Free Republic

Argentina’s new president Monday visited the Queens grave of one of the most revered rabbis in modern history, paying his respects as he met with Jewish leaders in the Big Apple. Javier Milei — a firebrand libertarian and outspoken admirer of Israel who has been fostering a close relationship with New York’s Hasidic community since well before his Oct. 22 election victory — stopped at the Ohel, the gravesite of the Chabad Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Mendel Schneerson. Donning a yarmulke and flanked by Hasidic community leaders, Milei, who is Catholic, somberly toured the rebbe’s final resting place, where he shared...

Unfazed by the bombs, undeterred by the warnings, and in the face of the raging conflict, more than 35,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews from across the world have journeyed to Uman, Ukraine, to celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. “Going to celebrate in a war zone en masse is crazy,” said Azoulay Ruben, a 22-year-old trainee dentist from Paris. “But at the same time, it’s a beautiful thing.” Rosh Hashanah is a two-day holiday that falls in September or October, marking the beginning of the high holy days. In Israel, it is usually celebrated with family visits and food: traditionally, pomegranates...

The New York Times published a report in late September targeting Hasidic Yeshivas — alleging students “[know] nothing” and grow up “barely [able] to support their own families” — coinciding with a Board of Regents vote to regulate their religious education. However, Breitbart News has learned that the Times omitted relevant information, shunned sources directly involved with the schools, and declined to publish pertinent on-the-record statements, in pursuing the story — resulting in a funhouse mirror hit piece, pressuring the board’s unanimous vote to force state edicts on the religious schools.Breitbart News has learned the Times did not establish communication...

What Does Biden Have Against Israel? The President treats the governing coalition in Jerusalem worse than he does Iran. ___ https://www.inn.co.il/news/607728 The Wall Street Journal: Biden's attitude towards Israel - worse than the attitude towards Iran INN, Nitzan Keidar, 25 in Tammuz 5783. 07/14/23. The "Wall Street Journal" newspaper devoted its editorial to criticism of the US president and wondered "What does Biden have against Israel?". The American newspaper Wall Street Journal dedicated its editorial today (Friday) to the harsh criticisms hurled this week by the American administration towards Israel and in its title asked "What does Biden have against...

The Revised Jewish Publication Society edition of the Bible is the first major update to the JPS translation of the Tanakh in nearly 40 years.A new Biblical translation that eschews gendered pronouns for God is now available through Sefaria, the online library of Jewish texts, prompting backlash on social media from some who see the change as a sacrilege. The Revised Jewish Publication Society edition of the Bible, which the 135-year-old Jewish publishing house has released in partnership with Sefaria, is the first major update to the JPS translation of the Tanakh in nearly 40 years. So far, only the...

A protest and counter-protest held in Bnai Brak on Tuesday evening turned ugly after one person allegedly pepper spray at a police officer, and police used force in an attempt to disperse haredi protesters from the scene. On Monday, organizers of the anti-government protests against judicial reform announced that they would be demonstration outside the home of MK Moshe Gafni, a member of the United Torah Judaism party (UTJ). "The demonstration will be the opening salvo in a broad process against the involvement of haredi Knesset members in advancing laws to create a coup d'état, and we will first be...

Ultra-Orthodox passengers caused uproar on two flights from New York to Israel because they were worried they would still be in the air as Jewish Shabbat commenced, it has emerged. One El Al service from JFK diverted to Athens, Greece, amid angry scenes among those who feared they would be mid-flight at the start of the Jewish holy day, witnesses say. Pilots on a second El Al flight considered diverting to Rome for similar reasons before continuing to Israel. Both flights had been delayed for hours on Thursday because of stormy weather on the US East Coast. Religious Jews observe...

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A woman who reported a vicious attack by an ad-hoc "modesty patrol" on a Jerusalem bus last month is now lining up support for her case and may be included in a petition to the High Court of Justice over the legality of sex-segregated buses. Miriam Shear says she was traveling to pray at the Western Wall in Jerusalem's Old City early on November 24 when a group of ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) men attacked her for refusing to move to the back of the Egged No. 2 bus. She is now in touch with several legal advocacy and women's organizations, and...

Rabbi Ovadia Yosef – Will anyone be able to top his campaign promises? Rabbi Yosef: Vote Shas, reach heaven Shas spiritual leader Ovadia Yosef speaks at pre-election rally in Tel Aviv, encourages followers to vote for religious Sephardic party; another rabbi tells those in attendance: Don't believe politicians, they are all liars and Arab-lovers Ilan Marciano Reaching heaven was never that easy: Anyone who votes for religious Sephardic party Shas in the upcoming elections is assured of a place in heaven, the party's spiritual leader Rabbi Ovadia Yosef told about 8,000 activists at a pre-election rally in Tel Aviv Tuesday...

Dumb Jewish leaders by: Rabbi Jeremy Rosen Every time you think religious leaders can’t get any more dumb, they get dumber! So Katrina was punishment for the Gaza withdrawal was it? “Hurricanes hardly happen”, but why didn’t one turn up off the Gaza coast instead? Sometimes I really wonder what the Almighty’s thinking about the way some rabbis make our religion into a laughingstock. And it doesn’t help that other religions have equally challenged leaders. A few months ago the clerics of the world were all busy claiming that the tsunami was God’s punishment for whichever was their favourite enemy...