Sefer Chasidim (1047) If a stingy man said to his wife, know that if you give anything to charity I will beat or curse you. Since the charity collector knows that the husband does not approve he should not take even a small amount from her. But if the community makes a decree to give charity and the husband violates the ban, if the wife gives in compliance with the decree a blessing will come upon her. Furthermore, if the husband steals his wife or son should return the theft.
Monday, May 13, 2024
Honesty
Sefer Chasidim (51) One is forbidden to engage in fraudulent and deceptive words, nor should he speak with one thing on his tongue and another in the heart. Rather let his insides be one with his word and that in his heart be that in his mouth. It is forbidden to deceive people including the gentile. And those who insult gentiles during an exchange of greetings while the gentile thinks that he means well, are sinners, for there is no greater deception than this
Liz Cheney Fact-Checks Republican's Donald Trump Claim
https://www.newsweek.com/liz-cheney-fact-checks-doug-burgum-trump-negotiate-terrorists-claim-1899643
Former Representative Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican, fact-checked Republican North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum's claim on Saturday that former President Donald Trump does not negotiate with terrorists.
Cheney, who served Wyoming's at-large district from 2017 to 2023, responded to a clip of Burgum's speech and wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Saturday evening, "Actually, @GovDougBurgum, Trump didn't just negotiate with terrorists, he invited the Taliban to Camp David on the anniversary of 9/11 and had his Secretary of State sign a surrender agreement with them."
BeHa”B
https://ohr.edu/this_week/insights_into_halacha/9340
The custom of utilizing these specific days for prayer and supplication is already mentioned almost 900 years ago by the Baalei Tosafos, its importance reiterated by the Tur, and unbeknownst to many, actually codified in halacha by the Shulchan Aruch as a proper minhag.[4]
Home In My Opinion WATCH OUT FOR EXCESS
https://www.rabbiwein.com/blog/watch-out-for-excess-678.html
With the blessed advent of prosperity and even affluence in much of the Jewish world today, the standards to measure excess and the definition of moderate living have certainly undergone a major change than those of the generations of our ancestors in Eastern Europe or the mellahs of the Near East. Rabbi Yisrael of Salant, the founder of the nineteenth century Mussar ethical movement in Lithuania, commented that luxuries are eventually transformed into necessities. Nevertheless, excess can still be recognized for what it is even in today's more affluent and comfortable society. "Behab" therefore still has an important lesson to teach us. Many times in life, less is truly more. Judaism does not encourage or preach poverty as a positive way of life. Yet the Talmud teaches us that "poverty is becoming to Israel." Poverty here means the avoidance of excess and the living of a life of balance, moderation and goodness to others. In our stressful world, the conviction that moderation in our lives is the best spiritual choice that we can make for ourselves can help us to live a more serene and fulfilling life.
Fighting and dying alongside men for decades, female soldiers finally get their due
According to Women Warriors, 47 female IDF soldiers were killed on October 7, and five more have been killed in the line of duty near Gaza, on the northern border and in the West Bank in the months since.
In April, the Israel Defense Forces said it had seen a massive spike in female conscripts joining combat units during the war. During the March-April conscription cohort, the turnout for female troops in combat units hit 157 percent, meaning 57% more than planned for.
Israel knows location of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, but he is using hostages as human shields: reports
January it was reported
The Israeli military knows the location of Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar but has not launched strikes against him because he is using Israeli hostages as human shields, according to multiple reports in Israeli media.
So why are some people saying that if only Biden revealed Sinwar's location that there would have been no need for fighting in Gaza
Garnel IronheartMay 12, 2024 at 10:08 PM
Maybe, but here's the bigger question:
Since Israel invaded Gaza, it has made its aims clear:
1) retrieve the hostages
2) get Hamas to surrender
Biden, who has been moving towards open support for Hamas for the last couple of months and seems incredibly desperate for Rafiach not to fall, suddenly announces he has intel - he knows where Hamas' leaders are!
Now, the same guy who's complaining that Israel has killed too many civilians (and as the guy who botched the withdrawal from Afghanistan, he knows all about killing civilians), the same state department that announced "We can't find any evidence that Israel committed war crimes but we're sure they did, we just know it!", suddenly announce that they have information that could end the war. Why did they not announce this 3 months ago and save thousands of civilian lives in Gaza? Why wait until now?
Yahya Sinwar is hiding in Khan Yunis, not Rafah - report
https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-800805
Hamas' leader in Gaza, Yahya Sinwar, is still hiding in tunnels under Khan Yunis, not in Rafah, American officials told the New York Times on Sunday.
According to the cited anonymous American officials, Israeli intelligence agencies agree that Sinwar and other Hamas leaders are not hiding in Rafah and are likely still under Khan Yunis, a city north of Rafah that the IDF pulled out of in early April. The officials added that they don't believe Sinwar was ever hiding in Rafah.
The architect of the October 7 massacre is also believed to be protecting himself with a group of Israeli hostages he uses as human shields in order to stop Israel from raiding or bombing his hideout, US and Israeli officials told the New York Times.
U.S. officials: Hamas leaders, including Sinwar, not in Rafah - report
Despite Israel's extensive intelligence capabilities, American officials assert that the United States is sharing all relevant information regarding Sinwar's whereabouts with Israel.
US Ambassador Lew: 'Despite tension, no fundamental changes in US-Israel ties'
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/389851
US Ambassador to Israel Jacob Lew said in an interview with Chanel 12's Yonit Levi that despite the apparent tensions, nothing has fundamentally changed in the relationship between the US and Israel.
Man who received first pig kidney transplant dies
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c4n1l9g2wn9o
The first man to receive a genetically modified pig kidney transplant has died two months after the operation, the hospital which carried out the procedure has said.
U.S. cites intelligence, offers Israel supplies to limit Rafah operation
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/11/us-israel-rafah-invasion-palestinians-evacuation/
The Biden administration has made an internal assessment that Hamas — and its leader in Gaza, Yehiya Sinwar — would welcome a major, protracted battle in Rafah that is destructive and deadly, according to a senior administration official, because it would further isolate Israel.
Sinwar is hiding in Khan Yunis
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/389845
US and Israeli officials cited in the report said Sinwar is hiding near hostages, using them as human shields. American officials believe Israel has comparable or superior intelligence on the Hamas leader’s whereabouts.
Sunday, May 12, 2024
It’s the Criminality, Stupid: Why Voters See Crooks in All Corners of Politics
https://www.wsj.com/articles/presidential-candidates-crime-politics-trump-biden-f94380b4
“Biden’s attack on Trump’s corruption is a direct hit that’s being covered fairly and honestly in the newspapers, and it’s on multiple fronts,” said Joel Benenson, a Democratic pollster who worked on Barack Obama’s and Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaigns. “Whereas the attack on Hunter Biden is a bank shot. And I think direct attacks and direct hits are much more potent and are going to ring much more true.”
Partisans are equally likely to say the other candidate is ‘too corrupt’
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/03/15/biden-trump-corrupt-poll/
Yahoo and YouGov asked the same questions in May. Then, the gap between Biden and Trump on the “too corrupt” question was in the double digits, while “too incompetent” was in the single digits. Since then, the “corrupt” gap narrowed and the “incompetent” gap widened — thanks largely to shifts among Republicans.
What Trump promised oil CEOs as he asked them to steer $1 billion to his campaign - Corruption
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/05/09/trump-oil-industry-campaign-money/
Trump’s response stunned several of the executives in the room overlooking the ocean: You all are wealthy enough, he said, that you should raise $1 billion to return me to the White House. At the dinner, he vowed to immediately reverse dozens of President Biden’s environmental rules and policies and stop new ones from being enacted, according to people with knowledge of the meeting, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe a private conversation.
Biden Is Not the First U.S. President to Cut Off Weapons to Israel
https://www.yahoo.com/news/biden-not-first-u-president-172558453.html
Dwight D. Eisenhower threatened economic sanctions and an aid cutoff to force Israel to withdraw from the Sinai Peninsula after it invaded Egypt in 1956. Gerald Ford warned that he would reevaluate the entire relationship in 1975 over what he considered Israel’s recalcitrance during peace talks with Egypt. George H.W. Bush postponed $10 billion in loan guarantees in 1991 in a dispute over settlements in the West Bank.
Saturday, May 11, 2024
Israeli military says it has weapons it needs for Rafah ground operation
Israel's military spokesman says the army has the weapons it needs to press ahead with its offensive in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.
Rear Adm. Daniel Hagari was asked at a news conference whether the army can conduct the operation without U.S. arms.
“The army has armaments for the missions it plans, and for the missions in Rafah too — we have what we need,” Mr. Hagari said.
Biden takes fire from all sides after Israel arms move
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/4657284-biden-israel-rafah-weapons-fire-all-sides/
State Department spokesperson Matt Miller, asked at a Thursday media briefing by The Hill about the criticism that Biden should have taken action at an earlier stage to rein in Israel, said:
“Our policy responds to the facts on the ground. We made clear at the outset of this conflict we wanted to see Israel defeat Hamas. We wanted to see Israel dismantle Hamas and prevent its ability to launch the terrorist attacks of Oct. 7 again. They’ve largely succeeded in that goal.”
But Miller added, “We also respond to the increasing civilian death toll and while we’ve seen the daily count come down — because of steps that Israel’s taken that we have urged — it hasn’t come down enough.”
Answers like that underline what a complicated knot Biden is trying to unpick.
THE GAP IS WIDE — BUT WE CAN BRIDGE IT
https://mishpacha.com/the-gap-is-wide-but-we-can-bridge-it/
Since Simchas Torah, our people have been actively engaged in an existential battle against an enemy intent on destroying us. Hundreds of Israel’s precious soldiers have given their lives, and thousands have been wounded in defense of our land and its inhabitants, changing the lives of their families forever. Thousands of Israelis have been living for months with the unimaginable tension of having a child, spouse, parent, or sibling on the front lines as they await the dreaded knock on the door.
There is an unbridgeable gap between them and those of us — the vast majority of both the Israeli chareidi population and of American Jewry — who have not shared that experience and who cannot possibly imagine it. A dear friend lost his son, a reservist who was exempt from service as a father of six but nevertheless went voluntarily to the front lines. Thinking of his child who literally gave his life for the Jewish People and of the wife and children who proudly encouraged him and sent him into battle, my friend cannot bear hearing others bandy about the term “mesirus nefesh” to describe things like traveling three hours to a wedding or staying after an event to clean up. Those of us far from the front lines really have no clue what true mesirus nefesh is.
Friday, May 10, 2024
Biden's big donors fume over Israel criticism
https://www.axios.com/2024/05/10/israel-gaza-biden-rafah-donors
Mark Mellman, the president and CEO of the influential group Democratic Majority for Israel, told Axios that "there has never been a president more pro-Israel than Joe Biden but at the same time we are very concerned about what appears to be a significant shift in US policy."
He added: "There are a lot of people in the pro-Israel community who are very worried, very upset and very angry."
"We don't know what the consequences are going to be politically."
Biden’s Threat to Freeze Some Weapons Deliveries Raises Alarm in Israel
Israeli officials and analysts said Biden’s warning appeared to be a political message that in the short term wouldn’t affect Israel’s ability to wage war. But the country’s long-term ability to fight on several fronts could be threatened if the U.S. president followed through on his threat to pause more weapons deliveries if Israel launches a major assault in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. More than one million Palestinians are sheltering there from the war.
The pause risks one of the worst crises ever in Israeli-American relations, drawing comparisons to President Ronald Reagan’s decision to delay delivery of F-16 jet fighters to Israel during its bombardment of Beirut in 1981.
Netanyahu responded to Biden in a video message released on Thursday, saying, “If we need to stand alone, we will stand alone. As I’ve already said—we will fight with our fingernails.”
Loving work
Michtav M’Eliyahu (Vol 1 page 35) We are commanded to love work. He who is a craftsman and earns a living from it should not view work with contempt since it is only because of necessity that he is working and should not be jealous of the leaders and rabbis who are not working. Thus the emphasis is on loving working as the gemora (Berachos 8) states that one who benefits from his own labor is greater than one who fears G-d i.e., greater than one who benefits from Torah and the fear of G-d it contains (for example Rav who was a rosh yeshiva and leader) because of the dangers and corruption of pride
Michtav M’Eliyahu (Vol 1 page 35) And the Mishna said and hate the rabbinate because the rabbinate and leadership cause degradation although it is never possible for the world to exist without leaders and rabbis. There are times a person has to be a rabbi, but it will be for him only out of necessity, but he will hate the rabbinate to make a living from it and love the job more...
Biden’s Worst Mistake of the Gaza War
Mr. Biden repeats his mistake, coercing Israel instead of using U.S. leverage with the Arab ally that holds the cards. Qatar funds Hamas and hosts its leaders. Yet rather than apply pressure, Mr. Biden quietly extended the U.S. military’s stay at Al Udeid air base in Qatar for another decade, CNN reported in January.
Wednesday, May 8, 2024
US: Hamas claimed to accept ceasefire offer, but ‘that’s not what they did’
Miller notes that most media outlets reported Hamas’s statement that it had accepted the Qatari and Egyptian mediators’ hostage deal proposal at face value.
“I don’t blame the reporting. It’s what the [Hamas] statement said. But it’s not an accurate reflection of what happened… Hamas did not accept a ceasefire proposal. Hamas responded and in their response made several suggestions.
Palestinians Thought a Cease-Fire Had Been Clinched. Then the Tanks Rolled In.
Hours after Israel’s military told them to seek a new place of safety, Gazans in the southern city of Rafah took to the streets Monday night to celebrate: At the 11th hour, Hamas said it had accepted a proposal for a cease-fire. People cheered. Sweets were passed around.
A few hours later, it became clear that the celebrations were premature. The agreement accepted by Hamas turned out to be a counteroffer that Israel hadn’t seen and wouldn’t agree to, shattering hopes of an imminent end to months of hostilities.
Reciting Hallel on Rosh Chodesh
https://torahmitzion.org/learn/reciting-hallel-rosh-chodesh/
Conclusion: On Shloshet HaRegalim (the Three Festivals), hallel is recited, and according to some opinions, this recitation isme’haTorah. In contrast, everyone agrees that on Rosh Chodesh, hallel is a minhag, but the custom of reciting the bracha is not universal. Ashkenazim do recite the bracha, but Edot HaMizrach do not.
Hallel on Rosh Chodesh
https://ph.yhb.org.il/en/05-01-12/
There is a widespread custom to recite Hallel on Rosh Chodesh. Indeed, according to the letter of the law, there is no obligation to do so, because Hallel is required only on days that are called mo’ed (appointed times), and when work is prohibited. Rosh Chodesh is called a mo’ed, but work is permitted on the day. Still, the Jewish people have accepted the practice of saying Hallel on Rosh Chodesh, in order to give expression to the sanctity of the day, which is capable of elevating one to the level of singing God’s praises. To make it clear that the Hallel of Rosh Chodesh is based on custom, and not obligatory, we omit two paragraphs that are said when reciting the complete Hallel (the complete Hallel consists of chapters 113-118 of Tehillim, and we skip 115:1-11 and 116:1-11).
Tuesday, May 7, 2024
Critics say an Aldi job ad excluded white people. We took a closer look
https://www.politifact.com/article/2024/mar/01/critics-say-an-aldi-job-ad-excluded-white-people-w/
"Statements of preference in employment, whether or not they are legally valid, tend not to categorically exclude groups protected by state and federal law," Griffin said. "Simply stated, prioritization is not the same thing as exclusion."
Money and spirituality
Lekutei Moharan (01:68) The soul originates from the same supernal source from which money issues, devolves and comes into being. Money’s origin, from which it extends downward, is undoubtedly an aspect of holiness and a source of holy influx. But afterwards, in the process of devolving, this influx acquires corporeality and becomes money. Thus the reason the soul desires money is that the soul and money share the same source.
Lekutei Moharan (01:68) It would be right for all Jews to have money. However, there is one trait that causes them to forfeit and lose it. This is a despicably evil trait, from which it is very difficult to be rescued. Even if a person wants to go free from it—in particular when his motivation is greed: so as not to lose money—this evil trait nevertheless overwhelms him in his youth and immaturity, and so he forfeits the money that he should have had. This evil trait is anger, because of which a person forfeits and loses the money he should rightfully have. For the root from which money devolves, from which it extends downward, is precisely the same as that of anger.
Lekutei Moharan (01:68) At its origin, the root from which money devolves is the source of the soul, as in “for his soul depends on it” (Deuteronomy 24:15), which is said concerning the money of a day-worker. It is also written (Lamentations 5:9), “We get our bread at the peril of our souls.” This is why the soul hungers after and desires it, as explained above. But by getting angry a person loses his soul, as in “He tears apart his soul with his anger” (Job 18:4) ; as the Zohar brings (II, 182a) .
I'm a White Man. I'm the Victim of Racism
https://www.newsweek.com/racism-race-white-privilege-1819827
In my opinion, the political left are attempting to create a division based on race, in an attempt to drive more voters towards the Democratic Party. I believe this has led to what I call a war on White people.
There are various groups who would argue that White people cannot be the victims of racism—that only people of color can be—but I consider that to be a ridiculous argument.
Trump allies plot anti-racism protections — for white people
https://www.axios.com/2024/04/01/trump-reverse-racism-civil-rights
If Donald Trump returns to the White House, close allies want to dramatically change the government's interpretation of Civil Rights-era laws to focus on "anti-white racism" rather than discrimination against people of color.
The Truth about Anti-White Discrimination
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-truth-about-anti-white-discrimination/
Many white Americans feel that discrimination against whites is on the rise. Experiments suggests otherwise
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