No Israeli civilians were killed in the October 7 onslaught on communities near Gaza, Palestinain diplomat Abdullah Abu Shawesh claimed matter of factly to Al Jazeera last week. Accounts of rape and other atrocities “were lies,” he said, dismissing the overwhelming evidence that Hamas’s slaughter of 1,200 people in southern Israel included indiscriminate massacres and sexual violence.
Saturday, January 20, 2024
Netanyahu pushes back on report he told Biden he isn’t ruling out Palestinian state
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back Saturday against a report that he’d told US President Joe Biden he has not ruled out the creation of a Palestinian state.
The rare statement put out by Netanyahu’s office on Shabbat came after CNN, citing a person familiar with the conversation, reported that Netanyahu told Biden that the public comments he had made a day earlier — in which the prime minister appeared to reject the idea of creating a Palestinian state — were not meant to rule out that outcome entirely.
Pizza Hut Faces Boycott Calls for Feeding Israeli Soldiers
https://www.newsweek.com/pizza-hut-boycott-israel-support-1862489
Pizza Hut is facing boycott calls after it supplied Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) with pizza.
The restaurant chain's Israeli Instagram account reposted a story of two IDF soldiers holding stacks of branded Pizza Hut boxes, and it has been widely shared online. Originally posted by a user with the handle @alex_shults, the two soldiers can be seen smiling and dressed in uniform. Newsweek has as yet been unable to verify where the image was taken and contacted Yum Brands, the parent company of Pizza Hut, for comment on Saturday via phone call.
Jews died in plague of Darkness because they were being frum
Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky (Emes L’Yaakov Shemos 10:22) Rashi states, “Why did G-d bring about the plague of Darkness? Because the Jews in that generation were wicked and did not want to leave Egypt and therefore thousands died in the three days of darkness.” So even though that in reality that entire generation were not considered righteous (tzadikim) as we see the angels claimed that both the Jews and Egyptians were idolaters – so why kill the Egyptians to save the Jews. In other words the angels could not see the slightest difference between the Jews and the Egyptians and thought all should die. And thus the Jews that died were apparently killed entirely because they were preventing the other Jews from leaving Egypt because they had a tradition that the Jews must remain enslaved in Egypt for 400 years and since the time had not passed they were afraid that they would suffer the fate of the Ephraimites who left prematurely.
They thus did not believe the words of Moshe and the Elders that G-d's calculation was based on the merit of their forefathers. Therefore G-d killed only those but not all the Jews even though in the eyes of the angels they were all idolaters. Only G-d was able to distinguish Jews from the Egyptians and know that the Jews would eventually be capable of accepting the Torah at Sinai This inner nature of the Jews was not noticed by the Angels and G-d had to prove it by showing the Angels Yosef’s coffin [Bereishis Rabbah 7:8] that Jews were inherently different. [See my previous comments to Shemos 13:9]..[to be continued]
Nazis and Chamas received miraculous assistance
https://mishpacha.com/the-terrible-miracle-of-october-7/
The survivors of the massacres of the First Crusade in 1096 and Chmielnicki’s pogroms of Tach v’Tat undoubtedly engaged in shtadlanus to try to ensure that they were never butchered again. But first and foremost, they remembered the Heavenly source of their troubles.
So too, as the dust settles on the aftermath of Simchas Torah 5784, we face a fork in the road. One way is to go back to business as usual, forgetting the sense of cataclysm that enveloped us after the attack.
But miracles are meant to inspire a sense of wonder; to force us to take notice of the giant wheels turning according to a Heavenly plan. And in their own terrible way, the astounding events of October 7 are equally wondrous.
Friday, January 19, 2024
Transgress Torah prohibition because of Aiva?
Igros Moshe (Orech Chaim 4:79): Concerning the case where a Jewish doctor must be on duty in a hospital or he is an established doctor – even if his office is closed on Shabbos and yet a dangerously ill non‑Jew comes to him – he is forced to treat the non‑Jew even if it involves a Torah level violation of Shabbos. And surely it is required if there is some accident that happens close to his house where they call the closest doctor. That is because the excuse that Abaye gave in the gemora is not accepted in our country. Therefore his refusal to treat the ill person creates an actual physical danger to him from the relatives of the sick person. And even if the doctor is certain that there is no danger to him personally by not treating the non‑Jew on Shabbos, nevertheless there is a real concern that great danger will be caused by the reaction of other non‑Jews in that country and perhaps also from the government itself. Thus one has to be concerned with the great likelihood that physical danger will result to Jews as the result of his refusal to treat a non‑Jew on Shabbos. Even though Tosfos expresses surprise that it is possible to permit the violation of a Torah prohibition because of aiva – however the reality of our country in modern times presents the real concern for great danger even when the government permits every Jew to conduct themselves according to the laws of the Torah – but it won’t tolerate a refusal to save another person’s life. Thus the words of the Chofetz Chaim (Mishna Berura 330:8) are astounding. He writes that this that even the most observant doctors travel distances on Shabbos to treat non‑Jews and to prepare medicines by themselves and he concludes that these doctors are complete Shabbos violators who transgress willingly even though there is aiva produced if they don’t comply. The fact is that in Russia in the small villages where there is only a single doctor for the entire area it is quite obvious that if the doctor doesn’t treat the non‑Jews there is no question that he would be killed because he caused their family member to die etc. It is obvious that if the doctor were killed under these circumstances that the judge would at most provide a light punishment. Besides they might kill the doctor secretly. It is obvious that the Chofetz Chaim was well aware of this physical danger because he put a note in the Mishna Berura that his ruling in this case was only applicable to idolaters in India. If there wasn’t great danger to the Jewish people then he would not have had to write this. Even if this concern was only a distant possibility – but we are lenient in the life threatening cases even for low probabilities. Thus is also the view of the Chasam Sofer (Y.D. 131). The Divre Chaim (O.H. 25) after he writes that aiva is not a reason to transgress Torah prohibitions on Shabbos concludes that the practice of doctors is to be lenient and he heard that it was an official rabbinic decree to permit it. But this seems problematic – how can there be a rabbinic decree against a Torah prohibition - so therefore he must mean that even if someone doesn’t think that danger result from not treating a non‑Jew on Shabbos nevertheless one should not protest against the doctors who are lenient because it is really not clear that there is no danger. Even if in the immediate area there is truly no danger but it simply adds greater hatred towards Jews, but you should know that there was a decree not to protest against doctors who were lenient so that no one will err and be stringent in places where there is genuine danger… In fact we find many times in the gemora that an action is prescribed now to prevent a problem later. So surely in this case where there is also an immediate problem since it is fairly common to find sick non‑Jew so the decree that the Divrei Chaim mentioned is not a rabbinic decree but it is simply the halacha in this case…Especially today where there is widespread publicity through the newspapers so that events immediately become a problem in the entire world and this can readily lead to incitement to increase hatred until it can produce a great massacre. Therefore it is obvious that in modern times it should be treated as a definite danger if the doctors doesn’t treat the non‑Jew and it is permitted when this situation occurs.
Trump Team’s New Courtroom Argument: E. Jean Carroll Is Lucky He Defamed Her
Donald Trump’s ongoing rape defamation trial once again veered toward parody on Thursday, with defense lawyers pressing witnesses with questions that suggested the journalist he sexually assaulted and later relentlessly trashed might just be better off now that she’s more famous.
“Your reputation, in many ways, is better today, Ms. Carroll?” defense attorney Alina Habba jabbed at the advice columnist.
“No. My status was lowered. I'm partaking in this trial to bring my own reputation and status back,” E. Jean Carroll responded.
Thursday, January 18, 2024
Hasagat Gevul: Economic Competition in Jewish Law
https://www.jlaw.com/Articles/hasagatgevul.html
This area is particularly complex, as it depends on both many unresolved halachic disputes and changing business conditions. It is thus important to present all cases to dayanim who are Torah scholars and who understand the intricacies of business (see Aruch Hashulchan, C.M. 15:6). It should not surprise people to find that different batei din rule differently in these matters, considering the many unresolved disputes involved.
Donald Trump Suffers Double Polling Blow
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-suffers-double-polling-blow-1861753
Joe Biden has a slim lead over Donald Trump in a potential presidential contest between the two according to two recently released U.S.-wide polls, a stark improvement for the Democratic incumbent following the release of three national polls putting him behind the Republican frontrunner.
The surveys, from pollsters Ipsos and YouGov, gave Biden a lead of between one and two percentage points, though a Newsweek analysis released earlier this month suggested Trump is on track for a second White House term due to his stronger performance in key swing states.
Halacha and Bean Counting
I recently got an email regarding an old post https://daattorah.blogspot.com/2008/09/non-jewish-prostitute-versus-jewish.html
Question is would Reb Yakov advise having Jewish girl friends with the likelihood of sexual relations even though it would result in kares rather than have non Jewish girl friends?
In other words do we approve a secular Jew sacrificing his soul to preserve the Jewish people?
Halachic consequences of probable outcome
While it is widely known that in the case of the Rebellious Son - that he is killed because it is likely he will become a murderer
There are a wide range of halachos based upon anticipated outcomes
For example Rodef a person can be killed if he is percived as a likely assailant
A robber who breaks into your house can be killed because it is assumed he will also kill
An abortion can be done if it evaluated that the embryo is a likely danger to mother's life
The police can be asked to arrest a pedophile or unlicensed driver to protect against their anticipated actions
Hatzala members are allowed to return home after saving someone because otherwise people would not join Haztala
A goy's life is saved on Shabbos to ensure the well being of Jews
===============================
All of this goes against the medrashim which state that G-d judges according to the present not the future.
Pakistan Attacks Iran
https://www.newsweek.com/iran-pakistan-missile-terrorist-1861738
Pakistan has launched missile strikes into Iran less than two days after Tehran said it had attacked terrorist targets in its neighbor.
Islamabad said Thursday's strikes had hit "terrorist hideouts" in Iran's Sistan and Baluchestan province, whose deputy governor Alireza Marhamati said killed three women and four children. "At 4:30 a.m. explosions were heard in a border village," Marhamati told state television. Another explosion took place near the city of Saravan, but there were no casualties, he added.
Pakistan said the strikes were part of an operation called "Marg Bar Sarmachar," which loosely translates to "death to the guerrilla fighters," and that a "number" of militants had been killed "in highly coordinated and specifically targeted precision military strikes."
Hassagat Gevul
https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/hassagat-gevul
HASSAGAT GEVUL (Heb. הָסַּגַת גְּבוּל), a concept which originally had specific reference to the unlawful taking of another's land; later it was extended to embrace encroachment on various economic, commercial, and incorporeal rights of others.
Competion in Commerce Laws of Hasagas Gevul
https://dinonline.org/2015/08/31/opening-shop-laws-of-hasagas-gevul/
The prohibition of being yored le-umanus chavero, literally “descending to another’s profession,” or, in more simple terms, illegal competition, is derived from two distinct verses. The Gemara in Makkos (24a) derives the prohibition from the verse “he did not perform evil with his neighbor” (Tehillim 15:3), whereas the Gemara in Sanhedrin (81a) derives the same idea from the verse “he defiled his neighbor’s wife” (Yechezkel 18:11).
The Chasam Sofer (Choshen Mishpat 79) writes that the prohibition is a full Torah injunction, basing this on a number of earlier sources. Although the Beis Yosef (Choshen Mishpat 156) writes implies that there is no Torah prohibition, but only a rabbinic prohibition enacted as a tikkun olam (regulatory law), the Chasam Sofer writes that after the Sages enacted the prohibition it involves a full Torah transgression.
Certainly, the prohibition is a very grave sin, to the degree that Rabbeinu Tam (Sefer Ha-Yashar 741) even compares it with murder! As we will see, poskim treat the prohibition with appropriate stringency.
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