https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/08/donald-trump-joe-biden-afghanistan
Weirdly, Trump did not note in his statement that less than two months ago, he was bragging about how he started the Afghanistan-withdrawal process and claiming the Biden administration was powerless to stop it.
Look, no one questions that withdrawing from Afghanistan was the right thing to do. Like Vietnam there comes a moment when you ask: Since our only path to victory means nuking the whole place and killing anyway, would it be better to leave?
ReplyDeleteThe US answered that in Viet-nam, the Soviets in Afghanistan and then US did too.
But then there's how you leave, with a final good thumping of your enemy and a warning that you'll come back and thump him again if he acts up, or with your tail between your legs.
So yeah, Trump pushes for a full withdrawal. No one, including Biden and all the other Dem's, opposed that. But pulling off the final stages was Biden's responsibility and just Biden's. And he fracked it up big time.
Or Israel from south Lebanon. Also a disaster.
ReplyDelete“Trump Hopes No One Remembers” No. Torah thought this week’s parsha כי תבוא “Look down from Your holy habitation השקיפה ממעון קדשך, from heaven מן השמים, and bless וברך Your people את עמך Israel את ישראל, and the soil ואת האדמה You have given us אשר נתתה לנו, as You swore to our fathers כאשר נשבעת לאבתינו, a land flowing with milk and honey ארץ זבת חב ודבש.” (Deuteronomy 26:15 ).
ReplyDeleteדברים כ"ו ט"ו
הַשְׁקִיפָה מִמְּעוֹן קָדְשְׁךָ מִן הַשָּׁמַיִם וּבָרֵךְ אֶת עַמְּךָ אֶת יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאֵת הָאֲדָמָה אֲשֶׁר נָתַתָּה לָנוּ כַּאֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּעְתָּ לַאֲבֹתֵינוּ אֶרֶץ זָבַת חָלָב וּדְבָשׁ:
רש"י
השקיפה ממעון קדשך - עשינו מה שגזרת עלינו, עשה אתה מה שעליך לעשות, שאמרת (ויקרא כו, ג) אם בחקתי תלכו ונתתי גשמיכם בעתם: אשר נתתה לנו כאשר נשבעת לאבתינו - לתת לנו וקיימת ארץ זבת חלב ודבש:
Interesting. God swore to the Patriarchs to give us a land flowing with milk and honey. God fulfilled that promise. Israel, more than ever is our land and is a land flowing with milk and honey. The part about “and bless וברך Your people את עמך Israel את ישראל” is conditioned based (אם בחקתי תלכו).
Biden promises to Americans in Kabul: We will get you home. Good luck. Americans and many others are in mortal danger in Kabul. “Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people לא תלך רכיל בעמך; neither shalt thou stand idly by the blood of thy neighbor לא תעמד על דם רעך: I am the Lord.” (Leviticus 19:16)
ויקרא י"ט ט"ז
לֹא תֵלֵךְ רָכִיל בְּעַמֶּיךָ לֹא תַעֲמֹד עַל דַּם רֵעֶךָ אֲנִי יְקֹוָק:
רש"י
לא תעמד על דם רעך - לראות במיתתו ואתה יכול להצילו, כגון טובע בנהר, וחיה או לסטים באים עליו:
Sanhedrin 73a
“[To revert to] the above text: Whence do we know that if a man sees his neighbor drowning, mauled by beasts, or attacked by robbers, he is bound to save him? From the verse, Thou shalt not stand by the blood of thy neighbor.”
Yes, USA, Israel, all good people have a moral obligation to try to save those in Kabul drowning, mauled by beasts, or attacked by robbers...
“Trump Hopes No One Remembers He Pushed for a Full Afghanistan Withdrawal in June” No. “Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people לא תלך רכיל בעמך; neither shalt thou stand idly by the blood of thy neighbor לא תעמד על דם רעך: I am the Lord.” (Leviticus 19:16) is also a Torah source to stop spreading hating canards, sensational reports, misrepresentations, or fabrications that are defamatory towards any group or people.
ReplyDeleteCanard = an unfounded rumor or story.
Wow so he not only had the election stolen but he didn't publicly brag about being responsible for withdrawing from Afganistan
ReplyDeleteTorah thought on כי תבוא. The Mishnah discusses the passage “Look down from Your holy habitation השקיפה ממעון קדשך, from heaven מן השמים, and bless וברך Your people את עמך Israel את ישראל, and the soil ואת האדמה You have given us אשר נתתה לנו, as You swore to our fathers כאשר נשבעת לאבתינו, a land flowing with milk and honey ארץ זבת חב ודבש.” (Deuteronomy 26:15 ).
ReplyDeleteMa’aser Sheni 5:13 “Mishnah 13. Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven. We have done what thou hast decreed concerning us, do thou also what thou hast promised us. Look down from thy holy habitation, from heaven, and bless thy people Israel. With sons and daughters. And the land which thou hast given us. With dew and rain and with offspring of cattle. As thou didst swear unto our fathers, a land that floweth with milk and honey. That thou mayest grant a good taste in the fruit.”
God made a covenant with Abraham promising us, with no conditions, Israel:
“On that day the Lord made a covenant with Abram, saying: To your offspring have I given this land לזרעך נתתי את הארץ הזאת, from the river of Egypt unto the great river, the river Euphrates;” (Genesis 15:18).
Hertz Chumash p. 55: “have I given. The perfect tense is used, although it refers to the future, in order to denote the certainty of the event.”
Yes we pray to God for blessings, for sons and daughters, for rain and cattle, and for produce with fabulous taste.
The Mishnah discusses the passage “I have not eaten thereof in my mourning, neither have I put away thereof, being unclean, nor given thereof for the dead; I have hearkened to the voice of the Lord my God, I have done according to all that Thou hast commanded me.” (Devarim 26:14).
Ma’aser Sheni 5:12: “Mishnah 12. I have not eaten thereof in my mourning. Lo, if he had eaten thereof in his mourning [ באוני , the interval between the death and the end of the day on which the deceased was buried], he cannot make the confession. Neither have I removed ought thereof when unclean. Lo, if he had set it apart in uncleanness he cannot make the confession. Nor given ought thereof for the dead. I have not taken thereof for a coffin or shrouds for the dead, nor have I given thereof to other mourners. I have hearkened to the voice of the lord my God. I have brought it to the chosen house [the Temple. Cf. Deut. XII, 5]. I have done according to all that thou hast commanded me. I have rejoiced and made others [the poor and the unprotected; cf. Deut. XXVI, 11; XII, 12] to rejoice.”
My theory. I have done according to all that thou hast commanded me is meant as a supplication to God. It's vague and seemingly inappropriate. Job argued in the Book of Job how righteous he was. My theory. Job was pleading with God. We plead with God: we have done all your commanded us, please bless us. The blessings are conditioned based. Israel is not conditioned based. It’s OK to move to Israel before the Mashiach, as I did 30 years ago. Beautiful. Follow KA, IsraelReader, Garnel?