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Dec 30, 2021

to smoke or not to smoke?

seen today:





so what does this mean? Are we not allowed to smoke there or are we supposed to smoke there?






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Dec 29, 2021

who is more of a Jew?

And it isn't just MKs Litzman and Gafni and their peers who think they have the authority to determine people's membership status in the Jewish tribe.

Today, in discussing the kerfuffle with the Chief Rabbi Rav David Lau and Minister of Religious Affairs Matan Kahane over the possible termination of employment of the deputy head of the conversion services, Minister of Communications Yoaz Hendel said people who have served in the army are more Jewish than those who did not serve.

Presumably he is referring to the many non-Jews in the army who go through the conversion process. Most of them have a Jewish father but not mother and were raised Jewish even though they arent really, and other forms of zera yisrael. Hauser was probably saying this as an explanation of why they should be pushed through the system in an easier fashion or quicker than standard. I am not sure what his point was, but that is what he said. 

Hauser does not get to decide who is more Jewish than whom, and based on what criteria. Serving in the army might make you more Israeli, in some ways from a cultural perspective perhaps, but it does not make you more Jewish.

Too many people think they have authority over Judaism. Keep your hands off.





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No More Sacrificing Women on the Altar of Aguna (video)








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Black Man SHOCKS Orthodox Jews by speaking Yiddish (video)

(that's his title, not mine)






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Kosha Dillz (video)







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The HAPPIEST Residents of TEL AVIV. A Walk among Joyful People (video)








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Concerning Hobbits Violin Cover Lord of the Rings- Ariella Zeitlin and Alon Kaplan (video)








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Dec 28, 2021

where is your humanity?

The Tikvah Chadasha (aka New Hope) faction of the Knesset, headed by Minister Gideon Saar, came to Bet Shemesh yesterday to meet with city leadership on various issues.

Upon conclusion of the meetings when leaving the municipal offices the faction was greeted by a few vocal protesters, people who are generally called Bibists. They particularly took aim at MK Benny Begin, son of former Likud leader and Prime Minister Menachem begin, calling him a traitor and saying other nasty things to him.

The form of protest was criticized by many and it should be noted that several senior Likud activists and MKs criticized this behavior as well.

Here is a video of the incident.




I would note that people have the right to protest whatever they want. That is a basic right in any democracy. These people can protest Begin having left the Likud, they can protest his part in forming a government coalition with Leftists and Arabs, they can protest the color of his sweater and they can protest the flavor of his coffee. That is their right.

But man, their form of protest really leaves a bad taste. I can't believe anybody wants to be associated with these types of people. They should find a more decent method of expressing their distaste and frustration over Begin's decisions and not sink to such poor behavior. Thankfully it seems like there were only two of them - that's at least all we see in the video, and they did not seem to be able to muster up a big crowd to join them in their protest, so maybe there is some hope after all.






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everyone suffers from the disposables tax

In last night's special Knesset session discussing the new tax on disposable paper goods, MK Yisrael Eichler (UTJ) pointed out some statistics regarding this issue.

According to what Eichler said, the official stats say that 9% of the State being Haredim are consuming 27% of the disposables. Eichler pointed out that this means more than 70% of the pollution is being caused by the non-Haredim using disposables.

Yet Eichler, and MK Gafni as well in his speech, went on to say that the tax is directed specifically at the Haredi community.

So, if 73% of the consumption of disposable goods is in the general public, and everyone has to pay the tax on disposable goods, not just Haredim, how exactly is the tax directed specifically at the Haredi community? Yes, Haredim use a lot of disposable goods and will suffer financially from the new tax - but so will everyone else, as the rest of the country uses these disposables as well, even if Haredi are punching above their weight in this realm. This tax hurts everyone, not just Haredim even though they made it personal. You can debate whether it is worthy tax or not, whether the State should be educating or training its citizens in proper behavior via taxes or not, but it is not a tax on Haredim, it is a tax on everyone.






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who owns the club?

We see this again and again. Haredi MKs telling others MKs or Ministers with whom they have disagreements that they aren't Jewish, or aren't religious, and should take off the kipa from their heads.

After the initial attacks after the formation of the new government have settled down somewhat, last night in a special Knesset session for discussion of the new tax on disposable paper goods MK Yaakov Litzman (UTJ) attacked MK Gilad Kariv (Labor). Litzman said Kariv, a Reform rabbi, is a priest, not a rabbi, and should take off his kipa, he is a goy.

First, humorously, plenty of priests also wear a kipa. Just look at the Pope.

Second, agree or disagree with whoever you want on policy or lifestyle or whatever, but what Litzman said, and what other Haredi MKs have said several times to Bennett and others in the government since it was formed, "take off your kipa" or "you are a goy", shows, I think, exactly why they needed some time away from controlling the religious services of the country, or even their influence on the government. They feel that only they get to decide what Judaism is, how it is defined, and who qualifies to be a member. Disagree with Kariv, disagree with Reform Judaism (as has always been the case), disagree with Bennett, disagree with Matan Kahane, but you dont get to decide who is a Jew, who is a goy and who gets to wear a kipa. The Haredi community, or the Haredi politicians, aren't the owners of Judaism and don't get to decide who can be a member and who cannot.


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EXPLORING AFGHANISTAN'S ABANDONED JEWISH SITES (Herat Travel Vlog) (video)









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Jerusalem: Dome of the Rock replica stirs controversy (video)






is this their version of 770?


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Ryan Turell "Jewish Jordan" D3 Player To Future NBA Star? (video)





I am sure he is great, but come up with a new nickname already please! I am tired of every Jewish kid who can play good basketball is called the Jewish Jordan.

and in the never-ending debate if Lebron is better than Jordan or if Jordan is better, I would note that nobody calls these kids the Jewish Lebron...





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ADORED - Behind The scenes (Nissim Black) (video)







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Stand Up for our Morahs (with Torah Umesorah) (video)







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Dec 27, 2021

Walder's suicide

Just to remind everyone, Chaim Walder is not the victim.

His victims are still the victims, and now that he committed suicide, his family is as well. I feel bad for them - for the victims.


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Tweet of the Day



that's the NBA congratulating YU for their winning streak!



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#74: Behind the Bima - Joseph Gitler, Founder of Leket (video)








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Palestinians: Are you the descendants of the Canaanites? (video)







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This is Where Elite Santas Are Made, with Orthodox Jewish Santa Rick (video)




gotta love it. Jews cornering the Santa market...




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JERUSALEM. REAL WINTER HAS COME. A walk from Mahane Yehuda to Old City (video)







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Ekrah by Eli Beer (video)







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Dec 26, 2021

goodbye Yaakov Litzman

MK Aryeh Deri (Shas) waited until the Attorney General came to a conclusion in his open case. The conclusion was not nearly as bad as had been expected, but still bad, and they came to a plea bargain arrangement by which Deri would resign from the Knesset and pay a nice fine, but won't go to jail actively and won't be tagged with the label of "kalon" - moral turpitude - which would prevent him form running for Knesset again for a period of 7 years. So he resigns now but could theoretically run again for Knesset in the next elections, whenever they might be.

MK Yaakov Litzman (UTJ) is in a similar position, waiting for his case to be decided by the Attorney General as well. Litzman is being investigated for a few alleged crimes, including involvement in helping Malka Leifer avoid justice by illegally influencing medical evaluations of her ability to stand trial (among other things).

Litzman, it seems, isn't waiting for Mandelblit the way Deri did. Litzman just announced that he will not run for Knesset again, and it has nothing to do with the case against him and he is not waiting for a plea bargain. Litzman says he is 74 years old and does not need to be in the Knesset at this point and doesn't need to be dragged back to it.

Maybe he has had enough of the Knesset, maybe he has had enough of the investigations, maybe he is pre-empting what the Attorney General might decide, and maybe he just wants to retire and kick back on the beach or in the beis medrash. Whatever the real reason might be, and we may never know, unless the Admor of Gur intervenes and tells Litzman to run again, as he did a few elections ago, this may be the end of Litzman's days in government.







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wait until 9999

This is weird. 

According to Times Now News, an Australian man who followed his ex-wife to Israel so he could see his children is now going to be stuck here for nearly 8000 years!

Or until he pays his debt of child support. 

Whichever comes first, I guess.

By the time the year 9999 comes along he probably wont be able to travel due to his age and deteriorating health. Heck, we might even still be in Covid lockdown or with a closed airport due to some new variant. Or maybe Australia will be. 

Noam Huppert followed his ex wife, in 2012, a year after she moved to Israel. Nice, he missed his kids. Good for him. But now he can't leave.

I guess they were just separated in Australia because Mrs Huppert filed for divorce in Israel. Noam was ordered to pay child support of 5000nis per month, until his two children turn 18, and they issued a stay of exit order due to this future debt. No traveling for vacation, for holidays, for work, etc. Nothing.

So if he pays his child support faithfully every month, he should be good to go when they turn 18. If not, he is stuck here until December 31, 9999. I dont know what happens after that - can she get the order extended or reissued? Will Israel even still exist in 9999? Will the world?






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Headlines Podcast: 12/25/21 – Shiur 351 – “Rabbis at Risk” – Rabbinic and Leadership Scandals – How can it happen? Coming to terms with when our leaders fail us (audio)








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Hydrating Strangers In New York City (video)







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Can Orthodox Jews Make It in the Major Leagues? | Unpacked (video)







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VERY COMFORTABLE District in JERUSALEM. Homat Shmuel (Har Homa) (video)







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Nemouel - Ad Elecha (Official Music Video) [One Shot]








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Dec 23, 2021

Hailey Kops, Orthodox Olympian Ice Skater competing for Israel

Congratulations to Hailey Kops on qualifying to represent Israel in pair ice skating in the upcoming Winter Olympics 2022 in Beijing.

Kailey Hops is a 19 year old religious Jewish athlete from West Orange, New Jersey. She says she was raised Modern Orthodox.

Kops took Israeli citizenship years ago when she joined Team Israel as a young skater in New Jersey. She actually retired from skating in 2019, and after spending her gap year in Israel ina  seminary, got the call to come out of retirement to partner with Evgeni Krasnopolski, and Israeli Oympian whop found himself in need of a partner. Despite their short time skating together as a team, they successfully qualified for the Olympics and will soon represent Team Israel at this world stage facing off with the world's top athletes.

There are some interesting tidbits in this JP article on the story, including that Kops skates at competitions on Shabbos but walks to the rinks and arenas and arranges lodging and kosher food via Chabad.

Good luck to Kops and Krasnopolski. We'll be rooting for you!

Here is an interview with Hailey Kops and also a video of a recent competition:






 



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Nissim Black - Adored (Official Video)








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Challenging Strangers To Practice Gratitude - (The Gratitude Station) (video)








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Creating A Spontaneous Marathon Cheering and Refueling Station In The Park (video)








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JERUSALEM. A Walk from the OLD TOWN to the Tram Stop (video)







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Stand For You - Eli Schwebel (video)







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Dec 22, 2021

give kosher back to the public

Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman today called upon the public to avoid the Rabbanut (and he insisted the reforms will go through as planned) and restaurant owners should not get kashrut certificates form them but should hang signs on their restaurants that say we are kosher with no certificate.

The headlines are already screaming about Lieberman calling on the public to break the law.

The law is that the Rabbanut has a monopoly on the word kosher and no restaurant can use the word kosher without obtaining the permission of the Rabbanut. Essentially, Lieberman is telling restaurant owners to ignore that law and declare themselves as kosher without involving the Rabbanut. 

Perhaps Lieberman finds it unnecessary due to the coming reforms rendering it superfluous but if he wants restaurant owners to do this he should first change the law to take away authority over this word from the Rabbanut. Give kosher back to the public before encouraging them to use it!



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bird flu


The news is reporting that a group of ids visiting the Hula Nature Reserve contracted the Bird Flu from touching an infected Crane.

Interestingly, Actualic used the image of a cow to accompany their article on this subject.

I have been scratching my head trying to figure out if the cow representative of the infected children or of the infected bird?





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Complimenting Strangers With A TWIST (video)







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Heartfelt Headlines (Ep. 2) - Holiday Edition (video)







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Rivka Ravitz on her next goal.. she doesnt plan to rest on her laurels (video)











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Shahar Edwi - Just The Way You Are | X Factor Israel for Eurovision 2022 (video)







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The Man From Vilna - Shulem and Yanky Lemmer (video)







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Dec 21, 2021

more Zionist than Israel

Ben & Jerry's announced several months back that it would stop selling its ice cream in "occupied Palestinian territories" and would not renew the contract with the Israeli manufacturer of Ben & Jerry's due to their refusal to comply. The response while weird made some sort of sense. In Israel we should continue to buy Ben & Jerry's products because doing so was supporting the local manufacturer who put himself on the line against the global company, while Jews and Israel supporters abroad should stop buying the ice creams due to the decision of the parent company. Weird, but it makes sense.

A movement was then formed against the parent company of Ben & Jerry's, Unilever. They gave Ben & Jerry's independence to make such moves, though as the owners of the Ben & Jerry's brand they are exposed to the fallout.

To that end, several states in the USA over the past few months have decided to act on laws passed that prevent them from doing business with or having investments in companies that participate in boycotts of Israel. Several states have decided to stop working with Unilever, with Illinois set to join the group now, planning to divest pension funds invested in Unilever.

This too is a weird situation, but this one doesnt have the same logic to justify it. With ben & Jerry's it made sense to support the local company in standing up to a boycott being imposed. With Unilever, they sell tremendous amount of product in Israel and have a major presence here. States in the USA are ending relations with them while in Israel we continue to support them. I am not calling for a boycott but if I was in the leadership of any of those states I would ask why Israel continues to allow them to do business with nary a word and why we have to divest from them while Israel lets them continue operating as normal...

Are these States more Zionist than the Israelis?




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Carmel the dud

Sorry, but I have to say it. This Carmel storm, what was expected to be the storm of the century, or maybe the storm of the year, has been nothing but a dud. Just some regular winter weather -  a little bit of cold and wind, a couple days of sporadic rains, and that's about it. 

Sure, there were a few crazy freak incidents, like the tree falling in Netanya and killing someone, and a few other things like trees, light poles and water heaters getting knocked down, but overall this has been fairly tame and dull.

I am a little disappointed, considering all the hype, but I guess we should all be thankful that we have a little bit of winter that brings us rain and it hasnt caused the expected damage and presented the danger to people's safety that was expected.

Carmel was a dud, but thankfully so.



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open, closed, open closed

Sometimes I just don't get it.

Back in August and September, people were extremely critical of PM Naftali Bennett because it first looked like he was not imposing tight restrictions in Israel despite an outbreak and then critical for not having set restrictions and leaving everything open over the holidays.

Now, with another outbreak seemingly on its way, possibly the 5th wave, Bennett is looking at possibly setting restrictions, with some already in place and more possibly on the way, yet people are extremely critical of this now calling him hysterical.

Now, we know most people won't keep to most restrictions anyway, and enforcement has always been relatively light. The airport and air travel is the exception because people really dont have a way around that, but internally within Israel, there is very little following of the rules.

So people are upset when he leaves things open and call him irresponsible, and people are upset when he sets restrictions, calling him hysterical.

Considering it is all the same news outlets and social media that I normally read both then and now, it is presumably also the same people, more or less.

I think people just like to complain and be critical. No matter what he does (or any government, for that matter - not just because Bennett isnt overly well liked by a good portion of the population), people will be critical. 




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doomsday predictions are optimistic

PM Naftali Bennett has reportedly said, in internal meetings, that in 20 days we will have a million Israelis daily infected by Omicron, if we dont put the kabosh on it now.

Omicron seems to spread much faster though it also seems that the virus affects are lighter than previous variants.

So, with a million Israelis getting infected each day, with a relatively light virus (one that we cannot really stop), we should be out of this mess within a month or so. Over a million Israelis have already gotten infected over the past couple of years. With just over 9 million Israelis, the last 8+ million should get infected within about 27 days from now, or so. When everyone has had it, it should mostly be over. There might be some getting it for the second time, but most so far do not.

I guess this was an optimistic prediction!




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I Hung Out with MIKE TROUT... (video)







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Israelis: Are you the descendants of the Canaanites? (video)







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Women's initiative (video)








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National Anthem performed by Chazan Aryeh Hurwitz with the NBA's Miami Heat (video)







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Nehoray Arieli - Bait Ne'eman (Official Music Video)








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Dec 20, 2021

does the Knesset pay tax on disposables?

Mk Yisroel Eichler (UTJ) is pretty clever. 

With the start of what is thought to be a 5th Covid-19 wave, this time of the Omicron variant, Eichler has submitted an urgent request to freeze and suspend the recent tax hike of disposable dishes.

According to Eichler, with the precautions being taken and those requested of the public, it makes sense to encourage the public to use disposable dishes and cutlery, for hygienic reasons, and cut down on the possible spread of the virus. Eichler explains further that the Knesset cafeteria has been instructed to only use disposable dishes for now for this very reason. Eichler says the blood of the rulers is not more red than the blood of the ruled, so it makes no sense that the health of the rulers requires the use of disposables while kids in kindergartens and schools and homes have to be highly taxed discouraging the use of disposables.

According to Eichler the public should be encouraged right now to use disposables to prevent and minimize contagion, and to that end the recent tax imposed should be frozen.

Halevai.

But.

But, Eichler does not say if the Knesset cafeteria is exempt from paying the tax or is being encouraged to use disposables despite having to pay higher prices due to the tax. It sounds like, from Eichler's comparison, that the Knesset is exempt from the tax. Is that the case or do they pay? I would imagine that the cafeteria is probably run by a third party vendor who won a tender for this, and probably has to pay it like anyone else, but that is just a guess.






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Picture of the Day






with the onset of a nice cold spell (including the beginning of a serious storm right now) an anonymous donor put new coats that in a park in Ashdod for poor people to take 







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#73: Behind the Bima - Dara Horn (video)








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Britain's Got CHANUKAH! | Chanukah 2021 (video)








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Israeli mothers rediscover Israel through Momentum (video)







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WOW ISRAEL. Ashdod is a NEW CITY Built on Sand Dunes. Relaxing Walk (video)







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Rabotai - Hatikva | Stand With Us (video)







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Dec 19, 2021

Quote of the Day

The government of Israel has given me the responsibility for the Lag BaOmer celebrations in Meron this year. The events in Meron this coming year will be very different than the events that have been until now - the security and safety of the celebrants will be above everything else this time.

  -- Minister of Religious Affairs Matan Kahane

this cannot be satisfying to the people who have called Kahane names like "Antiochus" due to the various reforms he has been proposing..



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Book Review: The Language of Butterflies

Dr. Goldmeier manages an investment firm,  a former Research and Teaching Fellow at Harvard University, and teacher to international university students in Tel Aviv. He served in the administrations of  US governors and the Surgeon General. Goldmeier a commerce and industry consultant, writer, and public speaker.

No More Border Mentality

The butterfly teaches us how the world is changing. Their language might save our planet. We have to appreciate their importance to the human food chain.

Military security is no longer bound to physical borders or magic marker lines on maps. Mass migrations, terrorists, satellites, rockets, and drones reveal the anachronism of borders. Assuredly, there are doctors without borders, lawyers without borders, libraries without borders. The Internet demolished intellectual border hegemony.  

Do you know who else ignores borders? Butterflies, moths, and honeybees migrate across man-made borders. These tiny insects know no bounds.



I realized the threat to the world food chain a decade ago. Mass crop displacement happens when honeybees disappear. Butterflies and moths are under threat. Food shortages and high food prices undermine national security.

I wrote about the situation in The Jerusalem Post after interviewing Professor Chancing (Alex) Lu of the Harvard School of Public Health. Folks at Hebrew University’s Triwaks Bee Research Center (see The Robert H. Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food and Environment) are leaders in this field of research.

Wendy Williams explains it all in a luscious, readable, scientifically informative book, The Language of Butterflies: How Thieves, Hoarders, Scientists, And Other Obsessives Unlocked The Secrets Of the World’s Favorite Insect (Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2021). She laces her love for the beauty and majesty of butterflies with science. This science journalist “was never again so deliciously, so exquisitely, so naively shocked” about art and color until she entered the world of butterfly obsession.

She describes in 200 pages her Lepidoptera epiphany. “An entire universe opened to me. I learned that the language of butterflies is the language of color. They speak to each other using that flash and dazzle.”

Science and Sex

These six-legged creatures and a proboscis revolutionized our understanding of nature.

“Today (they) are helping us in many practical ways, improving our own lives by providing surprising new models for medical technology.”

My son breathes easier with bio-designed devices because of what we learned from butterfly scales. Studies of the monarch and painted lady butterflies teach scientists about maximizing the capillary force of the proboscis to transport columnar liquids.

The science of sex has seldom been more intimately described: “The proboscis is where the rubber meets the road. Where insect and flower join together in joyful partnership. It’s a marriage not just of convenience, but of sustenance. Flowers, with their alluring scents and sweet nectary, tempt the insects to come hither. The insects, while obtaining nectar (or “nectaring…) inadvertently obtain pollen, which they obligingly but unintentionally carry to the next flower, so that the flower is fertilized by a new set of genes.”

Some butterflies change their colors to avoid being eaten by predators. Caterpillars eat poisonous plants they can digest to keep their predators at bay. An Indian butterfly can disguise itself as a dried-up old leaf. When it opens its wings, “blue colors flash and dazzle in the sunlight, along with wide stripes of gaudy orange.”

Butterfly-inspired structural designs millions of years old led a NASA scientist to “discover” the gyroid. Built from lightweight materials, it allows for almost infinite energy flow. The work of naturalist and artist Maria Sibylla Merian led to Newton’s prism separating light into a rainbow of colors. “A team of Australian scientists has already mimicked this butterfly’s gyroid to create a human-made 3-D structure… for use in computer technology by replacing soldering boards.”    

Williams includes 34 color pictures that illuminate the text. She laces the book with stories about scions and raconteurs who buy, sell and steal butterflies. The stories add spice and amusement.

A World Without

Williams warns their populations are precipitously dropping. Loss of their esthetic value is criminal. “The disappearance of butterflies would be a planetary disaster.”

Butterflies went extinct in Britain in 1979 and nearly so in Europe. 35 years passed before butterfly friends turned things around. America, once home to marauding swarms of butterflies, is down in great numbers. Butterfly migrations are not rote like birds. Butterflies integrate climatic changes into their behavioral decisions.

Butterflies and moths find refuge around Mount Hermon in Israel. We stuffed the coast and central parts of the country with forestation, farms, industrial centers, and housing-office developments. It is unfortunate that with 93% of the land of Israel in the public domain, only 14 species of butterflies and moths are under protection.

The Takeaway

Butterflies, moths, and honeybees need substantial wetlands, nectar-filled fields of flowers, and milkweed to thrive and survive. They have hardy survival skills in managing predators and climate changes.

It is whimsical that Israelis have any patience for building an environmental protection agenda with all on the plate. Yet, it makes perfect sense. Every inch of land is holy, contested, and the fruit of raging battles between militaries, developers, naturists, and farmers.

Wendy Williams offers a fascinating tale of human-nature interaction set around one of God’s most beautiful creations. She advocates for them in the most romantic and captivating language. Who can think of a butterfly and not smile? I smiled often reading The Language of Butterflies.  

 






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Open Up!

Countries are going crazy over this latest COVID-19 variant known as Omicron and renewing restrictions.

While I might be wrong, I don't think have yet seen any evidence that this variant is any more dangerous than any previous variant or than the original version of the virus. It seems to spread a bit faster and easier, but it doesnt seem to be killing masses of people.

In my opinion, at this point in time of COVID, I think countries (with possible exceptions) should mostly just open everything up and get back to normal. Vaccines, shown to be mostly very effective, are available for pretty much anyone who wants to be vaccinated, and the people who do not want to be vaccinated are not changing their minds and feeling pressured because of closures.

Open everything up and let people decide for themselves whether to get vaccinated or not, to go out or not, to go to public events or not. 



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Headlines Podcast: 12/18/21 – Shiur 350 – Parenting – Why do you need a license for everything besides being a parent? (audio)







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Strictly Jewish: Australia's Most Orthodox Jewish Sect (Religion Documentary) | Real Stories (video)








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Amazing FLEA MARKET in the OLD CITY of JAFFA. Unique Atmosphere! (video)








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Poseach Es Yadecha | Luzy & Meyer Klatzko | Tomche Shabbos of Rockland | Ashar (video)







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Dec 18, 2021

Ein Od Milvado - Shlomo Katz & Yosef Karduner (video)








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Dec 16, 2021

Michael Braunold: Kristallnacht and the demise of the Fulda Jewish community (video)








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Kristallnacht ceremony in Fulda Germany (video)

I descend from Fulda Jews and have been there. The work being done to restore the memories of the Jewish past is tremendous. This is the ceremony they had to remember Kristallnacht in November



and the digital memorial book of the Fulda Jews who had been deported to Riga









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QUIET Religious Neighborhood in JERUSALEM. Bayit VeGan (video)







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This One by Bracha Jaffe I For Women and Girls Only (video)








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Dec 15, 2021

Facebook Status of the Day

the post is from a group so not embeddable, so I took this screenshot instead..





when we first moved to Bet Shemesh 22+ years ago Bet Shemesh had a small theater in the downtown (merkaz) area but it shut down due to lack of interest. Since then there has been no theater in bet Shemesh though there is someone who shows films on some schedule in one of the community centers or auditoriums in the city. Back then the city was pretty small. Since then the city has grown tremendously but mostly not with the populations that would use and enjoy a movie theater, so I am not sure how well this would work. Anyway theaters mostly dont do so well nowadays with Netflix and other streaming services...



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Meron to close, maybe

The "Vaadat Chachamisha", the Committee of Five, that runs the complex of Kever Rashbi in Meron recently announced that as of this Thursday the complex will be shut down. They are having a problem finding insurance to cover the site, ever since the tragedy this past lag B'Omer in which 45 pilgrims died. Without insurance on the site, they are not willing to keep it open to visitors with the risk falling all on them. If, God forbid, something should happen and some would get hurt there, they could be sued without insurance.

I dont know why this Thursday and not until now, but I would guess that this Thursday the current policy expires and no insurance company will renew or take it on.

We recently went up to visit the site in Meron, so if it shuts down, at least I know we got in before the bell.

Since they made the announcement, Hamechadesh is reporting that a group of "gvirim" from Satmar have met to discuss this situation and have decided to approach American based insurance companies to look for coverage. They are offering insurance companies to be guarantors on the coverage should anything happen. The Vaadat Hachamisha is open to considering this, should a formal offer of a policy be made. Additionally, this gives them, somehow, a point of pressure to hold on the government and on local insurance companies to maybe get a local offer.

I am not sure why this adds pressure. If I were a local insurance company refusing to give a policy I would be happy that someone else took responsibility for it. Additionally, in today's day and age I dont see why it should matter where the insurance company is based. Anyways the Israeli companies are probably really just agents of sorts for global insurance companies providing the actual coverage. Either way, it is good they might be able to find a policy.

That being said, this type of arrangement sounds like a scam. I wonder if any real insurance company will fall for it, or if they will at least get maximum legal protection. Anyone who slips down the stairs or trips and hurts himself and decides to sue will get paid by these Satmar chassidim? I cannot believe any real insurance company would work on such an arrangement with coverage being guaranteed privately. Perhaps this would work better if these gvirim would set up their own insurance company and provide the coverage directly.






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Mendy Pellin is still using Jewish Siri - Avraham Fried (video)







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Ask the Chief Rabbi (video)







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Evening Jerusalem. OLD JEWISH STREETS Near Machane Yehuda Market. (video)







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Beggin Maneskin Electric Shred Violin Cover Ariella Zeitlin (video)







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Dec 14, 2021

Interesting Psak: Vaping on 10 Teves

Behadrei brings an interesting psak for Asara bTeves. Though it is finished for us here in Israel (you're welcome for my not posting this earlier), and therefore already not so relevant other than being Torah and worth a discussion, there are still plenty of hours to go in the USA and parts of Europe. 

Rav Amram Fried, a renowned posek, published a list of halachic issues relevant to 10 Teves fast day to send out to his mailing list.

In his newsletter Rav Fried paskened that one cannot vape, smoke electronic cigarettes, on the fast day of 10 Teves. 

Regular cigarettes and nargila can be smoked on the fast day for someone who finds it necessary, though one should always avoid smoking year round.

Additionally, one can only wash out his mouth and brush his teeth on the fast day of he is in pain or great discomfort. One should avoid using hot water. One should avoid playing music on the fast day.

I would like to understand the difference between vaping and regular cigarettes. If it was because vaping usually has flavors, can one vape a flavorless or a menthol or whatever flavor smells/tastes like a regular cigarette?

I included the past about the brushing teeth because that seems extreme. Except for 9 Av and Yom Kippur I always learned and was taught that one could brush teeth, rinse out mouth, take a shower, etc, and even with hot water. Thoughts?



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the non-Jewish yeshiva bachur

Remember the story of the Lebanese avreich? How could anyone forget? The news was a splash when it broke. A young man from Lebanon spent years posing as a Jew, and eventually even married a frum young woman, only to be discovered a week later as being a fraud.

I didn't like how sanctimonious some people were at the time, saying that this shows how Israel's more centralized system is necessary and in the USA without a centralized system, anything goes and someone can get away with this type of a thing. This was used to show how the coming reforms in Israel to decentralize the systems and change the way the Rabbanut functions will be dangerous to the Jewish community and open it up to similar situations as to what happened with thee Lebanese avreich, Eli Hawila.

Well, it happened in Israel too. Not exactly the same. not intentional fraud by the young man, but pretty similar. A form of fraud by the young man's mother.

According to Kikar and other Haredi news media sites, a young man, a top student in an excellent yeshiva, in shidduchim discovered that his mother isn't Jewish (though the father is), ergo neither is he. His parents had made aliya from the Ukraine some years ago and she never underwent a conversion and never told anyone until now that she is not Jewish, and only told him now because of the shidduch situation.

The young man was devastated to discover this information and went to tell his rav in yeshiva about this. the rebbi from the yeshiva went to the Chief Rabbi, Rav Yitzchak Yosef, to relate the situation and to request that a solution be found quickly so things will calm down and people can move on.

Rav Yitzchak Yosef decided, obviously, that the young man needs a conversion if he wants to be Jewish, but he told the relevant people in the conversion system to make it a speedy one - I guess he already knows the material and lifestyle so he doesnt need to spend a year or two studying for it and absorbing the culture. 

The young man has started the conversion process now and will return to yeshiva and shidduchim when it has been completed.

What a devastating thing to discover. Flips your entire world around. For him it was obvious immediately to go through a conversion, though I am not sure everyone would be so quick to make the same decision upon a similar discovery. Honestly, I sometimes wonder what I would do in that situation.

Why speed it up for him but make it so difficult for others, including the Lebanese Hawila in the USA? Because this young man was not defrauding anyone. he claimed to be Jewish because he thought he was. He wasnt knowingly passing himself off as someone else, and he is not a newbie coming to learn a new religion. he knows it all already and wants the lifestyle, so there is no reason to drag it out.

All that being said, the mother fooled the centralized system and the entire community and yeshiva and raised this young man to be the best boy in the yeshiva despite not even being Jewish. It can happen even in a centralized system with the Rabbanut controlling the books, not just in the free for all of America.







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18 ministers

Yesterday Foreign Minister Yair Lapid related to the size of the government, being as bloated as it is yet another Deputy Minister was just appointed. Lapid famously promised to make the law to limit the size of the government to a maximum of 18 ministers, so the size of this government that he is one of the heads of  is particularly egregious.

Lapid was asked about the size of the government and responded saying that it was impossible to form a government now with 18 ministers. Lapid committed that the next government will be with an 18 minister limit. 

The next government. That is, if Lapid is forming it, of course. Not sure what the chances of that are, but he is optimistic.

It is understandable, if upsetting or frustrating, that this type of a "kilayim" government needs to be bloated to keep everyone happy and to keep the government viable. I dont know why he thinks the next government, even if he forms it, will be any different and if it is also a mishmash of parties from across the spectrum they wont each need the abundance of positions like they did this time. The question will be if once they all taste the sweet nectar of controlling government offices and other jobs if they will be able to give it up for the greater good of a smaller government with more proportional representation.





.



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THE BEAUTIFUL SIDE OF AFGHANISTAN (Nice People, Fruits & Nature) (video)








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Meet The Lubavitch Hasidic Woman Who Animates For Marvel (video)








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The Wandering Synagogue (video)










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An Incredible Walk in JERUSALEM. From Mamilla Mall to The Chords Bridge (video)







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YONI Z - CROWN [Official Music Video]






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Dec 13, 2021

Tweet of the Day



Translation:
Haredim with sour faces would ask us by davening, "Would you go meet the Prime Minister while wearing sandals?"
So here you go. thank you to Sheikh Abdallah Bin Zaid for showing that it is possible


hilarious!




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Picture of the Day



It is not every day you see such honor bestowed upon a Jewish and/or Israeli leader by Arabs/Muslims, let alone Arab heads of state...

And I love the swords...

 



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