Texas GOP Declares Biden Illegitimate, Demands End to Abortion

 https://www.newsweek.com/texas-gop-declares-biden-illegitimate-demands-end-abortion-1717167

Texas Republicans acted on multiple resolutions and platform changes at their state convention this weekend—including declaring that President Joe Biden was "not legitimately elected" and demanding an end to abortion.

Texas GOP Convention Sparks Intraparty Feud on Treatment of Gay Republicans

https://www.newsweek.com/texas-gop-convention-sparks-intraparty-feud-treatment-gay-republicans-1717159 

The Texas GOP denied the Log Cabin Republicans, which is an organization that represents LGBTQ Republicans, earlier this month from having a booth at their state convention, sparking a debate online about the treatment of gay conservatives.

Woman freed after being ‘chained’ in her marriage for 22 years

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/woman-freed-after-being-chained-in-her-marriage-for-22-years/

Tamar is a pseudonym as the woman asked to maintain a degree of privacy while sharing her story. Though she provided an account of her ordeal through the organization, Tamar would not speak directly to The Times of Israel.

New report shows Jewish young adults crave Shabbat dinner experience

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/354933

Shabbat dinners can lead to more Jewish engagement. OneTable leads some participants to seek out new Jewish organizations and communities. About 1 in 4 participants say that they’ve adopted new Jewish rituals or practices since their first dinner, and nearly 1 in 3 have sought out new Jewish organizations or communities.

Herschel Walker Mocked Over False Claim He Was FBI Agent: 'Humiliating Lie'

 https://www.newsweek.com/herschel-walker-fbi-agent-police-false-claim-lie-1715498

The former football star reportedly told an audience in 2019: "I spent time at Quantico at the FBI training school. Y'all didn't know I was an agent?"

In the past, Walker has falsely claimed to have graduated from the University of Georgia as well as wrongly saying he was high school valedictorian and that he had founded a charity for veterans.

Russia Implores Ukraine to 'Stop Senseless Resistance' in Severodonetsk - In other words don't make us kill you"!

 https://www.newsweek.com/russia-implores-ukraine-stop-senseless-resistance-severodonetsk-1716332

"Once again we urge the authorities in (Kyiv) to display prudence, to give the appropriate instructions to the militants to end senseless resistance and leave the territory of the Azot plant," Mizintsev said.

Herschel Walker, Critic of Absentee Dads, Admits to Yet ANOTHER Secret Son - Trump endorsed

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/herschel-walker-critic-of-absentee-dads-admits-to-yet-another-secret-son?ref=scroll

Walker was also reportedly involved with two other women around the same time—Julie Blanchard, the woman who would later become his second wife, and Myka Dean, who alleged a 20-year on-and-off affair, which ended in 2012 when Walker allegedly told her he would “blow your head off” in a dispute, according to previous reporting from the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

The pattern belies a deep hypocrisy. As The Daily Beast reported, Walker has made a point over the years to criticize absentee fathers, beseeching parents in multiple addresses to “hug your child.”

Gazan aid worker convicted of embezzling millions for Hamas

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/gazan-aid-worker-convicted-of-embezzling-millions-for-hamas/

An Israeli court on Wednesday convicted Mohammad el-Halabi, a Gazan aid worker, of transferring millions in funds to the Hamas terror group, on all but one of the counts against him.

Israeli forces arrested Halabi, who worked at World Vision — a highly respected Christian humanitarian organization that operates around the world — in 2016 and charged him with transferring millions of the nonprofit’s funds to Hamas. Since then, he has been held under arrest.

They set out to produce an ‘accessible’ Mishnah. The price tag: $645

 They set out to produce an ‘accessible’ Mishnah. The price tag: $645

Nevertheless, the study of classical Jewish texts is not just for specialists, and is central to the practice of many observant Jews, both clergy and laypeople. And building a Jewish library is an investment: While the Oxford Mishnah doesn’t have a direct competitor, other editions of the Mishnah can cost nearly $300. A full set of the Babylonian Talmud, which includes both the Mishnah and the expansive commentary known as Gemara, can cost upwards of $2,000. The Jewish Publication Society’s five-volume commentary on the Five Books of Moses sells for $360, or $75 per volume.

Synagogue Sues Florida Over Abortion Ban for Violating Religious Freedoms

 https://www.newsweek.com/synagogue-sues-florida-over-abortion-ban-violating-religious-freedoms-1715835

 But Congregation L'Dor Va-Dor [Reform] in Boynton Beach, Florida, has claimed in a lawsuit that Florida's 15-week abortion ban violates the religious freedom rights of Jews.

Yeshiva University now obligated to host LGBTQ+ club on campus

 https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-709452

Judge Lynn Kotler ruled on Tuesday that YU, as a non-religious organization, is subject to the New York City Human Rights Law and directed it to “immediately grant plaintiff YU Pride Alliance the full equal accommodations, advantages, facilities and privileges afforded to all other student groups at Yeshiva University.” In the decision, the judge determined that “Yeshiva University is not a ‘religious corporation,’” and therefore cannot ban a certain group because of the Jewish faith.

According to YU’s independent student newspaper The Commentator, YU will appeal the decision. “While we love and care for our students, who are all – each and every one – created in God’s image, we firmly disagree with today’s ruling and will immediately appeal the decision,” a YU spokesperson told The Commentator.

Trump said he could kill and win – Covid and cheating may prove it

 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/oct/11/donald-trump-fifth-avenue-shoot-covid-election

“I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters,” Donald Trump boasted in 2016. He thought his almost unlimited bravado, bombast and dominance of any situation allowed him to get away with figurative murder."

Since then, the president’s Fifth Avenue principle has been repeatedly tested – most notably by the Access Hollywood tape, Robert Mueller’s findings that Trump obstructed justice and his campaign aides cooperated with Russia, overt racism, quid pro quo to the president of Ukraine, and impeachment – yet some 40% of American voters have stuck by him notwithstanding.

They’ve stuck by him even as more than 210,000 Americans have died from Covid-19, one of the world’s highest death rates – due in part to Trump initially downplaying its dangers, then refusing responsibility for it, promoting quack remedies for it, muzzling government experts on it, pushing states to reopen despite it, and discouraging people from wearing masks.

The Parameters of Kol Isha by Rabbi Chaim Jachter

 https://www.koltorah.org/halachah/the-parameters-of-kol-isha-by-rabbi-chaim-jachter

Rav Yaakov Breisch (Teshuvot Chelkat Yaakov 1:163), on the other hand, forbids a man to listen to a female voice on the radio. He reasons that the aforementioned Gemara in Sanhedrin 45a does not apply when there is some form of connection with the woman. He argues that a man’s Yetzer Hara is interested even if he only hears a woman’s voice. He rules strictly even in case where the listener is not acquainted with the singer. Rav Shmuel Wosner (Teshuvot Shevet Halevi 3:E.H.181 and Rav Binyamin Silber (Az Nidberu 9:9) also rule strictly on this question.

Observance of the Kol Isha prohibition is quite challenging for us as this prohibition runs counter to the prevailing Western culture. In today’s promiscuous society where outrageous behavior is deemed acceptable, a woman’s singing voice appears innocuous. Moreover, the general culture views this prohibition offensive and demeaning to women. We are challenged to hold firm to our beliefs against the flow of the general cultural tide. This is one of the issues that we must part company with the rest of society, just as Avraham Avinu and Yitzchak Avinu parted with their two servants on the road to Akeidat Yitzchak. Rav Yehuda Amital told me that we should strictly observe the Kol Isha prohibition today precisely because of the deterioration of the moral standards of western society.

Listening to Women Sing

 https://halachipedia.com/index.php?title=Listening_to_Women_Sing

Some are lenient to allow listening to a woman's voice on a tape or radio (and not seeing her image) if one doesn't know what the singer looks like. But if one does know what the singer looks like it is prohibited listen to her voice. Some say that it is only considered knowing what she looks like if one saw her in person and not having seen her picture.[12] Of course, this is only when the song isn't a sexual or inappropriate song.[13]

So the general consensus is that a woman's singing voice is ervah, and during Shema, even a man's wife's voice is ervah. What do our gedolai hador have to say? As found in an article by Rabbi Chaim Jachter aptly named, "The Parameters of Kol Isha", it asks if רגילות takes away the prohibition, since female singing is everywhere nowadays. Rav Ovadia Yosef says that in no way does it lessen the problem- he says that if both the Gemara and the Shulchan Aruch talk about this halacha, then we have no right to say it doesn't apply. When asked about females singing on the radio, one of today's most common questions, he felt that as long as the listener has never even glimpsed a picture of the singer, alive or dead, then listening is permitted. (Rabbi Jachter cites Teshuvos Yabia Omer 1:6).