https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/309862
Islamic scholar in America claims the US government allows theft in order to spawn hatred, force Jews to leave for Israel.
Wednesday, July 14, 2021
'We'll go to elections': Government faces crisis over cannabis law
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/309863
A fierce debate erupted within the coalition government Wednesday over an upcoming vote on a bill to significantly expand access to medicinal marijuana in Israel.
The bill, drafted by New Hope MK Sharren Haskel, would broadly decriminalize ownership of cannabis when it is intended for one’s own use for medicinal purposes.
While the coalition largely backs the legislation, the United Arab List has thus far refused to agree to support the bill, forcing the government to push off the preliminary vote in the Knesset plenum.
Deaths Due to Use of Lethal Force by Law Enforcement
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6080222/
Results:
Victims were majority white (52%) but disproportionately black (32%) with a fatality rate 2.8 times higher among blacks than whites. Most victims were reported to be armed (83%); however, black victims were more likely to be unarmed (14.8%) than white (9.4%) or Hispanic (5.8%) victims. Fatality rates among military veterans/active duty service members were 1.4 times greater than among their civilian counterparts. Four case subtypes were examined based on themes that emerged in incident narratives: about 22% of cases were mental health related; 18% were suspected “suicide by cop” incidents, with white victims more likely than black or Hispanic victims to die in these circumstances; 14% involved intimate partner violence; and about 6% were unintentional deaths due to LE action. Another 53% of cases were unclassified and did not fall into a coded subtype. Regression analyses identified victim and incident characteristics associated with each case subtype and unclassified cases.
Maimonides' Thirteen Principles: The Last Word in Jewish Theology?
In the inaugural issue of the Torah u-Madda Journal, R. Yehuda Parnes argued that heresy is forbidden to be studied. This led him to condemn study in "areas that spark and arouse ideas which are antithetical to the tenets of our faith." Further developing his point, he left no doubt as to what he meant by "the tenets of our faith." "Torah u-Madda can only be viable if it imposes strict limits on freedom of inquiry in areas that may undermine the yod gimel 'ikkarei emunah." In other words, in his view, it is the "Thirteen Principles of Faith" of Maimonides that are determinative with regard to what constitutes heresy.
At first glance this may not appear to be at all controversial. After all, who better than Maimonides would be qualified to set forth the dogmas of Judaism? The immediate reaction of many Orthodox Jews would probably be the same as R. Parnes' in identifying heresy with anything that opposed any of the well known Maimonidean principles. Indeed, a recent author has written: "It should be stressed that all Torah scholars agree on the validity and significance of the Principles." Similarly, another one has written: "The fact is that Maimonides' Thirteen Principles are all derived from the Talmud and
the classic Jewish tradition, and were never in dispute. With reference to these statements, a comment by Gershom Scholem, made in a entirely different context, is relevant: "This seems to me an extraordinary example of how a judgment proclaimed with conviction as certainly true may nevertheless be entirely wrong in every detail." This is so, for even a cursory examination of Jewish literature shows that Maimonides' principles were never regarded as
the last word in Jewish theology. This despite the fact that Maimonides contended that anyone who even had a doubt about one his principles was a heretic worthy of death!
Why was Maimonides controversial?
7-All Jews must accept the 13 Principles of FaithControversial when proposed.
Luminaries such as Hasdai Crescas and Yosef Albo asked: Is the rest of Judaism any less important? All agreed that the principles are indeed in Judaism, but many were uncomfortable with the idea of a formal creed, that would separate “good” Jews from “heretics”. More importantly, Judaism stresses action, that is commandments, not belief. Belief is not central in Judaism. Your thoughts are your own, and you are not accountable for them. So Jews ignored the 13 principles for many centuries.
Sages and Saints (Naso 5779)
https://rabbisacks.org/sages-and-saints-naso-5779/
What is much more puzzling is the position of Maimonides, who holds both views, positive and negative, in the same book, his law code the Mishneh Torah. In Hilchot Deot, he adopts the negative position of R. Eliezer HaKappar:
Conservative Media Is Amplifying the Critical Race Theory Opposition
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/06/conservative-media-critical-race-theory-opposition
The Black Lives Matter protest movement not only turned a spotlight on horrific incidents of police violence, but forced Americans to confront systemic racism and explore tragic moments in the country’s history. Thoroughly addressing the Tulsa Race Massacre, establishing Juneteenth as a national holiday commemorating the end of slavery, and shedding light on the racist origins of local and federal policing have helped spur a long-overdue reckoning. But conservative lawmakers and the right-wing media industry are now hell-bent on stifling educators from teaching about America’s history of racism and how it still impacts people of color today.
In making “critical race theory” their new culture war scapegoat,
conservative networks have relied heavily on reactionary commentary
coming from concerned parents and school employees. Over the past few
weeks, Fox News featured numerous guests who fit that bill, but in the
cases of 11 of them, the network failed to fully disclose their
professional conservative ties, according to a report
from the progressive nonprofit Media Matters for America. The news
watchdog found that Fox introduced the guests as everyday
Americans––teachers, members of school boards, and parents of
students––who just want to voice their concerns. But the network either
downplayed or omitted their conservative career ties, such as GOP
strategist, think tank staffer, Republican lobbyist, and professional
pundit.
Who’s afraid of ‘Critical Race Theory’? Jews should embrace the right’s latest bogeyman
Critical Race Theory has become the latest misunderstood academic bogeyman in politics. From Donald Trump to Senator Josh Hawley to Jewish publications across the nation, everyone seems to think that the greatest threat facing our nation is a rather obscure academic discipline that examines systemic racial inequality in America.
It’s no surprise that conservative politicians want to paint anything addressing the impact of racism as somehow “evil” or divisive. Unfortunately, the deliberate demonizing and misconstruing of an important academic methodology is affecting the general public’s view of this work and driving a wedge between marginalized groups like Black and Jewish Americans. “We live in a world in which everyone is being told to side either with the ‘racists’ or the ‘anti-racists’” wrote the writer Bari Weiss in Tablet Magazine recently. “Jews who refuse to erase what makes us different will increasingly be defined as racists, often with the help of other Jews desperate to be accepted by the cool kids.”
As a Jewish scholar who uses Critical Race Theory in my work, let me assure you: This take is wrong. Jews have nothing to fear from Critical Race Theory.
Critical race theory is not anti-Semitic
https://thenevadaindependent.com/article/critical-race-theory-is-not-anti-semitic
As the rhetorical battle over Israel and Palestine wages, some progressives find ourselves caught in the middle. Too many leftist groups have taken a Palestine-by-any-means-necessary approach that can veer into anti-Semitism. The right-wing in the U.S. is gleefully pointing to the anti-Semitism as a reason to blame critical race theory for all manner of evils. Critical race theory is not anti-Semitic, and it’s not anti-Palestinian either.
A key reason for liberals to recognize nuance in the Middle East is that some on the right in the U.S. are trying to twist the anti-Israel rhetoric of the few into a reason for all Jews to support conservative politics. This may entice some to support any and all of the current Israeli government’s policies over recognition of the many problems with Trumpian authoritarian politics. Indeed, The Wall Street Journal recently published a claim that progressives' use of critical race theory fosters anti-Semitism. When people on the left act as if Hamas’s attacks on Israel are unproblematic and take issue with Israel’s right to exist, however, we play into the right’s recruitment of U.S. Jews.
Tuesday, July 13, 2021
Banning critical race theory will gut the teaching of Jewish history
Yet in nearly two dozen states, the movement to impose restrictions on the teaching of history is gaining momentum. Incited by a national hysteria over “critical race theory,” advocates of these educational fatwas are borrowing a page from authoritarian governments like Vladimir Putin’s Russia in a clumsy effort to avoid discussing the messy, controversial and painful moments in America’s history.
And as a professional historian, I can tell you that these bans will be terrible for anyone teaching or studying Jewish history.
What
exactly is critical race theory, and how is it apparently — in the
words of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican who is seen as a
potential presidential candidate — teaching our kids “to hate each
other” and “hate our country”?
Failed Louisiana Holocaust education bill was used to pan critical race theory
But Mintz had second thoughts once he began learning more about the content and the backers of the proposed legislation. Its sponsor, a Republican state representative named Valarie Hodges, had also expressed hostility toward teaching the histories of other racial and religious minorities. Some of the original bill’s language seemed to suggest that lessons on the Holocaust would be framed partially as a celebration of the American military. And during debate, the bill’s supporters would “deploy Jews rhetorically, without involving Jews,” he said.
The Conservative Case Against Banning Critical Race Theory
https://time.com/6079716/conservative-case-against-banning-critical-race-theory/
The case against CRT, in short, is not about a fixed set of ideas. It is about wanting to avoid certain feelings of discomfort or even shame. But the right has encountered this idea before—and seemed not to like it. Until recently, commentators on the political right have claimed that universities are captured by “leftist” students who “don’t think much” about free speech, or who “don’t want to be bothered anymore by ideas that offend them.” A “jargon of safety” in universities, complained commentator Megan McCardle, is then used to “silence” those who don’t agree.
Ironically then, if there is a lesson to be learned from the war on
CRT, it has nothing to do with how to talk about race—and everything
with how the Trumpian revolution continues to devour the principles of
American conservatism.
Texas Democrats leave state to try to stop GOP voting bill
The cross-country
exodus was the second time that Democratic lawmakers have staged a
walkout on the voting overhaul, a measure of their fierce opposition to
proposals they say will make it harder for young people, people of color
and people with disabilities to vote. But like last month’s effort,
there remains no clear path for Democrats to permanently block the
voting measures, or a list of other contentious GOP-backed proposals up
for debate.
In Israel, activists and families push for stiffer sentences for child sex abusers
“The Israeli public still looks at child abuse as something that happens to others,” said Anat Ofir, director of the Child Abuse Prevention Initiative at the Haruv Institute, which launched a media campaign five years ago to raise awareness of the issue.
Monday, July 12, 2021
MK Miri Regev: 'Writing is on the wall' for Temple Mount bridge collapse
The bridge was constructed in 2007 and was intended to remain in place for several months until a more permanent solution was built. Due to claims from the Wakf Islamic religious trust, instituted by Jordan after the War of Independence, that Israel was trying to destabilize the Temple Mount, a more permanent solution was never found, and the wooden bridge remained in place.
In 2011, the Jerusalem city
engineer issued an order to close the bridge due to safety concerns, but
it has remained open for public use.
Earlier
this year, experts from the Western Wall Heritage Foundation warned
that the bridge’s wood was extremely dry and cracked, attempts to treat
it had failed, and replacing it was the only option.
Lord George Gordon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_George_Gordon
In 1787, at the age of 36, Lord George Gordon converted to Judaism in Birmingham,[dubious ] and underwent brit milah (ritual circumcision; circumcision was rare in the England of his day) at the synagogue in Severn Street now next door to Singers Hill Synagogue. He took the name of Yisrael bar Avraham Gordon ("Israel son of Abraham" Gordon—since Judaism regards a convert as the spiritual "son" of the Biblical Abraham). Gordon thus became what Judaism regards as, and Jews call, a "Ger Tsedek"—a righteous convert.
50 Shades of Gay: How Views on Homosexuality Are Splitting the Orthodox World
https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-how-homosexuality-splits-the-orthodox-world-1.5383363
As liberal as they become, Katz does not believe that Orthodox rabbis will ever agree to perform same-sex marriages, though Sperber thinks there may be a way around this. “The problem is with the word ‘marriage,’” he notes. “Perhaps they can call it something else like a ‘partnership.’”
Sunday, July 11, 2021
What Happens After Death?
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/282508/jewish/What-Happens-After-Death.htm
While there are numerous stations in a soul’s journey, these can generally be grouped into four general phases:
- the wholly spiritual existence of the soul before it enters the body;
- physical life;
- post-physical life in Gan Eden (the “Garden of Eden,” also called “Heaven” and “Paradise”);
- the “world to come” (olam haba) that follows the resurrection of the dead.
What are these four phases, and why are all four necessary?
The Two Watchmen
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/352254/jewish/The-Two-Watchmen.htm
Antoninus said to Rabbi Judah HaNassi:
The body and the soul can each absolve themselves from judgment. The
body can say: “It is the soul who has sinned. Why, from the day it left
me, I lie like a dumb stone in the grave!” And the soul can say: “It’s
the body who transgressed. From the day I departed from it, I fly about
in the air like a bird!”
"Orthodox" gay marriage and the path to destruction
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/25249
(We cannot fail to note an Israeli Open Orthodox rabbi (Benny Lau) who attended a gay wedding with his well wishes, Rabbi Avi Weiss who, while rejecting Orthodox gay “marriage”, takes a very soft stance on going public on homosexuality, and Open Orthodox Rabbi Dr. Daniel Sperber, who sanctions the idea of “Orthodox” gay marriage, so long as another word, such as “partnership”, is used for it.)
Ra'am MK Mazen Ghainem: If Israel fires on Gaza, I'll topple the government
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/309629
MK Walid Taha of the United Arab List has informed the government that his four-MK-strong party will no longer be voting in the Knesset, nor will it be participating in Knesset committee discussions, “until further notice.”
It appears that the United Arab List (UAL) has been offended by overtures made by Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and Defense Minister Benny Gantz to the predominantly Arab Joint List party, in attempt to garner their support in key Knesset votes and thus to free the coalition of dependency on the UAL and possibly eject the UAL from the government entirely.
Earlier on Sunday, Radio Mekan reporter Amit Segal quoted UAL MK Mazen Ghainem in threats he made on the government. “There’s no love lost between [UAL head] Mansour Abbas and the new government,” Ghainem said. “Bennett and Netanyahu? They’re both bad.”
As Israel’s biblical farming sabbatical nears, medical cannabis is budding issue
As many Israelis prepare to “rest the land” during the upcoming agricultural sabbatical year as commanded in the Book of Exodus, a debate has been sparked among rabbinical authorities as to whether locally grown cannabis will be subject to a complex set of guidelines. Will religious Jews be permitted to benefit from the plant in any way while observing the biblical laws of shmita that were set from on high?
The debate stems from the biblical commandment that residents of the
Holy Land observe seven-year cycles culminating in a Jubilee every 50th
year, with specific laws dictating matters such as loan forgiveness and
the return of property titles. Most of the laws, however, deal with
agriculture, and include restrictions on planting, tending, harvesting
or even claiming ownership of crops that grew in one’s own field.
Scientists Identify Specific Human Brain Circuit for Spirituality
https://scitechdaily.com/scientists-identify-specific-human-brain-circuit-for-spirituality/
A new study led by investigators at Brigham and Women’s Hospital takes a new approach to mapping spirituality and religiosity and finds that spiritual acceptance can be localized to a specific brain circuit. This brain circuit is centered in the periaqueductal gray (PAG), a brainstem region that has been implicated in numerous functions, including fear conditioning, pain modulation, altruistic behaviors and unconditional love. The team’s findings are published in Biological Psychiatry.
“Our results suggest that spirituality and religiosity are rooted in fundamental, neurobiological dynamics and deeply woven into our neuro-fabric,” said corresponding author Michael Ferguson, PhD, a principal investigator in the Brigham’s Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics. “We were astonished to find that this brain circuit for spirituality is centered in one of the most evolutionarily preserved structures in the brain.”
Saturday, July 10, 2021
MK Hendel: 'We won't cease demolishing terrorists' homes to placate US'
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/309593
Communications Minister Yoaz Hendel (Derech Eretz) has promised that the Israeli government will not cease demolishing terrorists' homes to placate the US government.
"We do what is good for the State of Israel," he told Kan 11. "The new government's policy is clear when it comes to violations of sovereignty and the management of terror. Sometimes we may disagree with he US government, but most of the time we will go hand in hand."
Hendel added that the first dispute between the Biden administration and Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett's government was with regards to the demolition of a terrorist's home, and that the dispute is not a rift in relations.
'The home of a family should not be demolished for the actions of one individual'
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/309538
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has raised concerns with Israeli officials over the demolition of the home of the family of a terrorist, State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Thursday.
"The secretary and other senior officials here at the State Department in recent days have raised these concerns directly with senior Israeli officials, and we will continue to do so as long as this practice continues," Price told reporters.
"As we've said numerous times now, the home of an entire family should not be demolished for the actions of one individual," Price added.
Friday, July 9, 2021
Private panel of rabbis annuls marriage of abused wife who sought divorce -the Kaminetsky heter
The private court, headed by Rabbi Daniel Sperber and convened by the Center for Women’s Justice organization, dissolved the marriage on the grounds that the woman would not have agreed to the nuptials had she known of her husband’s criminal record, which included time in prison for assaulting his first wife.
Sperber said that his ruling did not conflict with the state-approved Chief Rabbinate of Israel, which has a monopoly on marriages and divorces, as he was not granting a divorce but rather invalidating the marriage in the first place.
However, Kobi Alter, the spokesperson from the Chief Rabbinate of
Israel, told The Times of Israel that the dissolution was not recognized
by the rabbinate and that the woman would not be allowed to remarry via
state authorities as she is still considered married.
Groundbreaking ruling in rabbinical court frees 23-year 'chained woman' - the Kaminetsky heter
In a groundbreaking development for divorce rights in Israel, Tzviya Gorodetsky, who has sought a divorce from her husband for 23 years, has been freed from her marriage by a private, ad hoc Orthodox rabbinical court headed by respected Orthodox rabbi and talmudist Rabbi Daniel Sperber.
The ruling could pave the way for more such women to avail themselves of private rabbinical courts, if they believe that they have no chance of ever escaping their failed marriages. It follows other attempts to bypass established religious institutions in such realms as conversion, kashrut and marriage.A similar ruling by another such ad hoc court was issued in 2013.
The Chief Rabbinate is certain to reject the validity of the divorce, but Gorodetsky could likely remarry in a private Orthodox ceremony if she so wished.
Thursday, July 8, 2021
PA orders Palestinian businesses to remove Hebrew signs
Abdullah Kmeil, the Palestinian Authority Governor of the Salfit district in the central West Bank, on Thursday issued a “strict decision” obligating all commercial installations and shops in the area to remove signs and billboards written in Hebrew.
Kmeil,
who is also a senior official with the ruling Fatah faction headed by
PA President Mahmoud Abbas, ordered the businesses to replace the signs
and billboards with ones written in Arabic.
The decision came after many Palestinian businesses in the West Bank, especially those close to settlements, started hanging signs in Hebrew to attract Jewish clients.
Kmeil
gave the businesses one week to comply with the decision, according to
the Salfit Governorate Public Relations and Media Department.
Kmeil
said that the measure “comes in light of a decision that was taken
previously and confirming that the occupation is exploiting the scene of
the signs in Hebrew for purposes that serve its racist and fascist
policy.”
High Court rejects petition against Jewish nation-state law
https://www.timesofisrael.com/liveblog-july-08-2021/
Justices rule there are no grounds to throw out the 2018 legislation, say it anchors Israel’s identify as a Jewish state without undermining its democratic character
Child-abusing daycare provider sentenced to 9.5 years in prison
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/309504
The operator of a daycare center in central Israel who was convicted of abusing nearly a dozen infants and toddlers was sentenced Thursday to nine-and-a-half years in prison.
Carmel Mauda, 28, the operator of the ‘Baby Love’ daycare center in Rosh Ha’ayin, received the sentence at the Central District in Lod Thursday afternoon, after arriving accompanied by her father.
Bezalel Smotrich: 'Insane' that divorced fathers shouldn't have anything to eat
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/309500
MK Bezalel Smotrich, who heads the Knesset's Religious Zionism party, has called on Welfare Minister Meir Cohen (Yesh Atid) to eliminate the discrimination against divorced fathers.
"One of the worst crimes happening today in the State of Israel is the discrimination against divorced fathers," Smotrich said. "It's a complex and complicated issue. It has a lot of facets and small letters."
Smotrich recalled his pre-election promise to change how the issue is managed, prevent parental alienation, and prevent abuse of false allegations as a way of managing divorce.
MK Ahmad Tibi decries cuts to daycare subsidies for haredim
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/309483
Joining the mostly haredi voices condemning the recent decision of Finance Minister Avigdor Liberman to cancel daycare subsidies to families where the father is in full-time Torah learning, was, perhaps unexpectedly, Joint Arab List MK Ahmad Tibi.
Tibi was interviewed on Radio 103FM, where he criticized Liberman’s decision, calling it “inappropriate.”
“This decision weakens the weak even further,” he said. “I am familiar with the conditions in which these families live, and this decision should be reconsidered.”
MK Bezalel Smotrich of the Religious Zionism party also decried Liberman’s decision.
Fact-checking claims bail reform is driving increase in violent crime
https://edition.cnn.com/2021/07/07/politics/bail-reform-violent-crime-fact-check/index.html
Violent crime in the United States shot up last year as the pandemic raged. Major cities across the country saw a more than 30% jump in homicides as well as increases in aggravated assaults, according to a January report from the National Commission on Covid-19 and Criminal Justice.
Bail reforms -- which generally focus on removing or limiting the use of cash bail against defendants who are accused of misdemeanors or nonviolent offenses -- aim at making sure most defendants are not held in jail while awaiting trial solely because they cannot afford cash bail.
During
a congressional hearing in late June, Sen. Lindsey Graham, a South
Carolina Republican, suggested reforms eliminating cash bail could
partially be to blame for the recent spike in crime. Graham asked FBI
Director Christopher Wray if he believed "one of the reasons crime is on
the rise is that certain jurisdictions have basically eliminated bail?"
"You catch them on Monday morning and they're out on the streets Monday afternoon," Graham said.
Facts First: There's
no clear evidence linking bail reforms -- which have been in place for
years in some cities -- to the recent rise in violent crimes. In fact,
the majority of cities that have seen increases in crime have not
eliminated cash bail. Many variables have contributed to the increases
Graham is referencing but CNN has seen no evidence to suggest that bail
reform is a major factor.
Trump reportedly saw Netanyahu’s congratulations to Biden as ‘ultimate betrayal’
New book by Michale Wolff says that even though Netanyahu waited 12 hours to acknowledge Biden’s election win, Trump felt that the Israeli leader ‘owed’ him and had now ‘sold out’
Liberman ends yeshiva students' childcare subsidies, haredim outraged
The subsidies comprise a significant portion of an ultra-Orthodox family’s household income, and canceling them will cause immediate financial problems for such families.
Liberman hopes that the cancellation of these subsidies will push ultra-Orthodox men to find employment.
The changes go into effect at the beginning of the coming school year.
Wednesday, July 7, 2021
Liberman cancels daycare subsidies for kids of full-time yeshiva students
Families in which the father does not work at least 24 hours a week but is involved in academic or vocational studies will still be eligible for the subsidies, which will end for yeshiva students only.
4th Of July Shootings Across The Country Killed More Than 180 People
More than 180 people were killed in shootings across the country over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, according to data compiled by the Gun Violence Archive and reviewed by NPR.
By 11:30 p.m. on Monday, the Gun Violence Archive reported 189 people killed and 516 injured in shootings over the course of a 72-hour period starting Friday. In total, there were more than 540 shootings over the holiday weekend, the organization reported.
Those numbers may increase as the organization continues to collect statistics from the weekend.
News of major shootings in Chicago, Texas, Virginia and Ohio comes as many of the nation's largest cities are struggling to contain a continued rise in violent crimes. Officials from across the country had spoken of serious fears of a bloody summer earlier this year.
Albany, N.Y., Mayor Kathy M. Sheehan told The Washington Post in May that her city was experiencing a rise in gun violence. At the time, she said she was "really worried" about the approaching summer months.
Some major cities faced concerns about violent crime last summer similar to what they do this year. In 2020, nearly 90 people were shot in Chicago over Independence Day weekend and 17 of them died.
Eric Adams declared winner of NYC Democratic mayoral race
Eric Adams declared victory in the city’s Democratic mayoral race Tuesday after holding on to a razor-thin lead in a pivotal new tally of votes, putting him on track to become just the second Black mayor in Big Apple history after running a centrist campaign heavily focused on crime-fighting.
Adams, Brooklyn’s current borough president and a retired NYPD captain, led former sanitation commissioner Kathryn Garcia by just 8,426 ballots — or 1% of the total — after more than 120,000 absentee votes were added to the Board of Elections’ unofficial tally of ranked-choice results.
US, Guatemalan forces raid extremist haredi Lev Tahor cult compound
US and local Guatemalan police have begun raiding the compound of the extremist ultra-Orthodox (haredi) cult, Lev Tahor, arresting at least three top officials in the cult, Globes reported on Tuesday evening.
Another reporter for Globes reported that cult-members Yoel and Shmuel Weingarten have been arrested.
Forget about who catches COVID-19, the serious cases matter - analysis
What is understood is that as of now, the vaccine is at least 90%-95% effective against stopping hospitalization or serious disease – the metric that at least these health professionals believe should be used in determining policy.
Tuesday, July 6, 2021
The Rebbe on the Jewish Woman's Hair Covering
The Rebbe went so far as to state that wigs might even be more
attractive than one's own hair. At the time, it was meant to encourage
and educate women who were of the opinion that all wigs were
aesthetically lacking. In comparison to what women might have worn in
earlier generations, the new wigs, the Rebbe said, were attractive.
Mitzvah to Live in Israel
https://www.aish.com/atr/Mitzvah_to_Live_in_Israel.html
The general approach today is that if both places (Israel and the
Diaspora) are equally "livable," one should make the effort to live in
Israel. Every year, approximately 3,000 Jews make aliyah from North
America – 90 percent of them religious.
Is There a Mitzva to Settle the Land of Israel?
https://etzion.org.il/en/halakha/yoreh-deah/eretz-yisrael/there-mitzva-settle-land-israel
The first question that arises in any discussion regarding the mitzva of settling the Land of Israel is whether or not such a mitzva exists? The Rambam, as is well known, did not include the mitzva of settling the Land of Israel in his count of the 613 biblical mitzvot. The Ramban, in his criticisms of the Rambam's Sefer ha-Mitzvot, adds the mitzva of settling the Land of Israel as one of the commandments unjustly omitted by the Rambam:
Are We Required to Live in Israel?
But Maimonides’ position is less easily understood. As Nachmanides observes, Maimonides does not count possessing or living in the land of Israel as a mitzvah. Meggilat Esther offers a well-known explanation for Maimonides’ position. He explains that according to Maimonides, a commandment can only be included among the 613 mitzvot if it applies for all generation. Any commandment that is given to be performed at a specific time in history cannot be included among the 613 mitzvot. For example, at the time of the giving of the Torah Bnai Yisrael were instructed to not approach or ascend Sinai. This injunction was related to a specific time – the Revelation. After Revelation, the mitzvah no longer operates. There is no prohibition against climbing Sinai today. Therefore, this injunction cannot be counted among the 613 mitzvot.[2] Meggilat Esther contends that the command to posses the land of Israel was given to Moshe and Yehoshua to perform. The command continued to be binding and active until the exile from the land of Israel. But with exile, the command was suspended. It will reemerge with the Messianic era. But in the interim, there is no requirement to posses or conquer the land. Therefore, this is not a command that applies for all generations. Like the injunction to not ascend Sinai, the requirement to conquer the land of Israel emerges and reemerges at specific moments in history. As a result, it cannot be counted among the 613 mitzvot.[3]
Topic: Israel, Obligation to Live in
https://ohr.edu/ask_db/ask_main.php/152/Q1/
Other factors to consider: How will you deal with living far from family? How will you adapt to a new culture? What suitable marriage prospects are available? What appropriate Torah study program will you connect with? Will you be able to live in a Torah neighborhood?
G-d forbid anyone should say a life isn't 'worthwhile' just because it's lived outside of Israel. A life dedicated to Torah and Mitzvot is certainly worthwhile, wherever it is. Sometimes a person's contribution to the Jewish People can be even greater outside of Israel, especially a person involved in Jewish education or outreach.
The Mitzvah Of Making Aliyah (Living In Israel) Today
Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l (Igros Moshe E.H. 102) discusses whether there is a mitzvah to make aliyah and why many rabbanim have lived in the Diaspora. He writes that even according to the opinion of the Ramban, that there exists a biblical obligation, the nature of this obligation is different than many other mitzvos. He feels that this mitzvah is “kiyumis” not “chiyuvis”.
Rav Yosef Dov Soloveitchik zt”l agreed with the premise of Rav Moshe
Feinstein. He also felt that the mitzvah to live in Israel is a mitzvah
“kiyumis” and not “chiyuvis” (oral ruling cited by Rav Herschel
Schachter shlit”a sefer Peninei Harav).
Gang who held French Jewish family hostage sentenced to up to 12 years in jail
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/309304
A French court has sentenced a nine-member gang who violently kidnapped a Jewish family to sentences of up to 12 years in prison.
The Assize Court in Seine-Saint-Denis, located near Paris, tries some of the most egregious crimes committed in France.
The judge ruled in this case that the gang receive sentences ranging from 4 to 12 years in jail.
The lengthiest sentence was handed down to the ringleader of the three main assailants who attacked Mireille Pinto, 75, Roger Pinto, 89, and their 52-year old son David.
The elder Pinto is a well known leader of the French Jewish community.
'Netanyahu joined with Arab MKs to undermine Israel's security'
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/309336
The ruling Yamina party castigated the Likud, and in particular Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu, over the party’s decision to vote against the Citizenship Law.
Senior Yamina officials blasted Netanyahu, comparing him to Joint Arab List MK and former Yasser Arafat adviser Ahmed Tibi, whose faction also voted against the citizenship law.
“The Opposition, led by Bibi and Tibi, failed to topple the government, but together they managed to directly harm Israel’s security and surrender its borders.”
Government reaches agreement on six-month extension on family unification law
Israel’s disparate coalition members reached an agreement early Tuesday on a compromise on the contentious Palestinian family reunification law that will likely see it pass in the Knesset, Interior Minister Ayelet Shaked announced.
During an all-night debate on the vote, which was deliberately extended by the coalition to give it time to hash out a deal with the left-wing Meretz party and the Arab Ra’am party, an agreement was reached to see the law extended by six months instead of annually.
Under the agreement Meretz will vote for the deal along with two of the four Ra’am MK’s, most likely allowing the deal to squeak through. The vote was not expected before dawn Tuesday.
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