Offbeat Israel: Shas and Shekels, Crocs and the Fast
By Nathan Jeffay
Four American ultra-Orthodox Jews met today with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh. They were activists from the strongly anti-Zionist sect Neturei Karta, which maintains contacts with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (members of the group famously visited Tehran in 2006). Haaretz reports on the meeting with here.
Is it a proposal to ram religion down people’s throats? Or would it create regular reminder to act ethically when using money? An Israeli lawmaker is proposing a bill requiring the Bank of Israel to emblazon: “We believe in the creator” on all banknotes.
The lawmaker in question, Nissim Ze’ev of Shas, says that there is nothing outrageous about the idea — after all, in America, banknotes say “In God we trust.” And it is true that it could remind people of higher values when handing cash. On the other hand, his rationale seems to veer over the line of telling people what to think. “The goal of the bill is to remind every Jew that he needs to believe in the Creator,” he told Ynet.
If the idea is to remind every Jew of something he “needs” to do, perhaps Mr Ze’ev may consider adding other messages. How about: “Have you prayed the morning service?” Or: “If you’re spending me to buy food, is it kosher?” In fact, there are enough different denomination of banknote for different people to have a say. One denomination could be put under the control of dentists: “Have you brushed your teeth?”
Of course, if Mr Ze’ev sees banknotes as a place to tell Israelis what he thinks they should be doing, why not just cut to the chase? “Vote Shas” is a snappy catchphrase.
The Fast of Av, which falls today, has to be the one occasion in the Jewish calendar that is observed more visibly in the Diaspora than in Israel.
In the Diaspora, if you’re anywhere near a religious area you know it’s the Fast of Av. The strange spectacle of people wearing suits with sneakers gives it away. The reason for the footwear choice is that Jewish law prohibits the wearing of leather shoes today as a sign of mourning. In Israel, however, everyone looks the same as normal.
The reason has nothing to do with differences in religious tradition, and everything to do with an invention called Crocs. Israelis have gone crazy for them. And in true Israeli style, there are no boundaries as to when they should and shouldn’t be worn. Crocs, according to Israeli dress norms, may be work with anything, from jogging bottoms to smart pants. Even the smartest of synagogue-goers, on the smartest of occasions, will wear them. So while suit-and-Crocs in the States may tell you it’s the Fast of Av, here somebody could just as easily be en route to a wedding.
June 23, 2009, 7:45pm
The Knesset Cockroach
By Devra Ferst
You may have heard about the White House fly. But have you heard about the Knesset cockroach?
Shas secretary Tzvika Yakobson discovered the roach in his meal on Tuesday. The unkosher bug caused the Knesset management to close the two kosher meat cafeterias immediately for inspection and kashering.
One Shas official reportedly called the incident a “scandal.”
February 8, 2009, 11:57pm
In Israel, Change You Can Xerox
By Gabrielle Birkner
In advance of Tuesday’s election in Israel, candidates of various persuasions have shown no shame in cribbing from the storied presidential campaign of Barack Obama — regardless of their ideological similarities or differences with the American president, The Daily Beast reports.
The Shas Party, whose constituency traditionally has been composed of Orthodox Sephardic Jews, has gone so far as to reappropriate for its own purposes Obama’s “Yes We Can” slogan. Meanwhile, the leader of the centrist Kadima Party, Tzipi Livni, is evoking Obama’s message with the catchphrase, “You have a chance to make history,” and Benjamin Netanyahu, of the center-right Likud Party, last year hired on two Obama strategists.
Echoing a recent Forward story, Ashley Rindsberg, in The Daily Beast, writes:
“Far more than just a source of borrowed slogans and talking points, Obama has become a political weapon. The Kadima and the left-of-center Labor parties have campaigned on the notion that ‘Bibi’ Netanyahu simply won’t be able to get along with Obama. In the Israeli media, the portmanteau ‘Obibi’ is used to describe Netanyahu’s rise to front-runner against the backdrop of a liberal American president who might be less than sympathetic to his positions.
But it’s not completely clear that even the centrist or left contenders would simply line up for Obama once in the government. Livni has tried the hardest to identify with Obama, going so far as to print campaign leaflets for Hebrew-speaking voters that read, in English, ‘Believni.’ Although Kadima led the unilateral withdrawal from Gaza under Ariel Sharon, there’s little indication that Kadima under Livni would follow the same path in the West Bank, no matter how much President Obama might desire such an outcome.”
February 20, 2008, 2:01pm
Shas Condemns Earth-Shaking Gay Sex
By Daniel Treiman
Ha’aretz reports:
Shas MK Shlomo Benizri blamed gays Wednesday for the earthquakes that have shaken the region in recent months, telling a Knesset plenum debate on local authorities’ earthquake preparedness that government action on homosexuality would do much to prevent the tremors.
Benizri said the government should not make do with reinforcing buildings, but should instead pass less legislation that encourages homosexuality and other “perversions like adoptions by lesbian couples.”
The ultra-Orthodox party MK invoked passages from the Talmud and the Gemarrah to support his claims.
“Why do earthquakes happen?” said Benizri. “One of the reasons is the things to which the Knesset gives legitimacy, to sodomy.”
“A cost-effective way of averting earthquake damage,” he added, “would be to stop passing legislation on how to encourage homosexual activity in the State of Israel, which anyways causes earthquakes.”
The chair of Israel’s Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Association called Benizri’s statements “sad,” but added that “it is flattering that he attributes supernatural powers to us.”
Americans, thankfully, have never held ridiculous ideas about earthquakes being caused by homosexuality. Nope. Not us. We’ve known for many centuries the real cause of earthquakes: lightning rods.
Hat tip: Jewschool.
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