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  • Just when you thought it couldn’t get any lower…
    Written by Uri Regev on 06/01/2022
    Since Hiddush last newsletter, Israel was exposed to two new records in rudeness and hatefulness of expressions by Knesset members’, one from the Chairman of the Agudat Israel faction, Former Minister MK Rabbi Yaakov Litzman, and his colleague MK Rabbi Moshe Abutbul of Shas. The other was on the part of former Minister MK David Amsalem [Likud]. Litzman's statement from the Knesset podium was an expression of the growing frustration of the ultra-Orthodox leadership with the Government's policies and the presence and influence of MK Rabbi Gilad Kariv, Chairman of the Constitution, Law and Justice Committee.

  • Haredi leaders employing extortion by threats
    Written by on 05/01/2022
    On Tuesday, Hiddush filed a complaint against senior rabbis in ultra-Orthodox Judaism following their declaration that city rabbis who dare to act in accordance with the law after the adoption of a kashrut reform in the Knesset and certify food as kosher outside their city limits will have their kashrut certification banned everywhere, including in their own cities, and they will be considered as " having departed from the congregation of God and transgressing against the will of God." The declaration is signed by Rabbi Shalom Cohen, the spiritual leader of the Shas movement and Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky and Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, the leaders of the ultra-Orthodox-Lithuanian community.

  • So, what transpired in 2021?
    Written by on 23/12/2021
    It has been a challenging year for the whole world and naturally for us at Hiddush as well, but as the year ends, we can look back with satisfaction and pride.

  • When we thought the discourse could not deteriorate further...
    Written by Uri Regev on 09/12/2021
    From the Knesset rostrum, MK Azoulay (Shas) launched a flurry of insults towards MK Rabbi Gilad Kariv, (Labor) and all attempts by the Speaker of the Knesset to stop his hysterical slur shouting were to no avail. Kariv, for his part, retorted that “This will not help you; and you will hear me many more times, whether that suits you or not.”

  • Court rules against rabbinical court judge for "Writ of Refusal"
    Written by on 09/12/2021
    Hiddush's legal advocacy continues, with its submission of a petition to the Supreme Court against the IDF for religiously coercing soldiers to keep kosher on Passover, as well as yet another petition on behalf of an Israeli couple married legally via videoconference in Utah County, Utah.

  • The discourse deteriorates even further
    Written by on 09/12/2021
    Tomorrow, on December 10, the world marks International Human Rights Day. Unfortunately, this day and the event it commemorates (the adoption by the UN of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on 10 December 1948) are not widely known in the US.

  • IDF forcing soldiers to keep kosher for Passover
    Written by on 25/11/2021
    Next week, Hiddush will submit a petition to the Supreme Court against the IDF, demanding that it change its regulations regarding its policy on chametz on Passover in army bases.

  • Assault religious freedom, assault democracy!
    Written by on 25/11/2021
    As we’ve written, the word "Reformers" has long since become a generic invective used by politicians and the ultra-Orthodox rabbinical establishment. In recent days, another example presented itself in the words of the leader of Agudat Israel in the Knesset, MK Rabbi Litzman.

  • Assault religious freedom, assault democracy
    Written by Uri Regev on 25/11/2021
    Half of Israel was up in arms earlier this week, when a tape from a political meeting held by Likud MK Dudi Amsalem leaked to the media. When you read the following selection of his outbursts, you will understand why the media and public reaction was so harsh.

  • Hiddush on the legal front
    Written by on 11/11/2021
    Hiddush continues its legal advocacy for religious freedom on multiple fronts, in addition to public opinion polling, making presentations at Knesset committees and fighting for religious freedom and equality in the court of public opinion.

  • Extremism and outright deceit
    Written by on 11/11/2021
    A picture is worth a thousand words. This photo, which was posted by the Women of the Wall, show the Chairwoman of WOW Anat Hoffman and its former director Lesley Sachs sitting on the ground and protecting the Torah scroll, which they intended on bringing into the women’s section of the Kotel so that their fellow worshippers could read from the Torah during this Rosh Chodesh service, which they have been holding, without fail, for over thirty years.

  • Extremism and outright deceit at the Western Wall
    Written by on 11/11/2021
    A picture is worth 1000 words. The veracity of this statement has been proven in recent days in at least two areas: 1) The ultra-Orthodox and Zionist ultra-Orthodox bullying of the Women of Wall; and 2) The growing phenomenon of vandalizing the faces of women in public spaces.

  • Hiddush in the legal trenches
    Written by on 29/10/2021
    This week we filed a Freedom of Information petition against the Municipality of Netanya, as part of our efforts to assist groups and individuals whose rights are being infringed upon in connection with the clash of religion and state on the national and local spheres. This time our petition followed our efforts to help residents of four condominiums in Netanya of residents who have been trying unsuccessfully to get the municipality to stop the public nuisance caused by a Haredi group that was given permission by the municipality to use a public bomb shelter and the adjoining area (situated directly adjacent to their residences) for prayer and religious activities.

  • High Time to Both Say the Truth and Act on it!
    Written by on 29/10/2021
    Following Hiddush's last newsletter article on Haredi vitriol, we published an op-ed in the Times of Israel on the topic of limiting the ultra-Orthodox parties’ political sway, as Prime Minister Bennett put it. We realize that some of our readers may feel uncomfortable about such an appeal, but we urge you to look at the facts as they are, rather than the raging Haredi political rhetoric.

  • The mixed bag of religion and state today
    Written by on 29/10/2021
    As hoped, some positive recent developments can be pointed out in advancing pluralism in Israel's political arena. These are direct results of the existence of a coalition, in which several member parties hold worldviews that support religious freedom and equality... Or, at least, the dissolution of ultra-Orthodox control over key elements of the relationship between religion and the state; as well as the absence of the ultra-Orthodox parties from the government.

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