Natan Slifkin's Blog, page 3

A Palestinian Coloring Book

You may remember that back in February, Israel Police raided a leading Palestinian bookstore in East Jerusalem for literature that contained incitement. The single evidence that they cited as seizing was a children’s coloring book.

This was widely reported and lampooned. And it was probably a very silly and counterproductive thing for the police to do. But this was no ordinary children’s coloring book; I know, because I managed to get a copy from South Africa. (That’s where the book was published...

Who are the People of the Land?

Susan Abulhawa is a Palestinian-American scientist and bestselling author - the most widely read Palestinian author of all time. Her novels about Palestine have been translated into 32 languages and have sold millions of copies. According to her Wikipedia biography, Susan Abulhawa is also a human rights activist and animal rights advocate. Last week, this acclaimed human rights activist wrote a series of posts calling for the genocide of all Jews worldwide:

You might think it odd for a human righ...

The Treachery Continues

Recently, I reported on how Rabbi Dovid Hofstedter from Toronto arranged a meeting between Ambassador Mike Huckabee and the charedi leadership. They told him appalling lies about the enlistment of yeshiva students, that were duly repeated in Mishpacha magazine. Rabbi Hofstedter also wrote an article for a general American audience to argue in favor of charedim being exempt from army service, which likewise contained all kinds of falsehoods.

I have heard of many people in Toronto who are deeply up...

Don't Panic

I hesitated before writing this post. But there was a special Knesset Committee session on it, the police have opened an investigation, the Times Of Israel ran an article on it, and it’s probably only going to get more publicity. So, before you read about it elsewhere and panic, I would like to arm you with some reassuring information.

Last month, MKs from the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women and Gender Equality and the Special Committee on Youth Affairs heard appalling testimony from num...

"Tel Avivians Don't Serve"

There is a widespread belief that residents of secular Tel Aviv barely serve in the IDF. Obviously this is something that charedim love to talk about. But it’s not limited to charedim; this belief is widely held across the spectrum.

Now, there are several things that are important to keep in mind. First, even if it were to be true, it would not remotely justify the chareidi lack of participation. Second, secular Israelis who don’t serve still strengthen Israel by building up the economy, unlike ...

Monkeys and Charedi Purity

(In the picture above, I am bonding with an usually tame monkey, a rescued animal that I encountered at a sanctuary in Africa. It has absolutely nothing to do with this post. Except that it features a monkey.)

My difficult decision of whether to write about exotic animals or charedi army enlistment has now been solved, thanks to the latest development which involves both.

The former exemption from army service was for those for whom “Torasam U’mnasam” - Torah is their (economically unproductive) ...

The US "Gedolim" Speak Out

And it’s here: the official proclamation from The Council Of Great Torah Sages of Agudas Yisroel of America:

They also provided an English translation, and we’re going to analyze it in detail. If you’re living in the US, you may well not realize what’s striking about the first paragraph:

“IT IS A TIME OF DISTRESS FOR YAAKOV, BUT FROM IT WE SHALL BE SAVED”
”The situation of Acheinu Bnei Yisroel everywhere has become increasingly perilous, with rising waves of anti-Jewish hatred around the world. In ...

Penguins or Charedim?

I have so many fascinating topics that I want to write about. Another leopard scam but this time specifically with religious Jews as victims, a two-part story involving Perek Shirah and bats and penguins, a halachic controversy about mutant chickens, reviews of some important new books about Torah and science, and so many other things.

But on the other hand, the issues involving charedi society have never been so important. And every day brings new revelations.

Meanwhile, a reader wrote to ask m...

The "Non-Charedi" Argument against IDF service

I’ve written countless posts (many indexed here) refuting various charedi arguments against army service. Many of them involve alleged Torah sources that turn out to be completely misinterpreted (and at the end of this post you can freely download the latest edition of Emes Ne’ederes, an English work by R. Moshe Klausner which goes through each source). Some arguments involve a claim about “Torah protecting,” which can be shown to not only have zero basis in classical Judaism, but also something...

Treachery from Toronto

There are many wonderful religious and yeshivish Jews in Toronto who are major supporters of Israel and work hard to strengthen it during this difficult war.

And then there’s those who try to recruit non-Jews to do the opposite.

Rabbi Dovid Hofstedter is a Torontonian businessman and philanthropist. He created the organization Dirshu to restore the Torah scholarship that was lost in the Holocaust, a goal now exceeded a hundred times over. This also has an outreach branch called Acheinu, which (ac...