 2010 under Israel, Religion. Comments: 1