Trump delivers another blow to Ukraine and a new boost to Putin

 https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/18/politics/donald-trump-putin-ukraine-analysis/index.html

It looked like things couldn’t get any darker for Ukraine. Then President Donald Trump spoke up.

After cutting President Volodymyr Zelensky out of the first US talks with Russia on ending the war, Trump on Tuesday falsely accused Ukraine of starting a conflict that has ravaged its land and killed thousands of its people.

And in his most hostile comments toward the Ukrainian leader yet, Trump voiced yet another of President Vladimir Putin’s talking points — that it was time for an election in Ukraine — in an apparent bid to begin the process of pushing Zelensky aside.

Trump Says Ukraine 'Should Have Never Started War With Russia'

 https://www.newsweek.com/trump-says-ukraine-should-have-never-started-war-russia-2033014

At a news conference Tuesday, President Donald Trump blamed Kyiv for the Russia-Ukraine war.

Speaking on his peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump told reporters that Ukraine did not need a seat at the negotiating table because it "should've ended [the war] in three years. You should have never started it. You could have made a deal."

Kennedy says panel will examine childhood vaccine schedule after promising not to change it

 https://apnews.com/article/childhood-vaccines-schedule-kennedy-trump-hhs-4d5e6c52c602f5edbcd837748605e9d0

To earn the vote he needed to become the nation’s top health official, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made a special promise to a U.S. senator: He would not change the nation’s current vaccination schedule.

But on Tuesday, speaking for the first time to thousands of U.S. Health and Human Services agency employees, he vowed to investigate the childhood vaccine schedule that prevents measles, polio and other dangerous diseases.

Conservative Lawyers Tear Apart Trump's DOJ over 'Thursday Night Massacre'

 https://www.newsweek.com/trump-doj-eric-adams-charges-corruption-2032761

But Democrats are not the only ones who have expressed concern. Conservative columnist Ross Douthat, as well as lawyers David Lat, Andrew McCarthy and Ed Whelan, have also chimed in.

Additionally, Andrew McCarthy, former assistant United States attorney for the Southern District of New York, argued that the DOJ's order to drop the charges against Adams was "explicitly political."

"The Trump administration is dropping the case based on its political calculations," he wrote. "Politicized law enforcement is always wrong. And it is not more attractive when it insulates a politician from what appears to be righteous law enforcement than when it targets a politician with what appears to be discriminatory law enforcement."

Mexico Threatens to Sue Google Over ‘Gulf of America’ Change

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/mexico-threatens-to-sue-google-over-gulf-of-america-change/

Mexico is threatening to sue Google after the “Gulf of America” name change in its map service following President Donald Trump’s order.

Claudia Sheinbaum, Mexico’s president, said at a Monday press conference that Trump had only changed the name within America’s continental shelf, and not the entire gulf.

The United States claims around 46 percent of the gulf, with Mexico having 49 percent and Cuba holding the leftover area.

Trump’s programme is not going to deliver for the MAGA

Woman Loses Custody of Baby After IVF Embryo Mix-Up

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/woman-loses-custody-of-baby-after-ivf-embryo-mix-up/

A woman has filed a lawsuit against a fertility clinic in Georgia after she was mistakenly artificially inseminated with another couple’s embryo, Business Insider reported. Krystena Murray, a white woman who chose to use a white sperm donor for her IVF procedure, knew something was up the moment she saw the baby she gave birth to in late Dec. 2023. Her baby boy was Black, according to the complaint filed in the State Court of Chatham County. A DNA test and clarification from her fertility clinic proved that another couple’s embryo had been transferred into her uterus. Coastal Fertility allegedly told the other couple, who sued Murray in family court for custody of the child. Although Murray had bonded with her newborn, she voluntarily gave up the child during a family court hearing in May 2024, and she lost custody to the child’s legal parents within five months. “This has destroyed me,” Murray said in a press release. “Nothing can express the shock and violation upon learning that your doctor put a stranger’s embryo into your body.” Murray, who described herself as “heartsick” and “emotionally broken” after having to give up the baby, is now suing Coastal Fertility Specialists in Savannah, Georgia.

Senior ultra-Orthodox rabbi instructs his constituents to withdraw from Zionist institutions

 https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-842602

A senior leader of the Lithuanian ultra-Orthodox community in Israel said Degel Hatorah representatives and voters should withdraw from all participation in national institutions, citing irreconcilable ideological differences with Zionism’s secular foundations.

“Zionism is a movement whose purpose is to establish the Jewish people on an explicitly secular foundation, rooted in heresy and rebellion against divine sovereignty. All the national institutions are built upon this ideology, Rabbi Dov Landau wrote in the haredi daily Yated Ne’eman on Tuesday.

“There is no allowance to participate with them, serve in any role within their institutions, or vote in their elections in any form whatsoever.”

Judge Orders Eric Adams, DOJ to Court Over Bribery Case Dismissal

 https://www.newsweek.com/judge-orders-eric-adams-doj-court-over-bribery-case-dismissal-2032758

A federal judge ordered New York City Mayor Eric Adams and the Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutors to appear in court on Wednesday to explain the DOJ's request to dismiss the criminal corruption charges against Adams.

Kathy Hochul said in a statement on Monday: "I recognize the immense responsibility I hold as governor and the constitutional powers granted to this office. In the 235 years of New York State history, these powers have never been utilized to remove a duly-elected mayor; overturning the will of the voters is a serious step that should not be taken lightly. That said, the alleged conduct at City Hall that has been reported over the past two weeks is troubling and cannot be ignored."

פוסק הדור בשיחה באנגלית: "הישועה לא תבוא מהנשיא טראמפ"

 https://www.bhol.co.il/news/1686890

פוסק הדור הגר"מ שטרנבוך בשיחה באנגלית במעונו: "הישועה שלנו לא תבוא מנשיא אמריקה, הישועה תבוא רק כשנכיר שאף אחד לא יכול לעזור לנו "אפס עצור ועזוב" וגם נשיא אמריקה לא יעזור". צפו בדבריו המלאים

Maran Posk Hador, Rabbi Sternbuch, in conversation In English at his residence:

"Our salvation will not come From Trump "* Salvation will only come when we recognize that no one can help us "Zero stop and leave" and even the President of America will not help *

Watch his full words

To download a video file, click here.

While the entire world is closely watching the US President Terry Donald Trump, who never ceases to surprise with pro-Israel statements in an extreme right-wing style, recently released a short video clip that Maran Posk Hador HaGor, the Rabbi of Sternbuch, gave upon Trump's entry into the White House, during his weekly conversation on Shabbat evening in English at his home.

In his words, Maran Posk Hador said: " Any thought of a large army, a large air force, or the thought that "we are very strong," nothing can come of it.

"The only thing we have is the Lord, and the future redemption will only occur when we recognize that no one can help us except God Himself."

At this point, Maran Posk Hador referred to the new reality in the world with the arrival of Donald Trump, "Today, many people trust a new president in America, and think that he will help us. But you need to know that these people are holding back the Messiah. Only when we understand that Hashem is the only power that can help us, no stop and leave, no one can help us but the Almighty, will we not be saved from the President of America, only then will the Almighty bring salvation.

Girls learn Mishna

 Igros Moshe (Y.D. 03:087):Girls learning Mishna? Concerning the issue that there are girl’s schools (Beis Yakov) that the staff or principals want to teach them Mishna. Rambam (Talmud Torah 1:13) rules according to Rabbi Eliezar (Sotah 20a) not to teach girls Torah but he distinguishes between the Oral Torah which he says is like teaching them obscenity and the Written Torah which is only problematic l’chatchila. Nevertheless Mishna is Oral Torah and our Sages have commanded us not to teach them and it is like teaching them obscenity. Therefore it is required to withhold this from them. Except for Pirkei Avos which is mussar and good behavior which should be taught to them with clear explanations in order to motivate them in love of Torah and good character.

Death – definition Brain Death?

Igros Moshe (YD II #146) This that doctors say that the sign of of whether a person is alive or dead is in the brain In other words if according to their evaluation of a person if his brain is not working properly then he is considered that he is dead even though he is still breathing. You discuss this at length and try to refute this claim. You also say that the brain does not mean the brain stem at the top of the spine which you claim is irrelevant to this issue. I don’t understand your point. Since you are referring to the brain stem at the top of the spine in your discussion of the gemora in Chullin while the doctors are referring to the brain in the head. Furthermore the gemora is describing a case of where the brain stem is detatched while the brain itself remains intact and healthy. If in fact the brain decomposes the animal is a treifa. Similarly if the brain dissolves and flows like water. Even though in general the status of treifa is because eventually the brain cover will be perforated, nevertheless the status of treifa occurs for other conditions both the actual brain and the brain stem. Thus it is possible to say like the doctors if the damage prevents the body from functioning properly it means death. Neverthelesss it is certainly true that the brain stopping from working is not what we define as death since as long as there is breathing he is considered alive. It just means that when the brain stops working it will lead to death which is defined as the cessation of breathing. It is possible that since such a person is still alive and that there are known or yet to be discovered medicines that will restore the function of the brain. It is also possible in this case to pray to G-d to cure him. Thus he has the status of a seriously ill person whose life is in danger but he is not considered dead. If he were dead it would be prohibited to pray for him since it is considered a meaningless and worthless prayer. It is also obvious that anyone who killed such a person is considered a murderer and is subject to the death penalty. All this is because there is no mention in the classic sources of the gemora and poskim that the brain status determines whether the person is considered alive. It is not relevant to claim that nature has changed in this issue because even in Talmudic times the brain functioned then as it does now and all of man’s functioning depended on it. Nevertheless it was not considered that the person was considered dead with the cessation of functioning of the brain and so today we don’t either.

Seeing eye dog in shul

Igros Moshe (OC I # 45)  Question Can a blind person who has a seeing eye dog in order to go walking  and he needs to  bring it into the synagogue  when he goes for prayers and to hear kadish and kedusha as well as Torah reading or Megila reading and similar things even though it is disrespectful to bring a dog into shul which is a holy place? From the Yerushalmi, it was permitted to bring one’s personal donkey into shul and it compares this with the permission for a talid chachom to eat and drink and sleep in shul this is agreed by a number of authorities including the Magen Avraham, Tur, Shulchan Aruch and the Vilna Gaon. It is as if the use of a shul outside of Israel is permitted for all people for these and similar activities if needed. For a slight need for a mitzva such as eating seudas shlishis in Shul, even though it is not a great urgency since everyone can  eat at home shul, nevertheless it is a widespread custom to permit it as well as to make a feast for the alyiah of a chasan or bar mitzva even it is not clear that these are mitzvos . Chasidim go even farther and permit things which are not mitzvas such as eating and drinking on a yahrzeit. It would seem clear that it is permissible to make conditional use of a shul in order to eat and drink even though there is no real need even though this seems to be a relatively new custom. Nevertheless in times of great need there is no problem following this view according to everyone. Thus since we see that bringing in a donkey into shul is not considered worse than eating and drinking and sleeping, we should permit the conditional use of our synagogues when needed. There is no question that a dog is not worse than a donkey and there is no greater need than the blind person who otherwise would lose the ability to go to shul the rest of his life. Thus it should be permitted for a blind man to bring his seeing eye dog to shul However it is best if he remain next to the doors as to noy upset the congregation. However it is possible that there is actually no degradation at all to bring an animal except when done for no reason  or into a shul in Israel.  The shul of Israel requires further study while there is no question that it is permitted in shuls out of Israel. . 

The new world order is exactly what it looks like. Are we too frozen with fear to name it?

 https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2025/feb/17/the-new-world-order-is-exactly-what-it-looks-like-are-we-too-frozen-with-fear-to-name-it

JD Vance’s decision, while in Germany, to meet the far-right AfD leader, Alice Weidel, yet decline a meeting with the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, would have caused more alarm, I feel, if it hadn’t come accompanied by so much other signalling. The vice-president of a nation engaged in tearing down its own institutions lectured the whole of Europe on its project to “destroy democracy”, which is absolutely textbook: he’s describing black as white, openly turning observable reality on its head. It’s unsettling, for sure, but that’s because it’s audacious, not because it’s complicated. It’s the simplest move of statecraft ever – show the world who you are, dare them to call you on it.

What I did not anticipate, when thinking that the whole suite of behaviours, from Nazi saluting to upturning reality, belonged well and truly to the past, was the sense of paralysis that would settle when fascism finally put its fancy dress on.