A Happy New Sweet Year to everyone, readers and non-readers, alike. May we all be written and sealed for a good year filled with happiness and health and good fortune.

אחינו האשכנזים מיוחד בשבילכם, ראש השנה מגיע יום הדין. pic.twitter.com/59xb5hs5FG

— محمد سعود Mohammed Saud מוחמד סעוד (@mohsaud08) September 26, 2019

Every year before Rosh Hashana the Bureau of Statistics releases populations stats for the concluding year.

This year, 5779, Israel saw population growth of 184,000 people, 2.1% - in line with growth of previous years. This population growth is made up of 196,000 babies born during the year, 50000 people who died during the year and 38,000 immigrants who moved to Israel during the year. This year Israel broke the 9 million mark with currently 9,092,000 residents.

(I am amazed that they counted on the day the population had exactly an even number ending in 000. Had they waited another day, more babies would be born and other people would have died and the number would not be even. just joking)

The 9.092 million breakdown is made up of:
6.744 million Jews
1.907 million Arabs (Muslim and Christian)
441,000 others
not counted in this number are another 164,000 foreign residents

further, 43.2% of Jews consider themselves secular (chiloni), 22.1% traditional and not so religious, 12.8% traditional religious, 11.3% religious and 10.1% Haredi

The average Israeli male has a lifespan of 80.9 years and the average Israeli woman has a lifespan of 84.9 years.

Ken Yirbu!

more stats on various aspects of life in Israel can be obtained in the Ynet article

The President, Rubi Rivlin, has tasked Benjamin Netanyahu with forming the government coalition after unity talks were going nowhere. If Netanyahu fails, theoretically Gantz will then be given a chance. If Gantz is given a chance and fails, it goes to the Knesset to try to appoint a Prime Minister supported by 61 MKs. If the Knesset fails, it then goes to elections. Anywhere along the way the Knesset can be dissolved and sent to elections, as happened last time.

In the meantime, each side is blaming the other for the failure of unity government talks. Gantz is blaming Netanyahu for the failure because Netanyahu came with a block of 55 saying he represents them all and if Gantz's offer is not good for all 55, it is not good for any. So, Gantz says Netanyahu torpedoed the talks by insisting on representing all 55 members of different parties. That is in addition to the problem of Netanyahu having possible indictments over his head. In exchange, Netanyahu blames Gantz for the failure of the unity talks, saying he is being stubborn and unreasonable in his demands and he, Netanyahu, is the democratically elected leader of the Likud and Gantz cannot just demand he be replaced.

The country and the media are taking sides, with some blaming Gantz and others blaming Netanyahu.

I say it is the fault of neither. They are not members of the same party. Each party has issues important to it. Negotiations for unity are to find a point in common with which both sides can work, but if the two sides each have issues and opinions that are so far apart from each other, they have no way to work with each other. Gantz does not owe Netanyahu any compromise on issues important to their voters, and Netanyahu does not owe Gantz any compromise on issues important to his voters. It would be nice for them to find a way to work it out, but neither side owes the other and neither side is to blame for the failure of the unity talks.

The schedule and program for the annual Sukkos Bet Shemesh festival is out!
Enjoy!

Am I the only one who found Alex Borstien's speech inane?
It's great that your grandmother was saved by stepping out of line. Many others were killed for stepping out of line. You make it sound like 6 million people chose to be victims instead of choosing to step out of line.

— Noah Roth (@noahroth) September 24, 2019

I was not sure what to think. It did make me a bit uncomfortable to hear her use the Holocaust as her guiding lesson in Hollywood, but I get that she really just meant don't think you always have to follow along and do what you are expected to do.

I think Noah sums it up well.

I went to the store to buy the Israeli version of "Drano", and the store had 3 different brands..




2 out of the 3 have kosher certification, though 1 of them is only for Pesach and not [necessarily] year-round.
The third one, all the way on the left, had no kashrut certification but was also the most expensive. That might prove that kashrut certification has no effect on the price. Or maybe it just because it is a name-brand product, made by Yakobi.

The middle product actually has kashrut certification from two different kashrut organizations, in case you don't rely on one, you have the other.

Would you buy one of these bottles of poison specifically with kashrus certification?

Overnight the electoral board finished the official count with a decision on some disputed ballots and ballot boxes. The final result was that UTJ dropped a mandate, despite the impressive increase in UTJ votes, and now sits at 7 mandates for Knesset, while the Likud has been given one additional mandate bumping them up to 32.  There were no other changes in the final count.

The Likud going up to 32 means Keti Shitreet, from Bet Shemesh, goes back to the 22nd Knesset as an MK again, after her first short term in the 21st Knesset.

And remember this post about Yitchak Pindrus's bad luck? Well, despite it seeming that Pindrus was lock-solid in the Knesset, he is dropping out again with UTJ's fall to 7.

If the constellations are in his favor and a government coalition is formed that will include UTJ, if the Norwegian Law ill be passed again, he could still get in. If UTJ is left out of the coming coalition, or if the Norwegian law will not be passed, Pidrus is stuck once again.

While we have no idea what will happen, if a unity government does work out and is formed, it seems to me unlikely that Pindrus will get in. Either a unity government will leave the smaller parties out, or the big parties will take almost all the ministries and leave little for other potential minor partners. Also, I suspect if a unity government is formed, it will also include an agreement for a smaller government with less ministries, as Lapid has insisted upon in the past, which means each party will get less and there will also be less available for the minor partners, and the might not even agree to pass a norwegian law. So even if UTJ gets into a unity government, the Norwegian Law might not help (though with Pindrus being number 8, even one deputy minister might be enough to get him in under a "norwegian law")

Halbertal is always entertaining...

Both Gantz and Netanyahu promised things to their electorate, neither side has the ability right now to form a government, I recommend to each side to go on Erev Kippur and do hatarat nedarim, annulment of vows..

  -- former Justice Minister Chaim Ramon

I am not a big fan of these radio talk show hosts pulling fast ones over politicians they call and try to play on the phone as if they are someone else. Usually it is relatively innocent, stupid as it might be, and for a few minutes the guy on other end of  the phone thinks he was called by someone he wasn't, but no big deal. I find them usually pretty stupid and pointless. And they often then make fun of the target for falling for it, which also makes no sense to me because how was the person supposed to know or why would he assume it wasn't the person the caller was claiming to be.

But anyways. The prank calls happen, and they happen all over the world. Some people find them funny.

And sometimes something gets accidentally revealed because the callee thinks he is talking to someone he is supposed to tell something to.

Sure enough, this happened today when two radio talk show hosts from Radio Kol Hai called an Arab MK, Abid Al Hakim Haj Yicheyeh, claiming to be the Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. They discussed issues relevant to the Arab sector, promising to stop discrimination in exchange for his support..

It was unexpected when the outgoing MK commented that the PM's assistant Natan Eshel and MK Miki Zohar have met with them in the past and with MK Mansour Abbas and revealed that they discussed cooperation for dissolving the Knesset in exchange for promises of support for the Arab sector.

Oops. Pretty embarrassing for the Likud and Netanyahu, after Netanyahu accused Gantz of being what might be thought of as the closest thing to a traitor when Gantz horse-traded with the Arab MKs passage of a law for them in exchange for their recommendation of Gantz to Rivlin... and it turns out the Likud themselves has recently been horse-trading with them as well...

Translation:
this is what I said this morning to the dayanim in beis din at the end of the proceedings regarding how much child support I need to pay.
You explained very well how much I need to pay as a father responsible for his daughters and that as of now I do not have a profession but I need to take care to get myself one.
You are 100% right. It is my responsibility and I will do everything to fulfill it.
I only have one question.
Now you come and tell me this???
Our entire lives you have educated us that we do not need professions, that we can sit and learn in kollel, we can bring home 1500nis per month with ten children and it will be enough and all will be fine. And now suddenly you remember to tell me that a father needs to bring home 1400nis per child??
You, as dayanim who deal with this issue regularly and understand and recognize the problem, have a responsibility to take care that this should change, that children and bochurim should be prepared in advance for the situation in which they will need to support their future children, and not just to wait until the last moment in a crisis to remember suddenly to tell them.
And they had no answer.
As the world turns.
(one of the dayanim joked that the education we give is only valid as long as nobody gets divorced, but he too realized it is not a joke)

Sad, but he is right. Nobody is going to educate their kid sin a specific way just in case one day they might get divorced, so nothing will change, but his point is solid.

cute and I applaud Disney's attempts at increasing diversity (especially as Walt Disney was known as a rabid anti-semite, though some deny that), but I actually have no need for a Disney Jewish Princess. Whatever. I hope whoever watches the movie or show will enjoy it, and I hope the character will be portrayed positively...

catch the Cubs kippa at the 1 minute mark, for a little extra..

There is a lot of speculation as to various scenarios that might or might not happen in the coming days and weeks. One never really knows if the next crazy possibility mentioned is realistic or someone's fantasy or crazy idea - at least you don't know until it happens, if it happens.

Here is an interesting one though.

Ynet is reporting that Netanyahu is now working to get selected first by President Rivlin to try to form a coalition, but he has no intention of actually trying to form a coalition - he knows that this is at a stalemate and won't happen. So, Netanyahu's plan is to simply be first but to hand it back to Rivlin after a few days (instead of holding the mandate for 28 days plus the 14 days extension) with a statement that he tried but was unsuccessful. At that point Rivlin would give the mandate to Gantz to try to form a coalition.

The idea behind this is that at that point Gantz will also fail to form a coalition, and when the country goes to elections because no government was formed, it would be remembered by the public as Gantz's failure rather than Netanyahu's. Add to that the proximity of it happening extremely close to the disciplinary hearing scheduled for Netanyahu that might lead to an indictment, and Netanyahu, supposedly, feels good about letting Gantz be the failure in the news at that time.

This may or may not be true, we'll find out in due time, but it is interesting. I just don't get what Netanyahu gets from that, should it play out this way, unless he is doing it purely to help the Likud as he himself will be out of politics if the hearing leads to an indictment. Also, he must think the people are idiots and that they will forget that Netanyahu failed first, and for the third time.

It is a wild theory. I love some good political chaos, so I would not be disappointed to see what tricks Netanyahu has up his sleeve, whether this or some other convoluted scheme.

This method of elections and then party leaders recommending to the President who they want as PM, the President basing an appointment on that, and then the PM-select trying to form a coalition before the mandate is given to someone else, is a bit ridiculous. It has become a game of sorts, as each one tries to game the system, to manipulate the game in his favor.

Right now each candidate, Gantz and Netanyahu, is trying to avoid being selected by President Rivlin as the one to try to form a coalition firast. The thought is that the first one to be given the chance will almost definitely fail. On each side there is a relatively strong bloc standing in the way of a coalition. Something dramatic would really have to happen for someone to cross sides. The second person, after the first fails, will possibly have a slightly better chance, because if he fails the country goes to elections again, so the pressure goes up to avoid that. There is more of a chance of someone crossing sides for the second person than for the first. At least that si the current thought.

So, each candidate is now positioning himself to have less recommendations and have less of a chance of being selected first.

To that end, last night it was revealed that Deputy Minister Litzman was recorded at a Gur event in which he said he has a trick up his sleeve and he is coordinating it with Netanyahu. They are considering the possibility of UTJ not recommending Netanyahu to Rivlin today. This would cause Netanyahu to have less recommendations than Gantz, almost ensuring Rivlin appoints Gantz to the first crack at forming a coalition.

After that was revealed, the heads of the United Arab List sent a letter to President Rivlin amending their recommendation from earlier in the day. Earlier in the day the members of the UAL had recommended Gantz to the President. They did so knowing they will not join a future coalition - they said so explicitly - but that this was a decision they took in order to do what they could to take advantage of an opportunity to remove Netanyahu from office and maybe from politics in general. They later sent a letter to Rivlin saying that their recommendation was only in the name of 10 of their MKs rather than all 13, as the BALAD faction of 3 MKs is not recommending Gantz. Taking away those 3 recommendations would knock Gantz below Netanyahu for that first appointment, even if UTJ doesnt recommend Netanyahu.

That being the case, I would have liked to see UTJ recommend Gantz for PM. Why not? The recommendation means nothing anyway regarding a future coalition and this would help them bump Gantz up for the first appointment.

At the end of the day, we'll see what happens and who decides what. This morning in prctice UTJ recommended Netanyahu, despite their considerations. Maybe it was just a bluff or maybe they had other reasons for this decision. I think these games are silly. Each of the two candidates should want the first appointment. If one of them wants the second and then the first succeeds, the other will kick himself for the missed opportunity. Take it and run with it.

The system needs to be changed, at least somewhat. This deadlock is not good for the country, politically or socially. We should minimally go back to the double ballot system with each voter having a vote for party and for PM, if not even greater reform.

very interesting to watch and hear them express their concerns. The first few minutes are cut off

it is selichos season...

There are many other options available besides for going to a third round of elections, just wait and see. We [Shas] will recommend only Netanyahu [to the President for Prime Miniser]. I initiated the right-wing bloc. It seems that for Gantz terror-supporters are better than us. Since the elections I have heard that assumptions that Shas will abandon Netanyahu and connect to the Left. I am sorry to disappoint everyone but Shas will continue to be only on the side of Netanyahu, period.

  -- Minister Aryeh Deri

I get a kick out of how in the same sentence, the same breath, Deri can say how he will not sit with Gantz but only Netanyahu and then also complain that Gantz prefers others over them..

We Jews are used to saying Next Year in Jerusalem, but today the announcer at the Olympics qualifier game between Team Israel and Team South Africa said "Next Year in Tokyo" after Israel handily beat the South African team 11-1 to qualify for the Olympics in 2020.

this si the first time in 44 years Israel has qualified for a team sport in the Olympics. In the past 44 years (since 1976 when the Israeli football/soccer team qualified) only individual Israelis have qualified to compete, but not any Israeli teams.

good luck Team Israel

and now if Beatie Deutsch finishes her qualifications and gets to represent Israel in the Olympic marathon of Tokyo 2020, she'll have a minyan to bring along with her!


you can watch the game here:

NOTE: I was not paid to review this book. It is an unbiased and objective review. If you have a book with Jewish or Israel related content and would like me to write a review, contact me for details of where to send me a review copy of the book.

Book Review: Learning The News, by Rabbi Simcha Lauer

I usually read an entire book before reviewing it, though sometimes it is not necessary. This is one of those occasions. 

Learning The News by Rabbi Simcha Lauer is a book of essays, and I immediately took a liking to it. The book is written in a style that makes it easy to read, interesting and draws the reader in -  something that is not always the case in a book discussing Jewish thought and halacha.

The premise of the book is that one can read the news, current events, in a newspaper or by watching a news program, but a frum Jew should always consider further the Jewish perspective on the events in the news and not just take the news at face value.

The author, Rabbi Lauer, in his introduction, relates the famous story of Rav Mendel Kaplan as told by Rabbi Berel Wein who began teaching in HTC in Chicago after arriving from Europe via Shanghai. Rav Kaplan brought in a newspaper to his class and told the boys that they would teach him English and he would teach them how to read the newspaper. He would then read the stories reported and discuss with the students how to look at them from a Jewish perspective. There are anecdotes and reports from other gedolim as well as to their approach to the news and newspapers.

The truth is that I always understood that story to teach us that there is a Jewish way of looking at current events, and the rabbis in these types of stories were teaching their students approaches in jewish thought - chessed in helping distressed people, historical perspective regarding nations that might have harmed Jews, Jewish morals and ethics, and things like that.

Learning The News added a  dimension to that. 

Learning the News, as mentioned, is designed to teach the reader to look at the news as not just news but to put the news into Jewish perspective. And not just from Jewish thought but also from the perspective of halacha and other Jewish sources.

Learning The News takes  a few dozen news articles compiled over time, each one interesting in its own right, and then offers a Jewish way of looking at it and approaching it. The author looks at each report from the perspective of contemporary poskim and Jewish rabbinic leadership, along with more ancient sources. The discussion on each article goes through such approaches, in essence teaching the reader when reading such a report that there is a Torah approach t the story. Examples of such stories are the issue of raising and selling pigs in Israel, renting parts of a nuclear-proof home to other people in the event of an apocalypse, learning kabbalah and dealing with kabbalists, paying ransom to free someone from a kidnapping, paying shadchanus to a UPS driver, and much much more. At the end of each essay, the author writes a brief summary of the opinions presented.

While the author quotes various rabbinic sources in his Torah-based breakdown of each event, I would note that each topic can probably be written about in far greater length, analyzing a far wider array of sources and responsa from decades and centuries or Jewish thought. I personally would not use this book to make halachic decisions, but to impress upon myself that these events, and events we read about all the time, all can be approached further from a jewish and Torah-based perspective. The news is not just interesting events that are sometimes important to be aware of, but they can be a vehicle to spurring consideration of applications of jewish and halachic concepts taught elsewhere and understanding how they would apply in modern situations.

I think everyone can gain from reading this book - gain some Jewish perspective and gain some training in how to read news reports with some Jewish perspective as part of the reading comprehension.

• Learning The News has just been published and is available in Jewish bookstores, on Eichler's and will soon be available online via Amazon and Feldheim.
• 
  

NOTE: I was not paid to review this book. It is an unbiased and objective review. If you have a book with Jewish or Israel related content and would like me to write a review, contact me for details of where to send me a review copy of the book.

haha!

באמת לא יפה שהערבים המליצו על גנץ ולא על נתניהו.
הרי נתניהו מעביר כסף לחמאס, שילם והתנצל על המרמרה, שחרר מחבלים, הסיר מגנומטרים, מסר את חברון והצביע בעד מסירת גוש קטיף. מה עוד הבנאדם צריך לעשות כדי שהם יבינו שהוא בצד שלהם! 😉

— Nossei Hdegel - נושאי הדגל (@nosseihdegel1) September 21, 2019

Translation:
It really is not nice that the Arabs are recommending Gantz for PM and not Netanyahu.
Netanyahu transferred money to Hamas, paid and apologized for the Marmara incident, freed terrorists, removed the metal detectors, gave away Hebron and voted in favor of giving away Gush Katif. What else does this person need to do for them to realize he is on their side!

In 2019 we are seeing, what might be a move to the extreme, or it might just be opportunism, or it might be a change in culture.

During the most recent elections of 2019, the Haredi parties, always previously classified as non-Zionists, signed a document stating their commitment to shleimut haaretz - to doing their part to protecting the completeness of the Land of Israel by opposing any attempt to give away land in a future peace deal with Palestinians. This was really all that was missing until now from their efforts, as they already had the commitment to the torat yisrael and to am yisrael, missing only eretz yisrael. Adding eretz yisrael to their portfolio really puts them in the Zionist camp, even if they still might be reluctant to use the name.

On the other hand, they signed the document in order to entice chardal groups of voters feeling a lack of a political home to see them as a potential political home and to vote for them. And it worked.

So, was it just opportunism? They simply did what it took to pull in a few thousand votes? Are they truly abandoning the non-zionist approach and getting more involved in Zionism? It seems unclear as to the motives, but a signed contract is a signed contract.

As well, the Arab parties are seriously considering, for the first time ever, recommending to the President an Israeli Zionist Jew for prime minister. not just an Israeli Zionist Jew, but someone who was a general in the IDF and the Chief of Staff.

Perhaps they too are becoming more Zionist and want to be involved in building their future in the State of Israel as active participants. Even if they are not yet ready to embrace the title.

Or perhaps it is simply opportunism. They see the chance to get rid of Netanyahu, they see the chance to obtain promises for improving the lives of Israeli Arabs by investments in infrastructure and Arab culture. Let us not forget that Aymen Odeh, head of the United Arab List also said during the campaign that he would consider even joining a government coalition, should he be invited to, under certain circumstances. Whether it happens or not is less important (though if it happens it would be a major step forward) for this discussion than the statement of intentions.

I would be remiss if I did not point out that some non-Zionist haredi also went to the other extreme in 2019 becoming very close to Anti-Zionist groups. The Peleg continued their protests against Israel and the IDF and have taken increasingly more extreme positions and in some cases are beginning to connect with Satmar and even to refuse State monies for their schools. Perhaps they have sensed the general Haredi street moving closer to Zionism and have gone the other way as a safeguard, or as a reaction.

We should establish a national unity government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu to which everyone who believes in a Jewish and democratic Israel will be invited. Nobody invalidates anybody else. No invalidating the Haredim, not Lapid, and definitely not Netanyahu. The nation has decided unity; the nation wants a government to be established and to run the economy, education and security. Everybody will need to compromise.

  --former (and pending) MK/Minister Naftali Bennett

Blessings to all the new MKs to be serving in new term of the Knesset, alongside the veteran MKs. Blessings especially to the MKs from Bet Shemesh - Keti Shitreet in the Likud, Moshe Abutbol in Shas and Omer Yankelovitch in Kachol Lavan.

Jpost has an article in which they interviewed some prominent "Anglo" citizens of Bet Shemesh about Abutbol's entry into the Knesset.

The sentiment transmitted in the interview seems to be that Abutbol was not a particularly good mayor, had problems being connected to extremism, was not helpful to residents across the spectrum, but hopefully as MK he will do better and help everyone and anyone who approaches him for help and hopefully he will help Bet Shemesh whenever a Bet Shemesh related issue might arise in the halls of Knesset.

Way to rally for his support. Dis him completely, talk about how bad he was, and then say you hope he helps. Sure, that's the way to get him to help. Hopefully his lack of English will mean he likely won't see the article, and hopefully nobody else will show it to him.

OUCH!!

Trump at about the 6 minute mark gets asked about the Israeli elections..

cute

While PM Benjamin Netanyahu is trying to find a way to break the "plonter" and form some sort of government, despite how bleak it looks, he held a meeting with the heads of the various right wing parties this evening and proposed they go as a front, with him as their agreed-upon representative, and negotiate as a united bloc of 55 seats.

I am not quite sure what that means - who is he negotiating with as a bloc of 55 seats and what are the ramifications of such a bloc? Could it not be broken if an attractive offer was made to just part of the bloc? Gantz would take them as a bloc off 55 - but some of those 55 insisted they wont sit with Lapid, so how does this bloc work?

Anyways, the infighting is already starting.

Kikar is reporting that Rav Silman, one of the rabbinic leaders of UTJ, recently said that he does not rely on Netanyahu at all. he says he recently sat with Netanyahu to discuss potential coalition issues and Netanyahu is a real nothing who cannot be relied upon.

Add to that the anonymous senior UTJ activist who today said, according to a report by Yanir Couzin, that Netanyahu failed to supply the merchandise. He ran a lousy campaign. We thought, this UTJ activist said, he would pull out a rabbit on election day, but he didn't. We requested that he attack Lieberman for banning us form a government, but he did not do it. He's a Shlemiel.

So, they are learning that each politician is out for himself and for his party at most. Did they really expect Netanyahu to put his neck on the line for a different party?

One more point. the statement reminded me of something else. Recently Eli Yishai was negotiating with moshe Gafni regarding the possibility of Rav Mazuz supporting UTJ. It was reported that Yishai wanted to be appointed to a ministerial position. At the time Gafni said they would be happy for Yishai to be appointed minister, but it would be up to Netanyahu and it would have to come from Netanyahu and not from the UTJ allotment of appointments..

And now they expected Netanyahu to fight their battle against Lieberman. They did not want to attack Lieberman directly, for whatever strategic reason they decided upon (early in the campaign they said they thought a direct attack would just make Lieberman bigger), but they wanted Netanyahu to do their dirty work for them, and because he did not, he is a failure with a lousy campaign.

UTJ seems to think everyone owes them and they do not have to pay up on their. Sure, support us, but someone else should pay for that support. We are fighting with Lieberman, but we want someone else to run the fight on our behalf and take the fall for us. They have learned so much and become really great politicians for their electorate, but they cannot always expect other people to pay their bills. If they want to play on the court, they have to run their team and fight its fights.

And in no way do I think this is limited to UTJ. It just started with them. I imagine other potential partners will be complaining about Netanyahu soon as well. It is only natural, as he was supposed to lead them into the coalition and he failed, or at least made it very difficult. it is natural they are disappointed in him and will be upset at his coming "betrayal".

Who is Lieberman? Is he a minister? I am willing to sit with Lieberman if he will start to keep Shabbos and wear tefillin

 -- Deputy Minister Yaakov Litzman

sounds like a practical offer to me...

You won't find predictions here. I am not a prophet and I am not in the business of making predictions. I will not predict who will win, who the president will task first with the attempt to form a coalition, if the President will pressure the candidates for a unity government, if the Haredim will capitulate and agree to sit with Gantz, if Gantz and Lapid will split up, if Netanyahu will resign or be forced out and replaced by another candidate in the Likud or not, or any other of the many options and issues on the table right now. We'll let it play out and comment on things as they happen.

For the meantime, comments on the election:

1. We are basically in the same place we were before, with slight, mostly insignificant, changes. As Albert Einstein said (or maybe he did not say it), doing the same thing and expecting different results is the definition of insanity. Little changed form one election to the next. Expecting different results was silly. Something dramatic and significant would have to change for that to happen.

2. Kudos to the Haredi parties. They both grew. UTJ in number of voters even though it is the same number of seats, and Shas with an additional seat. They do their best when they create a sense that they are under attack, and they did it well.

3. The Dati Leumi parties showed once again how insignificant and weak they are. People have a hard time differentiating between them and the Likud, and the more religious voters in their electorate were not happy with a secular candidate heading their religious party. In the heart of DatiLeumiville they lost significant amounts of votes while UTJ and the Likud grew in leaps and bounds in those areas. Their voters see little reason to vote for them. And it has been like this for a long time, but now it is also on the religious end, not just the nationalistic end.  Add to that all the splits and divisions, thinking every different nuance of a voter needs a different party to vote for ensures that they will always weaken their potential political power even more.

4. Otzma is as Otzma was. They dd not waste any votes - they do not run to help Bibi or anyone else. They run because they want to run. I have nothing against people voting for a party they feel ideologically close to, even if it will not get in. Most of their voters probably would not have voted for Bibi or Yamina anyway, had Otzma not run. And Bibi never would have given them a ministry anyway, so they need not feel any obligation to Bibi or any other party. They feel they have something to offer, they have the right to run. After that the voters choose to vote or not.

5. Gantz ran a lousy campaign. He was boring. He mostly seemed to try to stay out of the limelight. Bibi is a "killer" when it comes to campaigning, but Gantz has none of that in him. The only one in his party who does is maybe Lapid. Despite the boring and lackluster campaign, they still , twice now, campaigned to a tie against a powerful incumbent. I can only imagine had they run a real campaign of any sort they probably could have won in a walk. That being said, if Gantz is eventually tasked to forming a government, I sure hope he runs the government and country better than he ran his campaign.

6. as I said earlier, you cannot run a campaign and attract voters just by going from city to city arguing with a couple dozen bored teenagers. Ron Kubi is an embarrassment. He already had the name recognition, it should have been easy for him to run a real campaign.

7. electoral reform is needed

8. Many were shocked last night, and maybe today, to see the United Arab Party as the 3rd largest in Knesset. If a unity government is formed, it almost definitely means the Arab Party would lead the Opposition, which would give Aymen Odeh the status of a minister and he would receive a security details and would have to be given regular updates about Israel's security situation.
if you support a one-state solution, and are upset that the Arab parties are now the 3rd largest in the Knesset, think about how much bigger they will be if the one-state solution will ever be implemented and another 2 million Palestinians will be given Israeli citizenship.. even if you only support Bennett's plan to annex parts of the West Bank, several hundred thousand Arabs would become citizens and the Arab party would still grow significantly.
I don't know the solution, but proponents of the one-state solution need to say how they would deal with this.

I don't make predictions and I don't know what is going to happen tomorrow with the voting and who will win or which party will get how many seats or which will grow and which will shrink, but I do want to congratulate UTJ on running what I consider to have been the best campaign of all the parties.

UTJ produced great videos that were on point with their strong message, never wavering or unclear. UTJ rallied its people and brought many from outside their natural camp in, and they even starred in videos explaining why they will vote UTJ. They created a sense of urgency and the people seem to have responded. If there is one party that does better than expected, I would not be surprised if it were UTJ. We'll find that out tomorrow night or Wednesday when the results are published, but the campaign itself was well done regardless of that.

in one of my "haredi breaking news" whatsapp groups, the following blurb was posted:

המוקד: בהוראת גדולי ישראל; ישיבות קטנות וגדולות ואברכי הכולל יוצאים בשעה הקרובה להשתתף בעצרת בבית החיים בבני ברק במעמד גדולי ישראל להצלחת המערכה מחר. 

Translation:
As per the instructions of the gedolei yisrael: students in yeshiva ketanas, yeshiva gedolas and avreichim in kollel should all go within the coming hour to participate in the election rally in the Bnei Braq cemetery along with the gedolim, for the purpose of success tomorrow.


(this is humor, for some who might not catch it)
for some communities an election rally in the cemetery is perfectly appropriate, to rally all the voters and encourage them to go vote, even the dead voters!

According to Globes, in prep for the launch of amazon Israel, Amazon has signed a deal with the Israel Postal Authority to use Israel Post for delivery of packages in Israel via Amazon Israel.

The deal is expected to boost revenues of Israel Post by tens of millions of shekels annually.

Way to go. This practically ensures customer dissatisfaction, especially when a significant percentage of packages don't get delivered or when it takes weeks or months instead of days for delivery.

The only hope is if Israel Post gives Amazon some sort of priority service, taking extra care to deliver Amazon packages quickly and efficiently. But then every other business in Israel shipping via Israel Post will get upset.

Interestingly, Benny Gantz has been giving out jobs in the coming government he plans to form. He has been announcing who will get what task in his coming government. Gabi Ashkenazi, he says, will be appointed Defense Minister. Moshe Boogie Yaalon will be designated as Education Minister. Yair Lapid will be Foreign Minister, prior to the rotation taking place. He did not say anything about Nissenkorn, but previously he had been designated for the role of Finance Minister.

I always believe in the adage of not getting ahead of yourself. First win the election and then give out the positions. But ok, he is not the only talking about what roles they want to be responsible for and so he is not so different.

The thing that makes this different is that even if Gantz does win the election, he will not be pulling in 61 seats all by himself. He is going to need to form a coalition with other political parties. Those other parties who will want to join Gantz's coalition - they are going to want some ministerial positions as well, including some of the more prominent Ministries. Gantz is not going to be able to keep them all for his party members. He might be able to be the Prime Minister and keep Defense Minister for Ashkenazi or Yaalon, but then a different party will want Education portfolio and another party will demand the Finance Ministry. And another will want the Foreign Ministry. Or whatever each party demands and what he insists on keeping - either way, Benny Gantz will not be forming a government if he plans to keep all these major portfolios within Kachol Lavan.

My theory is that he is trying to look like a winner, as if he already has won the election and is thinking about who gets what. Think like a winner to become a winner. Think like a winner and others might think of you as a winner as well.

Earlier I posted the Quote of the Day with Benny Gantz comparing the fact that he has a stutter or stammer in speech and the ability lead with the fact that Moshe had a stammer as well but was a great leader. I thought it was funny of him, and of course he was not comparing himself to Moshe, the greatest of all time, but was suggesting that a stammer need not be a hindrance to leadership. It was a cute comparison.

The MKs of UTJ have all expressed their shock and outrage at Gantz's comparison, accusing him of being haughty and comparing himself to Moses..
1. Yaakov Asher said he had tremendous chutzpa comparing himself to Moses but just like Moses never reached the Promised Land Gantz will not achieve his dream and will not become Prime Minister.
2. Yisrael Eichler responded that Moses went with his brother Ahron to bless the Jewish people out of love, while Gantz went with Balaam to curse the jewish people out of anger
3. Yaakov Litzman said he was shocked to hear the insulting and superfluous comparison made by Benny Gantz between himself and Moshe Rabbeinu - Mr Gantz, take your shoes off before speaking about the holy people of our nation

They take everything just a little too seriously and a little too far.. We all know Benny Gantz ain't no Moses, and I don't think he was claiming to be...

sometimes a reminder is helpful

Moshe Rabbeinu had a stutter and he needed Ahron by his side to say his words, but he was still a great leader.

  -- MK Benny Gantz (Kachol Lavan) when asked about his stammering again on camera in an interview and being attacked by the Likud because of it

The Likud is silly attacking him for his occasional stammer in interviews. We all know he isn't Benjamin Netanyahu with a perfect diction and tremendous speaking abilities. Plus, even Netanyahu recently messed up a few times on camera in interviews.

interesting. first about halacha and hashkafa of tefilla, then about Uman and Rosh Hashana

with selichos and the Yamim Noraim approaching, I thought it would be worth posting this episode...