Chulent in a can and religious freedom in Ramat Gan

When I served in the IDF's Netzach Yehuda (Nahal Hareidi) battalion, we used to be issued cans of what is called Luf during field exercises. Luf is a canned meat, similar in consistency to dog food, and is highly reminiscent of SPAM. There are two versions of Luf, the glatt version that was issued to the religious soldiers, and the regular version (still kosher) issued to regular troops. I never thought that it could get any lower class than that... I was wrong.

When it comes to innovation, Israel is a world leader. But, SPAM technology is too far advanced as is. That is why I let out an involuntary shudder when I saw CHULENT IN A CAN being marketed at my local Hareidi grocery store in Ramat Bet Shemesh Bet.

Recently in Ramat Gan, a principal at one of the local schools banned prayer on campus. His rationale was that the Jewish prayer services were being led by extremist elements bent on undermining the religious freedom of the secular students. I believe he called it "religious coercion". By praying in front of the chilonim, he contended, the religious were unduly influencing them and leading them to become ba'alei teshuva. What is interesting here is that he has blamed the "Dosim" (religious) for exactly what he is doing himself. This jibes very well with the long time goal of the extreme left in the country, the deligitimization of Israel as a Jewish state as put forth in the Israeli declaration of Independence. I can think of no other sign half as convincing as this chulent in a can that Israel is indeed a Jewish state. No place that is not Jewish in character could conceivably contain a market for such items, even in the highly Judaized tri-state area of the United States.