Life in Israel: October 2022

Oct 31, 2022

Tweet of the Day

אם הייתם מספרים ליהודי בתחילת המאה הקודמת שיום יבוא ויהודים יצביעו לממשלה משלהם בארץ משלהם הוא לא היה מאמין אבל אם הייתם אומרים לו שזה יקרה כל כמה חודשים כי לא מצליחים להסתדר אחד עם השני אז הוא היה אומר אה כן זה באמת נשמע יותר אנחנו
— Yair Jacobi (@YairJacobi) October 31, 2022

Yair Jacobi tweeted:

If at the beginning of the previous century you would have told a Jew that the day would come when Jews would be voting for their own government in their own land he would not have believed you, but if you had told him that what would happen is that every few months we would vote for our government because we are not able to get along with each other then he would have said, yeah that sounds more like us

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Troll of the Day

I am not quite sure who he is trolling, maybe Merav Michaeli, but still funny..

I knew Yitzchak Rabin. If Rabin were alive today - he would vote Shas and not Merav Michaeli.

-- Aryeh Deri

Rabin would vote Shas? Ha! If he were alive today, he would still likely be leading the Labor party.

I knew Yitzchak Rabin - yes, and you sat in his government and you supported the Oslo Accords he brought to the table.

If Rabin were alive - I dont want to say the people he is sitting with are responsible for his murder, because they arent, but Merav Michaeli just said it a couple of days ago...

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#103: Behind the Bima - Rabbi David Fohrman (video)

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2022 Israeli Election Debate in English (hosted by Yad L’Olim) (video)

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Katzrin is the Capital of the GOLAN. Incredible ISRAEL (video)

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Benny Friedman - Ten Yad (Music Video)

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Oct 30, 2022

Troll of the Day

I am not sure this is exactly a troll but if it were, it would be an amazing one..

תודה ליוסי דגן, ראש מועצה אזורית השומרון, על ההתאחדות למען הצלת מדינת ישראל.

ביום שלישי הקרוב צאו להצביע מחל. pic.twitter.com/gPDoTHMCGr
— Benjamin Netanyahu - בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) October 30, 2022

Yossi Dagan, head of the Regional Council of the Shomron, made a statement with Benjamin Netanyahu, in support of Netanyahu.

I find it funny, and if it were a troll it would be perfect, that Dagan is wearing an orange bracelet, the symbol of the opponents of the Disengagement, very openly while issuing a statement of support for Netanyahu who voted in favor of the Disengagement

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Gafni vs Ben Gvir, take two

It seems the new guidance and set of messages UTJ has instructed its MKs to use for the coming day of campaigning includes a message for Haredi voters that is supposed to convince them to not vote for Itamar Ben Gvir.

On the last day of campaigning, if this is their big message, they must be very worried about Haredi voters going to Ben Gvir in large numbers.

The statements coming out of at least a few UTJ MKs today has been to not vote for Ben Gvir because that would be sharing responsibility for someone who goes up, or encourages people to go up, to Har Habayit and are "chayevei kritut" - obligated in heavenly death of karet. Along with having a party that includes not religious people, including one who is Reform (I did not know that one of the members is Reform), so one is supporting that, and they will feel no obligation to look out for your interests.

The message is not wrong. Smotritch comes from a religious party, a "chardal" party. But Ben Gvir's party is not a religious party - it is a general right wing party. Smotritch and Ben Gvir joined a united party of the two factions together (3 if you count Noam of Avi Maoz) and it has been billed as a religiosu party, but Ben Gvir's faction was never actually considered religious, even though he himself is.

Interestingly, I am not sure voting for Ben Gvir is any more sharing responsibility than sitting with him in the same coalition and government. If he is so bad that one cannot vote for him as a chayevei kritot and supporting Reform, then one should not join the government with him and support him as minister. UTJ is putting themselves either in a serious dilemma or in a hypocritical situation.

And the issue that was raised when Degel and Aguda almost broke up that Degel accused Aguda of sinking the ship because of the Belz educationalal stance, and Aguda accused back that Degel formed a party to join WZO and sit with the Reform (that Degel was able to vehemently reject because officially it is not Degel even though they were behind the entire thing and Degel people pushed it) will surely come back accusing Ben Gvir of sitting with Reform and his voters supporting Reform.

All this shows that UTJ is very scared of the trending of Itamar Ben Gvir and how it will affect them.

And interestignly, Benjamin Netanyahu appeared the other day with Aryeh Deri at an event, and since has also gone to Bnei Braq to try to campaign for UTJ and tell haredi voters to vote and not stay home, along with sending out "robocalls" to the Haredi kosher phones... yet when he defended himself from Ben Gvir's anger about Bibi refusing to appear on stage with him, Bibi said that during a campaign it is normal to not appear with members of another party. So he couldnt appear with Ben Gvir but he could appear with Deri and make calls for Gafni...

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Gafni vs Ben Gvir sheds light on denial

Israel Hayom reporter Yehuda Shlezinger reported today that for the past few weeks MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ) has been in regular dialogue, quietly and under the radar, with Prime Minister Yair Lapid. One specific example is that they talked about the gas deal Lapid signed.

Gafni was quick to issue a denial saying it never happened, they havent spoken and definitely not about the gas deal. Gafni accused the press of trying to make him look like a defector and he has no intention to join any government other than one led by Netanyahu and UTJ will follow Netanyahu to the Opposition again if that is the result of the elections.

Shlezinger simply issued a response saying he respects Gafni but the talks are real and have been happening, despite Gafni's denial.

That is not even the interesting part. What happened next is where it gets interesting.

Itamar Ben Gvir attacked Gafni accusing him of preparing to sit with the Left. Gafni attacked Ben Gvir of possibly planning to sit with the Left, if it should be worthwhile, just like the previous extreme right of Matan Kahane, Bennett and Shaked did when it was deemed worthwhile by them.

Now that is funny.

Besides for the internal fighting among the Bibi-bloc members, the accusation that Ben Gvir will form a government with Lapid and Gantz is just funny. Even if he wanted to, they would not touch him with a ten foot pole. is Otzma Yehudit party, a faction of Hatzionut Hadatit, is nothing like what Yamina and Habayit Hayehudi was. They were reincarnations of the Mafdal that always sat with any party no matter it Right or Left. They considered themselves a bridge between societies and communities. They are nothing like Ben Gvir and his party, and while some might call them extreme, they were nothing like Ben Gvir and they were never beyond the pale for the Left, form the early days of the State until today.

Ben Gvir on the other hand is completely different. Even if he wanted to sit with Lapid, Lapid would not have him. Until a couple of months ago even Bibi refused to sit with him - that's how extreme he is.

Whether or not I believed Gafni's initial denial, and maybe it was enough to create some doubt in the initial report, his defensive accusation against Ben Gvir makes me 100% sure it is true.

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only I can be biased, not you

Everyone is upset about this journalist Nir Arad of Chanel 12 who showed his bias in a recent report talking about the most recent polls. He showed clear personal bias against Netanyahu and Ben Gvir.

Everyone everywhere has some bias, and every news station, every news reporter, every newspaper, has some sort of bias. It all comes out in the general tone of their reporting and commentary, but it shouldn't be so blatant.

I think it is fair for the politicians and people to criticize this recent report, but I find it funny that other reporters are criticizing it. As much as every newspaper in the world has some bias on being Left or Right, Liberal or Conservative, supporting this or that politician, here in Israel the reporters are regularly explicit about who they support. Arel Segal criticized Arad loudly -0 Segal himself has been a big Netanyahu supporter for years. it is only bad to have a bias when it is a bias against the politician you like? The Haredi reporters all have clear and explicit biases for their favorite politicians that they regularly talk about. Riklin is a massive Netanyahu supporter, as is Yinon Magal. And then there are others that support Lapid or Gantz.

People can criticize but seeing other biased journalists criticizing Arad and Channel 12 makes me laugh.

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Tweet of the Day

JEWMINATI is REAL! We’ve been exposed by #KanyeWest
I don’t know how he figured Us out but the gig is Up Jewish People!

Take a listen to my @iamrapaport
I don’t just tweet there’s an entire @iamrapaport about this and more here:https://t.co/JzuhRTxv0i pic.twitter.com/WZe9E6STBr
— MichaelRapaport (@MichaelRapaport) October 18, 2022

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10/29/22 – Shiur 392 – Mental Health in Halacha – Learn how to recognize it and deal with it (audio)

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MK Pindrus: Gantz forming a coalition with us is a fiction (video)

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Midreshet Lindenbaum- where women learn Torah (video)

funny

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THE REAL AUTUMN HAS COME TO JERUSALEM. Relaxing Walk from The Market to The Old Town (video)

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8th Day - Una Meser (Official Music Video)

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Oct 27, 2022

Quote of the Day

There is a better chance that we will form a government with [former Iranian President] Ahmadinejad before [we form one with] Gantz and this entire group; where did you come up with this fantasy? A year and a half has passed, we have seen what they do in every ministry regardless of coalition agreements. Can we as a Jewish state live with this? Can we be part of such a coalition? What you invest in democracy you should also invest in Judaism, that it will be balanced

-- MK Yitchak Pindrus (UTJ)

so he isnt so anti the Neturei Karta after all! :-)

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why is Ayelet Shaked running?

A lot of people are wondering why Ayelet Shaked is so insistent on running and not dropping out, considering the polls showing her not crossing the threshold, and not even close to it.

ok, I'll say it.

I suspect that because most of her voters are not hard core right wing but more center-right, she isnt really risking anything. She might actually be helping the right by running and not passing the threshold If she doesnt run, most of her voters will not likely move over to Smotritch-Ben Gvir or Bibi. Most will probably move over to Gantz, maybe some to Lapid (and of course some to Bibi and SMotritch, and maybe some will stay home. If most of her voters are not right wing voters anyway, if she fails to pass the votes being wasted are probably mostly Gantz's not the Right's

That is besides for the belief of polls being wrong. And also the large number of undecideds she thinks might decide at the last minute to support her.

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how would the trial session affect the elections

Benjamin Netanyahu's court case is one that is drawn out and is expected to take years to complete. It is going on all the time with different sessions and hearings, and we do not always hear about details or even that sessions are happening, unless you are an avid follower of the trial and look for all the information.

The trial was scheduled to hold a session hearing more testimony this coming Monday, October 31. Monday being the day before the elections, Netanyahu decided to request the day's session be postponed until a later time, after the elections. According to the report, Netanyahu's lawyer requested the delay to avoid the possibility of the court appearance being politicized for the campaign. I do not think it is an unreasonable request, even though technically Netanyahu himself does not need to be at the court in person and he could continue his campaigning and work while the session goes on.

The judge decided today to reject the request for a postponement. The judge said they are aware of the election schedule and have been for a while, but the session, based on what is on the docket, is not expected to create any drama or to create headlines. It is a low key session of basic testimony.

That is all fine and dandy, whichever way it would have gone. But I wonder. I wonder how this would have or could have affected the elections.

Would Netanyahu's opponents have used it to show Netanyahu on trial and remind people of voting against corruption and the like? Would Netanyahu's supporters have used it to rile up his base and remind their voters that Netanyahu is the victim of a witch hunt and only voting for him or other right bloc parties will bring about the mending of the judicial system? I wonder.

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need a shidduch? canvass for UTJ

Rav Gershon Edelstein made an interesting commitment for the elections.

Rav Edelstein was speaking with a group of yeshiva bochurim working in the UTJ field offices to influence potential voters to vote UTJ. Rav Edelstein said they should keep at it even though the new zman has begun and their work to influence voters is a kiddush hashem, obligated by the Torah. That's not the interesting part. The interesting part is that he also said that of all the boys working in the offices and headquarters any of them that needs a shidduch will merit from this to a good shidduch quickly.

If my wife starts to volunteer for them I will know something is up! :-)

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equal gender representation coming to UTJ

Merav Michaeli, Minister of Transportation and head of the Labor party, said yesterday at a campaign event for women, that she will push for legislation to increase the representation of women in Knesset. Michaeli is bothered especially by the serious shortage of women in the "Netanyahu bloc".

According to Michaeli, if Netanyahu puts together a government of 61 mandates, it would include just 9 women - the lowest number of women in a Knesset in many years. Michaeli says this points to "the side of Netanyahu" rejecting the basic principle of gender equality. Michaeli claims that the Labor party is the only party in Knesset that has implemented equal representation of men and women.

This has been spoken about before but the Haredi parties have always found a way to avert it as they are staunchly opposed to including women on their party lists. Even if they would be granted some sort of religious exemption, such a law would help boost female representation among the other parties that already have women included but very few.

The big question, if no religious exemption would be granted, is how UTJ and would deal with such a law. appealing to the Supreme Court is obviously the main first step, but this question is supposing they do that and the Supreme Court upholds the requirement (which itself is not a sure thing).

I see three possibilities, and feel free to add your own, the funnier the better.

1. they comply and add women equally to the men on the list. Not likely to happen, but if forced to, perhaps

2. they comply and add women, but doing so by stacking the list with 60 men in the first 60 slots and then 60 women in the next 60 slots, to fill out the party list of 120 potential MKs. This would be cute, and for them this too would also be a precedent and a massive change, even though they are all in unrealistic spots. What would be even funnier is if the public were to massively vote for UTJ just to get some of the women in slots 60+ into Knesset as UTJ representatives.

3. half the men on the UTJ declare themselves as identifying as women. This could work, but I doubt UTJ would do that, even in jest.

I think it might be worth massively voting for Labor right now just to see what happens with this...

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Goldknopf on the Toker Podcast (video)

Goldknopf is always interesting to listen to, and he will almost always say something crazy enough to grab attention.. his take on trying to get the support of the "working haredim" is interesting..

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Israelis: Do Israeli TV shows improve Israel's image abroad? (video)

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Itamar Ben Gvir on Meet The Press (video)

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SUNNY JERUSALEM. Short but Very Cute Video (video)

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K'shem Shenichnas Labris - Luzy and Meyer Klatzko (video)

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Oct 26, 2022

Facebook Status of the Day

I identify with most of this. The one thing I am not sure of is saying the Arabs should not be in the coalition. If the Arabs dont join a coalition because they dont agree with the policies pushed by the coalition, that's one thing - plenty of parties dont join for that reason. Saying they should never be allowed to join is somewhat racist and reminiscent of apartheid laws. Arabs Israelis are citizens, supposedly mostly equal citizens with equal rights, and they deserve representation as much as any other citizen.

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Quote of the Day

Don't get excited by the polls. I am calm. The Haredi person has a personality of not wanting to respond to polls on the telephone - they say to themselves, maybe it is the tax authorities, maybe it is Bituach Leumi, leave me alone..

-- Rav Yitzchak Goldknopf, head of UTJ, explaining why he believes the polls showing a possible decline in voters of UTJ are wrong

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Itamar Ben Gvir interview at Vaadat Hamashpiim (video)

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Jeremy Saltan Debate vs Ex-Likud-MK Michael Kliener (Oct 24 2022) (video)

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Lenny Solomon Live (video)

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Hillel Zaltsman - Birchas Habayis (video)

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Oct 25, 2022

Tweet of the Day

המופת של המשפיע: בשנה שעברה לאחר הכינוס נגד הטכנולוגיה של המשפיע רבי צבי מאיר זילברברג בביהמ"ד באיאן הוואטסאפ קרס לשש שעות. השנה, יומיים אחרי שכינס אלפים בביהמ"ד ויז'ניץ נגד הטכנולוגיה גם קריסה
— משה ויסברג (@moshe_nayes) October 25, 2022

Moshe Weissberg, reporter for Behadrei, tweeted:

The Miracle of the Mashpia (religious influencer): Last year after an event of a gathering against technology of the mashpia Rav Zvi Meir Zilberberg in the beis medrash of Boyan, Whatsapp crashed for 6 hours. This year, two days after he brought thousands of people into the beis medrash of Vizhnitz for a gathering against technology it crashed again.

1. whoa

2. causation or correlation, and all of that

3. today's crash was for less than two hours. Is his potency decreasing?

4. I wonder what he charges for bringing down systems, and what else his powers might work for

5. Whoa

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Temple Mount Moment: Seeing the Holy Temple from the North (video)

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Palestinians: In the Iranian protests (2022), which side do you support? (video)

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Haredi spending on fashion (video)

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JERUSALEM. Happy People Walk Around the Night City. And I Am One of Them (video)

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Avi Lerner - Ashrey Ha'ish (Official Music Video)

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aderabe - The Nayoz brothers & 'metarey halev' (video)

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Oct 24, 2022

rating the campaigns

This is a work in progress and is, of course, just my opinions. Feel free to correct me or argue. I might have an impression of this or that campaign that isnt necessarily accurate just because I might not have been exposed to enough of a party's campaign materials

I won't comment on the campaigns of the Arab parties because I just dont know anything about them. I have seen almost nothing of any of those parties and don't know anything about what they are doing to canvass for votes or even to get people out to the ballot boxes.

Habayit Hayehudi - this is low hanging fruit. Their campaign has been lousy. Ayelet Shaked has jumped from partner to partner looking for the one to run with that would get her some traction, and none of them did. She repeatedly begged for help from Netanyahu trying to get him to think he needs her votes to get the 61 magic number of seats, and honestly her repeated pleading was understandable but pathetic. Nobody will be surprised if she drops out by the end of the week. As I mentioned the other day, this situation is somewhat sad and while she made her mistakes, she was also the target and victim of right wing attacks on her and her party that she couldnt overcome. It would be bittersweet to see them suffer and not be able to form a government because of what they did to her.

Hatzionut Hadatit - they are the hot item right now. We dont know how it will actually translate into votes, but according to everything we know, they are the hot item. They ran a good campaign, avoiding anything distracting and messy. Ben Gvir and Smotritch both look like they grew up and matured a lot and are no longer the hotheads they used to be. They have run a good campaign without giving the press reason to scream racism all that much and without giving anyone justification to try to disqualify them (though of course there is plenty in their history for that, but little in their present)

Likud - their campaign seems pareve to me. Nobody works as hard as Netanyahu, but I dont see any killer campaign from them this time, even though some of their ads have been among the best of the season. I dont know if their electorate is tired of them, tired of elections, if Likud is just preaching to the choir or what, but I dont see much traction form their campaign. To me it looks like they would bring in the same 30 mandates even without having a campaign - the campaign doesnt seem to be adding much. We'll see on election day if his efforts to get more people to go vote, and fewer Arabs, works or not,, but from a campaign perspective it looks kind of stale.

Shas - Shas is running a great campaign, maybe the best of all the parties. They are hitting hard on both the traditional aspect of Judaism with their Sefardic base and also on the issue of inflation and cost of living. They are focused and targeted and are running an impressive campaign

UTJ - this is hard to tell. Their campaign is only external in a minor way. They are so sectorial that they barely try to attract new voters. If you are not Haredi, they dont work hard to make you think about voting for them. They have a lot of focus on trying to prevent some voters from leaving to vote for other parties, and they also try to whip up the passion in their electorate so that voters who dont or might not vote at all will think it is too dangerous for them to not vote this time. A lot of what they do to try to whip up the passion in their voters is to rehash all their anger at Lieberman and Lapid and Gantz and Matan Kahane and others so it basically feels like a hate campaign, but they arent trying to campaign against Lapid/Gantz/Kahane/Lieberman - they are using them as props to campaign for themselves among the people who might care. Hate campaigns are dirty, and they use it expertly even though they scream abotu everybody else who might say somethign against the Haredi community as being hateful.

Hamachaneh Hamamlachti - boring and dull. I dont see much of a campaign. Netanyahu and the others in his bloc have given them so much material on a golden tray but they fail to know how to use it - and this is true of this party as well as Lapid's party and Labor and Lieberman (though Lieberman is the only one who uses it a bit). Just uninspiring in general.

Yesh Atid - they seem quiet but also seem to be working quietly behind the scenes, working to get out voters on their side, working to get their name around without a splashy campaign. This seems similar to previous campaigns. I dont know how good of a job they are doing as it is hard to see.

Yisrael Beyteyniu - good campaign, though he got a bit too personal with the Netanyahu attacks. Pundits have been claiming the demise of Lieberman for several campaigns now saying they are decreasing in numbers, their voters are dying, etc yet Lieberman has continuously returned with about the same number of mandates every time, so I dont know if anyone knows how to predict and evaluate his campaigns. A lot of his focus is on his successes in the Finance Ministry with reforms and balancing the budget. He has mostly stayed away this time from saying anything too incendiary against Haredim. .

Labor - dont see much from them. They seemed to be fighting for their lives, trying to prevent Lapid from cannibalizing them.

Meretz - similar to Labor, but I do see Zahava Galon out their more than Merav Michaeli. I think their voters are more extreme Left than Labor's so they are less at risk of crossing to Lapid, making Meretz a little more secure.

Abir Kara - I have read that he has gained momentum this past week, but I havent seen anything realistic about his campaign, which is a shame. God person, good party with the explicit focus of working on the economy. He probably should have joined up with a larger party.

Yaron Zelicha - going nowhere, never was. focused on economy only and probably should have joined a larger party, but he had nothing of a campaign anyway

Hadar Muchtar- hard to tell. She has and is still making a lot of noise and using gimmicks to keep herself in the news. She claims to be close and is hoping to convince enough people of that that they decide to give her a boost over the finish line. Whether it will be enough or not we will see. I wouldnt be surprised if she gets in, as noise on social media is really today's style and she might get enough young votes form it, though obviously she made a lot of early mistakes.

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Troll of the Day

I owe a lot to the Peleg Hayerushalmi. I will never forget that I got into the Knesset last only because they did not vote for the Haredi parties

-- Minister of Environmental Protection Tamar Zandberg, member of the Meretz party

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The roadblock of UTJ: how natural growth doesnt translate to mandates (video)

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Asking Jewish Millionaires How To Make $1,000,000 (Ft Waze Founder) (video)

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The Rabbanit of TikTok on Amnon Levi (video)

אמנון לוי.mp4 from חרדים 10 on Vimeo.

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Modern Israel. The city of Kiryat Gat. New residential neighborhoods. (video)

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Hashem's Warrior - Soldiers In The Night (Lyric Video) ft. @Jon Perkins + Akiva Wax (video)

I am not sure exactly what this is...

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Oct 23, 2022

Picture of the Day

Photo credit: Avishag Shaar Yashuv

from what I understand, this amazing, and sad, picture was taken with Ayelet Shaked waiting for Netanyahu to finish a speech at an event (Vaadat Hataasiyanim). She was expecting to be able to pass him on his way out and get a handshake with him that would get captured on camera which she could then use in her campaign. His people discovered her waiting and when he concluded his speech they ushered him out a different way, leaving her "hanging" like an unreturned high five.

This is a sad picture, and one that is worth a thousand words. She had so much promise. She made so many mistakes, even just in this one campaign. As with Bennett, the violence, emotional and verbal, against her was, and still is, extreme. She did things some people didn't like, and it doesn't matter to me if she gets in or not - if the people dont vote for her, that's how the cookie crumbles, but people got so nasty to and about her. This is just sad.

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Inheritor passes on millions due to Chilul Shabbos

Behadrei is reporting on a wild story of an inheritance that didn't happen..

According to the report, an avreich in the Kollel Chazon Ish in Bnei Braq was set to receive an inheritance worth tens of millions of Euro. This fellow is originally from France.

According to the report, his father was a hotelier, owning 20 luxury hotels. He himself was religious but some of the other relatives are not. While the report is not clear on this, it seems that some of the partners are not religious and not everything done int he hotels was done necessarily according to halacha.

The father closed a massive deal and updated his will. The son, when it came his turn to sign to receive his inheritance, asked rabbonim in Bnei Braq what tro do as he was not willing to receive inheritance money form chilul shabbos activities. After researching the matter he was told to forgo the inheritance, difficult as it may be.

The other inheritors tried to come up with various clauses and wordings that would allow him to take inheritance, but he refused as per his principles.

Wow

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Orthodox Jew drafted in NBA minors

I dont know how many people watch the NBA minor league draft, but I definitely do not. In case you missed it like I did, Ryan Turell the star of the Yeshiva University basketball team that went on an historic 50 game win streak, has been drafted by an NBA minor league affiliate team - the affiliate for the Detroit Pistons.

Turell was drafted 27th.

This is a big accomplishment for a Jewish, and needless to say Orthodox, athlete.

We watch with interest how he will navigate the challenges as an orthodox Jew and we wish him much success. Detroit has a sizeable Jewish community, so he should be able to get whatever he needs out there.

Turell is keeping the dream alive for Orthodox Jewish boys all over America...

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Troll of the Day

I have mostly avoided posting political campaign comments, but I have a hard time withstanding a good troll, and there have been many throughout the election season. I am thinking of doing a Troll of the Day type posting on a somewhat regular basis, kind of like the QotD and PotD and FSotD posts... we'll see how this goes moving forward, but for now here is the first...

After Aryeh Deri quipped this morning that Yitchak Rabin would be turning in his grave if he could hear Merav Michaeli say that she is the one following in the footsteps of Yitzchak Rabin, Michaeli retorted with a great troll of a response.

Michaeli said "if you really miss Yitzchak Rabin so much come to the memorial ceremony in his memory and tell your voters how together, with courage, you passed the Oslo Accords.."

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not boycotting Zara

Despite my not supporting Itamar Ben Gvir and his party in the upcoming elections and think his rise in popularity (at least according to the polls) is similar to the rise of right wing fascist parties in other countries around the world, I am not going to participate in a boycott of Zara in Israel just because one of the franchise holders is a Ben Gvir supporter. Not that I go shopping in Zara frequently, but in principle...

This boycott of Zara, in my opinion, is taking the "ant Ben Gvir" movement too far to the extreme. First of all, it is one franchise holder, not owner of the chain - if anything just boycott that one franchise. Second, it is just too extreme for me. I think this cancel culture, this inability to talk, this inability to disagree respectfully, is probably the worst thing about today's culture. I also think a lot of this has been exacerbated by the incessant cycle of elections we have been stuck in - opponents are constantly campaigning against each other saying why the other is bad, and eventually that wears down and effects how we relate to those other people in other parts of our lives. We used to have elections on average once every 3 or 4 years, and after each elections cycle the nasty talk would mostly wear off. Now we are in election cycles all the time and the nasty talk is just there all the time.

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Headlines Podcast: 10/22/22 – Shiur 391 – Do we need to be a shmata when dealing with difficult people? (audio)

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Ayelet Shaked at the Veidat Mashpiim (video)

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peek-a-jew in the non-kosher pizza review (video)

wait for it... wait for it...

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FAVORITE JERUSALEM: Old City, Damascus Gate, Tram (video)

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Kosha Dillz- Death Con 3 {Kanye West Diss} (video)

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Oct 20, 2022

HIGH HOLIDAYS in the streets of JEWISH BROOKLYN | Ep 3. Building Sukkos and Esrog Market (video)

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THE DEAD SEA, ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFUL NATURAL WONDERS OF THE WORLD. Beautiful Israel (video)

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The Revivo Project - Yafa Ve Tama Medley (video)

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Oct 19, 2022

the rise of the fascist right wing

I get the attraction many have to Itamar Ben Gvir. What I wonder about is how what he says and how so many respond compared to other similar phenomena.

Meaning, we have seen the rise of extreme right wing parties around the world. they call for heightened nationalism and the like, and usually are , or at least they often are or often are accused of being, anti-foreigners, and especially antisemitic. When extreme Right parties gain power or increase their influence in other countries, Jewish groups around the world, including among the religious, work their magic and use their influence to curtail them as much as possible because extreme right parties are generally racist and bad, even though what they want is what they think is best for their respective countries, even if it is bad for others including Jews, from a nationalist perspective.

To me it seems the rise of Itamar Ben Gvir is pretty similar to that. It is the rise of a more extreme right wing party that is focusing on nationalism. Whether it is a racist party in nature I will let each person decide for himself or herself. I am sure most of us will say it is different, they just want Jewish power and Jewish control in our homeland, but when taking a step back it really looks, to me, like a pretty similar rise to power of an extreme right wing group that almost all of us would be concerned about if it were happening in another country. We would be screaming about the rise of fascism if this were happening in any other country with a sizeable Jewish population.

Am I wrong?

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Likud and partners on collision course?

Is Benjamin Netanyahu on his way to a collision course with his bloc-partners and potential coalition partners?

Just this morning Netanyahu said at a campaign event that he is in favor of the Haredim learning core curriculum studies in their education system and he will find a way to bring them along, though it has to be done through dialogue.

Additionally, Netanyahu said in a campaign event that the main portfolios need to be held by the Likud, especially the Finance Ministry and the Defense Ministry. The Finance Ministry has been mentioned by both Smotritch and Goldknopf as potential portfolios they each would request. The Defense Ministry was also mentioned by Smotritch as one he might demand.

Whether any of this ever was realistic is a different story, and this all might just be the start of coalition negotiations, but it seems like a potential collision course, especially after the recent incident in Kfar Chabad...

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Jordan Peterson, Ben Shapiro & David Friedman in Conversation (video)

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Israelis: Under which conditions would you say the conflict is over? (video)

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HIGH HOLIDAYS in the streets of JEWISH BROOKLYN | Ep 2. Chicken Ritual (Kapores) (video)

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JERUSALEM. Thousands of Jews pray at the Western Wall. Walk to King David's Tomb (video)

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Sruli with Elazar: Kmo She'ata (video)

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Oct 18, 2022

Ve'at Alis Al Kulana (feat. Baruch Levine & The Shir V'shevach Boys Choir) | Nshei Adirei HaTorah (video)

Watch this stirring music video presented at the Nshei Adirei Hatorah event, highlighting the wives of kollel men around the world.

this clip went online first on Baruch Levine's Instagram page and generated hundreds of angry and cynical comments. Most comments seemed to be angry about this video about honoring the wives of kollel yungerleit but not featuring any. The two main issues in the comments seem to be 1. that it doesnt actually show any kollel wives and 2. that it makes it seem they are more like housekeepers, maids and nannies. not to say that choosing to be a a housewife is a bad thing, but that is all it shows and it seems, based on many of the comments, that these kollel husbands are grateful mostly for having married maids.

What do you think?

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Quote of the Day

No President has done more for Israel than I have. Somewhat surprisingly, however, our wonderful Evangelicals are far more appreciative of this than the people of the Jewish faith, especially those living in the US. Those living in Israel, though, are a different story - highest approval rating in the world, could easily be Prime Minister!

-- Former President of the USA Donald J Trump

I think Trump should be mostly ignored with all his recent craziness (despite his having done some really good things for Israel) but his thinking he would win an Israeli election in a landslide is just too funny.

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is Netanyahu the most Haredi?

The annual hakafot shniyot event at Kfar Chabad is a popular target for right wing politicians, especially during an election season.

Last night the news reported an interesting tidbit. Among the several politicians that made an appearance there, both Itamar Ben Gvir and Benjamin Netanyahu overlapped their presence. Ben Gvir was there first and already on stage when Netanyahu showed up. Netanyahu refused to ascend the stage while Ben Gvir was on and told them to get Ben Gvir off so he could go up and talk/sing/whatever. Ben Gvir saw what was happening and refused to get off the stage for Netanyahu and had to be forcefully removed.

There are different theories as to why Netanyahu refused to ascend while Ben Gvir was there, but it is clear he did not want to be photographed with Ben Gvir.

This is a funny little incident that might shed light on what Bibi's plans are should he "win" the upcoming election.

Besides for that, Itamar Ben Gvir is very popular among Chabadniks in Israel. While Bibi is as well, with Ben Gvir already up on the stage, I am not sure why they forced him off in favor of Netanyahu. Let him finish, and if Bibi refuses to ascend while he is up there, let Bibi wait. He is not current Prime Minister, so it seemingly isn't a matter of protocol but preference. Most Chabadniks wont vote Netanyahu anyway as they will either vote Ben Gvir or UTJ/Shas, as the Rebbe said vaguely to vote for the most Haredi party - that is vague enough to let them decide, somewhat, for themselves but by no means has Netanyahu/Likud ever qualified for that - unless maybe when Gutnick was heavily involved. Maybe now he is angling for that somehow.

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Israeli Bedouin: What is it to be Bedouin today? (video)

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STREET Q&A! Guessing the $$ of Jewish Fruit!! (video)

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Israel and The Entire Jewish People Celebrate the Sukkot. JERUSALEM (video)

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Simche Friedman & Ami Cohen - Hakhel - (The Music video)

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Oct 12, 2022

how the IDF prepares for Tishrei holidays (video)

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Religious Israelis: Is Ezra the son of God? (video)

weird

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HAPPY SUKKOT. Machaneh Yehudah Market and Nachlaot Neighborhood (video)

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MORDECHAI SHAPIRO - NOTHING IN YOUR LIFE (Official Video)

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Oct 11, 2022

Headlines Podcast: 10/8/22 – Shiur 390 –The Kashrus scandal in the (non) Kosher Chinese Express in Manalapan Revisited | The court’s decision regarding YU | Transgender in Halacha (audio)

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Arab Israelis: what does 'Free Palestine' mean? (video)

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shutting down Natbag (video)

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SUKKOT IN JERUSALEM. Celebration of Joy and Unity. From City Centre to Western Wall (video)

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Shlomo Lipman- Aneini (Live performance) (video)

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Oct 7, 2022

Bardak: the storm around Ribbis (video)

this too is an ad of theirs, but this one is much better than their other ads. Really well done and funny and socially/culturally aware (though they almost always are).

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Moti Weiss: Ani Lo Yodeah (video)

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Oct 6, 2022

a strange minhag with the kapparot bird

I have seen and learned about a lot of unusual, and sometimes strange (to me) minhagim over time. I spent several years learning in a yeshiva in an Israeli Haredi neighborhood populated by old Yerushalmim, Hassidim and Litvish people and I saw all sorts of minhagim and behaviors there. This is something I have never seen or heard about, and boy is it strange.

זקן האדמו"רים הרבי ממשכנות הרועים לאחר כפרות במעונו בשריפת הנוצה של התרנגול, כחלק מהמנהג לעשות זכר למיתות בי"ד ע"י זריקת התרנגול, שריפת הנוצה, והרג וחנק - שחיטה pic.twitter.com/7cJSjuq4u7
— משה ויסברג (@moshe_nayes) October 3, 2022

The elder Admor, the Rebbe of Mishkenot HaRo'im, after performing the kapparot ritual in his office - burning the feathers of the chicken, as part of the minhag to perform a "zecher", a symbolic memorial, of the 4 deaths meted out by beis din for various sins on the kapparot bird - by throwing the bird (like skila), burning feathers, strangulation and beheading - both of which are memorialized by the shchita of the bird.

Honestly, this seems cruel, though I dont know if the burning of the feathers is felt by the bird or not, and I dont know how far or hard they throw the bird - throwing the bird to the ground could be a problem of causing a treifa so I assume they arent throwing it form a tall height and nor are they throwing it hard. Good or bad I dont know but it is at minimum strange.

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Tweet of the Day

As I walked into Shul this morning on Yom Kippur, I overheard someone ask the non Jewish security guard (who is a huge @Yankees fan) if Aaron Judge hit 62, and the security guard responded “You know, Yom Kippur is the holiest day of the year for you.” pic.twitter.com/fIHRMOYx7h
— Akiva Ackerman (@AkivaAckerman) October 6, 2022

Honestly, many, or most, of us Jewish baseball fans have been there at some point...

and who is to say that it was not someone's High Holiday prayers on Judge's behalf that gave him that extra nudge....

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