-- Minister of Interior Ayelet Shaked, regarding MK Gafni calling PM Bennett a murderer

Shaked is 100% right but Gafni is not the only one guilty of crossing lines (whatever those lines are). I don't know if Shaked has crossed any lines, but plenty of MKs and ministers from both sides of the aisle have crossed lines in recent months. This term has been very contentious and the politics has gotten very polarized (I think it started a while ago but now it is really bad)  and it is not just individual statements but behaviors of politicians and that also leads to statements....

Benjamin Netanyahu, when he was Prime Minister, was the first person in Israel to get vaccinated with the COVID-19 vaccine. Over the past few days Netanyahu has been very prominent in talking about the need for a third vaccine shot. 

The news is reporting that recently while on vacation, Netanyahu had a serology test done and discovered that he had almost no antibodies left against CoronaVirus. Netanyahu realized, due to that test, that people's vaccines are losing their potency, especially the people who got vaccinated early on in January, and need the booster.

Netanyahu's discovery and conclusion are regardless of the variants, including the new Delta variant. According to what Netanyahu believes, people are losing their protection in general, and even if the vaccine would do a good job protecting form the new variant, it has mostly worn off by now and is not providing enough protection.

It might be a good conclusion. But. We don't know if Netanyahu did a serology test as a baseline 6 months ago or 3 months ago or whenever, so we don't know if he had previously and now doesn't or by how much they dropped. We have seen many people get tested even after being vaccinated and the tests show low antibodies. We also don't know (or at least I dont) the rate of deterioration of the antibodies. Netanyahu's test results might be specific to him - we just don't know. One person being tested is anecdotal. The Health Ministry should be doing testing on many people to see the patterns. 

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hmmmm

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the one side of the Haredim has been non-stop attacking Kahane and the government for the announced reforms saying that he will destroy the Rabbanut and he will destroy kashrut (MK Gafni even called him Antiochus yesterday). That we are already familiar with.

now coalition member MK Gilad Kariv (Labor) is attacking Kahane from the other end of the spectrum for the same reforms. Kariv is upset upon hearing reports that Kahane is working to plug some holes in the reforms to ensure that non-Orthodox organizations will not benefit from it and be able to start offering kashrut certification services. 

According to the old adage mentioned above, Minister Kahane must be doing something right if both Kariv and the Haredi parties are upset and critical of him.

 

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  -- MK Yitzchak Pindrus (UTJ)

1. Pindrus is probably right - the Haredi hechshers will benefit, get bigger, make more money, get more authority, from the kashrut reform turning Rabbanut into a regulator, and the Rabbanut probably wont authorize Tzohar to certify kashrut.

2. Even though Pindrus is probably right, the free market is almost always better for everybody. Monopolies are good for nobody except for the people who control the monopoly. If people want Badatzes to replace the Rabbanut, give the people Badatzes. If people want a basic level of kashrut, I am sure there will be some organization that will step and provide what the market demands.

3. I do not think Masouda in Sderot and Shimon in Dimona will not have kashrut available to them. the market will provide what is demanded. If people want to eat kosher, an organization will be happy to provide that. It won't be the Rabbanut because they will be regulators, but it will be a different organization

After his first scheduled competitor, an Algerian, dropped out in order to avoid facing an Israeli, his second challenger, a Sudanese judoko, has now dropped out to avoid facing him.

Tohar Butbol is that good of a judoko! His opponents quake in fear upon hearing his name!

Just joking, but I really don't understand why they even bother going to the Olympics just to drop out - on the chance that the Israeli might lose and disqualify in the early rounds?

Rav Moshe Shternbuch, Raavad of the Eida Hachareidis, recently tested a group of Toldos Ahron avreichim on hilchos Shabbos and related the following incident to them:

There was recently an avreich before him in beis din who had previously been one of the elite students in the Chevron yeshiva. When he got married, as an elite bachur, he commanded a high price for the shidduch and his father in law had promised him an apartment in Yerushalayim.

It turned out as some time passed that this avreich knew very little of the halachos of Shabos, and often had to ask his wife what the halacha is in different situations that arose, as she had learned hilchos shabbos in school. this fellow was a brilliant mind in lomdus, but knew nothing of practical halacha.

The father in law, realizing his son in law was not quite as elite as expected and that his daughter knew more than his son in law and is more of a talmid chochom than he, decided to cancel the apartment he was buying for the son in law.

We do not know how the court case ended up, as Rav Shternbuch did not tell us. This is what I would really like to know. It is somewhat reminiscent of the story of the Taz suing his father in law the Bach for failing to support him with the meat he needed to be able to learn and had been promised as a dowry. the Bach had lost his money and was unable to afford the meat for his son in law and offered him lung meat instead. In that case I recall the Bach won, with the beis din deciding the lung meat is considered meat. 

Rav Shternbuch used the story to encourage this group of avreichim to study hilchos shabbos well, and to write down notes so as to embed the halacha in memory. 

Ahhhh, when the biggest insult is that his wife knows more than he does....

sources: Kikar, Hamechadesh, Behadrei

The question was asked if, in light of the recent decree of Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman to disqualify avreichim from the day care subsidies, avreichim should all register in beis din for divorce proceedings in order to qualify for the subsidy, and other monies as well, as single mothers. They stress that they would not get divorced but would open a file with beis din and argue, fictitiously, in court for years if need be - they can stretch it out as long as the government lasts, but never actually get divorced. Halachically they would still be married, but legally they would be considered separated and the mother would qualify for this subsidy and others as a single parent, similar to the 35% of the secular community taking advantage of this and qualifying for these subsidies as single mothers....

Rav Zilbershtein responded with a psak that in no way should this be done, and the question itself is very much in poor taste, not even taking into account the obvious reasons such as:

1. taking money in a deceitful manner

2. playing games with the foundation of the holiness of our homes

3. "opening the mouth of Satan" - giving him good ideas, to cause more divorces, I guess. maybe some sort of ayin hara

the real reason not to even think of doing such a thing is, Rav Zilbershtein says, is a matter of approach - people are looking at this situation the wrong way.

Rav Zilbershtein relates a story of post-Holocaust at a gathering of rabbonim to discuss rebuilding the yeshivas for re-establishing the Torah among the people of Israel. The Ponovezher Rav said that we are not here to figure out how to guarantee the existence of the Torah./ That will happen with or without us, as there is a promise from Hashem.. we are gathered here to figure out how we be a part of that.

Rav Zilbershtein said, similarly, there is a decree now by this evil government, and the decrees coming from them for now are just financial. until now they had the merit of somewhat supporting our Torah learning, and that protected them as well. the avreichim will continue to get money - so it wont come from the government, it will come form somewhere else instead, maybe even from a more kosher source. the anger and screaming about the government stopping to support us is out of place and is a chilul hashem - we dont need them to support us! We will be supported, it is just a matter of from where.

Rav Zilbershtein added that it is also a lack of gratitude. Everyone knows the financial means of the avreichim is not in any way natural. It is clearly from hashem. By playing as if we are poor in order to get money they do not want to give us, is lack of gratitude to Hashem. We need to show ourselves as rich.

Interesting. the reason I would have given is that filing a divorce claim and arguing in court for extended periods of time is playing with fire. it might start as a joke, but someone is sure to at some point insult the other, say the wrong thing, take something more seriously than it was meant, say something more seriously than originally intended, and it could lead to actually straining a relationship.

Additionally, if to qualify they must be separated, someone is sure to catch wind of what is goign on and then they are going to send inspectors out to catch all the avreichim involved in divorce fraud.. and that will lead to a massive chilul hashem.

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Fridman's inaugural speech in the Knesset was noteworthy by her proudly introducing herself as a fourth generation cat feeder. And she plans to be their representative in Knesset.

 

Yes, you heard correctly. She feeds stray cats. And dealing with protecting the stray cats will be a major focus of her term.

There is nothing wrong with that - it is even a good thing to be merciful to animals - but most MKs say they are going to serve the people and focus on various agendas that are to the benefit of whatever sector is being targeted. This is somewhat unusual as the cats did not exactly vote her in to office...

In a follow-up interview MK Fridman proposed the idea of the establishment of a national authority to deal with street cats. Fridman says that according to the numbers of the Ministry of Agriculture there are 1 million street cats in Israel, though she believes there is actually double that.

She can come by and take all the street cats from my area, with pleasure. We have had more than our share of baby cats born on our porch, along with more than enough baby cats that did not survive that had to be disposed of.... If this authority gets established just for that, dayeinu. Other than that, it seems like an idea that will turn into a big waste of money.

full text:

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According to Kikar, Rabbi Uri Tigger had gone to ask his rebbi, Rav Chaim Kanievsky some question about public transportation, as at the time Rav Kanievsky was encouraging the use of the mehadrin bus lines.

Rav Tigger asked if one is allowed to sit behind a woman - he explains that when he comes to talk to Rav Kanievsly he takes the shared shuttle taxis that run on the bus lines, and sometimes a woman is sitting in a seat and other passengers do not want to sit in the seats behind her. Rav Tigger says that he wants to know, once and for all, if this is ok or not, as sitting behind a  woman in such a situation you are not even really seeing her, except for maybe a tiny bit. So is it ok to sit behind a woman or not?

Rav Kanievsky responded that the problem halachically is only walking behind a woman, not sitting behind a woman.

Additionally, Rav Tigger asked, Rav Kanievsky has previously paskened that if a woman gets on the bus and sits beside you, a male, you do not need to get up. Rav Tigger asked if this is really, lechatchila ok to continue sitting there and not get up?

Rav Kanievsly responded that according to the halacha if he is not going to be touching her by continuing to sit in his seat, there is no need to get up and there is no question about it. the only problem is sitting between two women.

Rav Tigger asked for confirmation about the problem of sitting between two women and quoted the Gemara that says not to walk between two women. Rav Kanievsky confirmed sitting between two women is also a problem and he referred to a different Gemara that infers in his opinion that even sitting between two women is a problem.

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wow

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Israeli farmers have benefited until now by being protected from competition with imports tightly limited, quotas enforced (such as on egg production) and various subsidies. According to the ministry in recent years prices of fresh produce have increased by upwards of 80%. This year summer fruit have been notably expensive. Whenever prices go up they give excuses of water shortages, temperature fluctuations, unusual rain patterns, etc... yet it seems the prices just keep going up. the Israeli farmer has been protected while the consumer has not been.

In my opinion, competition is always good (for the consumer). By limiting the competition, the Israeli consumer has been limited in what it could buy and has had to pay a high price for it. Competition will force Israeli farmers to compete, to innovate and to produce even better produce and to make the prices more competitive.

But my question is, the origin of the hetter mechira for shmittta was, and is, that the Israeli farmers need to be protected for the security of the country. If the State is going to stop protecting the farmers in all other ways by opening imports and no longer propping them up, is the hetter mechira still relevant? And I am asking as someone who is not anti-hetter mechira. If the State decides that we no longer need to protect farmers, we don't need that agricultural security any longer, perhaps the hetter and need for hetter mechira also go away as it too was based on protecting the farmers.

While I wonder about my question, this opening up for imports is good news for those shmitta observant who prefer non-Jewish produced produce. Good timing. Maybe Lieberman si good for the Jews after all!

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Additionally, kashrut organizations will be allowed to certify restaurants that are open and operating on Shabbos, if three municipal rabbis give it permission to operate. 

Kahane says there will no longer be a need for double (or more) certification - until now every food or restaurant had to minimally have a Rabbanut hechsher by law, and if they wanted a private hechsher as well, they still had to have the Rabbanut and only above that a private one. Now they will only need to pay for one, and the Rabbanut will be the regulator.

source: INN

Bennett's people have promoted this idea for a long time, so it is not a surprise.

I do not know what might be wrong with it. Municipal rabbis are appointed by the Rabbanut, so I am not sure what the fear is of giving them power to give kashrut in other cities or to give special permission (such as for opening on Shabbos or for setting different standards).

the only opposition I have heard so far is from the Haredi politicians, but I haven't heard an explanation form them of what is wrong - just that Kahane and Bennett are dismantling the kashrut in Israel. Again, I don't know what is wrong with this arrangement. Anyways, they who oppose the move (so far) don't even rely on the Rabbanut hechsher (and many say it isnt even kosher to begin with), so I am not sure why removing that hechsher and having them regulate other certification standards instead is so bad.

I just dont get the argument against giving too much power or authority to rabbis appointed by the Rabbanut instead of leaving that power centralized by the Rabbanut. if you think the Rabbanut should hold the power, what is so bad about the rabbis the Rabbanut appointed? The same argument is used when discussing changes to the conversion system, and I dont understand the complaint there either.

the big issue I think is that I dont see who will step in to replace the Rabbanut and give basic kashrut certification. The competition will be to say I am the best mehadrin hechsher, not I give the basic kashrut level. And this might be the end of non-glatt meat, among other things

Does Donald Trump still own the Miss Universe competition? If he does, it might pass quietly with no protest, but if he doesnt...

While the exact size of the tax has not yet been decided, or announced, they have studied the matter and have determined that a steep tax could cause a decrease in the use of disposable utensils by as much as 40%. the expected level of the tax is that the prices will be doubled, but that is not official as the exact tax has not been finalized or announced. 

If they decide to move ahead with this, it would be going into effect in 2022.

We all know these plastic goods are bad for the environment, but we use them because of the convenience, and they are generally cheap enough to make it worthwhile.

According to the studies, the average Israeli household consumes 7.5kg of disposable plastic goods per person, with sales of nearly 2 billion shekels a year. This is 5 times the amount consumed in the European Union.

According to Knesset studies, 95% of Haredi families use these disposable utensils [regularly], while 57% of the secular population uses them.

Haredi politicians are looking at this as another attack on Haredim rather than as an attempt to do something good for the environment. It seems they, or some, think that the alternative is paying more for disposable utensils and increasing the cost of Haredi living, rather than using less disposables and more regular dishes and cutlery. This could save people a lot of money as it could encourage them to use real dishes and wash them rather than pay significantly higher prices.

sources: Reuters, Ynet, Kol Hai News, Kikar

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weird 

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Arbel is calling on the various mehadrin kashrut certifiers to withdraw certification from all Unilever products, the parent company of Ben & Jerry's, sold in Israel.

This would be a big blow to Unilever, but why stop at mehadrin certifications? Why not call on the Rabbanut to withdraw certification as well?

I also want to know if Unilever is going to stop selling all their products in the "Occupied Territories" or just Ben & Jerry's? And if just B&J, why is that product different than all the others they sell?

That seems to be coming to an end.

Ben & Jerry's put out a statement today:

I don't call for boycotts, but I don't like this.

Ben & Jerry's Israel has pushed back releasing a statement saying this is unacceptable and ice cream is apolitical. I am not sure how much power they will have n this, considering the B&J statement. We shall see what will happen...

I think it is fair to add that "boycotting" them now will only hurt the current licensee and his employees who are producing and selling all over Israel, including Judea and Samaria and trying to oppose the change, and is seemingly being punished for that (by not having his license renewed in 1.5 years). if you are going to stop buying B&J because of this change in policy, I might suggest you take into consideration to continue buying it for the next year and a half until the license expires, to continue supporting the current licensee, and only after the new policy goes into effect stop buying the ice cream...

  -- MK Miki Zohar (Likud) to Defense Minister Benny Gantz, after reports yesterday had MK Netanyahu trying to persuade Gantz to abandon ship and join Likud in forming a government with Gantz serving first as PM in a rotation arrangement

I have no problem with them trying to persuade Gantz to abandon ship and form a government with the Likud. That's politics and part of the game.

that being said, the offer shows the hypocrisy of the Likud.

The two biggest complaints of the Likdu against Bennett, that they keep repeating again and again, are that 1) Bennett only has 6/7 mandates and it is unethical for him to be prime minister as head of a 6 mandate party, and 2) Bennett broke campaign promises to become Prime Minister and form this government.

Gantz heads a party of 8 MKs. it would be no more or less ethical for him to serve as Prime Minister than it is for Bennett. 

And, Gantz has promised not to sit with Netanyahu - both in the elections and after and even repeated it after since the government has been formed. It would be no more ethical for him to break his promise to become PM than it was for Bennett to break his.

yet for the Likud it is all ok as long as it serves their interests. they arent really upset at anything Bennett did and they have no moral high ground to play, as they try the same games. This time they happened to lose at it and that is what they are upset at.

If the government shuts the airport down now for everyone and keeps it shut for a while, that is one thing. If not, the government will not be justified in shutting it just for Uman travel. 

As I said last year, Israel really should not care about people leaving the country. It could care about people coming in to Israel and it can set rules to regulate who comes in - eg only citizens, only vaccinated, quarantine upon return, electronic trackers, etc. The State of Israel can put any requirement it wants on people coming in to Israel as harsh or weak as it decides to go, and the people will have to comply. if Uman is important enough, they will be willing to be vaccinated or to go through quarantine and testing and whatever. 

But to leave? Israel should not care who leaves. It is Ukraine's problem to decide on their end who to let in and who to keep out. if they say we are open for anyone including Uman travelers (a significant number of whom are likely not vaccinated), that is their problem. They should be allowed to go, and upon return will have to deal with whatever requirements Israel decides on. 

According to reports of tracing, Israelis returning from vacations abroad are responsible for bringing in at least a lot of the current Corona and spreading it around. People have traveled to countries designated as dangerous, people have not adhered to quarantine rules, people have forged documentation. And people have returned to Israel smuggling Corona in and spreading it around Israel.

According to reports, 17,000 people traveled out of the country - just yesterday alone!

When all those people come back, along with all the people leaving all the other days, with many countries around the world experiencing increases in Corona spread, it is only natural that all these people are going to be bringing in lots of Corona back to Israel with them.  

So I am close to convinced that Israel just needs to shut the airport down again.

the airport can be shut down for general travel, left open for urgent and business travel, with special permission granted upon application. Israelis have to be allowed to return to Israel, but they should be required to be tested and quarantine. Tourists who were allowed in with permission should be allowed to leave a the end of their trips. 

The other option, and I don't know which is better, is simply deciding that it is time to live with this - we can't keep shutting down the economy, locking people up, opening and closing, etc. Keep pushing vaccinations and if necessary (and it seems likely it is) boosters, encourage hygiene and people to be careful, especially those at greater risk. Israel can't keep going like this and Corona is not going to go away so quickly. It will wane for a bit before it waxes again. And it will wax for a bit before it wanes again. 

Corona was not Netanyahu's fault back in 2020-2021, and its return now is not Bennett's fault. Corona is just the reality of  the world right now. the only question is how authorities deal with it.

Either declare the country open for good or shut the airport for almost everyone. 

I don't know why they did this, but Hamechadesh says that a group of the donors tracked the shiach of the kupa and saw that because of the heat, on the long walk to the grave he took his hat and jacket off. The young man fulfilled his task by saying some tehillim by the grave and saying the names of the donors, but he did so without donning his hat and jacket.

the donors asked Rav Mendel Shafran if they deserve their money back as they had expected a rav of some sort to be sent, not a bachur [who would take off his hat and jacket]. The Kupa responded that they never promised or insinuated that they would be sending a rav, just that they would send a messenger to daven and say the names of the donors at the grave - that was done and they need to pay their commitment.  

The group of rabbonim led by Rav Shafran, including Rav Yaakov Chaim Sofer, Rav Shafran, Rav Naftali Nussbaum and Rav Fried, rejected the claim of the donors. They decided that if the kupa did not explicitly promise to send a rabbi or a notable talmid chacham to daven on their behalf, sending any frum, Torah-observant Jew, is acceptable. Rav Chaim Kanievsky agreed with this psak.

Rav Shafran concluded the psak with a note saying that who even knows if the prayer of notable rabbonim is more accepted than those of a young yeshiva bachur who is still protected and without sin...

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The meeting concluded with the creation of the "Tav Sameach". The Happy Tag. Like the Purple Tag businesses were allowed to operate under during previous lockdowns, the Happy Tag will set guidelines for the continued operation of these wedding and event halls.

The main points of the Happy Tag is that an event with fewer than 100 people can function as normal with no restrictions (though masks must be worn indoors, as per the current rules), but any event with more than 100 people will require guests and participants who have not been vaccinated or recovered to present proof of being tested for Corona (with negative results) within 72 hours of the event.

There are a few more minor rules, such as how dinner and dancing should be organized, indoor and outdoor preferences, etc. but the main issue is the participants.

The goal, Bennett says, is to find a way to let them continue functioning and keep everyone safe - if we shut them down, should it become necessary, then people will go back to pirate weddings and events that will keep nobody safe.

So, that seems to mean the "green passport" is back. To get in to a wedding you were invited to, or a bar mitzva or concert, you are going to be required to show proof of vaccination or recovery, or of a negative PCR test. 

For those of us vaccinated or recovered that is not such a big deal. Will unvaccinated/unrecovered guests, outside of immediate or close family, really go take Corona tests, and pay for them privately, every time a friend or neighbor or cousin invites them to a bar mitzva or wedding? I am not sure how realistic this plan is, and it will depend on the enforcement - if there is not going to be serious enforcement of any new rules it is back to the illogical rules of the last year and a half of closures and lockdowns and restriction rules that often made no sense.  

We in Israel have not had an Opposition like this in a long time - an Opposition that is loud, that is determined, that fights and that works hard to oppose the government and to take it down. We'll see if they succeed or not in bringing the government down, if the government doesn't bring itself down first with its own craziness, but in the meantime they are truly a fighting Opposition and we have not seen that in a long time.

I don't know how long the government will last, and who will take over and run the government next, but whatever happens I hope the Opposition of the future is feisty like the current one. Besides for keeping it chaotic and interesting, the Opposition is meant to challenge the government and fight it. the quiet sleepy Oppositions of the past decade should really be a thing of the past.

this is interesting - to hear their perspective rather than just see them fighting it... 

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If the Coalition wants a law passed, the Opposition will oppose it even if it is something they want and have always wanted, and even if it is bad for them in the future to have voted against, they still will. 

this is insane.. extremists vandalized the memorial wall in Meron, tearing down and defacing the posters of the images of the 45 victims of the Leg B'Omer tragedy.

I am not quite sure what they are being extremists about and what they don't like about this. There are not even any pictures of women included (because there were no female victims)!

I am not sure what their problem is and what this is all about, but I hope the authorities figure out who they are and put an end to this type of behavior

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The initiative is for people, during the Nine Days, to daven and learn in the area near the Kotel called Ezrat Yisrael - the area that was designated for egalitarian prayer with no mechitza.

Yeshivat Hakotel supports them or is involved with them, I guess, as they put out a flyer for this saying they will be having shiurim and davening there during the Nine Days, in an attempt to strengthen the hold on the Kotel when the deceptive government is selling out to the Reform movement. 

The purpose of this is to prevent the Reform and others from using it for mixed gender services.

The Women of the Wall, WoW, have called this a provocation, blah blah blah. 

1. In general it is always nice to have additional fighting during the Nine Days. This was so unnecessary to start with as Ezrat Yisrael is hardly even used anyway, so this was done just to pick a fight.

2. I don't know why WoW cares. They don't even want to use Ezrat Yisrael and continue to try to hold their services at the regular women's section of the Kotel. Because they were not given the administrative authority they were promised over the Ezrat Yisrael area, they have refused to use it. it does not sit empty but it supposedly is not all that busy, and especially with tourism down it has not been all that busy. So I don't know why this upsets that.

3. The common refrain when the WoW women show up for Rosh Chodesh services at the Kotel that they have their own area over there, so they are continuing just to use the Kotel to be provocative, etc. That argument goes away when the Orthodox groups then take over, control, and push out others from WoW.

4. WoW should be using this as an excuse, or justification, to use the Kotel, not as something to get upset over, as, like I mentioned above, they dont use it anyway.. 

Just when orthodox Jews set an historic record the other day with one of its own being drafted to the MLB, a day later sees a second Orthodox Jew being drafted to the MLB!

Congratulations to Eli Kligman from Los Vegas, Nevada on being drafted by the Washington Nationals. Kligman also says he plans to be true to his faith and remain observant even when making it to the majors. We will surely be following his career and cheering him on! . 

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