Don't suppress the truth of Torah - even regarding your own rebbe or gedolim

Recently a prominent rav told me that it is critically important not only to keep the Torah but also not to be afraid of any man in reporting the truth - and that I should keep up what I am doing

Devarim (1:17) states, you shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God’s. Rashi (Devarim 1:17), Lo Saguru - Do not be afraid of any man. Another explanation is one should not hold back your words before any man. The Tosefta (Sanhedrin 1:8), What is the sources that says that if you are sitting before the judges and you know a merit for the poor and and liability for the rich that you can not remain silent? Because the Torah say, You shall not be afraid of the face of man (Devarim 1:14). That means that you should not hold back your words before any man. Sotah (47b), When they who displayed partiality in judgment multiplied, the command you shall not be afraid [of the face of man] became void and you shall not respect [persons in judgment] ceased to be practiced; and people threw off the yoke of heaven and placed upon themselves the yoke of human beings. The Yerushalmi Sanhedrin (1:1), When two litigants come before you – one who is powerful and one who is weak – prior to hearing their claims it is allowed for a judge to say he doesn’t want to deal with the case out of fear that if he finds the strong one guilty it will make the strong one his enemy. However once he has heard their claims it is not allowed to say that he doesn’t want to deal with the case because it says in Devarim (1:17), Do not be afraid of any man and suppress your views against him. Rather the judges need to know who they are judging and before Whom they are judging…

Sifri Devarim (17): Do not be afraid of any man. Perhaps a judge will say that he is afraid that one of the litigants will kill his son or burn down his harvest or destroy his crops – the Torah say, Do not be afraid of any man because judgement belongs to G-d… And that includes one’s own teacher as it states in Tanchumin (Mishpatim) What is the source that says if a student is sitting before his Rebbe and he sees a merit to the poor and an obligation to the rich that he should not be silent? Because it says in the Torah, Do not be afraid of any man.

Israel Spiritual life outside

Rav Tzadok (Vayechi 47:28) Yakov lived in Egypt for 17 years, It says in the Zohar  that these 17 years  were the main ones of his life.He did not suffer and was not bothered by the yetzer harah.and it was like Olam HaBah.  

Doctors Fail to Address Patients’ Spiritual Needs

NY Times   Religious beliefs also often affect patients’ wishes when it comes to choosing aggressive end-of-life treatment or palliative care.

I was raised Jewish, and had no idea about when to call a priest, or what doing so might imply. I feared that if I raised the issue, she and her mother would feel that I was giving up on her. So for a few weeks, I did nothing. But every time I visited her, I felt bad.

“Do we ever call a priest?” I finally asked my resident one day in the hall, trying to be casual. I felt uncomfortable asking – as if I should somehow know better. I occasionally noticed priests in white collars and rabbis wearing yarmulkes or black hats riding the elevators and walking the halls, but was surprised to find that other doctors and I simply ignored them, never speaking to them. They operated in an entirely different world.

My resident looked at me as if I were nuts. That is simply not something that we did as physicians. Senior physicians and I never mentioned religion and spirituality on rounds with any patients. In the world of scientific medicine, these topics were taboo. Yet it felt odd to do nothing. I sensed her aloneness and terror in that room – even though she was with her mother – but none of us ever tried to address these feelings in any way.

Religion was never discussed in my medical training. In medical school, a priest maintained a small lounge, providing coffee and tea, where students could sometimes drop in to get coffee, but that was wholly optional, and most students never did so.

Yet studies have documented the importance of religion and spirituality to many patients. Seventy percent of dying patientswant their doctor to ask them about their religious beliefs.

Consequently, in 2001, The Joint Commission, which accredits healthcare organizations, decreed that health care providers “receive training on the value of spiritual assessment.” Partly as a result, the number of medical schools with some education on spirituality and health has increased from 13 percent in 1997, to around 90 percent in 2014.

But many medical schools provide only a single lecture on the psychological aspects of end-of-life care, often involving a chaplain who discusses how religion can be important in end-of-life case.[...]

Over the years, however, I have increasingly seen how many patients, especially when confronting the end of life, value their emotional, existential and spiritual feelings over further medical treatment when it begins to seem futile. [...]

I still regret my silence with that patient, but have tried to learn from it. Doctors themselves do not have to be spiritual or religious, but they should recognize that for many patients, these issues are important, especially at life’s end. If doctors don’t want to engage in these conversations, they shouldn’t. Instead, a physician can simply say: “Some patients would like to have a discussion with someone here about spiritual issues; some patients wouldn’t. If you would like to, we can arrange for someone to talk with you.”

Unfortunately, countless patients feel uncomfortable broaching these topics with their doctors. And most physicians still never raise it.

Everyone has a book that only he/she can write

Rav Tzadok (Machshovos Charutz #15): Even though there are already many seforim in the world and Shlomo cautioned against making an unlimited amount of seforim (Koheles 12:12), nevertheless every accomplished student has something new to teach which is uniquely his and that no one else is able to discover… Not a day goes by without a new insight from some accomplished student of that generation. Furthermore that particular insight, which is part of the process of sustaining the existence of the world, needs to remain fixed and permanent in the world. There are in this matter many additional factors and processes concerned with preserving and perpetuating this new insight.

Shalom Bayis:Where is source for counseling?

I have just gone through a number of gemoras dealing with the damage that that comes from having a bad wife. Not one of them suggest going to a rav or chachom or even working on the issue. The solution given is simply to get divorced.

Shabbos (11a): All evil is bearable but not a bad wife

Yevamos(63b) Raba said: [If one has] a bad wife it is a meritorious act to divorce her, for it is said, Cast out the scoffer, and contention will go out; yea, strife and shame will cease.  

Yevamos (63b): Raba further stated: A bad wife, the amount of whose kethubah is large, [should be given] a rival at her side; as people say, By her partner rather than by a thorn

 Yevamos (63b): A bad wife is a plague to her husband. What remedy has he? Let him give her a letter of divorce and be healed of his plague 

 The case of erasing G-d's name in the case of Sotah would seem to be a support. However  it seems that the law of Sotah is  unique and not meant to be generalized. 

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My simple therefore question is: What is the source of the shalom bayis with the meaning of counseling.

Why do you need a source for shalom bayis being therapy?

I think it is obvious. The way you respond to strife in marriage reflects what you think marriage is. What you perceive as malfunction in the relationship tells you what marriage is and what this particular marriage is not accomplishing. The apparent Torah description indicates it is simply a type of alliance for the mutual benefit of both parties and society. However modern understanding is that it is the necessary relationship for emotional and psychological needs and therefore a marriage where both sides fulfill their halachic obligations but isn't fulfilling and emotionally satisfying as well as lacking in love - needs to be fixed or ended. Therefore if all the sources dealing with strife in marriage focus on ending conflict - police actions - then there is no concern for love, affection or psychological issues. Consequently one could conclude these issues are not required by the Torah.

Of course one can say that even though they are not the Torah understand are still relevant. That is because the current conceptualization is ais l'asos - that since we are strongly influenced by the non-Jewish culture we need to have love (Hollywood style), fulfillment etc etc - then it would seem to be fine to now be concerned with them. It is simply a pragmatic reality for our times. It doesn't matter on a practical level what happened in the past. We are simply existing in a transient blip in history and we do what we do for the current needs for the members of our society - not what our ancestors 500 years ago did.

However the corollary of viewing this as a transient emergency measure is that we need to be aware of the ideal - when conditions change. Therefore when we get more control and isolate ourselves from the surrounding cultural atmosphere we should be returning to the Torah understanding - the relationship devoid of emotion and psychological fulfillment. Thus the information is for the future - for knowing the ideal so we can return to it.

But there is another approach as to why this question is important. This is the view which is expressed by Rav Tzadok. He holds that the Torah view evolves or progresses for the better. He says we do in fact learn and incorporate ideas from the goyim. Rav Tzadok notes our job is to sanctify these innovations. Therefore the ideal is looking forward and disgarding the past references which are no longer appropriate or allowed. According to this view if a husband insists on following the view of Chazal and Rishonim in this area - he is seriously derelict in his duty. Similarly a wife can't view herself as a baby machine whose job description is described entirely by behavioral requirements and she doesn't need to show love and affection. In other words you can't go back and you fail miserably in Avoda HaShem by trying.

In short this question is a major probe into the essence of what marriage is and what it needs to accomplish. 

RFK Jr. Took His Grandkids for a Dip in a Sewage-Contaminated Creek For Mother’s Day

 https://www.vanityfair.com/news/story/rfk-jr-rock-creek?srsltid=AfmBOopOvuLgP6O0A42388S6C0M6r4ePYEfktkNzChba9FmEjMEmPNF5

On Sunday, the Department of Health and Human Services secretary posted shirtless photos of himself swimming in Washington D.C.’s Rock Creek with his grandkids for Mother’s Day. It’s a cute enough scene, except, of course for the fact that swimming is banned in Rock Creek because, according to the National Park Service, “Rock Creek has high levels of bacteria and other infectious pathogens that make swimming, wading, and other contact with the water a hazard to human (and pet) health.”

Of course, if there were absolutely anyone who seemed like they might take the risk of knowingly swimming in sewer water, it’d be hard to come up with a more likely candidate than Kennedy. This is a man who swears by raw milk, who has questioned whether germs cause disease, and who (deep breath for this one) has speculated that he may have been exposed to the parasitic worm that ate part of his brain when he stuck his hand in the bloody mouth of a dead bear before driving with the carcass to Manhattan and abandoning it in Central Park (exhale).

Torah Protects

 Roshei Yeshiva did not believe WWI would break out because it would disrupt Slobodka yeshiva

Making of a Godol (page 365)

Polls show Americans aren't buying Trump team's ignorance ploy

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Israel is at risk of being outbid in Trump’s Middle East marketplace

 https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/article-854180

But this “America First” approach – where what’s good for America is defined almost exclusively in terms of dollars and deals – puts him on a collision course with Israel over key issues: Iran, the Houthis, Syria, massive Saudi arms deals, and even the possibility of US support for a civilian nuclear program in the kingdom.

Grounded! Trump’s jet gift in trouble amid GOP revolt, ‘grift’ says National Review

It takes 'Trump-level stupidity' to beg for a $400M jet while advocating Medicaid cuts

Trump’s Middle East tour has more substance than the White House let on

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/15/politics/trump-syria-sanctions-israel-middle-east-tour

Wherever he goes, Trump’s brings disruption that can forge possibilities. And he takes risks – for instance, his decision on this trip to lift sanctions on Syria to give a war-ravaged nation a second chance.

But the move revives a perennial question about Trump’s entire foreign and trade policy. Can he apply himself sufficiently to reach genuine breakthroughs from openings he creates?

The White House’s obsession with lionizing Trump means his most significant initiatives are often swamped by hype.

So a deal for Qatar to buy Boeing jets worth tens of billions of dollars got more attention back home Wednesday than his encounter in Riyadh with Syrian leader Ahmed al-Sharaa. The historic first meeting between US and Syrian leaders in 25 years, could be the signature initiative of Trump’s tour.

His journey has also highlighted growing daylight with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – who was seen as an ideological soulmate of the 47th president but who is increasingly an object of Trump’s frustration.

Donald Trump – friend or foe to Israel?

 https://www.jpost.com/american-politics/article-853206?dicbo=v2-QULRW5D

As far as events in the Middle East are concerned, Donald Trump is peaking loudly while so far carrying a limp stick.

The 26th president of the US, Teddy Roosevelt, is remembered among other things for his iconic line and philosophy – “Speak softly and carry a big stick.”

The current leader of the free world, Donald Trump, must have misread (or more likely misheard) that advice, because, at least as far as events in the Middle East are concerned, he’s speaking loudly while so far carrying a limp stick.

 Just this week, he teased about life-or-death issues as if they were a promo for his old TV show The Apprentice, and he was trying to boost the ratings.

Hailing Syria, arming Saudis, dealing with Iran and Houthis, Trump relegates Israeli concerns

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/hailing-saudis-and-syria-dealing-with-iran-and-houthis-trump-relegates-israeli-concerns/

Over objections from Jerusalem, he’s lifted all sanctions on a Syrian leadership that Israel understandably regards as a terrorist regime unless or until proven otherwise, and asked President Ahmed al-Sharaa to normalize relations with Israel and join the Abraham Accords.

As I write, he’s just arrived in Qatar, the Hamas-funding, Hamas-hosting mediator that’s allegedly been paying some of Netanyahu’s aides to lobby on its behalf, and that Trump has insisted is “absolutely trying to help” resolve the hostage-war crisis.

Every one of these moves has vast implications for Israeli security, economy and the daily well-being of its people. Any Israeli government would have tried to influence and amend Trump’s rapid deal-making steps toward the Houthis, the Syrians, the Saudis and the Iranians. But Israel has been largely marginalized as Trump has advanced them.

It was being speculated in Jerusalem on Tuesday evening that Trump is angry with Netanyahu for having sought to push him toward a military strike on Iran, when he has been advocating diplomacy. It was also being suggested that Trump has concluded that Israel is simply no longer as central to American interests in the region.

Implicit in Trump’s admiration for progress in the Gulf is a demotion of Israel as the go-to regional cutting-edge powerhouse, the prime innovator, the tech pioneer, the smart destination for investment. Right now, you can barely even fly here.

He said on the plane to Qatar that the US having good ties with the Gulf states “is very good for Israel.” Potentially, that is true, but only if the Israeli leadership proves capable of utilizing those ties. The longer Israel is not seated at the main table alongside the US president, metaphorically and literally, the narrower Israel’s room for maneuver