Bus service restored in Mea Shearim - with police protection - in war with Sikrikim

Haaretz

Bus service was restored last week to Jerusalem's Mea She'arim after a hiatus of nearly two years, in which there was no public transportation within the ultra-Orthodox neighborhood. The Egged bus cooperative had halted service due to ongoing sabotage and violence by a group of religious extremists known as the Sicarii; they threw rocks and bottles at passing buses and punctured their tires.

The Sicarii say their motives are religious: They say the "immodest" advertisements on the sides and backs of the buses, as well as the failure to impose gender segregation among passengers, offends them.

Elad's Ashkenazi & Sephardi rabbis battle over time Shabbos begins

Haaretz

The inauguration of the Sabbath in Elad has recently become the tensest hour of the week, following a disagreement between the city's Sephardic rabbi and its Ashkenazi rabbi. 

The two cannot agree on the exact time for inaugurating the Sabbath. Even the leaders of the Orthodox public, Gedolei Yisrael, were involved against their will, but a solution has not been found. 

The roots of the disagreement go back a long way: the Ashkenazi rabbi, Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Grossman, has always maintained that the Sabbath enters 30 minutes before the sun sets, while the Sephardic rabbi, Rabbi Mordechai Malka, puts it at 20 minutes. According to Halacha (Jewish law), every city is supposed to set additional time before sundown on the eve of the Sabbath. Most places allow for 20 minutes, but the Ashkenazi rabbis in Elad have refused, since the city was established, saying that a special window of time must be allowed for, as in places like Safed and Bnei Brak (30 minutes), and almost like that which is allowed for in Jerusalem and Petah Tikva (40 minutes). The Safardis acted according to their tradition, and added just 20 minutes, even when the sirens of Elad sounded according to the Ashkenazi system.

Child Abuse: Protecting Children in Jewish community, Dr. Asher Lipner, Zvi Gluck, Prof. Marci Hamilton, Rabbi Yosef Blau , Mark Appel

Zev Brenner Radio Show

An important discussion of the major positive changes that have happened in the entire range of Orthodox communities in the last year. Contrary to the previous program which was seriously marred by gratuitous accusations and insults, this one focused on the new programs and initiatives as well as the growing achdus in dealing with the problem.

The panelists of advocates included Dr. Asher Lipner who contributed a chapter to my book on abuse as well as another contributor - Dr. Alison Feit - who called in a comment. Tzvi Gluck also cited my book on child abuse as an authoritative source for Rav Sternbuch's views for a point he made. Rabbi Yosef Blau - mashigach at Y.U. - provided solid insights as a pioneer in dealing with these issues. Prof. Marci Hamilton discussed the legal issues which need to be worked out as well as the legislation which she has been active in. Veteran advocate Mark Appel made a cogent argument for the need for the community to provide greater support for the victims as well as how he has been an active supporter of some of the efforts of the Agudah as well other programs.

A Gemach: Traditional Jewish Loan Program Helps Ease Pain of Tough Economic Times

new york times

Now 39 years old and serving as the rabbi of a Chabad center near Atlanta, Rabbi Minkowicz has done something he never expected: open a gemach that deals primarily with non-Orthodox Jews in a prosperous stretch of suburbia. The reason, quite simply, is the prolonged downturn in the American economy, which has driven up the number of Jews identified by one poverty expert as the “middle-class needy.”

The same phenomenon has appeared in Jewish communities across the country, albeit most often in those with existing Orthodox populations already familiar with the gemach system. This institution rooted in Biblical and Talmudic teachings and named for Hebrew words meaning “bestowal of kindness” (“gemilut chasadim”) is now meeting needs created by such resolutely modern causes as sub-prime mortgages, out-sourcing and credit-default swaps.

Indictment issued against prominent leader of Sikrikim

JPost

The Jerusalem District Attorney’s Office issued an indictment on Thursday against a prominent figure in the extremist ultra-Orthodox Sikrikim (Sicarii) group.

Yosef Meir Kein, 21 – known by his adopted last name, Hazan – was charged with one count of aggravated assault, one count of aggravated assault against a police officer, and rioting.

Afghan woman imprisoned for reporting rape - freed to marry rapist

NY Times

When the Afghan government announced Thursday that it would pardon a woman who had been imprisoned for adultery after she reported that she had been raped, the decision seemed a clear victory for the many women here whose lives have been ground down by the Afghan justice system. 

But when the announcement also made it clear that there was an expectation that the woman, Gulnaz, would agree to marry the man who raped her, the moment instead revealed the ways in which even efforts guided by the best intentions to redress violence against women here run up against the limits of change in a society where cultural practices are so powerful that few can resist them, not even the president.

Sikrikim & Gur unite to fight police who are now making arrests in Mea Shearim

Arutz Sheva

Protests, mostly by members of the Gerrer Hasidic sect and members and supporters of the hard-line Sikrikim group, have been going on for weeks, with residents burning tires and garbage bins, and throwing rocks and other objects at police. But over the past few days police responded in force – much to the surprise of many protesters, witnesses said.

Among the tactics used by police was the deployment of undercover police dressed in hareidi garb who circulated among the protesters. When some protesters began throwing rocks at police, these “hareidim” quickly arrested them. Police have been using this tactic for several nights, and have managed to arrest dozens of protesters in this manner – a wave of arrests that has not taken place for many years, neighborhood veterans say.

Taliban lady wears funnel to disguise shape of head

ynet

Manny's concedes defeat to extortion of Sikrikim

Jerusalem Post

After 20 months of attacks and a quarter million shekels in damage, a religious bookstore in the ultra-Orthodox Mea She’arim neighborhood of Jerusalem decided on Monday to accede to the demands of extremists responsible for the violence.

Under the terms of the compromise, Ohr Hachaim/Manny’s put up a large sign requesting that all customers dress modestly. A mashgiach, who checks the store’s inventory to make sure there are no controversial books, will go over the books in the coming week and require that some books be removed from the shelves, though they will not be permitted to remove any English books, said Marlene Samuels, one of the store’s managers. [...]

Video expose of leaders & education of Taliban Ladies

Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky's Torah Declaration on Homosexualtiy

Huffington Post by Jason Littman

[...] Like all communities, the Orthodox Jewish one is comprised of many layers. In July 2010, Modern Orthodox rabbis around the country signed a groundbreaking Statement of Principles in "regard to the place of Jews with a homosexual orientation" in their community. While clearly stating that the parameters of Halacha (Jewish Law) prohibit same-sex sexual intercourse, the Principles still offered a message of compassion, empathy and inclusiveness of gay and lesbian Jews within the Orthodox community. It was a huge step forward for the Jewish community.

However, many ultra-Orthodox leaders felt that these Principles were too affirming of homosexuality. So this Declaration currently making rounds will serve as their official response in regards to guiding individuals with same-sex attractions. The endorser, Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky, of the Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia, urges all rabbis and mental health professionals to sign this Declaration, which offers modification and healing through reparative therapy as the sole option.

The full text of this secret Declaration, which has not been released to the public -- until now -- is posted below. I am releasing it here because I am certain that despite the signatures already included, plenty of other ultra-Orthodox rabbis will disagree. More importantly, this Declaration -- and these rabbis endorsing it -- will certainly cause anguish to the gay and lesbian Orthodox Jewish community, which has fought so hard for acceptance. Finally, I am certain that if reparative therapy is presented as the sole option, many individuals seeking guidance from rabbis or mental health professionals will be harmed -- indirectly by others, and perhaps even directly by harming themselves.[...]

Are kids with Down's Syndrome on the road to extinction?

Time

When a distraught pregnant woman phones a Massachusetts hotline for Down syndrome, agonizing over what to do with an unexpected prenatal diagnosis, she will be routed to Perkins McLaughlin, who went through the same awful calculations in 2007. When Perkins McLaughlin learned halfway through her pregnancy that her daughter would have Down syndrome, she nearly decided to end the pregnancy for fear of what it would do to her marriage and her two older children. [...]

But now, increasingly, parents do. Recent advances in prenatal screening are upending the way pregnant women learn about the genetic makeup of their unborn babies. In October, a San Diego biotech company began offering an exceptionally accurate maternal blood test for Down syndrome that can be administered as early as 10 weeks, long before a woman looks visibly pregnant. A study published last month in the journal Genetics in Medicine found that the DNA-based test, called MaterniT21, identifies 98.6% of Down syndrome pregnancies, with a false-positive rate of 0.2%, an achievement that study author and Brown University professor Jacob Canick hailed as a "major step for prenatal diagnosis."

Haredim step up war on 'Taliban women'

ynet

Until recently, the haredi society found no interest in launching a battle, but recent evidence on the actions of the "Taliban women" ignited a war. The Eda Haredit rabbis realized that those women had blown the modesty issue out of proportions.

Sexual abuse of children by other children increasing

ynet

A significant percentage of Israel's children are exposed to violence and sexual abuse, a new report commissioned by the Knesset's Committee on the Rights of the Child revealed.

While the report suggests an overall drop in violence among children, it states that the number of children subjected to sexual abuse by other children is on the rise.