Protests expected following yeshiva student's arrest

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/432139

Arrest of alleged haredi draft evader ends five weeks of relative calm, with protesters expected to target Highway 4 near Bnei Brak.

The attempted handover in Holon follows the arrest of another yeshiva student on Sunday in Haifa. The student, who attends the Kfar Hasidim Yeshiva in Rechasim and was formerly a student at Beit Midrash Elyon, was arrested and handed over to the Military Police following a clash with an inspector over a "Rav Kav" card payment issue. Police were called to the scene, arrested him, and later transferred him to the Military Police because he is classified as a draft evader.

Following the arrest, the smaller Peleg faction is expected to hold protests in central Israel on Monday. The location and time have not yet been finalized, but the protest is expected to take place near Highway 4 at the entrance to Bnei Brak at approximately 5:00 p.m.

Kindergarten MMR vaccine coverage still below ideal rate to prevent outbreaks: CDC

 https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/6033790-mmr-vaccine-coverage-falls-below-target/

Vaccination coverage for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) among kindergarteners in the U.S. remains below the ideal rate needed to best prevent widespread outbreaks, according to the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), with the number of exemptions going up.

The CDC on Monday released the latest figures on vaccine coverage among kindergarteners during the 2025-26 school year, finding that 92.4 percent of students had received the MMR vaccine.

The ideal rate required to prevent widespread outbreaks is considered to be 95 percent. The U.S. has been steadily falling away from this coverage rate since the 2019-20 school year, when the coverage rate was 95.2 percent. Since then, the rate has remained below 94 percent.

Lesser of Evils

 Garnel Ironheart August 23, 2026 at 7:26 PM

So what you're saying is that you prefer a DSA-controlled Democrat government that will be hostile to American Jews and especially to Israel. You're saying you want the Jew haters to be in charge. Because that's the choice right now.

This is  an ongoing discussion.  

It is recognized and acknowledged that Trump and family are corrupt, criminal and incompetent. He is the most disliked president in history. He has destroyed the economy, armed forces and health of America as well as democracy itself. But it is argued he is openly pro Israel and Jews and therefore he is better than the left wing Democrats. Bibi no longer brags about his close ties with Trump. However a major factor in anti Israel and anti Jew feelings is that Trump is supportive.

This argument justified the approval of his incompetent attorney general since otherwise the next candidate will be worse.

This fear is widely used.  Don't degrade or even acknowledge problems in the frum community such as child or wife abuse because it is better than a secular society. The Nazis rose to power largely because they were viewed as better than the communists. Ignore the mistakes of gedolim because acknowledging their fallibility strengthens  secularism. Censor all negative facts since this will only lead to weakening of society. Sometimes competence is more important than flattery.

I grew up in the McCarthy  Era. He was supported because he was viewed as saving us from the much greater evil of communism. The basis of the Vietnam War was the fear of communism I remember the Birch society and black listing but they were better than the Russians. It is not clear that a government that doesn't support Israel will be a disaster though it obviously could. It is clear that the present government is the best supporter of Russia and China. However Jews have successfully lived in secular and antisemitic countries

The issue is moot since Americans seem finally fed up  and will vote against Trump and the Republicans with the Jewish vote being insignificant 

Bnei Brak Is Not a Failure of Modernity

 https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/bnei-brak-is-not-a-failure-of-modernity/

The usual secular account sees Bnei Brak as a problem: crowded streets, poverty, political bargaining, educational separation, rabbinic authority, non-participation in military service, and a civic structure that seems to draw heavily from a state it does not fully join. Much of this criticism is legitimate. None of it should be dismissed. But criticism becomes shallow when it begins from contempt. Contempt does not analyze. It merely enjoys its own superiority.

The real question is not whether Bnei Brak is admirable or troubling. It is both. The real question is how it became possible, and what price its possibility now asks from everyone else.

 A city that preserves Torah life cannot pretend that preservation has no civic cost. A community cannot indefinitely treat the surrounding state as the military, economic, medical, infrastructural, and fiscal condition of its own protected separation.

That is not antisemitic. It is not anti-religious. It is not secular hatred. It is the minimum honesty required by political life.

But the Haredi fantasy is equally exhausted: the fantasy that a dense Torah society can remain protected while the broader state endlessly absorbs the military danger, economic pressure, and civic obligations that make such protection possible.

The Dumbest Trade War Revisited

 https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-dumbest-trade-war-revisited-57c9fe81?mod=hp_opin_pos_1

Trump’s decision to escalate a tariff brawl with Canada makes no economic or political sense.

President Trump took exception last year when we called his tariffs against Canada and Mexico the dumbest trade war in history. It got dumber this weekend as Mr. Trump escalated with another round of border taxes on Canadian imports, a mere 10 weeks before midterm elections.

Mr. Trump issued his latest tariff threat against Canada last month under Section 338 of the 1930 Tariff Act. The law lets the President impose tariffs up to 50% on countries that discriminate against “commerce of the United States, directly or indirectly” in relation to foreign countries. No previous President has used this power.

Trump's Nuclear Policy

Trump Report Card

A Wake-Up Call: Rethinking the Western Wall

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/431996

For many years, it has become customary to sound the shofar every day during the month of Elul, at the conclusion of the morning prayers. This custom has become firmly established throughout the Jewish world and is practiced by both Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews.

The Western Wall built by Herod, however, is fundamentally different. It was not constructed by virtue of a Divine command. Herod was one of the most cruel kings in Jewish history and was responsible for the torture and killing of many of the Sages of Israel.

The Gemara (Bava Batra 3b) relates that Herod was originally a slave in the household of the Hasmoneans. He rebelled against his masters, murdered the entire Hasmonean family, and left only one young woman alive, hoping to marry her and thereby lend legitimacy to his ruleThe evidence presented here therefore indicates that the wall before which we pray is not the original western wall of the Temple Mount. The sanctity of this wall does not derive from a Divine command, but solely from the work of human hands-“the work of human hands, wood and stone." The true sanctity, Ritmeyer says, lies beyond it, slightly farther to the west-the original western wall of the Temple Mount, which was sanctified by virtue of the command of the Holy One, blessed be He.

The evidence presented here therefore indicates that the wall before which we pray is not the original western wall of the Temple Mount. The sanctity of this wall does not derive from a Divine command, but solely from the work of human hands-“the work of human hands, wood and stone." The true sanctity, Ritmeyer says, lies beyond it, slightly farther to the west-the original western wall of the Temple Mount, which was sanctified by virtue of the command of the Holy One, blessed be He.

‘Brazen act of self-dealing’: Democrats seek to block a Trump-linked crypto bank

 https://www.latimes.com/politics/story/2026-08-18/democrats-seek-to-block-trump-linked-crypto-bank

Federal regulators have given preliminary approval for a cryptocurrency venture tied to President Trump and his family to operate a digital-asset bank, a decision that has drawn immediate condemnation from Senate Democrats who are now pushing legislation to bar such an action.

If the firm gets final approval, it would not act like a conventional bank and take deposits or make loans. Instead, the chartered bank would be able to issue and manage cryptocurrencies and digital assets. But the move would grant new financial powers to the Trump family’s crypto business, which has already shown to be profitable for the president in his first year back in the White House.

Aside from World Liberty Financial, Trump last year took in more than $600 million from sales of souvenir-type “meme” coins stamped with his likeness.

The White House said Tuesday “there are no conflicts of interest.” But the recent decision by federal regulators in relation to World Liberty Financial is now giving more ammunition to Democrats, who have pushed for more ethical guardrails to crack down on the Trump family’s crypto ventures.

Edifice Complex US Aircraft Carrier Could Be Renamed After Trump

https://www.newsweek.com/who-is-doris-miller-aircraft-carrier-could-be-renamed-after-donald-trump-12351168

Reports that the U.S. Navy is considering renaming the future USS Doris Miller aircraft carrier and potentially naming it after President Donald Trump have sparked criticism from lawmakers and veterans' advocates, while shining a renewed spotlight on one of the most celebrated enlisted sailors in American military history.

The Ford-class aircraft carrier, designated CVN-81, was named after Doris "Dorie" Miller during Trump's first term in 2020, marking the first time a U.S. aircraft carrier would be named after an enlisted sailor and the first named after a Black American.

Now, Navy officials have discussed changing the vessel's name, with Trump reportedly among the names under consideration.

Torah Learning and Pleasure

Avoda Zara (19a)   Levi and Rabbi Shimon, son of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, were sitting before Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, and they were learning the Torah portion. When they finished the book that they were learning and were ready to begin a new subject, Levi said: Let them bring us the book of Proverbs; and Rabbi Shimon, son of Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi, said: Let them bring us the book of Psalms. He compelled Levi to acquiesce, and they brought a book of Psalms. When they arrived here, at the verse: “But his delight is in the Torah of the Lord,” Rabbi Yehuda HaNasi explained the verse and said: A person can learn Torah only from a place in the Torah that his heart desires. Levi said: My teacher, you have given us, i.e., me, permission to rise and leave, as I wish to study Proverbs, not Psalms. 

Loving Learning Or Learning What You Love?

 https://www.torahmusings.com/2026/05/loving-learning-or-learning-what-you-love/

Question: Should a person only learn what he enjoys?

Short Answer: While learning what you enjoy has special power, there are certain limits to this principle.

The Gemara (Avoda Zarah 19a) states that a person only learns “from a place” that he wants to learn from. Rashi explains that this means that a Rebbi should teach his student the mesechta of the student’s choosing, as the Torah will remain with the student when he learns a topic he enjoys or is interested in learning. This fits with the next story in the Gemara, where Levi looked for an excuse to leave shiur when it was not learning what he wanted. Rabbeinu Chananel has a slightly different girsa – a person only learns what his heart desires.

Does this learning what you desire principle apply to children?

The sefer Michtam L’Dovid (cited in Avodah B’rurah, ibid) holds that it does not apply, as a child has no “da’as” to decide what he desires.

On the other hand, R’ Chaim Segal (Gam Ani Odecha, p.184) holds that you may learn torah with a young child on erev tisha ba’av, because otherwise the child won’t learn anything. Certainly, the child is not interested in learning the “bad topics” normally learned on tisha ba’av, and thus the learning what you desire principle trumps him not learning. R’ Segal apparently holds that this principle applies to young children as well.

Dead buried outside Israel

 Bereishis Rabba (96: 06)  The righteous who are buried outside of Israel what happens to them.  God makes cavities like channels for them in the earth, and they roll along in them until they reach Eretz Israel, when G-d will infuse into them a spirit of life and they will arise. How do we know this? Because it is written, Behold, I will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, O My people; and I will bring you into the land of Egypt; and after that, I will put My spirit in you, and ye shall live. Resh Lakish  said: There is a text explicitly teaching that when they reach Eretz Israel G-d will put a soul into them, for it says, He giveth a soul unto the people upon it.

Harvard pushed back against 'buffoon' Trump: Laurence Tribe