Eighth such attack in some two weeks sends millions to bomb shelters around 4:30 a.m.; fragment hits Modiin; Yemen drone also intercepted
Friday, January 3, 2025
Thursday, January 2, 2025
Trump blames ‘open borders’ for New Orleans, Las Vegas attacks
President-elect Trump blamed the situation at the southern border for the recent attacks in New Orleans and Las Vegas, railing against President Biden for his immigration policies as both cases are being investigated.
The man who plowed a pickup truck into a crowd in New Orleans, killing at least 15 people, has been identified as Shamsud-Din Jabbar — a U.S. citizen from Texas.
The Cybertruck explosion outside the Trump International Hotel in Las Vegas was caused by firework mortars and camp fuel canisters, and the suspect was an Army veteran from Colorado, according to local news reports.
Still, Trump railed on Truth Social that the border under Biden has led to violent crime.
Terror Strikes New Orleans
The FBI says a flag associated with Islamic State was found with the vehicle. Islamic State, or ISIS, is the jihadist group that created a caliphate in Syria and Iraq during the Obama Administration until U.S. bombing eliminated its last sanctuary in the first Trump term.
Trump Insists He Was ‘Right About Everything’ After Wrongly Tying New Orleans Attack to Immigration
President-elect Donald Trump claimed he “was right about everything” early Thursday morning, hours after wrongly trying to link the New Orleans attack to migrants.
Officials said Wednesday afternoon there was no evidence tying the attack to the border, though Trump’s inflammatory posts trying to make a link between the two remain up.
Officials probe terror links, possible accomplices in ISIS-inspired New Orleans attack
The FBI said it was investigating early Wednesday’s attack in which the driver steered around a police blockade and slammed into revelers before being shot dead by police as a terrorist act and did not believe he acted alone.
https://edition.cnn.com/us/live-news/new-orleans-truck-attack-suspect-01-02-25-hnk/index.html
FBI: "This was an act of terrorism"
Deputy Assistant Director Christopher Raia with the FBI Counterterrorism Division said the New Orleans attack “was an act of terrorism” during a Thursday news conference.
“My goal is to be as forthcoming as possible with you on what we’ve uncovered so far. First and foremost, let me be very clear about this point, this was an act of terrorism,” he said.
“It was premeditated and an evil act,” Raia added.
All travelers to Israel must obtain visa starting January 2025
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-835401
As of January 2025, visitors to Israel will need an ETA-IL – an electronic travel authorization permit – or visa, with the exception of Israeli citizens or those who have an identity number, the Population and Immigration Authority said on Monday.
Dual passport holders can travel to Israel with their foreign passports up until December 31, 2025, and then they will need an ETA-IL.
The ETA-IL permit costs NIS 25 NIS (around $7) per person; each individual planning on a visit must apply for one separately.
Trump Uses ‘Terror’ Attack by U.S. Army Vet to Stir Up Anti-Immigrant Hate
Donald Trump and J.D. Vance were among the Republicans who rushed to link the mass killing—which left 15 dead, including the suspect, and dozens injured on Wednesday—to the southern border.
Donald Trump Says New Orleans Terror Attack Proves He Was Right
https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-responds-new-orleans-attack-2008329
Alethea Duncan, an assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's New Orleans field office, confirmed during a press conference Wednesday afternoon that Jabbar was a U.S.-born citizen from Texas.
Wednesday, January 1, 2025
Trump denounces New Orleans truck attack as 'act of pure evil' in New Orleans, implies suspect entered US illegally
https://nypost.com/2025/01/01/us-news/attack-on-bourbon-street-in-new-orleans-live-updates-photos/
The killer has been identified as 42-year-old Shamsud Din Jabbar. He was killed in a firefight that injured two police officers.
Jabbar grew up in Texas and is believed to have served in the military for ten years, sources told The Post.
Trump responds to tragedy in New Orleans
President-elect Donald Trump has been briefed on the situation in New Orleans, a source familiar with the matter told CNN.
He went on to comment on the crime rate in the US.
“When I said that the criminals coming in are far worse than the criminals we have in our country, that statement was constantly refuted by Democrats and the Fake News Media, but it turned out to be true. The crime rate in our country is at a level that nobody has ever seen before.”
According to FBI quarterly data released in 2024, New Orleans has seen a decline in violent crimes.
CNN has not been able to confirm the suspect’s citizenship status.
Ukraine ends supply of Russian gas to Europe
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/01/01/business/ukraine-russia-gas-eu-halted-hnk-intl/index.html
Ukraine now faces the loss of some $800 million a year in transit fees from Russia, while Gazprom will lose close to $5 billion in gas sales, according to the news agency. Several European countries still purchasing Russian gas had previously arranged alternative supply routes, it reported.
Before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia was the European Union’s biggest supplier of natural gas. The bloc has whittled Russia’s share of its pipeline gas imports down from over 40% in 2021 to about 8% in 2023, according to the European Council.
To fill the gap, Europe has imported vast quantities of liquefied natural gas (LNG) — a chilled, liquid form of natural gas that can be transported via sea tankers — from the United States and other countries, as well as pipeline gas from Norway. The EU has also ramped up imports of Russian LNG to help heat its homes and power its factories, but faces a self-imposed deadline of 2027 and plans to break its dependence on all Russian fossil fuels.
Chanukah and the claim that a woman has a right to a Get on demand
Guest Post
A Freilichen Chanukah to all visitors to this site, who come to hear what Da'as Torah has to say on various issues,
Sholom u'Brochoh!
With the last rays of Chanukah flickering into oblivion, already searing through Chodesh Teves, the darkest month, along with the rest of the cold and dark winter, )in particular going with Rabbeinu Tam's zman shkiah,:-) I thought that perhaps it would be appropriate to grab the opportunity for a "mesiba". What?? Yes, a get-together l'kovod Chanukah!
Compounding that with the minhag to engage in pilpul on Torah sheba'al peh, since Chanukah is a Yom Tov of Torah sheba'al peh - which brings me to the focal point: our enemies' intent on shikchas HaTorah.
Of course we know that the Yevonim would have let us *study* Torah, but we know that it was only tolerable as a *chochmoh*. To let us *observe* (pardon my *antics*) the Torah? Aha! That was a different story. Again here, we know that malpractice of Torah, despite preservation of the text, is nonetheless shikchas HaTorah.
Eras have come and gone with arising with various issues of threats to Jewish Identity. For example, the Reform Movement (whose founding fathers were very learned) that started out with the changing of direction of the bimah to face the kehilla, bringing in change after change, up to the point that there is virtually nothing that they observe.
We all know that on Chanukah, that we again ask the famous kashya of the Bais Yosef, dor achar dor, but here, appropriate for this site and more so, in the spirit of this site, we wish to, nonetheless, engage in a pilpul that has to do with Issues of Jewish Identity.
Unfortunately, we are exposed to secular society and to their ideas, causing us to adopt them as second nature. We are exposed to society that stresses 'women's rights' or 'equal rights'. We are pressured to find it unconscionable that a woman in the 21st century cannot free herself from marriageable bondage among our ethnic society, so we are thus compelled to go as far as administering forceful and dangerous coercion of a get, then, when that ceases to be an option, to just annul a marriage in order to not necessitate a get (without even hearing out the other party, as we know) - amounting to an alternate route to shikchas HaTorah.
Yes, some of may argue (with consternation) that this issue has been discussed quite some time before, but others, on the contrary, would (gleefully) want it revisited, as is perceived that the more it is discussed, the more we see ignorance on the basics of such a core issue, finding it imperative to one more time, lay out on the table.
Hence, without further ado, the shayla: is there any basis for get on demand? Are we halachically, ethically or morally coerce or pressure or coax or cajole a man to do so? After doing some research, or perhaps, iyun, and with pilpul chaverim, no one was able to indicate to me where it is brought al pi Shulchan Aruch that although when a get cannot be coerced, it is 'yashrus' to give one and that there is no need for any m'kor and that it should be done nonetheless out of common sense! I found it odd that such a vastly popular notion should have no mention in anywhere in Tanach , Shas or poskim.
Our Gemara mentions dinim we must do out Chassidus (Pirkei Avos is all chassidus). In nezikin there are things that's we may be potur b'dinai Odom and yet, chayav b'dinai Shomayim. There are halachos- al pi din, to do because of "v'osisoh hayoshor v'hatov" and in the Shulchan Aruch there instances where"hamachmir tovo olov brochoh". In short, we see many scenarios where we are to conduct ourselves beyond the letter of Law, and many times demanded so by Halacha itself! So again, and from new perspective - why is there no m'kor for get on demand, especially if it is such a fundamental?
Furthermore, perusing through teshuvos of igunah, we often find the classic case where we need to be mattir a woman because her husband disappeared. There are cases then where the husband is not well and physically or mentally incompetent to give a get due to illness. Does anyone remember where there was a teshuva how to get a woman out of a marriage because she simply wanted out because she didn't feel the relationship would work out?
After humbly expressing all formalities to all talmidei chachamim and ready to be shredded apart, (already putting forth an urgent request for anybody to come to my defense,) with ra'ayos back and forth, I put before you (albeit with great trepidation) my thoughts:
If I may, I bring a ra'ayah from Yevomos 106b on the Mishnah "Mitzvas chalitzah: bo hu v'yovimto l'bais din v'hain m'si'in lo eitzah hogenes lo she'nemar (translation: he and his yevomoh (- his childless brother's wife that he can marry - and by force) come to Bais Din), "v'koru lo ziknai iro". Rashi says on the words "eitzah hogenes lo" says: go to those who are comparable to you and do not bring in machlokes to your house. The Bartenurah elaborates a bit more: if he is young and she is old or he is old and she is young, they tell him that what do you need an old one for? What do you need a young one for? Go to those like you!
Question: isn't that common sense? And furthermore, why is there no counterpart to this Mishnah in Masechta Gittin that if she wants a get and he does not, that we tell him something like, 'Look, it's not going to work, you need to go on with your life'?
Perhaps I can answer that the Torah makes a distinction as follows: in yibum, the yevamah never agreed to get married to this man, who happens to be her deceased husband's brother, so *Da'as Torah* states (to the extent that it makes it to the Mishna) that although we can't control him, we at least advise him or steer him, but by gittin, since this bond was done with HER COMMITMENT, there is not even an *ethical* suggestion of advising or steering him, even in the most gentle way, to appease her.
One more ra'ayah (and hopefully others will construct (or perhaps even destruct) upon my cornerstone,): the Cherem of Rabbeinu Gershom prohibiting one to divorce a wife against her will: is it not ethically wrong to force a man against his will to stay married to a woman that he dislikes? Apparently, this question is not asked nowadays, only the other way around : how can the rabbis force a woman to stay married to someone that SHE dislikes? (By the way, the Israeli Rabbanut has found by a poll that more women refuse a get than men.) We see from here that it is ethically perfect to l'chatchillah make a takanah binding (or 'enslaving') a man to his wife. Therefore, we see that the same would apply vice versa, binding a woman to her husband - especially that we don't find any ethical notion or suggestion otherwise.
Thanking you all for your audience and best wishes for wonderful winter,
May we take along the light and warmth of Chanukah.....
Conservative Jew Status
Igros Moshe (OH IV 91.6) Whether to make a minyan in a room of a synagogue where they don’t keep Torah properly . There are important considerations. If it is a Conservative synagogue a minyan should not be made at all even in an isolated room, since they are a group that is known that they deny many Torah laws and are heretics and non believers and therefore are to be totally avoided. Because someone who denies even one thing in the Torah is as if he denies the entire Torah as is mentioned in the Rambam. And thus their status is that of minim (non believers). This is so even if they can be viewed as sinning by accident like children who have been captured and raised amongst non Jews because that is the way they were raised and educated and thus they don’t have the status of deserving punishment from Heaven nor the status of those to be lowered into a pit and not taken out but they are still heretics and they must be avoided. This that the Rambam says that it is proper to bring them back to repentance and to attract them with words of peace until they repent to proper Torah observance, this is not relevant in their own synagogue nor is everyone capable of doing this. In contrast Orthodox synagogues which have problems such as having an improper mrchitza or that uses a microphone on Shabbos are not viewed as heretics in Torah mitzvos but as one who does them improperly and they remain good Jews and don’t require distancing and thus a minyan can be made in a separate room as long as there is no concern that you will be viewed as going to pray with them especially if there is a separate entrance. As to whether their errors should be protested, it is only if you think they will listen to the protest and if not it is better that they remain as accidental sinners than deliberate ones.
Medical screening - Tay sachs
Igros Moshe (Even Haezer IV #10) Should a person take a test for Tay Sachs before marriage. Question Concerning the matter of the children who by nature live only a short time after being born, about two or three years and die, which is called Tay-Sachs.They are born from a father and mother who both contribute to produce this condition. Even though neither parent has the sickness or suffers any personal consequences for being a carrier for the sickness, the consequence is that they produce children with this sickness. If only one parent is a carrier than the children don’t get the sickness. It can be determined by a blood test whether the person is a carrier or not. This knowledge of who is a carrier can aid in deciding whether a particular boy should marry a particular girl. If he is a carrier he should avoid marrying a girl who is a carrier. She should avoid marrying a boy who is a carrier if she is a carrier. You want to know my humble opinion whether it is appropriate for the boy and girl to make an effort to find out whether they are a carrier If it is a good thing to take the test, should it be done while they are still children or only when they are ready for marriage? Should it be conducted in a public manner or privately? Answer Even though only a small small minority of children are born like this and it is appropriate to say about it, Tamimim Tehiye (be innocent with the L-rd your G-d), as Rashi explains that you should walk with G-d in innocence and wait for Him and do not inquire about the future. Nevertheless since it is now easy to test, perhaps not testing should be viewed as if he is closing his eyes to see what can be seen since if something like this happened to the child, it is extremely distressing to the parents. Consequently it would be appropriate to have this test prior to marriage. Therefore it is a good idea to publicize this in newspapersand other ways so that everyone knows there is such a test buy it is clear and obvious that this should be conducted privately so that the identities of the boy and girl should not be made public even bt the doctor who does the test. Even though the doctors testify that a man or women without this genetic problem who marry someone with the genetic problem the resulting child will be healthy, however many people will not believe this to be true and therefore they won’t be able to getr married and therefore the results should not be publicized and it is best if a large group should be tested such as a whole yeshiva or school. Also because most people are nervous and regard small problems as big ones this especially true in America, therefore the test should only be done just prior involvement in getting married. In other words most people should not even be told about this before the age of twenty and girls not before the age of 18. It is also important that no pressure to have an abortion result from this
Rav Moshe is stating here that Tamim isn't violated by medical tests which easily determine information. However I was told that Rav Moshe was against medical screening tests such as pap tests when the person had no symptoms of illness. this includes yearly medical tests and x-rays as well as prostate testing. In the eighth volume of the Igros they included the story that when he had a suspected heart attack he was upset they took a series of blood tests. So not sure what his actual view was.
Why Does Pete Hegseth Keep Talking About ‘Warfighters’?
https://www.thefp.com/p/pete-hegseth-warfighters-fox-news-trump
Hegseth claims to speak for “guys like me and others in the service,” but his audience isn’t the troops. It’s the polarized right wing that wants to bring the culture wars into the U.S. military. We have an all-volunteer force, so most Americans do not serve. Those without that experience are easily fooled into thinking those in uniform, particularly those in frontline units, are all of one political persuasion. This is not true. And if Hegseth is the warfighting leader that he says he is, then he knows it. If you’ve ever served in any infantry or other frontline unit, you know that our military isn’t all MAGA and it isn’t all woke. It’s American. And as a point of pride, military officers don’t discuss their political views. Partly as a result, the military has avoided the culture wars that have infected so much of American society. Anyone who would profit from the divisions in civilian society by soiling the ranks of our military with those same divisions isn’t fit to lead it.
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