Putin is making the same mistakes that doomed Hitler when he invaded the Soviet Union

 https://edition.cnn.com/2022/04/02/world/putin-invasion-mistakes-hitler-blake-cec/index.html

"The evidence suggests that Putin thought he could win a quick victory with the deployment of special forces and airborne units," says Ian Ona Johnson, a professor of military history at the University of Notre Dame. "So when they were forced to go to a much more traditional war involving essentially most of the Russian army along the Ukrainian border, they weren't prepared for some of the logistics."

'Sadistic’ man who ‘tormented’ wife is first in England to be jailed over get refusal

 https://www.thejc.com/news/news/sadistic'-man-who-'tormented'-wife-is-first-in-england-to-be-jailed-over-get-refusal-1WkHeCtIkaXV3m9cDcSYQT\

For the first time an English court has jailed a man for coercive behaviour that included obstructing a get – or religious divorce - for his wife.

Alan Alti Moher received an 18-month sentence at Southwark Crown Court on Friday after having pleaded guilty to one count of coercive or controlling behaviour in a private prosecution brought by his wife Caroline.

Judge Adam Hiddleston accepted that he had “tormented” Mrs Moher - from whom he has been civilly divorced since 2016 - over a number of years.

תקדים: בית הדין קבע - האישה גרושה, הגבר לא

 https://www.ynet.co.il/judaism/article/r14yu5mmc

גט סלקטיבי: ל-ynet נודע שבית הדין הרבני בירושלים קבע כי אישה שנפרדה מבן זוגה, תוכל להינשא לאחר – אך הגבר שעיגן אותה במשך שנים, יישאר כלוא בנישואיהם הכושלים. כך הגיעו הדיינים להכרעה התקדימית

In first, Britain jails businessman for refusing to grant his wife a Jewish divorce

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/manchester-businessman-imprisoned-for-refusing-to-grant-wife-jewish-divorce/

An English court on Friday sentenced a Jewish businessman to 18 months in prison for refusing to grant his wife a religious divorce.

Alan Moher, 57, and his wife Caroline separated in 2016 after 20 years of marriage. The couple, who have three children, were granted a civil divorce in 2019.

However, the Manchester property firm owner refused to grant his wife a get, which Jewish law mandates must be given freely without coercion and prevents her from remarrying until he does.

Can a godol be evil?

 Sanhedrin (36a) Rabba, son of Rava, says, and some say that it was Rabbi Hillel, son of Rabbi Valles, who says: From the days of Moses and until the days of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi we do not find unparalleled greatness in Torah knowledge and unparalleled greatness in secular matters, including wealth and high political office, combined in one place, i.e., in a single individual.

The Gemara asks: But was there not such a person? Wasn’t there Joshua, who was unparalleled in both domains? The Gemara answers: During his time there was Elazar, who was Joshua’s equal in Torah knowledge. The Gemara asks: But wasn’t there Pinehas, who outlived Elazar? The Gemara answers: There were the Elders, who were equal to Pinehas in Torah knowledge.

The Gemara further objects: But wasn’t there Saul, who was unparalleled in both domains? The Gemara answers: There was Samuel, who was Saul’s equal in Torah knowledge. The Gemara asks: But didn’t Samuel die in Saul’s lifetime, leaving Saul the leading figure in both domains? The Gemara answers: We meant to say that from the days of Moses until the days of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi there was no other single individual who reigned supreme in Torah and greatness for all the years that he was the leader of the Jewish people.

The Gemara asks: But wasn’t there David, who was both the greatest Torah authority and the most powerful temporal authority of his day? The Gemara answers: There was Ira the Yairite, who was David’s equal in Torah knowledge. The Gemara objects: But didn’t Ira the Yairite die in David’s lifetime? The Gemara answers: We meant to say that there was no other single individual who reigned supreme in Torah and greatness for all the years that he was the leader of the Jewish people.

The Gemara asks: But wasn’t there Solomon, who was unparalleled in both domains? The Gemara answers: During his day there was Shimi ben Gera, who was Solomon’s master in Torah knowledge. The Gemara objects: But didn’t Solomon kill him at the beginning of his reign (see I Kings, chapter 2)? 

Trumpian Conservatives Hold an ‘Emergency’ Meeting Over Russia

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/04/02/trump-conservatives-emergency-meeting-gop-russia-00022419

When it came to the actual events in Russia and Ukraine, the panelists grappled with the issue more uneasily. Some castigated the media for demonizing anyone who had the audacity to suggest that America should not rush to war. Lee Smith, who writes for Real Clear Investigations and Tablet, defended conservative commentator Candace Owens, who, among other things, blamed America for the war in Ukraine. According to Smith, the true implication of the brouhaha stirred up by Owens’ remarks is that “Donald Trump supporters are disloyal. American voters, at least half the country, are disloyal.” This “rolls over” into Jan. 6, he added. “Anyone who didn’t vote for Biden” ends up being unfairly branded as “an insurrectionist or a domestic terrorist.”

Fighting Austrian court and heartbreak, UK mom renews decade-long battle to see kids

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/fighting-austrian-court-and-heartbreak-uk-mom-renews-decade-long-battle-to-see-kids/

It is every mother’s nightmare. For more than a decade, Beth Alexander has been largely unable to see her two sons as she has fought a complex and seemingly never-ending legal battle to gain custody of the twin boys through the Austrian courts.

Alexander’s story — a whirlwind romance which turned into a bitter tussle over her children, allegations of foul play in Viennese legal circles and a dramatic intervention by Britain’s chief rabbi — has attracted international headlines, while her plight has won her strong support in the UK Jewish community and parliament.

But, as she launches a new campaign to gain access to her children, the Austrian judge overseeing the case has rebuffed Alexander’s latest legal efforts — and gone a step further, barring all contact between mother and children — saying it is not in the 12-year-olds’ interest to see their mother.

Rabbis blast Disney over pledge to increase LGBT content

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/325046

An organization representing over 2,000 Orthodox American rabbis and other Orthodox community leaders issued a statement Friday morning condemning entertainment giant Disney, after the company protested a recently passed bill in Florida barring teachers from having certain conversations with young children on issues of sexuality and their reproductive organs.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed the Parental Rights in Education bill into law this week, prohibiting classroom instruction in sexual orientation or gender identity through third grade, and requires that parents have access to information regarding the physical and mental health of their children.

Disney employees staged a walkout in response, complaining that LGBT content was cut from films and that Disney had not done enough to protest the bill, which some critics erroneously characterized as the "Don't Say Gay" bill.

Russian Host Says Biden Should Be Ousted for Moscow 'Partner' Donald Trump

 https://www.newsweek.com/russia-ukraine-putin-popov-partner-donald-trump-1693210

A Russian state TV host has said that President Joe Biden should be removed from office and replaced by his predecessor Donald Trump, whom he described as a "partner" for Moscow.

Cawthorn’s orgies-and-drugs comment stirs trouble within Freedom Caucus

 https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/29/cawthorn-orgies-freedom-caucus-00021548

Kevin McCarthy isn’t the only senior Republican who wants to have a talk with Rep. Madison Cawthorn about his claim that some of his colleagues invited him to orgies and used cocaine.

Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), who chairs the ultra-conservative House Freedom Caucus to which Cawthorn belongs, said he plans to speak to the North Carolina Republican one-on-one about the incendiary comment. Perry further indicated that Cawthorn should identify the individuals he alleges engaged in that behavior.

COVID-19 booster essential, even among individuals previously infected

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/324752

A long-term, cohort study led by researchers at the Azrieli Faculty of Medicine of Bar-Ilan University and Ziv Medical Center in Safed has produced further insight regarding the interplay between COVID-19 infection and vaccination in providing protection over time.

Seven to nine months after the second dose of the vaccine, antibody levels throughout the cohort dropped and were comparable in all groups including among young people and those infected before vaccination. The booster, however, led to antibody levels ten times higher than after the second dose in all groups within the cohort.

The study, recently published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases, further showed that all individuals, including those with hybrid immunity (infected and vaccinated) require subsequent boosters beyond the two initial COVID-19 vaccine doses.

Shulchan Aruch is the default view only when Achronim are deadlocked

from Daas Torah - translation is copyrighted

Chazon Ish (C.M. 1:1 Likutim): Concerning the matter of the dispute over semicha in post-Talmudic times, the deciding factor in halachic matters is always according to which side has proofs which are stronger and more reasonable. Even though we normally follow the Shulchan Aruch – nevertheless were are accustomed to deviate from the Shulchan Aruch because the Achronim deviate from its rulings with correct proofs according to the understanding of the gedolim in each generation. So therefore for each halacha we are forced to study the analysis of the Achronim because intellectual reasoning is the decisive factor. However when the matter is deadlocked because the sides are equal – then we follow the disputant who is greater and that is why we accept the rulings of the Beis Yosef and Rema. So therefore in the dispute concerning semicha – according to our understanding those who rejected the new semicha are more cogent and understandable. Those who supported it are not understandable. 

Majority rule of halacha is not relevant in most cases

from Daas Torah - translation copyrigthed

Chazon Ish (Beginning of Kelayim): It is well known that the requirement to follow the majority applies only to a beis din which is in session, but regarding scholars holding different views who lived at different times or in different places, the question of majority or minority is not relevant. In a particular area where most of the Torah derives from a particular rabbi and his disciples, and the disciples' disciples, it is correct to follow their rabbi even in a matter in which the majority (of authorities) holds a different opinion. In recent generations most of our Torah has come to us through the specific sefarim in our own teachers like Rif, Rosh, Rambam, Ramban, Rashba, Ritva, Ran, Maggid Mishne, Mordechai, and the commentaries of Rashi and Tosfos, and whenever there is a difference of opinion (and as mentioned above, majority ruling does not enter) it is in the hands of every individual Torah scholar to decide whether to take a strict view or to select particular authorities to follow; likewise, in the case where no decision has been taken and the question is still open (sofek). In addition to the fact that majority rule does not apply in the above situations, we do not even know what the majority view is, since many scholars did not put their views in writing, and many written views did not reach us. (Therefore Jewish law does not change when new manuscripts are printed which convert a minority into a majority. Despite this, the courage and insight needed to decide on a logical basis are sometimes lacking, and decisions are taken on the basis of numerical majority; but it would be better to rely on those authorities whose views have reached us in all branches of Torah. Even though we do not presume to decide between different Rishonim by conclusive logical arguments, nevertheless, the study of their arguments is a major factor in reaching a decision, and many times our master z"l (Rabbi Yosef Karo) decides in favor of one authority because his argument is convincing and removes difficulties. Our Rabbis have taught us not to abandon the use of our own intellect, and we must place great weight on intellectual comparison which is the connecting link between Creator and created.

Chazon Ish said he can disagree with Rishonim except in psak halacha

ר' אליעזר פלצינסקי (בשלום יהודה של חלק מועד, בעירובין או סוכה): יש כמה ויכוחים ארוכים עם החזו"א ובא' המכתבים כותב החזו"א : "כי אומנם לקחת חבל בתורה הוא ענין קשה ובעל גוונים רבים, לקחתי לי לחפש לעיין בג"מ עד כמה שאפשר, אף שיהיה נגד הראשונים ז"ל, ולהסתפק בידיעה לחוד שדברי רבותינו עיקר ואנחנו יתמי דיתמי, ומ"מ לא נפרוש מלברר וללבן מה שאפשר לנו לקטנותינו, וגם לקובע כן להלכה במקום שאין מפורש להיפך לענין פסק הלכה, ואם לא כן היה חסר לי עסק התורה, ואומנם זה נוגע לי לעצמי, אבל כמובן אחרים אין להם זיקה לדברי וחובתם לבחור דברי הראשונים ז"ל שהמה עיקר".