Monday, August 31, 2026
Beracha
Rambam (Prayer 15:06) A priest who does not have any of the factors which hinder the recitation of the priestly blessings mentioned above should recite the priestly blessing, even though he is not a wise man or careful in his observance of the mitzvot. This applies even though the people spread unwholesome gossip about him, or his business dealings are not ethical.He should not be prevented from reciting the priestly blessings because reciting these blessings is a positive mitzvah incumbent on each priest who is fit to recite them. We do not tell a wicked person: Increase your wickedness by failing to perform mitzvos.
Rambam (Prayer 15:07) Do not wonder: "What good will come from the blessing of this simple person?" for the reception of the blessings is not dependent on the priests, but on G-d, as the Torah states: "And they shall set My name upon the children of Israel, and I shall bless them." The priests perform the mitzvah with which they were commanded, and God, in His mercies, will bless Israel as He desires.
The Trouble With Trump’s Attempt to Rename Lake Ontario
https://time.com/article/2026/08/28/the-trouble-with-trump-s-attempt-to-rename-lake-ontario/
As two geographers who have spent decades studying political toponymy, or the politics of place naming, in both the United States and Canada, we are dismayed by the careless nature of Trump’s impulsive use of place renaming as a form of political rage baiting.
Renaming Lake Ontario is part of a larger pattern of using place naming to promote the Trump brand and his “America First” ideology. From the very outset of his second presidential term, Trump launched the so-called “Golden Age of America” by announcing that the Gulf of Mexico would be renamed the “Gulf of America.” This has now been followed with “Lake America,” and Trump even mused about possibly renaming the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean, we presume to something along the lines of “American Ocean” or “Ocean of America.”
Over the past year, Trump’s obsession with naming places has given rise to a new term—toponymic narcissism—which refers to the condition of being obsessed with naming places after oneself.
Are Therapists to Blame for the Rise of Adults Cutting Off Their Parents?
Many moms and dads believe that their adult children are getting bad advice—and a growing number of researchers agree. ‘Everything becomes trauma.’
Shoshana Rubli was shocked by her therapist’s advice, given in her second session. But the counselor was recommended by someone she knew and had impressive credentials, so she did as she was told.
She cut off all ties with her mother.
Therapy Has a Relationship Problem
https://time.com/article/2026/08/29/therapy-has-a-relationship-problem/
Psychotherapy itself is predicated upon the healing power of human connection, yet therapists can be surprisingly quick to undervalue relationships outside the therapy room. Furthermore, relationships themselves teach basic psychological capacities such as regulating emotions, tolerating disappointment, and negotiating differences—skills which therapy is supposed to cultivate.
Too often, we mistake relational distress for relational dysfunction. Wall Street Journal columnist Elizabeth Bernstein recently highlighted this eloquently. She reported on therapists who encouraged adult children to go “no contact” with their parents, often after surprisingly little effort to mend ruptures. In a survey of roughly 7,000 estranged parents, one-third believed their adult child’s therapist had influenced or even recommended the decision to cut ties. That should give us pause.
The issue extends well beyond parents and children. Similar patterns appear in marriages and among siblings, friendships, and other close bonds. Therapists have become too quick to support ending difficult relationships instead of helping people develop the skills to repair them.
Sunday, August 30, 2026
Popular Sugar Substitute Linked to Higher Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke
https://www.newsweek.com/popular-sugar-substitute-linked-higher-risk-heart-attack-stroke-12373750
An ingredient found in everything from sugar-free foods to oral care products has been linked to higher risk of having a stroke or heart attack.
A study due to be presented at the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Congress 2026 found that people with higher blood levels of xylitol, a commonly used artificial sweetener, were more likely to experience major cardiovascular events over the long term than those with lower levels.
The sugar alcohol is often used as a substitute for sugar in foods, drinks and dental products. While it occurs naturally in the body and in some foods at very low levels, it is frequently added to products in much larger amounts.
Saturday, August 29, 2026
Donald Trump’s Hardcore Support Is Shrinking
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-hardcore-support-shrinking-poll-12382506
President Donald Trump’s hardcore support is shrinking, with the share of Republicans who strongly approve of his job performance falling 14 percentage points since January, a Newsweek analysis of Reuters/Ipsos polling found.
The shift occurred without a comparable collapse in his broader Republican coalition, with 82 percent of GOP respondents still approving of his performance in the latest survey.
Instead, the polling suggests that—less than 10 weeks before the November midterm elections—some of Trump’s support has softened, leaving fewer Republicans firmly enthusiastic, even as most continue to back him.
Friday, August 28, 2026
Fauci texts release revives false claims linking Covid-19 vaccination, miscarriages
https://factcheck.afp.com/doc.afp.com.C4HE6ZQ
Numerous large scale studies have found Covid-19 vaccines to be beneficial during pregnancy, with no evidence they increase the rate of miscarriages. But conservative US politicians and influencers have latched on to newly released private text threads involving infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci to revive false claims that the mRNA shots led to an 82 percent miscarriage rate -- and accuse Fauci of pushing vaccination despite a known risk.
"Dr. Fauci publicly BOASTED that tens of thousands of pregnant women took the COVID vaccine, with 'no red flags' Privately, he knew it was likely causing MISCARRIAGES," says an August 11, 2026 X post from Eric Daughtery of the website Right Line News. "PRISON!!!!"
The post comes after Republican US Senator Rand Paul released thousands of pages of the immunologist's personal diary and, along with vaccine-skeptic Republican Senator Ron Johnson, published text messages obtained from Fauci's government-issued phone (archived here and here).
No, COVID-19 vaccines don’t increase miscarriage rates
https://19thnews.org/2026/08/covid-vaccine-pregnancy-miscarriage-fauci/
U.S. Sen. Ron Johnson, a Wisconsin Republican, has revived a years-old inaccurate theory that COVID-19 vaccines are linked to higher rates of miscarriages.
As part of a Senate investigation into former U.S. infectious diseases chief Dr. Anthony Fauci, Johnson pointed to publicly released text messages Fauci exchanged with two of former President Joe Biden’s top health officials. In them, Fauci wrote that some reported vaccine effects “theoretically could be associated with miscarriage in the 1st trimester.”
In a video posted August 10 on Fox News Digital, Johnson said these texts showed Fauci knew about miscarriage risks that health officials weren’t publicly acknowledging at the time.
Citing a 2021 study of pregnant women who received the vaccine, Johnson said the study found “an 82 percent miscarriage rate with women who got the injection in the first or second trimester.”
But a look at the April 2021 findings, which were published in the New England Journal of Medicine, shows that Johnson misrepresented the data. His statement ignores numerous studies showing the vaccine is not associated with a heightened risk of miscarriage.
Johnson’s spokesperson Grace Carnathan said Johnson was quoting from a 2022 open letter by Dr. James Thorp, an OBGYN who has argued that COVID-19 vaccines increase miscarriage risk. Asked for additional data, Carnathan pointed PolitiFact back to Fauci’s text messages.
Fauci’s texts, Trump’s executive order and the resurgence of anti-vaccine rhetoric
Vaccine skepticism has come roaring back into the political spotlight after months of relative silence on the subject from the Trump administration, which for a time seemed to be focusing on more mainstream health issues ahead of the midterm elections.
Fauci, Covid Vaccines and Miscarriages
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/anthony-fauci-covid-vaccines-pregnant-women-miscarriage-26cd1e3f
He didn’t lie to pregnant women about vax safety. Trump’s CDC agrees.
Anti Vaxxer lies Welcomed in Frum Community and Spread as a Religious Mitzva
The lie that Dr, Fauci deliberately concealed the danger of the COVid vaccination and as a result many suffered and continue to suffer damage from it. This lie has now become something everybody knows to be true
This lie has been spread by Trump followers and eagerly accepted by frum women as obviously true since commonsense and rumor is preferred to medical training. It of course becomes lashon harah that is a mitzva
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/anthony-fauci-covid-vaccines-pregnant-women-miscarriage-26cd1e3f
Chasam Sofer and Copernicus
Devarim (04:19) And lest you lift up your eyes to the skies, and when you see the sun, and the moon, and the stars, all the host of the skies, should you be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the Lord your God has allotted to all nations under the whole sky.
תורת משה דברים פרק ד פסוק יט (פרשת ואתחנן)
Toras Moshe (Devarim (04:19)
* אשר חלק ה' אלקיך אותם לכל העמים. יל"פ ע"פ מה דאיתא דקופערניקוס אחד מחכמי העמים אמר דהארץ סובבת לקבל אור השמש, דאיך עצם השמים הטהורה יסבב וישמש את הארץ, ואחרים הביאו ראיה כנגדו דאם הארץ מסבב איך אפשר שיזרוק חץ בעוף וישיגהו ויפול שם כיון שהארץ כבר השתנה מקומה, וע"ז השיב די"ל דהארץ וכל אשר עליה וגם האויר מסבבקיט. אמנם ראיותיו מכח השכל שאינו ראוי שישמש העליון לתחתון, הוא רק לפי דעות האוה"ע, אבל לנו בני ישראל אדרבא הארץ אשר בה בני אדם וישראל עם קדושו הם תכלית הבריאה ובעבורם נברא העולם תבל וכל אשר בה וגלגלי השמים ושמי השמים לצורך הארץ, וא"כ ראוי שישמשו שאר חלקי העולם לעולם התחתון שבו ישראלקכ, וגם עי"ז כל העולמות הם אחד ולתכלית אחד נברא, דלא כדעת האוה"ע שכל אחד הוא עולם בפ"ע ולתכליתו נברא. וזה שאמר אשר חלק ה' אותם לכל העמים, דאצלם הוא חלק משא"כ אצלנו הכל חד.
ועפ"ז י"ל מאמר חז"ל דרבה בר בר חנה אזיל במדברא והראה לו חד טייעא היכא דנשקי רקיעא וארעא להדדי והניח שם מקלו ותרמילו והלך להתפלל, אדצלי הדר להתם ולא מצא אמר איכא גנבי הכא אמר ליה האי טייעא גלגל הוא דהדר ולמחר תמצאנה (ב"ב ע"ד ע"א). ועפ"י הנ"ל יש לפרש דבר"פ כיצד מברכין (ל"ה ע"ב) אמרו הרבה עשו כרשב"י ולא עלתה בידם וכר' ישמעאל ועלתה בידם, ואין הכונה שי"ז ניכר שאין דרך רשב"י טוב, אלא דצריך לידע שאינו מוכרח שישיג ארוחתו אם יעשה כרשב"י, אפשר שיהיה עני ואעפ"כ לא יזוז מדרכו, דשכר מצוה בהאי עלמא ליכא (קידושין ל"ט ע"ב). והיינו דקאמר דהראה לו היכא דנשקי ארעא ורקיעא, דהיינו בשביל צדיק נברא העולם (יומא ל"ח ע"ב) ובו נשקי ארעא ורקיעאקכא, נתן פתו וסלו ועמד להתפלל, ר"ל שעלה בדעתו לעשות כרשב"י והשליך על ה' יהבו ואפ"ה לא מצא, ואמר לו הטייעא דגלגל הוא דהדר דהיינו דמזלו גורם, אבל אין הקדוש ברוך הוא מקפח שכר דלמחר לעוה"ב ימצא לפום צערא אגרא (אבות סופ"ה)קכב.
ואתם עוברים וגו' השמרו לכם פן תשכחו וגו' ומסיים אל קנא. רש"י פי' אנכי מת אינני עובר אפילו עצמותי אינם עוברים. וקשה היא גופי' קשיא ומי גרע מיוסף וכל השבטים. וי"ל שהיה אי אפשר שהרי לא ידע איש את קבורתו ואי אפשר להעביר עצמותיו, ואי' במד'קכג מ"ט לא ידע איש את קבורתו שלא יעשוהו ע"ז. והיינו דקאמר מרע"ה אינני עובר אפילו עצמותי, ואתם עוברים ע"כ השמרו לכם פן תשכחו ברית אלקיכם ותעבדו ע"ז חלילה, דא"כ לחנם לא עברו עצמותי כי בין כך ובין כך אתם עובדי ע"ז, ע"כ ה' אל קנא עבורי יקנא קנאתי מכםקכד.