Judaism

Around 2,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews protested at an Israeli plant of giant US chipmaker Intel for the second Saturday in a row, voicing outrage at the factory's decision to operate on the Sabbath. Angry shouts of "Shabbat, Shabbat" rose from outside the Jerusalem plant, where many sported black fedoras or large wheel-shaped fur hats and gowns traditionally worn by the Haredi, as the ultra-Orthodox Jews call themselves. Police were out in force and repeatedly chased protesters out of the factory's parking lot. Factory guards hurled water at the protesters, who threw rocks and spat at journalists. The Haredis are outraged at the factory's decision to ... Read Full Story

A bail hearing for a former Iowa kosher slaughterhouse manager convicted of financial fraud turned testy Wednesday when a prosecutor accused the manager of lying in court. The bail hearing in U.S. District Court in Cedar Rapids followed former Agriprocessors Inc. manager Sholom Rubashkin's conviction last week on 86 counts of financial fraud. Rubashkin's attorneys argued he should be allowed to remain free on bail until he's sentenced, and prosecutors claimed Rubashkin is a flight risk. Assistant U.S. Attorney Peter Deegan said Rubashkin committed bank fraud when he was released on bail following his initial arrest in October 2008. The accusation sparked a heated ... Read Full Story

There are often huge divides between what something is ideally supposed to be and in reality what it ends up being. The divide that I want to discuss is that which exists in modern orthodoxy. How did the ideology depart from reality in such a severe way? In the ideology behind modern orthodoxy a Jew is supposed to follow their Rabbi's judgement, like Jews have been doing for thousands of years. The greatest source of these halachic dicisions are based on the Rama and Shulchan Orech. However, in reality modern orthodoxy is usually described by people to be a lower level of observancy. The ... Read Full Story

Around 2,000 ultra-Orthodox Jews demonstrated outside the Jerusalem plant of Intel on Saturday, to protest against the factory operating on the Jewish day of rest. The demonstrators chanted "Shabbat, Shabbat" and called on the company to keep the factory shut on the holy day, Jerusalem police spokesman Shmuel Ben Ruby, adding that there were no reports of violence. Talks between Intel, the world's biggest maker of semiconductors, and the city's ultra-Orthodox community broke down this week and the company ringed its factory with barbed wire ahead of the planned protests. "We have always worked according to the company's needs. If the needs call for ... Read Full Story

A jury has found the former manger of a kosher slaughterhouse in Iowa guilty on 86 of 91 financial fraud charges. The verdict against Sholom Rubashkin came Thursday evening after a nearly monthlong trial. Rubashkin was charged with bank, mail and wire fraud, money laundering and ignoring orders to pay cattle providers in the time required by federal law. The charges were linked to Rubashkin's job as a top manager at the former Agriprocessor's plant in Postville, Iowa. He was arrested months after a May 2008 immigration raid there that led to the arrest of 389 workers. THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check ... Read Full Story

Scores of Orthodox Jews have been traveling to South Dakota to support a respected leader who prosecutors accuse of bank fraud. From New York to tiny Orthodox populations in other parts of the country, the men are attending the trial of 50-year-old Sholom Rubashkin. The former manager of Iowa kosher meatpacking plant Agriprocessors Inc. is facing fraud and other charges that carry a combined 1,000 years in prison. But supporters know him as a spiritual leader, and he and his family for readily donating money and supplying inexpensive kosher food to the poor. Rubashkin believes that bringing spiritual guidance to those remotely familiar with ... Read Full Story

A far cry from the thrills of Spiderman and the sexy glam of Lois Lane, chaste and religious comics have become a hit among ultra-Orthodox Jews determined not to pollute their children's minds. For the reclusive Haredi society that shuns television, Internet and video viewed as a source of moral corruption, the no-sex, no-violence comics offer benign entertainment and a fun way of teaching tradition to their children. Dozens of colourful comic books featuring Biblical stories and adventures of famous rabbis and sages fill the shelves of bookstores in Haredi neighbourhoods alongside the thick and austere religious textbooks. Outside a bookstore in the ultra-Orthodox ... Read Full Story