Sunday, October 4, 2026
IDF paratrooper Yosef Haguel, associated with famed 'Ballad for a Medic,' dies at 80
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-910522
Famed IDF paratrooper Yosef Haguel, who was associated with the song Balladah L’Hovesh (Ballad for a Medic), died on Saturday at the age of 80.
During the Six Day War, Haguel fought in Battalion 28 of the Paratroopers Brigade in the battle against the Jordanian Legion in east Jerusalem.
Haguel was seriously wounded in the battle, and the company medic, Shlomo Epstein, treated him under fire. When mortar shells were fired toward them, Epstein shielded Haguel with his body to protect him and was killed on the spot by a direct hit.
https://www.hebrewsongs.com/?song=baladahlachovesh
BALLAD FOR THE MEDIC
They slowly advanced. Everything was calm.
Against the river, with the reeds rustling
suddenly a lightning bolt roared,
and one [person] yelled out: [I'm] wounded!
I'm coming - the medic replied to him.
We went over a mine! the wounded yelled,
I'm here, by your side - the medic replied to him.
A hail of fire is coming down,
a heavy fragmentary hail,
across the river, to the murmuring reeds
Leave me here - the wounded requested,
leave the non-sense
- the medic then answered him.
Save yourself - the wounded requested.
I'm staying with you - the medic answered him.
And the two remained alone,
and the field was open.
And the two remained alone,
exposed to the fire.
We are [about to] perish
- the wounded then muttered,
hold me well
- the medic answered him.
You were wounded too
- the wounded them muttered
never mind, it's not too bad
- the medic answered him.
The fire is very heavy! It's very hard to move.
Just don't despair, just don't despair,
I'll always remember you
- the wounded then pledged.
Just don't fall - the medic then muttered.
I'm yours till the day you die
- the wounded then pledged.
Today's the day I die
- the medic answered him.
Suddenly a dust cloud, suddenly the wind rose,
and a shaddow over the ground,
it approached loudly.
We're saved! They're coming!
- the wounded then whimpered,
but he did not hear a word out of the medic.
My brother, my very brother!
- the wounded then whimpered.
Across the river, the reeds are rustling,
my brother, my very brother
my brother, my very brother
my brother!!!
Trump’s friendship with Erdogan ignores Turkey’s hosting of Hamas
https://www.jpost.com/opinion/article-909961
Maybe Trump is enamored by the flattery that he’s received from Erdogan, who knows just how important it is for the American president to hear how wonderful his efforts are in trying to broker peace.
US President Donald Trump considers Hamas to be the world’s enemy, referring to them as “terrorists” and “killers,” explicitly condemning their violent acts, attacks on civilians, and the holding of hostages.
So why does he call their host a friend, praising him as a strong leader whom he respects and a “fantastic guy?”
While Trump may secretly recognize the real danger of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, knowing that this loose cannon could wreak havoc on the Middle East if he so desired, his high esteem takes the expression, “keep your friends close and your enemies closer,” to a whole new level.
Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine
"Somewhat ironically, more than a decade later, General Westmoreland would reflect on the battle in the Ia Drang Valley, noting that “An enemy document captured later admitted heavy losses but rationalized them on the basis that the lessons learned were worth the cost of a hundred thousand men.”62 Whether he recognized it or not, that observation captured another reality that would invalidate his strategy: the North Vietnamese leadership did not regard casualties in the same light as did the Americans. The North Vietnamese and their supporters in the South felt they were engaged in their war of independence, and they were willing to sacrifice vast numbers of soldiers to achieve victory in it. It is undoubtedly harder for a general from a democratic country, who constantly needs to consider the domestic political effect of high death tolls, to fight an attritional war. On the other hand, ideological autocrats such as Ho Chi Minh and Mao Zedong had a cynical disregard for human life (from our perspective at least), caring only for the eventual outcome of “the people’s struggle” and the victory of the dictatorship of the proletariat. By contrast, Western generals, understandably, have needed to fight in such a way that casualties are carefully kept to an absolute minimum, both on obvious humanitarian grounds and also so as not to inflame opposition to the war in Congress, in the press and among the public."
Start reading this book for free: https://read.amazon.com/kp/
Theology?
I was recently challenged as to why be concerned with theology which is basically an attempt to rationalize G-d when we have explicit statements that this is impossible
Yeshaya (55:8-9) 8. For My thoughts are not your thoughts, nor are your ways My ways, says the Lord.9. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts.
Rambam (Yesodei Haorah (01:10) What did Moses want to comprehend when he requested: "Please show me Your glory" He asked to know the truth of the existence of G-d, to the extent that it could be internalized within his mind, as one knows a particular person whose face he saw and whose image has been engraved within one's heart. Thus, this person's identity is distinguished within one's mind from that of other men. Similarly, Moses asked that the existence of G-d distinguished in his mind from the existence of other entities, to the extent that he would know the truth of His existence as it is in its own right.
In Rav Treibitz's introduction to my Daas Totah he wrote:
G d commands us to study the Torah twice - in Deuteronomy (11:19) and again in Deuteronomy (4:9–11). Each verse, however, is uniquely distinguished by its own internal semantical and syntactical form as well as the context in which it appears. Deuteronomy (11:19) states, “You shall teach the commandments to your children to speak about them, while at home, while traveling on the road, when you lie down to go to sleep and while you rise up.” This verse appears in the description of the reward and punishment which will result from the fulfillment or transgression of the commandments. Consequently, this verse is generally understood to refer to the study of the halachic obligations of the Torah - in all their variegated details. In contrast, Deuteronomy (4:9) concerns the necessity of recalling the monumental events of the giving of the Torah at Sinai. Here the Torah informs the Jewish people, “Be careful for yourself, and guard your soul greatly, not to forget the events that your eyes beheld at Sinai. That is in order that they shouldn’t leave your heart for the rest of your life, and you shall tell them to your children and to your children’s children.”
Ostensibly, the second verse deals with our obligation to effectively communicate the experience of the mass revelation of the Torah at Sinai. It requires us to preserve the memory of the event which constitutes the pivotal historical proof of the truth of the Torah and Moses’ prophecy. However, the Talmudic Sages (Kiddushin 30a) understood the verse to be a command to study the Torah. Furthermore, Nachmanides (Maimonides’ Book of the Commandments) asserts that it is specifically a command to study the “faith of the Torah.”
Consequently, the two verses which obligate us to study the Torah actually refer to two types of study. One refers to the study of the legal part of the Torah, and the other refers to the study of Torah’s theology. Each form of study is deemed a separate scholarly enterprise. Given the fact that each is based on a separate verse, it is incumbent upon us to explore the unique features of each, what they have in common, and their differences.
In the world of Talmudic and Rabbinical epistemology, the idea itself and how we derive it from its source in the Torah are inextricably intertwined. Therefore, one can explore the nature of a Torah concept, even to its fine details, by careful scrutiny of the verse from which it emerges. Towards this end, it is instructive to compare the two verses with respect to their salient contrasting features. Such an analysis yields three notable distinctions.
Friday, October 2, 2026
LevinAt11-10$to Save a Girl from IDF
בס"דFri, Oct 2, '26ערב שבת, הושענא רבה, תשפ"ז - תהא שנת פדיון זוכותLinked* below is this week's LevinAt11 broadcast, of HoShana Rabba, Oct. 1, '26.תכנית ראדיו רב יהודה לעוין, שליט"א, הושענא רבה, תשפ"ז~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~Tefillah request, for refuah shelaima of:1. Rav Yehuda ben Masha HaLevi (Levin);2. Shimon ben Masha;3. Lea bas Freeda;4. Reuven ben Chava;5. Yechezkel ben Feiga Zlota;6. Neryah Dov ben Chana (Leiter).~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~Topics Included:~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~1. Responding to the concerns over a potential nuclear-armed Iran, shared by the guest of the immediately preceding program ["The Mossad Files"]: When we stop the public policy rebellion against G-d (Sodomy, abortion-at-whim, etc.) - we can hope for improvements. Again, Israel is run by gluttons for Divine Punishment. We insist on doing it to ourselves.
2. The Torah posits a universal vision for all Mankind, vs. the self-serving tunnel-vision of imposter Jewish leadership.
• See Divrei Yoel (of Rav Yoel Teitelbaum ZT"L) on Parshas Achrei-Mos 18:3, for a glimpse into the authentic position of the Satmar Rov ZY"A - in marked contrast to the self-focused, klein-keppish nonsense spouted by those who undermine his holy legacy - unfortunately, in the very name of perpetuating it.
3. Calling out imposter Jewish leadership - not despite the need to respect authentic Torah authority -- but specifically because of it.
4. Looking at Authentic Torah Leadership Today:
• Where are the authentic Torah leaders? Why are they often silent? Often it's due to intimidation and threats by those in power.
• Case-in-Point: The shocking incident about 20 years ago: Why did Rav Moshe Green ZT"L retract his signature from an early Psak against voting for anti-morality candidates?
He informed me then why: Because of a danger to his life, due to his fragile health. From whom? Who would have the temerity to endanger the health of a fragile Zokain? A prominent Monsey Rabbi, now even more prominent in local chassidic quarters.* (Approx. 45 minutes)
* B"H, since then, as the prohibitions involved in supporting such candidates gained coverage in the tzibbur, Rav Green was able be far more open about his opposition to voting for abomination proponents.
5. The Subversion of the Sukka: from chanifah of Sukka-hater Cuomo to a Chabad media liaison exploiting the Sukka for a Mamdani photo-op: https://us.list-manage.com/178QYWgD75W?e= 4fa57d7224&c2id= 7507e8b297f0910ef6cf61f0cd652d 4e.
~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~6. BREAKING NEWS: Female IDF Draft Update (Giyus Banos)~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~
- From Chomosayich, an established volunteer women's organization in Israel, which has saved and assisted thousands of girls from the ongoing IDF escalationsagainst "easy-target" girls, over the years.
••• See the half-page ad in the new Upstate Jewish Business Directory. •••
Last week - Erev Sukkos - on just a few hours of notice, via emailed documentation - before we could clarify by phone - we we able to report on yet another (Torah-observant) teenage girl who received a letter from the Israeli Army Draft Office, which appeared to threaten her with arrest - over her refusal to compromise Halacha by appearing before an Army Religiosity-Interrogation.
Subsequently, we clarified that inasmuch as she's below 18, the police generally do not arrest such girls. Nonetheless, the language of the letter was intimidating in the extreme - as our own initial reading of it confirms. Who knows how many girls who received such letters promptly caved in to the summons, and submitted to a fatally flawed Rayon-Dat interrogation?! What about all the girls about whom we never hear, who quietly submit, and eventually are pressured into enlisting? That's the big-picture tragedy here.
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Last week's program:
•••From last week: Mike Lawler:Here are a few source references to use to help identify the Dark Side of Lawler's legislative record, elements of the public record you won't hear revealed by his Amen-Chorus lobbyists.¶ Reference to a post by a media venue therein is not to be construed as any sort of endorsement of that venue, or their views.Moderate' GOP lawmakers object to defunding Planned Parenthood in Trump's budget bill - LifeSiteFour Republicans Help Democrats Secure Vote for Taxpayer-Funded AbortionsHouse passes bill to criminalize transgender mutilation of children:"The bill passed with three Democrats crossing over to support it: Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez of Texas, and Don Davis of North Carolina. At the same time, four Republicans broke ranks to vote against it: Mike Lawler of New York, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Gabe Evans of Colorado, and Mike Kennedy of Utah."~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~
Broadcast of preceding week, Shabbos Shuva: פרשת האזינוWrite-up:~~~ ~~~Previous week's broadcast:ערב ר"ה...An initial write-up and brief overview, w/ supplemental info appears here:~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~Preceding week's broadcast: נצבים-וילךLinked here is the LevinAt11 radio broadcast of Sept. 3, '26.*An initial write-up and brief analysis/ overview appears here:~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~ ~~~~Sept. 10:We extend to our supporters and partners a gutt-kvittel, Good Shabbos and good Yom Tov.Rabbi Noson Shmuel Leiter,Executive Director,
Help Rescue Our Children
Email: torahjewsfordecency@
gmail.com Direct: 771.215.8892
Israeli Helpline: 03.721.3337
Heard weekly on New Jersey's WSNR Radio 620AM, co-hosting the renowned Levin At Eleven program, every Thursday evening, 11pm to midnight (ET).
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PS: A published version of last week's letter, Living the Legacy of the Chofetz Chaim, appears (edited) in the current MonseyMevaser.com p.14, 16.----------Broadcast weekly over: Davidzon Radio: davidzonradio.com (718) 303-8000Sept. 24:~~~Circulated recently:יג תשרי, תהא שנת פדיון זוכותA simple עצה for those seeking גדרי צניעות in electronic communicationWhen communicating electronically with the opposite gender, when practical, one may prefer to not respond immediately, or to at least send the response on a timed-delay, as in the "schedule send" option for emails.This delay reduces the sense of a live-time interaction. The recipient then may feel a bit more like they're responding to the חפצא (object) of the email communication, rather than to the גברא (person) sending it.When not possible to delay in responding, even a momentary delay, when done as a geder, may help; that too can help maintain a sense of awareness. (Such brief delays are often beneficial in any case, to avoid errors and impulsive reactions.)Please feel free to share this.This is being disseminated for the zechus of all the Bnos Yisroel in Israel currently braving threats of arrest and legal pursuit, over their heroic refusal to submit to Army Draft Office orders to appear at the Draft Office - in the process of seeking a religious exemption (or otherwise). Likewise, circulated for the merit of those girls silently enduring the indignities of arrest, military tribunal, and incarceration at the hands of the Israeli military police, court and prison system.May their collective mesiras nefesh for Kedusha and Tzniyusserve to protect Klal Yisroel from all of our enemies - those threatening us from within and without - in ruchniyus and gashmiyus. To share in helping assist and rescue such girls, please partner with the established Chomosayich women's volunteer organization. They're silently bearing the burden incumbent on us all. To donate from the USA, CALL OR TEXT: (347) 661-0172. Please mention where you saw their number.###TTI