Soul is a part of G-d

 Ramchal (Daas Tevunos 24) The soul is a part of G-d. Its desire is to return and cleave to its source and to grasp it, as is the nature of everything of heavenly source to desire it return to the heights of heaven, and it does not achieve its rest until it achieves this.  

Tanya |(01 chapter 1:15) Rabbi Chaim Vital wrote in Shaar HaKedushah and in Etz Chaim, Portal 50, ch. 2 that in every Jew, whether righteous or wicked, are two souls, as it is written, “The souls which I have made,” alluding to two souls. There is one soul which originates in the kelipah and sitra achara, and which is clothed in the blood of a human being, giving life to the body, as is written, “For the life of the flesh is in the blood.” From it stem all the evil characteristics deriving from the four evil elements which are contained in it. These are: anger and pride, which emanate from the element of Fire, the nature of which is to rise upward; the appetite for pleasures—from the element of Water, for water makes to grow all kinds of enjoyment; frivolity and scoffing, boasting and idle talk from the element of Air; and sloth and melancholy—from the element of Earth.

Tanya |(01 chapter 2:01) The second soul of a Jew is truly a part of G–d above, as it is written, “He breathed into his nostrils a soul of life,” and “You have breathed it [the soul] into me.” And it is written in the Zohar, “He who blows, blows from within him,” that is to say, from his inwardness and his innermost, for it is something of his internal and innermost vitality that man emits through exhaling with force.

Tanya (01 chapter 19) “The candle of G–d is the soul  of man.” What it means is that the souls of Jews, who are called “man,” are, by way of illustration, like the flame of the candle, whose nature it is always to flicker upward, for the flame of the fire intrinsically seeks to be parted from the wick in order to unite with its source above in the universal element of fire which is in the sublunar sphere, as is explained in Etz Chaim. And although it would thereby be extinguished and emit no light at all below, and even above, in its source, its light would be nullified, nevertheless this is what it seeks in accordance with its nature. In like manner does the neshamah of man, including the quality of ruach and nefesh, naturally desire and yearn to separate itself and depart from the body in order to unite with its origin and source in G–d, the Fountainhead of life, blessed is He, though thereby it would become null and void, completely losing its entity therein, with nothing remaining of its former essence and being. Nevertheless, this is its will and desire by its nature. “Nature” is an applied term for anything that is not in the realm of reason and comprehension.

Gangsters vs. Nazis

 https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/gangsters-vs-nazis

Emboldened by Hitler’s rise to power in Germany in 1933, and fueled by the Great Depression, anti-Semitism increased throughout the United States, and over 100 anti-Semitic organizations sprung up across the country. They had names like the Friends of the New Germany (Nazi Bund), the Silver Shirts, Defenders of the Christian Faith, the Christian Front, and the Knights of the White Camellia, among others. Protected by the constitution’s First Amendment, they held public rallies, paraded through the streets in their uniforms carrying Nazi flags, published scurrilous magazines, and openly flaunted their hatred for Jews. American Jews were intimidated and frightened. Fearful of stirring up even more anti-Jewish sentiment, the American Jewish establishment’s response was often tentative and cautionary. They worried that what happened in Germany, home to Europe’s elite Jewish community, could easily happen in America. One group of American Jews who had no compunctions about meeting the anti-Semites head-on were Jewish gangsters. Not bound by conventional rules and constitutional legalities, they took direct and violent action against the Jew haters.

Nazi Bund rallies in New York City in the late 1930s created a terrible dilemma for the city’s Jewish leaders. With 20,000 members, the Nazi Bund was the largest anti-Semitic group in the nation. They organized large public rallies and marched to drumbeats wearing brown shirts and swastikas, and carrying Nazi flags. Jewish leaders wanted the meetings stopped, but could not do so legally. Nathan Perlman, a judge and former Republican congressman, was one Jewish leader who believed that the Jews should demonstrate more militancy. In 1935, he surreptitiously contacted Meyer Lansky, a leading organized crime figure born on the 4th of July, and asked him to help. Lansky related to me what followed.

Washington’s candidates grapple with Democrats’ hunger for anti-establishment fighters

 https://www.politico.com/news/2026/07/02/democrats-progressives-establishment-midterms-00985221

Battleground candidates with ties to the Democratic establishment are doing everything they can to distance themselves from Washington.

Change candidates from Gen-Z democratic socialists to a two-term state attorney general have defeated entrenched incumbents from New York to Colorado in recent weeks, largely harping on their time in office and ineffectiveness in fighting back against President Donald Trump.

“There’s a thread here of unhappiness, of the system is broken, D.C. is broken, that we need people who are fighters who want to change the system and make it work for people again,” said Morgan Jackson, a longtime North Carolina Democratic strategist and an adviser to former Gov. Roy Cooper, who is now running for Senate. That sentiment is true for voters at the most extremes of their parties and moderates alike, he added.

What Is Judaism’s View of the Soul?

 https://aish.com/what-is-the-judaisms-view-of-the-soul/

In Jewish thought, free will is the conflict between body and soul, which begs the question: what force represents the real you? According to Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, in his book, Jewish Meditation, it’s neither:

The Kabbalists point out that the body is not the self. Since I can speak of “my body,” the body cannot be “me.” The body is “mine”—something associated with me; but the ultimate me is something much more profound than the body. Using the same argument, I can also speak of “my mind.” Indeed, I speak of “my mind” just as I speak of “my body.” This would imply that just as the body is not the real me, the mind is also not the real me. Carrying the argument a step further, I can even speak of “my soul.” This would imply that even the soul is not the real me. This being the case, the question of selfhood becomes very difficult indeed. What is the real me? A hint to the answer can be found in the Hebrew word for “I,” ani (אני). It is significant to note that if the letters of ani are rearranged, they spell the word ayn or ayin (אין), which denotes nothingness. This would seem to imply that the real “me” is the nothingness within me. This can be understood in a fairly straightforward manner. The real me is my sense of volition. It is the intangible will that impels me to do whatever I decide to do.4

As I noted, neither the body, the mind, nor the soul is the self. However, in another sense, the self is a combination of body, mind, and soul. The three together appear to define the self. However, this has an important ramification. If body is not the self, and mind is not the self, and soul is not the self, but the combination of the three is, then the definition of the self is still an enigma. It would seem that it is possible to remove the body, remove the mind, and remove the soul, and still have some spark of the self. But when body, mind, and soul are removed, all that remains is nothingness. Again it appears that the self is nothingness. It is not nothingness because of lack of existence. Rather it is nothingness because of the lack of a category in the mind in which to place it.5

Voters are angry with Washington, and other takeaways from the Colorado primaries

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/07/01/voters-are-angry-with-washington-other-takeaways-colorado-primaries/

In a campaign built on who would best fight President Donald Trump, Bennet’s early advantage evaporated as Weiser argued the lawsuits he filed against the administration made him a better antagonist than an 18-year creature of Congress.

17th of Tammuz

 https://aish.com/48943446/

Beginning three weeks of mourning for the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

The 17th of Tammuz is a fast day commemorating the fall of Jerusalem, prior to the destruction of the Holy Temple. This also marks the beginning of a 3-week national period of mourning, leading up to Tisha B'Av.

The 17th of Tammuz is the first of four fast days mentioned in the prophets. The purpose of a fast day is to awaken our sense of loss over the destroyed Temple – and the subsequent Jewish journey into exile.

Agonizing over these events is meant to help us conquer those spiritual deficiencies which brought about these tragic events. Through the process of "Teshuva" – self-introspection and a commitment to improve – we have the power to transform tragedy into joy. In fact, the Talmud says that after the future redemption of Israel and the rebuilding of the Temple, these fast days will be re-dedicated as days of rejoicing and festivity. For as the prophet Zechariah says: the 17th of Tammuz will become a day of "joy to the House of Judah, and gladness and cheerful feasts."

Fast of the 17th of Tammuz: Historical Background & Customs

 https://www.ou.org/holidays/the_17th_of_tammuz1/

The 17th day in the Jewish month of Tammuz, Jews the world over fast and lament to commemorate the many calamities that have befallen our people on this ominous day.

The purpose of such fasts in the Jewish calendar is, according to Rabbi Eliyahu Kitov’s Book of Our Heritage, “to awaken hearts towards repentance through recalling our forefathers’ misdeeds; misdeeds which led to calamities…”

Other interesting occurrences on this day include Noach sending out the first dove to see if the Flood waters had receded, (Bereishit 8:8) in 1650 (2100 BCE); Moshe Rabbeinu destroying the golden calf, (Shemot 32:20, Seder Olam 6, Taanit 30b – Rashi) and then ascending back up Har Sinai for the second time where he spent the next forty days pleading for forgiveness for the sin of the golden calf, (Shemot 33:11, Rashi).

17th of Tammuz: History, Laws and Customs

 https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/479885/jewish/The-17th-of-Tammuz.htm

The walls of Jerusalem were breached by the Romans, in 69 CE, after a lengthy siege. (Three weeks later, after the Jews put up a valiant struggle, the Romans destroyed the second Holy Temple on the 9th of Av.)

The Jerusalem Talmud maintains that this is also the date when the Babylonians breached the walls of Jerusalem on their way to destroying the first Temple.

The sages explain: “Every generation for which the Temple is not rebuilt, it is as though the Temple was destroyed for that generation.” A fast day is not only a sad day, but an opportune day. It’s a day when we are empowered to fix the cause of that destruction, so that our long exile will be ended and we will find ourselves living in messianic times; may that be very soon.

Trump’s wealth grew on a scale without modern presidential precedent

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/07/01/trumps-wealth-grew-scale-without-modern-presidential-precedent/

No past president has seen financial gains in office like those reported by President Donald Trump this week — not even Trump.

But Trump’s stock holdings are just a small piece of his record gains as president in his second term, according to the financial disclosures. Trump’s reported income increased by more than $1.6 billion last year, with most of that coming from his vast holdings in cryptocurrency and related ventures, even as his administration relaxed rules on crypto markets.

“Since he retook office, he’s making over a billion dollars a year off of crypto, while at the same time his administration is writing the rules of the road for how crypto will be regulated,” said Lee Reiners, a Duke University lecturer who warned earlier this year about Trump’s potential financial rewards from his cryptocurrency policies.

“Not only is this an unprecedented level of self-dealing and self-enrichment, the scale is really hard to wrap your head around.”

The Trump Family and ‘Honest Graft’

 https://www.wsj.com/opinion/trump-family-finance-world-liberty-financial-steve-witkoff-binance-9187ba1c?mod=hp_opin_pos_1

They are profiting off the Presidency in ways that demean the office.

Americans tell pollsters they don’t think they are getting ahead financially. But President Trump and his family are having no trouble, judging from his 2025 financial disclosure report released Tuesday. The Trump clan is cashing in on the Presidency in big and sketchy ways.

The 927-page report shows Mr. Trump made some $1.4 billion last year from crypto alone. Yowzers. This includes $635 million in royalties from the memecoin that Mr. Trump launched days before his inauguration. Trump Organization business affiliates make money from what are akin to transaction fees when the memecoin is traded.

Anti-Semitic Politicians in America Today

 https://aish.com/anti-semitic-politicians-in-america-today/?utm_source=googlegrants&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=19561819333&utm_term=&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=19561819333&gclid=Cj0KCQjw9ZLSBhCcARIsAEhGKgPq7uZIR84M_590NUGO1KapRyNLU3EFtE34XCOxbL-CgfeTHOiwY0gaAotuEALw_wcB

Patrick Little says he’s dedicating his life to exposing Jews who supposedly “control” the United States. He “woke up to the Jewish question” and has described himself as “counter-Semitic” who wants the United States to be “free from Jews.” Little is running for California’s U.S. Senate seat and defeat four-term Senator Diane Feinstein, whom Little describes as a “Zionist (expletive)”.

It’s long been a staple of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories that Jews somehow manipulate global events. It was chilling to hear this anti-Jewish trope being parroted by an elected city official, and it was especially worrying to hear this old conspiracy theory in a bizarre new form: to blame Jews for a snowfall implies a hatred that’s visceral and extreme. It soon emerged that this was no momentary lapse, when reporters uncovered evidence that White had donated constituent funds to a Nation of Islam event at which anti-Jewish statements were made.

With so much hatred directed against Jews and other minorities in America today, it’s crucial to speak out against anti-Semitic speech, wherever it comes from. With elections looming across the country, and the Midterm Elections coming up soon, it can be tempting to put politics ahead of human decency and look for ways to dismiss candidates’ hateful rhetoric. Doing so would be a significant mistake.

Soul - One or Three?

Rabbeinu Bachya (Bereishis (02:03). Some claim that the soul is a single force which however has three sub-categories. 1) the category which houses our desires, something we have in common with all the animals. 2) the source of growth, something possessed both by animals and all manner of plants. 3) the ability to think coherently, the soul of wisdom. All these functions are part of a single soul. Others claim that there are three distinct souls operating within man all of which are distinct from one another. The intelligent soul is an entity of its own, the potential to grow is an independent force. The animal kind of soul, which is the seat of all desires, i.e. the desire to eat, drink, procreate or simply indulge in sex, as well as the desire to sleep, are all part of the animalistic soul in man and constitute a separate soul. They are a part of what man has in common with the animal kingdom. The seat of that particular soul is the liver Its seat is in the liver.The force that enables man to grow physically. he shares such a force with all the trees, etc. Just as trees possess such built-in powers, man too possesses such a growth potential. As distinct from the seat of all desire which is presumed to be in the liver, this force does not have a specific location but is present in all parts of man‘s body. It remains active until a certain point in is life. The soul of intelligence is something exclusive to man, something he shares with beings in the higher worlds, beings which live forever in their sacred domains The seat of this soul is in man’s brain, and it is generally referred to as neshama This is what the Torah described in our verse as that which G-d “blew” into Adam’s nostrils. We also have a verse in Isaiah 42,5 “He gives a soul to the people on earth.” There are numerous similar verses throughout the Bible. According to the view of the philosophers who believe that each person has three separate souls, we find support for our sages in Sanhedrin 65 who report that the famous teacher Rava created a human being. When he brought this creature before Rabbi Zeyra, Rabbi Zeyra spoke to him whereas the creature could not answer back. Thereupon Rabbi Zeyra said to that creature (Golem): “you are man-made; go back to the dust you have been made of.” This passage in the Talmud is proof that man has three distinct souls. Rava, who was familiar with Kabbalah, and had studied the Sefer Yetzirah, had infused this creature with the “soul” which governs motion. He was unable, however, to provide his creature with the power of speech. The power of speech stems from the soul called man became a living creature

Birth Right and Corruption

Extra Soul

 Or HaChaim (Devarim 20:10) Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai said in Zohar volume 2 page 62 that G-d sends man an additional soul to guide him on the right path and to save him from committing sins against Him. In our paragraph we may perceive G-d as addressing this additional soul telling it: "when you approach a city. The idea is that this soul is intended to save the body from the evil urge; it is in line with the verse in Kohelet 9,14 which continues,"against which a great king comes and lays siege to it, An insignificant looking wise man saves that small city from the onslaught of the great king using his wisdom" "and you call out to her: 'peace'." The meaning is that you do not immediately wade into the your evil urge and try to conquer it in one single frontal assault; rather you first suggest that it also give heaven its due, as a result of which it will experience great benefits. As a result the evil urge will allow that man has a duty also vis-a-vis heaven. After all, secular activities such as eating and drinking in this life also enable man to perform his spiritual tasks better. As a result of this accomodation with the evil urge one assures oneself of not losing one's hereafter altogether. "If she is not prepared to surrender peacefully," If the "city" does not accept the soul's proposal to allow heaven its due, or that even after man began to become a penitent he slid back into sin, then you have to make all out war against the evil urge.We know that once an attempt to become a penitent fails, the chances are that the forces of evil will redouble their efforts against any religious instincts a person has.