Former Meretz head Zehava Gal-On to national camp: Get out of here, racist animals

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/315659

In Gal-On’s opinion, those in the political center should stop trying to pander to the right-wing: “The answer to give those on the right is simple: Listen, you piece of racist animal, you homophobe, you other-hater, you misogynist, you who want to drag us into a Taliban regime – we’re not afraid of you. We have values – equality, love of our fellow man, freedom, harmony. So, get out of here before we deal with you the way we dealt with the original fascists.”

Massive allocations to Israel's Arab sector here to stay - Abbas

 https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/politics-and-diplomacy/massive-allocations-to-israels-arab-sector-here-to-stay-abbas-683025

 Ra'am (United Arab List) head Mansour Abbas took credit for more than NIS 30 billion allocated to the Arab sector at a Knesset press conference on Monday.

Abbas said the allocations would have an immediate positive impact on all parts of Arab, Bedouin and Druze society.

"There is a new agenda for Israel and Arab society," Abbas said. "We are taking responsibility and initiative. These plans implement the vision of Ra'am."

Mishne Berura: Status & Nature

I received the following letter - as a response to my recent posting of the Chazon Ish's letter - with permission to publish it.

I had written:   Chazon Ish: The paradox of majority rule & Daas Torah

So far have found this is the view of Get Poshut,Sheilas Dovid, Shach, Maharetz Chajes, Rav Moshe Feinstein, Minchas Chinuch. It is probable that the Mishna Berura disagrees. This is rather odd since it seems the majority view is that they need to meet and discuss it so how could the Mishna Berura disagree? It also seems that the Chazon Ish didn't hold by Daas Torah ie the view of the Gedolim or even majority of Gedolim - but rather that of the local rav.

Chazon Ish [i](Beginning of Kelayim): [[It is well known that the requirement to follow the majority applies only to a beis din which is in session, but regarding scholars holding different views who lived at different times or in different places, the question of majority or minority is not relevant. In a particular area where most of the Torah derives from a particular rabbi and his disciples, and the disciples' disciples, it is correct to follow their rabbi even in a matter in which the majority (of authorities) holds a different opinion.[...]

================
The respondent - who wishes to remain anonymous wrote the following:

I have b'Mesorah from 3 different sources that the Mishne Berura's approach was a departure from normative:

1) My Zaideh - a contemporary of Rav Yaakov and Rav Aharon (actually even though the same age he arrived in Slabodka 3 years before they did) who was a Rov in Europe and in Chicago told my father who told me that the Mishne Berura was NOT accepted in Europe at all. The Aruch HaShulchon was considered the Posek (Sefer) to consult

2) Rav Schwab told me that when he visited R. Chaim Ozer and he shared that he had just been by the Chofez Chaim. Rav Chaim Ozer responded to him, "Un vos zogt de Ba'al Habo'os!"

3) When I was a young Yeshiva Bochur in Washington Heights and we would come with the Mishne Berura's conclusion as an objection to the accustomed Hanhogo of the Kehila, Rav Breuer would give us a knowing benevolent smile and say, "The Minhogim of the Kehilla predate the Mishne Berura by a couple of hundred years"
 
The popularization in our day that the Mishne Berura is "Posek Acharon" is the result Of Rav Aharon and Rav Yaakov's strong support but others were vigorously opposed to the whole approach. See also Chazon Ish (Igros 1:32) on the use of newly uncovered manuscripts to modify standard Halocho
 
The position of the Chazon Ish below is a gemoro in Horoyos 2b. ie that someone who is Higiah l'Horoyo is responsible for his own Halachic decisions and cannot just "cave in" to Daas Rabim of Talmidei Chachomim. If he does he is considered To'eh b'Mitzvo Lishmoeh Divrei Chachomim.. This is paskened Halocho l'Maaseh in Rambam Shgogos. and brought by Ramban in his Hasogos to Sefer HaMitzvos Shoresh 1 on Lo Sosur (pg 14 of old editions).. only if the Sanhedrin convenes and votes down his position must he capitulate. otherwise he is obligated to follow his own understanding and conclusion even if runs contrary to the majority. The Ramban cites Rabi Yehoshua & Rabon Gamliel concerning Yom Kipur
 

Trump's stolen election lie is on the ballot in 2022, thanks to these candidates

 https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-s-stolen-election-lie-ballot-2022-thanks-these-candidates-n1281680

 The future of U.S. elections is on the ballot in 2022, largely because former President Donald Trump can’t let go of the past.

“The single biggest issue — the issue that gets the most pull, the most respect, the biggest cheers — is talking about the election fraud of 2020’s presidential election,” Trump said last week at a rally in Iowa, again pushing the lie that a second term was stolen from him and that Joe Biden is not the legitimate president.

In next year’s races for governor and secretary of state, for Congress and all the way down to state legislative seats, Republicans eager for Trump’s support have embraced these baseless claims. Democrats, eager to rally their base in a potentially unfavorable political climate, have branded GOP candidates as propagators of “the Big Lie.”

‘Down the rabbit hole’: Arizona GOP goes full fringe

 https://www.politico.com/news/2021/10/20/arizona-gop-fringe-516322

 Just when it seemed Arizona Republicans couldn’t make more of a spectacle, they found another way.

As the party hardens around its fealty to former President Donald Trump, the GOP is filling up its midterm ballot with a roster of conspiracy theorists and extremists that could threaten the party’s prospects in a state that’s drifted leftward in recent elections.

Tens of millions of filthy, used medical gloves imported into the US

 https://edition.cnn.com/2021/10/24/health/medical-gloves-us-thailand-investigation-cmd-intl/index.html

 Trash bags stuffed full of used medical gloves, some visibly soiled, some even blood-stained, litter the floor of a warehouse on the outskirts of Bangkok.

Nearby is a plastic bowl, filled with blue dye and a few gloves. Thai officials say migrant laborers had been trying to make the gloves look new again, when Thai health authorities raided the facility in December.

There are many more warehouses just like it still in operation today in Thailand -- trying to cash in on the demand for medical-grade nitrile gloves, which exploded with the coronavirus pandemic. And they're boxing up millions of these sub-standard gloves for export to the United States, and countries around the world amid a global shortage that will take years to ease.

A months-long CNN investigation has found that tens of millions of counterfeit and second-hand nitrile gloves have reached the United States, according to import records and distributors who bought the gloves -- and that's just the tip of the iceberg. Criminal investigations are underway by the authorities in the US and Thailand.

מרן הגר"ח קנייבסקי נשאל: מתי הולכים אחר רוב הפוסקים?

 https://www.kikar.co.il/403754.html

 הרב טיגר: "עכשיו רציתי לשאול את הרב כמה דברים, הרי הרב זוכר שאני עושה את ה"דרך איש" הזה, את הכללים של ה"חזון איש", רציתי לשאול את הרב כמה דברים שמאד מפריעים לי, יש את ה"חזון איש" הידוע (ריש כלאים) שאומר אין כח רוב אלא במושב בית דין, סתם ככה אם יש רוב בפוסקים לא מחוייבים לפסוק כמו רוב הפוסקים, ככה הוא האריך פה, ובמקום אחר הוא כתב, וזה נדפס ב"חזון איש" עצמו (קובץ אגרות ח"ב סי' כ"א), אם רוב הפוסקים קבעו את ההלכה והחולקים בבחינת יחידים הלכה זו הלכה קבועה היא, הרי הוא כתב מפורש שזו לא הלכה קבועה, אין פה כח רוב"

Testing Abraham: Justice in Sodom Before Loyalty in the Akedah

 https://www.thetorah.com/article/testing-abraham-justice-in-sodom-before-loyalty-in-the-akedah

 Summary

Abraham’s dilemma illustrates a calculus of ultimate concern. Only through the confrontation of one’s two primary concerns can one ascertain which is ultimate. Abraham’s top two commitments were loyalty to God and loyalty to justice. Heretofore, they had converged one reinforcing the other. God constructs a test to see which will emerge supreme. The test makes God appear unjust to see which way Abraham sways; unwavering commitment to justice or unwavering commitment to God. Paradoxically, by siding with justice Abraham validates his election by God. Thus, the story of Abraham testing God’s commitment to justice turns out to be also a story of God testing Abraham’s commitment to justice.

Roger Stone Claims COVID Vaccination Has 'Injured or Killed Millions of Americans'

 https://www.newsweek.com/roger-stone-claims-covid-vaccination-has-injured-killed-millions-americans-1641970

 Roger Stone falsely claimed that the COVID-19 vaccine has injured or killed millions of Americans while speaking at a large gathering for anti-vaccine advocates on Saturday.

While speaking at the "Truth About Cancer" conference in Nashville, Tennessee, Stone, a prominent ally of former President Donald Trump, accused Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, of lying about the origins of the COVID-19 virus.

He also asked when "29 FBI agents" will storm Fauci's house.

Rambam - why some peoplw should be killed

 ספר מורה נבוכים - חלק ג פרק יח
 ואחר מה שהקדמתיו מהיות ההשגחה מיוחדת במין האדם לבדו משאר מיני בעלי החיים, אומר, כי כבר נודע שאין חוץ לשכל מין נמצא, אבל המין ושאר הלליות דברים שכלים, כמו שידעת וכל נמצא חוץ לשכל אמנם הוא איש או אישים. וכשיודע זה יהיה נודע גם כן שהשפע האלוהי הנמצא מדובק במין האדם - רצוני לומר, השכל האנושי - אמנם הוא מה שנמצא מן השכלים האישיים, והוא מה ששפע על ראובן ושמעון ולוי ויהודה:
 ואחר שהוא כן, יתחייב, לפי מה שזכרתיו בפרק הקודם, כי אי זה איש מאישי בני אדם שהשיג מן השפע ההוא חלק יותר גדול, כפי הכנת החומר שלו וכפי התלמדו, תהיה ההשגחה עליו יותר בהכרח, אם ההשגחה נמשכת אחר השכל, כמו שזכרתי; ולא תהיה אם כן, ההשגחה האלוהית בבני אדם כולם בשוה, אבל יהיה יתרון ההשגחה עליהם כיתרון שלמותם האנושי זה על זה. ולפי זה העיון יתחיב בהכרח שתהיה השגחתו ית' בנביאים עצומה מאד ולפי מדרגותם בנבואה, ותהיה השגחתו בחסידים ובטובים כפי חסידותם וישרונם - אחר שהשיעור ההוא משפע השכל האלוהי הוא אשר שם דבר בפי הנביאים והוא אשר ישר מעשי הטובים והשלים חכמות החסידים במה שידעו. ואמנם הסכלים הממרים, כפי מה שחסרו מן השפע ההוא, היה ענינם נבזה וסודרו בסדר שאר אישי מיני בעלי החיים, "נמשל כבהמות נדמו"; ומפניזה היה קל להרגם, אבל צווה בו לתועלת. וזה הענין הוא פינה מפינות התורה ועליו בנינה - רצוני לומר, על שההשגחה באיש איש מבני אדם כפי מה שהוא:

 HAVING shown in the preceding chapter that of all living beings mankind alone is directly under the control of Divine Providence, I will now add the following remarks: It is an established fact that species have no existence except in our own minds. Species and other classes are merely ideas formed in our minds, whilst everything in real existence is an individual object, or an aggregate of individual objects. This being granted, it must further be admitted that the result of the existing Divine influence, that reaches mankind through the human intellect, is identical with individual intellects really in existence, with which, e.g., Zeiḍ, Amr, Kaled and Bekr, are endowed. Hence it follows, in accordance with what I have mentioned in the preceding chapter, that the greater the share is which a person has obtained of this Divine influence, on account of both his physical predisposition and his training, the greater must also be the effect of Divine Providence upon him, for the action of Divine Providence is proportional to the endowment of intellect, as has been mentioned above. The relation of Divine Providence is therefore not the same to all men; the greater the human perfection a person has attained, the greater the benefit he derives from Divine Providence. This benefit is very great in the case of prophets, and varies according to the degree of their prophetic faculty: as it varies in the case of pious and good men according to their piety and uprightness. For it is the intensity of the Divine intellectual influence that has inspired the prophets, guided the good in their actions, and perfected the wisdom of the pious. In the same proportion as ignorant and disobedient persons are deficient in that Divine influence, their condition is inferior, and their rank equal to that of irrational beings: and they are "like unto the beasts" (Ps. 49:21). For this reason it was not only considered a light thing to slay them, but it was even directly commanded for the benefit of mankind. This belief that God provides for every individual human being in accordance with his merits is one of the fundamental principles on which the Law is founded.

Fact check: Biden's approval rating is higher than Trump's term low

 https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/09/23/fact-check-bidens-approval-rating-higher-than-trumps-term-low/8347107002/

 Despite the recent decline in Biden's approval, Trump's ratings were lower during his time in office.

"Biden's approval rating has clearly taken a turn for the worse in the past several weeks, but he is still faring better than Trump at this point in their presidencies," Burden said. "Trump had one of the lowest and steadiest approval ratings of any modern president."

How Biden’s slumping approval rating stacks up to past presidents

 https://fortune.com/2021/10/07/biden-approval-rating-stacks-up-to-past-presidents/

 At the same point in their first-term, presidents Ronald Reagan (55.6%), George H.W. Bush (67.6%), Bill Clinton (50.2%), George W. Bush (82.9%), and Barack Obama (52.3%) all had much higher approval ratings. Meanwhile, Biden's current rating is a bit higher than Trump's 38.1% rating was on Day 261 in office.

UK Chief Rabbi: Assisted dying bill is 'profoundly disquieting'

 https://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/315549

Jewish, Catholic and Anglican leaders in the UK have issued a joint appeal to parliamentarians to reject a bill that would legalize assisted suicide.

In a letter dated October 19, the three religious leaders convey their “profound disquiet” over the Assisted Dying Bill, a private members’ which had its second reading in the UK parliament’s upper house on Friday.

Put forward in the House of Lords in May, the act would “enable adults who are terminally ill to be provided at their request with specified assistance to end their own life.” 

Avraham's concern for justice

 We know Avraham was greatly concerned with justice.

 When his nephew was captured he risked his life to save him

When Yishmael was kicked out he protested

 When Sodom was to be destroyed he objected that perhaps righteous people would be killed

However when he was told to sacrifice his son - he made no protest at all! Why?