In a joint statement arranged by the US on Friday, multiple countries working toward an end to the Gaza conflict voiced backing for Washington’s UN Security Council resolution to establish an International Stabilization Force in Gaza, amid pushback from Russia and China.
The statement, supported by Qatar, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Pakistan, Jordan and Turkey, noted that the process “offers a pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood.”
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/nfnr1axca
New York resident Eliyahu (Eli) Weinstein (51), who was released from custody in 2021 after receiving a pardon from President Donald Trump, has been sentenced to 37 years in prison for a new fraud scheme. According to prosecutors, Weinstein, who belongs to the Orthodox Jewish community, used the alias "Mike Konig" to conceal his identity and solicited money from investors claiming he would invest in COVID masks, baby formula and emergency equipment destined for Ukraine. The money was actually used for gambling, real estate purchases and luxury watches. The federal court in New Jersey determined that Weinstein defrauded more than 150 investors of $41 million and ordered him to pay $44 million in restitution.
https://www.newsweek.com/maga-reacts-as-donald-trump-cuts-ties-with-marjorie-taylor-greene-11052892
A major rift opened in the MAGA world this week after Donald Trump formally broke with Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of his most vocal supporters.
In a post on Truth Social on Friday, Trump said he was withdrawing his endorsement of Representative Greene. "I am withdrawing my support and endorsement of 'Congresswoman' Marjorie Taylor Greene, of the great state of Georgia," he wrote.
He also vowed "Complete and Unyielding Support" to any conservative primary challenger leading into the 2026 midterm elections, and described Greene as "wacky" and a "lunatic," saying all she does is "complain."
Formally speaking, whataboutism is a fallacy most closely related to the ad hominem fallacy, wherein a person responds to an accusation by attacking the person making it.
It is a fallacy because even if the counter-accusation is true, it doesn’t defend whoever is being accused (the lying partner, the messy child, Donald Trump) in the first place. At best, it shows that both parties behaved shamefully. And, of course, two wrongs do not make a right.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/11/13/politics/epstein-files-house-vote-johnson
House Speaker Mike Johnson decided to quickly schedule a House vote on an effort to force the release of all of the Jeffrey Epstein case files once the calculation was made that it couldn’t be stopped.
The decision marked a shift in strategy for Johnson and the White House, who had long sought to delay the process, three sources told CNN.
House GOP leaders are bracing for a significant number of Republicans to break from President Donald Trump and support the bipartisan bill led by GOP Rep. Thomas Massie and Democratic Rep. Ro Khanna calling for the Justice Department to release the Epstein files — as supporters push for a veto-proof majority.
Republican sources say there’s a broad cross-section of the conference willing to support the plan — and it will be hard to limit defections.
The decision to move quickly with a floor vote came shortly after thousands of new Epstein emails were released by the panel on Wednesday and top Trump administration officials met with GOP Rep. Lauren Boebert, one of the few Republicans who signed onto the effort demanding DOJ release its trove of Epstein files.
From regulating the price of chicken to levying fees on cigarettes, Hamas is seeking to widen control over Gaza as US plans for its future slowly take shape, Gazans say, adding to rivals’ doubts over whether it will cede authority as promised.
After a ceasefire began last month, Hamas swiftly reestablished its hold over areas from which Israel withdrew, killing dozens of Palestinians it accused of collaborating with Israel, theft, or other crimes. Foreign powers demand the terror group disarm and leave government, but have yet to agree on who will replace them.
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/hjmzosngbe
The United States has spent weeks working to secure approval for a UN Security Council resolution that would establish an international stabilization force in the Gaza Strip. A draft that surfaced highlights what Washington calls a reliable path to Palestinian self-determination and a future state, after the proposal was shaped with Arab countries based on President Donald Trump’s original plan. Late Thursday, however, Russia submitted its own resolution, threatening to delay the process because of its veto power.
The American draft, built on Trump’s 20-point plan and his “declaration for lasting peace and prosperity,” signed at the Sharm el-Sheikh summit, states that “the United States will establish dialogue between Israel and the Palestinians to agree on a political horizon for prosperous coexistence.” Israeli officials say the new draft includes clauses that are “uncomfortable for Israel,” including language on a path to Palestinian statehood and a clause that denies Israel the ability to veto which countries may send troops to the stabilization force. Even so, the officials say the proposal maintains the framework of the ceasefire agreement approved in Jerusalem, although it is considered less favorable than the original.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/11/13/politics/donald-trump-epstein-political-danger
If President Donald Trump has nothing to hide vis-à-vis Jeffrey Epstein, he sure has a weird way of showing it.
Trump hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing in connection with the convicted sex offender, but he’s doing a great job of looking suspicious.
This is merely the latest baffling episode in the administration’s handling of the Epstein files. Among the others:
The administration’s suspiciously timed, sudden reversal on releasing the files.
Trump’s belated disclosure of his knowledge of Maxwell’s Mar-a-Lago recruitment.
Trump’s weird denial of authoring a lewd letter for Epstein’s 50th birthday album.
His other false claims about Epstein-related matters.
The administration’s dubious decision to grant an interview with Maxwell, which seemed geared more toward helping Trump than anything else. (Sure enough, the newly released emails undercut Maxwell’s claims about Trump in that interview.)
The transfer of Maxwell to a minimum-security prison camp that she didn’t appear eligible for without a waiver. The administration still hasn’t explained how this happened, months later. And CNN’s MJ Lee reported Thursday that Maxwell is getting special treatment there.
Even if Trump doesn’t have anything to hide, the danger here is in making it look a whole lot like he does.
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5602658-discharge-petition-epstein-files-grijalva
A discharge petition for a bill to release files related to Jeffrey Epstein got enough signatures Wednesday to force action on the matter, teeing up a long-sought vote on the House floor relating to the convicted sex offender.
Rep. Adelita Grijalva (D-Ariz.) became the 218th and final signature on the discharge petition shortly after she was sworn in Wednesday. She joined all other Democrats and four Republicans: Reps. Thomas Massie (Ky.), Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Lauren Boebert (Colo.) and Nancy Mace (S.C.).
Later on Wednesday, Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said that he would bring the Epstein bill for a vote in the House next week — a move that amounts to ripping the band-aid off a vote that neither Johnson nor President Trump wanted.
Without cooperation from GOP leadership, the earliest a vote would have happened under the discharge petition process was early December, due to waiting periods under the process.
But it still faces an uphill climb to become law, as it would have to pass in the Republican-controlled Senate before making it to the desk of the president, who took to Truth Social saying that only “very bad, or stupid” Republicans would fall into an Epstein “trap.”
“There should be no deflections [sic] to Epstein or anything else,” Trump said.
Newly sworn-in Democratic Rep. Adelita Grijalva signs on to bipartisan House petition
https://medicalxpress.com/news/2025-11-anxiety-disorders-essential-nutrient-brain.html
The study, published in the journal Molecular Psychiatry, analyzed data from 25 studies. The researchers compared the levels of neurometabolites—chemicals produced during brain metabolism—in 370 people with anxiety disorders to 342 people without anxiety.
They found the level of choline—an essential nutrient—was about 8% lower in those with anxiety disorders. The evidence for low choline was especially consistent in the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that helps control thinking, emotions and behavior.
"This is the first meta-analysis to show a chemical pattern in the brain in anxiety disorders," said Jason Smucny, co-author and an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. "It suggests nutritional approaches—like appropriate choline supplementation—may help restore brain chemistry and improve outcomes for patients."
https://yudelstake.blogspot.com/2025/11/agudah-national-action-summit-to.html
The distinguished panel will include:
Hagaon Rav Sholom Kamenetsky, Rosh HaYeshiva, Talmudical Yeshiva of Philadelphia
Dr. Shmuel Mandelman, Ph.D., Founder and Clinical Director, The C.L.I.N.I.C.
Sefer Chasidim (#1170) Why do spirits harm on Shabbat Eve? Because the spirits are not in Gehenim. This is referring to the spirits of the wicked, when they die, are the harmful demons, like all the descendants of Cain who died, their souls became harmful demons and they were given permission to harm those who violate the Sabbath. Or if they were upset on Shabbos. Or even if they are not enjoying it.
In the 2011 email, the disgraced financier wrote to Ghislaine Maxwell that Trump had “spent hours at my house” with one of Epstein’s victims and that encounter “has never once been mentioned” by police.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/11/12/politics/epstein-trump-emails-oversight-committee
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt criticized Democrats on the House Oversight Committee for releasing the messages, claiming the members “selectively leaked emails to the liberal media to create a fake narrative to smear President Trump.”
https://thehill.com/homenews/house/5601668-epstein-trump-emails-released
Emails released by Democrats show convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein telling associates in the 2010s that “of course” President Trump knew about his relationships with underage girls.
In the short exchanges, Epstein says Trump “spent hours at my house,” while another says the president “knew about the girls.”
Trump sued The Wall Street Journal for defamation after the outlet published a story this year alleging Trump wrote a birthday note to Epstein in 2003 referencing their relationship.
Convicted pedophile Jeffrey Epstein acknowledged in a bitter email months before his death that Donald Trump told Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell to stop plucking young girls from the spa at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago resort to groom and sexually abuse.
Nearly eight years earlier, on April 2, 2011, Epstein described Trump in an email to Maxwell, who is serving a 20-year prison sentence for sex trafficking conspiracy and other charges, as “that dog that hasn’t barked,” adding that an unnamed victim “spent hours at my house with him [and] he has never once been mentioned.”
A bipartisan petition to force a House vote on a measure compelling the Justice Department to release its Epstein files was expected to receive the required 218th signature later Wednesday, when Rep.-elect Adelita Grijalva is sworn in by Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
https://www.newsweek.com/jeffrey-epstein-emails-michael-wolff-maxwell-donald-trump-11034117
The three newly released emails, dated 2011, 2015, and 2019, involve email correspondence between Epstein, his jailed associate Ghislaine Maxwell, and journalist Michael Wolff, who has authored books about Trump.
Jeffrey Epstein Email to Michael Wolff From January 31, 2019
Epstein: [VICTIM] mara lago. [REDACTED]. trump said he asked me to resign, never a member ever. . of course he knew about the girls as he asked ghislaine to stop
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/culture/article-873527
The High Court of Justice, in a decision authored by Supreme Court Chief Justice Isaac Amit, on Tuesday rejected a retrial request by the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, following the court’s July ruling that the Rabbinate must allow women to sit its religious certification exams.
Zohar Chodesh Bereishis #861) If there is an old person in the house it is a good omen for the house Similarly if there is a tzadik in the generation it is a good omen for the world
Archin (19a) Ḥizkiya said that people say a popular saying: If there is an elderly man in the home, there is a burden in the home, as he does not help with anything; if there is an elderly woman in the home, there is a treasure in the home,as she assists with various domestic labors.
Any sources reconcilling these two quotes would be appreciated
A review of 5 years of health records for more than 130,000 adults with insomnia who had used melatonin for at least a year found they were more likely to be diagnosed with heart failure, require hospitalization for the condition or die from any cause.
The association between melatonin and increased risk of heart failure or death found in this study, which cannot prove a cause-and-effect relationship, raises safety concerns about the use of melatonin, which is widely available, and may warrant more research on melatonin to assess its cardiovascular safety, researchers said.
A federal judge has said she will continue to block the Trump administration from enforcing a directive ordering states to reduce or revoke full SNAP benefits.
The administration is now attempting to retract hundreds of millions of dollars in food assistance benefits distributed after the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) - which pays for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) - informed states last week that it was "working to implement" benefits in compliance with a court order.
"It would seem to me that if the agency is trying to comply with the law and with the executive branch's preferences on policies, a piece of that wouldn't be trying to play vindictive games with the states. That's not part of it," said U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani on Monday, according to NBC News.
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-stimulus-check-update-given-by-scott-bessent-11020206
Erica York, vice president of federal tax policy at the Tax Foundation, said that excluding those with incomes over $100,000 would mean 150 million adults still qualify for the rebates, putting the total cost at $300 billion. This compares to the roughly $217 billion the Tax Foundation estimates current tariffs will raise in 2026.
"The math gets worse accounting for the full budgetary impact of tariffs: a dollar of tariff revenue offsets about 24 cents of income and payroll tax revenue," she wrote. "Adjusting for that, tariffs have raised $90 billion of net revenues compared to Trump’s proposed $300 billion rebate."
York added that the rebate scheme "would increase the national debt."
https://thehill.com/homenews/5597856-maxwell-prison-perks-whistleblower/?tbref=hp
The information provided to the committee alleges a series of remarkable steps taken to accommodate Maxwell after she was quietly transferred to a medium-security facility in Texas shortly after her meeting with Blanche.
According to the documents, Maxwell has been receiving customized meals that have been personally delivered to her cell.
They also describe unusual treatment of her guests, with Democrats relaying the creation of a “special cordoned off area for visitors to arrive, as well as an assortment of snacks and refreshments for her guests.” Her guests have also been allowed to bring computers, which is something not typically allowed for visitors.
https://www.wsj.com/opinion/trumps-tariff-rebate-contradictions-dbaf002c?st=JuHcda
He’s floating a $2,000 rebate to blunt the harm from his border taxes.
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-outsmarted-over-snap-benefits-ruling-legal-analyst-11020409
Wu said Trump was “outsmarted” because Jackson’s temporary stay, though it appeared to favor the federal government, was likely a strategic procedural move designed to prevent the Supreme Court’s conservative majority from issuing a broader, indefinite stay that could have delayed SNAP funding for months.
https://www.bhol.co.il/news/1710010
הלם בישיבה בביתר עם עזיבתו של אחד הבחורים לישיבה במבשרת ציון של הרב דוד לייבל. הר"מ בישיבה הגרמ"א פינקוס נשא שיחה בפני הבחורים וזעק: "הבחור הזה אין לו חלק לעולם הבא. כל הישיבה הזאת אין להם חלק לעולם הבא. לוקחים ישיבה ובונים בתוכה עוד דברים שהם לא התורה, הם מאבדים את העולם הבא שלהם". האזינו להקלטה
Ohr Hashem, (4:5) Are amulets and spells influential on human actions?: If he were one of the wise men of our nations it is unlikely to have any influence at all on them, but he if he is one who believes in them because he is a misguided and gullible person than it would be effective. While we will not deny experience as well as what has been revealed by the Sages in many places in the Talmud, nevertheless we must endeavor to clarify this strong unnatural thing, with its negative appearance, and explain how amulets and spells work since they are clearly unnatural. Amulets and spells do not themselves have power to do anything. For example it will be clear that that there is no relation between the heavenly rains and the amulets and spells. And it will already be seen that G-d is not the active force since sometimes they produce good and sometimes bad and it would be insulting to ascribe their actions to Him and thus say that G-d agrees with the evil and it also contradicts man’s free will to say man is the active agent. Therefore we can say that neither G-d nor man is always the active agent. Sometimes it is Heavenly forces and sometimes it is from G-d and the amulet or spell serves as an instrument. Thus a wise and pious person can use them as instruments of holiness and purity as he would with prayer or mitzvos. If so why lesser people belive in their power? It must be that heavenly powers can be invoked by them by lesser people
President Trump granted pardons for 77 individuals tied to a plot to overturn the 2020 presidential election – including his close allies Rudy Giuliani, Sidney Powell, and Kenneth Chesebro, a Justice Department attorney announced late Sunday night.
The pardons are mainly symbolic because none of the 77 individuals were charged on the federal level, however they could prevent future administrations from prosecuting the alleged co-conspirators.
The “fake electors” scheme eventually led to the attempt by the president’s supporters to halt the certification of the 2020 election on Jan. 6, 2021.
https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-pardons-his-top-2020-allies-in-mammoth-late-night-reveal
Donald Trump has pardoned a roll call of his allies who were involved in efforts to overturn the 2020 election.
The 77-person list dropped just before 11 p.m. on Sunday from Trump’s Pardon Attorney Ed Martin, who titled his X post: “Important pardon of Alternate Electors of 2020!!”
The list of people getting “full, complete and unconditional” pardons include former Trump lawyer Rudy Giuliani, former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, attorneys John Eastman and Kenneth Chesebro, Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn, and conservative attorney...
https://www.newsweek.com/supreme-court-temporarily-blocks-full-snap-payments-11014816
The High Court granted the Trump Administration's request to appeal a previous ruling that would require SNAP to be fully funded amid the ongoing federal government shutdown.
The Supreme Court’s administrative stay pauses District Judge John J. McConnell Jr.'s previous mandate for full SNAP payments, giving the First Circuit Court of Appeals additional time to review the case.
Meanwhile, millions of SNAP recipients face continued uncertainty about the timing and amount of their benefits.
Trump on Truth Social on Tuesday: "SNAP BENEFITS, which increased by Billions and Billions of Dollars (MANY FOLD!) during Crooked Joe Biden’s disastrous term in office (Due to the fact that they were haphazardly 'handed' to anyone for the asking, as opposed to just those in need, which is the purpose of SNAP!), will be given only when the Radical Left Democrats open up government, which they can easily do, and not before! Thank you for your attention to this matter. President DJT"
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/11/08/democrats-local-election-sweep-trump
From clerks to coroners, Democrats on Tuesday flipped city councils, school boards and county commissions.
Much of the attention Tuesday night focused on the Democrats’ big wins in the Virginia and New Jersey governor’s races, as well as in the New York mayor’s contest. But the party also won hundreds of lower-profile state and local contests — often swamping Republican incumbents with overwhelming turnout, suggesting that voters’ desire to send a message opposing President Donald Trump was deep and wide.
Voters seemed intent on showing their displeasure with Trump even if that meant voting against a random Republican city council member. In a recent Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos poll, 41 percent of Americans said they approved of Trump’s performance while 59 percent disapproved — the president’s worst showing since January 2021, a week after the attack by a pro-Trump mob on the U.S. Capitol.
Sefer Chasidim (59) For there was no enchantment in Jacob and we are not to look for omens. Due to our current sinful state,,there are many Jews that utilize charms and omens. For example they are mindful not to eat eggs Saturday night after Shabbos and not to take fire twice when there is a sick person in the house or a new mother within 9 days of giving birth. They also are involved in divination. When they see fire and burning coals standing, they say we will have a guest, if you extinguish it with water, they say the the guest will fall into the water. They are violating a number of Torah commandments. The only omens that are permitted is that which our Sages have permitted such as the signs on Rosh HaShanna. People say not to start teaching a child or begin any mitzva until Rosh Chodesh. While this is not divination it is improper since no one knows whether he will die before Rosh Chodesh and thus miss doing the mitzva. The rule is always to do the mitzva as soon as it is available.
https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2025/11/05/democrats-election-night-of-winning-00637076
It wasn’t just that Democrats won every closely-watched election — it’s that their victories were so sweeping. An expected victory in the Virginia governor’s race became a 15-point landslide, a gubernatorial race thought to be closer in New Jersey became a 13-point thrashing of its own and that referendum to redraw California’s House lines to add more Democratic seats was winning by nearly 30 points.
If the message was in the margins, there was no mystery in the why. Voters are, again, unhappy with the political status quo and, again, fault a White House they see as unfocused on their priorities. And Trump isn’t just failing to address the cost of living — many voters see him as abusing his power.
And the deeper problem Republicans have is that Trump is a one-man turnout machine for Democrats. There’s no such similar force for Republicans when the president isn’t on the ballot, and every election for a decade that’s about Trump (rather than the Democrats) has turned out poorly for the GOP.
For now, Democrats were happily reminded that there’s no tonic for a demoralized party like success.
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5595698-trump-criticized-affordability-inflation/?tbref=hp
The editorial board of the New York Post is blasting President Trump, arguing the president sounds like former President Biden on issues of affordability and the cost of living.
“Americans didn’t appreciate being lied to by Biden and Democrats, and the party paid for it at the ballot box. But Americans also won’t appreciate being called liars for what their own eyes — and their own wallets — are telling them,” it concluded. “Don’t deny things are tough, Mr. President. Take another look at some of your economic policies and help make things better.”
https://mishpacha.com/the-waiting-game-2
At the time of press, SNAP benefits (food stamps) have not gone out due to the US government shutdown and its future looks uncertain. This will affect many members of our frum communities.
No one goes into the chinuch field for the money, and it turns out that the administrator who encouraged me to apply for government benefits to supplement my meager salary wasn’t planning to cover the shortfall when the government decided to shut down. At least she seemed slightly embarrassed when she told me that I’m not the only one who approached her this week. I should feel angry, but instead it’s a comfort — at least I’m not the only one. This isn’t my failing.
Kesubos (110b): One should always live in the Land of Israel, even in a town most of whose inhabitants are idolaters, but let no one live outside the Land, even in a town most of whose inhabitants are Israelites; for whoever lives in the Land of Israel may be considered to have a G-d, but whoever lives outside the Land may be regarded as one who has no G-d. For it is said in Scripture, To give you the Land of Canaan, to be your G-d. Has he, then, who does not live in the Land, no G-d? But this is what the text intended to tell you, that whoever lives outside the Land may be regarded as one who worships idols. Similarly it was said in Scripture in the story of David, For they have driven me out this day that I should not cleave to the inheritance of the Lord, saying: Go, serve other gods. Now, whoever said to David, ‘Serve other gods’? But the text intended to tell you that whoever lives outside the Land may be regarded as one who worships idols.
Trump’s Truth Social post on Thursday suggested that higher costs are all in our heads, that “the Democrats ‘affordability’ issue is DEAD! STOP LYING!!!”
Americans didn’t appreciate being lied to by Biden and Democrats, and the party paid for it at the ballot box. But Americans also won’t appreciate being called liars for what their own eyes — and their own wallets — are telling them.
Don’t deny things are tough, Mr. President. Take another look at some of your economic policies and help make things better.
President Trump on Wednesday blamed Tuesday’s Republican election defeats on the government shutdown and the fact that he wasn’t on the ballot. If he really believes this, the GOP is heading for bigger problems in 2026.
Mr. Trump was on the ballot—not literally, but nonetheless as the main motivating force behind a dominating Democratic turnout. Winning Democratic candidates for Governor in New Jersey and Virginia linked their opponents to Mr. Trump, driving Democratic voters to the polls and erasing the GOP gains in 2024 among Hispanics, black men and independents.
They voted blue, no matter who. Democrats swept the off-year elections, largely in response to President Donald Trump’s first nine months back in office. Yet the future of the Democratic Party remains up for grabs.
Most voters said in exit polls that their ballot was intended to send a message to Trump. Every county in Virginia and New Jersey voted more Democratic than in the previous governor’s race. Trump’s gains last year with minorities evaporated.
While being anti-Trump was enough to win this year, and might work again in the midterms, the exit polls reveal that the Democratic brand remains underwater. Spanberger won 20 percent among voters who hold an unfavorable view of her party, and Sherrill won 17 percent. In the New York mayor’s race, Zohran Mamdani won 33 percent.
Pirkei de Rabbi Eliezar (21:01). Sammael riding on the serpent came to her, and she conceived; afterwards Adam came to her, and she conceived Abel, as it is said, "And Adam knew Eve his wife". What is the meaning of "knew"? He knew that she had conceived. And she saw his likeness that it was not of the earthly beings, but of the heavenly beings, and she prophesied and said: "I have gotten a man with the Lord".
https://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/news/trump-election-2025-loss-democrats-win-rcna242024
President Donald Trump’s name may not have been on the ballot Tuesday, but he suffered a resounding defeat anyway as voters rejected Republican candidates and registered their strong disapproval of how the president is doing his job.
From gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey, to the mayoral race in Trump’s hometown, to a redistricting measure in California, Americans opposed Trump’s endorsed candidates and expressed deep dissatisfaction with the country's direction while signaling their dismay with the cost of living and their financial situations.
As the results became clear, the president took to social media to say the first election during his second term had nothing to do with him. "'TRUMP WASN’T ON THE BALLOT, AND SHUTDOWN, WERE THE TWO REASONS THAT REPUBLICANS LOST ELECTIONS TONIGHT,’ according to Pollsters,” Trump posted.
https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/when-did-maga-become-make-argentina-great-again
While farmers wind down the harvest season without their previously reliable customers, like China, lined up to buy their product, you’d think the administration might reignite its "Farmers First" agenda. Instead, President Trump is using his power to boost one of our top agricultural competitors and kick American farmers while they’re down. Enter: his $40 billion taxpayer-funded bailout to Argentina.
In fact, the only people who will benefit from this bailout are President Trump and his ally, Argentine President Javier Milei, whose corrupt politics have driven Argentina into an economic crisis. Well, and the Wall Street financiers who placed bad bets on his unstable economy.
If there is any semblance of truth to "Farmers First" – or "America First," for that matter – President Trump should end his affair with Argentina and focus on the Americans struggling here at home.
Berachos (8a) For this let every one that is godly pray unto Thee in the time of finding. R. Hanina says: In the time of finding’ refers to [the finding of] a wife. For it is said: Whoso findeth a wife findeth a great good.
The above indicates marriage entails finding that which was lost. In other words marriage partners are preordained and the task is recovery of what was lost. This is the idea of basherte found in various places in the Talmud and is now the dominant view
This is contrasted by the gemora with the view it ascibes to Israel as opposed to Babylonia
Berachos (8a) In the West (Israel) they used to ask a man who married a wife thus: Maza or Moze? Maza , for it is written: Whoso findeth [maza] a wife findeth a great good. Moze, for it is written: And I find [moze] more bitter than death the woman.
The question is raised why ask the man only after he married whether he got a good or bad wife? If it is preordained he needs to simply accept his lot. If not preordained he should be asked before they get married? And why was this viewed as an Israeli practise only and not Babylonian? The Chida answers that in Bavel they learned Torah prior to marriage and this protected them from a bad wife. In Israel they learned Torah only after marriage and had no protection. It is important to note that the Rambam in Shemona Perkim strongly rejects the idea of besherte
One of the commentaries in the Ein Yakov says this question was raised to remind the man that whether the marriage is good or bad is determined by constant effort
In other words in Bavel marriage involves primarily finding a lost part and thus involves only one significant event while the view in |Israel is that marriage is a life long process.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/11/04/politics/election-takeaways-new-york-new-jersey-virginia
Voters up and down the East Coast delivered Democrats a sweep on Tuesday, electing candidates across the party’s ideological spectrum in a vivid show of discontent with President Donald Trump nearly a year into his second term.
The Democratic wins by candidates with sharp ideological differences will do little to settle the party’s long-raging internal debate about its way forward, with a host of competitive midterm primaries just months away and the 2028 presidential primary already looming.
But their campaigns had some things in common. Though their solutions were different, the candidates focused on the issue of affordability. And they were all fiercely critical of Trump’s performance.
https://vinnews.com/2025/11/04/a-letter-every-lawyer-should-read
I am a lawyer. I take money to tear families apart. I specialize in divorce, which is a polite way of saying I weaponize the law for whoever pays me. My current client has what I used to call “control issues” before I stopped using clinical terms to describe what I enable. She doesn’t want her ex-husband to see their daughter. She doesn’t want his parents—people who once rocked that child to sleep, who celebrated her first steps, who love her—to see her either. I help her do this.
I draft the motions. I coach her testimony. I know exactly which phrases make a judge hesitate, which insinuations plant doubt without proof. I am very good at what I do. Do I enjoy this? I used to tell myself no. Now I’m not sure I’m capable of honest self-reflection anymore. I rationalize it the way every lawyer learns to rationalize: if I don’t take this case, someone else will. Someone less skilled, perhaps, who won’t win as decisively. At least I’m competent. At least I’m professional. At least I return phone calls promptly.
https://anash.org/hakirah-explores-chassidic-origin-of-hashgacha-pratis
Virtually all of contemporary Orthodox Jewry believes that hashgacḥa pratis affects the entirety of Creation and every occurrence including the most minor details, and this belief is manifest in their daily lives. Yet Orthodox Jews are generally not aware that this doctrine, so common today, only became dominant starting in the eighteenth century, nor are they familiar with its rather complex history since that time.
Moreh Nevuchim (3:17-18) “I do not believe that a leaf falls as a result of Divine Providence, not that this spider devours this specific fly as a result of Divine Decree...I do not believe that...when a fish snatches a specific worm floating on a river that such was the will of G-d. Rather this was all through absolute chance, as Aristotle contends
Moreh Nevuchim (3:17-18) : 1) The first view is the claim of some people that there is no Divine Providence at all regarding anything in existence, and everything...is merely the result of chance...this is pure heresy (or alternately the view of Epicurus).2) The second is the view that over some things there is Divine Providence... but other things are left to chance. This is the view of Aristotle. 3) The third view...is that nothing in existence is the result of chance, not specific individuals nor general groups...This is the view held by the Muslim school known as Asharites. 4) The forth view is...that all divine acts are a result of Divine Wisdom which can bear no injustice (even in regard to animals and inanimate objects). This is the (Muslim) school of Mu’tzalites[, where a guiltless mouse that is devoured by a cat will be compensated in Heaven.5) The fifth view is the Torah view that...man is completely in control of his actions...and everything that occurs to man is fitting to occur as a result of Divine Providence.
Shomer Emunim (2:81) “Nothing occurs by accident, without intention and Divine Providence. This is learned out from the verse; ‘And I will walk with you in chance (be’keri).’ From this we see that even the state of apparent ‘chance’ is actually Providence. “But that does not apply to the non-human species...whether this ant will be trodden upon or saved. There is no special Providence for animals and certainly not for plants and minerals, as they are governed by species and not individuals. Whatever occurs to individual animals, plants and objects is purely by chance, and not by Divine Decree – unless it is ultimately connected to humankind
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/flashes/669774
Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales personally intervened Sunday to block user edits to the site’s “Gaza genocide” article, citing severe anti-Israel bias and a violation of Wikipedia’s neutrality standards, the New York Post reported.
Wales criticized the article’s opening sentence, which refers to a “Gaza genocide” without attribution, presenting the claim as fact rather than a contested allegation.
“This article fails to meet our high standards and needs immediate attention,” he wrote, referencing Wikipedia’s policies on neutrality and attribution.
The intervention sparked debate among Wikipedia editors. Some praised Wales for restoring neutrality, while others accused him of yielding to political pressure and questioned his ties to Israel. Wales has reportedly visited Israel at least ten times and received the Dan David Prize from Tel Aviv University in 2015.
https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/the-price-israel-paid-to-save-the-hostages/
Even though it's Trump, Israel's great friend in the White House, we should say plainly: the very idea of giving Turkey any role in Gaza, a country that even after the massacre still hosts Hamas terrorists on its soil, is a grave moral distortion.
Following reports on Monday that Israel was considering granting terrorists hiding in tunnels safe passage from Israeli-controlled areas of the Gaza Strip to the Hamas-run zone, a statement attributed to an “Israeli official” — often a euphemism for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office — said the premier “is not allowing safe passage for 200 Hamas terrorists.”
According to Israeli estimates, some 200 Hamas gunmen are currently located in the tunnels underneath the IDF-controlled parts of southern Gaza, especially in Rafah, and are unable to retreat to the Hamas-controlled areas without emerging from their tunnels and being spotted by Israeli troops
Following Manchester terror attack, Blue Labour leader Maurice Glasman says working-class Brits are ‘last bulwark’ against rising antisemitism brought on by progressivism and migrants
As we all know, there are those in our communities who are supporting Cuomo for NYC Mayor as an evil, albeit a lesser one, vis-a-vis Assemblyman Mamdani, in their (flawed, in our view) analysis. As we've explained on our radio program repeatedly over the past several weeks, we argue that their arguments are encumbered by faulty presumptions about the relative dangers presented by Cuomo vis-à-vis Mamdani. However, that's not our focus at the moment. (Cuomo, given his experience, contacts, and persona, actually poses a considerably graver danger of successfully implementing much of what Mamdani flamboyantly talks about, beyond what Cuomo has already perpetrated in those areas, including spiking crime.)
Unfortunately, some who purport to represent our views and/or interests are supporting Cuomo as a good person, a "friend" (sic) of our communities, כביכול, a qualified leader - whom we ostensibly should support per se', not just as a lesser evil. Such support for a one-man crime-wave - especially under the guise of Orthodox "leadership" - is disgusting beyond description.
Some Background:
Predictably, some of the community organizers aligned with Cuomo, for their own self-centered reasons, opted early on to collaborate in the unforgivable political rehabilitation of the prime-mover behind same-sex marriage (SSM) in NY - Andrew Cuomo.*
[* Passage of SSM in NY in June 2011 predictably led to a cascading effect, culminating in reaching a critical mass of supporting - enabling five miscreant judges on the US Supreme Court to get away with sanctioning SSM four years later (in the infamous June 2015 Obergefell edict).]
This is no minor objection, as you may imagine reading some of what passes for news reportage in some quarters. Recognition of SSM triggered the annihilation of the world via the Flood, as Chazal exhort us (Midrash Rabbah 23:9 on Va'Yikra 18:3). Rav Shmuel Faivelson, ZT"L, talmid muvhak of Rav Aharon Kotler ZY"A, over two decades ago, explained the Gemara in Chullin 92b - stating that writing same-sex marriage contracts is a sin that even the depraved amongst the nations of the world have traditionally avoided. He related that this Gemara indicates that the entire existence of the world is predicated on compliance with that prohibition. Once they they start undermining observance of that core commandment - they endanger the very existence of civilization.*
{* This is precisely what I meant when I was prominently quoted in the media years ago stating that recognition of SSM poses an "existential threat."}
To rehabilitate Cuomo after all of his iniquities, including his pivotal role in SSM - and after his subsequent, well-deserved, and miraculous fall from power - is an unforgivable evil.
Additionally, the aforementioned askonim behind the exhumation of the political career of Cuomo have been promoting someone who's ego-driven run - in a race he had almost been guaranteed to lose - is perhaps the biggest asset for the Mamdani campaign. Cuomo's greatest accomplishment heretofore had been that he's impeded others - far more qualified (=less criminal) - from getting a fair chance to put up a realistic opposition to Mamdani.
To those self-serving individuals, we offer congratulations: "You Pick Spoilers"...
Whatever happens - we must never, ever forget what Cuomo did, and, more fundamentally, what he is. The same applies to those inexcusably enabling him as a good person, who is a "friend" of the Jewish community.
We urge all recipients to please share this in the manner you deem fit, and to please consider doing what you may be able to do to counter this horrific חילול השם בפרהסיא.
We dare not forget:
מאריך אפיה - וגביה דיליה.
And:
מידה טובה מרובה (ערש"י על המשנה מכות סוף דף כ"ג ע"א).
Rabbi Noson Shmuel Leiter,
Executive Director,
Help Rescue Our Children
845.642.1679
Direct: 771.215.8892
Israeli Helpline: 03.721.3337
torahjewsfordecency@gmail.com
Tomim Tih'yeh [countering "New-Age" infiltration]:
Tomim1679@gmail.com
Presentations on New-Age dangers: 605-313-6831 ext. 2
Heard weekly on New Jersey's WSNR Radio 620AM, co-hosting the renowned Levin At Eleven program, every Thursday evening, 11pm to midnight (ET).
https://www.newsweek.com/nyc-mayor-election-mamdani-cuomo-polls-live-updates-10980297
Former New York governor, and independent mayoral candidate Andrew Cuomo, claimed on Monday that a vote for "poser" Zohran Mamdani, was a vote for President Donald Trump trying to "take over" New York City.
"If you want President Trump to try to take over the city - national guard on streets, choking federal funding - vote for @ZohranKMamdani because Trump just said he will be coming and this poser @ZohranKMamdani won’t be able to stop him," he wrote in a post on X.
"That is a fact. The next Mayor has to be able to get us more, not ensure our demise. I am the only person in this race who can do that," he added.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/417199
In interview with “60 Minutes”, Trump says he secured all Israeli hostages from Gaza, pushed Netanyahu, and “knocked the hell out of Iran.” He warns Hamas: “They’ll be taken out if they misbehave.”
“If there are teachers who explain [to students] that the world has existed for millions of years — gentlemen, stop them, don’t stay silent and listen because it’s unpleasant to comment,” continues Yosef. “Don’t tell me when the world was created. The world was created less than 6,000 years ago.”
A dispute breaks out in the Satmar Hasidic movement in New York City over which candidate to endorse in the upcoming mayoral election.
Local media reported earlier today that Rabbi Moishe Indig, a prominent leader in the Satmar Ahronim faction, was set to endorse State Assemblymember Zohran Mamdani, a far-left, anti-Israel candidate. Indig and Mamdani then met this afternoon.
Around the same time, three other leaders of the faction released a statement endorsing former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, a pro-Israel centrist and Mamdani’s leading challenger
Far-right activist Laura Loomer on Friday slammed the Heritage Foundation after its president, Kevin Roberts, spoke out in support of Tucker Carlson’s interview with white nationalist Nick Fuentes.
Her criticism of the Heritage chief and former Fox News host comes after GOP Sens. Ted Cruz (Texas) and Mitch McConnell (Ky.) pushed back on Roberts, citing Fuentes’s history of antisemitism. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the highest-ranking Jewish member of Congress, also denounced the interview as “deeply disturbing,” and suggested the content was hazardous.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national-security/2025/11/01/trump-venezuela-war-drugs-law/
The president needs lawmakers’ approval for sustained military action under the 1973 War Powers Resolution, which was passed in the wake of the Vietnam War to prevent another drawn-out, undeclared conflict.
The official said the administration does not believe U.S. troops are in danger in the ongoing operation, so the law did not apply. “The operation comprises precise strikes conducted largely by unmanned aerial vehicles launched from naval vessels in international waters at distances too far away for the crews of the targeted vessels to endanger American personnel,” the official said in an email.
https://thehill.com/policy/international/israel-hamas-gaza-ceasefire-remains-not-hostages/?tbref=hp
The remains of three people Hamas handed over to the Red Cross in Gaza do not belong to any hostages, Israel said Saturday, in the latest setback to the U.S.-brokered ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.
The handover followed Israel’s return on Friday of the bodies of 30 Palestinians to Gaza, which completed an exchange after militants turned over remains of two hostages earlier in the week.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office confirmed that the remains of the three people did not belong to hostages. It was unclear who the remains belonged to.
The Trump administration continues undeterred in its campaign to kill alleged drug traffickers in international waters near Central and South America despite an emerging consensus among legal experts who say that the effort is illegal.
As of this writing, the U.S. military has killed at least 61 people. On Friday, Volker Türk, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, condemned the killings and said they were illegal under international law. President Gustavo Petro of Colombia has accused the Trump administration of “murder” in connection with the death of a man that Petro described as a fisherman on one of the boats. Meanwhile, the administration is stonewalling Congress.
Two-thirds of Israelis believe the United States, not Israel, is now steering military operations in Gaza, according to a survey by Channel 12 released Friday evening.
The poll found that 67 percent of respondents think the US is the main decision-maker when it comes to Israel’s policy and IDF actions in the Strip.
Just 24% said Israel is the one calling the shots, while 9% were unsure.
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/11/01/politics/trump-pentagon-nigeria-action
US President Donald Trump said Saturday he has ordered the Defense Department to prepare for possible military action in Nigeria as he continues to accuse the nation of not doing enough to stem violence against Christians — an accusation Nigeria has repeatedly denied.
In a social media post criticizing what he called the “mass slaughter” of Christians in the country, Trump wrote the United States would “immediately stop all aid and assistance to Nigeria” and warned the government there to “move fast.”
In the lengthy message, Trump said the US “may very well go into that now disgraced country, ‘guns-a-blazing,’ to completely wipe out the Islamic Terrorists who are committing these horrible atrocities.”
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/10/15/politics/jd-vance-young-republicans-texts-analysis
Pointing to recently disclosed violent messages from Democratic Virginia attorney general candidate Jay Jones, Vance basically argued Republicans should hold their tongues.
“This is far worse than anything said in a college group chat, and the guy who said it could become the AG of Virginia,” Vance wrote on X. “I refuse to join the pearl clutching when powerful people call for political violence.”
It’s hard to find a better epitome of the MAGA movement’s evolution on hateful rhetoric. The moral high ground is out; whataboutism is very much in.
It’s a remarkable entry in the GOP’s long-running shift toward a no-apologies approach to politics. The attitude seems to be that as long as the other side is perceived as worse, the GOP shouldn’t bother with policing its own.
As Republicans accuse Democrats of tolerating antisemitism in their party, the GOP on Friday was roiled by its own schism after the leader of a powerful right-wing think tank defended prominent conservative commentator Tucker Carlson for his friendly podcast interview with a far-right activist known for his antisemitic views.
The outrage began when Roberts on Thursday posted a video in which he denied his group was “distancing itself” from the former Fox News host, one of the most powerful voices on the right, after Carlson’s podcast hosted Nick Fuentes, whose followers see themselves as working to preserve America’s white, Christian identify.
“The American people expect us to be focusing on our political adversaries on the left, not attacking our friends on the right,” said Roberts, adding that, while antisemitism is wrong, conservatives do not need to always support Israel.
The flare-up comes as criticism of Israel and blatant antisemitism have risen in right wing circles. Activists such as Fuentes and Candace Owens have seen the popularity of their podcasts and videos grow, particularly among young conservatives who are increasingly skeptical of the notion that the Republican Party should stand by Israel’s side and support its war in Gaza, given President Donald Trump ‘s “America First” agenda
https://thehill.com/homenews/media/5584905-heritage-foundation-shake-up-carlson-fuentes-criticism
He made the announcement in an email to staff late Friday with the subject line: “Heritage’s Stand Against Antisemitism and for Civilizational Truth.”
The email, obtained by The Hill, opened by saying the thank tank had “launched and expanded numerous explicit efforts to combat antisemitism” under his leadership.
“Our position on Israel is principled and balanced: there’s a great deal of space between believing Israel can do no wrong and blaming it for every wrong,” the Heritage chief wrote.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/immigration/2025/11/01/dhs-ice-border-patrol-chicago-tear-gas
Federal officers have thrown chemical agents out of vehicles on city streets, creating a hazard for motorists. They have thrown tear-gas canisters near stores and schools, exposing children, pregnant women and older people to the noxious gas. And on numerous occasions federal officers have fired pepper balls directly at protesters — in one case, striking a pastor in the head.
The use of tear gas has persisted in recent days despite a court order forbidding officers from using chemical agents against demonstrators and journalists unless they pose a safety threat. Last week, Gregory Bovino, the Border Patrol official leading the Chicago operation, was videotaped throwing a tear-gas canister into a crowd. In another incident, immigration officers deployed tear gas as families were walking to a Halloween parade.
On Oct. 9, U.S. District Judge Sara Ellis issued a temporary restraining order blocking DHS federal agents from using riot control weapons, including tear gas, on journalists, protesters and religious practitioners who do not pose an immediate threat. The temporary restraining order also required federal agents to give “at least two separate warnings when feasible” at an appropriate sound level before using a riot control weapon.
Ellis questioned Bovino on Tuesday and warned him that agents appear to be violating her temporary restraining order barring them from using chemical munitions on protesters or journalists who do not pose a threat.
Ted Cruz warned of rising antisemitism on the right — and a lack of Republican voices calling it out — as he kicked off the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual summit Thursday night.
The speech reiterated comments he made at a San Antonio megachurch last week, including the core message that he’s recently seen more right-wing antisemitism than ever before.
“In the last six months, I’ve seen more antisemitism on the right than I had in my entire life,” Cruz said.
“This is a poison,” he continued. “And I believe we are facing an existential crisis in our party and our country.”
