Anyway, a quick google search reveals interesting stuff going on in Israel while my mind's been otherwise occupied. Like this:
Rabbis in Israel have announced that the prohibition against kitniyot- legumes- on Passover, which Ashkenazi Jews follow but Sephardic Jews do not, does not apply to Jews in Israel. Why?
In a ruling that was published a few days ago, the rabbis of the institute, David Bar-Hayim, Yehoshua Buch, and Chaim Wasserman, claim that citizens of Israel are neither Ashkenazim or Sephardim (Jews of Spanish or North African descent), rather they are “Jews of Eretz Yisrael”, and therefore they should abide by the custom of the land and not by former customs.
Wait, what? Ok, fine, that seems kind of weird, but whatever gets people out of subsisting on cardboard for a week.
“When a person moves to a different place his old customs become invalid, and he accepts the customs of his new place” Rabbi Bar-Hayim told ynet. “And such it should be with all the Jews who have come to Israel in the previous generations”. The rabbi emphasizes that the prohibition of kitniyot is dependant upon the place and not the person.
Really? Because that's not what I've heard. I've always been under the impression that you're supposed to honor your family's customs regardless of where you end up.
Rabbi Bar-Chaim also claims that the Ashkenazi authorities are trying to repress this information. So there's a cover-up and he's a dissident. How exciting.
According to him the leading Ashkenazi rabbis, such as Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv and Rabbi Avraham Shapiro, refuse to allow kitniyot for philosophical reasons and not because of their halakhic (legal) outlook.See, you guys are always doing so well, and then you go and throw me curveballs like that. Damn.
“They maintain that Ashkenazi Jews have to remain this way on every matter forever, as if we were still in exile” says the rabbi. He claims that when it comes to Jewish law the rabbis can and should make rulings and the public has to listen, but rabbis do not have the power or legitimacy to determine a person’s identity. “If someone wants to see himself as a Jew in Israel and not as an Ashkenazi Jew - he is permitted to change directions”.
And even though the custom has not cracked in over 800 years, Rabbi Bar-Hayim is not waiting for the approval of the major rabbis. “The custom became invalid with the immigrations to Israel, they simply forgot to tell the Ashkenazim” he says, “ We are just letting them know”.The Religious Court of Machon Shilo feels that there is a need to redefine the identity of the citizens of this country as “Jews of Israel”, so that we will be a nation and not a collection of exiles. According to them, this is not just the case in the matter of kitniyot, but also with regard to the paschal sacrifice and the rebuilding of the temple.
Also, the haredim think this guy's nuts.
Rabbi Benjamin-Salomon Hamburger, a haredi historian who heads the Ashkenaz Tradition Institute, represents the haredi approach that calls to preserve the customs of the exile. Hamburger, who defines himself as "super-conservative," has devoted his professional life to researching and maintaining Ashkenazi customs.
"Jewish customs are imbued with the holiness of those who adhered to them throughout the ages," says Hamburger...
Really? Even the Essenes? Well, I guess I don't have to worry about pre-ripping toilet paper before Shabbos...
"Secular Zionists had the tendency of skipping over or ignoring large chunks of Jewish history that did not fit in with their ideology," Hamburger said.
Oh. Wow. That is HYSTERICAL.
However, even he rejects some of the more exotic traditions adopted over the past few centuries by certain Hassidic sects, certain of whom abstain from fish, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, and even garlic... But, Hamburger explains, these added prohibitions were products of the times.
"Jews of Galicia lived in horridly squalid living conditions," says Hamburger. "They lacked basic hygiene...Today there is no reason to cling to these stringencies."
Ex: With modern refrigeration, there is no reason to fear getting trichinosis from improperly preserved pork. Ergo, bring on the bacon. Similarly, now that people understand that flax and wool ended their bloody gang war back in the 1400s, we really don't need to worry about shatnez.
And speaking of Mordechai Eliyahu, it appears he's decided to join the ranks of other illustrious rabbinic nutballs and opine on how Jews brought the Holocaust upon themselves. Eliyahu says the Holocaust happened because Reform Jews pissed God off. Outrageous, of course. Why couldn't he more inclusive like Ovadia Yosef and say it was because of "sinners"? Why do Reform Jews get all the fun? What about all the frum folks who died? Are they just supposed to be collateral damage? Obviously, Eliyahu needs a speech writer- and it doesn't look like Shmuel is a very good one.
Yeah, and that's totally what brought on, say, the Roman conquest, right? I mean, nothing could be more assimilationist than a Jewish kingdom with Jewish land under Jewish control. I bet those Masada guys didn't even use a mechitzah.Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, Mordechai's son, who is also the chief rabbi of Safed, said his father had no regrets about his comments.
"It is not a coincidence that the Holocaust began in Germany," said Shmuel Eliyahu Tuesday. "Whenever Jews try to act like goyim they are punished. It happened during the Spanish Inquisition and it happened during the Holocaust."
The Reform Movement in Israel filed a complaint against Eliyahu with the police.
Commenting on the police complaint against his father, Shmuel Eliyahu said it reminded him of how German Jews disparaged their Eastern European brothers
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B- What about when the frumies disparaged, kicked out, or murdered Reformers? Are we going to talk about that? No? I guess not.
Oy.
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