כשנתניהו ״קורא לאדמו״רים״ לאשר את חוק הגיוס אחרי שליברמן אומר הבוקר שלא ישנה פסיק בחוק, עולה החשד שהוא כבר החליט להקדים את הבחירות, אבל מנסה לתמרן ככה שהחרדים יהיו אשמים בהן

— יאיר שרקי (@yaircherki) October 14, 2018

The government has been trying to find ways to deal with the danger of electric bikes, especially of kids (though not just) riding electric bikes dangerously and often in ways that are illegal.

The government is working on passing a bunch of regulations for the riding of electric bikes. In the meantime, Minister of Transportation has come up with a novel idea that does not need passage of law or any government vote. Katz has ordered his ministry to lower the minimum age for taking the theory test, the first step towards getting a drivers license, from 16 years and 3 months of age to 15.5 years.

Katz figures that because one can only start riding electric bikes, legally, from the age of 16, having them studying for and taking the theory test of general road safety will give these young men and women a lot of important knowledge about safety before they begin riding electric bikes.
source: Kol Hai News and Haredim10

It doesn't sound like a bad idea. It sounds logical even. It seems like this would cause these kids to start their driving lessons a bit younger, which is also fine... The biggest problem with it, that I can see, is that kids don't wait until 16 before riding the electric bikes. I regularly see kids much younger than 16 riding them. Without the enforcement of all the other rules, this is not going to really do much.

It does seem a bit funny to move everything younger in order to try to make things safer. It seems logic would dictate making the age older so the kids are more mature...

One question came to mind when Rabbi Chaim Steinmetz was talking about the opinion of the Ran that we wouldnt be able to have a law abiding society if we didnt accept one witness on many matters..

It made me wonder - if the Ran is correct, how did Hashem, or the Gemara and Chazal, set up a system of not accepting one witness, until the Ran came along, expect society to exist and function when not allowing one witness? How were we supposed to do it before the Ran came up with his idea?

Along a similar vein, in general how was society expected to maintain itself as a law abiding society without anarchy when the rules of beis din seem to be so difficult to convict or punish anyone, by not accepting one witness, no women testifying, not believing children, needing warnings, etc. There are so many rules that seem to make it impossible to keep society in line because everyone knows that they will not have to fear being punished in beis din because it will be impossible to prosecute them. Especially on crimes committed in private against another person, though perhaps public crimes might be more controllable.

Kikar has an interesting story and psak from the Lederman shul in Bnei Braq..

Rav Chaim Kanievsky has davened for a very long time in the Lederman shul near his house. He had a designated seat that he always sat in, but he recently changed his seat to another one on the other side of the shul.

Someone else wanted to take the former seat as his own and spoke to the gabbais of the shul about buying it for the year. The gabbais were interested in the proposal but were unsure of the halachic issues involved.

The debate is premised on the halacha that one is not allowed to sit in his rebbe's seat (rebbe muvhak that is). The question is, when Rav Chaim Kanievsky took a new seat, does the former seat lose its status as being associated with him and now become available to anyone else or maybe he can have multiple seats associated with his identity or perhaps noe is considered not a permanent seat while the other is. To further complicate the issue, the original seat was easily identifiable with Rav Chaim Kanievsky as he sat there for so many years and it was a unique seat in a spot that was created for him and was not originally even a seat.

Anyways, the gabbais decided to go to Rav Chaim and ask him what to do. Rav Chaim Kanievsky's psak was that because he is not a rav, anybody can sit there. Somebody else went and asked and Rav Chaim responded that according to the straight halacha it is perfectly fine for anyone to sit there, but still it would not be appropriate.

I don't know where everybody I wen to school with, or just grew up with, is nowadays and what happened to all of them over the years, but every now and then I hear about somebody from my past and something they have done, something standout...

For example, I have someone I grew up with who spent time in jail for tax fraud or evasion and real estate fraud. Another who is in jail for being a "Jewish terrorist". A few have done exceptionally well in business, one or two who have become well-liked and admired yeshiva or school administrators or rosh kollels, many who have raised beautiful families and are productive members of society...

One yeshiva-mate of mine, a former roommate and friend - who actually lives right around the corner from me, just announced he is running for mayor of Bet Shemesh. He actually announced it a few weeks ago, quietly, but the campaign just started so now the streets are plastered with his image and message..

Meet Malachi Ki Tov, candidate from the Etz party in the upcoming elections for position of Mayor of Bet Shemesh.



What have some of the people your grew up with gone on to do to make themselves famous?

The time has come for an iron fist and a policy of zero infiltrations of terrorists into Israel..

  -- Minister of Education Naftali Bennett, after it was announced that the IDF had discovered a terror tunnel from Gaza into Israel that it destroyed

We've heard this before. Many times.

we live in a world of extremes today..

העולם ע״פ הטוויטר שלי: מרצ בדרך ל-60 מנדטים, הליכוד מתחת לאחוז החסימה, חמאס הוא ארגון צדקה, צה״ל הוא ארגון טרור, אבו מאזן הוא המלאך גבריאל, נתניהו הוא השטן, דמוקרטיה היא דיקטטורה, דיקטטורה היא דמוקרטיה, החכמים מתגלים כטיפשים, הטיפשים מתגלים כחכמים, היפים מכוערים, המכוערים יפים

— Doron & Cohen (@Doco28) October 11, 2018

Shlomo Yehuda Rechnitz always has something interesting to say with interesting stories..

from the 3:50 marker..

The executive board of UNESCO just passed 2 resolutions declaring that the Mearat Hamachpela in Hebron and Kever Rachel in Bethlehem are Palestinian sites and are integral parts of Occupied Palestine. In addition they express various condemnations of Israel in the resolutions. The resolution was passed within minutes of being raised, ensuring that a full discussion had been held arguing and presenting all the various facts and details and arguments from both sides of the issue.
source: JPost

This is not the first time UNESCO, or any part of the United Nations, has done this or things like it. It seems despite Nikki Haley's great work, there is still a lot more to be done, and hopefully whoever replaces her will continue in the same vein with a similar approach.

Municipal elections are set to take place at the end of October - October 30, 2018 to be precise.

Some voters are expected to encounter problems voting, due to having lost their identity card and/or drivers license, or not having a driver's license, or 17 year olds who have not yet taken out a teudat zehut...

Because nowadays all new teudat zehut's issued are on the biometric system, it takes a much longer time to do, and anyone going now to the Ministry of the Interior to get a teudat zehut is not going to get it in time, many people might lose out the opportunity to vote.

To rectify this situation, Minister of the Interior Aryeh Deri has issued an order to the staff that for now they should issue temporary id cards that will be valid for voting at the end of October, while they wait for the permanent id card.
source: Behadrei

I do not know why it takes so long to issue the biometric documents. You'd think the more hi-tech the system gets, the faster it would be. Anyways, don't wait until the last minute. You know there will be a last minute rush. Don't lose out your opportunity to vote, in whatever city you might be. Take care of your proof of identity now, before it gets to be too late!