Zohar (1:081b) R. Judah said : ‘Consider this. Because Abram went down to Egypt without first obtaining God's consent, therefore his descendants were enslaved to the Egyptians four hundred years.’
Tuesday, July 5, 2022
On Conservative Radio, Misleading Message Is Clear: ‘Democrats Cheat’
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/05/business/media/conservative-radio-democrats-cheat.html
Republican politicians and cable outlets like Fox News have carried the torch for Mr. Trump’s conspiracy theories ever since. But the loudest and most consistent booster of these unfounded claims has been talk radio, where conservative hosts reduce the jumble of false voter fraud theories into a two-word mantra: “Democrats cheat.”
Shireen Abu Akleh probe could harm Biden-Abbas meeting - analysis
https://www.jpost.com/arab-israeli-conflict/article-711290
This week’s harsh denunciations of the US by the PA leadership are part of Ramallah’s effort to stave off the widespread criticism from its own people. However, the anti-US statements are also seen by some Palestinians as part of an attempt by the PA to extract concessions from the US administration on the eve of the Biden-Abbas meeting.
The Hasidic Underground
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/the-hasidic-underground
In those days (the late 1970s) Aryeh Kaplan, who was already well known as an Orthodox writer, lived on the outskirts of Boro Park. His books on Kabbalah had been published by Samuel Weiser, who owned a New Age press from Maine. This bothered some of the more conformist Haredim in Boro Park, and thus I think Kaplan’s decision to live on the margins of Boro Park was more than symbolic. An ultra-Orthodox Jew of Sephardic descent, who was a baal teshuvah himself and once served as a rabbi in a Conservative synagogue (which in Boro Park is basically the same as a church), Kaplan decided to stay on the margins of that world. A deeply pious man, he would have an open house after Friday night dinner, and we sometimes walked there to listen to him. The neighborhood was not safe at night, and thus going to Kaplan’s home itself required a modicum of emunah (faith). His dining room was adorned with a series of bizarre oil paintings. At some point, with no training as an artist, Kaplan decided to refrain from study for a year and devote himself to painting. After the year he stopped and never painted again. Those paintings were the product of his experiment.
He would gesture to someone to ask him a question about the weekly Torah portion and then he would just spin off of that for what seemed like hours (it probably wasn’t). In any event, Kaplan emphatically did not like Dovid Din. It was a kind of fissure in the scene because there was a lot of overlap in those years between Dovid and Aryeh Kaplan. Kaplan saw something in Dovid he didn’t trust, but he didn’t know what. We just never mentioned Dovid in Kaplan’s presence. Many years later Kaplan’s intuitions about Dovid turned out to be right. He was hiding something.
RABBI ARYEH KAPLAN – THE MAN BEHIND THE BOOKS:
https://www.kotzkblog.com/2019/10/247-rabbi-aryeh-kaplan-man-behind-books.html
R. Kaplan wrote that some medieval Kabbalists may have used psychedelic drugs[8] to achieve lofty states. Also, cannabis, known as k’nei bosem (sounds similar) was used in the anointing oil.[9]
Drugs in Judaism
https://ohr.edu/ask_db/ask_main.php/89/Q1/
In general, using drugs is unhealthy. But even if no harm is done to the body, drugs lead to a lack of concentration needed to pray, fulfill mitzvot and learn Torah properly.
Monday, July 4, 2022
The Prohibition of Geneivas Daas
https://dinonline.org/2016/06/30/beware-of-deception-the-prohibition-of-geneivas-daas/
The Semag (Negative Prohibition 155) and the Shulchan Aruch Harav (Onaah 11) likewise state that the prohibition of deception is a Torah law. The Semak (262), however, writes that the prohibition is rabbinic, and this is also the opinion of the Bach (Choshen Mishpat 228).
Some authorities make a distinction between commerce and other matters, writing that the Torah prohibition applies only to sales and commerce (see Sefer Ha-Kovetz, De’os 2:6; see also Shulchan Aruch Ha-Rav, who makes special mention of deception that results in financial gain). Certainly, if a merchant purposely conceals a flaw in the goods he sells, it will be a full transgression of the prohibition (and be classified as monetary theft as well).
Sending Anti-Semitic Vaccine Conspiracy Email
David “Dave” Bateman, who cofounded the Utah-based property management software company in 2003 and stepped down as CEO last year as the company raised more than $500 million from private investors, had emailed a group including some of Utah’s leading tech CEOs, investors and other public figures—including its governor, Spencer Cox, calling upon them to “stop the vaccination drive” due to an unfounded conspiracy theory blaming the Jews for “a sadistic effort underway to euthanize the American people.”
Sunday, July 3, 2022
Will IDF kitchens become no-go areas for religious soldiers?
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/355912
Rabbi Elyakim Levanon, the rosh yeshivah (dean) of the Elon Moreh yeshivah and the rabbi of Samaria, has written another letter to his students currently serving in the IDF warning them that if the new initiative regarding dairy cooking in the IDF is implemented, they will no longer be able to eat from the IDF kitchens.
Post-Nekadesh Event: Activists Ask for No More Advertising on Frum News Sites and Social Media Platforms
The paper, given out at Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, NJ, says, “We, the undersigned, ask of all our mosdos and businesses to preserve the kedusha of our community and Klal Yisroel and not advertise on any news sites and social media platform.”
It is not yet confirmed which mosdos or businesses have signed on to this commitment.
TAKING THE HIGH GROUND
https://mishpacha.com/taking-the-high-ground/
’ll be honest, I was nervous about attending the asifah. I know how deeply phones — any phones — steal our presence, and this happens right under our noses. I have plenty of guilt around this topic. But I knew I needed to push myself to go because I needed and wanted to be part of a revolution of 40,000 women gathering to make a significant change in this area. I was expecting chizuk and a strong reminder to make this nisayon a priority, instead of leaving it on the back burner. I was just hoping I wouldn’t walk out with any extra guilt.
'She's 10': Child Rape Victim's Abortion Denial Sparks Outrage on Twitter
https://www.newsweek.com/shes-10-child-rape-victims-abortion-denial-sparks-outrage-twitter-1721248
A10-year-old rape victim in Ohio was denied an abortion, sparking outrage online as many Republican-led states strip away reproductive rights following the Supreme Court's overruling of Roe v. Wade.
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