I think that probably most of my readers more often get the Israeli perspective than the Arab one.  Today I read an article about the travels of one Arab professor who frequently flies in and out of Israel.  I think it’s worth reading to get a feel for the difficulties of life on the other side.

This is not the first attempt and probably won’t be the last.  But I think it worth reading anyway.  From Arutz-7:

A record number of Jews converting to Islam last year prompted the Shas Knesset faction Tuesday to propose a bill that would jail missionaries who proselytize to individuals in Israel….

The existing law mandates six months ‘ imprisonment for those who attempt to persuade Israeli minors to leave their faith or who perform a conversion ceremony on the children and teens.

The current legislation also imposes a five-year jail term and/or a fine on anyone who offers money or other goods to persuade an individual under age 18 to convert to another faith. 

It does not, however, outlaw missionizing towards adults, a deficiency that would be corrected by the new law.

Some 70 Jews left the faith of their fathers to join the Muslim community, up from 33 converts to Islam in 2005 and 27 such conversions in 2004. The number of Muslims who convert to Judaism was dramatically lower, with only 7 conversions registered with the government by July 2006.

Many of the Jews who converted to Islam were women who married Arab men, a process made considerably easier than conversion to Judaism because it involves only a declaration of faith in Allah.

The numbers have been even higher in conversions to Christianity.  Statistics reported by the Interior Ministry indicated that 437 Jews abandoned their faith to “accept Jesus” in 2003, rising to 884 converts to Christianity in 2004 and 733 in 2005….

“We do not mean to violate freedom of religion, or freedom from religion,” said a source in the Shas party quoted by the Ynet news service. “We mean to allow everyone to believe in their own religion and prevent harassment by any source trying to harm the basic democratic right according to which ‘every man may live in his religion. ‘” Such activity is also forbidden by Jewish law, note rabbinical scholars.

“Whether it is Christians coming from abroad or Jewish converts working in Israel, they all have the same agenda – to destroy every trace and memory of the people of Israel,” reads the proposed bill.

If modern Jewish approaches to the observance of the “sabbatical year” are of interest to you, today’s article in Arutz-7 is worth reading.  Instead of giving the land a rest, a lot of work is done to figure out how to obey the letter of the law, but not its spirit.

Leviticus 25:1-7 (NIV) ” The LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai, “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to the LORD. For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. But in the seventh year the land is to have a sabbath of rest, a sabbath to the LORD. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. Whatever the land yields during the sabbath year will be food for you—for yourself, your manservant and maidservant, and the hired worker and temporary resident who live among you, as well as for your livestock and the wild animals in your land. Whatever the land produces may be eaten.”

And the first few paragraphs from the article:

The upcoming Shemittah year – in which Biblical law mandates that the Land of Israel lie fallow and its Jewish-grown fruits, of special Shemittah sanctity, be free for all to eat – presents major challenges for Israel’s economy.

Slamming down the brakes on Israel’s agricultural enterprise for an entire year is all but impossible, for several reasons. Chief among them is the fact that many Israeli farmers are not religiously observant and have little interest in adhering to the Shemittah laws. In addition, dropping out of the export markets for a year causes not only short-term difficulties, but losses in future years as well; for once a market is lost, it is very hard to regain.

This issue has occupied leading rabbis and agriculturalists ever since the modern national revival of the Jewish People in the Land of Israel began a century and a half ago. Two approaches have traditionally been implemented. One is the Heter Mechirah, which is a temporary sale of the land to non-Jews, thus exempting it from the Shemittah laws. This approach was generally accepted only by the religious-Zionist public, while the non-religious farmers went along with it as well. It was meant only as a temporary measure, but has become institutionalized, to the dismany of many.

Here’s a good word:

Hebrews 4:9-11 (NIV) “There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters God’s rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his. Let us, therefore, make every effort to enter that rest, so that no one will fall by following their example of disobedience.”

If all you know about modern Israel comes fun historical novels like Leon Uris’ Exodus, then you may not be aware that the kibbutz movement has died.  This didn’t happen overnight, but the recent overwhelming vote of the first kibbutz in Israel to dissolve the cooperative nature of their community might be viewed as the singing of the fat lady.  Kibbutzim are based on a philosophy elsewhere known as communism.  This failed in eastern Europe and Russia and it has failed here as well.  There’s a fundamental problem with a system that depends upon the goodness of people to perform rather than upon an incentive approach.  Ever since the fall, man has understood a basic point: if you work, you eat.  If you work harder, you eat more.  This isn’t true in every situation, but in general, the principle holds.  Kibbutzim denied this principle with the philosophy that everyone eats the same amount regardless of how hard or how well they work.  There were some unique realities that made the kibbutz approach work for a while, but that time has past.  Now kibbutzniks are fed up with those who eat and don’t work.

Anyway, I didn’t plan to do more than to suggest that those interested in the demise of the kibbutz read this interesting article in Haaretz.  The community where I live (as a renter, not a member) is currently in the midst of privatizing as well.