The religious-secular divide in - how big is the gap?/Yehoshua Grunstein A] I Introduction ; Judaism and Israelism intertwined =Chulent מגילת העצמאות/ Declaration of Independence 1- 1 ERETZ-ISRAEL [(Hebrew) - the Land of Israel, Palestine] was the birthplace of the http://www.knesset.gov.il/docs/heb/megila Jewish people….. In the year 5657 (1897), at the summons of the spiritual t.htm בארץ-ישראל קם העם היהודי.. בשנת תרנ"ז )father of the Jewish State, Theodore Herzl, the First Zionist Congress )7981 נתכנס הקונגרס הציוני לקול קריאתו של הוגה חזון convened and proclaimed the right of the Jewish people to national rebirth in המדינה היהודית תיאודור הרצל והכריז על זכות -its own country. This right was recognized in the Balfour Declaration… and re העם היהודי לתקומה לאומית בארצו .זכות זו הוכרה affirmed in the Mandate of the League of Nations which, in particular, gave בהצהרת בלפור... ואושרה במנדט מטעם חבר הלאומים, אשר נתן במיוחד תוקף בין-לאומי לקשר international sanction to the historic connection between the Jewish people ההיסטורי שבין העם היהודי לבין ארץ-ישראל ולזכות and Eretz-Israel and to the right of the Jewish people to rebuild its National העם היהודי להקים מחדש את ביתו הלאומי ..לפיכך ,Home…ACCORDINGLY WE, MEMBERS OF THE PEOPLE'S COUNCIL נתכנסנו, אנו חברי מועצת העם נציגי הישוב העברי REPRESENTATIVES OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF ERETZ-ISRAEL והתנועה הציונית...אנו מכריזים בזאת על הקמת AND OF THE ZIONIST MOVEMENT…, HEREBY DECLARE THE מדינה יהודית בארץ ישראל, היא מדינת ישראל . ESTABLISHMENT OF A JEWISH STATE IN ERETZ-ISRAEL, TO BE …תקיים שויון זכויות חברתי ומדיני גמור לכל אזרחיה KNOWN AS THE STATE OF ISRAEL. THE STATE OF ISRAEL… will בלי הבדל דת, גזע ומין; תבטיח חופש דת, מצפון, ensure complete equality of social and political rights to all its לשון, חינוך ותרבות ;תשמור על המקומות הקדושים inhabitants irrespective of religion, race or sex; ….WE APPEAL to the של כל הדתות; אנו קוראים …לבני העם הערבי תושבי מדינת ישראל לשמור על שלום וליטול חלקם Arab inhabitants of the State of Israel to preserve peace and participate in the בבנין המדינה על יסוד אזרחות מלאה ושווה ועל יסוד upbuilding of the State on the basis of full and equal citizenship and due נציגות מתאימה בכל מוסדותיה, הזמניים והקבועים . representation in all its provisional and permanent institutions. …PLACING ...מתוך בטחון בצור ישראל... …"OUR TRUST IN THE "ROCK OF ISRAEL חוק השבות/Law of Return2 2-  Born Jews (having a Jewish mother or Ibid, Amendment, # 2, 4a; circa 1970-"The rights of a Jew under this Law and maternal grandmother) the rights of an oleh under the Nationality Law 5712-1952…are also vested in a  Jewish ancestry (having a Jewish child and a grandchild of a Jew, the spouse of a Jew, the spouse of a child father or grandfather)?? of a Jew and the spouse of a grandchild of a Jew, except for a person who has  Converts to Judaism. been a Jew and has voluntarily changed his religion." A stamp in a passport issuing holder Israeli citizenship based on Law of Return

1 Source- http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/History/Modern%20History/Israel%20at%2050/The%20Declaration%20of%20the%20Est ablishment%20of%20the%20State 2 July 5, 1950 /5710, source- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Law_of_Return

Yehoshua Grunstein 1 Melbourne 5772 B] "Israeli, not Jewish"

Writer Yoram Kaniuk to be registered as ‘no religion\ By JOANNA PARASZCZUK-02/10/2011/http://www.jpost.com/LandedPages/PrintArticle.aspx?id=240278 The Tel Aviv District Court published on Sunday a ruling made on Tuesday that will allow writer Yoram Kaniuk to be recorded in the population register as having “no religion.” Kaniuk, who was born and raised in Tel Aviv, served in the Palmach during the War of Independence and later became an internationally acclaimed author and critic. In 2010, Kaniuk petitioned the Interior Ministry to change his status on the population register from “Jewish” to “no religion.”…“I am now over 81 and not healthy, and I would really like a decision to be made very soon about my request,” said Kaniuk in his petition. “My request is very important to me.” Kaniuk explained that while he did not want to convert to another religion, he has never identified as a religious Jew. 3 http://www.ani-israeli.org/I am Israeli/ Prof. Uzzi Ornan /09.08.08, 16:07 … Out of its 120 nationalities, the Ministry of Interior fails to recognize just one relevant one-the Israeli nationality… In order to allow who wish to be known as just that – Israelis, with no religious or ethnic denomination – the Ani Israeli ("I am Israeli") Association filed a motion with the District Court, asking it to order the Ministry of Interior to list the petitioners as "Israelis" in all official documents4.

5Assi Dayan, the son of Israeli general …. "I went to the beach on Yom Kippur. But that was the first year I was elected to the Knesset, Moshe Dayan in 1992. Of course, it didn't occur to me there would be a photographer there, that my behavior would be offensive to anyone. …Still her picture, in which she is wearing a bikini and reading a book on the beach on Yom Kippur, made the front page of the now-defunct newspaper Hadashot. …

3 Prof. Uzzi Ornan is an Israeli linguist, a member of the Academy of the and the chairman of the Ani Israeli Association 4 The judge rejected the petition, claiming "cannot create a new nationality via court order,", "Ani Israeli" is currently working on a High Court appeal against the above ruling. 5 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assi_Dayan

Yehoshua Grunstein 2 Melbourne 5772 1] The vanished Yasher Koach culture

1(רש"י דברים פרק כא;"ידינו לא שפכה" - וכי עלתה על לב שזקני בית דין שופכי דמים הם? אלא לא ראינוהו ופטרנוהו בלא מזונות ובלא לויה. והכהנים אומרים כפר לעמך ישראל. 2(הרמב"ם הלכות אבל פרק י"ד/א-ב-מצות עשה של דבריהם לבקר חולים, ולנחם אבלים, ולהוציא המת, ולהכניס הכלה, וללוות האורחים... ואלו הן גמילות חסדים שבגופו שאין להם שיעור...שכר הלויה מרובה מן הכל, …ולוויים יותר מהכנסתן, אמרו חכמים כל שאינו מלוה כאילו שופך דמים. 3( משנה אבות ד/טו-... הוי מקדים בשלום כל אדם, והוי זנב לאריות ואל תהי ראש לשועלים: 4(ברכות י"ז עמוד א'-אמרו עליו על רבן יוחנן בן זכאי שלא הקדימו אדם שלום מעולם ואפילו נכרי בשוק. סוכה כ"ח עמוד א'- אמרו עליו על רבן יוחנן בן זכאי: מימיו לא שח שיחת חולין, ולא הלך ארבע אמות בלא תורה ובלא תפילין, ולא קדמו אדם בבית המדרש ולא ישן בבית המדרש לא שינת קבע ולא שינת עראי, ולא הרהר במבואות המטונפות, ולא הניח אדם בבית המדרש ויצא, ולא מצאו אדם יושב ודומם אלא יושב ושונה, ולא פתח אדם דלת לתלמידיו אלא הוא בעצמו, ולא אמר דבר שלא שמע מפי רבו מעולם, ולא אמר הגיע עת לעמוד מבית המדרש חוץ מערבי פסחים וערבי יום הכפורים... 5(ספרי, ואתחנן, פיסקה ל"ב- דבר אחר: "ואהבת את ה' אלהיך", האהיבו על בריות כאברהם אביך

Settlers launch new door-to-door campaign against disengagement [ Jerusalem Post page # 2/TOVAH LAZAROFF/07-27-2004]

Settlers launched a new "door-to-door, heart-to-heart" campaign Monday, seeking support to keep Gush Katif under Israeli control. Flush with success from the human chain of demonstrators they created on Sunday that stretched from Gush Katif to the Western Wall in Jerusalem, settler leaders now plan to send thousands of volunteers to 1 million homes in Israel within the next four months to try to convince citizens that the Gaza Strip is an integral part … 2] Not everything is an attempt to destory Judaism

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4149834,00.html /11.18.11

'Troops will die rather than listen to women' Samaria Chief Rabbi Elyakim Levanon blasts IDF committee's expected recommendation not to exempt religious soldiers from official ceremonies which include performance of women. 'Troops must give their life for this issue,' he states

Rav Shteinman and Other Gedolim to Escort Emmanuel Parents to Jail, Over 20,000 Expected at Massive Yerushalayim Rally/Matzav Editor On June 16, 2010 @ 11:43 AM

Maran Rav Aharon Leib Shteinman will lead a march of chareidi parents from Emmanuel who will be thrown in jail for refusing to obey a High Court ruling to send their daughters to the school in that city. In addition, a massive rally, which MK Menachem Eliezer Moses of UTJ said will be “the mother of all protests,” will take place tomorrow in Yerushalayim.

Rav Shteinman has said that the Emmanuel issue is the “war of a generation”

“It’s a struggle for pure chinuch,” he said. “They don’t want to kill the body. They wish to take the soul.”

Yehoshua Grunstein 3 Melbourne 5772 3] PR/"Yeshivish" doesn't jive

2(Response to the Esteemed Rabbis, 1) 50 municipal rabbis: Don't rent flats to Arabs/ Kobi Signatories of the Letter Forbidding the Nahshoni7 Sale of Homes to Gentiles in the Land Dozens of municipal rabbis signed a manifest ordering a halachic ban on of Israel/ Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein/6 Tevet, selling or renting land and apartments in Israel to non-Jews. The 57716 signatures were collected by a kolel student from Netanya who ... As I read your words, I was impressed enough chose to appeal to municipal chief rabbies following the uproar caused by by the dogged determination inherent in your love Safed rabbi's call not to rent apartments to Arab students in the city. He of the land and your love of the nation that dwells approached the public servants and not yeshiva heads in order to therein… However, I am concerned that in this emphasize that the ruling does not reflect a political view but rather instance your love has affected your judgment. a standard halachic ban. The statement quotes a variety of halachic passages referring to the issue and notes that in some cases persons …Indeed, almost the entire unfolding of events renting apartments to non-Jews could be ostracized…. The rabbis that resulted from the dissemination of this letter presented various justifications for the ban, including fears of intermarriage was foreseeable and, to a large extent, and blasphemy. The statement added that sellers bear responsibility for the obvious. The public furor, both social and physical and spiritual outcomes of their actions. ideological, the rift that has opened among the 2) http://www.inn.co.il/News/News.aspx/213391,28/12/10 הרבניות פונות לבנות: אל תעבדו עם גוים/בני טוקר ושלמה citizens of the state—between camps and within פיוטרקובסקי ,camps, the op-eds in the various media outlets אחרי "מכתב הרבנים" מגיע "מכתב הרבניות". שורה של רבניות, נשותיהם של the various positions, often impassioned and רבנים ידועים ומוכרים, פונות לבנות ישראל בקריאה שלא לעבוד או לשרת overheated, the attack on the religious-Zionist במקומות בהם עובדים גוים.... rabbinate from the right and from the left, even אחות יקרה! את בת מלך, את שייכת לעם סגולה … למענך, למען הדורות from Torah giants—it was all הבאים, וכדי שלא תעברי את הסבל הנוראי, אנו פונות אליך בבקשה, בתחינה, foreseeable;…..the prohibition of selling homes בתפילה. אל תצאי עם גוים, אל תעבדי במקומות שיש שם גוים ואל תעשי שירות לאומי ביחד עם גוים... to gentiles is presented as the exclusive halakhic position in the manner at hand, and the voice that bursts forth from the throats of the signatories is made to sound like the single unequivocal word of God….

Riding the Tides # 4- don't have to sign on to a group

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmodernism - Postmodernism ... in particular it attacks the use of sharp classifications such as male versus female, straight versus gay, white versus black, and imperial versus colonial. Rather, it holds realities to be plural and relative, and dependent on who the interested parties are and what their interests consist in.

6 [Translated from the Hebrew by Elli Fischer; the translation has not been reviewed by R. Lichtenstein] 7 http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3995724,00.html , published 12/7/10

Yehoshua Grunstein 4 Melbourne 5772 ישיבות ביום שלישי, ד' אדר א' תשע"א, )//http://www.knesset.gov.il/agenda/heb/committeesbydate.asp- )82/2/0 בשעה 00:00 - סדר היום: חיזוק הקשרים בין נכדים לסבים וסבתות במסגרת יום הזהות היהודית בשעה 00:00 סדר היום: תופעת ההתבוללות בישראל - ישיבה לציון יום הזהות היהודית בכנסת  יו" ר הכנסת רובי ריבלין: "אנחנו מקיימים היום בכנסת את יום הזהות היהודית – יוזמה ברוכה וחשובה שמביאה אל קדמת הבמה נושא חשוב מאין כמוהו, הנוגע לחוויית חיינו הישראלית.. חברת הכנסת ד"ר רחל אדטו: "אני חושבת שהיום, כשאנחנו בחברה כל כך קיצונית, כשהזרמים בחברה – בחברה היהודית ובחברה בכלל – הם רק להקצנה, אין לאף אחד מונופול על הדת, ואף אחד לא יכול לנכס לעצמו את הדת.

Our Judaism/ Israelis are exploring other aspects of Judaism. By JPOST EDITORIAL/05/17/2010 21:57 As in previous years, a wide range of organizations are pitching various forms of Jewish expression this Shavuot as an extension of their year-round activities. Tel Aviv, often mistakenly stereotyped as a bastion of militant secularism, has become, in recent years, a breeding ground for diverse, multilingual Jewish expression …. will organize panels of rabbis, journalists, academics and celebrities in three different locations in Tel Aviv around the theme of Shavuot. Even TV personality and publicist Yair Lapid, who is rumored to be in the process of creating a new secular/liberal political party… will end with singing and a sunrise megilla reading on Frishman Beach followed by Shaharit prayers Is it working?

http://www.knesset.gov.il/description/heb/heb_mimshal_res16.htm בחירות לכנסת השש-עשרה )22 בינואר הבחירות לכנסת השבע- הבחירות לכנסת 2003, כ"ה בשבט התשס"ג( עשרה )22 במרץ 2002, השמונה-עשרה )10 Anti Religious parties=21 seats כ"ח באדר התשס"ו( בפברואר 2002, ט"ז  שינוי=322,535=12.3%=91 בשבט התשס"ט( Anti religious party – 5 Anti Religious- 3 SEATS seats  מר"צ=seats ,=1.1%=9,1,911 [Meretz=11,,99=3%] [Meretz=112,302=3/8%]

Our World: Is Israeli society unraveling? JPost, 1/2/12/By Caroline Glick

…Secular Jews are becoming more religious. A new educational trend that received significant media attention in recent months involves secular parents who send their children to national religious schools to ensure that they receive strong educational grounding in Judaism. And as secular Jews become more religious, both the national religious and ultra-Orthodox sectors are becoming increasingly integrated in nonreligious neighborhoods and institutions. Ultra- Orthodox conscription rates have increased seven-fold in the past four years…The IDF assesses that by 2015, the rate of conscription will rise to 65%.

Yehoshua Grunstein 5 Melbourne 5772