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The political system has largely lost its sensitivity to hypocrisy, hate speech and religious coercion. In the eyes of many of its leaders, buying the votes of the ultra-Orthodox parties justifies paying the price of surrendering to their demands, even knowing that they are hurting the country's economy, its security, and the freedom of religion promised by the Declaration of Independence.
On Tuesday, Hiddush filed a complaint against senior rabbis in ultra-Orthodox Judaism following their declaration that city rabbis who dare to act in accordance with the law after the adoption of a kashrut reform in the Knesset and certify food as kosher outside their city limits will have their kashrut certification banned everywhere, including in their own cities, and they will be considered as " having departed from the congregation of God and transgressing against the will of God." The declaration is signed by Rabbi Shalom Cohen, the spiritual leader of the Shas movement and Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky and Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, the leaders of the ultra-Orthodox-Lithuanian community.
It has been a challenging year for the whole world and naturally for us at Hiddush as well, but as the year ends, we can look back with satisfaction and pride.
Tomorrow, on December 10, the world marks International Human Rights Day. Unfortunately, this day and the event it commemorates (the adoption by the UN of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December 1948) are not widely known in the US.
As we’ve written, the word "Reformers" has long since become a generic invective used by politicians and the ultra-Orthodox rabbinical establishment. In recent days, another example presented itself in the words of the leader of Agudat Israel in the Knesset, MK Rabbi Litzman.
A picture is worth 1000 words. The veracity of this statement has been proven in recent days in at least two areas: 1) The ultra-Orthodox and Zionist ultra-Orthodox bullying of the Women of Wall; and 2) The growing phenomenon of vandalizing the faces of women in public spaces.
As hoped, some positive recent developments can be pointed out in advancing pluralism in Israel's political arena. These are direct results of the existence of a coalition, in which several member parties hold worldviews that support religious freedom and equality...
As we have repeatedly reported, Haredi political wrath is channeled primarily in two directions...
On the eve of Sukkot, the cover of the Shas party’s newspaper “HaDerekh” featured an interview with the party leader, Rabbi Aryeh Deri as the lead article.
The new year has begun, and with it the need to deal with our new year's resolutions. A new year, a new government, new beginnings, and quite a few old challenges. The webinar we held this week with Diaspora Affairs Minister Dr. Nachman Shai [see below] refers to new beginnings that have opened a window of opportunity to face old challenges.
We are proud to present Hiddush's annual Israel Religion & State Index. The Index and a comparison of its data over the last ten years prove that the Israeli public is fed up with the ‘status quo’ on religious issues.
The phenomenon of the most prominent athlete in Israel today, who won a gold medal for the State of Israel and sweeping praise from the heads of state; but is not allowed by his country to marry his girlfriend.
In this newsletter you can find a selection of statements from recent days by the heads of all the ultra-Orthodox parties. They are characterized by a combination of hyperbole, extremism and paranoia.
Yair Lapid called President Rivlin and informed him, "I was able to successfully complete the undertaking of assembling the government."
Only 40% support maintaining the conversion process in Israel under the exclusive authority of the Chief Rabbinate! The majority of the public, 60%[!] wants to abolish the Chief Rabbinate's monopoly over the State of Israel's official recognition of conversions.