Israel’s most politically influential rabbi has courted controversy by claiming that the deadliest forest fire in the country’s history was divine retribution for the failure of many Israelis to observe the Sabbath…
Ovadia Yosef, the spiritual leader of Shas, a powerful religious party in Israel’s coalition government, said there was little doubt that the fire was sent by God to punish his chosen people for their waywardness.
In his weekly sermon, the rabbi quoted a section from the Talmud, a central Jewish religious text, which proclaimed that “the fire only exists in a place where the Sabbath is desecrated”.
“Homes were ruined, entire neighbourhoods wiped out, and it’s not arbitrary,” he said. “It is all divine providence. We must repent and keep the Sabbath properly…”
For many ultra-orthodox Jews in Israel, Rabbi Yosef is the most important religious authority in the land and his comments drew little criticism from government officials wary of upsetting a powerful coalition partner.
Sound familiar?
Another shaman claims that the gods are angry cos you didn’t follow the rules “Properly”.
So what else is new?
Cursor_
So its not because of the wholesale dispossession, murder and repression of the rightful owners of the land Israel occupies, but coz someone collected wood on a saturday.
Right…
im sure the state department is looking for a way to blame wikileak for that
#2 Oh yea, right, it’s your version of god’s retribution.
Christ!
Oh. sorry. Mohammed!
Do I earn a fatwah for that?
Maybe it was just another Burning Bush miracle that got out of hand. Or maybe God is trying to remind the Jewish people to make more burnt animal sacrifices like they did in the olden days — maybe God misses that aroma that made him feel so loved and worshiped.
Divine acts are often difficult to interpret, but maybe it’s time to get out a Ouija board for clarification. This message seems pretty urgent!
Nice hat and shades, but the beard needs a trim.
Every religion has hardcore people, and they all appear to be insane.
If all these guys agree that God is petty maybe everyone should find more positive weekend activities.
Never let a good tragedy go by without a little superstition thrown its way, upon such legends are kingdoms born.
Old guys wearing dresses. And nice accessories. No wonder religious dudes know how to man handle boys.
The religious fundamentalists in Israel are exempt from serving in the military, paying taxes and I unreliably understand that they receive a living income from the state.
When I saw the headline I thought the Rabbi was going to say it was retribution for shitting on the Palestinians and stealing their land. What will these crazy Khazars think of next?
Twisted charlatan.
Anytime you have “ultra” or “hard” in the description of a political or religious observance, you’re going to get “nut jobs”.
@dstringf – and also in porn films
There are those who think religious belief is a mental disorder.
Pattern seeking isn’t just for religious people.
I seem to remember Rachel Maddow once saying that she hides all the Red Sox logos in her office because it makes the team lose.
C’mon. Is that any less crazy than this Rabbi?
>> Orion314 said, on December 5th, 2010 at 5:48 pm
>> There are those who think religious belief is a mental disorder.
Fancying yourself superior to the vast majority of humanity could also be considered a mental disorder.
A design flaw in hairless apes? You betcha!
Alfred Persson and deowll. Suck it up. When did the right become such a bunch of whiny bitches? No wonder America is on the rocks.
It could have been Jewish lightening that started the fire.
When will a religious leader say that the big fire is his fault, because he wasn’t teaching the Lord’s wishes right?
And Alfred, ever consider its not everyone else, but that it is your self-righteous attitude that the Lord doesn’t want to let into paradise? Just asking.
Cap’nKangaroo, he ain’t going to heaven. He’s going to lead the righteous to start a new society on Mars. That’s if the people of Mars ask him.
Wow, to think, I was starting to miss alfred. OK I’m over it. you can go away again.
Alfred… come to Israel. Come into the midst of the fire.
I will speak to you there.
“divine retribution for the failure of many Israelis to observe the Sabbath…”
Can someone check to see if anyone on the bus that got incinerated, was a regular Sunday church attendee?
I’ll wait.
If that is true, then what did we do to deserve the Republicans and the Democrats?
I just can’t believe there are human beings that still believe in that kind of crap.
Magically the forest was set on fire by a divine being because his slaves were not doing exactly what he wanted them to do.
It is really really hard to put myself in their heads to understand how incredibly closed their minds are.
The unfortunate thing is that this kind of things happen not only in religion, but on many other aspects of human behavior.
Ignorance it is not a bliss in this case.
#34, looks like you forgot to take your meds again. Come back when you can provide proof of your make believe friend in the sky.
And I thought it was divine retribution because they’re such assholes to the Palestinians.
I’m surprised no one has yet claimed the fires to be caused by Global Warming!
Oh, wait, I know why. It’s because Global Warming is an even greater farce than ever!!
“Globally, it insisted, 2010 was still on course to be the warmest or second warmest year since current records began.
But buried amid the details of those two Met Office statements 12 months apart lies a remarkable climbdown that has huge implications – not just for the Met Office, but for debate over climate change as a whole.
Read carefully with other official data, they conceal a truth that for some, to paraphrase former US VicePresident Al Gore, is really inconvenient: for the past 15 years, global warming has stopped.”
http://dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1335798/Global-warming-halted-Thats-happened-warmest-year-record.html