Jewish News

80% of Israelis dissatisfied with state, religious policy

Eighty percent of the Israeli public is dissatisfied with the the government’s policies on religion and state, according to a recent survey published Wednesday by the Smith Institute for the Hiddush foundation For Freedom of Religion and Equality.Among the secular public, 86% expressed discontent. Highlighting the divide in views on religious and state policy, 61% of non-haredi citizens supported the ...

80 Jews wounded during protest near Israel Embassy in Ethiopia

A Jewish group says that Ethiopian police injured 80 Ethiopian Jewish protesters and arrested 80 more during a demonstration near the Israeli Embassy in Addis Ababa.Hamse Sutotow, chairman of the Beta Israel Association, said 2,000 Ethiopian Jews gathered Wednesday at the Israeli Embassy. The protesters were demanding the right to Israeli citizenship.Sutotow said he believes the police action was ordered ...

76 Senators Sign Letter of Support for Israel

More than 75 percent of the U.S. Senate has followed the House of Representatives in sending a bipartisan message of support for Israel to the State Department.The letter, signed by 76 senators, (39 Democrats and 37 Republicans) was sent to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, indirectly slamming the Obama administration’s treatment of Israel. A similar letter was sent by 333 ...

7,300 Bnei Menashe to make aliyah

The Ministerial Committee on Immigrant Absorption, led by Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, reached a historic decision in principle several days ago: To bring to Israel the 7,300 members of Bnei Menashe – a northeastern Indian community claiming decent from one of the Lost Tribes of Israel.The committee decided to appoint an inter-ministerial team of director-generals to prepare an operative plan ...

73%: Rabbis mustn’t talk politics

An absolute majority of the Israeli public believes rabbis who are civil servants must not voice political opinions, according to a Ynet-Yesodot survey following a letter published by 50 rabbis against selling and renting apartments to non-Jews.The poll was conducted by the Panels research institute among 502 respondents, who comprise a representative sample of the adult Jewish population in Jewish ...

700 Chuppas in New Jersey

11 couples celebrated their Jewish marriage ceremony Sunday with Bris Avrohom in New Jersey, at their annual gala dinner attended by Chief Rabbi Yona Metzger.In a procession, they were led one by one from the hotel lobby of the Sheraton hotel in Parsippany, NJ. Surrounded by family, friends and supporters of Chabad they merged onto the grand plaza where eleven ...

63% of Jews in favor of Shabbat buses

The Israeli society is filled with conflicts and tensions: Between Sephardim and Ashkenazim, between Right and Left, and between rich and poor. But one of the deepest rifts relates to state and religion – public transportation on Shabbat, conversion, marriage and divorce, IDF draft and other burning issues.The past year was also filled with heated debates over religion’s place in the ...

58 Percent of Jewish Israelis are Religious or ‘Traditionalist’

A clear majority of Israeli Jews see themselves as religious or ‘traditional,’ according to newly released data from the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS).Eight percent of Jews define themselves as hareidi, 12 percent as religious, 13 percent as religious traditionalists, 25 percent as “traditionalists who are not so religious” and the remaining 42 percent as non-religious or secular.The statistics released ...

56% of Israelis Say Chametz Law Necessary

Passover is considered to be an especially difficult holiday, yet a new survey reveals – even Israel’s secular population does not want to give it up. A Ynet-Gesher survey indicated that a clear majority of Israel’s Jewish population, from every sector of society, are meticulous in not eating chametz on the seven days of Passover.Moreover, a majority of the population ...

56% of Haredim live in poverty

Some 56% of the country’s Haredi (ultra-Orthodox ) citizens live under the poverty line, and Haredim make up 20% of the country’s poor, the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry has found. Yet they constitute only 10% of the population.The findings, from a report on Haredi employment, will be presented to the Knesset Labor, Welfare and Health Committee on Tuesday.The average ...

55% of seculars prefer not to buy Eda Haredit Badatz products

While the secular boycott of food products with an Eda Haredit kashrut stamp did not catch on, a recent poll shows it did have potential. A joint Ynet and Gehser Foundation survey suggests that the majority of seculars prefer not to purchase food products supervised by the Eda Haredit Badatz, one of several Jewish rabbinical courts, so as not to support ...

53 Hours from Times Square Smoking SUV to Arrest

The license plate had been switched and the vehicle identification number stripped from the dashboard of the 1993 Nissan Pathfinder holding a crude bomb in Times Square. Smoke from the faulty firecracker detonators might have ruined evidence.Read More: @ cbsnews.comYou might also like:Times Sq. open after bomb scareTimes Square Bomber Plotted 2nd AttackSurveillance video shows Times Square bomber buying fireworksTimes Square ...