For experts, the evidence in two probes compels charging Trump

 https://thehill.com/regulation/national-security/3742386-for-experts-the-evidence-in-two-probes-compels-charging-trump/

wo reports analyzing two different criminal investigations into Donald Trump have reached a singular conclusion: there is enough evidence to bring charges against the former president. 

Veteran prosecutors and top legal minds this week banded together to offer an assessment of two ongoing probes — one in Georgia examining Trump’s actions in the state leading up to Jan. 6, 2021, the other led by the Justice Department as it explores the mishandling of sensitive government documents at Mar-a-Lago.

GOP' prime focus is not crime or economy but attacking President Biden

 https://apnews.com/article/biden-inflation-donald-trump-business-9af868065b776b21f81fa73e7bafb97d

“The top priority is to deal with inflation and the cost of living. ... What I don’t want to see is what we saw in the Trump administration, where Democrats went after the president and the administration incessantly,” Rep.-elect Mike Lawler of New York said on CNN.

Herschel Walker says in rambling speech he wants to be ‘werewolf, not vampire’

 https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/nov/17/herschel-walker-republican-georgia-werewolf-vampire

n a campaign speech on Wednesday, the Republican candidate for US Senate in Georgia, Herschel Walker, told supporters: “I don’t want to be a vampire any more. I want to be a werewolf.”

The remark was the latest controversial or outright bizarre intervention from the former football star who like other candidates endorsed by Donald Trump struggled to overcome his Democratic opponent in the midterm elections.

Christie rebukes Trump: ‘It is time to stop whispering… It is time to stop being afraid of any one person’

 https://thehill.com/homenews/3743291-christie-rebukes-trump-it-is-time-to-stop-whispering-it-is-time-to-stop-being-afraid-of-any-one-person/

“We keep losing and losing and losing,” Christie said on Saturday. “And the fact of the matter is the reason we’re losing is because Donald Trump has put himself before everyone else.”

Avraham was not inferior to Sarah in prophesy

 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:

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

Times of Israel   Five senior London rabbis issued a public statement Thursday night declaring that one of their colleagues “is not fit and proper to act in any rabbinic capacity”.

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”.

What was Adam's sin? to live as man or angel

Madreigas haadam ch 1):The issue of the nature of the Tree of Knowledge according to how we picture it is very difficult to understand. How is possible that Adam the greatest of G-d’s creation  who contained all the souls of mankind    - should transgress a direct command from G-d on the very same day that he received the command? This is especially difficult since he knew that the punishment for disobedience would be death – this is something that none of us – with our poor intellects would even think of doing. Even according to the view of the Rambam that the basis of the sin was a mistake – this requires clarification – How could he come to making such an error since before the Sin his mind was purely rational without any material influence – so how could he make an intellectual error? If you accept that this created nature made it impossiblr to err regarding good and evil but only regarding truth and lies, what was he supposed to do if in fact the error was about truth? Furthermore how did the sepent mislead Eve what was her error? It is inconceivable that she believed the sepent’s assertion that she would not die more than G-d Who said she would die? What was her response to the serpent saying that they might die when in fact He said they would certainly die?

Knowledge of evil is of two types. The first type does not arouse lust and desire while the second type does. For example I might know that taking  a certain drug is extremely pleasurable such as smoking opium. Scientists say that immediately after  placing opium in one’s mouth  there is a feeling of detachment from the physical and the appearance of many diverse and wonderful images each new one more pleasant than the previous pass before his eyes. Within the context of these dreams and vision’s, this kiss of death he passes entirely from the world. Nevertheless even though  we know how pleasant the experience is it doesn’t arouse in us a lust or desire because we know also how harmful the experience is. This knowledge suppresses our natural desire for all pleasant experiences The awareness of the dangers makes it disgusting so it is not a real chice for us at all And there is another type of knowledge such as the awareness that lust jealousy and desire for honor and adulation is very  self destructive, nevertheless that awareness  does not influence our desires  but simply remains just an intellectual fact

Adam before the Sin was entirely rational intellect without any influence from desire or emotions. Thus his physical, material side had no influence whether for good or bad. He was fully aware of the bad and yet he only did what was good. His mind was like that of an angel, while his physical being was like an external garment. This expessed by the verse in Job 10:11): You clothed me with skin and flesh. Just as we are not ashamed of our clothing to the point that we would change them for others that is how his body was perceived by Adam.. That is why it says they were naked but not embarrassed. There was only a single difference between his and our clothing. His clothing was eternal and never needed changing. There was only aspect distinguishing him from an actual angel. An angel has absolutely no free will. He canot do evil even if he wanted because his essence is doing good. The first man Adam was not that way. Even though his mind functioned without the slightest influence from his physical nature, nevertheless he had the option of not being like an angel i.e. he could live a life of free choice and not the existence of an angel. He had that choice.

Thus his free will was not like ours - choosing between good and evil or truth vs lies. .  Rather he could choose between living as an angel or like us. And this choice depended on whether he ate from the Tree of Knowledge. If he wanted to be like an angel without any threat to his spirituality, he just needed to refrain from eating from the Tree of Knowledge. Then his conscious awareness would be so strong that there would be no normal natural urge or desire that could influence him in the slightest. However if he wanted to live a normal human life of free-will, if he wanted to arouse lust and desires within himself so that he could do battle with them and defeat them - all he needed to do was eat from the Tree of Knowledge. That would immediately arouse desires lusts and inclinations to produce a strong battle with his intellect. And if his intellect was successful in defeating his lusts and desires - then he would be elevated to greater heights than he was before. That is because of the principle – that the reward is according to the effort. Then he would continue living forever as before eating from the Tree of Knowledge. However if he was not successful in defeating his natural lusts, and the natural physical powers ruled over him – then he would be mortal and obviously die. That is because he would be a natural being -and not a spiritual one -which does not live forever.

This is what G-d said to him, “From all the trees in the Garden you May eat except for the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil which you should not eat from        because the day you eat from it you will surely die.”Apparently these words were not made as a command and warning but rather they were simply advice. In other words, “I am offering you advice that you shouldn’t eat from the Tree of Knowledge in order that you not arouse natural lusts within you because I know that if they are aroused within you you will not be able to overcome them and as a consequence you will die.That is not a punishment for eating the fruit since the eating is not a sin – but rather because you will be controlled by your physical nature and not your spiritual one and a natural being inherently cannot be eternal.”

That is why Eve replied to the Snake’s question of What did G-d say?” From the Tree in the Garden don’t eat because you might die”. The inference from “might die” is that in reality it was possible to eat from it and not die.. Because even after eating from the Tree of Knowledge it was still possible to defeat the natural lusts and then not only would the eating not be wrong but it would be beneficial because they would be elevated to a higher spiritual level than they were before.

That is why the serpent answered her by saying’”You will not certainly die but rather you will become like G-d knowing Good and Evil”. In other words “You shouldn’t have any doubts about being able to survive the challenge’ because you definitely will and then you will become like G-d. And just as G-d’s knowledge about Evil has not the slightest  influence as we see from the Thirteen Attributes of G-d (Shemos 34:6-7)  “a God compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in kindness and faithfulness,  faithfulness, extending kindness to the thousandth generation, forgiving iniquity, transgression, and sin; yet He does not remit all punishment, but visits the iniquity of parents upon children and children’s children, upon the third and fourth generations.”  Why is this considered praise? The explanation is that even though the sinner is not absolutely forgiven for his sins, nevertheless G-d’s knowledge of the sin and His need to punish the sinner does not influence the attributes of being slow to anger and having abundant kindness which existed prior to punishing the sinner. That is because for G-d, the necessity to punish is not a type of anger or concern but is rather just an intellectual awareness and something required by justice. Therefore the attributes of Justice and Mercy can exist together for G-d .which is not true for humans. Because if a man is angry or irritated about someone, he is not able to contain his anger till a later time like it was prior to the transgression so that it has no influence at all. This is what the Serpent replied to Eve that even after eating from the Tree of Knowledge and consequently experiencing the natural lusts and desires that would result from that she would experience it merely as a type of awareness. Therefore it would be worth it for her to eat of the fruit in order to acquire greater levels of spirituality And this is how the Serpent convinced Eve. It misinformed her by promising her that she would definitely not fall to a lower level but instead would achieve a higher level of total control of herself, while in reality this would only happen if she defeated her natural desires. At the end it became clear that it was a mistake to think she could easily win the battle with her natural desires. That realization they finally had made them ashamed.  From this we see clearly that it was not a good idea to eat from the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge. Because if nothing had changed what was there to be embarrassed about? If in fact they could easily vanquish their desires as if they didn’t exist just as before they transgressed – what was the blemish “Who told you that you were naked?” But the truth was originally – before the arousal of lust and desires – their intellect was primary and they had no reason to be embarrassed. Because their body was merely a type of garment. However after eating from the fruit when lust was aroused in them which they couldn’t control – it was only then they felt a need for clothing to cover themselves to help subdue their lust to some degree and since they are stronger when naked. This why G-d said “Who told you that you are naked?”Did you eat from the Tree which I told you not to eat from? Didn’t I tell you don’t test yourself. And you say it is not a problem. Consequently your defeat in your battle with nature and that now you are ruled by your natural lusts and desires, cursed is the ground… because you are dirt and you will return to dirt” and thus death was decreed for them

 https://hebrewbooks.org/41717

 the ocr has mistakes

 הנה עניז עין הדעת, כנוי שסצריר בשכלנו, הוא דבר שקשה םאר להבין, איך הוא נאםת שאדם הראשון, נחיר הנבראים, יציר כפיר של הקב"ה, אשר נו נכללר כל חנשםוח, יעברו על םה שצרח השם בפירוש עוד נאותר חירם שצרחו, נשעה שידע אח עונש המיתה שישיבתו אחרי כן, רבו שאפילו אנחנו לפי קם שכלנו לא היינו עושים כזאת. היעלה על הדעת דבר כזה ~ א l : לפי דעת חדםב"ם ז"ל, שעיקר חהםא חיה דון פוערת, צריכים אנו להבין הדבר, איך בא לידי טעות, םאחד שקודם ח n םא חיה שכל פשוםז בלי שום החפ;ילרת םבעית, אין היה הסערת בשכלו י ואם נניח כמר שאםו שכזציארת בריאותו היה באופן שלא היה יכול לםעדת נעביד חםרב והרע, אולם נעני j חאסח והשקד חיה בו נzקום לפוערת, וחיה שם הטעות כעניז האמת וחשקו, m חיה לד לעשרת סאחד שסעה י כסח חסית הנחש ת חוח רכסה הסעה ארתה 'l רני יעלה על הדעת שחדה האמינה לדברי הנחש כי לא תםות, יותר םלדברי השם ? םה זה השיבה כששאלה הנחש ~ ,,אף כי אםר אלקים ונד' וספרי העץ וג i ' פן תםדתרן", והלא הברוא אסר להם שדואי יםדתד י

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

 https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/3739934-kari-lake-declines-to-concede-says-shes-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

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/lauren-boebert-declares-herself-the-winner-of-congressional-race-thats-too-close-to-call?ref=home

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

 https://www.newsweek.com/jared-kushner-saudi-arabia-deal-resurfaces-gop-republicans-hunter-biden-investigation-1760458

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.

"Republicans get control of the House & the first they do is...No not explore how to tame inflation or crime etc. They launch an investigation of President & Hunter Biden," Rivera wrote in a tweet. "Boring. Divisive. Retro. Unwanted. Zero positive impact on the lives of Americans. Is this the real Red Wave?"