Sotah (20a) She had scarcely finished drinking when her face turns green, her eyes protrude and her veins swell; and it is exclaimed, remove her that the temple-court be not defiled if she possessed a merit, it causes the water to suspend its effect upon her. Some merit suspends the effect for one year, another for two years, and another for three years. Hence a man is under the obligation to teach his daughter Torah, so that if she has to drink the water of bitterness, she may know that the merit suspends its effect. R. Eliezer says: whoever teaches his daughter Torah teaches her obscenity. R. Joshua says: a woman prefers one kab and sexual indulgence to nine kab and continence. He used to say, a foolish pietist, a cunning rogue, a female Pharisee, and the plague of Pharisees bring destruction upon the world.
Wednesday, June 3, 2026
Benefit from Sin
Berachos (31b) If Thou wilt indeed look. R. Eleazar said: Hannah said before G-d,: Sovereign of the Universe, if Thou wilt look, it is well, and if Thou wilt not look, I will go and shut myself up with someone else in the knowledge of my husband Elkanah, and as I shall have been alone they will make me drink the water of the suspected wife, and Thou canst not falsify Thy law, which says, She shall be cleared and shall conceive seed. Now this would be effective on the view of him who says that if the woman was barren she is visited. But on the view of him who says that if she bore with pain she bears with ease, if she bore females she now bears males, if she bore swarthy children she now bears fair ones, if she bore short ones she now bears tall ones, what can be said? As it has been taught: She shall be cleared ad shall conceive seed: this teaches that if she was barren she is visited. So R. Ishmael. Said K. Akiba to him, If that is so, all barren women will go and shut themselves in with someone and she who has not misconducted herself will be visited! No, it teaches that if she formerly bore with pain she now bears with ease, if she bore short children she now bears tall ones, if she bore swarthy ones she now bears fair ones, if she was destined to bear one she will now bear two. What then is the force of If Thou wilt indeed look? The Torah used an ordinary form of expression.
The true meaning of Trump’s choice for America’s new top spy
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/06/03/politics/trump-pulte-dni-election-security-analysis
His elevation on Tuesday of Bill Pulte, director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, to serve as America’s new acting top spymaster was therefore a classic political move.
The DNI is charged by law with acting as America’s top intelligence official. The role may include briefing the president on potential terrorist attacks, assessing an adversary’s possible moves in wartime, overseeing the most secret counter-intelligence activities and securing presidential approval for covert actions.
The statute creating the Office of the Director of National Intelligence stated the director “shall have extensive national security expertise.” Trump said Tuesday on social media that Pulte had “deep experience managing the most sensitive matters in America, the safety and soundness of the Markets” and $10 trillion at Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But Pulte’s record, despite a successful career in high finance, appears to fall well short of the law’s stipulation.
Pulte is an uber-loyalist and a regular in the Mar-a-Lago inner circle; he’s known for rigorously defending Trump on television; and he has shown he’s willing to use the power of government to go after Trump’s enemies. As housing director, he sent the Justice Department criminal referrals on allegations of mortgage fraud against several of Trump’s perceived political enemies.
Israel placed its sovereignty in US hands, and Trump’s Lebanon ceasefire proved it
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/sybsnh3xge
After Trump announced a Lebanon ceasefire and called his Netanyahu talk 'productive,' the PM again threatened Dahieh strikes, drawing a furious second call as Iran talks loomed; an Israeli official says Jerusalem is 'boxed in' by a recurring US pattern in Lebanon, Gaza and Iran
Trump and Netanyahu Are Clashing Over How to End the Iran War
https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/trump-netanyahu-iran-war-lebanon-8fdba5cb?mod=hp_lead_pos7
President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu launched the war against Iran with an unprecedented level of coordination. Now three months later, they are fighting over how to bring the conflict to a close.
Trump wants a diplomatic agreement that would reopen the Strait of Hormuz, dispose of Iran’s enriched uranium and end a conflict that has driven up energy prices and divided his political base. Netanyahu faces pressure at home to intensify military operations against Hezbollah, Iran’s most important regional proxy and a U.S.-designated terrorist group.
Israel-Lebanon talks resume, Hezbollah keeps fighting in violation of agreement with Trump - report
https://www.jpost.com/international/article-898158
During talks between Israel and Lebanon on Tuesday, senior members of the Israeli delegation said that Hezbollah did not stop fighting, despite promising US President Donald Trump to do so on Monday.
Delegations from both Lebanon and Israel met at the US State Department on Tuesday to begin a scheduled two-day resumption of negotiations.
Members of the Israeli delegation also said that Hezbollah publicly rejected the equation of a ceasefire in southern Lebanon in exchange for a ceasefire in northern Israel.
The negotiations come a day after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu canceled a strike on Beirut at the urging of Trump, with Iranian officials warning that military action taken by Israel against Lebanon would cause a halt in communication between Iran and the US.
Tuesday, June 2, 2026
Divine Providence
Chovas Halevavos (04:03) G-d watches over and directs the lives of all men, He does not abandon any of them (from bestowing good or benefiting them according to their needs nor neglects any of them from saving them from damages. None of their matters, small or great are hidden from Him, and no matter can distract Him from remembering another matter, as written: "Why should you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel, 'My way has been hidden from the L-ord, and my judgment is passed over from my G-d'?"
Chovas Halevavos (08:03 Examining the Soul) THE NINETEENTH: (disasters of the world) To make an accounting with oneself in that the Creator has spared him from the disasters of the world, its sufferings, the various diseases which strike people, the calamities which befall them such as imprisonment, hunger, thirst, cold, burning, lethal poisons, dangerous animals, leprosy, insanity, paralysis, or the like - all the while knowing that they are fitting for him and he deserves them due to his previous sins and iniquities before the Creator, and the greatness of what occurred in the past, of his rebelling against G-d, and disrespecting His words, and leaving his duty of thanking and praising Him, and turning away from His service, and neglecting repentance and confession before G-d for his prolonged rebellion despite G-d's continuous favors and constant good on him.
Netanyahu Is Getting in Trump’s Way in the Middle East
https://mobileapp.newsweek.com/story/12020391/content.html
Iranian officials and U.S. President Donald Trump have balked at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s pledge to escalate the war in Lebanon, exposing apparent daylight between American and Israeli leaders as talks to end the conflicts in the Middle East drag on.
Iran has said that the deal Trump seeks to end more than three months of war in the Middle East—triggered by U.S. and Israeli strikes on the Islamic Republic on February 28—must include Lebanon. Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, who heads Iran’s negotiating team, told Lebanese parliamentary Speaker Nabih Berri that Tehran would halt talks if attacks on Lebanon continued, according to the IRNA state news agency.
With the U.S. and Iran’s appetites for war waning, and Trump looking to secure a peace deal, Netanyahu becomes an “obstacle” to the White House if he steps up the intensity of the conflict, Mekelberg said
Lacking money and support, Trump’s Board of Peace stalls in Gaza
With Hamas disarmament negotiations deadlocked and Israel taking further territory, plans for a grand Gaza reconstruction appear distant.
Seven months after President Donald Trump announced his peace plan for Gaza and more than four months since he convened his Board of Peace to implement and pay for it, the plan is stalled and expected donations to the fund it created are nonexistent.
Security and reconstruction of the destroyed territory seem a distant dream. The glitzy proposal of apartment complexes, high-tech industries and waterfront tourist resorts displayed by Jared Kushner, Trump’s son-in-law and Gaza negotiator, at the board’s February meeting has been shelved. For now, the most ambitious proposal is to build temporary housing for tens of thousands of Palestinians once still-unrealized governance and security plans are in place.
Trump, who declared the Gaza war “over” when the 29-member board of world leaders gathered in Washington on Feb. 19 for its first and only meeting, pledged “we’re going to make Gaza an example of success and safety and unity.”
Netanyahu rushed to threaten Hezbollah, and Israel lost its strongest leverage in Lebanon
https://www.ynetnews.com/opinions-analysis/article/hyxykdhxfx
Analysis: Netanyahu was right to approve strikes on Beirut’s Dahieh, Ron Ben-Yishai argues, but by publicly threatening Hezbollah before acting, he allowed Trump to intervene and deprived Israel of one of its most effective pressure tools in Lebanon
The love trap: How the relationship with Trump went from gift to farce
Negotiations with Iran are stuck because Trump has run out of cards. Every red line has been crossed, and Iran is dictating the rules. Against the backdrop of all the chatter about "love for Israel," the president continues to throw his greatest ally under the bus. There will be those who again portray the grim reality as an achievement, but the truth is that this is a terrifyingly weak president.
Trump dealt Israel a strategic blow and eroded the gains against Iran
Early fears that the US president would “turn” on Israel have become a resounding strategic blow with the leak of the harsh phone call. The operational restraint in Beirut and the jarring tones from the White House now place the flagship project of rolling back Iran’s nuclear program and striking Tehran under a major question mark.
The Israeli leadership had early concerns about a scenario in which US President Donald Trump would "turn" on Israel, and there is no way to downplay the scale of the strategic blow contained in the "shouting call" Trump held Monday night with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and especially in its publication.
This war dragged on for quite some time largely because of Trump himself, who apparently believed it would be much faster. His administration officials did not foresee the Iranian regime's ability to ignore its military defeat and economic collapse, and to keep playing to the limit the remaining cards it held in the Strait of Hormuz and against the Gulf states.
Israel had warned, mainly during the latest round of negotiations, that Iran was seeking to drag out time in order to benefit from the unfreezing of funds that would help the regime recover. But Israel's firm opposition to the memorandum of understandings on the table triggered significant anger among the officials in the US administration promoting the move, and sparked suspicion that Israel was trying to torpedo it.
That is exactly how Washington interpreted Israel's expanding offensive in Lebanon. And although the administration knew in advance of Israel's intention to strike in Beirut because of Hezbollah's continued fire, the call between Trump and Netanyahu took a difficult and negative turn after Iran threatened to abandon the diplomatic contacts.
Divine Providence for Everything?
Kuzari (5:20): … The Prime Will is manifest when the Divine Presence is amongst the Jews. However after the destruction of the Temple it became doubtful - except in the hearts of those who have faith - whether specific events were the result of the direct command of G d or the Heavenly spheres or were accidents. There is no definitive way to resolve this issue. Nonetheless it is best to attribute everything that happens to G d, especially major things such as death, victory, war, success and bad fortune.
Trump lashed out at Netanyahu over Lebanon: 'You'd be in prison if not for me'
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/s1zx5riemg
U.S. President Donald Trump lashed out at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his announcement that the IDF would strike Beirut, Axios reported, citing three U.S. officials. According to two of the sources, Trump called Netanyahu “crazy” and accused him of ingratitude during their phone call, before ordering him to cancel the strikes.
The difficult call between Trump and Netanyahu
'You're f***ing crazy': The difficult call between Trump and Netanyahu
Axios reports that Trump fiercely berated Netanyahu in a phone call on Monday, forcing Israel to cancel its planned Beirut strikes.
Iran Gets Trump to Rescue Hezbollah
Iran’s regime began Monday by throwing a wrench into negotiations with the U.S., and President Trump spent the rest of the day scrambling to satisfy Iran’s demand. The result is a new cease-fire in Lebanon, rescuing Hezbollah for the moment, though the terrorists didn’t abide by the first cease-fire for even a day.
Hezbollah began this war with Israel on March 2, firing on soldiers and civilian targets on the orders of its Iranian patrons. The first Lebanon cease-fire was announced April 17 after Iran’s regime had said Israeli retaliation against Hezbollah was preventing the reopening of the Strait of Hormuz. Mr. Trump pressured Israel and delivered the cease-fire, but Iran reneged on Hormuz—and its Hezbollah proxy kept firing.
Time to say no to Trump: Israeli officials condemn Netanyahu's decision to cancel Lebanon strike
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-898056
Multiple Israeli officials took to social media to criticize Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s decision to cancel a strike on Beirut at the urging of US President Donald Trump on Monday.
“This is the time to tell our friend, President Trump - ‘no’,” National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wrote on X/Twitter, reminding Netanyahu that he once said a strong prime minister would be able to tell the president of the US no when necessary.
“Now is the time to do what is required and necessary to strike Hezbollah,” Ben-Gvir added.
'Thank you Bibi!' Trump thanks Netanyahu for halting Beirut strike
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/427972
US President Donald Trump thanked Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for agreeing to stop a planned strike in Beirut, while also expressing hope that the ceasefire will last “for eternity".
Earlier on Monday, Trump wrote on Truth Social, following a phone call with Netanyahu, that Israel and Hezbollah have agreed to stop attacking each other.
Netanyahu also issued a statement following his conversation with Trump.
“I spoke this evening with President Trump and told him that if Hezbollah does not cease attacking our cities and civilians, Israel will strike terrorist targets in Beirut. This position remains unchanged. At the same time, the IDF will continue operating in southern Lebanon as planned," Netanyahu said.
Trump’s DOJ Says It Will Drop ‘Anti-Weaponization’ Fund Amid GOP Revolt
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-doj-drops-anti-weaponization-fund-court-block-gop-revolt-12018512
The Department of Justice (DOJ) said Monday it will comply with a federal court order temporarily blocking its proposed “Anti-Weaponization Fund,” despite strongly disagreeing with the ruling, as backlash mounted from Republicans over the initiative.
The judge ruled that the fund is on pause for the two-week period, according to court documents. President Donald Trump is now reconsidering whether to move ahead with a $1.8 billion fund intended to compensate his allies, a person familiar with his thinking told the Associated Press.
In a statement, the DOJ criticized a judge in the Eastern District of Virginia for the decision that delays the fund, which it said was intended to support individuals who believed they had been unfairly targeted or persecuted, regardless of political affiliation.
DOJ provided its statement to Newsweek via email, "The Department of Justice disagrees strongly with the decision on the Anti-Weaponization Fund put forth by the United States District Court Judge in the Eastern District of Virginia, wherein the Court stated that, under no circumstances, may the Department of Justice proceed with the Anti-Weaponization Fund recently established in order to make up for the tremendous abuse, harm, and hate unfairly shown to so many people. This Fund was open to anybody who was so weaponized, targeted, or persecuted, whether they were Democrat, Republican, Conservative, Independent, or otherwise. The Department will abide by the Court’s ruling."
Monday, June 1, 2026
Importance of a living teacher and not only Books
LikuteiMoharan(19:09) Everyone wonders: Why is it necessary to travel to the tzaddik to hear ethical teachings directly from him, when it is possible to study the ethical teachings from books? But, the truth is that there is a great advantage to visiting the tzaddik. For there is a big difference between someone who hears directly from the true tzaddik himself and between hearing something from a teacher, from a student, or seeing it inside a book. Each time it descends from level to level, becoming increasingly distant from the tzaddik. So, too, between someone who hears it directly from the tzaddik and someone who studies from a book there is an even greater difference. For the tzaddikim are, “strong warriors doing His word.” Especially when trying to understand the word of G-d in Hebrew with which the world was created and also since G-d consulted with the souls of tzadikim before He created the world Thus the tzadikm are described as doing G-d’s word In fact each time the tzadik wants to understand properly the word of G-d he first concretises it through speech and doing mitzvos.. Thus, these words came into existence and were constructed by them. This corresponds to, “Doing His word, to hear the sound of His word.” When they want to hear G-d’s’s word, they first make the word—this being “doing His word.” Then afterwards, they hear that word from G-d—this being “to hear the sound of His word.” It is with this word that G-d talks to them
Tzadik debates Scholars
Likutei Moharan (63:06) Now, there is a serpent with an ant inside its mouth. He signifies the scholar of the generation, The ant that lies inside the serpent’s mouth signifies the tzaddik of the generation, who is upright and righteous and possesses good character traits. Because he is wise and involves himself in scholarship and philosophical investigation, probing these wisdoms, this tzaddik suffers greatly when these scholars begin to engage in their philosophical investigation. He wages a fierce battle with them who are signified by the serpent—for he is greatly assailed by doubts, untrue assertions and false beliefs. That is because he is a confident traitor though he lacks complete condidence and lacks the proper truth. which is an inherent aspect of false beliefs
Reported terms of Trump’s Iran deal would confirm the war as an epochal failure
US president claims to have almost finalized a ‘Memorandum of Understanding pertaining to PEACE’ with Iran; he’s also mused that Iran might ‘perhaps’ join the Abraham Accords. Wishful thinking cannot mask an unfolding catastrophe for Iranians, the free world and Israel
Trump's illusion: From Tehran 2026 to Munich 1938
https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/trumps-illusion-from-tehran-2026-to-munich-1938/
The initial drafts of the negotiations recall the sweeping concessions Chamberlain granted Hitler. Despite the massive bombing campaign Trump ordered, the US is on track to give Tehran billions and leave its nuclear program intact. If the West again chooses a false peace, the duty to stop this existential threat will fall on Israel.
Trump blasts CNN over report claiming Iran agreement lacks nuclear provisions
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/427909
"Fake News CNN said today, routinely, that my Iran Nuclear Deal doesn’t talk about Nuclear, when actually it states, very clearly, that Iran will not have a Nuclear Weapon," Trump wrote.
According to the president, the preliminary text places a substantial emphasis on restricting the Islamic Republic's non-conventional capabilities. He asserted that the documentation goes beyond a generalized framework to lay out expansive guidelines regarding atomic material.
In its original draft, the memorandum of understanding bound Iran to a generalized commitment to forgo the pursuit of a nuclear weapon, but lacked concrete concessions beyond that vow. The existing framework outlines a 60-day diplomatic window to negotiate subsequent nuclear restrictions and corresponding American sanctions relief. The immediate priorities for those future talks were slated to be the disposal of Iran's enriched uranium reserves and caps on future refinement.
Trump added that he is in no hurry to reach a deal with Iran and once again stressed that Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.
Sunday, May 31, 2026
Iran’s reopened underground missile sites show limits of US bombing plan
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/05/31/us/iran-tunnels-reopened-us-strategy-bombing-invs
Iran is poised to fire far more long-range missiles at Israel and other Middle Eastern nations after rapidly digging out its buried arsenals – an effort that highlights the limits to US bombing strategy, experts said.
For weeks, strikes by the United States and Israel restricted Iran’s access to its underground missile sites by destroying roads and burying tunnel entrances.
But satellite images reviewed by CNN show how Iran has used simple equipment such as bulldozers and dump trucks to counter those costly campaigns — suggesting that Tehran’s missile capabilities can’t be destroyed just by targeting tunnel entrances, experts said.
Iran has reopened most entrances to 18 underground missile sites struck in war
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-may-31-2026/
Regime has dug out buried arsenals, is ‘poised to fire’ long-range missiles again * Tehran’s Ghalibaf says no US deal without ‘tangible results’ * ‘We returned stronger than ever’: Netanyahu hails capture of south Lebanon’s Beaufort Castle
Trump to headline fair for US’s 250th anniversary after artists drop out
As some performers back away from ‘Great American State Fair’ due to ties to president, he calls their music ‘boring’ and claims he gets ‘larger audiences than Elvis in his prime’
Cancer jab can eradicate entire tumours in patients, trial shows
Doctors have hailed “unprecedented” trial results that show a triple-action cancer jab can eradicate entire tumours in patients.
In an international trial spanning 11 countries, the injection was offered to patients whose cancer had spread or come back and whose disease had failed to respond to other treatments.
The jab, called amivantamab, shrank the tumours of more than a third of patients, with dramatic changes seen within weeks. In 15 of them, doctors found the drug had melted away their tumours altogether.
Kevin Harrington, professor in biological cancer therapies at the Institute of Cancer Research, London (ICR), said: “These are unprecedentedly strong responses in patients whose disease has become resistant to both chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
Trump tells agencies to align with study calling for narrower childhood vaccine recommendations
https://apnews.com/article/childhood-vaccine-schedule-trump-rfk-hhs-d04ba53d6820cc7194a4885e2418d132
Trump tells agencies to align with study calling for narrower childhood vaccine recommendations
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., listens during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Wednesday, May 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., listens during a Cabinet meeting at the White House, Wednesday, May 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
President Donald Trump on Friday gave his endorsement to a January study by the Department of Health and Human Services that calls for cutting the number of vaccines recommended for every American child.
An executive order from Trump directs federal agencies to align their policies behind the study, which recommended an overhaul long called for by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The study found that the United States recommends more childhood vaccines than many peer nations.
The Trump administration previously moved to narrow the number of recommended childhood vaccines in response to the report, but the move was blocked by a federal judge in Massachusetts. The administration is appealing the decision.
The study recommends vaccinating all children against 11 diseases. Several others would be recommended only for high-risk groups or when doctors recommend them in what’s called “shared decision-making.” That includes vaccines for flu, rotavirus, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, some forms of meningitis and RSV.
Saturday, May 30, 2026
Pentagon’s $9B Dell deal sparks Trump conflict of interest concerns
The Pentagon’s new $9.7 billion contract with Dell is raising questions about potential conflicts of interest after President Trump touted the company’s products and purchased significant amounts of its stock.
“Awarding a nearly $10 billion contract to a company closely associated with a friend and donor to the president seems like an obvious conflict of interest,” Greg Williams, the director of the Center for Defense Information at the Project on Government Oversight, told The Hill on Friday.
Margaret Dylus-Yukins, senior legal counsel for ethics at Campaign Legal Center, echoed those worries, adding the contract raises conflict of interest concerns for Michael Dell, “who is subject to the federal ethics rules as a member of the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).”
Trump decries ‘rigged’ court system after Kennedy Center, tariff rulings
President Trump described the U.S. court system as “rigged” on Saturday in the wake of recent decisions blocking a cornerstone of his economic policy agenda and the addition of his name to the renowned Kennedy Center.
The president has made a habit of lashing out at legal decisions he disagrees with throughout his second term, often leveling personal attacks against federal judges and conservative Supreme Court justices when they rule against him.
Trump also railed against the Supreme Court’s February decision that struck down the bulk of his sweeping tariffs, which the court said exceeded his constitutional authority.
Friday, May 29, 2026
How much does Orthodox life cost? Increasingly, more than US families can afford
“If you do the math, a religious family has to effectively be among the top 3-4 percent of earners in the United States in order to keep up with the costs of living,” said Zvi (not his real name), an activist for financial education in the Orthodox world. “Basic Jewish needs cost a lot of money.”
A seminal 2024 survey of nearly 3,000 Orthodox Jews in the US, conducted by Langer’s podcast, offered a detailed look at the scope of the problem. Some 78% of respondents said finances were a major source of stress for them, and only about half of the respondents earning $250,000 to $300,000 said they felt like they were “making it.” Even above $300,000, more than 30% said they felt financially strained.
At the heart of the financial challenge is Jewish day school tuition, by far the single largest and most defining expense for most Orthodox families.
“We’re not talking about a situation where you can simply tell people to spend less to live within their means,” Zvi said. “You can always point to someone taking a nicer vacation or making a more expensive wedding. But even if you strip all of that away, you’re still left with a very high baseline.”
Insatiable personality cult: Trump administration pushes bill bearing his face
https://www.ynetnews.com/business/article/sjcrokuxze
Since returning to the White House for a second term, U.S. President Donald Trump has devoted much of his time to leaving a physical, personal mark on Washington and on American history in ways no sitting president before him has dared to attempt.