Or HaChaim (Bereishis (12:01) Although man's success in this world does not depend on the amount of effort he invests in his material progress as we know from Psalms 75,7: "for what lifts a man comes not from the east or the west or the wilderness of hills;" our sages say that every time the word mountains appears in the Bible it means mountains except in this instance. In Psalms 75,7 the word describes a spiritual uplift. This comment of our sages notwithstanding, the fact that a change of one's physical environment brings in its wake an improvement in one's fortune is not to be ignored. This was why G'd commanded Abraham specifically to leave his country.
Friday, January 5, 2024
Cheating in business shows lack of faith
Netziv (Devarim 25:17): However a person who uses false weights doesn’t do it from lust. He does it because of a lack of faith in G d who feeds and sustains through Providence according to one’s deeds. Thus the sin of false weights is an aspect of idol worship. Therefore the sages said that the sin of false weights - even though it is just an aspect of idol worship and is far from being outright heresy. Nevertheless it is more severe than lust which produces sexual immorality. This is because a lack of faith is difficult to repent and because it is relevant to G d’s honor. Now how does all this relate to Amalek and the astounding fact that doubts arose in their hearts despite having witnessed so many miracles? We have explained that they had doubts that G d was with them in nature after the miracles ended. Because they had a lack of faith in G d - Amalek came. The sin of false weights is used as an example of lack of faith.
Torah Study - getting paid?
Igros Moshe (Y.D. 2:116): Concerning the matter of Torah scholars who want to engage in Torah study and advance in their knowledge of Torah – both quantitatively and qualitatively – and they therefore receive payment from kollel for their livelihood. This also applies to rabbis and teachers who take pay as well as roshei yeshivos. Question: Is their taking money correct or not. Is it an act of piety not to take the money and they should rather support themselves with other jobs? Answer: There is no question that they are acting correctly. This is the ruling of the Rema (Y.D. 246:21) that even a healthy person is allowed. It is permitted for a scholar and his students to receive payments from that which is given in order to strengthen the learning of Torah – because this enables them to study Torah properly. Furthermore the Shach (Y.D. 246:20) also cites the Kesef Mishna who rules similarly - even if you wish to say that this is not the view of the Rambam – because all the scholars prior to the Rambam and afterwards take payment from the community.
Nearly 17,000 people may have died from hydroxychloroquine
https://thehill.com/policy/healthcare/4389800-hydroxychloroquine-deaths-study/
Nearly 17,000 people across six countries may have died because they took hydroxychloroquine (HQC) during the first wave of COVID-19 in 2020, according to a new analysis published by French researchers.
Parnossa - relying on miracles is prohibited
Igros Moshe (OH 2:111): We see clearly from the gemora that it is prohibited to depend on a miracle to provide livelihood without us doing any action or having an occupation. Even though it is necessary to know that all the profit which comes from working or business is only from G d according to what was fixed on Rosh HaShanna - but this is only when we have some occupation or business dealings. This necessity for effort is stated in the Torah “by the sweat of your brow you will eat bread” and is discussed at the end of Kiddushin. Even according R’ Nehorai who only taught his son Torah and not a trade - indicating that there is no need to teach a trade to one’s son - agrees that one cannot rely on a miracle. His view is that the majority of people cannot learn Torah and a trade at the same time while young. Thus his position is that when a person is an adult, G d will provide him some way of earning a living and supporting his family - even if he didn’t learn a trade while a child. However as an adult even R’ Nehorai would agree that it is prohibited to do nothing and rely on a miracle. This understanding is seen in the Rambam who rules like R’ Nehorai that there is no need to teach a trade and rules in Hilchos Talmud Torah (3:10) that it is necessary to have an occupation….
US 'not seeing' acts of Israeli genocide in Gaza
https://www.jpost.com/israel-hamas-war/article-780673
The United States doesn’t believe Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza, US officials said on Wednesday as they slammed South Africa’s appeal to the International Court of Justice for a ruling on the matter.
“We find this submission meritless, counterproductive, and completely without any basis in fact whatsoever,” White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby told reporters.
Gideon Levy: Palestinian prisoners get much worse conditions than hostages in Gaza
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/383101+
“They hold hundreds of Palestinians, handcuffed for weeks and months with their eyes and even this is accepted by Israeli society because they are all Hamas and they all participated in the raping and the killing on the seventh and therefore we have the right to do whatever we want,” claimed Levy.
Message?
Levi Feller <levifeller1@gmail.com>
7:07 AM (2 hours ago)
to me
Hakoreh Lachaveiro mamzer sofeg es ha'arboyim.
Claudine Gay and America’s Institutions
The real lesson of Ms. Gay’s resignation is that too much of the American academy has abandoned its core mission of learning and free inquiry in favor of political indoctrination. In other words, it has abandoned the classical liberal tradition that earned it public respect over decades. That respect won’t return until these institutions return to that mission.
Thursday, January 4, 2024
China, Saudi Arabia Top Spenders at Trump Properties During His Presidency
China and Saudi Arabia topped a list of 20 countries whose governments or state-linked entities pumped millions of dollars into Donald Trump’s properties while he was president, according to a new report and previously undisclosed records that shed light on Trump’s potential business conflicts as he seeks a second term.
Public documents and internal financial records obtained by Democrats on the House Oversight Committee and seen by The Wall Street Journal showed that countries spent lavishly at Trump’s hotels in Washington and Las Vegas. They also shelled out for payments at his New York properties, spending a total of at least $7.8 million during his time in office.
Israel’s Supreme Court Divides and Rules
There was no good reason for Israel’s Supreme Court to rush and every reason to wait. “United we win” is the ubiquitous slogan on the Israeli home front, where even bitter rivals have formed a wartime unity government. By acting now to quash the remnant of judicial reform, the court risks plunging Israel into the peacetime squabbles of Oct. 6—and the ruinous, provocative months that preceded it.
Hamas Killed My Daughter. My Husband Is Still a Hostage
https://www.newsweek.com/hamas-killed-daughter-husband-still-hostage-1857040
Almost three months later, the kids are still crying. They miss their father every day. My son only sleeps with me. The Red Cross hasn't visited Tsachi or any of the other hostages, we are told. But, our entire family and a community of friends that has embraced us is resolved to bring Tsachi home. I am doing everything in my power to bring him home alive and well. He's my husband, of course, and my better and stronger half. He has to live for our daughter Maayan, and be able to hug our living children again. He needs to come home.
Harvard agitators turn their ire toward Penny Pritzker
https://www.politico.com/news/2024/01/03/harvard-antisemitism-billionaires-00133742
The announcement comes after Bill Ackman, a hedge fund manager and outspoken critic of Harvard’s handling of claims of antisemitism, called on Pritzker, the former U.S. Commerce secretary, to resign over the handling of Gay’s hiring and ultimate exit from the Ivy League school.
“The Board Chair, Penny Pritzker, should resign along with the other members of the board who led the campaign to keep Claudine Gay, orchestrated the strategy to threaten the media, bypassed the process for evaluating plagiarism, and otherwise greatly contributed to the damage that has been done,” Ackman wrote in a lengthy screed on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Call it the battle of the billionaires. Ackman and Pritzker both sit on the Forbes billionaire list and are noted political donors to Democratic candidates. They are also both Jewish Americans and Harvard alums.
Wednesday, January 3, 2024
Top Hamas Leader Killed in Suspected Israeli Strike in Beirut
A suspected Israeli attack targeted a Hamas gathering in Beirut on Tuesday, killing at least seven members of the Palestinian militant group, including one of its most influential founding members, according to Lebanese and Palestinian security officials, sending shock waves through the Middle East and bringing weekslong hostage negotiations to a halt.
Powerful blasts rocked a Beirut neighborhood early Tuesday evening, killing Saleh al-Arouri, a founder of the Hamas military wing, deputy head of its political bureau and, according to the group, an architect of the group’s Oct. 7 attacks in southern Israel that killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians. The explosions sent shattered glass and car parts flying through the streets near one of the city’s famed sweet shops.
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