Religion 2.0. As long as they can see the light. It seems like a paradox, a type of oxymoron: religious Zionism. A nativist approach to the land, nation building, combined with the traditional diaspora values of power that are exclusive of statehood, even an abhorrence of the nation state and the use of military force to defend it. In some respects they are copying the Salafist kooks in the neighboring lands, trying to make up for lost ground, while realizing fully that in the internet age, the squeaky wheel get the grease and the lease on the web reporting.
Aviner has become somewhat of a seasoned pro in garnering attention for misogynist statements, as if he intentionally spouts off the most outrageous even if he doesn’t hold the views, just to grab the free PR for his other projects. Despite the heavy handed sexism which is likely intentional, he has had a keen analytic mind on other issues, even if ultimately the question is, why should torah expert rabbis be involved in politics at all other than keeping the tongues wagging among Jewish radicals as they navigate their own complicated personal crises of Post-Zionism and Post-Judaism…
(see link at end)…A prominent Orthodox rabbi has instructed his followers that women should not engage in politics or run for the Knesset because it transgresses Jewish modesty laws, the Israeli religious news site Kipa reported on Wednesday….
—When Dinosaurs Ruled the Earth is a 1970 movie starring Victoria Vetri, set in the time of cavemen. The film was made by Britain’s Hammer Films.—One renowned female Jewish leader is Deborah the Prophet, a leader in the Biblical era of the Judges.
Rabbi Aviner said that Deborah’s involvement in political leadership came about because there was no-one else at the time who could take the leadership role. —Read More:http://www.jpost.com/JewishWorld/JewishNews/Article.aspx?id=289132
Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, head of the Ateret Cohanim yeshiva in the Muslim Quarter of Jerusalem’s Old City, told students earlier this week that “women should not hold senior positions in the Knesset, as it is immodest. Public exposure is contrary to the Jewish view of the woman, whereby ‘the king’s daughter is all glorious within.’”
Aviner is regarded as an important spiritual leader of the religious Zionist movement. He also posited that, in principle, women shouldn’t even vote in the general elections but, in the current reality, if a woman wishes to vote he would permit it.
—The rabbi expressed his reservations over the Israeli legal system in general, and Judge George Karra in particular – due to his religion.
“The criteria for clarifying the truth are not as strict as our criteria (according to Jewish Law), which require very strong evidence and not just estimates… Even Jews who judge according to the gentiles’ laws are called gentile courts. And in our case one judge was gentile, a Christian Arab, so it’s a gentiles’ court.
“In general, courts in this country rule that 99% of defendants are convicted. This is impossible. In all Western country it ranges between 65 to 75%, unless we say there are more evil people in Israel… Something is wrong with this system, it’s impossible.”
Afraid of media?
According to Aviner, anyone examining the details of the affairs discovers that “it doesn’t look like he is really guilty. They’re just afraid of the media – and such things have happened before, both here and among the gentiles.” He mentioned the Dreyfus affair as an example. —Read More:http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4035656,00.html image:http://goremasterfx.wordpress.com/category/hammer-films/
“It’s not merely a matter of going to the polls, casting the ballot and returning home,” the rabbi was quoted saying. “There are also parlor meetings, for women to know whom to vote for, and those are public events that are inherently immodest. They cause men to mingle with women.”
Aviner’s statement caused a stir, especially with the right-wing national religious Zionist party Jewish Home, whose list includes several women. Liora Minka, chair of the religious women’s organization Emunah, responded scornfully to the rabbi’s words, saying they exemplify “the kind of stagnation that holds sway with quite a few of the rabbis who claim to represent the religious Zionist movement.”
Ingrid Pitt. Aviner:Rabbi Shlomo Aviner Shlita, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Ateret Kohanim addressed the controversy that erupted around the kol isha issue in the IDF. He feels the religious community got carried away in its response and in its interpretation of the non-religious community’s motivation for the women singing. “With the exception of one or two meshuganas who are working against the religious community, no one in the country is against the religious community. Generally speaking, there may be an effort to repel religious coercion”. Read More:http://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/General+News/119072/Rav-Shlomo-Aviner%3A-The-Religious-Community-is-Paranoid-.html image:http://theblackb
ub.blogspot.ca/2011/08/hammer-simply-ingrid.html
“Their minds are high in the sky — or deep in rabbinic books — yet their feet are not firmly grounded in reality,” added Minka. “Thus it comes as no surprise there is a big, constantly growing gap between the general population, including many groups within the religious sector, and the stagnant, conservative religious establishment.”
Later on Wednesday, MK Tzipi Hotovely of the Likud party presented a letter she received from Aviner, in which he told her that he had been speaking of the “ideal” situation rather than everyday reality, and that he approves of her political career.
“The Torah ideal is that women should not be involved in politics,” said Aviner in his letter to Hotovely, adding that since many political parties have set a quota of women, “voting for the most suitable woman” is a moral obligation.
Peter Beinart:1) Israeli Jews acknowledge that at this moment—in the midst of the occupation—Israel’s democracy is in crisis. Hence the 58 percent of Israelis who say that “apartheid” could describe the Israeli reality today.
2) Israelis want to separate themselves from the West Bank in a manner consistent with the two-state solution. In two separate questions the notion of annexing any part of the West Bank was rejected.
3) Support for democratic values remains evident. Most Israelis oppose stripping Arab citizens of Israel of their voting rights.
But unpacking the misleading representation of the poll is insufficient. This is because, unfortunately, the poll shows large numbers of Israeli Jews who espouse severely anti-democratic values particularly in terms of minority rights.—Read More:http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/10/23/that-poll-s-apartheid-problem.html image:http://theblackboxclub.blogspot.ca/2011/08/hammer-simply-ingrid.html
…Chief rabbi of Norway and former MK Rabbi Michael Melchior also condemned Aviner’s pronouncement, writing on his Facebook page that “introducing as many worthy women to Israeli politics as possible may bring the desired change.” Read More:http://www.timesofisrael.com/women-should-not-run-for-knesset-says-prominent-rabbi/
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