Slippery Slope

A 14 year old boy reported that his class was asked in school to answer the question “what does it mean to be a good Jew?”. The teacher wrote several answers on the blackboard, including: serving in the army, marrying another Jew, visiting holy sites, and supporting the state.

(Hebrew)

According to MK Nitzan Horowitz (Meretz) major flaws were discovered in 83% of cases handled by the Rabbinate court. He said the findings presented to the State Auditing Committee reveal fundamental flaws in this court system.

(Hebrew)

Approximately 20 reserve soldiers from an Engineering battalion who are stationed near the settlement of Ariel, in the Samaria region of the West Bank, claim that they are left without a proper food supply and forced to rely on food they purchase themselves.  In addition, they were not supplied with cooking utensils because their post does not have a Kashrut [?] inspector.

(Hebrew)

The Israel Religious Action Center (IRAC) issued a report dealing with incitement to racism by rabbis in Israel. According to the report, there is an escalation in racist statements by rabbis recently, but the enforcement policy of these crimes renders the relevant law ineffective.

(Hebrew)

Four verdicts handed out during the past year at Regional Rabbinical Courts determine that the jurisdiction of Dayyanim (Rabbinate Judges) on the issue of couples who married abroad and are seeking to divorce, does not stop at the technicality of undoing the relationship nor at issuing a “get le-humra”. In a ruling given at the Netanya Rabbinical Court, for instance, it was determined that it is possible for the court to rule according to the Halacha in cases of providing a get document for civil marriages — a direct contradiction to a ruling of the SCJ, according to which all matters relating to a civil marriage should be determined only in civil courts.

(Hebrew)

The principal of an educational institution in Hadera intended to expel of 3 students because “their way of life is incongruent with the institution’s values”. He also filed a complaint with the police against the children’s father, who tried to prevent their expulsion. The Ministry of Education ordered “the immediate return of the kids to their classes.”

(Hebrew)

Rabbis of the Badatz (ultra-orthodox court of justice)  have issued a Halacha ruling against the tourism site “Tiberius” in Tiberias (Tveria). The site includes a multimedia show describing the long history of the city, visualizing various historical and mythological events, among them Jesus walking on water at the Sea of Galilee.

(Hebrew)

According to a Globes investigative project, many Supreme Court of Justice rulings are not put into practice. Most of the decisions which the state delays enactment of relate to weak sectors, such as migrant laborers and Arabs, the separation of religion from the state, and security matters.