Igros Moshe (YD II #141.1) Question: Is it permitted to write the names of angels and verses on a mezuza? Answer It states in the Sefer Yeraim that it is a widespread custom to add the names of angels for the sake of protecting the house. The problem is that it looks like a amulet for the purpose of protection of the house and not a mezuza but there is no problem of baal tosif. Rashi clearly holds that a mezuza ptrotects the house and therefore there is no problem adding protection as long as it doesn’t violate baal tosif and doesn’t look like an amulet.
Friday, July 25, 2025
איבוד שליטה: אח ואחות שרכבו על בימבה הידרדרו לכביש ונפגעו
https://www.kikar.co.il/israel-news/children-accident-neve-yaakov
אח ואחות בני 5 ו-8 נפצעו בינוני וקל בתאונה בשכונת נווה יעקב בירושלים, לאחר שאיבדו שליטה על בימבה והידרדרו לכביש - שם נפגעו מרכב. הילדים פונו לבית החולים שערי צדק (הצלה)
Trump’s gambit to keep Alina Habba in charge in New Jersey: Withdraw her nomination
https://www.politico.com/news/2025/07/24/trump-alina-habba-new-jersey-nomination-00476033
As part of the gambit, a Justice Department official described a process that involves President Donald Trump withdrawing Habba’s nomination to permanently take the post. Then, Attorney General Pam Bondi would appoint Habba as First Assistant U.S. Attorney — typically the second-ranking official in the office. Because the U.S. attorney’s post is vacant, Habba would automatically fill the role on a temporary basis; she can’t simultaneously be the president’s nominee and serve as acting in this way.
The multi-step maneuver came as Habba — who has been leading the New Jersey U.S. attorney’s office on an interim basis since March — was approaching a Friday deadline to depart the post. That deadline triggered a little-used provision of law allowing the federal district court judges in New Jersey to appoint a successor until Trump could get a permanent U.S. attorney confirmed by the Senate.
Habba is perhaps uniquely controversial because of her close ties to the president before taking office and her actions after — she led an aborted prosecution of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, the indictment of Rep. LaMonica McIver and an investigation of Gov. Phil Murphy, all Democrats. Habba had no experience as a prosecutor until Trump installed her as the interim U.S. attorney.
France recognizing a Palestinian state is a bold move by Macron, with a hint of desperation
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/07/24/world/macron-france-palestinian-statehood-trump-latam-intl
The surprise announcement tells us two things.
Firstly, that Emmanuel Macron feels this is the time to act. Leaders from France, the UK and Germany are due to speak Friday to seek urgent action over the new lows of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
Measles outbreak reported in Israel, Health Ministry pushes parents to vaccinate
https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/article-862134
The Health Ministry warned on Thursday that parents should complete their child’s routine measles vaccinations as outbreaks have been reported in the Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh area.
Over the past three months, 245 measles cases have been diagnosed, and there are currently 91 active cases. Of the active cases, almost half were diagnosed over the past week.
A large majority (87%) of new cases were diagnosed in children.
Israel blames UN for Gaza aid shortage, says Hamas exploiting famine claims at talks
Israel on Thursday blamed a “lack of cooperation from the international community” for the limited aid entering the Gaza Strip while dismissing Hamas’s “famine narrative” as a tactic used in the hostage talks.
Speaking to reporters on the Gaza side of the Kerem Shalom Crossing, Col. Abdullah Halabi, head of COGAT’s Coordination and Liaison Administration for Gaza, said that approximately 1,000 trucks’ worth of aid are piled up inside the Strip, awaiting collection by the United Nations and aid groups.
The senior officer in the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories said truckloads are waiting on the Gaza side of the crossing “due to a lack of cooperation from the international community and international organizations.”
Thursday, July 24, 2025
WSJ: DOJ told Trump his name is in Epstein files
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5416848-wsj-doj-trump-epstein-files/
Attorney General Pam Bondi informed President Trump in May that his name appeared multiple times in files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, according to a bombshell report The Wall Street Journal published Wednesday.
Bondi and her deputy told the president that Justice Department (DOJ) officials reviewed what she described as a “truckload” of documents on Epstein and discovered the president’s name appeared multiple times, according to the report, which cited senior administration officials.
Bondi briefed Trump that his name was in Epstein files
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/07/23/politics/bondi-trump-epstein-list-files
When Attorney General Pam Bondi briefed President Donald Trump in May on the Justice Department’s review of the documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case, she told him that his name appeared in the files, sources familiar with the discussion told CNN.
The conversation, which also included Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche, was characterized by two White House officials as a “routine briefing” that covered the scope of the Justice Department’s findings. Trump’s name appearing in the files, they said, was not the sole focus of the discussions.
Bondi also raised in the meeting that several names of high-profile figures were also mentioned, and that investigators did not find evidence of a so-called client list or evidence refuting that Epstein died by suicide, the officials said.
Like Trump, Obama Has Immunity
In a White House outpouring Tuesday, President Trump accused President Obama of “treason,” calling him the “ringleader” of efforts by U.S. intelligence officials to steal the 2016 election. On Sunday his Truth Social account posted a fictitious video depicting FBI agents handcuffing Mr. Obama in the Oval Office, to the tune of “YMCA,” while Mr. Trump looks on and laughs.
The impetus was a batch of documents that Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard released and handed to the Justice Department, so it can deliver what she called “accountability.” She claims they show “a treasonous conspiracy” to subvert Mr. Trump’s win in 2016. “It’s time to go after people,” the President said. “Obama’s been caught directly,” and what happened was “criminal at the highest level.”
Trump reportedly was told he’s in the Epstein files by US attorney general
White House initially calls WSJ report ‘fake news’ before official doesn’t deny the US president’s name appears in investigative documents related to the convicted sex offender
US Attorney General Pam Bondi told President Donald Trump in May that his name appeared in investigative files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.
The disclosure about Trump’s appearance in the Justice Department’s case records threatened to deepen a political crisis that has engulfed his administration for weeks. Some Trump supporters for years have fanned conspiracy theories about Epstein’s clients and the circumstances of his 2019 death in prison.
The White House sent mixed signals following the story. It released an initial statement characterizing it as “fake news,” but a White House official later told Reuters the administration was not denying that Trump’s name appears in some files, noting that Trump was already included in a tranche of materials Bondi assembled in February for conservative influencers.
Justice Department Told Trump in May That His Name Is Among Many in the Epstein Files
Bondi also told president at the meeting that Justice decided to not release more Jeffrey Epstein documents because of the presence of child pornography and the need to protect victims
When Justice Department officials reviewed what Attorney General Pam Bondi called a “truckload” of documents related to Jeffrey Epstein earlier this year, they discovered that Donald Trump’s name appeared multiple times, according to senior administration officials.
Wednesday, July 23, 2025
Epstein brother: White House claim ‘blatant lie’
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5415258-epstein-brother-white-house-claim-blatant-lie/
Mark Epstein, the older brother of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, refuted the White House’s claims that President Trump never visited the disgraced financier at his office.
“That’s just another blatant lie,” the older Epstein said during a Tuesday appearance on CNN’s “Erin Burnett OutFront.”
“Because he was there. People that worked for Jeffrey in his office, they could testify that they saw Trump in Jeffrey’s office on numerous occasions,” he continued, “So for him to say he wasn’t there, all I can say is that’s just just another lie.”
Divorce Crisis - Guest Post
Remember when they used to tell us to never say the word "divorced" in your home, it's terrible for a marriage?
Of course they meant not to throw the word around when you're arguing with your wife because it's very mean and makes her worry that it is, indeed, the end. But what we as kids took away from it was the idea that we shouldn't talk about misfortune and that would somehow protect us from it, like some sort of secret forcefield against harm. Similarly, we say " machala" to somehow insulate us from getting sick. And now, as adults, we subconsciously avoid divorced people. Tell me, this isn't true? You don't approach them. Don't ask how they're doing or if they need anything. Don't get involved. You're "staying safe".
Perhaps you're afraid you'll plant the seed of divorce into your home by having a divorced person over for a Shabbos meal. Perhaps your wife might get some ideas from a divorced female after hearing the joys of attending singles events and speed dating. Perhaps your wife might get ideas from a divorced male at the table, ideas of how exciting it might feel to have a different kind of man in her life. Perhaps your wife is afraid you'll be inappropriate with the divorced single mom while her back is turned. So the divorced neighbor learns to meditate and perhaps figures out how to make Shabbos meals for themselves, sometimes getting together with other singles, other times just staying home. Shabbos is long and they're lonely and disconnected, feeling shunned. Perhaps they had a bad experience in beis din and forfeited getting any support in order to be released from an abusive man, leaving them literally destitute with no food in their fridge. Perhaps they're currently being dragged through court by the ex husband who's trying to alienate the kids and keep her half of the house that he bought while she raised his kids, did his laundry and served him supper for decades. Perhaps her own parents think she embarrassed them and don't speak to her anymore. Perhaps the man suffers from bipolar and misses his family who put up with it for 25 years until it was too much. He ruminates. Perhaps the phones come out on Shabbos. Perhaps they start making friends outside of the community. Perhaps they checked out of Judaism altogether and put on the requisite clothing in order that their kids can have some dignity and so that they can still work in the community.
You probably shouldn't have even read this far. You're getting ideas. What if it happens to you? Nah, you know what you're doing, and she would never leave you anyway, especially not with all these kids in tow. Sure, you haven't really been nice to each other in a few years. You push eachother's buttons and avoid each other as much as possible. Sometimes you fight but she gets over it, right? And you have a cute secretary so you're not feeling such a lack of human connection; you can survive. She wants you to go for couples counseling. You think you know what they're gonna say, that you should probably get divorced or perhaps make major changes and who needs to be scolded and threatened? So you refuse. The rabbi might suggest you see someone but those therapists are all the same and you saw something about this in the Lakewood Voice and the therapist was just a big fat yenta who told everyone about the person's private matters so you tell the rabbi to forget about it.
What if one day your wife demands a Gett? Are you gonna be shocked? How did she pull it off? Where's she gonna go? How's she gonna pay for stuff?
What if she's smarter than you and already put all your money in another account and hired a lawyer who's not going to let you see the kids more than every other Shabbos? How's that feeling now?
Maybe it's good for families to see divorced people. Perhaps you can be nicer to your wife. Perhaps she can be a bit more nurturing to you. Perhaps you can benefit from a good couple's therapist? Perhaps reality is that divorce isn't some " loser option", but rather a gift from God to remind us to cherish what we have and to be thankful for our spouse? And to allow us to move on and find someone else if it's no longer possible to serve Him with joy with that person?
Marriage is a metaphor for our relationship with God
https://rabbisacks.org/archive/marriage-is-a-metaphor-for-our-relationship-with-god/
Marriage is not just living together, a temporary partnership for mutually beneficial ends. Heaven help us if that is all we see in it. It is the point at which the “I” of self meets the “Thou” of another, transforming us into something larger, more spacious, more generous and tender than we could ever be on our own. In marriage at its best you see humanity at its best, and in a loving home you can almost touch the Divine Presence.
Subscribe to:
Comments
(
Atom
)