Trump announced a national Shabbat — and a giant celebration of Christianity the very next day

 https://forward.com/culture/824974/shabbat-250-rededication-trump-christianity/

To celebrate the 250th birthday of the United States, President Trump has announced several religious ceremonies. This weekend is Shabbat 250, in honor of Jewish Heritage month, beginning Friday night and carrying into Saturday.

“We celebrate the contributions that Jewish Americans have made to our way of life, we honor their role in shaping the story of our Nation, and we remember that religious devotion, learning, and service to others are enduring pillars of a thriving culture,” the announcement says.

But that recognition of Judaism is followed the very next day by Rededicate 250, a celebration “about the history and the foundations of our nation, which was built on Christian values,” as Paula White-Cain, Trump’s senior faith advisor, said in a webinar earlier this month for the National Faith Advisory Board, adding that attendees shouldn’t worry the event might include “praying to all these different Gods.”

“The vast majority of the speakers are Christian,” Baldwin said. “If you do see another religion represented, it would probably be in a modest way, talking about religious freedom.”

All this is certainly mixed messaging as far as  the place of Jews in the nation’s celebrations is concerned.

Rededicate 250 will feature dozens of Christian speakers including pastors; figures such as Dr. Larry Arnn, the founder of Hillsdale College, a private, conservative Christian school; members of the Trump administration including Pete Hegseth, who has openly voiced support for Christian nationalism; Jonathan Roumie, who plays Jesus on the hit Christian show The Chosen; and a selection of Christian musical performers. Rabbi Meir Soleveichik is the sole non-Christian slated to participate.

Cassidy becomes fourth GOP senator to back Iran war powers measure limiting Trump

 https://thehill.com/homenews/5886024-bill-cassidy-iran-war-powers/

Sen. Bill Cassidy, who lost his bid for a third term in Saturday’s Louisiana Senate Republican primary, on Tuesday became the fourth Republican senator to vote to advance a war powers resolution directing President Trump to withdraw U.S. armed forces deployed against Iran.

“Republicans should be ashamed of the Senators that just voted with Democrats in attempting to take away our Powers to fight and defend the United States of America. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Rand Paul, Josh Hawley, and Todd Young should never be elected to office again,” Trump posted on Truth Social after the January vote.

US, Israel planned to install Ahmadinejad in Iran and helped him escape country

 https://www.ynetnews.com/article/bka4o351fx

The New York Times reported overnight Tuesday that the United States and Israel had an unexpected candidate for that “someone from within” — perhaps the last person anyone would have imagined as suitable, or willing: former Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, long considered one of Israel’s bitterest enemies.

According to officials in Washington, the extraordinary plan was developed by Israel and later joined by U.S. intelligence officials. But senior American officials said it quickly went awry. Officials briefed on the matter and a person close to Ahmadinejad told the paper that the Israeli strike on the first day of the war at Ahmadinejad’s home in Tehran was meant to free him from the house arrest he was under. But after he nearly was killed in the strike, and was wounded, he changed his mind and decided, at least at that point, not to take part in the coup operation.

The American and Israeli choice of Ahmadinejad to replace Iran’s leadership was unusual, to say the least. During his presidency from 2005 to 2013, he repeatedly threatened to “wipe Israel and Zionism” off the map. He was known as a Holocaust denier and did not hesitate to use blatant antisemitic rhetoric.

A GOP primary has become a costly battle over Israel. Will it matter in the long run?

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/a-gop-primary-has-become-a-costly-battle-over-israel-will-it-matter-in-the-long-run/

Pro-Israel groups are spending millions to unseat Kentucky Rep. Thomas Massie, but even if he loses, it may not be dead end for his fellow Republican opponents of Israel, whose numbers seem to be growing

A closely-watched Republican congressional primary, taking place on Tuesday after breaking fundraising records, is like a bingo card of recent American — and American Jewish — political discourse.

The election is centered on support for Israel and US President Donald Trump. Jewish groups and donors have spent heavily on the campaign. Both sides are running ads with AI deepfakes. Tucker Carlson has weighed in.

Massie has consistently voted against US aid to Israel — including its missile defense system, Iron Dome. In the closing days of the campaign, he announced a bill to register the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. He’s also been accused of antisemitism for reasons that have nothing to do with Israel. AIPAC, the Republican Jewish Coalition and Christians United for Israel have all lined up behind Gallrein and spent heavily on him.

Secretary of Defense has time to campaign against advocate of revealing Epstein Files

'The biggest presidential corruption scandal in U.S. history': Trump shocks nation with brazen grab

The Shocking Truth About Assimilation & Intermarriage - Rabbi Yehudah Silver

Yeshiva is artificial institution - Rav Hutner (translated)

originally published May 18, 2012

Click here for Yiddish - © Translation by Daniel Eidensohn

Yeshiva represents a failure of ideal state of father to son Torah teaching. Discusses two aspects of Matan Torah - 1) Father to son 2) Direct from G-d

  Rav Yitzchok Hutner from Pachad Yitzchok - Shavuos

Trump tries to take $1.7B from taxpayers for allies

 https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Ggy1B7aJFs4

Huge unprecedendented corruption scandal

GOP Sen. Cassidy calls out Trump DOJ’s $1.8 billion compensation fund as ‘slush fund’

 https://thehill.com/homenews/5884237-cassidy-calls-out-trump-fund/

“I don’t actually see any legal precedent for that. We are a nation of laws, you can’t just make up things whole-piece,” Cassidy told reporters when asked about the legal compensation fund for Trump allies who were prosecuted or investigated by the Biden Justice Department.

The administration announced the creation of the compensation fund after Trump withdrew his lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service demanding $10 billion in damages for an IRS contractor leaking his tax returns to media outlets.

“Somebody explained it to me this way, an attorney. … It is as if somebody sued themselves and agreed upon a settlement with themselves that’s going to be funded by the rest of us. If that’s the case: What?!” he said.

The only Iran deal Trump can get is no better than Obama’s ‘horrible’ JCPOA

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-only-iran-deal-trump-can-get-is-no-better-than-obamas-horrible-jcpoa/

The US president pulled out of his predecessor’s 2015 agreement, saying it didn’t address Tehran’s ballistic missiles or proxies. Neither will any conceivable deal, even after weeks of bombing and a month of threats

After over a month of insults, threats, and wildly unrealistic demands from the Iranians, Trump is somehow still telling reporters that Tehran wants to make a deal.

But unlike eight years ago, Trump now seems unbothered by a deal that focuses almost entirely on the nuclear issue, with Tehran still unwilling to give an inch on proxies or missiles

Fake AI ‘rabbis’ spread antisemitism on TikTok

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/426641

The Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) has released a major new report uncovering a coordinated network of fake, AI-generated "rabbis" flooding TikTok with antisemitic content, in what experts warn is a dangerous escalation in the weaponization of artificial intelligence to spread hate.

The study, conducted by CAM’s Antisemitism Research Center (ARC), identified at least 49 TikTok accounts posing as Jewish religious figures while disseminating conspiracy theories and classic antisemitic narratives to a vast global audience. Collectively, these accounts have amassed more than 950,000 followers and generated over 10 million likes, demonstrating both the scale and effectiveness of the operation.

Among the accounts identified were profiles such as @rabbirothstein and @rabbi_silverstein, which presented themselves as authentic rabbis while promoting harmful and misleading claims about Jews. By framing these messages as so-called "insider truths," the network attempts to normalize antisemitism and make it more digestible for mainstream audiences.

The Greatest Threat Facing the Jewish People Isn't Antisemitism

 https://aish.com/the-greatest-threat-facing-the-jewish-people-isnt-antisemitism/

There is a threat far more pernicious than antisemitism, one that is causing greater damage to our people at a faster pace than any external enemy ever could. It's called assimilation.

The real issue is not the Draft

 At this time approaching Shavuos it is time to think about the future of Religious society. I think the real concern is not the draft but the loss of control of the new generation. The post regarding arson caused by frum youth is indicative of the problem. The youth are attatched to Torah not by values and ideology but rather culture and pleasure. Our young students expect to be entertained and to have fun. The army provides a realistic alternative platform. The demonstations have trained a generation to disrespect  authority which is not limited to secular ones. Similarly the tremendous social pressures for wealth collides with the difficult reality of earning a living wage. The failure of rabbis to solve the marriage crisis and other things also caueses disrespect 

There have been a number of historic periods when Jews assimated Such as WWI The Communist takover. America until the 1960's. the reurn to Israel after Babylonian Exile The Golden Age of Spain. In Israel assimilation is a real problem  and explains the resistance to secular and vocational training. Even in fanatic Mea Shearim there is often zero or negative growth due to assimilation. I was told that Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach was the only one of his Cheder that stayed frum. Among the Religious Zionists and Modern Orthodox it is fairly common to lose religion. While in America there was Reform and Conservative and in Europe the Haskala and Reform. The loss of Jewish women before Beis Yakov or the loss of German and Hungarian Jews before Rav Hirsch.  

I think a significant reason for the long time ignoring of abuse was the feeling that the resolution would undermine religious authority the same for marital problems and feministic issues

Eastern European Jews were told to stay in Europe and starve or face the Nazis rather than possibly assimilate in America or Israel

Bottom line the draft is resisted primarily because of the real concern that the 'youth will give up observance