Reality of Magic and Astrology

 Rav S. R. Hirsch (Letter to R. Hile Wechsler,published by Mordechai Breuer in Hama’ayan 16:2 (Tevet 5736/1976) p. 6) A related topic is the question of the nature of magic, astrology, demons, and suchlike... Who dares get involved in a dispute between Rambam and Ramban,following whom the camp of Israel is split in two on such matters? ...And if so,every intelligent person is entitled to adopt either view in the absence of either being ruled out. Alternatively—and in my view, this is the more correct approach—he can admit that he has no clarity in the matters.And I will admit without shame that I have never bothered to investigate and analyze the nature of these things, just as I have never been curious to investigate and inquire as to the nature of the World-to-Come, the world of the resurrection,and so on. For the truth of these things is concealed from everyone, and it is impossible to attain clarity on these things with decisive proofs... What difference does it make if with regard to matters of witchcraft and suchlike, the truth lies with Rambam or Ramban? Either way, we have to distance ourselves from such things, whether they are genuine or nonsensical. (

Greater potential for good is Potential for Bad

 Rav Tzadok (Resisei Layla #3): According to the degree of perfection that a person has, there is a corresponding potential for imperfection. From the time of the sin of Adam, good and evil have become intertwined and there is a direct correspondence of one to the other. Whoever has a great imperfection has the means to acquire a great perfection - if he merits it. We see this in the words of the Zohar (3 216a) that in generation of the Flood - that was destroyed because of their sin - they had the potential to be the ones to receive the Torah. Similarly Sukka (51a) states that proportional to one’s greatness is his lust which is called foolishness… Thus the greater the person’s wisdom is also the greater is his potential for foolishness. Consequently, at the time when idol worship existed we find that prophecy also existed. Just as there were revelations of the light of prophecy to see spirituality with the eye there was a lust for other gods that were visible to the eye.

Repeatedly deferring to Trump, Netanyahu subjects Israeli security to US president’s whim

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/repeatedly-deferring-to-trump-netanyahu-subjects-israeli-security-to-us-presidents-whim/

“The fact that it is the president of the United States who is the one announcing a ceasefire only highlights how disconnected the prime minister of Israel is from the people, and from the reality of the residents of the north,” said Metula Mayor David Azoulay. “Your basic duty as prime minister of Israel is to provide security to the citizens of the state. In practice, you fail at this time after time.”

Five years after Netanyahu’s June 2021 Knesset speech, he is now the one being pilloried for being unable to stand up to a US president when needed.

“A pattern is developing where a ceasefire is being forced upon us,” said Yashar party chairman Gadi Eisenkot, a former head of the Israel Defense Forces. “In Gaza, in Iran, and now in Lebanon.”

Netanyahu may not be willing to challenge Trump, but Iran certainly is. After securing a ceasefire extension by refusing to even show up for talks being led by no less than US Vice President JD Vance, it then seized container ships trying to traverse the Strait of Hormuz, which Trump has insisted it reopen to free trade.

Have the extremists won? Light rail work halted on Geula route

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/425993

Israel’s Ministry of Transport decided last night (Wednesday) to halt work on the Jerusalem light rail lines in the Geula and Bar-Ilan Street corridors and redirect the budget to other locations, following exceptional security costs caused by violent protests against the project. The report was published today in Israel Hayom.

To date, the state has spent more than 326 million shekels on securing the construction work and repairing vandalism damage in those areas. The protests, which take place almost every time work is carried out in the area, include road blockages, clashes with security forces, and damage to equipment and infrastructure.

LevinAt11: Diabolical Deviance

 Linked below is this week's LevinAt11 radio broadcast Apr. 23, '26

ראדיו רב לעוין, פרשת אח"מ קדושים, תשפו

Selected Topics:

1.  Insights from the Parsha on Reviyi and it's correspondence with the 5th of Iyyar - see article copied below;

2.  The sin of Sodomy and Marriage De-definition; what To'aiva means;

3.  Orthodox communal leadership responsibilities in an environment of governmental and societal agitation for Sodomist rebellion;

4.  Possible deeper, more diabolical motivations behind those pushing the male military draft in Israel: panicking the public into allowing Israeli askonim to sell out foundational Torah principles, thereby providing Akiras HaDas (undermining of Torah) a veneer of Torah sanction - the ultimate in Ziyuf HaTorah (see Mishnas Reb Aharon 1:2:3:6);

5.  The LGBTQ festival city planned for Sodom at the onset of June, Sodomist Pride Month - https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-893319;

6.  Orthodox Jewish political power serves as a test - one we're failing, in E"Y and abroad;

7.  Inspirational closing observations (see end of article copied below).

Good Shabbos,

Rabbi Noson Shmuel Leiter,

Executive Director,

Help Rescue Our Children

845.642.1679

Direct: 771.215.8892

Israeli Helpline: 03.721.3337

torahjewsfordecency@gmail.com

Tomim Tih'yeh [countering "New-Age" infiltration]: 

Tomim1679@gmail.com

Presentations on New-Age dangers: 605-313-6831 ext. 2

Heard weekly on New Jersey's WSNR Radio 620AM, co-hosting the renowned Levin At Eleven program, every Thursday evening, 11pm to midnight (ET).

~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~

Broadcast weekly by:

davidzonradio.com (718) 303-8000

~~~~

Related Article:

BS"D

7 Iyyar, 5786 (Ver. 10) / Achrei-Mos Kedoshim

This week, I received this ad for help to support 82 families - from Bnei Brak alone - who lost their homes in the recent Iran war: 

https://jdblastusa.com/index.php?option=com_acymailing&ctrl=url&subid=94270&urlid=2610&mailid=360

What lessons can we learn from these recent waves of yisurin sweeping the world, and especially Eretz Yisroel?

This week, we read a double Parsha, Achrei-Mos - Kedoshim. Is it not noteworthy that the segment thereof corresponding with Yom Reviyi, including the very Parsha of forbidden relationships we read on Yom Kippur at Mincha, corresponds to the fifth of Iyyar, the date of the founding of the Medinah (aka the State of Israel)?  What are some lessons that we should perhaps be gleaning from that?

First, a few observations about this aliyah:

1. This aliyah opens (18:22) with the prohibition against the one forbidden relationship - the act of sodomy - specifically identified - in its individual enumeration - as a To'aiva, an abomination.  As noted by the Maharal (on the Gemara Chullin 92b, regarding Marriage De-definition), this teaches us that sodomy is an abomination even among abominations.

2. Parshas Achrei-Mos closes with the warning not to repeat the sins of immorality perpetrated by the Canaanites, so that we need not endure their punishment of being "vomited out" of the land (18:28).  The Ramban explains that HaShem will not (for long) tolerate in His Holy Land the presence of those who worship Avoda-Zorah or who perpetrate immorality. 

3. The aliyah continues straight into parshas Kedoshim, beckoning us to attain high levels of holiness - just after exhorting against descent to the lowliest abominations.

4. The aliyah ends with the prohibition of Lifnei- iver, closing with an alert for Yiras Shomayim.

In recent months, Jews, especially in Israel, have been facing unprecedented, relentless yisurin ("tzoros tzruros").  This demands  serious introspection.  (See in particular Gemara Shabbos 139, line 3, and Ben Yehoyada.)

Perhaps a partial solution to the myriad of  escalating dangers Eretz Yisroel is facing - and has been enduring in some measure ever since the founding of the State - is hiding in plain sight: seeking common ground in resisting the immoral policies perpetrated by the State and its misleaders, particularly those policies of a spiteful nature, להכעיס, as alluded to by the prohibition of תועבה in 18:22 being a sin described as le'hach'is, spiteful, in Rashi Ha'azinu (Devarim) 32:16.

Perhaps this year, in light of current events, including the unprecedented Mideast war, we're best served by modifying the way we look at things, and restoring Torah priorities in a manner that would be more practical, effective, and, yes, "inclusive." Specifically, perhaps we'll gain more by focusing more on fighting for foundational moral values - on which we should all agree - instead of exclusively fighting over that which we don't.

Perhaps we ought consider that the solution to the many problems we face is, fundamentally spiritual, and self-inflicted, thus more easily alleviable than we may imagine.

Why should all the Orthodox factions in Israel not sincerely advocate for a few policies that would align with positions we all actually agree on, in principle - which would simultaneously reduce the kitrug described by the Torah at the end of Achrei-Mos, namely:

1) To'aiva: 

End Israeli governmental promotion of immoral policies sanctioning and enabling those forbidden relationships, especially the very politically-correct abomination opening the aliyah of reviyi (18:22 - sodomy), infamous for its relentless quest to mask its evil via ever-expanding abbreviations.  Given the monumental threat posed by the Alphabet Mafia, everyone, not just the No'am Party, needs to be ensuring that Israeli society doesn't follow the western world down the drain of State-driven depravity.  Included in this is vigorous opposition to the Pride parades regularly defiling the Land. 

And now, specifically, the Orthodox community must unite in opposing the recently announced LGBT Sodom festival (https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-893319) - scheduled for the beginning of June (Sodomist Pride Month) near the Dead Sea. The combined pressure of Orthodox factions could exert a lot of pressure on the hotel industry and the Israeli government to stop this extremely dangerous kitrug-festival.

According the the Akeidas Yitzchak on Parshas VaYaira, 20, in Sodom, they sodomized unwanted visitors because sodomy was recognized - even by those perverse people - as disgusting and degrading. The inhabitants of Sodom, despite their wickedness and perversity, did NOT sanction sodomy as a normative mode of conduct, and certainly did not celebrate it - as do many Israelis and others. (The saying goes: "If HaShem doesn't wipe them out, Sodom will be owed an apology.")

2) Abortion-at-whim:

Combat the wholesale killing of preborn babies (abortion-on-demand), especially within the Army.  Legalized abortion has killed over two million babies since Israel's Declaration of Independence 78 years ago.

• That policy shift would also reduce the level of immoral activity that goes along with abortion-on-demand 

• Additionally, reducing abortion-at-whim would also alleviate the demographic crisis and the much touted manpower shortage, which are both inexcusably self-inflicted. 

3) Female Draft:

End, at the very least, the forced military conscription of girls - all girls, regardless of their level of observance - or their level of protexia.  That alone would dramatically reduce the institutionalized enabling of immorality that invariably accompanies drafting girls into the exploitive, male-dominated Army milieu. 

• Ending the mandatory female draft would also garner more leftist support, and perhaps even survive a future, even more leftist government, despite the Supreme Court's perpetual passion for paradigm perversity.

• Any substantial reduction in the female draft would also help alleviate the institutionalized abortion-at-whim policy perpetrated via the Army.

• Additionally, when the non-Chareidi communities would finally see that Chareidim care enough to fight to exempt all girls - not only "their girls" - from the Army - that would help reduce anti-Chareidi sentiment, currently being whipped up via antireligious elements (leveraging various self-focused elements of the Chareidi community).

4) Immoral Mixing in IDF:  

End the exposure of all male conscripts to females in the Army, not just "Chareidi," or even just "religious" soldiers. We need to be hearing vocal complaints about this from everyone, not just from those who enlist in the IDF.

~~~~

And, in other areas, arayos needs to be combated as follows: 

5)  Forced Divorces:

Expose and end the forcing of Gitten in ways that disqualify the Get, resulting in legalized adultery and mamzeirus.  It's no favor to either spouse - especially the wife - to allow her to remarry without an authentically kosher Get.

6)  Retroactive Marriage Annulment:

Stop the falsification of Halacha in the arena of retroactive Marriage Annulment, as perpetrated by Sholom Kamenetsky about a decade ago, in the infamous Tamar Epstein scandal.  It perpetuates both adultery and mamzeirus via ziyuf HaTorah.  The pirtzah of the Epstein case triggered others outside the Chareidi community to continue on that path with impunity.

7)  False Conversion:  

Oppose and expose phony conversions, like those of LGBTQ-evangelist Adam Mintz, for one prominent example.  Mintz has converted people who's actions confirm more loudly than words that they will continue to violate foundational Torah prohibitions against LGBT.* 

(* as we've observed when he was interviewed on Zev Brenner's Talkline)

8)  Safeguard Bais-Din:

Restore the integrity of Rabbinical Courts, so they not redefine various abominations (including but not limited to the aforementioned) as acceptable under Halacha.

9)  Molestation:

Stop the toleration for the enabling of politically-connected molesters.  That includes ending of financial support for those who knowingly enable such perpetrators.  There are plenty of legitimate charities.  Funding empire-builders who preside over the destruction of young people certainly isn't going to get donors into Heaven.*

(* For those who really want to get to Gehinom, there are plenty of less expensive mechanisms.)

10)  Modesty: 

Also fortify and restore communal standards of modesty, with regard to women in the workplace, dress, hair-covering, and other areas.  This would help reduce arayos sins (albeit not communally-sanctioned) being committed by individuals within our communities.

~~~

Perhaps the response to the state-advancement of abominations - to which the first passuk in the aliyah may allude - is to concertedly act on the message of the passuk closing the aliyah, Lifnei-iver, saving Klal Yisroel from the State-actors endangering the neshomos of hundreds of thousands of soldiers and reservists, "religious" and otherwise.

1. To the extent that we would work to eliminate a major factor in current threats, namely the widespread commission, legitimization, and institutionalization of immorality, we would undoubtedly, albeit belatedly, merit Heavenly Mercy.  By combating the cause, we'd reduce the negative effects.

Thereby, we could merit a reduction in regional hostilities and dangers threatening Jews in Israel.  Such a reduction in hostilities would save many of those who are losing their lives, limbs, or family members to these never-ending military campaigns, in addition to the devastating financial losses being suffered extensively throughout Israel due to the forever-war environment.

How many more reports of Jews killed need we see before we realize that we need to do something different? And it's staring us in the face in the Chumash.

2.  Additional beneficiaries of the reduction in hostilities would likely be the Jews in Iran. Their blood is no less red than that of those living in Israel (contrary to the attitudes of some Israeli supremacists, for which European Jewry paid a horrific price).

3.  This type of reduction of hostilities would, BE"H, also reduce the escalating Jew- hatred now being fanned internationally via the Gaza and Iran/ Lebanon conflicts.

4. Furthermore, pursuant to a reduction in military hostilities, in the merit of reducing the Heavenly kitrug detailed in the Parsha, some of the existing policy fights in Israel could be more easily resolved, including the male-draft crisis. B'ezras HaShem, military conflicts could be eventually reduced to a level enabling a successful shift to a professional military, as exists in most modern countries, where no one would be forced to enlist.  Financial incentives would be offered to those who wish to enlist, rather than punishments to those who refuse. That would also be healthier financially speaking, freeing up resources from enforcement and demonstration-management issues.

In short, by fighting for our commonly held Torah principles - and thereby fighting for authentic achdus - we would most effectively advance our interests as well.

The Gemara in Ta'anis 29a relates how the young Kohanim, in the midst of fires consuming the Bais HaMikdash, threw up their keys Heaven-ward, at which point the image of hand appeared, accepting their keys.

Apparently, the keys alluded to taking responsibility. I'm informed that there is an interpretation (by Rav Itzeleh of Volozhin, in the eulogy for his father) that they should have held onto the keys instead, to prepare for the restoration of the Mikdash.

Perhaps this Gemara alludes to the following: Prior to the ultimate restoration of the Bais HaMikdash, HaShem may offer Jews to take back the keys - for those receptive to take advantage of the opportunity.

Perhaps this reveals a deeper insight into why the Amora Ulla didn't want to personally witness the actual process leading up to the Redemption, as mentioned in the Gemara Sanhedrin 98b, stating, "Let it come - but let me not see it." (See Ulla in Brachos 58b, and also Rav Chisda in Pesachim 100b, Rosh 6, and our suggested explanation thereof.)

As various Gedolim explain (e.g. Rav Yeruchum Levovitz ZT"L in Da'as Torah), the lower the generation, the easier it is for us to accomplish great things spiritually, specifically because of the spiritual darkness against which we need to struggle - קלקלתו תקנתו.

Perhaps Ulla foresaw how many people would tragically squander amazing, beautiful opportunities to attain tremendous accomplishments - and reach spiritual heights - simply due to needless apathy, Yi'ush (despair), and the like.

Grand opportunities beckon. Are we really ready to take back the keys?

Good Shabbos,

Rabbi Noson Shmuel Leiter

Yes, Trump Derangement Syndrome Exists; but It’s Among His Supporters

 https://newrepublic.com/post/208026/trump-pearl-harbor-iran-embarrassment

Look: For the sake of the people of Iran, I hope Trump’s gamble ends up paying off. But history tells us that all kinds of unexpected things happen in war. That’s why democratically accountable leaders generally don’t launch them without having really thought matters through (that the United States has defied this dictum twice in this century will linger as a dark stain on this country’s reputation for many decades to come).

We shouldn’t even accept the presumption that Trump Derangement Syndrome applies to people like us. It does not. The people who suffer from TDS in this country are the ones who support him. And it’s getting worse: This week, Nate Silver found Trump’s approval slipping into uncharted territory, and approval of the war generally polls in the 30s—but at the same time, an NBC News poll discovered that among self-identified MAGAs, Trump’s approval stood literally at 100 percent to zero.

They’re the ones with TDS. You and I have Trump Awareness Syndrome. We see his un-thought-out war—and by the way, if it’s almost over, why is he asking Congress for $200 billion?—and we hear him utter vacuous and offensive statements like the Pearl Harbor remark, and we know all too well what he’s doing to this country. Awareness is a far heavier burden than derangement.

Iran says it seized 2 ships in Strait of Hormuz, hours after Trump’s ceasefire extension

 Iran says it seized 2 ships in Strait of Hormuz, hours after Trump’s ceasefire extension

Iranian forces seized two container ships in the Strait of Hormuz on Wednesday, according to Iranian state media, just hours after President Donald Trump initially calmed fears of renewed violence by extending his ceasefire with Iran indefinitely.

The Iranian seizures represent a serious escalation in the Strait of Hormuz, where a battle for control of the vital waterway had emerged as a major stumbling block in negotiations to end the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran.

Trump announced the ceasefire extension Tuesday night in a social media post just as the deal was due to expire, to allow Iran’s “seriously fractured” leadership time to “come up with a unified proposal” to end the war. The move was announced with no new concession by Tehran — a sign that the president is eager for a way out of what has become an increasingly costly and unpopular war.

The United States also escalated its naval operations against Iran over the weekend. Touska, an Iranian-flagged cargo ship, was taken by U.S. forces as it moved west through the Arabian Sea, seemingly headed for Iran. And on Tuesday in the Indian Ocean, U.S. forces seized a tanker ship suspected of smuggling oil and escorted at least one other vessel off India’s western coast.

Imposter

 https://www.kikar.co.il/haredim-news/chief-rabbi-impersonator-legal-action

אייל ציונוב מתהדר בגלימת ומצנפת הראשון לציון, מופיע בטקסים ממלכתיים ומחלק ברכות לקהל שבטוח כי ז כהלפגוש בראשון לציון בכבודו ובעצמו • הדברים הגיעו עד לכדי אירוע מביך בטקס הדלקת המשואות ואף לתקרית ביטחונית עם שירות הביטחון הכללי • גורם בכיר ברבנות בשיחה עם 'כיכר': "ההיסטוריה המשפטית מלמדת שאין דרך למנוע מכל אחד להתלבש כראות עיניו"

ברבנות הראשית לישראל בוחנים בימים אלו האם קיימת דרך משפטית לפעול נגד אייל ציונוב, שמתהדר בגלימת ומצנפת הראשון לציון, מסתובב בטקסים ממלכתיים ומחלק ברכות לקהל שבטוח כי זכה לפגוש בראשון לציון בכבודו ובעצמו.

Why Trump’s latest blink on Iran could be more than a TACO Tuesday

 https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/22/politics/trump-iran-ceasefire-taco-vance-pakistan-talks-analysis

President Donald Trump blinked again by extending the ceasefire with Iran.

His critics are mocking another TACO (“Trump always chickens out”) Tuesday after the president caved on one more personal red line days after warning there’d be “no more Mr. Nice Guy” if the Islamic Republic didn’t capitulate.

But the derision would be more justified if a president risked more Iranian and US lives by doubling down on what looks like an unwise war purely to preserve his tough-guy persona.

A haunting question about the Vietnam War that future Sen. John Kerry posed to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1971 seems apt here: “How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?”

Still, Trump’s climbdown cast fresh doubts on his wartime leadership skills on a day when Iran refused to show up to talks in Islamabad aimed at ending the war — leaving Vice President JD Vance cooling his heels at home.

The president’s spin cannot obscure the most important takeaway from Tuesday: His strategy of using threats of overwhelming US military force to coerce Iran into surrendering at talks has now failed multiple times. Inside Iran, therefore, it must appear that Trump’s threats of military escalation lack credibility.

Trump’s craving for the spotlight risks Iran deal hopes

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/21/politics/trump-iran-ceasefire-talks-social-media-analysis

 Donald Trump has spent days negotiating peace in Iran — with himself.

The president has rolled out every trick in his entrepreneur’s manual “The Art of the Deal” in trying to create leverage, spin endgame scenarios and force Iran to capitulate.

But his round-the-clock avalanche of online outbursts and quotes to reporters who have him on speed dial seem to ignore one of his big rules.

“The worst thing you can possibly do in a deal is seem desperate to make it,” Trump wrote in the 1987 book that lionized wheeler-dealing and himself.

The commander in chief risks walking into that very trap ahead of possible talks in Pakistan between top US and Iranian negotiators in the coming days.

He can’t stop talking about the possibility of a deal. But since he’s not at the table with Iran’s leaders, he might be worsening the prospects.

Guest post wanted on topic: "We were very happily married for 20 years - and then she insisted on a divorce - turned the kids against me and left me penniless - I still don't know why."

update Friday: Bshch  published a strong warning from a beis din in Beitar. - against a therapist for allegedly promoting divorce  Have no personal knowledge about this but it was sent to me by a number readers as reflecting the ideas in this post

update Thursday - see The Ort Family tragedy

I would like a guest posts dealing with first person stories of  the commonly expressed lament I hear of husbands describing a happy marriage of many years, good relations with the children and then they woke up one morning with their wife requesting a divorce. The husband typically could not get the wife to explain what happened or why she wanted a divorce. After the request for divorce there are attempts to mediate by rabbis, friends and therapists - but they fail and the wife left - often taking the kids with her.  - often going to secular court without permission of beis din.

None of these mediators are able to get the wife to express to the husband what happened other than that the wives had a profound feeling of unhappiness that had been growing recently and a feeling that life was passing her by. At some point little attempt is made to reconcile and the husband is deliberately kept in the dark by the therapist and wife. Often the initial neutrality of the therapist is replaced by a decided bias in favor of  the wife's side and they form a coalition against the husband. In addition the therapist has no problem providing confidential information about the husband with the wife's mother or friends. Separate therapy sessions become the norm - rather than joint sessions. The sessions with the wife often revolve around how terrible the husband is or at least how incapable he is of truly being a good husband because of flimsily diagnoses of various psychological deficits or syndromes. Sessions with the husband are to prepare him for the fact that he is inadequate and incapable of making his wife happy. These therapy sessions often combined with feedback from "experts" who are good friends or relatives or lawyers - create an irresistible momentum for divorce at all costs including slandering the husband with charges of wife beating or sexually abusing the children.

Often these wives receive "advice" from friends and relatives to the fact that contrary to their feelings - they were very unhappy and their husband was taking advantage of them and clearly did not respect or value her as an equal. These "advisers" claimed that their husband's viewed them as a type of slave or servant providing various services because he viewed her as inherently inferior. The wife learned that what she had viewed as willing sacrifices for the husband's learning or for him to have a solid relationship with the children - were in fact proof that there was no value to her existence except as a facilitator for his needs. At some point the wife started viewing the husband as "the other" and stopped trusting him and refused to confide in him or even share experiences. 

The husband is often very inarticulate in expressing his feelings to his "new born wife". That is because for years they have shared a language and values that were viewed positively by both of them - and now the wife has a different negative understanding. Every time her husband opens his mouth - it just makes the barriers between them more impenetrable. Typically he doesn't realize this and keeps trying harder to push the buttons and say the words that used to work - but he ends up totally frustrated and angry as well as irritating her. The wife takes this additional proof that he is damaged goods. 

If this sounds familiar please submit your own story - with names and identifying statements removed. Also I am not interested in nasty things said about your ex-wife - just the facts. Also interested in those who deny that this pattern exists.

update====Just received the following response  from a prominent frum therapist ====

Rabbi Eidensohn:

Having worked with couples for many years, I have observed many situations, prior to my intervention, during, and after. There is probably no one with enough data to cite statistics.  But the experience I have, plus many of my colleagues does not point to either gender as the chief perpetrator of divorces. Let us establish a few matters that are not negotiable.

1. Humans were meant to marry and be happy A marriage that dissolves is abnormal, and it is tragic.

2. An old saying is that marriage is grand – divorce a hundred grand.

3. The peaceful divorce is possible, but it is a relatively uncommon experience. It is said, “People marry out of love; they divorce out of hate.”

4. Marriage is a gamble. If one does not “win”, it becomes necessary to face loss. No one wants to do that. It is seen as easier to shift the blame to the other. If not just the blame, then the outcome of the division of assets and resources (including the children) becomes ripe for declaring victory.

5. The systems of lawyers for court and toanim for batei din are ripe for exploitation. Cases are often prolonged, and settlements difficult to reach because of these outside sources of interference.

6. The complexities of the interplay of halacha and secular law provide enough fodder to gum up the works. This includes the use of court prior to beis din, the orders of protection that prevent conduct of the family, and the easy manipulation of the courts to provide emergency orders of custody, visitation, etc.

7. There are “professionals” of many persuasions that lend their incompetence and poor judgment to the mix. There are rabbonim, dayanim, toanim, and choson/kallah teachers, as well as “shalom bayis machers” who reach conclusions as per their preferences, independent of the facts. Many are poorly informed. The ignorance that allows one to fall for the tears of the borderline personalities, and the beliefs that men always perpetrate abuse while women are always the victims, the willingness to paint the facts into the foregone conclusions to rationalize them, and the disregard for the midoh of emes are legendary. Mental health professionals of all disciplines have been faulted for the negative roles they sometimes take.

8. Lastly, there are evil men and women out there, who will twist and turn everything they can to “win”. The craving of victory, as noted by the Chofetz Chaim, is the root of machlokes. This does not stop after separation, or even after divorce. With the observation of my colleagues and myself as the context, I hesitate to give any credence to the oft posted comments about all divorces being perpetrated by evil women or by evil men. With systems as they exist, including courts, batei din, public opinion, and media, there are tendencies to make generalizations that are unfounded. Each case needs to be examined on its own merit.

I have worked with true cases of domestic violence, and I have also worked with fabricated ones.  Who is the real victim?  Generalizations help no one.

One issue that was not reported in the recent guest post was the role of social influences. There are groups of women in the frum community, many who meet online, others face-to-face, that advise each other and conspire how to cause their husbands or ex-husbands the most damage, “using the system”. Without restricting free speech, one cannot successfully eliminate these social environments.  I have succeeded in getting some of my clients to abandon these groups, and to seek support from sources that help build them instead of destroying others.
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In major about-face, Trump announces extension of Iran truce hours before deadline

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-undecided-on-talks-as-ceasefire-enters-final-hours-trump-they-have-to-negotiate/

US president says ceasefire being extended until Islamic Republic’s ‘seriously fractured’ leadership offers ‘a unified proposal,’ blockade to remain in place; Vance postpones Islamabad trip

Hours before a two-week ceasefire with Iran was set to expire, US President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he was extending the truce for the time being and that the US will hold off on attacking the Islamic Republic, after both countries warned that without a deal they were prepared to resume fighting.

According to Trump, the decision to extend the ceasefire was made at the request of Pakistani mediators, who said more time was needed for a fractured Iranian leadership to submit a proposal on a deal to permanently end the war. A second round of talks had been planned for Tuesday before being pushed to Wednesday and then delayed indefinitely by Trump, as the US and Pakistan await Iran’s response to the latest American proposal.

The move amounted to a major about-face for Trump, who repeatedly insisted — as recently as as earlier in the day — that he would not issue an extension of the ceasefire, which was supposed to expire at around 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time (1:30 a.m. Israel time).

Rav Weiss Frum Soldiers

 

Does the Mitzvah to Eliminate Idol Worship Apply in Israel Today?

 https://www.berotbatayin.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/ReehChurches.pdf

Must Churches be Torched in Israel? 

The Positive Torah Mitzvah to Destroy Idolatry

If You Find an Idol Must You Destroy it? 

Aiming for a Pure, Holy and Idol Free Israel

I believe it is important to heighten awareness – through peaceful means – that the appearance of idols in Israel is a serious Torah infringement. Living in an egalitarian, tolerant world, makes it challenging to regard the sight of any church in the land of Israel or the rest of the world as a desecration of Hashem’s name. Yet, despite, desiring a pure, holy and idol-free Israel, it makes sense to me that we need to exercise patience and restrain ourselves from taking the law into our own hands – walking around smashing idol worship in Israel or anywhere else – until the Oneness of Hashem will be revealed to all. Let us pray that this day will come speedily and in our time