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Israeli rabbis are issuing guidance about how to adjust Jewish law during wartime
(JTA) — On a normal Shabbat, Orthodox Israelis turn off radios, silence cell phones and — if they have one — lay down their gun. Saturday was not a normal Shabbat.
A week into wartime, Israelis had special dispensation from the country’s top rabbis to bear arms. They were told to leave communication devices on, albeit at low volume. And synagogues were instructed to make sure someone brought a phone.
The decree from Israel’s Chief Rabbinate in advance of Shabbat offered a striking window into how war is changing the religious strictures that are typically baked into the cadences of Israeli life. In keeping with centuries of Jewish tradition, a wide range of rabbis are issuing opinions on everything from kosher food to transportation to the laws of how husbands and wives relate to each other.
The opinions are almost all rooted in the core Jewish idea that pikuach nefesh, or the preservation of life, overrides nearly every other religious law. That principle is what made it not only possible but obligatory for Jews who are observant of halacha, or Jewish law, to break the laws of Shabbat in order to respond to Hamas’ deadly attack Oct. 7 — and to continue to depart from traditional halacha in certain circumstances.
All of the Chief Rabbinate’s Shabbat decrees about keeping radios and phones on were meant to ensure that Orthodox Jews were able to hear safety alerts and instructions from Israel’s Home Front Command, which is responsible for civil defense. Israel is being barraged nonstop with rockets from Gaza, and is in the midst of the largest military reserve call-up in its history.
The Chief Rabbinate also permitted departures from the country’s regular restrictions on public transportation. Most Israeli cities have never had public transit on Shabbat or Jewish holidays due to opposition from haredi Orthodox lawmakers and voters. Its national carrier, El Al, also does not operate on Shabbat.
So when Hamas attacked, on Shabbat and a holiday, public transportation across the country was not functioning. That meant reservists had to make their way to their bases on their own.
This week, trains ran on Shabbat through select stations across the country due to the ongoing emergency situation, the Transportation Ministry announced Friday. The trains stopped only in Tel Aviv, at Ben Gurion Airport and Haifa — where the United States had sent a ship to retrieve its citizens starting at 9 a.m. Sunday.
Rabbis in Israel also granted permission for El Al to fly on Shabbat, marking the first time the airline has operated on Shabbat since the 1982 Lebanon War. The airline said in a statement that it had received permission from “relevant halachic authorities” to operate flights — two from the United States, one from Bangkok and one from Madrid — to carry reservists, rescuers, medics and members of the security forces “whose arrival into the country is vital.”
Wartime has also, in some cases, prompted more stringent observance of Jewish law. Food prepared and served by the Israeli army must be certified kosher by the military rabbinate, so after 2,000 meals that it donated to Israeli soldiers were thrown away, the Tel Aviv hotspot Ha’achim asked Israeli president Isaac Herzog to help it get kosher certification. After retraining staff and overhauling its kitchen, the restaurant now produces and distributes meals to soldiers full-time.
“I don’t eat kosher food, but I respect it,” co-owner Yotam Doktor told Israel Hayom. “Leaving our soldiers begging for food before they go into battle is an impossible situation.”
While the interaction with Jewish law has been most stark in Israel, where the crisis is acute and where rabbinic authorities have influence over state law and policy, rabbis in the Diaspora have also issued opinions related to the war.
In the United States, Rabbi Herschel Schachter, one of the leading Modern Orthodox rabbis, ruled last week that worshippers should insert Avinu Malkeinu into their Shabbat liturgy. The plaintive prayer is typically recited only during the High Holidays and considered at odds with the joyous tenor of Shabbat, when it is generally not recited. Notably, when Yom Kippur falls on Shabbat, Avinu Malkeinu is still omitted from nearly all services.
Within Israel, in addition to state rabbis issuing national decisions, respected rabbis with smaller public pulpits have begun considering wartime questions as well. Several of them have weighed in on the issue of kosher food for the armed forces.
Rabbi Avraham Stav has authored books on Jewish law and is also an army reservist in the 439th artillery battalion, which is now called up for duty in Israel’s south. He has continued to answer questions from the front, including about the kosher status of homemade donated food sent to the army bases.
Whether homemade food is kosher can be hard to ascertain, since there is no kosher certificate attached to a home kitchen, Stav wrote on Facebook. But he said that according to Jewish law, if a person attests that their food is kosher, even with just a handwritten note, the food should be considered kosher, so long as there is no reason to suspect that the person was saying so out of ignorance or disdain. All the more so, he wrote, “out of sincere concern for observant soldiers.”
Turning to another rabbi for a second opinion, Stav asked Rabbi Asher Weiss, one of the leading halachic authorities in Israel, who replied, Stav says, “Of course.”
Another rabbi who has drawn attention for his wartime legal opinions is Yoni Rosensweig, an Orthodox rabbi who leads a synagogue in Beit Shemesh and has built a substantial following both due to his legal opinions and his mental health advocacy. Rosensweig, too, ruled that soldiers and others in need should be lenient when assessing the kosher status of homemade, donated food. But a ruling on another topic ignited a backlash.
On the first day of the war, Rosensweig received a question about whether a man heading into battle could hug his wife goodbye if she was at a point in her menstrual cycle when touch would otherwise be prohibited under traditional Jewish law.
Rosensweig’s answer, posted on Facebook, was clear: Yes, provided that the embrace was for comfort only.
“There is no greater emotional need — both for the husband and for the wife — than this hug before embarking on a military operation to defend the people and the land,” he wrote.
The backlash was swift. For days, Rosensweig fended off criticism and responded to questions about how he could rule in contravention of mainstream opinions about Jewish law. After several days, he sought to put an end to the fighting with a new post.
“The reality is that I’m impressed that most of the public didn’t wait for me for this ruling at all. They did what they thought was right,” he wrote. “Those who wanted gave a hug, and those who didn’t — did not. And that makes sense. Because when you are right there, at that very moment, you do not call the rabbi, but do what you think is right.”
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The post Israeli rabbis are issuing guidance about how to adjust Jewish law during wartime appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Israeli Bus Attacked in West Bank, At Least Eight Injured
Israeli police officer works at the scene of a shooting attack near the Jewish settlement of Ariel, in the West Bank, Nov. 29, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
A Palestinian opened fire on a Tel Aviv-bound Israeli bus near the Jewish settlement of Ariel in the West Bank on Friday, wounding at least eight people before he was killed by Israeli troops, the Israeli military said.
Israel‘s MDA medical service said four people suffered gunshot wounds, with three in a serious condition, and four others were hurt by flying glass.
The Palestinian Health Ministry identified the shooter as a 46-year-old local man. Hamas’s armed wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, said he belonged to the terrorist group.
Violence has surged across the West Bank since the start of the Hamas-Israel war in Gaza in October last year.
In the first six months of 2024, the West Bank experienced more than 500 Arab terrorist attacks each month on average, according to data made public by Hatzalah Judea and Samaria (Rescuers Without Borders).
Dozens of Israelis have been killed in Palestinian street attacks, Israeli authorities say, while hundreds of Palestinians — including armed fighters, stone-throwing youths, and civilian bystanders — have died in clashes with Israeli security forces.
The post Israeli Bus Attacked in West Bank, At Least Eight Injured first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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The Winds Are Blowing Agains the Jewish People; But the Response to Chaos and Violent Protests Could Lead to a Reversal
A Torah scroll is seen on display at the Babylonian Jewry Heritage Center in Or Yehuda, Israel, April 16, 2018. Photo: Reuters / Amir Cohen.
People are asking why we are now experiencing such a tsunami of hatred — a kind of Ma Nishtana moment. There are very different factors that have come together to create a perfect storm of conflicting world and ethical values. Old certainties have died, and new ones are flourishing, and not always for the best. One can look at this from different perspectives — the historical, the social, the religious, and the long-term instability of societies and governments.
For thousands of years, the fate and role of societies have been determined by the people who exercised power and what religion or gods they adhered to. Power rose or fell violently and unpredictably. Authorities cared little for human life. Religions were supposed to take care of morality. Winners determined the fate of humans — who was accepted and who was not, or merely tolerated. Every country was guilty at some stage of abuse, and benefited from servitude. This does not mean one cannot try to make things better.
Throughout history, rival religions competed for supremacy and Jews were always caught in the middle. Judaism found itself attacked both by religions and by secular ideologies. And many Jews themselves abandoned their religion and culture ,and joined the different and conflicting ideologies and fought for recognition and rights for everyone. We expected to be hated by the European devils of Stalin and Hitler. But we never believed we would be hated by so many Americans. By Harvards and Columbias.
The First and the Second Great Wars were watersheds. They created new global rivalries and exacerbated cultural opposites. The dream that a United Nations could bring peace has been shattered by its politics. The dove of peace is crippled, and the lion will not lie down with the lamb. As many societies have advanced technologically, and billions were raised out of poverty and servitude, people began to talk about rights instead of obligations. And different groups who felt poorly treated, began to demand respect and amelioration.
Unfortunately, like all such movements, they developed into orthodoxies that allowed for no dissent or criticism. The current curse in the West is wokeism. And in the east, it is the curse of totalitarianism.
Another important factor in a changing world is migration. In the past, people fled prejudice, wars, and oppression. Many wanted a freer life and opportunities. And they integrated into the host societies. Ease of travel and access have now meant that larger numbers are fleeing, bringing with them values directly in conflict with host societies. The Western world is being and will continue to be challenged by massive immigration because it needs more workers to fill the gaps left by declining birthrates. In itself this is not a problem. But by refusing to deal with the issue of integration, by burying heads in sands, and now by fearing to act to remove those inciting hatred, it is only stoking up more chaos for the future. In many places, the character of nations has already begun to change.
Multiculturalism, once seen as an ideal, is now becoming a problem. It has led to a choice, between cultural capitulation and an alliance of false brothers, religious fundamentalists allied with left-wing progressives to gain power despite opposing values. One day, they may overturn states from within.
Some will argue that Israel is the cause of world dysfunction. Strange that such a small people are thought to have such influence. Others argue that Israel was a mistake, and all other states that emerged from the ashes of the Ottoman Empire are legitimate. And they argue that Israel has no right to defend itself. All these are both nonsensical and evidence of prejudice. And they simply reiterate what the Bible foretold, that we are people who are alone, not appreciated by other nations (Numbers 23:9).
If the world is bent on tearing itself apart, we can only look on in despair for them. And do our best to ensure that we are well protected.
All is not lost. There are signs of a reaction. The winds that bring storms can also revive and refresh.
Florence, Italy, in the 15th century was the pinnacle of wealth, culture, and influence. Its banking families controlled the Western world. The Franciscan monk Savonarola (1452-1498) attacked the power and the wealth of the wealthy rulers. But he went too far in destroying great art, music, and what he saw as luxury. Instead, he enforced dull pious conformity. For a while, he was successful. But people soon tired of it, and in the end, he was burnt as a heretic. After the French Revolution came the Reign of Terror. Let us hope it won’t happen now.
The author is a writer and rabbi, based in New York.
The post The Winds Are Blowing Agains the Jewish People; But the Response to Chaos and Violent Protests Could Lead to a Reversal first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Why Is the Associated Press Supporting and Praising Someone Who Urged the Murder of Jews?
The bodies of people, some of them elderly, lie on a street after they were killed during a mass-infiltration by Hamas gunmen from the Gaza Strip, in Sderot, southern Israel, Oct. 7, 2023. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad
There’s more than one way to whip up hatred.
For example, someone could stand on a street corner in an Israeli city less than two weeks after the Oct. 7 massacre, and urge the crowd of hundreds to repeat the following:
Hisham’s Gaza will not bow, not to a tank and not to artillery … Gaza, Al Aqsa and Sheikh Jarrah … the nation calls for a struggle … there’s no solution and no solution … only uprooting the occupation … Raise your voice … Death is preferable to humiliation …
Greetings from Um al-Fahm to the freedom fighters (shahidim) … Greetings from Um al-Fahm to proud Gaza … Hey, people join [them], join [them] … Our nation is sacrificing its blood … Hey, join us, our people. [Original in Arabic. Translation from Hebrew to English by CAMERA.]
Someone could also conceal the contents of these words, and falsely portray them as anti-war sentiment, then depict the innocent speaker as unfairly persecuted by a repressive regime, as was done in this news article: “Israel cracks down on Palestinian citizens who speak out against the war in Gaza.”
In the first case — not a hypothetical — Ahmed Khalefa led chants at a demonstration that took place without a police permit in the northern Israeli town of Umm al-Fahm on Oct. 19, 2023, well before Israel’s ground operation in the Gaza Strip even began.
At the gathering — which was broadcast live on Facebook — the Israeli Arab lawyer expressed solidarity with the Hamas terrorists who carried out the atrocities in southern Israel, and urged his fellow citizens to join them.
In the second case — also not a hypothetical — a leading news organization, the Associated Press (which claims a daily global audience of 4 billion), covered up Khalefa’s incitement, recast him as an anti-war protester, and fostered antipathy against a supposedly repressive Israel.
In the telling of Sam McNeil’s Nov. 24, 2024 article, Israel has imposed a “yearlong crackdown against Palestinian citizens who speak out against the war in Gaza.”
McNeil presented Khalefa as the poster child representing “more than 400 Palestinian citizens of Israel who, since the start of the war in Gaza, have been investigated by police for ‘incitement to terrorism’ or ‘incitement to violence,’ according to Adalah, a legal rights group for minorities.”
“Ahmed Khalefa’s life turned upside down after he was charged with inciting terrorism for chanting in solidarity with Gaza at an anti-war protest in October 2023,” intoned McNeil.
The AP journalist repeatedly referred to Israel’s allegedly heavy-handed laws — “Just being charged with incitement to terrorism or identifying with a terrorist group can land a suspect in detention until they’re sentenced, under the terms of a 2016 law” — but never once specified what exactly it was that Khalefa said which resulted in the charges.
Instead, McNeil relied on Khalefa’s characterization — or, rather, whitewash — of the words that landed him in hot water:
[Khalefa] said Israeli prosecutors took issue with slogans that broadly praised resistance and urged Gaza to be strong, but which didn’t mention violence or any militant groups. For that, he said, the government is trying to disbar him, and he faces up to eight years in prison.
Not only did McNeil withhold from readers Khalefa’s actual words, a peculiar oversight for a news organization that insists it works according to the motto of “advancing the power of facts,” but he notably also never bothered to consult with the Israeli jurists who handled the case.
Moreover, the AP neglected to mention that Khalefa’s case was heard in Israel’s High Court, a significant fact that challenges the flimsy narrative in which Israeli authorities “see us more as enemies than as citizens,” as the defendant told McNeil.
In his decision to release Khalefa to house arrest last February, Israeli Supreme Court Justice Ofer Grosskopf ruled (translation by CAMERA):
In times of peace, as well as in times of war, there are statements that are not protected by the freedom of expression, and there are forbidden exhortations which do not fall under the right to protest. From a theoretical standpoint, the line is very clear. Even during wartime, the expression of stances regarding the war is legitimate: one may call for its end; it’s permitted to express support for its continuation. It’s permitted to support a ceasefire arrangement which will bring back the hostages; one may call to continue fighting until Hamas is eradicated. One may express horror at the consequences of war;
It’s permissible to point out the dangers of stopping it before its goals are achieved. These are all positions which are worthy of being heard, which are permitted to express, even when the mortars are noisy and the guns are thundering. In contrast, expressions of support for the enemy and calls for carrying out war crimes are harmful and dangerous, and their use is unacceptable and forbidden. The freedom of expression does not protect, and the freedom to demonstrate does not legitimize, voicing views supporting atrocities carried out by Hamas on Oct. 7, or cheering our enemies’ position, or calling for their victory in the military campaign in Gaza. They do not enable the voicing of support for genocide, or calls for mass expulsion.
He continued:
These are stances forbidden from public discourse during times of peace, and in times of war they pose a special danger. Indeed, voicing treason and hatred is not a freedom held by anyone; it poses a danger to our ability to coexist during times of peace, and is liable to turn into a viable threat to our very existence in times of war.
The distinction that Justice Grosskopf clearly delineates is completely lost on the AP’s McNeil, who cannot consider anything aside from a double standard. He wrote:
Over the summer, around two dozen anti-war protestors in the port city of Haifa were only allowed to finish three chants before police forcefully scattered the gathering into the night. Yet Jewish Israelis demanding a hostage release deal protest regularly – and the largest drew hundreds of thousands into the streets.
It also seems to have eluded McNeil that Israeli laws banning incitement and glorification of terror organizations resemble those in other Western democracies, including the United Kingdom.
Concerning the specifics of Khalefa’s case, Justice Grosskopf ruled:
Both the magistrate court and the district court determined that the defendant’s statements at the demonstration overstep the boundary between permitted and forbidden. I accept these positions. The statements which the defendant and Jabareen made at the protest, according to their plain meaning, possess expressions of praise for the enemy, and words of backing for their deeds.
The aforementioned Jabareen, as in Muhammad Jabareen, also made an appearance in McNeil’s article, which stated:
“Anyone who tries to speak out about the war will be imprisoned and harassed in his work and education,” said Oumaya Jabareen, whose son was jailed for eight months after an anti-war protest. “People here are all afraid, afraid to say no to this war.”
Far from saying “no to this war,” Jabareen led the crowd in these chants:
Blessings from Um al-Fahm to proud Gaza … resist, resist, resist … do not bargain with your rights … raise, raise, raise the voice … death is preferable to humiliation, Hisham’s Gaza will not bow … not from a tank and not from artillery. Resist, resist, resist … and do not compromise on Gaza. Resist, resist, resist … do not compromise on your lands. There is no other. The shahidim are beloved to God. [Translation from Hebrew to English by CAMERA.]
McNeil also used rhetorical tricks to demonize Israel as an undemocratic oppressor of minorities.
“Israel says its Palestinian citizens enjoy equal rights, including the right to vote, and they are well-represented in many professions,” he wrote, qualifying the easily verifiable reality of strong professional representation and full rights for Israel’s Arab citizens (whom he misleadingly terms “Palestinians”).[Emphasis added.]
In reality, not only can Israeli Arab citizens petition Israel’s High Court, but they may also serve on the bench, as does High Court Justice Khaled Kabub, a Muslim.
On the other hand, McNeil stated as fact the following questionable claim with zero qualification: “However, Palestinians are widely discriminated against in areas like housing and the job market.”
Applying McNeil’s methodology, the conclusion is damning: The Associated Press says it advances the power of facts. However, the wire service widely discriminates against Israel, concealing facts that don’t serve its predetermined anti-Israel narrative.
Tamar Sternthal is the director of CAMERA’s Israel Office.
The post Why Is the Associated Press Supporting and Praising Someone Who Urged the Murder of Jews? first appeared on Algemeiner.com.