I've Spent Decades Failing to Negotiate Peace in the Middle East. Trump's 'Ultimate Deal' Is Doomed, Too

TIME

Having served as a State Department Middle East adviser and negotiator on Arab-Israel matters for more than two decades in both Republican and Democratic Administrations, I’ve seen and helped concoct a few pretty odd and mostly unsuccessful peace plans. But rarely have I seen an endeavor that was stranger than the recently released part one of the Trump Administration’s “ultimate deal”: a two-day, late-June meeting of donors from around the world in Bahrain, with hopes that showing the Palestinians how much better and more prosperous their lives could be will make them more flexible negotiators. Or, perhaps, persuade them to abandon what the Trump Administration considers unrealistic goals: statehood, with a real capital sovereign over most of east Jerusalem.

Reason to die?

(2) ילקוט שמעוני משלי - פרק ח - רמז תתקמג 

 מעשה באשה אחת שהזקינה הרבה, באת לפני ר"י (הגלילי) בן חלפתא אמרה לו רבי זקנתי יותר מדאי ומעשו חיים של נוול הם שאיני טועמת לא מאכל ולא משתה ואני מבקשת ליפטר מן העולם, אמר לה במה הארכת כל כך ימים, אמרה לו למודה אני אפילו יש לי דבר חביב אני מנחת אותו ומשכמת לבית הכנסת בכל יום, אמר לה מנעי עצמך מבית הכנסת שלשה ימים זה אחר זה, הלכה ועשתה כן וביום השלישי חלתה ומתה, לכך אמר שלמה אשרי אדם שומע לי וגו', מה כתיב אחריו כי מוצאי מצא חיים. אמר הקב"ה אם הלכת להתפלל לבית הכנסת לא תעמוד לך על פתח החיצון אלא הוי מתכוין ליכנס דלת לפנים מדלת, לשקוד על דלתי אין כתיב כאן אלא דלתותי, שתי דלתות, ולמה כן שהקב"ה מונה פסיעותיך ונותן לך שכר, מהו לשמגור מזוזות פתחי וכי יש מזוזה בבתי כנסיות, א"ר יהודה ברבי סימון מה מזוזה זו אינה זזה מן הפתח כך לא תהא זז מבתי כנסיות ומבתי מדרשות, ואם תעשה כן דע שאתה מקבל פני שכינה, מה כתיב אחריו כי מוצאי מצא חיים, ולא עוד אלא טעון ברכות שנאמר ויפק רצון מה':

Top rabbi blows lid off rabbinic scandal, rocking national religious public

https://www.timesofisrael.com/top-rabbi-blows-lid-off-rabbinic-scandal-rocking-national-religious-public/

In an open letter Wednesday that blew the lid off of a hushed misconduct accusation involving a prominent spiritual leader in the national religious camp, the chief rabbi of Safed called on the public to stay away from a respected counterpart, accusing him of carrying out several inappropriate relationships with female followers, among them an adherent whom he convinced to divorce her husband.

Three weeks after the national religious Srugim news site broke a story about an unnamed yeshiva head who had been asked to resign due to “personal entanglements,” Safed’s Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu publicly identified the embroiled individual as Rabbi Shmuel Tal, the head of of the Torat HaChaim yeshiva as well as several other religious institutions in the central town of Yad Binyamin.

RUDY GIULIANI MOCKS FOX NEWS JUDGE ANDREW NAPOLITANO, CLAIMS HE'S 'BITTER' AT TRUMP ABOUT SCOTUS JOB

https://www.newsweek.com/rudy-giuliani-fox-news-napolitano-trump-1440040

President Donald Trump's personal attorney Rudy Giuliani echoed his client's criticisms of Fox News senior judicial analyst Andrew Napolitano Thursday, claiming the former judge is "bitter" Trump never gave him a U.S. Supreme Court appointment years ago.

Giuliani, the former Republican mayor of New York City, quote tweeted an odd video reply from an unnamed pro-Trump Twitter account appearing to deride Napolitano for giving any legitimacy to Trump impeachment claims arising from special counsel Robert Mueller's report. Last month, former New Jersey Superior Court Judge Napolitano refuted Trump's claim he only became "hostile" toward the president on Fox News after he allegedly asked—and was denied—an appointment to the Supreme Court. 

Giuliani's claim is only the latest effort by Trump administration officials to write off critics by saying they begged for jobs in the past. Napolitano called Trump a "friend" last month despite the insult.

Fact-checking Trump's flurry of lies Thursday morning

CNN

One day after special counsel Robert Mueller publicly refused to exonerate President Donald Trump and hinted at potential impeachment, the President responded Thursday with an avalanche of widely debunked lies about the investigation and its findings.

Over a few hours Thursday morning, Trump spread several lies and falsehoods about the Russia investigation, Mueller's findings, the cost of the probe, and the legal restrictions that Mueller faced when grappling with the possibility of a President who broke the law.

Here's a breakdown of Trump's comments.

ISRAEL GOES BACK TO ELECTIONS AS NETANYAHU FAILS TO FORM COALITION

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Elections-set-for-Sept-17-after-coalition-talks-fail-591044

Exactly one month after the 21st Knesset were sworn in, a majority of the Knesset voted late Wednesday to disperse themselves and initiate an unprecedented repeat election on September 17.

White House, Navy exchanged emails about keeping USS McCain out of Trump's sight

CNN

President Donald Trump and John McCain's long-running feud is back in the spotlight following reports that White House and lower-level US Navy officials traded emails about keeping a warship named from the late senator's father and grandfather out of sight ahead of the President's trip to Japan.

Two Navy officials confirmed to CNN Wednesday night that the White House Military Office asked lower-level US Navy officials about keeping the ship out of view. One of the Navy officials further clarified Thursday morning that the discussion included obscuring the ship or moving it, which was not practical because the ship was under repairs at the time.

What Mueller, Barr Say About Obstruction of Justice

https://www.factcheck.org/2019/05/what-mueller-barr-say-about-obstruction-of-justice/

Special counsel Robert Mueller devoted much of his 10-minute remarks on May 29 to explaining why the special counsel’s office did not reach a determination about whether President Donald Trump committed obstruction of justice. Democrats have criticized Attorney General William P. Barr for mischaracterizing the findings on that point in Mueller’s report.

Here we compare what Mueller said in his remarks with how Barr has characterized the special counsel’s report and Mueller’s decision not to make a determination on obstruction charges.

Man who predicted Trump's win makes bold impeachment prediction

Hannity: Hate-Trump media is just lies, noise

Burnett: Hearing Mueller say this was moment in history

Fox News judge gives Trump terrible news amid Mueller speech

Parents of Third Boy Allege Abuse by Rabbi Krawatsky

https://jewishtimes.com/92891/parents-of-third-boy-allege-abuse-by-rabbi-krawatsky/featured-right/

The parents of a third boy have come forward to file a lawsuit against Rabbi Steven Krawatsky, Camp Shoresh in Frederick and its executive director Rabbi David Finkelstein. Filed April 4 in the Montgomery County Circuit Court, the suit alleges physical, sexual and emotional abuse by Krawatsky while the boy was attending Camp Shoresh in 2014 and 2015.

Shoresh, Inc., and Finkelstein are also named in the suit as being negligent in protecting the boy from the alleged abuse.

In the new suit, the parents of the then six-year-old boy allege Krawatsky “groomed” the boy leading up to abuse that included allegedly offering the boy money in exchange for sexual acts and “offensively and inappropriately” touching the boy, among other alleged abuse. Counts listed in the suit against Krawatsky allege battery, false imprisonment and assault.

According to the lawyer for the parents, Jonathan Little, the new suit “will very likely be tried together” with a previous suit brought in February 2019 by the parents of two other boys Krawatsky allegedly abused while attending Camp Shoresh in 2014 and 2015, and a victim-advocate blogger who broke the story of the alleged abuse in 2017.

That countersuit followed a multimillion-dollar January 2018 defamation suit filed by Krawatsky and his wife against the parents and the blogger that included 57 counts against the five for defamation, invasion of privacy and inflicting emotional distress, among other counts.

Following the blogger’s 2017 post, New York Jewish Week published an investigative story in January 2018 about Krawatsky and the alleged abuse. Krawatsky was subsequently fired from Beth Tfiloh Dahan Community School, where he was a middle school Judaic studies teacher and then resigned from leading a teen minyan at Suburban Orthodox Congregation Toras Chaim.

Christopher Rolle, lawyer for the Krawatskys, said of the new law suit, “My client is innocent and he looks forward to proving it in court.”

'The Report Is My Testimony.' Robert Mueller Signals He'd Rather Not Testify to Congress

Special Counsel Robert Mueller formally ended his investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, refusing to take questions from reporters and signaling that he would prefer not to testify to Congress.

“The report is my testimony,” he told a group of reporters hastily assembled at the Justice Department on Wednesday.

During the nine-minute statement, Mueller reiterated the conclusions of his his team’s 448-page report: that Russians systematically interfered in the 2016 election by hacking, that investigators found “insufficient evidence” to find any Americans conspired with the Russians in that effort, that his team pointedly did not say whether or not President Donald Trump obstructed justice during the investigation and that Congress could make that decision on its own.

“I have not spoken publicly during our investigation,” he said, in his first public remarks since the report came out. “I am speaking out today because our investigation is complete, the attorney general has made the report on our investigation largely public, we are formally losing the special counsel’s office and as well I am resigning from the Department of Justice to return to private life.”

WORST DEEP STATE CONSPIRACY EVER': JAMES COMEY SHOOTS DOWN DONALD TRUMP'S CAMPAIGN SPYING CLAIMS ABOUT FBI RUSSIA PROBE

https://www.newsweek.com/comey-trump-fbi-russia-conspiracy-theory-1437797

Ex-FBI Director James Comey derided the “dumbness” of President Donald Trump’s conspiracy theory that the bureau sought to use its Russia investigation to take down his 2016 campaign.

Trump claims that Comey and others at the top of the FBI were corrupted by bias against him and in favor of his Demcratic rival Hillary Clinton. He also claims that the FBI conducted generalized spying on his campaign, which is so far unsubstantiated.

The president has in recent weeks called Comey a “dirty cop,” and accused those involved in running the FBI’s Russia investigation of treason, tweeting: “My Campaign for President was conclusively spied on. Nothing like this has ever happened in American Politics. A really bad situation. TREASON means long jail sentences, and this was TREASON!”

Writing in The Washington Post, Comey called Trump a liar who does not care about the damage his rhetoric and false allegations are doing to America’s institutions, such as the FBI.

Comey said the FBI investigated evidence that the Russians were interfering in the 2016 election and potential links to the Trump campaign through its advisers. The investigation was kept secret by the FBI during the election.

We Orthodox Jews desperately need gay rabbis

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/we-orthodox-jews-desperately-need-gay-rabbis/

The halachic reason is that gay Jews are asked to meet a virtually impossible standard of behavior. If they violate that standard, they are either censured or thrown out of the Orthodox community. The enforcers of this contract – rabbis, parents, educators and fellow adult students – know deep down that this agreement will never work. The stipulations, such as remaining in the closet or being celibate for life, are fanciful rejections of reality.

‘The Jews always flip,’ Trump said after Cohen plea deal, according to new book

https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-jews-always-flip-trump-said-after-cohen-plea-deal-new-tell-all-book/

“The Jews always flip,” US President Donald Trump reportedly said after being told that three Jewish associates had agreed to cooperate with the Mueller probe, according to a new tell-all book on the Trump administration.

Trump reportedly made the comments after being told of witness plea deals from former lawyer and fixer Michael Cohen, David Pecker of American Media, and Trump Organization accountant Allen Weisselberg, according to the book, “Siege: Trump Under Fire,” by Michael Wolff.

Hasidic Jews In Staten Island Remove Eruv After Anti-Semitic Backlash

https://forward.com/fast-forward/424973/hasidic-jews-in-staten-island-remove-eruv-after-anti-semitic-backlash/

An eruv, or symbolic boundary for Sabbath-observant Jews, was removed from a neighborhood on Staten Island.

The eruv had been put up on utility poles around the neighborhood by a group of Hasidic Orthodox Jewish residents. They removed it after other residents put up lawn signs expressing opposition to an influx or religious Jews in their neighborhood. The residents had not yet secured the necessary permission from Con Ed, Verizon, or the Transportation Department, Spectrum News reported.

The lawn signs, created by the Westerleigh Improvement Society, read: “Westerleigh Strong. We’re Not Selling.” They reportedly referred to 

U.S. Evangelical Church Cancels Israel Event After Israeli Diplomats Join Local Gay Pride Parade

https://beforeitsnews.com/v3/alternative/2019/3684127.html

Consul General Lior Hayat and other staff from Israel’s diplomatic mission carried Israeli flags and rainbow flags bearing a Star of David at the gay pride parade in Miami in April. They posted photos of their participation in the gay parade on the diplomatic mission’s Twitter.

Pastor Alberto Delgado, who had scheduled at his Alpha and Omega Church in Miami an event honoring Israel with the participation of Israeli diplomats, later canceled the event in May.

The pastor “was worried that the Israeli participation in the pride parade will hurt the support for Israel within his community (especially in light of how close the two events were to each other).”

“The consul general met with the pastor and clarified that the consulate represents all Israeli citizens and works with different constituencies,” said the Israeli newspaper The Jerusalem Post.

לראשונה אי פעם: הומו מוצהר הוסמך לרב אורתודוקסי

https://www.israelhayom.co.il/article/661137

בצעד חסר תקדים הוסמך ביום ראשון האחרון חבר הקהילה הלהט"בית לתפקיד רב אורתודוקסי בטקס חגיגי בתיאטרון ירושלים, זאת לאחר שבישיבה מפורסמת בארצות הברית סירבו להסמיך אותו בשל זהותו המינית. יצוין כי מדובר במהלך הצהרתי בכל הקשור לרבנות הראשית לישראל, מכיוון שמדובר בהסמכה פרטית. 

לפני כמה חודשים הודיעו לדניאל אטווד רבני ישיבת "חובבי תורה", מוסד אורתודוקסי ליברלי בניו יורק, כי לא יוסמך לתפקיד רב, זאת למרות שסיים את לימודיו במקום בהצלחה. הן בישיבה והן אטווד עצמו ניסו שלא לקשור בין נטייתו המינית של הסטודנט לבין ההחלטה, אך בין השורות נראה כי זו אכן הייתה הסיבה לביטול ההסמכה. יצוין כי בעבר הוסמכו רבנים שהיו דאז בארון, ולאחר מכן הם הצהירו על נטייתם המינית, אולם מדובר בפעם הראשונה שבה הומו מוצהר, שחי בזוגיות עם גבר, ביקש לקבל את ההסמכה.

"היינו מוכנים להסמיך אותו עד שהופיעו נסיבות מסוימות לפני כמה חודשים", כתב אז ראש הישיבה, הרב דב לינזר. "מכיוון שמדובר בנושא כל כך רגיש, לקחו לנו כמה חודשים להגיע להחלטה. ניסיתי להבין אם יש דרך אפשרית להמשיך להתקדם, אבל הגעתי למסקנה שלילית". לצד הרב לינזר התייצבו שורת רבנים מוכרים בארה"ב, בהם הרב אבי וייס, זאת למרות זעם כבד מצד ארגוני להט"ב וקהילות יהודיות במדינה. "אף מוסד אורתודוקסי לא אישר נישואים חד-מיניים או הסמיך רב גיי בגלוי", נימק הרב לינזר את החלטתו.

TRUMP CALLING FARMERS 'PATRIOTS' FOR SUFFERING IN CHINA TRADE WAR 'DOESN'T PAY THE BILLS,' GOP SENATOR SAYS

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-farmers-patriots-doesnt-pay-bills-gop-senator-1436443

The president has called our farmers ‘patriots,’” Ernst said later in the segment, “it doesn’t pay the bills, it doesn’t pay the bills,” she asserted. “But we will see in the upcoming months how long we can sustain.”

On Thursday, Trump unveiled a $16 billion bailout plan for farmers struggling to stay above water as a result of the trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.

“The $16 billion in funds will help keep our cherished farms thriving and make clear that no country has veto on America’s economic and national security, can’t let that happen ever,” the president said.

“You could say with our farmers, they’re patriots, they stood up. We will ensure that our farmers get the relief that they need, and very, very quickly,” the president added with the plans announcement.

The Problem With Mussolini and His Trains

https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2016/11/the-problem-with-mussolini-and-his-trains/507764/

“When you are trying to convince America that its new leader is not a fascist,” New York Magazine’s Margaret Hartmann and Chas Dannersuggested recently, “it’s best not to make any Mussolini references.”

Too late. That advice was directed at former Cincinnati mayor Ken Blackwell, a member of the Trump transition team. Blackwell just assured the Wall Street Journal that Reince Preibus, the RNC chair picked as White House chief of staff, would “utilize his personal connections with the speaker [Rep. Paul Ryan] and others, to make the trains run on time.”

Like other Italian Fascist-era coinages (turns out “drain the swamp”was a Mussolini thing, too), Il Duce’s timely trains are getting a workout these days. But, until recently, most Mussolini comparisons were being made by Trump opponents trying to remind American voters about the perils of embracing cartoonish autocrats. During the campaign, Gawker baited the GOP candidate into retweeting a Mussolini quote, and many others noted the parallels between the two characters, often packaged with the president-elect’s admiring comments about modern dictators. Now that sci-fi speculation about President Trump has broken into the real world, perhaps it’s time to finally confront the minor-but-enduring falsehood about Italian dictator Benito Mussolini and his punctual trains.

Viral video of Nancy Pelosi slowed down her speech

https://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2019/may/24/politics-watchdog/viral-video-nancy-pelosi-speech-was-manipulated/

A video circulating on Facebook gives the impression that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi spoke in a very slurred manner at a public event. That video isn’t an accurate representation of Pelosi’s speech — the audio is slowed down to a point that some social media users questioned whether she was drunk or medically impaired.

"House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on President Trump walking out infrastructure meeting: ‘It was very, very, very strange,’" said text accompanying the approximately three-minute clip.

The video was posted on the Facebook page for an account called Politics WatchDog.

The Washington Post published a story May 23 headlined, "Faked Pelosi videos, slowed to make her appear drunk, spread across social media." The story included Politics WatchDog’s video and mentioned other videos posted on YouTube that slowed her speech or suggested Pelosi spoke drunkenly.

Politics WatchDog’s post was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

FOX NEWS' CHRIS WALLACE CHALLENGES LINDSEY GRAHAM ON HIS 1998 CLAIM THAT IGNORING SUBPOENAS IS IMPEACHABLE

https://www.newsweek.com/fox-news-chris-wallace-makes-lindsey-graham-watch-1998-clip-himself-saying-1436467

Fox News host Chris Wallace on Sunday forced Senator Lindsey Graham to watch a 1998 clip of himself talking about the dangers of ignoring subpoenas from Congress during an era when he was leading the impeachment effort against former President Bill Clinton.

During Graham’s appearance on Fox News Sunday earlier today, Wallace challenged the Republican senator on his past comments about impeachment, which appears to contradict his current stance on calls by Democrats to impeach President Donald Trump.

"You call all of what’s going on in Washington a political circus, but you took a different view back when you were leading the impeachment effort against Clinton back in the late '90s. At that time, you said that any president, and you talked specifically about Clinton and Richard Nixon, who defied Congress when it came to subpoenas was in danger of impeachment,” Wallace said, before airing an old clip of Graham’s comments made in Capitol Hill.

“You’re becoming the judge and jury. It is not your job to tell us what we need. It is your job to comply with the things we need to provide oversight over you,” Graham can be seen saying in the December 18, 1998 clip. At the time, he was a member of the House of Representatives and one of the managers — de facto prosecutors — in Clinton's impeachment trial before the Senate.

The History of the Mir Community Before the Holocaust Religious Life The Mir Yeshiva

The yeshiva is described by L. Mendelstam:

"The yeshiva was situated in a large building with just one floor, in a large hall that sprawled across its entire width and length. Next to the walls were 14 large, long tables… and each table had a name: the "Rabbi's Table," and next to it the "Yeshiva Table" and so on. The Rabbi's Table was the most exalted, and it was a great honor for a student to be placed there. Other tables were on a lower level of importance, like the "Table Behind the Heater," where the loafers were placed, and the "Educated Table" where the apikorsim(heretics) were seated."L. Mendelstam, "Memories of the Mir Yeshiva Students," Mir, p. 119

‘Fake Orthodox’ couple accused of trying to convert Jews to Christianity

nypost.

David Costello and Rivkah Weber look every bit a young Orthodox Jewish couple.

Costello sports a yarmulke and sidelocks and Weber dresses modestly and covers her head.

They keep kosher and never miss Sabbath at the synagogue.

But they do share one little oddity: They believe Jesus is the Messiah.

And they are not shy about spreading their gospel, according to angry members of the Jewish community who say the couple are really Christian infiltrators fishing for converts.

Their presence has rocked synagogues in Brooklyn, and earlier this month in Chicago, after a visitor from New York recognized Costello from a Williamsburg shul and “outed” him.

Polish priest blames 'devil' as he's confronted by alleged victim whose life was ruined

.Cnn

"Father, I wanted to look you in the eye ... I wanted to ask you why?" demands Anna Misiewicz as she confronts the parish priest she says abused her when she was just seven and eight years old.

"You touched me where you were not supposed to, my private parts," Misiewicz says, matter-of-factly, telling him that his actions "really scarred my adult life deeply."

"I still have nightmares ... I am unable to sleep at night," she tells her alleged abuser. "I still carry it inside me."

The elderly man she is addressing exhales and shifts in his orange and brown striped chair, as a religious service plays out on a TV nearby, in a home for retired priests in Kielce, central Poland.

The priest, identified only as Father Jan A., has never been charged with abuse. He pauses briefly, before saying: "I should never have done it, I should not have touched or kissed you ... I know I shouldn't have."

How a DNA Testing Kit Revealed a Family Secret Hidden for 54 Years

http://time.com/5492642/dna-test-results-family-secret-biological-father/?iid=obinsite

In 1961, my parents, Orthodox Jews who married later in life, were having trouble conceiving. My father was part of a large family that took seriously the commandment to be fruitful and multiply. My mother, nearing 40, was desperate to have a child. They went to the now long-defunct Farris Institute for Parenthood near the campus of the University of Pennsylvania. There, they were told that a “treatment” was available to help solve my dad’s infertility. A practice of the day was to mix donor sperm with the intended father’s sperm, in order to keep alive the possibility that the child was biologically his. There was a commonly used term for this: confused artificial insemination.

Donald Trump falls for Nancy Pelosi's trap

https://edition.cnn.com/2019/05/24/politics/donald-trump-nancy-pelosi-democrats-republicans/index.html

President Donald Trump keeps taking Nancy Pelosi's bait.

The House speaker has spent the last two days provoking Trump, questioning his self-confidence, condescendingly confiding that she prays for him and suggesting a "family intervention."

The President's wild, improvised response Thursday suggests that so far, the speaker is winning the hugely consequential clash between Washington's top two political forces.

It's not often that Trump, the man who dismembered the most talented Republican primary field in years in 2016, seems to be struggling for traction in a face-to-face political fight.

But Pelosi is turning Trump's own arsenal against him, using the politics of mockery and provocation to leave him for once, off balance and forced to respond to a more nimble rival.

And Trump's increasingly livid reactions are helping Pelosi out of a delicate political spot.

This week opened with the Beltway narrative that she was under growing pressure from a Democratic caucus impatient with her reluctance to open an impeachment inquiry against Trump.

Trump calls himself a 'stable genius' at wild press conference

WHAT THE RELIGIOUS RIGHT GETS RIGHT: THEY HAVE LEGITIMATE CONCERNS, EVEN IF CLAIMS OF PERSECUTION ARE EXAGGERATED

https://www.newsweek.com/religious-right-christian-persecution-same-sex-marriage-freedom-exaggerated-1434800

But it’s important to understand that traditional American Christians are not hallucinating when they express concerns about their own religious status and rights.

Look at it through their eyes.

Religious motivations are denigrated. After the passage of Alabama’s anti-abortion law, some progressives claimed that it was a violation of the separation of church and state because the sponsors had religious motivations. “One of the tenets of our democracy is that we have a separation of church and state, and under no circumstances are we supposed to be imposing our faith on other people,” said Kirsten Gillibrand. “And I think this is an example of that effort.”

Think about the logic. It means that public policy positions that are driven by religion are off the table while stances driven by secular reasons are legitimate. It would be like saying that Democrats could oppose the Iraq war for practical reasons but not for moral/religious reasons. That subordinates and minimizes religious teaching and motivation.

Religious institutions get second class status. Again, religion is mostly quite privileged in America. But not always. Sometimes, an overly rigid application of separation of church and state can lead to disadvantaging religion. For instance, a federal law allowed for financial aid loan forgiveness for people who go in to “public service” professions. But the Department of Education ruled that joining the ministry didn’t count. I can understand their impulse: they no doubt bristled at the idea of government funds going to help make people ministers. But the result was not equality but inferiority. You got loan forgiveness if you became a social worker but not minister.

Similarly, the Federal Emergency Management Agency at one point refused to provide financial support to assist churches after devastating hurricanes in Texas. And group of residents in Acton, Massachusetts, sued to block the state from using historic preservation funds to preserve old churches along with secular buildings. Religious institutions shouldn’t get preference but they also shouldn’t be subordinated.

Rabbis agree: Get vaccinated, already

https://nypost.com/2019/05/21/rabbis-agree-get-vaccinated-already/

Despite a massive campaign by New York health officials urging people to vaccinate their children, the measles outbreak continues to worsen here in New York and nationally.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported this week that 880 new cases in 24 states have been identified. Most of those cases are in New York, with the Empire State’s total now standing at more than 725.

That’s the highest number of infections in a quarter-century, and the problem shows no signs of abating anytime soon. Indeed, if the anti-vaccine rally held last week in Rockland County is any indication, the rash of cases will only continue to grow.

Sadly, the event attracted hundreds of attendees and featured speaker after speaker fervently spreading anti-vaccine propaganda.

As the chief executive officer of Chai Lifeline, North America’s largest Jewish children’s health-support network, I feel obliged to push back against such cavalier, irresponsible and dangerous attitudes about vaccines.

Rav Gifter writing from Europe in the 30's regarding Yeshiva University and Zionism

בעוד ב' שבועות, ז"א, ראש חדש אב, אי"ה, אצל הקרובים שלי בעיירת לינקעווע משום  אז צריכים לאכול

מאכלי חלב והמאכלים שניתנים במסעדת הישיבה קשים לי . אחי' שם ער עשרה באב. הנה כת"ר כותב לי אורות הנבלה הנעשית ע"י הסאמער סקולי הנה ידעתי גם ידעתי שכבר בהיותי שם כבר התחילו חילול הקודש הזה, והדנה מאגורת הרבנים נכשלים בעוון חמור מאר של מי שיש בידו למחות ואינו מוחה נתפס בעוון הדור' וכולם יודעים את הנבלות של רד . רעוועל והרבצת הכפירה שמרביצים בקאלערזש שלו ואין מוחה בידו, ובא לירי המודעה אורות חג הסיום של הקאלערזש בשנה זו' וראיתי שם שרעי מלפנים דור פיטעגאדסקי נשא נאום

אמר שמבינים חם "האחריות שנושאים

על שכמם ועליהם להפיץ אורה באפלתה של אמעריקא, כמה ריקים דברים אלו וכי אינו יורע בסתרי לבו שאין בידו וביד כל המסיימים דק להפיץ חושך ואפלה ולהוסיף על חשכתה של אמעריקא, הדבר מביא לירי גיחוך שצריכים להביא את השופט קאדריזי שיסכים, אז די אלטע געלעכזאמקייט אז א וויכטקע זאך" )וכן כמרומני הלשון שם במודעה( שומו שמים ער מתי יעשה רשע זה מה שלבו חפץ' וכי אינו מאמין במאמר חז"ל כל הרודף אחר הכבוד הכבוד בורח ממנוי אבל יבא היום והל ואי במהרה, שיוכח באמתת מאמר זה. יבא היום שיפורסם באמעריקא שתלמידי הישיבה כמעט כולם הולכים ברחוב בגילוי הראש כידוע לכת "ו שבצאתם

מבנין הישיבה מסלקים הכיסוי מעל ראשם, יבא היום שידעו שיש בהם שמגלחים זקנם ושאינם לובשים ציצית ותפילין בכל יום ויום, ובידי לכתוב לכת"ר השמות של הבחורים שעוברים עבירות הללו ואין אני בודה זה מלבי' ויותר על כולם יבא היום שידעו שיש בתלמידי הישיבה שפרוצים בערן עריות, בועלי נדות וזונות, את אלה המנוולים מחנכים בישיבה קאלעדזש. ברור לי שעד עתה לא ידע כת "ר הרבה מזה וישתומם בשעה שיקרא דברי אבל אמיתיים המה בתכלית האמת, והאיש רעוועל יודע זאת ושותק, סוף החילול השם הגדול הזה תלוי בידי השם שהוא מאריך אף אבל גם מדת חרון אף יש לה גבול וקצתי מלכתוב עוד בענינים אלו, וכן על פיטעגארסקי וגאלדמאן שכבר איבדו חייהם, חיי נצח ואף חיי

8שעה לא קבלו בתמורתם.

ביום הראשון היו בכאן הבחירות בעד הקאנגרעס הציוני' גם עניך הציונות הוא מהנבלות הגדולות שאנשי אמעריקא אינם מבינים אותו כראוי' משום שהציונות אינה כ"כ פעילה שם בחיי היהודים, אבל כאן שהיא פעילה מאד ורואים תוצאותו, כל יהודי חרד הירא לדבר ה' רואה בהם סם המות ליהדות ונפשי בוערת בי כשאני חושב עליהם, וכיחוד הציוניסטען סאציאליסטען שבאמעריקא נקראים פועלי ציון' שמחללים בפרהסיא כל דבר שבקדושה בארצנו הקדושה, ימה

שמם וזכרם. רכבו אמדתי שכל יהודי מאמין צדיך לירא שהתוצאה של כל הטומאה שמכניסים באוצנו הקדושה תברא לידי הקללה של ותקיא הארץ אתכם. וכבר יצאנו בגלות מארצנו משרם שרצתה הארץ את שבתרתי'. רה' יתברך יתן לנר נח להעמיק בתורתו

הקדושה ולראות נפלאות. אכי"ר .

אקרה שיבריא במעון הקיץ , ויהא לו הצלחה רבה עם תלמידיו כראוי לו , ונראה בהרמת קרן התורה,

Berel6 hours ago

Translated

In two weeks, ZA, Rosh Chodosh Av , God, in my relatives in the town of Linkawa, then they have to eat
Dairy food and the food in the restaurant is hard for me. My brother 'was awake there in the tenth of Av. Here I am, You writes to me Regarding s of the villain made by the Summer School . Here I also knew that already when I was there, this blasphemy had already begun, and the Agudas rabonim e was failing for the grave punishment of those who had the ability to protest Yeshiva College and . Revel and the heresy of the heresy who see his College and do not protest with his dark hand, and the announcement of the closing lights of the College in this year came to the end of the year and I saw a Shar'i in the front Dor Pietagadsky delivering a speech
Said they understand hot "responsibility that carries
They must spread light in the dark of America, how empty these things are, and that he does not know in his secret that he and all the finishers can not spread darkness and darkness and add to the darkness of America, which leads to a ridiculous shooting that should bring Judge Kadrizi to agree. "And when the adverts of the language are written in the ad
," Heaven is awake when the wicked will do this what his heart desires, "and that he does not believe in the article of the Sages.
In America, the students of the yeshiva are almost all walking in the street with their heads uncovered, as is known, as they know also

The day they come to know that there are those students who shave their beard and do not wear tzitzis and tefillin every day, and fornicate with nidah and znus and worse

and I write the names of the young men who commit these offenses and I do not believe in them. It is clear to me that until now, You did not know much of this, and his astonishment when You read the words of the truth is true, and the man
Revel knows this and remains silent.

The end of the desecration of this great name depends on the hand of the name that he extends. But even from the religion of anger, it even has a border, and I have no longer written about these matters Fitagarski and Goldman have already lost their lives, immortality and life
They did not receive their money for 8 hours.
On the first day there were elections for the Zionist Congress . "Zionism is also one of the great scoundrels that American people do not understand properly" because Zionism is not so active in Jewish life, but here it is very active and sees its results. Every Jew who fears the word of God sees them The death drug for Judaism and my soul burns in me when I think of them, and like the Zionist Zionists, they call themselves the Poalei Zion, who publicly desecrate everything sacred in our Holy Land,
Their names and their memories. I have estimated that every Jew believes in your side to fear that the result of all the impurity that you put in our holy treasure will be created by the curse of the land. And we have already set out in exile from our land, from the land that the land desired my inheritance. ' The Almighty will allow Noah to deepen his Torah
Holyness and seeing wonders. Chief of Staff.
And he will have great success with his students as he deserves, and he will see the raising of the Torah ,Rosh Chodesh Av

Can We Live Longer but Stay Younger?

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2019/05/20/can-we-live-longer-but-stay-younger

Aging, like bankruptcy in Hemingway’s description, happens two ways, slowly and then all at once. The slow way is the familiar one: decades pass with little sense of internal change, middle age arrives with only a slight slowing down—a name lost, a lumbar ache, a sprinkling of white hairs and eye wrinkles. The fast way happens as a series of lurches: eyes occlude, hearing dwindles, a hand trembles where it hadn’t, a hip breaks—the usually hale and hearty doctor’s murmur in the yearly checkup, There are some signs here that concern me.

Deputy minister accused of protecting sex offenders in at least 10 cases

timesofisrael

Deputy Health Minister Yaakov Litzman allegedly helped at least 10 serious sex offenders obtain improved conditions, including home visits and other benefits, by pressuring state psychiatrists and prisons service officials, according to a report Tuesday.

Litzman, who hails from the Gur Hasidic community, has been accused in the past of using his influence to protect Malka Leifer, who has been fighting extradition to Australia for allegedly abusing students at a Jewish school there.

According to Channel 13 news, Litzman is suspected of a pattern of pressuring corrections officials to be lenient with other ultra-Orthodox offenders as well.

13tv

המקור, עונה 16, פרק 4: שערוריית ליצמן נחשפת

סגן שר הבריאות יעקב ליצמן, שצפוי להמשיך לשלוט במשרד גם בממשלה הבאה, פעל למען אנסים ופדופילים בעשרה מקרים שונים לפחות. זאת, לאורך כמה שנים, שכללו גם את הקדנציה הראשונה שלו, וגם בזמנים שבהם שלא היה במשרד הבריאות - כך עולה מתחקיר "המקור"

חשד: לפחות חמש ילדות חרדיות הותקפו בשכונה

http://www.bhol.co.il/news/998984

וּבִעַרְתָּ הָרָע מִקִּרְבֶּךָ: בתקופה האחרונה הגיעו מספר דיווחים ותלונות על כך שצעיר כבן 20 מבצע מעשים חמורים בילדות בגילאי 6-7 בשכונות סנהדריה ואזור רחוב שמואל הנביא בירושלים. בעקבות שורת התלונות, נבדקו מצלמות אבטחה ואותר חשוד במעשים.

ל'בחדרי חרדים' נודע, אותו חשוד הופנה על ידי תושב אל פעיל חרדי העוסק רבות בתחום ביעור הרע - בגיבוי רבנים, השניים נפגשו במשרד כלשהו השוכן בשכונת גאולה בירושלים, שם שוחחו. במקביל, הפעיל דיווח למשטרה את הפרטים הידועים לו, וכך, בצהרי היום הגיעו שוטרים למשרד ועצרו את החשוד.

"המשיב ביקש מילדה קטנה להיכנס למקלט ניסה לתקוף אותה והיא ברחה מהמקום"' אמר הטוען המשטרתי. בדיון בבית המשפט סיפר הטוען כי החשוד הגיע אתמול למשרדו של פעיל בקהילה החרדית העוסק כאמור בעבירות אלו, שם "התוודה בפניו" כי ביצע מעשים חמורים במספר קטינות. "לטענתו, עשה זאת מספר רב של פעמים בהם שידל להגיע עמו למקלט וביצע עבירות", אמר.

בחקירתו במשטרה, טען החשוד כי התוודה בפני הפעיל, "רק כדי לרצות אותו", וגם כי "פחד שלא יכו אותי אנשים אחרים". המשטרה ביקשה מבית המשפט להאריך את מעצרו בחמישה ימים, מחשש ל"מסוכנות בעוצמה גבוהה כלפי בטחון הציבור". לדברי הטוען המשטרתי, מדובר בלפחות חמישה מקרים בהם הוא חשוד כי ביצע עבירות חמורות בילדות קטנות.

ל'בחדרי חרדים' נודע, כי אותו 'פעיל', עוסק מזה שנים בתחום זה בכפוף להוראות הרבנים והתייעצות עמהם, חשודים רבים נעצרו על ידי המשטרה הודות לפעילותו. 

What did Rashida Tlaib say about the Holocaust? It’s probably not what you think

https://www.timesofisrael.com/what-did-rashida-tlaib-say-about-the-holocaust-its-probably-not-what-you-think/

Republican lawmakers like Rep. Lee Zeldin were criticized, deservedly, for distorting Rep. Rashida Tlaib’s comments about the Holocaust by suggesting she said that she gets a “calming feeling” when she thinks about the genocide.

If you read or listen to the Michigan Democrat’s comments, it is crystal clear that she said no such thing. The Republican pile-on, joined by US President Donald Trump, is a further weaponization of anti-anti-Semitism, this time based on a comment that the target never made.

But it’s not just Republicans who appeared to distort Tlaib’s now notorious remarks. It was the ostensibly nonpartisan Jewish commentariat and media as well, in which I will include our own site, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, and take full responsibility.