“As you can see, I’m not a dancer,” confessed Miri Shalem to the small audience at the American Zionist Movement's most recent Cafe Israel in New York City. “But dance is a part of my life.” Around 20 women (and two men) of varying ages listened attentively as the 42-year-old Orthodox Israeli told her story. Shalem is one of the women living in Beit Shemesh who reacted to the rather short-lived gender-segregation scandal with fierce determination. After a fickle media turned its …More

A visit to Zichiron Ya’akov gives one a chance to not only taste some of the region’s famous wine, but to also learn about the history of pre-state Israel.  [Israel 21c]    Knesset Member Anastassia Michaeli threw a glass of water on fellow MK Ghaleb Majadele, because he called her a “fascist” during a meeting of Knesset’s Education, Culture and Sports Committee. [Ynet]   10,000 IDF soldiers in need received a Hanukkah gift card that can be used in stores …More

Darfur refugee Adam Mahdi will have to discontinue his efforts to aid Holocaust survivors in Israel because of financial reasons. Mahdi’s work, done when he had so little, serves as an inspiration to others to help the last struggling survivors. [Ynet] Israeli women are using the media attention generated by the Beit Shemesh to fight back against harassment by ultra-Orthodox males on public buses. [The Wall Street Journal] Eliyahu Federman wonders what leads the Haredim to violence when modern, secular …More

Famed British-Israeli magician Uri Geller endorsed Rabbi Shmuley Boteach to succeed UK Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks when he steps down next September. [Jerusalem Post] Facing the prospect of overflowing landfills, the Jerusalem District Planning and Building Committee intends to construct a treatment plant to recycle the city’s trash. [Jerusalem Post] Ronald Lauder argues that Israel needs to reinvent and expand its submarine force to provide strategic deterrence for a nuclear Iran. [New York Post] A …More

The Chief IDF rabbi pledged that he would not allow religious extremism to affect the women serving in the Israeli army, according to an Army Radio report Friday. Referring to the recent turmoil in Beit Shemesh, Rabbi Rafi Peretz wrote to IDF commanders to address the issue. "The same oversight that occurred in Beit Shemesh will not occur in the IDF," Peretz promised. Those "events were immoral, they go against the way of the IDF and its values, and are utterly opposed to the spirit of Judaism." The rabbi said …More

Israel's finance ministry will completely eliminate custom taxes on hundreds of imported consumer and industrial goods. This is in response to protests to cut the cost of living in Israel. [Reuters] Margaret Thatcher was a long time defender of many Jewish causes as well as a supporter of Israel throughout her political career. [Tablet] Who will succeeds Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, UK’s Chief Rabbi? Some are saying that Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, "rabbi to the stars," and popular author could be England's …More

Prime Minister Netanyahu was criticized by both opposition after a report that he was going to end the conflict between the Ultra-Orthodox and religious resident by splitting the city in half. [Ynet] Over three days more than a dozen top officials from Cornell University and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology holed up in the Cornell Club to discuss the $400 million in real estate and infrastructure upgrades that the Bloomberg administrative was dangling for someone to build a new graduate school of applied …More

Israeli president Shimon Peres urged Israelis Tuesday to join the rally against ultra-Orthodox Jews imposing codes of conduct on women and girls in Beit Shemesh. "We are fighting for the soul of the nation and the essence of the state," Peres said during remarks to reporters at his official residence. Peres continued, "We saw yesterday how the officers fight for basic equality in Beit Shemesh on behalf of the entire country. If they value women so much, let them move to the other sidewalk. No one has the right to …More

The Israeli town of Beit Shemesh has become the epicenter of the battle over “modest” dress. This weekend, Channel 2 aired an expose, showing an 8-year-old Orthodox American girl afraid to walk to school because of the harassment she endured from men who felt her attire was not modest enough. The special brought the issue of gender segregation to the forefront of national discussion, with activists, news organizations and politicians scrambling to the defense of young Na’ama Margolese. Tsviki …More