Thursday, November 28, 2019

To Even Close the Yeshivos?

Parshas Toldos, 5780


By Binyomin Feinberg, Contributor to The Jewish Press*

FeinbergBinyomin@gmail.com

*  The perspectives and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the ownership or management of The Jewish Press.


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Despite recent political disfunction, it was just reported that Israel may nevertheless be heading for some form of a limited-scope Unity Government (between both Likud and Blue and White mainstream blocks). That means the religious parties will be asked to, or seek to compromise to join. Will they compromise on the drafting of girls? The saintly Brisker Rov ZT"L [whom many of those elected officials acknowledge as a Gadol] held it was better to close all the Yeshivos than to draft girls, even into Sheirut Leumi, if indeed ever faced with such a dilemma ("The Brisker Rav," Vol.3, pp. 49–51, 56–57).* However, the religious parties, in contrast, now allow the drafting of girls to pass quietly, apparently under the pretext of helping their own institutions.  Additionally, the religious parties now have an increasingly resonant national-defense argument against expending resources on drafting religious girls, if they'd ever be inclined to use it. The Army needs the girls like a Katushya in the Knesset. Galei Tzahal Radio reported months ago that the IDF is encumbered with a 5-digit troop surplus. On the other hand, anti-missile defense is sorely inadequate. Several weeks ago, it was reported that Netanyahu recently requested four BILLION shekel for missile and drone defense, in light of the threat illustrated by the game-changing Sept.14 drone attack on Saudi oil production. The "HaKotarot" (Nov.25, in Ivrit) just reported a former Israeli Air Defense official in the Air Force, Tzvika Heimowitz, interviewed in The Jerusalem Post, warning about the inadequacy of Israeli missile defense in event of a serious conflict with Iranian proxies. R"L, thousands of missiles would rain down from multiple sources, and would overwhelm current defenses. [In that context, one could see the recent missile barrages not so much as practice runs, as much as merely testing Israeli responses, to feel out weaknesses, and prepare for a far graver mutlipronged assault, dwarfing anything Israel haa ever experienced (including the first Gulf War).] Thus, the entire "Equality-justified" emphasis on chasing teenage girls to fill up an already over-staffed army is easy to argue against, in context of geostrategic realities.

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To check for updates throughout the week please visit ("Updates for Cheshvan" at: )

https://docs.google.com/document/d/11EUa2a_8OwXs7T1vMfek3MehHfC2Rd9mWt6NetNxLm0/edit?usp=sharing

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Female IDF Refuseniks - Cheshvan


Female IDF Draft Update: Parshas Toldos, 5780

Nov. 27, '19

By Binyomin Feinberg, Contributor to The Jewish Press*

FeinbergBinyomin@gmail.com


*  The perspectives and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of the ownership or management of The Jewish Press.

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It was recently revealed that yet another Jewish girl, Donna bas Haddas, has been languishing in an Israeli military prison (number 4) - for over two and a half weeks - refusing to succumb to immense pressure to enlist in the IDF. Having just turned 20, and being engaged to be married, Donna was arrested on Nov. 10. She had had been represented by a public defender. She is facing an vigorous legal battle. (Her draft date was in March, '18.).

She very much needs our immediate support.  The Israeli government wouldn't persist in persecution of girls who refuse military service if there would only be sufficient protest from enough individuals in Diaspora (especially American) Orthodox communities.

Moreover, far more than she needs us to help her - WE need to help her. That is because her profuse tears are being carefully counted in the Heavenly Court, to determine precisely how much Divine Justice will rain down on us - and on whom specifically - for tolerating these ongoing travesties involving innocent girls suffering untold pain in the military justice system, all for their steadfast refusal to be forced into military service.  We know from our Sages that "He extends His Wrath," but, ultimately, "He collects His dues." 

B"H, another girl, O. H., a 19 y/o Chareidiah from the south, was just released this week, after languishing perhaps about two weeks in Military Prison number 6. She too had been incarcerated for a quite a while without public awareness of her plight. She still seeks to secure her military exemption.

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While some may expect the government to be preoccupied with it's own dysfunction, and  unprecedented missile threats from multiple staging areas, the terrorization of young women seeking to avoid being forced into the military continues. As does the overall deafening silence of the ostensibly rightwing and religious parties.  Even when there was a Jewish military which operated al-pi-Torah, under a King and the Sanhedrin, immorality put our national security in grave danger. (See VaYikra 18). How much more so does that danger apply nowadays, given the rampant immorality within the IDF.

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To check for updates throughout the week please visit ("Updates for Cheshvan" at: )

https://docs.google.com/document/d/11EUa2a_8OwXs7T1vMfek3MehHfC2Rd9mWt6NetNxLm0/edit?usp=sharing

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Sunday, November 24, 2019

Russian Propaganda Seen Fusing With Republican Ukraine Narrative | Rachel Maddow | MSNBC

Hayes Explains 3 Ways The ‘America First’ President Puts Americans Last | All In | MSNBC

Why Trump Is Bad for Business

https://fortune.com/longform/trump-policies-bad-for-business-trade-immigration-taxes-regulations-us-economy/

But wait—how can today’s environment be bad for business? Stocks have been hitting new record highs. Inflation is low. Interest rates are extraordinarily low. Though the labor market is ultra-tight, more workers are reentering the labor force in response, and consumers have more money to spend. Isn’t this close to business nirvana?

It ought to be, but look closer. Sentiment in some previously friendly quarters has turned powerfully against Trump. CEO confidence, which leapt in Trump’s early days, has since plunged to levels not seen since the darkest days of the financial crisis in 2009. “The Trump administration lost the C-suite in 2018,” says Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a Republican who ran the Congressional Budget Office from 2003 through 2005 and now heads the American Action Forum, a center-right think tank. “I think the cause is mainly trade.” (Fortune interviewed several corporate executives who largely shared Holtz-Eakin’s view but were wary of saying so on the record. The White House, for its part, did not respond to several requests for comment.)



Friday, November 22, 2019

No, That Mac Factory in Texas Is Not New

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/20/us/politics/trump-texas-apple-factory.html
President Trump said on Wednesday that he opened a facility that makes computers for Apple. It’s been operating since 2013.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2019/11/21/20975979/donald-trump-apple-plant-austin-texas-tim-cook

Tim Cook is just letting Trump lie about Apple

Trump keeps saying Apple just opened a plant in Texas. The problem: The facility in question has been around since 2013.

On Wednesday, Cook accompanied Trump, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin, and the president’s daughter, Ivanka Trump, on a tour of a manufacturing plant in Austin, Texas. Both at the plant and after, the president suggested that the plant had just opened and that it was the result of his presidency. No one at Apple corrected him, even though it’s not at all the case: The plant, which is run by a company called Flex, has been making Mac Pro computers there since 2013.

AP FACT CHECK: Trump’s false claim about Apple plant


President Donald Trump tried to take credit Wednesday for opening a plant that’s been in business for years.

He also tried to blame House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for closing Congress, but she didn’t.

TRUMP: “Today I opened a major Apple Manufacturing plant in Texas that will bring high paying jobs back to America. Today Nancy Pelosi closed Congress because she doesn’t care about American Workers!” — tweet early Wednesday evening.

THE FACTS: Neither happened.

Trump visited a factory in Austin, Texas, that has made the Mac Pro for Apple since 2013.

Apple announced in September that it would continue having the Mac Pro line made in Austin, after the Trump administration agreed to waive tariffs on certain computer parts from China. It also plans to expand its already deeply rooted business in Austin and said Wednesday it has started construction of its new campus in the city.

Rav Malinowtiz zt"l Levaya Recording



Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu will be indicted on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust


https://edition.cnn.com/2019/11/21/middleeast/benjamin-netanyahu-charges-israel-intl/index.html

Charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust have been unveiled against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in three separate corruption cases, the Attorney General announced on Thursday evening, marking the first time in Israel's history that a sitting PM faces indictment in criminal investigations.

During a final pre-indictment hearing last month, Netanyahu's high-powered legal team tried to convince prosecutors to close the cases, including the most serious charge of bribery. But Avichai Mandelblit, a Netanyahu appointee who once served as his cabinet secretary, is moving forward. "It is a very sad day for Israel and for me personally," said Mandelblit, adding that the decision to indict "is not a matter of politics, of right and left."
Speaking in Jerusalem on Thursday night, Netanyahu described the charges as "an attempted coup against a Prime Minister."


Thursday, November 21, 2019

Levaya Of Hagaon HaRav Chaim Zev Malinowitz ZATZAL


https://www.theyeshivaworld.com/news/boruch-dayan-emmes/1803045/levaya-of-hagaon-harav-chaim-zev-malinowitz-zatzal.html


The Levayah will be held at 9:30AM at 34 Nachal Refaim in Bet Shemesh. Kevurah will take place in Rechovot.

Boruch Dayan HaEmmes…

https://matzav.com/rav-chaim-zev-malinowitz-ztl/
https://www.kikar.co.il/337621.html


The levaya for HoRav Malinowitz will take place at Beis Tefillah Yonah Avraham on Erev Shabbos.

Hespedim will begin at 9:45 AM.

WOMEN: In Ulam Shabsai (with audio and visual connection to the hespedim) with chairs. Speakers will be set up outside for overflow.

MEN: In the Beis Medrash and Ezras Nashim/Vasikin. There will be some chairs set up for the older men. Speakers will be set up outside for overflow.

The Kevura will take place in the Rechovot Cemetery, on Yehuda Gorodiski street (בית העלמין רחובות רחוב גורודיסקי).

Plan to finish by 1 PM, the latest.

Gordon Sondland’s impeachment testimony on Trump and Ukraine adds up to bribery

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2019/11/20/trump-impeachment-sondland-quid-pro-quo-bribery-column/4248092002/

Sondland not only confirmed the Ukraine quid pro quo, he unequivocally tied it to Trump and his requirements for personally beneficial investigations.