Here's an article on MSNBC about hope for a solution to Israeli-Palestinian problems. http://www.msnbc.com/news/930340.asp In it, there's a quote from a Rabbi: ¡°While Israel is an illegitimate entity in my mind, I still believe it deserves to be secure,¡± said Rabbi Chaim Stauber of the ultra-Orthodox Satmar hasidic sect. ¡°I support the idea of land for peace. There is no justification to the loss of a single human being.¡± Can somebody explain to me why some Jews might feel that Israel is an illegitimate entity? I don't quite understand this. Thanks.
History of Satmar Hasidic Sect Apparently, they think only the "Messiah" has the authority to reestablish the Nation of Isreal.
Many very religious Jews think that Israel should not be a state until the messiach (messiah) returns and the Temple (last destroyed by the Romans about 2000 years or so ago is rebuilt. These guys are also exempt from working or serving in the army, and are funded at tax-payer expense to study religion for life. Their answer to critics who claim they have it easy while everyone else's sons and daughter are in harms way is that they provide a much more important service to the State by feverently praying during wartime. For the rest of the country, this is not a terribly popular arrangement, but it dates back to the infancy of the State when David Ben-Gurion made many concessions to the ultra-religious legally in order to have them as a voting bloc in his Labor coalition. This is way Israel has an office of Chief Rabbinate and most buses don't run on Saturday, and so on. It is a compromise between secular democracy and the needs of a religious minority who want a monopoly on religion, and the majority of Israelis hate it, but the religious parties stay in power largely by the voters they grab from among the poorest sectors of society, mostly immigrants from North Africa and Iraq and Yemen. It also probably warrants saying that the majority of Israelis aren't really religious at all, and aren't waiting for a Messiah , and arent ínterested in rebuilding the Temple, since Al-Aqsa Mosque is built where it used to be (the 3rd holiest site in Islam) and would have to be knocked down to do that. Recently two important things have happened: The political party Shas (an ultra-religious Sefardic political party) nearly went bankrupt and lost many seats in the Knesset (Israeli legislature), and the new Shinui party (a middle-class, pro-secularist party) gained enough seats that the Likud invited them to join the coalition, pushing secular vs religious arguments to discussion.
its just that other than mecca which is the holiest site(the place we turn to worship), and medinah( the place that took in Mohammed (pbuh) when meccans had planned to assasinate him) . Jeruselam/al aqsa mosque is the only other place mentioned in the quran(im not 100% sure on this) and that too it was said that Muhammed(pbuh) led all other prophets in a prayer here. just some info
It's just so different than the Protestant religion I've grown up with. We don't place a lot of importance on specific places anyway. So to have a place referred to as the Third Holiest Site in Islam just comes across as sounding strange, not because it is strange, but because it's different than what we're used to. And when we do have rankings in the United States, those with numbers lower than #1 attempt to get to #1. An American site that was #3 on any list would strive to be #1, regardless of the context of the list. So, to an American who is used to some level of competition in any ranking system, seeing a site listed as the 3rd Holiest elicits a little bit of a chuckle, just because of the way rankings are done 'round these parts.
Any idea how the dispute between Shinui and the NRP will turn out? Did Sharon expect Shinui to back off on the expectations of changing things in regards to the secular vs religious role of the government? I thought that Sharon/Likud invited Shinui into the coalition to get a broader base than Likud, rightwing & religious parties. Didn't Rabbi Yosef (Shas) vow that Shas would not join a government that had Lapid (Shinui) as a member and that is why Shas is on the outside?
I think Tommy Lapid is serious about the reform. Every election or so, there is always a minor party trying to run on a similar agenda, and then that party dies b/c it ends up compromising too much . Shinui as I understand is not so much anti-religious (as he is accused) as it is anti-Shas, and anti-theocracy. I think Lapid's biggest challenge is to keep his party relevant and gain more seats in the next election, instead of disappearing like so many other middle-class issue parties before him. 15 seats is great, but with 25 he may get the busses to run on Saturday. So far, Shinui has done a decent job of at least advancing its agenda, especially in regards to annulling the Tal Law. As for Sharon, I think he wants coalitions with parties to his left so that he has the political cushion when he makes tough decisions that may upset people outside his base and outside of Israel. Shinui is now the 3rd biggest party, making traditionally allies like Avigdor Lieberman and the religious parties less critical, so it helps Sharon stick to the roadmap, because he can politically afford not to pander as much to his right. I'm sure he'd still love Labor to join, but that isn't gonna happen.
From what I have read, there is a big enough bloc in Likud that is sympathetic to the religious & rightwing parties that Sharon couldn't move the party to the left even if he wanted to. Won't the parties left of Likud and part of the coalition governmen eventually realize that the overall rightward tilt of the government prevents their own agenda from being given due consideration? Labor was in the previous government and they were disappointed...............will Shinui come to the same conclusion? I think that Sharon will have great difficulty in getting this current coalition to appreciate the <i>Roadmap</i> and would need to incorporate Labor into a new government while dropping people like Lieberman. I agree with your conclusion: but that isn't gonna happen.
Not to be an @ss to Islam but: Mecca and Medina were the only holy cities known to Muhammed. As is often the case with religions as they grow, Jereusalem was added to the holy pantheon as Islam became a political entity. As the religion attempted to expand back into the lands from which it came, Jereusalem was a natural gateway to Europe. It was the center for operations and logistics for Islam's expansion back into Europe until the Francs repelled them in 732 in Tours. In essence, Jereuslem became a holy city because it was logistically expedient for the invasion of Europe, and it was historically significant for continuity with the Jewish tradition.
As the religion attempted to expand back into the lands from which it came, Jereusalem was a natural gateway to Europe. Enlighten me further. I don't get it.
