Netziv (Bereishis 23”1) ואחר כ״ז יש להתבונן במה שאמרו שאברהם היה טפל לשרה בנביאות. ואין זה אלא תימא. האדם הגדול אשר דבר עמו ה׳ כ״פ. יהיה טפל לשרה שלא דבר עמה ה׳ כ״א דבור א׳ לא כי צחקת. ומפרשים ברבה שהוא דבר ה׳. אלא הכונה הוא שהיה טפל ברוה״ק. שהרי שני דברים הם רוה״ק הוא מה שאדם מתבודד ומשרה עליו רוה״ק ויודע מה שרואה. אמנם לא דבר עמו ה׳. ונבואה הוא בחינה גדולה ורבה מזה כמו שביארנו. ודוד המלך ע״ה זכה לשניהם ואמר רוח ה׳ דבר בי ומלתו על לשוני. היינו רוח ה׳ הוא רוה״ק המופיע על דבר עצמו. וגם מלתו על לשוני שהוא נבואה ממש. ואברהם היה גדול בנבואה משרה. אבל ברוה״ק היתה שרה מצוינת יותר מא״א. והסיבה לזה הוא משני טעמים. א׳ שאברהם בצדקו היה מנהיג העולם ומדריכם לעבודת ה׳ וכמו שכ׳ לפנינו נשיא אלהים ויבואר לפנינו. ומי שעסקו עם המון רבה אינו יכול להתבודד כ״כ. משא״כ שרה היתה יושבת באהלה בקדושה וטהרה (וע׳ מש״כ הגאון חתם סופר בהקדמתו בזה דברים ראויים אליו ז״ל). שנית דאין רוה״ק חל אלא מתוך שמחה ש״מ. ושרה זה צדקתה להפלא שהיתה באמונתה בבטחון חזק מאד נעלה כמו שמבואר ברבה שאמרה שרה לא״א את בהבטחה ואני באמונה ומי שבא מכח הבטחה ידוע מאמרם ז״ל אין הבטחה לצדיקים בעוה״ז. שמא יגרום החטא. וע׳ מש״כ לעיל י״ד י׳. משא״כ שרה שהיתה חזקה באמונתה בלי שום הבטחה ע״כ לא נתעצבה בכל ימי חייה והיתה שקועה ברוה״ק. וזהו דבר הכתוב שני חיי שרה. דשנים שלה כולם היו בחיי שמחה ונפש המעלה ונשגב בחיי רוחני. וכענין לשון גמ׳ מספר ימיו כפלים. כך אמר הכתוב דשני חייה היו שני פעמים משום שהיו חייה עליזים וסמוכים בה׳ מבטחה. ונראה עוד לפרש ע״פ הפשט משמעות שני מספר שני. ובאשר שרה נעשית ילדה אחרי זקנתה וחזרה לספר חליפות השנים וא״כ היה לה שני פעמים חליפות השנים. בראשונה חיתה תשעים שנה. ובשניה ל״ז שנים. וסך הכל שני חיי שרה היו מאה ועשרים ושבע שנים וע׳ בעל הטורים:
Saturday, November 19, 2022
Trump responds to special counsel news with debunked claim about Obama and the Bushes
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/18/politics/fact-check-trump-special-counsel-response/index.html
Facts First: Trump’s claims are, again, false – and they have been debunked by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) itself. As NARA explained in an August statement, Barack Obama did not take the presidential documents Trump claimed Obama had taken. Rather, NARA itself moved documents from the Obama administration to a NARA-managed facility in the Chicago area, near where Obama’s presidential library is being built. NARA similarly explained in a statement in October, after Trump added other past presidents to the baseless narrative, that neither of the Bushes took the documents Trump claimed they had taken. Again, it was NARA that took the Bushes’ presidential documents to facilities that NARA managed near the future locations of their presidential libraries.
Chaim Halpern: Declared unfit by senior London rabbis
Although the rabbi is not named, it is a reference to Rabbi Chaim Halpern, a leading haredi rabbi who has been accused of sexual misdemeanors with around 30 women who come to him for counseling and rabbinic guidance. Rabbi Halpern resigned as a religious judge and as a rabbinic adviser to several London institutions last month, but has remained in charge of his own synagogue.
Some 30 rabbis originally said they would sign a statement against Halpern after hearing the evidence against Halpern two weeks ago. However, rabbis belonging to the Union of Orthodox Hebrew Congregations, with which Halpern was affiliated, were forbidden to sign it, delaying its publication and prompting widespread criticism from members of London’s haredi community who bemoaned the lack of rabbinic leadership.
The five rabbis who put their name to the letter Thursday night were the former head of the London Beth Din, Dayan Chanoch Ehrentreu; London Beth Din dayanim Menachem Gelley and Yonatan Abraham; and two rabbis from Halpern’s neighborhood of Golders Green, Shimon Weingarten and Berel Knopfler. The latter two are widely regarded as having spearheaded the efforts to call Rabbi Halpern to account.
According to the letter, the rabbis conducted “painstaking and extensive investigations, including interviews with alleged victims,” which left them “in no doubt as to the veracity of our own conclusion that the grave allegations warrant the immediate withdrawal of the [rabbi] from all rabbinic and counseling functions.” They warned the public “about the risks involved in allowing the alleged perpetrator to resume his activities.” [...]
Ephraim Mirvis slams ‘depraved’ Rabbi Chaim Halpern facing fresh sex allegations
im-mirvis-slams-depraved-rabbi-chaim-halpern-facing-fresh-sex-allegations-4iHSsfcCWto4kVAkHtZ9eO
The Chief Rabbi has accused a Jewish minister facing fresh allegations of sex abuse of manipulating his role to serve his “depraved criminality”. The furious statement by Rabbi Mirvis also accuses Golders Green Rabbi Chaim Halpern of “transgressing halacha”.
Friday, November 18, 2022
What was Adam's sin? to live as man or angel
ידיעת הרע סתחלקת לשני חלקים : הא'( היא ידיעה שאינה םערררח וצדן ותשוקה. רחב'( ידיעה שסעודות רצון ותשוקה. דרך משל : אבר יודעים, כי שתיית סם פלוני הדא דנו סתרק בזאר, ויש סםים כאלו כסר עשיך חארםיוס, שחרא נחשב לדבר היותר נעים שבעולם. חכמי הבזבע אוסרים, כי םעשני חארפיד c סיד שלוקחים הםקסות לתוך פיהם חם סרנישים חתפשסרת הגשסיות, חסונות שדנות וםשו u ת כל אחת יותר בעיסה כחברתה, עוכרות כנד עיניחס. וכתוך חלומות ררז'ות כאלו, בםיתת נשיקה כזר הם נפפורים סן העולם לכסדי. ובכל זאת, אף שיודעים אנו את פחיקות חסם הזח, אין הידיעה הזאת סעודות אצלנו שום רצון וחשוקה, יע i ני חכרת תשכל בנזקו
Mohammed bin Salman: Saudi leader given US immunity over Khashoggi killing
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-63671947
The doctrine of head of state immunity is well established in customary international law," Justice Department lawyers said.
But the Biden administration was keen to emphasise that the ruling was not a determination of innocence.
"This is a legal determination made by the State Department under longstanding and well-established principles of customary international law," a spokesperson for the White House National Security Council said in a written statement.
"It has nothing to do with the merits of the case."
Kari Lake declines to concede, says she’s assembling legal team
Arizona gubernatorial candidate Kari Lake (R) declined to concede governor race to Democrat Katie Hobbs Thursday, raising concerns about the election process.
The Associated Press and other outlets projected that Hobbs won the race on Monday. But Lake indicated she is assembling a legal team that is “collecting evidence and data” pertaining to the electoral process.
Lauren Boebert Declares Herself Winner of Colorado Race That’s Too Close to Call
Republican Rep. Lauren Boebert (CO) declared herself the winner of her congressional race Thursday evening, despite the race heading to an automatic recount. While media outlets, including The Associated Press, have deemed the race far too close to be called, the MAGA-loving firebrand conveyed to her over 1.7 million Twitter followers that she’s the victor, while only being ahead of Democrat opponent Adam Frisch by around 550 votes.
Jared Kushner's $2B Saudi Deal Resurfaces as GOP Targets Hunter Biden
A$2 billion Saudi deal involving Jared Kushner, Donald Trump's son-in-law and former adviser, resurfaced on Thursday after the GOP announced a plan to investigate a possible connection between President Joe Biden and the alleged finances of his son, Hunter Biden.
Fox News Co-Host Rips House GOP for Targeting Bidens Instead of Inflation - the real Red Wave?
https://www.newsweek.com/fox-news-co-host-rips-house-gop-targeting-bidens-instead-inflation-1760479
Fox News co-host Geraldo Rivera criticized House Republicans on Thursday for opening an investigation into the Biden family, rather than focusing on inflation and other issues the nation is facing.
Thursday, November 17, 2022
House Republicans vow to investigate Biden and his family’s business dealings
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/17/politics/house-republicans-white-house-hunter-biden/index.html
“Instead of working with President Biden to address issues important to the American people, like lower costs, congressional Republicans’ top priority is to go after President Biden with politically motivated attacks chock full of long-debunked conspiracy theories” spokesmen for the White House Counsel’s office, Ian Sams, said in a statement to CNN.
House GOP seeks revenge against Democrats
Now that they’ve taken the majority at last, House Republicans made it explicit on Thursday: Their long-simmering investigation into Hunter Biden investigation is really about his father.
“I want to be clear: This is an investigation of Joe Biden, and that’s where the committee will focus in the next Congress,” said incoming Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.), who’s seen as the party’s leading player in Hunter Biden oversight.
Wednesday, November 16, 2022
Kari Lake’s Loss in Arizona Destroys ‘Stop the Steal’
If anyone needs more evidence that “Stop the Steal” was a loser for the GOP this year, the party’s Arizona wipeout is definitive. On Monday Kari Lake joined the list of Republicans in the Grand Canyon State who ran on the stolen 2020 election and lost.
The Time Is Now
BS"D
"The Time Is Now" to Free ALL Israeli Women from the Military Draft °° Degel, Aguda & Lot's Vittur On His Own Daughters °° Same-Sex Marriage in U.S. Senate
22 MarCheshvan, 5783 / November 16, '22
By Binyomin Feinberg, former contributor to The Jewish Press
° QUESTION: Why is it that, when it comes to emulating Lot's apparent vittur (compromise) on the purity of his own daughters (according to some commentaries), we find so many ostensibly anti-zionist politicians, activists - and even some Rabbis - venerating and genuflecting to the Israeli government party-line - by relegating "non-religious" girls [as antireligious/ secularist headhunters at the Israeli Draft Office opt to qualify them] to forced military service, and, so often, military incarceration, with all of the indignities that go along with that leftist, male-dominated milieu - especially for Ba'alos Teshuva, sefardi, Ethiopian, immigrants, and sundry "periphery" girls? At least Lot was sincerely trying to save his guests from woken "Equality" treatment by the indigenous Rainbow barbarians, rather than seeking to advance his real-estate development career via government largesse.
° The following is a link to a Guidebook ("pocketbook") provided by the pro-Israel advocacy organization "Chotam." It's an English guide for religious girls to avoid enlistment in the IDF:
Right now, there's a rare opportunity
to push for foundational policy changes in Israel, via an unprecedented level of religious clout that could be leveraged to stand against Israeli government promotion of immoral, anti-Torah policies. This window of time obliges us even more to push to eradicate the entire female draft, without delay -- for ALL girls, not only those the Draft Office recognizes as "religious enough" to be saved from indignities endemic to the Army milieu.
Given the recent gains by followers of the martyred Rabbi Meir Kahane, HY"D, who's broad platform unequivocally opposed drafting women into the Israeli Army, we would hope that the golden opportunity to finally eliminate the female military draft altogether isn't squandered. The fact that MK Avi Maoz of the pro-morality No'am Party is publicly advocating for prioritizing restoration of basic morality accentuates the obligation on other members of Knesset who campaigned as representing religious parties to finally grow a spine on those issues of foundational morality, including the escalation female military draft disaster.
The experience of the past few years, in which the Army Draft Office is encroaching on more and more traditional and religious girls, with increasing impunity, demonstrates that no approach other than fighting for a truly universal female military service exemption will suffice. And that's one policy that actually may endure subsequent leftist governments, because, once free from conscription, even many "nonreligious" women won't agree to be again forced into military service.
° Despite hopes to the contrary, Maital bas Tamar, a 20-year-old sefardi female refusenik, has still not been granted a military service exemption by the Israeli Army, despite demonstrating her depth of conviction by enduring two stints of military incarceration over her refusal to enlist. See http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2022/10/true-strength.html (Sun., Oct. 16, 2022)), the most recent post on her plight. There we report some of the inexcusable human rights abuses to which she was allegedly subjected, by Israeli military police.
° Readers may wonder why we sometimes publicize allegations (by Israeli girls being pursued by the Army Draft Office) before being proven. Reporting a PLAUSIBLE allegation - AS an allegation - remains a judgement call we're called to make on a regular basis. Some of the relevant factors we must often way include:
(1) the preponderance of evidence, consisting of similar allegations of misconduct by the Army, Military Police, etc., in previous cases;
(2) the inability to prove or disprove the allegations, especially within the requisite time-frame;
(3) the High Stakes: in case they are true, not publicizing credible allegations risks enabling more mistreatment of innocent girls standing up for their religious values and/or personal modesty and dignity;
(4) the existence of a presumption of responsibility (a "chazaka," if you will) on the part of the headhunters at the Army Draft Office, who, to begin with, have no moral right to draft, threaten, intimidate, dupe, arrest, or persecute ANY girl altogether - of ANY religious, racial, national, or cultural background. Thus, the burden of proof of overall innocence lays squarely on the Army Draft Office, rather than on the refusenik girl, even if her specific allegations are not yet proven.
° Another point requiring clarification is that when we critique the Israeli Army for individual abuses (which truly do abound), we do so cognizant of the fact that not everyone in the system is actively perpetrating said abuses. Nevertheless, the very tolerance of such abuses, even if they are clearly only aberrations, is wrong. How much more so when such abuses are commonly, credibly reported or alleged. Thus, our description of the Israeli Army as "exploitive," for example, is not an exaggeration, but rather a critique of those in leadership positions who indeed are responsible for all of the exploitation that occurs on their watch.
May we merit to see the day when the righteous efforts of all good people yield their fruit.
~~~
° SAME-SEX MARRIAGE ALERT:
The U.S. Senate is expected to vote on a national same-sex "marriage" bill, today, Wednesday. No matter what changes Congressional leaders are making to the bill - to render it palatable for sellouts of religious persuasion - the legislators need realize that our opposition is based on principle, and therefore remains irreconcilable. Additionally, practically speaking, it's been observed that "the Road to H--- is paved with Religious Exemptions." Once the depraved "Rainbow" policies are accepted by "the People," as represented by Congress - it's just a matter of time before we lose those religious protections. Once society accepts these abominations, in principle, as civil rights -- those faux Civil Rights will ultimately trump our religious liberties.
The United States faces grave threats, spiritual and physical. Another vote for this rebellion against G-d (e.g., see Chullin 92b, Maharal) brings America ever closer to the looming fate shared by precursors of the contemporary Rainbow Mob: the generation of the Mabul (Great Deluge; see VaYikra Rabbah 23:9) and Sodom. A sign of an idiot is repetition of identical actions expecting different results. Also realize how passage of such legislation will impact Israeli society and law.
Call your senator today, as soon as possible, to actively oppose the "Respect (sic) For Marriage Act."
Congressional Switchboard: 202.224.3121 (ask for the number of the specific Senator or Congressman needed)
~~~
"... And if someone, like Pinchos, is one among a multitude, and every man is against him when he dares to speak out for truth and to fight for the Law -- the more lonely his stand, the greater the number of his adversaries, the more powerful is his word, the mightier his deed."
-- Rav Shamshon Raphael Hirsch OB"M (1808-1888), (in "Judaism Eternal," vol. 2, p. 293)
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