Religious Zionist rabbi: Let Reform have mixed services at the Western Wall

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310396

 A senior Religious Zionist rabbi has called on the authorities in charge of the Western Wall Plaza to accommodate Reform and Conservative prayer groups at a separate section of the wall designated for egalitarian prayer.

Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, chief rabbi of the Samaria town of Har Bracha and dean of the local yeshiva, penned a piece on Arutz Sheva’s Hebrew website Thursday arguing that non-traditional prayer groups should be given accommodation at the Western Wall.

Kahana’s kashrut reforms get rabbinical backing

 https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/kahanas-kashrut-reforms-get-rabbinical-backing-674863

Last week, Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, a respected arbiter of Halacha, expressed support for Kahana’s measures, according to the Religious Services Ministry.

Har Bracha Rosh Yeshiva Rabbi Melamed: Reform Jews Entitled to their Mixed Services at the Kotel

 https://www.jewishpress.com/news/jewish-news/har-bracha-rosh-yeshiva-rabbi-melamed-reform-jews-entitled-to-their-mixed-services-at-the-kotel/2021/07/22/

 Rabbi Eliezer Melamed, the rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Bracha near Shechem, wrote in Arutz 7 on Thursday that Conservative and Reform Jews must be allowed to pray at the Ezrat Israel section of the Kotel, and the Rabbi of the Kotel must take care of all their needs, including providing them with a Torah scroll (הרב אליעזר מלמד: תפילת הרפורמים בעזרת ישראל).

The German Experiment That Placed Foster Children with Pedophiles

 https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/07/26/the-german-experiment-that-placed-foster-children-with-pedophiles

 Kentler’s career was framed by his belief in the damage wrought by dominant fathers. An early memory was of walking in the forest on a spring day and running to keep up with his father. “I had only one wish: that he should take my hand and hold it in his,” Kentler wrote in a parenting magazine in 1983. But his father, a lieutenant in the First World War, believed in a “rod and baton pedagogy,” as Kentler put it. Kentler’s parents followed the teachings of Daniel Gottlob Moritz Schreber, a best-selling German authority on child care who has been described as a “spiritual precursor of Nazism.” Schreber outlined principles of child rearing that would create a stronger race of men, ridding them of cowardice, laziness, and unwanted displays of vulnerability and desire. “Suppress everything in the child,” Schreber wrote, in 1858. “Emotions must be suffocated in their seed right away.” When Kentler misbehaved, his father threatened to buy a contraption invented by Schreber to promote children’s posture and compliance: shoulder bands to prevent slouching; a belt that held their chest in place while they slept; an iron bar pressed to their collarbone, so they’d sit up straight at the table. If Kentler talked out of turn, his father slammed his fist on the table and shouted, “When the father talks, the children must be silent!”

Moredes if forced by husband?

Otzar Haposkim (77)

Avoda Zara does it have actual power?

אמת ליעקב דברים פרק ד פסוק יט

(יט) וראית את השמש ואת הירח גו' אשר חלק ה' אלקיך אתם לכל העמים תחת כל השמים8.
עיין במפרשי התורה שישנם בעיקר שני מהלכים בביאור פסוק זה, דיש מפרשים דהשמש והירח נחלקו לכל העמים להאיר להם ומזהירה התורה אותנו שלא נשתחוה להם, אבל הראב"ע והרמב"ן כאן פירשו דיש לכל עם ועם כוכב ידוע ומזל מיוחד, וכן יש מזל לכל עיר ועיר, והם הם המשפיעים על העמים, וכן היא גם שיטת הרמב"ן לעיל בפרשת בראשית [א' פי"ח], עיין שם.
ונראה שיש כאן מחלוקת עיקרית ביסוד ענין עבודה זרה, דשיטת הרמב"ם בכמה מקומות היא דהעבודה זרה אין בה ממש כל עיקר ואין לה כח כלל, וכל המתפלל אליה ועובדה לא רק שהוא עובר על האיסור אלא הוא גם מבזבז זמנו לריק ולשוא, אבל דעת הרמב"ן היא שהקב"ה הטביע בטבע העולם שכל אומה יש לה משפיע משלה בעולמות העליונים והוא יש לו כח מסויים שיכול להשפיע על אומתו כל זמן שאין הדבר נוגע לישראל [דהרי אין מזל לישראל], אלא איסור עבודה זרה שנצטוו בה האומות הוא שאסור להם להתפלל למשמש הזה כי הרי כל כוחו נובע ממה שהטביע בו הקדוש ברוך הוא, ולכן התפילה והעבודה צריכה להיות לאלקי האלקים, כלומר להאלו־ה שהוא ממעל כל האלהים, ולכן צריכים להתפלל להקב"ה עצמו ולא לעבד שלו, אבל ודאי אם עובדים את העבודה שלהם ומתפללים אליה זה משפיע עליו לעזור להם ויש ביכלתו לעשות כן, וזהו ביאור הפסוק אשר חלק ה' אלקיך לכל העמים תחת כל השמים, והיינו שה' חילק לכל אומה אומה את השר והמשפיע שלה.
ועיין בספר שופטים [י"א פכ"ד] בדברי יפתח אל מלך עמון שאמר לו: הלא את אשר יורישך כמוש אלהיך אותו תירש ואת כל אשר הוריש ה' אלקינו מפנינו אותו נירש. ועיי"ש בפירוש הרלב"ג שפירש שעל דרך הלעג אמר כן. אבל לפי שיטת הרמב"ן לא היתה כוונת יפתח על דרך הלעג, אלא כוונתו היתה כפי פשוטו9, דבודאי יש כח לכמוש אלהיך להוריש לך מה שהוא רוצה, ומכיון שזה הוא מה שהוריש לך א"כ איך לך לבוא בטענות נגד ישראל שהם ירשו את מה שהורישם ה' אלקי ישראל, ודו"ק.

 

The complexities of vaccine hesitancy

 https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210720-the-complexities-of-vaccine-hesitancy

 First, some distinctions. While it is tempting to assume that anyone who refuses a vaccine holds the same beliefs, the fears of most vaccine hesitant people should not be confused with the bizarre theories of staunch anti-vaxxers. "They're very vocal, and they have a strong presence offline and online," says Mohammad Razai at the Population Health Research Institute, St George's, University of London, who has written about the various psychological and social factors that can influence people's decision-making around vaccines. "But they’re a very small minority."

Father of 10-year-old rape victim: 'We give the Bedouin everything, and they laugh at us'

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/310379

 The father whose 10-year-old daughter was raped in her bed by Bedouin Arab intruders from southern Israel participated Thursday in a tour of the Negev, along with MKs from the Land of Israel Caucus.

In his words, the father, A., blamed the government authorities for the anarchy in the Negev.

"The State of Israel has reverse racism towards its Jewish citizens," A. told Arutz Sheva. "The Arabs claim that we are an apartheid state. That's true, but only in the opposite direction. The apartheid is towards Jews. It's unthinkable that there should be quick enforcement against a Jew who moves a millimeter out of bounds, when in the Bedouin settlements the law doesn't even exist - including in so-called 'legal' settlements."

Fact Check: Is Asking Someone If They Are Vaccinated a HIPAA Violation?

 https://www.newsweek.com/fact-check-asking-covid-vaccination-status-violation-hipaa-privacy-law-1611758

When Greene was asked by a reporter about her vaccine status, she refused to answer the question, calling it "a violation of my HIPAA rights."

On July 20 she said: "With HIPAA rights, we don't have to reveal our medical records and that also involves our vaccine records."

False.

Greene's claim that being asked about her vaccination status was a violation of her HIPAA rights is false.

HIPAA rules prevent certain entities from improperly disclosing your health information. The rules do not mean that no one can ask you about your health information.

The Woman Spearheading the Fight Against Sexual Assault in ultra-Orthodox Society

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/.premium.MAGAZINE-the-woman-spearheading-the-fight-against-sexual-assault-among-haredim-1.5455644 

 Attorney Rivka Schwartz remembers vividly the first time she ever heard about sexual abuse within the family. She was 16 at the time, attending summer camp. She and one of her best friends – also a Haredi, or ultra-Orthodox, girl from Bnei Brak – were having trouble falling asleep. They talked well into the night, and Schwartz’s friend revealed something that astounded her.

McConnell urges Americans: ‘Get vaccinated’ as cases spike

 https://apnews.com/article/health-government-and-politics-coronavirus-pandemic-af236206a9e74e614479d10b5bc4555c

 McConnell has been one of the most outspoken members of his party in urging vaccinations to stop the virus spread, speaking often in his home state of Kentucky of the need for people to get the shot.

Without criticizing prominent Republicans who refuse the vaccine or mock the severity of the virus, including members of Congress, he has expressed dismay at those who choose to go unvaccinated.