Wednesday, March 30, 2022

Among victims of Bnei Brak terror attack: two fathers and a police officer

 https://www.timesofisrael.com/among-victims-of-bnei-brak-terror-attack-two-fathers-and-a-police-officer/

Authorities early Wednesday identified three of the five victims of a deadly terror shooting spree in Bnei Brak the previous night, including two young fathers and a police officer who helped kill the gunman.

The victims were named as officer Amir Khoury, 32; Yaakov Shalom, 36, and Avishai Yehezkel, 29.

Reports said the two other victims were foreign workers who had not been identified by Wednesday morning.

Khoury, an Arab Israeli from the northern town of Nof Hagalil, served on the Bnei Brak police station’s motorcyclist responders team.

Trump brazenly asks Putin to release dirt about Biden's family

 https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/29/politics/trump-putin-hunter-biden/index.html

In a new interview published Tuesday, former President Donald Trump called on Russian President Vladimir Putin to release any damaging information he has about the Biden family, in a brazen request for domestic political assistance from America's top adversary.
It's the latest example of Trump's willingness to solicit and embrace domestic political help from foreign powers -- even from Putin, who is currently overseeing a bloody war against Ukraine.

Tuesday, March 29, 2022

Five killed in Bnei Brak shooting

 https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-702649

The shooting was first reported around 8:00 p.m. on HaShnaim Street. One person was found killed in a car and two other people were killed on a sidewalk nearby.

Another person was found dead on Herzl Street, perpendicular to HaShnaim Street. A fifth victim, a police officer, was evacuated to the Rabin Medical Center-Beilinson Campus in critical condition and died from his wounds soon after.

The shooter's body was found on Jabotinsky Street after he was shot by a police officer who arrived at the scene on a motorcycle.

Occupation you like - only?

It seems from the following we are attracted to jobs we like and that is what you should do for earning a living. Does it mean we should only have an occupation we like? Does anyone else say such a thing?


Chovas HaLevavos (4:3) Similarly you will find among human beings character traits and body structures suited for certain businesses or activity. One who finds his nature and personality attracted to a certain occupation, and his body is suited for it, that he will be able to bear its demands - he should pursue it, and make it his means of earning a livelihood, and he should bear its pleasures and pains, and not be upset when sometimes his income is withheld, rather let him trust in G-d that He will support him all of his days. And he should have intention when his mind and body is occupied with one of the means of earning a living to fulfill the commandment of the Creator to pursue the means of the world, such as working the land, plowing and sowing it, as written "And G-d took the man and placed him in Gan Eden to work it and to guard it" (Bereishis 2:15), and also to use other living creatures for his benefit and sustenance, and for building cities and preparing food, and to marry a woman and have relations to populate the world.

Fox News' Lara Logan says Rothschilds paid Darwin to invent evolution theory

 https://www.jpost.com/diaspora/antisemitism/article-702599

Fox Nation presenter Lara Logan suggested that Charles Darwin was paid by the Jewish Rothschild family to invent the theory of evolution during an episode of the right-wing podcast And We Know on Monday.

"Does anyone know who employed Darwin? Where does Darwinism come from?" Logan asked. "Look it up. The Rothschilds."

"I'm just saying Darwin was hired by someone to come up with a theory based on evidence," she added before saying that evolution is a chicken or egg debate and cannot be answered scientifically.

Monday, March 28, 2022

Trump likely committed felony obstruction, federal judge rules

 https://www.politico.com/news/2022/03/28/trump-judge-felony-obstruction-insurrection-00020918

A federal judge ruled Monday that President Donald Trump “more likely than not” attempted to illegally obstruct Congress as part of a criminal conspiracy when he tried to subvert the 2020 election on Jan. 6, 2021.

“Based on the evidence, the Court finds it more likely than not that President Trump corruptly attempted to obstruct the Joint Session of Congress on January 6, 2021,” U.S. District Court Judge David Carter wrote.

Carter’s sweeping and historic ruling came as he ordered the release to the House’s Jan. 6 committee of 101 emails from Trump ally John Eastman, rejecting Eastman’s effort to shield them via attorney-client privilege.

Large-Scale Study Reveals Strange Link Between Antibiotics And Cognitive Decline

 https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-discover-a-strange-new-link-between-antibiotics-and-cognitive-decline

A study involving a total of 14,542 women has found an as-yet-unexplained link between taking antibiotics for at least two months in midlife, and a dip in cognitive score assessments taken several years later.

The team behind the research, led by epidemiologists from Harvard Medical School in Massachusetts, says it shows how important it is to carefully monitor antibiotic use – and also how important it is that we understand the link between what's going on in our guts (which antibiotics can affect) and what's happening in our brains.

Plenty of previous studies have highlighted the link between the gut microbiome and the brain, but it's not clear exactly what the relationship might be. This new research adds more data points in a much-needed field of study.

Making of a godol - mesorah versus gadol --- the authority of Chazon ish

The official view of Orthodox Judaism. There was the revelation of Torah to the Jewish people at Sinai through Moshe Rabbeinu. Torah is no longer in Heaven. Additional elements came from Prophets and the Talmudic Sages (Chazal). This is all filtered to us by Rishonim and Achronim. In other words halacha is a process that took many people many years to develop. Along the way there have been collections such as the Rif, Rosh Tur, and Shulchan Aruch. Basically Halacha is validated by widespread acceptance of the extensive analysis of these sources by contemporary poskim. The above should not be seen as a chidush.

A person who issues rulings based primarily on his personal beliefs or social norms without relying heavily on this Mesorah will generally be ignored or denounced. This has changed in recent years.

When I was a young yeshiva bachor, Rabbi Friefeld once said to me. "People think the Chazon Ish is strange but he liked me." Later the rulings of the Chazon Ish were viewed as chumrahs. Now they are not only main stream - but are considered the only valid view. All this in spite of the fact that Chazon Ish often ignores Mesorah and the widely accepted views of predecessor. He also did not like debating his views with others. His success seems to be the result of having talmidim who are very influential.

My point is that halacha also is dependent on successful PR

Rav Heinemam told me that his rebbe Rav Aharon used to carry a Mishna Berura with him to give greater authority to the Mishna Berura which was not so important prior to WWII.

Similarly Rav Diskin, son in law of Rav Yaakov Kaminetsky told me that Rav Hutner had once said to him "Your shver will have to give a din v'cheshbon for making Rav Moshe the gadol.

The father of a friend of mine was a Rav in California. His aguna cases all went to Rav Moshe. After Rav Moshe was niftar he had a new case but similar to previous cases that he took to Rav Eliyashiv. The response he got was different, "While Rav Moshe was big enough to rely on for his heter but I disagree with him." Rabbi Riskin also claimed he was poskening like Rav Moshe but he wasn't accepted because he is not a gadol.

In recent years there has been cultivated the idea of a gadol whose rulings transcend Mesorah.

Times seem to be changing. I recently asked two of my grandchildren who are very successful members of the yeshiva world. If a beis din of three rabbis from Lakewood or Bnei Brak disagreed with the gadol hador concerning something like vaccination - who do you listen to? Both responded if it is a field that they are familiar then it is three against one.

So on the one hand Chazon Ish is becoming the final authority because he is a gadol but at the same time the concept of gadol seems to be disappearing.

Clapper: Biden’s Putin comments may have been intended for a specific audience

Biden's declaration that Putin 'cannot remain in power' was not a gaffe

 https://edition.cnn.com/2022/03/27/opinions/biden-putin-democracy-power-obeidallah/index.html

    Putin -- whom Biden has rightfully called a "war criminal" -- should not remain in power given his horrific attack on Ukraine, his role in slaughtering civilians in Syria and his efforts to undermine Western democracies, including during the 2016 US presidential campaign.

    Two Border Police officers killed, 6 seriously wounded in Hadera terror attack

     https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/324732

    Border Police officers Yezan Falah and Shirel Abukarat were murdered in Sunday’s terrorist attack in the city of Hadera.

    Falah, 19, from the Druze town of Kisra-Sumei, enlisted in the Border Police about a year ago. He is survived by his parents, a brother and a sister.

    Abukarat, 19, a resident of Netanya, enlisted in the Border Police about six months ago. She is survived by her parents and a brother.

    Four other fighters were lightly wounded during the shootout between the Border Police fighters and the armed terrorists and were evacuated to Hillel Yaffe Hospital.

    Chris Wallace Says 'No Longer Felt Comfortable With the Programming at Fox'

     https://www.newsweek.com/chris-wallace-says-no-longer-felt-comfortable-programming-fox-1692239

    "I'm fine with opinion: conservative opinion, liberal opinion," Wallace told the Times. "But when people start to question the truth—Who won the 2020 election? Was January 6 an insurrection?—I found that unsustainable. I spent a lot of 2021 looking to see if there was a different place for me to do my job."

    Sunday, March 27, 2022

    Fourth vaccine reduces COVID-19 deaths by 78% - study

     https://www.jpost.com/health-and-wellness/coronavirus/article-702441

    The fourth coronavirus vaccine resulted in a 78% decrease in COVID-19 related deaths in adults aged 60-100, according to a new study by Clalit Health Services.

    The study, conducted by Clalit, Sapir College and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, examined the effect the second booster shot had on mortality rates of the population eligible to receive it in Israel. The research was led by Dr. Ronen Arbel, a health outcomes researcher at Clalit Health Services and Sapir College. The paper is currently awaiting peer review.

    At the time of its introduction, the fourth vaccine was controversial due to a lack of epidemiological and large-scale clinical evidence on the efficacy of a second booster shot. As a result, uptake of it among eligible populations was significantly lower than it had been at the start of the first booster distribution.

    Can Clarence Thomas Be Impeached Over Wife's Trump Texts? A Senate Veteran Explains