Menachem Mendel

The Beit Hillel inaugural conference (here, here, and here) is just underway. Rabbi Reuven Spolter is hoping to tweet from the conference. See this post of his about Beit Hillel. His twitter feed can be found here.

Posted on February 2nd, 2012 under Rabbinic Authority, Religion in Israel, Religious Authority, Religious Zionism. Comments: 1

Haaretz has translated an article into English about Beit Hillel. The group, to be known as Beit Hillel, already has 110 rabbis signed up, along with 30 women who are considered Torah scholars. It was founded by congregational rabbis in the central region, who say they represent the silent majority of the national-religious population that [...]

Posted on January 30th, 2012 under Religion in Israel, Religious Authority, Religious Zionism. Comments: 1

Today’s Makor Rishon has an article about Beit Hillel, a new rabbinic organization that I wrote about here. The organization sees itself as a more moderate religious zionist voice. The article notes that the membership of Beit Hillel includes thirty talmidot ḥachamim, female Torah scholars.

Posted on January 26th, 2012 under Religion in Israel, Religious Authority, Religious Zionism. Comments: 9

Friday’s Yediot Aḥaronot published an article about potential legal troubles for the family of Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef. The article describes how a close family member sent a letter to the Attorney General describing how the Yosef family has been trying to take over positions within the Chief Rabbinate through the appointment of family members. There [...]

Posted on January 20th, 2012 under Israel, Politics, Religion in Israel. Comments Off

Reshet ha-Kehillot le-Ḥithadshut Yehudit (Hebrew) is more evidence of Israeli Jewish creativity in Israel. This is a good example of how support from Diaspora Jews, in this case the UJA-Federation in New York, can make a difference in Israel. This (Hebrew) article by Yair Sheleg, which was published last year in Musaf Shabbat, addresses activities [...]

Posted on January 19th, 2012 under Religion in Israel. Comments: 1

Tomorrow, the 24th of Tevet, is the yarzheit of “Miriam the Laundress,” מרים הכובסת. On her yarzheit thousands of people visit her grave on Har ha-Menuḥot, often looking for help with fertility problems. Who is this woman whom some people describe as a saint? A few years ago Tsur Erlich, a journalist for Makor Rishon, [...]

Posted on January 18th, 2012 under Religion in Israel. Comments: 2

Ynet (Hebrew) has an article about Tzili Schneider and her work through Kesher Yehudi [Hebrew/English] (Jewish Connection). (hat tip) Tzili is an ultra-Orthodox women, mother of eleven, who grew up in Meah Shearim. A few years ago she decided that she was going to do something in order to bring Jews of different backgrounds together, [...]

Posted on January 11th, 2012 under Religion in Israel. Comments: 2

The following article was published in Israel Hayom on December 23, 2011. It describes a new group of national-religious rabbis called Beit Hillel who want to project a more moderate approach to Judaism and Jewish law. (hat tip)

Posted on January 4th, 2012 under Rabbinic Authority, Religion in Israel, Religious Zionism. Comments Off

Yoav Sorek has started a new blog (Hebrew), לאמיתה של תורה. It seems as if the blog will offer a different perspective and discourse on issues related to Israel and Judaism. The first post is about the fast of the tenth of Tevet.

Posted on January 4th, 2012 under Blogroll, Rabbinic Authority, Religion in Israel, Religious Zionism, Responsa. Comments: 2