Collage of images: Amy Coney Barrett, the Supreme Court building, Trump with a group of ultra-Orthodox Jews
30 Nov
Uncategorized

Trump’s Parting Gifts

Despite a failed reelection campaign, Donald Trump and his team registered several notable gains this election season. Trump slightly increased the share of Black and Hispanic Americans voting for him, alongside an impressive turnout from a small but well-organized subgroup: Orthodox Jews. According to polls and estimates, more than 80 percent of Orthodox Jews cast their vote for Trump, making them one of his most approving constituencies in the nation.

Continue reading

20 Mar
Coronavirus, Israel, Latest

Ultra-Orthodox Communities See Israel’s New Social Cohesion as a Threat

Much of the time, Israeli society is fractured by differences and resentments. Sometimes, we define ourselves more by whom we’re against than what we stand for: Jews vs. Arabs, religious vs. secular, right vs. left, Mizrachm vs. Ashkenazim, rich vs. poor, the periphery vs. the center. But as Israel has shown repeatedly, in times of emergency, we pull together. We are proud that crises bring out the collective best in us. In times like these, we don’t talk the language of difference and identity; we embrace (these days, at a distance) cohesion and social responsibility.  At this time, when we’re in lockdown, this underlying social cohesion, as I wrote in my previous piece, plays a big role in keeping most Israelis at home. But for some groups, and in particular, for some in the ultra-Orthodox community, this...

Continue reading

10 Jan
Culture, Misc, Religion, topics

Embracing Rosh Hodesh

By Scott Fox I love Hanukkah: the presents, wintertime, dreidels, candle lighting. I love all of it. I was born on the fourth day of Hanukkah (28th of Kislev), which makes the holiday particularly special. I lament the beginning of the month of Tevet because it signals the coming end of that special time and the return to normal life. As a semi-celebratory day, Rosh Hodesh (the beginning of the new month) seemed just as perfunctory as Tevet. It is a time that is marked but not especially noteworthy. Two years ago, however, Rosh Hodesh Tevet completely changed my relationship with that time of the year. On that two-day Rosh Hodesh, I lost a woman who shaped my practice of Judaism, and also discovered new women Jewish heroes who would inject Rosh Hodesh with a newfound importance...

Continue reading

25 Sep
Latest

Jews for Ahmadinejad, Onion-style

In an effort to improve his standing among Jews, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad tried yesterday to make out with a member of the ultra-Orthodox sect Neturei Karta. Ahmadinejad has been in the dumps among pro-Semites since giving a speech at the UN earlier this week condemned by Barack Obama as anti-Semitic (see below for the full text). On Wednesday, though, Ahmadinejad met with a group of Neturei Karta rabbis who presented him with a $700 silver trophy and told him they loved him. Neturei Karta, a radical ultra-Orthodox group that believes the Jews should not have their own state in the Holy Land until after the messiah comes, spent Tuesday protesting the protests against Ahmadinejad. According to Ynet, Neturei Karta Rabbi Yisroel David Weiss, who was at the meeting, said that "the encounter was 'very successful' and was conducted...

Continue reading