Picture of the Day

Shvil Yisrael, the Israel Trail, has been extended into Gaza...

and someone didnt get the message about the graffiti....

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Bennett on Gaza, Hamas and Hostages (video)

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As long as I am alive I am committed to Am Yisrael: Meet the 95 year old miluimnik (video)

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The Chief Rabbi of Gaza (video)

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ISRAEL TODAY: Exploring from the Beautiful City of 'Petah Tikva' to the Old City of Jaffa. (video)

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Yehoram Gaon with the IDF Choir: You Wont Defeat Me (video)

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It was only a matter of time

It was only a matter of time. 

We have all enjoyed seeing the images from Gaza from Israeli soldiers [usually GoPro] cameras... lots of graffiti announcing all sorts of stuff like the imminent return to Gush Katif, letting the hostages know "we are on the way", proud Israeli slogans, stars and flags, jokes, dedications, and the like. Some of it was pride, boasting and braggadocio. I did also get the sense that part of it was to humiliate the Gazans, and specifically Hamas, to show we have control and can do whatever we want.

According to reports in the news, the IDF command has instructed soldiers in Gaza to paint over all the graffiti they plastered on buildings around Gaza. They say this is not part of the mission and not part of the operations to be performed, so now with the ceasefire and some down time available, the graffiti should be painted over. The graffiti and messages are not compatible with the ethics and values of the IDF.

I have no problem with the graffiti. Part of war is psychological, and this has invigorated the soldiers, and maybe it did give Hamas/Gaza a sense of defeat and of being beaten. 

I also do not have a problem with the IDF saying this isnt compatible with our ethics. I get it.

I do have a problem with them saying paint over it all.

I get it, it isnt our values. But telling the soldiers to go paint it over is a schoolyard punishment. Do we really want the Gazans to scoff at our kids about being told off and rapped across the knuckles and told to write on the chalkboard 500 times "I will not spray graffiti on the walls"? Tell the soldiers that they can't do it anymore. Tell the soldiers that from here on out any soldier graffitiing a building in Gaza will be punished with 2 days in the brig or relieved of duty or whatever. But dont tell them to paint it all over. This is the psychological part of warfare and making them do this will be humiliating for our boys. 

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Quote of the Day

Yahye Sinwar was with us the 1st 3-4 days. I asked if he wasn't ashamed to do such a thing to people who supported peace for years? He didn't answer. He fell silent.

  -- freed hostage and veteran peace activist Yocheved Lifshitz in an interview about her experience in captivity

I get the question, but the question is flawed. She thinks she is different, they are different, because they were peace activists. They think they are different because they tried to help Palestinians and Hamasniks. 

They were tools. 

Hamas doesnt care about peaceniks and about Israelis who want to help them, they just use them until they are no longer useful. On that note, Neturei Karta better watch out and learn the lesson Mrs Lifshitz learned the hard way.

Asking that question, of everything she could have asked (let the kids out, why take kids, mothers, elderly men and women, why attack and bring this on the Gazans, etc), shows how her entire world view crashed down upon her. I do wonder where she goes from here. Does she continue same as before, working for peace, helping the Palestinians, saying it was only Hamas, not the others, or does something change?

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who controls the narrative?

One of the things done differently, in my perception, with this war on Hamas/Gaza than what was done in other wars/operations and day to day dealings is that Israel was proactive. Yes, Israel went to war as a reaction to the Hamas massacre, but since then Israel has been proactive in destroying Gaza and Hamas and seeking out the tunnels and the terrorists and doing what it determines is needed to do to defeat Hamas/Gaza. Israel quickly took control of the situation and for the most part managed it well (not including PR and the expanding antisemitism around the world with global support largely for Hamas).

Ever since the hostage situation took center stage with the ceasefire and negotiations, it seems to me that Israel gave up the stronger proactive hand and has been playing catch up. Israel has been reacting to Hamas. Israel has been managed by Hamas (and perhaps other powers). Hamas has been mainly managing the narrative and managing the situation. What Hamas demands, Israel does.

I get it. Israel wants the hostages back, so we do what we must. It is one of the main objectives of the war. It is one of the most important things on the table for Israelis.

Because it, because we are letting Hamas control the situation, the tables have turned. We havent and arent losing the war, but the tides are turning - the ceasefire is likely to be extended, every time Hamas plays a game we just take it, once the ceasefire is going for 6,7, 8, 10, 12 days, the world wont be so quick to give Israel a long leash again for restarting the war at the same scale it was at before. We are reacting to everything Hamas demands and to the games Hamas plays.

Israel needs to take back control of the narrative. Yes, we want the hostages back, but Hamas also wants things from us. They want Palestinian prisoners released. They want quiet in gaza with some time to breath and regroup. They want us to not fly over northern Gaza for parts of the day so they can "look for more hostages".... they want things from us, so we can play games with them, we can make demands. Israel needs to stop responding to Hamas and must take control of the narrative. make our demands. Say no extension, go back to blowing things up and killing terrorists and make an offer that Hamas will have to respond to. Make the offers, dont accept the offers, and blow them up until they do. 

it is all about who controls the narrative, and right now Hamas does. Israel has to take that back.

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Ulpanat Chorev mass song for soldiers and hostages (video)

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It's a small, insane, world after all

The story of Yahya Sinwar was already insane enough, but now it got more insane.

Yahya Sinwar is the head of Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Sinwar was arrested and convicted back in 1989 to four life sentences for abducting and killing two Israeli soldiers in addition to four Palestinians (that he suspected of collaborating with the Israelis). in 2011 Sinwar was released back to Gaza as part of the hostage exchange deal for Gilad Shalit, along with 1026 other Palestinian terrorists held in Israeli prisons.

Back in 2004 a medical checkup in prison discovered that Sinwar had a brain tumor. Dr Yuval Bitton performed a complicated surgery and saved Sinwar's life. As mentioned, Sinwar went on to take over leadership of Hamas in Gaza in 2017 and his arch-terror brutal ways continued. 

All that was known. 

The newest piece of information is posted by The Mirror. There are two parts to it. One is the crazy part. The other is crazy but more of a curiosity.

The doctor who performed the life saving surgery on Yahye Sinwar was Dr Yuval Bitton. Dr Bitton announced that his nephew Tamir Adar, and Tamir's grandmother, Yaffa Adar, are, you might have guessed it by now hostages being held in Gaza after being abducted from Nir Oz on October 7th in the Hamas raid and massacre on Southern Israel. Yaffa Adar was released yesterday as part of the hostage release deal ceasefire arrangement. other relatives were also abducted. 

It is a crazy insane small world after all.

The second part of this is that Betty Lahat,  a warden in the prison in which Sinwar was serving his time way back when revealed that when Sinwar discovered he had a tumor he fell apart. He cried and begged they should save his life and that he shouldnt die. The way it sounds, Trump would describe him as having cried like a baby, acting like a dog, a stupid person, a weak person, a loser.

Dr bitton says he warned the security services to not let Sinwar out as he was a psycopath.

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the preferred newspapers of terrorists...

One of the local news media groups on Whatsapp posted the following image..

Yossi Levi, the Director of Netzach Yehuda, aka Nachal Haredi, posted a picture from a mission of Netzach Yehuda in a terrorists house (presumably somewhere in the Shomron)

During their mission they found piles of Israeli newspapers - specifically the newspapers called Yated Neeman and Chadash Bet Shemesh... 

not just your average Israeli newspaper like Yediot, Maariv, Israel Hayom that they can get at any gas station or street corner in cities around Israel, but specifically Haredi newspapers.

Are these the newspapers of terrorists? Do they sip their morning coffee reading Chadash Bet Shemesh and Yated Neeman?

If the owner of the house gets taken in for question, I hope the interrogator waterboards him until he explains this...

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Picture of the Day

this picture went viral this morning..

the people of Kibbutz Beeri planted their wheat fields this morning...

הזורעים בדמעה, ברינה יקצורו..

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Ben Shapiro with Naftali Bennett: Fighting for our Lives (video)

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Piers Morgan SLAMS Israeli Spokesman's Claim To Have Killed "1000s Of Terrorists" (video)

I think the "eyebrows of Israel" answered very well and held his own and made his very cogent point..

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Piers Morgan vs Norman Finkelstein On Israel and Palestine | The Full Interview (video)

concentration camp????

and Douglas Murray's response...

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Rachel Freier Makes History as First Hasidic Female Judge to Serve on NY Supreme Court (video)

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Jerusalem on the Eve of Winter. A Walk from the Outskirts to the City Center. (video)

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Udi Damari and Ami Maimon: we arent afraid (video)

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take it right to the top!

Some people dont like how a company reacts, they submit a complaint, they contact a manager, the person responsible for that department, etc. And then some people take it right to the top, no matter how small and insignificant the problem is...

MK Nissim Vaturi (Likud) was blocked from X (the platform formerly known as Twitter) after he tweeted (xed?) that Israel should burn Gaz to the ground. 

Elon Musk comes on a fact finding mission of sorts today to Israel, to learn about the Hamas massacre and about what Israel is doing in response, how it is conducting the war, what it is up against, about the hostages, etc.

Nissim Vaturi has two seconds to meet Elon Musk as Musk passes by in a hallway. Besides for asking for a selfie, what do you think Vaturi does - explain something about Gaza that he thinks maybe somebody else might have missed, say something important about the situation? Well, you would be completely wrong. he spent his two seconds taking it to the top. he asked Elon Musk why he was blocked from Twitter. As soon as the aide told Musk who the idiot is, Musk bolted. He probably regrets letting him take the picture together as well. And then he grins like the village idiot because he got to shake Musk's hand and take a picture and is so witty that he ask Musk about his being banned..

ח"כ ניסים ואטורי שאל את אילון מאסק למה הוא נחסם ברשת החברתית "X". לפי מי שנכחו שם: היועץ של מאסק זינק ולחש לו "זה מי שאמר לשרוף את עזה". מאסק עזב את המקום מייד. ואטורי לא נשאר חייב ונתן ליועץ טפיחה על הגב@shemeshmicha pic.twitter.com/3sneGrL3Wr

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) November 27, 2023

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Israel-Hamas War: Crown Prince Of Iran Tells Piers Morgan Regime "Is The Godfather Of Terrorism" (video)

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Shlomo Levinger Magic with KRIS BRYANT (ft. the Colorado Rockies) (video)

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The Shalva Family Sings for the Safe Return of Ofir Engel from Hamas Captivity (video)

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Tweet of the Day

This is a day of enormous joy and relief for Emily Hand and her family. An innocent child who was lost has now been found and returned, and we breathe a massive sigh of relief. Our prayers have been answered.

— Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) November 25, 2023

sorry Mr Prime Minister, Emily Hand was not lost and then found and returned. She was abducted, kidnapped, taken by force by Hamas terrorists who also murdered and raped and abducted many others that same day.

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the brachos of the past days

With the release of a couple dozen hostages over the past two days a lot of people can say the bracha of matir asurim, release of the captives. Thomas Hand, if he were Jewish, would possibly also be able to say the bracha of Mechaye Meisim, bring the dead back to life. 

When the massacre happened on October 7, Thomas Hand was told or believed that his daughter Emily had been killed. he even expressed publicly then that he was grateful she had been murdered rather than having to undergo the horrors of having been taken captive by Hamas. Now with the release of a group of captives yesterday, Hand discovered that his daughter Emily is actually alive and was taken hostage. He already mourned for her and now he gets her back.

NOTE: I apologize if Mr Hand is Jewish. I saw in an article about the situation that he is Irish Catholic. It did not mention conversion, so my assumption is that he never converted. His kids are Jewish because both his wives are/were Jewish and Israeli. His first wife, the mother of his older children, having divorced, and his second wife, mother of Emily, having died of cancer.

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Picture of the Day

on Friday afternoon as Shabbos was approaching, people in Israel were very tense. The first round of hostages to be released was scheduled to happen just as Shabbos would be coming in, and would probably actually happen shortly after. People were nervous and anxious, will it happen, will it not, will they be healthy, will they be cared for, will it go down as hoped? I saw religious people discussing if they might leave a radio on for Shabbos or have some other solution to find out what was happening. 

Happily enough the first round went off without a hitch. The second round was somewhat delayed with some grandstanding by Hamas, followed by threats by Israel, but the Friday night release went smoothly.

The picture above - some posted that sign in their building for the religious neighbors who were anxious not knowing what was happening. They were kind enough to let their neighbors know. On the other hand, it seems to have involved chilul shabbos. Though maybe they prepared the sign and the tape before shabbos. Or maybe they used a shabbos goy.

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Halacha Headlines: 11/25/23 – Shiur 444 – Rally or not to Rally? ”Chazir Treif” or Kiddush Hashem (audio)

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Fox News Interviews Noa Tishby about the pro-Palestine Rallies in America Today| Noa Tishby (video)

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March for Israel - Vlog 4 (video)

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EILAT TODAY. A Resort City on The Shores of The Red Sea. (video)

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Am Yisrael Chai (video)

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dairy donuts

The Eida Hachareidis has put out an announcement about dairy donuts for Chnukah in light of the fact that nowadays there is a proliferation of dairy sufganiyot, relative to what used to be mostly pareve sufganiyot.

According to the announcement, dairy sufganiyot must be marked with a clear and obvious symbol, sticking a small blue flag in the donut with the word "chalavi", dairy, on the flag. Looks almost zionistic to me, but blue is the color commonly used for marking dairy. 

They warn the public to look out for the markers so as not to stumble in confusing dairy and pareve sufganiyot. They dont even mention the option of meaty sufganiyot!

I would note that this seemingly only applies to places under the Eida hechsher, so if you go to Roladin or Kadosh or one of the many other places that will be selling fancy sufganiyot, you probably wont see these flags.

And I would even guess tahat Eida hechsher places will also not put a little flag in every dairy sufganiya. It seems similar to the law about marking the price on every product in the store - there is no shortage of stores that just dont bother. They will probably mostly make do with just a sign of some sort.

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Interesting Psak: not burying the cars

I dont know if this is a clarification of the original psak that was referenced a few days ago about burying the cars destroyed in the October 7 massacre due to the presence of human remains that were too difficult or if it is a change of policy and approach. With the initial announcement no details were really publicized, so it is unclear.

Either way, Kipa is reporting that Chief Rabbi Rav Dovid Lau has published a letter in which he lays out what should be done with these cars. Rav Lau paskens that burial of car parts is only to be used as a last resort. After sending a special team to analyze the cars and figure out how to handle them, there is a difference between upholstery that absorbed blood and metal/aluminum body of the car that did not absorb blood but has remains on it. A special team should be recruited to gather any remaining remains and efforts should be made to not require burial of metal car parts.

metal surfaces should be scraped of human remains and then once clean the metal should be sent to the scrapyard. The metal can be recycled and used for other purposes. 

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Tweet of the Day

this is amazing and stunning. The question asked of Eylon Levy and then the facial response...

השאלה שהשאירה אותי פעור פה pic.twitter.com/ibw5WqVRoM

— Eylon Levy (@EylonALevy) November 23, 2023

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Quote of the Day

If I am angry about anything it is that he died as a martyr before me, was smarter than me and faster than me

  --Mohammed Raad, Member of Lebanese Parliament representing Hezbollah, responding to the death of his son Abbas Raad by the IDF amid skirmished on the border..

well, we cant reverse the order of deaths but I am sure you can become a martyr too, just head over to the border where your son was and start up with the Israelis...

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I Salute You Aviel Graucher (video)

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SIMCHA LEINER | Ki Atah Imadi | (OFFICIAL VIDEO)

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Mohammed Hijab vs Rabbi Shmuley On Palestine and Israel | The Full Debate With Piers Morgan (video)

what an embarrassment

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Interview with Youngstown Ohio girls at March for Palestine in DC (video)

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The Old Religious Quarters of Jerusalem: Mamilla, Nachlaot, Machane Yehuda. (video)

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Koolulam | Like A prayer - Madonna | Bring Them Home, NOW (video)

Koolulam led an international musical project advocating for the return of the hundreds of abducted civilians currently being held in Gaza by Hamas. Our loved ones. More than 100 locations around the world took part in this urgent call. The song for this project was chosen by Tamar Forti, who lost her brother, Nir at the Nova peace party. As Madonna's fan, she found comfort in this song's lyrics and asked Koolulam leaders to use it to raise awareness for the hostage situation. The special video was produced in collaboration with The Cameri Theatre of Tel Aviv and the families of the abducted and missing forum to raise awareness for the hostage situation worldwide.

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like Oslo?

With this hostage deal ceasefire issue being debated in the various levels of government to soon be voted on, the news reported that MK Aryeh Deri updated the Shas Council of Sages and they have instructed Shas to vote in favor of the deal.

The right wing news media station, Channel 14, did not like that and have attacked Deri saying that just like in Oslo Deri is supporting the deal with Hamas. By adding the "like in Oslo" it is clear criticism from the Right.

What I dont get is why they are attacking Deri for this. And I am no big fan of Aryeh Deri. I just don't get why Deri is their target for this deal. The deal was brought by PM Netanyahu, the PM they think can do no wrong, and is being pushed by him. And they are attacking Deri for it? If they don't like it, attack Netanyahu. If they trust Netanyahu, why are they against the deal?

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freeing hostages with a cease fire

We don' know too many details about the coming ceasefire that is set to be approved tonight. I am sure there are plenty of details that have not been made public.

All I can say is thank god the decision is not mine to make. I am sure it is not an easy one for any of the people who are in the position to make it and to approve or reject it. I just am happy that some of the hostages will be able to go home, and hope that more will as well at some point. I hope the hostages to be freed will be ok and get the care they need, and that the hostages not yet being freed will be ok.

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Interesting Psak: Bury the cars

I have not too many details as of now about the discussions and halachic considerations, so maybe we will revisit this when more information comes out.

In the meantime...

The Chief Rabbinate has paskened that the vehicles destroyed in the October 7 massacre by Hamas should all be buried.

The reason is because it has been deemed too difficult to collect all the scraps of remains from within many of the cars. Because the cars have traces of human remains, they should be buried.

source: INN in the name of News12

I really think several of the cars should be used in some sort of memorial monument, sort of like the vehicles on the side of Highway 1 from the siege of Jerusalem - the vehicles were part of a convoy sent to break the Arab siege of Jerusalem in 1948. If I am not mistaken, there are 7 that were placed there as a monument. It doesnt require all the vehicles from October 7, or even many. If they can clean several of them of human remains they should so the cars can be used as some sort of monument.

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Picture of the Day

Shacharis in the Hillel House of Al-Azhar University in Gaza (AUG)....

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Combatting the Media War Against Israel: A Conversation With Ben Shapiro (video)

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Netanyahu shares 3 things to understand about the war (video)

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father on miluim (video)

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Beautiful Israel During the Rain. Relaxing Walk Under the Rain in The City of 'Rishon LeZion' (video)

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Sound of Sirens (video)

I am not normally into these types of musical parodies or adaptations but this one is actually clever..

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adding Smotritch to the War Cabinet

Finance Minister Betzalel Smotritch was upset by the announcement the other day that some fuel would be let in to Gaza. The decision was made despite statements made by all the relevant politicians and leaders and despite the decisions by the security cabinet against letting fuel into Gaza. PM Netanyahu decided it was necessary and pushed it through the War Cabinet.

Because of that, Smotritch is demanding to be added to the War Cabinet so he can stand on principle on matters that others will not. The War Cabinet needs to hear  his opinion, as he is a significant politician representing a significant part of the population, and we cant just have people who say yes to Bibi in the War Cabinet and go against all other decisions.

I personally do not mind if Smotritch is added (or any other MK or Minister - I think Ben Gvir also demanded to be added, but was rebuffed). If the relevant people think he has what to add to those discussions and decisions, who am I to say otherwise.

That being said, I also do not see any great importance to adding Smotritch. He has no military experience, so I am not sure he actually has what to add, other than his opinion like 9 million other Israelis. I am not saying he should not be added, but I see this as not a big deal - he likely does not add anything significant to the cabinet, but on the off chance he does, if Bibi thinks he has what to offer, that is also fine. 

Smotritch also does not represent a large swatch of society. His supporters claim that he is the representative of 14 mandates in Knesset and they need to be included, especially considering others who represent fewer people are included. The truth is, Smotritch and Ben Gvir split after the elections, so SMotritch only represents 7 seats, not 14. So even the numbers don't push him in. 

His one good argument is that the sector he represents is represented in the IDF, especially in combat and in command roles, well above its percentage in society. That does not give him any special insight or expertise in military affairs, but at least he represents an affected society. The thing is, the war cabinet is not meant to be representative. It isnt the Knesset and it isn't a Knesset committee. It isnt the government. It is people with vast military experience making military decisions about a war. 

Perhaps an appropriate compromise solution would be to make him a "mashkif" in the War Cabinet, an observer. He may not influence much like that at the start but if he offers his opinion when appropriate and shows himself to have what to offer, maybe others will listen and ask for his wisdom more frequently on these matters.

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Interesting Psak: Returning to Learn in Israel

Some yeshiva students from Mexico have not returned to their yeshivas in Israel after the Sukkos break because of the war that broke out. Because the war and potential danger, they were unsure whether to return to Israel or not and sent the question to Rav Yitzchak Zilbershtein looking for guidance.

Rav Zilbershtein, rav of Ramat Elchnonon neighborhood of Bnei Braq, referred to the Chafetz Chaim who was asked before World War II in 1933 who would be saved from Hitler if he is successful in wiping out the Jews of Europe. According to the story, 

Rav Moshe Londinski, one of the three Roshei Yeshiva of the Chofetz Chaim’s Yeshiva in Radin, inquired of the Chofetz Chaim, “What will be the fate of our brethren in Germany and in Poland?” Rav Londinski pointed out that Hitler y”s had been talking about destroying the entirety of Klal Yisroel for years. 

 The Chofetz Chaim responded that it is impossible for someone to succeed in wiping out Klal Yisroel in all the lands of the exile and he cited the pasuk (Bereishis 32:4-9) “’If Esav comes to the one camp and attacks it, the other camp will escape.” 

At that point, Rav Moshe Londinski zt”l realized that the danger was quite grave. He asked further, “If Heaven forbid, he succeeds in wiping out European Jewry, who and where is the other camp that will survive?” 

 The Chofetz Chaim answered, “This too is a pasuk, it is in the beginning of the Navi Ovadiah (1:17), “And on Mount Zion there shall be a remnant, and it shall be holy..” Rav Londinski left the Chofetz Chaim’s presence with his hands shaking on the future destruction of European Jewry, but he was assured that the Holy Land will be spared and no sword of the Nazi menace would pass before it.   

Rav Zilbershtein says the words of the Chafetz Chaim were accurate. As soon as the German army approached Eretz Yisrael, that brought about their downfall. We are now in the times of the birth pangs of Mashiach and the nations of the world have increased their hatred of the Jews around the world. No place is safe and calm and only Hashem saves us from them.

Because the Torah learning protects, especially in the land of Israel where there is special protection, the Yeshiva students should return and have nothing to be concerned about and will be safe.

That being said, Rav Zilbershtein added that the boys should take on additional learning, including learning at least two laws of Shabos daily and the merit of Shabbos will add additional protection.

source: Hamechadesh

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Death Sentence

The debate (happening today in the Knesset) over the death penalty for terrorists law is difficult.

I personally think the law is fine and can be passed, even if it is largely unnecessary. We all know it will almost never be carried out, and the ironic part is that even if it would be, it almost never would be needed. most terrorists in these parts of the world are suicidal to start with - they die either as part of the terror attack or with the help of a gun held by an Israeli putting an end to the attack. The terrorists, or their assistants who do get caught and taken alive, would mostly anyway not get the death penalty. 

So, yes, maybe there is some sense of deterrence by having such a law on the books, and we already have one on the books anyway, but I dont think the impact will be majorly significant. The deterrence will be effected more by applying the law and actually killing terrorists by hanging or firing squad or whatnot than just by having such a law (and again, we already do have such a law, though perhaps it needs to be amended or broadened a bit). And we know that will only rarely happen, if ever. Between the courts, international pressure and condemnation, threats of greater escalation and whatnot, we all know the government that would carry such a death sentence out is probably very rare.

All that being said, I think today's debate is bad timing. Does this have to be handled today in the middle of the war, with the lives of many of the 240 hostages hanging in the balance? Can't it wait until the hostage situation gets clarified or until we get them back? With Hamas seeing Israel working on such a law, maybe it endangers the hostages even more than they already are! 

I dont know if now is the wrong time for this or not, but this just piles on more worry to the families already in grief and not sleeping without a sign of life from their loved ones in forty some days. I am open to being convinced that there is some benefit to doing this right now, but I currently dont see the big benefit and only see the additional pain being caused.

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Eli Beer, President of United Hatzalah testimonials from October 7th, 2023, at the RJC (video)

warning: graphics descriptions

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Bennett on Hamas, hostages and ceasefire (video)

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"Why Are You LAUGHING?" | Piers Morgan Rips Into Man Who Tore Down Israeli Hostage Posters (video)

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JERUSALEM TODAY. A Vibrant Nightlife Unfolds on the City Streets. (video)

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The Nachmanim bring joy to Charvot Barzel (video)

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cowards trying to scare people

To the chagrin of many local residents, Neo-Nazis marched in Madison, Wisconsin yesterday.

These Neo-Nazis are kind of pathetic. Hiding behind masks like cowards, like Hamas and Palestinian cowards who go around making threats and scaring people behind masks because they are afraid to show their faces and have people come looking for them. These Neo-Nazis are the same scared cowards who try to intimidate people while they themselves hide behind masks because they are afraid of everyone else... They try to emulate the Nazis but the Nazis were not afraid to show their faces. They were proud of their depravity. The Nazis too would probably be ashamed of these cowards.

  

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Halacha Headlines: 11/18/23 – Shiur 443 – Neturei Karta – Is Hatzalah allowed to save them on Shabbos? | Halacha Perspective on Warfare (audio)

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Netanyahu on a potential cease-fire, Al-Shifa hospital raid (video)

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A message to the world, from Israeli women. (video)

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NIGHTTIME JERUSALEM FILLED WITH LIFE. A Stroll Through the City Streets. (video)

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Yanki Hill - Mila Of Nechama (video)

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more Israeli war songs (video)

clearing out some tabs because I cant keep up with them all....

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| Mi Shebeirach L'tzahal in Kiryat Moshe with kids of families of Reservists (video)

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Bennett on BBC: The only way to stop killing in Gaza is to eliminate Hamas (video)

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Matisyahu Concert for Students with a Special Message from Noa Tishby (video)

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Bring Them Home! Holocaust Survivors Give Hope to Israeli Hostages in Gaza | Shulem Lemmer (video)

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Lenny Solomon Live (video)

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Ishay Ribo, Omer Adam at Washington rally for Israel (video)

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Interesting Psak: hiring Arab workers

Since the war began on October 7, Simchat Torah, a lot of industries in Israel have been negatively impacted due to the lockout of Palestinian workers. Among the hardest hit industries is the construction industry. Almost all construction workers were Arabs, especially Palestinian Arabs with work permits.

Even as kablanim try to find alternatives and hire Israeli Arabs and Palestinians with work permits (from areas other than Gaza, such as East Jerusalem along with some from Judea and Samaria), residents in the areas are nervous about these Arabs being employed in their neighborhood - much of the intel collected by Hamas that helped them in their attack on southern Israel was collected by [some? many?] Palestinian workers who just went to work on a regular basis in Jewish areas and then helped Hamas with details about people and houses and communities.

The question posed to Rav Yitzchak Zilbershtein is if residents of the area have the right to complain about such Arab workers and demand that they not be allowed to work in the area? Regarding supermarket chains, the supermarkets can employ Jews in the place of their Arab employees even though it means paying a higher salary, but at least it is an option. In construction it is hardly a realistic option to replace the Arab workers with Jewish ones, and the entire industry will collapse if the Arabs are prevented form working. On the other hand, people are scared and nervous.

Rav Zilbershtein responded that he has already paskened in similar situations in the past in times of terror attacks when people were scared of Arab workers that we can rely on God protects the foolish, and that if the government says these employees are safe we can rely on that and Hashem will protect us. 

Rav Zilbershtein says that today things are different, as we have now seen their cruelty, they do not have the "form of a human being" and have justified the expression "pere adam - wild man" that has been associated with them. And the ones that came in to work who might have been safe helped the barbarians with their knowledge and information. The scared neighbors are correct and right.

Rav Zilbershtein paskens that whoever can employ a Jew now should, people should purchase only from shops that employ Jews even if it is a bit more expensive - this will prevent stores form hiring Arabs and then there will be fewer Arabs entering the towns, and that will save untold numbers of Jews in the future.

Regarding construction and other situations that hiring Jews instead of Arabs is not so practical, Rav Zilbershtein says that the kablan needs to hire an armed security guard to be present the entire time the Arab workers are there, and at the end of the day he should escort them out of the city. This will calm the neighbors and they would agree to let the Arabs work with these conditions.

A claim was made that treating them like this and having an armed guard at all times would upset the Arab workers and instigate them but Rav Zilbershtein said there is no choice at this time and this is the required hishtadlus, and of course we should also pray that this should pass peacefully.

source: Haredim10

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BBC Hamas Division

oy BBC... 

first BBC reports that Israel has attacked Sgefa Hospital in Gaza targeting medical personnel...

IDF: “we’ve taken medical teams & Arabic speakers to Al-Shifa hospital to ensure medical supplies reach those in need”.

BBC News: IDF “are targeting people including medical teams as well as Arab speakers.”

Remind me why we pay the license fee again?

pic.twitter.com/AJpMX3VVk3

— Daniel Sugarman (@Daniel_Sugarman) November 15, 2023

and then it releases an apology saying it misquoted a report their reporting fell below their normal editorial standards... Actually, I dont think it did, considering they have become the spokespeople for Hamas, this fits very well with their editorial standards...

The BBC has apologised after it misquoted a Reuters report and incorrectly accused the IDF of targeting medical personnel and Arabic speakers pic.twitter.com/kbnC8irxeb

— The Jewish Chronicle (@JewishChron) November 15, 2023

Eretz Nehederet, Israel's satire program (ala SNL), just yesterday ran the following piece which turns out to be reality, not even satire...

I am surprised they havent accused the Israelis of occupying Gaza via the hostages (especially when Bennett says not one Israeli is living in Gaza...)

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"Why Won't You Call Hamas Terrorists?" Piers Morgan vs Jeremy Corbyn Debate On Palestine And Israel (video)

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'AXIS OF DARKNESS': Netanyahu tells Hannity antisemitism echoes Nazi atrocities (video)

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Yitzchak Meir leads Rosh Chodesh services with soldiers in the shul of Kibbutz Beeri (video)

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Jerusalem Walking Tour During War: From Machane Yehuda Market to Biblical Sites. (video)

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Israeli Artists: One Nation (video)

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living together, the sequel

Back in April the divisiveness was so bad that I suggested the only way to fix the country would be to go to war. Not to toot my own horn.. I think over the months of the fighting over judicial reform similar was probably said by plenty of people.

I am getting that sense again.

The unity in Israel (whatever unity and achdut mean), the goodwill in Israel, the brotherly love in Israel, is soaring, at an all time high, through the roof. As if nothing can rip us apart.

I think at this point the only thing that can ruin all this and rip us apart again is the end of the war and the elections that will occur in its wake. That will bring politics back and that will be the end of all this. 

Unless we find a way to be civil in politics - not an easy task.

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