Ibn Ezra (Shemos 23:25) Man’s body comes from the lowest world. However, man’s soul, which is tied to the body, comes from on high. There are two powers that are intermediate between the body and the soul. These two powers are referred to in the main in Hebrew as ru’ach and nefesh, for the soul is the rational part of man and its place is in the brain of man. From it comes the power of all emotions and the desire to move. The ru’ach is situated in the heart. Life depends on the ru’ach. The ru’ach desires to dominate; that is, it seeks to overcome all opposition. It is the source of anger. The seat of the nefesh is in the liver.
Tuesday, July 14, 2026
Knesset passes law that will freeze Haredi enlistment, halt draft-dodger arrests
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-july-14-2026/
The Knesset votes 58-54 to pass a coalition-backed law banning the arrest and prosecution of ultra-Orthodox men evading military service, a measure that will, in practice, halt Haredi enlistment to the IDF for at least the next few months.
The law grants tens of thousands of Haredi draft evaders immunity from arrest until November 30, and extends that protection to those who become eligible for military service after it takes effect, effectively eliminating both the threat of arrest and the incentive to enlist during that period. It also suspends ongoing criminal proceedings against those already facing enforcement measures.
Yesterday, IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir called the proposal “inconceivable,” saying it was “clearly and unequivocally inconsistent with the IDF’s needs” and amounted to “providing mass exemptions from prosecution.”
There are roughly 72,000 Haredi men who were liable to arrest until today, according to figures released in May by the attorney general.
Judge: Trump sought to ‘manipulate the judicial process’ with his IRS lawsuit and attempted $1.8B fund
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/13/politics/trump-irs-judge-ruling-settlement-sanctions
A federal judge on Monday said a controversial lawsuit brought by President Donald Trump against the IRS sought to “manipulate the judicial process” and that he acted in bad faith in bringing it.
US District Judge Kathleen Williams is ordering sanctions for the attorneys involved in the lawsuit, which led to an attempt to create the now-defunct $1.8 billion “anti-weaponization” fund for allies of the president. It was also used to justify a Trump administration order giving the president and his businesses amnesty for any past tax issues.
Williams’ 56-page opinion blasted the behavior of both the Justice Department — arguing that the administration’s response to the case disregarded DOJ policies and potentially the law — and of the private attorneys who brought the lawsuit on Trump’s behalf.
“The nature of the suit itself and the conduct of the Parties and counsel from its filing make plain that this was an attempt to use the Court to provide some legitimacy to an agreement to confer immunity to people and entities affiliated with the President and to earmark billions of dollars from American taxpayers to redress grievances not defined in the law,” the judge wrote.
She ordered that her opinion be submitted to attorney disciplinary boards in in New York and Washington, DC, that are reviewing preexisting professional ethics complaints against acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Associate Attorney General Stanley Woodward.
Can your smartwatch predict a fall? New research points to early warning signs
https://www.ynetnews.com/health_science/article/byo5i5m4ml
Smartwatches and smartphones may help identify early changes in walking patterns linked to fall risk among older adults; Research suggests the technology can track functional decline and support earlier intervention, though it does not replace medical evaluation
Although measurements taken by a smartphone or smartwatch are not as accurate as those performed in a professional gait laboratory, studies show they are accurate enough to track changes over time, identify deterioration in walking patterns and alert users when a professional evaluation or therapeutic intervention may be needed.
In other words, instead of relying only on a one-time clinic assessment, continuous monitoring can provide a broader and more realistic picture of how a person walks during everyday life — at home, on the street, while shopping or during other routine activities. Continuous monitoring in a person’s natural environment may reveal information that is not always visible during a short clinical examination.
The United States has a fundamental interest in relocating its Middle East bases to the Jewish state. But does Israel?
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/430058
srael’s enemies might think twice before striking a country that hosts hundreds of advanced U.S. warplanes, naval vessels and intelligence centers. But along with the advantages of building American bases in Israel come significant costs and risks.
As our neighbors in the Gulf painfully learned, the presence of such installations in their countries did not enhance their security but compromised it by drawing Iranian missile fire. The rows of U.S. fueling planes lined up wing-to-wing at Ben-Gurion International Airport present an attractive and convenient target for Iran, even more than Israel currently represents.
Most problematic for Israel, though, would be a situation in which American leaders limit our ability to defend ourselves with the claim that doing so would endanger U.S. forces stationed in the country.
ICE shot and killed a Colombian man in Maine. This is the 2nd time in a week the agency used deadly force
A federal immigration officer fatally shot a Colombian man in Maine on Monday, marking the second time in a week that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents have used deadly force.
Sen. Angus King, I-Maine, said Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin told him the officer opened fire after the man tried to use his vehicle as a weapon against officers who were pursuing him for deportation in Biddeford, a coastal city of about 23,000 people roughly 15 miles (24 kilometers) southwest of Portland.
ICE arrested 546 people in Maine between the start of President Donald Trump's second term and March 11, 2026, the most recent data available, according to ICE arrest data provided to the UC Berkeley Deportation Data Project and analyzed by the AP. About 45% of those arrested had criminal backgrounds. During the equivalent 416-day period before Trump took office, roughly 69% of those arrested had criminal backgrounds, the data show.
Could Taking a Popular Joint Supplement Be Risky for People With Dementia?
https://www.aarp.org/health/conditions-treatments/glucosamine-dementia-death-risk/
New research suggests glucosamine may have unexpected effects in people with mild to severe cognitive impairment
A large study links regular glucosamine use to higher death risk in people with dementia.
People with mild cognitive impairment taking the supplement were slightly more likely to develop dementia.
The findings don’t prove cause, and factors like health and activity levels may play a role
4 surprising (and evidence-based) health benefits of drinking coffee
https://www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/2026/07/02/4-proven-health-benefits-drinking-coffee/
Most people drink coffee for a bit of buzz and a boost in their energy levels.
But coffee has wide-ranging effects on your health. Coffee is, arguably, the world’s most scientifically scrutinized beverage. Researchers have collectively carried out thousands of studies looking at its effects on lifespan, to cardiovascular health, blood sugar levels, weight loss, cancer risk and more.
Coffee contains more than 1,000 chemical compounds, many of which are active in the body, such as magnesium, potassium, niacin and other B vitamins.
For a while, scientists suspected that drinking coffee was hazardous to your health. In 1991, the World Health Organization listed coffee as “possibly” carcinogenic because of studies linking it to bladder cancer. Other studies suggested that drinking coffee might also increase the risk of lung cancer.
Trump says US will control Strait of Hormuz, get paid for it
https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-902364
US President Donald Trump said on Monday that the United States will probably take over the Strait of Hormuz and should be reimbursed for controlling the vital waterway.
"We're going to keep the strait, and we'll probably run it. We'll become the guardian of the strait. Maybe we'll call it the guardian angel of the strait. And we should be reimbursed for that," Trump said in a phone interview on Fox News's "Fox & Friends" program. "We're taking over the strait. They've got nothing."
"We're going to guard it. We're going to get paid for guarding it - a lot of money," he added. "We're going to be reimbursed, because the other nations are very wealthy. They're on our side, and we can't be expected to do that for nothing."
Israel passes quasi-constitutional law declaring Torah study a foundational value
The Knesset voted 63-52 on Monday to pass a deeply divisive Basic Law declaring Torah study a “foundational value” of the Jewish people and the State of Israel, following 10 hours of speeches and opposition filibustering, and despite resistance from the opposition, legal officials, reservists and some coalition lawmakers.
The legislation makes Torah study the only value explicitly enshrined in one of Israel’s Basic Laws, giving it quasi-constitutional recognition. Haredi parties pushed to pass the law as part of their broader effort to preserve blanket military service exemptions for ultra-Orthodox men, while opponents argue it effectively elevates Torah study above all other national values.
The law was framed to make it harder for the High Court of Justice to continue to rule that Haredi non-service is illegal and discriminatory, because it enshrines Torah study as an essential component of the state.
Monday, July 13, 2026
Vance’s tough talk on Israel is alienating some Jewish GOP donors
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/13/vance-israel-alienating-jewish-gop-donors-00994154
JD Vance has an Israel problem.
The vice president’s pugnacious defense of a ceasefire agreement with Iran that rattled Israeli diplomats — and his tough talk on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government — has damaged his standing with some pro-Israel GOP donors who have backed the party under President Donald Trump.
“It’s hard to find any support for him at all in the Jewish community,” said Eric Levine, a prominent GOP fundraiser and board member of the Republican Jewish Coalition, a group aimed at strengthening ties between the Jewish community and party leaders. Levine was speaking for himself and not the coalition.
Pro-Israel conservatives have cast doubt on Vance’s leadership — pundit Mark Levin blasted the Vance-negotiated memorandum of understanding with Iran, and former Auburn University basketball coach Bruce Pearl said he won’t support Vance in 2028 unless he breaks with Tucker Carlson. Duvi Honig, founder and CEO of the Orthodox Jewish Chamber of Commerce, penned a Jerusalem Post op-ed criticizing Vance’s stance toward Israel and Iran.
Soul Health
Rambam (Shemoneh Perakim (03) The ancients maintained that the soul, like the body, is subject to good health and illness. The soul’s healthful state is due to its condition, and that of its faculties, by which it constantly does what is right, and performs what is proper, while the illness of the soul is occasioned by its condition, and that of its faculties, which results in its constantly doing wrong, and performing actions that are improper. The science of medicine investigates the health of the body. Now, just as those, who are physically ill, imagine that, on account of their vitiated tastes, the sweet is bitter and the bitter is sweet—and likewise fancy the wholesome to be unwholesome—and just as their desire grows stronger, and their enjoyment increases for such things as dust, coal, very acidic and sour foods, and the like—which the healthy loathe and refuse, as they are not only not beneficial even to the healthy, but possibly harmful—so those whose souls are ill, that is the wicked and the morally perverted, imagine that the bad is good, and that the good is bad. The wicked man, moreover, continually longs for excesses which are really pernicious, but which, on account of the illness of his soul, he considers to be good.
Study Science
Rabbeinu Bachya (Devarim 30:12) “it is not in heaven,” mean that Torah is not to be found amongst haughty, arrogant people. The words: “it is not beyond the ocean,” mean that Torah is not to be found among people who constantly journey from place to place to make their livelihood, i.e. hawkers. Samuel said that Torah cannot be found among astrologers or professional astronomers, seeing that the Torah writes: “it is not in heaven.” The Torah may be found only among people preoccupied with the pursuit of matters which are oriented toward heavenly concerns. People challenged Samuel, saying to him that seeing he himself was an astronomer how could he make such a statement? He answered: “in all my days I have never looked at science except when I was relieving myself”
Rabbeinu Bachya (Devarim 30:12) Our sages said: “go and study Greek philosophy at a time which is neither day nor night.” What they meant was that preoccupation with any disciplines other than Torah study exposes the student to the danger of being influenced by the theologically unsound element, some of which is always found scattered in those texts. This is the reason these disciplines have been compared to silver, seeing that silver invariably contains some impurities unless it has been refined over and over again. Our Torah is compared to such silver, i.e. כסף צרוף. This is what David meant in Psalms 12,7 when he wrote: “the words of the Lord are pure words, silver purged in an earthen crucible, refined sevenfold.”
Menachos (99b) May one such as I who have studied the whole of the Torah learn Greek wisdom? He thereupon read to him the following verse, This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth, but thou shalt meditate therein day and night. Go then and find a time that is neither day nor night and learn then Greek wisdom.
Sciences lost
Moreh Nevuchim (01:71) KNOW that many branches of science relating to the correct solution of these problems, were once cultivated by our forefathers, but were in the course of time neglected, especially in consequence of the tyranny which barbarous nations exercised over us. Besides, speculative studies were not open to all men, as we have already stated, only the subjects taught in the Scriptures were accessible to all.
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