Rabbi Michael Leo SamuelPurim picture of the day.
Posted by Yochanan Lavie on 28.02.10 at 4:18 pm
‘Twas the night before Purim, when all through the shul
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mule;
The stockings were hung by the ...
Whenever I celebrated Purim in Me’ah Sharim, the Haredi epicenter of Jerusalem, I always marveled at the costumes the Haaredim used to wear. Every year, the Haredim participate in cross-dressing. Haredim in drag. What a sight to behold. Haredim and Hasidim literally let their hair down.
Any good Christian bible reader knows that cross-dressing is forbidden in the Torah. Men are forbidden to dress as women, since the proscription reads, “neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment, neither may a ...
Learn More ShareWho says religious people aren’t funny? Where is Jay Leno when you need him?
From the rabbinic savants who introduced separate sidewalks, segregated buses, and separate shopping hours for men and women in Israel, their rabbis are now encouraging Haredi airline passengers to hang a new type of mechitza – a halachic barrier to separate the sexes – around the top of their airplane seats, to shield their eyes from immodest clad female neighbors and in-flight movies. [1] From what I ...
Learn More ShareThe subject of demonology has fascinated me ever since I first began reading scary stories as a child. In our culture today, the belief in demonic spirits continues to play a role in literature, movies, and religion. The recent stories about Rabbi Batzri and his exorcisms show that in Haredi and Hassidic communities, the belief in demonic possession is still very much alive and well-irregardless whether such malevolent entities exist or not.
In the world of the psyche, the imagination runs ...
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