Imposter

 https://www.kikar.co.il/haredim-news/chief-rabbi-impersonator-legal-action

אייל ציונוב מתהדר בגלימת ומצנפת הראשון לציון, מופיע בטקסים ממלכתיים ומחלק ברכות לקהל שבטוח כי ז כהלפגוש בראשון לציון בכבודו ובעצמו • הדברים הגיעו עד לכדי אירוע מביך בטקס הדלקת המשואות ואף לתקרית ביטחונית עם שירות הביטחון הכללי • גורם בכיר ברבנות בשיחה עם 'כיכר': "ההיסטוריה המשפטית מלמדת שאין דרך למנוע מכל אחד להתלבש כראות עיניו"

ברבנות הראשית לישראל בוחנים בימים אלו האם קיימת דרך משפטית לפעול נגד אייל ציונוב, שמתהדר בגלימת ומצנפת הראשון לציון, מסתובב בטקסים ממלכתיים ומחלק ברכות לקהל שבטוח כי זכה לפגוש בראשון לציון בכבודו ובעצמו.

Why Trump’s latest blink on Iran could be more than a TACO Tuesday

 https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/22/politics/trump-iran-ceasefire-taco-vance-pakistan-talks-analysis

President Donald Trump blinked again by extending the ceasefire with Iran.

His critics are mocking another TACO (“Trump always chickens out”) Tuesday after the president caved on one more personal red line days after warning there’d be “no more Mr. Nice Guy” if the Islamic Republic didn’t capitulate.

But the derision would be more justified if a president risked more Iranian and US lives by doubling down on what looks like an unwise war purely to preserve his tough-guy persona.

A haunting question about the Vietnam War that future Sen. John Kerry posed to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1971 seems apt here: “How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?”

Still, Trump’s climbdown cast fresh doubts on his wartime leadership skills on a day when Iran refused to show up to talks in Islamabad aimed at ending the war — leaving Vice President JD Vance cooling his heels at home.

The president’s spin cannot obscure the most important takeaway from Tuesday: His strategy of using threats of overwhelming US military force to coerce Iran into surrendering at talks has now failed multiple times. Inside Iran, therefore, it must appear that Trump’s threats of military escalation lack credibility.

Trump’s craving for the spotlight risks Iran deal hopes

https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/21/politics/trump-iran-ceasefire-talks-social-media-analysis

 Donald Trump has spent days negotiating peace in Iran — with himself.

The president has rolled out every trick in his entrepreneur’s manual “The Art of the Deal” in trying to create leverage, spin endgame scenarios and force Iran to capitulate.

But his round-the-clock avalanche of online outbursts and quotes to reporters who have him on speed dial seem to ignore one of his big rules.

“The worst thing you can possibly do in a deal is seem desperate to make it,” Trump wrote in the 1987 book that lionized wheeler-dealing and himself.

The commander in chief risks walking into that very trap ahead of possible talks in Pakistan between top US and Iranian negotiators in the coming days.

He can’t stop talking about the possibility of a deal. But since he’s not at the table with Iran’s leaders, he might be worsening the prospects.

Guest post wanted on topic: "We were very happily married for 20 years - and then she insisted on a divorce - turned the kids against me and left me penniless - I still don't know why."

update Friday: Bshch  published a strong warning from a beis din in Beitar. - against a therapist for allegedly promoting divorce  Have no personal knowledge about this but it was sent to me by a number readers as reflecting the ideas in this post

update Thursday - see The Ort Family tragedy

I would like a guest posts dealing with first person stories of  the commonly expressed lament I hear of husbands describing a happy marriage of many years, good relations with the children and then they woke up one morning with their wife requesting a divorce. The husband typically could not get the wife to explain what happened or why she wanted a divorce. After the request for divorce there are attempts to mediate by rabbis, friends and therapists - but they fail and the wife left - often taking the kids with her.  - often going to secular court without permission of beis din.

None of these mediators are able to get the wife to express to the husband what happened other than that the wives had a profound feeling of unhappiness that had been growing recently and a feeling that life was passing her by. At some point little attempt is made to reconcile and the husband is deliberately kept in the dark by the therapist and wife. Often the initial neutrality of the therapist is replaced by a decided bias in favor of  the wife's side and they form a coalition against the husband. In addition the therapist has no problem providing confidential information about the husband with the wife's mother or friends. Separate therapy sessions become the norm - rather than joint sessions. The sessions with the wife often revolve around how terrible the husband is or at least how incapable he is of truly being a good husband because of flimsily diagnoses of various psychological deficits or syndromes. Sessions with the husband are to prepare him for the fact that he is inadequate and incapable of making his wife happy. These therapy sessions often combined with feedback from "experts" who are good friends or relatives or lawyers - create an irresistible momentum for divorce at all costs including slandering the husband with charges of wife beating or sexually abusing the children.

Often these wives receive "advice" from friends and relatives to the fact that contrary to their feelings - they were very unhappy and their husband was taking advantage of them and clearly did not respect or value her as an equal. These "advisers" claimed that their husband's viewed them as a type of slave or servant providing various services because he viewed her as inherently inferior. The wife learned that what she had viewed as willing sacrifices for the husband's learning or for him to have a solid relationship with the children - were in fact proof that there was no value to her existence except as a facilitator for his needs. At some point the wife started viewing the husband as "the other" and stopped trusting him and refused to confide in him or even share experiences. 

The husband is often very inarticulate in expressing his feelings to his "new born wife". That is because for years they have shared a language and values that were viewed positively by both of them - and now the wife has a different negative understanding. Every time her husband opens his mouth - it just makes the barriers between them more impenetrable. Typically he doesn't realize this and keeps trying harder to push the buttons and say the words that used to work - but he ends up totally frustrated and angry as well as irritating her. The wife takes this additional proof that he is damaged goods. 

If this sounds familiar please submit your own story - with names and identifying statements removed. Also I am not interested in nasty things said about your ex-wife - just the facts. Also interested in those who deny that this pattern exists.

update====Just received the following response  from a prominent frum therapist ====

Rabbi Eidensohn:

Having worked with couples for many years, I have observed many situations, prior to my intervention, during, and after. There is probably no one with enough data to cite statistics.  But the experience I have, plus many of my colleagues does not point to either gender as the chief perpetrator of divorces. Let us establish a few matters that are not negotiable.

1. Humans were meant to marry and be happy A marriage that dissolves is abnormal, and it is tragic.

2. An old saying is that marriage is grand – divorce a hundred grand.

3. The peaceful divorce is possible, but it is a relatively uncommon experience. It is said, “People marry out of love; they divorce out of hate.”

4. Marriage is a gamble. If one does not “win”, it becomes necessary to face loss. No one wants to do that. It is seen as easier to shift the blame to the other. If not just the blame, then the outcome of the division of assets and resources (including the children) becomes ripe for declaring victory.

5. The systems of lawyers for court and toanim for batei din are ripe for exploitation. Cases are often prolonged, and settlements difficult to reach because of these outside sources of interference.

6. The complexities of the interplay of halacha and secular law provide enough fodder to gum up the works. This includes the use of court prior to beis din, the orders of protection that prevent conduct of the family, and the easy manipulation of the courts to provide emergency orders of custody, visitation, etc.

7. There are “professionals” of many persuasions that lend their incompetence and poor judgment to the mix. There are rabbonim, dayanim, toanim, and choson/kallah teachers, as well as “shalom bayis machers” who reach conclusions as per their preferences, independent of the facts. Many are poorly informed. The ignorance that allows one to fall for the tears of the borderline personalities, and the beliefs that men always perpetrate abuse while women are always the victims, the willingness to paint the facts into the foregone conclusions to rationalize them, and the disregard for the midoh of emes are legendary. Mental health professionals of all disciplines have been faulted for the negative roles they sometimes take.

8. Lastly, there are evil men and women out there, who will twist and turn everything they can to “win”. The craving of victory, as noted by the Chofetz Chaim, is the root of machlokes. This does not stop after separation, or even after divorce. With the observation of my colleagues and myself as the context, I hesitate to give any credence to the oft posted comments about all divorces being perpetrated by evil women or by evil men. With systems as they exist, including courts, batei din, public opinion, and media, there are tendencies to make generalizations that are unfounded. Each case needs to be examined on its own merit.

I have worked with true cases of domestic violence, and I have also worked with fabricated ones.  Who is the real victim?  Generalizations help no one.

One issue that was not reported in the recent guest post was the role of social influences. There are groups of women in the frum community, many who meet online, others face-to-face, that advise each other and conspire how to cause their husbands or ex-husbands the most damage, “using the system”. Without restricting free speech, one cannot successfully eliminate these social environments.  I have succeeded in getting some of my clients to abandon these groups, and to seek support from sources that help build them instead of destroying others.
************************

In major about-face, Trump announces extension of Iran truce hours before deadline

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/iran-undecided-on-talks-as-ceasefire-enters-final-hours-trump-they-have-to-negotiate/

US president says ceasefire being extended until Islamic Republic’s ‘seriously fractured’ leadership offers ‘a unified proposal,’ blockade to remain in place; Vance postpones Islamabad trip

Hours before a two-week ceasefire with Iran was set to expire, US President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he was extending the truce for the time being and that the US will hold off on attacking the Islamic Republic, after both countries warned that without a deal they were prepared to resume fighting.

According to Trump, the decision to extend the ceasefire was made at the request of Pakistani mediators, who said more time was needed for a fractured Iranian leadership to submit a proposal on a deal to permanently end the war. A second round of talks had been planned for Tuesday before being pushed to Wednesday and then delayed indefinitely by Trump, as the US and Pakistan await Iran’s response to the latest American proposal.

The move amounted to a major about-face for Trump, who repeatedly insisted — as recently as as earlier in the day — that he would not issue an extension of the ceasefire, which was supposed to expire at around 6:30 p.m. Eastern Time (1:30 a.m. Israel time).

Rav Weiss Frum Soldiers

 

Does the Mitzvah to Eliminate Idol Worship Apply in Israel Today?

 https://www.berotbatayin.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/ReehChurches.pdf

Must Churches be Torched in Israel? 

The Positive Torah Mitzvah to Destroy Idolatry

If You Find an Idol Must You Destroy it? 

Aiming for a Pure, Holy and Idol Free Israel

I believe it is important to heighten awareness – through peaceful means – that the appearance of idols in Israel is a serious Torah infringement. Living in an egalitarian, tolerant world, makes it challenging to regard the sight of any church in the land of Israel or the rest of the world as a desecration of Hashem’s name. Yet, despite, desiring a pure, holy and idol-free Israel, it makes sense to me that we need to exercise patience and restrain ourselves from taking the law into our own hands – walking around smashing idol worship in Israel or anywhere else – until the Oneness of Hashem will be revealed to all. Let us pray that this day will come speedily and in our time

Destroying Idols in Israel

 Avoda Zara (54b): Philosophers asked the Sages in Rome: If your G d doesn’t want idolatry why doesn’t He simply destroy it? They said: If the object worshiped was something that the world had no need He would in fact destroy it. However they worship the sun, moon, stars and constellations. Should He destroy the world for the sake of fools? Therefore the world goes in its natural course and the fools whose way is corrupt will be punished in the future. Another example: A person stole wheat and planted it. It is only just that the stolen seed should not grow. However the world goes in its natural course and the fools whose way is corrupt will be punished in the future. Another example: If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife, it is only just that she should get pregnant. However the world goes in its natural course and the fools whose way is corrupt will be punished in the future. Reish Lakish said: G d said that it is bad enough that the wicked misuse My world but they also trouble Me force Me to put My seal on it.

Berachos (54a) On seeing a place from which idolatry has been extirpated, he should say, blessed be he who extirpated idolatry from our land.

Berachos (57b) A PLACE FROM WHICH IDOLATRY HAS BEEN UPROOTED. Our Rabbis taught: If one sees a statue of Hermes, he says, Blessed be He who shows long suffering to those who transgress His will. If he sees a place from which idolatry has been uprooted, he says, Blessed be He who uprooted idolatry from our land; and as it has been uprooted from this place, so may it be uprooted from all places belonging to Israel; and do Thou turn the heart of those that serve them to serve Thee. Outside Palestine it is not necessary to say: Turn the heart of those that serve them to serve Thee, because most of them are idolaters. R. Simeon b. Eleazar says: Outside Palestine also one should say this, because they will one day become proselytes, as it says, For then will I turn to the peoples a pure language.

Chinuch (436:1)To destroy idolatry and its auxiliaries: That we were commanded to destroy all houses of idolatry with all types of destruction — with breaking, with burning, with demolition, with cutting — every type with what is fitting for it; meaning to say with what would be most destructive and quick in its destruction. And the intent is that we not leave a trace of idolatry. And about this is it stated (Deuteronomy 12:2), “You shall surely destroy all of the places, etc.” And it is also stated (Deuteronomy 12:3), “But rather, etc. their altars shall you tear down.” And it states further (Deuteronomy 12:3), “And you shall tear down their altar.” And the proof that it is a positive commandment is that which it said in Sanhedrin 90a, “What is the positive commandment about idolatry?” — meaning to say, to destroy it? “Rav Chasda [answered], ‘“And you shall tear down, etc.”’” And the language of Sifrei Devarim 60 is “From where do we know that if one cuts down a tree-god and it grows back even ten times that a person is obligated to cut it down? Hence, we learn to say, ‘you shall surely destroy, etc.’” And it is also said there, “‘And you will destroy their name from that place’ — in the Land of Israel, you are commanded to pursue after them, but you are not commanded to pursue after them outside of the Land.”

Devarim (07:02-5) And when the Lord your God shall deliver them before you; you shall strike them, and completely destroy them; you shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them;3. And you shall not make marriages with them; your daughter you shall not give to his son, nor his daughter shall you take to your son.4. For they will turn away your son from following me, that they may serve other gods; so will the anger of the Lord be kindled against you, and destroy you speedily.5. But thus shall you deal with them; you shall destroy their altars, and break down their images, and cut down their Asherim, and burn their carved idols with fire.

Devarim (12:02-04) You shall completely destroy all the places, where the nations which you shall possess served their gods, upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree;3. And you shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their Asherim with fire; and you shall cut down the carved images of their gods, and destroy their names out of that place.4. You shall not do so to the Lord your God.

Rambam (Avoda Zara 07:01) It is a positive commandment to destroy false deities, all their accessories, and everything that is made for their purposes, states: "You shall surely destroy all the places where the gentiles... served their gods" andRather, what you should do to them is tear down their altars."

Sanhedrin (89b) "the positive commandment of idolatry," they said by way of wonder, "What positive commandment is there in idolatry? Rabbi Hisda explained, 'And tear down.

Sefer HaMitzvos (Positive Commandments 185:1) That is that He commanded us to destroy idolatry and all of its houses with all types of destruction, annihilation, breaking, burning, demolishing and cutting - every type according to what will be most enhanced and quickest in the destruction. And the intention is that we should not leave a trace of them. And that is His, may He be exalted, saying, "You must surely destroy all the sites at which they worshiped, etc. And tear down their altars"  and His also saying, "you shall tear down their altars".

Sifrei (Devarim 60:1) From where do we know that if he cut down idolatry even ten times and it grew again, he must cut it down? Hence we learn to say, 'You must surely destroy.'" And they say there , "'And you shall destroy their name rom that place' - In the Land of Israel, you are commanded to pursue it its complete destruction; but you are not commanded to pursue it outside of the Land.

In central Bnei Brak: Israeli flag flown on roof of Ponevezh Yeshiva

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/389928

As per the instructions of Rabbi Yosef Shlomo Kahaneman, legendary Ponevezh Yeshiva dean, the Israeli flag was hung early on Independence Day morning and will remain there until the afternoon.

Since then, in following Rabbi Kahaneman's customs, the flag has been hung on the yeshiva every year on Independence Day, and remains there from eight in the morning until four o'clock in the afternoon.

During Rabbi Kahaneman’s time, students at the yeshiva did not say the daily Tachanun prayer on Independence Day in recognition of its joyous nature, he said. However, after his passing, students resumed saying Tachanun as on other days.

Despite Trump’s claims, Iran war is doing him damage

 https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5840075-trump-iran-war-gas-prices-midterm-elections/

Trump and key allies like Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth insist that the U.S. military has already won a great victory in Iran. American and Israeli bombardments have, to be sure, inflicted serious damage on the Islamic Republic, especially its navy and air force.

But the question of strategic victory is a very different one — especially since Iran has displayed an ability to block the vital Strait of Hormuz, sending oil and gas prices to levels far above their prewar range.

But a new poll from NBC News released Sunday found Trump’s approval rating at the lowest point of his second term. Just 37 percent of surveyed adults support his performance in office so far, while 63 percent disapprove. 

The poll found 67 percent of Americans disapprove of how Trump has handled the war in Iran, while just 33 percent approve.

Politically, the war has steepened an already rough climb for Republicans in November’s midterm elections. 

A deal to end the Iran war seemed close. Then Trump started posting on social media

 https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/20/politics/social-media-posts-trump-iran-deal

As the weekend approached, the US and Iran appeared to be closing in on a deal to end the seven-week war.

Then President Donald Trump did exactly what his staffers have repeatedly said they wouldn’t do: He seemed to try negotiating via the press, posting about ongoing talks on social media and speaking to several reporters by phone Friday morning as Pakistani intermediaries updated him on ongoing talks with Iranian officials in Tehran.

He claimed Iran had agreed to a host of provisions that sources familiar with the talks said have not yet been finalized. He also asserted that Tehran had agreed to many of the most contentious US demands — including that it had agreed to hand over the enriched uranium — and declared an imminent end to the war.

Why military brass kept Trump sidelined during high-stakes Iranian extraction operation

 https://www.jpost.com/international/article-893485

Military aides kept Trump out of the Situation Room during the high-stakes Iran rescue mission of a US airman, fearing his temper would derail the mission.

Military advisers intentionally excluded President Donald Trump from the command room during the recent high-stakes extraction of a downed American airman in Iran, fearing his erratic temper would jeopardize the mission, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing a senior administration official.

To mitigate the risk of impulsive interference, aides opted to provide the commander in chief with updates only at “meaningful moments,” rather than the minute-by-minute tactical feeds being monitored by the National Security Council.

Despite his bellicose public rhetoric and threats to “destroy Iranian civilization,” the report reveals that Trump remains the primary internal obstacle to a full-scale ground invasion. Military planners have reportedly presented options for the seizure of Kharg Island, the strategic hub for 90% of Iran’s oil exports.

Trump says ceasefire ends Wednesday evening and a further extension is ‘highly unlikely’

 https://edition.cnn.com/2026/04/20/world/live-news/iran-war-us-trump-israel

• Looming deadline: US President Donald Trump said the ceasefire with Iran ends “Wednesday evening Washington time,” adding it’s “highly unlikely” he would extend it if a deal is not reached before then.

He spreads hate online — and fans pay him hundreds of thousands of dollars

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/04/20/nick-fuentes-stream-donors-funding/

Fuentes, 27, has been kicked off most mainstream social networks because of his viral provocations and extreme bigotry: He has said that Adolf Hitler is “awesome,” that most Black people should be imprisoned, that “organized Jewry” has corrupted society and that women should be locked in “breeding gulags” and serve only as “mothers, whores or nuns.”

But he has become an increasingly influential and disruptive force in the American conservative movement, thanks to a shadow economy of loyalists who cut and promote viral clips from his hours-long streams in pursuit of their own online clout.

Through his superchats, Fuentes has funneled that attention into a lucrative financial engine fueled by the handouts of hardcore fans. He said he also makes money selling swastika-imprinted T-shirts and $100-a-month subscriptions to a private chatroom, where he talks with devotees.

In the years since he began streaming from his parents’ basement, Fuentes has emerged as one of the far right’s most contentious agitators, most notably for his scathing criticism of President Donald Trump. Though he dined with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, in 2022, Fuentes now argues that the president “betrayed MAGA” by supporting Israel in a war with Iran and “blew it” by not working more aggressively to deport people of color.

The heart of Fuentes’s message was that young men in the United States have gotten a rotten deal. In his telling, a nation of entitled baby boomers, like those leading the Republican Party, had poisoned American society with bad jobs, unbearable women and a racially diverse population intent on depriving White people of what they’re owed.

Fuentes, however, was practically swimming in superchat funds. In 228 videos since Trump took office in January 2025, donors initiated more than 26,000 superchats totaling more than $896,000, The Post’s analysis found. Ryan called The Post’s findings “awesome” and said that he hoped Fuentes “can put that [money] to something good.”