Proper Jewish Behavior According to Maimonides (created by ChatGPT)

 Maimonides (Rabbi Moshe ben Maimon, also known as Rambam, 1138–1204) gives a comprehensive guide to proper Jewish behavior in his works, especially in his Mishneh Torah, Eight Chapters (Introduction to Pirkei Avot), and Guide for the Perplexed.

He sees proper behavior not just as a matter of law (halakha) but as a path to intellectual, moral, and spiritual perfection. Below is a detailed summary of how a Jew should behave according to Maimonides, organized by themes:

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1. The Goal of Life

Maimonides teaches that the purpose of human life is to know God and live in accordance with reason and Torah.

• In Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah (Laws of the Foundations of Torah, 2:2), he says:

  “When a person contemplates God’s works and sees His wisdom, he is immediately filled with love for Him and a desire to know Him.”

• Knowledge of God leads to proper ethical behavior and closeness to Him.

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2. The “Golden Mean” – Balanced Behavior

One of Maimonides’ central teachings is the doctrine of the Middle Path (Shvil HaZahav), derived from Aristotle but deeply rooted in Torah ethics.

Principle: Avoid Extremes

In Hilchot De’ot (Laws of Personal Development, ch. 1–2), he writes:

• A Jew should not be overly angry, greedy, arrogant, indulgent, ascetic, or lazy.

• Instead, one should balance all traits:

  • Courage, but not recklessness

  • Humility, but not self-neglect

  • Joy, but not hedonism

  • Generosity, but not poverty by self-deprivation

“The straight path is the middle path in every trait… this is the way of the wise.”

Exception: Maimonides says some negative traits (e.g., arrogance, anger) are so harmful that one should lean toward the opposite extreme to uproot them.

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3. Relationship with God

• Love and Awe: In Hilchot Yesodei HaTorah 2:1–2, Maimonides says we must love God through studying creation and Torah, and fear Him by realizing our smallness before Him.

• Serving God in All Actions: In Hilchot De’ot 3:3:

  “A person’s eating, drinking, and sexual relations should not be for pleasure but to maintain health, so that he can serve God.”
  This means that even mundane acts become holy when done with proper intention (kavanah).

• Prayer and Reflection: In Hilchot Tefillah, he emphasizes praying with concentration, sincerity, and understanding, not mere recitation.

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4. Interpersonal Ethics

Maimonides strongly emphasizes kindness, humility, and justice toward others.

A. Humility and Honor

• Avoid arrogance (ga’avah): “There is nothing worse than pride.” (Hilchot De’ot 2:3)

• Honor everyone, Jew and non-Jew alike.

• Speak gently and respectfully.

B. Acts of Kindness

In Hilchot De’ot 6:3:

“It is a positive commandment to love every Jew as yourself.”

This includes:

• Giving charity generously (tzedakah) — Maimonides ranks eight levels of charity, with the highest being helping someone become self-sufficient.

• Visiting the sick, comforting mourners, hosting guests, and burying the dead.

C. Avoiding Gossip and Harm

• Prohibits lashon hara (negative speech) and rechilut (spreading rumors).

• One must never embarrass others, especially in public — he compares public shaming to spilling blood.

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5. Intellectual and Spiritual Development

For Maimonides, knowledge and wisdom are central to Jewish life.

• In Hilchot Talmud Torah, he stresses constant Torah study, but also study of science, philosophy, and medicine to understand God’s creation.

• He places the intellect above mere ritual:

  “The perfection of the soul comes through intellectual perfection.” (Guide for the Perplexed III:27)

• Yet, Torah study always comes first — all other wisdom is secondary if it leads away from God.

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6. Asceticism vs. Worldliness

Unlike some mystical traditions, Maimonides does not promote extreme asceticism:

• One should enjoy the world, but moderately.

• Wealth is not evil — as long as it’s used for mitzvot and helping others.

• Fasting and self-denial are discouraged unless needed for repentance or discipline.

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7. Following the Commandments

Maimonides sees the mitzvot (commandments) as tools to refine character, strengthen society, and bring one closer to God:

• Ethical mitzvot: honesty, charity, respect for parents, compassion.

• Ritual mitzvot: Shabbat, kashrut, tefillin, etc. — all meant to discipline the soul.

• He insists that mitzvot must be performed with understanding. Doing them mechanically without intention misses their purpose.

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8. Summary of Proper Jewish Conduct (Maimonides’ Formula)

A Jew, according to Maimonides, should:

1. Live by the Golden Mean — balanced, moderate, self-disciplined.

2. Pursue knowledge of God — through Torah, science, and philosophy.

3. Serve God in all actions — elevate the mundane into the holy.

4. Love others — act with compassion, humility, and kindness.

5. Avoid anger, arrogance, gossip, and cruelty.

6. Keep mitzvot with understanding and intention.

7. Seek wisdom — intellectual perfection leads to closeness to God.

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Isaiah: End TImes and Messiah in Judaism

Here is an interview with Yisrael "Jay" Rosenberg talking about his new book, Isaiah: End TImes and Messiah in Judaism:

Our New Year is the First of Tishrei, Not January 1st!

Here is an interesting survey conducted by the Jewish People Policy Institute:

The annual debate in Israel about the placement of Christmas trees in malls or hotels – this year in Ashdod – shouldn`t fool anyone. For most Israeli Jews, the holiday season is celebrated in the Hebrew month of Tishrei, not in December. For a significant majority of Israeli Jews (78%), December 31st is considered a “completely ordinary day.” Only 2% say that they conduct “soul searching” on the New Year, and only 6% say that December 31st feels like their “real New Year`s Eve.”

The JPPI is releasing this data as part of its #IsraeliJudaism research project, based on an extensive survey of Israeli Jews. A new book based on the research: #IsraeliJudaism, a Portrait of a Cultural Revolution, was published a few weeks ago by Dvir Publishing.

I remember the Friday before January 1, 2000. A radio journalist called a random person on the telephone and asked him how he will be celebrate the new millenium. The person answered that he will do what he does every Sabbath: go to the synagogue and have a regular festive Sabbath meal with his family! The journalist was clearly disappointed with such a Jewish answer.

The survey contains some more interesting information. Read the rest!

(Hat tip: Arutz 7)

Aly Raisman on Being Jewish

It's been a while since we've heard Aly Raisman talk about her Jewishness:

Aly Raisman, the Olympic gold medalist gymnast, told a BBYO conference she drew strength from her Jewish upbringing.

Raisman, addressing the pluralistic youth movement’s annual conference in Orlando, Florida on Friday, said she wanted to “talk about how proud I am to be a Jewish athlete,” which drew cheers.

“Being Jewish is all about family and I think being Jewish is all about being a good person,” she said. “I have so many amazing memories of being with family during the Jewish holidays.”

Of course she is right. Being Jewish is about being a good person. However, there are plenty of good people from other nations and faiths. I've met many fine Catholics, Protestants, Koreans, Irishmen, and Italians, just to mention a few. Being Jewish is also about being a good Jew: Being faithful to God, His Torah, and His nation. It is something that encompasses every aspect of life. It is something that one must devote a lot of time to learn.

But who is going to listen to me? I haven't won any gold medals.

Gratitude is the Key to Happiness

Here is a nice video from Prager U:

This is a very fundamental theme in Judaism. We Jews say "thank You" to God all day long!

Immersing Yourself in Judaism

Here are some words of wisdom, and from Forward.com of all places:

If the Orthodox experience has taught us anything, it is that complete immersion succeeds. Like the immersion in the mikveh, in which every centimeter of the body must touch water, so, too, our commitment requires totality. It is an immersion in our books; immersion in prayer services as punctuation marks for time; immersion in a 25-hour Shabbat experience without smart phones and the internet; immersion in round-the-clock Jewish education, at all costs.

Are Jewish Sexual Ethics behind the times?

Sabbath Observance Saves Jew From Ill Fated Plane Flight

The saying "More than the Jews have kept the Sabbath, the Sabbath has kept the Jews" took on a new meaning.

Rabinfest 2013: Yuval Rabin and His Father's Legacy

It's that time of year again! Today is the Yahrzeit of Yitzhak Rabin, according to the Jewish calendar. From last Saturday night and until the 4th of November (the day Rabin died according to the Gregorian calendar) , the Israeli Left and the Israeli MSM will be celebrating Rabinfest.

What would a festival be without a clown? Although I have not seen the Rabinfest organizers hiring professional clowns, there is always a leftist who is willing to beclown himself/herself for free. This year's festival has just begun, and it already has its first gratis clown, who is none other than the late Prime Minister's son, Yuval Rabin.

No, Yuval was not trying to be funny. He was absolutely serious. However, when one says ridiculous things with a straight face, it can be comical:

He then launched into criticism of those who link Oslo to terrorism. “To argue that terrorism happened because of Oslo is cynical and deliberately wicked,” he accused. “The escalation of terrorism is an ongoing process, and various factors did ‘contribute’ to it, but one thing is consistently clear – those who commit terrorism are against compromise.”

No good deed should go unrecognized, so I would like to thank Yuval Rabin for bringing a smile to my face. Who in the world are you trying to fool, Yuval Rabin? You cannot fool me, for I have been here in Israel long before the Oslo Accords. I remember Israel before the accords and after. Nobody claims or claimed that there was not terrorism before the Oslo Agreements. However, only a buffoon can claim they did not cause a sharp rise in terrorism. As the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs noted way back in 1998:

More Israelis have been killed by Palestinian terrorists in the 5 years since the first Oslo agreement was signed in September 1993 than in the 15 preceding years, the Government Press Office (GPO) has announced.

A total of 279 men, women and children have been killed in 92 lethal attacks by Palestinian terrorists since the signing of the Oslo Accords. This does not include victims of attacks launched by Lebanese-based terror organizations or incidents along Israel's borders.

So who is Yuval Rabin trying to fool? He cannot fool God. He cannot fool me either! If he is trying to fool himself....well, never mind.

Yuval Rabin did not always make me smile. In fact, one time I was truly embarrassed for him. It happened during his father's funeral. I was sitting at my desk at work in downtown Jerusalem, listening to the funeral on the radio. It was time for the son to recite Kaddish. Yuval Rabin totally mangled it, apparently thinking that the Aramaic words in the prayer were in Hebrew. His stuttered rendition was even more garbled than that of a second generation American Jew in a Conservative Temple reading the transliteration from the Silverman siddur. Yes, the thought that the entire nation and Jews all over the world heard this made me cringe in my seat. The son of the slain Prime Minister, ostensibly an educated man, does not even know how to say Kaddish!

This was the true legacy of Yitzchak Rabin and so many other secular Zionists: children woefully ignorant of their own heritage. Thousands of years of Torah and ethics were traded in for a dry nationalism combined with socialism, army service and speaking Hebrew: an Israeli version of "bagels and lox" Judaism, which like its American cousin has gradually evolved into a bizarre combination of liberalism and crass materialisim. What a sad joke!

May God save us such clowns and their [self] deceptions.

Huma Abedin's Next Step

Now that Anthony Weiner's political comeback bid has failed miserably, many are wondering what Huma Abedin's next step will be: will she continue to stand by her man. or will she throw him out like a rotten tomato?

The question is not new. I raised it two years ago when Weiner resigned from Congress on the heels of "Weinergate":

The truth is, according to Jewish law, Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin are not married. A Jew cannot marry a non-Jew. Period. According to the Torah, their current lifestyle is a simple case of promiscuity, to put things mildly as possible.

My guess is that Huma and Tony are going to be parting ways in the near future. Huma thought that she married an up and coming Congressman who was on the way to becoming the Mayor of New York City. Now her "husband" has become a walking joke! Such an embarrassing situation is no doubt unbearable. Huma has little use for such a disgraced has-been. He's not President Bill Clinton. She will show him the door quicker than most people think.

Chances are that they would have broken up in a few years time anyway. As is well known, intermarriages are recipes for domestic strife and confused children. The Weiner-Abedin union is no exception. I wonder what baby Weiner will think when he/she hears the imam say that his/her father is "a descendant of apes and pigs"?

Well, two years have passed and my prediciton that Anthony and Huma would be "parting ways in the near future" was wrong.

At the beginning of the above snippet I mentioned that according to Jewish law Weiner and Abedin are not married. From the Torah point of view the two are involved in an illicit relationship, a relationship which is much worse that Carlos Danger's online escapades.

I wonder how Huma Abedin's family looks upon the couple. I remember back in the days when I still did reserve duty, I was on a border patrol together with a Bedouin scout. To my great dismay I had heard of Muslims marrying Jewish girls here in Israel. I had never heard of a case where a Muslim girl marries a Jew. I asked him out of curiousity if there is any chance that a Bedouin girl would marry a Jew. My Bedouin comrade-in-arms gave me a "perish the thought" kind of look and said that such a thing was absolutely forbidden.

A little bit of research confirms what he said. It turns out that according to Islam, a Muslim man can take a Jewish or Christian wife, as long as the children are brought up as Muslims:

Muslim men are permitted by Islamic Law to marry up to four non-Muslim women who belong to other two Abrahamic religions i.e. Christians and Jews, provided that all of the children are ensured to be brought up as Muslims. The conversion of the wives to Islam is encouraged, but not obligatory, as their children will legally be Muslim regardless.

However, for Muslim women, things are different:

Islamic scholars generally forbid Muslim women from marrying non-Muslim men.

So by Islamic standards, the Weiner marriage is not valid. It seems that this union falls under the Islamic category of Zina, adultery or fornication, which is punishable by lashes. If Huma were to travel to Saudi Arabia without a diplomatic passport, she would probably come back with more stripes than a zebra.

So Huma Abedin, who professes to be a practicing Muslim, is living in a state of cognitive dissonance. Or is she?

Some people think that Anthony Weiner may have secretly converted to Islam:

Certainly the most likely scenario is that Weiner did convert to Islam, as Abedin’s mother, a professor in Saudi Arabia, would almost certainly have insisted that he do so. Weiner has made no public statement of this conversion, but since it would almost certainly have cost him politically if he had announced it, this silence is not any indication that he didn’t actually convert.

Others think that Huma Abedin was given special dispensation from Islamic clerics to marry the kafir Weiner in order to infiltrate the highest levels of the United States government:

Few Westerners are familiar with the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood revival of the doctrine of muruna, which literally means “stealth” or “flexibility.” It is far worse than taqiyya, since it sanctions all prohibitions that block Muslim interests, even blasphemous ones. . . . Consider the example of Huma Abedin, a practicing Muslim who married Jewish former Congressman Anthony Weiner. Qaradawi has used muruna to sanction such marriages.

What was once forbidden by Shariah — from major crimes like Muslims killing Muslims, to issues of interest banking that include alliances with infidels — was made “temporarily” kosher by muruna.

While I cannot prove that these theories are false, I would like to present another option. Huma Abedin merely does what she wants. It is that simple. She has subjugated her Saudi submission to her Philadelphia freedom. She is willing to fast during Ramadan but not to wear a hijab. She preferred marrying an American Jew to a Muslim from anywhere else on the planet. It's not a conspiracy nor a secret, just an issue of personal preference. As far as she is concerned, if the Qadi doen't like it, he can go drink water from the Indian Ocean, or should I say the Great Salt Lake. Whatever.

In any case the question remains: What will be Huma Abedin's next step? According to my theory, she will do whatever she perceives as being good for her. Is she better off being a single mother or sticking it out with a man who has brought her so much embarrassment, and who just happens to be the father of her son? Is Anthony Weiner an asset or a liability to her own political and/or career ambitions? Does she think that at 37 years old plus a child she can find somebody better? Who knows? Huma knows.

Only in Israel

Seen at the entrance to the Air Force Museum in Chatzerim:

A Must Read!

A great blog post, followed by an interesting discussion.

Can Reform Judaism Get Its Mojo Back?

In "Jewish Ideas Daily", Evan Moffic asks, "Can Reform Judaism Get Its Mojo Back?"  A wise question may be half an answer. However, what can we say about a question whose very premise is false?  Mojo shmojo! It is impossible for Reform Judaism to get its mojo back, because it is something that it never had.  Reform Judaism is, and always has been, a shallow movement for shallow thinkers.  Essays will be penned, studies will be commisioned, but the search for Reform Judaism's non-existent mojo will lead to nowhere.

Rabbi Meir Kahane z"l accurately described this lack of mojo in his famous essay, "What Makes Bernie Run?"    I've quoted the essay before, and I will quote it again, for it is still relevant today:

And who else made Bernie run away from Judaism? Who else made Bernie what he is and is not? The massive, gaudy mausoleums that dot the landscape of every Jewish suburb. The temples. The temples whose senior rabbi is the caterer. The temples that perform human sacrifice rites each Sabbath morning and they call them, The Bar Mitzvah.

The Bar Mitzvah, that is not the beginning of a Jew but his end, his spiritual death. The Bar Mitzvah- that culmination of an empty, vapid, childish, shallow Jewish "education," taught by men and women whose ignorance and lack of Jewish content makes them superb vehicles for the "education" they pass on. The Bar Mitzvah, that obscene cult of ostentatiousness, the ultimate in Jewish status seeking, the competitive drive to bankrupt that pathetic and hapless "father of the Bar Mitzvah." The Bar Mitzvah where the young lamb babbles the words he neither understands nor cares to, to the accompanying nachas, pride, of beaming women and men who would not know a correct word from a mistake, whose ignorance is sublime and whose disgusting display of conspicuous vulgarity sends G-d fleeing from the mausoleum in wrath... 

The Bar Mitzvah whose necessary "religious" interlude long ago was subordinated to the piece-de-resistance of the entire immorality play - the "reception." The sickening waste of money and degrading of Judaism, where materialism runs amok in the guise of religion, where drunks and half-dressed women dance and give praise to the L-rd, with African dance, American tunes, and universal abomination. The Bar Mitzvah where the assimilationists, ignoramuses and despoilers of Judaism, beam with patronizing pleasure as the decrepit grandmother- Bubby- is resurrected from her nursing home or Miami Beach condominium and trotted out to light a candle to the applause of the go-go girls and dirty comedians waiting to do their act. 

The temple, where man thinks up G-d rather than admit that He made him. The temples, where the Jew can create any kind of religion that he cares to and call it Judaism. The temple, where things too difficult are junked and where from the Board of Directors shall come forth Torah and the voice of the L-rd from the approving Sisterhood membership. The temple, run by men whose ignorance of Judaism is exceeded only by their arrogant insistence on saluting it. The temple, where Bernie visits "G-d" and meets "Judaism" and flees from it in horror. The temples: they created Bernie, they made Bernie run.

Rabbi Kahane's description of the "Temple", written way back in 1975, was painfully accurate. There was absolutely no mojo there in those Temples, so it is a waste of time to look for it.

"Kiruv" and its Effects on Har Nof

I saw a very interesting letter on the "Har Nof" list. The author of the letter bemoans the behavior of some of the yeshiva and seminary students in the Har Nof neighborhood. On the one hand, he is all for kiruv, understanding its importance to the Jewish People. On the other hand, he is distressed about the effect that these students are having on his community, which is overwhelmingly ultra-Orthodox:

This is an open, general letter of concern, penned to *all local seminary/yeshiva students.*

I am writing on behalf of a number of our fellow residents of Har Nof, regarding the apparent degeneration of standards pertaining to the talmidim and talmidot based in Har Nof.

As we all know, it is a tremendous 'zechus' for Jewish youngsters to be able to strengthen their identities as proud and knowledgeable Jews, here in Eretz Yisrael.

However, this zechus and privilege simply *cannot* come at the expense of established residents, who are striving to fulfil more long-term dreams and aspirations.

The long-established 'Shaulzon Shuffle' has been an unfortunate landmark of Har Nof since as long as I can remember (I've been here 5 years). Yet, the general disregard for locals' spiritual sensitivities has perhaps sunk to far lower levels than 'Friday night intermingling' in recent times.

It is more than understood that young boys and girls do indeed need an outlet- regular opportunities to vent excess energy, as it were.

However, we wish to make this point absolutely, unequivocally clear: The venting of this energy cannot equal the religious and material suffering of the same people who happily provide you with meals every Shabbos and Yom Tov, as well as spare beds for your friends as and when they are needed.

At no point should the wanton excess glorified by Western culture come to find a safe haven here in Yerushalayim. Here, I refer to the growing tendency of seminary girls (more so than Yeshiva bochurim I might add) to congregate in local parks, behaving boisterously (if that terminology can even be used with reference to girls!) until the small hours of the morning.

On almost a dozen occasions this zman alone, my wife & baby have been rudely awoken by such incidents- often fuelled by alcohol- as girls sing/shout/scream at the top of their lungs, apparently unaware that it is almost Alos Hashachar.

We understand and appreciate that many girls will find it necessary to visit Ben Yehuda, have fun, and generally relax a bit from their weekly studies. Yet, at no point should Ben Yehuda street be replicated here in Har Nof. Point in hand: as I type this plea, a small glance out of my window reveals two wonderful sights: to my left, a young male & female sitting on a bench, openly kissing. To my right, a group of quite intoxicated females who are apparently her friends are, cursing loudly. cheering and calling her name. Sorry: two just started urinating against a parked car. I am not exaggerating one iota.

In five years here in Har Nof, I have never, ever witnessed such decadence, and yet it is now an occurrence which is unfortunately repeating itself far too often in parks throughout Har Nof.

Therefore, to the honoured and esteemed teachers and Rabbonim of these Seminaries, I say: The religious scruples and standards of your students are frankly none of my business. Where they happen to be 'holding' is a matter between themselves and their Creator. Any yet, neither are *my* religious scruples and standards any of *yours* or *theirs.*

I state as a fact that the vast majority of Har Nof's residents are 'holding' at a point where they do not want to see (nor for their kids to see) scantily-clad girls cavorting, half drunk, through the streets of our neighbourhood. They do not want to see these girls' boyfriends, nor what they and their boyfriend think of eachother.

A point to consider: I, as well as most of my friends, gladly and willingly host any number of seminary girls, if and when we are asked- both to sleep and to eat. We do not question their levels of observance, nor knowledge, we simply accept the request from assistance which comes from *you*- their teachers and Rabbonim- unquestioningly.

If this one-sided flow of chessed is to continue, it is neither unreasonable nor unjustified that we ask of you one thing in return:

To ensure that just as we bend over backwards to make your students' lives comfortable, you make at least a minimal effort to make *ours* comfortable: by emphasising to them that Har Nof is *not* Ben Yehuda, nor is it a giant nightclub. It is a wonderful and welcoming sechuna, filled with incredible people who have so much to give.

It is high time you gave something in return.

Yours with the utmost sincerity,

What do you think?

Hakafot Sheniyot in the Cave of the Patriarchs

Jews, Sports and Aly Raisman

This just in:

Aly Raisman, who won the first all-time U.S. gold medal on floor exercise at an Olympics and who also earned the bronze on the balance beam at the 2012 Olympics, will be inducted into The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame & Museum, 74 Hauppage Road, Commack, N.Y., on April 21, 2013. Aly, Captain of ‘The Fierce Five’ USA Women’s Gymnastics Team, also earned a gold medal in the Team All-Around, making her the most decorated U.S. gymnast at the 2012 Olympics.

“This is a great honor,” Raisman said when notified of her induction. “Just last year I was given the Pearl D. Mazor Award and now I am being inducted.” The Pearl D Mazor Award is presented annually by The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame & Museum to the outstanding Jewish female high school scholar-athlete of the year in the United States.

“It was a tremendous thrill to see one of our Hall of Fame family competing at the London Olympics,” said Hall of Fame Chairman Lynne Kramer. “And even greater to see Aly won three medals is absolutely amazing.” Raisman joins gymnasts Kerri Strug and Mitch Gaylord who have already been inducted into the Hall of Fame.

I found it interesting that individuals from the "People of the Book" decided to set up a separate "Sports Hall of Fame". Here is the apparent raison d'etre for this hall of fame, taken from the front page of its web site:

The National Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and Museum is dedicated to honoring Jewish individuals that have distinguished themselves in the field of sports. The objective is to foster Jewish identity through athletics.

In a world where stereotype and prejudice have not yet been eradicated, the Hall of Fame reminds us of heroes of the courts and playing fields, who have emerged from a people not commonly associated with sports.

I doubt that Jewish identity can be fostered through athletics. Jewish identity is best fostered the old-fashioned way: Torah! Torah! Torah! When young Jews know what being Jewish is really about, they will want to remain Jewish.

Rabbi Eliezer Melamed: A Good Reason Not to Serve in the IDF

Arutz 7:

There are two major factors which presently cause the hareidi society not to encourage recruitment of students who are not going to become rabbis and educators – one good reason, and the other, unfair.

The unfair reason, say those serving in the army, is that it is safer and more comfortable to avoid the army. At home when war breaks out, God forbid, you don't get killed, and parents and wives are free from the burden of worrying.

The good reason is that military service is likely to cause a spiritual decline, to the point of abandoning the Torah and mitzvoth. This already represents an existential threat that cannot be compromised. Indeed, over the last few decades, the religious-halakhic situation in the army has improved, but the spiritual-moral state has deteriorated, in accordance with society at large.

Nevertheless, despite certain improvements in the ability to fulfill halakha in the army, there are still serious problems that cause many of the youth from the religious society to decline spiritually in the army.

And when it appears that there is no pressing demand to enlist all the young men, many Torah scholars believe it is better to ensure their spiritual future over the mitzvah to serve in the army.

May the situation be corrected soon, and all of Israel joins the effort for the sake of the Nation and the Land.

Legalizing Gay Marriage: Progress or Regress?

From Maimonides, Laws of Forbidden Relations 21:8 (my translation):

Lesbian relations are forbidden and it is among the “doings of Egypt” that we have been warned about as it is said, “After the doings of the land of Egypt, wherein ye dwelt, shall ye not do”. The sages said, “What did they do? A man marries a man, and a woman marries a woman, and a woman marries two men.”

What would Maimonides say?

(Also posted on LGF.)

Cosmic X at Little Green Footballs

Check out  this page that I put up at Little Green Footballs, and the discussion in the comments.

The ultra-Orthodox Plumber and Dan Margalit

A few days ago this guy left his magnetic calling card on my front door[click on the pic to enlarge]:



A quick translation:

With God's Help
Gamliel the ultra-Orthodox Plumber
Implementation of all water and sewage work
Quick and reliable service
Work is guaranteed

His magnetic calling card also mentions that his gives discounts to "Bnei Torah".

One of the greatest libels against the ultra-Orthodox community is that they do not work. Here is what Dan Margalit wrote in today's issue of Yisrael Hayom:

One-third of the Israeli public, mostly from the middle class, carries the weight of the Arabs on the one hand and the ultra-Orthodox on the other. Neither of these groups contributes to our national enterprise, yet both live off the funds of those who do work.

It is true that many men learn Torah full time, but many others work in almost all walks of life. Among those that learn full time, very often the wife works to support the family. I bet that Gamliel the ultra-Orthodox plumber could probably teach Dan Margalit something about what work really is.