Friday, November 13, 2026
Resurrection for |Ignorant?
Maharal (Be’er HaGolah 7:03) In Kesubos it says that the ignorant will not be resurrected. Some find this fact that only Torah scholars will be resurrected and the rest of mankind is lost forever to be very upsetting. They say it is too much that not only are Jews the only ones resurrected but only the elite are ultimately successful and thus the majority of mankind is no different than animals. In fact this gemora should not be understood this way. The gemora itself clarifies that Rav Yochanon was upset with this declaration until it was explained that what was meant was not only Torah scholars but also those closely associated with Torah scholars will be resurrected. Thus the solution is very simple. It is clear that when G-d gave the Torah to the Jews it was mainly in order that it should be beneficial. Therefore any person who is not a Torah scholar and can not become one, can at least be of assistance to a Torah scholar. This is a great kindness for them from G-d. In fact a careful search reveals that the ignorant are not actually prevented from acquiring this high level nor are non-Jews since they also can obtain a portion of Olam HaBah as is stated in that Gemora which states that the pious of the nations can acquire Olam HaBah. In fact it is known from the gemora of Avoda Zara in the discussion of Antoninos and Rebbe that also the descents of Eisav who are enemies of the Jews can acquire Olam HaBah if they behave properly. Thus ultimate it depends entirely on a person’s deeds.
Reality
Klausenberger Rebbe (Divrei Yatziv O.C. 113):Concerning the view of Rabbeinu Tam and reality. Our holy faith is that Yiftach in his generation is like Shmuel in his and that rule applies to all generations. Look at the Divrei Chai in his discussion of the status of the Ohr HaChaim as well as the Beis Shlomo. See also the language of one of the great contemporary gedolim in the Letters of the Chazon Ish, “What difference does it make if the angel Gavriel or Michoel tells me – in fact weren’t all the Rishonim fiery angels?… and it was through the holy spirit which appeared in them that they knew how to decide issues – whether to push aside a gemora and establish the tradition of the Geonim or whether to push aside the tradition of the Geonim because of the decision of the gemora… We relate to the Gra in the line of Moshe Rabbeinu, Ezra, Rabbinu Hakadosh, Rav Ashi, the Gra…” Consequently it is known that all poskim whose words are accepted which were given to Moshe on Sinai as the Talmud. Therefore if someone, G-d forbid, should express himself against one of the poskim it is that he is criticizing a Tanna or denying the Torah of Moshe – G-d forbid! This is the root of heresy. Just as we saw the Karaites who believed only in the Written Torah so there are heretic that believe in the Talmud but G-d forbid – not in the poskim. But we view a continuous line from Ravina and Rav Ashi to the Chasam Sofer and the Divrei Chaim and other major poskim. One who is dismissive of a posek is included in what was written by the Divrei Chaim. Therefore when the poskim themselves disagree – we with dim eyes and for whom bribery and lust blind the eyes even of the wise – we simply can not see the underlying reality of the debate that enables us to decide the issue ourselves. For example, we can not decide on elementary kashrus issues such as “tato gavar” based on the scientific understanding of chemists… even though we can attempt to analyse their holy words from sources in the gemora. At best one who has great ability is able with his greatness in Torah to bring proofs from our Sages and to ascertain what the majority of poskim rule in this particular halacha. Look at the Divrei Chaim where he is very upset about the disrespect against the prince of Torah – Rashi. He says, “Even though his words are occasionally difficult for us to understand with our dense brains, nevertheless that which is distant from you is that way only because of our limited intellect. But the main point is, Who in our generation would we say are able to make halachic decisions against the great Rishonim such as these. We have only the ability to accept their words with love and to follow after the majority view – as was done by the Shulchan Aruch itself. Therefore we can not deviate from the rulings of the Shulchan Aruch just because we have some question since we are well aware of of how lowly we are in recent generations..” And since the words of the Rabbeinu Tam and the Geonim are the words of the Living G-d – they are able to disagree with each other regarding the appearance of which stars defines the beginning of night and what is the definition of night. Therefore if someone in our day comes says that one of the poskim erred in the definition of night – he is considered a heretic who has attacked the holiness of the poskim who have said otherwise. We are allowed, however, to say that the customs of which places follows which posekim. For example Shabbos states that in the place of R’ Eliezer they would cut wood to make charcoal.. However, G-d forbid to say that the custom in one place was different in this place from the other poskim because the reality that we see with our bleary eyes is different i.e., that the poskim erred in understanding the underlying facts. That is because obviously the Beis Yosef, the Pri Chodesh… saw the reality of the stars in Yerushalyim, Tzfas, and Tevirya and they ruled what they ruled…
Philosophy is Dangerous
Rabbeinu Tam (Sefer Hayashor Shaar 6): Damage from learning non-Torah wisdom: Tenth Midah - Wisdom which is no good. There is wisdom which destroys faith for example external wisdom, heretical wisdom and philosophy. There is no need for one who serves G d to be involved in them rather he should distance himself from them with all his strength. Because before he receives any benefit from them he will have lost his faith. It is like one who loses his possessions in the attempt to acquire other possessions and ends up having nothing. There are many who think they are wise who think this is an exalted wisdom and they think they will acquire profound and esoteric secrets – but they don’t realize they are going away from their faith. It is like a healthy person who accustoms himself to eating unhealthy foods because they taste good but he ends up destroying his health and complexion without realizing the changes. He considers himself healthy when in fact he is close to death. When a person associates with a heretic, he destroys his faith little by little without being aware. Similarly a person who studies philosophy becomes alienated from his faith little by little without being aware. While the intent and concern of philosophy is to understand the unity of G d - but when you learn it you suffer a loss. Philosophy has words and axioms which from the very beginning weaken faith. No one can be certain that when he engages in its study that he won’t lose his faith – except if he has an expert and pious teacher that will guide him and protect from the places which weaken his faith. In such a case then he will be able to avoid the pitfalls of philosophy and accomplish the goals he desires. But if he reads books of philosophy on his own or has a teacher who is not completely pious – then there is no doubt that his faith will be destroyed and he will lose more than he gains. This is the general situation that stands before all those who fear G d and therefore he has to be very careful.
5 takeaways from Nvidia’s Jensen Huang scandal
https://thehill.com/homenews/analysis/6217604-nvidias-jensen-huang-resigned/
The vast company is at the epicenter of the artificial intelligence boom, primarily through its high-powered chips and the software that supports them. It also plays an increasingly important role in financing other elements of the AI build-out.
President Trump has often evinced enthusiasm for what Jensen Huang has accomplished at Nvidia.
His admiration appears to have been rooted in at least two factors: his belief that the company was keeping the U.S. in the lead in the AI “arms race,” and a keen appreciation of the eye-popping profits Nvidia is making.
As a New York Times timeline of the matter outlines, Trump was reportedly told in October 2025 that Jensen Huang was close to Alice Huang — they are, of course, not related — and that U.S. intelligence suspected she was a Chinese asset.
Elections: Looking Back, Moving Forward
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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בס"ד
Dear Editor,In light of the acute anguish the esteemed tzibbur is enduring over both the election process and results, it's all the more crucial to appreciate what's been so special about this election season. B"H, here in Rockland County, NY, about 20 Rabbonim took a public stand for Kovod Shomayim. They unequivocally declared that our votes are not for sale, especially when our most sacred Torah values are under assault (in truth, by elements of both major parties, particularly in regard to the Mabul-Movement and mail-order infant-poison -NSL). We do not exchange our Torah principles for government benefits, period.
We ought to thank the esteemed Rabbonim, as well as the Mevaser for their role in spreading their message. Serving as a Sh'lucha DeRabbonon on these and other matters for over two decades, I'm humbled to remind the tzibbur that their example of active engagement builds on the Kiddush HaShem legacy established by Gedolei Rabbonim for over 45 years - which, notably, was dominated by Chassidishe Rabbonim."But," many complain, "in certain communities, thousands voted for the clearly greater-evil candidates - from Governor to State Supreme Court - making a national Chillul HaShem." True - but they would have done so - in response to their bloc-vote prompters - in any case. And, if we would not have been as vocal, likely more so. At least many did speak out for Yosher; who knows how much Charon-Af HaShem they averted.Furthermore, no observer should ever forget this distinction: Those in our communities who voted against the Democrats generally voted out of personal conviction. Thus, those votes truly reflect the broader grass roots sentiment of various Orthodox communities.In contrast, those who voted in blocs for the Democrats generally followed the directives of their political leadership. Thus, those votes reflect nothing more than the political deals negotiated by a tiny handful of askunim and Real-Estate interests, who are experienced in marketing their personal financial and political interests as if they're somehow "community" imperatives, or even inexplicably mysterious "Da'as Torah," that no one familiar with the concept would ever believe.
By no means are the Chassidishe bloc votes for Democrats at all reflective of the actually position - or even desires of the actual voters in those very communities. While we cannot justify or whitewash violations of Halacha in voting, we also cannot allow the results to be misinterpreted.When we do the right thing under our limitations, we should not be overly anguished about that which is beyond our control. On the other hand, imagine how much more Kovod Shomayim - and disincentive to vote incorrectly - could have been generated with an even more substantial formal outpouring of concern. May we utilize all accomplishments to build on them going forward, BE"H. Now is the time to start holding the handful of Democratic enablers personally responsible - for whom they empowered - and for masking their own personal interests as communal ones.
Rabbi Noson Shmuel LeiterExecutive Director,Help Rescue Our Children,Monsey, NY
'I could become prime minister': Trump claims 99% approval rating in Israel
https://www.jpost.com/international/article-914781
US President Donald Trump claimed he is the "most popular person" in Israel and suggested he could become the country's prime minister, citing what he described as a 99% approval rating among Israelis during a telephone interview with Fox News' Fox & Friends on Tuesday, November 3.
Trump's remarks came during a discussion about his administration's reported plan to end nearly $4 billion in annual US military assistance to Israel by the end of 2026. He cited Israel's economic strength and the political criticism Republicans face over continued American support for the Jewish state.
However, it remains unclear which polls Trump was referring to or whether any publicly available polling supports his claimed 99% approval rating.
Thursday, November 12, 2026
Trump threatens to double Mexico tariffs if it does not stop migrants heading toward border
https://www.jpost.com/international/article-914748
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum recognized that a group of people were walking northward toward the United States, but said that no migrant caravans have arrived at the US border since Trump returned to power last year.
US President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to double tariffs on Mexico if it does not stop more than a thousand migrants walking north toward the United States after last week's US election, warning that they would not be allowed to enter.
"Here we go again!" Trump wrote on social media. "They will not be accepted! MEXICO MUST STOP THEM, NOW, and if they do not do so, the Tariffs on Mexico will be IMMEDIATELY DOUBLED. MEXICO, THE GOVERNOR OF TEXAS, THE VERY LIBERAL NEW GOVERNOR OF TEXAS, OUR GREAT BORDER PATROL, & ICE, HAVE BEEN SO INFORMED. There will be no leniency!"
Politics
Shabbos (11a) And Rava bar Meḥasseya said that Rav Ḥama bar Gurya said that Rav said: Even if all the seas would be ink, and the reeds that grow near swamps would be quills, and the heavens would be parchment upon which the words would be written, and all the people would be scribes; all of these are insufficient to write the unquantifiable space of governmental authority, i.e., all the considerations with which a government must concern itself and deal. Rav Mesharshiya said: What is the verse that alludes to this? “The Heavens on High and the land to the depth and the heart of kings are unsearchable” (Proverbs 25:3).
Servitude
Shabbos (11a) And Rava bar Meḥasseya said that Rav Ḥama bar Gurya said that Rav said: It is preferable to be under the yoke of Ishmael and not under the yoke of a stranger, the Romans; under a stranger and not under a Ḥabar, a Persian Zoroastrian fire priest; under a Ḥabar and not under a Torah scholar, as if one offends a Torah scholar who is greater than he, the scholar will be exacting with him and he will be punished at the hand of Heaven; under a Torah scholar and not under an orphan or a widow, as they are easily insulted and God promised to hear their cries and punish those who offend them.
The man standing in the way of a government with the haredim isn't even in the Knesset
The Madness of Therapy Culture
https://www.compactmag.com/article/the-madness-of-therapy-culture/
Somewhere along the way, the boundaries between mental health and mental illness had become blurred until the former meant the latter.
Well, not everyone. Even as we are all being told we belong somewhere on the “mental health” spectrum, the World Health Organization is calling for an end to “coercive practices in mental health.” The UN Disability Committee is urging states to pursue “the abolition of substitute decision-making regimes” in favor of “supported” alternatives for those we once called “mentally ill,” but who are now variously “people with mental health conditions” or “psychosocial disabilities.” These are people whose suffering often expressly means they are unable to make decisions for themselves. The rest of us are presumed fragile, but the psychotic is increasingly presumed sovereign. As deBoer writes, it has become “our transcendent obligation to pretend that a man in the grip of psychosis [is] somehow still free.”
DeBoer and Liu both show that attempts to flatten out the experience of suffering, disability, and mental illness fail to accomplish their purported aims, such as “destigmatizing” and expanding access to care. This is because reality, whether in the form of the severity of impairment or of social class, eventually asserts itself, with the consequences falling on those least able to bear them.
Contradicting Trump, Netanyahu’s office says Israel will ‘gradually’ move off US military aid
In his second statement on the issue since US President Donald Trump said that American military aid to Israel would end this year, caretaker Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Wednesday said Jerusalem will “phase out” assistance from Washington.
“In 1996, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israel would gradually phase out American economic assistance, which stood at $1.2 billion,” said his office. “He followed through on that commitment.”
“Thirty years later, Prime Minister Netanyahu said that Israel’s economy is strong enough to gradually phase out American military assistance as well,” the premier’s office continued.
Wednesday, November 11, 2026
House Republicans Block Hegseth Impeachment, but Democrats Could Revive Effort in January
https://time.com/article/2026/11/10/hegseth-impeachment-procedural-vote-house/
The House voted 211-204 to defeat a resolution brought by Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky, a Republican who has repeatedly clashed with Trump, preventing lawmakers from considering eight articles of impeachment accusing Hegseth of violating the Constitution, conducting unauthorized military operations, and abusing the powers of his office.
With a Democratic majority in the House, impeachment articles would stand a substantially greater chance of passage. Unlike a Senate conviction, which requires support of a two-thirds majority, impeachment in the House requires only a simple majority. Democrats could therefore approve articles without Republican support if enough of their members backed the effort.
Such a vote would make Hegseth only the third Cabinet secretary in American history to be impeached, following William Belknap, President Ulysses S. Grant's secretary of war, in 1876, and Alejandro Mayorkas, President Joe Biden's homeland security secretary, in 2024. It would also raise the prospect of a Senate trial soon after Democrats take control of the chamber, forcing lawmakers in both parties to confront allegations of unlawful military conduct at a time when the Iran war has become a major political liability for the White House.
How Canada Inflicted Maximum Midterms Pain on Trump
Ottawa spent a decade trying to appease, match and outlast Trump. This year, it read the electoral map.
If any state was primed for a fight over tariffs, it was Michigan, home to one of the country’s most fiercely contested Senate races. In the summer of 2025, two entrepreneurial political consultants — one Democrat, one Republican — had joined forces to create the Michigan Trade Smart Alliance with the hopes of drafting the state’s top business groups. At the time, corporate leaders nationwide were wary of publicly challenging Trump’s policy out of a fear that they would draw his wrath. But as trade negotiators from the two countries remained deadlocked over an end to the trade war, the association’s membership began to balloon.
“The linkage between cost of living for Americans and tariffs on the world, and specifically on Canada, broke through,” Kirsten Hillman, who served as Canada’s ambassador to Washington from 2019 to early 2026, said two days after the election. “And that is something that we have been trying as a country, not just the government, but Canadian businesses, to really get into the U.S. discourse for two years.”
Learning Gemara in English: The Steinsaltz Talmud Translation
https://traditiononline.org/learning-gemara-in-english-the-steinsaltz-talmud-translation/
A careful examination of many sections of the volume leads this reviewer to the unavoidable conclusion that the beauty of the Steinsaltz Talmud is skin-deep. Where a straightforward translation is required, an excellent job is done. However, once it ventures into the deeper waters of clarifying the subtleties of Talmudic discourse and of its commentators, it runs out of strength and begins to flounder.
Tuesday, November 10, 2026
‘Israelis don’t understand how bad things are for Israel in the US’
https://www.ynetnews.com/jewish-world/article/ry00mepergl
For decades, American Jews largely saw no contradiction between their Jewish identity and their place in the United States. Today, however, growing political polarization, changing attitudes toward Israel and rising antisemitism are making that relationship increasingly complicated.
Trump’s ‘Status Quo’ With Iran Is an Admission of Defeat
https://www.newsweek.com/trump-iran-status-quo-admission-defeat-12694638
Donald Trump said America was "keeping it the status quo" with Iran and declared the war with Tehran was "militarily, effectively over" in comments to the press on Monday.
If, by status quo, the president means the circumstances of the past few months, then he’d be referring to a Strait of Hormuz that remains heavily restricted, intermittent attacks on oil tankers, the indefinite presence of American aircraft carriers and warships in the Middle East, and a naval
America’s war aims in Iran have never exactly been crystal clear, but, by almost any measure, the status quo looks suspiciously like failure. If you could go back to February and tell U.S. lawmakers—or indeed any American—that this is where we’d be after eight months, would anyone have considered it a price worth paying?
Netanyahu: Israel will soon face pressure to accept nuclear Iran, must form unity gov't
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/article-914488
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in his address to the Knesset on Tuesday that Iran is working to renew its nuclear threat, and that "the only way to permanently remove this existential threat is through the downfall of the Ayatollah regime."
Netanyahu also warned that Israel will imminently face international pressure to accept Iran as a nuclear power and "to tolerate the terrifying regime seeking its destruction."
He also added that Israel can be expected to be pressured to "retreat from its monumental achievements and from the major progress made regarding security zones."
Deborah Lipstadt: Is Israel really the cause of surging antisemitism?
https://www.timesofisrael.com/deborah-lipstadt-is-israel-really-the-cause-of-surging-antisemitism/
In a no-holds-barred conversation, Lipstadt assesses the nature of contemporary Jew-hatred and weighs in on whether Israel’s actions indeed may be contributing to its rise.
We hear her thoughts on whether “anti-Zionism” is a new form of antisemitism or its own distinct hatred and what the proverbial Venn diagram looks like.
But to start with, we return to 1967, when university student Lipstadt was here in Jerusalem during the Six Day War and hear her firsthand account of life in the newly unified capital.
On Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz: The controversy over his Talmud translation and books on Tanach
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/285242
In 1983, on the 7th of Iyar, the renowned Gaon Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l gave a letter of approval, known as a haskama, to the Gemorah, naming Rabbi Adin Steinsaltz. But, if one carefully looked at the text of Rav Feinstein’s letter, it seems possible that he did not review all aspects of the Steinsaltz Gemorah. Some of the explanations went against traditional understandings of the text in order to explain it. For example, the Talmud tells us that a woman cannot conceive immediately subsequent to the first instance of intimacy. Medical opinion today says otherwise and Rabbi Steinsaltz comes up with a psychological explanation which solves the problem. That is one example. There are many more.
In the haredi world, Rav Shach’s animadversions expressed in 1989,were concerned with maintaining a different type of order. He felt that Rabbi Steinsaltz’s writings represented a danger to the system of the traditional Lithuanian style Yeshivah, in general, and to the traditional method of learning – specifically. It all began with a book published by Rabbi Steinsaltz entitled “Dmuyot Min HaMikrah – Biblical Images” (1980),which Rabbi Steinsaltz had intended to use as a kiruv tool – to bring the masses of Israeli society back to a respect for and deeper understanding of the biblical personalities who appear in Tanach.
Around 78% of Britons view Israel as a serious threat to world peace, survey finds
https://www.jpost.com/international/article-914381
Around four in five Britons view Israel as a serious threat to world peace, according to a new survey by the National Centre for Social Research (NatCen), published last week.
A total of 78% of respondents said they view Israel as a serious threat, compared with 48% 20 years ago. The percentage has also increased a full 10% in the last year.
The number of respondents who said they view the US as a serious threat to world peace was similar to the number for Israel, at 74%. This had doubled in just two years, with the same question receiving 35% in 2024.
Monday, November 9, 2026
Jewish belonging should not require a police escort
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/435909
The November 8 “Boycott Ride" targeted six restaurants around Rittenhouse Square: Mac Mart, K’Far Cafe, Huda, Goldie, Dizengoff, and Schlesinger’s. The organizers insisted they opposed the owners’ support for Israel and rejected accusations of antisemitism. Their demand nevertheless made belonging in Philadelphia conditional on an acceptable position concerning the Jewish state.
Philadelphia illustrated a division they must face. While Democratic officeholders condemned the campaign, the local Democratic Socialists of America defended the boycott and accused officials of conflating antisemitism with anti-Zionism.
For Jewish Americans, that argument has practical consequences. Can a restaurateur openly support Israel’s existence without facing demands that his business disappear? Must a Jewish shopkeeper submit to questioning about a foreign government before being accepted as a neighbor?
Ambassador to US suggests NY Times Gaza coverage preparing ‘next genocide’ of Jews
Yechiel Leiter, Israel’s ambassador to the United States, on Sunday suggested The New York Times published a “blood libel” about IDF actions in Gaza “to prepare the next genocide” of Jews.
“There is no difference between what is being done to us today and what was done to our grandparents in the ghettos of Europe 800 years ago,” Leiter said.
Leiter made the comments at the closing ceremony of Chabad’s Kinus Hashluchim, the annual gathering of the Hasidic sect’s thousands of emissaries from around the world, in Edison, New Jersey.
The Unity of Science
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/scientific-unity/
Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy
The Unity of Science
The topic of unity in the sciences can be explored through questions such as the following: Is unity a feature of reality or of our modes of cognition? Is there one privileged, most basic or fundamental concept or kind of thing and, if not, how are the different concepts or kinds of things in the universe related? Can the various natural sciences (e.g., physics, astronomy, chemistry, biology) be unified into a single overarching theory, and can theories within a single science (e.g., general relativity and quantum theory in physics, or models of evolution and development in biology) be unified? How are the so-called human sciences related to the natural ones? Are theories or models the relevant connected units? What other connected or connecting units are there? Does the unification of these parts of science involve only matters of fact or are matters of value involved as well? What about matters of method, material, institutional, ethical and other aspects of intellectual cooperation? Moreover, what kinds of unity, not just units, in the sciences are there? And is the relation of unification one of reduction, translation, explanation, logical inference, collaboration or something else? What roles can unification play in scientific practices, their development, application and evaluation? Are those expressions of more general cognitive activities? How are all these questions to be investigated? Is unification an aim of inquiry or a guiding idea at the service of ulterior aims? Is it a question for philosophy, e.g., for metaphysics or epistemology? If so, how can examining scientific practices help? Or is philosophy, rather, a resource for understanding science?
Over the last four decades much historical and philosophical scholarship has challenged the ideals of monism and reductionism and pursued a growing critical interest in pluralism and interdisciplinary collaboration (see below). Along the way, the distinction between the historical human sciences and ahistorical natural sciences has received much critical and productive attention. One outcome has been the application and development of concepts and accounts in philosophy of history in understanding different human and natural sciences as historical, with a special focus on the epistemic role of unifying narratives and standards and problems in disciplines such as archeology, geology, cosmology and paleontology (see, for instance, Morgan and Wise 2017; Currie 2019). Another outcome has been a renewed critique of the autonomy of the social sciences. One concern is, for instance, the raising social and economic value of the natural sciences and their influence on the models and methods of the social sciences; another is the influence on both of certain particular political and economic views. Other related concerns are the role of the social sciences in political life and the assumption that humans are unique and superior to animals and emerging technologies (see, for instance, van Bouwel 2009b; Kincaid and van Bouwel 2023).
At the end of the day, one should not lose sight of the larger context that sustains problems and projects in most disciplines and practices. We are as free to pursue them as Kant’s dove is free to fly, that is, not without the surrounding air resistance to flap its wings upon and against. Philosophy was once thought to stand for the systematic unity of the sciences. The foundational character of unity became the distinctive project of philosophy, in which conceptual unity played the role of the standard of intelligibility. In addition, the ideal of unity, frequently under the guise of harmony, has long been a standard of aesthetic virtue, although this image has been eloquently challenged by, for instance, John Bailey and Iris Murdoch (Bailey 1976; Murdoch 1992). Unities and unifications help us meet cognitive and practical demands upon our life as well as cultural demands upon our self-images that are both cosmic and earthly. It is not surprising that talk of the many meanings and levels of unity—the fundamental level, unification, system, organization, universality, simplicity, atomism, reduction, harmony, complexity or totality—can place an urgent grip on our intellectual imagination.
Torah Study must be According to the Individual
quote from "The Spiritual Revolution of Rav Kook" by Schwartz, Ari Ze'ev -
"Many people have left religion because in their learning and spiritual perfection, they betrayed their unique personalities. For example, a person may be naturally talented in matters of aggadah1 and be unsuited to constant immersion in matters of halachah.2 Yet because he does not recognize his unique talents, he occupies himself in matters of Gemara and its commentaries, since he sees that this is customary in the religious world today. But deep inside his soul he feels a hatred toward the material he is learning, since constant involvement in it does not suit his unique natural gifts. However, if he were to find the specific type of Torah that fits his unique talents and immerse himself in it, he would then immediately recognize that the nauseating feeling he experienced when involved in matters of halachah was not coming from any flaw in that holy and important type of learning. It was rather his soul expressing its desire to be absorbed in another type of Torah. This person would then stay truly faithful to the Torah and become an expert in the type of Torah that is unique to him. In fact, he would even be able to help those who are more talented in halachah by showing them the inner peace of aggadah, poetry, and emotions. Unfortunately, because this person does not recognize the true reason for his feelings of nausea toward halachah, he forcefully ignores his nature. And as soon as the path of a non-Torah way of life opens up to him, he breaks out and then hates and becomes an enemy of Torah and religion. He will go from one sin to another. It is from these types of people that haters of our people are created. They try to proclaim a new vision and blind the eyes of the world. There is a great diversity of wisdom that expands even greater than this. One may be strongly attracted to a certain secular wisdom. Such a person must also follow his unique talents, while setting aside fixed times for learning Torah. If he does this, then he will succeed in both, because “Torah together with the way of the world is beautiful” (Pirkei Avot 2:2). And the Gemara at the end of Yoma discusses how to find the right balance of priorities for such people. In general, this whole issue is dependent on each person’s unique soul. (KYK 1, Pinkas Acharon b’Boisk, 52)"
Blinken: I warned Netanyahu Israel could lose young Republicans and evangelicals
https://www.jpost.com/international/article-914277
Former US secretary of state Antony Blinken said Sunday that he warned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the Gaza war that Israel risked losing support among young Republicans and young evangelicals, alongside its mounting difficulties within the Democratic Party.
“You are not only losing the Democratic Party, and that may be fine from your perspective. You’re going to be losing young Republicans, young evangelicals,” Blinken said he told Netanyahu.
Blinken said the image of Israel had changed profoundly between generations. He recalled growing up when Israel was broadly seen as David facing a surrounding Goliath; for the generation now coming to the fore, he said, that perception had reversed.
Trump cites dislike of Israel as key factor in GOP midterm losses alongside war with Iran
Trump cites dislike of Israel as key factor in GOP midterm losses alongside war with Iran
US President Donald Trump said that growing dislike of Israel among American voters was one of the main reasons for the Republican Party’s sweeping defeat in the midterm elections, alongside the war with Iran and rising gasoline prices.
Asked to explain the defeat, Trump insisted that his personal popularity remained strong and suggested that Republican candidates had failed to translate his support into votes.
The president pointed to the large crowds at his campaign rallies but acknowledged that other factors had influenced voters.
Trump: Republicans did poorly in midterms because of a ‘great dislike’ for Israel
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-november-9-2026/
US President Donald Trump says that one of the reasons Republicans did so poorly in last week’s midterm elections is because Americans really don’t like Israel, with whom his government has a close relationship.
Trump is asked during an interview on 60 Minutes to reflect on the midterms, and he gives several reasons for the Democratic takeover of both the House and the Senate.
“Number one, I was not on the ballot,” Trump says, noting that voters didn’t like some of the Republican candidates, including ones he endorsed.
“But there’s something beyond that. They didn’t like the war. They didn’t like the fact that gasoline went up,” he adds.
“And there’s a great dislike — incredibly — for Israel,” Trump says, without elaborating.
AIPAC Wanted to Shape the Debate. Now It Is the Debate.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2026/11/08/israel-aipac-midterm-elections-foushee-01154924
The American Israel Public Affairs Committee was both the primary adversary and in some sense a model for the new group. In late 2021, AIPAC had formed its own super PAC, United Democracy Project, which spent $64 million in the following two cycles. American Priorities set a goal of raising $10 million for the midterms, and came up short of that in its spending of around $8 million. Campaign-finance disclosures show UDP alone spending over $50 million this cycle through mid-October, not accounting for other AIPAC-affiliated groups. “We never thought we could outspend them,” said Mohammed Waqas Javed, a former director of engineering at the tech company AppLovin, whose $1 million in donations made him one of American Priorities’ early backers. “We wanted to be smart about where we spent, and surgically deploying $10 million was enough to run a serious operation across the country.”
But the financial mismatch was less important than the environment in which American Priorities arrived. A longstanding, bipartisan pro-Israel consensus that AIPAC had helped establish — and, more recently, enforce — was already fracturing over the war in Gaza, and AIPAC’s own role in Democratic primary politics had become controversial. American Priorities formed in part to capitalize on the shift, but its emergence was far more an effect than a cause of the public’s changing views on Israel. Indeed, candidates attacked AIPAC in races where neither its own super PAC nor American Priorities even spent.
The group will face a very different Capitol Hill in January. Thirteen members of the Democratic majority will arrive with American Priorities having backed their elections. And Rep. Valerie Foushee, one candidate American Priorities opposed for AIPAC’s role helping bring her to Congress in the first place, turned on her former backers before the primary even started — the anti-AIPAC group now considers her an ally.