Monday, January 3, 2022

Millions of Angry, Armed Americans Stand Ready to Seize Power If Trump Loses in 2024

 https://www.newsweek.com/2021/12/31/millions-angry-armed-americans-stand-ready-seize-power-if-trump-loses-2024-1660953.html

America's massive and mostly Republican gun-rights movement dovetails with a growing belief among many Republicans that the federal government is an illegitimate tyranny that must be overthrown by any means necessary. That combustible formula raises the threat of armed, large-scale attacks around the 2024 presidential election—attacks that could make the January 6 insurrection look like a toothless stunt by comparison. "The idea that people would take up arms against an American election has gone from completely farfetched to something we have to start planning for and preparing for," says University of California, Los Angeles law professor Adam Winkler, an expert on gun policy and constitutional law.

Rabbi Rafi Feuerstein removes Rabbi Tau's books over Chaim Walder case

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/319776

Rabbi Tzvi Tau, one of the senior rabbis of religious Zionism and the head of Har Hamor Yeshiva, condemns the accusations made against children's author Chaim Walder, who committed suicide due to allegations of sexual harassment. A few days later, Rabbi Rafi Feuerstein, chairman of the Tzohar Rabbinical Association and the president of the Feuerstein Foundation, removed the writings of Rabbi Tzvi Tau from his personal libraries.

"Last week I removed Walder's books, which my children and later my grandchildren read. And this week I removed Rabbi Tau's writings from my library and from my home," said Rabbi Feuerstein, explaining: I do this to show the desecration of G-d's name that results from this great man. For the Rambam writes (Yesodei haTorah Chapter 5 Verse 11): "There are other deeds which are also included in [the category of] the desecration of [G-d's] name, if performed by a person of great Torah stature who is renowned for his piety - i.e., deeds which, although they are not transgressions, [will cause] people to speak disparagingly of him. This also constitutes the desecration of [G-d's] name."

Exclusive: Secret Commandos with Shoot-to-Kill Authority Were at the Capitol

 https://www.newsweek.com/exclusive-secret-commandos-shoot-kill-authority-were-capitol-1661330

 The presence of these extraordinary forces under the control of the Attorney General—and mostly operating under contingency plans that Congress and the U.S. Capitol Police were not privy to—added an additional layer of highly armed responders. The role that the military played in this highly classified operation is still unknown, though FBI sources tell Newsweek that military operators seconded to the FBI, and those on alert as part of the National Mission Force, were present in the metropolitan area.

 The lingering question is: What was it that the Justice Department saw that provoked it to see January 6 as an extraordinary event, something that the other agencies evidently missed.


Rabbi Zev Leff The Tragic Chaim Walder Episode

Objection to Rabbi Eliyayahu's verdict on Walder

Rabbi Rafi Feuerstein,chairman of Tzohar, removes writings of Rabbi Tau after he claims that Chaim Walder accusations are 'built on a lie'.

 

But Eliyahu has also faced backlash from nationalist Haredi Rabbi Zvi Tau, who spoke in defense of Walder, claiming the accusations against the publisher are baseless. In recordings leaked on Friday, Tau could be heard claiming that Eliyahu is feeding the flames of a leftist media bent on promoting secularism.

Leading rabbis meet to discuss dispute over Chaim Walder case

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/319762

 Two leading rabbis from the national religious sector met Monday morning in a bid to resolve an ongoing dispute over the handling of the Chaim Walder case.

Rabbi Tzvi Tau, dean of the Har HaMor Yeshiva in Jerusalem, hosted Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, chief rabbi of Tzfat and one of the rabbis who probed allegations of sexual misconduct by the late haredi author and educator Chaim Walder, prior to Walder’s suicide.

The "Witch Hunt," the "Backlash," and Professionalism

 
The sexual victimization of children is a highly emotional issue. Publicity and controversy over complex topics such as repressed memory, satanic ritual abuse (SRA), and suggestibility of children have divided and polarized many child advocates, the media, and the American public. Especially in controversial cases, those at one extreme often claim that children are easily manipulated and that the allegations are frequently part of a big "witch hunt" led by overzealous fanatics or incompetent and money hungry "experts." Those at the other extreme often claim that victims do not lie about sexual abuse, that everything alleged happened exactly as alleged, and that protestations to the contrary are part of a powerful "backlash" led by child molesters or those denying the extent and reality of child sexual abuse. The continuing media coverage, movies, articles, and opinions about cases such as the Mc Martin case in Manhattan Beach, California, exemplify this highly polarized controversy

The Witch-Hunt Narrative: Turning a Blind Eye to the Evidence in the So-Called Name of Justice

 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30145961/

 For more than two decades, conventional wisdom about the high-profile day care cases of the 1980s and early 1990s suggests all were modern-day witch hunts, based on false allegations made by highly suggestible children during an era when society was gripped by a "believe the children" hysteria. Author Ross Cheit refutes conventional wisdom by conducting an exhaustive examination of original data from dozens of cases bearing the witch hunt label. He concludes there was no witch-hunt epidemic, finding substantial evidence of sexual abuse in nearly every case he reviewed, contradicting the assertions made about those cases by what he calls the witch-hunt narrative. Cheit examines the legacy of the witch-hunt narrative and contends its exaggerated claims about the suggestibility of children have had a negative effect on the credibility of children today who allege being sexually abused.

How the daycare child abuse hysteria of the 1980s became a witch hunt

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/a-modern-witch-hunt/2015/07/31/057effd8-2f1a-11e5-8353-1215475949f4_story.html

“We believe the children” became both the unofficial motto of advocates for the prosecution and a catch-all response to those few who asked whether the accusers had completely lost their minds. The approach was based largely on the work of psychiatrist Roland Summit, who claimed that, of every 1,000 children who say they were sexually abused, only two or three are guilty of inventing or exaggerating. He also said it was normal for children who had been sexually abused to retract their claims and say they made it all up. The upshot: No matter what children said, they were sexually abused, and if you didn’t believe them, something was wrong with you.

 Yet “believing the children” glossed over the fact that, often, adults believed only what they wanted to hear. In the McMartin case, the social workers who interviewed children not only considered Summit’s theory as gospel but interrogated (not too strong a word) the children repeatedly, becoming more bullying with each session. When one child denied seeing a game called “Naked Movie Star” played at his preschool, the therapist replied: “Well, what good are you? You must be dumb.”

How the ‘Witch Hunt’ Myth Undermined American Justice

https://www.thedailybeast.com/how-the-witch-hunt-myth-undermined-american-justice 

 In 1993, a young man dying of AIDS gave a tearful interview on CNN after filing a lawsuit alleging that Chicago Cardinal Joseph Bernardin had sexually abused him many years before. Bernardin defended himself eloquently at a press conference. Several months later, when reporters unearthed information about plaintiff Steven Cook that cast doubt on his veracity, he withdrew the suit, saying he could not trust his memory.

Newsrooms turned on a dime. Time’s cover pictured Freud as a disassembling picture puzzle. National coverage shifted from a focus on bishops concealing predators to “false memory,” hysteria fueled by the suggestibility of young victims, faulty investigators, quack therapists, and a court system hard-pressed to safeguard presumption of innocence.

 

Wishful thinking - never happened!

 1 Shevat 5766 11 January 2016

Mr. Adrian Alexander 
 
Dear Mr. Alexander,
I write in response to your letter of December 28, 2015. Please be assured that we understand your concern regarding the need for the Schlesinger twins (your nephews) to have a meaningful interaction with their mother, Beth Alexander.Indeed, the Torah perspective places great emphasis on the role of a Jewish mother in nurturing and educating her children, especially so when the children are of a young age and are in need of the special attention and care that only a mother can provide.

Rabbi Krinsky has discussed this matter with Rabbi Biderman and strongly encouraged him to help facilitate the involvement of Beth with her children's educational development at the Chabad school in Vienna, to the extent that it is permissible by law and provided that there is not a clear determination by professionals that to do so would be detrimental to the children's wellbeing. Rabbi Biderman assured Rabbi Krinsky that he has done so and will continue to do so. lt is ultimately up to Rabbi Biderman to make a determination as how to best address this issue consistent with the facts סח the ground.

lt is our fervent hope that all the involved parties recognize that the best interest of the Schlesinger twins is what is of paramount concern, and that all efforts be made to assure that the relevant issues which are being decided are being made with that thought in mind.

On Behalf of the Merkos Board of Trustees/Directors 


 




Why does Austria think it is important to remove children from their mother?

 Perhaps the most bizarre and perverse aspect of the Schlessinger twins case is denying access of the mother to her children

Most would agree that children need both parents. 

It is only in extreme cases where the mother is a danger to them that she should be removed

In this case she initially had custody after the father attempted to fraudulently have his wife committed to a mental hospital, The court bizarrely then reversed this and gave sole custody to the father who used two  non-Jewish maids to raise them while he worked

The obvious approach if there had been psychological issues - and two psychological exams indicated there weren't - would be to have a psychologist mediate

In fact all evidence indicates problems with the father - who was never given a psychological exam - despite a history of abusive behavior and anger management issues 

This fits the pattern of parent alienation syndrome - where one parent alienates the children from the other parent. Again the preferred approach is psychological mediation - not blocking access to the children

5 Ways Judaism Honors Mothers

 https://www.aish.com/f/p/5-Ways-Judaism-Honors-Mothers.html

 Mothers as Partners with God

In Jewish thought, motherhood isn’t only raising a child; it’s being partners with the Divine. The Talmud teaches that “there are three partners in (creating) a man: the Holy One, blessed be He, his father and his mother” (Niddah 31a). (The Talmud specifies that this includes adoptive parents too, not only biological parents.) The moment of giving birth is compared to the creation of the world: both are awesome miracles and times of intense holiness.

G-d doesn't speak directly to women

 Bereishis Rabbah (20:6) UNTO THE WOMAN HE SAID: I WILL GREATLY MULTIPLY THY PAlN AND THY TRAVAIL, etc. (III, 16). R. Judah b. R. Simon and R. Johanan in the name of R. Eleazar b. R. Simon said: The Holy One, blessed be He, never spoke directly with a woman save with Sarah, and that too was due to a particular cause. R. Abba b. Kahana said in R. Biryi's name: And what a roundabout way He went in order to speak with her! As it is written,And He said: Nay; but thou didst laugh (Gen. XVIII, 15). But it is written, And Hagar called the name of the Lord that spoke unto her, etc. (ib. XVl, 13)? R. Joshua b. Nehemiah answered in R. Idi's name: That was through an angel. But it is written, And the Lord said unto her-Rebekah (ib. XXV, 23)? R. Levi said in the name of R. Hama b. R. Hanina: That was through an angel. R. Eleazar said in the name of R. Jose b. Zimra: That was through the medium of Shem [the son of Noah].