Jewish News

Israel’s Divorce Rate Up 5%; TA Tops List

A report summarizing the activity of rabbinical courts in 2012 reveals a rise in the State of Israel’s divorce rates, alongside a slight step up in sanctions against divorce recalcitrants and violent husbands.In addition, the accepted correlation between a high level of religiousness and a low divorce rate has been refuted.The figures presented in the report point to a further ...

Israel’s Daniel Shechtman wins 2011 Nobel Prize in chemistry

Israeli scientist Daniel Shechtman has been named as the winner of the 2011 Nobel Prize in chemistry, the award panel for the prestigious prize announced Wednesday. He was awarded the prize for his discovery of patterns in atoms called quasicrystals, a chemical structure that researchers previously thought was impossible.Tel Aviv-born Shechtman, 70, is a professor at Technion – Israel Institute ...

Israel’s Center of Jewish Art gets NIS 3 million to create Internet-based art catalog

A ministerial committee is expected to approve a NIS 1.5 million government grant this week to help complete a digital database of the archives of the Center for Jewish Art at Hebrew University in Jerusalem.The center was established about 32 years ago by Professor Mordechai Narkis, and has the largest collection of Jewish art in the world. Its staff, under ...

Israel’s 10 plagues

1. Jealousy“There’s one significant difference between America’s business culture and Israel’s business culture,” I told a group of American businesspeople I was asked to address. “Around here, we don’t have what you call a win-win situation.”The Americans stared at me with confusion, yet the Israelis in the room started to nod, as smiles spread across their faces.The win-win situation is ...

Israelis Travel Abroad, Strengthen Jewish Values

Bnei Akiva, the religious Zionist youth movement, has been running a program in which it sends young Israeli shlichim (representatives) to various countries in the Diaspora in an effort to promote the ideals of “Am Yisrael, Eretz Yisrael and Torat Yisrael” (the People of Israel, the Land of Israel and the Torah of Israel).The program, now in its eighth year of ...

Israelis sue Al-Jazeera over reporting during Second Lebanon War

A group of 91 Israelis wounded by Hezbollah rockets during the 2006 Second Lebanon War is suing the Arab news network Al-Jazeera for $1.2 billion in a New York court for allegedly aiding the Lebanese guerrillas, their lawyer said Tuesday. Nitzana Darshan-Leitner said the suit, which was filed Monday, claims the Qatar-based news network intentionally violated Israel’s military censorship regulations ...

Israelis plead with God to send rain

Israel’s chief rabbis have declared that this Thursday will be a day of prayer and fasting in Israel to implore God to send much needed rain.Israel has entered its seventh year of drought, though this winter was predicted to be the driest yet. So far, those forecasts are proving accurate. Since winter officially began two months ago, very little rain ...

Israelis harshly treated Us Claim Jewish boat activists

Jewish activists who sought to defy Israel’s naval blockade of Gaza say they were treated harshly when soldiers seized their vessel.Itamar Shapira said Wednesday that his brother, Yonatan, a former Israeli air force pilot, was shocked with a Taser gun while passively resisting arrest by sitting down and embracing another passenger. Shapira said the 67-year-old boat captain was knocked over.Read ...

Israelis get Kosher Cigarettes for Passover, Despite Chief Rabbinate’s Disapproval

Observant Jews in Israel craving a smoke during the week-long Passover holiday that started at sundown Monday can now enjoy a rabbi-approved puff.It’s the first time cigarettes have joined the long list of goods stringently checked to ensure they comply with Passover rules on what items are allowed, or kosher for the holiday – meaning they have not come in ...

Israelis arrested at Joseph’s Tomb

Israeli police on Tuesday arrested a group of Israelis on an illegal trip to a flashpoint religious site where several Jews were shot by Palestinian police last month.Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said the group was arrested near the contested Joseph’s Tomb site by the northern West Bank city of Nablus.“We arrested more than a dozen Jewish worshippers who were at ...

Israeli tour guides back in Bethlehem?

Will Israelis be allowed in Bethlehem for the first time since 2000? In light of the relative calm and successful coordination between Israel and the Palestinian security forces, it seems50 Israeli tour guides will soon be permitted to enter Bethlehem again, a senior IDF officersaid on Tuesday.Read More: @ ynetnews.com

Israeli Student Wins 49th Int’l Bible Quiz

The 49th International Bible Quiz for Jewish youth – one of Independence Day’s noble traditions – was held on Thursday morning at the Jerusalem Theater.Israel’s Elehanan Bloch – a student from the Yeshiva High School of Yeruhuam – was this year’s winner.Elhanan’s parents, Ido and Orit, came to Yeruham within the Bnei Akiva movement and are aiding in establishing a synagogue ...