Caged cells, mattresses, child's drawings found in Khan Younis tunnel

 https://www.ynetnews.com/article/bkyl87ck6

Accessed from inside a home, tunnel suffocating and humid, tunnel believed to hold 20 hostages at various times is booby trapped in anticipation of troops

Israeli Army Photos Reveal Alleged Hamas Hostage Cells in Gaza

 https://www.newsweek.com/israeli-army-photos-reveal-alleged-hamas-hostage-cells-gaza-1862538

New images released by the Israel Defence Forces show what they said was a network of underground tunnels in the Gaza Strip with cells where Israeli hostages were believed to have been held.

Hamas and other Palestinian factions in Gaza still hold more than 100 of the over 230 hostages they seized during their unprecedented October 7 raid into Israel in which 1,200 Israelis were killed. That raid was followed by Israel's biggest offensive into the Gaza Strip, with air strikes and ground attacks that have killed nearly 25,000 Palestinians, according to health authorities in Hamas-ruled Gaza.

The tunnel where Israeli forces believe hostages were held was more than 2,700 feet long and 65 feet deep, according to an IDF statement sent to Newsweek. There was no immediate comment from Hamas or independent confirmation as to what the video and photos released by the Israeli forces showed.

The IDF said they had been recorded in the city of Khan Yunis in the south of the Gaza Strip.

"This tunnel was part of a branching underground network, dug by the Hamas terrorist organization, under Khan Yunis," IDF said. "At the end of the examination, the tunnel was destroyed."

Trump pushes back on claims of mental missteps

 https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/4420056-trump-pushes-back-claims-of-mental-missteps/

During his rally on Friday, Trump appeared to have mixed up Haley and Pelosi while talking about the insurrection in the Capitol, to which the former U.N. Ambassador responded by saying that she was concerned to have somebody whose “mental fitness” is questioned while serving in the Oval Office. 

“The concern I have is, I’m not saying anything derogatory, but when you’re dealing with the pressures of a presidency, we can’t have someone else that we question whether they’re mentally fit to do this,” Haley said. 

During the Saturday rally, Trump continued the defense of his mental acuity, stating that he will let people know when he “goes bad” 

Your Healthspan Is as Important as Your Lifespan—and It’s Declining

 https://www.wsj.com/health/wellness/americans-unhealthy-chronic-disease-3f35c9f5?mod=hp_listc_pos2

Americans are living longer, but spending less time in good health.

The estimated average proportion of life spent in good health declined to 83.6% in 2021, down from 85.8% in 1990, according to an analysis of the latest data from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation’s Global Burden of Disease study, a research effort based at the University of Washington.

The decrease of time spent in good health is partly because medical advances are catching and treating diseases that once would have killed us. But it is also because of the rising prevalence, often among younger people, of conditions such as obesity, diabetes and substance-use disorders.

For most Palestinians, October 7’s savagery is literally unbelievable. Blame the TV news?

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/for-most-palestinians-october-7s-savagery-is-literally-unbelievable-blame-the-tv-news/

No Israeli civilians were killed in the October 7 onslaught on communities near Gaza, Palestinain diplomat Abdullah Abu Shawesh claimed matter of factly to Al Jazeera last week. Accounts of rape and other atrocities “were lies,” he said, dismissing the overwhelming evidence that Hamas’s slaughter of 1,200 people in southern Israel included indiscriminate massacres and sexual violence.

Netanyahu pushes back on report he told Biden he isn’t ruling out Palestinian state

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-pushes-back-on-report-he-told-biden-he-isnt-ruling-out-palestinian-state/

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back Saturday against a report that he’d told US President Joe Biden he has not ruled out the creation of a Palestinian state.

The rare statement put out by Netanyahu’s office on Shabbat came after CNN, citing a person familiar with the conversation, reported that Netanyahu told Biden that the public comments he had made a day earlier — in which the prime minister appeared to reject the idea of creating a Palestinian state — were not meant to rule out that outcome entirely.

Pizza Hut Faces Boycott Calls for Feeding Israeli Soldiers

 https://www.newsweek.com/pizza-hut-boycott-israel-support-1862489

Pizza Hut is facing boycott calls after it supplied Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) with pizza.

The restaurant chain's Israeli Instagram account reposted a story of two IDF soldiers holding stacks of branded Pizza Hut boxes, and it has been widely shared online. Originally posted by a user with the handle @alex_shults, the two soldiers can be seen smiling and dressed in uniform. Newsweek has as yet been unable to verify where the image was taken and contacted Yum Brands, the parent company of Pizza Hut, for comment on Saturday via phone call.

Jews died in plague of Darkness because they were being frum

 Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky (Emes L’Yaakov Shemos 10:22) Rashi states, “Why did G-d bring about the plague of Darkness? Because the Jews in that generation were wicked and did not want to leave Egypt and therefore thousands died in the three days of darkness.” So even though that in reality that entire generation were not considered righteous (tzadikim) as we see the angels claimed that both the Jews and Egyptians were idolaters – so why kill the Egyptians to save the Jews. In other words the angels could not see the slightest difference between the Jews and the Egyptians and thought all should die. And thus the Jews that died were apparently killed entirely because they were preventing the other Jews from leaving Egypt because they had a tradition that the Jews must remain enslaved in Egypt for 400 years and since the time had not passed they were afraid that they would suffer the fate of the Ephraimites who left prematurely.

 They thus did not believe the words of Moshe and the Elders that G-d's calculation was based on the merit of their forefathers. Therefore G-d killed only those but not all the Jews even though in the eyes of the angels they were all idolaters. Only G-d was able to distinguish Jews from the Egyptians and know that the Jews would eventually be capable of accepting the Torah at Sinai  This inner nature of the Jews was not noticed by the Angels and G-d had to prove it by showing the Angels Yosef’s coffin [Bereishis Rabbah 7:8] that Jews were inherently different. [See my previous comments to Shemos 13:9]..[to be continued]

Nazis and Chamas received miraculous assistance

 https://mishpacha.com/the-terrible-miracle-of-october-7/

The survivors of the massacres of the First Crusade in 1096 and Chmielnicki’s pogroms of Tach v’Tat undoubtedly engaged in shtadlanus to try to ensure that they were never butchered again. But first and foremost, they remembered the Heavenly source of their troubles.

So too, as the dust settles on the aftermath of Simchas Torah 5784, we face a fork in the road. One way is to go back to business as usual, forgetting the sense of cataclysm that enveloped us after the attack.

But miracles are meant to inspire a sense of wonder; to force us to take notice of the giant wheels turning according to a Heavenly plan. And in their own terrible way, the astounding events of October 7 are equally wondrous.

Transgress Torah prohibition because of Aiva?

 Igros Moshe (Orech Chaim 4:79): Concerning the case where a Jewish doctor must be on duty in a hospital or he is an established doctor – even if his office is closed on Shabbos and yet a dangerously ill non‑Jew comes to him – he is forced to treat the non‑Jew even if it involves a Torah level violation of Shabbos. And surely it is required  if there is some accident that happens close to his house where they call the closest doctor. That is because the excuse that Abaye gave in the gemora is not accepted in our country. Therefore his refusal to treat the ill person creates an actual physical danger to him from the relatives of the sick person. And even if the doctor is certain that there is no danger to him personally by not treating the non‑Jew on Shabbos, nevertheless there is a real concern that great danger will be caused by the reaction of other  non‑Jews in that country and perhaps also from the government itself. Thus one has to be concerned with the great likelihood that physical danger will result to Jews as the result of his refusal to treat a non‑Jew on Shabbos. Even though Tosfos expresses surprise that it is possible to permit the violation of a Torah prohibition because of aiva – however the reality of our country in modern times presents the real concern for great danger even when the government permits every Jew to conduct themselves according to the laws of the Torah – but it won’t tolerate a refusal to save another person’s life. Thus  the words of the Chofetz Chaim (Mishna Berura 330:8) are astounding. He writes that this that even the most observant doctors travel distances on Shabbos to treat non‑Jews and to prepare medicines by themselves and he concludes that these doctors are complete Shabbos violators who transgress willingly even though there is aiva produced if they don’t comply. The fact is that in Russia in the small villages where there is only a single doctor for the entire area it is quite obvious that if the doctor doesn’t treat the non‑Jews there is no question that he would be killed because he caused their family member to die etc. It is obvious that if the doctor were killed under these circumstances that the judge would at most provide a light punishment. Besides they might kill the doctor secretly. It is obvious that the Chofetz Chaim was well aware of this physical danger because he put a note in the Mishna Berura that his ruling in this case was only applicable to idolaters in India. If there wasn’t great danger to  the Jewish people then he would not have had to write  this. Even if this concern was only a distant possibility – but we are lenient in the life threatening cases even for low probabilities. Thus is also the view of the Chasam Sofer (Y.D. 131). The Divre Chaim (O.H. 25) after he writes that aiva is not a reason to transgress Torah prohibitions on Shabbos concludes that the practice of doctors is to be lenient and he heard that it was an official rabbinic decree to permit it. But this seems problematic – how can there be a rabbinic decree against a Torah prohibition  - so therefore he must mean that even if someone doesn’t think that danger result from not treating a non‑Jew on Shabbos nevertheless one should not protest against the doctors who are lenient because it is really not clear that there is no danger. Even if in the immediate area there is truly no danger but it simply adds greater hatred towards Jews, but you should know that there was a decree not to protest against  doctors who were lenient so that no one will err and be stringent in places where there is genuine danger… In fact we find many times in the gemora that an action is prescribed now to prevent a problem later. So surely in this case where there is also an immediate problem since it is fairly common to find sick non‑Jew so the decree that the Divrei Chaim mentioned is not a rabbinic decree but it is simply the halacha in this case…Especially today where there is widespread publicity through the newspapers so that events immediately become a problem in the entire world and this can readily lead to incitement to increase hatred until it can produce a great massacre. Therefore it is obvious that in modern times it should be treated as a definite danger if the doctors doesn’t treat the non‑Jew and it is permitted when this situation occurs.

Trump Team’s New Courtroom Argument: E. Jean Carroll Is Lucky He Defamed Her

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-teams-new-courtroom-argument-e-jean-carroll-is-lucky-trump-defamed-her?ref=home?ref=home

Donald Trump’s ongoing rape defamation trial once again veered toward parody on Thursday, with defense lawyers pressing witnesses with questions that suggested the journalist he sexually assaulted and later relentlessly trashed might just be better off now that she’s more famous.

“Your reputation, in many ways, is better today, Ms. Carroll?” defense attorney Alina Habba jabbed at the advice columnist.

“No. My status was lowered. I'm partaking in this trial to bring my own reputation and status back,” E. Jean Carroll responded.

Hasagat Gevul: Economic Competition in Jewish Law

 https://www.jlaw.com/Articles/hasagatgevul.html

This area is particularly complex, as it depends on both many unresolved halachic disputes and changing business conditions. It is thus important to present all cases to dayanim who are Torah scholars and who understand the intricacies of business (see Aruch Hashulchan, C.M. 15:6). It should not surprise people to find that different batei din rule differently in these matters, considering the many unresolved disputes involved.

Donald Trump Suffers Double Polling Blow

 https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-suffers-double-polling-blow-1861753

Joe Biden has a slim lead over Donald Trump in a potential presidential contest between the two according to two recently released U.S.-wide polls, a stark improvement for the Democratic incumbent following the release of three national polls putting him behind the Republican frontrunner.

The surveys, from pollsters Ipsos and YouGov, gave Biden a lead of between one and two percentage points, though a Newsweek analysis released earlier this month suggested Trump is on track for a second White House term due to his stronger performance in key swing states.

Halacha and Bean Counting

I recently got an email regarding an old post   https://daattorah.blogspot.com/2008/09/non-jewish-prostitute-versus-jewish.html

Question is would Reb Yakov advise having Jewish girl friends with the likelihood of sexual relations even though it would result in kares rather than have non Jewish girl friends?

In other words do we approve  a secular Jew sacrificing his soul to preserve the Jewish people?