No, ‘Russiagate’ Wasn’t the Hoax That Team Trump Claims It Was

 https://www.cato.org/commentary/no-russiagate-wasnt-hoax-team-trump-claims-it-was

The bottom line is that, as Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz concluded in his own 2019 probe—to Durham’s and Barr’s displeasure—the FBI investigation was amply justified. True, it ultimately found no evidence of acts that rose to the level of criminal conspiracy, and neither did the Mueller probe. But let’s not forget what did happen: Russian agents did conspire to influence the election, undermine Clinton and help Trump, and Trump as well as people close to him eagerly welcomed the help. (We didn’t need the FBI or Mueller to tell us that Trump was thrilled by the WikiLeaks disclosures of hacked documents from the DNC and the Clinton campaign: he said so openly and more than once.) What’s more, some people in the Trump campaign actively worked to take advantage of Russian meddling. Mueller’s indictment of Roger Stone states that after the first WikiLeaks dump, Stone and other “senior Trump campaign officials” made moves to find out what other compromising material WikiLeaks had. The charges against Stone, on which he was ultimately convicted, had to do with obstructing the investigation; but the only reason he couldn’t be charged with conspiracy for his attempts to establish contact with WikiLeaks is that WikiLeaks is not officially classified as a Russian asset.

In war-battered Gaza, residents grow angry with Hamas

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/04/27/gaza-hamas-public-support-israel/

 More than six months into the war in Gaza and with dimming hopes for a cease-fire deal, Palestinians there are growing more critical of Hamas, which some of them blame for the months-long conflict that has destroyed the territory — and their lives.

Why we must accept the views of gedolim?!

 https://mishpacha.com/just-plain-chutzpah/

Perhaps a brief review of Chazal’s description of the role of the gadol hador of each generation is in order.

The Ran in his derashos says that in every generation, Hashem puts His Shechinah on the gedolei hador. Just as the Shechinah was placed in the Beis Hamikdash and spread throughout Klal Yisrael, so too in every generation the Shechinah rests on the gadol hador and spreads from there to Klal Yisrael. Chazal in Masechta Bava Basra(12a) teach us that although nevuah was taken from the prophets when the Beis Hamikdash was destroyed, it was not taken from the scholars.

The Ponevezher Rav always taught his students that he lived with the words of this Chazal throughout his life. “In Europe, I accepted the words of my rebbi, the Chofetz Chaim ztz”l, as if they were the words of a navi. After coming to Eretz Yisrael, I accepted the words of the Chazon Ish ztz”l as a navi.”

He explained that he was capable of disagreeing with the Chazon Ish when it came to understanding Torah the same way he was able to disagree with Rav Akiva Eiger. But when it came to worldly matters, he said each and every word that issued from the Chazon Ish’s lips was pure brilliance and to him was “Torah miSinai.”

State Department reviewing plans to sanction IDF unit

 https://www.axios.com/2024/04/26/state-department-reviewing-plans-sanction-idf-unit

A senior U.S. official said Blinken's determination that the Netzah Yehuda Battalion committed gross violations of human rights in the West Bank has not changed, but a process of consultation with Israel on the issue is now underway to examine whether it is taking steps to address this.

The U.S. official said that if these steps are not satisfactory in accordance with the Leahy law and if it appears Israel has not held soliders and officers accountable and corrected the conditions that led to the violations, the U.S. will apply the law and withhold aid to this unit.

'Israel is not a banana republic,' official says amid Blinken-Halevi controversy

 https://www.israelhayom.com/2024/02/07/israel-is-not-a-banana-republic-official-says-amid-blinken-halevi-controversy/

On Tuesday Israel Hayom reported on Blinken making the unusual request to be briefed by Halevi one-on-one rather than as part of a meeting with the War Cabinet. 

An official told Israel Hayom that a meeting between a foreign minister and a military official without a civilian official present was not common practice in international relations and therefore Netanyahu's office refused to approve a private meeting between Blinken and the chief of staff. "Israel is not a banana republic," the official said.

Biden won't sanction Israeli military units accused of human rights violations in West Bank before start of war with Hamas

 https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/biden-sanction-israeli-military-units-accused-human-rights/story?id=109651562

The Biden administration has determined that three military battalions with the Israel Defense Forces committed "gross human rights violations" against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank but will remain eligible for U.S. military aid regardless because of steps Israel says it's taking to address the problem, ABC News has learned.

The administration assessment, which has not yet been made public, was outlined in an undated letter by Secretary of State Antony Blinken to House Speaker Mike Johnson obtained by ABC News.

The U.S. determination "will not delay the delivery of any U.S. assistance and Israel will be able to receive the full amount appropriated by Congress," Blinken wrote.

Biden Admin. won't sanction Netzach Yehuda Battalion

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/389077

The Biden Administration has backtracked and will not impose sanctions on the IDF's Netzach Yehuda Battalion, ABC News reported this morning (Friday).

According to the report, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote a letter to House Speaker Mike Johnson explaining that the decision was made in light of Israel's commitment to addressing concerns over human rights violations by the IDF in Judea and Samaria.

..According to Blinken, the administration's concerns over alleged human rights violations by the Netzach Yehuda Battalion "will not delay the delivery of any U.S. assistance and Israel will be able to receive the full amount appropriated by Congress."

Scientist Challenges David Sinclair’s Best-Selling Book on Aging

 https://www.nad.com/news/charles-brenner-critiques-david-sinclairs-best-selling-book-on-aging

Pointing out two questions on the back cover of Lifespan, Brenner answers them. The first is “is aging a disease?” Brenner’s answer is that aging is a risk factor for many diseases, but aging is not a disease itself. He follows by saying that the most powerful genetic mutations to extend lifespan in animal models have been in genes that control growth, establishing that growth and development are intricately linked with aging, suggesting that aging is inevitable. 

“Is aging treatable?” Yes, says Brenner, in the sense that genes can be modified to change the rate of aging. He says, however, that it is easier to accelerate aging — by doing things like smoking or becoming overweight — than it is to slow aging. He then comments on well-known studies showing that caloric restriction (consuming fewer calories) extends the lifespan of mice. These studies suggest that fasting can treat aging, but Brenner disagrees with their framing, saying, “Caloric restriction extends animal lifespan when compared to caged animals with constant access to food. However, it is more accurate to say that unrestricted access to food is a life-shortening condition that is unlike conditions in the wild to which animals are adapted.” 

A Science-Based Review of the World’s Best-Selling Book on Aging

 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9669175/

Members of the general public and investment community have caught the longevity bug and appear to believe that major breakthroughs have been made in extending human lifespan

Lifespan, a book by Harvard scientist David Sinclair, has become an influential source of misinformation on longevity, featuring counterfactual claims about longevity genes being conserved between yeast and humans, the existence of supposed activators of these genes, and claimed successful age reversal in mice based on partial reprogramming

The book has popularized a stack of drugs and supplements with significant potential to harm the general public

The reviewer suggests that scientists and physicians emphasize to the general public that aging is known to be a highly polygenic developmental process and that the most important things that people can do to age better are to maintain high physical and mental activity

IDF rejects ‘baseless’ claim it dug mass graves at Gaza hospital; analysts also doubt charge

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-rejects-baseless-claim-it-dug-mass-graves-at-gaza-hospital-analysts-also-doubt-charge/

Hamas officials in Gaza claimed on Saturday to discover a mass grave with more than 200 bodies at a hospital in Khan Younis that was recently the target of a military raid.

The officials claimed the dead were buried in a mass grave by Israeli forces, but evidence suggested this claim was false, with the bodies having previously been buried at that same location by Palestinians amid the fighting between Israeli forces and terror operatives in the area.

The Israel Defense Forces on Tuesday rejected Hamas’s allegation as “baseless.”

It said forces searching for Israeli hostages had examined bodies previously buried by Palestinians near Nasser Hospital and had returned the bodies to where they were buried after they were examined.

It has been documented that Palestinians buried their dead at the hospital grounds both before and while Israeli troops operated in the area.

Trump Is Flat-Out Lying About Having the ‘Most Secure Border in History’ as President

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-is-flat-out-lying-about-having-the-most-secure-border-in-history-as-president

In a Jan. 8, 2019, address to the nation, Trump described the border under his watch as a “crisis,” and pleaded with Congress to pass most of the exact same proposals that were in the bipartisan border bill in the Senate that was negotiated by Sen. James Lankford (R-OK) with Democrats earlier this year, but ultimately rejected by Republicans.

Dershowitz: Trump 'can call me crazy American Jew,' but he may vote for Biden

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

Dershowitz said that, despite his criticism of the current president, he may vote for Biden in the November elections and rejected Trump's description of any Jew that would vote for the president as crazy. "If he wants to call me a crazy American Jew, that's fine," he concluded.

Terrorist who murdered Jewish shepherd is arrested

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/388892

On Sunday night, the ISA, Israel Police, and IDF arrested Ahmad Dawabshe, the terrorist who murdered Binyamin Achimeir, a Jewish shepherd, in a bloody and brutal terror attack last week.

How to Wish "Happy Passover"

 https://www.chabad.org/holidays/passover/pesach_cdo/aid/3584633/jewish/How-to-Wish-Happy-Passover.htm#:~:text=But%20what%20to%20say%3F,sah-MAY-ach).

The traditional Ashkenazic greeting is “gut yom tov” (with “u” as in “put”). “Yom tov,” which literally means “good day” in Hebrew, denotes a holiday. In Yiddish, it is normally mangled into something that sounds more like “YON-tiff.” Thus, the greeting can sound like “gut YON-tiff” or even “gutJONtiff.” (Translated into English, the “gut yom tov” greeting is strangely redundant, meaning “good good day.”)

Sephardic Jews prefer the biblical term for a festival, “chag.” Thus, when wishing someone a joyous festival, they say “chag same’ach” (pronounced CHAG sah-MAY-ach). This greeting has its roots in the Torah, where forms of these two words are used in the commandment to rejoice on the festivals.1

Now, not all holidays are considered equal. The intermediate festival days of lesser sanctity, when many of the work restrictions are relaxed, are called Chol Hamoed. On those days, the traditional Ashkenazic greeting is “gut mo’ed” (or “gut MOY-ed”), and Sephardim say “mo’adim l’simchah,” to which some respond “chagim u’zemanim l’sason.” (As before, the Sephardic salutation has liturgical roots; these phrases are lifted straight from the holiday kiddush.)

If you want to greet someone, but are not sure what to say, just let the other person greet you first, and then repeat the greeting. Works every time.

Lastly, have you ever wondered what to wish people after Passover has ended? The traditional Yiddish Post-Passover greeting is for “a gezuntn zumer,” a healthy summer.