Rabbi Kaminetsky-Rabbi Greenblatt Heter: Rav Dovid Feinstein says it is worthless

Matzav  just published the following letter from R Sholom Kamenetsky acknowledging and accepting that Rav Dovid Feinstein's beis din had declared the heter totally worthless. He also indicated that his father has already stated that he would accept the ruling of Rav Dovid Feinstein.

Unfortunately I have not seen the psak itself. It had been expected that Rav Dovid Feinstein would reject the heter - after all it was obvious that it was a sad joke. The question remains did Rav Dovid Feinstein criticize those who had said the heter was valid? In addition will Rav Nota Greenblatt accept the psak? 

Without the criticism of those who produced the heter and without the retraction of Rav Greenblatt - the heter now becomes simply a dispute between poskim and Tamar obviously will chose Rav Greenblatt. 

Of greater importance, without the criticism of those who produced the heter  and its retraction - the heter will remain a viable option for all those who want a quick and simple end to a marriage without having to worry about the Get process. All they need is to pay a therapist to declare their husband to have an incurable personality problem i.e., to certify they don't like them and that they can do better with another husband. The therapist doesn't have to even waste his time talking to the husband - he will simply accept what the wife tells him.

Ukraine and Europe made to sit outside as US and Russia sharpen their carving knives

 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/feb/18/ukraine-and-europe-made-to-sit-outside-as-us-and-russia-sharpen-their-carving-knives

In this back-to-the-future world, Russia is fully restored to the top table, while the US envoys outdo each other to praise Trump

Rubio is the most traditional foreign policy Republican in the Trump team, and he seemed anxious throughout. Notably, the former Florida senator did not repeat pledges he had made two days earlier in Jerusalem, that Ukraine and Europe would have to be at the table for any substantive talks, and that a settlement would respect Ukrainian sovereignty.

As the chairs were being put away and the floors mopped in the Diriyah Palace, a new paradigm seemed to be coming into focus, one that was familiar from the 19th century and the cold war: great powers will make the decisions, while lesser states will anxiously wait for the big boys’ meetings to finish, and then call Riyadh to find out what has been decided.

In this back-to-the-future world, Russia is fully restored to the top table, its status assured by the size of its nuclear arsenal. Lavrov was delighted with the outcome of Tuesday’s meeting, noting the two sides “did not just listen to each other, but heard each other”. He predicted that follow-on talks would begin “as soon as possible”.

Trump Signs New Order to Vastly Expand His Presidential Powers

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-signs-new-order-to-vastly-expand-his-presidential-powers/

The move is unprecedented. Past presidents have rarely tried to challenge the independence of these agencies and some have gone so far as to avoid even suggesting a hint of interference through their actions.

But Trump last week made the stunning claim: “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.”

Trump says Zelensky ‘should have never started’ war with Russia

 https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5151545-trump-ukraine-zelensky-war-russia/

Trump vowed to end the war during his presidential campaign and on Tuesday repeated his claim that the war would never have started if he had been president. He spoke after U.S. and Russian officials met in Saudi Arabia without Ukraine officials.

“I think I have the power to end this war. And I think it’s going very well,” Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago on the heels of the meeting between U.S. and Russian officials.

“But today I heard, ‘Oh, well we weren’t invited.’ Well, you’ve been there for three years,” Trump continued. “You should’ve ended it in three years. You should have never started it. You could have made a deal. I could have made a deal for Ukraine that would have given them almost all of the land, and no people would have been killed, and no city would have been demolished and not one dome would have been knocked down. But they chose not to do it that way.”

Trump went on to rail against former President Biden as “so pathetic” before again criticizing Zelensky.

“Look, you have leadership — and I like him personally. He’s fine. But I don’t care about personally. I care about getting the job done. You have leadership now that’s allowed a war to go on that should have never even happened, even without the United States.”

The Rapid Rehab of Vladimir Putin

 https://www.wsj.com/opinion/vladimir-putin-donald-trump-negotiations-russia-ukraine-marco-rubio-8a2c0a17?mod=hp_opin_pos_2#cxrecs_s

President Trump campaigned on ending the war in Ukraine, and his negotiators on Tuesday began the process with a meeting in Saudi Arabia between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and his Russian counterpart. Global politics can be an ugly business, but the looming rehabilitation of Vladimir Putin is especially hard to take.

Mr. Trump said last week after a phone call with Mr. Putin that he’s convinced the Russian dictator wants “peace.” He didn’t say what kind of peace Mr. Putin has in mind, though if history is a guide it won’t be what most Americans understand by the word.

Trump delivers another blow to Ukraine and a new boost to Putin

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/18/politics/donald-trump-putin-ukraine-analysis/index.html

It looked like things couldn’t get any darker for Ukraine. Then President Donald Trump spoke up.

After cutting President Volodymyr Zelensky out of the first US talks with Russia on ending the war, Trump on Tuesday falsely accused Ukraine of starting a conflict that has ravaged its land and killed thousands of its people.

And in his most hostile comments toward the Ukrainian leader yet, Trump voiced yet another of President Vladimir Putin’s talking points — that it was time for an election in Ukraine — in an apparent bid to begin the process of pushing Zelensky aside.

Trump Says Ukraine 'Should Have Never Started War With Russia'

 https://www.newsweek.com/trump-says-ukraine-should-have-never-started-war-russia-2033014

At a news conference Tuesday, President Donald Trump blamed Kyiv for the Russia-Ukraine war.

Speaking on his peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump told reporters that Ukraine did not need a seat at the negotiating table because it "should've ended [the war] in three years. You should have never started it. You could have made a deal."

Kennedy says panel will examine childhood vaccine schedule after promising not to change it

 https://apnews.com/article/childhood-vaccines-schedule-kennedy-trump-hhs-4d5e6c52c602f5edbcd837748605e9d0

To earn the vote he needed to become the nation’s top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a special promise to a U.S. senator: He would not change the nation’s current vaccination schedule.

But on Tuesday, speaking for the first time to thousands of U.S. Health and Human Services agency employees, he vowed to investigate the childhood vaccine schedule that prevents measles, polio and other dangerous diseases.

Conservative Lawyers Tear Apart Trump's DOJ over 'Thursday Night Massacre'

 https://www.newsweek.com/trump-doj-eric-adams-charges-corruption-2032761

But Democrats are not the only ones who have expressed concern. Conservative columnist Ross Douthat, as well as lawyers David Lat, Andrew McCarthy and Ed Whelan, have also chimed in.

Additionally, Andrew McCarthy, former assistant United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, argued that the DOJ's order to drop the charges against Adams was "explicitly political."

"The Trump administration is dropping the case based on its political calculations," he wrote. "Politicized law enforcement is always wrong. And it is not more attractive when it insulates a politician from what appears to be righteous law enforcement than when it targets a politician with what appears to be discriminatory law enforcement."

Mexico Threatens to Sue Google Over ‘Gulf of America’ Change

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/mexico-threatens-to-sue-google-over-gulf-of-america-change/

Mexico is threatening to sue Google after the “Gulf of America” name change in its map service following President Donald Trump’s order.

Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s president, said at a Monday press conference that Trump had only changed the name within America’s continental shelf, and not the entire gulf.

The United States claims around 46 percent of the gulf, with Mexico having 49 percent and Cuba holding the leftover area.

Trump’s programme is not going to deliver for the MAGA

Woman Loses Custody of Baby After IVF Embryo Mix-Up

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/woman-loses-custody-of-baby-after-ivf-embryo-mix-up/

A woman has filed a lawsuit against a fertility clinic in Georgia after she was mistakenly artificially inseminated with another couple’s embryo, Business Insider reported. Krystena Murray, a white woman who chose to use a white sperm donor for her IVF procedure, knew something was up the moment she saw the baby she gave birth to in late Dec. 2023. Her baby boy was Black, according to the complaint filed in the State Court of Chatham County. A DNA test and clarification from her fertility clinic proved that another couple’s embryo had been transferred into her uterus. Coastal Fertility allegedly told the other couple, who sued Murray in family court for custody of the child. Although Murray had bonded with her newborn, she voluntarily gave up the child during a family court hearing in May 2024, and she lost custody to the child’s legal parents within five months. “This has destroyed me,” Murray said in a press release. “Nothing can express the shock and violation upon learning that your doctor put a stranger’s embryo into your body.” Murray, who described herself as “heartsick” and “emotionally broken” after having to give up the baby, is now suing Coastal Fertility Specialists in Savannah, Georgia.

Senior ultra-Orthodox rabbi instructs his constituents to withdraw from Zionist institutions

 https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-842602

A senior leader of the Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox community in Israel said Degel Hatorah representatives and voters should withdraw from all participation in national institutions, citing irreconcilable ideological differences with Zionism’s secular foundations.

“Zionism is a movement whose purpose is to establish the Jewish people on an explicitly secular foundation, rooted in heresy and rebellion against divine sovereignty. All the national institutions are built upon this ideology, Rabbi Dov Landau wrote in the haredi daily Yated Ne’eman on Tuesday.

“There is no allowance to participate with them, serve in any role within their institutions, or vote in their elections in any form whatsoever.”

Judge Orders Eric Adams, DOJ to Court Over Bribery Case Dismissal

 https://www.newsweek.com/judge-orders-eric-adams-doj-court-over-bribery-case-dismissal-2032758

A federal judge ordered New York City Mayor Eric Adams and the Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors to appear in court on Wednesday to explain the DOJ's request to dismiss the criminal corruption charges against Adams.

Kathy Hochul said in a statement on Monday: "I recognize the immense responsibility I hold as governor and the constitutional powers granted to this office. In the 235 years of New York State history, these powers have never been utilized to remove a duly-elected mayor; overturning the will of the voters is a serious step that should not be taken lightly. That said, the alleged conduct at City Hall that has been reported over the past two weeks is troubling and cannot be ignored."