Illegal and unsafe building in Israel

 As is common knowledge - it is often difficult to obtain permits for changes to an apartment in Israel and as a result much is done without permit or concern for safety

It is also common knowledge when buying an apartment to check what is legal and what was added illegally.

It is also common knowledge that there is a severe housing shortage and thus strong financial incentive to create illegal apartments.

Problem aside from the illegality and possible need to demolish structures is the question of safe building practices being ignored.

Example you have new apartment buildings built to proper safety standards which are ruined by the owners on the ground floor who excavate large areas extending from their apartments. They destroy support pillars of the building as well as physical support for the building bt removing rock or soil.

There have been cases of collapse and damage to the building as well as the new construction.

Anyone complaining against theses illegal structures is labeled a moser.

One case I know where the new construction collapsed. One neighbor was suspected of telling the government and was ostracized by the entire building while the one who actual caused the real damage is viewed as a tzadik.

While it is nice to attack secularist etc for picking on our community The frum world is doing nothing about this dangerous reality. In other words if the community doesn't supervise itself it has no justification for complaining about government involvement

Missing years (Jewish calendar)

The Missing 160 Years

https://www.torahmusings.com/2019/10/the-missing-160-years/

In a recent lecture, Rav Hershel Schachter says that there are great sages (“gedolim”) on both sides of the issue — some who accept rabbinic chronology and some who modify it in one way or another. He points to the Maharshal’s (Rav Shlomo Luria, 16th cen., Poland) comment in Chokhmas Shlomo (Sanhedrin 52b) in disagreeing with the Talmud’s conclusion that he should not be considered like someone who disagrees with the Talmud because there is no current practical implication to his view. Similarly, there is no practical implication to disagreeing with the Talmud on chronology. Rav Schachter also points to Rav Zerachiah Ha-Levi (12th cen., Spain), known as the Ba’al Ha-Ma’or, in his commentary to the beginning of Rosh Hashanah where he explicitly disagrees with the Talmud about the list of Persian kings (and his colleague, the Ra’avad, says that this is against our tradition).

Fixing the History Books

 https://www.simpletoremember.com/other/History166.htm

Rather than dismiss the Greek tales altogether, Dr. Heifetz has recognized that folklore often contains much truth, even if it cannot always be taken at face value. Just as the Greek stories about Assyria an extra Darius and Cyrus. Had and Babylonian are interpreted by modem scholars in the light of inscriptions, Heifetz takes the traditional view of this period as given in Seder Olam as his framework, and reexamines the Greek tales within this framework. In doing so, not only do many of the Greek stories make better sense, but an entirely new dimension is added to the Jewish picture of history.

The Kings of Persia and the Missing Years

 https://www.etzion.org.il/en/tanakh/ketuvim/sefer-ezra/kings-persia-and-missing-years

The differing chronologies, moreover, carry major consequences for the dating of Purim. Having so dramatically shortened the Persian empire’s span, the rabbis place the Purim story before the Second Temple was built. According to modern scholarly consensus, however, Purim did not take place until some fifty years after the Second Temple was completed. As Rabbis Yoel Bin-Nun[4] and Menachem Leibtag[5] have suggested, this difference might have profound implications for the meaning of Esther. If the narrative unfolded decades after the Temple had been rebuilt, we might be more likely to view the Megilla as a satire castigating the Jews of Shushan for remaining in the Persian capital instead of returning to their own capital Jerusalem.

Missing years (Jewish calendar)

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missing_years_(Jewish_calendar)#:~:text=The%20traditional%20Jewish%20date%20recognized,as%20the%20"missing%20years".

It has also been posited that certain calculations in the Talmud compute better according to the academic dating. Two possible harmonizations are proposed by modern rabbis:

Shimon Schwab points to the words "seal the words and close the book" in the book of Daniel as a positive commandment to obscure the calculations for the Messiah mentioned within, so that the true date of the Messiah's arrival would not be known.[28] However, Schwab later withdrew this suggestion for numerous reasons.[23]: 281-285  [24]: 66–67  [25]: 67–68, 93 

An alternative solution suggests that the sages were concerned with the acceptance of the Mishnah. There existed a rabbinical tradition that the year 4000 marked the close of the "era of Torah". The authors of the Ḥakirah article propose that the sages therefore arranged the chronology so that the redaction of the Mishnah should coincide with that date and thus have a better chance of acceptance.[25]: 67–115 

Simonim

 Horious (12a) R. Ammi said: He who wishes to ascertain whether he will live through the year or not shall, during the ten days between the New Year and the Day of Atonement, kindle a lamp in a house wherein there is no draught. If the light continues to burn he may know that he will live through the year. He who desires to engage in business and wishes to ascertain whether he will succeed or not, let him rear up a cock; if it grows plump and fine he will succeed. He who desires to set out on a journey and wishes to ascertain whether he will return home again or not. let him station himself in a dark house; if he sees the reflection of his shadow he may know that he will return home again. This, however, is not a proper thing to do, lest his courage fail him and he meet with misfortune in consequence. Said Abaye: Now that it has been said that omens are of significance, a man should make a regular habit of eating, at the beginning of the year, pumpkin, fenugreek, leek, beet and dates.

New York Passes Regulations Giving State Control Over Secular Studies Curriculum in Private Schools

 https://hamodia.com/2022/09/13/new-york-passes-regulations-giving-state-control-over-secular-studies-curriculum-in-private-schools/

The State Board of Regents voted Monday to approve new regulations on secular-studies in private schools, requiring each school to prove to state officials that their curriculum is “at least substantially equivalent” to that offered in public schools. Passage of the regulations transforms the relationship between government and private schools in the Empire State, and caps a years-long battle over what secular education each child deserves and whether it should be determined by parents or governmental authorities.

Do religious Jews have a right to reject basic secular education?

 https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/do-religious-jews-have-a-right-to-reject-basic-secular-education/

As much as it can be a mistake to generalize about conditions in these schools and as much as the Times' motives and reporting are suspect, the willingness of many Jews to reflexively circle the wagons around them and to defend the resistance of the ultra-Orthodox leadership to even minimal scrutiny or accountability for their failures in secular subjects is not merely a mistake. It's consigning a large and important part of the Jewish community to a future of poverty that would be indefensible if we were describing any other group.

For Jews, paths to and away from secularism led to the same place

 https://www.thejc.com/news/all/for-jews-paths-to-and-away-from-secularism-led-to-the-same-place-1.512598

In any case, secular studies were normally incompatible with traditional Judaism. Training in medicine was impossible without breaking Jewish law, especially the dietary laws, the Sabbath and festivals.

The Yeshiva as a Political Institution

 https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265771667_The_Yeshiva_as_a_Political_Institution

This insular approach mirrored the greater Haredi world and its strict binary opposition of tradition and modernity. The newer model of the yeshiva, however, not only challenged secular hegemony but also sought to reshape Orthodoxy into a community responding proactively to the secular critique of religion. Yeshivas following this model became political institutions — political because they sought to transform the Jewish world by direct action and presented a religious alternative to the hegemony of secular political forces. The founding of Tomchei Tmimim in 1897,3 the first political yeshiva in imperial Russia, was an attempt to create a shift in the constantly retreating battle of Orthodoxy with secularization and assimilation. In the late 19th century, the relationship of Jewish communities with the Imperial regime had drastically deteriorated, giving particular urgency to an emerging discourse about Jewish secularism and nationalism.4 Initial attempts at forming a constructive Orthodox response in the political arena were a major failure.5 Reforms in Jewish religious education reached into primary schools, vocational training, and post-secondary education.

New documentary tackles debate over secular education in New York City yeshivas

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/new-documentary-tackles-debate-over-secular-education-in-new-york-city-yeshivas/

“Most graduates of ultra-Orthodox schools… are happy with the education they receive and they have no desire to leave,” he said. “But those that do want to leave their communities, they feel imprisoned by the education they never received.”

Orthodox Judaism: Yeshiva

 https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/yeshiva

The new trends in the spiritual life of the Jews of Russia found an echo among the youth in the yeshivot. In many places the masters endeavored to keep the students from any contact with secular literature, and in Slobodka in particular there was strict supervision. The movement toward acquiring general culture did not touch the ?asidic yeshivot at all, perhaps since most of them were in small towns far from the cities. Money for their maintenance was collected by emissaries who were at the same time wandering preachers. Apart from the large yeshivot there existed in several localities small yeshivot for the local youth supported by the community and the neighborhood. Since married students were not accepted in the yeshivot and the codes were not studied in them, those married students of the Talmud who wanted to become ordained for the rabbinate would unite inkolelim . Such kolelim existed in Volozhin (in a branch of the yeshiva), in Eishishok, Minsk, Vilna, and other places. An exceptionally high standard was attained by the Perushim kolel in Kovno headed by Isaac Elhanan Spektor (d. 1897), which in the 1890s had more than 200 students. Both the members of these kolelim, whose studies lasted from three to four years, and their families, were adequately supported.

What message is DeSantis sending with religious ‘full armor of God’ rhetoric?

 https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2022/09/12/what-message-is-desantis-sending-with-religious-full-armor-of-god-rhetoric/

“We have the responsibility to make sure that the students that come out of our school system understand what it means to be an American,” DeSantis said, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer. “They need to understand that our rights come from God, not from the government.”

Rubio added that ultimately it is a decision about “what is good” and said America has been on the right path for more than two centuries for one reason:

“And that is the belief that every single human being has rights that come not from government, not from leaders, not from the Constitution, not from the laws,” Rubio said. “They have rights, natural rights, that come to them from their Creator, from God.”

Outrage at New York proposal to force yeshivas to teach public curriculum

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/359708

Orthodox leaders in the state of New York are protesting a new measure that would force yeshivas to teach a curriculum equivalent to that of public schools.

A vote on the regulation by the New York State Board of Regents, which overseas education in the state, is taking place on Tuesday.

The proposal is widely opposed by the Orthodox community. On Monday morning, some stood outside the State Department of Education in Albany to voice their concern, News Channel 13 reported.

Filmmaker Boruch Perlowitz Fights Back: “I’m a Victim of Hasidic Yeshiva Education”

Air pollution cancer breakthrough will rewrite the rules

 https://www.bbc.com/news/health-62797777

Researchers say they have cracked how air pollution leads to cancer, in a discovery that completely transforms our understanding of how tumours arise.

The team at the Francis Crick Institute in London showed that rather than causing damage, air pollution was waking up old damaged cells.

One of the world's leading experts, Prof Charles Swanton, said the breakthrough marked a "new era".

And it may now be possible to develop drugs that stop cancers forming.

Trump fights back against DOJ in dispute over classified records

 https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/12/trump-fights-back-against-doj-in-dispute-over-classified-records-00056129

“In what at its core is a document storage dispute that has spiraled out of control, the Government wrongfully seeks to criminalize the possession by the 45th President of his own Presidential and personal records,” Trump’s attorneys wrote in a 21-page filing.

Among the more aggressive arguments in Trump’s brief is a suggestion that he could deem records personal under the Presidential Records Act, even if they were classified.

Beats Me - guest post Joe Orlow

The New York Times recently had an article about some Jewish schools in New York.

This blog posted an article from HAMODIA in reference to the New York Times article. The HAMODIA article included this:

======

“Antisemitism is on the rise in New York and the number of hate crimes targeted at the Hasidic community have increased in recent years,” Connolly writes. “[Tzedek] believes that your article will contribute to the negative perception of the Hasidic community and in turn fan the flames of antisemitism.”

Similarly, Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zwiebel of Agudath Israel recently wrote to Shapiro and Rosenthal, “The timing of this article is terrible. Hate crime statistics, specifically crimes targeting Jews, are spiking dramatically — and most of these crimes are being directed against Hasidic Jews...."

=======

The New York Times article included this:

=======

Still, virtually all of the dozens of parents of current students interviewed by The Times said their sons had been hit at least once. Several said they had sought to protect their children by “tipping” their teachers, usually about $100 a year.

=======

 don't know if this is true. But let's assume it is, and explore the implications.

Parents generally are charged tuition to send their children to private schools. In one or more of these schools under discussion, one or more teachers hit some of the kids some of the time.

The purpose for hitting the kids is presumably to advance the education of the kids. So here we have a case where parents are paying tuition to have their kids educated and on top of that they are paying extra money to not have their kids educated? That is, a teacher might argue that the hitting has educational value. But the parents are paying the teacher not to to hit their kids -- not to advance their kids' education?

This situation reminds me of how gangsters operate.

"Be a shame if anything happened to your kids while they're in my classroom, wouldn't it? You tip, we make sure your kids are safe while they are with us."

Now let's examine the statements that mention "antisemitism" and "hate crimes."

Well, I think a teacher hitting kids to the point where parents feel compelled to bribe the teacher to not hit their kids is not in line with the Torah and is violence against Jews.

And that violence may be on a larger scale than anything some bad stuff non-Jews may be doing to Jews in America at the moment. Jewish kids aren't being beaten on the streets in America on a daily basis -- but they do seem to be getting whopped regularly in one or more classrooms.

All I've written, of course, is on the assumption that the New York Times article got it right in the quote from the article above.

What can be done to help these children getting hit who don't have parents paying protection money?

We can tell the children to swarm an attacking teacher. That is, a four year old alone defending himself from a beating may not discourage an adult teacher to cease beating his students. But thirty kids defending one of their own might give a beating teacher pause.

We can also create a "Beat the Beatings" fund. The purpose of the fund would be to end the classroom beatings. Children being beaten could apply for grants from the fund that would be paid directly to the beating teachers.

Again, I have no idea what goes on within the schools under discussion. But it beats me how some Jews that are up in arms when a non-Jew hits a Jew can suddenly clam up when the violent attacker is a Jewish teacher hitting a student to the point where parents are led to pay off the attacker.

The 3 Laws of Medicine—Law #1: A strong intuition is much more powerful than a weak test (Qualy #65)

Soon We'll Cure Diseases With a Cell, Not a Pill | Siddhartha Mukherjee | TED Talks

Why Barr is breaking from Trump — and the GOP — over Mar-a-Lago search

 https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/3636565-why-barr-is-breaking-from-trump-and-the-gop-over-mar-a-lago-search/

In an appearance on Fox on Thursday, Barr said he believes the Justice Department is “getting very close” to the point where they could indict someone in the case, including potentially Trump.

The comments were notable coming from a man who Democrats and some legal experts criticized throughout his latest tenure as attorney general, accusing him of viewing himself as the president’s lawyer rather than the country’s.

Agudath Israel Statement on New York Times’ Attack on Hasidic Community

 https://agudah.org/agudath-israel-statement-on-new-york-times-attack-on-hasidic-community/

Agudath Israel of America decries today’s one-sided New York Times hit piece on New York State’s Hasidic community and its educational institutions.

The article is riddled with bias, ignoring the vast majority of Hasidic parents – those who cherish their yeshivas – instead citing a minority of people who have rejected the community’s values, and passing them off as representative of the whole. The true viewpoint of the tens of thousands of parents who send their children to Hasidic schools is represented, in part, by the recent historic 350,000 letters during the state’s public comment period, the vast majority of which pleading for no interference with the yeshiva educational system for which they pay and value. Could the New York Times not speak to one of those parents?

In precedent, rabbis send woman to jail for refusing divorce from her husband

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/in-precedent-rabbis-send-woman-to-jail-for-refusing-divorce-from-her-husband/

Police officers, acting on the orders of a rabbinic court, on Sunday detained and imprisoned an Israeli woman for refusing to accept a divorce from her husband, in the first use of this punishment against a woman.

“It is rare. It is the first time that there’s incarceration. But the rabbinic court reached the decision that there was no other option,” Rabbi Eliyahu Maimon, the head of the department in the rabbinical courts that deals with divorce refusal, told The Times of Israel on Sunday.

According to Israel’s rabbinic court system, the woman has been refusing to accept a ritual divorce, known in Hebrew as a get, from her husband for four years, after he gained full custody of their two daughters following a prolonged battle in a civil family court.

In Hasidic Enclaves, Failing Private Schools Flush With Public Money

https://www.userwalls.news/n/hasidic-enclaves-failing-yeshivas-flush-public-money-3800755/

To examine the Hasidic schools, The Times reviewed thousands of pages of public records, translated dozens of Yiddish-language documents and interviewed more than 275 people, including current and former students, teachers, administrators and regulators.

לראשונה: סרבנית גט נשלחה למאסר

 https://www.ynet.co.il/judaism/article/bjro3qxsls

בפעם הראשונה בתולדות בתי הדין הרבניים בישראל, אישה שמסרבת להתגרש מבעלה נשלחה לכלא. נשיא בית הדין הרבני הגדול הוציא נגדה פקודת מאסר, לאחר שבמשך ארבע שנים לא התייצבה לדיונים בעניינה ולא צייתה להחלטות בתיק. גם כשפרצו השוטרים לביתה, סירבה לקבל את הגט

Analyzing the New York Times Hatchet Job Against Yeshivos

 https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/headlines-breaking-stories/2123212/analyzing-the-new-york-times-hatchet-job-against-yeshivos.html

The New York Times has written a one-sided attack against the Yeshiva and Torah community that is so filled with inaccuracies and half-stories that it is reminiscent of Tsarist-era attack on the great institutions of Volozhin and other Yeshivos, started by Rabbi Chaim of Volozhin – student of the Vilna Gaon.

Judge tosses Trump’s Russia probe suit against Clinton, FBI

 https://apnews.com/article/judge-dismisses-trump-lawsuit-against-clinton-1c49b9f65177507bb06115b631c8499d

 A federal judge in Florida has dismissed Donald Trump’s lawsuit against 2016 Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and former top FBI officials, rejecting the former president’s claims that they and others acted in concert to concoct the Russia investigation that shadowed much of his administration.

U.S. District Judge Donald Middlebrooks said in a sharply worded ruling on Thursday that Trump’s lawsuit, filed in March, contained “glaring structural deficiencies” and that many of the “characterizations of events are implausible.”

He dismissed the idea that Trump had sued to correct an actual legal harm, saying that “instead, he is seeking to flaunt a two-hundred-page political manifesto outlining his grievances against those that have opposed him, and this Court is not the appropriate forum.”

Judge throws out Trump's lawsuit against Hillary Clinton

 https://www.axios.com/2022/09/09/judge-dismisses-trump-lawsuit-clinton-2016

A U.S. judge has thrown out former President Trump's lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, saying the former president "is seeking to flaunt a two-hundred-page political manifesto outlining his grievances against those that have opposed him."

Middlebrooks said Trump exceeded the legal statute of limitations and that "many of the statements that Plaintiff characterizes as injurious falsehoods qualify as speech plainly protected by the First Amendment."

"At its core, the problem with Plaintiff’s Amended Complaint is that Plaintiff is not attempting to seek redress for any legal harm," Middlebrooks wrote.

Trump-Appointed Judge’s ‘Originalist’ Claim Is Absurd

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-appointed-judge-aileen-cannons-originalist-claims-are-absurd

Now, avowed originalist Judge Cannon, installed during the waning days of the Trump administration, has engaged in one of the most audacious acts of right wing judicial overreach to date: Directly interfering with the current president’s performance of his core, constitutionally assigned, duties to protect national security and enforce the criminal laws enacted by Congress. It is hard to imagine a more brazen act of judicial supremacy.

What the Truth Social Flop Says About Trump

 https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/09/10/truth-social-flop-says-about-trump-00055977

Nothing about Truth Social’s disastrous beginnings should surprise us. Donald Trump has proved himself again and again to be a wreck of an entrepreneur. Steaks, his university, water, an airline, casinos, the USFL, a mortgage company, vodka — the list reads like a guide on how not to succeed in business. Associating Trump with a new venture has become a business death wish.

Trump is still the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 and could well wind up in the White House (assuming he’s not behind bars). But there’s also evidence that Trump has simply exhausted the Trump meme he invented. Trump’s deranged outrage style once contained real entertainment value — which explains why moderates and liberals followed him on Twitter even if they wouldn’t vote for him. But in his post-presidency and especially in the weeks following the Mar-a-Lago search and investigation, the show has gone stale. Vainly, he has sought to top himself by sharing QAnon-related material on Truth Social, denouncing the FBI like a madman trapped in a bunker, and calling for his reinstatement as the “rightful winner“ of the 2020 election. He’s become a carnival geek biting the heads off of snakes, which can be a fabulous show the first couple of times you see it, but after that, meh. Could today’s Trump devise enough fresh outrage to produce even a brief TikTok?

Russia Sees 'Major Defeat,' Ukraine Has 'Already Won': Ex-Military Leader

 https://www.newsweek.com/russia-sees-major-defeat-ukraine-has-already-won-ex-military-leader-1741804

Igor Girkin, a former commander of pro-Russian separatists in Ukraine, said on Saturday that Ukrainian troops have "already won" the war against Russia.

On Saturday, Ukrainian troops made significant gains near Kharkiv, the second-largest city in Ukraine—forcing Russia to retreat from key cities including Izium and Kupyansk, according to Radio Free Europe

Shituf

 Ramban (Shemos 20:3) The verse here thus states that excepting the Eternal only, we are not to have others as gods, neither from all the angels above nor from all the host of heaven who are called elohim. This is something like that which is said, he that sacrificeth ‘la’elohim’ (unto the gods) save unto the Eternal only, shall be utterly destroyed.. It is thus a prohibition against believing in any of these beings, accepting them as gods, or saying to them, “thou art my god. This is also the opinion of Onkelos, who translated: “[thou shalt have no] other gods excepting Me....” Thus the purport of the verse here is: “Do not make other gods unto yourselves, for I am present with you always and see you in private and in public.”

Orthodox Leaders Warn NY Times Against Publishing ‘False and Defamatory’ Article About Yeshivas

 https://hamodia.com/2022/09/09/orthodox-leaders-warn-ny-times-against-publishing-false-and-defamatory-article-about-yeshivas/

According to a summary of the article emailed by the Times reporters to the yeshivas and obtained by Hamodia, the article will allege that “students in these schools are deprived of [secular] education unlike students anywhere else in New York,” that students are these yeshivas perform poorly on standardized tests, the schools receive “enormous sums of public money,” and that “many religion teachers use severe corporal punishment.”

The Plot Against Jewish Education

 https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/news/articles/plot-against-hasidic-education-new-york-times

All of which should lead us to what ought to be the crux of this and any other conversation about education—which is what, precisely, is its ultimate goal. Education is a means to an end; what, then, do we want our well-educated children to be?

Ukrainian forces enter key city of Izium in a sign Kyiv's new offensive is working

 https://edition.cnn.com/2022/09/10/europe/ukraine-kharkiv-advances-intl-hnk/index.html

When Ukrainian forces entered the city of Izium Saturday, it was more than a major military victory. It was a sign the war in Ukraine might be entering a new phase, one in which Russian troops are scrambling to hold onto the territory they captured over the past six months.

Russian forces were forced to flee the strategic eastern city just five days after Ukrainian forces began a new offensive eastward through the Kharkiv region.

"Russians escaped and left weapons and ammo behind. City center is free," a spokesperson for the Bohun Brigade of the Land Forces of Ukraine said in a statement Saturday afternoon.

Fox News Host Tucker Carlson Mocked as Ukrainians Force Russia to Retreat

 https://www.newsweek.com/fox-news-host-tucker-carlson-mocked-ukrainians-force-russia-retreat-1741805

News that the Ukrainian military had forced Russian combatants to retreat from major strategic holds near Kharkiv on Saturday led to widespread celebration online. Some, including activists and politicians, also took the opportunity to lambast Fox News host Tucker Carlson over his past support of the Russian invasion effort.

Tamar Epstein: is a godol the same as two kosher witnesses?

With the continued silence of the Kamenetskys and Rav Greenblatt concerning why Tamar Epstein was told she could marry without a Get, I think it is important to present an interesting conjecture that answers the question. It must be noted that this is only conjecture at this point - but it has the ring of truth.

One of the critical unanswered questions is who is the halachic authority behind the heter? Rabbi Greenblatt has acknowledged that he was the mesader kiddushin but he says he relied on a heter to remarry without a get from GEDOLIM - that he refuses to name because of the chilul haShem.

I propose that the heter is from Rabbi Greenblatt himself - though I assume he found some rabbis who agreed to his ruling. 

Support for this conjecture is the rather strange fact that Tamar and her new husband went to Memphis for the wedding - but neither of them is from Memphis and they haven't lived there. Now why would two busy people from New York and Philadelphia go to Memphis for a wedding - it can't be because it was convenient for their friends and family - most of whom don't live there.

While it could be argued that at the age of  90, Rabbi Greenblatt would be seriously inconvenienced to go to New York - it doesn't explain why he was mesader kiddushin. After all, Rav Shmuel as well as Rav Sholom know how to perform a marriage - so why didn't they? In fact there is no lack of rabbis who could have done it and have more connection to the family.

The simply and obvious answer is that Rabbi Greenblatt was mesader kiddushin because he was the one who gave the heter to remarry. However that doesn't explain why he had to personally marry them - couldn't he simply give the heter and let some other rabbis be mesader kiddushin?

The logic of the conjecture is that the heter of Rabbi Greenblatt rests strongly on his authority as a posek - not on his servora. Obviously he is relying on his understanding of the rulings of Rav Moshe Feinstein - but that is subject dispute. Any rabbi can claim that he is based on Rav Moshe - such as Rabbi Rackman did - but it simply wasn't accepted. Rabbi Greenblatt needed some basis of authority above the claim that this was Reb Moshe's psak. 

The critical fact - that as he himself has noted - that while he is not a world class posek he is clearly moreh d'asra. Furthermore in his part of the country he is viewed as the highest posek. So just as the Sanhedrin had no authority when it left its chambers - Rabbi Greenblatt views his authority to posken on this issue dependent on being in Memphis.

In sum, I conjecture that the foundation of the heter to marry is from Rabbi Greenblat. The authority comes from his status as posek not only of Memphis but of the South. As such he doesn't feel a need to justify himself since most frum Jews in that part of the country have accepted him as the highest authority - without the need for explanation. Thus the Shach (Y.D. 242) that requires explanation when giving a seemingly strange psak -is taken care of. That is only when the psak will be questioned. Rabbi Greenblatt is not questioned in the South

 Tamar Epstein needed to go to Memphis to be included in his halachic community - which she did. He needed to be Mesader Kiddushin to clearly establish that this was his psak and thus protect her - at least in the South - from criticism.

At the same time he was telling the truth that he was relying on other gedolim. He relied entirely on the Kaminetsky's to tell him that Aharon Friedman had some serious blemish that was unknown before the marriage, clearly manifested itself after marriage, was something that most women could not accept and that she left him as soon as she was informed of this "fact". He was also relying on the gadol - Rav Moshe Feinstein - for the concept of Mekach Ta'os. Finally I assume there were at least two other major poskim who agreed to his psak. Taken together, he did in fact rely on other gedolim which he refused to name. BUT HE IS THE SOURCE OF THE HETER! 

An interesting question arises  from this conjecture, according to Rabbi Greenblatt - is Tamar's marriage only valid as long as she remains in Memphis? This is similar to Rav Goren's ruling that certain gerim were only Jews as long as they were living in Israel.

However even if the above analysis is correct, there still remains one insurmountable barrier to the validity of the heter. The heter is only valid if and only if Aharon Friedman has very serious mental health issues that existed prior to the marriage and that Tamar Epstein was unaware of. It is only valid if this mental health disorder manifested itself after the wedding to such a degree that most women could not live with it. This is obviously what the Kaminetsky's had to have told Rabbi Greenblatt - since he never spoke with Aharon Friedman. But the claim of serious mental health issues is simply not true - IT IS A LIE - as I can testify from speaking with Aharon Friedman personally and the complete absence of any mention of such in Tamar Epstein's diary listing his faults. 

 Rabbi Greenblatt clearly was naive and irresponsible in not investigating Aharon Friedman's mental state. As a minimum he should have spoken with him and he should have insisted on an independent expert to evaluate him - but he didn't.  Thus even if Rabbi Greenblatt has the authority to give a heter - since it is based on false information - it is invalid and Tamar Epstein is still married to Aharon Friedman.

I welcome evidence that either confirms or refutes the above conjecture - but it does explain Rabbi Greenblatt's reasoning as to why Tamar could marry without a GET.

Trump, DOJ tangle over 'special master' to review seized Mar-a-Lago documents

 https://www.politico.com/news/2022/09/09/trump-special-master-doj-mar-a-lago-documents-00056015

Prosecutors have said if she does not act by Thursday on their request to essentially carve out the potentially classified documents from the special master review, they plan to take their request to the Atlanta-based 11th Circuit. The Justice Department has also asked Cannon to lift the portion of her Monday order that temporarily bars investigators from reviewing documents that contain potential national-security secrets.

Mamzer

     Deuteronomy 23:3 לֹא־יָבֹ֥א מַמְזֵ֖ר בִּקְהַ֣ל יְהֹוָ֑ה גַּ֚ם דּ֣וֹר עֲשִׂירִ֔י לֹא־יָ֥בֹא ל֖וֹ בִּקְהַ֥ל יְהֹוָֽה׃ {ס}   

No one misbegotten shall be admitted into the congregation of יהוה; no descendant of such, even in the tenth generation, shall be admitted into the congregation of יהוה.

Kiddushin 71a:2

אָמַר רַבִּי יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בֶּן לֵוִי כֶּסֶף מְטַהֵר מַמְזֵרִים שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר וַיֵּשֶׁב מְצָרֵף וּמְטַהֵר כֶּסֶף מַאי מַגִּישֵׁי מִנְחָה בִּצְדָקָה אָמַר רַבִּי יִצְחָק צְדָקָה עָשָׂה הַקָּדוֹשׁ בָּרוּךְ הוּא עִם יִשְׂרָאֵל שֶׁמִּשְׁפָּחָה שֶׁנִּטְמְעָה נִטְמְעָה

Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi says: Money purifies mamzerim. Money causes rich mamzerim to become assimilated with Jews of unflawed lineage, since other families marry them despite their flawed lineage. In the future, God will not single them out as mamzerim, as it is stated: “And he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver,” which teaches that money, i.e., silver, purifies them.

Chizkuni, Deuteronomy 23:3:1-2

לא יבא ממזר הואיל ונשרש בעבירה כמו כרת יפסל הוא וזרעו. ממזר שנולד ממי שהוא זר אצל אמו.

'לא יבא ממזר בקהל ה, “a bastard must not marry a Jewish woman;” seeing that he is a product of a union punishable by extinction of its seed, what point is there in such a male impregnating a Jewish woman with his seed? The definition of a mamzer from the root זר, alien, is someone whose mother was out of bounds to the male who had impregnated her.

Mishneh Torah, Forbidden Intercourse 15:7-13

מַמְזֵר מֻתָּר לִשָּׂא גִּיֹּרֶת. וְכֵן הַמַּמְזֶרֶת מֻתֶּרֶת לְגֵר. וְהַבָּנִים מִשְּׁנֵיהֶם מַמְזֵרִים שֶׁהַוָּלָד הוֹלֵךְ אַחַר הַפָּגוּם שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (דברים כג ג) "בִּקְהַל ה'" וּקְהַל גֵּרִים אֵינוֹ קָרוּי (דברים כג ג) "קְהַל ה'": גִּיֹּרֶת שֶׁנִּשֵּׂאת לְגֵר וְהוֹלִידוּ בֵּן אַף עַל פִּי שֶׁהוֹרָתוֹ וְלֵדָתוֹ בִּקְדֻשָּׁה הֲרֵי זֶה מֻתָּר בְּמַמְזֶרֶת. וְכֵן בֶּן בֶּן בְּנוֹ עַד שֶׁיִּשְׁתַּקַּע שֵׁם גֵּרוּתוֹ מִמֶּנּוּ וְלֹא יִוָּדַע שֶׁהוּא גֵּר וְאַחַר כָּךְ יֵאָסֵר בְּמַמְזֶרֶת. וְאֶחָד הַגֵּרִים וְאֶחָד הָעֲבָדִים מְשֻׁחְרָרִין דִּין אֶחָד לְכֻלָּן: …

7. A mamzer may marry a female convert and a female mamzer may marry a male convert, the offspring of both relationships are mamzerim. For the status of the offspring follows that of the blemished one. [The license for such a marriage is derived from] the verse: "[A mamzer shall not enter] God's congregation." (Deut. 23:3) The congregation of converts is not considered as "God's congregation." (ibid) 8. When a female convert marries a male convert and gives birth to a son, he is permitted to marry a female mamzer even though he was both conceived and born in holiness…

Chagigah 9a:5

רַבִּי שִׁמְעוֹן בֶּן מְנַסְּיָיא אוֹמֵר: אֵיזֶהוּ מְעֻוּוֹת שֶׁאֵינוֹ יָכוֹל לְהִתָּקֵן? זֶה הַבָּא עַל הָעֶרְוָה וְהוֹלִיד מִמֶּנָּה מַמְזֵר. אִם תֹּאמַר בְּגוֹנֵב וְגוֹזֵל — יָכוֹל הוּא לְהַחְזִירוֹ, וִיתַקֵּן.

Rabbi Shimon ben Menasya says: Who is the crooked that cannot be made straight? This verse is referring to one who engaged in intercourse with a woman forbidden to him and fathered a mamzer with her. This individual is unable to rectify his sin, because the status of the illegitimate child is permanent. And if you say that it is referring to one who steals or robs, although he is crooked he can return what he stole and in this manner his sin will be rectified.

MESORAS RAV MOSHE

 https://mishpacha.com/mesoras-rav-moshe-rav-michel-shurkin-shares-an-insiders-view/

Another factor at work in every psak from Rav Moshe was his insistence on knowing all of the facts before ruling on a matter. He would quote from the Gra, who derived from two teachings of Chazal that it’s not enough for a rav to know the halachos in Shulchan Aruch clearly; he must also know the pertinent facts.

See Trump attorney's admission about his office where FBI found classified docs

GOP Congressman Gives 1/6 Rioter Flag Flown Over Capitol, Calls Her 'Hero'

 https://www.newsweek.com/gop-congressman-gives-1-6-rioter-flag-flown-over-capitol-calls-her-hero-1741780

The congressman's decision to honor Gold following her release received criticism on social media. Responding to a photo of Gohmert presenting the American flag to Gold, Representative Adam Kinzinger, an Illinois Republican and a member of the House select committee investigating the Capitol riot tweeted on Saturday: "This is sick."

LOSERS TAKE ALL

 https://mishpacha.com/losers-take-all/

As January 6 approached, processions of horn-blaring pickup trucks began riding by his home, bearing MAGA flags and digital signs accusing him of vile crimes. Inside his home, his daughter Kacey was bedridden, terminally ill with liver failure. “She would get emotional and say, ‘What are they doing out there?’” he remembers. She died three weeks later.

So, I thank Rusty Bowers, a Mormon, for exemplifying a quintessentially Jewish idea — that it can be a high honor to be a loser, because there are noble things that are well worth losing over, indeed, even dying for.

US Supreme Court allows Yeshiva University to bar LGBTQ student club

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-supreme-court-blocks-ruling-requiring-yeshiva-university-recognize-lgbtq-club/

The US Supreme Court temporarily blocked a lower court’s ruling requiring Yeshiva University in New York City to recognize a campus LGBTQ pride group.

Justice Sonia Sotomayor granted an emergency request on Friday filed last week by the modern Orthodox university that cited its rights under the First Amendment, which protects the free exercise of religion. The university argued that such recognition would be contrary to its beliefs.

The decision puts on hold a ruling issued by a New York state judge in June that the school must recognize the group. It comes amid a lengthy legal battle between the university and an LGBTQ Pride Alliance Club hinging on whether the university is a religious or secular institution.

Israel Will Cover ‘Voice Surgery’ for Transgender People

 https://www.israeltoday.co.il/read/israel-will-cover-voice-surgery-for-transgender-people/

Biology can be a nuisance for transgender people. For instance, it is an inconvenient truth that biological males and females sound different, have different tones of voice.

Modern medicine can help with that, but it’s expensive. The State of Israel thinks its taxpayers should cover the cost.

Trump special master ruling ‘troubling,’ legal experts say

 https://thehill.com/policy/national-security/3633170-trump-special-master-ruling-troubling-legal-experts-say/

The ruling in favor of Trump by federal district court Judge Aileen Cannon has been a head-scratcher for many attorneys, who say the court left behind many unanswered questions while also blocking an unprecedented investigation of a former president.

“It does seem to reflect a fair amount of bending and stretching of the law in numerous different respects,” said Jeff Robbins, a former federal prosecutor and congressional investigative counsel.

U.S. reveals more classified records may be missing in Trump probe

 https://www.reuters.com/legal/government/us-prosecutors-seek-judges-ok-continue-reviewing-trump-documents-2022-09-08/

Former U.S. President Donald Trump's team may not have returned all the classified records removed from the White House at the end of his presidency even after an FBI search of his home, U.S. prosecutors warned on Thursday, calling it a potential national security risk that needs investigation.

That revelation came in a Justice Department court filing asking U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to let it continue reviewing about 100 classified records seized by the FBI at Trump's Mar-a-Lago estate while it investigates whether classified documents were illegally removed from the White House and improperly stored there.

‘Deeply Problematic’: Experts Question Judge’s Intervention in Trump Inquiry

 https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/05/us/trump-special-master-aileen-cannon.html

Judge Cannon, a Trump appointee who sits on the Federal District Court for the Southern District of Florida, also blocked federal prosecutors from further examining the seized materials for the investigation until the special master had completed a review.

In reaching that result, Judge Cannon took several steps that specialists said were vulnerable to being overturned if the government files an appeal, as most agreed was likely. Any appeal would be heard by the Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta, where Mr. Trump appointed six of its 11 active judges.

Republicans dodge national security implications of Trump having classified documents at Mar-a-Lago

 https://edition.cnn.com/2022/09/08/politics/republicans-trump-national-security-implications-classified-docs/index.html

The Mar-a-Lago drama placed Florida Republican Sen. Marco Rubio in a delicate spot between his fall reelection and his position as the top Republican on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. In an interview with NBC 6, a Miami TV station, he downplayed the entire affair by diminishing the seriousness of the Department of Justice's investigation.

"This is really, at its core, a storage argument that they are making," said Rubio, adding, "I don't think a fight over storage of documents is worthy of what they have done, which is a full scale raid."