American Battleground: Trump’s appetite for revenge — and the limits he might face

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/16/politics/american-battleground-trump-revenge-analysis/index.html

“When this election is over … I would have every right to go after them,” Trump said of his political opponents during an interview over the summer.

Such comments have been piling up for months, years even, and critics are now venting their fears that Trump will weaponize the Department of Justice to go after those he says have wronged him: Biden and his family; former President Barack Obama; former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton; former Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Anthony Fauci, who became the face of the US response to the Covid-19 pandemic; people involved in investigating and prosecuting Trump for alleged crimes; and more. Trump has done little to tamp down that anxiety, and now he has picked someone who seems suited to the task to be his director of the FBI: Kash Patel.

Trump promised to get revenge. Here are his targets - Banana Republic

 https://www.politico.com/news/2024/11/06/trump-retribution-enemy-list-00187725

Based on Trump’s own words, here are the people who have the most to fear.

President Joe Biden

Vice President Kamala Harris

Former President Barack Obama

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

Former Speaker Nancy Pelosi

New York Attorney General Letitia James

Manhattan Justice Arthur Engoron

Former Rep. Liz Cheney

Special counsel Jack Smith

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg

Former Chair of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley

Former FBI Director James Comey

Hunter Biden and the rest of the Biden family

Former FBI special agent Peter Strzok

Former FBI attorney Lisa Page

Rep. Adam Schiff

At a rally in 2022, Trump raised the specter of prison rape as a potential tool to identify a leaker.

Biden issues preemptive pardons for Milley, Fauci and Jan. 6 committee members

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/20/politics/joe-biden-preemptive-pardons/index.html

President Joe Biden on Monday issued preemptive pardons for Gen. Mark Milley, Dr. Anthony Fauci and members of Congress who served on the committee investigating the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, using extraordinary executive prerogative as a shield against revenge by his incoming successor, Donald Trump.

“These are exceptional circumstances, and I cannot in good conscience do nothing,” Biden wrote in a statement, issued hours before he was set to welcome Trump to the White House for tea before attending his swearing-in. “Baseless and politically motivated investigations wreak havoc on the lives, safety and financial security of targeted individuals and their families.”

“The issuance of these pardons should not be mistaken as an acknowledgment that any individual engaged in any wrongdoing, nor should acceptance be misconstrued as an admission of guilt for any offense. Our nation owes these public servants a debt of gratitude for their tireless commitment to our country,” he wrote.

Jesse Binnall, one of Trump’s primary private attorneys working on lawsuits related to January 6, pointed out on social media a major reason the legal community was skeptical of Biden’s preemptive pardons before Monday: It makes it easier to force testimony.

“The pardons are actually great news. No one who was just pardoned will be able to refuse to testify in a civil, criminal, or congressional proceeding based upon the 5th Amendment,” Binnall wrote.

The pardons also won’t protect those who received them from congressional investigation, or other types of investigation, such as tax inquiry, if those were to arise. The pardons would only protect them from federal criminal charges.

With hostage deal, Netanyahu is going all in on Trump

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/with-hostage-deal-netanyahu-is-going-all-in-on-trump/?utm_source=The+Weekend+Edition&utm_campaign=weekend-edition-2025-01-19&utm_medium=email

Israel can do what it takes to win, but Trump, it appears, wants it to show it is willing to try a ceasefire, publicly and clearly. When Hamas inevitably tries to rearm or launch a rocket, Israel will have its excuse to return to fighting, perhaps better prepared and with better intelligence penetration of the Hamas ranks than on October 8, 2023.

And in the meantime, it will have handed Trump his political win in the form of a ceasefire, and won his backing for a more intensive fight against Hamas.

If that’s the basic dynamic, it explains much of Netanyahu’s and Hamas’s actions over the past two weeks.

Rabbi marry couple who don't keep Mitzvos

 Igros Moshe (IV #87.01) Is there a problem of Lifnai Ivair in marrying a couple that are prohibited to each other or a woman who cannot be purified from Nidah or people who don’t observe laws of Nidah? What I have written previously about the view of Tosfos that in a case where they are prohibited by the Torah that is in regards to intercourse but there is also a rabbinic prohibition to marry them because it might lead to intercourse. This reasoning applies also where Nida is not observed or she can’t become purified and thus a rabbi should not marry them nor should there be witnesses. However if the marriage is done for an alternative need such as their need to have the status of being married and not to facilitate sin then technically it is not viewed as lifnai ivair. Nevertheless to perform the ceremony or witnessing it for those not keeping Nida it is still prohibited since it might lead to transgression. The Netziv poskened that if matchmaking it is done for parnossa then is permitted to match also couples that will not keep the mitzvos or nidah. Thus to be a witness or performing the marriage for pay would be allowed. Others such as the Shach view that lifnai ivair does not apply to the irreligious who deliberately sin. The standard practice of rabbis in America is to be lenient in this matter because otherwise they could not get hired anywhere as a rabbi or they would be fired for refusing. Nevertheless I have ruled not to say a beracha at the marriage of those couples that are prohibited or Niddah because there is no mitzva of Kiddushin in these prohibited marriages. 

Melania Trump Just Defeated Donald Trump Ahead Of US President Swearing-In — Coin-cidence?

 https://news.abplive.com/business/crypto/trump-coin-melania-coin-price-buy-sell-cryptocurrency-how-to-purchase-1745392

US First Lady-to-be Melania Trump has just defeated her husband Donald Trump ahead of his US Presidential inauguration ceremony tonight. But it's not how you might think. The cryptocurrency market witnessed a stir as two new meme coins, $TRUMP and $MELANIA, grabbed headlines on January 20. These digital assets, named after former US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania, are built on the Solana blockchain and have sparked intrigue among traders. Interestingly, after $MELANIA became official, $TRUMP took a massive tumble almost immediately. Let's take a closer look.

Conversion Subversion

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/flashes/649694

Recently, articles and an interview regarding a relatively new conversion project – the Project Ruth Orthodox Conversion Program – were published and circulated. The program’s website states that the conversion is “recognized globally”, yet the fact is that this conversion program is not accepted by the Israeli Chief Rabbinate or by any other authoritative rabbinic organization, so that makes one wonder what is going on.

The Project Ruth Orthodox Conversion Program is headed by Rabbi Adam Mintz, whose Orthodox credentials include RIETS semicha (ordination at Yeshiva University’s affiliated Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary) and membership in the RCA (Rabbinical Council of America). Rabbi Mintz also led Lincoln Square Synagogue from 1996-2004 and currently serves as the founding rabbi of Kehilat Rayim Ahuvim in Manhattan.

Apparently having shifted gears to a certain extent, Rabbi Mintz is a now member of the Talmud faculty at Maharat, a women’s rabbinical school in Riverdale, not accepted by the RCA or Rabbi Isaac Elchanan Theological Seminary and is the founder and director of 929 English, a nondenominational and pluralistic Tanach (Bible) study program.

Female Mind Superior to that of Godol Hador?

Sotah (12a)  “And there went a man of the house of Levi, and took for a wife a daughter of Levi” (Exodus 2:1).  To where did he go? Rav Yehuda bar Zevina says: He went according to the advice of his daughter Miriam, Amram, the father of Moses, was the great man of his generation. Once he saw that the wicked Pharaoh said: “Every son that is born you shall cast into the river, and every daughter you shall save alive” (Exodus 1:22), he said: We are laboring for nothing by bringing children into the world to be killed. Therefore, he arose and divorced his wife. All others who saw this followed his example and arose and divorced their wives. His daughter, Miriam, said to him: Father, your decree is more harsh for the Jewish people than that of Pharaoh, as Pharaoh decreed only with regard to the males, but you decreed both on the males and on the females. And now no children will be born. Additionally, Pharaoh decreed to kill them only in this world, but you decreed in this world and in the World-to-Come, as those not born will not enter the World-to-Come.Miriam continued: Additionally, concerning Pharaoh the wicked, it is uncertain whether his decree will be fulfilled, and it is uncertain if his decree will not be fulfilled. You are a righteous person, and as such, your decrees will certainly be fulfilled, as it is stated with regard to the righteous: “You shall also decree a thing, and it shall be established unto you” (Job 22:28). Amram accepted his daughter’s words and arose and brought back, i.e., remarried, his wife, and all others who saw this followed his example and arose and brought back their wives.

Emes LYakov (Shemos 02:01) It seems from  later in the gemora that Miriam knew by prophesy that her mother would give birth to a son who would save the Jewish people however at this point she argued with her father the godol hador  entirely on logical arguments. How is it conceivable that the gadol hador should make such an elementary error and be corrected by a woman?!. The answer is that she as a woman had more binah than he as a man. This is not rational reasoning but emotional intuition. It transcends rational thought. 

For many Israelis, prospect of hostage release is tempered by concerns about freeing terrorists

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/for-many-israelis-prospect-of-hostage-release-is-tempered-by-concerns-about-freeing-terrorists/

The uneasiness around releasing convicted terrorists, including those who have killed Israelis, extends even to the deal’s most fervent supporters. At a press briefing on Thursday, Udi Goren, a cousin of hostage Tal Haimi, whose body is being held by Hamas, called the agreement a “really bad deal” and said he recognized the dangerous nature of the prisoners Israel was to release. But he still supports the agreement.

She waited decades to report her abuse. At 81, police say, he confessed.

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/dc-md-va/2025/01/19/fairfax-virginia-child-sexual-abuse-case-edward-shelton/

In recent decades, studies have revealed children are often assaulted by adults close to them, improving society’s understanding of grooming and transforming the way adults should speak to children about sexual abuse, Jeglic says. While children have long been warned about “stranger danger,” past generations of youth were not equipped to recognize or report abuse at the hands of adults they knew and trusted. As a result, Jeglic says, only about a third of survivors report child sexual abuse before adulthood.

John Bolton's Predictions for New Trump Term Ahead of Inauguration Day

 https://www.newsweek.com/john-boltons-predictions-new-trump-term-ahead-inauguration-day-2017368

"I think it will be just as chaotic; that's just the way Trump is. One day he is talking about imposing 60 percent tariffs of China, the next day he wants to rename the Gulf of Mexico, now he is forcing the Israeli government to agree to a ceasefire in Gaza that Joe Biden has been working on for seven months because he wants the conflict out of the way...So I think it will be a very wild ride. I think it will be duplicated in many respects in domestic policy as well because Trump is just not disciplined by what the job requires," Bolton said.

He added: "What he is seeking in senior officials in his second term are yes men and yes women. If you look at the range in nominees he's already made public...the theme that runs through all of them is that they will unhesitatingly say 'yes sir' and ironically that will not serve Trump well over the long term and certainly won't serve the country well."

Shin Bet chief: This is a 'no-choice' deal

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/402498

Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar says at Cabinet meeting that the hostage release deal is difficult and that he himself arrested some of the terrorists who will be released, but justifies implementation of the deal by the momentum created.

Otzma Yehudit to quit coalition Sunday; Religious Zionism condemns deal but remains

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/otzma-yehudit-to-quit-coalition-sunday-religious-zionism-condemns-deal-but-remains/

“In light of the approval of the reckless agreement with the terrorist organization Hamas… the Otzma Yehudit party will submit letters of resignation from the government and the coalition tomorrow morning, and ministers Ben Gvir, [Yitzhak] Wasserlauf and [Amichay] Eliyahu, as well as committee chairs MKs [Zvika] Fogel and [Limor Son] Har-Melech and MK [Yitzhak] Kroizer, will leave their positions,” the party said in a statement.

'There could have been a deal with no terrorists released'

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/402493

Caroline Glick writes how the USA could have pushed mediating countries for a deal with no terrorists released, but did not.