Maharal (Tiferes Yisroel #69): It is not proper that the words of the Torah, which are words of wisdom, should be in the hands of fools so that each person can think they are just as competent as anyone else to say what is in the Torah. I discussed this in my sefer Be’er HaGolah. I explained that our sages have deliberately concealed their words in many places in order that fools should not have ready access to them. Therefore if the Torah had been written clearly and explicitly – it would be difficult to distinguish who is truly wise from one who is lacking in wisdom. As a consequence it would produce great disputes. This is the opposite of the intent of the Torah that everything in it should make connection, order and unity in creation. It is in order to prevent dispute and schisms that the Torah says that a rebellious elder is deserving of capital punishment (Sanhedrin 88a). Therefore it is proper that the Torah be in the hands of the few in order that they be listened to. This would prevent the many disputes that we have our day in which everyone imagines that they are a scholar and outstanding religious authority. They believe this because they say, “I can also read seforim.” This causes a number of bad thing which I don’t want to write about. Therefore the Torah is written in a manner that only the elite will comprehend it and so it will be inaccessible to the masses. This universal access to Torah was the cause that the Sanhedrin was not utilized and everyone built a private sanctuary for himself and there was no connection or unity. Thus Devarim (17:11) commands us that when there is a difficult matter it should be dealt with by the Sanhedrin. Thus we see that not writing down the Oral Torah and that it be given to the Sages (rather than the masses) is something inherently necessary for our well being.
Wednesday, July 9, 2025
Shulchan Aruch is the default view only when Achronim are deadlocked
Chazon Ish (C.M. 1:1 Likutim): Concerning the matter of the dispute over semicha in post-Talmudic times, the deciding factor in halachic matters is always according to which side has proofs which are stronger and more reasonable. Even though we normally follow the Shulchan Aruch – nevertheless were are accustomed to deviate from the Shulchan Aruch because the Achronim deviate from its rulings with correct proofs according to the understanding of the gedolim in each generation. So therefore for each halacha we are forced to study the analysis of the Achronim because intellectual reasoning is the decisive factor. However when the matter is deadlocked because the sides are equal – then we follow the disputant who is greater and that is why we accept the rulings of the Beis Yosef and Rema. So therefore in the dispute concerning semicha – according to our understanding those who rejected the new semicha are more cogent and understandable. Those who supported it are not understandable.
‘Playing the Man’: Global Diplomacy in the Trump Era Is All About Flattery
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/08/world/europe/trump-diplomacy-flattery-world-leaders.html
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel handed a letter to President Trump nominating him for the Nobel Peace Prize. But it’s not clear whether stroking the president’s ego has long-lasting effects.
The flattery was as obvious as it was effective. Seated at a dinner table in the Blue Room of the White House on Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel handed President Trump a piece of paper.
“I want to present to you, Mr. President, the letter I sent to the Nobel Prize committee,” Mr. Netanyahu said, with the news cameras rolling to capture the moment. “It’s nominating you for the Peace Prize. It’s well deserved, and you should get it.”
Mr. Trump declared the gesture from the prime minister “very meaningful,” though he has long said he believes the Nobel committee would never give him the prize.
The effort to curry favor was the latest evidence that many of the world’s leaders have figured Mr. Trump out. Heaping praise on the American president is the best way to manage him — even if it’s not entirely clear that the schmoozing leads to concrete benefits for their countries.
France: US overstated Iran strike impact, nuclear program only set back by months
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/sjyzhlohee
French intelligence chief says Iran’s nuclear program delayed by only a few months, not destroyed as claimed by Trump and Netanyahu; only a small portion of enriched uranium eliminated, Paris has indications about their whereabouts
The statement aligns only partially with the U.S. assessment. Last week, Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said the Israeli and American strikes likely set Iran’s nuclear program back by one to two years. He reaffirmed that key facilities at Fordow, Natanz and Isfahan had been destroyed.
Hegseth did not inform the White House before he authorized pause on weapon shipments to Ukraine
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/07/08/politics/hegseth-did-not-inform-white-house-ukraine-weapons-pause
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth did not inform the White House before he authorized a pause on weapons shipments to Ukraine last week, according to five sources familiar with the matter, setting off a scramble inside the administration to understand why the halt was implemented and explain it to Congress and the Ukrainian government.
President Donald Trump suggested on Tuesday that he was not responsible for the move. Asked on Tuesday during a Cabinet meeting whether he approved of the pause in shipments, Trump demurred, saying only that the US would continue to send defensive weapons to Ukraine. Pressed again on who authorized the pause, Trump replied, “I don’t know, why don’t you tell me?”
Tuesday, July 8, 2025
Donald Trump Drops Below Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton in Popularity Ranking
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-popularity-ranking-joe-biden-hillary-clinton-2095914
Deadly Texas floods leave officials pointing fingers after warnings missed
Local, state and federal officials are all pointing fingers in the wake of the deadly Texas flooding, but one thing is certain: The warnings weren’t heard by the people who needed them.
After the catastrophic Independence Day floods that killed at least 90 across central Texas, state and county officials told reporters that the storm had come without warning. But a wide array of meteorologists — and the Trump administration itself — has argued that those officials, as well as local residents, received a long train of advisories that a dangerous flood was gathering.
Some — like Sokich — argued that one possibility is that after rounds of staff reductions, NWS offices that may have had enough staff to issue accurate predictions didn’t have the personnel for potentially life-saving outreach. “If you don’t have the full staff, then you can’t do that,” he said. “People are just focusing on issuing the watches and warnings.”
University of California, Los Angeles meteorologist Daniel Swain wrote on X that such outreach is “one of the first things to go away when offices are critically understaffed.”
Musk Leads MAGA Meltdown Over Trump Administration’s Epstein Review
Elon Musk led a MAGA freak-out after the Justice Department and FBI shot down claims about a so-called “client list” belonging to late child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Conspiracy theories about Epstein have run wild for years, with many Trump supporters hoping explosive details, such as a list of high-profile names Epstein might have had incriminating dirt on, would surface now that Donald Trump is back in office. Two Trump loyalists at the FBI—Director Kash Patel and Deputy Director Dan Bongino—have previously pushed the unsubstantiated claim that Epstein didn’t kill himself in his Manhattan cell.
Musk, who previously claimed—and then apologized—for suggesting the reason the DOJ hadn’t released the Epstein files was because Trump featured in them, has lashed out at the agencies’ findings.
Conservative activist Robby Starbuck added: “Pam Bondi said the Epstein client list was on her desk to review for release to the public just a few months ago. Now the DOJ she leads claims that there’s no Epstein client list. Sorry but this is unacceptable.
“Was she lying then or is she lying now? We deserve answers.”
JD Vance’s old tweets show why the ‘Epstein client list’ is becoming such a problem for Trump
President Donald Trump’s team spent a good deal of energy on Monday in unfamiliar territory: on the wrong side of a losing battle against America’s extreme online conspiracy theorists.
Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt was the face of the effort at her daily news briefing. But if Leavitt is looking for who is fueling the speculation around the dead New York financier and sex criminal who appeared on camera yucking it up with her boss, she needs to remember: the call is coming from inside the (White) house.
Musk tweaks Trump with Jeffrey Epstein post
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5387380-elon-musk-trump-jeffrey-epstein/
Trump’s feud with Musk came to a head last month, when the Tesla chief executive said it was time to drop “the really big bomb.”
“[Trump] is in the Epstein files. That is the real reason they have not been made public,” Musk wrote on X at the time.
“Mark this post for the future. The truth will come out,” he followed up minutes later.
Trump to Resume Sending Weapons to Ukraine - Trustworthy Friend
The U.S. will send additional defensive arms because Moscow is hitting Kyiv ‘very hard,’ the president says
Monday, July 7, 2025
Eishet Yefat To’ar – Woman Captured in War
https://aish.com/eishet-yefat-toar-woman-captured-in-war/
I’ll begin by writing that it’s not clear if your astonishment is warranted. The Torah never states that a soldier is permitted to rape a woman on the battlefield – only that if he desires her he may forcibly take her home to be his wife – after she undergoes a lengthy mourning period (and converts to Judaism). This is the simple reading of the Torah – and the explanation followed by a minority of the commentators (Jerusalem Talmud Makkos 2:6, Ramban Deut. 21:13, Da’as Zekainim (21:12)).
In truth, however, the Talmud (Kiddushin 22a, Sanhedrin 21a), Midrash (Sifri, Ki Taitzai 213), most commentators, and Maimonides (Melachim 8:2) all understand the Torah as you are familiar with. And you are right that following that opinion, this section of the Torah is strikingly inconsistent with virtually the entire rest of the Torah and norms of Jewish behavior. And the explanation behind it is a fascinating one.
Jesus & Shabsai Tzvi fell from high levels of holiness to sin - through pride and anger
Rav Tzadok (Machavos Charutz #1):...Therefore the Torah has to command us "Be Holy" You might mistakenly think that means as holy as G-d...[See Vayikra Rabba 24:9]. When a person has reached perfection in holiness until he is comparable to the angels through his free will - the Yetzer HaRah does not leave him alone ever and seduces him with the thought that he can be as holy as G-d literally (mamash). Because of this a person can fall from the greatest heights to the lowest depths c.v. This is in fact what happened to Jesus and Shabsai Tzvi - the name of the wicked should rot. Because of their excessive asceticism their imaginative faculty grew and they thought that they could compare themselves to G-d. This all came about because they saw themselves as holy people....