Wednesday, November 10, 2021
Israel said to promise to return Ethiopian immigrants who committed war crimes
Israel has promised that if any of the Ethiopian immigrants airlifted to Israel in recent months during an intensifying war in the African country are found to have committed war crimes, they will be sent back, Channel 13 reported on Tuesday.
The unsourced report came a day after the channel reported that Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed angrily complained in a phone call with Prime Minister Naftali Bennett that some of those airlifted to Israel were officers involved in war crimes.
Channel 13 cited a security source involved in the matter as saying at least four officers — among the over 2,000 people brought to Israel over the past year — are suspected of taking part in rebel massacres in the Tigray region.
International arrest warrant issued for smuggling grandfather Shmuel Peleg
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/316660
Italy has issued an international arrest warrant for Shmuel Peleg, grandfather of cable car crash survivor Eitan Biran, Italian news outlet Corriere della Sera reported.
According to the report, a warrant was also issued for driver Gavriel Abutbul Alon, age 50, who lives in Cyprus.
The newspaper quoted the words of the Italian prosecutor, who claimed that, "The grandfather planned how to take the child out of Italy the moment he understood that he would no longer be able to receive authority over him within the country."
Reform seminary investigation: ‘Good old boys’ culture has left scars
The report also suggests a “reordination ceremony” for students who feel their original ordinations were tainted by offending rabbis.
The 37-page report was based on interviews with 170 individuals, including current and former staff, students and faculty, and it paints a picture of a school — spread across four campuses stretching from Jerusalem to Los Angeles — that tolerated a range of inappropriate behavior toward students who were not white and male.
Probe finds sexual harassers led Reform’s rabbinical school for over 3 decades
Sexual harassers led the Reform movement’s rabbinical school for more than three decades, according to an explosive new report commissioned by the school.
Rabbi Alfred Gottschalk, the president and then chancellor of Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion from 1971 to 1996, and his successor, Rabbi Sheldon Zimmerman, who served until 2000, both harassed and assaulted women at the seminary, according to the report. While the allegations that led to Zimmerman’s suspension in 2000 had broken into public view earlier this year, Gottschalk had never before been named in public allegations.
In addition to leading the institution and teaching students, the men were also responsible for ordaining generations of Reform rabbis.
A Gentle Giant : Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, zt”l by Rav Aharon Lichtenstein
https://jewishaction.com/tribute/gentle-giant-rabbi-shlomo-zalman-auerbach-ztl/
Reb Shlomo Zalman was of this world and he served to guide it. While not a philosophic devotee in the narrow sense of the term — he was, generally, not much involved in philosophic thought — he had great respect for Rav Kook. And beyond that, while certainly not an ideological Zionist, he had an intuitive appreciation of the significance of the enterprise of shivat Zion and the building of Eretz Yisrael. Hence, he related positively to the whole gamut of the religious spectrum, and dati-leumi bnei Torah turned to him no less than others. And they found a ready ear and an open mind.
Heter Mechira is only bedievad
http://www.eretzhemdah.org/content.asp?lang=en&pageid=299
4. Shmittah Today in the State of Israel: Heter Mechirah
As we
have already written in the past, the majority of the inhabitants of
Eretz Yisrael in contemporary times (starting from 120 years ago) rely
on the heter mechirah as a bedievad solution as long as there is no other choice, halachically and practically-speaking.
We will
now explain what the disadvantages of this solution are and discuss some
recent suggestions regarding how to overcome some of these hurdles. We
will also explain why, with great pain and a prayer to HaKadosh Baruch
Hu, to restore the crown of Shmittah to its former glory, we are
compelled to recommend to the public to purchase this agricultural
produce. Later, with Hashem’s Help, we will explain why one should
refrain from buying non-Jewish produce and instead support farmers who
receive guidelines from rabbinical authorities on how to work their
fields.
The
difficult plight of the Jewish farmers in Eretz Yisrael at the time of
the renewal of agricultural settlement in contemporary times became more
severe when they were compelled to contend with the question of
observing the mitzvah of Shmittah. Gedolei Yisrael tried to find a
remedy to their distress. The possibility then arose to sell their land
to non-Jews in order to avoid the prohibition of working the fields
during the Shmittah year. This suggestion spurred a fundamental halachic
controversy that split the rabbis into two groups. Even the Netziv, a
great supporter of Zionism, was opposed to it. In the end, Torah leaders
like Rav Yisrael Elchanan Spector from Kovno, Rav Yehoshua from Kutna,
Rav Avraham Kook (and in his footsteps, all the chief rabbis), the chief
rabbi of Yerushalayim, Rav Tzvi Pesach Frank, and Rav Shlomo Zalman
Auerbach (with a demand for improvements which have already been
implemented in the last few years) supported this approach.
The Heter Mechira is based on the following halachic principles:
· Since
Shmittah in our age is rabbinic according to the vast majority of
halachic authorities, “A non-Jew’s acquisition can free the land from
its obligation in the mitzvah of Shvi’it.” (cf. Talmud Gittin 47a, introduction to Rav Kook’s Shevet HaAretz, perek 11; Rav Shaul Yisraeli’s Chavat Binyamin, volume 3, siman 101, in his correspondence with Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach).
· Eretz
Yisrael’s sanctity and the obligation to settle the land are not
dependent on the question of whether there exists an obligation to
fulfill the agricultural mitzvot (introduction to Shevet HaAretz, perek 15).
· No prohibition of Lo T’chanein
exists (the Torah prohibition of strengthening the non-Jew’s holdings
in Eretz Yisrael) in a temporary sale, whose purpose is the
strengthening of the Jewish settling of Eretz Yisrael.
· No prohibition of sefichin and the law of shamor ve’ne’evad
exists by agricultural produce that was grown according to halachic
dispensation (in accordance with Mahari Korkus, and even according to
the Chazon Ish, Shvi’it, siman 10, sif katan 6, when the sale was done in the proper manner).
· The four forms of work that are forbidden by the Torah shall not be executed, even with the heter, in a forbidden manner.
In the last few years, many halachic improvements were made in this matter. We will mention a few of them:
· The
Knesset has legislated a special law exempting land sold for purposes
of Shmittah from the obligation to register in the Israeli Land
Registry.
· The
sale is not done by means of an authorization and appointment of an
emissary (this avoids a substantial amount of the Chazon Ish’s claims
against the heter).
· The
sale contract has undergone many improvements, including the avoidence
of the possibility that a “Saudi prince” could pay for the land parcels
and never return them.
· Those
who have been appointed by the Chief Rabbinate on this topic, Rav
Avraham Yosef and Rav Zeev Whitman, have extensively researched the
question of ownership of each seller, and sat with landowners who
understood well the sale’s implications. Thus the claim of insufficient
intent “gemirut da’at,” has fallen to the wayside.
An
additional advantage to this method is that it does not damage Jewish
settlement of Eretz Yisrael. It allows for the continued supply of
fruits and vegetables, including exported goods, throughout the entire
year, at reasonable prices. This method is the only solution that takes
into consideration the needs of the public and not just the individual’s
desire to try to fastidiously keep the laws of Shmittah.
In spite of all this, allow us to again mention that this heter is bedievad.
It is necessary to test each Shmittah year the need for its
implementation. By using this heter, one is partially nullifying the
laws of Shmittah. The land subsequently does not lie fallow, man does
not cease his work, nor is there any social benefit from the Shmittah
year that is observed in such a manner.
Therefore,
let us repeat our previous statements that we must continue to pray
that we will soon merit the observance of Shmittah from the Torah, with hidur and happiness. Amen!
The economy is great, but voters don't believe it
By the numbers: Economic strength is undeniable, both in the country overall and at the household level. The economy is expected to grow 5.7% this year.
- Almost 6 million jobs were created just between January and October; the unemployment rate is now just 4.6%. The quit rate, the standard barometer of workers' optimism, hit an all-time record high of 2.9% in August.
- Average earnings are up 3.5% this year and 4.9% annually, to $31 per hour.
- Checking accounts are 50% fatter than they were pre-pandemic, while the bottom 50% of the population now has more than $3 trillion in household wealth — up 32% just in the first half of this year, and up 55% from before the pandemic.
- Stocks hit a new record high every day last week (and yesterday, too), and are up more than 30% year-t0-date.
Yes, but: 56% of voters think the country is on the wrong track, up from 39% in June, per the Harris Poll; 57% think the economy is weak, up from 43% in June.
Trump cannot shield White House records from Jan. 6 committee, judge rules
https://www.politico.com/news/2021/11/09/trump-executive-privilege-court-ruling-kings-520512
A federal judge has rejected former President Donald Trump’s effort to block Jan. 6 investigators from accessing White House records related to his attempt to overturn the 2020 election, determining that he has no authority to overrule President Joe Biden’s decision to waive executive privilege and release the materials to Congress.
Top Trump Officials Violated Hatch Act Ban on Political Activity During 2020 Campaign, Watchdog Says
Several Trump administration officials showed a “willful disregard” of
laws restricting government employees’ political activity in the final
weeks of the 2020 presidential campaign, according to a federal watchdog
report released Tuesday.
Tuesday, November 9, 2021
Only 60% of Israelis think Yigal Amir murdered Rabin — poll
https://www.timesofisrael.com/only-60-of-israelis-think-yigal-amir-murdered-rabin-poll/
Only 60 percent of Israelis believe Yigal Amir assassinated prime minister Yitzhak Rabin, according to a poll released Friday.
The survey, which was aired on Hadashot TV news, was conducted to
mark 23 years since Rabin was fatally shot by Amir at a peace rally in
Tel Aviv. The report did not give details on the size of the poll or its
margin of error
Shekel reaches NIS 3.11 to the dollar as 'avalanche' continues
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/shekel-reaches-nis-311-to-the-dollar-as-avalanche-continues-684489
Israel’s manufacturers and exporters are suffering as the shekel reaches its strongest level in 25 years. However, analysts don’t see the trend changing anytime soon.
The
shekel traded at NIS 3.11 to the dollar Tuesday, retreating slightly
after touching below NIS 3.10 the day before. Against the euro, the
Israeli currency traded at NIS 3.59.
Yitzhak Rabin assassination conspiracy theories
https://en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Yitzhak_Rabin_assassination_conspiracy_theories
The matter has been reported as clear cut in the media, and the Shamgar national inquiry commission and the court all drew the same conclusion that Amir was guilty of murder. Nevertheless, some inconsistencies in the evidence have been alleged, both in the medical records and in the inquiry testimony. These allegations and other suspicions have been included in occasional left-wing, and more prevalent right-wing conspiracy theories.
QAnon Followers Think JFK Jr. Is Coming Back on the 4th of July
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/qanon-jfk-jr-conspiracy-theory-854938/
Hardcore Q believers think that JFK Jr. is not only alive and well, but also that he plans to emerge from his 20-year hiatus from public life by coming out and supporting Trump as his running mate in 2020. Moreover, they believe that a guy in Pittsburgh named Vincent Fusca is actually JFK Jr. in disguise, and they have made T-shirts promoting this belief.
Subscribe to:
Posts
(
Atom
)