Shulchan Arukh, Yoreh De'ah 246

REMA: A person should not think to engage in Torah and to acquire wealth or honor with the learning, for one who ventures to think such a thought will not achieve the crown of Torah. Rather, one should make his Torah fixed and his work contingent, and should reduce business and engage in Torah. He should put aside temporary pleasures from his mind and do work all day for his livelihood if he does not have enough to eat, and the rest of the day and the night he should engage in Torah. And it is a great quality to generate one's sustenance from the work of his hands, as it says, "The product of your hands you shall surely eat" (Ps. 128). Anyone who puts in his mind occupying himself with Torah and not working, but supporting himself from tz'dakah, behold, this one desecrates the Divine name and dishonors the Torah. For it is forbidden to derive benefit from words of Torah, and any Torah that does not have work along with it, it attracts sin and he winds up robbing people. And all of this applies to one who is healthy and can engage in his work or in a profession a little and provide for his livelihood. However, an elder or a sick person is permitted to derive benefit from his Torah such that they will provide for him. And some say that it is permitted even for a healthy person.

And therefore the practice in all Jewish communities has been that the Rav of the city has an income and provisions from the other people of the city, so that he will not have to engage in work in front of other people, so that the Torah becomes degraded in front of the multitude. And [this applies] specifically to the sage who needs it, but for a wealthy person it is prohibited. And some are more lenient, saying that it is permitted for a sage and his students to accept subsidies from those who donate in order to strengthen the hands of those who study Torah, since in this manner they can engage in Torah in affluence. Nevertheless, one who is able to provide for himself well from the work of his own hands and to engage in Torah, it is a pious quality and a gift of God, but this is not the nature of all persons, for it is impossible for everyone to engage in Torah and to become wise in it and to provide for himself by himself....

How can people justify studying Torah all the time?

 https://ohr.edu/ask/ask003.htm

"And not only the Tribe of Levi, but any person whose spirit moves him to separate himself and stand before Hashem, to serve Him in order to know Him...behold he has become sanctified as the Holy of Holies, and Hashem becomes his portion, his inheritance for ever. And He will provide his basic necessities for him in this world, as with the Kohanim and Levi'im..."

Rabbi Moshe Isserlis (Rama) quotes Maimonides' first statement, that encourages earning a livelihood. He notes, however, that there are dissenting views, and that their opinion is the one that "all places in Israel" have adopted.

Rabbis and Taxes

Nedarim (62b) Rava said: It is permitted for a Torah scholar to say: I will not pay the head tax [karga], as it is written that the king of Persia wrote to Ezra, with regard to the priests, the Levites, and others who worked in the Temple: “It shall not be lawful to impose minda, belo, and halakh upon them” (Ezra 7:24). And Rabbi Yehuda said: Minda; this is the king’s portion. Belo; this is the money of the head tax. And halakh; this is arnona, a levy on people and their animals to perform physical labor in the service of the ruling authority. Since a Torah scholar is considered equivalent to a priest, as he is also dedicated to a sacred task, this exemption applies to him as well.

And Rava said further: It is permitted for a Torah scholar to say: I am a servant of the priests of fire worship and therefore I will not pay the head tax. Rava maintains that a scholar may issue a statement of this kind in a place where the priests of fire-worshippers are exempt from the head tax, because he actually is declaring himself a servant of God, who is referred to as “a devouring fire” (Deuteronomy 4:24). What is the reason that he is allowed to make this statement? He is saying it merely in order to chase a lion away from him, i.e., to avoid suffering a loss.

The Gemara relates that Rav Ashi had a particular forest, and he sold it for its wood to the temple of fire worship. Ravina said to Rav Ashi: Isn’t there the prohibition: “You shall not put a stumbling block before the blind” (Leviticus 19:14), which prohibits assisting others in committing transgressions? And yet you are providing assistance to an idolatrous cult. He said to him: Most of the wood they use is for kindling, not for their ritual service. Consequently, I need not be concerned that the particular wood that I have sold them will be used for idolatry.

Terrorist to get a free nose job?

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/328194

Terrorist Asra'a Jabas from Jerusalem, who was injured in a terror attack she carried out, has petitioned the Supreme Court demanding that the Israel Prisons Service fund a cosmetic nose job following her injury during that terror attack.

Scientist: 'Abu Aqleh was shot by a Palestinian terrorist, says evidence'

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/328190

From the stills and video shots of the incident, Shachaf notes, "it's clear that the journalists were standing behind a wall. The wall hid them from the IDF forces who were on the other side, further away. No shots could have penetrated that wall, and the same was the case with the shooting of al-Dura, as we showed from the investigation we conducted there at the time." According to Shachaf, the Al Jazeera journalists were standing in a spot that was protected from behind, from their right, and from in front of them, and was only open to their left, facing the Palestinian terrorists who were firing wildly, in the vague direction of the IDF forces.

Shooting at Texas elementary school leaves 19 children dead, horrifies nation

 https://www.politico.com/news/2022/05/24/uvalde-texas-school-shooting-00034864

Speaking in the U.S. Senate shortly after the initial death toll was announced, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) challenged Americans to act, citing the massacre in his own state at Sandy Hook Elementary School in December 2012.

”This isn’t inevitable. These kids weren’t unlucky. This only happens in this country,” Murphy said. “And nowhere else, nowhere else do little kids go to school thinking that they might be shot that day. Nowhere else do parents have to talk to their kids, as I have had to do, about why they got locked into a bathroom and told to be quiet for five minutes just in case a bad man entered that building. Nowhere else does that happen except here in the United States of America. And it is a choice. It is our choice to let it continue.”

California Gov. 

Gavin Newsom, a Democrat, tweeted a similar message: “Another shooting. And the GOP won’t do a damn thing about it. Who the hell are we if we cannot keep our kids safe. This is preventable. Our inaction is a choice.”

Uvalde School Shooting: How You Can Help After 20 Killed at Elementary

 https://www.newsweek.com/uvalde-school-shooting-how-you-can-help-after-20-killed-elementary-1709814

The Uvalde shooting was the 27th mass shooting at a U.S. school during 2022 alone, according to Education Week. The shooting came only 10 days after a mass shooting at a supermarket in Buffalo, New York, claimed 10 lives.

Biden: When in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby?

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/328135

“When in God’s name are we going to stand up to the gun lobby? When in God’s name are we going to do what we know in our gut needs to be done?” said Biden, adding, “The idea that an 18-year-old can walk into a gun store and buy two assault weapons -- it's just wrong.”

GOP primary win for Georgia secretary who wouldn’t ‘find’ votes for Trump in 2020

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/gop-primary-win-for-georgia-secretary-who-wouldnt-find-votes-for-trump-in-2020/

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who was a top target of former US President Donald Trump, has won the Republican primary as he seeks reelection.

Raffensperger beat three challengers, including Trump-endorsed US Rep. Jody Hice, who had criticized his handling of the 2020 election.

Raffensperger was among Trump’s chief targets when the former president turned his wrath on top Georgia officials for not taking steps to overturn his narrow election loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the state. Trump insisted without proof that victory had been stolen from him through widespread voter fraud.

Ra'am: We got huge budgets for Arab sector

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/328114

The United Arab List (Ra'am) presented its achievements in the decision of the Finance Committee today to approve the transfer of NIS 740 million for the Arab sector.

The decision includes the transfer of NIS 400 million from the Housing Ministry for infrastructure development, planning and construction in the Arab sector, NIS 200 million from the Interior Ministry to Arab municipalities, NIS 90 million from the Welfare Ministry to combat poverty and violence in Arab communities, and NIS 50 million from the Science and Social Equality Ministries for the development of research and science programs and youth support groups.

Shin Bet foils Hamas plot to assassinate MK Ben Gvir, bomb Jerusalem rail with drone

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/shin-bet-foils-hamas-plot-to-assassinate-mk-ben-gvir-bomb-jerusalem-rail-with-drone/

Israeli security forces uncovered an active Hamas terror cell in East Jerusalem that planned a series of attacks, including against far-right MK Itamar Ben Gvir, authorities said Tuesday.

According to the Shin Bet security agency and Israel Police, the five men planned a shooting attack against Ben Gvir and other Israeli targets, as well as kidnappings of Israeli soldiers, and a bombing attack on the Jerusalem light rail using a drone.

Southern Baptist Convention vilified sex abuse survivors - report

 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-61554996

The seven-month investigation found that survivors had come forward over two decades about abusers within the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC).

But their pleas for intervention were met with "resistance, stonewalling, and even outright hostility" by officials.

With 13 million members, SBC is the largest Protestant body in the US.

Sexual harassment, power abuse allegations rattle Germany’s liberal Jewish community

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/sexual-harassment-power-abuse-allegations-rattle-germanys-liberal-jewish-community/

A law firm that investigated abuse charges within the Catholic church in Germany is now doing the same for the country’s main Jewish organization, in the latest development of a mounting scandal that could topple Germany’s liberal Jewish establishment.

The Gercke Wollschläger firm will examine “allegations of sexualized harassment and abuse of power” at Abraham Geiger College, the Central Council of Jews in Germany announced last week.

It is the second investigation related to allegations against Rabbi Walter Homolka, the seminary’s founder and leader, and his husband that burst into public view May 6 in an explosive article in Die Welt, a German newspaper.

Marjorie Taylor Greene Pushes Bill Gates Monkeypox Conspiracy

 https://www.newsweek.com/marjorie-taylor-greene-pushes-bill-gates-monkeypox-conspiracy-1708789

During the Thursday night edition of her Facebook Live show MTG:Live, Greene baselessly connected the current monkeypox outbreak—which has consisted of fewer than 100 cases globally including at least one confirmed case in Massachusetts and one suspected case in New York—and Gates, the Microsoft founder who has often featured as a central character in right-wing conspiracy theories.