התנגדתי לממשלת בנט-לפיד-עבאס.
בארכיון אפשר למצוא הרבה ביקורת שכתבתי בזמנו.
אבל.
נראה שהגיע הזמן להודות:
מי שטען שממשלה הנשענת על מנסור עבאס מעודדת טרור (שלא נדבר על ההתבטאויות 'הדם על הידיים שלהם'), טעה.
עשרה חודשים מאז ניצחון הימין, המצב רק מתדרדר.
הפיגועים הרצחניים הפכו לשגרה.

— ישי כהן (@ishaycoen) August 31, 2023

Ishay Cohen, a Haredi journalist, tweets (xs?):

I opposed the government of Bennett-Lapid-Abbas

In the archives you can find a lot of criticisms that I wrote during their term.

But.

It has come time to admit:

Whoever claimed that a government that relies on Mansour Abbas encourages terror (and let's not talk about those who said the blood is on their hands),

Was mistaken.

10 months since the victory of the Right, and the situation has only deteriorated.

The murderous attacks have become routine.

I have not yet had time to watch the entire interview, it is long, but from what I have seen this is wild

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While often they use their political dogheadedness for good, or at least for advancing their agendas, sometimes it can be upsetting and frustrating.

Like how Minister Meir Porush has in recent years taken it upon himself to help Eliezer Berland, the rapist, thug, criminal from Breslav in various ways. He ensured that berland would get to light and lead a bonfire for his followers in Meron on Lag B'Omer when in general the lighting were being limited. In recent years Porush has helped Berland get permission to travel to Uman for Rosh Hashana, despite having travel restrictions on his passport due to being convicted for violent crimes. And now once again Meir Porush is stepping up to the plate for Berland. 

It turns out Berland is on a no fly list in Ukraine, due to his crimes and convictions. He was given a black passport. Ukraine does not want him there. Porush is stepping up and trying to use his influence to get Berland special permission from Ukraine to travel for Rosh Hashana to Uman. He has so far spoke to the Ukranian Ambassador, but supposedly the Ambassaor said that to make such an exception the Israeli government would have send an official request which it did not do. And I guess it won't because Porush is looking for other ways instead of getting the government to issue a letter. At least some of the other ministers are not willing to help Berland.

So now that the Ambassador protexia route did not pan out, Porush is petitioning the Ukranian courts to get permission for Berland. We'll see how that pans out.

If anything Porush should at least get him permission to go but then not let him return. Leave him stranded outside of Israel. But we know that won't happen.

This is the bad and frustrating side of the Porushes. they dont care what anyone else has to say, so they are willing to even help an evil person like Berland if it behooves them. 

When Litmzan helped Malka Leifer evade trial for a long time, eventually he was indicted for it (among other things) and then resigned for politics. I don't know if he is getting something in return for helping Berland or if he is just playing to his constituents but I hope one day he is made to pay for helping such a criminal.

  -- Minister Moshe Arbel

Arbel is generally a serious and hardworking minister, and not normally excitable or populist, but this is an excellent troll...

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hmmm

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The news is reporting that Malka Leifer, the school principal that was accused of abusing some of her students, has been convicted of 18 charges of sexual abuse (and has been acquitted of 9 other charges) and has now been sentenced to 15 years in jail.

Normally I would say it is sad, and maybe it still is, even though necessary, but Leifer was really a monster, hiding behind fabricated medical issues, using political connections and big money to hide out, repeatedly delay and postpone hearings, and avoid facing charges. 

Good riddance!

It isnt easy to get convictions for abuse, especially when the victims were kids, and even more so when facing a powerful abuser with strong connections and big money. The Ehrlich sisters did a fabulous job working through the system, persisting, and got the results. Good job. And they showed Joe Louis to be right when he said "he can run, but he cant hide"...

  -- Eliezer Berland

10 Elul is next week. Get ready.

I dont know how he knows. I dont think a criminal rapist thug like Berland would merit prophecy, but maybe I am wrong. Regardless, this is not the first time Berland is predicting the date of the coming of Mashiach, and he has always been wrong before. Also, is Mashiach a candyman? Is that a prerequisite or will he become one when he announces himself as Mashiach?

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 According to Ynetnews, an organization of Conservative Rabbis, the Rabbinical Assembly, has approved a decision to allow members to drive electric cars on Shabbos. It must have been a heated debate as it came down to a 10-6 vote in favor with 5 abstentions.

While the idea is to use this for purposes related to Shabbat observance, such as going to shul, they recognize some might use it for unrelated travel and they warn against that. Using an electric vehicle for purposes other than enhanced Shabbat observance will violate the spirit of the day, even if it might not actually involve violating any prohibitions.

In the past what held up such a decision was it being pre-ev days when cars used combustion, possible need to perform repairs, along with the concern that drivers might drive drive beyond the boundaries of the eruv.

As part of this new decision they encourage drivers to only use the electric vehicle for purposes that enhance shabbat and that drivers should stay within the eruv.

I do wonder if "enhancing shabbat" is subjective or objective. Someone might say going for a ride in the countryside or relaxing on the beach enhances their Shabbat. Does that count or only driving to synagogue and back home or to friends homes for shared Shabbat meals? And what about if one wants to go to services in a farther away synagogue, maybe outside the boundaries of the eruv - is that ok because it enhances their Shabbat or are they limited to the nearby synagogue because of the eruv? And, are they building their own eruvs or are they relying on the Orthodox eruvs built in many cities with Orthodox communities, but in a place without this becomes irrelevant as no driving can be done with no eruv?

this picture, taken by someone named Aida Rosen (sp?), made the rounds today. It was posted online and went viral. The accompanying text described that this Haredi fellow was sitting on the train and a lady got on and sat beside him. She asked permission to take a picture of the two of them sitting beside each other. People help each other. She saw another young girl get up to give her seat to an older gentleman. Life outside is beautiful, just get off of Facebook.

So this is POTD because two people sat next to each other and nothing happened. 

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Rav Zilbershtein, rav of Ramat Elchonon neighborhood of Bnei Braq, was asked despite already having paskened years ago about a similar situation that it is public property and they do not have the pwoer via their chilul shabbos (or any other way) to cause property that is not theirs to become prohibited and therefore it is ok, but at the time Rav Zilbershtein had also suggested that is not necessary one shouldnt use it. So what about the Tel Aviv light rail - it was built on Shabbos with actual chilul shabbos. But there are many women, wives of avreichim, who work in the area and getting to work by bus can take up to an hour and a half in traffic while using the light rail would get them there in ten minutes. Is it appropriate to use the light rail or should they avoid it?

Rav Zilbershtein responded that it is allowed because it is a kiddush hashem because the government said it would not operate onS habbos. The government is giving respect to Shabbos, they are closing the line. The fact that they built it on Shabbos is not a strong factor as they cant prohibit what is not theirs, what is public property. Because they are saying it will be closed on Shabbos, so it can be used.

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They are not being forced to do this but are doing it of their own initiative, so I bless them and wish them success. I personally think more education is a good thing and this move will hopefully give their children more opportunities when they get older.

I do wonder though, what changed?

Before the last elections they were already in the final stages of adding core curriculum studies and it nearly blew apart UTJ. Eventually they were promised additional funding if they would stay and not add the core curriculum studies, and they agreed and things calmed down. One of the compromises, which at the time did not go through, was to join the Bnei Yosef umbrella rather than just going  straight to the government. At the time it did not happen, but now it seems to be in its final stages.

My question is, did they not get the money that was promised to them? What changed? Why after a loud public agreement to stop that movement to secular studies are they raising this issue again now? I think it is a good thing and I felt bad when it was then thwarted, but I am wondering what changed.

I have also seen a lot of criticism that some sort of scam is involved, they arent really going to study the full curriculum, they will claim they are with less supervision just to get the additional full funding. I dont know if any of that is true, and I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. I think proving that they are involved in a scam will be on other people to prove. I wish Belz luck and success in their new approach to education in Israel.

 

honestly, when I first saw the title I thought someone had posted something about the much-talked about Musk vs Zuckerberg fight..

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  -- Mayor of Elad Yisrael Porush

the problem with Haredi municipal politics described in just one sentence...

Rav Lau was asked if it is allowed to conduct the selichot services accompanied by musical instruments.

According to Kikar, Rav Lau referred to the historical basis for banning musical selichot. Rav Lau said it is a fairly new phenomenon nd preferably people should continue the tradition of the nusach that was accepted for many generations, but if someone feels the musical accompaniment adds to their inspiration and meaningful prayer, then it should not be prevented.

The original reason why musical accompaniment was banned was to reject the Reform who brought musical instruments into the services having copied the style form the Churches. There were some places and some circumstances where it was allowed, such as during the week rather than on Shabbos and holidays, or at Kabbalat Shabbat, if davened early enough.

Rav Lau says that because today it is already common to have selichot services with guitars and violins, it cant be said that it is taken from the goyim. An organ would still be prohibited because of chukas hagoyim, but guitars and other such instruments would be ok.

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I am sure that by now you have heard about the incident on the United Airlines flight in which a female reporter was asked to move by a religious male and she threw a fit and everything went public. She She publicized her side of the story and then an independent reporter interviewed him and published his side of the story.

The story has basically become a "he said, she said" story and nobody really has any way to determine which side is more correct (of course taking into account the old adage of their being three sides to every story - my side, your side and the truth). Despite not being able to determine the accuracy of either side's story, some have jumped n her story to bash the Haredim and others have jumped on his side to bash the journalist who hates Haredim.

I get that if she fabricated the story she put him in a bad light, that is a personal issue and she should apologize to him. And if he fabricated his description of the incident, he has made her look bad so he should apologize to her.

The fascination with finding out the truth of this story doesn't seem to be to defend him or her but to defend or attack the entire scenario. Whether it happened this way or that is not really all that important (except to the two of them specifically).

This actually happens all the time. Who has flown a flight between Israel and USA in recent years and didn't experience some men on the flight refusing to sit next to a woman and causing delays? Sometimes these incidents get resolved fairly quickly and quietly, with people politely asking others to switch and some agree (I have agreed in the past even though I dont care who I am sitting next to), and sometimes it becomes more of an issue with people running up and down the aisles looking for someone to arrange a switch of some sort and not enough people are willing, and a ruckus sometimes might ensue.

Whether it happened with these two people on this specific flight does not make the general phenomenon any better. Suddenly the entire scenario is a fabrication? Besides for defending him or her  personally, the story is bigger than that and it happens on multiple flights every single day. Saying it did or didnt happen on this one flight does not change the fact that it happens all the time and we can all do our part to try to be more gracious, more accommodating, more accepting, of others.

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According to Kikar and Behadrei, Rav Fried paskened that traveling via the light rail is allowed, and one does not even need to wait any specific amount of time after Shabbos (ie bkdei sheyaasu), but the light rail should not be used immediately as a form of protest over the chilul shabbos.

While Kikar has more details with a variety of reasons why the rabbi allows it, Behadrei just brings briefly the main reason being that people cannot cause a prohibition on something that is not theirs, and because the workers do not own it or the public lands they worked on, they cannot cause it to be prohibited. Additionally, most of the work was done by non-Jews and did the work for a salary...

Regarding how much time to wait, Rav Fried quoted from Rav Sternbuch that people should wait a year before using it (I think Rav Sternbuch said this regarding the Jerusalem light rail when it opened), but in this case the opening was already delayed a year as it waited for the permits and approvals, so there is no need to wait any longer, but there should be some form of protest against the chilul shabbos, so it shouldnt be used immediately.

Rav Sholom Ber Sorotzkin has now acquired the old building of Telshe Yeshiva in Telshe, Lithuania. According to reports he is going to use the building for a yeshiva he will be opening there

Honestly, from a nostalgia perspective this is nice. Beyond that I dont see any reason for this. Who is going to learn there and why? It seems like a big waste of money and resources. Rav Sorotzkin is a descendant of Roshei Yeshiva from Telshe. In the past he has taken rocks and bricks, along with the original doors, from this old building and brought them to Israel to be placed in his yeshivas here in Israel (he mentions it in this publicity video he made several years back, which I have posted here in the past). I wonder if he will ship the original doors back and install the, back on the original building for his new yeshiva. 

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  -- MK Almog Cohen (Otzma Yehudit) defending the exemption being worked on for the Haredi community just after attacking the volunteer Reserve duty Air Force pilots who are saying they might not continue their volunteer service.

If there was not a mandatory draft, MK Cohen would be 100% right. As long as there is a mandatory draft, you cant just say anyone who doesnt want to be drafted, shouldnt be. I mean, the word "mandatory" has a definition. If you think people who do not want to be drafted shouldn't be, change the law and dissolve the mandatory draft and turn the IDF into a volunteer or professional army

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not a fan of this podcast in general but it is important to be aware of aguna stories...

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Ben already translated it, so I didnt need to:

Meet Avishag Shirin Malka. 38 years old and the only chareidi (female) soldier in Mishmar HaGevul. She has permission from her rav to serve in the unit.

She's been slammed by her community. "They call me chardrekit. I called my husband and cried. I want others to enlist". pic.twitter.com/RqvIPIY0Ei

— benwaxman (not a parody) (@benwaxman) August 13, 2023

wow. Not the first unit you would expect a Haredi woman to join, if a Haredi woman were to join the security forces..... best of luck to her..

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It looks like a new issue just came up that might run all the work he put in...

According to Hamechadesh, based on the Kiev Post, President Zelenskiyy is considering canceling the visa arangement with Israel that allows Israeli travelers (and Ukranian in the other direction) to travel to Ukraine without first applying for a visa. According to Zelenskiyy, Israel has not helped Ukraine at all in this war with Russia and has, additionally, been too pro-Russia.

Additionally, according to the report, Ukraine suspects Israel of leaking information to Russia from their RAMSTEN meetings, which is an alliance of 54 countries that meet monthly to discuss and coordinate aid to Ukraine. Israel might already have leaked information or they might leak information in the future. Whatever it is, Ukraine seems to be a bit upset at Israel and might take it out by canceling the visa travel arrangement.

It is hard to believe they will cancel it so quickly, quick enough to make trouble for the Breslovers about to embark on their holiday trip in just about a month from now, but with Zelenskiyy one never knows. He can turn on a dime if he thinks it might get Ukraine more military aid. This situation could get interesting very quickly

A cow (bull maybe?) was spotted walking pleasantly, minding its own business, down the Highway of Road 1 - the Jerusalem - Tel Aviv highway. I didnt see any report of what eventually happened - was it caught? redirected off the main road? something else? Initially the security and emergency services got involved in both directing traffic and the cow.

Caption of the Day:

Nothing happening here, just the newest model of the Ford Taurus on display.

bad timing - The verse "Though shalt not muzzle an ox when it is treading in the grain" is still a couple weeks away..

just going home now from the protest march to Jerusalem a couple of weeks ago..

The Chief Of Police was seen (2nd pic above) in a vehicle riding with the door open and standing on the edge as they approached the cow. I am not sure what his plan was - was he going to jump on it and ride off in the sunset? Was he going to lasso it? Was he just going to take a selfie? Was he going to taser it with the taser on his hip? Something else?

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An incident was reported on that happened on a train in which a group of Haredim started screaming at soldiers, especially female soldiers, for being in the army and for being dressed inappropriately.

I was not going to comment on the video. We have seen these things a million times, and I have nothing new to say about it. And nowadays it is somewhat par for the course considering all the other clips we have seen in recent months of everyone screaming at everyone else for being dressed this way or that way with assumptions being made about the position on the judicial reform - Haredim being screamed at on public transportation and at left wing protests, secular people being screamed at by the Kotel, etc - at this time Haredim screaming at secular women for their dress doesnt seem to be out of the ordinary.

But I decided to give Benny Rabinovitz the Tweet of the Day for his comment (which was sort of similar to Merav Michaeli's comment on the incident)...

Translation of Tweet:

In case you are not familiar with Benny Rabinovitz, he has been a journalist and sometimes editor for the Yated Neeman since its founding in 1985, and also hosts radio programs on the Haredi stations.

considering that Twitter changed its name to X I should call these X of the Day. Have to get used to that. And I guess they are simply posts and no longer tweets....

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It seems the Haredim have [unofficially] joined in. All over the place I see calls form Haredi leaders and activists to boycott Strauss over their boycott of Channel 14. According to Haredi news sites, now Haredi camps are boycotting Strauss products in addition to previous calls to join the boycott..

So what is so interesting and fascinating about this?

Well, I still remember the good old days when the Haredi community believed that television is prohibited. It eventually became so prohibited that it became a condition for acceptance to many yeshivas - that the family of the applicant not have a television in the home. 

And now? Now the Haredi community is supporting a television station and boycotting companies that do not advertise with a specific station. I guess they now believe television is ok.  I have thought for a while that the ban on television should be stopped. Since the Internet is so popular, and it can potentially be so much worse than television (it can also be so much better), what is the point of continuing the ban on tv? They mostly succeeded with the ban on tv but mostly failed with the ban on Internet, so the ban on tv seems pointless at this point in history. And now they are supporting television stations anyway.

As a matter of fact, now that I think of it, the Haredim boycott Channel 14, and the other stations, so maybe they should be boycotted, just like Strauss is being boycotted by some. Haredim who do not watch Channel 14 are upset that Strauss does not advertise on Channel 14 and are therefore boycotting Strauss. As I am writing this I am scratching my head.

from about the 22 min mark..

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A large snake was found dead today near Shoham with a porcupine in its gullet... it seems they killed each other while the snake was ingesting the porcupine...

Some online are taking this as a sign of some sort of what is happening in Israel right now, but on its own, even without the doomsday message, it is pretty cool....

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Bnei Braq has not had real elections, at least not in a long time. the Degel and Aguda parties had an arrangement, officially agreed upon, by which they would divvy up the municipal offices, with a rotation arrangement, including the mayor's office. No need for elections as only one candidate would run for mayor each time.

Because of all sorts of broken deals around the country, mostly starting with Elad, Shas is upset at Degel and has decided they want a piece of the pie in Bnei Braq as well. They supposedly offered to join the rotation agreement and making it a 3 way rotation, but has so far been refused. So, Shas decided to run its own candidate, Uriel Buso, currently a Shas MK and formerly a deputy mayor in Petach Tikva.

Supposedly the numbers indicate that Shas could take up to about a third of the votes in Bnei Braq, though I am not sure there is any accurate count, considering no municipal elections have been held there in ages.

If Degel and Aguda continue their arrangement, a third of the votes (and that is if they maximize their vote) is not going to get Buso the victory.

However, as Kikar reports, Buso is actually polling much higher and seems to have a good chance of winning the race, if the polls are to be believed. That makes this an interesting and watchable race. If Buso wins that means Bnei Braq, the stronghold of the Haredi community, the stronghold of UTJ, not just is no longer, but it would also mean that the public is no longer listening to the gedolim. For Buso to win it means [some of] the Ashkenazi residents, a fairly significant amount, will have to ignore the instructions of the rabbonim and vote for the Shas candidate instead of the Degel-Aguda candidate. That makes this super interesting. I do wonder if we are seeing a major drift in the culture of the Haredi community where people start to vote for what they think is best rather than for whom they are told to vote...

  -- IDF Brigadier General Daniel Hagari, head of the IDF's Spokesperson unit

maybe. and maybe the opposite is true. Maybe increased Palestinian terror causes Jews to get involved in such incidents when they previously were not...

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Translation:

To my friends on the left (without any cynicism, I really have a lot of friends on the Left), it seems that sometimes I need to say things that I thought were obvious on their own but it turns out they are not, so here goes:

1. I am completely in favor of (almost) complete freedom. Not because I am a big tzaddik but at least from the perspective that I understand that if you dont have freedom then I also wont have it. And also because I actually believe in it.

2. I have noticed that sometimes there are people on "my side" that say stupid things, do stupid things, and use their power granted by the State and taxpayer money to advance their own personal or party interests. And that is disgusting.

3. I understand that you are afraid because of these people and because of the freedoms they might trample. I am as well.

4. I understand that at times you feel like suckers because you serve in the army and pay taxes, and there are others that do so less. You are not the only ones that serve and pay taxes, definitely not, but I understand.

5. Still, despite all that, you are mistaken. Most elected officials do not agree with the more extreme things, because they want to be re-elected and the public very much values freedoms, even if only their own freedoms. Pay attention that when insane suggestions are made on the Right every now and again, they are almost immediately shot down and specifically by others on the Right.

6. You are mistaken if you think that because the justices and Attorney General today look and think like you they will protect your freedoms. A small group of people that have too much power, that does not need to be elected, are very much able to one day discriminate and limit people's freedoms. And they do it, though maybe you have not noticed because so far they have not done it to you. We should not give them too much power because when they are above the law they are dangerous. And take into account that today they are more similar to you but tomorrow they might not be.

7. We need to find an arrangement that will be more appropriate behind the scenes. Meaning, when neither you nor I know who the judges will be more like and who the MKs will be more like. That requires compromises.

8. It is possible. Let it be.

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