The meeting was rife with awkward moments. In another instance, Macron fact-checked Trump to his face after the American president claimed that Europe was “loaning” money to Ukraine.
Tuesday, February 25, 2025
A Sad Day for the U.S. at the U.N.
The United Nations is no great moral arbiter of anything, but at least the United States has tried over the years to have that group of nations recognize the truth about bad actors. That wasn’t the case Monday, as the U.S. voted with Russia against a General Assembly resolution calling out Russia for its invasion of Ukraine three years ago.
What a regrettable moment. The resolution, sponsored by Ukraine and European nations, wasn’t even all that strong. It merely noted “with concern that the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation” has had “devastating and long-lasting consequences” and called for “an early cessation of hostilities.”
The resolution has no practical importance, though it does underscore Mr. Trump’s turn toward Russia in the conflict. Perhaps he thinks that telling the truth about Russia will cause Mr. Putin to walk away from the Ukraine negotiations. Ronald Reagan, who also sought peace and achieved it, never shrank from telling the truth about the Soviet Union. The truth was an essential weapon in defeating what Reagan called an “evil empire.”
Monday, February 24, 2025
Two sinks
Igros Moshe (YD I #42) Question Washing dishes in the sink. Is a single sink permitted? Answer: Even if you want to claim that a Bal Nefesh should be strict and not wash dishes in a single sink this is not the normative halacha to a person who only wants to do the minimum because most sinks can not actually be prohibited and thus it is not prohibited even to a Bal Nefesh. Also most times the dishes are not actually touching the sink but rest on a racks which are separate for meat and milk. Even if occasionally that the sink water rises to touch the dishes. This is only a concern lechatchilah but bedieved it is not a problem even for a Bal Nefesh. Thus even though the custom is to have separate sinks it is not prohibited to have a single sin
Halacha And Kabbalah (Part 4): When Kabbalah Supersedes The Traditional Halacha
In conclusion, the main Ashkenazi approach is not to allow kabbalah to supersede the halacha. Indeed, R. Moshe Feinstein writes (OC 4:3) that the Arizal is to be viewed as just one of the many revered poskim, not the supreme one. This is also the opinion of even the Sephardic posek R. Ovadia Yosef in Yabia Omer (OC 9:105) and other places.
Halacha and Arizal
Strange tale concerning a man of simple but flawed belief & the Arizal
Rav Moshe Chagiz (Mishnas Chachomim): A Portuguese Marrano living in Tzfas (the city of the Arizal) heard the sermon of a local rabbi concerning the importance of the Show Bread that was brought every week in the Temple. This rabbi expressed great anguish because the mitzva of the Show Bread was no longer practiced. This pure hearted Marrano returned home and told his wife to bake two perfect loaves of bread every Friday. He told her he wanted to offer these loaves to Gd and that hopefully Gd would find them acceptable and would eat them. Friday afternoon he brought them to the synagogue and placed them before the Aron HaKodesh where the scrolls of the Torah were kept. Then he prayed that Gd would accept them and eat them. He entreated Gd like a child entreats his father. He then returned home. When the caretaker of the synagogue came, he saw the loaves and ate them with great happiness. That night when the Marrano came for the Shabbos evening prayers, he ran to see what had happened with the loaves. When he saw that they were missing he was filled with great joy. He returned to tell his wife how wonderful it was that Gd had not rejected his offering and had eaten them. He told his wife that she needed to be very careful in the preparation of the loaves since they gave Gd pleasure. Every Friday he would bring fresh loaves to the synagogue, pray and leave them before the Aron HaKodesh. One Friday while he was delivering his loaves and saying his prayers—it happened that the rabbi of the synagogue was there preparing his speech for Shabbos. The Marrano who was in ecstasy while offering his loaves to Gd was unaware that the Rabbi was listening to everything he said. The rabbi became furious when he realized what was going on. He started screaming and insulting the Marrano “You idiot do you think that our Gd eats and drinks? It is obvious that the caretaker takes them—not Gd. It is a terrible sin to ascribe any physicality to Gd.” The rabbi continued his tirade until the caretaker came in as usual to take the loaves. The caretaker—without the slightest embarrassment—admitted that he had taken them. When the Marrano heard the confession of the caretaker he started to cry. He begged forgiveness from the rabbi that he had erred in understanding the sermon. Suddenly a special messenger entered and announced in the name of the Arizal that the rabbi should immediately return to his home. He explained that on Shabbos morning when the rabbi would be giving his sermon—he would die. The rabbi was shaken by what he heard and went immediately to the house of the Arizal to find out what he had done wrong. The Arizal explained that the rabbi’s sin was that he had ended the pleasure that Gd had been receiving. That since the destruction of the Temple Gd had not received pleasure comparable to what the Marrano had provided by bringing his two loaves of bread with such purity of heart. Consequently, since the rabbi had stopped the Marrano’s offering it was decreed that the rabbi had to die and that there was no way the decree could be changed. The next morning while the rabbi was giving his sermon he died as the Arizal had said.
Zohar – Kabbala
Igros Moshe (OH IV #3) Question Why did the Mishna Berura rule that a person who is awake the entire night should not say in the morning the blessing of Elokai Neshama, Bercas HaTorah and Hamavir Shaina. This is a major dispute amongst poskim and we have a rule that where there is a dispute amongst the poskim that we follow the view of Kabbala and the Ari says we should say these Berachos? Answer. It is simple and obvious that what is meant by the term Kabbala is the Zohar and Tekunei Zohar which are the words of Tannaim. While the Ari was a great man he is nonetheless just one of the many poskim that it is possible to disagree with even in Kabbala and we are not in doubt as to whom is greater. Consequently the Ari’s views are not more decisive than the other rabbis and thus in the dispute over which Berachos to say the rule is to follow the lenient view. Thus it best to hear these Berachos from another person and have in mind to fulfill the obligation in that way
New study: There was no famine in Gaza… according to famine review groups’ own data
A review conducted by the UK Lawyers for Israel (UKLFI) organization into allegations by international famine review bodies that famine and severe malnutrition were widespread and prevalent in Gaza during the war between Israel and Hamas has found that famine did not break out in the territory according to the figures of the very organizations making the claims.
The report noted severe problems with the reports these organizations issued, due to what it said was their use of “incomplete or inaccurate data,” the inconsistent application of methodological standards, failure to take into account new data, and “potential bias” in how it interpreted and presented the information it had.
Defense Minister: 'Palestinians will not be allowed to return to refugee camps'
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/404358
Defense Minister Israel Katz has announced that the IDF has emptied several Palestinian refugee camps in northern Samaria.
"Forty thousand Palestinians have been emptied out of the refugee camps of Jenin, Tulkarm, and Nur Shams. They are now empty of inhabitants. UNRWA activity in the camps has also been suspended," Katz declared.
"We are engaged in a war against Islamic terrorism in Judea and Samaria. I have instructed the IDF to prepare to occupy the camps that have been purged for at least the next year, and not to allow the residents or terrorism to return," he added.
Measles, once eliminated in the U.S., sickens 99 in Texas and New Mexico
https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2025/02/24/measles-outbreaks-texas-new-mexico/
President Donald Trump — a longtime vaccine skeptic — has a mixed record on the subject. His choice for health secretary, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has a history of spreading vaccine misinformation and recently promised to scrutinize childhood vaccination schedules, blaming them as a potential contributor to the rise in chronic diseases, the Associated Press reported this month.
While on the campaign trail, Trump pledged to cut federal funding for schools that required vaccines.
In the decade leading up to the measles vaccine’s introduction in 1963, the disease killed an estimated 400 to 500 people in the United States each year and caused an estimated 48,000 hospitalizations annually, the CDC said. So far, about a quarter of the cases recorded this year have resulted in hospitalizations, either to isolate the infected person or to treat complications.
All the reasons Israel doesn't want US control over Gaza
https://www.israelhayom.com/2025/02/23/all-the-reasons-we-dont-want-us-control-over-gaza/
Nevertheless, the US today is undoubtedly seen as a friendly superpower, perhaps Israel's only true ally in the world. But that positive impression could quickly fade if the US were to become our new neighbor. Just ask Mexico, Colombia, Cuba, or Panama: for them, the giant remains a giant, but a far less friendly one. In its own backyard, the US has often been aggressive, heavy-handed, and willing to redraw the borders of neighboring states to serve its own interests. The US-Mexico War, the invasion of Panama, and Panama's separation from Colombia are all examples of American behavior toward its close neighbors.
Is this just a coincidence? A shared border inevitably leads to friction. Issues such as resource management, migration, crime, trade, air pollution, and, of course, military build-up all become points of contention between neighboring states. Special frameworks and initiatives are needed to minimize the unavoidable friction. The European Union is one such attempt; the federal structure of the US itself is another example. Without mechanisms like these, states frequently clash, often resorting to force to resolve disputes on their own terms. Today, we see how the Trump administration uses tariffs as leverage against Canada and Mexico to shape border policies.
In first month, Trump upends century-old approach to the world
https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/02/23/trump-world-putin-ukraine/
He appears to be turning back the clock to a time in world history when countries with the biggest militaries constructed empires, demanded tribute from weaker nations and expanded their territories through coercion, analysts say.
“This is classic geopolitics, actually: influence on the areas that are closest to you geographically,” said Rosa Balfour, the director of the Brussels office of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a think tank. “If you pair that up with this conversation with Putin, then you see the potential emergence of a worldview where the world is carved up by different powers. This fits in very well with a Russian view of things.”
“We are in a new era where, by and large, international relations aren’t going to be determined by rules and multilateral institutions. They’re going to be determined by strongmen and deals,” Alex Younger, the former chief of Britain’s foreign intelligence service, MI6, told the BBC’s “Newsnight” last week. “That’s Donald Trump’s mindset, certainly Putin’s mindset. It’s [Chinese President] Xi Jinping’s mindset … I don’t think we’re going back to the one we had before.”
“This is basically a classic reversal of the role of perpetrator and victim,” Merz told a German radio station. “This is the Russian narrative, and this is how Putin has been portraying it for years. And I am honestly somewhat shocked that Donald Trump has now apparently made it his own.”
Trump appointees appear to contradict Musk for first time in pushback to OPM email
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/02/23/politics/opm-federal-agencies-pushback-doge-musk/index.html
A rift appeared to open Sunday between some of President Donald Trump’s agency heads and Elon Musk, the billionaire tasked with reforming the federal government, over Musk’s demand that all federal employees state their weekly accomplishments or risk termination.
By Sunday evening, leaders at the Pentagon, Federal Bureau of Investigation, State Department, Department of Homeland Security and Department of Energy had all instructed their staff not to reply to an email that federal workers received from the Office of Personnel Management on Saturday afternoon with the subject line: “What did you do last week?”
By Sunday, even some Republicans had voiced opposition to Trump’s plan.
“If I could say one thing to Elon Musk, it’s, ‘Please put a dose of compassion in this. These are real people. These are real lives,’” Sen. John Curtis of Utah said in a Sunday interview on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “It’s a false narrative to say we have to cut, and you have to be cruel to do it, as well. We can do both.”
Supreme court justice calls out lawyer for citing AI-generated 'phantom rulings'
https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-843442
Supreme Court Justice Kanfi-Steinitz exposes a lawyer's use of artificial intelligence to fabricate legal precedents, highlighting growing concerns about AI's misuse in Israel's legal system.
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