Avoda Zara has real power?

Devarim (4:19) And lest you lift up your eyes to the skies, and when you see the sun, and the moon, and the stars, all the host of the skies, should you be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord your God has allotted to all nations under the whole sky.

Rav Yakov (Emes LYakov 4:19) And lest you lift up your eyes to the skies, and when you see the sun, and the moon, and the stars, all the host of the skies….which the Lord your God has allotted to all nations under the whole sky. There are two different understandings found in the commentaries, The first says this verse is simply saying that the purpose of these heavenly bodies is to provide light to the entire world and the Torah is prohibiting worshipping them. However the Ibn Ezra and Ramban say it means that each nation has a unique star or mazel as does each city.  They provide genuine benefit and bounty.  It would seem that this is a fundamental disagreement as to the nature of idolatry.  The view of the Rambam is clearly that idols have no power at all and therefore prayer to idols not only violates the Torah prohibition but wastes his time and effort. In contrast the Ramban claims that G-d implanted in Nature that each nation would have a unique source of bounty from the higher worlds as long as it didn’t have relevance to Israel since Jews are not determine by mazel. However there is still a Torah prohibition to pray to this source of bounty since ultimately G-d is the source of all bounty and therefore prayer and devotion can only be directed to G-d not to His sevant. However if this source is worshipped and prayed to it can actually provide benefit. Thus the verse is saying that G-d gave each nation a unique source of bounty and guidance. 

Moshe's request to go into Israel was answered when he Prayed

 The gemora (Berachos 32b) says Moshe's request to go into \Israel  was answered when he prayed. Though this seems to contradict the Torah which says G-d did not agree with him  “Enough! Never speak to Me of this matter again! Devarim (3:26). The Chasam Sofer explains that Moshe asked for two things 1(To see all of Israel  2) To enter into Israel. He was granted the first request only. 

Berachos (32b) R. Eleazar said: prayer is more efficacious even than good deeds, for there was no-one greater in good deeds than Moses our Master, and yet he was answered only after prayer, as it says, Speak no more unto Me, and immediately afterwards, Get thee up into the top of Pisgah.

Trump yelled at Netanyahu over PM’s denial of hunger in Gaza; PMO: ‘Fake news’

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/report-trump-yelled-at-netanyahu-in-recent-phone-call-over-pms-denial-of-gaza-hunger

According to NBC News, which cited unnamed senior US officials, the fiery phone conversation took place on July 28, after Netanyahu said at an event that, despite widespread reports of hunger and starvation in the Strip, “there is no starvation in Gaza.”

Trump publicly responded the next day that he was “not particularly convinced” by Netanyahu’s assurance, saying there was “real starvation” in the Strip and adding: “You can’t fake that.” 

“The claim that there was supposedly a ‘shouting match’ between Prime Minister Netanyahu and President Trump is complete fake news,” the Prime Minister’s Office wrote in a brief statement.

The Sin of Adam - inaccurate self-assessment

Rav Tzadok (Machshovos Charutz #1):.. The sin of Adam was in thought rather than deed…These are the thoughts that the Serpent gave him when he told him, “You will be like G‑d.” The source of all vain and empty thoughts is that a person errs in self‑assessment. He mistakenly thinks that he is on a higher level than he is actually is or is even capable of reaching. Adam who had reached the pinnacle of perfection as a man, mistakenly started thinking that he was in fact on the level of G‑d. Therefore the Torah warns that while a person should be holy he can never reach G‑d's level of holiness (Vayikra Rabbah 24:9). When he had in fact reached the level of the angels, his evil inclination did not leave him alone and deceived him into thinking that he could be as holy as G‑d. A person can thus achieve the pinnacle of greatness and yet fall to the deepest depths – as we see what happened to Yeshu and Shabtsai Tzvi. Their great asceticism and separation from the material world distorted their perception of their true spiritual level until they thought that they were the source of holiness…" This is the way of the seduction of the Serpent (evil inclination). He begins with something small and progresses. He begins with thoughts and imaginations which seem external and superficial but in fact touch all levels of thought in an essential manner.

Hitting Children – Corporal punishment

Michtav M’Eliyahu (3:361): My nephew told me that he saw in a sefer that even if the child obeys his parents it is still proper to find an excuse in order to hit him at least a small amount. … the Ibn Ezra (Shemos 20:14) has written that it is not relevant to talk about the love of a peasant to the king’s daughter. Also when the king punishes the peasant with a beating the peasant never thinks about taking revenge against the king and the only lesson he learns from being punished is to be more submissive. That is because it is obvious that he is totally subordinate to the king and the king has the right to punish - but not him. Similar when it is ingrained in a child’s heart the idea that the father is the ruler and total master over him and that he is subservient to his father then because of this subservience he will never learn to hit others just because his father hits him. However our education has become corrupted because the teachers now think that they need to be friends of their students and parents also think this and everything centers on the independence of the children. Because of this, when a father beats his son, the son will retaliate and hit his father or his small brothers… However the secular researchers in their search for new understanding and their desire to destroy the principle of education which were known even by non‑Jews and whose source is in G‑d’s Torah and Prophets - produce things which bring about a reversal of all these basic principles. They are educating future Nazis and brazen people. From this we see to what degree it is necessary to be careful with all aspects of innovation of the secular researchers concerning psychology and education and it is necessary to evaluate and ascertain whether their approach contradicts the words of Chazal and the Rishonim or Jewish practice which itself is Torah. If contradictions are found it is necessary to reject complete all their filthy innovations and not accept anything from them without first examining it with sharp examination and to evaluate it in the light of Torah and Chazal and the words of the gedolim of the Rishonim and Achronim.

Rambam (Talmud Torah 2:2) A teacher may employ corporal punishment to cast fear upon [the students]. However, he should not beat them cruelly, like an enemy. Therefore, he should not beat them with a rod or a staff, but rather with a small strap.

Makkos(8a): Although the son is already taught, it is still obligatory on the father to chasten, because it is written, Correct thy son and he will give you rest, yea he will give delight to your soul.

Igros Moshe (YD IV #30.4) Question: Is it permissible to hit students? Answer  In my humble opinion it is obvious that this should not be done with a cane or anything that can seriously hurt rhe child. It is prohibited for a teacher to hit a student even a light blow or even to threaten to beat him with such or even for a teacher to hold a cane in his hand. . He should have available only a small strap which a father and a teacher are allowed to use when the child misbehaves or isn’t learning properly. (Rambam (Talmud Torah 2:2). It is correctly said that one who hits with a cane violates the Torah prohibition against hitting and this is even for a light blow.that does no damage. It is also obvious that severe beating from anger is prohibited even with a strap or stick  The teacher and father have the same restrictions in general. They differ in that a teacher can only hit for issues of learning while the father can hit even for issues of character and similar things and sometimes for minor issues. Obviously this is only when there is some minor complaint – a father can hit but not a teacher 

Absolute Truth

 I'm reading "Stranger Than We Can Imagine: Making Sense of the Twentieth Century" by John Higgs and wanted to share this quote with you.

Start reading this book for free: https://a.co/e4Y75q3

 "The existence of absolute truth has also been declared by neoliberalists and socialists, by terrorists and vigilantes, and by scientists and hippies. The belief in certainty is a broad church indeed. All these people disagree on what form this absolutism takes, unfortunately. But they’re pretty sure that it exists. This faith in absolute certainty is not based on any evidence for the existence of certainty. It can sometimes appear to stem from a psychological need for certainty which afflicts many people, particularly older men. Cultural debate in the early twenty-first century has, "as a result, descended into a War of the Certain. Different factions, all of whom agree about the existence of absolute truth, are shouting down anyone who has a different definition of that absolute truth. Fortunately, true absolutism is rare. Most people, scientists and non-scientists alike, unconsciously adopt a position of multiple-model agnosticism. This recognizes that we make sense of the world by using a number of different and sometimes contradictory models. A multiple-model agnostic would "not say that all models are of equal value, because some models are more useful than others, and the usefulness of a model varies according to context. They would not concern themselves with infinite numbers of interpretations as that would be impractical, but they understand that there is never only one interpretation. Nor would they agree that something is not “real” because our understanding of it is a cultural or linguistic construct. Things can still be real, even when our understanding of them is flawed Multiple-model agnostics are, ultimately, pretty loose. They rarely take impractical, extreme positions, which may be why they do not do well on the editorial boards of academic postmodern journals. Multiple-model agnosticism is an approach familiar to any scientist. Scientists do not possess a grand theory of everything, but they do have a number of competing and contradictory models, which are valid at certain scales and in certain circumstances."

​​​​One can of artificially sweetened soft drink daily may increase diabetes risk by more than a third​​​

 https://www.monash.edu/news/articles/one-can-of-artificially-sweetened-soft-drink-daily-may-increase-diabetes-risk-by-more-than-a-third

An Australian study has found that drinking just one can of artificially sweetened soft drink a day may increase the risk of developing type 2 diabetes by 38 per cent.​​​

​​​​Surprisingly, that risk for artificially sweetened soft drink is even higher than for those who consume sugar-sweetened beverages, such as regular soft drinks, where the risk was found to be 23 per cent higher.​​​

Trump's higher tariffs go into effect on dozens of countries

 https://www.foxbusiness.com/economy/trumps-higher-tariffs-go-effect-dozens-countries

President Donald Trump's higher import taxes on dozens of countries went into effect on Thursday, just as the economic impact of his earlier tariffs had started to show visible harm to the U.S. economy.

Senior Haredi leader threatens ‘global struggle like never before’ to avoid IDF draft

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/senior-haredi-leader-threatens-global-struggle-like-never-before-over-idf-draft

The spiritual leader of the ultra-Orthodox Degel HaTorah party on Wednesday accused the government of waging war on the Haredi community, following the arrest of two Haredi draft evaders.

“The State of Israel has declared war on yeshiva students. Haredi Judaism will embark on a global struggle like never before,” a spokesman for Rabbi Dov Lando, one of the most prominent rabbinic leaders of the so-called “Lithuanian” stream of ultra-Orthodoxy, declared in a statement.

Alongside the Hasidic Agudat Yisrael, Degel HaTorah is one of the two factions in the United Torah Judaism party.

Research on reversing Alzheimer’s reveals lithium as potential key

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/science/2025/08/06/lithium-reverses-alzheimers-mice

Researchers led by Bruce A. Yankner, a professor of genetics and neurology at Harvard Medical School, reported that they were able to reverse the disease in mice and restore brain function with small amounts of the compound lithium orotate, enough to mimic the metal’s natural level in the brain. Their study appeared Wednesday in the journal Nature.

Gabbard’s Russian interference claims directly contradict what other Trump officials have said

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/07/22/politics/tulsi-gabbard-russia-trump-obama-analysis

When President Donald Trump sided with Vladimir Putin over his own intelligence community on the topic of Russia’s interference in the 2016 US election, then-Sen. Marco Rubio sharply rebuked Trump.

The Florida Republican said in 2018 that the intelligence community’s “assessment of 2016 is accurate. It’s 100% accurate. The Russians interfered in our elections.”

He added: “I think it was not a good moment for the administration, obviously. Hopefully, something like that never happens again.”

But seven years later, it just keeps happening — over and over again — as Trump and his most loyal allies seek to sow doubts about that 2016 episode and punish their political enemies. That’s now taken the form of Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard threatening criminal referrals and even floating allegations of treason for key officials in the Obama administration.

Her argument is full of holes, as even critics of the Russia investigation such as the National Review’s Andrew McCarthy have noted. (Basically, the whole thing conflates Russia’s attempts to influence the 2016 election with nonexistent attacks on election infrastructure that changed votes. )

But just as notable is that Gabbard’s move to cast doubt on Russia’s 2016 interference is wholly at odds with several top Trump administration officials, most especially Rubio, along with a pair of congressional investigations spearheaded by Republicans.

US Woman Wakes Up From Coma Moments Before Organ Donation Surgery

 https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/us-woman-wakes-up-from-coma-moments-before-organ-donation-surgery-9033966

On the day of the procedure, one of her sisters observed movement, and a doctor asked Ms Gallegos to blink, which she did, indicating she was still alive.

Abortion

 Shemos (21:22-23) When two or more parties fight, and one of them pushes a pregnant woman and a miscarriage results, but no other damage ensues, the one responsible shall be fined according as the woman’s husband may exact, the payment to be based on reckoning. But if other damage ensues, the penalty shall be life for life.

Igros Moshe (C.M. 2:69.1) Question: Is abortion permitted? Answer: Abortion is prohibited both for Jews and goyim and is considered murder. While it does say in Tosfos (Nida 44a) in two places that abortuion is permitted, this is clearly a mistake in the text  and should have said it is prohibited but exempt which needs to be corrected. The Rambam also rules that abortion is murder.   

Abortion Rav Yakov Emden

Igros Moshe (C.M. 2:69.4) Question Rav Emden (1:43) writes that a mamzer embryo can be aborted since we see that a pregnant adultress is killed with her unborn child and thus he concludes that today it is also relevant even though there is no more Sanhedrin or death penalty. Answer His words are nonsense even if it were written by such a great person as Rav Emden. I saw in his words absurd things that should not be said  It is clear that today without Sanhedrin there is no Torah death penalty and thus there is no justification for abortion of a mamzer. He also writes that someone today who deliberately does a sin that deserves capital punishment that it is good for him to commit suicide. This is clearly prohibited and Rav Emden is to be condemned for these words and the tshuva shouldnot be taken seriously. It was also claimed that the Rashba said the Ramban did abortions for non Jews. However I could not find such as statement in the Rashba nor can anyone else so it must be a forgery.  There is clearly a contradiction in the  Maharit. I was also astonished to see a tshuva written by a posek in Israel to abort an embryo more than 3 months that tests had indicated had Tay Sachs disease. He claimed that most poskim rule that abortion is only a Rabbinic decree for the needs of society and that other poskim such as Rav Emden permit abortion for great need. In fact Rav Emden clearly indicates that abortion is in general prohibited. In conclusion it is clear and obvious as I have written that according to Rishonim that abortion is prohibited as murder whether it is a mamzer or normal embryo or whether it has Tay Sachs. Don’t be mistanen and rely on the lone Israeli posek and I protest against him for the honor of the Torah and Truth. 

Abortion request to doctor 

Igros Moshe (CM II #73.8) Question Concerning those women in present times who are not properly observant  because of our many sins who want to have an abort their pregnancy. Answer  This is clearly prohibited as violating the prohibition against killing and it is also prohibited for a doctor to even assist  not only for Jewish women but also non-Jewish women. Because bnei Noach are also prohibited to kill the unborn. In fact the prohibition is more stringent for a ben Noach because this is a capital crime for them and thus it is prohibited to assist them and also violates the prohibition of lifnei ivair  One should not assist in any way - even to notify her that it is  possible to have an abortion elsewhere even for a non- Jew. Even if there is concern that this might cause hatred (aivah). In fact there is not a problem of causing hatred when it is explained that he doesn’t want to assist in killing  because even non-Jews know that abortion should not be done and many countries prohibit it as murder, Thus a religious doctor can just say that he doesn’t want to be involved in abortion as this is not a curative procedure and even is dangerous to the woman.

Torah needs to be supplemented with commonsense

 Rashba (3:393): My view is that if the witnesses are believed by the judges, then it is permitted to punish the accused financially or physically depending upon what the judges think is appropriate to be beneficial to society. Because if we insist on doing only what is specified by Torah law and not to punish except as specified in the Torah – the world will end up destroyed. That is because the elementary rules of a functioning society will be breached and consequently it will be ruined. It is an established practice to punish those who physically harm others…Every community makes judgments in order to preserve it and this is true in every generation and every place according to what is perceived as the needs of the times. For example we see (Sanhedrin 58b) that Rav Huna, who was in Babylonia, would amputate hands as punishment. Therefore these judges you referred to who punished the accused not in accord with Torah law – if they saw the need for it to preserve the society – they have correctly acted according to the halacha. This is true when there is a specific order from the king as we see in the case of R’ Eliezar the son of R’ Shimon bar Yochai in Bava Metzia (83a)

Rav Yosef Eliashiv (Kovetz Teshuvos 3:231): … Question: If someone is sexually abusing a boy a girl in circumstances which we can’t stop him from continuing his evil deeds – is it permissible to notify the government authorities? Answer: Rashba (3:393) states: “My view is that if the witnesses are believed by the judges, then it is permitted to punish the accused financially or physically depending upon what the judges think is appropriate to be beneficial to society. Because if we insist on doing only what is specified by Torah law and not to punish except as specified in the Torah – the world will end up destroyed. That is because the elementary rules of a functioning society will be breached and consequently it will be ruined. It is an established practice to punish those who physically harm others…Every community makes judgments in order to preserve it and this is true in every generation and every place according to what is perceived as the needs of the times. For example we see (Sanhedrin 58b) that Rav Huna, who was in Babylonia, would amputate hands as punishment. Therefore these judges you referred to who punished the accused not in accord with Torah law – if they saw the need for it to preserve the society – they have correctly acted according to the halacha. This is true when there is a specific order from the king as we see in the case of R’ Eliezar the son of R’ Shimon bar Yochai in Bava Metzia (83a).” We learn from the Rashba’s words that when action is needed for the well being of society (tikun olam), that the Jewish sages have the ability in every generation to act to preserve the society and to repair breaches – even when there isn’t a specific order from the king. The Ritva (Bava Metzia 83b) has stated that this order of the king is “if the king says to capture certain criminals, even though the government will judge without witnesses and warning [as required by Torah law] and there is no functioning Sanhedrin [as required by Torah law] – it is still permitted since he is acting as the agent of the king. Since it is the law of the land to execute criminals without the testimony of witnesses and warning - as it states [Shmuel 2’ 1:5-16] that Dovid killed the Amalekite ger who had acceded to Shaul’s request to kill him -the agent of the king is like him.” However according to what has been said, in a matter which is needed for the well being of society (tikun olam), it is not needed to have been ordered to act by the king [in order to act as needed]. However, it is permitted to notify the government authorities only in the case which it is certain that the accused has been sexually abusing children. Informing the authorities in such a case is clearly something for the well being of the society (tikun olam). However in a case where there is no proof that this activity is happening but it is merely a conjecture or suspicion, if we permit the calling of the authorities - not only would it not be an improvement (tikun olam) - but it would destroy society. That is because it is possible that allegations are being made solely because of some bitterness the student has against his teacher or because of some unfounded fantasy. As a result of these false allegations the accused will be placed in a situation for which death is better than life – even though he is innocent. Therefore I do not see any justification for calling the authorities in such circumstances.