Here, to encourage readers of Dei'ah Vedibur to become
subscribers to Yated Ne'eman - Bnei Brak, is a listing
of what appears in the current print edition that is not
online.
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7 pages of bulleted news items about Israel (a short sample
follows). This gives a complete picture and the week's events
in Israel and covers all significant events that are not
covered in longer articles. It includes various pictures of
events of the week, including pictures of rabbonim and events
along the theme "The Tents of Torah."
2 pages of bulleted news items about Jewish life around the
world. (A short sample follows.) Includes pictures of recent
events with explanatory captions.
Parsha Points to Ponder (a weekly feature)
A children's story by Libby Lazewnik
Sparks of Glory (a weekly feature)
Rabbi Leff
A Recipe from Sara Finkel
5 longer news items about various aspects of the Jewish
world.
Over 25 pictures and illustrations, including an editorial
cartoon by Yoni. Many of the news photographs include long
captions that capsulize the events.
Almost 50 percent of this issue is not online.
PICTURE CAPTIONS
Newly-published shiurim of HaRav Shach zt"l on Yevomos. At
the right is the front page of the new volume, and at the
left is a page from one of Rabbenu's notebooks that was
written around 1920 (5680), when he was around 20.
Amir Peretz won a surprise victory in the vote for leader
of the Labor Party. Getting only 42 percent of the vote, he
edged out Shimon Peres, the perennial loser. Yated's headline
was: "Peretz Wins; Sharon Loses." Peretz's first promise is
to take Labor out of the government and hold new elections as
soon as possible. The revolution in Labor, which now presents
an alternative to Likud, may force a closing of ranks within
Likud. Under a real threat, the Likud "rebels" can no longer
afford the luxury of fighting their own leader.
Dirshu founder and president Rabbi Dovid Hofstedter was
present at each of the four locations in Eretz Yisroel—
Jerusalem, Bnei Brak, Haifa and Ashdod—where the first
admission exams were taken for the Kinyan Shas examination
program. Gedolei Torah and roshei yeshivos honored the
thousands of avreichim who took the exams by attending
the events and addressing the avreichim. Shown are
HaRav Shmuel Halevi Wosner addressing the meeting in
Yerushalayim at the Ohr Elchonon yeshiva. Seated is HaRav
Moshe Chodosh, rosh yeshiva of Ohr Elchonon.
Al-Qaida claimed responsibility for the bombing of three
luxury hotels in Amman that left 67 dead and over 300
wounded. Jordan sealed shut all its borders and closed all
banks and institutions, effectively paralyzing the country.
According to receptionists at the Hyatt one of the suicide
bombers spoke an Iraqi dialect. Jordanian exile Abu Mussaab
al Zarqawi was behind the attacks. King Hussein noted that
the victims were all Arab and primarily Jordanian, and the
attack had nothing to do with the West.
SAMPLE OF ISRAEL NEWS
Home Affairs
Chareidi Population, Bli Ayin Hora
By the year 2020, the chareidi population of Israel will
double to one million and make up 17 percent of the total
population, Hebrew University demographer Professor Sergio
DellaPergola told the Knesset's Interior and Environmental
Affairs Committee.
Mayors and heads of city councils from Beitar Illit, Bnei
Brak, Beit Shemesh and other chareidi towns who attended the
committee said that the state had not allotted enough land
for housing nor had it supplied sufficient infrastructure for
religious services and education.
DellaPergola said that presently the chareidi public made up
about 11 percent of the Jewish population in Israel, or
550,000 individuals.
Public Corruption
Despite outcries by State Comptroller Micha
Lindenstrauss, the Airports Authority in October employed 829
workers who were related to at least one other employee. He
reiterated that the main thrust of his seven-year tenure will
be the battle against corruption in the public sector.
Work on Mount
A group of Israeli archaeologists has condemned the
Wakf's planned renovation work on an ancient tower adjacent
to the Temple Mount, warning that such a move is part of a
long-running plan by the Islamic Trust to extend Muslim
control over the site.
The area in question, known as Hatuniyah, lies adjacent to
the southern wall of the Temple Mount just outside the
ancient compound.
Water Quality
Improved performance by Mekorot and local authorities in
looking after the purity of water supplies was the reason
given by the Health Ministry for the significant reduction in
polluted water samples taken in most parts of the country.
Only 432 samples (0.48 percent) had unacceptably high levels
of contaminants, and most of the polluted samples were from
the Safed, Kinneret, Nazareth and Hadera districts.
75 percent to 80 percent of all Israelis get drinking water
fluoridated at the proper level to improve dental health.
This is double the rate of a decade ago.
Ancient Stone Found
Archaeologists have discovered a 40-pound stone
containing the oldest known Hebrew letters. The stone was
found in the wall of an ancient building near Jerusalem. The
find shows that the Hebrew alphabet was recognizable at least
3,000 years ago.
Continues . . .
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SAMPLE OF JEWISH NEWS FROM HERE & THERE
Community News
Prague Jewish Community
Frantisek Banyai was elected, by a wide
majority, as chairman of Prague's Jewish community. The
community has been plagued by internal strife for over a
year, which Banyai and his supporters hope will end with the
elections. Banyai and the board were elected through 2008.
Memories of Shanghai
Former Jewish refugees and their old Chinese
neighbors gathered in the Ohel Moshe Synagogue in Tilanqiao
area, which hosted the largest Jewish community in World War
II, to recall their shared memories of friendship through
hard times.
Shanghai received nearly 20,000 Jewish refugees during WWII.
Many arrived thanks to Ho Feng-shan, the former Chinese
consul-general in Vienna, Austria, who issued thousands of
visas to Shanghai for Jewish refugees.
California's New Textbooks
The state of California adopted new textbooks
that clarify Jewish issues. Textbook publishers have agreed
to nearly 1,000 edits and corrections, removing bias against
Judaism or inaccuracies in their depiction of Jewish history
in their instructional materials, as a condition for adoption
by California.
Continues . . .
