Arrested for wearing a Tallit (Jewish Prayer Shawl)

The well known, Women of the Wall, have been criticized by many Orthodox groups for their activities. A recent incident was so criticized that a supporter was arrested for wearing a Tallit. A Tallit is a prayer shawl that has four fringes called Tzitzit(zit-zeet) in following the commandment in Deuteronomy. This arrest comes on the basis of a rule approved by the Knesset that ban on dress for those who pray at the Western Wall. The Women of the Wall, for those who don’t know, are a group of women that pray at the western wall around Rosh Chodesh, beginning of a Hebrew month. There are many Orthodox Rabbis, including Rabbi Ovadia Yosef who have highly criticized this group for praying publically this way. Some believe that they have an agenda more than just praying at the wall.
Never Judge a Book by it’s Name
This is one of the few posts that will be educational in some way. I have gotten many emails from people who ask me, “Whats the use of the denominations and do they really tell about a person’s observance or world view”? First, we must see what does each name tell about the official standings of the movement. With Orthodox, we know that by definition, Orthodox means tradition or to be of the norm. Today, we wouldn’t necessarily call Orthodoxy the norm of Judaism, but Orthodoxy tells over and over that Orthodox way of life is “Torah-true” or the norm of Torah observance. Conservative Judaism, we must look at the root of the word Conservative, conserve. The word conserve means to keep or save. Just like how when we are environmentally friendly for example, we try to conserve or save energy. Conserv-ative Judaism tries to conserve Judaism(traditional Judaism) but introduces some modern influences. Reform in Reform Judaism tells alot about the movement. Reform is to change, to give something new to something old. Reform Judaism gives a new way of observing Judaism, something Orthodox Judaism wouldn’t call so Orthodox. Reconstructionist Judaism, like Conservative, has a root word of to Reconstruct. To Reconstruct doesn’t mean to change nor to exactly conserve. But mainly to fix or fill in what a Reconstructionist Jew may feel is missing in Traditional Judaism. Just like how we reconstruct a person though surgery, we don’t necessarily change the person nor does it keep things that person may not feel is right for how they look. Lastly, Secular Humanistic tells the most about the movement. Humanistic has the root of the word human. It shows the movement values the human, the best of the person and their abilities and for each human to take responsibility for their actions(good or bad). So, does this all really matter? Orthodox is becoming more Orthodox on one end. But on the other end, we have some Orthodox Jews who are considered by their own Orthodox observers as becoming less Orthodox. We also have Conservative Judaism and a new phenomenon of “Conservadox Judaism” on one end, but there are also other Jews who consider themselves Conservative but may only go to services on High Holy days or don’t keep Shabbat or Kashrut. Reform Judaism has on one hand Synagogues also affiliated with Conservative Judaism and on the other end there is Classical Reform Judaism which keeps Classical traditions and observances of Reform Judaism from the time it was founded in Germany(in the sense, would they be considered Orthodox for keeping the traditions and observances of Reform Judaism true and unchanged?) Then there are Reconstructionist Jews who on one hand have membership to Synagogues affiliated with Conservative institutions and on another end keep true the views of Kaplan which views would be considered not much of the norm of Judaism today(not a view of a personal G-d, Jewish people as a civilization, not considered the chosen people). So whats the use of movements? Why consider ourselves apart of one movement or another? Some argue that it gives each Jew standards as well as a way of identification with other Jews. But isn’t the Jewish people small enough to be separated even more? You can split a peanut so much before it just crumbles.
The Most Jewish Friendly University: Yeshiva University? NYU? You might be surprised!

NYU is considered by RJ Magazine, Reform Jewish Publication, to be a good choice in looking for a Jewish-friendly university. University of Flordia was considered to be the most Jewish friendly public college. NYU also has a vast amount of Jewish courses on the university.

This comes along with a huge Jewish student body nearing 6,000 students. So with the vast amount of Jewish courses avaliable, NYU is also for those who are interested in Judaism or who love the faith but are non Jews themselves. Also, there are over 9 Synagogues within the Orthodox prescribed radius of 1.3 miles or less, so NYU is for everyone! But i wouldn’t count on an Orthodox or Hasid to pick NYU over YU though!
“Anti-Crocs on Yom Kippur” Rabbi with new ruling
Rabbi Yosef Shalom Eliyahu now has a new ruling. No use of “Shabbat elevator” on Shabbat or holidays. What is a Shabbat elevator may be a question floating in your mind. A “Shabbat elevator” is mainly when any elevator stops on each level on Shabbat and holidays to prevent users from having to press buttons which is not allowed on Shabbat in Traditional Judaism. The system goes like this, when it stops on your level, you get off. If you want to enter, you wait till it hits your level. I call it elevator carpool. You pick up people on the way down/up. He claims that the people on board still have a part in the amount of electricity used (X number of people = Amount of weight it puts on and how much more electricity used to pull this weight). I doubt this will have much of an impact on Israel which some are claiming is going frantic to try to fix a legislation that required all high rises to implement this system. If your not Lithuanian, if your Haredi, or if your Sephardic and Israeli, then this ruling won’t matter to you. That covers a huge chunk of people!
Adam Lambert interview with Jewish Journal

Adam Lambert, Jewish American Idol runner up, had an interview this afternoon with Jewish Journal.com before a concert later this evening. He revealed alot about his family and his Judaism which he terms as “Lightly Jewish”. Lambert also mentioned alot about his mother’s side of the family. His mother is of the Jewish faith while his father is non Jewish. Adam also mentioned about how he wishes to go to Israel but hasn’t so far and actually has no knowledge of Hebrew. Adam also never had the Bar Mitzvah ceremony because of how he “dropped out” of Hebrew school at a young age. Lambert also mentioned about his maternal grandparents are deceased and how he considers his father and him to have a “teacher-parent” relationship. Also, like many Jewish mothers, she will not be on the outside of the bubble that comes with his new fame. His mother, Gail Lambert, will be on his administrative staff and will be with him when he goes on tour. Adam also mentioned how his family don’t have Christmas and always celebrate Chanukkah each year. They do celebrate Passover, but not regularly. Adam didn’t mention whether they had their own seder or not at the home, but im pretty sure they did. Adam Lambert is one of a handful of American Idol figures including Elliot Yamin, Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell(Paternal Jewish background), and Mikalah Gordon of Paternal Jewish background. Lambert was also asked about one fear that he may have during his carrer and he stated “Obscurity. That would be a shame. That would be a real shame. If I have anything to say about it, it won’t happen no matter what goes on with my career.”
Children of Foreign workers deported after School Year in Israel
At the end of the current school year, more than 1000 school children born to migrant workers will be deported back to their home country. The Israeli government claims that this will decrease the number of migrant workers which will decrease the cost that is on Israel annually to fund these workers and to keep them in Israel. But many activist and workers are stating that many of the children that they are considering sending back are native Sabrot. Legally in Israel, citizenship is not jus soli(right of the soil) which means you can’t just be born here to obtain citizenship. Jus Soli is only inacted in United States and controversially in France and only has reminants in other countries but not full fledge. The migrant workers however claim that the children have lived in Israel and learned Hebrew as their first language and are in everyway Israeli and should be granted some status. But this not only affects the present or not just even after the end of this school year, but years after stating that any birth from a migrant worker after the school year are considered illegal residents and would have to work on getting citizenship in some way. While in its current state, the law isn’t final or every very well discussed currently but its highly seen that this will spill over into a law in Israel regarding migrant workers. One Filipino mother said that her children know more about Israeli culture rather than that of the Philippines and how the children know Israel as their native language and have been immersed in Israeli culture. A decision over this situation will be known in the coming months.



