The Secret Is Out

 https://mishpacha.com/the-secret-is-out/

A few months ago, Senator Ted Cruz said, “If it ends up that Biden wins in November… I guarantee you, the week after the election, suddenly all those Democratic governors, all those Democratic mayors, will say, ‘Everything’s magically better. Go back to work, go back to school.’ Suddenly, the problems are solved; you won’t even have to wait for Biden to be sworn in.” Cruz — who knows a thing or two about conspiracy theories, having been a victim of one in 2016 — was actually just parroting a theory advanced by his erstwhile victimizer.

But it hasn’t exactly worked out that way. We’re six weeks past the election and the pandemic is still very much with us and being treated as such. But that’s the great thing about conspiracy theories: They can just be trotted out to suit one’s political purposes, and when, with the passage of time, they turn out to be baseless, no one even remembers them, and it’s on to the next wild imagined conspiracy.

Remember this one? “Joe Biden is a mere puppet of the radical left to be used as a tool to burn down the suburbs and impose atheism on America.” During the campaign, his opponent referred to him regularly as a “Trojan Horse for socialism.” When asked by talk show host Laura Ingraham who Biden’s being controlled by, he helpfully clarified that it’s “people who you’ve never heard of, people who are in the dark shadows,” and “people who are in the streets, people who are controlling the streets.”

But being a conspiracy theorist means never having to say you’re sorry even when the theories turn out to be baseless. So if it turns out Joe Biden is no one’s marionette, no big deal. After all, didn’t you hear? He’s not actually the next president since he stole the election.

Although grounded, reality-based people tend to downplay the gravity of conspiracy theories because they’re just so outlandish, when their prevalence reaches a critical mass in society, they become a deadly serious issue indeed. And they have reached that point, as Kevin D. Williamson writes in National Review:

When I first started writing about QAnon, some conservatives scoffed that it wasn’t a significant phenomenon, that it had no real influence on the Republican Party or conservative politics. That is obviously untrue. Rather than ask whether conspiracy kookery is relevant to Republican politics at this moment, it would be better to ask if there is anything else to Republican politics at at this moment. And maybe there is, but not much.

For the uninitiated, QAnon, which been identified by the FBI as a domestic terror threat, is a complex, mutating theory centered around the belief that the outgoing president is a heroic savior secretly battling to save the world from a Satanic cult of pedophiles and cannibals connected to prominent Democrats and Deep State denizens. The president has publicly welcomed its support and has retweeted scores of its supporters’ posts; dozens of its supporters have run for office and two were just elected to Congress, with Republican Party help; and opinion surveys show over half of Republican voters believe its central elements.

Read those lines again. Five years ago, a novel or movie script based on this would’ve been rejected as too implausible to attract an audience; today, we’ve acclimated to it emerging from the Oval Office, from the same fingers that are on the nuclear button.

The out-of-control spread of conspiracy theories is a grave enough danger to the health of the nation, but for Jews it is a mortal threat. It is perilous for us in physical terms, given the fact that conspiracy theories have been at the very heart of Jew hatred during the entire history of our people.

And it is equally ominous for us spiritually, because our very existence as the Am Hashem depends on holding fast to truth, rejecting falsehood, and insisting on the highest epistemological standards for discerning between the two. Every Jewish heresy has trafficked in part or in whole in wildly fantastical or conspiratorial theories, from false Messianic movements, to Bible critics’ fever dreams of a fabricated Torah, to contemporary Orthodox feminism’s baseless delusions about a women-subjugating rabbinic cabal. If you think entertaining outrageous political conspiracy theories at the Shabbos table is harmless fun that doesn’t risk corroding the exquisite sensitivity to emes and sheker that our young people need to subscribe to ikarei hadas — think again.

In recent weeks, however, things have risen to a dangerous new level. Yuval Levin, senior scholar at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, writes at The Dispatch:

For our political culture, the Trump era is ending much as it began — in a hail of delusion and fantasy. Throughout his term, the president has invented stories of his own victimization and heroism, demanded the acceptance of lies as tests of loyalty to himself, and elevated baseless theories from the depths of various internet cesspools. His opponents have often responded in kind….

Our affinity for partisan conspiracy obviously did not begin with this presidency…. But the fever has clearly grown much hotter in the Trump era. We’ve seen not only the party out of power easing its pain with myths of victimization by shadowy forces but a sitting president actively blurring the line between fantasy and reality. It should be no surprise that he is now concluding his presidency by insisting the election was stolen and beckoning his supporters down a rabbit hole of unreality and grievance.

And anecdotal indications are that among those going down that rabbit hole are more than a negligible number of members of our own community. Our history is replete with a country’s Jews being the victims of blood libels, but now we face the prospect of something at least as chilling: Jews, a tiny, vulnerable minority in a country already riven by partisan hatred and fear, publicly identifying with those promoting a libel aimed at delegitimizing the country’s rulers.

We can hope that the conspiratorial fever that has seized millions of Americans these last six weeks will yet break. But if it doesn’t, the potential implications for Jews are frightening.

Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 841. Eytan Kobre may be contacted directly at kobre@mishpacha.com

Another Trump hater? NO EASY ROAD TO TRUTH

 https://www.jewishmediaresources.com/2084/no-easy-road-to-truth

A recent column, "Get Thee Gone," critical of President Trump's post-election behavior, attracted a fair amount of criticism. I learned a good deal from that criticism, including something about myself — to wit, all things considered, I prefer praise to criticism (about which more later.)

As far as most — not all — of the critics were concerned, any column that mentions the president is either pro-Trump or anti-Trump. And anything that is not 100 percent pro-Trump is, by definition, anti-Trump. No further analysis of the points made is required.

The columns I have written praising the president — for breaking with the conventional wisdom on Middle East peace-making, the plight of the working class, the Chinese threat, and campus due process, to name a few — availed me not. No criticism can be brooked.

That Manichean view of the universe, especially with respect to the president, strikes me as inimical to religion. It elevates the president to a stature that he cannot bear. A number of Christian conservatives have written about how pro-Trump boosterism has corrupted many evangelicals. And what they have written applies with equal force to elements of our own community; just substitute Orthodox Jews for evangelicals.

"Some evangelicals in the last four years have clearly made Trump their god and MAGA their religion," a recent Washington Times editorial opined. "It is perfectly possible to vote for Trump, his judges, for his tax cuts, without becoming an obeisant loyalist.... Yet many signed their souls over."

Trump's mind is elsewhere as unemployment benefits run out for millions of Americans

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/26/politics/donald-trump-stimulus-unemployment-benefits/index.html

A day before unemployment benefits for millions of Americans were set to expire, President Donald Trump had a different insult in mind: his former-model wife has yet to appear on the cover of a fashion magazine as first lady.

"Fake news!" he complained on Twitter from Palm Beach, concerned for Melania's social station on Christmas as Americans hunkered at home, enduring a holiday diminished by pandemic, darkened by the prospect of an imminent government shutdown and shaken by an eerie explosion in Nashville that authorities said was intentional.

A day later, as those jobless benefits for gig workers and self-employed Americans were lapsing, Trump was issuing a string of angry messages about his own perceived injustices: the election he falsely claims was stolen from him and the growing roster of people he's upset won't help him reverse it.

Trump is destroying his own party on the way out the door

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/25/opinions/trump-republicans-mcconnell-perdue-loeffler-lockhart/index.html

 This holiday season, President Donald Trump has wreaked havoc on Congress, our democracy and our judicial system by pardoning political associates and convicted murderers. But Trump has saved a special kind of Grinch-like behavior for the two Republican Senate candidates in Georgia who are headed for runoff elections in January and for Senator Mitch McConnell, whose fate as majority leader depends on the GOP winning at least one of those races.

10th of Teves Alert: Making LGBT Exploitation Legal [Again] in NJ

 BS"D 
Asara B'Teves, '81 / Dec. 25, '20
By Rabbi Noson Shmuel Leiter, Executive Director, Help Rescue Our Children
The Chassam Sofer (Toras Moshe, Drashos for 7th of Adar) explains that today, the Tenth of Teves, is the  day on which a Heavenly Tribunal is convened every year, to determine if the Bais HaMikdash will be rebuilt that very year, or, alternatively, whether we will R"L suffer the opposite: it's virtual re-destruction. Chazal (Our Sages) teach us that any generation in which it's not rebuilt is as if it's [re-]destroyed. (Perhaps it's also decided today under what conditions it will be rebuilt, including how much prerequisite difficulty we'll need to endure.)
Therefore, it behooves us to think about what some of the pivotal issues are, to combat the types of rishus ("wickedness") that are  perpetuating our bitter Exile. Undeniably, there are multiple problems to address.  Here we focus on just one of many.
Chazal  exhort us (Mishna Sotah 48a), that "z'nus" and "keshafim" (sexual immorality and sorcery) "eradicated everything." Sexual immorality bebases society and brings down Divine Wrath in the form of collective retribution, in which good people also die, as the Medrashim discuss in relation to the Great Flood (see Rashi Ber. 6:13; Beraishis Rabbah, beginning of Noach).*
*[Every iota of suffering is meted out with a deep calculation, and is truly just. However, in certain situations, G-d judges us with far less mercy than the usual generous measures thereof.] 
Furthermore, the Maharal on Chullin 92b observes that the most severe of the forbidden sexual relationships, which are enumerated in VaYikra (Lev.), chapter 18, is the act of sodomy. Indeed, sodomy is branded an abomination even amongst all of the abominations listed there.
This all holds true when sodomy is committed as an individual aberration. However, when society legitimizes a sin - even a small sin - that's worse than even a grave transgression committed as an aberration (Akeidas Yitzchak, Parshas VaYaira, 20).  How much worse is the societal legitimization of the worst of all sexual sins, sodomy.
Nowadays, throughout much of what's superficially known as the civilized world, we have exactly that - a toxic blend: societal sanction - even celebration - of the ultimate abomination - Sodomy. This collective mania even goes to the extreme of celebrating same-gender "marriage" - recognition of which triggered the annihilation of the world by the Great Flood, as our Sages teach us in VaYikra Rabbah 23, on VaYikra 18:3. This contemporary societal sanction is backed by all sorts of LGBT legislation, mandating government enforcement, with all the tyranny that that entails.
CHILD MOLESTATION:
Although child molestation is a separate (albeit related) topic, beyond our ability to properly address within the limitations of this article, it must be noted that the apparent escalation of child molestation clearly cannot be disconnected from the moral free-fall of society. When society eradicates almost all taboos, there's almost nothing left for those who gravitate specifically towards that which is taboo.
Furthermore, unfortunately, we have in our midst so-called leaders who arrogantly enable confirmed, recidivist child molesters to roam the streets with impunity. (One prominent example is one "Moishe" Turner of Monsey NY, first arrested by Ramapo Police on Hoshana Rabbah over seven years ago.)  No, those enablers don't explicitly vindicate child molestation. However, by their enabling actions they do in fact help establish child molestation as a perverted kind of communal "norm" (because now recidivist molesters know that, even if they get caught, they need only seek legal refuge on Highview, in the new "Ir Miklat"...).  Sending that type of lethal message is tantamount to societal sanction for child molestation; actions often speak louder than words. See Yechezkel (Eze.), chapter 34, for a  prediction of the types of self -serving leaders we will suffer from prior to the Final Redemption, which we strive to expedite on this Fast Day.
To the extent that Torah observant  individuals lead the charge against these anti-Torah outrages, we can hope to reap immense reward, based on the principle "Midah Tovah Merubah." Divine Compassion manifests even more powerfully than Divine Judgement. ("If we can destroy, how much more so can we build.") If z'nus can help destroy all that we had - how much more so would  combating the worst forms of sexual immorality help merit the restoration of what we lost.
In that positive sense, we present some valuable opportunities to help do our humble part in fighting contemporary evils - the likes of which perhaps have never been seen before, quite like this. Let's turn our attention to a very practical matter facing New Jersey residents right now.  We also need bear in mind the assurance cited by the sage Rav Yeshaya HaKohain OB"M (published at the end of one old print of the venerable work "Tonoh Devei Eliyahu"). He writes (on the very last page there) that if an individual does all he is expected to do to ensure that he personally is not impeding the Final Redemption - i.e. he ensures that his "personal portion in the Bais HaMikdash" (Shel Ma'alah) is indeed "rebuilt" - then - even if the Jewish People aren't yet on the level to merit our national Redemption - that individual will merit his own personal, individual redemption. Practically speaking, he'll be granted the ability to serve HaShem (G-d) without the standard encumberments of the pre-Redemption epoch.
»» LGBT Legislation Stalled in NJ Until January:
Thank G-d, in the wake of vibrant profamily vigilance, including the work of some prominent Orthodox Jewish activists, NJ residents have been granted more time to stop two particular dangerous LGBTQ bills from becoming law, S2781 /A4454 (Education), and S2545 (Healthcare facilities). At this point, concerned citizens have at least two weeks to publicize the dangers of these bills, to ensure they are stopped before the Legislature returns from vacation.
_________________________________
NJ Legislative Info For Senate & Assembly:
v: 609-847-3905 or (800) 792-8630 
e: LegInfo@NJLeg.org 
w: www.NJLeg.state.nj.us 
_________________________________
What's important now is (1) to alert the public about what these bills actually would do, if enacted, G-d forbid, and (2) to escalate pressure on all of the legislators to oppose these bills, and anything remotely similar.  We must leverage the fact that the entire Legislature is up for election in less than a year. Specifically, Passaic Assemblyman Gary Schaer (D) needs to to told in no uncertain terms that he'd better kill both of these bills, especially after voting for one of them (see further), and previously supported similarly outrageous LGBT legislation two years ago.  He's in a powerful position, which is an advantage to be used precisely for these types of monumental spiritual threats threatening our most precious resource.
°°°°°°°°°°
A.)  A4454: Making Hellenism "Educational" Again
We've already posted repeatedly about the "Education" bill* (e.g., http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2020/12/educational-indoctrination-bill-a4454.html, http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2020/12/zos-chanukah-gezairas-hachinuch-battle.html, http://daattorah.blogspot.com/2020/12/nj-stop-educational-molestation.html). 
{* A4454 2R: https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2020/Bills/A4500/4454_R2.HTM (Kindergarten version passed by the NJ Senate); 
 https://www.njleg.state.nj.us/2020/Bills/A4500/4454_R1.HTM}
Some Dangers Of A4454:
This bill advances the inroads the LGBT lobby had previously made into NJ public education two years ago. For example, one dangerous proposed modification to existing Education law in this "Education" bill would be to require public schools, K-12, to  indoctrinate children against "unconscious bias against" LGBT. This threatens to radically transform the entire worldview of every normal child in regards to sex, family, marriage and morality. This is truly a form of state-mandated psychological child-molestation.
Another change this bill would make is as follows: even school districts that until now had been able to avoid incorporating LGBT - where deemed "not appropriate" -would no longer enjoy the same latitude, under this new legislation. This bill omits "where appropriate" as a criteria for teaching LGBT.
Realize that generally legal challenges to schools will wind up before left-leaning judges. The U.S. Supreme Court is no solace. Even seemingly conservative Trump Supreme Court nominees have demonstrated serious weaknesses, in varying degrees, specifically on LGBT issues (e.g. as in the devastating "Bostock" decision this past Summer).
We need to identify the source of the problem here. (Before doing so, we refer the reader to Sefer Chofetz Chayim, I:8:5-8, for starters, and the Gemara in Avoda Zorah 17a, regarding Minnus (heresy) as indicated by pronounced laxity towards prohibited sexual relationships.) In part, our problems are within.
For just one example, on Oct. 29th, Passaic Assemblyman Gary Schaer voted for the earlier version of this LGBT propaganda bill, A4454, on the Assembly floor. This is after he was publicly criticized about two years ago for supporting a similarly outrageous LGBT propaganda bill.  Why would someone who is ostensibly Orthodox, and who ostensibly represents a heavily Orthodox district, vote to indoctrinate youth (high schoolers, in that early version) into LGBT dogma?  Furthermore, the fact that he could get away with that absurdity demonstrates how utterly unreliable the purportedly Orthodox Jewish Establishment is, including Aguda. If it wouldn't be for their dereliction, the Orthodox community would be alerted to act decisively to stop this lunacy once and for all. And they would do so.
Moreover, N.Y. State Jewry is in the midst of an unprecedented existential struggle against Schaer's fellow travelers in the N.Y. State leftist Establishment, who seek to force us to teach LGBT propaganda to our own children*. Nevertheless, Schaer voted to advance said LGBT propaganda in NJ. He did so knowing that every gain for the LGBT movement not only victimizes public school children and families immediately, but also invariably enables the LGBT movement to lurch ever closer to its goal of controlling religious schools. 


* (See https://firstamendmentactivist.blogspot.com/2020/09/lgbt-indoctrination-v-education.html, https://firstamendmentactivist.blogspot.com/2020/09/making-educational-equivalency-threat.html.) 


Additionally, not only is Aguda silent, but they import their own domestically-grown LGBT advocate, Yechiel Mark Kalish, to moderate an Aguda Convention forum on political matters. Kalish, operating as a legislative appointee to the Illinois legislature  (who filled the seat of a fellow leftist), voted for the LGBT indoctrination bill HB 246, among other gems (including a drug legalization bill). HB 246 requires Illinois public schools teach LGBT propaganda to children. It also afflicts religious schools, limiting government funding for textbooks to those books that their pro-LGBT overseers deem "non-discriminatory." 


By showcasing Kalish, who exposed the tens of thousands of Aguda Convention listeners to a bizarre dose of LGBT propaganda, Aguda signaled the LGBT Mafia that the ostensibly Orthodox Jewish Establishment remains open for business (undoubtedly for the right price, of course). Simultaneously, Aguda is purportedly standing up against the threat to Jewish Education in N.Y. State. That threat is primarily from the pro-LGBT leftist Establishment. So they can't be truly fighting those to whom they so flagrantly cave.  If we are to win the war against those intent on indoctrination of our children into LGBT dogma, it won't be by relying on Aguda or associated groups. And when it comes to a war for our very survival, we have no room for errors as grave as dependence on the unreliable.


Passaic Assemblyman Gary Schaer - and his enablers in Passaic and Aguda - bear heavy responsibility for the monster they've created, by impeding Gedolei Yisroel and Bnei Torah from properly identifying, publicizing, and countering the threats posed by the LGBT movement, and the role that pro-LGBT turncoat Jews like Gary Schaer and Yechiel Mark Kalish play in advancing the goals of the radical homosexualist Jew-Haters. 

Jews should never allow someone to be singled out for wrong doing? !

 Sanhedrin (11a) It once happened that Rabban Gamaliel said: ‘Send me up seven [scholars] early in the morning to the upper chamber[for this purpose].’ When he came in the morning and found eight, he asked: ‘Who is he who has come up without permission? Let him go down.’ Thereupon, Samuel the Little arose and said: ‘It was I who came up without permission; my object was not to join in the intercalation, but because I felt the necessity of learning the practical application of the law.’ Rabban Gamaliel then answered: ‘Sit down, my son, sit down; you are worthy of intercalating all years [in need of such], but it is a decision of the Rabbis that it should be done only by those who have been specially appointed for the purpose.’ — But in reality it was not Samuel the Little [who was the uninvited member] but another; he only wished to save the intruder from humiliation.

       Similarly it once happened that while Rabbi was delivering a lecture, he noticed a smell of garlic. Thereupon he said: ‘Let him who has eaten garlic go out.’ R. Hiyya arose and left; then all the other disciples rose in turn and went out. In the morning R. Simeon, Rabbi's son, met and asked him: ‘Was it you who caused annoyance to my father yesterday?’ ‘Heaven forfend that such a thing should happen in Israel,’ he answered.

       And from whom did R. Hiyya learn such conduct? — From R. Meir, for it is taught: A story is related of a woman who appeared at the Beth Hammidrash of R. Meir and said to him, ‘Rabbi, one of you has taken me to wife by cohabitation.’ Thereupon he rose up and gave her a bill of divorce, after which every one of his disciples stood up in turn and did likewise. And from whom did R. Meir learn this? — From Samuel the Little. And Samuel the Little? — From Shecaniah son of Jehiel, for it is written, And Shecaniah son of Jehiel, one of the sons of Elam answered and said unto Ezra: We have broken faith with our God and have married foreign women of the peoples of the land: yet now there is hope in Israel concerning this thing.And Shecaniah learnt it from [the story told of] Joshua. As it is written, The Lord said unto Joshua, Get thee up, wherefore, now, art thou fallen upon they face? Israel hath sinned . . . ‘Master of the Universe,’ asked Joshua, ‘who are the sinners?’ ‘Am I an informer?’ replied God. ‘Go and cast lots [to find out].’ Or, if you like, I might say that he learnt it from [the incident with] Moses, as we read, And the Lord said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep My commandments and My laws?

Trump Warns Republicans Who Didn't Back Election Fraud ... I will NEVER FORGET!"

 https://www.newsweek.com/trump-warns-republicans-who-didnt-back-election-fraud-claims-i-will-never-forget-1557273

I saved at least 8 Republican Senators, including Mitch, from losing in the last Rigged (for President) Election. Now they (almost all) sit back and watch me fight against a crooked and vicious foe, the Radical Left Democrats. I will NEVER FORGET!.

President Trump Golfs as COVID-19 Relief and Government Shutdown Hang in the Balance

 https://time.com/5924792/trump-golfs-covid-19-relief-deal/

 After tossing a grenade that threatens to blow up a massive COVID relief and government funding bill and force a government shutdown in the midst of a pandemic, President Donald Trump spent his Christmas Eve golfing in Florida.

Failure to agree on the bill could deny checks to millions of Americans on the brink.

Trump had no events on his public schedule on the first day of his winter vacation Thursday, but traveled to his Palm Beach golf club, where he was spotted by CNN cameras on the links. Reporters were given no details of his schedule for the day, but told that, “As the Holiday season approaches, President Trump will continue to work tirelessly for the American People. His schedule includes many meetings and calls.”

The bipartisan compromise had been considered a done deal and had won sweeping approval in the House and Senate this week after the White House assured GOP leaders that Trump supported it. If Trump refuses to sign the deal, which is attached to a $1.4 trillion government funding bill, it will force a federal government shutdown, in addition to delaying aid checks and halting unemployment benefits and eviction protections in the midst of the most dire stretch of the pandemic.

Controversy erupts around Health Ministry plan to vaccinate on Shabbat

 https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/controversy-erupts-around-health-ministry-plan-to-vaccinate-on-shabbat-653253

Health Minister Yuli Edelstein announced on Thursday that he had ordered an expansion of the coronavirus vaccine operation to 24 hours a day, including on weekends.

"The State of Israel is in a health campaign unlike any other since the establishment of the state. In recent days, mutations that infect at a rapid and irregular pace that we had not yet encountered were located and we are in a race against time," said Edelstein's office. "The more citizens we vaccinate quickly, the more we will save lives. Therefore, the Health Minister instructed the director-general of his office to act to provide vaccines 24/7, to recruit manpower for this purpose, and to reach a rate of more than 100,000 vaccines a day. The coronavirus endangers us all, the vaccines will save us all."

A senior United Torah Judaism official responded to the Health Ministry's statement, attacking the minister, saying, "Edelstein is violating his commitment to the head of the ultra-Orthodox sector. Vaccines on Shabbat are contrary to his commitment to us!"

In addition, Israel's Chief Rabbi David Lau also addressed the issue, noting that he sees great importance in giving vaccines to the general public and has even been vaccinated in public to encourage the public to get vaccinated. The chief rabbi stated that he "believes that as long as there are vaccinations during all hours of the day and night during the week, which in practice indicates urgency to vaccinate as quickly as possible, it will be possible to consider allowing vaccinations on Shabbat as well. At this stage, even on weekdays, vaccinations are still not performed at all hours of the day and night, but at reception hours, so at this stage there is no permit for breaking Shabbat."

גדולי ישראל על התחלואה: "מי שלא נזהר - חב לאחרינא

 https://www.kikar.co.il/381751.html

בשל העלייה בתחלואה בקורונה במגזר החרדי, קוראים גדולי ישראל להתחזק בשקידת התורה ולשמור על כללי הבריאות ומתריעים כי מי שלא עושה זאת "חב לאחריני"; ויש פניה לבעליה שמחות

Rambam - Women and evil

Moreh Nevuchim (2:30):  It is important to know the following Medrash our Sages say that the Serpent had a rider Samael (Satan), who was as big as a camel and he was the one who seduced Eve. We find in a number of places that Satan wanted to cause Abraham to sin. And prevent him from sacrificing his son. As well as persuading Yitzchok to disobey his father. We see from these remarks about the Akeida that Samael is Satan. .Our Sages also say that when the Serpent came to seduce Eve that Samael was riding on it and G-d laughed at the camel and its rider. It is important to note that the Serpent did not approach or speak with Adam but all his efforts were directed at Eve. It was only through Eve that the Serpent was able to harm Adam and cause death. Therefore the greatest hatred exists between the Serpent and Eve as well as his descendants and hers which are also Adam’s.  When the Serpent had intercourse with Eve he injected her with filth which was removed when the Jews received the Torah at Sinai. However the idolater who were not at Sinai did not have it removed

Trump seen golfing after vowing to 'work tirelessly' amid crises - Trump golfs while America burns

Trump campaign suffers another legal setback in Wisconsin case

 https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/24/trump-loses-wisconsin-georgia-450433

A three-judge panel of the Chicago-based 7^th Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously dismissed arguments from Trump’s attorneys that the Wisconsin Election Commission violated the U.S. Constitution through steps prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, including easing photo identification requirements and allowing the use of dropboxes to collect absentee ballots.

The appeals court judges who ruled against Trump on Thursday were all Republican appointees. The author of the court’s opinion, Judge Michael Scudder, was appointed by Trump.

Palestinian arrested in suspected terrorist killing of Israeli mother of six

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/palestinian-suspect-arrested-in-murder-of-israeli-woman/

Security forces arrested a Palestinian man Thursday suspected in the murder of Israeli Esther Horgen early this week in the West Bank, as well as several suspected accomplices.

The Shin Bet security service announced on Thursday that it had arrested a man suspected in the murder, a resident of Jenin. Later in the day the military said additional suspected accomplices were detained for questioning, without specifying how many.

The ultimate temper tantrum - Trump punishes America

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/24/politics/covid-relief-bill-programs-expiring/index.html

 Though Congress has passed a $900 billion Covid relief package, millions of Americans are in danger of losing important benefits just after the holidays if President Donald Trump continues to refuse to sign the bill.

The legislation would extend two pandemic unemployment programs and provide the jobless with a $300 weekly federal boost through mid-March. It would send direct payments of up $600 per person. It would reopen the Paycheck Protection Program so that some of the hardest-hit small businesses can apply for a second loan.

The package, which would be the second-largest relief deal after the $2 trillion CARES Act that Congress approved in March, also would extend eviction protection and enhance food stamp benefits.

Here's what's at risk if the bill isn't signed:

Americans suffer at Christmas while Trump golfs and sows chaos

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/25/politics/donald-trump-christmas-election/index.html

For Christmas this year, Washington is giving the country more pain.

Perhaps it is fitting that in the worst year in memory, the surprise prospect of a government shutdown and delayed economic relief hangs over holiday celebrations already made less merry by the pandemic.

Maybe nothing better could be expected in a year that saw denial and delusion, led by President Donald Trump, presage a wave of illness and death coupled with evictions, bankruptcies, hunger and ruined livelihoods.

But after enduring so much, Americans can hardly be blamed for feeling outrage at yet another indignity at the hand of their leaders.

As Trump plays rounds of golf in Florida and pardons corrupt loyalists, and as congressional leaders line up for the first doses of a coronavirus vaccine, there is scant evidence the pressing needs of the country will be addressed in anything resembling a timely fashion. 

 

That no one seems to know what Trump wants -- if he even knows himself -- has only fueled in the impression the country is careering further into chaos at exactly the moment it is least welcome.

Aharon's sons why did they die?

Ksav Sofer (Vayikra 10:1): And they offered before G‑d an unauthorized fire which He had not commanded them. Question: The Tanchuma (Achrei Mos #8) says that Aaron’s sons died because they didn’t get married and didn’t have children. Furthermore it says that they walked behind Moshe and Aaron and said, “When are these old men going to die so that we can take over the leadership of the community?” It is necessary to understand this medrash since it does not seem to fit in with the Torah which gives the explicit reason for their death as being punishment for offering an unauthorized fire before G‑d? It is also astounding that these righteous men - who were in fact greater than Moshe and Aaron according to Rashi (10:3) – should transgress G‑d’s command and not fulfill the mitzva of having children and also that they would speak in such an arrogant manner – “when are these old men going to die?” Answer: It appears to me that the reason that they didn’t get married is that they saw that Moshe’s children did not turn out properly as is well known. If Moshe’s sons were not fit then they felt that a lesson could be learned that surely would apply to the masses. They ascribed the failure of Moshe’s children to the fact that Moshe was constantly preoccupied with the problems of the community and therefore he didn’t have the ability to properly supervise his children. (We see a similar judgment of Chazal regarding the children of Shmuel who did not go in his righteous path because he was constantly involved with community problems.) In contrast Aaron’s sons were great tzadikim because Aaron was not so much preoccupied with the community and thus was successfully able to supervise his children. On the other hand Aaron himself never reached Moshe’s spiritual level because his energy was devoted to his family. Being aware of this they decided that the best solution to the inherent contradiction between serving the needs of the community and the needs of the family - was not to get married. They were fully aware that with the death of Moshe and Aaron they would become the leaders of the community. They reasoned that if they had children they would not be able to supervise them properly and they would end up going in the wrong path. Or if they took the path of Aaron and properly supervised their children – then they would not be able to devote the needed time to leading the community. Consequently they decided the best way to serve G‑d and His people was not to get married. We need to add two other aspects from the medrash regarding their following after Moshe and Aaron and saying “When are they going to die?” It doesn’t mean chas v’shalom that they were looking forward to their deaths or that they were discussing between themselves that when they would die they would become the leaders. The medrash means to describe that they were concerned with understanding what Moshe and Aaron lacked. Moshe was very concerned with the needs of the community and therefore he had children who were not good. Aaron who supervised his children did not have so much time for the community and therefore he did not have the merit of serving the masses so much. Therefore Aaron’s sons concluded that they should not get married. In truth they erred in this conclusion. Because “what business did they have with G-d’s secrets.” Their job was not to second guess what G-d wanted. Their job was to fulfill His mitzvos which clearly commanded them to have children. (We find a similar mistaken understanding described in Berachos (10a) concerning King Chezkiyahu. He also didn’t have children because he knew through the power of prophesy that his children would be wicked. However this was a mistake and his father-in-law, the prophet Yeshayahu, was sent to him with the message, ”You will die now in this world and you will not have any portion in the next world because you didn’t have children.” Yeshayahu rejected Chezkiyahu’s justification that his children would be wicked people by saying, (“What business do you have with G-d’s secrets?”). Thus we see that Aaron’s had a strong passion for loving G‑d and His people and therefore they decided that to be successful as leaders and serving G-d it was best not to have children. This in fact was the “unauthorized fire” which they had not received from G-d. They in fact had not been commanded to lead the people in a manner that differed from Moshe – but they were required to fulfill G‑d’s commandments and get married and have children. Thus this mistaken idea was the “unauthorized fire” and it was the reason why they died. So even though their motivation was for the sake of Heaven it was a mistake. This is my explanation and I think it is very correct.

Trump veto threat raises the prospect of year-end government shutdown

 https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-usa-trump/trump-veto-threat-raises-the-prospect-of-year-end-government-shutdown-idUSL1N2J314S

A source familiar with the situation said aides thought they had talked Trump out of the $2,000 demand last week, only to learn he had not given up when he posted the video. That surprised even his Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, who took part in the talks and backed the $600 figure.

Current federal funding is due to expire on Monday if Trump, who is scheduled to leave for Florida on Wednesday, does not sign the bill into law.

That would furlough millions of federal workers and shut down wide swaths of the U.S. government at a time when it is rushing to distribute two coronavirus vaccines and contend with a massive hack that officials say was perpetrated by Russia.

'The worst president ever. Period': Cuomo unloads on Trump

President Trump Vetoes $740 Billion Defense Bill – Setting Up Override Vote

 https://time.com/5924655/trump-vetoes-defense-bill/

Sen. Jim Inhofe, R-Okla., chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, avoided any criticism of Trump, but called the NDAA “absolutely vital to our national security and our troops. … Our men and women who volunteer to wear the uniform shouldn’t be denied what they need — ever.”

Long before issuing the veto, Trump offered a series of rationales for rejecting it. He has called for lawmakers to include limits on social media companies he claimed are biased against him — and to strip out language that allows for the renaming of military bases such as Fort Benning and Fort Hood that honor Confederate leaders. Without going into detail, he has claimed the biggest winner from the defense bill would be China.

 

Trump vetoes 'unconstitutional' defence bill

 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55432550

 House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the most powerful congressional Democrat, said Mr Trump's veto was "an act of staggering recklessness that harms our troops, endangers our security and undermines the will of the bipartisan Congress".

"In a time when our country was just targeted with a massive cyber-attack, it is particularly hard to understand the reasoning behind the president's irresponsibility," she said in a statement.

Ahead of Wednesday's veto, some of the outgoing president's advisers had cautioned him against rejecting the bill, as he is expected to be overruled by Congress.

Mr Trump has previously vetoed eight bills, vetoes which were all upheld with support from his fellow Republicans in Congress.

Trump issues 26 new pardons, including for Stone, Manafort and Charles Kushner

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/23/politics/trump-pardons-stone-manafort-kushner/index.html

President Donald Trump on Wednesday evening announced 26 new pardons, including for longtime ally Roger Stone, former campaign chairman Paul Manafort and White House senior adviser Jared Kushner's father, Charles.

The pardons extend Trump's streak of wielding his clemency powers for criminals who are loyalists, well-connected or adjacent to his family. While all presidents issue controversial pardons at the end of their terms, Trump appears to be moving at a faster pace than his predecessors, demonstrating little inhibition at rewarding his friends and allies using one of the most unrestricted powers of his office.

Christie in early 2019 went on to say that Charles Kushner committed "one of the most loathsome, disgusting crimes" he had prosecuted, referring to an elaborate revenge plot that the older Kushner hatched in 2003 in order to target his brother-in-law, William Schulder, a former employee turned witness for federal prosecutors in their case against Kushner.

As a part of the plot, Kushner hired a prostitute to lure Schulder into having sex in a Bridgewater, New Jersey, motel room as a hidden camera rolled.

A tape of the encounter was then sent to Kushner's sister and Schulder's wife, Esther. Ultimately, the intimidation stunt failed. The Schulders brought the video to prosecutors, who tracked down the woman and threatened her with arrest. She promptly turned on Kushner

 

Pious Adultery - is wife prohibited as adultress?

 Binyan Tzion    (#154) … The normal practice of Jews is to travel for several days while their wife remains at home alone with the children and servants. One day when the husband was away on business a man arrived from Poland with ripped clothing and he requested from the wife a place to sleep. The wife had been very modest all her life, nevertheless her religious sensitivity blinded her and out of a feeling pity she gave him a place to stay as well as food and drink. However the guest refused to eat anything that came from an animal and he refused to drink anything other than water and he did other actions of an ascetic. For example he afflicted himself and everyday he remained in his room studying .Everynight at midnight he would say the prayers of mourning for the destruction of the Temple (Tikun Chatzos). In addition he refused to sleep in a bed or bench but only on the ground with a stone for a pillow. Everyday he would immerse himself twice in cold water in the river in the winter, One Friday night after the meal was finished  and the children and servants had left the table and gone to sleep in another room – this fraud remained sitting at the table alone with the woman. After they talked a while she asked him who he was and where he had come from and where was he going? He replied that he was G-d’s messenger and his name was Eliyahu the Prophet and he was gathering his fellow Jews from the four corners of the Earth and that he only revealed this information to certain pious individuals. The woman in her foolishness totally believed him. She then went to sleep in her bedroom which adjoined the dining room. This disgusting person remained sitting in his place study a sefer until midnight. After midnight he got up and quietly tiptoed to her bed and woke her from her sleep. He told her that he had traveled from one end of the world to the other and he had not found anyone as righteous as she was who was deserving to be the mother of the Messiah. But the problem was that her husband was not fitting to be the father of the Messiah. He said therefore he had been sent from Heaven to have intercourse with her and at the appropriate time she would give birth to the Messiah who would redeem all the Jewish people. He said to prove he was really Eliyahu  The next Tuesday after he had left her she should open the trunk which stood in her bedroom she would find a treasure of gold coins. But this would only happen if she didn't open the trunk before he had left. He spoke these things in such a convincing manner that he succeeded in seducing her and having intercourse with her on Friday Night and Saturday night. However on Sunday before dawn he fled from there and no one knew where he went. This foolish woman decided it would be a good idea to write to her husband that he should return home quickly since G-d had given them a great treasure. Her husband listened to her and returned on Tuesday. But when the woman opened the trunk she did not find any treasure that the seducer had promised her. When she realized that she had been tricked she screamed and cried bitterly and told her husband all the disgusting things that had transpired through this wicked man. She explained to him that she hadn't done this to rebel against him but rather she had done it for the sake of Heaven. She explained that the seducer was ugly and very disgusting and she hadn't done it for lust. However her husband was not placated with this explanation and went to the Rav and told him everything and asked what the halacha was regarding his wife. The Rav sent for her and cross examined her carefully and she told him all the details mentioned here. The Rav ordered that they separate from each other until he had a chance to consult with other rabbis. [...] Conclusion: Saying that when she deliberately had adulterous intercourse – for the sake of Heaven – it did not constitute rebelling against and betrayal of her husband is not a good argument to permit her to her husband according to the Maharik and Rema.

McConnell silent after Trump threatens to block coronavirus, government funding package

 https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mcconnell-trump-threat-coronavirus-government-funding-package

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell hasn't yet responded to President Trump demanding Tuesday night that Congress include $2,000 stimulus checks in the coronavirus aid package that it passed on Monday, which included smaller $600 checks for individuals.

The last-minute objection to the accord that Congress carefully crafted with very little if any involvement from Trump came after McConnell, R-Ky., said Monday, "The Senate just passed another major bipartisan, COVID-19 relief package. The American people can rest assured that more help is on the way, immediately."

That no longer is such a sure thing.

 

Trump goes on a rampage with pardons, veto threats and Covid denial

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/12/23/politics/donald-trump-pardons-stimulus/index.html

The sleazy final days of the Trump White House later hit new lows when the President wielded his unassailable pardon power, substituting political payoffs for justice in yet another morally questionable use of executive authority.

As the daily Covid death toll soared past 2,900, Trump concentrated on absolving two acolytes who had lied to investigators in the Russia probe and two staunchly supportive former GOP congressmen convicted of financial crimes.

He also spared guards from the Blackwater private security firm, founded by a political supporter, Erik Prince. The guards had unleashed sniper fire, machine guns and grenades on innocent men, women and children in Iraq in 2007.

Pat Robertson: Trump 'lives in an alternate reality,' truly believes he won the election (Trump is not a liar he is delusional!)

 https://www.foxnews.com/media/pat-robertson-trump-alternate-reality-election

 "The president still lives in an alternate reality, he really does. People say, ‘Well, he lies about this, that and the other,’ but no, he doesn’t lie. To him, that’s the truth," Robertson said on Christian Broadcasting Network. "It's time to move on."

Trump threatens surprise COVID bill veto: Pelosi agrees, relief checks should be $2,000

 https://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/2020/12/22/22196626/trump-threatens-surprise-covid-bill-veto-pelosi-agrees-relief-checks-should-be-2000

 Trump’s central complaint in a video he posted on Twitter is that Congress should send folks $2,000 checks, not the “ridiculously low” amount of $600 his own Treasury Secretary, Steve Mnuchin, wanted.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi found herself in rare agreement with Trump.

Game on.

“Republicans repeatedly refused to say what amount the President wanted for direct checks. At last, the President has agreed to $2,000 — Democrats are ready to bring this to the Floor this week by unanimous consent. Let’s do it!” Pelosi said in a tweet.

Pelosi called Trump’s bluff.

Trump Slams COVID-19 Relief Bill, Asks For Changes After Bitter Negotiations- Trump supports Domocrats against Republicans

 https://www.npr.org/2020/12/22/949421102/trump-calls-relief-bill-a-disgrace-asks-for-changes-after-bitter-negotiations

President Trump is threatening to derail a $900 billion COVID-19 relief package passed by Congress on Monday after months of bitter negotiations.

In a video released on his Twitter feed Tuesday evening, Trump said he wants Congress to "send me a suitable bill or else the next administration will have to deliver a COVID relief package."

Trump said the bill was a "disgrace" and called the $600 payments to individuals in the current bill "ridiculously low." He said he wants that boosted to $2,000 per individual and $4,000 for couples — despite the fact that it was Republicans who stood in the way of higher payments for months.