Jewish News

Rabbi Links Ahmadinejad, Rabbis’ Illnesses and Jewish Prayer

Renowned rabbi Rabbi Aharon Yehuda Leib Shteinman spoke this Saturday night regarding recent developments in Israel, where many great rabbis have fallen ill. Among those known to be seriously ill are Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, Rabbi Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, and Rabbi Yaakov Yosef.Rabbi Shteinman linked the spate of illnesses among Jewish leaders to foreign affairs – specifically, to Iranian President ...

Rabbi Lau: Time to Free Pollard

Some 60,000 people have signed an online petition asking that U.S. President Barack H. Obama pardon and release Jonathan Pollard. Pollard, who has been in prison for some 28 years, and suffers from deteriorating health. Among those who have signed the petition are former President Yitzchak Navon, several Nobel Prize winners, artists, Knesset members, and public and corporate officials.On Sunday, Purim ...

Rabbi Lau sends Shalit ‘Passover kit’

Tel Aviv’s Chief Rabbi Israel Meir Lau last week sent a “Seder kit” to kidnapped soldier Gilad Shalit, who has been held by Hamas in Gaza for four and a half years.The package, which includes matzot, wine and a Passover Haggadah, was handed over to the head of the Red Cross delegation to Israel, Juan Pedro Schaerer.Lau, the former chief ...

Rabbi Kahane’s Legacy Remembered at Ground Zero

Three separate events last week, including one at Ground Zero, remembered the legacy of former Knesset Member Rabbi Meir Kahane, who was gunned down at a hotel in New York 20 years ago by Egyptian terrorist El Sayyid Nosair.A rally at Ground Zero followed a memorial service in Rabbi Kahane’s memory, where Rabbi Herbert Bomzer of the Young Israel of Ocean Parkway ...

Rabbi, how do you like my glasses?

Leaders of the Vizhnitz Hasidism have issued new instructions in regards to the purchase of eyeglasses, as part of their attempt to combat modernization.In a special sermon to the young yeshiva students of the Hasidic dynasty, considered one of the biggest in the haredi sector, Rabbi Israel Hager, the successor of the Vizhnitz Hasidism’s founder, discussed the dangers inherent in ...

Rabbi Haim Druckman to be Awarded Israel Prize

Rabbi Haim Druckman, dean of Ohr Etzion Yeshiva, chairman of Bnei Akiva Yeshivot and a leading figure in the national-religious community, will be awarded the Israel Prize for contributions to education and society, Education Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced on Wednesday.Druckman, who also served as director of the State Conversion Authority from 1990 until February of this year, will receive the ...

Rabbi Elyashiv: Protest IDF conversions

Leader of the Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox faction Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv has called on the public to take part in a mass protest to be staged following Rabbi Ovadia Yosef’s ruling legitimizing Israel Defense Forces conversions. Sources close to Elyashiv confirmed the report.Shortly after Shas’ spiritual leader ruled that army conversions were valid, those opposed to the decision announced they will ...

Rabbi Druckman blasts haredim at conference on converts

Rabbi Haim Druckman blasted haredi elements who cast doubts on the validity of conversions performed by the State Conversion Authority, which he heads, and by the IDF, during a symposium Monday at Jerusalem’s International Conference Center.While his opening speech to some 400 rabbinic judges, rabbis and educators dealt more with the positive aspects of conversion at a time when people ...

Rabbi Dr. Abraham Twerski Shares Timely Thoughts on Gilad Shalit’s Release

The 20th of Tishrei, the day of Gilad Shalit’s release from captivity, is a day of mixed emotions. Our hearts throb with joy for the Shalit family, and we wish them much nachas forever and ever. Yet, our hearts also bleed for the families who lost loved ones at the hands of the ruthless killers who are being released, whose ...

Rabbi: Coordinate Joseph’s Tomb visits

Samaria Chief Rabbi Elyakim Levanon called on rabbis and religious leaders this week not to send their students to pray at Joseph’s Tomb in the West Bank city of Nablus, without coordinating the visit with the Israel Defense Forces.Speaking following Sunday’s shooting incident at the holy site, which left one Jewish worshipper dead and several injured, the rabbi condemned religious leaders encouraging ...

Rabbi co-officiates at Clinton wedding

Chelsea Clinton was married under a chuppah in a ceremony co-officiated by a rabbi. Rabbi James Ponet, head of the Joseph Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale, was joined by Rev. William Shillady, a Methodist minister. Clinton and the groom, Marc Mezvinsky, reportedly were married under a chuppah, in a ceremony that featured friends and family reciting the seven ...

Rabbi calls for sacrifice on Temple Mount

The annual attempts to resume the Passover sacrifice received a first significant rabbinical backing recently. Safed’s Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, a prominent religious Zionism leader, has called on the public to perform the sacrifice mitzvah on the eve of the Jewish holiday, in about two weeks.Speaking during a Halacha lesson in Jerusalem last week, the rabbi warned that Jews evading ...