Senior Reform German rabbi steps down after being accused of sexual misconduct

 https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-706207

Rabbi Walter Homolka, co-founder and rector of the Potsdam Abraham Geiger College in Germany, has decided to step down from all of his roles after the German newspaper Die Welt published an in-depth article exposing claims of sexual harassment and misconduct by the senior liberal (Reform) rabbi and his husband.

Biblical Heroes, Imperfections, Truth: Thoughts on Parashat Lekh Lekha

 https://www.jewishideas.org/biblical-heroes-imperfections-truth-thoughts-parashat-lekh-lekha

Rabbi Hirsch makes a profoundly important point: “The Torah does not attempt to hide from us the faults, errors and weaknesses of our great men, and precisely thereby it places the stamp of credibility upon the happenings it relates. The fact that we are told about their faults and weaknesses does not detract from our great men. Indeed, it adds to their stature and makes their life stories even more instructive. Had they all been portrayed to us as models of perfection we would have believed that they had been endowed with a higher nature not give to us to attain. Had they been presented to us free of human passions and inner conflicts, their nature would seem to us merely the result of a loftier predisposition, not a product of their personal merit, and certainly no model we could ever hope to emulate.”

מנהלת בית ספר נעצרה בחשד לעבירות מין בתלמידות שלה

 https://13tv.co.il/item/news/domestic/crime-and-justice/crime/hr71f-903036798/

פרסום ראשון: משטרת מחוז ש"י עצרה היום (שני) מנהלת בית ספר בביתר עילית בחשד שביצעה עבירות מין בתלמידות שלה. מעצרה הוארך בארבעה ימים.

ככל הידוע, עד כה הוגשו שלוש תלונות והן מתייחסות לפרק זמן שלפני חמש שנים. כעת בודקים במשטרה האם ישנן תלמידות נוספות שנפגעו מהתנהלותה של המנהלת.

Bar cochbar = most doubted that he was Messiah

 Sanhedrin (93b)Rabbi Alexandri says that the term hariḥo teaches that God burdened the Messiah with mitzvot and afflictions like millstones [reiḥayim]. Rava says that hariḥo teaches that the Messiah will smell [demoraḥ] and then judge on that basis, sensing who is right, as it is written: “And he shall neither judge after the sight of [lemareh] his eyes, nor decide after the hearing of his ears; and with righteousness shall he judge the poor, and decide equity for the meek of the earth” (Isaiah 11:3–4).

The Gemara relates: Bar Koziva, i.e., bar Kokheva, ruled for two and a half years. He said to the Sages: I am the Messiah. They said to him: With regard to the Messiah it is written that he is able to smell and judge, so let us see ourselves whether he, bar Kokheva, is able to smell and judge. Once they saw that he was not able to smell and judge, the gentiles killed him.

Blemished Gedolim II

Shemos Rabbah (1:1) 1. NOW THESE ARE THE NAMES OF THE SONS OF ISRAEL, WHO CAME INTO EGYPT WITH JACOB; EVERY MAN CAME WITH HIS HOUSEHOLD (EX. I, 1): Thus we read: He that spareth his rod hateth his son; but he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes (Prov. XIII, 24). Ordinarily, if a man's friend says to him: ' So-and-so, smite your son,’ he is ready even to deprive him of his livelihood.Then why ’He that spareth his rod hateth his son’? To teach you that anyone who refrains from chastising his son causes him to fall into evil ways and thus comes to hate him. This is what we find in the case of Ishmael who behaved wickedly before Abraham his father, but he did not chastise him, with the result that he fell into evil ways, so that he despised him and cast him forth empty-handed from his house. What did Ishmael do? When he was fifteen years old, he commenced to bring idols from the street, toyed with them and worshipped them as he had seen others do. So when Sarah saw the son of Hagar the Egyptian, whom she had borne unto Abraham, making sport (Gen. XXI, 9)- (the word mezahek being always used of idolatry as in And they rose up to make merry (Ex. XXXII, 6)4)-she immediately said unto Abraham: Cast out this bondwoman and her son (Gen. XXI, 10) lest my son learn of his ways. Hence And the thing was very grievous in Abraham's sight on account of his son (ib. 11), because he had become depraved. And God said unto ouse empty-handed without clothes or means of livelihood? But this is to teach you that when Ishmael became depraved he ceased to think about him. What became of him in the end? After he had driven him out, he sat at the cross-roads, and robbed and molested passers-by, as it is said: And he shall be a wild ass of a man: his hand shall be against every man (Gen. XVI, 12).

Another example: Now Isaac loved Esau (ib. XXV, 28); hence because he did not chastise him, he became depraved. As we have learnt3: On that day, Esau the wicked committed five transgressions. He seduced a betrothed maiden, killed a man, denied resurrection, rejected the fundamental principles of religion, and despised his birthright. Moreover, he longed for the death of his father and sought to slay his brother, as it is said: Let the days of mourning for my father be at hand; then will I slay my brother Jacob (ib. XXVII, 4I). He caused Jacob to flee from his father's home and he also went to Ishmael to learn of him evil ways and to get more wives, as it is said: So Esau went unto Ishmael, and took unto the wives that he had Mahalath the daughter of Ishmael Abraham s son, the sister of Nebaioth, to be his wife (ib. XXVIII, 9).

Similarly, because David did not rebuke or chastise his son Absalom, he fell into evil ways, seeking to slay his father, sleeping with his concubines, and becoming the cause of his wandering bare-footed and weeping, and of the slaughter of many thousands and tens of thousands of Israelites, as well as of other sorrows without end. For it is written: A Psalm of David, when he fled from Absalom his son (Ps. III, 1) and is followed by:Lord, how many are mine adversaries become! (ib. 2). Depravity in a man's family is more grievous even than the war of Gog and Magogl; for whereas in reference to the war of Gog and Magog it is written: Why are the nations in an uproar’ (Ps. II, 1), in the case of Absalom it says: ’How many are mine adversaries.’ David treated Adonijah in a similar fashion, neither rebuking nor punishing him, and therefore he became depraved, as it is written: And his father had not grieved him all his life in saying: Why hast thou done so (I Kings I, 6). And he was born after Absalom (ib.). Was not Absalom the son of Maachah, and Adonijah the son of Haggith? Then why ’ And he was born after Absalom’? Only to show us that because Absalom had become corrupt on account of his father's failure to chastise him, while in the case of Adonijah we are told: ’And his father had not grieved him all his life,’ therefore he also became corrupt. On this account does it say: ’And he was born after Absalom.’

’But he that loveth him chasteneth him betimes’ (Prov. XIII, 24). This refers to the Holy One, blessed be He; because of His love for Israel, as it is written: I have loved you, saith the Lord (Mal. I, 2), doth He heap4 upon them chastisements. You will find that the three precious gifts which God gave unto Israel were all given after much suffering: The Torah, Eretz Israel, and the Life to Come.

Karine Jean-Pierre, who endorsed AIPAC boycott, to be next White House spokesperson

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/karine-jean-pierre-who-endorsed-aipac-boycott-to-be-next-white-house-spokesperson/

AIPAC, historically non-partisan, has in the last decade drifted apart from progressives on Israel policy. Most recently, it launched a PAC to directly support pro-Israel candidates for the first time; the PAC has so far given to more Republicans than to Democrats and has drawn criticism for giving to Republicans who voted not to affirm Biden’s election. It also is supporting the House Democrats’ leadership and about half of the party’s progressive caucus.

The Biden administration has failed its Covid test

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jan/15/omicron-covid-joe-biden-administration

So, when positivity rates get too high, the science says we must wear high-quality masks, distance when possible, and lock down if needed until levels drop to levels where the vaccines are most effective. (Restaurants, very dangerous worksites, should definitely be closed and their workers paid to stay home.)

But Democrats in Washington, Chicago and New York keep using vaccination as justification to keep schools open as daycare centers. Is this really for our collective safety? Or to keep workers earning more wealth for the Democratic donor class?

Welcome to Biden’s pandemic. It’s just as bad as Trump’s was.

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/2021/12/13/biden-trump-covid-deaths/

By contrast, Biden, elected on a promise to restore responsible management of the pandemic, has had the advantage of largely presiding over a time when vaccines were available and plentiful. But his march of progress has had ironically rockier terrain: clumsy, often-rushed reopenings and stronger mutations of the virus, including the delta and omicron variants.

Comparing Trump and Biden on COVID-19

 https://www.kff.org/coronavirus-covid-19/issue-brief/comparing-trump-and-biden-on-covid-19/

To gain a better understanding of how the candidates differ on their approach to addressing COVID-19, this document compares Trump’s record with Biden’s proposals. It starts with a broad overview of each candidate’s approach, followed by a detailed, side-by-side

Trump Says He Deserves An ‘A+’ For His Handling Of The Coronavirus Pandemic

 https://www.forbes.com/sites/tommybeer/2020/09/21/trump-says-he-deserves-an-a-for-his-handling-of-the-coronavirus-pandemic/?sh=66342e233386

TOPLINE

 President Donald Trump said on Monday that he and his administration have done a “phenomenal job” and deserve an “A+” for their handling of the coronavirus pandemic, despite the fact that nearly 200,000 Americans have died from the virus, the most deaths of any country.

US could have averted 40% of Covid deaths, says panel examining Trump's policies

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/feb/10/us-coronavirus-response-donald-trump-health-policy

The US could have averted 40% of the deaths from Covid-19, had the country’s death rates corresponded with the rates in other high-income G7 countries, according to a Lancet commission tasked with assessing Donald Trump’s health policy record.

Almost 470,000 Americans have died from the coronavirus so far, with the number widely expected to go above half a million in the next few weeks. At the same time some 27 million people in the US have been infected. Both figures are by far the highest in the world.

In seeking to respond to the pandemic, Trump has been widely condemned for not taking the pandemic seriously enough soon enough, spreading conspiracy theories, not encouraging mask wearing and undermining scientists and others seeking to combat the virus’s spread.

'It's an Apathy Remover.' The End of Roe Could Galvanize Democrats' Burned-Out Base

 https://time.com/6173552/democratic-party-grassroots-abortion/

Bad as this would be from liberals’ perspective, the prospect may re-energize an exhausted base. “This is probably the best thing that could have happened from an electoral standpoint, in terms of animating Democrats,” says Jess Morales Rocketto, a Democratic strategist who has organized around progressive issues like reproductive rights.

Blemished Gedolim

there is an issue of how to relate to gedolim who have done something problematic

Adam was a heretic

Avraham questioned G-d's judgment as did Avraham and Moshe

Yitzchok was not a good father or husband

Korach lead a rebellion against Moshe

The spies made an incorrect report

Miriam spoke lashon harah

Dovid was suspected of adultery

Rabbi Akiva supported a false messiah

Elisha ben Aubya was a heretic

Shabtzai Tzvi was a false messiah

Baal Shem Tov was viewed as a heretic

Rav Eybshuetz was considered by many to follow Shabtzai Tzvi

Rav Soloveitchik supported YU

Lubavitcher Rebbe was attacked for his messianic ideas

Rav Kook was too sympathetic to Zionism

Rabbi Goren had the Langer case

There are many more examples. The question is do you ignore the shortcomings?

It seems that happens sometimes while other cases the person is considered persona non grata.

At least 3 killed in terror attack in Elad

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/327033

At least three people have been killed and four others wounded in a terrorist attack in the haredi city of Elad Thursday night.

Several Magen David Adom (MDA) and United Hatzalah ambulances were called to the scene of the incident. According to MDA's statement, there are seven victims in total, three of whom have passed away. Of the other four victims, three are in serious condition, one is in moderate condition, and one is in light condition.

According to preliminary reports, the terrorist attacked people with an axe on a city street before moving to a nearby park to continue his killing spree. Police spokesperson Eli Levy said that there were reportedly two attackers, one armed with an axe, and one with a knife.