Saturday, June 15, 2024
Trump Couldn’t Stop Gibbering in Front of Nation’s Biggest CEOs
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-couldnt-stop-gibbering-in-front-of-nations-biggest-ceos?ref=home
Trump’s proclivity for gibberish has come under increased scrutiny recently, particularly after he went on a completely nonsensical rant about sharks and electrocution at a recent campaign rally.
Jewish Students Told 'Go Back to Poland' at Campus Rallies
https://www.newsweek.com/jewish-students-told-go-back-poland-campus-rallies-1913257
Jewish students studying at prominent American universities have told Newsweek they and their classmates have faced antisemitic abuse and harassment on campus. There was also open support for acts of violence against Israel, following the October 7, 2023 attacks on the country and subsequent invasion of Gaza.
Lies Damned lies and false claims about what Rav Moshe said
In the latest edition of Binah an ad claimed that Rav Moshe said that a wig that women don't recognize as being a wig is prohibited
This is contrary to what he says in Igros Moshe EH2 12
Friday, June 14, 2024
Power to Resurrect the Dead
Ramchal (Mesilas Yesharim 26) When one separates himself from others, remaining in solitude, and preparing himself for the receiving of His holiness, in the way he wishes to go, he will be led, and with the divine help G-d will give him, his soul will strengthen within him and defeat the corporeal, cling to His holiness and be rendered whole through Him. From there, he may ascend to a higher level, namely, Holy Spirit, then his thinking will ascend beyond the bounds of human limits. His clinging may reach such high levels that the key to revival of the dead will be given to him, as it was given to Eliyahu and Elisha. This will reveal how intensely is his clinging to G-d. For in His being the source of life, who bestows life to all living things, as our sages of blessed memory, said: "three keys the Holy One, blessed be He, has retained in His own hands and not entrusted into the hand of any emissary: the Key of the Revival of the Dead...". Behold, one who clings to the blessed G-d completely will be able to draw down even the flow of life itself from Him, which is, what is attributed to G-d more than anything else as I wrote. This is what the Beraitha concludes: "Holiness brings to the Holy Spirit, and the Holy Spirit brings to the Revival of the Dead".
In the search for hostages, U.S. is Israel’s key intelligence partner
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2024/06/14/us-israel-intelligence-cia-hostages/
The daring and deadly hostage rescue that Israeli military forces mounted in Gaza last Saturday relied on a massive intelligence-gathering operation in which the United States has been Israel’s most important partner.
Tzadik without Sin is like G-d?
Sanhedrin (65b) Raba said: If the righteous desired it, they could [by living a life of absolute purity] be creators, for it is written, But your iniquities have distinguished between etc. Rabbah created a man, and sent him to R. Zera. R. Zera spoke to him, but received no answer. Thereupon he said unto him: ‘Thou art a creature of the magicians. Return to thy dust.’R. Hanina and R. Oshaia spent every Sabbath eve in studying the ‘Book of Creation’, by means of which they created a third-grown calf and ate it.
Yad Ramah (65b) Raba said, If the righteous desired it they could create a world. These are the Tsadikim who if they wanted to be freed from all iniquity they could create a world by their merit Because G-d fulfills their decrees. It is said that Your sins distinguish between you and your God, So if they didn’t sin There would be no difference between the servant and his Master, but the Master fulfills his decrees as He does His own.
Half a million in damages | Man who broke into shop and ruined 'immodest' wigs indicted
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391509
Chief Superintendent Lior Ben-Shalom, the investigations and intelligence officer at the Lev Habira station, said of the case: "This suspect acted through ideological motives that he believes in which prohibit the use of wigs by haredi women, and carried out criminal acts by breaking into a business and causing substantial damage. Our investigation efforts, which began immediately after receiving the report about the incident, bore fruit after we carried out various investigatory actions to locate and arrest him. The detectives from the Lev Habira station arrested the suspect and the station investigators managed to gather an evidential basis which led to the indictment against him."
Thursday, June 13, 2024
The Jewish problem with Trump supporters saying his guilty verdict was ‘rigged’
Namely, that delegitimizing American courts out of personal or partisan sentiment is pulling not just the rug but the very floor out from under the republic. Just as the results of elections — whoever wins — must be respected by the citizenry, the decisions of courts, especially when there is the option of appealing to higher courts for proper redress, are, or should be, sacrosanct.
It might be too much to ask of any of us to not feel upset at losing a court case. The Talmud asking a losing litigant to sing happily is describing only an ideal, after all. But disappointment in any particular verdict is mere bathwater. It’s essential to hold the baby tight.
Shouting match ensues between senior Arab officials at Blinken meeting
https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-805319
Wednesday, June 12, 2024
Bas Kol goes against Halacha
There is a common phrase that is used to imply that a particular view is the halacha by stating that it is as if a Bas Kol has announced that it is the correct view
The Chasam Sofer(Toras Moshe Tzave page 65) points out a major problem in that in most cases describing the halacha and Bas Kol, the Bas Kol is against normative halacha.
Sorry, MAGA, Gun Criminal Hunter Biden Is Good for Joe
https://www.thedailybeast.com/sorry-maga-gun-criminal-hunter-biden-is-good-for-joe?ref=home
But House Republicans have spent years dedicating committee investigations and even launching an impeachment inquiry to go after the alleged wrongdoing and both have continued to come up short. To date the inquiry has consisted of dozens of interviews and over 100,000 documents released to the committee and Republicans have been unable to prove a crime that involved Joe Biden. Fox News’ Steve Doocy called out the effort saying he had heard from countless Republicans on Capitol Hill who said they had seen zero evidence of a crime committed by Biden.
Tuesday, June 11, 2024
Ohio: A-G blocks college from selling rare Jewish books
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391419
Ohio’s attorney general obtained a court order this week prohibiting the financially strapped Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion from selling off books from its Cincinnati library, which holds a significant collection of rare and precious items from throughout Jewish history.
Attorney General Dave Yost’s request for a temporary restraining order came in response to recent reporting in Cincy Jewfolk, a local outlet that published an in-depth article in April on the struggles of the educational institution, a seminary and university affiliated with Judaism’s Reform movement.
Why Two Simple Words Bother Trump So Much
https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-two-simple-words-bother-trump-so-much?ref=home?ref=home
A high-ranking Trumpworld strategist, meanwhile, said Trump’s fury over the Biden campaign’s use of the “suckers” and “losers” comments pointed to perhaps Trump’s biggest fear: being called a “loser” himself.
“The biggest insult to him to get under his skin is that he lost in 2020, he lost his court case and he’s convicted now” on 34 criminal charges, the strategist said.
In comparison, the strategist said, “You can call him fat, call him an insurrectionist, call him a racist [but] that’s just not gonna stick.”
Going to the molten core of Trump’s ego—that’s how Democrats can provoke the strongest response, the GOP strategist said.
But according to the Republicans who spoke to The Daily Beast, Trump’s blow-up over the Biden ad revealed that despite the perceived professionalism of his current campaign team, the candidate’s insecurities have only gotten worse with time.
While none of the Trumpworld figures were certified psychologists, what they were describing effectively amounted to projection. Trump’s favorite insult is also the one he fears most when applied to him: being called a “loser.”
Trump did not sign an order to deploy 20,000 troops on Jan. 6
https://apnews.com/article/fact-check-trump-order-national-guard-156055113284
CLAIM: Former President Donald Trump signed an order to deploy 20,000 National Guard troops before his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, but was stopped by the House sergeant at arms, at the behest of Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. While Trump was involved in discussions in the days prior to Jan. 6 about the National Guard response, he issued no such order before or during the rioting. Speaker Pelosi does not control National Guard troops.
THE FACTS: New footage released Thursday of House lawmakers on Jan. 6 has sparked a resurgence of false claims and conspiracy theories about the insurrection.
Knesset approves: Government will advance Haredi Draft Law initiated by Gantz
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391409
The Knesset plenum approved early Tuesday morning the continuous application of the Draft Law that will exempt haredim for whom "Torah is their craft" from service in the IDF.
63 members of the Knesset voted in favor of the bill, and 57 voted against, including Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. Besides Gallant, all Knesset members from the coalition voted in favor of the law.
Alito, Roberts secretly recorded at historical society dinner
https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/4714287-alito-roberts-secret-recordings-supreme-court/
Secret recordings published Monday showed Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts’s and Justice Samuel Alito’s thoughts on the politics of the court, with Alito predicting no easy solution to the country’s political polarization.
Alito appeared to embrace his role as a partisan, which liberals have long accused him of being despite the nominally nonpartisan nature of the court.
Gaza Chief’s Brutal Calculation: Civilian Bloodshed Will Help Hamas
For months, Yahya Sinwar has resisted pressure to cut a ceasefire-and-hostages deal with Israel. Behind his decision, messages the Hamas military leader in Gaza has sent to mediators show, is a calculation that more fighting—and more Palestinian civilian deaths—work to his advantage.
Cognitive dissonance
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance
In the field of psychology, cognitive dissonance is described as the mental discomfort people feel when their beliefs and actions are inconsistent and contradictory, ultimately encouraging some change (often either in their beliefs or actions) to align better and reduce this dissonance.[1] Relevant items of information include peoples' actions, feelings, ideas, beliefs, values, and things in the environment. Cognitive dissonance is typically experienced as psychological stress when persons participate in an action that goes against one or more of those things. According to this theory, when an action or idea is psychologically inconsistent with the other, people do all in their power to change either so that they become consistent. The discomfort is triggered by the person's belief clashing with new information perceived, wherein the individual tries to find a way to resolve the contradiction to reduce their discomfort.[1]
Monday, June 10, 2024
Living with Schizophrenia
https://livingwithschizophreniauk.org/information-sheets/coping-with-voices/
Many people with schizophrenia experience hearing voices or auditory hallucinations as psychiatrists call them. These voices are usually nasty or persecutory and can cause the sufferer enormous distress. Often the voices will be in the third person and will constantly criticise the sufferer but sometimes they may also give the person direct instructions in which case they are known as command hallucinations. (See our information sheet on Understanding Voices for more about voice hearing).
Danger of too much Involvement in Commerce
Netziv (Haamek Davar Devarim 32:13) G-d established the land of Israel in a special way so that they would not come to sin. And this was primarily against the corruption that was in the second Temple that was the result of baseless hatred. And it is explained in the Tosefta that this was the because of their excessive love of money which was the consequence of being too involved in commerce. And reality the love of doing business that we find in other countries is typically either because of the scarcity of livelihood or on the contrary because of idleness when a person has nothing to do. Therefore G-d was good to the Jews and gave them a productive land which required a lot of work. This why the Torah says “He acquired for you a mighty harvest of grain and grapes and you will live securely in your land.”
Rescued hostages suffering from malnutrition, possibly Stockholm syndrome
The Kan public broadcaster reported Sunday evening that after initial conversations with the four, medical professionals believed they were exhibiting signs of Stockholm syndrome, as the rescued hostages spoke about awful experiences they had been subjected to in captivity while also saying that their captors cared about their wellbeing.
Hearing Voices? It's More Common Than You Think
https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/i-hear-voices-in-my-head
Research suggests up to 10% of people will experience auditory hallucinations at some point in life.
Tzadikim : The Need to be Attatched
Meor veshemesh (Shoftim ) Even if a person learns the entire Torah and all the holy books and as well as the words of the Sages, it does not enable him to do complete repentance and to remove from him all the blocking screens if he does not adhere to the tzadikim of the generation and the Holy ones of G-d:
Working instead of Learning Torah is sign of Mental Illnesss
Sefer Hamidos (Bitachon chapter 4) G d has made material things so enticing to motivate man to the tremendous efforts necessary to obtain them. Without this enticement, man would simply produce the minimum amount of food to exist and nothing more… Therefore those things which require greater effort to produce are viewed as more desirable than those things are readily available. Thus we see that babies are viewed as more precious than older children. As the effort needed to raise the child decreases as he grows so does his preciousness… Nevertheless G d left it up to each person to decide for himself what he would devote himself to in his lifetime. Bereishis Rabbah (17:7): If a person merits he will devote himself to Torah but if he doesn’t merit he will devote himself to the physical world. So while it is true that without those who struggle in the mundane world it would be desolate but why should you be the crazy one? There is before you the vast Torah more precious than diamonds of greater value than gold…
Trump Demands Biden Remove Ad of Him Calling Dead Soldiers ‘Suckers’ and ‘Losers’
The former president’s demand came on the same day that Biden honored fallen troops in a visit to the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery in France, the burial ground that Trump chose not to visit in 2018 and was later reported to have done so while describing the site as “filled with losers.” Trump has denied making the remark—and another in which he allegedly called more than 1,800 Marines “suckers” for being killed—ever since The Atlantic first published his purported
Sunday, June 9, 2024
BBC anchor asks if Israeli forces warned Palestinians ahead of hostage rescue mission: Defeats 'the purpose'
A former IDF spokesperson pushed back against a BBC anchor who asked if Israeli forces would have warned Gazans ahead of a secret raid to liberate a handful of hostages so they could seek safety.
"Would there have been a warning to those civilians [Gazans] for them to get out on time?" BBC anchor Helena Humphrey asked former IDF spokesperson and Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies Jonathan Conricus during a recent interview.
"Of course, we can't anticipate Israel to be warning ahead of a raid to extract or to save hostages because then what the terrorists would do is to kill the hostages, and that would defeat the purpose," he replied.
IDF confirms: Al Jazeera journalist was terrorist who held hostages
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/391326
Following the completion of IDF and ISA examinations of reports on the subject, it can be confirmed that Al Jazeera journalist Abdallah Aljamal was an operative in the Hamas terrorist organization, who held the hostages Almog Meir Jan, Andrey Kozlov, and Shlomi Ziv captive in his family home in Nuseirat.
"The hostages were held captive by Abdallah Aljamal and members of his family in their home. This is further evidence of the deliberate use of civilian homes and buildings by the Hamas terrorist organization to hold Israeli hostages captive in the Gaza Strip. Israeli security forces will continue to make every effort to bring the hostages home," the IDF stated.
Theology and wealth
Mortimer, Ian. Medieval Horizons: Why the Middle Ages Matter (p. 31). RosettaBooks. Kindle Edition.
A more united Church was a more purposeful and powerful organisation. It also grew phenomenally wealthy, expressing its prosperity in the building of tens of thousands of abbeys and parish churches and the foundation of monastic orders. Its wealth was partly a result of the Medieval Warm Period – a period of favourable climate change, discussed in chapter three – but an even more important factor was the scale of the donations it received. The idea of the plenary indulgence, whereby all your sins were forgiven in return for an act of devotion (such as a crusade) had not existed in 1000; now such indulgences were accepted as ways of easing your path to Heaven. Pilgrimages too were phenomenally popular, as ordinary people invoked the healing power of saints and their relics. Whereas once few people had left home for religious purposes, now millions were on the move across Europe, enriching all the churches they visited with their donations. Christendom’s religious horizons had widened and the Church’s penetration into society had deepened, flooding like rainwater after a storm into every private crack and corner of daily life.
Letter From an IDF Soldier in Gaza
https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/letter-from-an-idf-soldier-in-gaza
The following is a letter written by Jonathan, a 24-year-old who grew up in suburban Maryland, to his family. He is currently in Israel serving in the Israeli Defense Forces as a sergeant in the Givati Brigade. He is one of hundreds of American volunteer soldiers in the IDF known as “lone soldiers.” His unit has served in Gaza during Operation Protective Edge.
The Dark Side of Colombia Tourism: Child Sex Trade in Medellín
In the last three decades, Medellín has shed its image as capital of the world’s cocaine trade, with homicides falling 97% since the days when cartel kingpin Pablo Escobar ruled. Cheap living and an eternal springlike climate has, since the pandemic, lured an influx of foreigners, among them tech entrepreneurs, digital nomads and foreign retirees—so many that locals complain of skyrocketing housing costs.
The appeal of a far safer city also attracts sex tourists, many of them American, who come here searching for underage girls often managed by organized-crime groups. U.S. investigators have charged some Americans with filming sex with underage girls, then posting it online for profit. Medellín officials say child predators take advantage of the city’s booming nightlife, in which legal adult prostitution flourishes, to help cover their tracks. While the age of consent in Colombia is 14, the minimum age for sex work is 18.