Towards a Working Theory of American Gadolim in the Post-truth Era

The study of Torah is built on a fundamental bedrock concept that the Torah is knowable. This underlies the whole institution of Gadolim. Moshe Rabeinu received the Torah and he knew the Torah. This is why it was possible to ask him a question about the Torah and he would answer it. This is why, when he couldn't answer a question, as by Pinchas, that the whole nation was in peril.

In every generation there are leaders, who study the Torah and know the Torah. Collectively, they are the Moshe of that generation. If there is only Torah scholar leader, then he, individually, is the Moshe of that generation.

Moral relativism has undermined that concept.

Moral relativism means that there is no absolute right or wrong. Thus, a moral relativist will maintain that the Torah is unknowable.

Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky appears to be the synthesis of Torah with moral relativism. He studies Torah. But ultimately, he holds it's unknowable. He is unwilling to state, for example, who Tamar Epstein is married to. He points to Rabbis who have different answers.

Rabbi Kamenetsky represents a new kind of Gadol. What shall we call him? Perhaps we will coin a new term: Apikoros Gadol, or Api-Gadol.

An Api-Gadol can never be reasoned with nor swayed by Halachic arguments. An Api-Gadol holds that Torah is unknowable. He embodies this unknowability. His pronouncements are thus perfect because they can never be challenged. His statements are "true" by dint of coming from him, not because of any Mesorah.

What crystallized this idea of Api-Gadol for me was a series of stories I received from multiple sources about the power that Rabbis in a certain city hold over many of the Torah observant inhabitants there.

The Rabbis apparently wield this power in an arbitrary fashion to suit themselves. There is no formal mechanism to challenge, question, or in any way change their decisions.

True Gadolim can be challenged. The daughters of Tzlapchod challenged Moshe. Respectfully, with great deference, asking but not demanding -- yet, still with all that, challenging. And that is because G-d Himself can be challenged, as Avrohom challenged G-d regarding the Five Cities. The right to challenge a Gadol stems from the very belief that the true Gadol knows the Torah, the Word of G-d.

And the unchallengeability of an Api-Gadol stems from his not knowing, by definition, the Torah. For if an Api-Gadol claims to know the Torah, he would cease being an Api-Gadol. An Api-Gadol's status rests on his refusal to be challenged.

The stories told to me about this certain city were nigh unbelievable to me. I will share one, and only in vague outline. I was told that this city allowed the Yeshiva where these Rabbis hold sway to obtain some city land. Part of the land was then given over to build a ballpark. Some complained that the Yeshiva had contributed to a ballpark in the midst of the city that might draw in Jewish kids.

So the Yeshiva issued a letter that if a child in any family was caught going to a ballgame in the ballpark, then the child would not be welcome in any school associated with the Yeshiva. Furthermore, none of the siblings of the child would be welcome in any of the schools.

Collective punishment.

This ruling could be challenged in many ways from a Halachic perspective. But apparently, the leaders of this Yeshiva are Api-Gadolim, the pseudo-Moshe of the city.

These are just some of my thoughts. My intention in sharing them is to explain the necessity for pulling back from communities where Api-Gadolim rule. This is not sepsrating from the Tzibur. It is the opposite. This is creating a Klal that has rid itself of Apikorsos and that clings to true Gadolim.

Alex Jones banned

ANTI-JEWISH, 'PRO-ISRAEL' CONSPIRACY THEORIST BANNED BY FACEBOOK

.jpost

Facebook said it removed his pages, including Infowars, "for glorifying violence, which violates our graphic violence policy, and using dehumanizing language to describe people who are transgender, Muslims and immigrants, which violates our hate speech policies."

The conspiracy theorist has, in the past, also engaged in several anti-Jewish theories, claiming last year that Jews posed as KKK followers in Charlottesville in order to discredit white supremacist protesters. 

"I mean, quite frankly, I’ve been to these events, a lot of the KKK guys with their hats off look like they’re from the cast of “Seinfeld,” Jones said at the time. 

The Illness Is Bad Enough. The Hospital May Be Even Worse.

ny times

The elderly are particularly vulnerable to “post-hospital syndrome,” some experts believe, and that may be why so many patients return.

Even after her discharge, the stress and disruptions of hospitalization — interrupted sleep, weight loss, mild delirium, deconditioning caused by days in bed — left her disoriented and weakened, a vulnerable state some researchers call “post-hospital syndrome.”

FORMER SENIOR UNITED NATIONS OFFICIAL FACING PEDOPHILIA CHARGES IN NEPAL

newsweek

One of the world’s leading experts on humanitarian work with street children and children affected by war has been arrested on pedophilia charges.

Canadian humanitarian worker Peter Dalglish, who helped found the charity Street Kids International, was taken in by police in Nepal on Sunday (April 8), Xinhua news agency reported.

The Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) of Nepal Police said they wanted to question Dalglish over claims he was involved in pedophile activities in Kavre district, around 50 kilometers north of the capital, Kathmandu.

An initial investigation claims the 60-year-old had offered children foreign trips and better education before sexually abusing them.

My Republica reported that two children, aged 12 and 14, had allegedly been abused by Dalglish and rescued by authorities.

CIB chief and Deputy Inspector General of Police, Pushkar Karki, said that an organization outside the country had tipped off the police about Dalglish.

Kasich says Ohio election was a "vote on the president"

cbs

Ohio Gov. John Kasich said Ohio voters who cast so many votes for Democrat Danny O'Connor in a solidly Republican district were "sending a message to the Republicans to knock it off." 

The Republican governor made the comments in an exclusive interview with CBS News correspondent Ed O'Keefe, following the special election Tuesday night in Ohio's 12th Congressional District that is still too close to call. President Trump and the GOP have declared victory for Republican Troy Balderson, but no major news outlet has yet called the race for either candidate. Kasich suggested he believes a number of Republican women voted for O'Connor over Balderson.

"Well, the voters here sent a message to the Republicans to knock it off," Kasich, who has been critical of Mr. Trump, told O'Keefe. "Stop the chaos, the division, no more of this family separation that we see at the border or taking people's healthcare away. I think that have — basically have had enough and they're sending a message to the Republicans, including the Republican in the White House...And what happened here, in this district, people will not, maybe not understand this. This district is so Republican, there should never even have been an election here. And it was so close and -- in one of the counties that's so solidly Republican -- where a Republican would normally win by 70 percent, it broke basically 50-50."

"So, some Republicans sat at home, but what I think happened, and we don't have all the numbers yet, I think you will find a lot of Republican women who not only didn't sit at home, but a significant percentage, or some percentage of them voted for the Democrat," he added.

New Mexico compound suspects were training children for school shootings, prosecutors say

cnn\\\

The five suspects accused of abusing 11 children at a New Mexico compound were training them to commit school shootings, prosecutors said Wednesday.

If the defendants were to "be released from custody, there is a substantial likelihood defendant may commit new crimes due to his planning and preparation for future school shootings," the court documents said.

The filings did not provide further details about the alleged training. The makeshift compound appeared to have a shooting range on the property and loaded firearms were found on the property, authorities said.

A foster parent of one of the children also said, "The defendant had trained the child in the use of an assault rifle in preparation for future school shootings," according to the court filings.

Allegations against the suspects come in the wake of the discovery that 11 starving children had been living in a filthy compound in Amalia, New Mexico, that lacked electricity or plumbing

The five defendants -- Wahhaj; his sisters, Hujrah Wahhaj and Subhannah Wahhaj, who are thought to be the children's mothers; Lucas Morten and Jany Leveille -- were each arraigned Wednesday in a Taos, New Mexico, courtroom on 11 counts of child abuse related to the neglect and abuse of the children.

The five, who pleaded not guilty, have a pretrial detention hearing set for Monday, according to Aleksandar Kostich, a state public defender.

Family members of the suspects said they didn't know anything of the alleged training for school shootings.

Wahhaj's father, Imam Siraj Wahhaj, a controversial New York imam, said he has "no knowledge" of the alleged training, said spokesman Imam Al-Hajj Talib Abdur-Rashid.

The imam was the first Muslim to offer an opening prayer before the US House of Representatives, the Muslim Alliance in North America said. He was also a character witness for convicted 1993 World Trade Center bombing mastermind Omar Abdel-Rahman.

Shariyf Muhammad, attorney for Abdul-Ghani's mother, Hakima Ramzi, said she "has no knowledge of any training for school shootings."

Donald Trump’s endgame: He may admit collusion — and claim he was saving America from Hillary

salon

Trump’s supporters literally accept whatever he says, and the GOP will never stand up. This will end very badly

Donald Trump's presidency is like a poorly written spy thriller turned into real life. The newest twist in this painful never-ending story? After many months of denying that his son and other campaign representatives met with a Russian agent to discuss receiving damaging information about Hillary Clinton -- the cover story being that the meeting in Trump Tower was about the adoptions of Russian children -- on Sunday Trump admitted on Twitter that this was all a lie. He proclaimed: “This was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics - and it went nowhere. I did not know about it!”

I have explained on numerous occasions that Donald Trump colluded with Russia in plain sight to steal the 2016 presidential election from Hillary Clinton and the American people. Trump has also continued to obstruct justice to conceal what was probably a crime and certainly a treasonous act.

In the New Yorker, Adam Davidson provides this context:

Rick Gates Shows Why Trump Is So Worried About Witness Flipping

time.

When Rick Gates took the stand in Paul Manafort’s Virginia trial Monday, he quickly showed the power Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s team can wield if they can get witnesses to “flip” against former friends and colleagues, a particular obsession of President Donald Trump’s as the Russia investigation grinds on.

By Monday, the jury in Manafort’s trial had heard from an FBI agent, high-end menswear salesmen, accountants and financial experts, among other witnesses, to testify about the tax and bank fraud that Trump’s former campaign chairman had been charged with. But court watchers had been eagerly awaiting Gates, who both the prosecution and defense seem to be hoping will be at the center of their case.

Gates, who was also a senior Trump campaign official, was Manafort’s righthand man for years. The defense signaled in opening arguments that they’ll try to pin the tax and bank fraud crimes at issue in this case on him. Gates has already pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy against the U.S. and one count of making a false statement to investigators in the course of Mueller’s investigation.

Gates’s appearance in court marked a dramatic moment in the probe: the first visible case of a witness flipping, or turning on friends or colleagues in a case. Trump’s former adviser George Papadopoulos has reportedly been cooperating with Mueller, but the public hasn’t learned what he may have divulged. Trump is obsessed with loyalty in his inner circle, famously even demanding it of former FBI Director James Comey.

His preoccupation with the idea that confidantes or associates might turn on him came to the foreground recently when he fed rumors that his longtime lawyer Michael Cohen might flip, tweeting in April that journalists “are going out of their way to destroy Michael Cohen and his relationship with me in the hope that he will “flip”” and that “most people will flip if the Government lets them out of trouble, even if….it means lying or making up stories.”

DEAN RADIN & REAL MAGIC: The Science Behind Clairvoyance, Telekinesis & Telepathy, LAW OF ATTRACTION

.times of israel

Is Kabbalah real? One scientist sees no trick in humanity’s esoteric traditions

Psychologist and author Dean Radin often faces a dilemma when he speaks publicly: Which hat should he wear? For Radin, the answer to this figurative question depends on the audience.

“If I’m in a group of academics I’ll say I’m a psychologist. That’s what my PhD is in,” Radin shares in a recent interview with The Times of Israel.

“The reason I wouldn’t say a parapsychologist is because that word conjures up magazines at the grocery store. And it’s so pervasive, how people think about parapsychology and paranormal as ‘woo woo,’ that it’s just easier to not to go into it,” he says.

amazon

Entangled Minds: Extrasensory Experiences in a Quantum Reality

Entangled Minds (EM) is a sequel to Dean Radin's 1997 defense of psychic phenomena The Conscious Universe (CU). EM is CU for Dummies: more of the same, but in a casual, conversational style, and aimed at non-scientists who are likely to be impressed by references to quantum physics.  In my review of The Conscious Universe, I describe how Radin distorts the history of psi research, omitting the seedy side of the story, and abuses statistics to make his case for the paranormal. He repeatedly shouts out the incredible odds against chance of getting some result in an experiment that allegedly demonstrates telepathy, precognition, or psychokinesis, yet he still can't find a single person in any of these experiments who is even aware of a psychic ability, much less able to demonstrate one under properly controlled conditions. In the end, what needs to be explained is not psychic phenomena but why Radin and other parapsychologists think these experiments demonstrate psi. The true believer will not be deterred, however. Radin thinks psi will some day be explained by fitting it into a framework of quantum phenomena. This skeptic isn't convinced that there is anything to be explained except Radin's belief in the reality of psi despite overwhelming evidence against it.

Radin knows that polls show that most people believe in some sort of psychic phenomena. So, he is not in a minority when it comes to belief. He notes, however, that there are only about 50 scientists around the world engaged in full-time psi research (p. 7). This disparity is not due to scientists recognizing that psi research is probably a waste of time. In Radin's view, ordinary people believe in psi because "they see farther into the depths of the world than other people do" (p. 51). Scientists, he claims, are afraid to admit that they believe in psi. They don't engage in psi research because they would be looked on as mentally deficient if they did. Radin thinks that skeptics consider believers stupid and have succeeded in putting the fear of God into both ordinary folks and scientists. They dare not admit their beliefs for fear of being ridiculed. He doesn't consider the possibility that pandering by the media and ignorance of affective, cognitive, and perceptual biasesmight account for some of those beliefs in the paranormal. Nor does he blush when he mentions that many great minds have believed in psi and done psi research, including some Nobel laureates.

He even misuses the brilliant experiment on inattentional blindness at the University of Illinois to try to give support to his view: just as many people don't see things that are right before their eyes, scientists and skeptics are blind to the reality of psi (p. 44). This is clearly hogwash. Nothing sells like the paranormal. The popularity of psi increases with each new television program featuring ghosts or mediums. Scientists may be staying away from psi research because they don't see any future in it. If there were much hope of finding anything important by psi research, scientists would be fighting for the opportunity to be the one to make the first great discovery. You don't need to have precognition to see the future of this discipline. The past provides plenty of solid evidence that the future looks dim.

believers in psi are not stupid

Even though Radin provides little evidence for the claim that scientists and skeptics view people like him as stupid or uneducated, he spends an entire chapter arguing that believers in psi are not stupid and uneducated, but "normal." He seems to be confusing stupidity with ignorance. Even educated people are ignorant of many things, including many things about perception and the psychology of belief. As he did in CU, Radin distorts the truth by quoting out of context. One egregious example comes in his suggestion that the American Psychiatric Association (APA) has declared that belief in psi is a mental disorder (pp. 36-37). There are several mental disorders, it is true, that manifest themselves in part by "odd beliefs or magical thinking," including superstitious beliefs and beliefs in clairvoyance or telepathy. Radin admits this, but the reader is left to figure out how to make sense of his suggestion that psychiatrists consider people like him to be mentally ill. The least he could have done is note that most people don't consider a person mentally ill if his delusions are shared by numerous other people in his social group.

Radin's attitude toward believers in psi and skeptics in EM belies his degree in educational psychology. He should be well aware that there is a great body of psychological literature supporting the notion that belief or disbelief in the paranormal or supernatural is not a matter of intelligence or education. Why a brilliant man likeBrian Josephson would spend his days in pursuit of psi or an equally brilliant Murray Gell-Mann would consider pursuit of psi a waste of time is not going to be answered by looking into their IQs or their educational experiences. Why Richard Dawkins finds atheism a natural consequence of science and Francis Collins finds science leads him to belief in God is not going to be understood by probing into their intellects or education. Likewise, there are believers and skeptics who suffer from various mental disorders or brain malfunctions, but those disorders don't provide an adequate explanation for why many people who don't suffer from such disorders believe or disbelieve in the paranormal or supernatural. This is not the place for a full-blown discussion of the psychology of belief. I recommend as a starting place the short article by Jim Alcock called "The Belief Engine." Alcock uses a machine metaphor to introduce some basic notions about beliefs, starting with the claim: "Our brains and nervous systems constitute a belief-generating machine, a system that evolved to assure not truth, logic, and reason, but survival."

Radin's dismissal of critics

In both his books, Radin devotes extensive space to dismissing criticism without reviewing a single skeptical evaluation of the data for psi. He ignores the critiques of Ray Hyman, David Marks, Jim Alcock, Susan Blackmore, C. E. M. Hansel, and the like. He has two main reasons for dismissing critics: 1) they don't look at the data, but reject psi research outright as mistaken or fraudulent; and 2) skepticism and critical analysis of psi research are "outdated" (p. 79), "stubbornly incredulous" (p. 89), and  "insufficient" (p. 246). The irony of reason number one is obvious. Reason number two seems to be little more than a defense mechanism and excuse for not doing the hard work of answering critics.

does trump want to start new cvil war?With LeBron James Tweet, President Trump's War on Sports Hits a New Low

time

The missive, sent from the White House at 10:37 p.m. Friday night, delivered nausea to decent people.

On the week LeBron James opened his school serving disadvantaged children from his hometown of Akron, Ohio, giving the kids and their families a singular opportunity — not to mention free college tuition to all who graduate — Donald Trump questioned the intelligence of a bonafide basketball genius. Sports smarts count. Off the court, James has started several businesses — a sports agency, a Hollywood production outfit — and become a meaningful philanthropist. Not to mention that he also possesses a photographic memory: James can recall minute details of basketball games on command.

What a strange target for Trump: one of the brightest, most popular athletes in the world. But facts don’t seem to bother this President. “Lebron (sic) James was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon,” Trump tweeted on Friday night, referencing an interview Lemon, the CNN anchor, conducted with James to mark the opening of James’ I Promise School. “He made Lebron (sic) look smart, which isn’t easy to do. I like Mike!” Here, Trump’s referring to another all-time NBA great, Michael Jordan.

Donald Trump has some thoughts on fighting wildfires. They’re nonsense.

vox

The 2018 wildfire year has been devastating. As of Monday, the National Interagency Fire Center reports that there are 60 uncontained large fires across the country, with a total of 5.1 million acres ravaged by fire so far this year.

These deadly infernos have killed several firefighters, forced hundreds of people to flee, and destroyed hundreds of homes and thousands of acres of wilderness.

The Carr Fire in Northern California is now the state’s fifth-largest fire on record after igniting more than 160,0000 acres and killing seven people. But it’s been bested in size by the Mendocino Complex fire, which, at 273,000 acres, is the second-largest in state history.

Late last month, President Trump signed a federal emergency declaration for the state of California, allowing the federal government to assist with firefighting efforts.

So it’s not surprising that Trump would weigh in on the California blazes. But on Sunday night, he used them to bash environmental regulations:

California wildfires are being magnified & made so much worse by the bad environmental laws which aren’t allowing massive amount of readily available water to be properly utilized. It is being diverted into the Pacific Ocean. Must also tree clear to stop fire spreading!.3K people are talking about thi

There are a few reasons these statements are bewildering. First, human activity is definitely making these fires worse: People are building in vulnerable areas, they are igniting most of these fires, and humans are driving climate change, which makes fire conditions more severe.

But environmental laws about water that would be used to put the fires out?

Even wildfire scientists have no idea what the president was referring to here. California has been parched from drought for years, so there isn’t a “massive amount of readily available water,” and what little moisture is available is closely tracked.

“We do manage all of our rivers in California, and all the water is allocated many times over. So I’m not sure what he was recommending,” LeRoy Westerling, a professor at the University of California Merced studying wildfires, told the San Francisco Chronicle. “Even if we eliminated all habitat for riparian species and fish, and allowed saltwater intrusion into the delta and set up a sprinkler system over the state, that wouldn’t compensate for greater moisture loss from climate change.”

Trump doubles down, blaming California's water policies for wildfires

thehill

President Trump doubled down on his criticism of California Gov. Jerry Brown (D), saying Monday that the state's water management policies are responsible for deadly wildfires.

“Governor Jerry Brown must allow the Free Flow of the vast amounts of water coming from the North and foolishly being diverted into the Pacific Ocean,” Trump tweeted. “Can be used for fires, farming and everything else. Think of California with plenty of Water - Nice! Fast Federal govt. Approvals.”

Trump said on Sunday that too much water from the northern part of the state is being allowed to flow into the Pacific Ocean, instead of being captured or redirected to use for firefighting, agriculture or other purposes.

The president's remarks echo longstanding Republican arguments that environmental policies like the Endangered Species Act make it harder for California to hold onto its water. Congressional Republicans for years have pushed for policies to direct more water into storage or to the southern part of the state.

In a strikingly ignorant tweet, Trump gets almost everything about California wildfires wrong

latimes

No one would mistake President Trump for an expert on climate change or water policy, but a tweet he issued late Sunday about California’s wildfires deserves some sort of award for most glaring misstatements about those two issues in the smallest number of words.

Trump blamed the fires on “bad environmental laws which aren’t allowing massive amount of readily available water to be properly utilized.” He complained that water needed for firefighting is being “diverted into the Pacific Ocean.”

What he overlooked, plainly, is the increasing agreement among experts that intensifying climate change has contributed to the intensity of the wildfire season. California’s woodlands have been getting drier and hotter. As my colleagues Rong-Gong Lin II and Javier Panzar reported over the weekend, “California has been getting hotter for some time, but July was in a league of its own.”

Trump admits son met Russian for information on opponent

bbc

US President Donald Trump has admitted his son met a Russian lawyer in June 2016 "to get information on an opponent", but argues it was legal.

It is his most direct statement so far on the reason for Donald Trump Jr's meeting with Kremlin-linked lawyer Natalia Veselnitskaya at Trump Tower.

Special Counsel Robert Mueller is investigating US intelligence findings that Russians conspired to sway the election in Mr Trump's favour.

President Trump denies any collusion.

He has called the ongoing investigations in the US "the greatest political witch hunt in history".

time

President Donald Trump on Sunday appeared to change his story about a 2016 meeting at Trump Tower that is pivotal to the special counsel’s investigation, tweeting that his son met with a Kremlin-connected lawyer to collect information about his political opponent.

“Fake News reporting, a complete fabrication, that I am concerned about the meeting my wonderful son, Donald, had in Trump Tower,” Trump wrote. “This was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics – and it went nowhere. I did not know about it!”

That is a far different explanation than Trump gave 13 months ago, when a statement dictated by the president but released under the name of Donald Trump Jr.,. read: “We primarily discussed a program about the adoption of Russian children that was active and popular with American families years ago.”

npr

It was a tweet that set off a storm. Was President Trump admitting to collusion between his campaign and Russia? Was he stipulating that the now notorious June 2016 Trump Tower meeting arranged by his son Donald Trump Jr. really was all about getting dirt on Hillary Clinton from a Kremlin-linked Russian lawyer and not adoption issues as President Trump had earlier claimed?

"This was a meeting to get information on an opponent, totally legal and done all the time in politics - and it went nowhere," the president wrote in tweet early Sunday.

He concluded the tweet by saying, "I did not know about it!

It's unclear whether Trump's latest admission will affect Mueller's probe in any way. But, as NPR's Brian Naylor reports, if Mueller could prove Trump was aware of the meeting in advance, "or cast doubt on denials by Trump and Trump Jr., it would be a dramatic addition to Mueller's investigation into Russian election interference in the 2016 presidential race and possible collusion by the Trump campaign."