Thursday, October 28, 2021
What is a Tree?
https://www.yeshiva.co/midrash/6863
The Chazon Ish (Orlah 12:3) is dissatisfied with both of these approaches because there is no source in Chazal for this definition of a tree. However, he agrees that eggplants are not prohibited because of orlah for a very different reason. He contends that orlah can only ban the produce of a tree for its first three years but cannot ban the species completely. Therefore, a species that produces fruit for no more than three years cannot be a tree whose fruit is orlah. Instead, we must conclude that this plant is not a tree and therefore its fruit is not orlah.
Israeli military court convicts French-Israeli settler's killer
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hjg6mmvut
An Israeli military court on Wednesday convicted a Palestinian man of the December killing of a French-Israeli citizen in the north of the West Bank.
Pfizer Vax Immunity Waned in Israel, Regardless of Age
https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/covid19vaccine/95288
Immunity against the Delta variant from Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine waned after a few months across age groups, Israeli researchers found.
Not surprisingly, rates of infection in July were higher among adults ages 60 and up who were fully vaccinated in January compared with those who were fully vaccinated in March (rate ratio [RR] 1.6, 95% CI 1.3-2.0), reported Yair Goldberg, PhD, of the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa, and colleagues.
'RINOs Stole Election, We Steal Lives': Pennsylvania GOP Commissioner Details Death Threats
Philadelphia City Commissioner Al Schmidt, the official responsible for overseeing the 2020 election in Pennsylvania's biggest city, made the remarks while testifying at a Senate Rules and Administration Committee hearing on Tuesday. He said that supporters of the former president labeled him a "traitor" and a RINO, short for "Republican in name only," for correctly counting the votes.
Schmidt then read a message that demanded he "tell the truth or your three kids will be fatally shot." The threatening message also contained Schmidt's home address, the names of each of his children and a picture of his house.
Other threats included the phrases "heads on spikes, treasonous
Schmidts," "perhaps cuts and bullets will soon arrive at [Schmidt's
address]" and "RINOs stole election, we steal lives." The alleged
threats admonished Schmidt for supposedly having "betrayed" the country
by not backing Trump's false claims and warned that "cops can't help
you."
Hamas head urges Sheikh Jarrah families to reject compromise
US State Dept confirms: Israel would have to authorize Palestinian consulate in Jerusalem
The State Department confirmed that it could not open a consulate to the Palestinians in Jerusalem without Israel’s authorization, in a Senate hearing on Wednesday.
Wednesday, October 27, 2021
Shatnez?
We just had a sweater checked for shatnez in Jerusalem -it was claimed that every fiber was shatnez
We donated it to a Shatnez checker in NY who displays these garments - he checked it and said not a single fiber of Shatnez in garment.
Obviously they both can't be right
I surveyed a number of stores and they claimed never having found shatnez
It seems wool and linen are rarely used together since synthetic fibers are stronger and cheaper.
It would seem that following the concept of rov there should be no need to check? Comments?
U.S. voices opposition to Israel's plans for new West Bank settlement homes
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/s1hnxaruf
ראש הישיבה הסביר וזעק: זו הסיבה לגזירות של הממשלה
https://www.kikar.co.il/404020.html
ראש הישיבה הגאון רבי גרשון אדלשטיין, התייחס הערב (שלישי) בשיחתו השבועית, בפעם ראשונה, לגזירות ממשלת בנט-לפיד-כהנא על הציבור החרדי וזעק בכאב: "איך יהודי מסוגל לעשות גזירות על יהודים?".
ראש הישיבה דיבר בכאב על הרצון של חברי הממשלה, לגרום ביטול תורה ולהצר את צעדי הציבור החרדי וקרא לציבור להתחזק בדברים הצריכים חיזוק, כדי למנוע את הגזירות.
ל'כיכר השבת' נודע, כי ראש הישיבה הורה בימים האחרונים לחברי הכנסת של דגל התורה, לפעול בכל הכח למנוע את הגזירות וכעת קרא לציבור להתחזק כדי להציל את עם ישראל מהגזירות.
Leading haredi rabbi asks: 'How can Jews make decrees against Jews?'
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/315791
Rabbi Gershon Edelstein, head of the prestigious Ponovezh yeshiva, on Tuesday evening responded to the Israeli government's new "decrees" on the haredi public, Kikar Hashabbat reported.
In his weekly class, Rabbi Edelstein questioned, "How could a Jew be capable of making decrees on Jews?"
Kikar Hashabbat was informed that Rabbi Edelstein recently instructed MKs from the United Torah Judaism's Degel Hatorah faction to fight the decisions with all their might. Now, he has called on the public to increase their care in order to save the Jewish people from the "decrees."
Contruction on park near Arab graves sparks widespread outrage
Jan. 6 Protest Organizers Say They Participated in ‘Dozens’ of Planning Meetings With Members of Congress and White House Staff
As the House investigation into the Jan. 6 attack heats up, some of the planners of the pro-Trump rallies that took place in Washington, D.C., have begun communicating with congressional investigators and sharing new information about what happened when the former president’s supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol. Two of these people have spoken to Rolling Stone extensively in recent weeks and detailed explosive allegations that multiple members of Congress were intimately involved in planning both Trump’s efforts to overturn his election loss and the Jan. 6 events that turned violent.
Rolling Stone
separately confirmed a third person involved in the main Jan. 6 rally
in D.C. has communicated with the committee. This is the first report
that the committee is hearing major new allegations from potential
cooperating witnesses. While there have been prior indications that
members of Congress were involved, this is also the first account
detailing their purported role and its scope. The two sources also claim
they interacted with members of Trump’s team, including former White
House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, who they describe as having had an
opportunity to prevent the violence.
Tuesday, October 26, 2021
Yeshiva deans ban students from donating blood until 'normal' version of forms is restored
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/315741
In Har Hamor Yeshiva, Mitzpe Ramon Yeshiva and several other Zionist yeshivas, students have been told to refrain from donating blood via MDA until the original version of the documents which ask for "name of father" and "name of mother" is restored.
In recent months, several organizations have been altering official documents, replacing "father" with "parent 1" and "mother" with "parent 2."
Usually, a Magen David Adom (MDA) van arrives at Zionist yeshivas
once every three months, in order to enable the students to donate blood
on site.