When Is Physical Discipline Technically Permitted? According to Halacha a teacher may, in limited circumstances, administer disciplinary punishment to a student as part of the educational process.[10] This permission exists only when the discipline is genuinely necessary for the child’s education or to correct inappropriate behavior.[11] The purpose must be entirely educational and for the benefit of the child, not an expression of anger or frustration. Furthermore, the teacher should only punish a student when he knows with certainty that the student engaged in conduct that warrants discipline, and not based merely on suspicion or assumption.[12] Furthermore, one is to always first try to discipline the child through other methods prior to hitting him, and only if these methods do not work may the child be hit.[13] There are many disciplinary philosophies in practice today which substitute hitting for other more useful and harmless methods.[14] It is incumbent upon teachers to train themselves to become effective disciplinarians so their children are disciplined, but not in an abusive manner.
Friday, November 6, 2026
Teacher who beats his Beats Students and they die - Good Teacher?
Bechoros (46a) a certain teacher of children, upon whom Rav Aḥa administered a vow to cease teaching based on the consent of the public, as he was negligent with regard to the children by hitting them too much; and Ravina had his vow nullified and reinstated him, as they did not find another teacher who was as meticulous as he was.
Rashi (Bechoros 46a) פשע בינוקי - מלקה אותן ומתים:
Orthodox vs. Sellout Bloc-Voting voting
בס"ד
Hegseth’s ‘fight, fight, fight’ video pours fuel on impeachment flames
https://edition.cnn.com/2026/11/06/politics/iran-pete-hegseth-impeachment-midterms
In an ardent social media video Thursday, Hegseth vowed, “We Stand, We Fight” amid rising speculation he may become a scapegoat for the Republican disaster in midterm elections shaped by the unpopular Iran war.
Apart from Trump, few in Washington are willing to publicly defend Hegseth, especially after an electoral rout which showed the public’s disdain for a war the defense secretary has enthusiastically waged. So Hegseth took matters into his own hands with a video seemingly aimed at a single viewer: Trump.
Hegseth’s speech was accompanied by a blitz of supportive social media posts by aides in what increasingly looks like an orchestrated campaign to save his job. The message to Trump and the MAGA movement is clear — if Hegseth walks the plank, it will mean an enormous defeat for the president. A senior administration official told CNN’s Haley Britzky on Thursday that “the Pentagon and White House made their positions crystal clear tonight. They are coming out swinging in support of Hegseth and that should tell you everything you need to know.”
Michael Oren: The midterms ended the US-Israel special relationship
https://www.timesofisrael.com/michael-oren-the-midterms-ended-the-us-israel-special-relationship/
The midterms were a disaster for US President Donald Trump and the Republican Party.
To analyze the implications of the 2026 midterms, we are joined once again by Michael Oren, a scholar of the Middle East, Israel’s former ambassador to Washington, and an expert on the US-Israel relationship.
He said that the 50-year special relationship between Israel and the US ended on Tuesday, and the implications will be felt beyond the issue of military aid.
Even though Israel wasn’t responsible for many of the processes driving US politics, it is on the receiving end of them. MAGA isolationism and the rise of the Democratic Socialists might have their roots in domestic politics, but they have profound implications for Israel.
Israel, said Oren, accelerated those processes by failing to curb West Bank violence and avoiding any mention of peace with the Palestinians or Syria.
Jerusalem can mitigate some of the fallout and soften some of the blows, he said. Still, it should start diversifying its military and economic partners, and make clear that it will not be bound by any deal between the US and Iran.
Welcome to Trump’s Lame-Duck Era
https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/trump-lame-duck-era/
On the eve of an election that threatened to upend his presidency, Donald Trump went to the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, where he had overseen a multimillion-dollar renovation that went awry when its new coating peeled and algae turned the water green. Aides hoped the President would focus on the concerns weighing on ordinary Americans: soaring gas prices, expensive groceries, a new war in the Middle East. Instead, Trump spent much of his 53-minute speech talking about construction projects rather than the struggles of the nation he had been elected to serve.
It was a bewildering capstone to a strange campaign. Allies marveled at Trump’s inability to stay on message as he crisscrossed the country. He boasted that oil companies were making a fortune as Americans struggled with energy costs. He claimed New Yorkers were no longer allowed to call their mothers “mom,” suggested renaming New Mexico “New America,” and repeatedly mimicked a Democratic Senate candidate vomiting at the sight of meat. Time and again, he veered into bizarre digressions about men's physiques. As one Trump aide put: “It’s hard to reach voters who can’t afford gas when your candidate keeps talking about Arnold Palmer’s endowment and Jon Husted’s ass.”
Trump’s confidantes often remarked that he cared little about the outcome of the midterms. He regarded his party's loss of seats in Congress as an inescapable historical pattern. He had a point: Barack Obama's Democrats took a beating in consecutive midterms, and George W. Bush's Republicans were drubbed in 2006. Trump himself oversaw the loss of dozens of House seats in 2018. Advisers tried convincing the President that he had some agency over the election’s trajectory, but “he had trouble getting past the history,” one of Trump's top advisers says. He grew resigned to the gridlocked slugfest ahead and dismissive of the investigations and potential impeachment proceedings Democrats could embark upon. “They’ll probably go after me,” he told TIME in late September, “and I’ll go after them.”
Aides are bracing for a wave of staff turnover, a combination of attrition and Trump dispensing with officials who have frustrated him. The result could be a further retreat into an insular circle of loyalists who are unable or unwilling to deliver bad news or curb his impulses. Inside the White House, advisers have been contemplating the implications of divided government. “His natural inclination is to work with Democrats or Independents or whatever,” says another senior aide. “But he’s aware of the investigations and the games the other side will play, and he’s prepared to fight back.” Already, the Democratic wave had already emboldened the party’s leaders. The expected incoming chair of the House Oversight Committee delivered a succinct warning on X: “LAWYER UP.”
Thursday, November 5, 2026
Medicine and Magic
When religion was strong and science weak,
men mistook magic for medicine.
Now, when science is strong and religion weak,
men mistake medicine for magic.
—THOMAS SZASZ
South Africa is first country to ban antisemitic conspiracy film saying Jews now aren't 'real Jews'
https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-913736
South Africa has become the first country to issue a nationwide ban on screening and distribution of an antisemitic film that claims Black people are the "real Jews."
Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America is a 2018 film that puts forward the theory that Black Hebrew Israelites are the true descendants of biblical Israelites, and that today’s Jews are not the real Jews. The film also claims there is an international Jewish conspiracy that aims to defraud Black people.
It was screened in June 2023 at the Soweto Theatre in South Africa, and the film was reported to the ombudsman by the local Jewish community.
Trump says he’ll accept the results after weeks of priming voters to doubt them
Despite concerns about what President Donald Trump would do, the midterms proceeded normally on Tuesday.
Amid palpable anxiety that the Trump administration would interfere with the midterms, Tuesday’s elections unfolded smoothly, with mostly minor, standard-issue hiccups.
The Justice Department sent more than 900 monitors to polling locations across the country, a historically large deployment. But fears that they would interfere with the day’s operations — or that troops or ICE agents would be deployed — proved unfounded.
With sweeping wins for Democrats in both the House and the Senate, President Donald Trump told the New York Times late Tuesday night that he would accept the results. And across the country, losing candidates conceded their races to their opponents rather than suggesting any form of malfeasance.
AFTER THE ROUT: Trump Shrugs Off Republican Election Disaster, Shows Reporters His White House Ballroom and Helipad
President Donald Trump made his first public appearance Wednesday following one of the Republican Party’s most devastating midterm election defeats in decades, but rather than dwell on the political catastrophe that handed Democrats control of both chambers of Congress, the president invited reporters to tour his massive White House ballroom construction project, enthusiastically discussing marble floors, towering columns, chandeliers and a newly constructed helicopter landing pad.
Yet the president appeared largely untroubled by the results as he walked through the unfinished ballroom, surrounded by construction workers wearing hard hats. He spoke at length about the building’s architectural features, the quality of its materials and his ambitious plans to transform the White House grounds.
Asked why he continued devoting so much attention to construction projects while facing serious political challenges, Trump defended his priorities, explaining that he enjoys overseeing improvements to the White House and other Washington landmarks.
“I like it,” he said. “For me, it’s relaxing.”
NY Rep. Mike Lawler loses re-election in blue wave — despite swell of support from large bloc of Orthodox Jewish voters
Republican New York Rep. Michael Lawler lost to Democratic rival Cait Conley in Tuesday’s blue tsunami despite carrying the large bloc of Orthodox Jewish voters in the Hudson Valley’s 17th district, sources said.
The two-term congressman won 71% of election precincts in the Town of Ramapo, which has a large number of Orthodox and Hasidic voters.
Still, Lawler did not perform well enough in traditional Republican strongholds to counter the tide of Democratic and anti-Trump voters who supported Conley in heavily blue precincts in the Westchester portion of the district.
Trump blames Iran war for midterm loss while touting ballroom construction
https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/6188142-live-updates-trump-democrats-congress-control/
In his first public appearance since Republicans lost big in the midterms, President Trump showed off the construction of the White House ballroom.
“It’s for the country, and it’s free,” he said.
Trump also told reporters that the Iran war was the “primary reason” for the GOP’s losses.
Hours earlier, Vice President Vance said in a lengthy post that that the conflict with Iran was the main reason why the GOP saw Democrats seize the House, the Senate and multiple governor’s mansions in Tuesday night’s midterms.
Trump agreed with Vance’s assessment but argued if he had to launch the war against the Islamic Republic again, he would do it.