The Trump-Republican budget bill is the work of 'sadistic zombies'

🚨 Democrat wins MASSIVE UPSET in DEEP RED Trump district

Magisteria: The Entangled Histories of Science & Religion highly recommended

Does  Science conflict with Religion? Has it always?

2 Israeli embassy staff members killed outside Jewish museum in Washington, DC

 https://edition.cnn.com/us/live-news/israeli-embassy-washington-dc-shooting-05-21-25

• A suspect is in custody in connection with the shooting near the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, DC that killed two people, according to police. The suspect chanted “Free Free Palestine” while in custody, the chief of the city’s Metropolitan Police Department said.

Pentagon formally accepts $400 million ‘palace in the sky’ jet from Qatar, preps it for Trump

 https://nypost.com/2025/05/21/us-news/us-accepts-400m-jet-from-qatar-will-use-as-trumps-official-plane/

“I think if we switched the names to Hunter Biden and Joe Biden, we’d all be freaking out on the right,” conservative podcaster Ben Shapiro admitted.“President Trump promised to drain the swamp. This is not, in fact, draining the swamp.”

“I’m not flying on a Qatari plane,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) flatly told The Hill.“They support Hamas. I don’t know how you make it safe.”

“It would be better if Air Force One were a big, beautiful jet made in the United States of America,” agreed Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.).

“I also think the plane poses significant espionage and surveillance problems,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” May13.

“We’ll see how this issue plays out, but I certainly have concerns.” 

Pentagon announces it has accepted jet from Qatar that will be used by Trump once it is modified

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/05/21/politics/pentagon-jet-qatar-trump

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth has accepted a Boeing 747 from Qatar that President Donald Trump will use once the Pentagon upgrades it to include “proper security measures and functional-mission requirements,” according to a Defense Department spokesperson.

Beyond the ethical and legal questions, retrofitting and installing the required security and communications equipment on a second-hand plane from another government, even a friendly one, is a monumental task.

It could take two years and cost multiples of what the plane itself is worth, current and former officials have told CNN. US spy and security agencies tasked with the overhaul would need to essentially strip the aircraft down to its frame and rebuild it with the necessary equipment.

Trump Administration Formally Accepts $400M Plane Gift From Qatar

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-administration-formally-accepts-400m-plane-gift-from-qatar/

The Pentagon says it has officially accepted the controversial luxury jumbo jet gifted to President Donald Trump from the Qatari royal family. Trump has already ordered the Air Force to upgrade it pronto so that it can be used as his new Air Force One, which could cost more than $1 billion.

Democrats win New York state Senate race in Trump-friendly district

 https://thehill.com/homenews/state-watch/5310726-democrat-sam-sutton-wins-new-york-seat/

Democrat Sam Sutton has won a special election for a New York state Senate seat, repelling Republican efforts to flip the conservative-leaning district, according to Decision Desk HQ projections. 

The district includes a heavily Orthodox Jewish area, and Sutton has close ties to the Sephardic community as a co-leader of the Sephardic Community Federation. 

Sutton comfortably won over Caller by roughly a 2-to-1 margin, as of the latest vote count Wednesday morning.

Democratic National Committee Chair Ken Martin said in a statement that Sutton’s win proves that Republicans are “sinking” and that voters are tired of the party “enabling” Trump.

“While Trump and Republicans side with billionaires, voters are siding with strong Democratic leaders who will fight for everyday Americans, protect their rights, and uphold their freedoms,” he said. “That’s why Democrats are consistently overperforming in 2025 and will continue building momentum into 2026 and beyond.”

Women pants

Devarim (22:05) The woman shall not wear that which belongs to a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment; for all who do so are abomination to the Lord your God.

Rambam (Avoda Zara 12:10) A woman should not adorn herself as a man does - e.g., she may not place a turban or a hat on her head or wear armor or the like. She may not cut the hair of her head as men do.A man should not adorn himself as a woman does - e.g., he should not wear colored garments or golden bracelets in a place where such garments and such bracelets are worn only by women. Everything follows local custom. A man who adorns himself as a woman does, and a woman who adorns herself as a man does, are liable for lashes. When a man removes white hairs from among the dark hairs of his head or beard, he should be lashed as soon as he removes a single hair, because he has beautified himself as a woman does. Similarly, if he dyes his hair dark, he is given lashes after dyeing a single hair.

Minchas Yitzchok (II #108) It is absolutely prohibited for women to wear modern pants even if they are the colors that men would not wear. Since these are disgusting garments and are designed to cause sin. Inj addition they are prohibited as male attire even if they are altered to be different then the pants males wear. . 

Rav Ovadia Yosef (VI YD #14.7) Question: Is it better for girls who insist on wearing very short skirts to be encouraged to wear pants instead? Answer I agree that women and girls should not be totally permitted to wear pants because they are licentious garments and they draw more attention to be looked at than the dresses or skirts they normally wear and thus cause lustful thoughts. Proper Jewish women  should not wear them at all especially the tight ones. Nevertheless for those who insist on wearing very short skirts  despite the protest of parents and teachers it is best to pick the lesser evil and ask them to wear pants instead. 

Rav Ovadia Yosef (VI YD #14.8) Question: Is it better for girls to wear pants instead of short skirts?Answer:It is absolutely prohibited to wear short garments even if they also wear transparent stockings. It is especially a problem for students siting in very short garments before a male teacher who is teaching them about holiness.  The thousands of young men who died in the recent Yom Kippur War, perhaps they died because of the sin of immodesty of the women. In addition following fashion trends and wearing mini dresses is a violation of the prohibition of not being like the goyim. Thus it is obligatory to chastise those who wear short garments especially the students in the religious schools and encourage them to be modest

Rav Ovadia Yosef (VI YD #14.8) Question: Is it better for girls to wear pants instead of short skirts?Answer: In conclusion regarding the actual halacha. It is absolutely prohibited for women and girls to wear short dresses or skirts which are called mini.  There is also the Torah prohibition  not to be like the goyim and therefore they should not be given permission to wear them since they are despicable  and immodest  It is best to try and reason with them to only wear modest clothing that covers the knee when they are seated. However if they won’t listen to reason to dress modestly. It is better that they wear pants than mini dresses and skirts until they can be influenced to wear modest clothing. 

Every wife is to be ruled by her husband - Ben Yehoyada (Men 43b)

Ben Yehoyada (Menachos 43b): Rabbi Meir said that a man is obligated to say three berachos every day.  [See also Torah Temima]... It seems to me that a woman is at a major disadvantage relative to a man in that she is required to be subordinate to her husband and that he should rule over her. This submission is demonstrated by the nature of their sexual relations. For example, there was a woman who was very learned and smart and her father was a great and important man who married her to an ignoramus who was the son of an ignoramus. She did not want to submit to her husband but rather she wanted to control him. Her father said to her, Submit yourself to your husband and he shall rule over you because that is what G‑d decreed. She said to him, That cannot be the decree for me or those like me - since I am educated and the daughter of a great man – to submit to a boor. Her father replied, The fact is that the decree of G‑d for a woman to submit to her husband is for all women – even for people like you – without exception. This can be seen from sexual relations which is the principle attachment of a wife to her husband in which he is above her and she is below him. These positions are the same for all men and women in the world. This is a strong proof that everyman rules over his wife – no matter who she is. There is a well-known story regarding a king of one of the nations and he only had a single daughter as his heir. She sat on his throne after his death and did not get married. Her uncle told her that she should hurry and get married. She refused saying, And can a queen submit herself to a commoner to be his mattress under him. The uncle replied, You must get married because if you don’t your kingdom will be lost after death since you have no children. She was forced to listen to his words and she got married. Therefore my daughter you must submit yourself to your husband according to the decree of G‑d who created the nature of sexual relations in this manner that the man should be above and the woman should be below. This never changes even for a queen who is the wife of a commoner. Thus we see in the Torah (Bereishis 3:16), And to your husband shall be your desire – which our Sages say is referring to sexual relations. Thus this is a strong proof that your husband is to rule over you. And similarly we can generalize from sexual relations that the husband should rule over his wife. Consequently in the morning after the night which is the time of sexual relations - a man says the blessing that he was not made a woman. With this introduction we can understand the story that is brought in Bereishis Rabbah (20:7) concerning a woman who the child of important people who was married to a lowly man who afflicted her. The Sages heard about this to chastise him. When they came he placed before them a golden candelabra with a clay lamp on top as an allusion to the verse, “And your lust should be for your husband.” Rashi explains that he was hinting to them that even though she was an important person like the gold candelabra but her husband was like the clay lamp on top – nevertheless she loved him. As we stated he was demonstrating to them from the issue of sexual relations that there was a necessity that he rule over her.

Motti Elon is honored speaker: Dealing with sexual predators in our neighborhoods.

 JPost - Elon convicted of sex crimes agains minors

The notice below highlights a major problem. What do you do with a child molester/sexual predator and how do you interact with him on a daily basis. What honor can be given and what access to children and women? 

This applies to people such as Dovid Weinberger, Elimelech Meisels, Mordechai Tendler, etc etc. Once upon a time when such crimes were either swept under the rug or the perpetrator banished to someone else's neighborhood - not much thought was given to this problem - because it officially didn't exist. However with the major change in the last few years, we now have sexual predators who are highly talented, personable and well known - in our neighborhoods - even as next door neighbors. There is no mesora for how to deal with these child rapists, adulterers and predators. What should be done? In addition how do you react to people such as Rabbi Druckman who insist on giving honor to predators such as Motti Elon and/or insist against clear evidence that they are innocent?

update:  Hannah @AMotherInIsrael 

I took the picture and posted it on my blog. Not sure why it appears here without credit or link. 

From A Mother In Israel

Disclose the Trump Crypto Dinner Guests Drain the Swamp

 https://www.wsj.com/opinion/donald-trump-crypto-investors-dinner-trump-meme-coin-6280f377?mod=hp_opin_pos_1

The public should know the attendees at his $TRUMP coin gala.

President Trump likes to blur lines between personal business and public office, but he’d help himself by calling off his Thursday gala with the top 220 holders of his meme-coin. If he won’t do that, he could at least disclose his crypto contest’s winners so Americans know who may be trying to buy access to the President.

Days before his inauguration, Mr. Trump launched a $TRUMP coin whose purported purpose was to “celebrate everything we stand for: WINNING!” Sure. It happened that the coin could also enrich the Trump family. The fine print disclosed that the Trump Organization and affiliates held 80% of the coin tokens and therefore stood to benefit from any price appreciation.

A share of each trade is also routed to crypto wallets linked to the coin’s creators, so more trading generates more revenue for Trump businesses. Last month Mr. Trump set off a flurry of trading by announcing a dinner at his golf club outside Washington, D.C., on May 22 for the top 220 holders and an “ultra-exclusive private VIP reception” with the top 25.

Techeles tzitzis

Rav Sternbuch (I #26) Question: Is it best to wear the recently rediscovered techeles in tzitzis? The Radziner Rebbe claimed to have rediscovered the fish which he thought was the source of the dye for techeles in tzitzis  As is well known this was not universally accepted by rabbinic authorities even as a requirement to avoid doubt. It was accepted by his chasidim. Others claim that the correct fish is different. There are even some in Radzin that claim the Rebbes techeles is wrong.There is a young man a baal tesuva who wants to know whether he should wear this techeles Answer Your main question as to whether this techeles is the real techeles, I am not able to clarify. In reality it was only actually known with certainty in the period of Tannaim and then its identity was lost and will remain uncertain until the Messia is revealed. I don’t think we know today its true identity and this is attested to by the Arizal. In conclusion only if the collective Rabbinic authorities agree is there a binding halacha or even a strictness from doubt. At the present time, wearing it simply causes disputes and thus is prohibited. However it is permitted for Radziner Chasidim to wear it in their community. In addition it might be prohibited because of the prohibition not to add a mitzva not stated in the Torah and claim it is a Torah mitzva even because of doubt. . The Radziner asked.  we have a ruled that for a doubtful Torah law we take the strict view to eliminate doubt so why not in this case? The Brisker Rav said this is only when we fulfill the Torah Law because of doubt.But in this case we are not certain that we are actually doing the mitzva. 

Rav Sternbuch (IV #5) Question: What is the status of techeles today? Answer The Radziner Rebbe claimed to have rediscovered the fish which he thought was the source of the dye for techeles in tzitzis. As is well known this was not universally accepted by rabbinic authorities even as a requirement to avoid doubt. There are clear sources that its true identity was concealed by G-d until Moshiach comes. In fact the Brisker Rav noted tacheles requires a clear tradition which is the reason that in most generations there was no attempt to rediscover it. .Without a tradition there is not even a concern for doubtful techeles and there is a clear problem of bal tosif.  The bottom line is I can not recommend using any one of the claimed techeles. It is best to follow the standard practice and wait until it is revealed in the time of Moshiach.  

Rav Sternbuch (VI #3) Question: What is the status of techeles today? Answer It is not clearly known and the majority of rabbinic authorities have not accepted any of the suggested alternatives. In fact there are sources that clearly state that G-d has concealed its identity until the coming of Moshiach. Even to wear it from doubt, there is a problem of bal tosif . In sum until the [oskim clearly agree what is techeles there is no obligation to wear it even from doubt. 

Delta Airlines resumes flights to Israel, Lufthansa extends suspension

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/delta-airlines-resumes-flights-to-israel-lufthansa-extends-suspension/

Delta Air Lines said Monday it will resume daily nonstop flight services to Tel Aviv from New York’s JFK airport starting the next day, while the Lufthansa group said it would extend its suspension until June.