Simon Synett on Judaism for grown-ups | Latest Articles

Commentary on Megillas Esther

Fri, 19 Feb 2010 13:14:34 GMT

Some novel interpretations in Megillas Esther, textual observations, resolving difficulties...a work in progress...

Purim Costumes: Masking or Unmasking?

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 12:44:07 GMT

Everyone knows that there is a custom to wear a mask or dress up in costume on Purim. Does anyone have any idea why though? If you look to the Shulchan Aruch, you'll find no indication of what the source for the practice is, nor whether it is worthwhile; the discussion there merely focuses on the question of whether one can cross-dress for the purpose!

So what is the idea behind Purim costumes? I've always seen it as intertwined with the whole theme of hester panim - the way in which God hides His face from us, yet all the while manipulates events to bring about His plan. The story of Purim exemplifies the way in which we can look back over a sequence of events and connect the dots and recognise the Author of History (hester = history?!)

But then I asked myself still: why wear a costume, or mask? Surely Purim is about unmasking God, so to speak, removing His cloak of mystery (hester = mystery?!!) to reveal for a brief moment the undisguised Face of God.

Indeed if anything, the service and mitzvos of Purim are designed to unmask us, as we try to emulate God. We drink alcohol, quite literally till our outer shell cracks and we can be seen for who we really are. We give away money and food without reserve and without inquiry to whomever opens his hand in need, again dropping the barriers that we generally keep up to maintain our separateness from others. So wearing a mask seems to run contrary to all the other modes of observance and to the whole theme of the day...

Let me suggest an idea. First a question: where do we find the idea of a mask in the Torah?

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The company of angels

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:09:22 GMT

Will the angels cut you some slack or keep you in line: what happens when God withdraws His Face from the world?

A question we ask every year but to which I don't recall ever getting a convincing answer:

In parshas Mishpatim, God tells Moshe that He's sending a malach - an angel to accompany the people, and that they'd better be careful not to get out of line because "he (the angel) will not forgive [their] offences".

In Ki Tissa, however, God explains that He's sending an angel to give the people a decent chance of survival, far better than if God Himself would continue to accompany them..."for I will not go there with you, lest I destroy you along the way."

So in Mishpatim, it seems that having the angel as a guide is a liability, because an angel, being a mere functionary, cannot derogate from his task and therefore hasn't the authority to forgive sins.

Whereas in Tissa it seems that the angel gives the people much needed breathing space, allowing for the possibility of offending God by transgressing his commandments without receiving the full measure of retribution. Being accompanied by an angel, rather than God Himself, is a concession to human weakness.

I think the answer to this apparent inconsistentcy goes to the heart of what we mean when we talk about God's attributes of Rachamim and Din, which roughly translate into Mercy and Justice.

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Yithro and the Dark Side

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 23:02:11 GMT

Yithro's reaction to Israel's escape from Egypt is at once liberating and terrifying as it allows us to acknowledge our inner struggle and forces us to confront our dark side...

The Torah describes his reaction: vayichad Yithro - literally the word derives from the root chedva - happiness or joy, and as Rashi explains, he experienced tremendous joy on behalf of the Israelite nation. Whether due to his personal connection to Israel as Moshe's father in law, or because he deeply understood the hardships of slavery, or as a witness to God's power that was demonstrated by the redemption He orchestrated, Yithro was so gladdened that he couldn't but offer praise to God.

But wait... Having thus explained, Rashi then goes on to draw upon a midrash that plays on the word vayichad, which also contains the root chad - sharp or pointed, suggesting that Yithro's skin became prickly in reaction to a feeling of profound pain, felt even physically, as he meditated on the destruction of Egypt, towards which he obviously felt a degree of sympathy.

Now this needs some explanation: Rashi's literal explanation is quite satisfactory in that it leads in perfectly to the continuation of the narrative. Reading further, Yithro generously praises God and shows his appreciation of how God carefully manipulated events to give the Egyptians exactly what they deserved...

The midrashic explanation on the other hand, doesn't fit at all with the rest of Yithro's speech, nor does it seem to be needed in that there is nothing apparently lacking in the literal rendition.

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Spiritual Cause and Effect

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 23:20:41 GMT

Beshalach - Spiritual Cause and Effect

A quick thought that struck me this week on parshas Beshalach:

A general question that presents itself throughout the account of the exodus and ensuing period of wandering in the desert: The Children of Israel are always complaining about one thing or other...how do they not see what God did for them with the ten plagues, the splitting of the sea, taking them out of Egypt laden with gold, silver and clothes, and how did they not realise that they were in good hands? How could they be so ungrateful, like spoiled children?

Listen to them: "...it would have been better for us to serve Egypt than to die in the desert."

And later on: "...had we only died by God's hand in Egypt, while we sat around the stew pot and ate our fill of bread, for you have taken us out into this desert to kill the whole population by starvation."

Now a more specific question that dawned on me when preparing the Torah reading of the Shirah - the song at the Red Sea: According to the way the sections are broken up for individual readings, we continue without a pause to read how the people complain about the bitter waters of Marah. Now I wonder why we do that - why not end the reading immediately after the song on the high note of revelation and praise, as in, let them have their moment of greatness and come back to their complaints later?

Here's a theory then that I think is supportable:

The Children of Israel, throughout their period of slavery in Egypt, had grown used to a predictable world of cause and effect. A world in which the laws of nature were known, where you knew with reasonable certainty that if you did A, then B would follow, you work hard, you stay alive, etc.

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Chukim, Mishpatim and Israel's Mission

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 23:52:18 GMT

Parshas Va'eschanan

Moses gives his parting advice to the Children of Israel, as they prepare themselves physically and mentally for the greatest paradigm shift since their emergence from slavery. From being a Nation of Manna eaters, living an exalted, spiritual life in the Clouds of Glory, they were to make a transition, to re-enter the civilised world as a National entity, a country among other countries and a people among other peoples.

But not just any Nation - they were to become a Holy Nation, a Kingdom of Priests. They were to use their National Sovereignty to show the rest of humanity what it means to live a morally exalted life under the Law of God. This was the pretext for the gathering of the people at Sinai, and now forty years later in the Plains of Moav, Moses re-emphasises that this is central to the mission that they must fulfil.

Let's listen to part of his speech:

"See, I have taught you rules and laws...and you shall keep them and do them, this is your wisdom and insight in the eyes of the nations, who upon hearing of these rules, will declare this nation as simply a wise and insighful Nation..."

Unfortunately these words have come back to haunt us and taunt us as one nasty turn after another shows some Jews to be anything but wise and insightful, in the most public way. What with corruption scandals and violent, ugly protests, the modern day Jewish people seems far from fulfilling it's mission.

Where have we gone so far wrong? Click to find out...

Rabbi Akiva's students' demise - the curse of Torah without respect

Wed, 29 Apr 2009 19:50:11 GMT

Rabbi Akiva had 12,000 pairs of students and they all died in one period because they didn't treat one-another with respect. In Hebrew shelo nahagu kavod ze-lazeh. (Yevamos 62b) The gemara continues that from that time, the entire world was desolate until Rabbi Akiva took on the five apprentices who would later become the leaders of their generation. Clearly then, Rabbi Akiva and his students were considered as the transmitters of Torah of their time, the greatest scholars and teachers.

Given that, it's hard for us to grapple with the idea that people of such stature would sink to such a low level of behaviour in their interpersonal relationships that they deserved to be killed off by the Angel of Death. It must have been some deep and pervasive character flaw that was so destructive that they simply weren't capable of transmitting Torah to the next generation. They had to be wiped out and Rabbi Akiva's legacy would be passed through a new set of students. Can we put a finger on what the problem was? More importantly, can we make sure we're not suffering from it?

In Avos 2:2, Rabban Gamliel tells us that Torah study is greatly enhanced by making an honest living, the idea being that combining the two keeps one from pursuing his baser desires and makes him far less likely to transgress the mitzvos. In fact, continues the author, Torah study that isn't accompanied by work will no doubt lead to a rotten, sinful life.

The text of the Mishna is a little puzzling: For one thing, if the author had intended to point out that you need a livelihood before you can engage in study, then why does he emphasise the need to be doing both? As if to say that even if you have wealth, you need to work, not in order to make a living, but to prevent a descent towards a sinful life.

Secondly, Rabban Gamliel points out the flip side, that any Torah study that isn't accompanied by melacha - work - is ultimately doomed to bring you to bad ways. He clearly wants to emphasise that it's not that the lack of work brings you directly to sin, but that the lifestyle will eventually bring you down.

I'd like to suggest a novel way of understanding this that will help us make sense of the death of Rabbi Akiva's students for not giving respect to each other.

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Counting the Omer, defending or destroying the oral tradition?

Fri, 17 Apr 2009 13:47:07 GMT

From the day after the Shabbat, from the day on which you bring the omer offering, count seven complete weeks. Until the day after the seventh Shabbat, count fifty days, and then bring a new offering to God. (Lev. 23:15)

When are we supposed to begin the count? What is this Shabbat upon which the entire count rests? This is doubly important because on it depends the date of Shavuos.

The question is discussed in Menachos 65/66 and there we find that some groups would read the above literally and begin the count on a Sunday, with the result that Shavuos would always fall on Sunday.

However the consensus of the Rabbis in the Gemara, whose tradition we uphold, understood that the imperative is to begin counting from the day following the Yom Tov of Pesach. As such, Shavuos in fact always falls on the 50th day from Pesach, whichever day of the week that happens to be.

This argument about when to begin counting the omer became somewhat of a poster boy for the historical dispute between the literalist sects and the bearers of the Oral Tradition. I want to suggest a reason why that is and why it's important for us, who follow the Oral Torah, to understand this dispute's significance and it's relevance for us today.

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Dayenu - What do you mean it would have been enough?

Wed, 08 Apr 2009 09:59:41 GMT

Had God taken us from Egypt and not judged them, it would have been enough...had He taken us to Mount Sinai and not given us the Torah, it would have been enough...had He given us the Torah but not taken us to Eretz Yisrael, it would have been enough...

I've never really understood this song - I mean, many of these verses just don't make sense. Had God taken us to the Sea and not crossed us over then it surely wouldn't have been enough - we'd have been massacred on the beaches! Similarly, had He taken us to the desert and not fed us the Manna, well, we'd have starved. And had He brought us to Mount Sinai and then left us there, what exactly would we have done then?

Two ideas have occurred to me to make some sense of this - I'd love to know what you think...

One thought is that this song is to bring home the idea that nothing is absolute in the obvious sense. God wants a relationship with the Jewish People, and He took us from Egypt in order to form the foundation of that relationship. Everything that came after could have happened or not, but the essence of our mutual commitment would be unaffected.

Sometimes we get hung up on one aspect of our observance, on one particular idea or principle of faith, and here we are reminded that in theory at least it could have all been totally different. Perhaps God would have taken us out of Egypt in another direction, given us different mitzvos, and taken us into Malawi...the fact is that it would have also been fine!

This song is a reminder that God makes the terms of the contract. His Will is really the only absolute here but how He expresses it is in some sense contingent. There's nothing intrinsic about any particular leg of the journey beyond the Exodus. Nothing inherently holy about Mount Sinai, nothing inherently holy about Israel. Even the Torah could have been expressed differently, in a different language with different mitzvos.

That's not to say that they're not binding in any way - once God did choose the way He did, that's the only way we know with which to approach Him. The point is to remember that that's exactly what all these things are: media through which we relate to God.

Another idea: the mitzvos of the Seder are designed to help us tell the story of the Exodus. This isn't a learning seder, but a story session. Young or old, simple or scholarly, all of us need to tell and hear the story.

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What does a talmid chacham have in common with a good steak?

Sun, 29 Mar 2009 21:08:54 GMT

A good friend tells a comic but sad story of a ruined birthday cake, which he uses to illustrate a strange medrash on the first verse of Sefer Vayikra.

The medrash in question quotes the opening of the book: And [God] called to Moses..., and then comments as follows: From here you see that neveila is better than a talmid chacham who lacks da'as...

Bill sees neveila as a piece of rotting meat, which at least doesn't pretend to be anything other than it is, whereas the talmid chacham in question is actually someone who has all the external trappings of such a venerable scholar but is in fact sorely lacking the inner qualities, in particular the ability to be sensitive to the needs of the moment, that are characteristic of a true talmid chacham.

While the point he makes is a good one, I'm not convinced of this explanation of the medrash and I think a closer look shows that even a real talmid chacham can lack da'as to the extent that he compares unfavourably to neveila. Having said that, I don't think that term refers to rotting meat, so perhaps the comparison is not as mean as it sounds.

In the Chumash, neveila simply refers to the meat of an animal that wasn't correctly slaughtered, i.e. non-kosher meat. That's all, nothing disgusting, just that Jews are not allowed to eat it. It's also used this way in halacha, for example in OC 328:14 the question of whether to give neveila to a sick person rather than slaughter an animal on Shabbat. It's obvious that it's talking about perfectly good meat otherwise that question wouldn't arise.

The question is here...what does this medrash have in mind? How is a talmid chacham without da'as worse than a piece of non-kosher meat?

Another question: where did chaz'al find any hint to this comparison in opening words of parshas Vayikra?

So what is da'as? How is it possible to be a talmid chacham without it?

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Happy birthday little fellow!

Wed, 11 Mar 2009 15:39:44 GMT

Yitzchak Synett turned 2 today! He was born two years ago early in the morning on Shushan Purim. Purim was on Sunday, and he was born early Monday morning. My wife, who really wishes I would not be such a stickler for religious observance when it comes to getting drunk on Purim, managed to begin a very long labour on the Friday before so that I would have no choice but to remain sober on the day!

It really was just as well, since just after going to bed on the Sunday night, Chana wakes me up to inform me that I need to make the rollercoaster 45 minute drive to Hadassah Hospital, on pitch black, twisty mountain roads! Not the kind of thing you wanna be doing after a few bottles of Cabernet Sauvignon.

Anyway, in honour of this little fellow's birthday, he wanted to say hi! Yitzchak loves sweets and chocolate...

...and he's a real bookworm...

...and now I've got him into blogging!

Happy birthday little man. Till 120!

Purim Torah - something to think and talk about on Purim - How is Yom Kipur like Purim? What's the point of drinking on Purim?

Thu, 05 Mar 2009 09:17:44 GMT

Simplicity is wonderful but it's for the next world!

Purim is somehow connected to Yom Kippur - in the Torah it is called Yom Hakippurim and the play on words is not lost on the Rabbis. They say that in a sense, Yom Kipur is a yom k'Purim, meaning a day like Purim, so in some way Purim is seen as a paradigm of something that Yom Kipur emulates. What's that all about? On the face of it, the two days couldn't be more different. Purim is all body and Yom Kipur is all soul.

Purim is about revealing the hidden Hand Of God in events. God isn't referred to by any name in the Megillah at all, and only through putting together all the events could his workings be seen. Through doing so, we see it as a battle of good against evil, where each receives his just deserts. We see how God engineered each individual event according to an intricate plot to upstage the evil.

How ironic is it then that the mitzvos of the day ask us to drop our sense of right and wrong and just open our hearts and minds to the goodness within everything and everyone. We give mishloach manos to help up come close to others, we give gifts to those who need without reserve and without enquiry as to their righteousness. We revel in physical pleasures of eating and drinking more than usual. We even drink purposely to blur the line between good and evil - until we cannot tell the difference between the blessedness of Mordechai and the cursedness of Haman.

Isn't it odd that on a festival whose essence is about the victory of good over evil, that we do all we can to overlook the evil and bring ourselves to a state of happy acceptance of everything and everyone?

Read the rest of the article to make some sense of it all!

More on Mishloach Manos Madness

Mon, 02 Mar 2009 15:06:35 GMT

Yesterday, I wrote about my first hand experience of mishloach manos madness (click on the link to view the article if you haven't yet read it).

I ended with a call to action for community rabbis and the leading rabbis of the nation to show proactive leadership and do all within their power to put an end to this terrible practice. Today, I'd like to show you that there's a fine halakhic tradition that dates back to the Mishna, where the gedolei haposkim have even rolled back Torah laws to prevent Jews spending exorbitant sums in fulfilment of their obligations.

Let's start towards the end and work backwards. The Magen Avraham writes in relation to the mitzvah of honouring and enjoying Shabbes (O.C.242:1), that in the event of the fishmongers hitching up the price of fish, leading rabbis should issue a ruling that prohibits Jews from buying fish. This despite the fact that there's a mitzvah to eat fish on Shabbes! No, actually because there's such a mitzvah and the rabbis know that Jews will spend money they don't really have in order to do the mitzvah in the best possible way.

His proof for such a bold ruling is a Mishna in Krisos 8a. There the discussion revolves around offerings that a yoledes - a woman after birth - is obligated to bring to the Beis Hamikdash by Torah law. The Mishna teaches that once, when birds became very expensive, Rabbi Shimon Ben Gamliel swore upon the Temple itself that he would not sleep until the prices had gone back to a reasonable level. He then went to the Beis Din, the seat of halakhic authority, and issued a ruling that women were no longer obligated to bring those offerings!

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Terumah, Torah and the Table

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 20:54:39 GMT

In parshas Terumah the Torah describes the different elements of the mishkan - the sanctuary - that the Jewish people were to build in the desert after the Revelation at Mt. Sinai. The mishkan, with all it's fine and intricate detail, was to serve as an impossible interface between the Infinite and the finite. According to the Ramban, through this physical structure and it's contents of beautiful physical objects, the Jewish people were able to re-enact the experience of Divine Revelation that they'd first encountered at Sinai.

One detail caught my attention as I read the parsha. After describing how to construct the various pieces, the Torah then tells us how to place each item. The Aron Kodesh has to go inside the kodesh hakodoshim, which is divided off by the paroches - curtain. Then, on the other side of the curtain, still within the main mishkan, there's a shulchan - table, and the menorah.

Now listen to how the Torah formulates the instructions in parshas Terumah:

You shall place the table on the outside of the curtain, the menorah opposite the table along the southern edge of the mishkan, and put the table on the northern edge.

Now I'm quite hopeless when it comes to technical instructions, but even I can see that this is a slightly odd way of describing the floor plan. If I wanted to know how to place these two items, I'd just need to know that the table is on the northern side and the menorah on the southern side.

So why does the Torah's description start with the placement of the table outside the curtain, yet leave it's precise location unsaid? Why then does it describe the menorah's location, first in relative terms, i.e. opposite to the table, whose absolute position isn't even known, and only afterwards in absolute terms - along the southern edge? Then with all that said, why does it go back and tell us the location of the table i.e. - along the northern edge?

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Purim madness must stop - lo taamod al dam re'echa

Sun, 01 Mar 2009 12:34:25 GMT

Lo Taamod Al Dam Re'echa! Enough of this Purim madness.

I'm really angry. I've just seen something that makes my heart break and my blood boil.

Rabbis of the neighbourhood, Rabbis of the nation, you have to do something about this.

I was in the supermarket a few minutes ago. I waiting in line while a lady was passing her items through. She was very modestly dressed, both in the frum sense and also in the sense that suggested a truly humble lifestyle. When most of her items had been passed, she looked at the screen with the running total and asked the clerk to stop for a second as she'd already exceeded the amount of cash that she had with her for payment.

Although it's clearly none of my business, I couldn't help but notice that her basket was full of all types of snacks and things that are specially produced in bite sized amounts for the Purim season, for people to fill up their mishloach manos packages. There were also a number of household essentials.

She had a dilemma: What should she put back? What should she buy? She truly looked almost in a panic, and after a few moments of painful reflection she made her decision. She fished out a box of baby formula, a packet of minced chicken and a packet of fish something or other, and asked the clerk to put them aside and deduct their value from her bill!!!

Now, I imagine she's at home packing her mishloach manos in pretty baskets while her baby just cries, and the kids who have just come home from school whine about why they haven't got anything other than bread and margarine to eat for lunch.

I don't blame her for a second. She's trying to do her best to be good and do the mitzvos and she's just a victim of a society and it's leaders who have given her a perverted perspective on what really matters. She's also a victim of the fact that probably since she could speak and read, she's been gently encouraged to lay aside her sense of what's right and reasonable and simply follow the guidance that emanates from holier places than her feeble mind.

Rabbonim, Lo Taamod Al Dam Re'echa! A baby is going without formula for the sake of mitzvos. Please lead proactively now. Look around you and save your followers from madness. Outlaw the insane wastage of money on junk food mishloach manos that don't even fulfil the mitzvah, and save families from going hungry.

Teach perspective, for God's sake. Teach people to think rationally once again.

Kosher but deadly

Fri, 13 Feb 2009 11:19:46 GMT

This would be funny if it wasn't so bad. This is the outside packaging of a jar of caustic soda. Underneath the self explanatory poison warning appears a hechsher from no less than two different halakhic authorities, that certify the contents as kosher, i.e. fit for consumption.

I'm not asking why you need a hechsher on an inedible product - that's been asked and answered a thousand times. I'm just wondering what the symbolism is of a rubber stamp being placed on something inherently dangerous if not deadly, in the name of religious stricture.

Click below to add your comments!

Be like Avraham Avinu - we need you to take a stand

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 23:04:19 GMT

Two types of nisayon and two ways of dealing - Avraham Avinu or Manna eaters. We need you to take a stand like Avraham and stop assuming that faith demands silence...

A post election thought: we get the leaders we deserve

Wed, 11 Feb 2009 13:57:18 GMT

As the dust begins to settle and the political wrangling begins, I think it's important to emphasise this: after all our efforts to get people to see sense, remember that we get the leaders we deserve from a moral perspective. Who do we deserve? What can we do to deserve better?

When God judges societies, it seems from precedent that lack of tzedek and mishpat and lack of respect for other people and their possessions are the chief prosecutors. God sealed the fate of Noah's generation when He saw a society whose moral fabric had disintegrated, and the proof was the fact that people stole from one another as a rule.

R. Yisrael Salanter is quoted as saying: spiritual life is superior to physical life, but someone else's phyiscal life is your spiritual life.

I sometimes look around and wonder whether some people have it the other way round: everybody else's spiritual life is your physical life!

Just saying...

Manna from heaven

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 22:55:10 GMT

God rained manna from heaven as a test for the Jewish people in the desert. In what sense was this a test and how is it relevant in practice?

Responsibility dictates...

Fri, 06 Feb 2009 11:13:11 GMT

In the run up to Israel's election next week, UTJ is busy sloganeering - responsibility dictates you vote Gimmel - ha'achrayut mechayevet! How ironic...

Is prayer effective?

Thu, 05 Feb 2009 12:37:22 GMT

Is prayer effective? Israel's Central Elections Committee seems to think so as they banned Israeli political parties from offering prayers in exchange for votes.

Time to jump in

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 11:11:52 GMT

Like for the Jewish people at the sea's edge, there's a time to jump in to the challenge rather than just praying for help...

From slavery to freedom

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 12:48:33 GMT

The Torah's account of the Jewish people's journey from slavery to freedom is packed with insight about how we can face the things that hold us back from becoming who we could be.

Exodus from Egypt: How to break free of your limitations

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 00:20:33 GMT

The exodus from Egypt is about breaking free from the things that stop us from becoming who we could be. Sometimes you have to stop doing and start imagining.

Anonymous comments on protekzia.com

Tue, 30 Dec 2008 23:45:49 GMT

I don't think anonymous comments are conducive to intelligent conversation.

Light vs Dark

Sun, 21 Dec 2008 23:03:08 GMT

It's light vs dark out there! This is about more than just how to celebrate Hanukkah. Grab a doughnut and a coffee and come sit down!

Why self knowledge is hard to find

Thu, 18 Dec 2008 01:09:55 GMT

So many people are on the quest for self knowledge but so few achieve it. Why is self awareness so hard to find? The answer is that we're looking in the wrong place...

Get To Know Yourself Better - Just A Click Away!

Wed, 17 Dec 2008 00:18:19 GMT

Here's a fun online tool that can help you get to know yourself by making you more aware of the kind of words you frequently use. Try it out for yourself

Are you living on a prayer?

Tue, 02 Dec 2008 00:16:30 GMT

Living on a prayer is fine if it doesn't make a difference if we make it or not! But what if you really do want to make it somewhere? Are you prepared to fight for it?

Basic Jewish Beliefs - The Freedom To Choose

Thu, 27 Nov 2008 20:32:52 GMT

The freedom to choose is one of the most basic Jewish beliefs. We can achieve greatness by choosing how to respond to external circumstances. But this presents almost a paradox...

Jewish Beliefs - Making Decisions And Living Life

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 00:34:45 GMT

How to live life to the full in Jewish beliefs. Are you living life or is life passing you by?

Beit Shemesh, Are You Voting From Fear?

Mon, 10 Nov 2008 21:17:07 GMT

In Beit Shemesh, Abutbul supporters are trying to harness locals' fear against voting for Shalom Lerner.

Beit Shemesh elections: Protekzia vs Accountability

Sun, 09 Nov 2008 19:15:36 GMT

In Beit Shemesh, is protekzia going to prevent us from seeing a more accountable local government?