Staffers who worked in Donald Trump's White House have accused him of sexual harassment after a jury on Tuesday found the former president liable for sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll.
Wednesday, May 10, 2023
An elderly Montreal rabbi has been arrested for sex crimes against a minor that go back 25 years
No charges were ever laid, and the complainant did not go to the police, although Rabbi Emanuel points out that it is the rabbinical council’s policy these days to direct victims of assault to go to the authorities.
"לא באנו לשרוף הכל": הארגון שחושף תקיפות מיניות במגזר החרדי
מרכז הסיוע "מגן" השתתף בשנים האחרונות בחשיפת שורה ארוכה של תקיפות מיניות במגזר החרדי, ומסייע מדי חודש למאות צעירות וצעירים שחוו פגיעה מינית להשתקם. לאחרונה הוא יצא בקמפיין גיוס המונים בפלטפורמת causematch.com תחת הכותרת "בואו לתמוך בגיבורים שלנו", במטרה לגייס 400 אלף שקלים שיאפשרו את המשך פעילותו.
Cures for all illness is from G-d
Zohar (Balak 48) All cures are determined by G-d However some depend on an intermediary and some don’t. Those cured by an intermediary are definitely cured but the illness sometimes returns. In contrast cures directly from G-d are permanent/
Rep. George Santos charged by Justice Department in federal probe
https://edition.cnn.com/2023/05/09/politics/george-santos-charged-justice-department/index.html
Federal prosecutors have filed criminal charges against New York Rep. George Santos, the Republican lawmaker whose astonishing pattern of lies and fabrications stunned even hardened politicos, according to three sources familiar with the matter.
Santos is expected to appear as soon as Wednesday at federal court in New York’s eastern district, where the charges have been filed under seal.
The exact nature of the charges couldn’t immediately be learned but the FBI and the Justice Department public integrity prosecutors in New York and Washington have been examining allegations of false statements in Santos’ campaign finance filings and other claims.
Tuesday, May 9, 2023
Orthodox Jewish group takes victory lap after NYT denied Pulitzer, hails pushback against paper's alleged bias
An Orthodox Jewish advocacy organization praised those who pushed back against reporting from the New York Times after the paper was not awarded a Pulitzer Prize for its reporting on the Jewish community and yeshiva schools.
KnowUs, a campaign of the umbrella group Agudath Israel, urged the Pulitzer Board ahead of their annual awards on Monday to avoid awarding the New York Times for what they described as the paper's biased reporting about the Jewish community and specifically Jewish boys' schools, or yeshivas.
5M Gut-Punch: Jury Finds Trump Sexually Abused E. Jean Carroll
A New York jury quickly reached the conclusion on Tuesday that Donald Trump sexually abused the journalist E. Jean Carroll, pummeling him with a $5 million punishment for forcing himself on her—and defaming her for years.
Ending a two-week civil trial in federal court, a nine-panel jury of New Yorkers concluded that the real estate mogul did, in fact, violently attack magazine journalist E. Jean Carroll in 1996—pinning her against a wall while she stood inside the fitting room at a high-end Manhattan clothing store Bergdorf Goodman.
Moshiach suffers for all Jews
Zohar (2 212a) The Messiah, on his part, enters a certain Hall in the Garden of Eden, called the Hall of the Afflicted. There he calls for all the diseases and pains and sufferings of Israel, bidding them settle on himself, which they do. And were it not that he thus eases the burden from Israel, taking it on himself, no one could endure the sufferings meted out to Israel in expiation on account of their neglect of the Torah.
The Haredi boycott of Angel Bakery violates the Haredi ethos
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/the-haredi-boycott-of-angel-bakery-violates-the-haredi-ethos/
Let us now consider how this boycott is to be understood within the framework of Haredi society. Throughout, this boycott is presented as coming “from below”, in other words a grassroots initiative. But, let us examine this rationale. Haredi ideology conceives of authority as coming from above.
Monday, May 8, 2023
Tzaraas is physical
Kesubos (77b) Rabbi Yoḥanan said: For what reason are there no lepers in Babylonia? Because they eat beets, drink beer, and bathe in the waters of the Euphrates, all of which are good for the body.
Vayikrah Rabbah (16:03) It is prohibited to go four cubits to the east of a leper. R. Simeon b. Lakish said: Even a hundred cubits. They did not really differ; the one who said four cubits referred to a time when there is no wind blowing, whereas the one who said not even a hundred cubits, eferred to a time when a wind is blowing. R. Meir would not eat eggs that came from an alley of lepers. R. Ammi and R. Assi would not enter a leper's alley. Resh Lakish, when he saw one of them in the city, threw stones towards him, and said: ' Go to your place, and do not defile other people,’ as R. Hiyya taught: He shall dwell alone of them, hid himself from him,
Ralbag(Vayikra 13:47) Tzara’at on these objects is caused by moisture and heat… this causes them to be damaged and destroyed… the discoloration is what you’d find in moldy places, like water near a dump, where things turn green or red.
Ralbag (Melachim 2 05:06)ואספתו מצרעתו - הצרעת תעשה מאחד רבים, כי מתגבורת החום העפושי יחלש
מאד החום הטבעי הקושר אברי בעל החי לאחד, ולכן יפלו אברי המצורע.
Ramban (Vayikra 13:47) The law of leprosy of houses applies only in the Land which is the inheritance of the Eternal. Now the reason why this law does not apply outside the Land of Israel is not because it is a duty which attaches to the ground, but the reason is because this matter of Divine indication of sins occurs only in the Chosen Land, wherein the Glorious Name dwells. And in the Torath Kohanim the Sages further interpreted that a house does not contract impurity until after the conquest and division of the Land by Israel, and until after each and every individual clearly knows his portion. The reason for this law is that only then do they have the ease of mind to know the Eternal, and the Divine Glory dwells among them. I think similarly with reference to the law of leprosy in garments, that it applies only in the Land of Israel, it being unnecessary to exclude the application of this law in places outside the Land, since they never occur there. For this reason also the law of leprosy in garments applies only to white garments, not to colored ones, because the color might perhaps have extracted this unclean phenomenon n that place in the garment in a natural way, and it will then not be regarded as a finger of G-d. Therefore garments colored by Heaven can contract impurity, according to the words of Rabbi Shimon. And by way of the simple meaning of Scripture, the reason why it repeats in every verse the expression “the garment, or the skin, or the wrap and the woof,” is because the matter is miraculous.
Ramban (Vayikra 13:47)AND WHEN THE PLAGUE OF LEPROSY IS IN A GARMENT. This is not in the natural order of things, nor does it ever happen in the world [outside Israel], and similarly leprosy of houses is not a natural phenomenon. But when Israel is wholly devoted to G-d, then His spirit is upon them always, to maintain their bodies, clothes and houses in a good appearance. Thus as soon as one of them commits a sin or transgression, a deformity appears in his flesh, or on his garment, or in his house, revealing that G-d has turned aside from him…
Moreh Nevuchim (03:47) Tzaraas is a miracle received in our nation by tradition, in the same manner as the effect of the trial of a faithless wife. The good effect of this belief is evident. Leprosy is besides a contagious disease, and people almost naturally abhor it, and keep away from it.
Birkat Asher on Torah, Leviticus (13:01)והנה על דעת רמב"ם והסוברים כמותו יש לשאול מדברי הגמרא (כתובות עז ע"ב): "אמר רבי יוחנן, מפני מה אין מצורעין בבבל? מפני שאוכלין תרדין ושותין שכר ורוחצין במי פרת". הרי לך שהצרעת היא עניין פיזיולוגי. ואילו על הדעה שמדובר בתופעה טבעית יש לשאול מדברי חז"ל בויקרא רבה (יז, ו) לעניין נגעי בתים: תני רבי שמעון בר יוחאי: כיון ששמעו כנענים שישראל באים עליהם, עמדו והטמינו ממונם בבתים ובשדות. אמר הקדוש ב"ה: אני הבטחתי לאבותיהם שאני מכניס את בניהם לארץ מלאה כל טוב, שנאמר: "ובתים מלאים כל טוב" (דברים ו, יא). מה הקב"ה עושה? מגרה נגעים בביתו, והוא סותרו ומצא בו סימא (אוצר). ע"כ. יוצא שאין דעת חז"ל הומוגנית, אלא מר כדאית ליה ומר כדאית ליה.
Charedi school downgraded after Ofsted criticises lack of sex education
“At the request of parents, all pupils have been withdrawn from sex education. However, leaders do not have a suitable curriculum for sex education, should a pupil who is eligible to request it do so.”
Ahead of Pulitzers, New York Times mum on alleged unethical yeshiva reporting
The reporting methods have also come under fire. An article in the conservative US outlet, The Daily Signal, last week said that The Times had misrepresented data, inappropriately granted sources anonymity, and failed to disclose sources’ conflicts of interest. Community representatives have in the past week also alerted the Times and the Pulitzer Prizes committee of alleged ethical lapses, but have not received a response.
Bill Barr’s Warning on Trump
If you believe in his policies, what he’s advertising as his policies, he’s the last person who could actually execute them and achieve them,” Mr. Barr told the City Club of Cleveland on Friday.
Sunday, May 7, 2023
Israel's Judicial Reckoning
As someone who has written about the need to restrain the court’s excessive activism for three decades now—long before this became a partisan voting issue for many Israelis—in several major essays and dozens of shorter pieces, I consider most of these reforms not only within the bounds of normal democratic practice but in fact essential to bolstering Israel’s democracy. The current situation, in which half the public profoundly distrusts the Supreme Court, is clearly untenable for any country that wants to remain a democracy; because courts are a crucial mechanism for resolving disputes peacefully rather than through force, if they are widely distrusted, resorting to force becomes more likely. Yet at the same time, some of the concerns raised by opponents are valid and deserve to be taken seriously. Given the universal conviction that Israeli society is at a breaking point, balancing these two imperatives is an urgent task.
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