Friday, January 31, 2020

Trump's Impeachment Trial Could Be in Its Final Hours After Key Republican Falls in Line to Block Witnesses - a Pyrrhic victory!

https://time.com/5775031/trumps-impeachment-trial-could-be-in-its-final-hours-after-key-republican-falls-in-line-to-block-witnesses/


President Donald Trump could be headed for a speedy acquittal in his Senate impeachment trial after Republicans secured assurances from a key lawmaker late Thursday night that he would not break with the party to request additional evidence and testimony.




A Pyrrhic victory (/ˈpɪrɪk/ (About this soundlisten) PIRR-ik) is a victory that inflicts such a devastating toll on the victor that it is tantamount to defeat. Someone who wins a Pyrrhic victory has also taken a heavy toll that negates any true sense of achievement or damages long-term progress.

How Trump has destroyed the Republican party


Just under four years after he began his takeover of a party to which he had little connection, Mr. Trump enters 2020 burdened with the ignominy of being the first sitting president to seek re-election after being impeached.
But he does so wearing a political coat of armor built on total loyalty from G.O.P. activists and their representatives in Congress. If he does not enjoy the broad admiration Republicans afforded Ronald Reagan, he is more feared by his party’s lawmakers than any occupant of the Oval Office since at least Lyndon Johnson.
“Trump is emotionally, intellectually and psychologically unfit for office, and I’m sure a lot of Republicans feel the same way,” Mr. Trott said. “But if they say that, the social media barrage will be overwhelming.” He added that he would be open to the presidential candidacy of former Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg of New York.

Thursday, January 30, 2020

If the Senate Doesn't Hold Trump Accountable, the Damage Will Go Far Beyond This Presidency

https://time.com/5773796/donald-trump-impeachment-accountability/

 From the beginning, candidate Trump got away with behavior that was unimaginable for others. He got a pass for making fun of a reporter with a disability. He got away with calling Mexicans rapists and criminals. He was excused for attacking a Gold Star family because they were Muslim. His supporters even found a way to defend him when a videotape where he boasted about sexual assaults became public. But this conduct happened within the realm of politics­—it was up to voters to decide whether to countenance Trump’s behavior. They chose, at that point, to accept it.

Should the President emerge from impeachment, secure in the belief he has unlimited Article II powers of the presidency, we are headed for an unfortunate lesson about the absence of executive-branch accountability. What will Trump feel emboldened to do after an impeachment acquittal? What won’t he do to win the next election? Without accountability there is no reason to believe this President or future ones will conform their behavior to the restraints imposed by the Constitution. And this moment, where the Senate has the chance the Founding Fathers provides them with in the Constitution to restore the balance of power, will be lost.

Erekat: The plan of the Netanyahu and the settlers

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/275330

 Senior Palestinian Authority (PA) official Saeb Erekat on Wednesday blasted US President Donald Trump's “Deal of the Century”, calling it "a plan of Netanyahu and the council of the settlers."
Speaking in an interview with Oded Ben Ami on Channel 12 News, Erekat claimed, "What you heard last night from Trump is what I heard from Netanyahu and his negotiating team in 2011-2012.”
 

Will He or Won't He? John Bolton's Potential Testimony Hangs Over First Day of Questions in Trump's Impeachment Trial

https://time.com/5774160/bolton-testimony-trump-impeachment-trial/

Democrats drove at that point in their very first question, putting the focus squarely on Trump’s former National Security Advisor. “John R. Bolton’s forthcoming book states that the President wanted to continue withholding $391 million in military aid to Ukraine until Ukraine announced investigations into his top political rival and the debunked conspiracy theory about the 2016 election,” read the question by Chuck Schumer, a Democrat from New York, and posed to the House managers. “Is there any way for the Senate to render a fully informed verdict in this case without hearing the testimony of Bolton, Mulvaney and the other key eyewitnesses or without seeing the relevant documentary evidence?”

 

'GAME OVER,' Trump declares, as old Bolton, Schiff videos surface amid Senate impeachment trial

https://www.foxnews.com/politics/schiff-bolton-lack-credibility-senate-impeachment-trial

A string of newly resurfaced video clips of former national security adviser John Bolton spurred President Trump and his supporters Wednesday to highlight what they described as serious credibility questions -- raised by both Democrats and Republicans -- amid the Senate impeachment trial, as the president tweeted, "GAME OVER!"

 

Trump Reignites Claim Mexico Will Be Paying For His Border Wall: 'Soon You Will Find Out

https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-reignites-claims-mexico-will-pay-border-wall-1484585

Speaking to supporters at a campaign rally at the Wildwoods Convention Center Oceanfront in Wildwood, New Jersey, on Tuesday, the president celebrated a recent court victory allowing him to push forward with plans to use $3.6 billion in military construction funds for the development of his border wall.
"The money is won," Trump said. "And we are now building that beautiful wall."
The wall, the president said, "is going up at record speed," with the project having just surpassed 100 miles.
 
While Trump fell short of reiterating his 450-mile goal, he did reignite another promise from the past: to make Mexico pay for his wall.

From Behind The Israeli Iron Curtain

BS"D

Breaking News from Behind the Israeli Iron Curtain


4 Shvat, 5780 °° Jan. 30, '20 (v.2)


By Binyomin Feinberg,

FeinbergBinyomin@gmail.com

~~~~~~~~~~~

To check for updates, on first view of this article, as well as throughout the week,  please visit https://saveHischildren.blogspot.com -


or/and see updates for month of Teves '80:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LDLjvECWQExYoGjqIrbZtWALp6MpkHq22ihNz2BLuYM/edit?usp=sharing

~~~~~

### Breaking News:  ###

1.  Lital bas Miriam (https://daattorah.blogspot.com/2020/01/when-criminal-justice-is-truly-crimina.html), now languishing in Israeli Military Prison Four for about 17 days (since her arrest on Jan.13), had her hearing scheduled for yesterday (Wed., Jan. 29) delayed yet again, until next Tuesday, Feb. 4. That is essentially one more way a keeping an innocent religious young lady in military jail, under often brutal conditions (see above link) - without Due Process.

2.  Moreover, the government is reportedly seeking to hit her with an outrageous 81 day prison sentence.

3.  One would think the government would want to dispatch with this courageous Refusenik quickly. However, that will apparently only occur if concerned people continue to pressure the Israeli government, by exposing their ongoing abuse of this and other Refusenik girls (like Tal-Yah bas Rus and Yehudis Noah, see below).

4.  To remind the readers, Lital's abuse by the Army was triggered by her agreement to submit to a Religiosity Interview (apparently in absence of any warning about the prohibition and dangers involved) -  NINE years ago.

5.  In the wake of that meeting, the Army refused to honor her legal entitlement to an automatic religious exemption, on the pretext that she didn't answer a particular question pertaining to "Kriyas HaTorah," the ritual reading of the Torah (in the synagogue, with a quorum of ten adult males).

6. "Kriyas HaTorah" is an obligation incumbent on men, from which women are exempt, under Jewish Law (perhaps Maitav is more stringent that our Sages on this matter).

7.  Thus, a girl seeking to secure her religious exemption should not be asked questions on that topic, period. Moreover, failure to answer such questions means precisely nothing, especially when it comes to questioning her religiosity.

8.  The rank absurdity of this charade is somewhat ironic - in light of the fact that the primary exception to the exemption of women from the ritual reading of the Torah is the obligation to hear "Parshas Zachor" (D'varim 25:17-19, at the end of Kee-Saitzai). That brief section exhorts us about the obligation incumbent on all Jews to safeguard our timeless emnity towards Amalek, the embodiment of Evil for the sake of Evil, the ageless paradigm of Rebellion against G-d Himself. To be fair, the Draft Office (Maitav) should mandate asking questions about one of the most foundational texts on the subject of Amalek, being Rav Elchonon Wasserman, in his "Kovetz He'Oros" on Yevamos, Aggadah section, ch. 10, #1-6.  A perusal of that essay will clarify precisely why Maitav would opt to recuse themselves from that "uncomfortable" topic, out of conflict of interest.

9.  Recently, information on other  incarcerated girls has trickled out, out of what has assumed the contours of the Iron Curtain, i.e. the Israeli military prison system, from which information is often very difficult to extract.

Yehudis Noah, a religious immigrant from France, has just recently been discovered to have been languishing in Prison Six, in the North -- for over TWO MONTHS! There, prisoners often suffer exposure to the cold over the winter months. Our current information is that, for some reason, her religious exemption was denied, and she was compelled to enlist. Within days, she was struck with the realization  that it's impossible to remain faithful to Judaism in the Army, and therefore fled. Subsequently, she was apparently imprisoned for abandoning the very environment that compelled her to flee for her [spiritual] life.

10.  Additionally, Tal-Yah bas Rus continues to be held in Prison Four, apparently for fleeing the Army. Reportedly, she's already been held for over a month and a half, and about 15 days ago she was sentenced to 35 days in military prison.

11. Outrages like this may, G-d forbid, continue - unless even more concerned Jews increase the pressure against the government (e.g., http://firstamendmentactivist.blogspot.com/2020/01/righteous-outrage-goes-international.html). Specifically, female demonstrations against the Israeli government drafting, harassment, incarceration, and persecution of female Refuseniks must be held at Israeli offices and events internationally, emphasizing the immoral nature of the female military draft.  Their anti-exploitation message would resonate globally.

Please stay tuned for updates.

Wednesday, January 29, 2020

"Spiritual Auschwitz"


3 Shvat, 5780 °° Jan. 29, '20


By Binyomin Feinberg,

FeinbergBinyomin@gmail.com

~~~~~~~~~~~

To check for updates, on first view of this article, as well as throughout the week,  please visit https://saveHischildren.blogspot.com -

or/and see updates for month of Teves '80:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LDLjvECWQExYoGjqIrbZtWALp6MpkHq22ihNz2BLuYM/edit?usp=sharing

~~~~~

1.  Last week, we reported on the demonstration against the Israeli military drafting of girls, that took place Thursday Jan. 23, near Yad VaShem, just  as world leaders were leaving the World Holocaust Forum (reportedly initiated by Israeli President Rivlin) on the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz; see:

"Righteous Outrage Goes International"*

https://daattorah.blogspot.com/2020/01/righteous-outrage-goes-international.html

http://firstamendmentactivist.blogspot.com/2020/01/righteous-outrage-goes-international.html

It's important to study the photos of the signs, which were composed with a good deal of thought:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=1nTJT9255QwfrfYLMJ3_NaE8woQPF70MC

[The photos are also available in the "Teves Update" google-drive .]

[*General observations on the World Holocaust Forum appear here:

"Never Again??"
http://firstamendmentactivist.blogspot.com/2020/01/never-again.html ]


2.  One could perhaps compose an essay elaborating on each one of the signs held at that demonstration, each one laden with meaning.

3.  While Israeli politicians continuously manipulate the memories of the Kedoshim murdered Al-Kiddush HaShem by the satanic Nazis, and their multitudinous collaborators (including some "Jews"), the Israeli government is escalating its own programs advancing Jew-hatred. This domestic Jew-hatred is hatred of Jews who insist on remaining authentically faithful to Judaism - to G-d and His Torah (e.g. https://daattorah.blogspot.com/2019/10/racial-profiling-or-pure-antireligious.htmlhttps://daattorah.blogspot.com/2019/08/alh-report-2-28-augviolating-vineyard.htmlhttps://daattorah.blogspot.com/2019/09/violating-vineyard-update.html ).

4.  What defines us as Jews is the Torah, nothing else.

5.   The current Israeli government war against the Torah is a war against G-d and against His People. 

6.  The participants of said crusade against G-d being of Jewish descent does precious nothing to alleviate the essence of their efforts being a rebellion against G-d Himself. (In fact, in certain ways, Jewish heretics are worse than non-Jewish ones.)

7.  In addition, Our Sages exhort us, for all generations to know, that "Gadol haMachti'yoh yosair min ha'Horg'oh;" those who endanger our souls by attempting to cause us to sin are EVEN worse that evildoers who seek to kill our physical bodies.

8. Interestingly, conversations with candid former-IDF servicemen from the Yom Kippur War era  clearly establish that the socialist Israeli Establishment of the time  generously provided BOTH: spiritual and physical endangerment of the Jewish People.

9.  Their antireligious credentials were notoriously impeccable. Their prewar criminal negligence -  sacrificing about two and a half thousand Jewish soldiers out of an arrogant refusal to call up reservists during the military buildup preceding the Yom Kippur war - clearly exhibited their callous attitude towards Jewish blood (i.e., as long as is wasn't their own blood). Israeli society lost thousands of its prized young men then, in a series of preventable miscalculations about enemy military intentions. Many of those soldiers, on the various fronts, were caught by surprise, totally unprepared, and massively - perhaps astronomically - outnumbered. They fought heroically to delay the onslaught of attacking armies, to save the masses of Jews, but they themselves were massacred.. 

10.  All that occurs is through Divine Providence. However, with regards to who bears human responsibility, from a military perspective, the arrogance of the elitist leftist Israeli leadership killed thousands of their best servicemen.

11. Israeli PM Netanyahu, on the other hand, works hard to project himself as rightwing on security, as a disciple of secular Zionist leader Jabotinsky (who, incidentally, if alive still, would probably find a number of current Netanyahu government policies somewhat idiotic).

12.  That predominant hawkish impression is aided primarily by Netanyahu's acumen to communicate, PR in short.

13.  Building on this projected persona, at the aforementioned Holocaust World Forum-op, Netanyahu identified a premier goal of his: 

"And therefore, at the foundation of the revival of the State of Israel is one main imperative: There will never be a second Holocaust. As the Prime Minister of Israel, this is my supreme obligation."
(https://www.timesofisrael.com/the-world-turned-it-back-on-us-full-text-of-netanyahus-holocaust-forum-speech/)


14.  As believing Jews, of course, we know that that itself is kefirah, heresy. Man cannot dictate what G-d does. IF, G-d forbid, our communal rebellion against G-d again results in G-d decreeing another such event, then all the nuclear weapons and advanced technology in the world won't stop it. And Rabbi Meir Kahane HY"D (to whom the slogan "Never Again" is attributed) himself acknowledged that obvious fact, i.e. that only G-d can protect us from another Holocaust, R"L.

15.  What most endangers Jews in Israel today - not only spiritually - but physically too - is communally rebelling against G-d - especially as manifested by the ongoing persecution of sincerely faithful Jews, Jews who clinging to His Torah, despite religious persecution perpetrated by Jews themselves, under the veneer of Jewish government.

16. It is precisely such a rebellion against G-d, and persecution of his sincere adherents, that makes the unthinkable "Again" a very real possibility, G-d forbid.  The threat of a second Holocaust, against which Netanyahu grandstands, is posed by policies of Netanyahu's own government. This includes policies such as the relentless, systemic government persecution of innocent teenagers and young women Refuseniks, resisting the anti-Torah military draft.


17.  Remember, these Refuseniks are simply noshim tzidkaniyos (righteous women), who simply wish nothing more than to protect their modesty and purity - and fidelity to the moral values that the Torah itself declares "yai'horaig ve'al ya'avor" (mandating sacrificing one's life if need be to preserve); see Shulchan Aruch Yoreh Daiyah 157.


18.  It is these girls and women who brave human rights abuses by the Israeli Army, Draft Office, Justice System, Civil and Military Prisons, Civil and Military Police, with collaboration of the leftist think tanks, foundations, Knesset factions and Media. The antireligious persecution is systemic. The crusade against righteous Jewish teenagers and women and their many advocates  could not possibly go on for so long if the persecution was anything other than a deeply rooted, systemic cancer embedded in the Israeli government and societal elite. 

19.  As one former IDF veteran of the Yom Kippur War era observed, one would think that the Israeli Establishment would have learned from the consequences of their deadly arrogance in 1973 -- but they did not. The current "right-wing" leftist Establishment in power projects a different image, sports various ideological and political divergences, but still clings to the original elitist, leftist arrogance, and their basic agenda of the holistic separation of the Jewish People from G-d and His Torah - body, mind, and spirit.

20.  Over the top? The evidence for the aforementioned observation is in the very deeds and policies of the Netanyahu government itself.  Again, this anti-G-d agenda is perhaps most manifest to the World in the brutally callous manner in which the government abuses Israeli girls for simply refusing to enlist in the Army, as has been reported on online and in print for about a year, in the Jewish Press, on DaatTorah.blogspot.com, and elsewhere. (The large majority of the world considers forcibly drafting girls into the military anathema. Israel is one of the few countries on the planet that does that.)

21.  This observation provides some insight into the meaning of the sign held at the aforementioned protest proclaiming "Spiritual Auschwitz."  It's not only that the government draft of girls, along with the attendant religious persecution of Refusenik girls will, if not stopped, lead R"L to horrific physical consequences. More than that, right now it is a spiritual catastrophe. Drafting girls is not only an indescribable cruelty to individual girls and their families (both their current and their future families), it also threatens to destroy the future of the Jewish People, especially spiritually, in ways many of our external enemies failed.

Only 10% think plan will bring peace

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Poll-finds-only-10-percent-think-Trump-plan-will-bring-peace-615867

 Only 10% of Israelis are optimistic that US President Donald Trump’s new “Deal of the Century” diplomatic plan will bring about peace between Israelis and Palestinians, a Kantar poll taken for KAN found on Wednesday.
The poll found that 61% of the 553 respondents, representing a statistical sample of the Israeli population, did not believe the plan would lead to peace, and 29% said they did not know.
 

How the Middle East Is Reacting to Donald Trump's Israeli-Palestinian Peace Plan

https://www.newsweek.com/middle-east-react-trump-peace-plan-1484491

Both Netanyahu and his upcoming elections rival Benny Gantz endorsed the proposal, but it was received less warmly in the Middle East.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas roundly rejected the Trump administration's strategy even before it was released. Following Trump's reveal on Tuesday, Abbas held a press conference at which he responded to the plan "with a thousand no's," especially to the U.S. proposal for an "undivided" Israeli capital in Jerusalem and a separate Palestinian capital somewhere on the eastern outskirts of the holy city.

Abbas: 1,000 ‘no’s to the Trump plan

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Peace-group-Joint-List-slam-Deal-of-the-Century-615711

 Referring to the plan as “the slap of the century,” Abbas said he did not find anything new in Trump’s announcement.
 

Birth of another terrorist nation

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Articles/Article.aspx/25099

 
Yes, a two-state solution.
What does Israel get? Not much. Nothing really, except that Arafat will grudgingly stop murdering Israelis, at least not as often. 
Actually, to keep Clinton and the Arabs happy, Israel had to release 500 Arab terrorists from its prisons.
But quite a ceremony it was back then, and it was, yes it was a deal of the century in lowercase. Now it’s in uppercase, and so what’s new? Nothing.

Trump praises Pompeo for berating NPR reporter


Trump plan won’t bring peace, helps Netanyahu, raises risk of binational state

https://www.timesofisrael.com/trump-plan-wont-bring-peace-helps-netanyahu-raises-risk-of-binational-state/

On one of the darkest days of Benjamin Netanyahu’s long and lively career, Donald Trump handed him one of his greatest victories.
On Tuesday morning, the prime minister abandoned his doomed bid to secure parliamentary immunity from prosecution in the three graft cases against him, and shortly afterwards, the attorney-general formally filed the charges at the Jerusalem District Court — giving Netanyahu the unhappy distinction of becoming the first Israeli premier to be indicted while in office.

First a government

https://www.jpost.com/Opinion/First-a-government-615726

 This “Deal of the Century” should be welcomed, but it must be welcomed with a caveat: Israel first needs a government coalition before it can begin to implement it.
 

White House plan is a seal of approval for Netanyahu’s longtime vision

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/White-House-plan-is-a-seal-of-approval-for-Netanyahus-longtime-vision-615756

 Hearing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu describe the contours of US President Donald Trump’s peace plan, one could easily feel a sense of deja vu.
The broader ideas of the plan are similar to ones Netanyahu has long touted. But there are key differences, most importantly of all that the White House is behind his vision this time.

McConnell Tells Senators He Doesn't Have Enough Votes to Block New Witnesses After Trump Team's Closing Arguments

https://www.newsweek.com/mcconnell-tells-senators-he-doesnt-have-enough-votes-block-new-witnesses-after-trump-teams-1484493


Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday privately told his colleagues in the Senate that he doesn't have enough votes yet to block new witness testimonies in the ongoing impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.
After Trump's legal defense team made their closing arguments earlier this afternoon, McConnell reportedly told people in a closed-door meeting that he can't yet block witnesses, GOP sources familiar with the conversation told AP and Fox Business.

 

'Why Not Trust the American People With This Decision?' Trump Defense Team Finishes Impeachment Arguments

https://time.com/5773233/trump-defense-impeachment-trial/


They argued that in seeking to remove President Trump less than a year before the national polls, Democrats were effectively denying voters their chance to weigh in on his performance.


in other words as long as economy hasn't collapsed Trump can do anything without concern for be held accountable - even murder!

and contrary to Constitution he can not be impeached
 

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Tucker Carlson: Republicans shouldn't be surprised Bolton betrayed Trump. He's like a snake - always has been

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/tucker-carlson-republicans-bolton-betrayed-trump-impeach


All of which somehow reminds us of disgraced former National Security Adviser John Bolton. Republicans in Washington might seem shocked to discover that Bolton has turned and betrayed his former boss, Donald Trump, but they shouldn't be shocked. That's who John Bolton is. That's who John Bolton has always been. That's what John Bolton does. And not to brag, but we called it long ago.
On Sunday, The New York Times reported that Bolton's new book contains sections designed to help the Democratic case for impeachment. Bolton accuses the president of delaying military aid to Ukraine in order to pressure its government into investigating Hunter Biden.
Again, people in Washington are stunned by this -- or claimed to be. If Bolton disliked Trump so much, they wonder, why did he join the administration?

Joe: A 'Confederacy Of Dunces' Defends President Donald Trump | Morning Joe | MSNBC


Trump peace plan: Palestinian state, Israeli control of settlements

https://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/US-President-Donald-Trump-presents-his-Deal-of-the-Century-615690
 
WASHINGTON - US President Donald Trump unveiled his “Deal of the Century” peace plan on Tuesday in the White House, giving Israel full control of the settlements and Jerusalem as its undivided capital. The plan also established a Palestinian state.



https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Peace-to-Prosperity-0120.pdf

Judge Napolitano: Mitch McConnell was blindsided, should have been told about Bolton 'bombshell'

https://www.foxnews.com/media/judge-andrew-napolitano-mcconnell-bolton-book-impeachment

The Trump administration should have told Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., about the "bombshell" allegations contained in former National Security Adviser John Bolton's new book, Judge Andrew Napolitano said Tuesday.
This weekend, a report in The New York Times revealed an excerpt from the forthcoming book titled "The Room Where it Happened" – an apparent reference to the Broadway musical "Hamilton" – that could prove pivotal in the impeachment trial against President Trump.
In it, Bolton wrote that the president told him in August that he wanted to continue to freeze almost $400 million in security assistance to Ukraine until officials there helped with investigations into Democrats, including the Biden family.
Appearing on "Fox & Friends" with hosts Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt and Brian Kilmeade, Napolitano said since the release of part of the manuscript, the issue has become whether or not Bolton will testify before House managers and the Senate in the impeachment trial.
 

Don Lemon loses it over GOP strategist roasting Mike Pompeo


John Bolton Revelations Test Trump Impeachment Defense Strategy

https://time.com/5772697/john-bolton-white-house-impeachment-defense/


Purpura argued Saturday, before the Bolton story broke, that “not a single witness testified that the President himself said that there was any connection between any investigations and security assistance, a presidential meeting or anything else.” This would be refuted by Bolton’s testimony, based on the reported contents of his book manuscript. But Sekulow repeated this claim on Monday, indicating that the core components of their factual defense of the president haven’t changed. (Bolton’s accounts were not included in the record from the House impeachment inquiry, but Bolton has said he would testify before the Senate if subpoenaed.)
 

Fox News turns on ex-employee John Bolton


הבבא ברוך: 'תכנית המאה לא תצא לפועל, כי המשיח יבוא'

https://www.kikar.co.il/345456.html

 במהלך שיחה נדירה ובלעדית שהעניק כ"ק האדמו"ר רבי ברוך אבוחצירא, ה'בבא ברוך', לכיכר השבת, התייחס הרב לתוכנית של טראמפ שתוצג היום, והתבטא כי היא לא תמומש בגלל... המשיח.

Monday, January 27, 2020

Adam Schiff: John Bolton's book blasts a hole in Trump defense

U.S. Politics Ukraine Impeachment John Bolton The lawyer of the indicted Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas said it was "curious" that ex-national security adviser John Bolton reportedly claimed President Donald Trump withheld aid to Ukraine in order to pressure the country into investigating the Bidens. Defense attorney Joseph Bondy tweeted that Bolton believed in the existence of the "same Presidential quid pro quo" described by his client, responding to a post by the president refuting the reported claims of his former adviser. Parnas' attorney also used two hashtags pushing for Senate lawmakers to call on witness testimony from Bolton during the ongoing impeachment trial.

https://www.newsweek.com/lev-parnas-lawyer-responds-trump-john-bolton-quid-pro-quo-1484167

 The lawyer of the indicted Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas said it was "curious" that ex-national security adviser John Bolton reportedly claimed President Donald Trump withheld aid to Ukraine in order to pressure the country into investigating the Bidens.
Defense attorney Joseph Bondy tweeted that Bolton believed in the existence of the "same Presidential quid pro quo" described by his client, responding to a post by the president refuting the reported claims of his former adviser.
Parnas' attorney also used two hashtags pushing for Senate lawmakers to call on witness testimony from Bolton during the ongoing impeachment trial.
 

Trump Denies John Bolton Book's Ukraine Claims, Says Ex-Advisor 'Never Complained' During His 'Very Public Termination'

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-john-bolton-book-ukraine-tweet-trial-1484125

 President Donald Trump issued a strong denial of claims reportedly made by former National Security Advisor John Bolton in a new book detailing the president's alleged abuse of power in his dealings with Ukraine.
Citing a source with direct knowledge of Bolton's book manuscript, The New York Times reported Sunday that the president had told his national security advisor he wanted to continue withholding $391 million of military aid until Ukraine helped with investigations into Democrats, including possible 2020 rival Joe Biden.
But the president dismissed Bolton's apparent revelation. "I NEVER told John Bolton that the aid to Ukraine was tied to investigations into Democrats, including the Bidens," Trump wrote on Twitter.
"In fact, he never complained about this at the time of his very public termination. If John Bolton said this, it was only to sell a book," he added.

 

Sunday, January 26, 2020

GOP senator questions patriotism of Purple Heart recipient

Judge Andrew Napolitano: Trump's Senate impeachment trial -- What does it take to remove a president?

https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/trumps-senate-impeachment-trial-judge-andrew-napolitano

 I don't blame President Trump for his angst and bitterness over his impeachment by the House of Representatives. In his mind, he has done "nothing wrong" and not acted outside the constitutional powers vested in him and so his impeachment should not have come to pass. He believes that the president can legally extract personal concessions from the recipients of foreign aid, and he also believes that he can legally order his subordinates to ignore congressional subpoenas.
Hence, his public denunciations of his Senate trial as a charade, a joke and a hoax. His trial is not a charade or a joke or a hoax. It is deadly serious business based on well-established constitutional norms.

In Trump's case, though the House chose delicately not to accuse the president of specific crimes, there is enough evidence here to do so. Federal election laws proscribe as criminal the mere solicitation of help for a political campaign from a foreign national or government. There is no dispute that Trump did this. In fact, the case for this is stronger now than it was when the House impeached him last year. Since then, more evidence, which Trump tried to suppress, has come to light.

New audio and video undermine President Trump's claim about Lev Parnas


Jeffrey Toobin on impeachment trial: Trump is winning here


Watch Schiff's closing argument in impeachment trial of President Trump


The exploitation of a tragedy: 8-year-old found dead in Jerusalem

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/7-year-old-child-missing-in-Jerusalems-Beit-Hanina-615271
 Missing boy found drowned in Beit Hanina • Hanan Ashrawi, Rashida Tlaib retweet claim ‘settlers kidnapped, executed’ youth


 

Saturday, January 25, 2020

Donald Trump Is the Mad-King President Our Founders Feared Most

https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-king-impeachment-founders-ukraine-922935/

 Trump is hardly the first president to make full use of the frighteningly expansive power of the presidency. That bipartisan tradition dates back decades. More recently, we saw it in the vast executive theory used by George W. Bush to justify torture and wage endless wars. We saw it Barack Obama’s expansion of the war on terror, use of a secret drone-strike kill list, and wielding of executive authority to put in place hundreds of new regulations. 
But Trump exists in a different realm. He thinks he is the law, an untouchable and all-knowing sovereign. Reality bends to his will. He stands in front of the American people and tells them to believe the opposite of what they see and hear, tells them that he alone can fix what’s broken in American politics.
This is the behavior of a president who believes he’s a king.
 

Dozens of Israelis being arrested, some jailed in Europe for smuggling khat drug

 
Israeli organized crime groups are paying travelers to smuggle khat leaves to European countries, leading to dozens of Israelis being arrested, and some jailed, abroad.
While khat is illegal in most European countries, there are no restrictions on its sale or distribution in Israel and it is frequently used by the country’s Yemenite and Ethiopian communities.
The situation creates a lucrative opportunity for criminals, Channel 12 news reported Sunday.
 

Missing East Jerusalem 8-year-old found dead in deep pool of rainwater

https://www.timesofisrael.com/missing-east-jerusalem-8-year-old-found-is-in-very-serious-condition/

 Qais Abu Ramila, from city’s Beit Hanina neighborhood, apparently slipped in and drowned; extensive search efforts were launched after his disappearance on Friday afternoon

Rashida Tlaib retweets unverified claim Israelis killed Palestinian boy

https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Tlaib-retweets-unverified-claim-Israelis-killed-Palestinian-boy-615319

 However Ashrawi apologized for her tweet. “My apologizes for re-tweeting something that’s not fully verified. It seems that the news of his being kidnapped is not certain.” She also tweeted other clarifications and then appeared to delete the tweet. Tlaib’s retweet was also was thereafter deleted but she did not apologize for spreading the false information.

Thursday, January 23, 2020

Righteous Outrage Goes International:

BS"D

Righteous Outrage Goes International:

Jewish Outrage Over the Israeli Drafting of Girls Overflows Onto the International Stage


26 Teves, 5780 °° Jan. 23, '20


By Binyomin Feinberg,

FeinbergBinyomin@gmail.com

~~~~~~~~~~~

To check for updates, on first view of this article, as well as throughout the week,  please visit https://saveHischildren.blogspot.com -


or/and see updates for month of Teves '80:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1LDLjvECWQExYoGjqIrbZtWALp6MpkHq22ihNz2BLuYM/edit?usp=sharing

~~~~~~~~~

This morning we reported on today's international Israeli summit against antisemitism held in Jerusalem (see
"Never Again??" at: http://firstamendmentactivist.blogspot.com/2020/01/never-again.html ).

We've since received reports of the demonstration held there by concerned Orthodox Jews against the Israeli government, over their drafting of girls into the notoriously exploitive and immoral Army, and over the often brutal religious-persecution of religious objectors, particularly the girls currently languishing in Military Prisons Four and Six.

Well over a dozen protesters demonstrated at a location about a five-minute walk away from where world leaders were being hosted in Jerusalem, to address increasing antisemitism, on the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.  Demonstrators prepared multiple "provocative" signs, e.g. protesting antireligious Army racism against Jews of color, and imploring President Putin to seek the freedom of an incarcerated victim of IDF antireligious persecution (Lital bas Miriam). 

Nevertheless, B"H, the protest remained peaceful, because, in full view of international media, the police employed noteworthy restraint this time, allowing free expression of dissent without stealing signs, or targeting demonstrators for "disciplinary" beatings and incarceration. 

Protesters held signs protesting the decades-old Israeli policy of forcing girls into the promiscuous military environment from about 4pm to 7:30 or 8pm, and reported a vibrant media presence (including YNet). One poster identified the co-ed Army as "The Largest Open Human Trafficking Network in the Mideast."


It was a wonderful Kiddush HaShem to see that Jews truly care. It's tragic that the Israeli government requires concerned Jews to appeal to the broader international community in order to save our sisters from religious persecution - by other Jews.

Context of the Rav Soloveitchik Transcription

https://www.jewishlinknj.com/letters/30336-context-of-the-rav-soloveitchik-transcription


This article is a powerful essay based on a speech delivered to the rabbinic alumni of Yeshiva University in 1975. But because you did not provide the context and purpose of that speech, the general reader may have been confused by the impassioned uncompromising tone of the piece.
This talk was delivered by the Rav as a response to proposals by Rabbi Emanuel Rackman to resolve the problems faced by women whose husbands refused to grant them a Jewish divorce. Rabbi Rackman was also in line at that time as a top candidate to become president of Yeshiva University.
Rav Soloveitchik’s strident remarks in the piece that you published characterized (without spelling this out) that the innovations that Rabbi Rackman wanted to make in divorce law were (1) heretical and (2) liable to “destroy yahadus (Judaism)” and (3) “methods of self-destruction and suicide.” Harsh words indeed.

 

Kaminetsky-Greenblatt Heter: Rav Dovid Feinstein says it is worthless

Matzav  just published the following letter from R Sholom Kamenetsky acknowledging and accepting that Rav Dovid Feinstein's beis din had declared the heter totally worthless. He also indicated that his father has already stated that he would accept the ruling of Rav Dovid Feinstein.

Unfortunately I have not seen the psak itself. It had been expected that Rav Dovid Feinstein would reject the heter - after all it was obvious that it was a sad joke. The question remains did Rav Dovid Feinstein criticize those who had said the heter was valid? In addition will Rav Nota Greenblatt accept the psak? 

Without the criticism of those who produced the heter and without the retraction of Rav Greenblatt - the heter now becomes simply a dispute between poskim and Tamar obviously will chose Rav Greenblatt. 

Of greater importance, without the criticism of those who produced the heter  and its retraction - the heter will remain a viable option for all those who want a quick and simple end to a marriage without having to worry about the Get process. All they need is to pay a therapist to declare their husband to have an incurable personality problem i.e., to certify they don't like them and that they can do better with another husband. The therapist doesn't have to even waste his time talking to the husband - he will simply accept what the wife tells him.


Kaminetsky-Greenblatt Heter: Why the psychiatric report is irrelevant can not be used to justify the heter

Just received the following email
 ==================================
Regarding:



I think someone has to get the following information to Rabbi Feinstein: even if a psychiatrist diagnosed Aharon as mentally ill (and even if this is retroactive), there still can be no heter.

I believe I wrote this to you in the past: According to her own version of the story, Tamar Epstein discovered her husband's issue and decided that getting married was a mistake two weeks after the wedding.



See from 37:44 of the video.

She became pregnant with their daughter a few months later.

Under these circumstances, Rabbi Feinstein's father would never have granted a heter, even if a psychiatrist had diagnosed a disorder in the husband.

Baltimore Beis Din: Tamar Epstein is still married to Aharon Friedman and is forbidden to remarry without first receiving a Get


update: Just added a letter written November 3 by the Baltimore Beis Din which addresses many of the short comings in the original letter which was written in July
============================================

update: I had removed this post a week ago at the direct request of Rav Mordechei Shuchatowitz of the Baltimore Beis Din. See Removal of post of Baltimore Beis Din

I did this for the sake of shalom bayis. That is to avoid side disagreements that would distract from dealing properly with the main issue of the phony heter. However it has become clear that whatever benefit for shalom bayis might have resulted from its removal - it is outweighed by the loss of critical information that is needed in the resolution of this crisis.

As this crisis winds down to the "end game" - it has become clear that various individuals feel a need to present the facts in a new more flattering way which smooths over certain difficulties.

Therefore aside from the need to accurately present the facts as to what has happened and why it has happened for the sake of Truth - it is needed to present the facts in order to know what to do to rectify the problem. Furthermore as Santayana wrote (in The Life of Reason, 1905): “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” or as eloquently and wisely expressed by Winston Churchill
“When the situation was manageable it was neglected, and now that it is thoroughly out of hand we apply too late the remedies which then might have effected a cure. There is nothing new in the story. It is as old as the sibylline books. It falls into that long, dismal catalogue of the fruitlessness of experience and the confirmed unteachability of mankind. Want of foresight, unwillingness to act when action would be simple and effective, lack of clear thinking, confusion of counsel until the emergency comes, until self-preservation strikes its jarring gong–these are the features which constitute the endless repetition of history.”
—House of Commons, 2 May 1935, after the Stresa Conference, in which Britain, France and Italy agreed—futilely—to maintain the independence of Austria. (My book* page 490).

Letter written November 3, 2015





------------------------------------
The following letter written in Tammuz from the Baltimore Beis Din was posted on Otzar Forums. 

After reading all the other letters against the heter of mekach ta'os - this one is clearly not a protest against a heter. In fact it doesn't acknowledge that there was a heter or a remarriage. It simply says the Baltimore Beis Din knows nothing about a divorce  either that they were involved in or that others did. Consequently according to their level of knowlege Tamar Epstein is still married to Aharon Friedman. It is a letter which shows extreme reluctance (timidity? or cowardice?) to even acknowledge that something has happened and therefore it refuses to criticize directly or indirectly Rabbi Greenblatt, the Kaminetskys and Tamar Epstein



Because the description  of events in the Beis Din's letter is truncated and missing critical information - a detailed description of events is available here  in this revised Procedural Summary.




 It is important to know why Aharon Friedman is named as the plaintiff in the civil courts. it was not because of his desire to have the case handled by the secular courts [contrary to the assertions of the Beis Din's letter] but was the result of a psak he received from Rabbi Breitowitz that he needed to take action quickly in the secular courts to avoid losing his daughter. As the Summary clearly shows - he actually cancelled a trial in civil court in October 2008 in order to bring the case to beis din. He also ultimately agreed to entirely cancel the secular lawsuit when the beis din later ordered him to do that - but Tamar refused. In fact a major posek who has been deeply involved in this case stated recently that Aharon showed too much deference to the beis din and rabbinical adivisors and that he should have gone to the police when Tamar abducted their daughter and moved to Philadelphia in April 2008 and should not have canceled the October 2008 trial to being the case to Beis Din - for the reason that Tamar had established facts on the ground by relocating the child out-of-State that would effectively pre-determine the outcome of any court case (if postponed any further), and beis din, even with a binding arbitration agreement would have no legal ability to change that.
As both Rabbi Landesman's letter to Rabbi Feldman, and the letter from the Rabbi Rabinowitz's Beis Din Ezer Mishpat make clear, Tamar violated the Beis Din's  orders and brought the case to trial in civil court. Tamar's actions in this regard also violated the parties' mediation agreement (pursuant to which Aharon agreed to dismiss a pendete lite trial in October 2008), and violated the shtar beirurin [binding arbitration agreement] signed before the Beis Din, both of which bound the parties to have the case decided by the Baltimore BD.
It is true that Aharon participated in the civil court trial.  But once Tamar refused the Beis Din's orders and insisted on taking the case to trial in civil court, Aharon had no choice but to participate in that trial -- and even the Beis Din did not ask Aharon not to.  Although courts must generally respect binding arbitration agreements regarding other matters, if one party to a binding arbitration agreement regarding custody insists on the court deciding the case, the court may not defer to the arbitrator and must decide the case from scratch under the doctrine of parens patriae. 
This is the rule in Maryland under a case called Kovacs, which specifically ruled that the Maryland courts may not enforce a binding arbitration agreement before the Baltimore BD with regard to child custody where one party objected.
===============================================================
The Baltimore Beis Din is still the only beis din that has been authorized by both sides to deal with the issues. And they state they are willing to continue.

It simply affirms that Tamar Epstein still retains the status of being the wife of Aharon Friedman and can not remarry with first receiving a Get.

Since the copy is not very clear I retyped it, in what I hope is the correct text. Any corrections will be appreciated. It is signed by the dayan hak'vuah Rav Mordechai Shuchatowitz, Rav Moshe Heinemann and Rav Yaakov Hopfer. Rav Aharon Feldman added a note that Tamar Epstein is clearly still married to Aharon Friedman and signed as well.

Letter written July 2015


THE BALTIMORE BAIS DIN -       בית דין קבוע מטעם ועד הרבנים דבאלטימאר 



בס"ד                                                                                                                                             
נשאלנו בעת על דעת הבית דין אודות המעמדה בהלכה של מרת תמר (עפשטין) פרידמן שתחי', אשתו שלר' אהרן פרידמן שיחי', והנה זה כבר כמה שנים מאז באו הצדדים הנ"ל לפנינו בשנת תשס"ט וחתמו על שטר הבוררים שלנו לדון בעניני נישואיהם וגירושיהם כולל החזקת הבת שלהם וביקוריה והמסתעף,וטענו דבריהם בשלשה מושבי הב"ד במשך שלשה חדשים, והורינו אז להם שלדאבוננו אין עוד תקוה עלשלום בית ומוכרחים הם להתגרש לאחר שיסתדרו עניניהם ובפרט הענינים המתייחסים אל בתם,והשתדלו אז לסדר ענינים אלו אצל יועץ ומתווך מסוים, ושוב פנו אל הערכאות שלא ברשות בית דין ועלאף שהתרינו בהם שצעדם זה הוא שלא ושלא כדין, ולאחר שיצא משפטם שמה הודיענו להם שאף שלא יזדקקו הב"ד לדון שוב בדיונים שקבלו עליהם הכרעת בית המשפט, תיק הב"ד עדיין פתוח לדון עלמה שלא הובא שמה, דהיינו גירושיהם כהלכה ושום תביעות ממוניות שביניהם, אמנם מאז ועד עתה לאהגישו לא זה ולא זו שום בקשה לב"ד דידן, וגם לא הודיעונו לא הם ולא אחרים על סידור גט פטוריןביניהם ולא שמענו ולא ריאנו שום היתר נשואין מאיזה בית דין אחר כלל, ולכן כפי ידיעתנו אשה זועומדת בחזקת אשת איש גמורה ואסורה לכל אדם עד שתקבל ג"פ כדת וכדין.

ואמנם אם יש לשום אחד איזה ידיעה שלא ידענו או איזה טענה בהלכה שלא שמענו, הננו מוכניםומזומנים להושיב ב"ד מיוחד לדון על דינה דהאי איתתא לאמתה של תורה, ומי בעל דברים יגיש דבריואליהם, ובזה נזכה להסיר מכשול מביננו ולהרים קרנה של תורה ולתרבות שלום בעולם בעזה"ש ית"ש.ועכ"ז בעה"ת ביום ששי בשבת תשעה ימים לחדש תמוז תשע"ה לפ"ק

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