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How The Ancient Hebrews Viewed The Universe

“And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day. And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.” – Genesis 1:6-10

Is This The Real Reason Many Jews And Muslims Don't Eat Pork?

The chicken…provided Middle Eastern populations with a more efficient protein resource [than pork]. Pigs became a redundant animal in the subsistence system, but they were not entirely replaced. “Indeed, contrary to expectations based on the religious prohibition of the pig, it never disappeared from the Middle East.”

Haredi City Councilman Makes Sure Jerusalem Water Is…Kosher For Passover

Haredim believe Jerusalem’s regular water supply, which comes from Israel’s national water carrier, has hametz (leavened bread or other leavened ingredients) in it.

Prehistoric Stone Tools Found In Israel Bear 500,000-Year-Old Animal Residue

Sound faintly biblically familiar? Some 2.5 million years ago, early humans survived on a paltry diet of plants. As the human brain expanded, however, it required more substantial nourishment — namely fat and meat — to sustain it. This drove prehistoric man, who lacked the requisite claws and sharp teeth of carnivores, to develop the skills and tools necessary to hunt animals and butcher fat and meat from large carcasses. Some of those 500,000-year-old tools have been found and have now been analyzed by researchers at Tel Aviv University.

Nearly 70% Of Evangelicals Do Not View Religion, Science As Being In Conflict, New Study Finds – But What About Haredim?

However, Jews taken as a unified group (42%), Muslims, Buddhists and Hindus (52% together as a group) and the nonreligious (47%) are more interested in new scientific discoveries than evangelicals (22%) are. But what would happen if haredim – or especially hasidim – were surveyed separately? What would the results be? Would they view science as an enemy of their religion?

She's Baaaack!

Want an evil eye removed? Hoping for some medieval lead poring to scope out your future? Jerusalem-based haredi Rebeitzin Aidel Miller is back in New York seeking to do incantations and the like for you – at very modern prices, of course. And she has the blessings from top haredi rabbis to do it.

The Real Truth Behind Animal Sacrifice And Kosher Slaughter

The ancient Israelites believed that an animal's life-force was contained in its blood and that offering that blood to God was necessary if the animal was to sacrificed and eaten. But many other cultures have similar types of ancient beliefs about killing animals, and developed their own religious rituals to reflect them. All of this, however, dates back to something earlier and more primal, and says much about what makes us human.

In New York State, Religious Schools – Mostly Haredi Yeshivas – Lead In Vaccine Opt-Outs, Endangering Thousands

All schoolchildren must be immunized against measles in New York, unless they have a religious or medical exemption. Vaccination compliance is generally quite high — New York City estimates that on average the immunization rate is 97 percent — but there are pockets where large proportions of parents receive exemptions. And perhaps the largest of these dangerous pockets of noncompliance is in the haredi community.

 

Video: Scientists Offer To Subsidize Religious Seminaries' Science Education; 90% Reportedly Reject Offer

The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is offering two-year grants to ten religious seminaries that have agreed to incorporate more science into the teaching of theology and religious studies. 250 seminaries were approached with the offer. 225 turned it down, many because they feared hurting the "faith" of their students. The effort raises debate about the age-old tension between science and religion, but the purpose of the project is to educate more effective ministers and religious thinkers.

When Torah Clashes With Science And Truth

What happens when a haredi magazine makes what should have been an innocent joke, but that joke is based on scientific fact – not haredi myth? This:

Don't Worry About Climate Change, Agudath Israel's Spokesman Says, Study Torah And Do Mitzvos And Everything Will Be Just Fine

"…Enviro-zealots are convinced that the current climate change signals the end of the world (or, at least, the destruction of the world as we know it), and that humanity is at fault for the impending doom (and has the power to head it off).  Some of us, though, feel that a passuk we recite daily – “Tremble before Him, all the earth; indeed, the world is fixed so that it cannot falter” (Divrei Hayomim 1 16:30) – reassures us that Hashem has built self-correcting mechanisms into nature, and that our zeal should be reserved for Torah-study and mitzvos.…"

Haredi Rabbi Threatens To Void Conversion Done By Modern Orthodox Rabbi Unless Modern Orthodox Rabbi Swears Universe Is Only 5,775 Years Old

"…A good friend of mine (an upstanding Orthodox rabbi of an Orthodox congregation) was recently informed by a charedi rabbi that a conversion he had performed several decades ago was to be invalidated unless he would declare under oath that he believes the world to be no more than 5,775 years old.…"

“We Decided Not To Be Afraid Of Doing What’s Right” – Israel’s Public Middle Schools Will Finally Teach Evolution

“It’s true that some people try to put religious belief and scientific belief in opposition to each other, but I don’t think there’s any reason for them to be in competition or to undermine each other. I don’t think the intent is to hurt people who believe that the world was created by divine power. We have grounds – and even an obligation – to give our students this curriculum, because it’s what is accepted today to explain the sources of life’s diversity. Not to say that men came from apes, but to say that men and apes come from a similar background. We decided not to be afraid of doing what’s right.”

England Will Not Allow Haredi Schools To Censor Out Test Questions On Evolution

Great Britain’s school testing overseer has ruled that schools – even haredi yeshivas – will not be allowed to screen out exam questions which contradict their religious beliefs.

Does It Matter That The Torah Told Stories That Are Apparently Not True?

"Camels are mentioned as pack animals in the biblical stories of Abraham, Joseph, and Jacob. But archaeologists have shown that camels were not domesticated in the Land of Israel until centuries after the Age of the Patriarchs (2000-1500 BCE). In addition to challenging the Bible's historicity, this anachronism is direct proof that the text was compiled well after the events it describes.…"

Video: Creationism v. Science, The Debate

Bill Nye ("The Science Guy") debates creationist Ken Ham (founder of the Creation Museum). If you believe your rabbis and want to continue believing them, don't watch this video.

Ancient Tablet Says ‘Noah’s Ark’ Was Round

The tablet’s ark is a huge circular coracle or round boat, 38,750 square feet in dimension and was supposed to be made “like a giant rope basket strengthened with wooden ribs, and waterproofed with bitumen inside and out” – a giant version of a normally tiny boat that was in daily use until the late 20th to ferry people and livestock across rivers.

Haredi Museum Will To Close Due To Lack Of Funds, Rabbi-Owner Says

Borough Park’s Torah Animal World museum, which claims to have a stuffed version of every animal mentioned in the Torah – except one – is closing due to financial problems.

Another Nobel Prize To Jews Due To The Merit Of Torah Study, Zionist Orthodox Nobel Prize Winner Mistakenly Claims

“Torah study is an intellectual pursuit and honoring this ultimate value transfers to other pursuits as well. King Chizkiyahu and the Jewish People were saved from Sanchariv only because of limud Torah. Jewish homes are full of seforim while other homes may or may not be. Jewish homes have overflowing bookshelves. Throughout the generations we have given great honor to this intellectual pursuit. Even the gvirim who wanted to marry their daughters sought roshei yeshivos and the most outstanding talmidei chachamim. Torah study makes the nation and its people of the finest high quality.”

Your Female Ancestors Were Almost Certainly Non-Jews, New Study Finds

“Thus the great majority of Ashkenazi maternal lineages were not brought from the Levant, as commonly supposed,” Dr. Richards and colleagues conclude in their paper. Overall, at least 80 percent of Ashkenazi maternal ancestry comes from women indigenous to Europe, and 8 percent from the Near East, with the rest uncertain, the researchers estimate."

The Jewish Genome Challenge

Controversial geneticist Eran Elhaik has challenged other scientists to a "Jewish Genome Challenge" meant to show that claims made by these other scientists of identifiable Jewish genetic ancestry stretching back to early biblical times are false.

Did YU's Harry Ostrer Cook The Genetic Books To Support False Findings Of Ashkenazi Jews Origins?

An Israeli researcher alleges that a Yeshiva University professor manipulated data to reach the “false” conclusion that Ashkenazi Jews have a predominantly Middle Eastern genetic origin when in fact their genetic signature is predominantly from the Caucus region of northeast Asia. And even though this Israeli researcher published his study debunking Ostrer and other geneticists more than 6 months ago, none of them will respond to the questions about their work.

Religious Schools Cannot Fire Single Teachers Who Are Pregnant Through In Vitro Fertilization, Israeli Labor Court Rules

“When the values of the defendant and its desire to preserve these values are pitted against a teacher who is not committing an act of protest but simply wants to realize her right to parenthood, the desire of the teacher to be a parent must in this case be given priority. The plaintiff cannot be excluded just because of this…when her colleagues who are single and/or divorced are not excluded by the defendant even though they are not living ‘traditional’ family lives.”

New Genetic Study Reportedly Proves Khazar Ancestry For Ashkenazi Jews

Ashkenazi Jews are a mix of genetic ancestries, far more of which than previously thought originating in tribes from the Caucasus – a region that sits in between Eastern Europe and Asia between the Black and the Caspian seas. Those Slav, Scythian, Hunnic-Bulgar, Iranian, Alan and Turkic tribes formed a confederation that created the Khazar empire – which at its height stretched from Kiev in the west to the Aral Sea in the southeast.

New Study Shows YU Researcher, Others Appear To Have Cooked The Genetic Books To ‘Prove' Middle Eastern Origin Of The Jewish People When One May Not Really Exist

"The various groups of Jews in the world today do not share a common genetic origin. We are talking here about groups that are very heterogeneous and which are connected solely by religion…[the] genome of European Jews is a mosaic of ancient peoples and its origin is largely Khazar.”

Haredi Mayor To Block Non-Haredi Visits To Archaeological Site In Bid To Prevent Haredim From Hearing “False Opinions”

Modi'in Ilit's Mayor Yaakov Gutterman told the haredi newspaper Yated Ne’eman last week that the site, which is believed to be an agricultural village from the Second Temple period, "will operate according to the doctrines of our forefathers, according to the Jewish historical sources presented by the Bible, the Gemara and ancient Jewish sages only. The site will be open only to haredim, which will keep it a proper place for them to visit and connect to their Jewish roots, without the distortions and disruptions of other places, where there is fear of hearing false opinions."

Haredim Following Medieval Islam Into The Abyss

700 years ago, Islam was a dominant global force. It had conquered parts of Europe. It had scientific knowledge more advanced than Europe and a literacy rate that was higher than Europe. But then something changed. What was it, what can we learn from it, and what connection does it have to today's haredim?

Haredim Allegedly Destroy 1,600 Year Old Synagogue Mosaic Floor

Vandals seriously damaged a rare 1,600-year-old synagogue mosaic floor in Tiberias, smashing parts to rubble and scrawling graffiti, Israel Antiquities Authority officials said tody. Experts suspect extremist haredim who object, sometimes violently, to excavations they claim involve ancient grave sites and to symbolism they believe is pagan.

Zimbabwe's Black Jews

DNA evidence has proven that parts of the Lemba tribe came from the Middle East to Zimbabwe thousands of years ago, where some members still observe Jewish traditions. They are Jews by genes and culture – but they are still not considered Jews by rabbinic law.

Rabbi Natan Slifkin: The Making Of Post-Haredism

"Seven years ago, three of my books were banned by three dozen leading rabbis from the haredi rabbinic establishment in Israel and the US. This was due to my Maimonidean approach to resolving conflicts between Torah and science – that the account of creation is not to be interpreted literally, and that the sages of Talmud were mistaken in some of their statements regarding the natural world. While I sympathized with the concerns of these rabbinic leaders about the effects that such an approach could have for some members of their communities with simple faith, I could not accept the charge that the fundamental approach was heretical. It became clear to me that in my line of work, I could not continue to lead my life in the haredi community."

Haredim Should Study Science, Renegade Haredi Rabbi Says

Generations upon generations proved that we can have it both ways. The greatest rabbis in history mastered the sciences as well and made a great impression on the world. There is no shortage of examples: Rabbi Levi Ben Gershon (Gersonides), in addition to being a great scholar who wrote a commentary on the entire Bible, was also a scientist, doctor, mathematician and philosopher. Another noteworthy figure was Rabbi Abraham Zchut, who was a historian and astronomer and studied at the Salamanca University. He was known for upgrading the astrolabe, an instrument used to make astronomical measurements. Just like Gersonides, he was honored by having one of the moon’s craters named after him.

Haredi Fringe Group Works Borough Park

The haredi fringe group JPAC puts its signs in sukkas in Borough Park.

Haredi Fringe Group Protests In Crown Heights

JPAC brought its homophobia and right wing politics to Crown Heights, where it protested anti-kapparot protesters with signs accusing "white liberals" of supporting the "murder of black babies".

It Only Gets Worse

Fringe haredi group: "SHAME ON WHITE LIBERALS WHO OPPOSE HUMANS WHO EAT MEAT YET SUPPORT THE MURDER OF BLACK BABIES THROUGH ABORTIONS."

Haredi Anti-Evolution, Anti-Gay Protesters

Haredi anti-evolution and anti-gay protesters staged another offensive demonstration on Manhattan's Upper West Side today.

Anti-Evolution Haredim On 76th And Broadway

"As I was walking by west 76 st and Broadway on the upper west side of manhattan, I noticed this wacky site. Black hatted guys standing around discussing evolution with non jews telling them how its a fraud. On top of this car were three stuffed animals and their babys. People pulled out their phones to take pictures of the crazy scene. I thought I saw it all. I guess not."

"Haredi" Anti-Evolution "Exhibit" Opens Tomorrow On NYC's Upper West Side

"Wednesday afternoon on the upper westside on Manhattan,home to New yorks largest secular Jewish community will witness a scene never seen anywhere before. Young Chareidi activists will display stuffed animals with their babys and cubs to proove evolution is a myth."

Haredi Torah Archaeology Conference "Shatters" "Taboo"

In the heart of ultra-Orthodox Jerusalem two weeks ago, an unwritten taboo was shattered in broad daylight: The first haredi conference on "Torah archaeology" - having been boldly advertised in the Haredi daily Hamodia, and approved by several leading rabbis - drew a packed audience.

A Post About Evolution And Religion

An Austrian court granted an atheist the right to declare himself a "pastafarian" who belongs to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster and have his drivers license photo taken while wearing a pasta strainer on head. The story, and a video explaining the proofs for evolution, after the jump…

Annals of Hasidic Folly

The story of how a hasidic rebbe's anti-modernity animus caused the deaths of many of his followers – and of himself.

Orthodox Warn Australia Of Massive Earthquake If Anti-Ritual Slaughter Measures Passed

Only 9 days after the Sunday Age gave front-page coverage to an ignorant and biased anti-Shechita campaign, most of the city and environs felt a 'heavenly jolt' which they claim is a forewarning of what may happen if anti-Shechita laws are implemented.

Who Wrote The Bible?

Stunning new Israeli software, part of the sub-field of artificial intelligence, analyzes style and word choices to distinguish parts of a single text written by different authors, and when applied to the Bible its algorithm teased out distinct writerly voices in the holy book. And it agrees with the findings of modern biblical criticism 90% of time.

An Ultra-Orthodox Foray Into Genetics

In the seemingly never-ending battle over who can and who can not perform conversions to Judaism the State of Israel will recognize, an Sefardic ultra-Orthodox government minister ventures to genetics to explain why ultra-Orthodox Jewish law must determine conversion issues.

Forgetting We Were Once Fish

It may seem strange that humans have evolved from fish, but the evidence can be found not just in fossils but also within our own bodies – especially our faces.

Chief Rabbis Call Day Of Fasting And Prayer For Rain

Israel’s chief rabbis are calling on the public to pray for rain, and declared this Thursday a special day of fasting and prayer to atone for the sins they believe are preventing the direly needed rainfall.

Despite Objections, Government Funds Torah And Science Classes

The program, funded by the Science and Technology Ministry, is drawing fire from academic quarters for not being science based.

Letter from Colorado: Haredim Are Wrong – Science Is Relevant To Judaism

Instead of seeing challenges or modern scientific and technological advances as something that can be used for its own advantage, the haredi community tries to shut out any modern thinking.

We Need Morality Without God, Scientist Says

Author Sam Harris says morality can be better achieved through science than through religion, and uses the epidemic of religious child sexual abuse as an example of what goes wrong when religion, rather than science, dominates a society.

Orthodox Scientist Fired Because Of His Remarks On Evolution And Climate Change

"If textbooks state explicitly that human beings' origins are to be found with monkeys, I would want students to pursue and grapple with other opinions. There are many people who don't believe the evolutionary account is correct."

Chief Rabbi Challenges Stephen Hawking Over Origin Of The Universe

Hawking says science disproves the existence of God while Rabbi Jonathan Sacks says Hawking is wrong: "Science is about explanation. Religion is about interpretation. The Bible simply isn't interested in how the universe came into being."