Wednesday, June 24, 2020
Fauci warns of disturbing trend as Trump ignores viral surge
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/23/politics/donald-trump-coronavirus-pandemic-election-2020/index.html
Political mismanagement of the
situation, the glaring lack of a national strategy and the nation's
exhausting, inconclusive struggle with the coronavirus was reflected
Tuesday in three key developments. Fully half of US states
are now seeing rising cases of the disease with the situation
especially acute in Texas, Florida and Arizona, which embraced
aggressive reopening programs. The European Union, which has been more
successful than the US in suppressing Covid-19, warned it might bar visitors from America
in what would be a major embarrassment for Trump. And the President
persisted with his counter-logical argument that the US is only seeing
more cases of the virus because it is doing more testing, leaving the
implication that it would be better if rising cases, infections and
ultimately deaths were simply ignored.
The hope of everyone was the states that
reopened first would find a way to do so without triggering a surge in
new cases and therefore begin to mitigate the terrible economic cost and
knock-on psychological effects of lockdowns. But some 25 states are now
seeing new infections rising, while the situation is steady in 12 and
down in 13. It is dispiriting that the picture seems to get a little
worse by the day. States like Michigan and California, which has already
experienced painful months, have seen their curves begin to rise again.
And while states like New York and the Washington metropolitan areas
begin to emerge from lockdowns, the worsening data elsewhere offers
daunting omens.
President Trump's brother trying to stop Mary Trump's family tell-all book: report
https://www.foxnews.com/media/president-trumps-brother-trying-to-stop-mary-trumps-family-tell-all-book-report
The motion, filed by Robert Trump's lawyers, seeks an injunction to
prevent Mary Trump and the publishing company from releasing the
book. They argue that family members had signed a settlement agreement
two decades ago related to the will of Donald Trump’s father, New York
real estate developer Fred Trump. The agreement included a
confidentially clause saying they would not "publish any account
concerning the litigation or their relationship,” unless agreed upon by
all parties.
Robert Trump said he never consented to the book being published and argued it was prohibited by the accord reached in 2001.
“President
Trump and his siblings are seeking to suppress a book that will discuss
matters of utmost public importance," attorney Theodore Boutrous Jr., a
representative for Mary Trump, said in a statement. "They are pursuing
this unlawful prior restraint because they do not want the American
people to know the truth. The courts will not tolerate this brazen and
baseless effort to squelch speech in violation of the First Amendment.”
President
Trump previously said during an interview last week that Mary Trump is
"not allowed" to write the book due to the nondisclosure agreement she
signed.
Genuine spirituality?
Rav Yaakov Hillel](Faith
and Folly: The occult in Torah perspective)
cogently denounces misguided "spiritual" activities. He relates
the following chassidic story. "A poor chasid traveling through the woods
met an old man. The old man gave the chasid a coin and told him to use it to
buy merchandise. In the weeks after returning home, the chasid found his meager
business prospering. He quickly became very wealthy. He went to his Rebbe to
tell him the good news and to give a generous donation to the poor. When the
Rebbe heard the full story he told his chasid that he had to return all his new
wealth to the old man. The Rebbe told him that the old man was someone who had
special powers but they were from the evil spiritual sources. The chasid
listened to his Rebbe's command. He gathered up his newfound wealth and
traveled back into the woods. He found the old man as before and explained why
he was giving back everything. "I'll take back everything as your Rebbe
requested, but I want you to go back to your Rebbe and tell him that the source
of his power is the same as mine". The distraught chasid returned to his
Rebbe and told him the message. The astonished Rebbe concluded regretfully that
he could no longer be a rebbe. He left town and was never heard from
again."
The Bostoner Rebbe, commenting on this story, said that
it is not always easy to distinguish between genuine spirituality which comes
from being close to G‑d and spirituality which draws its power from negative
spiritual energies. Thus spirituality is clearly important for the religious
Jew – but only a spirituality developed through Torah and mitzvos is viewed as
spirituality.
Balei Mesorah:Only to Ravina and Rav Ashi
נפש
הרב (ר' צבי שכטר עמוד ל"ד) ...ושמעתי בזה בשם הג"ר משה סאלאווייציק ז"ל.
דהרמב"ם לא בא ליתן כאן פרטים של היסטורי' בעלמא, אלא לפרט את בעלי המסורה -
עפ"י דין, ואיתא בגמ' ב"מ (פו.) דרב אשי וראבינא - סוף הוראה,
שעפ"י דין הסתיימה התקופה של מסירת התושב"פ ברבינא ורב אשי. וטעמא
דמליתא, דאף שבימי רבי כבר נתחברה המשנה, מכ"מ לא היו מגידים את השיעור ברבים
ללמד לתלמידים - מתוך הכתב - עד לימי רב אשי ורבינא. וכל עוד שדקדקו למסור (מדור
לדור) את התושבע"פ - בצורה של לימוד בעל פה, וכפי ההלכה הנדרשת מקרא (גטין
ס:) דרבים שבע"פ אי אתה רשאי לאמרן בכתב, היו גם המלמדים וגם התלמידים בכלל
"חכמי המסורה". אך לאחר שהנהיגו להגיד את השיעור בתושבע"פ מתוך
הכתב (הטקסט של המשנה), שוב אין עליהם החלות שם הזה של "חכמי המסורה".
ולזה נתכוונ בגמ' ב"מ (פו.) ...דרבינא ורב אשי סוף הוראה, דליכא החלות שם של
הוראה על הלכות המפורשות בתושב"כ אלא דוקא על עניני תושבע"פ...
As His Poll Numbers Slump, President Trump Returns to Arizona and the Border Wall
https://time.com/5858392/trump-poll-slump-border-wall/
While it’s about a tenth of the length he promised during the 2016
campaign, the wall — and its role as a symbol for Trump’s harsh
restrictions on both legal and illegal immigration — remains a central
part of Trump’s pitch to voters heading into November at a moment when
few things are going Trump’s way. “I think it’s great,” Trump said
standing in front of the steel and concrete barrier. “It’s really
foolproof.”
4 Jewish takeaways from the John Bolton book Trump doesn’t want you to read
https://www.timesofisrael.com/4-jewish-takeaways-from-the-john-bolton-book-trump-doesnt-want-you-to-read/
Pro-Israel groups lobbied for him to be secretary of state; Israel is not always happy with the Trump administration, particularly on Syria and he doesn’t think much of Nikki Haley
Still, buried in the nearly 290 pages are some surprising nuggets,
telling us a little more about Trump and foreign policy than we knew.
You’ve seen the big headlines beyond Trump’s fruitless effort to block
the book’s release: Bolton says that Trump likely committed impeachable
offenses not just in seeking to extract favors from Ukraine, but from
Turkey and China.
Rambam Messiah
The King Messiah will arise and re-establish the monarchy of David as it was in former times. He will build the Sanctuary and gather in the dispersed of Israel. All the earlier statutes will be restored as they once were. Sacrifices will be offered, the Sabbatical and Jubilee years will be observed, as commanded in the Torah. Anyone who does not believe in him or one who does not anticipate his coming not only denies the Prophets, but also the Torah and Moses our Teacher. For the Torah has given testimony about him saying, “And the Lord your G-d will turn your captivity and have compassion with you. He will return and gather you from all the peoples…If any of you should be dispersed at the ends of Heaven, from there G-d will gather you, from there He will fetch you. And the Lord, your G-d will bring you…” (Deut. 30:3-4). These matters are explicit in the Torah and include everything said by all the Prophets. It is even written in the Chapter of Balaam who prophesized about both the Messiahs. The first Messiah was David who saved Israel from her adversities. The final Messiah will be from his sons and will deliver Israel from the hands of the descendants of Esau. There it says, “I shall see him, but not now” (Numbers 24:17) - this refers to David; “I behold him, and not soon” (ibid.) - this is the King Messiah; “A star from Jacob shall step forth” (ibid.) - this is David; “and a scepter shall arise out of Israel” (ibid.) - this the King Messiah; “and shall smite through the corners of Moab” - this is David; and so it says, “And he smote Moab and measured them with a rope” (II Samuel 8:2); “and break down all the sons of Seth” (Numbers 24:17) - this is King Messiah of whom it says, “and his dominion shall be from sea to sea” (Zechariah 9:10); “and Edom shall be a possession” (Numbers 24:18) - this is David, as it says, “And Edom shall become slaves to David” (see II Samuel 8:6 and II Samuel 8:14); “Seir also, even his enemies, shall be a possession” (Numbers 24:18) - this is King Messiah, as it says, “And the saviors shall come upon Mount Zion to judge the mount of Esau…” (Obadiah 1:21).
Even in the section regarding the cities of refuge it says, “If the Lord your G-d shall enlarge your borders…and shall add for you another three cities more…” (Deut. 12:20, Deut. 19:8-9). This actually never took place123Since there were never nine, but at most six Cities of Refuge. The additional three must therefore be prophetic., and the Holy One Blessed be He never commands for nothing. However, from the words of the Prophets this matter does not need a proof, since all the Books are full of this matter.
It should not occur to you that the King Messiah must bring wondrous signs or perform marvels or invent new things or revive the dead or anything like what the fools say. It is not so. For Rabbi Akiva, one of the wisest of the Sages of the Mishna, was King Ben Coziba’s124Bar Cochba. arms-bearer125I.e. his staunch supporter. and said that he was the King Messiah. He and all the Sages of his generation thought that he was the King Messiah, until he was killed because of his sins126He killed Rabbi Elazar HaModai.. Since he was killed, they then understood that he was not the one. The Sages never asked of him neither a sign nor a wonder. So, the essence of the matter is like this: The Laws and the Statutes of the Torah never change. We may not add to them nor detract from them. 127This last sentence is absent in most editions.Anyone who adds to or subtracts from them or reveals some new dimension to the Torah or understands the Commandments differently than their plain meaning is, for sure, an evil person and an Apikoris.
Now, if a king should arise from the House of David who is versed in Torah and engages in Commandments, as did David his forefather, in accordance with both the Written and the Oral Torahs, and he enjoins all of Israel to follow in its ways and encourages them to repair its breaches, and he fights the Wars of G-d128I.e. he defends Israel., then he may be presumed to be the Messiah. If he succeeds in his efforts and defeats the enemies around and builds the Sanctuary in its proper place and gathers the dispersed of Israel, he is definitely the Messiah.
But, if he does not succeed in these matters or is killed, we will know that he was not the one Torah has promised. He is (merely to be considered) like all the (other) exemplary and qualified kings of the House of David who have died. G-d set him up only to try the masses, as it says, “And some of the wise will stumble, to refine among them and to purify and to make white, even to the time of the end, for it is yet for the time appointed” (Daniel 11:35).
Even Jesus the Nazarene who imagined he would be the Messiah and was killed by the Court129Or, was handed over to the Romans who killed him as a revolutionary because he proclaimed himself the Messiah, King of Israel. was prophesized about by Daniel as it says, “and also the children of the violent among your people will lift themselves up to establish the vision, but they shall stumble” (Daniel 11:14). Was there ever a greater impediment than this one? All the Prophets spoke of the Messiah, Redeemer of Israel and Savior and Gatherer of the Exiles and Strengthener of the Commandments. But this one caused the ruin of Israel by the sword and the dispersal of its remnant and its humiliation and reversed130Or, changed. the Torah, and caused most of the world to err and worship a god other than HaShem (G-d).
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
This is the most succinct -- and brutal -- Republican rejection of Donald Trump that you will ever read
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/23/politics/steve-schmidt-donald-trump/index.html
"Donald Trump has been the worst
president this country has ever had. And I don't say that
hyperbolically. He is. But he is a consequential president. And he has
brought this country in three short years to a place of weakness that is
simply unimaginable if you were pondering where we are today from the
day where Barack Obama left office. And there were a lot of us on that
day who were deeply skeptical and very worried about what a Trump
presidency would be. But this is a moment of unparalleled national
humiliation, of weakness.
"When
you listen to the President, these are the musings of an imbecile. An
idiot. And I don't use those words to name call. I use them because they
are the precise words of the English language to describe his behavior.
His comportment. His actions. We've never seen a level of incompetence,
a level of ineptitude so staggering on a daily basis by anybody in the
history of the country whose ever been charged with substantial
responsibilities.
"It's
just astonishing that this man is president of the United States. The
man, the con man, from New York City. Many bankruptcies, failed
businesses, a reality show, that branded him as something that he never
was. A successful businessman. Well, he's the President of the United
States now, and the man who said he would make the country great again.
And he's brought death, suffering, and economic collapse on truly an
epic scale. And let's be clear. This isn't happening in every country
around the world. This place. Our place. Our home. Our country. The
United States. We are the epicenter. We are the place where you're the
most likely to die from this disease. We're the ones with the most
shattered economy. And we are because of the fool that sits in the Oval
Office behind the Resolute Desk."
Ziva Malkomo arrest by Military Police
BS"D
According to Rabbi Binyomin Chayat,
Spokesman for the Israeli organization Shomrei Torah (providing
information to girls seeking to avoid being forced to serve in the
Army),
Ziva Malkomo of Ashkelon, a Orthodox Jewish Ethiopian girl (about 19-1/2 y/o), previously incarcerated for refusing to be drafted into the Army, was arrested, yet again, by male Military Police officers, at her home 2AM Monday morning, June 22, '20. After dramatically and passionately insisting on her right to a religious exemption, Ziva was released on site, but was instructed (by an arresting officer) to give herself in the next day to be imprisoned, something she refuses to do.
Long ago, Ziva submitted her religiosity documentation (signed by Rabbi Doniel Katz of the Ashkelon Regional Bet Din, dated Jan. 15, 2018). The Army denied her exemption. Refusing to enlist, Ziva was imprisoned for several weeks prior to Yom Kippur, 5780, as reported in the Jewish Press on Sept 27,'19. (She honorably refused to seek the previously "easy" Petur Nashi option that some suggested.)
After her release Erev Yom Kippur, Ziva (erroneously) complied with the Military Court order to appear at the Tel HaShomer Draft Office on Oct 10, where, she was evidently misled by staff into signing a military service enlistment document, under the pretext of signing to simply certify that she reported to the Draft Office (in response to the order to do so).
All leading Rabbis prohibit girls from military service.
Ziva remains steadfast in her refusal to enlist, even if it means additional incarceration, R"L, according to R. Chayat and others involved with the case, including Rabbi Noson Shmuel Leiter, Executive Director of Help Rescue Our Children, a NY-based advocacy organization assisting targets of attempted sexual abuse and human trafficking. Her full Jewish name is Ziva bas Mazal.
Ziva Malkomo of Ashkelon, a Orthodox Jewish Ethiopian girl (about 19-1/2 y/o), previously incarcerated for refusing to be drafted into the Army, was arrested, yet again, by male Military Police officers, at her home 2AM Monday morning, June 22, '20. After dramatically and passionately insisting on her right to a religious exemption, Ziva was released on site, but was instructed (by an arresting officer) to give herself in the next day to be imprisoned, something she refuses to do.
Long ago, Ziva submitted her religiosity documentation (signed by Rabbi Doniel Katz of the Ashkelon Regional Bet Din, dated Jan. 15, 2018). The Army denied her exemption. Refusing to enlist, Ziva was imprisoned for several weeks prior to Yom Kippur, 5780, as reported in the Jewish Press on Sept 27,'19. (She honorably refused to seek the previously "easy" Petur Nashi option that some suggested.)
After her release Erev Yom Kippur, Ziva (erroneously) complied with the Military Court order to appear at the Tel HaShomer Draft Office on Oct 10, where, she was evidently misled by staff into signing a military service enlistment document, under the pretext of signing to simply certify that she reported to the Draft Office (in response to the order to do so).
All leading Rabbis prohibit girls from military service.
Ziva remains steadfast in her refusal to enlist, even if it means additional incarceration, R"L, according to R. Chayat and others involved with the case, including Rabbi Noson Shmuel Leiter, Executive Director of Help Rescue Our Children, a NY-based advocacy organization assisting targets of attempted sexual abuse and human trafficking. Her full Jewish name is Ziva bas Mazal.
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