Thursday, February 12, 2026
Wednesday, February 11, 2026
Tzadikim are godly
Bamidbar Rabbah (14:4) when the tzaddikim decree, Hashem fulfills their words.
Bereishis Rabbah (08:10) When G-d created Adam, the ministering angels mistook him for a divine being and wished to exclaim ‘Holy’ before him. What does this resemble? A king and a governor who sat in a chariot, and his subjects wished to say to the king, ‘ Sovereign!’ but they did not know which it was. What did the king do? He pushed the governor out of the chariot, and so they knew who was the king. Similarly, when the Lord created Adam, the angels mistook him for a divine being. What did G-d do? He caused sleep to fall upon him, and so all knew that he was but mortal man; thus it is written, Cease ye from man, in whose nostrils is a breath, for how little is he to be accounted!
Devarim Rabbah (10:03) The God of Israel said, The Rock of Israel spoke to me: Ruler over men shall be the righteous, even he that ruleth in the fear of God. And what means, ' The righteous, even he that ruleth in the fear of God’? The righteous have power over the same things as God, if one may say so. In which way? Everything that God does, the righteous do. How is this illustrated? God remembers barren women; Elisha, too, remembered the Shunammite woman. Whence this? For it is said, At this season, when the time cometh round, thou shalt embrace a son. God quickens the dead; and Elisha, too, brought back to life the son of the Shunammite woman. God parts the seas, Elijah and Elisha, too, parted seas. Whence this? For it is said, And smote the waters, and they were divided hither and thither. God heals without emollients, and Elisha healed Naaman without emollients. God sweetens the bitter waters, and Elisha sweetened the bitter waters, for so Scripture says, And he said: Bring me a new cruse, etc., and it is further written, So the waters were healed. God withholds the rain, and Elijah withheld the rain, as it is said, ‘As the Lord, the God of Israel, liveth, before whom I stand, there shall not be dew nor rain these years, etc.’. God causes rain to fall, and Samuel caused rain to fall, as it is said, ‘Is it not wheat harvest to-day? I will call unto the Lord, etc.. God sends down fire, and Elijah brought down fire from heaven, as it is said,Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the burnt-offering.
Zohar (1:10a) . G-d issues decrees, but similarly Moses issued decrees, and they were fulfilled. Further, G-d pronounces judgements and the righteous of Israel annul them, as it is written, “The righteous ruleth the fear of God”. And further, He commanded them to follow literally in His ways, and to be like Him in every way. That philosopher then went to K'far Shekalim and became a proselyte, and was given the name of Jose Katina (humble), and he studied the Torah diligently until he became one of the most learned and pious men of that place.’
Law hidden from tzadik
Bamidbar Rabbah (21:12) AND MOSES BROUGHT THEIR CAUSE. Some hold that the law was hidden from Moses. There are cases where righteous men have boasted of some matter connected with a precept and G-d weakened their power. You find that David boasts: Thy statutes have been my songs, as much as to say that they are easy and familiar like songs. Said G-d ‘By your life! You will in the end err in a matter that children read in the Scripture! ' When he brought up the ark he erred and put it on a cart; as it says, And they set the ark of G-d upon a new cart. The ark suspended itself in the air and the cows beneath it slipped. Uzzah drew near to support it, And G-d smote him there for his error, for an error in learning amounts to presumption. And David was displeased, because the Lord had broken forth upon Uzzah. G-d said to him: ' Did you not say, "Thy statutes have been my songs"? Have you not learned: But unto the sons of Kohath he gave none, because the service of the holy things belonged unto them: they bore them upon their shoulders David began to reflect: The Lord our G-d made a breach upon us, for that we sought Him not according to the ordinance . It was the same with Moses. Because he had boasted: The cause that is too hard for you ye shall bring unto me, and I will hear it, He diminished his mental powers. It is like the case of a money-changer who said to his apprentice: ‘If you are brought selaiim to exchange into small coins exchange them, but if pearls come, bring them to me.’ A bead of glass was brought to him and he took it to his master. His master, however, went to consult someone else about it! It is the same here. Moses had said: ’The cause that is too hard for you ye shall bring unto me.’ When the daughters of Zelophehad, however, came, He concealed the law from him, AND MOSES BROUGHT THEIR CAUSE BEFORE THE LORD. THE DAUGHTERS OF ZELOPHEHAD SPEAK RIGHT. This, He meant, is the law! G-d said to him: ' Did you not say, "The cause that is too hard for you ye shall bring unto me"? The law with which you are unacquainted is decided by the women!
Name of Tzadik like G-d's
Bamidbar Rabbah (02:12) When G-d created the world. Twenty generations came and went, but no good was found in them, neither did a single righteous man rise up among them. Beyond the twenty generations G-d espied Abraham, deposited in the land of Babylon, which is called distant; as it is said, They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon. G-d thought, ‘Can one be certain that he will have the power to stand?’ When he was cast into the fiery furnace and sanctified the name of G-d and thus stood his test, G-d immediately brought him to the Land of Israel where he built an inn for himself, gave food to wayfarers, and brought men beneath the wings of the Shechinah, making known the glory of G-d throughout the world, and causing his own name to bear a resemblance to the name G-d, like the angels.
Old and Righteous - why commanded to respect?
Shemos Rabbah (31:16) THOU SHALT NOT REVILE ELOHIM. R. Meir said: Above all did G-d exhort Israel concerning their judges who teach them justice and concerning their ruler, for it says, THOU SHALT NOT REVILE ELOHIM, NOR CURSE A RULER OF THY PEOPLE. You will thus find that Korah and his congregation were smitten only because they stretched out their hands against Moses and Aaron. The citizens of Jerusalem were also smitten because they despised the prophets, for it says, But they mocked the messengers of God, and it is written, They have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return. It was for this reason that God cautioned Israel concerning the respect due to the old and the righteous, as it says, To understand a Proverb, and a figure; the words of the wise, and their dark sayings Why did He exhort us concerning them?--Because it is they who warn Israel against idolatry.
Epstein files reveal Trump called police chief after arrest, saying ‘everyone has known’
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/skutzitw11l
A newly surfaced document from the Epstein investigation says Trump called the Palm Beach police chief after Epstein’s 2006 arrest, saying ‘Thank goodness you're stopping him, everyone has known he's been doing this,’ a quote the White House has neither confirmed nor denied and that challenges Trump’s claim he was unaware of Epstein’s crimes
D.C. grand jury declines to indict six Democratic lawmakers
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2026/02/10/dc-grand-jury-kelly-slotkin-pirro/
A federal grand jury in D.C. refused the Justice Department’s attempts to indict six Democratic lawmakers over their comments to military service members — the latest rebuke of the Trump administration’s push to prosecute the president’s foes, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Federal prosecutors last year launched an investigation into the lawmakers — all of whom served in the military or with intelligence agencies — after they released a short video advising current military members to reject “illegal orders.”
The lawmakers include Sen. Mark Kelly, a retired Navy captain and astronaut from Arizona, and Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a former CIA analyst from Michigan, both of whom sit on the Senate Armed Services Committee. They have criticized the administration’s attempts to deploy the National Guard to cities run by Democratic officials and conduct strikes on alleged drug traffickers’ boats in the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean.
Ghislaine Maxwell Asks for Clemency in Exchange for Testimony That Will Prove Trump ‘Innocent’
The late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein’s longtime close associate Ghislaine Maxwell, herself convicted and serving time for sex-trafficking and related charges, disappointed interrogators and observers when she pleaded the fifth in a deposition before the House Oversight Committee on Monday. But her attorneys say there is one thing that could make her talk: a pardon from President Donald Trump.
“Ms. Maxwell is prepared to speak fully and honestly if granted clemency by President Trump,” attorney David Oscar Markus said in a statement during the deposition, which he posted on X. “Only she can provide the complete account. Some may not like what they hear, but the truth matters. For example, both President Trump and President Clinton are innocent of any wrongdoing.”
Tuesday, February 10, 2026
Canadians Hit Back at Trump’s Bridge Threat: ‘It’s Insane’
https://www.newsweek.com/canadians-hit-back-at-trumps-gordie-howe-bridge-threat-11494200
Trump wrote on Truth Social that he would block the opening of the Gordie Howe International Bridge spanning the Detroit River until the U.S. was "fully compensated," saying the construction had no U.S. content, such as steel.
He said he would not allow the bridge to open until the U.S. was "compensated for everything we have given them," although it is unclear what compensation Trump planned to seek or what legal authority he had to block the bridge's opening.
The bridge is jointly owned by Canada and the state of Michigan. The Canadian government has financed the $5.7 billion project and expects to recoup the cost through tolls.
Despite Trump's claim, Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens told Canadian outlet CBC that American steel was used on the American side of the bridge and that he expected it to open.
Trump's framing of the bridge as Canada taking advantage of the United States is the latest chapter in his spat with the U.S.'s northern neighbor, which includes tariff threats and his criticism of Ottawa's effort to deepen economic ties with China.