I’m a combat veteran. Here’s why Trump’s Arlington stunt was so insulting

 https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/trump-arlington-national-cemetery-grave-photo-rcna168767

Trump was so eager to use Arlington’s Section 60 as a backdrop for a campaign event this week that he may have broken federal laws against politicizing the burial ground to do it. Trump’s staff also shoved aside a cemetery official trying to stop them. He even posed for a photograph over a U.S. Marine’s gravesite, grinning and giving a thumbs-up. The moment was jaw-droppingly crass and vulgar, as all of Trump’s are. It defiled sacred ground.

These are not one-off statements by a rhetorically reckless buffoon. This man harbors deep resentment toward the military and those who’ve sacrificed in service. Even when he poses with a family — as he did at Arlington this week — he only does so to enhance his campaign or his political prospects. Trump’s use for the military and our dead extends only as far as it suits him.

Poor are Source of Torah Scholars

 Nedarim (81a) Be on guard against scabs; take good care to study in company and be heedful not to neglect the children of the poor, for from them Torah goes forth, as it is written, The water shall flow out of his buckets meaning, from the poor amongst them goes forth Torah. And why is it not usual for scholars to give birth to sons who are scholars? — Said R. Joseph, That it might not be maintained, The Torah is their legacy. R. Shisha, the son of R. Idi, said: That they should not be arrogant towards the community. Mar Zutra said: Because they act high-handedly against the community. R. Ashi said: Because they call people asses. Rabina said: Because they do not first utter a blessing over the Torah.

Poverty and Righteousness

 Eruvin (41b) Three matters cause a person to act against his own will and the will of his Maker, and they are: Gentiles, and an evil spirit, and the depths of extreme poverty. What is the practical halakhic difference that emerges from this statement? It is significant as it teaches one to request mercy for people who suffer from those…

Winning Arguments

 Ramban (Introduction to Milchemes HaShem): For those who look at my sefer, don’t say in your heart that all my responses to the Baal HaMeor are in my eyes absolutely correct and obviously true and would therefore force everyone to acknowledge them. For everyone who studies our Talmud is well aware that concerning disputes between the commentaries that there are no absolute proofs or absolutely unanswerable questions. In fact, in this area of wisdom, things are not clear and unambiguous as we find in mathematical proofs. The main effort is to show that one position is more likely and more reasonable than the alternatives - rather than to show that one is entirely correct and the other is entirely wrong.

US Army rebukes Trump campaign for incident at Arlington National Cemetery

 https://edition.cnn.com/2024/08/29/politics/us-army-rebukes-trump-campaign-arlington-incident/index.html?iid=cnn_buildContentRecirc_end_recirc

The US Army issued a stark rebuke of former President Donald Trump’s presidential campaign over the incident on Monday at Arlington National Cemetery, saying in a statement on Thursday that participants in the ceremony “were made aware of federal laws” regarding political activity at the cemetery, and “abruptly pushed aside” an employee of the cemetery.

5 Palestinian gunmen, including top commander, killed by IDF at West Bank mosque

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/5-palestinian-gunmen-including-top-commander-killed-by-idf-at-west-bank-mosque/

Islamic Jihad chief in Tulkarem area among dead; another operative detained; two soldiers hurt; Palestinian death toll since start of operation rises to 17

Israel kills one of most wanted West Bank commanders as operation continues

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2024/08/29/israel-operation-west-bank-gaza-war/

Israel’s military said it killed a prominent Palestinian militant commander as a major operation in the West Bank — which appeared to be one of the largest in the occupied territory in recent years — continued into a second day.

Sticks and Stones: Insults and How We React To Them

 https://outorah.org/p/28342/

Not long ago, I was studying a passage in the daily daf in Masechet Gitin (37b) when I came across a passage which also appears in tractate Shabbat 88b. As I stared at the words of the passage, I felt myself transported to a different time and place. The words before me, with their powerful and profound message, brought to mind my grandfather’s comment on this passage. My grandfather, Rabbi Bezalel Zev Shafran, authored the renowned Shelot U’tshuvot R’baz. It is a Sefer my father often counseled me and my siblings to study, telling us “teayenu ba’sefer shel saba”, to “…look into Saba’s sefer”.

“Our Rabbis taught: Those who are insulted ne’elavin but do not insult, hear themselves reviled shomeim cherpasan without responding, act through love and rejoice in suffering, regarding them the verse states: ‘But they who love Him as the sun goes forth in its might’ Judges 5:31”

Did Trump’s campaign break the law at Arlington National Cemetery?

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2024/08/28/trump-arlington-national-cemetery-law-explained/

“While the families’ statement that they invited and approved of the campaign photographer’s presence in Section 60 may soften the remarkable cynicism and crass behavior of the Trump campaign in the eyes of some people,” McElya said, “the law does not give them the authority to sanction campaign photography.”

Gold Star Father: Trump Exploited Sacred Ground for His Ego

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/gold-star-father-appalled-by-trumps-arlington-trip-there-to-exploit?ref=home?ref=home

But Kahn remembers reports of a question Trump asked on Memorial Day of 2017 in Section 60, the burial place for those who died in Afghanistan and Iraq. Trump was standing next to retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, at the time his homeland security secretary and subsequently the White House Chief of Staff. The surrounding tombstones included the one for Kelly’s son, Marine 1st Lt. Robert Kelly, who had stepped on a land mine in 2010.

“I don’t get it. What was in it for them?” Trump reportedly asked.

Kelly has since confirmed that account, along with remarks Trump reportedly made in France when explaining why he did not want to visit the resting place of 1,800 American Marines who died during World War I. He reportedly called them “losers” and “suckers.”

“He has proven his disrespect,” Khan noted on Wednesday. “Somebody needs to ask him, ‘You have shown that contempt multiple times and yet again, you go there.’”

'Furious': Veterans slam Trump team's altercation at Arlington National Cemetery

 https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/08/28/trump-arlington-cemetery-veterans/74980080007/

Wellman said Trump's desire to honor the fallen still had to conform with the law. "There's an actual federal law on the books saying it cannot be used political purposes," he told USA TODAY. "The families put out a statement saying, 'Oh no, we authorized it.' They don't get that right. The families don't get the right to make decisions for the other people buried there."

Hostage Qaid Farhan Al Qadi rescued from Gaza

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/395248

It was cleared for publication that today, (Tuesday), the IDF and ISA rescued the hostage Qaid Farhan Al Qadi, aged 52, from Rahat, who was abducted by the Hamas terror organization into the Gaza Strip on October 7th, in a complex operation in the southern Gaza Strip.

The Story of Elijah and the Prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel

 https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/3942331/jewish/The-Story-of-Elijah-and-the-Prophets-of-Baal-on-Mount-Carmel.htm

Knowing exactly what was going through their minds, Elijah continued. He asserted the fact that he alone had publicly remained faithful as a prophet to G‑d, while standing right there were hundreds of prophets of Baal. But he was ready to go to the test. Elijah proposed that two sacrifices should be brought, and the god who would answer the call by sending a fire to consume it, He would be deemed the true god. The people eagerly agreed.

Diabetes took over her life, until a stem cell therapy freed her

 https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/08/26/diabetes-stem-cell-therapy-insulin-success-story/

Despite the promise, the therapy developed by Vertex Pharmaceuticals remains in early stages, and many experts consider it a major step forward, not the finish line.