Tuesday, March 19, 2024

'You need a Rafah strategy that works,' Biden tells Netanyahu in stern call

 https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-792576

“I am for the defeat of Hamas. I believe that they are an evil terrorist group with not just Israeli, but American blood on their hands,” Biden said.

The president cautioned, however, that “there is a better way” than the strategy than the one Israel has outlined.

Exclusive Torah study

 Rav Saadiya Gaon (Emunah v’deos 10:14) There are Torah scholars who thlnk that it is not appropriate for a person in this world to concern himself with anything other than the acquiring of wisdom... and I found everything they stated concerning wisdom to be true and correct, but their error is that they said that a person should only concern himself with acquiring wisdom and not do other things, because if a person does not concern himself with food, dwelling , and clothing, wisdom will be nullified since there is no existence without  them, and if a person casts himself with these needs on other people, he will be despised and ignored, and his words will not be listened to. ... And the sons of Levi did not have a share of the grain but one of thirteen, because they are a tribe from among thirteen. , and G-d gave them the tithe to provide them with food. And these people were solely concerned with acquiring wisdom for otherwise  wisdom would have been lost. They were involved exclusively in acquiring and teaching Torah wisdom. And thus it was beneficial for everyone

Trump’s ‘bloodbath’ tirade contained a warning on Chinese cars. Here are the facts.

 https://www.politico.com/news/2024/03/18/trumps-bloodbath-tirade-contained-a-warning-on-chinese-cars-here-are-the-facts-00147600

Trump has been trying since last year to drive a wedge between unions’ leaders, who are overwhelmingly aligned with Biden, and their rank-and-file membership. A significant part of last year’s UAW strike against the Big Three U.S. automakers involved fears that unionized auto workers would be left out of the EV transition, especially considering that much of the production of critical parts such as batteries occurs in non-union plants.

Mar-a-Lago Judge’s Stark Ruling: Jury Sees Secret Files or Trump Wins

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/mar-a-lago-judge-rules-jury-sees-top-secret-files-or-trump-wins?ref=home?ref=home

The MAGA-friendly federal judge who keeps siding with Donald Trump in his Mar-a-Lago classified records case has forced prosecutors to make a stark choice: allow jurors to see a huge trove of national secrets or let him go.

U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon’s ultimatum Monday night came as a surprise twist in what could have been a simple order; one merely asking federal prosecutors and Trump’s lawyers for proposed jury instructions at the upcoming trial.

But as she has done repeatedly, Cannon used this otherwise innocuous legal step as yet another way to swing the case wildly in favor of the man who appointed her while he was president.

White House Rips Donald Trump's Comments on Jews Who Back Democrats

 https://www.newsweek.com/white-house-rips-donald-trumps-comments-jews-who-back-democrats-1880626

Trump, the presumptive 2024 Republican presidential nominee, said during the segment: "Any Jewish person that votes for Democrats hates their religion. They hate everything about Israel and they should be ashamed of themselves because Israel would be destroyed."

Monday, March 18, 2024

Pennsylvania man sentenced for setting Midwood rabbi’s house on fire

 https://www.brooklynpaper.com/pa-man-sentenced-midwood-rabbi-fire/

According to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office, Karelefsky was caught on video lighting a fire under the front porch of Rabbi Jonathan Max’s East 17th Street home in the middle of the night on June 13, 2019. The fire quickly spread to two adjacent homes, forcing 13 people to evacuate, including Max and his family.

MAGA Reps Suddenly Face an Existential Threat: Themselves

 https://www.thedailybeast.com/maga-reps-suddenly-face-an-existential-threat-themselves?ref=home?ref=home

What nearly all of these incumbents have in common is that their opponents hail from the far-right fringes of the party. Where the incumbents are on Fox and Newsmax, the challengers are regulars on Bannon’s show, hoping to land endorsements from figures like Mike Lindell, Roger Stone, and Michael Flynn.

Did Donald Trump Threaten 'Bloodbath' If He Loses? Here's What Happened

 https://www.newsweek.com/donald-trump-threaten-bloodbath-speech-context-auto-industry-true-biden-1880300

George Conway, an attorney and Trump critic, argued on social media that whether or not Trump was referring to the auto industry, what matters was his consistent use of "apocalyptic and violent language in an indiscriminate fashion as a result of his psychopathy and correlative authoritarian tendencies."

"It's a classic trait and technique of authoritarian demagogues," he said. "He catastrophizes *everything* to rile up his cultish supporters, and to bind them to him, and to make them willing to do his bidding."

Zika in Halachah

 https://jewishaction.com/religion/jewish-law/zika-in-halacha/

To give us a sense of the magnitude of the epidemic, according to an account from the rabbinic court of Rav Shmuel Vozner (1913-2015), over 1,000 cases were presented to the court requesting abortion. The court prohibited abortion in every single case (consistent with the general approach of Rabbi Feinstein). As a postscript, it is further reported that in all the cases, save one, no harm befell the subsequent children. As this is an anecdotal account, absent any details of the cases, we cannot know whether the women had confirmed cases of rubella, and if so, during which trimester. In any case it is a remarkable number.

Not everyone can be successful

 Chullin (24a) If a student does not see progress in his studies after five years, he never will. R. Jose says, After three years

Wisdom and Sickness

 Tosefta (Berachos 3:5) Anyone whose body was stricken with some desease, because of his wisdom it is a good sign for him. And anyone whose wisdom was stricken with some desease, because of his body it is a bad sign for him.” He used to say, “Anyone who lost his mind, because of his wisdom it is a good sign for him. And anyone who lost his wisdom because of his mind it is a bad sign for him.”

Prestigious Jewish school principal in New York convicted of embezzlement

 https://www.ynetnews.com/article/syn3nmmrt

Suffolk County District Attorney says David Ostrove diverted approximately $8.4 million of Schechter School of Long Island funds into accounts controlled by him

Trump Agonistes, ‘Bloodbath’ and ‘Hostages’ Edition

 https://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-agonistes-blood-bath-and-hostages-chapter-auto-industry-ohio-401bb780?mod=hp_opin_pos_2#cxrecs_s

The real news is that Mr. Trump promised to impose tariffs on foreign-made cars, apparently no matter where they’re from. This would hurt U.S. working-class consumers by raising car prices, much as his steel tariffs enhanced the profits of U.S. steel companies while hurting other companies that use steel.

In Vandalia, Ohio, Mr. Trump also repeated his frequent line that those convicted of crimes for the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol are “hostages” and “unbelievable patriots.” He vowed to help them if he wins in November, which implies mass pardons.

While some rioters have arguably been treated too harshly, they broke one or more laws by breaching police barriers and besieging the Capitol. Police were injured. The rioters also disrupted Congress’s session ratifying the votes of the Electoral College.

“I think it’s unfortunate at a time that there are American hostages being held in Gaza, that the President or any other leaders would refer to people that are moving through our justice system as hostages,” former Vice President Mike Pence said Sunday on CBS’s Face the Nation. “It’s just unacceptable.”

Sunday, March 17, 2024

First-time Parent at 88: Has Israel's Fertility Craze Gone Too Far?

 https://www.haaretz.com/science-and-health/2024-03-13/ty-article/57-year-old-mom-88-year-old-dad-welcome-newborn-has-israels-ivf-craze-gone-too-far/0000018e-3746-df5e-a5fe-f7feb5f70000

Outside of Haredi society the report was received with far more criticism, and with quite a few ethical questions about the future of the infant born to such elderly parents, and the significant medical risks involved in pregnancy and birth at such an age.