Tuesday, September 15, 2026
Halacha and Science
Michtav M'Eliyahu (4:355): When Rav Dessler was asked concerning certain halachos that the reason that had been given for them is not in accord with modern science... for example This that it is permitted to kill lice because they don't reproduce sexually. Rav Dessler stated that concerning this matter and those like them the Halacha never changes even though the reason doesn't make sense to us. We are to hold on to the Halacha with two hands whether to be strict or lenient [not like the Pachad Yitzchok]. The reason for this is that the Halacha was known to Chazal by tradition through the generations and they also knew things through experience.... The important point is that the reasoning they gave did not create the Halacha but rather the reverse was true, the Halacha created the reasoning. The reasoning given in the gemora is not the only possible explanation. If they happened to give explanations on occasion which were only true according to the science of their day, we have an obligation to search out alternative explanations that will justify the Halacha according to modern science.... Even if one cannot find a convincing explanation, we must still believe with perfect faith that the Halacha is still true and we hope that G d will enlighten us with an appropriate explanation.
Pesachim (94b) The Sages of Israel maintain: The sun travels beneath the sky by day and above the sky at night; while the Sages of the nations of the world maintain: It travels beneath the sky by day and below the earth at night. Said Rabbi: And their view is preferable to ours, for the wells are cold by day but warm at night.
Donald Trump Jr.’s Bahamas Wedding Was Secretly Bankrolled by Russian Oligarch Close to Putin
Kremlev footed the bill for hundreds of thousands of dollars of wedding expenses, according to records reviewed by ProPublica and interviews with three people familiar with the event. The oligarch paid to rent out one of the private islands, where a reception was held and where guests slept. He also covered other big-ticket items, like the fireworks show, and his team helped plan the event. Kremlev is the head of the International Boxing Association, a scandal-plagued sports group that has been financed by the Russian state-owned energy giant Gazprom. The wedding payments came from an IBA-affiliated entity in Dubai that the boxing association uses for financial transactions.
Kremlev’s previously unreported relationship with Trump Jr. represents an extraordinary development: a member of Putin’s circle financially supporting the president’s son and gaining intimate access to the Trump family. For a decade, Putin’s government, regarded as a chief adversary of the U.S., has been accused of efforts to influence American elections. Attempts by Russia to make inroads with the Trumps before the 2016 election exploded into controversy that dogged much of the president’s first term.
“If I’m paying for your wedding, at some point, you’re going to owe me something,” said Frank Montoya Jr., a retired career FBI official who held senior counterintelligence roles. Oligarchs like Kremlev often act in coordination with the Russian government. While it’s unclear if that happened here, Trump Jr. put himself in a precarious position, Montoya said. “This should be unthinkable for the son of the president. End of story.”
The revelations come as Trump Jr. has emerged as a political power center in his own right. Beloved by the MAGA base, he reportedly played an active role in vetting White House cabinet picks for Trump’s second term and was dubbed his father’s “most essential political adviser” by The Wall Street Journal. “I certainly don’t think I’d be sitting here as the VP nominee without Don’s help,” Vice President JD Vance told the outlet in late 2024.
Bettina Trump defends letting Putin-linked Russian oligarch pay for Don Jr. wedding celebration
First daughter-in-law Bettina Trump claimed Monday that a Russian oligarch close to Vladimir Putin was acting as a “close friend” when he footed the bill for the celebration of her May wedding to Donald Trump Jr.
Umar Kremlev shelled out hundreds of thousands of dollars for several items related to the couple’s May 21 nuptials on a private island in the Bahamas, including paying for an additional private island to host the reception as well as a fireworks show, ProPublica reported.
Days before attending the wedding, Kremlev was in China as part of a delegation accompanying Putin on a state visit, according to Beijing’s official media. The 43-year-old is best known as head of the International Boxing Association, a position he has held since 2020. During that period, the International Olympic Committee revoked its recognition of the IBA due to a purported lack of progress in dealing with alleged corruption. Kremlev and Don Jr., a devotee of combat sports like his father, participated in an IBA panel event in Istanbul last year.
Kremlev is also tied to an organization called Healthy Fatherland, which is run by his wife’s twin sister. The group is under Ukrainian sanctions for allegedly helping abduct children from occupied territories and relocating them in Russia. Melania Trump has worked to reunite kidnapped Ukrainian children with their families.
Why Republicans struggle to prove the danger of socialism
When the GOP embraces big government, it’s harder to champion free markets.
When one party controls the White House and both chambers of Congress, the midterm elections are a referendum on the party in power. With President Donald Trump’s approval ratings falling into the 30s and affordability remaining a top issue for voters, it is rational for Republicans to direct attention to how much worse the economic pain will be under Democrats. Fortunately for congressional Republicans, the Democratic base is obliging them by nominating candidates aligned with the Democratic Socialists of America, whose platform includes defunding the police and abolishing the U.S. Senate.
Unfortunately, the socialist attack would be more potent if the GOP offered a clear contrast. Instead, the last two years of Republican rule have ushered more government intrusion into the marketplace than a socialist congressional caucus could ever deliver.
The problem for Republicans this November is that they are not presenting a clear contrast between the failures of socialism and the blessings of free markets. Rather, they are increasingly adopting big-government policies and flexing federal power, while muddying the waters between their competing visions for the country’s future.
A Republican convention about fear collides with a midterm about prices
https://thehill.com/opinion/campaign/6087693-trump-midterm-affordability-gap/
In a Reuters-Ipsos poll last week, 47 percent of voters said that the cost of living would be the single biggest factor in how they vote this November. Thus, when Republicans gathered in Dallas last week for their first-ever midterm convention, they had an important opportunity to show voters how the party would ease the affordability crisis.
Indeed, the Republicans had billed their convention as a showcase for its affordability agenda — no tax on tips or overtime, tax cuts and an economy they insist is finally turning the corner. However, the message that actually filled the American Airlines Center was not that Republicans would make life cheaper. It was that Democrats are too extreme to be trusted with power.
So, lacking an appealing economic message, Republicans are betting that they can make November an election about fear of Democratic extremism.
Democratic voters driven more by opposition to Trump than party platform in fight for the House, poll finds
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/13/democratic-voters-trump-opposition-midterms-poll-01073868
Democratic voters are more motivated to get to the polls by their widespread dissatisfaction with President Donald Trump rather than the policies their candidates are putting forward, according to a CBS News poll released Sunday.
Among likely Democratic voters, 54% said they primarily wanted to stop Trump and the GOP from advancing their agenda, while 46% wanted to help Democrats enact theirs. By contrast, 57% of Republicans said they were seeking to help Trump and the GOP advance their policies, while 43% wanted to stop Democrats.
Voters gave Trump an overall approval rating of 39%, with 61% disapproving of his performance, per the poll. And his endorsement could actually serve as a liability for Republican candidates — with 48% of likely voters saying a Trump endorsement would make them less likely to support a candidate, compared with 21% who said it would make them more likely.
Avodas HaShem
Rav Chaim Shmuelevitz (Sichos Mussar #33 5731): Everyone is required to thoroughly examine his deeds especially before Rosh HaShanna - the Day of Judgment. This obligation is not just to discover transgressions and lapses in observance of the commands. It also includes the evaluation whether one's path in serving G d is the correct one for him since everyone has a unique path. The issue of Avodas HaShem is such that a person could keep all the mitzvos yet have a completely false approach to serving G-d. The problem is compounded by the fact that he might have incorrectly assumed that what he was doing would be pleasing to G d. Nevertheless all his efforts would have been to accomplish a mistaken goal. Consequently if he has not carefully evaluated the correctness of his plan then all his efforts and sacrifices are wasted. Furthermore he is punished according to the degree of effort he made to accomplish this wrong plan. This can be seen from the fact that Rav Yochanon ben Zakkai who was not only the leading Torah scholar of his time but also had succeeded in saving Torah for all future generations was frightened before his death. He cried before his students and said "I see before me two paths - one to Gan Eden and the other to Gehinom and I don't know where they are taking me. Shouldn't I cry?" His fear was not because of failing to keep the whole Torah. His fear was solely because he might have failed to properly have done his Avodas HaShem. There is the additional problem with Avodas HaShem - that one simply can't repent for doing it incorrectly since it is easy to be mistaken and assume that you are doing the right thing.
Why 3 years after Oct. 7, antisemitism in Canada remains at an alarming high
Amid a spate of attacks against Jewish targets in Toronto and Montreal, many Canadian Jews and their allies question whether the government is doing enough
Aveira Lishma-Transgressing for a Mitzva
Keser Rosh(132) An aveira Leshma has not been permitted at all from the time of the giving of the Torah otherwise why have the 613 Mitzvos
Horayos (10b) A transgression with good intent is more meritorious than the performance of a commandment with no intent; for it is said, Blessed above women Jael be, the wife of Heber the Kenite, above women in the tent shall she be blessed. Who are the women in the tent? Sarah, Rebeka, Rachel and Leah.
Nazir (23b): A transgression performed with good intention is better than a precept performed with evil intention.
https://minchasasher.com/shiur/parsha-shiurim/aveira-good-intentions-5776/
It would have seemed from this Gemara that one has an open license to commit an Aveira if one has a good intention in mind. However, Rav Chaim Volozhiner[5] flatly rejects such an interpretation. He says that if that were the case then there is no need for 613 Mitzvos. All one would need is good intentions; there would be no need for a structured list. He therefore says that once Torah was given that is the absolute rule. Only before Torah was given, and during our time to the B’nei Noach, there is permission to act in accordance to what seems to be correct, even if it’s an Aveira. What about Ya’el? To that he has two answers. Firstly that she knew and perceived deep Kabbalistic secrets pertaining to this relation. But none of us nowadays have such knowledge. Secondly, it was done to save all of Klal Yisrael.
The Ramchal[6] has a similar opinion to Rav Chaim Volozhiner. These Gemarahs play no practical role nowadays. Ya’el’s actions were a specific ruling due to deep Kabbalistic reasoning.
Kappores
Rashba (1:295) Mar, the Master already wrote: I have found that this custom of kappores was widespread in our town, that they would slaughter an old chicken for the sake of atonement over a young man, they would cut its head and hang it by its feathers at the door with garlic. And this is nonsense in my eyes like the ways of the Ammorites. I've pushed this custom out and by the grace of Heaven, they listened to my word and none of these practices remain anymore in our city.I have heard from different people from Ashkenaz who sit with us in the beit midrash (house of study) that all of the rabbis of their land do this on erev Yom Kippur...I still withheld this from our town.
Shulchan Aruch(Orach Chayim 605:1)That which people are accustomed to perform kapparah before Yom Kippur by slaughtering a rooster for each male and to say verses over it, you should prevent the custom.
Tzarich Iyun: Tashlich
This custom was soon adopted by many Ashkenazic communities, albeit with variations. Tashlich is mentioned by the Rema (OC 583:2); since the Arizal also approved of the practice, a kabbalistic component was added, and it soon spread to Sephardic communities as well, although not to Yemen.
It is hard to believe that such a widespread custom originated in the fifteenth century without an earlier basis. The Rashban (OC 210) thus suggests that tashlich is based on a Biblical precedent. He cites the anointing of King Solomon (mentioned earlier) as well as Ezra gathering the people at the “water gate,” the nearest gate to the water source, on Rosh Hashanah for a public reading of the Torah (Nechemiah 8:1).
It is interesting to note that there were those who did not practice tashlich at all. The Gra reportedly did not perform tashlich, nor did his star pupil Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin.[17] The Chayei Adam fails to record the custom. From the Aruch Hashulchan (OC 583:4) it seems that tashlich was far from a universal custom; furthermore, the Aruch Hashulchan has an ancillary problem with the custom. He advises women not go to tashlich so as not to create a mixed scene. If they do go, he suggests the men should stay home.[18] Evidently, the custom was not very important to him.[19]
Monday, September 14, 2026
Tzom Gedaliah Fast Day
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/2316462/jewish/Tzom-Gedaliah-Fast-Day.htm
Tzom Gedaliah is a dawn-to-dusk fast (click here for exact times) observed on the day after Rosh Hashanah (if that day is Shabbat, it is observed on Sunday). Commemorating the tragic death of Gedaliah, governor of Judea, the day begins with special Selichot liturgy (click here for a Hebrew PDF).
After the Babylonians destroyed the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and exiled many Jews in 3338 (423 BCE), they appointed Gedaliah ben Achikam as governor of the remaining Jews in the Holy Land. Jews who had taken refuge in the surrounding lands of Ammon, Moab and Edom heard of his appointment and returned to Judea to join his group—the last remnant of the once-mighty Judea. Under his wise and pious leadership, they tilled, planted and cultivated, coaxing the ravaged land back to health.
Prior to Rosh Hashanah 3339, Gedaliah received word that a certain Ishmael ben Netaniah, jealous of his position of power and dissatisfied with his tactical alliance with the Babylonians, was planning to kill him and usurp the leadership for himself. But the trusting Gedaliah refused to believe that Ishmael would act treacherously, and restrained those who wanted to kill Ishmael.
On Rosh Hashanah, Ishmael came to Gedaliah with ten men, ostensibly to celebrate the holiday with him. While they were eating together, Ishmael and his men got up and killed Gedaliah, as well as all the other Jewish men and Babylonian soldiers who were present.
Lawler deflects on supporting Trump’s $5K dividend pledge: ‘How do you pay for it?’
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/6086944-lawler-questions-trump-dividend/
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) on Sunday joined multiple Republican lawmakers in questioning the fiscal sense of President Trump’s proposal to send $5,000 to every American adult.
Multiple GOP lawmakers have pushed back on Trump’s proposal. Outgoing Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) was among them, arguing the dividends would lead to government “dependency,” which he called evil.
Vice President Vance said Wednesday on Fox News’s “Hannity” that the administration could tap into tariff revenue to fund such a program, while Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said Thursday the administration will not utilize taxpayer money to dole out the dividends.
Trump Promised $5,000 Checks. Mike Johnson Won’t Guarantee Them
https://www.newsweek.com/mike-johnson-wont-guarantee-trump-5000-checks-americans-12436543
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, declined on Sunday to guarantee that Americans will receive the $5,000 payments promised by President Donald Trump on Wednesday if the GOP maintains its majority in Congress in this year's midterm election, raising questions about the viability of one of the administration's most high-profile recent economic proposals.
Republicans cast Muslim Democrats as chief enemies in ‘dangerous’ midterm pitch
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/6085055-gop-cruz-muslim-democrats-midterms/
The attacks ramped up at Republicans’ first-ever midterm convention in Dallas this past week, where a host of top GOP figures called out New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed, two of the country’s most prominent Muslim American Democrats.
Republicans, however, say the strategy is not about religion but rather highlighting what the Democratic Party has become.
RFK Jr. is going to war against SSRIs. Doctors and patients are caught in the middle.
For years, the issue lingered at the margins — on patient forums and in a handful of studies. It gained broader attention in early May, when Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced an effort to study and support the “deprescribing” of psychiatric drugs. The Department of Health and Human Services said it will encourage other interventions such as therapy and lifestyle changes to treat mental health conditions, get experts to draft guidelines for going off psychiatric medications and develop materials on potential risks.
Kennedy has long been skeptical of SSRIs, particularly their use in children, which has at times sparked controversy. Still, many scientists — including those who say the administration is overstating the potential harms of SSRIs or missing nuance — say the underlying concern is real.
Some psychiatrists caution against overcorrecting. They worry that the growing focus on withdrawal could discourage appropriate use of antidepressants or lead patients to attribute symptoms during tapering to withdrawal when they may reflect a return of the underlying illness.
Houthis grow stronger as Trump turns his back on US allies
https://www.israelhayom.com/2026/09/13/houthis-grow-stronger-as-trump-turns-his-back-on-us-allies/
The latest developments in Yemen are bad news for Israel. It is not only the Houthis' takeover of the strategic Bab el-Mandeb Strait, with its damaging implications for global maritime trade and the boost it gives Iran's regional standing. More troubling is the US position, which is shying away from confrontation and effectively leaving Washington's allies to fend for themselves.
US President Donald Trump, addressing the issue over the weekend, said, "The Houthis called us and they don't want to fight with us." It is a striking and troubling retreat from the role of global policeman that Trump sought to project during the first half of his second term. He is presumably reluctant to open another military front ahead of the US midterm elections, amid reports of equipment problems in the US military and shortages of munitions.
Last year, Trump launched a campaign against the Houthis, only to pull back within weeks and leave Israel to fight them alone. Now he has left Saudi Arabia behind as well. Riyadh had pleaded for assistance and now finds itself caught in a pincer movement, with Iran on one side and the Houthis on the other, while its offensive capabilities, and especially its defensive capabilities, remain severely limited.
Sunday, September 13, 2026
Kushner: US used fallout from Qatar strike to pressure Israel on Gaza deal
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/433088
Jared Kushner, US President Donald Trump's son-in-law and advisor, said Sunday that the Trump administration used the diplomatic fallout from Israel's September 2025 strike in Qatar as leverage to press Israel to accept an agreement ending the war in Gaza.
According to Kushner, the failure to eliminate the senior Hamas leaders targeted in the operation contributed to growing international pressure on Israel and gave the US administration an opportunity to advance an agreement.
Kushner's remarks follow comments he made last week regarding the implementation of the Trump administration's plans for the future of Gaza. He said that Israel's election campaign was complicating efforts to move forward with the plan.
Friday, September 11, 2026
Tumah and Goyim
Shem MShmuel (Veschanon 678) It is well known that the forces of impurity are not known or have dominion over anything other than what is manifest; Thus, a concealed area does not contract impurity. Consequently, when it appears outwardly as though the Name of God—which dwells among the people of Israel—has departed from them, the forces of impurity and the "external forces" step in and attach themselves to them, drawing them ever deeper into sin and transgression. This differs from the case of the nations of the world: just as they do not transmit impurity through death, neither do they become further degraded by sin; they remain in their natural, material state, lacking the intensely powerful force of attraction toward evil that exists among the people of Israel. This is akin to the impurity of the dead—which surges upward to the heavens—so too is the nature of the forces of impurity and evil that are drawn in upon the departure of God’s Name; they possess a potency far greater than that of the natural, material forces of evil.
Skeptical Vance reportedly sought direct intel from US generals on state of Iran war
‘Sobering private assessments’ were often quite different from Trump’s boastful public rhetoric on US performance in the conflict and deeply alarmed the VP
Rabbi Sacks' 10 Short Ideas about Rosh Hashanah
https://aish.com/what-rosh-hashanah-says-to-us/
What then does Rosh Hashanah say to us? How can it transform our lives? The genius of Judaism was to take eternal truths and translate them into time, into lived experiences. Rosh Hashanah, the anniversary of the creation of humanity, invites us to live and feel the human condition in graphic ways.
The first thing it tells us is that life is short. However much life expectancy has risen, we will not, in one lifetime, be able to achieve everything we might wish to achieve. Untaneh Tokef tells the poetry of mortality with haunting pathos:
The historian Paul Johnson once wrote: “No people has ever insisted more firmly than the Jews that history has a purpose and humanity a destiny.” He concluded: “The Jews, therefore, stand right at the center of the perennial attempt to give human life the dignity of a purpose” (Paul Johnson, A History of the Jews, Prologue). That too is one of the truths of Rosh Hashanah.
Top Republicans didn’t expect Trump’s dividends. Now they’re scrambling.
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/09/10/republicans-split-trump-payouts-midterms-01071816
Top Republican lawmakers had no idea President Donald Trump was going to promise $5,000 checks to every adult American so long as his party keeps control of Congress. Now, they’re grappling with how to handle the fallout.
GOP leaders have privately pushed back on similar Trump promises of giving money to Americans in the past year, according to four people granted anonymity to share details of closed-door meetings. Senior Republicans on Capitol Hill were blindsided by Trump’s Wednesday night announcement in Dallas, and are trying to manage lawmakers’ and voters’ expectations about a trillion-dollar-plus proposal they cannot deliver.
No one is falling for Trump’s budget-busting ‘dividend’ check gimmick
Socialism will not be stopped with more socialism.
President Donald Trump’s proposal to pay every adult citizen $5,000 if the GOP holds the House and Senate this fall is a desperate gimmick that betrays a profound lack of seriousness about the looming fiscal crisis. “If the Republicans win, you win with us, and you get $5,000,” Trump said Wednesday night at the party’s midterm convention in Dallas.
This would cost an estimated $1.2 trillion next year, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. The money would need to be borrowed on top of the $40 trillion national debt — and paid back with interest.
LevinAt11: Erev RH 5787
בס"ד
Executive Director,
Help Rescue Our Children
Email: torahjewsfordecency@
Direct: 771.215.8892
Israeli Helpline: 03.721.3337
Heard weekly on New Jersey's WSNR Radio 620AM, co-hosting the renowned Levin At Eleven program, every Thursday evening, 11pm to midnight (ET).
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"... The greater the difficulty, the more biting the ridicule and sarcasm, and the more numerous the opponent -- then the holier is the principle, and the more sacred is our duty to defend it.
In my opinion, the halachic dictum bishas gezeras ha-malchus afillu mitzvah kallah ke'gon le-shinuyei Arkesa de-mesana, ye'hareg ve'al Ya'avor ... applies not only to political and religious persecution originated by some pagan ruler, but also to situations in which a small number of G-d-fearing and Torah-loyal people is confronted with a hostile attitude on the part of the majority dominated by a false philosophy."*
Executive Director,
Help Rescue Our Children
Direct: 771.215.8892
Israeli Helpline: 03.721.3337
Tomim Tih'yeh [countering "New-Age" infiltration]:
Presentations on New-Age dangers: 605-313-6831 ext. 2
Heard weekly on New Jersey's WSNR Radio 620AM, co-hosting the renowned Levin At Eleven program, every Thursday evening, 11pm to midnight (ET).
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Thursday, September 10, 2026
Trump Dividends Would Cost $1.22 Trillion. How Will He Find the Money?
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-dividends-would-cost-1-22-trillion-how-find-money-12424329
President Donald Trump has promised a $5,000 "dividend" to every adult U.S. citizen if Republicans retain control of both chambers of Congress in November. But he has yet to explain where the money would come from.
"If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them," Trump said at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas on Wednesday, "I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000."
Trump pledges $5K ‘Trump dividend’ if Republicans hold onto Congress - Buying Votes
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/6080741-trump-dividend-november-pledge/
“Here is my promise: if the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them … because of our tremendous strength and success economically, I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000,” he said at the GOP’s midterm convention in Dallas, Texas.
The legality of this disbursal is unclear. There are about 270 million adults in the U.S.
Trump told attendees Wednesday that the administration can disburse the proposed “Trump dividends” “because we’ve done so well and because our country is making so much money.”
He added that the payments could only be used in the U.S. but did not outline any specifics.
Wednesday, September 9, 2026
Trump Repeats Disputed Yarn About His 9/11 Role
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/trump-repeats-disputed-yarn-about-his-9-11-role.html
The president told the assembled crowd that he had been working on a “big building” when the attacks took place and that he took the entire construction crew down to ground zero “right after this happened.” It was then, Trump claims, that a pair of firefighters rushed him to safety out of concern that the nearby U.S. Steel Building, which is now known as One Liberty Plaza, was at risk of collapse. Trump said Tuesday that the building was “creaking” at the time. It wasn’t clear if by “right after” he meant the day of the attacks or sometime in the following days.
On Tuesday night, Trump defended his remarks in a Truth Social post, attacking our coverage and writing that everything he said at the Ellipse event was “exactly accurate.” But the president notably clarified that while he did visit ground zero, he was there “obviously not on the same day as the collapse, but shortly thereafter, with a large group of Construction Workers.”
Trump’s latest rendition of his 9/11 stories raised eyebrows. CNN’s stalwart fact checker Daniel Dale quickly responded to the president’s claims. “President Trump was not in the vicinity of the World Trade Center when it was hit. He was in Trump Tower, miles away from the towers and nearby One Liberty Plaza, which is/was also known as the US Steel building,” he wrote on X.
Similarly, PolitiFact noted that while there were concerns at the time One Liberty Plaza might collapse and it had to be evacuated on September 12, Trump was not mentioned in recollections about it. In addition to his retelling on the 2016 campaign trail, Trump also appears to have told a version of this story during a 2021 Newsmax interview, calling it a “scary situation.”
Red Heifer
Kli Yakar (Bamidbar 19:21) Why the red heifer, which purifies the impure, would make the pure impure. We find that no food is susceptible to impurity until water falls upon it. How is it possible that water, whose source is purity, would cause impurity? The explanation of the matter is as follows: It is natural that everything is only affected by its opposite, not by what is of its own kind. This is similar to how the evil inclination provokes Israel more than the nations, and Torah scholars more than anyone else, because they are all opposite to it, therefore it wants to overcome them. This is the reason why darkness intensifies just before dawn, because everything is affected specifically by its opposite. Therefore, no food or seed is affected by impurity to make an impression until water, which is all purity, comes upon it. Then the impurity wants to defeat the purity, overcomes it, and makes an impression on it. Similarly, the water of sprinkling contains water which is all purity, and the ashes of the red heifer which is all impurity, and they are mixed together. Therefore, if the water of sprinkling is thrown on an impure person, the person is not affected by the ash because it is of his kind both being impure, but he is affected by the water which is opposite to him, because he is impure and the water is pure. Therefore, the water acts upon him and overcomes the impurity. But a pure person who carries the water of sprinkling is not affected by the water because it is of his kind, as both are pure, but he is affected by the ash which is opposite to him, because he is pure and the ash is impure. Therefore, the ash acts upon him and makes an impression to make him impure.
Trump leans into trolling critics as GOP midterm anxiety grows
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/6077459-new-mexico-name-controversy/
President Trump is leaning into online trolling, off-color attacks and picking fights over geographical names as his approval rating sinks just weeks out from November’s midterm elections.
“Do I think it shows he’s not focused on what matters? Yes. Do I think he’s doing it to motivate his base? I don’t know. But in either direction, I don’t think it matters,” the strategist added. “It’s going to come down to how people feel overall [about] how the economy is doing, and is he and the admin truly focused on it.”
Polls show a majority of Americans are unhappy with the administration’s handling of the economy. According to a poll released by the Financial Times and Focaldata on Tuesday, Trump’s approval sat at 33 percent among registered voters. The same poll also showed that 66 percent said they believed the economy was going in the wrong direction.