US launches 2nd night of strikes against Iran, as Israel said bracing for war to restart

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/us-launches-second-night-of-strikes-against-iran-as-israel-said-bracing-for-war-to-restart/

The United States launched fresh strikes on Iran late Wednesday and into early Thursday morning after striking Iranian targets a day earlier in retaliation for attacks on commercial shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, which the Islamic Republic responded to by attacking sites in Kuwait and Bahrain.

The Israeli defense establishment was reportedly keeping a close eye on the rising tensions, amid concerns the fighting could quickly escalate and draw Israel back in.

Israeli television also reported the US was returning its refueling planes to the region, after they were removed during the ceasefire that began in early April. Some of the planes, whose presence is a potential signal of the war restarting, were previously parked at Ben Gurion Airport.

Scandal-plagued Graham Platner drops Maine Senate bid

 https://thehill.com/

Democratic strategist David Axelrod, a former adviser to President Obama, said on X that Platner had “built a powerful movement among voters hungry for change, and that’s why many Mainers were willing to look past previous stories about him” but that the latest allegation “can’t be explained away or excused.”

With Platner off the ballot, Democrats in the Pine Tree State have to act quickly in the must-win race. 

Meanwhile, Republicans have seized on Platner’s controversial background as a boogeyman in their fight to protect Collins, the longest-serving Republican woman in the Senate who has held on for five terms despite the state’s overall blue lean. 

Trump returning to US on old Air Force One amid Iran threats

 https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5959582-trump-air-force-one-turkey/

The U.S. Air Force said it spent less than $400 million on security upgrades for the plane.

The Associated Press reported last week that the new plane appears not to be equipped with some of the same missile detection and countermeasure systems as the older planes, and one expert told the outlet the Qatari plane seemed better for domestic trips.

Trump warns US will 'probably strike Iran' on Wednesday night, following recent attacks

 https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/iran-news/article-901872

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that he would "probably hit Iran tonight" during a press conference following the NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey.

"I'll give a little warning: We're going to hit them hard tonight," Trump told reporters at the NATO summit in Turkey before his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Trump later said that the Iranian regime has been "killing soldiers, killing people for 47 years," and that because of that, the US has "a score to settle.

Trump: MoU with Iran is dead, they are crazy

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/429834

At the NATO summit, Trump was asked whether the memorandum of understanding between the US and Iran had ended. He respondd, "To me, I think it’s over. I don’t want to deal with them any more."

He added, "As far as I’m concerned, it’s over. I’ll speak to our negotiators, they want to negotiate. As far as I’m concerned, it’s just a waste of time dealing with them."

Regarding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Trump said that although he "loves" Netanyahu, the Israeli leader "said bad things about Turkey" on Tuesday. Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erodgan, Trump added, is "great."

Trump Calls Iran Leaders ‘Scum’ and ‘Evil’ As He Calls Off Ceasefire

 Trump Calls Iran Leaders ‘Scum’ and ‘Evil’ As He Calls Off Ceasefire

President Donald Trump has said the interim peace agreement between the U.S. and Iran is "over" and branded the leaders of the regime in Tehran as "evil, sick people."

In comments made on the sidelines of the NATO summit in Ankara in Turkey on Wednesday, Trump said he did not want to deal with Iranian officials anymore, labeling them "scum" and "liars," and adding U.S. negotiators are "wasting their time."

His remarks came just hours after the United States launched strikes on Iran, in what Washington said was retaliation for attacks on tankers in the Strait of Hormuz yesterday.

Reincarnation

 Emuna v’De’os (06:8): There are people, who call themselves Jews, who believe in the reincarnation of souls. They assert that the soul of Reuven is transferred to Shimon and afterwards to Levi and after that to Yehudah. Some, perhaps the majority of them, assert that the soul of man can be transferred into an animal or that of an animal into man and many other nonsensical and stupid things. I have investigated the reasons that they use to justify their acceptance of this theory and have found four mistaken premises. 1) The adherence to certain mistaken theories of spirituality… 2) Their observation that there are similarities between the traits of some people and that of animals e.g., sheep like passivity, aggressiveness of the predators, dog like lowliness, birdlike quickness… and their conclusion that they are the result of possession by animal souls. This just shows their great lack of common sense…3) They argue from logic that since G d is just, it is inconceivable that babies would suffer without cause. Therefore their suffering must be for sins committed by their souls in a previous existence. There are many refutations of this argument. They seem to have forgotten that there is an alternative compensation in the World to Come….4) They misunderstand Biblical verses…

Mishna Berura (Shaar HaTziyun 622:6): A person many times despairs of correcting his faults and concludes that if G d decrees that he dies because of his failure there is nothing he can do about it. However this is a mistaken attitude because in the end, G d will get the correction of the soul that He wants. The soul will be reincarnated over and over again into this world until the correction is achieved. Consequently why should the soul repeatedly suffer death and the anguish of the grave and other things? Proof of this is from Yonah whom G d wanted to prophesize for Nineveh and he tried to escape to the sea where prophesy does not occur. We see that he sunk into sea and was swallowed by the great fish and was in its belly many days where it seems that it was impossible to fulfill G d’s command. Nevertheless we see that at the end G d’s will was fulfilled and he went and prophesized. Thus it is with everyman according to his Divinely ordained task. Therefore as it says in Avos (4:22): Don’t view the grave as a refuge - because you were born against your will, you live against your will, you die against your will and against your will you will have to justify all your actions to the Heavenly court.

 Pele Yo’etz: (48) The concept of reincarnation serves to awaken the person who wishes to take to heart the fear of God—specifically the fear of punishment. One should consider that the wicked suffer many agonies; indeed, the ordeal of reincarnation is far more bitter than death itself or the torments of Gehenna. In this process, the soul transmigrates through the stages of inanimate matter, vegetation, animal life, and the speaking being, passing from one state of suffering to another across various forms of reincarnation, as explained in the Kabbalistic texts. This applies even to transgressions that appear minor and are commonly committed—such as speaking *lashon hara*—which can result in reincarnation as a barking dog; a mnemonic for this is the name *Navach* (meaning "he barked"), where the letters *Lamed-He* (spelling "*Lah*") allude to *Lashon Hara*. Similarly, one who gazes lustfully at forbidden sexual targets may be reincarnated as the bird known as the *Re'ah* (vulture/kite), which commits "adultery" through its gaze; a scriptural allusion to this is the verse: "and that you do not follow your own heart and your own eyes, after which you go astray. Then he won’t complain about Hashem’s qualities, as many in the nation are accustomed to do. When difficult yissurim come upon them, they open their mouths upwards and demand — “Ribono shel What is my crime? What is my transgression? Are my aveirot greater than those of the whole world? Why have you done this to your servant?”

Ramban (Koheles): The truth is that the words of Elihu to Job were ideas that were received by tradition from men of the Torah. Therefore when it says that Elihu was descended from ’the family of Ram” - it is a reference to Avraham. Therefore the principle that is proper to believe is that there is no death without sin and no suffering without transgression. A person should not assume that he is righteous but should carefully examine his deeds and repent for those sins he is aware of and he should confess about the sins he is not aware of. He should believe that this principle of our sages is true and that G d conducts His world with this principle. Don’t try to refute my assertions with the concept of Suffering of Love that is mentioned by our sages. However in addition to this basic principle that suffering is the result of sin there is in addition a great secret which is impossible to know without kabbala [i.e. reincarnation]. It is a very clear answer which removes all intellectual doubts. This solution which Elihu offers is alluded to in Tehilim (73:20) and is hinted in the words of Shlomo (Koheles 8:17)..... 

Sefer Bahir (195) Why is there a righteous man who fares well and a righteous man who fares poorly? Because the latter righteous man had previously been wicked and is now being punished. But is one punished for the deeds of one's youth? Did not Rabbi Simon say that the Heavenly Court does not mete out punishment until a person is twenty years old or older? He replied: "I did not speak of his lifetime; when I said he had 'previously been' wicked,.." 

Revenge

 Minchas Chinuch (241:1–2): Contrary to the view of the Chinuch that the prohibition of revenge applies to all matters, we find in the Rambam(Hilchos De’os 7:7) and Yoma(23a) that it only applies to monetary issues. In contrast suffering is not governed by the prohibition of revenge or bearing a grudge. Not to take revenge concerning suffering from others is only recommended as an aspect of piety and not halacha according to Yoma(23a) while the Rambam doesn’t mention it even as an aspect of piety. The Chinuch does not mention the distinction between money and physical suffering and apparently holds that all issues are governed by the prohibition against revenge - in direct contradiction to the gemora. Furthermore it also seems from the Semag(11th prohibition) that there is no prohibition against revenge concerning physical suffering…

Principles of Reincarnation (Gilgulim) – Part 5 – Addressing the Righteous that Suffer, Wicked that Prosper

 https://outorah.org/p/112452/

In order to resolve the question of Tzadik v’Ra lo, Rasha v’Tov lo with a tzadik gammur [like Iyov] who never transgressed, the Ramban explains: In this matter there is a great secret among the secrets of the Torah…which was given over to the experts of Torah and the Kabalah. Included within this is the Sod Ha’Ibur (i.e., gilgulei neshamot) which the Sages passed down to their reliable students. And this is actually the answer which Elihu gives to address the complaints of Iyov.

Graham Platner Rape Allegation Leaves Progressives Holding the Bag

 https://www.newsweek.com/graham-platner-rape-allegation-leaves-progressives-holding-the-bag-12167132

For nearly a year, progressives cast Graham Platner as the future of the Democratic Party, a plainspoken oyster farmer and combat veteran who could do what establishment candidates could not: energize working-class voters and unseat Susan Collins, a five-term Republican incumbent in Maine.

On Monday, that project was left hanging by a thread after a woman told Politico and CNN that Platner sexually assaulted her in 2021 and that she "absolutely" considered it rape. The allegation from Jenny Racicot, who said a heavily intoxicated Platner forced her to have sex with him after she told him not to come to her home, triggered an immediate collapse in Democratic support that had survived months of earlier controversies.

That support held through Platner's June 9 primary victory. It unraveled Monday as top Democratic endorsers abandoned Platner. By Tuesday, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who had never endorsed him but whose senior aides helped run his campaign, said Platner should end his candidacy

A Hill to Die On?

 https://mishpacha.com/a-hill-to-die-on/

Wrong Message

“…And then they got a letter in the mail saying that all their bills were paid, and the father felt better. That’s the power of bitachon.”

My kids have shared many such stories with me. Dire circumstances, have some bitachon,and problem is solved. The message: If you really believed, you wouldn’t have any problems.

I’m not trying to traumatize my kids with these conversations, but I think they’re important to have. Because the version of bitachon that some books and shiurim peddle is toxic. The message that comes across, particularly for children, is that if you have enough bitachon, all your problems will be solved exactly as you wish them to, that there’s a happily ever after possibility to every scenario — and if things didn’t work out, it’s obviously because you’re lacking bitachon. I want to know if the purveyors of these messages stick around to pick up the pieces after Hashem said, “No” and “No” and “No.”

Sitting alongside ‘friend’ Erdogan, Trump says he’ll ‘certainly consider’ F-35 sale to Turkey

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/sources-confirm-trump-expected-to-support-sale-of-f-35-jets-to-turkey/

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he would “certainly consider” selling F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, as he sat alongside Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan ahead of a NATO summit in Ankara.

NATO summit in Ankara, Turkey, Tuesday, July 7, 2026. (Osmancan Gürdoğan, Pool Photo via AP)

US President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he would “certainly consider” selling F-35 fighter jets to Turkey, as he sat alongside Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan ahead of a NATO summit in Ankara.

“It’s a decision we’re going to make… It’s certainly something we would consider,” Trump said during a meeting with Erdogan at the latter’s presidential palace, noting that “we have a better relationship with Turkey, and Turkey has been in many ways much more loyal than other countries.”

While his remarks suggested that he was still deliberating the move, Reuters — citing two sources familiar with the matter — reported earlier Tuesday that Trump is expected to throw his support behind the sale during his visit in Ankara.

Record low 28% of Israelis say Trump prioritizes Israel's security, survey finds

 https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-901781

Notably, the findings showed that most Jewish Israelis believe the current strain in US-Israel relations is temporary, while Israeli Arabs are more divided on the issue.

Most Israelis believe that Israel's security is not a central consideration for US President Donald Trump, according to a survey published on Tuesday by the Israel Democracy Institute.

The Israeli Voice Index, conducted in June by the Viterbi Center for Public Opinion and Policy Research, found that just 28% of Israelis believe Trump prioritizes Israel's security, a new low down from 44% in the previous survey in May.

The survey, based on a sample of 754 Israeli participants (151 of whom are Arab), found that just 38% of Jewish Israelis believe Israel's national security situation is better off than it was prior to the start of the war with Iran earlier this year.

Tzadik V'Rah Lo - Major Troubling Theologic Problem

 Berachos (07a) He asked that He should show him the ways of G-d and it was granted to him. For it is said: Show me now Thy ways. Moses said before Him: Lord of the Universe, why is it that some righteous men prosper and others are in adversity, some wicked men prosper and others are in adversity? He replied to him: Moses, the righteous man who prospers is the righteous man the son of a righteous man; the righteous man who is in adversity is a righteous man the son of a wicked man. The wicked man who prospers is a wicked man son of a righteous man; the wicked man who is in adversity is a wicked man son of a wicked man.

Berachos (07a) The righteous man who prospers is a righteous man son of a righteous man; the righteous man who is in adversity is a righteous man son of a wicked man’. But this is not so! For, lo, one verse says: Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and another verse says: Neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers. And a contradiction was pointed out between these two verses, and the answer was given that there is no contradiction. The one verse deals with children who continue in the same course as their fathers, and the other verse with children who do not continue in the course of their fathers! — You must therefore say that the Lord said thus to Moses: A righteous man who prospers is a perfectly righteous man; the righteous man who is in adversity is not a perfectly righteous man. The wicked man who prospers is not a perfectly wicked man; the wicked man who is in adversity is a perfectly wicked man. Now this is in opposition to the saying of R. Meir. For R. Meir said: only two requests were granted to him, and one was not granted to him. For it is said: And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, although he may not deserve it, And I will show mercy on whom I will show mercy, although he may not deserve it.

Kad HaKemach (Atonement 01) Suffering befalls a person to purge his sins, rendering him worthy of the World to Come. For this reason, G-d chastises the righteous for the few transgressions they possess—doing so during the fleeting time of this world and affecting the body—in order to grant them merit and reward them for their good deeds during the exalted time of the eternal World to Come, affecting the soul. This reflects the teaching of Rabbi Akiva "Beloved are sufferings..." 

R’ Saadiya Gaon (Emuna V’De’os 5:3): The righteous suffer for two reasons. The first reason is that it is for the few sins they have committed… The second reason is that it a trial. G d tests them when He knows that they will be able to endure the suffering. Afterwards he will reward them to compensate them for the undeserved suffering. G d does not test a person who cannot endure it - because then it serves no purpose. The purpose in afflicting the righteous is in order that mankind should know that G d did not choose them for nothing. Job and his suffering is an example of this second type of suffering. If the suffering is the result of sin then typically G d will acknowledge that this is the reason - if He is asked. On the other hand if the suffering is because it is a trial - G d typically does not acknowledge it. This we see from the response to Moshe’s complaint “Why are you making it worse for this people.” Similarly Job was not answered when he asked why he was suffering. This lack of explanation is necessary so that the suffering of the righteous should not be simply dismissed by the average man as merely a means for the tzadik of getting additional reward. And I say that even the completely innocent person is sometimes afflicted in order that he gets reward for it. This is obviously the case for the infant who suffers. I have no doubt that they will be compensated for their suffering. A wise person views suffering as the chastisement of a father by means of a beating or detention to keep his son from harm. It is comparable to the disgusting bitter medicine that a person takes to be cured. A person might ask why is this suffering necessary because G d can give the good without the suffering? We answer him that good deservedly given as reward is better than receiving it out of kindness.

Kad HaKemach (Bitachon): An aspect of bitachon in G d is that even when a person has wealth, possessions, peace of mind and honor -  he should not assume that this is reward for his good deeds. Even if he is a complete tzadik, it is better to even consider himself wicked and ascribe all the good entirely to the kindness of G d. On the other hand, if he suffers calamities or is attacked by bandits he should not view it as simply bad luck…. Such a response is the path of heresy. Rather he should ascribe the suffering to his many sins. In fact, if he insists that his suffering is merely bad luck, G d will give him additional “bad luck”… 

Kad HaKemach (Parnossah 01) It is known that there are many reasons for preventing the righteous from receiving their sustenance. The great sage Rabbi Bachya ben Bekuda, , wrote about this in the Kuzari. Know that the reasons for which G-d will prevent the righteous from receiving his sustenance and food until he is troubled and tested may be for a sin that preceded him, and he has pledged to repay it, as in the case of "Behold, the righteous in the land will be rewarded," and it may be through a means of compensation in the World to Come, as he said, "To make you better in your latter end," and it may be to show his suffering and his good explanation in serving God so that people will learn from him, as in the case of Job, and it may be to appease the people of his generation and for God to test him with poverty and hardship and sickness to show his piety and service to God without them, as in the case of "Surely our sicknesses He Himself bore and our sorrows He Himself carried". And it may be because he is not jealous of God to take the judgment from the people of his generation, as you know from the case of Eli and his sons.

Moreh Nevuchim (03:51) We have already stated in the chapters which treat of Divine Providence, that Providence watches over every rational being according to the amount of intellect which that being possesses. Those who are perfect in their perception of God, whose mind is never separated from Him, enjoy always the influence of Providence. But those who, perfect in their knowledge of God, turn their mind sometimes away from God, enjoy the presence of Divine Providence only when they meditate on God; when their thoughts are engaged in other matters, divine Providence departs from them. The absence of Providence in this case is not like its absence in the case of those who do not reflect on God at all: it is in this case less intense, because when a person perfect in his knowledge of God is busy with worldly matters, he has not knowledge in actuality, but only knowledge in potentiality. This person is then like a trained scribe when he is not writing. Those who have no knowledge of God are like those who are in constant darkness and have never seen light.