Nathan Jeffay
By Nathan Jeffay
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News Kosher Smart Phone Arrives as Ultra-Orthodox Tech Taboo Shifts
The taboo among the ultra-Orthodox in Israel about using smart phones is no longer, with the launch of models deemed appropriate for the devout. That’s a real milestone for Haredi leaders, who have denounced the technology as a new form of evil. Last year the renowned rabbi Chaim Kanievsky declared the destructive capacity of smart…
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Opinion Victory for African Immigrants in Israel?
Will the doors of Israel’s detention centers really open, allowing illegal immigrants to walk free? According to today’s High Court ruling, this is exactly what should happen over the coming weeks. Israel’s High Court has just struck down a controversial law that allows the state to detain illegal immigrants for up to three years. Judges…
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Israel News Israel’s Intelligence and Military Strategists Show Little Consensus on Syria
When it comes to Syria, the conventional wisdom is that Israel’s best case scenario is maintenance of the status quo: prolonged conflict without a clear winner. Moreover, Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, the mainstream Israel lobby, are fully on board with President Obama’s push for a limited strike against the…
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Opinion Fasting in Israel’s Heatwave
Israel is getting ready for the hottest and longest Yom Kippur for decades. Well, not actually longer than normal, but it will feel longer. Israel has long adjusted the clock to wintertime ahead of the fast, so that it finishes some time between six and seven pm, rather than between seven and eight. But following…
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Opinion Back to School Reflects British Success Story
In London’s school uniform shops, the experienced sales clerks know what Jewish parents will order before they open their mouths. The shops carry the clothing with embroidered crests for numerous schools, but today, you can normally guess from the parents which school their children go to, and therefore which uniform they want. The frum-ness level…
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News Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat Faces Tough Reelection Fight
In his first five-year term as mayor of the city holy to the world’s three monotheistic religions, Nir Barkat has limited ultra-Orthodox power in the city, slowed the migration of non-Haredim out of Jerusalem and boosted secular culture — a low priority for his Haredi predecessor — with a budget increase of 300%. But one…
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Opinion End of Jonathan Sacks Era
Two countries; two chief rabbinates. But the institutions could hardly be more different. I have spent part of this summer observing the Chief Rabbi elections in Israel, and part in the U.K., hearing the opinions of British Jews about the end of the Jonathan Sacks era, with their Chief Rabbi (or strictly speaking the Chief…
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News Is Western Wall Prayer Platform Step Forward for Women — Or Back?
For more than a decade, Jews have been permitted to hold egalitarian prayer services at a southern section of the Western Wall that lies out of sight of Orthodox worshippers. But the area, known as Robinson’s Arch in the Jerusalem Archaeological Park, never became a government-supported prayer facility. Worshippers have always been guests of the…
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