It is time to decide

There is a battle raging in Israel that has long been simmering just below the surface of the mainstream Israeli perception. However, recent events have meant that the dispute has reached such a magnitude that it has become well known to even those outside of its parameters.

Recent accusations against Rabbi Haim Druckman, head of the Conversion Authority that have since led to his being dismissed from his position, have opened this simmering dispute into something akin to an all-out rabbinical war.

For those who are not aware of these latest events: basically a ruling by a panel of High Rabbinical Court judges upholding an earlier decision by the Ashdod rabbinical court retroactively annulled a woman's 15-year-old conversion to Judaism by Rabbi Druckman. The issue was that it was felt that Rabbi Druckman had converted someone that he supposedly knew would not lead a completely observant lifestyle.

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The beautiful game

I was invited to my first Israeli basketball game earlier in the week and I was curious to witness a live game and its accompanying atmosphere. Having been brought up in England, football (I refuse to use the word 'soccer' which is anyway a shortened version of Association Football) is the only sport that matters, however, I am always curious to experience any quintessentially Israeli events.

In England and most of the world, 'Football is life'. As one English manager famously put it: "some people think football is a matter of life and death. I assure you, it's much more serious than that."

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The Nature of Yom Ha'Atzmaut

Every year there is a major debate amongst the religious community as to how much emphasis Yom Ha'atzmaut should be given in the synagogue. In most prayer books there are special prayers to be said on the evening of Yom Ha'Atzmaut which includes parts of Leha Dodi and tehillim, one sung to the tune of the HaTikva.

While many Ashkenazi haredim will not acknowledge Yom Ha'Atzmaut, amongst the Sephardim the debate is more about the nature of the day. During the day there is a debate amongst Sephardim about whether to say Hallel with a blessing or without.

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The irony of Spain's Holocaust record

Up until the Shoa, the largest destruction in the history of world Jewry happened on the Iberian Peninsular. The Inquisition and the Expulsion of Jews in Portugal and Spain left an indelible mark on Jews up until this very day. At the beginning of the 15th century, not a single Jew officially resided in Sepharad. Where once nearly 90% of world Jewry lived, not one openly Jewish soul remained.

This devastating period affects current world Jewry and Judaism more than we think and some have suggested that its effects rival even the Shoa for its after-currents. There was even a ban on visiting Spain for 500 years which was only revoked after King Juan Carlos apologized for his nations past conduct towards the Jews.

While Spain was remembered very bitterly for many generations it became an unlikely haven for Jews escaping the Nazi destruction.

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The Kitniyot debate: between tradition and unity

At no other time of the year is there such seeming distinction between Ashkenazim and Sephardim. There are few customs - and it is only a custom - which are belittled by even respectable Ashkenazi authorities as the laws of kitniyot on Pessah. Rabbenu Yeruham ben Meshullam (Provence, 14th century) said "those accustomed to not eating rice and various kinds of cooked kitniyot on Pessah abide by a stupid custom which makes it harder on themselves (to observe and enjoy the festival) and I have no idea why they do so".

Rav Yaaqov ben Asher rejected the custom, saying "it is an excessive restriction and improper". Rav Zvi Hirsch Ashkenazi known as "Zvi the Wise One" (1660-1718) and his son Rabbi Yaaqov Amdan (1697-1776) opposed the custom with all their might and wanted to eliminate it. They called it "a restriction that has no rhyme or reason for ever existing".

Rav Shmuel of Falaise (in the 13th century), supported the custom but nevertheless admits that this custom comes from a mistake and prohibits things that had been permitted.

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The ethnic cleansing of the Jews

Today, more than ever, certain obscene canards are thrown at Israel in its war of words with those who seek to delegitimize the Jewish State. A cursory study at the many statements that derive from certain extremists sympathetic to the Palestinian cause would see the lie that Israel is "ethnically cleansing" the Palestinians is rife.

Ethnic cleansing has been defined by many people as a variance of acts. Drazen Petrovic wrote, 'Ethnic Cleansing - An Attempt at Methodology' for the European Journal of International Law and defined it as "a well-defined policy of a particular group of persons to systematically eliminate another group from a given territory."

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Restoring the Crown to its rightful place?

Recently a heated debate has occurred in the haredi world concerning the issue of organ donations. While most haredim would not dream of carrying an organ donor's card, a law that has just been passed in Israel may change some of the perceptions.

The Knesset approved a law last Monday intended to regulate organ donations in compliance with Jewish Law. The bill was passed with the support of the ultra-Orthodox Shas Party, while United Torah Judaism voted against the law citing halacha.

This law is the culmination of a very deep process of discussion between rabbis and doctors. The new law is supported by some of the major rabbis of both the religious-Zionist and Sephardi world, including Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar, former Chief Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, former Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu and others. The law was opposed by the leader of the Lithuanian haredim, Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv. A leading in UTJ, MK Moshe Gafni explained at the Knesset plenum during the debate, "A brain dead person is a living being."

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Reclaiming the Jewish word

While we look forward to Purim, there are many other reasons that Adar is such a celebratory month. The third of Adar commemorates the completion of the Second Temple, the seventh is the hilula of Moses and the 28th of Adar is a Talmudic celebration to commemorate the rescinding of a Roman decree against ritual circumcision, Torah study and keeping the Shabbat. However, another important date is often overlooked that goes to the root of the 'People of the Book' in the modern era.

Next week is the anniversary of the creation of the first printed and dated Hebrew book ever published with movable type on the 10th of Adar, Feb. 17, 1475. The book is a copy of Rashi's commentary of the Five Books of Moses. It was printed by Abraham ben Yitzhak ben Garton in Adar 5235 in the city of Reggio di Calabria, Italy. The sole copy of this book that still exists is kept in the Palatine Library in Parma, Italy. The method of type was called incunabula, which is a block-book printed from a single carved or sculpted wooden block for each page, made with individual pieces of cast metal movable type on a printing press, in the technology made famous by Johannes Gutenberg.

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When Balkan Muslims were rescued by Jews

The recent turmoil in the Balkans and the hosting of the Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism in Israel last week make it an auspicious time to remember a little-known event in Jewish history.

During wars and fractious national events, Jews are usually caught in the middle to a devastating extent. The Jewish community as the ultimate 'other' is rarely trusted by any side in conflict and tries to keep as low a profile as possible. The opposite was the case during the siege of Sarajevo from 1992 to 1996.

The Jewish community of Sarajevo can trace its existence back to a safe haven for those Iberian exiles that fled the Inquisition and ultimately the expulsions. Even today the majority of the Jewish community is Sephardi and although many were wiped out during the Holocaust, Ladino is still spoken by many.

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The edicts of separation

This week Rav Yitzhak Yosef, the son of Rav Ovadia Yosef, ruled that the Ashkenazi custom of a newly married couple going to a Heder Yichud (private room) after the Huppa is 'ugly' and 'vulgar'. Chastising Sephardi yeshiva students who have taken on Ashkenazi customs, Rabbi Yosef junior noted that "they are acting in an inappropriate manner".

This presents many issues for the Sephardim about how strictly one should adhere to one's customs and forsake anything else. I note the irony of a Rabbi who dresses in a garb reminiscent of Eastern Europe telling other Sephardim that they should not act according to Ashkenazi customs.

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