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Free The Hostages! Bring Them Home!

(this is a featured post and will stay at the top for the foreseeable future.. scroll down for new posts) -------------------------------...

Apr 30, 2022

'I am a descendant of nazis, now volunteering in Israel' (video)







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Here It Is Spring! BLOOMING ISRAEL. The Village of Mazkeret Batya (video)







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Apr 28, 2022

what I miss from the Holocaust

I have heard similar statements in the past, but I dont think any were as powerful and poignant as this..





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PM Bennett's Holocaust Remembrance speech at Yad Vashem: "We cannot become divided from within”. (video)







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Picture of the Day



That is the Admor of Toldos Avraham Yitzchak paying a bikur cholim visit to Rav Chaim Drukman, as reported on by Dvir Amar. Beside him is Rav Moshe Klein, Rav of Hadassah Hospitals.

This is a rare site. Further investigation discovered that the two are both in the hospital right now under care and in the same ward. The Admor heard Rav Drukman was nearby so he went to pay a visit but expressed that it is not a stamp of approval and not a sign of agreement with his ways. 

There is no need to agree, but people who disagree can still show respect and good grace to each other.






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shmitta compliant marijuana

As far as I know, marijuana, as a natural plant, does not actually need kashrut certification. Some might say it does, as plants are genetically modified, additives might be included in the final product, whatever. The policy of the OU, Orthodox Union, in the USA, as far as I know, is to not certify marijuana as kosher, even medical marijuana, because of the halachic opinion of Rav Moshe Feinstein prohibiting its use.

There might be issues, such as infestation, or in Israel issues like truma and maaser... The shmitta year upon us has brought a new one not considered in most years - supervision on marijuana from the aspect of shmitta. Marijuana grown in Israel during the shmitta year could be a problem of having kedusha, or possibly being completely prohibited if one considers it in the category of sefichin. Other issues might be using hetter mechira for marijuana, or importing from other countries or using what is called yevul nochri - non-Jewish grown marijuana, and one might want supervision for any of those issues.

A company in Israel that produces/grows medical marijuana announced that their product has kashrut supervision from Rav Yosef Efrati ensuring that they are shmitta compliant. The company report believes this certification will spur an increase of sales in the religious and Haredi markets.

This is seemingly the first time a marijuana company in Israel has received kashrut certification.
source: Hamechadesh

we are living in interesting times..

I dont know how they grow the marijuana while being shmitta compliant. Maybe in hothouses, hydroponics, and the like. 

I also wonder if marijuana gown [improperly] during shmitta would have the status of sefichin and be prohibited or if it would need to be treated with kedusha, special care for shmitta produce. And, if one had marijuana with kedusha status, could one just bake it into edibles for consumption or could one also smoke it - ie would burning it be considered its normal use and ok or would it be considered destroying shmitta produce which is not allowed?  So many questions!



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Rabbi Berel Wein speaks with President Isaac Herzog (video)







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Palestinians: Who is your hero? (video)







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The Secret River (The Dead Sea, Israel 2022) (video)








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Synagogues of the Past 4 (video)







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Hot Springs of HAMAT TIBERIAS, Ancient Synagogue and Rabbi Meir Baal Hanes Tomb (video)








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Apr 26, 2022

Bennett to CNN’s Amanpour: You’re voicing a lie (video)







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Lebanese Jew/Convert in Israel now (video)

this story gets weirder and weirder, though I am happy to see his more confident now and less like a nebuch






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I'm On Temple Mount in Jerusalem | Exclusive Footage (video)







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Ancient Israeli Wine Taste - A 2,600 Year Old Recipe! (video)







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TEL AVIV Is BEAUTIFUL AT NIGHT. Walk from The City Center to The Southern District (video)







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Apr 25, 2022

PSA: Salmonella in some chocolate products

The Strauss company announced today that some of its products, under the Elite name, are tainted with salmonella. To that end they issued a recall on a list of products.

The list, from the JPost website:

  • Chocolate bars (Cow, Blondie, and Splendid brand) with a best before date between 01.10.22-24.04.23
  • Pesek Zman, Memolada and Crunch chocolate snack bars with a best before date between 01.12.22 - 01.04.23
  • Taami, Egozi, and Kif Kef chocolate bars with a best before date between 01.07.22 - 15.01.23
  • “Energy” chocolate coated rice cakes and chocolate cereal bars with a best before date between 01.07.22 - 15.01.23
  • Reva L’Sheva snack bars with a best before date between 01.05.22 - 15.12.23
  • Brownie cake, Pesek Zman cake and rolls with a best before date between 10.07.22 - 31.08.22
  • Chocolate “XL” wafers with a best before date between 15.11.22 - 01.01.23
  • “Bonbonierre” selection boxes dated best before 9.4.23 and 21.2.23 only.
If you have purchased the affected products, you can get a compensation voucher in exchange for returning them or maybe even simply disposing them. I did see online that people have had a hard time getting through on the Strauss customer service line, so good luck. A lot of people are probably trying to call right now.

Announcing this after Pesach is not so horrible - many of us probably overate over the holiday and use a bit of a break from the treats anyway :-)

I did notice that many, if not all, of these items were either kitniyot over Pesach or chametz, so I havent bought any of them....... I guess sticking to the kitniyot minhag provided some protection....




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Quote of the Day

It wont be tomorrow but eventually this government will fall.... even if there will be more defectors in the future, it wont be enough until the UAL decides it wants new elections and will help bring down the government.

  -- MK Yaakov Margi (Shas)

Margi is 100% right, especially considering in the history of Israel only 1 Knesset is considered to have served its full term, and even that one, in 1992, only served 47 of the full 48 months, with the average Knesset surviving 42 months, though the average government only survives 24 months. So Margi is almost definitely correct - it probably wont be tomorrow but at some point the government will almost definitely collapse. That is basically the standard. one cannot almost not go wrong saying that. This is the easy bet


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Proposed Law: Dog Tax

According to a report in Maariv, MKs Moshe Gafni and Uri Maklev (UTJ) have proposed a law that would impose an environmental tax on dog owners. Anyone owning a dog would have to pay 3500nis per year. For each additional dog the owner would have too pay 7000nis per year. 

The law would direct this tax money to being squirreled away into a fund that would be used to deal with street animals.

From what I have heard this proposal is in response to the Disposables Tax. That tax seemingly, or at least was seen to, hurt the Haredi community more than any other, so this tax would hurt the secular and almost not hurt the Haredi community at all. Additionally, it is making a responsive claim regarding the environment that raising dogs also hurts the environment. I have no idea if this is true or not and would like to understand how this is an environmental issue. I also wonder why only dogs and not cats or goldfish or parrots and parakeets, or even tigers if you are like Joe Exotic - or would they all be included in this under the "broad term" of "dog"?

It seems service dogs and guard dogs would be exempted from this tax.

Obviously this law proposal is unlikely to pass in the current government. I just wonder if they will re-propose the law when they eventually return to government or if this is purely a proposal meant to troll the current members of government.

I wonder how they will justify proposing a law to raise a tax (proposing a new tax actually) after spending the past year screaming about taxes being raised and the increasing cost of living...



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another Meron structure dismantled

According to the news, another structure in the Kever Rashbi complex in Meron has been dismantled last night as per a recent court order.

 I have lost count but this is the most recent in a  series of structures in the complex to have been ordered destroyed. 

It is amazing to consider the chaos and anarchy that was going on in Kever Rashbi complex, no rules, no order, no law. I dont know who "they" is, but they basically just did whatever they wanted. Everyone already said this when the Meron Tragedy happened but it really is a miracle no disaster had happened there previously, considering the lack of order and safety compliance.

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Soviets Banned Matzo, Now Ukraine Supplies The $110 Million American Market | Big Business (video)








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Israelis: Who is your hero? (video)







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Barstool Pizza Review - Matzo Pizza (Boca Raton, FL) (video)

funny





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Synagogues of the Past 3 (video)








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JUDEA and SAMARIA. Biblical City After 4500 Years. Crossroads of Trade Routes (video)







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Apr 24, 2022

Tweet of the Day

you never know what you are looking at, with today's video editing capabilities...







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nickel and diming the Prime Minister

A reporter, Ayala Hasson if I am not mistaken, reported on a crazy amount of spending by the Bennett family (paid for by the State of Israel) for takeaway meals - to the tune of something like 400nis a day. the report complained that their food is paid for with a cook on the staff anyway, so this is an egregious expense.

The comparison is clear, as one of the ocmplaints against Bibi when he was Prime Minister living in the Balfour Residence was that despite a cook on staff, they ordered a lot of "tv dinner" meals delivered to the house and Bibi was hounded for that.

On the face of it this looks bad for Bennett - he was not elected to do the same as Bibi. they even called themselves the "change government. 

It was later clarified - there is no cook on staff so the meals are ordered in, etc.. but people are already upset by the report, even though it is not nearly as bad as it was first made out to be. you can debate if the State should be paying for food for the entire family or just for the Prime Minister, you can debate how much per diem the State should eb covering, but it clearly is not even close to as bad as it was first made out to be. 

the thing is, I don't really care about this at all. I dont care how much they eat and I dont care about how much the State pays for their food. And I did not care about it when people were upset at Bibi back in the day either. This is small money, no matter how much it is. Do we really need to "nickel and dime" the Prime Minister and his family regarding his food bill. This is silly. The Prime Minister can go out in his motorcade for a day and drive to his office and it probably costs more for the gasoline and security detail for that one trip, let alone back home at night and then again every day along with everywhere else he goes, than it costs for the State to pay his food bill for the month. Being worried about how many meals he orders for the day and at what price is truly nickel and diming the Prime Minister and is a waste of time and looking at small amounts of money that are not all that significant in the context of everything else the State pays for and what is spent on behalf of the Prime Minister.. 



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Book Review: Stories for the Sake of Argument


NOTE: I was not paid to review this book. It is an unbiased and objective review. If you have a book with Jewish or Israel related content and would like me to write a review, contact me for details of where to send me a review copy of the book.

Book Review: Stories for the Sake of Argument, by Robbie Gringras and Abi Dauber Sterne

Nobody likes to get into an argument. Well, most people don't. Some people just love a good argument!

The truth is that nowadays even when we argue it often is not an argument, it is just each side stating his/her position and then not listening to the other side, and not rebutting each others points. It is usually my way or the highway, and the other guy is just an idiot. 

Robbie Gringras and Abi Dauber Sterne wrote a book that is meant to get people to argue. Stories For The Sake of Argument is just that - stories meant to get people to argue. The stories are Israel and Jewish-centric, so for us Jews, these are sure to get the participants pumped up. Even Jews who dont love to argue in general still love to argue about Israel.


The book has 24 or so stories, broken down to a few categories. Each story comes with some background information and some leading questions, to get the juices flowing. In a group setting, maybe around your dinner table, Shabbos table, Yom Haatzmaut barbecue picnic table, someone would read the story and give the background for those who might not know it already, and ask the leading questions, and then let the arguing begin, as each person around the table chimes in!

We actually did this, picking some random stories, over the Pesach holiday, at some of our meals. Maybe some do not need a book like this for guidance at starting an argument around the table, but many people would appreciate some good topics and some leading questions, so the conversation, the argument, stays focused. I think we all enjoyed the discussions, the arguments, that ensued - at the next meals they asked for more!

Stories for the Sake of Argument also has some sections at the end with some guidance itno arguing and different types of arguments or positions.. The idea really is to develop tools to talk with people even when disagreeing with them, while listening to other people's opinions and having your opinions heard as well. A good argument helps everyone either develop their own positions further or rethink their own positions and consider other possibilities. 

Stories for the Sake of Argument has not yet been published but from what I understand is set to be published before Yom Haatzmaut (the date I saw is May 5. 2022). For now you can get more information at the website, as it is not yet available on Amazon.





NOTE: I was not paid to review this book. It is an unbiased and objective review. If you have a book with Jewish or Israel related content and would like me to write a review, contact me for details of where to send me a review copy of the book.


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she isnt crazy after all

The successful test of the new Laser Defense Interceptor announced by Israel just this past week is really cool.




That being said, perhaps Marjorie Taylor Greene is not actually the crazy person we all thought she was when she claimed the Jews have space lasers... In hindsight she was just revealing our military secrets.


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goodbye mask mandate

I hope you all, in Israel, are enjoying the first day post-mask-mandate but with a nice sandstorm.... Good timing on that.

Just kidding. We still don't control the weather, despite what some people think.

But seriously, it is about time the mask mandate was done away with. Hardly anyone was wearing the mask anyway and there was not much enforcement. 


The healthcare bigwigs are cautiously optimistic about this. Professor Mevurach of Hadassah Ein Kerem called this is a historic moment. Professor Gruto said he isnt sure we have completely done away with masks and if the numbers spike upwards again we might have to go back to them. Professor Zarka said we have not finished with the CoronaVirus but this is a happy respite - I wouldnt throw my mask away, but I would keep it in my pocket in case I go to a crowded place..

Just to comment on Professor Gruto's words - if it spikes upwards it would be hard to believe the cause would be identified as the removal of the masks, considering hardly anyone was wearing them anyway, but we still might have to go back to them in some official capacity because that is the only tool they have for the public, whether it works or not.

One day in the future we are going to look back at these past two years as a really strange and surreal blip in our history...





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Apr 19, 2022

Honey in The Land of Milk and Honey

God gave the Jews the Land of Milk and Honey. But with Jews so commonly being lactose intolerant, one wonders how appropriate of a selection that was...



According to JPost, the Health Ministry put out a warning for lactose intolerant people to be careful around some Yad Mordechai produced honey as traces of a milk protein was discovered in one of the honey sources. It seems the residue likely came from the bees as some of these proteins might have been in or near their feed.

I read elsewhere that the honey is still considered pareve, but dont take my word for it and check yourself if relevant...

This is taking the milk and honey thing pretty literally...






 


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Picture of the Day






Millions of Jews around the world sat down to the Passover seder this week, including the Emhoff family and their gests. Doug Emhoff, a Jew, is the Second Gentleman, husband to VP Kamala Harris.

I think this is the 1st seder, as I saw it posted online already on Motzei Shabbat. I do not know if they also conducted a 2nd seder on Saturday night.

So why does this seder snapshot get PoTD when millions of Jews did the same around the world?

Well, because everyone is complaining about this one.

The religious Jews are complaining it is not good enough (eg one can see the daylight streaming in through the windows, no kittel, any every other complaint when Reform Jews keep non-Orthodox practices)

The not-religious Jews and the gentiles are complaining that the wine selection for the seder clearly included Psagot wines from a West Bank settlement.

The released images have created quite a stir.



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sewer hashgacha



how does one become a certified sewer mashgiach? is there an official training course? does one work privately in this field or is there a kashrut agency one works through? so many questions!


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Meir Martin Widerker - Dudi Kalish - Ma Yafit (video)







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Apr 18, 2022

Headlines Podcast: 4/16/22 – Shiur 367 – Should we be bringing a Korban Pesach these days? | A checklist for the Korban Pesach (audio)







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"Kululum" stle mass song with Yeshivat Nehora, and with Neve Yaakov kids (video)










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YID | Bracha Jaffe | TYH Nation | For Women & Girls (video)







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Apr 14, 2022

The burning chametz segula

I just heard about a new "segula" I never before heard of. I am wondering if anyone here is familiar with it and is it real, is there a source for it, is it made up - any info you might have..

The segula is to write notes containing the chametz within you that needs to be removed/destroyed - bad character traits and the like. You then take those notes and throw them into the fire with your chametz and rid yourself of them with a prayer ( dont know what exactly is said in the prayer but presumably to destroy the unwanted traits and behaviors...

Any of you have more info on this?




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Picture of the Day

Journalist Sharon Idan posted the following image from the Ben Gurion Airport security cameras to Twitter this morning:



Israelis love to travel and seem to be taking advantage of the Pesach holiday to make up for the past two years..... Hopefully with images like this, the local sites wont be too crowded...



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Lenny Solomon Live (video)










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Echad Mi Yodea - Motty Ilowitz & Yidi Bialostozky (video)







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Shea Rubenstein - Tick Tock (OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO)







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Pharaoh in Pajamas | Shlepping Nachas | TYH Nation (video)







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Apr 13, 2022

Facebook Status of the Day

Elyashiv Reichner posted the following on-the-point post. Because it is in hebrew, after the post I will also include Ben Waxman's post translating it to English:














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MBD to possibly drop out of Eurovision

I dont care much for the Eurovision competition and dont watch it, but of course as a patriotic citizen I am proud of and for my country when Israel wins or places well.

This year's Israeli representative to Eurovision is a fellow named Michael Ben David.

We have some history with MBDs and Eurovision, though this MBD does not look like that MBD so it probably is not the same person....






The issue though is, according to this article in JPost, that Israel, specifically MBD, is threatening to drop out of the competition. Whether it is posturing for more funds or real concerns about security, whatever, I dont really care. the interesting part though is that the article says the Australian delegation last year performed via "live on tape", which seems like it means they sent in a video or performed over zoom or something similar, because they could not attend in person (maybe because of Australia's super long lockdowns?).. So if this video thing, this live on tape thing, is a real thing and an option that can be used at times, maybe religious singers representing Israel will have that Shabbos "barrier" shattered and they can now compete....




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Arrested? You Win!

The organization "Chozrim LeHar" that encourages ascent to Har Habayit (bkdusha), is running a campaign - "if you got arrested, you won!".

The campaign is to ecnourage people to try to sacrifice a Korban pesach this Friday, erev pesach. If you go to Har Habayit with your lamb and slaughter it and sacrifice it properly in the right place at the right time, you will be granted 10,000nis.

If, on the other hand, you just try but get arrested, so if you arrested on your own you will get 400nis but if you get arrested with your lam then you will get 800nis.




Sounds like a great plan. It even caused Hamas to threaten Israel saying that the settlers are going to take over Har Habayit and conquer it, and if they are successful, Hamas will shoot rockets at Israel. That might be a direct response to the line near the bottom that says the only true solution to terror is renewing the korban pesach....



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political violence among the Dati Leumi sector

This situation with MK Betzalel Smotritch (Hatzionut Hadatit), and some others, bothers me.

I understand some people in the Religious Zionism sector are upset at PM Naftali Bennett, Minister Matan Kahane, Minister Ayelet Shaked, and some others. There is nothing wrong with that. They can be upset, they can argue and prefer a different route and a different way to navigate the political situation.

Arguing, disagreeing, is fine. The polarization really bothers me. They are passul because they have taken a different political path and have made decisions I disagree with. That is what I really dont like.

Smotritch said, and others (like MK Rotman) supported him, that they should be chased out of their shuls on Shabbos and the upcoming holidays. They should be rejected and banished.

In response some people are talking big - things like comparing it to Kamtza and Bar Kamtza, causing the destruction of the mikdash, etc. That is too weighty for me.

For me it is just crossing a line into polarization. Who made Betzalel Smotritch the guardian of all shuls and of Judaism? Who is he to say who should be banished from shul? Just like I asked who is MK Gafni to decide who should wear a kipa and who should not when he screamed at Matan Kahane to remove his kipa, who is Smotritch to decide who gets to go to shul and who doesn't? Why are we letting them mix politics and religion, bring politics into the shul? if you stick to my politics I will let you come daven but if you disagree and go a different political path you cannot come daven? Who ever heard of such a vile position? Maybe this is just another sign for the need of more separation of Shul and State. This is just another victim - politicians get to decide who is allowed into shul and who isn't.

And it did not start with this.

Idit Silman was under heavy social pressure, as were others like Nir Orbach, for months, until she eventually flipped last week. Protests outside their houses (which is reasonable), in addition to social banishment, punishing their kids in school and Bnei Akiva youth groups? That is not right and should not be part of the arsenal.

That is pure political violence. This type of polarization should not be a part of our system. 

Smotritch's response is basically that people have the right to be upset. Yes, people have the right to be upset, but Smotritch is the one riling them up. Even if some people are upset, they were not chasing these people out of shul, they were not harassing them and their families, not all on their own. They were riled up by the leadership and guided to do these things. That is not "people have the right to be upset". That is Smotritch saying throw them out of shul.

Political violence should be unacceptable no matter which sector it comes from, and the Dati Leumi sector is clearly not immune to it.






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Rav Mo - Unleavened - Passover Song (video)








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Apr 12, 2022

A Tour of Biblical Jerusalem (The City of King David) (video)








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Asking Israelis If They’re Scared To Live in Israel (video)








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Excursion to the JEWISH HOME. Old City of JERUSALEM. 1534 year (video)








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Danielle Finn Performs "Your Song" by Elton John - American Idol 2022 (video)

still going strong...





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Six13 - A Billy Joel Passover (video)







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Apr 11, 2022

the government and the economy

The Bank of Israel announced today it will be increasing the interest rates slightly. 

MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ) used the announcement to slam the government. Gafni said, "this is not a big surprise. The increase is not significant but it shows the trend. Turbulence is starting and that is not good. When the interest rates go up, other things increase right after. The government does not know how to manage the economy and is causing unprecedented expensiveness".

Well, it is not unprecedented, but it has been a while. I am not sure how much of it is caused by the current government, how much was caused by previous governments, and how much is caused by global trends and causes.

This government has raised taxes on certain items, and that was intentional. Yes, sugary drinks are more expensive as is disposable plates, and that is this government's fault. Some will say that is a good thing and some will say it is a bad thing. That is a fair argument against the government.

A lot of the general increase in prices is the result of the global shipping crisis and is not the fault of  anybody specific in our government. Maybe they can partially fight it in certain ways, such as dismantling the labor unions and breaking up monopolies, but these types of movements dont happen in a day. 

Previous governments brought us to terrible deficits by overspending and handing out money (which might have been necessary at the time), but government loans taken at those times to hand out and spend that money eventually needs to be paid back. Printing and handing out money causes inflation and prices to rise. 

I am not sure his accusation that the government cant manage the economy is accurate considering Moody's just raised Israel's rating, in addition to the announcement of the low deficit. They seem to overall be doing a good, or at least decent, job on the economy but there are trends happening aroudn the world that wont skip over Israel. 



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Quote of the Day

There are many Orthodox shuls in Tel Aviv that I feel comfortable davening in without hiding. Once a month I additionally make sure to bring my children to daven in an Orthodox minyan. It is important that they should see it and be familiar with it.

   -- MK Gilad Kariv (Labor) 

With Kariv being a Reform rabbi this is an interesting tidbit....


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Udah not so conciliatory after all

The Israeli public, or maybe it is actually the media, is fickle. 

MK Ayman Udah (United Arab List) said yesterday harsh words against Israel, saying that Arabs serving in the police force is insulting and humiliating, and called on them to throw their weapons back in the faces of their officers and to resign. Arabs Israelis he said, should be a part of the Palestinians and work to overthrow the occupation. And he said more than that, but you get the idea.

I remember when just a few years ago Udah was the darling of Israeli society and media. He was looked at as someone who against all odds was promoting coexistence and partnership between Arabs and Jews.

And now the calls increase to investigate him for incitement to violence, for being a traitor, and the like. He showed himself to be more of a demon and less of the conciliatory figure he has portrayed himself as over the past few years.

It is sad that this is how it turned out, the other way would have been better, but better that it has been exposed. Better late than never.


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strong economy should help the people

The news is reporting that the month of March saw another significant drop in the deficit. The budge deficit relative to the GDP dropped to 1.4%. It now stands at the lowest it has been in 14 years, since 2008.

Tax increases seem to have filled the coffers with fewer outlays in the forms of grants and Corona stimulus packages that we saw in the past couple of years. In general that is a good thing. I would love to see somewhat smaller government with less waste in that regard but that is not going to happen too quickly. 

In the meantime the filled coffers can start to be used to lower other taxes... will that happen? we wait and see.

At the same time Moody's just upgraded Israel's economic outlook to positive with A1 status.

This Israeli government must be doing something right on the economic side of governance.

Now it is time to actually do something to cut the high cost of living. People dont care much about the level of credit rating or deficit if they have to pay through the roof for their goods and services. People care more about what is in their pockets at the end of the month.The government needs to cut monopolies, fix the shipping and ports problems that are causing price increases. Lower taxes where possible. etc. Take advantage of the strong economic situation and act to benefit the people.




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#86: Behind the Bima - Coach Bruce Pearl, Auburn Tigers Men's Basketball (video)







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Israelis: Why are you afraid of Palestinians? (video)







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M.P. Lantsman's tribute to the Rebbe (video)








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Let My People Go // Go Down Moses - YISROEL LESHES (video)







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Mordechai Shapiro - Achas (Official Video)







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Apr 10, 2022

Picture of the Day



The longest matza in Israel (and probably the world) was put in the President's House today

The matza is 6 meters long, 1.06 meters wide, 4mm thick, has more than 119,000 perforation holes, and it weighs 6kg.

Now President Herzog just needs 2 more of these and he is all set for the seder. Hiding half of this for the afikomen is going to be pretty difficult....





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Book Review: The Hidden Saint

NOTE: I was not paid to review this book. It is an unbiased and objective review. If you have a book with Jewish or Israel related content and would like me to write a review, contact me for details of where to send me a review copy of the book.

Book Review: The Hidden Saint, by Mark Levenson
The Hidden Saint, by Mark Levenson, is a fantasy Jewish themed novel based on "the historical horrors of eighteenth century Eastern Europe" combined with creatures from Jewish lore.


This novel is fantastical, but is quite a book. I have not finished reading it yet but I wanted to get my review out so you could have a chance to get it in time the Pesach holiday. 
To be fair, I almost did not bother. I read the first couple of pages of The Hidden Saint and it felt kind of choppy, not a smooth read, like it was going to be a lot of work. With 99% of books I read, at that point I normally would have just put it down and said it is not worth the bother. 
And I should note that I normally do not like fantasy books, so that was another strike against it applied even before I ever picked it up.
Something about the story though was pulling me in even though I did not like the style of the first few pages. So I continued reading. I figured I would give it a little bit longer before giving up on it.
And I quickly got hooked. I am not going to say what was different about the first few pages from the rest of the book so as not to give anything away but after those first few pages it really gets good. 
The story is somewhat of a fantasy, set in 18th century Eastern Europe with a shtetl rabbi trying to save his family from demons, werewolves, imps (I dont even really know what an imp is), the famous Lilith and more. And what would a Jewish fantasy book be without Lilith and a golem along the way? Oh yeah, and how can I forget about the 36 hidden tzadikim keeping the world in existence?  I know this sounds ridiculous, and it does to me as I am writing this, but these mythical creatures are woven into the story making me wonder why reading about golem's and "sheidim" in the past never made me think of them as subjects of fantasy.
The Hidden Saint is a good fantasy story using Jewish icons and imagery that will keep you busy and even enraptured for a few days.

buy The Hidden Saint on Amazon.com



NOTE: I was not paid to review this book. It is an unbiased and objective review. If you have a book with Jewish or Israel related content and would like me to write a review, contact me for details of where to send me a review copy of the book.



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Israeli astronaut to be the Chabad shliach to International Space Station

Eytan Stibbe is now an Israeli astronaut, and one of three astronauts having paid for a flight to the International Space Station on a private mission. 


I dont know how long Stibbe is going to be in space but he will be there long enough that he will have to celebrate Pesach this week in space.

How does one celebrate Pesach ins pace?

Clearly one contacts Chabad. They might not have an actual Chabad House on the ISS but if anyone can arrange this it is them, and maybe Eytan Stibbe will officially be the Chabad shliach to the ISS.

Rabbi Konikov of Chabad of the Space and Treasure Coasts in Florida prepared a Pesach food package for Stibbbe to take with him for the holiday. The food package includes hand-made shmura matza and some grape juice boxes. Stibbe will have a wine cup but will have to drink his four cups using a straw.


I have not heard anything about maror in space.

A conspiracy theorist might think Stibbe is going up to make adjustments to the Jewish space laser with all this other Jewish stuff going on up there.






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calling Ben Gvir the supporter of terror

The city of Tel Aviv just experienced a terror attack. A pretty bad one, if they were to be rated in any way.

MK Itamar Ben Gvir is a provocative personality. When I was a bit younger I loved to see him and others like him light things up. Today less so, though I do like the political chaos he creates (as I have said before, I am somewhat a fan of political chaos). I think being intentionally provocative does not help matters in any way, not even in the way he intends (eg to scare the Palestinians, to display ownership, to bring us to our dream of a Greater Israel or anything like that).

Last night MK Ben Gvir went to Tel Aviv to make his stand against terror.

To counter Ben Gvir's presence a group of leftists arranged a protest. Protestors called for Ben Gvir to leave the city, saying he was not welcome. They called him a terror supporter and blaming him for burning the area, for causing an escalation, for not letting it calm down.


While Ben Gvir is unnecessarily provocative and not helpful to probably any situation, he is far from a terrorist or terrorist supporter. The people they support are the terrorists themselves. Right after a terror attack in the heart of Tel Aviv they are protesting against the Occupation and against Jewish leaders (albeit from the Right and one they are opposed to) instead of protesting against terror and the people who sent and assisted the terrorist?

I have no problem with protests and demonstrations for peace and all that but, as they say, "time and place". There is a time and a place for everything. As opposed to Ben Gvir as they may be, immediately after a terror attack is not the time or place for protesting against Ben Gvir and calling him a terrorist or terrorist supporter.

I am sure not everyone in Tel Aviv thinks Ben Gvir is the terrorist these people are calling him but these protestors have it backwards.





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Headlines Podcast: 4/9/22 – Shiur 366 – Manipulative Advertising by Tzedakah Organizations: Promises of health, nachas, shidduchim and parnassah – false advertising or needed yeshuos? (audio)







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Bruce Pearl gives his thoughts on the war in Ukraine and its parallels with the festival of Purim (video)








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Bardak: Pesach (video)








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Yeshivat Mekor Chaim: Bobov's Tzama (video)








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Apr 7, 2022

The globe-trotting spy story of the man who exposed Israel's nuclear weapons | 60 Minutes Australia (video)




the section with Yuval Steinitz is weird. Maybe the Holocaust is a decent excuse. teh real answer should be that with Israel any nuclear weapons (if Israel has them) is a purely defensive measure. Israel has never threatened to wipe out another nation. Iran regularly threatens to wipe out Israel. There is no comparison between the two. Israel is also regularly under attack by other people and countries. 


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JERUSALEM. Oriental flavor. THE FAMOUS Mahane Yehuda Market (video)







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moti weiss - Al Aba Lo Shoalim Shaeilot (video)







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Apr 6, 2022

Quote of the Day

What a kiddush hashem in the world! The assistant to the President of France or Argentina is telling his boss that the Israeli government has collapsed. The boss asks why - because of the security situation? No! Because of chametz on Pesach!


  -- MK Yisroel Eichler (UTJ)

lol




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Gafni vs Deri vs Lapid

One of the scenarios that could play out is the government collapsing due to Silman's resignation, if another MK from the coalition follows suit. If that happens and we go to elections, Yair Lapid will become Prime Minister of the caretaker government. This was in the agreement between Bennett and Lapid when the government was formed - that if the government collapses due to a Yamina MK, Lapid will become the caretaker PM.

Interestingly, the ramifications of elections or no elections will have a major effect on Aryeh Deri. Deri resigned from the Knesset recently as part of a plea deal in his corruption investigation. He was not slapped with "kalon" and the agreement was that his banishment from the Knesset is just for one term and he can run for new elections whenever they might be. If we got o new elections, Deri's banishment will have turned out to be very short and he wins big.

More interestingly, and the above is all connected, MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ) is calling to avoid elections and to try to form a new government from the current Knesset make-up. While this would keep Deri out of the Knesset for longer (until the next time there would be elections), Gafni says we must do this even if Deri has to pay that heavy price of staying out of the Knesset. 

Why does Gafni think this is so important? 

To avoid Lapid becoming caretaker Prime Minister.

Lapid being Prime Minister is something so bad in Gafni's eyes that he feels we must avoid elections just to keep Lapid out, no matter the cost, even at Deri's expense.

I get that Gafni doesnt like Lapid. He really does not like him. But still - so what? It would be a caretaker government in which Lapid would not have a majority. What could he do in that scenario that would be so bad? 

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Coalition teetering as Silman resigns

It seems the only thing happening today is Idit Silman announcing her resignation from the coalition, throwing the entire political situation into a tizzy. Will it lead to a new government in the current coalition? Will it lead to new elections? Will it calm down and will she reverse her decision? Will the Opposition find another defector? Will Yair Lapid be the Prime Minister over a caretaker government or will Bennett remain PM until elections (these two options depend on how the government falls, if it will) or neither? 

So many questions and so many possible scenarios.

Whatever happens remains to be seen, all we can do is wait. I am not in the business of predictions or prophecy. In the meantime, we can just comment on what happened. 

The government overall functioned ok but it definitely had a dysfunctional aspect to it. They both had difficulty passing the main laws and reforms it had set as goals for itself and sold to the public, while at the same time the individual parties within the coalition were proposing laws that were upsetting other parts of the coalition. Instead of recognizing that the coalition is fragile and care must be taken to not disillusion other members too much, they each tried to take as advantage of the situation as possible, perhaps recognizing that this might be their only chance and the chance and opportunity might be short lived. Sometimes parties played along and supported even though they were upset and sometimes they did not, only to cause the other parties to be upset. Governments and coalitions cannot function like this, especially with just a razor thin majority. They were not wise enough or bold enough to work for the people, but were each seen as working for themselves and at most their own narrow sectors, taking and handing out  too many jobs, creating too many ministerial positions and deputy and other jobs...

It is hard to believe that of all the issues that have played out over the past year or so, it is the Supreme Court decision on bread that Nitzan Horowitz instructed hospitals to adhere to that forced Silman's hand. Any other government will have to deal with the same Supreme Court decision, and she did not bear responsibility for it, so I am not sure what was really the impetus for this resignation. Was it the job Netanyahu promised her? Was it just the straw that broke the camels back? Was it the pressure form the Opposition? Was it a bad relationship with Bennett or other members of Yamina?  Silman herself seemed unstable for the past year (I am not familiar with her style enough to know if it went longer than that) and seemed to waffle back and forth on different issues regularly, and came under attack regularly from the Opposition seeing her as a weak link and a good target. her claim of having been attacked drew particularly harsh attention from the Opposition and they made her into a laughing stock over that. I dont know, and I dont know if we will ever really know, what and why this is all about.


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