Support for Minister Kahana’s Conversion Plan

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/319701

About a week ago, my position on the issue of conversion was published:

“I support the initiative of the Minister of Religions, Matan Kahana, in restoring the authority of conversion to local rabbis. This is the law from time immemorial, namely, that every rabbi is authorized to convert. This was the practice in the State of Israel until about thirty years ago, and similarly, it is fitting and correct today, in order to open the majority of doors for immigrants from Jewish families who are not halakhically Jews, to convert according to halakha. I hope that this initiative will add Torah and mitzvot in Israel, and on account of it, more immigrants will return to their roots, and more Jews in the Land of Israel will be strengthened in keeping tradition, in the love of Torah, and in keeping mitzvot.”

I will elaborate a bit on the issue (based on my book, “HaMasoret HaYehudit” 18: 6).

Leading haredi rabbi: It's a 'great merit' to vaccinate children

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/319832

Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, a leading Lithuanian-haredi rabbi, has instructed teachers to call parents up and convince them to vaccinate their children against COVID-19, Israel Hayom reported.

The haredi community saw high numbers of pediatric coronavirus infections during the first wave of the pandemic, causing many parents to believe that their children are now immune to the virus and do not need to be vaccinated.

However, serological tests have revealed that many of these children either did not actually contract COVID-19, or no longer have antibodies due to the passage of time since the infection.

Meanwhile, Israel Hayom noted, school principals have asked Rabbi Kanievsky for his suggestions on how to encourage parents to vaccinate their children

Trump Ally Bernard Kerik Hands Over Docs to Jan. 6 House Select Committee

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/trump-ally-bernard-kerik-hands-over-documents-to-jan-6-house-select-committee

Disgraced former New York City police commissioner and Trump confidante Bernard Kerik has turned over a tranche of documents to the House select committee investigating the events surrounding the events of Jan. 6, Politico reported. One set of documents Kerik provided reportedly includes emails between Kerik and others in which they discussed paying for rooms at the Willard Hotel so Trump allies could meet to brainstorm ways to block Joe Biden’s electoral win from being certified. Another, titled, “STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS PLAN—GIULIANI PRESIDENTIAL LEGAL DEFENSE TEAM,” reportedly lays out a strategy to convince congressional Republicans not to formalize Biden’s victory. In addition to the documents requested by the committee, Kerik also reportedly provided a so-called privilege log that listed the materials he refuses to share. One of them is titled “DRAFT LETTER FROM POTUS TO SEIZE EVIDENCE IN THE INTEREST OF NATIONAL SECURITY FOR THE 2020 ELECTIONS.”

Facebook Denies Suspending, 'Censoring' Marjorie Taylor Greene's Account

 https://www.newsweek.com/facebook-denies-suspending-censoring-marjorie-taylor-greenes-account-1665010

Facebook is denying Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene's claim that the social media platform temporarily suspended the congresswoman's account over a post that violated misinformation standards.

This comes a day after Twitter permanently suspended Greene's personal account for spreading COVID-19 misinformation.

Chief Rabbinate, Rav Druckman Speak Out Against Conversion Reforms

 https://hamodia.com/2022/01/03/chief-rabbinate-rav-druckman-speak-out-against-conversion-reforms/

The senior leader of the Religious Zionist community, Rabbi Chaim Druckman, attended a meeting of the Chief Rabbinate Council on Monday, which aims to form a joint religious front against the conversion plan led by Minister of Religious Affairs Matan Kahana.

There have been various reports about Rabbi Druckman’s position on the issue of conversion, with Kahana claiming that Rabbi Druckman supported the outline he presented and would also allow city Rabbanim to oversee conversion.

The decision of the Chief Rabbinate Council Council was also signed by Rabbi Druckman, in which they express outright opposition to the conversion reform of Kahana.

Marjorie Taylor Greene's Twitter account suspended permanently

 https://www.jpost.com/american-politics/article-691374

A Twitter spokesperson told CNN that Greene's @mtgreenee account was permanently suspended for "repeated violations of our COVID-19 misinformation policy."

Her official congressional account @RepMTG was still in operation as of Sunday afternoon.

In a post on the GETTR social media platform, Greene called Twitter an "enemy to America" which "can't handle the truth."

Millions of Angry, Armed Americans Stand Ready to Seize Power If Trump Loses in 2024

 https://www.newsweek.com/2021/12/31/millions-angry-armed-americans-stand-ready-seize-power-if-trump-loses-2024-1660953.html

America's massive and mostly Republican gun-rights movement dovetails with a growing belief among many Republicans that the federal government is an illegitimate tyranny that must be overthrown by any means necessary. That combustible formula raises the threat of armed, large-scale attacks around the 2024 presidential election—attacks that could make the January 6 insurrection look like a toothless stunt by comparison. "The idea that people would take up arms against an American election has gone from completely farfetched to something we have to start planning for and preparing for," says University of California, Los Angeles law professor Adam Winkler, an expert on gun policy and constitutional law.

Rabbi Rafi Feuerstein removes Rabbi Tau's books over Chaim Walder case

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/319776

Rabbi Tzvi Tau, one of the senior rabbis of religious Zionism and the head of Har Hamor Yeshiva, condemns the accusations made against children's author Chaim Walder, who committed suicide due to allegations of sexual harassment. A few days later, Rabbi Rafi Feuerstein, chairman of the Tzohar Rabbinical Association and the president of the Feuerstein Foundation, removed the writings of Rabbi Tzvi Tau from his personal libraries.

"Last week I removed Walder's books, which my children and later my grandchildren read. And this week I removed Rabbi Tau's writings from my library and from my home," said Rabbi Feuerstein, explaining: I do this to show the desecration of G-d's name that results from this great man. For the Rambam writes (Yesodei haTorah Chapter 5 Verse 11): "There are other deeds which are also included in [the category of] the desecration of [G-d's] name, if performed by a person of great Torah stature who is renowned for his piety - i.e., deeds which, although they are not transgressions, [will cause] people to speak disparagingly of him. This also constitutes the desecration of [G-d's] name."

Exclusive: Secret Commandos with Shoot-to-Kill Authority Were at the Capitol

 https://www.newsweek.com/exclusive-secret-commandos-shoot-kill-authority-were-capitol-1661330

 The presence of these extraordinary forces under the control of the Attorney General—and mostly operating under contingency plans that Congress and the U.S. Capitol Police were not privy to—added an additional layer of highly armed responders. The role that the military played in this highly classified operation is still unknown, though FBI sources tell Newsweek that military operators seconded to the FBI, and those on alert as part of the National Mission Force, were present in the metropolitan area.

 The lingering question is: What was it that the Justice Department saw that provoked it to see January 6 as an extraordinary event, something that the other agencies evidently missed.

Rabbi Zev Leff The Tragic Chaim Walder Episode

Objection to Rabbi Eliyayahu's verdict on Walder

Rabbi Rafi Feuerstein,chairman of Tzohar, removes writings of Rabbi Tau after he claims that Chaim Walder accusations are 'built on a lie'.

 

But Eliyahu has also faced backlash from nationalist Haredi Rabbi Zvi Tau, who spoke in defense of Walder, claiming the accusations against the publisher are baseless. In recordings leaked on Friday, Tau could be heard claiming that Eliyahu is feeding the flames of a leftist media bent on promoting secularism.

Leading rabbis meet to discuss dispute over Chaim Walder case

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/319762

 Two leading rabbis from the national religious sector met Monday morning in a bid to resolve an ongoing dispute over the handling of the Chaim Walder case.

Rabbi Tzvi Tau, dean of the Har HaMor Yeshiva in Jerusalem, hosted Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, chief rabbi of Tzfat and one of the rabbis who probed allegations of sexual misconduct by the late haredi author and educator Chaim Walder, prior to Walder’s suicide.

The "Witch Hunt," the "Backlash," and Professionalism

 https://www.icmec.org/witch-hunt-the-backlash-and-professionalism/

 

The sexual victimization of children is a highly emotional issue. Publicity and controversy over complex topics such as repressed memory, satanic ritual abuse (SRA), and suggestibility of children have divided and polarized many child advocates, the media, and the American public. Especially in controversial cases, those at one extreme often claim that children are easily manipulated and that the allegations are frequently part of a big "witch hunt" led by overzealous fanatics or incompetent and money hungry "experts." Those at the other extreme often claim that victims do not lie about sexual abuse, that everything alleged happened exactly as alleged, and that protestations to the contrary are part of a powerful "backlash" led by child molesters or those denying the extent and reality of child sexual abuse. The continuing media coverage, movies, articles, and opinions about cases such as the Mc Martin case in Manhattan Beach, California, exemplify this highly polarized controversy

The Witch-Hunt Narrative: Turning a Blind Eye to the Evidence in the So-Called Name of Justice

 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30145961/

 For more than two decades, conventional wisdom about the high-profile day care cases of the 1980s and early 1990s suggests all were modern-day witch hunts, based on false allegations made by highly suggestible children during an era when society was gripped by a "believe the children" hysteria. Author Ross Cheit refutes conventional wisdom by conducting an exhaustive examination of original data from dozens of cases bearing the witch hunt label. He concludes there was no witch-hunt epidemic, finding substantial evidence of sexual abuse in nearly every case he reviewed, contradicting the assertions made about those cases by what he calls the witch-hunt narrative. Cheit examines the legacy of the witch-hunt narrative and contends its exaggerated claims about the suggestibility of children have had a negative effect on the credibility of children today who allege being sexually abused.