https://www.wsj.com/politics/elections/special-counsel-says-trump-would-have-been-convicted-for-
Special counsel Jack Smith defended his decision to bring charges against Donald Trump over his efforts to overturn his 2020 election loss, writing in a report made public early Tuesday that prosecutors believed they had enough evidence to convict him had they not been forced to drop the case after his re-election in November.
“As set forth in the original and superseding indictments, when it became clear that Mr. Trump had lost the election and that lawful means of challenging the election results had failed, he resorted to a series of criminal efforts to retain power,” the report states.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-837342
Israel and Hamas are close to a hostage and ceasefire deal, and it could be imminent, diplomatic sources said Monday. According to the proposed deal, which is not fully guaranteed and is subject to change, 33 hostages will be released during the first phase, with a staged withdrawal of IDF forces from Gaza but their continued presence in an undefined security perimeter, the sources said.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/402255
Approximately one hundred Rabbis have published a joint letter opposing the emerging hostage deal.
The leaders of the 'Torat Ha'aretz HaTova' organization emphasize that the Rabbis' position remains unequivocally against the proposed deal, adhering to the principle that the commandment of redeeming captives cannot come at the risk of Israeli citizens' security.
The group is led by Rabbi Yaakov Ariel, Rabbi Dov Lior, and Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu.
The Rabbis reiterated what they wrote in a previous letter about half a year ago. ''The release of dangerous terrorists, withdrawal from strategic areas, or a cease-fire before defeating the enemy – all these endanger the state's future and the safety of its citizens.''
It’s still puzzling that President-elect Trump chose Mr. Hegseth for such a senior post. Mr. Trump seems to want someone to take on the “woke” policies of the military under President Biden, and they are problems. But retired four-star Army Gen. Jack Keane says this can be quickly addressed. Give the order, and the brass will follow and so on down the chain of command.
There are larger and more urgent issues at the Pentagon, and the 44-year-old Mr. Hegseth lacks the experience typically required. He has never run an organization of any size, never mind a bureaucracy with as many snares as the Pentagon.
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/call-your-mother/
Yesterday, we concluded the shiva mourning period for our beloved mother Beile Nutovic who passed away last week at the age of 86.
So many thoughts go through the minds of children when they bury their parents; so many beautiful memories, so many things we wish we had done differently.
https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/one-foot-in-front-of-the-other/
Take one day at a time and know that God is there with you always. Our sages tell us that there are three partners in the creation of humans – God and the two parents. Well, if one partner is taken away, the two others just have to work that much harder to pick up the slack. Looking back at those years, as I often do, what keeps coming to mind is that somehow, some way, God was always there to propel us forward when there were steep hills to climb, and to nudge us in the right direction when we were faced with forks in the road.
Accusing Trump of being “a fascist” was a tactical error from Kamala Harris’s team during the 2024 campaign. The decision to spend its final fortnight trying to scare people into voting against Trump didn’t account for the fact that the overuse of such words has stripped them of meaning to voters. Yet while calling Trump a fascist might be a foolish electoral strategy, it has no bearing on whether it is an accurate description. One of the most common arguments against the fascist thesis was that Trump was an isolationist who wanted to end wars, not launch military ventures to conquer territory. His newfound expansionism draws that into question.
"I think one of the basic propositions we brought to our work over the last four years is that we're stronger, we're more effective, we get better results when we're working closely with our allies. Not saying or doing things that may alienate them," Blinken said Wednesday at a news conference.
Blinken predicted that "the idea expressed about Greenland is obviously not a good one. But maybe more important, it's obviously one that's not going to happen. So we probably shouldn't waste a lot of time talking about it."
The Democratic National Committee accused Trump of having a "pathetic Napoleon complex" which it claimed "has left him more focused on invading Greenland than on lowering costs and growing the economy for the American people."
https://www.newindianexpress.com/business/2025/Jan/12/grappling-with-donald-trumps-new-imperialism
As the world awaits with trepidation for Donald Trump’s second presidency, allies and foes alike are aghast at his threat to redraw the map of the Western Hemisphere. Trump’s outrageous moves to ‘buy out’ Greenland, or to take over the Panama Canal is not just about making ‘Making America Great Again’; it is about reviving neo-colonialism. We thought imperialism was dead and gone. With Trump, it is back with a vengeance!
To make his aggressive, warlike foreign policy sound sensible, the external enemy has been identified. It is China, Iran and Russia – in that order – who are portrayed as seeking domination. Thus, the US has to take the battle to new frontiers. This has been the logic of dictators and tyrants through the ages – from Genghis Khan to Adolf Hitler – and it is being played out again.
There is little chance the future is going to unravel the way Donald Trump wants. Canada is not going to become the 51st state of the United States; and Greenland will not be bought by Trump. What is happening though is a rising climate of fear and a coming Cold War. Trump is aware of the limitations of this new frontier policy, but what he hopes to do is to solidify the MAGA ranks, and stoke up a new aggressive ‘American’ patriotism even if it means riding roughshod over the national sentiments of other nations. It is a dangerous policy in the long run. It will earn Donald Trump more enemies and it will make an unstable world even more unstable.
Igros Moshe (EH I #76) We need to decide the status of a man and woman living together as a married couple. If it was in a place where religious Jews live who can be considered as witnessing both the yichud and sexual intimacy and thus their relationship is not considered fornication but actual marriage – then the marriage might be valid. . But this is only if he is aware that intercourse needs to be done as part of marriage. Those who go to Reform rabbis mistakenly think the marriage is caused by the ceremony and that the intercourse has no halachic significance, Thus they are not married and don’t require a Get. This is also true regarding the non religious who transgress all the Torah prohibitions Even an observant Jew who views the marriage solely dependent on the marriage ceremony, the intercourse would have no halachic significance.
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-837272
Rabbi Yosef Paryzer, indicted for deceiving 30 women into simultaneous relationships under the persona of "Jake Segal," pleaded guilty to 12 counts of defrauding women on Sunday, according to a report by KAN News.
Paryzer is an American citizen in his 30s who worked at Yeshivat Ohr Yerushalayim.
Igros Moshe (EH I #76) Concerning a woman who was married by a Reform rabbi and all those who attended the ceremony were irreligious, Shabbos profaners and transgressors of other Torah mitzvos. The meal served unkosher meat and they all ate it. Later the husband deserted her and it is impossible to obtain a get from him. Can she get married now since she didn’t have a marriage according to the Torah? In my opinion the marriage performed by the Reform rabbi has no halachic significance. If it can be clearly established that no valid witnesses were present that witnessed the giving of the ring and the declaration of the man “you are betrothed to me” Even if there were two valid witnesses at a distance who didn’t see but the rabbi was valid and expert who conducted the ceremony, who mistakenly appointed relatives as witnesses according to Chasam Sofer it is a valid marriage. It is clear and obvious that the wicked Reform that perform the marriage do not have that validity even if the ring is given and the man says the words. Since all Reform rabbis make up additional acts which they claim is the marriage. It doesn’t even have status that is ascribed to that done by Kusim even if the ring was given properly and he said the right words. But in this case since there were no valid witnesses they clearly weren’t married and there is no concern.
https://yated.com/contra-gadols/
There were many quotes in the name of Rav Moshe, and I repeated some to my zaide, who responded to me in the early 1980s, “today, you can’t believe anything that they quote from Rav Moshe unless you heard it directly (m’pi kodsho) from his holy mouth.”
