Apparently any old fool can put on a black kipper and grow a beard and declare himself i-am-hollier-than-thou. These people make me vomit, they use religion as a tool to inflict their warped lifestyle on others and as a means to gain financial and political power. Wake up people the men in black are amongst us.

we waited for you to say he should resign.....................................

haha. Only gay men are in the wrong. And no that's not a double standard.

Shas needs to pull out plus Labor to hasten the downfall of Olmert, may it be soon.

"Homosexuals date back to the bible" That was in the time of Noah bringing on The Flood. There's a big difference between the desecration of Shabbat and homos. While the desecration of Shabbat is a violation of the Torah and at the time of the Sanhedrin was punishable by stoning. Homos, the Torah says, are an "abomination to G-d" and at the time of the Sanhedrin were executed in the center of the city. Leviticus states, "You shall not lie down with a male, as with a woman: this is an abomination. For the nations, whom I am sending away from before you, have defiled themselves with all these things. And the land became defiled, and I visited its sin upon it, and the land vomited out its inhabitants. … For the people of the land who preceded you, did all of these abominations, and the land became defiled. And let the land not vomit you out for having defiled it, as it vomited out the nation that preceded you.'"

the ideological ends of those who manipulate its meaning. Recent manipulation of Halacha by right-wing rabbis just proves that Halacha is not set in stone, can be interpreted and twisted to fit any ideologue and malcontents self-interest. In this case rabbis motivated by concern that Olmert might surrender part of Jerusalem. In fact the rabbis told Talansky it was his obligation, also justified by Halacha, to testify against Olmert. Three junior Conversion Authority rabbis, described as ant-Zionist, used Halacha to slander their pro-Zionist chief rabbi and indiscriminately disqualify ten years of conversions. Who cares about the lives of the loyal Israelis they harmed? It was a Halachic decision! Same court, flushed by their victory over Rabbi Druckman returned now claim that persons who are hearing- and speech-impaired are not qualified as candidates for conversion since they cannot fulfill all of the mitzvot! Be warned self-serving and self-righteous, the more you manipulate Halacha, the more will it become in the eyes of the majority you wish to manipulate, nothing more than a political justification, a propaganda tool. And while I am no authority on Halacha, I would be willing to bet that such use is itself a violation of Halacha.

The Torah distinguishes between actual and potential. All of us are potential sinners, but we are judged by the way we freely choose to act, not by how we could have potentially acted. I am thankfully inclined toward the opposite sex. If I were "in the closet" there would be no shame in that whatsoever. The shame comes only when I fail to properly use my G-d given freedom of choice and erroneously choose to violate that which our Creator prohibits. If I would choose to engage in a homosexual act, I am held liable. If I were "in the closet" and would remain so, then that is an astoundingly praiseworthy accomplishment. G-d does not challenge us with tests that we don't have the ability to pass. Simon, apparently you must be a very strong soul to be given the challenge that you've been given. I have my own challenges to face I assure you, ones that are appropriate to my soul. I don't envy those who are in fact faced with the challenge of averting homosexual acts. It can't be easy, I'm sure, but in proportion to the difficulty of the challenge is the greatness of the reward (or chas ve'chalila the punishment). As far as the oft-quoted fact that G-d made man in his image, this is true. But the word image is a poor translation of the original word "tzelem" which by no means indicated physical likeness. G-d, of course, has no physically whatsoever. This is one of the basic principles of our faith as stated in Maimonidies 13 principles. Shimon, knowing that you were previously religious, I am certain you know this well. As to the other points you've made: -Yes, Shabbat is a prohibition -Yes, Married women are commanded to cover their hair. A Torah commandment remains a commandment even if you don't live according to the Torah, and therefore the consequences remain. The difference in the above sins versus the sin of homosexuality is that there is currently a movement (as there was in Sdom) to flaunt homosexuality, encourage it, legitimize it, and expose it in public street demonstrations as something to be proud of. There is NO pride in violating G-d's word. Thank you for the invitation to make Aliyah. I will consider it.

is not exactly ur middle of the road normative rabbi! he belongs to the fanatic 'and' lunatic fringe, from yamit, thru the temple institute & the self designated 'sanhedrin'. therefore, his talk can either be dismissed or at best taken with more than a grain of salt!

that, simon is your problem and israel's problem. a light unto the nations. dont make me laugh or cry too loudly, simon. while computer science grows and science grows and your sprituality is neglected , beware once again israel will be lost to us jews. ps. i may live in capetown but i visited yamit and atzmona and attended the last rosh hashana in yamit which i think was held by rabbi areil. you stick to your scummy leader olmert et al and good luck to you. it is ableak future in which you are heading simon.

yup. you are sooo right. for you following in the foot steps of the humble mr olmert is the road to follow. you are a lost cause. that lnatic fringe you mention is israel's saving hope. with out the right ortodox your country is once again doomed.

We are tired of the road Olmert has led Israel down... I am in full agreement with Rabbi Yisrael Ariel as are many of my friends in the United States. Bravo for the Rabbi!

he is a "god" in his own estimation and feels no need to answer to our values of laws or of Hashem's laws.the only "gods"he worships are money and power. olmert laughs at what he considers our pathetic begging for him to resign

Tuesday the Rabbi woke up.

Oh lee my friend what can we do , you always make me laugh, YOu see you can quote the Torah untill the cows come home, But you see i do not accept the Torah as thats my choice, and i dont give a hoot what verse whatever says as for me its just a book of primative "fairy tales" I am who i am and thats that,and you are who you are , so lets chill bro ! but i do enjoy are little banter!

no, carolne , i said nothing about olmert , neither bad and certainly nor good. i spoke of the lunacy of israel ariel and his peers. my comfort, is that you can keep admiring him from far away capetown thru the smoke billowing from the autodafes to migrant black workers in your rainbow paradise. just keep yr nose out of israeli affairs. better yet, hire ariel to run ur shul!