Over the past number of years, MAGA ideology has seeped into our oilam hatorah and impacted our hashkafas hachaim. Much of the frum media has become a mouthpiece for this ideology. The standard reading material available to the chareidi consumer presents a one-sided approach to the day’s issues. Instead of articles addressing issues with chochmah and nuance, it becomes brash and divisive. Sadly, this trickles down and affects middos and how people deal with others of legitimate divergent opinions.
Monday, November 11, 2024
Sunday, November 10, 2024
Moral equivalence used to Rationalize voting for Trump
After Harris lost I have had a number of conversations with frum Trump supporters as to how they rationalize that Trump would be a good president
The most frequent explanation is that both Trump and Harris are bad people but since Trump is supporting Israel that makes him the lesser of two evils. Then I ask how is Harris equivalent to Trump
I get the same Moral Equivalence that is used to explain why Israel is the same as Arab terrorist and they are no different than Nazis. Just as America is a colonial power like Russia or the Spanish or Belgians
Clinton is the same as Trump since they both committed major security violations. Trump is also a sexual predator and adulterer but so is Clinton's husband
Trump was good friends with jeffery epsetin as well as a serial adulter and self confessed abuser but Harris is a prostitute and adulterer - even though there is no actual proof. the belief gives a sense of satisfaction to Trump supporters
Trump is often incoherent and lacks an actual program but Harris speaks in word salads
Trump lies constantly but Harris changed her message to fit the audience. That proves she is dumb while when Trump does it that shows he is intelligent
Biden had to drop out of the race because he is too old - but only biased people try to claim the same about Trump
Trump was corrupt and took bribes as well as his family, But Hunter Biden is corrupt.
Trump's family clearly benefitted from Nepotism - Hunter biden though never part of government received benefits
Trump stole classified documents and blocked access their return but so did Biden even though it was clearly unintentional and promptly returned them
Trump was impeached twice but Biden has been under constant investigation by Republicans
Arab terrorists kill innocent civilians while Israel kill innocent civilians
Nazis killed large numbers of Jews but Jews target Palestinians so if one is called genocide the other is also
Bottom line the rationalization is typically based on false equivalence which is viewed as fair but only if done by Republicans
Biden turned the legal system against Trump therefore Trump's promise to do the same is not only just but fair
Trump is partial to dictators - especially Russian but Harris is a communist and socialist according to Trump
It was alleged Biden called Trump supporters garbage - something he denied while Trump calls Democrats enemies garbage and more on a regular basis and this is understood as being perceptive
If Trump violates the law and is indicted it is only because of character assassination. If a Democrat commits a crime it is because they are all criminals
If Trump loses an election it can only be proof of fraud and he has no obligation to ever concede. While if Harris doesn't concede before the votes are fully counted that means she is a sore loser
If the news media says something favorable about Harris it is clearly biased and is fake news. While any positive descriptions of Trump are always proof of good journalism!
Donald Trump's Foreign Policy Changes With the Wind
https://www.newsweek.com/what-will-donald-trumps-foreign-policy-opinion-1982406
But one would be a fool to pontificate too much about Trump's plans. In many ways, it's wasted energy. Trump isn't Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, or Joe Biden—he doesn't have a set ideology or a fixed view of how the world should function. His beliefs are situational, flexible, and at times contradictory. He says things on the campaign trail but either disregards them when he's in office or changes his opinion depending on who happens to be in the room with him. Sure, he may have one core position—the U.S. is constantly getting ripped off by everybody—but everything else is really open to interpretation. The guy is an enigma, and he likes it that way.
Look no further than Trump's first term. Trump wasn't fond of NATO, badgered the Europeans to beef up their defense budgets, and essentially described the entire continent as a spoiled child content with hiding underneath the U.S. security umbrella. But his policies didn't match with his rhetoric. Trump kept the U.S. in the transatlantic alliance, allowed that alliance to expand to two new members—Montenegro and North Macedonia—and threatened European governments with unspecified penalties if it locked U.S. defense manufacturers out of any European rearmament scheme. U.S. troop levels in Europe remained constant throughout, and when Trump ordered the withdrawal of almost 10,000 U.S. troops from Germany in 2020, most of them were scheduled to re-deploy to other countries in Europe.
Saturday, November 9, 2024
Avraham caused Egyptian Exile
Ramban (Bereishis 12:10) Know that Abraham our father unintentionally committed a great sin by bringing his righteous wife to a stumbling-block of sin on account of his fear for his life. He should have trusted that G-d would save him and his wife and all his belongings for G-d surely has the power to help and to save. His leaving the Land, concerning which he had been commanded from the beginning, on account of the famine, was also a sin he committed, for in famine G-d would redeem him from death. It was because of this deed that the exile in the land of Egypt at the hand of Pharaoh was decreed for his children. In the place of justice, there is wickedness and sin.
What to know about Trump’s history of support for Israel
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/11/09/trump-on-israel-hamas-war-gaza-netanyahu/
But Trump and his inner circle are also far more likely than previous presidents to cut military aid to Israel, which has numbered in the billions every year for decades, Waxman added. “Trump has long stated an aversion to U.S. foreign aid,” he said. “He might wonder whether the United States is getting the best end of the deal.”
PA chairman's office: Trump pledged to Abbas his commitment to stop the war
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/398861
Trump, for his part, assured Abbas of his commitment to “stop the war” and expressed eagerness to collaborate with Abbas and other key stakeholders to “advance peace in the Middle East”, according to the PA.
Qatar pulls out of mediating role between Israel and Hamas negotiations
https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-828263
"After rejecting repeated proposals to release hostages, its [Hamas's] leaders should no longer be welcome in the capitals of any American partner. We made that clear to Qatar following Hamas's rejection weeks ago of another hostage release proposal," the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Qatar made its demand to Hamas leaders about 10 days ago, according to the official.
Friday, November 8, 2024
For Much of the Arab World, Donald Trump’s Victory Is Cause for Celebration
[T]here is an expectation, particularly in the Gulf states, that Trump will adopt a tougher stance toward Iran than his predecessor, Joe Biden. Iran’s growing confidence and that of its proxies, as demonstrated in Hamas’s October 7 attack, are seen by many in the Gulf as linked to the relatively lenient stance that the United States took toward Iran under Biden’s administration. In addition, Trump is perceived by regional countries as having close relations with the Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu and, more importantly, considerable influence over him, to the point of being able to impose his views on Netanyahu.
Trump’s Election: Why Is There a Sigh of Relief Among Many Arab Countries?
The election of Donald Trump as president of the United States brought a sigh of relief among many Arab regimes. Before the elections, senior officials in Arab countries were careful not to indicate their preferred candidate for obvious reasons, but they clearly favored Trump over Kamala Harris for the following reasons:
In addition, Trump is perceived by regional countries as having close relations with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and, more importantly, considerable influence over him, to the point of being able to impose his views on Netanyahu. Israel’s neighbors hope for a swift end to the war in Gaza, which has increased pressure on them from their citizens and radical elements in the region. They hope Trump will pressure Netanyahu to end the war even before the start of his term.
Trump’s Unlikely Victory Among Arab Americans and Right-Wing Jews
https://www.isidewith.com/discuss/5346821287
But in Dearborn, Mich., a majority-Arab city, Ms. Harris won just 36 percent of the vote, according to unofficial results, a roughly 34-percentage-point drop from Mr. Biden’s share of the 2020 vote in similar results released after that election. Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate to the left of Ms. Harris, picked up 18 percent of the vote. But Mr. Trump’s support also jumped — to 42 percent of the vote from less than 30 percent four years ago, though turnout was lower.
Trump’s Strange Bedfellows: Arab Americans and Right-Leaning Jews
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/07/us/politics/trump-arab-american-jews.html
Donald J. Trump won votes from Arab Americans and conservative pro-Israel Jews. Someone is likely to be disappointed.
As fear of Middle East war grows, more Jewish Americans move to Israel
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/11/06/israel-american-jews-aliyah-olim/
Since the Hamas attack of Oct. 7, 2023, over 11,700 Americans have opened applications to immigrate to Israel. That’s nearly double the number the year before.
Donald Trump's Ukraine Plan Faces Key Test - he has a concept not a plan
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-russia-ukraine-end-war-1981944
"I have a very exacting plan on how to stop Ukraine and Russia," the president-elect said in September. "I can't give you those plans because if I give you those plans, I'm not going to be able to use them."
But Trump has not himself decided on a course of action, including how to get Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and Russian leader Putin to negotiate, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday, citing allies of the soon-to-be 47th president.
Divorce By Way Of A Get
In other words, either Gentiles do not need divorce, or they need divorce, but each party can divorce the other – the process can be initiated by either party, as opposed to divorce among Jews which depends exclusively on the husband.
The second opinion is that of Rabbi Yochanan of Tzipori who decides between these two possibilities and say that "To Israel have I given divorce, but I have not given divorce to the nations of the world."
The Rambam in Hilkhot Melakhim (9:8) spells out two ways to effect divorce among non-Jews:
When is a gentile woman considered divorced? When her husband removes her from his home and sends her on her own or when she leaves his domain and goes her own way. They have no written divorce proceedings.
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