North Korea 'working on new missiles', US officials say

washington post
Trump’s self-proclaimed diplomatic coups keep unraveling

Whether you think President Trump is a success on the world stage or not, he's not nearly the success he's made himself out to be in recent weeks.

At several points, Trump has made claims about his foreign policy dealings that wound up being vastly overstated — if not completely...

What do the latest reports say?

On Monday, the Washington Post newspaper quoted officials as saying North Korea appeared to be building one or two new liquid-fuelled intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) at the Sanumdong facility near the capital, Pyongyang.

The factory is known to have produced the Hwasong-15, the first North Korean ICBM capable of reaching the US.

However, a US official told news agency Reuters that a liquid-fuelled ICBM didn't "pose nearly the threat that a solid-fuelled one would because they take so long to fuel".

Reuters also added that satellite imaging showed vehicles moving in and out of the facility, but not the extent of any missile construction.

What are experts saying about this?

These are not the first reports that North Korea may be continuing its weapons programme, casting doubt on the real impact of the summit in Singapore.

Satellite imagery of the Sanumdong facility shows that the site is "active", Jeffrey Lewis, a nuclear expert at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS) told the Washington Post.

No, Donald Trump's poll numbers do not beat Lincoln, all other GOP presidents

politifact.

President Donald Trump is known for tooting his own horn. In recent weeks, one of the accomplishments he’s been trumpeting is his standing with Republican voters.

In a July 29 tweet, Trump wrote, "Wow, highest Poll Numbers in the history of the Republican Party. That includes Honest Abe Lincoln and Ronald Reagan. There must be something wrong, please recheck that poll!"

Our ruling

Trump said, "Wow, highest Poll Numbers in the history of the Republican Party. That includes Honest Abe Lincoln and Ronald Reagan."

Credit where credit is due: Trump is very popular among Republicans, and at one point, his approval rating within his own party trailed only George W. Bush among postwar Republican presidents.

However, no pre-1936 president served in an era with scientific polling, so Trump’s comparison of himself to Lincoln is spurious. Meanwhile, Trump’s approval rating at the time of the tweet ranked in the middle of the post-World War II Republican presidents, and measured in other ways, his support among Republicans was actually worse than every post-war Republican president except for Gerald Ford.

We rate the statement False.

Giuliani: 'Collusion is not a crime,' hacking is the real crime, and Trump 'didn't hack'

businessinsider

• President Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani said Monday that "collusion is not a crime."
• He also said that "the hacking is the crime" and that Trump "didn't pay" the Russians "for hacking."

---

President Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani said in a pair of interviews on Monday morning that he was at a loss for how colluding with the Russians would be categorized as a crime. Instead, he shifted the conversation by noting that the president did not "pay them for hacking," which he said was the real offense.

Speaking on the "Fox & Friends" morning show, Giuliani said he had "been sitting here looking in the federal code trying to find collusion as a crime."

"Collusion is not a crime," he said, adding that the president is "absolutely innocent."

Later, in a discussion with CNN's "New Day," Giuliani said that if you "start analyzing the crime, the hacking is the crime."

"The president didn't hack," Giuliani said. "He didn't pay them for hacking. If you got the hacked information from the Russians here at CNN and you played it, would you be in jeopardy of going to jail? Of course not."

Jewish deicide

wikipedia.

is trump preserving this belief?

Jewish deicide is a historic belief among some in Christianity that Jewish people as a whole were responsible for the death of Jesus.^[1] The antisemitic slur "Christ-killer" was used by mobs to incite violence against Jews and contributed to many centuries of pogroms, the murder of Jews during the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, and during the Holocaust.^[2]

In the catechism produced by the Council of Trent, the Catholic Church affirmed that the collectivity of sinful humanity was responsible for the death of Jesus, not only the Jews.^[3] In the deliberations of the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), the Roman Catholic Church under Pope Paul VI repudiated belief in collective Jewish guilt for the crucifixion of Jesus.^[4] It declared that the accusation could not be made "against all the Jews, without distinction, then alive, nor against the Jews of today".

https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Christkiller

Christkiller

n., A person of Jewish faith.

Sorry, honey, but the stingy Christkillers at the bank wouldn't approve me for the loan. Looks like we'll have to wait until next year to buy the house.

http://www.aish.com/sp/so/Christ-Killer.html

Growing up, I could not confidently deny being “a Christ killer”. In third grade, I was told by a classmate I would burn in hell. In my reform synagogue, we had never discussed hell. I didn’t correct him, nor was I capable of standing up for myself.

the author

Now a college student, I experience this behavior on a new level. Friends roll their eyes at my Friday night plans that differ from theirs. When I was in Poland learning about the Holocaust, my best friend texted me, “Don’t freeze to death!” with a laughing emoji. How was I supposed to respond to his insensitive joke? After all, maybe he didn’t mean to offend. In these situations, defending myself seemed unnecessary; it’s not like they were damning me to hell.

BOB WOODWARD WILL PUBLISH 'HARROWING' TRUMP BOOK ON 9/11

newsweek

According to the Washington Post, where Woodward still works as an associate editor, the book’s title comes from what the journalist called “an almost Shakespearean aside” made by Trump when he answered a question about the nature of power.

President Barack Obama said in an interview with The Atlantic that “real power means you can get what you want without having to exert violence.”

“Well, I think there’s a certain truth to that,” Trump told the Post when asked if he agreed. “Real power is through respect...Real power is, I don’t even want to use the word: ‘Fear.’ ”

Israel boosts funding for ultra-Orthodox tech entrepreneurs

timesofisrael

Israel’s Innovation Authority, in charge of setting out the nation’s technology policies and funding startups in their earliest stages, said it was expanding its support for ultra-Orthodox tech entrepreneurs, to make it easier for them to access funding and integrate into Israel’s booming tech scene.

A statement from the Ministry of Economy and Industry said that under the revised terms of a program that has been in force since 2014, technology enterprises at least 33 percent-owned by ultra-Orthodox entrepreneurs will be eligible for funding for two years: 75% of their R&D expenses for the first year and 70% for the second. The original program only provided funding for one year.

These startups will also be eligible for grants of NIS 2.5 million ($682,000) in the first year and of up to NIS 4.5 million in the second year. The program originally granted NIS 2.3 million in the first year alone.

Fact-checking Donald Trump's talking points about the economy

politifact.

President Donald Trump campaigned hard on a promise to kick the economy into high gear and with the latest economic numbers, he had something to crow about. The economy grew at an annualized rate of 4.1 percent between April and June.

Trump said the country was seeing proof of the power of his tax- and regulation-cutting agenda. Let’s take a look at some of his assertions and see whether they hold up.

Quarterly increases of at least 4 percent are not unheard of. That level was reached four times under President Barack Obama, including heights Trump has not yet reached, such as 4.6 percent (twice) and 5.2 percent (once). On two other occasions, Obama oversaw 3.9 percent growth.

Quarterly increases of at least 4 percent are not unheard of. That level was reached four times under President Barack Obama, including heights Trump has not yet reached, such as 4.6 percent (twice) and 5.2 percent (once). On two other occasions, Obama oversaw 3.9 percent growth.

Donald Trump's shutdown threat is big trouble for Republicans

Without the border wall, Donald Trump might have only been a gold-matted asterisk in the 2016 presidential race. But with the border wall, the longshot real estate billionaire went from political purgatory to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

Given the centrality of his pledge to build a wall along the southern border of the United States (muffled voice: And make Mexico pay for it), Trump is totally committed to ensuring that he can go to voters in 2020 and tell them he made good on that most important of promises. Which is a big, big, big problem for Republicans desperately trying to hold onto their House and Senate majorities in 99 days' time.

"I would have no problem doing a shutdown," Trump said bluntly during a joint press conference Monday afternoon with Italy's prime minister. That bombshell confirmed a Trump tweet from over the weekend. "I would be willing to 'shut down' government if the Democrats do not give us the votes for Border Security, which includes the Wall," Trump tweeted on Sunday. "Must get rid of Lottery, Catch & Release etc. and finally go to system of Immigration based on MERIT! We need great people coming into our Country!"

Those twin pronouncements will land like a rotting fish head at a dinner party for the likes of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan.

For every second since the last time the government shut down -- in January -- McConnell has insisted it would not happen again.

"The Senate has a lot to do this week," he said from the Senate floor just moments after Trump made his shutdown threat Monday. "We'll finish up the set of appropriations measures we've been considering for several days and take four more big steps towards our goal of completing a regular appropriations process and funding the government in a timely and orderly manner."

McConnell's quote is the essence of envisioning the best possible result in the future, repeating it as much as possible and hoping that it comes true.

McConnell figures if he says "no shutdown" enough, he will keep it from happening. But wishful thinking is not legislation that funds the government. And, with only 11 -- yes 11! -- legislative days between now and the September 30 government shutdown, McConnell knows better than anyone how politically dangerous Trump's threats actually are.

BAILING OUT TRUMP TARIFF LOSSES COULD COST 3 TIMES INITIAL ESTIMATE

newsweek

 A bailout for the industries affected by President Donald Trump’s trade war would total $39 billion, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce warned Monday morning.

Trump appropriated $12 billion to bail out American farmers reeling from escalating tariffs last week. Now the Chamber of Commerce, which opposes changes to the global tariff system, worries that these measures may be extended to other sectors of the economy.

In a statement, Neil Bradley, the chamber’s executive vice president and chief policy officer, warned that the farmer aid package could send the U.S. down "a slippery—and costly—slope."

“While America's agricultural industry has been hit extremely hard by escalating tariffs, it's not alone,” wrote Bradley. "Thousands of U.S. companies—including manufacturers, input suppliers, fisherman, and businesses from numerous other industries—are finding it more difficult to sell American made products abroad amid the growing trade war."

The Jew who spied for the Nazis

ynet

Journalist and author Eldad Eyal reveals in his book the painful truth about his family: his uncle was forced to aid the Nazis in exterminating the Jews in Romania, fled to Brazil after WWII and spent the rest of his life in hiding, isolated from everyone he cared for.

Religious IDF soldiers forced to listen to transgender lecture

ARUTZ7

The IDF forced soldiers attending commanders course to attend a pro-transgender lecture given by an LGBT activist despite complaints from observant troops that it violated their religious beliefs.

According to the Channel 2 report, the lecture was related to the LGBT protests regarding the Surrogacy Law. The class was run under the auspices of the base's Education Corps, which provides a schedule of mandatory educational events for troops throughout the course.

"As part of our training course, we were forced to enter into a class with a transgender person," one soldier messaged his rabbi. "During the lecture, there were clear messages about connecting to our femininity and how much the subject of sex is above everything. "

"I feel that it hurts me as a religious soldier and as a combat soldier who wants to be part of the team," the soldier added. "Suddenly, because I emphasized that I do not agree with this issue, it makes me ashamed of the opinion that I grew up because it was perceived as primitive and different from all of them."

According to the report, the entire Educational Corps at the base was dedicated to promoting the LGBT narrative and had close ties to the pro-gay Hoshen organization, which the IDF recently stopped collaborating with.

BRITAIN'S LABOUR PARTY SUSPENDS COUNCILLOR FOR JEWS 'DRINK BLOOD' FACEBOOK POST

newsweek

Britain's Labour Party suspended councillor Damien Enticott after a Facebook post from earlier this month, in which he suggested "Jews are parasites" that "drink blood" and perform sexual acts on children, surfaced. 

A screenshot of Enticott's July 4 Facebook comment and post was tweeted out by former councillor and Jewish Labor Movement member Adam Langleben Friday with the remark, "Ladies and Gentleman. A Labour Councillor in 2018. But yeah. All just a smear."

Enticott is a councillor in the town of Bognor Regis on England's south coast and a member of the Labour Party, the center-left U.K. political party led by Jeremy Corbyn. The party has been mired in controversy over anti-Semitism in recent months, with several incidents making headlines, and some members of the party declaring the accusations unfair. 

Palestinian Teen Protest Icon Released From Israeli Prison

nrp

Seventeen-year-old Palestinian activist Ahed Tamimi has been released from Israeli prison after serving an eight-month sentence for slapping Israeli soldiers during a confrontation that went viral on the Internet. The teen has become a symbol of resistance for many Palestinians; for many Israelis, she's seen as a provocateur.

Tamini was greeted by jubilant crowds in her village of Nabi Saleh, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, as she smiled and embraced family members.

"Power to the people," she said. "The people can decide their way of resistance." Tamimi called for continued resistance to Israeli occupation.

Last year, her mother posted a video on social media that showed her kicking and slapping Israeli soldiers outside her family home. It went viral and led to her arrest in December. Her trial opened in February at an Israeli military court and in March she agreed to plead guilty to charges including assault.

GDP growth touted as “historic” by Trump is anything but

cbs

We've accomplished an economic turnaround of historic proportions," Mr. Trump remarked Friday at the White House shortly after the Commerce Department released its GDP report.

In fact, Mr. Trump didn't inherit a fixer-upper economy.

The U.S. economy just entered its 10th year of growth, a recovery that began under President Barack Obama, who inherited the Great Recession. The data show that the falling unemployment rate and gains in home values reflect the duration of the recovery, rather than any major changes made since 2017 by the Trump administration.

While Mr. Trump praised the 4.1 percent annual growth rate in the second quarter, the economy exceeded that level four times during the Obama presidency: in 2009, 2011 and twice in 2014.

In purely numerical terms, a larger shift took place in the second quarter of 2014, when the economy went from contracting by 1 percent to growing at a rate of 5.1 percent

The New York Times Publisher Met With President Trump to Discuss Anti-Media Rhetoric

WASH POST

time

The publisher of The New York Times said Sunday he “implored” President Donald Trump at a private White House meeting this month to reconsider his broad attacks on journalists, calling the president’s anti-press rhetoric “not just divisive but increasingly dangerous.”

In a statement, publisher A.G. Sulzberger said he decided to comment publicly after Trump revealed their off-the-record meeting to his more than 53 million Twitter followers on Sunday. Trump’s aides had requested that the July 20 meeting not be made public, Sulzberger said.

“Had a very good and interesting meeting at the White House with A.G. Sulzberger, Publisher of The New York Times. Spent much time talking about the vast amounts of Fake News being put out by the media & how that Fake News has morphed into phrase, “Enemy of the People.” Sad!” Trump wrote.

Trump threatening to shut down the government if he doesn't get border wall

TRUMP Tariffs are the greatest!

\


nydailynews

'Happy with tariffs': Steel industry emerges as trade war winner
cnn

to the steel industry.

President Donald Trump's metal tariffs have sent steel prices surging and sparked blockbuster profits for steel manufacturers.

Reliance Steel & Aluminum (RS) hauled in record sales, thanks to an 18% spike in prices. Nucor(NUE) recorded the best second quarter in its history. Its profit more than doubled.

"All in all, we're very happy with tariffs," Nucor CEO John Ferriola told analysts earlier this month.

Those words haven't been uttered by many other corporate bosses, who are grappling with sticker shock.

Tariffs levied by the United States and major trading partners are eating into the profits of Harley-Davidson (HOG), General Motors (GM), General Electric (GE), 3M (MMM) and hundreds of other companies. CEOs are scrambling to raise prices and reshuffle their supply chains.

Unsurprisingly, steel companies are feasting on a price spike from Trump's 25% steel tariff. The benchmark price of US-made steel has zoomed 41% higher since the start of the year to $917 per short ton, according to S&P Global Platts.

Fake doctor saved thousands of infants and changed medical history

ny post

When Marion Conlin gave birth to twins earlier than expected in a Brooklyn hospital in May 1920, one of her babies was already dead. Her doctor bluntly told the woman and her husband, Woolsey, “Don’t rush to bury that one, because you will need to bury the other one too . . . She’s not going to live the day.”

But Woolsey was not giving up on the other so easily.

The couple had honeymooned the previous year in Atlantic City, and Woolsey recalled a sideshow exhibit featuring prematurely born babies whose lives were saved right there on the Boardwalk. Resting in new machines called incubators, the babies made medical history while serving as a prime attraction for gawking tourists.

Woolsey also remembered hearing that the same doctor had set up a similar exhibit in Coney Island. So while their own doctor tried to convince them that all was lost, Woolsey grabbed his 2-pound daughter, ran from the hospital and hailed a cab, hoping the Coney Island sideshow could save her life.

A new book, “The Strange Case of Dr. Couney: How a Mysterious European Showman Saved Thousands of American Babies,” by Dawn Raffel (Blue Rider Press), tells the story of Martin Couney, a self-appointed “doctor” — his credentials turned out to be nonexistent — who nonetheless saved thousands of infants, and introduced incubators to the modern world.

U.S. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick Resigns Amid Sexual Abuse Allegations

newsweek

NUNS SAY “ME TOO”: MCCARRICK RESIGNS AMID CLAIMS OF GLOBAL ABUSE IN THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

.huffingtonpost.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Francis has accepted U.S. prelate Theodore McCarrick’s offer to resign from the College of Cardinals following allegations of sexual abuse, including one involving an 11-year-old boy, and ordered him to conduct a “life of prayer and penance” in a home to be designated by the pontiff until a church trial is held, the Vatican said Saturday.

EXCLUSIVE: Cardinal Wuerl calls McCarrick’s resignation ‘big step forward’

https://wtop.com/dc/2018/07/exclusive-cardinal-wuerl-calls-mccarricks-resignation-big-step-forward/

The resignation of Theodore McCarrick from the College of Cardinals following allegations of sex abuse makes him the highest-ranking American in the Catholic Church to ever be removed from the ministry.

In what’s being called an unprecedented move, Pope Francis accepted the resignation of former Archbishop of Washington Saturday, before the accusations are investigated by church officials. Francis received McCarrick’s resignation letter Friday.

“I think this was a big step forward in trying to act quickly, decisively, even though the whole procedure isn’t concluded yet,” said Cardinal Donald Wuerl who succeeded McCarrick as the Archbishop of Washington. “The pope is saying that we need to show that we are hearing these things, paying attention and acting.”

price of trumps friendship - Report: US asked Israel to free terror suspect in deal for pastor held in Turkey

cnn


times of israel

US President Donald Trump asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to release Ebru Ozkan as part of a deal he had agreed with Turkey to gain the release of Andrew Brunson, reported the Washington Post.

Hebrew-language media reported on Friday that Israel officials confirmed Trump called Netanyahu asking him to release Ozkan.

In a break with tradition, Orthodox Jewish women are leading synagogues

washington post

Taking on positions as clergy in a tradition where women have never been clergy before, they have adopted a variety of titles. Some call themselves rosh kehilah, meaning “head of the community.” Some go by maharat. Rabbanit. Rabba. And even rabbi.

Giuliani once praised Michael Cohen as 'honest,' but now says Cohen has 'lied all his life'

cnn

Washington (CNN)After a week of revelations that suggest Michael Cohen may have turned on Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, the President's current lawyer, argued that Trump's former attorney wasn't credible and has "lied all his life."

George Will On Donald Trump-Michael Cohen Tape: "Mr. Trump Is A Seedy Man" | The Last Word | MSNBC

Why Israel nabbed a rabbi for performing a wedding, and why people are incensed

Times of israel.

As he waited to be interrogated by the Israel Police for conducting a non-Orthodox wedding, Rabbi Dov Haiyun began a Facebook post with three words: “Iran is here.”

Haiyun awoke at 5:30 a.m. Thursday at his home in Haifa to a knock on the door from two police officers who detained him, put him in the back of a van and sought to question him. His crime? Conducting a Jewish wedding outside the auspices of Israel’s ultra-Orthodox Chief Rabbinate.

The rabbi was released, sans questions, after a couple hours — he had to head to the Israeli president’s residence for an event celebrating Jewish pluralism.

How childhood trauma affects health across a lifetime

Childhood trauma isn’t something you just get over as you grow up. Pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris explains that the repeated stress of abuse, neglect and parents struggling with mental health or substance abuse issues has real, tangible effects on the development of the brain. This unfolds across a lifetime, to the point where those who’ve experienced high levels of trauma are at triple the risk for heart disease and lung cancer. An impassioned plea for pediatric medicine to confront tChildhood trauma isn’t something you just get over as you grow up. Pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris explains that the repeated stress of abuse, neglect and parents struggling with mental health or substance abuse issues has real, tangible effects on the development of the brain. This unfolds across a lifetime, to the point where those who’ve experienced high levels of trauma are at triple the risk for heart disease and lung cancer. An impassioned plea for pediatric medicine to confront the prevention and treatment of trauma, head-on.he prevention and treatment of trauma, head-on.

Childhood trauma isn’t something you just get over as you grow up. Pediatrician Nadine Burke Harris explains that the repeated stress of abuse, neglect and parents struggling with mental health or substance abuse issues has real, tangible effects on the development of the brain. This unfolds across a lifetime, to the point where those who’ve experienced high levels of trauma are at triple the risk for heart disease and lung cancer. An impassioned plea for pediatric medicine to confront the prevention and treatment of trauma, head-on.

Report: Mother who injected insulin also beat her children

arutz 7

The Jerusalem mother who injected at least five of her children with insulin in order to receive disability benefits may have also beaten her children, Kan reported.

According to the Kan report, the mother, who lives in Jerusalem's Ramat Shlomo neighborhood, is suspected of beating her children with a thick rod. In several cases, the children required medical treatment after the beatings.

"The police investigation over the past few days found basis for a suspicion that the children were brought to health clinics with injuries requiring medical care."

"[These injuries] were caused by severe beatings received from their mother, administered among other things via thick rods found in the family's home. All of the children were interrogated by children's interrogators, and some of them spoke about the beatings they suffered."

On Marrying a Survivor of Childhood Sexual Abuse

atlantic


Dealing with misinformation, feeling powerless, and slowly getting better together

I thought the article would validate my husband’s experience. That’s why I emailed him the link to the decade-old New Yorkmagazine article about his alma mater, the American Boychoir School for vocal prodigies, where alumni from as late as the 1990s estimate that one in five boys were molested. Boys like Travis.

“It used to feel like an isolated incident that affected just me," Trav said.

It was the end of my workday on an October afternoon; I had just set my keys on the kitchen table. My coat was still buttoned.

“Now I know I spent nearly three years of my childhood at a boarding school not just with random pedophiles, but in a culture that allowed it.”

As his wife, how do I respond? That he survived? That he’s brave? That he’s a hero for letting me talk about it? That I will stand beside him with a personal mission and public vow that nobody will ever hurt him, physically or emotionally, again, the way they did during his 30 months as a choirboy from 1988 to 1990?.

Trav deflects these statements. He understands my protective instincts, but it makes him feel weak and uncomfortable when I say the words with such elevated drama. He is not brave, he says. Not a survivor, and certainly no hero. It doesn’t matter anymore, he says, so I suck in my breath and nod.

election rockland County

Review: ‘Bad Faith,’ a Dr. Paul A. Offit Book on Religion and Modern Medicine

currently reading - an excellent explanation of religious resistance to medicine


ny times

An important and fascinating book. For more than a decade, Paul Offit has been relentless in his exposure of forces that can undermine the life-saving advances of modern medicine. His latest effort, Bad Faith, combines gripping storytelling with an insider's knowledge. Offit offers a compassionate and clear-headed take on religion that puts children's well-being where it should be: at the center of the discussion. A must-read for anyone interested in the challenges of public health in the twenty-first century.”

—Seth Mnookin, Associate Director of The Graduate Program in Science Writing, MIT, and author of The Panic Virus: The True Story Behind the Vaccine-Autism Controversy

Paul A. Offit, MD, is a Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Infectious Diseases at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. The author of several books, he lives in Bala Cynwyd, Pennsylvania.

Forty percent of people have a fictional first memory

science daily

Researchers have conducted one of the largest surveys of people's first memories, finding that nearly 40 per cent of people had a first memory which is fictional.

Current research indicates that people's earliest memories date from around three to three-and-a-half years of age. However, the study from researchers at City, University of London, the University of Bradford and Nottingham Trent University found that 38.6 per cent of a survey of 6,641 people claimed to have memories from two or younger, with 893 people claiming memories from one or younger. This was particularly prevalent among middle-aged and older adults

letter containin rav Herschel Schechter AND RAV NOTA GREENBLATTS opposition to annulments provided by the fake International bais din

from TORAHWEB.ORG

Rav Sternbuch rumors of child abuse and lashon harah vol 5 #398

the following is taken fom page 263 of vol 2 of my Child and Domestic Abuse

I am putting this up specifically for the fast of Tisha B av

because Rav Freifeld told me it is permissible to learn about those things which caused the destruction of the Beis HaMIKDASH I.E. lashon harah

it is also for the yahrzeit of the tzadekess Mrs Gingold

Note in articular the response of Rav Chaim Ozer to the Chofetz Chaim

תשובות והנהגות כרך ה סימן שצח
שמיעת רינונים וחשדות
קבלתי מכתבו, ורעדה אחזתני על פשע המנהל שסירב לשמוע טענות נגד ר"מ על מעשים מגונים, בטענה שזהו לשון הרע, ועכשיו מתגלה והולך קלונו של אותו ר"מ, והמנהל עודו מתעקש שאין הוכחות מספיקות וראוי לחשוש לאיסור לשון הרע.
ודבריו של המנהל הם הבל הבלים, ופותח פתח לשחיתות ר"ל, וחובת ראש ישיבה ומנהל לשמוע כל רינון וחשד על המתרחש בתחומו, שכן עיקר חובתו לשמור על נפשותיהם של התלמידים, ולכן צריך לחשוש לכל דבר אפילו אינו מצוי כלל, ואף שמוקמינן אדם על חזקת כשרותו, מכל מקום מה שנוגע לשמירת התלמידים, אם נראה אפילו נדנוד ספק שהוזקו ילדים או בחורים, חייבין לסלק את החשוד בינתיים או להעמיד שמירה מיוחדת ותמידית עליו, ועיקר איסור סיפור וקבלת לשון הרע, הוא אם נובע מכך ששונאו או מקנא בו ואין כוונתו לש"ש, אבל כשכוונתו טהורה חייב לחשוש לכל טענה או רינון על מנת למנוע נזקים, והחשש המופרך מאיסור לשון הרע עלול לגרום לקלקול רבים.
ופעם אחת כשהייתי אצל כ"ק האדמו"ר רבי ישראל אלתר (האדמו"ר מגור) שאל אותי אודות בחור אחד, וכיון שחשש שאני מפקפק אם להגיד מפני לשון הרע, אמר "דע לך בבית הזה אין איסור לשון הרע שהכל לתועלת, וכל מה שאני שומע אני פועל ועושה ובע"ה יהא תמיד בזה תועלת".
והנה שמעתי על אסיפת רבנים בה עמד הקדוש ה"חפץ חיים" זצ"ל ודרש על ענין לשון הרע, ובקש מהרבנים הנוכחים שיחתמו על התחייבות להזהר מלשון הרע, והגאון רבי חיים עוזר זצ"ל היסס לחתום, ויש בזה סיפורים שונים, וכפי ששמעתי השיב שרב בעירו צריך לידע ולשמוע הכל אפילו בחשש רחוק מאד ולעשות בירור יסודי אם יש בדברים ממש, ובמידה שיחתום עלול להחמיר מדאי וזה יגרום קלקול לרבים ולכן טוב יותר לתקן ללמוד הלכות לשון הרע.
סוף דבר, מצוה גדולה לספר כל חשש וחשש, והמנהל צריך לשמוע ולחשוש ולשמור על התלמידים שמירה מעולה, ואם מתרשל הרי הוא בכלל ארור עושה מלאכת ה' רמייה, והיום יש הרבה כלי משחית לקלקל הנוער, וחובה לשמור שמירה מעולה על קודש הקדשים, התלמידים העוסקים בתורת ה', (כמבואר בלשון הרמב"ם סוף הלכות שמיטה ויובל ע"ש).
ואני באתי לעודדו שלא ינוח ולא ישקוט, ושכרו רב מאד, ויסכר פי דובר שקר הסותם פיות ומזלזל בדברים הנוגעים לדיני נפשות. 

Dr. Strange Heter Or How I Learned to Love the Gadolim

Rabbi Nota Greenblatt married Tamar Epstein to Adam Fleischer. Upon learning about the marriage, I called Rabbi Nota Greenblatt.

I wanted to know if Aharon Friedman, Tamar's husband, still had to give Tamar a Get.

Rabbi Greenblatt told me that Aharon still had to give Tamar a Get. I wanted to explore that logic with Rabbi Greenblatt. I didn't get too far.

"Listen to the Gadolim!" he forcefully exhorted me.

End of conversation.

So, I called up Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky. The man considered by many to be the greatest Gadol in America.

He told me that I could rely on Rabbi Greenblatt as far as the legitimacy of the marriage of Tamar Epstein to Adam Fleischer. Rabbi Kamenetsky also told me that I can rely on Rabbi Dovid Feinstein as far as the illegitimacy of the marriage of Tamar Epstein to Adam Fleischer. (The recording of that conversation can be found elsewhere on this blog.)

So, let's listen to the Gadolim.

Rabbi Greenblatt identified for me the doctor whose testimony, Rabbi Greenblatt said, laid the foundation for the granting of the Heter to Tamar to remarry.

And we are told we may rely on Rabbi Greenblatt.

Yet, according to Rabbi Feinstein, Tamar and Adam are cohabiting in a way contradictory to Halacha.

So, we are going to leverage the identity of the doctor to nullify the Heter and/or Tamar and Adam's association. (Based on the advice of one of my lawyer's, I am using the term "association", a euphemism, so as not to expose myself to a lawsuit.)

No one can accuse me now of not listening to the Gadolim