https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nittel_Nacht
Customs
The most prominent custom commonly observed on Nittel Nacht is to abstain from Torah study, although historically some read the Toledot Yeshu instead.[5] Staying up late and playing card games or chess were also popular.[1][6] Some Jewish mystics believed apostates were conceived on the day and as a result forbade married couples from sexual relations on Nittel Nacht.[7
Bereishis Rabbah (63:10) . AND THE BOYS GREW . R. Phinehas said in R. Levi's name: They were like a myrtle and a wild rose-bush growing side by side; when they attained to maturity, one yielded its fragrance and the other its thorns. So for thirteen years both went to school and came home from school. After this age, one went to the house of study and the other to idolatrous shrines. R. Eleazar b. R. Simeon said: A man is responsible for his son until the age of thirteen; thereafter he must say, ' Blessed is He who has now freed me from the responsibility of this boy.’
RSR Hirsch (Bereishis 12:10-13) And there was famine in the land The story that opens with these words is puzzling at first glance. Abraham left the land destined for him; he did not trust God, he raised and provided for himself even in the land of Zion. It also appears at first glance, that he endangered the moral well-being of his wife in order to save his own his soul! It is not even in our power to settle all the questions, even if forced to conclude according to Ramban's opinion: "Know that Abraham, our father, committed a great sin Inadvertently, he brought his righteous wife into a moral dilema because of his fear lest they kill him,... also his departure from the land that was commanded about because of the famine, an iniquity which he sinned, etc., His answer does not resolve all our difficulties. . However you should know that the Torah does not present the great men of Israel as ideals for the purpose of perfection; It does not say about anyone: "Here before me is the ideal, in this man the divine has become man!" In general, it does not present the life of any person as an exemplary life - so that we can learn from him what is good and what is righteous, what we do and what we do not do. If the Torah wants to draw us a figure, so that we can learn from its example, then it does not show a human being, whose foundation is dust and ashes, but the Holy One, blessed be He, presents Himself as an example. Do not say tis behavior is good and proper since this person did it. The Torah is not a collection of does not collection of good deeds. It simply tells what happened - not in order to emulate the deeds. The Torah does not conceal errors and faults of the great men of Judaism and by this establishes their validity and importance of Truth. Knowledge of the faults of Gedolim does not diminish their stature. It does the opposite since they are great men in spite of their faults. If they were great without faults then they would be viewed as inherenty different from the rest of us and their level is beyond our reach since they have no lust or inner blemishes. Their personality and good deeds are simply the inevitable consequence of thei unique elevated nature. Since they didn’t need to work on themselves to do good. they can not be a role model for us. For example, the humility of Moshe which was accompanies by a tendency to be angry. I might mistakenly think that he was born with this trait of humility and thus we can not learn from him. However when he declared “Listen you rebels!” we see his his greatnesss. He acquired his humility with great effort and self control. We can learn from him and hope that we too can acquire these traits. We learn this from our great men such as the Ramban. Our job is not to defend the Gedolim because they don’t need it, The Torah is the Torah of Truth. If we deleted the view of Ramban that Avraham sinned we would have missed the message of the need to act in a normal manner to be saved and not rely on miracles
RSR Hirsch (Bereishis 25:27) And they grew up - Nowhere did our sages refrain from revealing weaknesses and errors, small or large, in the deeds of our great forefathers. And precisely by doing so, they glorified the Torah, and glorified its lessons for all generations. Also here one of their comments implies to us that the source of the deep contrast between the grandchildren of Abraham was not only their innate qualities but was also the consequence in their improper education. While Yakov and Esav were children, their innate hidden differences were ignored and they received the identical education. They seemed to have forgotten the great principle of educations “Educate the youth according to his unique nature” This means that education needs to be adjusted according to the unique nature in order to influence his future behavior so that it produces purity and a consistent Jewish conduct as well as the same Jewish commitment. This means that the education must be individualized and thus is different for different people. Consequently they must be educated uniquely with an eye to the future. By placing both Yakov and Esav on the same bench and teaching them in an identical manner for deed and thought, it is guaranteed that at least one will be ruined. Yakov sat and internalized the flow of wisdom in his desire for spiritual growth. In contrast Esav sat there looking forward to the day he would be able to reject this ancient wisdom. This is the natural consequence of treating them the same and ignoring their actual nature which is repelled by this approach. If their parents Yitzchok and Rivkah had paid attention to their uniqueness. If they had asked initially asked themselves what are Esav’s underlying strengths? What is the best way to implant the desire to serve G-d. If they had done this than Esav would not have become a mighty hunter but rather a mighty Servant of G-d. So in truth, despite all their innate differences, Yakov and Esav remained twin brithers in their spirit and life. From the beginning the sword of Esav was joined with the spirit of Yakov in a unique covenant. Who knows how different the future might have been if Esav was raised properly? But it is a mute point and never happened. When these youth grew up it was revealed to all, that despite coming from the same womb and growing up and being educated together, they were entirely different by nature and deed
Igros Moshe(Y.D. 4:8.2):Concerning the matter of the Jews who were hijacked in Uganda and then were saved by [Israeli] soldiers who went to Uganda. It is reasonable that this should be considered an open miracle. That is because in the normal course of events it would not be possible that such a thing be successful. Whatever is done in the world is only by the hand of G‑d – whether it is for the good or whether it is – G‑d forbid! the opposite. He causes the blow and the cure. He caused that these Jews be captured. But He also caused that they were rescued by means of giving these soldiers special courage and motivation so that they were able to save the captives. He also arranged circumstances so the soldiers in fact were successful. Nevertheless the reasons that G‑d did a miracle through sinners are hidden from us. Furthermore it is prohibited for any man to be “wise” and raise question against G‑d’s actions. Rather it is necessary for us to be innocent and accepting whatever G‑d does as it explicity says in the Torah (Devarim 18:13)
Multiple federal agencies have initiated investigations into Elon Musk and SpaceX regarding alleged breaches of security reporting requirements, as both US and Israeli officials voice mounting concerns about the protection of classified information.
The New York Times has uncovered recent serious allegations against Elon Musk and SpaceX concerning systematic violations of security reporting protocols. Three federal agencies – the Defense Department's Inspector General Office, the Air Force, and the Office of Intelligence and Security – have initiated separate investigations following concerning reports about the company's practices.
Whether Donald Trump realizes it or not, Republicans did him a favor by making clear that former Rep. Matt Gaetz was unconfirmable as U.S. Attorney General. On Monday the House Ethics Committee released a 37-page report from its misconduct inquiry into Mr. Gaetz, which found “substantial evidence” of drug use, prostitution, and statutory rape.
https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/article-834585
Violence and coercion has resulted in up to a 90% decline in the Christian population in areas under Hamas or Palestinian Authority control, according to a new study by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA).
In 1922, Christians constituted 11% of the population. Today, in 2024, they are just 1%.
The JCFA research, led by Lt. Col. (res.) Maurice Hirsch and Attorney Tirza Shorr, discovered mass emigration of Christians, particularly from historically significant cities like Bethlehem.
https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/379499
Since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7th, 2023, 819 IDF soldiers have made the ultimate sacrifice fighting for Israel's existence on various fronts.
https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5053319-trump-greenland-purchase/?tbref=hp
“For purposes of National Security and Freedom throughout the World, the United States of America feels that the ownership and control of Greenland is an absolute necessity,” Trump said in the Truth Social post.
On Monday, Greenland’s prime minister said the island isn’t up for purchase.
https://collive.com/over-30-injured-in-chabad-seminary-fire-in-jerusalem/
A large fire broke out on the top floor of a dorm of a Chabad girls’ school on Rechov Dovid Yellin in Jerusalem early Monday morning, injuring more than 30 people and requiring rescue forces to extricate dozens of girls from the burning building.
------------------- comments
A parent
December 23, 2024 9:40 am
Thankfully the girls are safe.
My daughter and her friends attempted to run out of building but they were locked inside with a padlock with no one to be found with a key.
Only with the help of neighbors on outside who used a chain saw to get through the door were they saved. A special mention also to an Arab worker who endlessly helped save girls at risk to his own life.
Parents: please make sure your seminaries are not locking the girls in at night.
Google triangle shirtwaist factory fire. Hashem yishmor
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/12/23/politics/biden-federal-death-row-trump/index.html
Notably, the president did not commute the sentences of three people whose crimes included mass shootings or acts of terrorism: Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, one of two brothers responsible for the deadly Boston Marathon bombing in 2013; Dylann Roof, a White nationalist who massacred nine people at a historically Black church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015; and Robert Bowers, who killed 11 worshippers at Pittsburgh’s Tree of Life Synagogue in 2018.
We have been discussing Rav Moshe's view that medical tests could be a violation of Devarim (18:13)
Others seem to limit that to avoiding astrologers or diviners. The Netziv and others say it only applies when there are prophets that are available. The Shulchan Aruch says the problem it means searching for indications of the future such as asking an astrologer but there is no problem utilizing the information if you overhear it
Aside from medical tests there is the question of insurance which Rav Moshe permits as a business deal. What about Social Security or eating healthy food? |Should smoking cigarettes be a concern or vaping? Some say using a doctor at all is also a problem.
Rav Noach Weinberg told me that utilizing sear belts and vaccinations show lack of bitachon. Others say being concerned with air raid sirens is a lack of bitachon. or even following elementary rules such as stopping for a red light or wear a reflector when walking down a dark road or signaling when turning
Interestingly the biggest concern we have with the future is what we call chinuch. Nobody I know would send their child to public school or a coed school or college or medical school saying "Whatever G-d wants will happen. Similarly everyone is concerned with who are your child's friends and who he/she associates with
Similarly with shidduchim no one says my child will marry the first person proposed and I will not check out who they are. Rav Moshe does caution about too much instigation. No one forms a business deal or invests money or buys a house without doing investigation regarding the future.
In sum, there are those who say that everything that happens is because G-d makes it happen and you simply must view everything as a direct consequence of G-d's Will. Others say that man is a required participant and must do whatever hishtadus he can and G-d does the rest
https://baishavaad.org/the-foreseeable-future-may-we-try-to-find-out-what-lies-ahead/
One brief but important attempt at a delineation of the contours of the injunction of tamim tihyeh is by R’ Moshe Feinstein, in the context of the propriety of screening for the gene that causes Tay-Sachs:
According to this understanding of R’ Moshe, preventive MRIs would presumably not violate tamim tihyeh, because they, too, do not predict the future, but rather reveal what already exists. While this does not seem to be the straightforward understanding of R’ Moshe’s intent, we shall iy”H see in the follow-up article that some do indeed posit such a distinction with respect to the applicability of the mitzvah of tamim tihyeh.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/matt-gaetz-ethics-report-released/
Former Rep. Matt Gaetz, a Florida Republican who briefly stood to become President-elect Donald Trump's nominee to be attorney general, was found by congressional ethics investigators to have paid numerous women — including a 17-year-old girl — for sex, and to have purchased and used illegal drugs, including from his Capitol Hill office, according to a final draft of a comprehensive investigative report obtained by CBS News.
Those were among the findings of the long-running investigation by the House Ethics Committee into Gaetz, which concluded the former Florida congressman violated multiple state laws related to sexual misconduct while in office.
Igros Moshe (YD IV #57.11) The reason for not establishing a day of fasting and prayers to commemorate the murdered of the Holocaust
Question In the matter of the Decree due to our many sins which resulted in the murder of 10 times 600,000 through Hitler and his associates their memory should be erased. It would seem appropriate that there is a need to establish a particular day for fasting and prayer. You are astonished that nothing has yet to be done. Answer In the Kinos which are said by all Jews on Tisha B’Av, it is explained there that a special day was not established for fasting and and mourning for the decrees of the Crusades, which were the decrees in all European countries where most of the Jews lived, and several towns and villages were destroyed, and it was named Tach v’Tat after the years it happened. Also in Israel they killed many during the Crusades. The reason is they didn’t is because we are not to establish another day for fasting and mourning. Instead the tragedies of the Crusades are to be mentioned in the Kinos of Tisha B‘Av For this reason we are slso not to establish a special day to commemorate the decrees that happened in our time. Rather it is to be included in all the tragedies that have happened during this long Galus. It is thus not like the Chemelniki Massacres that were done by Cosacks in the Ukraine and Poland for which a day of fasting and Selichos was established on the 10th of Sivan since that wasn’t a general decree like the Churban and Galus but it occurred only in a part of one country. In addition tragedies of Tach v’Tat were not committed by the government and therefore are not the result of Galus and the Churban but rather those who rebelled against the government. It is not considered a government action and thus an aspect of Galus since the government attempted to defend the Jews. The only connection to Galus is that the Jews received punishment for their sins which deserved Galus. Thus it was only relevant to make a decree of fasting and Selichos for only those places. In contrast the decrees of Hitler applied to all Jews since he conquered the main places where Jews lived and in these places he murdered all the Jews who were there and he intended to conquer the whole world. It was impossible to stop him untl G-d hasd mercy on us. Therefore it was a decree against all Jews and thus it is to be viewed as an extension of the Churban and Galus for which we are not to establish another day of mourning as is stated in the Kinos.
