Rav SR Hirsh (Bereishis (02:07) living soul—the soul of the animal was formed from the earth, just as its body was; whereas in man, only the body was taken from the earth, while it was the Lord who breathed into him the breath of life. This is man’s distinction—the source of his freedom. It is not merely his rational spirit, but also his vital soul that surpasses that of the beast.
Monday, July 6, 2026
Man has Mazzel
Rav SR Hirsh (Bereishis (02:07) Man possesses a mazal—there is within him something that transcends all calculation; the human spirit will watch over him, even when, to our eyes, there appears to be no hope left...
Bava Kamma (02b) Man has Mazzel while animals don’t.
Soul has 5 Names
Bereishis Rabbah (14:09) The soul has five names: nefesh, neshamah, hayyah, ruah, yehidah. Nefesh is the blood: For the blood is the nefesh ‘. Ruah: this is so called because it ascends and descends: thus it is written, Who knoweth the ruah of man whether it goeth upwards, and the ruah of the beast whether it goeth downward to the earth Neshamah is the breath; as people say, His breathing is good. Hayyah: because all the limbs are mortal, whereas this is immortal in the body Yehidah (unique): because all the limbs are duplicated, whereas this is unique in the body.
Soul in Life and Death are Different
Moreh Nevuchim (1:70) The soul that remains after the death of man, is not the soul that lives in a man when he is born; the latter is a mere faculty, while that which has a separate existence after death, is a reality; again, the soul and the spirit of man during his life are two different things: therefore the souls and the spirits are both named as existing in man; but separate from the body only one of them exists.
Knowledge of Science taken from us and Given to Goyim
Likutei Maharan (61:03) The wisdom of astronomy/astrology—knowing all the changes and future occurrences brought about by the spheres of the firmament—was taken from us and given over to the nations. Initially, this wisdom was given exclusively to us, as it is written, “since this is proof of your wisdom and discernment for the eyes of the nations”—and our Sages expounded: What is this wisdom and discernment that is recognized by the nations? Say that this refers to calculating the seasons and the constellations .
Intellect is the Neshamah
Likutei Moharan (35:02-03) For the renewal of Creation is the renewal of wisdom, as in, “You created everything with wisdom.”This is because the renewal of the intellect is the renewal of the soul. For the intellect is the neshamah, as is written, “the neshamah from the Almighty gives them understanding.” As our Sages taught,: Just as G-d nourishes the world, so too, the soul nourishes its body. Thus it is the soul that gives vitality to the body, while it itself is the intellect, as is written, “Wisdom gives life to those who possess it.” 3. Now, renewal of the intellect—i.e., renewal of the soul—is by means of sleep, as is brought in the holy Zohar “They are renewed every morning; abundant is Your faithfulness”. For when the intellect is overtaxed, then, as we see empirically, they are renewed by means of sleep. And while sleeping, the soul—enters into faith; this being the aspect of “They are renewed every morning; <abundant is Your faithfulness>,” as is brought in the holy Zohar.
Turkey blocks American LGBTQ+ cruise from docking, citing ‘moral standards’
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/07/02/europe/turkey-cruise-lgbtq-american-blocked-intl
Turkish authorities have banned a cruise ship catering to American LGBTQ+ travelers from docking in the country’s ports, citing “moral standards” and “family values,” the CEO of the events company behind the upcoming Mediterranean tour said Thursday.
The “Athens to Venice” cruise, which departs from Greece on July 5, was expected to dock in the vibrant Turkish port town of Kuşadası two days later, followed by a trip to Istanbul, according to Atlantis Events, which is organizing the voyage.
But in a controversial move, local authorities in Turkey said they have canceled the “event” as the ship – which is expected to host more than 1,000 passengers from the US – was chartered by groups “known for behaviors incompatible with the fabric of our society and our moral values.”
July 4: Urge NJ Gov.-Veto S2260
BS"D
July 3rd, '26/ Erev Shabbos, Parshas Pinchus, 5786
Dear Readers,
• Here's the link to this week's radio broadcast wrap-up, of Parshas Pinchus/ July 3rd, '26:
• Here's contact Information to urge the Governor of NJ to veto the antireligious abortion-at-whim/transgender-
Gov. Mikie Sherrill
Governor of New Jersey
V: 609-292-6000 (9-5PM) {in case you manage to actually get through...}
E: constituent.relations@NJ.gov
W: www.NJ.gov (go to contact page)
• The 250th Anniversary of America should direct national attention to this prescient warning of Rav Shamshon R. Hirsch OBM (D. 1888CE) --
"... Woe to the time when sexes do not keep themselves holy! Countries and states in vain seek for the cause of their decline and do not see that they cease to be states as soon as their homes are ruined."
(-- Rav Shamshon Refoel Hirsch (Germany, 1808-1888 CE), "Horeb" (translated by Isidor Grunfeld, 1962, Soncino Press, Eleventh impression 2016), Section 4, "Chukim," Chapter 65, p.307, paragraph 1)
• Here's a pre-passage Open Letter to NJ Pediatricians, still relevant to said legislation:
Rabbi Noson Shmuel Leiter,
Executive Director,
Help Rescue Our Children
Email: nathanadvisors@gmail.
845.642.1679
Direct: 771.215.8892
Israeli Helpline: 03.721.3337
Heard weekly on New Jersey's WSNR Radio 620AM, co-hosting the renowned Levin At Eleven program, every Thursday evening, 11pm to midnight (ET).
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
PS:
Fair Use: (emphasis added)
Date: Fri, Jul 3, 2026, 3:31 PM
Subject: From USA Jewish Daily Blast News:
Central Park Hits 100 Degrees As NYC Declares Heat Emergency
Central Park hit 100 degrees Thursday for the first time in more than a decade, as a dangerous heat wave pushed New York City into a holiday weekend emergency.
The reading marked the first triple-digit temperature in Central Park since July 18, 2012. Forecasters said Friday could bring another 100-degree day, which would give the city its first back-to-back 100-degree stretch since July 2011. ..."
Comment:
What happened immediately prior to July 2011?? Marriage DeQuality passed in NY, courtesy of Cuomosexual Andrew and his derelict supporters and enablers, from whom we're still suffering, till today.
Cuomo's evil legacy facilitated, and is thereby imbedded in the infamous Supreme Court Obergefell ruling four year later (June 2015), and in all of the toxic fallout from that federal recognition of Mabul "Marriage," culminating in the federal recognition of the same by all three branches of government by December '22 -- and celebrated by Trump, as reported by Politico at the time.*
* Even the wicked, anti-G-d Karl Marx was to the right of Donald Grennell Trump on Sodomist sin - which Trump publicly celebrate
Many people may have "moved on," but G-d never forgets.
Rabbi Leiter
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~
On Occasion of the 250th Anniversary of America:
~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~ ~~~~~~BS"D
July Third, '26/ Parshas Pinchus, 5786
Rabbis, Leaders, and All,
Perhaps this is one reason G-d gave America independence from to-become-Gay-Britain -- on condition not to succumb to Sodomism, including the Trumpist Make America Gay Alt-
Well, we failed.
Perhaps directly consequently, American Pride (תרתי משמע), prior to the 250th birthday, just got beaten down (to an extent) -- by Iran, also serving as a part-proxy for Russia (returning the favor of Ukraine) and China -- all three of whom, to one extent or another, oppose Trump's Sodomatrimony lunacy, at least domestically. (Don't be surprised if they promote LGBTQ in the West, to bury western society in the morass of their own depravity.)
Well, at least we told you so.
And individuals listened...
And the fight goes on, because, if for no other reason, the carnivorous LGBTQ Axis won't let us live in peace. So they give us no choice.
It would be nice if most of our people would belatedly recognize that fact, instead of waiting until it's far too late.
Nonetheless, G-d has compassion on individuals who stand up and fight for His Honor, even when hope seems lost at the moment.
Ultimately, we're fighting on the winning side -- provided we keep intelligently fighting.
Individuals matter, even - and especially when - they act in lonely isolation. On this, HaRav Shamshon R. Hirsch, ZY"A, in his timeless ma'amar on Pinchus, writes:
"... And if someone, like Pinchos, is one among a multitude, and every man is against him when he dares to speak out for truth and to fight for the Law -- the more lonely his stand, the greater the number of his adversaries, the more powerful is his word, the mightier his deed."
-- Rav Shamshon Raphael Hirsch OB"M (1808-1888), (in "Judaism Eternal," vol. 2, p. 293)
The following article is copied below from a source that diverges from our Torah perspective in certain ways, and is written in a manner differing from how we would present it, but makes some powerful observations.
Rabbi Leiter
~~~~
Fair Use
Emphasis is mine,
The conversion paradox Today’s asexual could be tomorrow’s lothario
The conversion paradox
‘Nobody can tell now whether a current identity will stick; not even its owner.’ (Dimas Ardian/Getty)
Kathleen Stock
3 Jul 2026 - 12:04am 5 mins
Like Aristotle, our Labour overlords take a firm line on the question of essence versus accident in the human soul. A desire to stuff your face with cake is fixable with injections. Ardent petrolheads can be bribed into buying electric cars. Reform voters can be shamed out of their political attraction to Nigel Farage. But a sexual orientation or gender identity is for life.Such is the unstated implication of the Conversion Practices draft bill, published last week. Two supposedly core, immutable elements of the human person are identified, for which corrective drugs, bribes, or shaming are all presumed diabolical — though these are completely fine to use for more flexible attitudes elsewhere. To try to alter the pattern of someone’s sexual desires, by exerting psychological or emotional pressure or worse, risks becoming a “conversion practice”. The same goes for trying to dissuade someone from a heartfelt profession of gender identity. Past a certain threshold, the police and courts must get involved.This bill is already receiving much hostile comment, both for its performative aspect — violent and abusive acts are already punishable — and its absurd overreach into understandably heated family discussions about life-changing hormones and surgery. Accompanying notes to the draft try to make a virtue of the chillingly authoritarian focus upon “verbal or non-violent physical acts”. Offences include practices causing “serious alarm and distress” and “serious harm to mental health”, both of which are too vaguely specified to protect loving parents from police investigation for speaking their mind. The wording is also unlikely to induce religious clergy to express honest and well-meant thoughts about the wisdom of homosexuality or medical transition. Thankfully, at least, there is a carveout for healthcare professionals, but it remains unclear why conversations perfectly acceptable in the doctor’s surgery or therapy space must be harmful at home or in church.More from this author:Why Britain needs political chameleonsBy Kathleen StockBut not much has been said about one unexpected implication of the bill: that conversion practices involving straight people are just as harmful as those involving gay or trans ones. The intention to cause a heterosexual or “cis” person to become homosexual or trans is to be treated in just as draconian a manner as the inverse case. In theory at least, progressive parents who preach the gospel of gender affirmation a little too enthusiastically risk criminal investigation later, when their children have second thoughts — a possibility which, you have to admit, is darkly funny. The idea that there might also be criminal liability for the hundreds of lanyard-wearing youth workers out there, still working very hard to cement the idea of medical and social transition into deeply unworldly heads, is even more delicious.But these enticing visions also point to an ambiguity at the heart of the draft legislation; namely, how are third parties supposed to know for sure that a professed sexual orientation or gender identity is permanent, as opposed to a temporary form of experimentation? It would be ironic if the first parent prosecuted for trying to “convert” her child from X to Y turned out later to have been right about the merely transitory presence of the X-ness all along. Unless authorities can answer this question, the law will be unworkable; and I suggest that they can’t.Since we cannot look into minds directly to find some bedrock, a proxy method must be found. The original epistemic formula, implicit in early gay-rights activism though rarely spelt out, was that you knew a person must be same-sex-attracted if he said he was, because there was no good reason for him to be confused about this, or to pretend. Back in the day, the social context was so hostile and punishing for gay people {to a limited extent, in line with Leviticus 18:22, branding the act of sodomy an abomination -NL}, it would be irrational for someone to say they were gay when they were not. This meant you could usually take the act of coming out as accurately revealing the state of profound and permanent inner feelings.Academics chimed in with essays on “heteronormativity” and “compulsive heterosexuality” in society, implying that if a same-sex attraction ever did emerge against such oppressive odds, it could only be a sign of true inner authenticity: a rare delicate flower, improbably growing on stony ground. But conversely, the surrounding atmosphere of homophobia and the heavy expectation of normality made professions of a straight sexual orientation unreliable. In this case, unlike the other, there was good reason to lie to others about who you really were, or even lie to yourself. Despite your protestations, onlookers couldn’t be sure; and nor, for that matter, could you.When transactivists came along in the Nineties, effectively they adopted the same strategy: you can tell someone is “really” trans if she says she is, because it would be crazily self-defeating to lie. For decades, LGBT activists have kept up this narrative of intense cultural persecution, even as the UK became one of most accepting countries for sexual minorities in the world. Indeed, the Conversion Practices bill itself is the fruit of furious myth-making, with lobby groups suggesting to politicians that Britain is riddled with dastardly ECT-wielding doctors and stern-faced religious exorcists, blithely ignoring the rainbow flags draped all over the Royal Colleges and the Church of England.As gay and trans identities have become extremely popular in young people, the preferred strategy has not adjusted. According to rainbow dogma, such people can only be expressing authentic realness when they announce their identities, whereas those who say they are straight or “cis” may just be blindly going along with the normie flow. Professed heterosexuality is always suspicious and can legitimately be challenged, in case there is a less conventional, more socially oppressed orientation trembling shyly underneath, waiting to be coaxed into the sunlight.“These days, we don’t so much have compulsory heterosexuality in youth culture as compulsory queerness.”But by including legal protection for straight people, the Conversion Practices bill produces a reductio ad absurdum of this whole approach. The logic of infallible authenticity, as applied to heterosexual identities, patently collapses; for almost every gay person started off by sincerely self-interpreting as straight. Things are even worse with asexual identities which — ludicrously — are also protected by the bill, according to the accompanying notes. As a concerned mother worried about your lonely son, it seems you will not be permitted try to robustly argue him into trying to find a girlfriend, if he is telling you at the time that he is asexual. Otherwise, though, it is fine. But since, with the right sort of encouragement, today’s depressed asexual might easily become tomorrow’s happy lothario, why on earth should the law protect awkward teenagers from what they don’t want to hear?Ultimately, the point extends to gay and trans identities too. These days, we don’t so much have compulsory heterosexuality in youth culture as compulsory queerness, and it no longer makes sense to say that the only plausible reason a young person would tell herself she was gay or trans, is if she “really” was. There are several alternative explanations available, including that a non-binary teaching assistant suggested she might be; or that she thinks it sounds cooler and more likely to win her friends than the boring straight alternative. This associated glamour can make self-interpretation confusing, and lead to false positives; not something that could have been said of the typical gay experience in the Sixties.Suggested ReadingLabour’s war on gay rightsBy Andrew DoyleThe insuperable problem here is that nobody can tell now whether a current identity will stick; not even its owner, and especially not when she is young and jejeune. And of course — a bit like television channels — though there used only to be two or three, there are now so many more to choose from. Ironically, gender studies academics used to stress this impermanence before it became inopportune to do so, always banging on about the endless flexibility of constructions of the self. What seems lifelong today may turn out to be temporary, and vice versa; in which case it cannot be remotely helpful to criminalise the verbal attempts of others to persuade you to take a different path. Critical discussion might feel rude, upsetting, or intrusive, but none of that means it is the business of the law to rule it out. And in fact, with the presumption of your own infallibility about yourself removed, attempts to “convert” you may turn out to be perceptive recognition of what there is, or what still could fruitfully be.The fantasy of an immutable orientation or identity, offering a key to your true nature, sits awkwardly with human powers of self-interpretation and self-creation. For as long as you are alive, your current understanding of yourself might change, because of social influence or personal reinterpretation or something else entirely. No amount of felt certainty that this won’t happen can rule the possibility out. Life is full of surprises. And sometimes conversion from one set of outworn ideas or feelings to another can be a form of personal salvation.Editorial PolicyContribute to UnHerd
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Sunday, July 5, 2026
Donald Trump Posts Gold Replica of Himself On Mount Rushmore
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-posts-gold-replica-of-himself-on-mount-rushmore-12157408
Over the years, Trump has floated the possibility of being memorialized on the mountain, though it is widely understood that this would be unlikely, given space limitations on the mountain's face.
In 2020, after reports suggested he had discussed adding himself to the monument, Trump denied formally proposing the idea but wrote on social media: "Never suggested it although, based on all of the many things accomplished during the first 3 1/2 years, perhaps more than any other Presidency, sounds like a good idea to me!"
Trump has a bomb ticking in the White House — and he plans for it to blow up the midterms
https://www.rawstory.com/raw-investigates/bill-pulte/
It’s an assessment of the security of America’s voting machines, produced by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and Reuters revealed last month that White House officials have spent months refusing to authorize its release, even as the 2026 midterms come barreling toward us.
That by itself would be a scandal in any other administration: a regime that talks about election integrity from sunup to sundown is sitting on the very report that could improve it. But the worry that’s been keeping voting-rights lawyers awake runs in a direction most Americans haven’t yet let themselves imagine.
Miles Taylor, who helped draft 13848 when he was at Homeland Security and is a regular guest on my radio/TV program, told the Guardian they wrote it “to create a mechanism for sanctions, not to empower the director of national intelligence to fiddle with elections.”
U.S. warned Iran about Israel’s aims to assassinate leaders
Senior U.S. officials feared that Israel intended to assassinate Iran’s top negotiators as the Trump administration pursued a high-stakes deal to end the war there and reopen the Strait of Hormuz, current and former officials familiar with the matter said.
That U.S. officials felt the need to take an additional step and warn Iran that its top negotiators could be killed demonstrates the strain in the U.S.-Israel relationship and the Trump administration’s limited influence over the Israeli government, said analysts.
“The turning point wasn’t the assassination of the supreme leader, it was the assassination of Larijani,” said a Western official. “The U.S. was looking for an Iranian official to deal with and all of a sudden he was gone.”
Iran’s regime survived the war and is now savvier, ruthless and more hard-line
Iran’s regime survived the war and is now savvier, ruthless and more hard-line
Four months later, however, as Iran stages a belated state funeral for Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the burial rites testify instead to the Islamic republic’s survival and mark the ascendance of a new generation of leaders that is more entrenched and hard-line, according to security officials and experts.
Led by Khamenei’s son and successor, Mojtaba — who has remained in hiding since being injured in the same strike that killed his father — the new hierarchy is younger, has better command of the state’s levers of power, has gained insights from the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and is savvier about soft-power tools including diplomacy and online propaganda.
Iran “might be weaker when it comes to its economic situation, its industries, some of its strategic capabilities,” said Raz Zimmt, head of Iran research at the Institute for National Security Studies in Israel. “But the bottom line is that we are facing a new, bolder, self-confident Iran.”
Saturday, July 4, 2026
There Is No Art to a Bad Deal
https://mishpacha.com/there-is-no-art-to-a-bad-deal/
Some pundits are hailing this deal as a “historic breakthrough.” Others contend that the Iran MOU, piloted by Vice President J.D. Vance, and the Israel-Lebanon deal, shepherded by Secretary of State Marco Rubio, mark the beginning of a power struggle between two front-runners for the 2028 Republican presidential nomination, to see whose deal will prevail and whose will fail.
Both are interesting takes that ignore the bigger picture.
Israel has bitter experience signing deals with Lebanon that didn’t even last as long as Madison’s agreement with the Barbary pirates did.
The United States has made two key mistakes in recent negotiations. The first was freezing Israel out before signing an MOU with Iran. It compounded that error by negotiating the Lebanon MOU with a fragmented government that doesn’t fully control its own territory.
It’s bad enough when adversaries deceive you during negotiations. When you deceive yourself, there is no art to that, nor is the real deal likely to materialize.
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