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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) -------------------------------...

Jan 31, 2023

Quote of the Day

I say to my political opponents, it is not fun to lose an election but you do not have to turn your grumbling into damaging the economy of the State. It also wont help - we have a strong economy that will continue to get stronger.

  -- PM Benjamin Netanyahu

Bibi is 100% correct, but does he ever listen to himself? We already know that when he called on Olmert to resign as a Prime Minister who is indicted should not serve he then gave an excuse why it doesnt apply to him, but now for the previous year and a half of the previous government until the last elections all he did was complain and scream and vote against the State even on issues he himself supported in the past just to hurt the government. And he spent that year and a half screaming about how the government ruined the economy, but now he is saying how strong the economy is (so did they ruin it or is it strong and getting stronger?) and they should keep quiet.. does he ever listen to himself? Do his voters ever listen to him?



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JERUSALEM: Old City, Kidron Valley, City of David, Western wall (video)







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Dovid Rotberg-Ribono & Tefilas Ha'Neiros (Official Studio Music Video)








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Jan 30, 2023

Tweet of the Day




they may be 100% accurate about the incident, but please stop using the word Nazi anytime someone acts poorly to a Jew. in follow up tweets they stress that Racism=Nazism, which is not true. Being racist is bad enough on its own, no need to drag the Holocaust into this, as if the Holocaust was so bad because Jews got thrown off of flights for having too many personal bags. I am sure the Jews in the early 1940s would have been happy to get thrown off the trains heading east.


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#114: Behind the Bima: Special Guest - Yehuda Kohn (video)







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Israelis: Is the world unfair to Israel? (video)







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The Best Kebab In Jerusalem? 3 Contenders For The Title! (With: Shimshon Leshinsky) (video)







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Jerusalem. Incredible Walk Through the Winter City (video)







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Hineni - Yonatan Razel, in memory of Rav Drukman (video)







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Jan 29, 2023

wedding mikva

I am not sure the wedding mikva thing is going to catch on and become trendy, but nowadays you can never predict these things accurately.

Rabbi Zvi Meir Zilberberg, one of the main rabbis fighting against technology in the Haredi community, and the one behind the people who have been going around to shuls and smashing the "Nedarim Plus" screens set for announcements and donations because of their connection to the Internet, no matter how limited it is, has created the wedding mikva.

Rabbi Zilberberg participated in his grandson's wedding the other. The wedding party lasted 12 hours! As notable as that may be, the more noticeable part was Rabbi Zilberberg bringing a mikva to the wedding hall and immersed himself.  The mikva was transported to the hall in a caravan. The wedding supposedly took place in full holiness with no smartphones present, even among the waiters.

The article in Behadrei says they connected it to the ground and kashered it in the most mehudar way in preparation for the use of Rabbi Zilberberg. Not being an expert in the halachos of a mikva, I can only wonder how this  was anything like a kosher mikva. it looks like a kli, it was transported, and I am not aware of any heavy rainfall over the past few days to fill this mikva. Whatever.

When he arrived in Bnei Braq for the wedding, he dunked in the mikva to purify himself and then dunked again after the kabbalat panim and maariv, before the chuppa. Rabbi Zilberberg dunked again before the mitzva tanz

So besides for the questions about the kashrut of the mikva mentioned above, what is the purpose of this? Dunking three times at a wedding and at different points of the ceremony? is there any source for any of this? When do we call making up new behaviors Reform and when not? will this become a trend?



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Interesting Psak: Bear Arms

While Rabbi Mordechail Malka, Rav of Elad, might not approve of bare arms, he does approve of bearing arms.  

In light of the horrific terror attack this past Shabbos in Jerusalem, Rav Malka issued a psak that anyone who is licensed to carry a gun must do so and must carry it on Shabbos as well, out of concern of pikuach nefesh.
source: Hamechadesh




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disposables havent been trashed after all

Mazel tov!

Finance Minister Betzalel Smotritch has now officially cancelled the tax on disposable plates and utensils. It has gone into effect. 

Now we have to see if the stores drop the prices back to down to pre-tax prices or if they will continue to gouge the public (it was shown that they increased the prices by far more than the tax itself) at some level.

Minister of Environment Protection Idit Silman has said she is going to look for alternative ways to discourage and minimize use of disposables. She opposed the cancellation of the tax saying it proved itself efficient as it drastically decreased the use of disposables and the tax should not be cancelled until an alternative option is discovered. Other countries are even banning them outright. 

Enjoy, and especially enjoy your soft drinks in plastic cups in just a few weeks when the soft drink tax cut goes into effect.


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Tweet of the Day





Translation:
Minister Betzalel Smotritch tweeted:

this is on our shift and under our responsibility. We promised an uncompromising battle against terror and for the security of Israeli citizens, and with God's help that is what we will do. The time of the test has arrived and with God's help we will succeed in it. 
Condolences to the families of the murdered, wishes of speedy recovery to the injured, a big hug to the security forces working around the clock on our behalf and prayers to the Master of the World to help us succeed


Taking responsibility is a good thing and a good first step, unlike Ben Gvir who immediately blamed the Legal Counsel for not immediately approving the house demolition. As necessary as that might be for the purpose of deterrence, that is what the government has been doing for decades and it hasn't really showed itself as overly helpful. That is one minor tool in the fight against terror and if that is all Ben Gvir has up his sleeve, I would be sorely disappointed, considering all his talk in the past about how to put down terror.



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Headlines Podcast: 1/28/23 – Shiur 405 – Whom should you marry? (audio)







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Palestinians: Do you want to expel the Jews? (video)







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From LA to Jerusalem - Benny Baderech - The Chanukah Tour (video)







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MUSIC VIDEO: "It's About The Yomi" by R' Nachman Seltzer for MDY (video)







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Jan 26, 2023

run for mayor


Deri is trying every way possible to get back into the government, and tonight he even said it might take a few weeks while they figure out how to change the law but he will be back.

I have a different idea for him. He should run for mayor of Jerusalem in the upcoming municipal elections. Give up rejoining the government and stay relevant by being mayor of Jerusalem. I might be wrong but I think even with his legal troubles he could still be mayor.



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Proposed Law: Tzniyus at the Kotel

Shas MKs, led by MK Ariel Buso and Minister Michael Malkieli, have proposed a law that I hope desperately PM Netanyahu will shoot down and stop it dead in its tracks.

Buso has proposed a law that apply prison time of up to 6 months or a fine of up to 10,000nis for a various list of infractions. The list of infractions includes davening in a mixed minyan, and another infraction being going to the Kotel in immodest dress.

They explain in their proposal that the status of the Kotel was never set in law. This causes the occasional problem in the area, while this law would resolve that.
source: Kol Hai News

First, how will immodest dress be defined, and by who?

Second, does the State of Israel really want to be arresting people for praying to God, even if it is in a way I dont agree with?

Third, enforcement (of the dress code) will be by definition almost entirely selective, so it likely wont stand up in court anyway.

I must say, this is probably one of the worst law proposals I have ever heard.





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Ein Od Milvado - Tomer Adaddi & Avraham Fried (video)







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Jan 25, 2023

a strapping young man!

Cincinnati, Ohio has a vibrant Jewish community of about 30,000 or so people, with a nice Orthodox community as well including a few Orthodox shuls, and eruv, several kosher restaurants and a grocery, mikva and kollel. Cincinnati has a long Jewish history and is among the oldest of the Jewish communities in the USA.

All that might somewhat explain why the University of Cincinnati studied the health benefits of wearing tefillin.

As reported by the University of Cincinnati website, they discovered from their study that people who wear tefillin get unintended cardiovascular benefits. The reduced blood flow caused by the tightening of straps around the arm offers the body protection from the damage caused by heart attacks.

It seems they studied the participants by measuring baseline heart rate information for ten minutes in the morning and then again after wearing the tefillin for 30 minutes. They did detect the lowering of heart rate variability  and metabolism. They say they tested both men and women, so this wasnt an Orthodox test study, which is somewhat disappointing because my initial thought when seeing the headline was to say that if true women will want to start putting on tefillin for the health benefits - but they are already testing it on women anyway...

I do wonder if they compared similar tests on a group of people praying without tefillin and on a group of people praying with tefillin. Maybe it is the calmness of the prayer time that led to the lower heart rate and other data and not specifically the tefillin... 

I also wonder if there is a difference in the health benefits in the amount of time the tefillin is worn - is there less of a benefit if worn for only five or ten minutes? Is there more of a benefit if worn for 45-60 minutes? Do people who wear tefillin all day have indestructible hearts?

This does bring new meaning to the phrase " he is a strapping young man".

Presumably this discovery is because of tefillin but anybody wanting to benefit from this without wearing tefillin (such as Gentiles or most Orthodox women) should be able to tie straps on their arms for a period of time on a daily basis.

Good health to everyone!





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Salt Bae coming to Israel

"Salt Bae" is coming to Israel!


While his reputation seems to have suffered a bit after he inappropriately pushed himself onto the field to celebrate with the Argentinian football team upon winning the World Cup, Salt Bae is still a butcher turned world renown restauranteur serving lavish dishes (such as steaks coated in gold leaf) to the highest of celebrities in his chain of restaurants around the world, and now has Israel in his sights for a new location.

i24 News is reporting that Nusret Gokce, the Turkish restauranteur known affectionately as Salt Bae (because of the way he famously sprinkles salt on the meat) plans to open the 12th restaurant in his chain, and it will be located in Tel Aviv. Nusret announced this in an Instagram announcement of plans for further expansion with a list of cities where he plans to open restaurants.

The big question is if it will be kosher and maybe even mehadrin... likely not.

The prices will surely be ridiculous, considering how expensive his other restaurants are, making one wonder how long the restaurant can possibly last. How many Israelis are there that might be willing to pay the types of prices he has become known to charge?

The news reported what the expected price list will be:




That would be 80nis for a plate of mashed potatoes. I wonder if you order the 1000nis steak of 500nis hamburger if you get some mashed potatoes on the side or if you have to pay 80nis for them. A plate of pasta will run you 320nis. I also wonder if the 1000nis steak comes with the gold leaf or if that is an even more expensive dish. 

Which kashrut organization gives gold leaf a hechsher, and does it need to be checked for bugs like the green leaves do?










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Compilation video: How do you stop hate?







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Member of Detroit Pistons’ G League team strives to become first Orthodox Jew to play in NBA (video)







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Lenny Solomon Live (video)







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Likutey China: Daniel Saadon and Chananel Ohana (video)







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Jan 24, 2023

Tweet of the Day




I dont know anything else about this person or his beliefs, but whatever they are, this is good stuff...




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Quote of the Day

Honorable Mayor Dr Aliza Bloch of the past, present and future....

  -- Minister of Housing and Construction Yitzchak Goldknopf, at an event in Bet Shemesh as he began his speech with the mayor present

This intro to his speech raised eyebrows and has the city talking as it seems to indicate that Aguat Yisrael, if not the entire UTJ, has decided to throw its support in the upcoming municipal elections to the current mayor Aliza Bloch rather than running their own or supporting a different Haredi candidate.




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Proposed Law: gender-segregated tiyulim

MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ) has proposed, along with the other members of UTJ, a law that would set separate hours for male and female access to nature sites and natural springs of the Nature and Parks Authority.

According to the proposed law, 15% of the hours of permitted bathing should be designated for gender-segregated access.

The response to this proposal has been harsh, accusing Gafni and Netanyahu of pushing Israel to becoming a halachic state. I suspect Netanyahu will choose to tell Gafni to cool it and stop proposing all these religious laws. He doesnt like them and worse his voters mostly dont like them either. Gafni might have to wait until after Netanyahu leaves the political scene and the "full right" coalition becomes a full religious coalition.

According to Gafni, in the proposal, Israel has at least 20% of the population not going into the springs and rivers because of religious reasons, of all the various religions found in Israel. These populations are discriminated against, these are State-run sites, operating in a way that causes many people to be unable to benefit from them.

1. I wonder where he came up with 20%. It might be accurate, it might be low, it might be high. I have no idea. I wonder how he got to that number. When we go on tiyulim and to water hikes and stuff, we see plenty of religious and Haredi people enjoying the springs and rivers despite the lack of segregation. I am sure many avoid it, but how do you figure out how many?

2. I think we have to define discrimination. If someone chooses to not use a service because they dont like it (for whatever reason) are they being discriminated against? If I and 50,000 other people dont like the way Bituach Leumi offers a service so we dont take advantage of it, is that discrimination or is that my own problem? If we dont like the service open to the public as it is, is it discrimination? I am not so sure it always is. That being said, it is a shame that many religious people dont have a way to benefit form the springs and rivers around the country. Knowing how tiyulim work though, I am not sure how realistic it is to come upon a river while hikling and say right now only the men can go in, it will be open for women in two hours, and the women, or men, have to wait, and when they get their turn, then it takes longer for the tiyul to get on tis way... and vice versa. this just doesnt seem practical.







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Proposed Law: Chametz in hospitals

Remember the brouhaha over chametz in hospitals on Pesach? The Supreme Court decided hospitals cannot have security guards check people for chametz when entering the hospital. Nitzan Horowitz as Minister of Health sent a letter to hospital administrators letting them know that the Supreme Court decision must be adhered to, and that was the beginning of the end of the previous government, as Idit Silman eventually resigned saying this was the cause, and that led to the eventual fall of the government. 

MK Moshe Gafni (UTJ) has now proposed a law that would prohibit anyone from bringing chametz into any hospital on Pesach. Gafni has reportedly asked PM Netanyahu to advance this proposal to become law, though we will see what Netanyahu has to say about it - he does not seem to be happy with all the religious legislation going on, and the chatter about religious policy that makes the secular and traditional in Israel very uncomfortable.

Gafni, in his proposal, stresses the significance of Pesach and the severity of the issue of chametz and says that for tens of years the hospitals did not allow chametz on premesis during Pesach, so as not to cause problems for patients who adhere to the rules of Pesach, until the Supreme Court shot that down when it was appealed, and this will cause a problem for religious patients, many who might refuse necessary health care out of concern of coming across chametz in the hospital. Gafni says the law would exclude hospitals in the non-Jewish sector that normally do not bear a kashrut certification. Patients will not be forced to eat matza, but with the advances in food technology today all foods can be produced kosher lpesach so patients will be able to eat rolls and cakes and cookies and whatnot that are all kosher lpesach.

good? bad? I dont know. In general I am not a fan of religious legislation. I think it does more harm than good for religion.


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Proposed Law: In God We Trust

Deputy Minister Moshe Abutbol along with other MKs from Shas have proposed a law today. The law was originally proposed back in 2004 by a Likud MK, Dr Leah Ness, and was proposed again last year by Abutbol. While it is clear the law did not pass on those occasions, I guess when Abutbol proposed it he was in Opposition so it didnt pass. When Ness proposed it Likud was in government (with Sharon as Prime Minister) but it was when he formed a government with Shniui and Labor, though at some point that coalition changed and I dont know when this proposal was.

Whatever happened back then, today Abutbol proposed a law that would have the State of Israel print on its currency "In God We Trust" - Bahashem Anu Botchim".




in the proposal they say this would be segula for the economic success of the State of Israel. To ironically paraphrase a rav I heard once respond to a request for a segula for parnassa by an avreich by saying a segula for parnassa would be to get a job - for the financial success of the State of Israel maybe Abutbol should tell many of his voters to get jobs.

That being said, and while I dont know if this is a gimmick taken from the USA, if there is a Jewish source for such a thing, or whatnot, I don't see anything wrong with it.


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Solving the Shidduch Crisis • All in the Mishpacha (video)







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Israelis: Is the world unfair to Israel? (video)







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A Temple Talk Moment: The Levite Stairs (video)







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Lenny Solomon Live (video)







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Ariella Zeitlin: Churshat HeEucalyptus Violin Version (video)







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Jan 23, 2023

Make it rain!

The Rabbanut, led by Chief Rabbis Rav Yosef and Rav Lau, has called upon the praying public to pray for rain, each community according to its nusach and style.

This year has seen a serious shortage of rain. The other the news reported that a group of farmers petitioned to the Eida Hachareidis to instruct its followers to say the rain prayers, and the Eida did release such a call to the public.

We are near the end of January and have only had a few days of decent rains, so there isnt much left of the winter.

Make it rain!


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funding Shabbos activities

I am trying to make sense of the latest brouhaha but having a difficult time with it - finding conflicting information and contradictory statements by those involved and different news sites reporting different details. Perhaps someone can help make sense of it.

It seems Minister of Sport and Culture Miki Zohar announced he is cutting funding to the proram Ruach Yisraelit, Israeli Spirit, and its subsidiary Shabbat Yisraelit because of their running of programs on Shabbos. Ruach Yisraelit seems, among other things, to run heritage sites around the country, mostly in the periphery, and one of the programs was to have these sites open on Shabbos with free entry. And when it was founded, in a spirit of equality, the same sites would be open on Sundays free for the religious public to benefit in the same way. The program was put in place by the Minister at the time being Chili Tropper. 

Now it gets confusing. Zohar denies he is stopping the programs, just the government will no longer initiate it and wont fund chilul shabbos. He also said he wont fund programs that discriminate against large sectors of society (ie the religious that cant benefit from it) and that break the status quo.

The problem with this is that this was not founded by the last government but by the previous Netanyahu government, which Gantz was a member of of and in which Tropper served as minister founding this program. Additionally, all the religious parties supported it. Additionally, Amit Segals wonders why this is a chilul shabbos program that should be canceled as it minimizes chilul shabbos rather than increasing it, and it is operating on Sundays as well to offer equal benefits to religious people.

Zohar insists he is being defamed and his only change is insisting that the government not initiate such programs. The haredi parties seem to be praising him for this, but they voted in favor of the program back then. And then a bit later PM Netanyahu met with Zohar and basically told him to keep funding all programs, nothing changes, and Zohar stressed the only change is that the government wont initiate any such programs but the organizers will do it themselves, with the funding. Which is weird. What organization funded by the government has its activities organized by the government - that isnt how it ever works so I dont know what this whole thing even means.

And what about funding sport such as soccer/football, which has been a debate for a long time, among other cultural activities that happen on Shabbos? Is this one being singled out just because it was started by Tropper? Could the organizers sue for being singled out while funding continues to other programs that operate on Shabbos? And what about Ministers and Deputy Ministers driving government-issued and funded cars on Shabbos?

very unclear. I am not sure what happened, what he is trying to do and what the policy is going to be. And with the way Zohar spoke about the status quo, how the last government broke it and he is going back to it, how are the religious members of the government, constituting about half of the government, if not more, ok with this continuing now under Netanyahu's orders? 



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#113: Behind the Bima: Special Guest - Rav Moshe Meiselman (video)







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Palestinians: Were your ancestors Jews or Christians? (video)







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How to Join Israeli Special Forces (video)







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JERUSALEM. A Walk Through the Amazing Mahane Yehuda Market (video)







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Eli Weiss, Yanky Landau, Cappella - Hameir Laarets (video)







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Jan 22, 2023

early shabbos

My friend BW posted this online, suggesting a more appropriate effort to merit Deri would be getting a minyan of avreichim to commit to being more scrupulous about financial matters and honesty.





This was a call to Jewish women accepting Shabbos 10 minutes earlier than usual this past Shabbos for the merit of Aryeh Deri's success.

This is just another example of dumping things on the women. The financial improprieties were his, nobody else's, and he admitted to them to avoid a worse punishment. They didnt blame sheitels or tzniyus this time, but it is still the women being made to feel responsible for his troubles...



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Facebook Status of the Day

this is a simple Facebook post but the intrigue involved gets it fsotd




MK Danny Danon, a longstanding member of the Likud, is tweeting that today is an excellent day to evacuate the village of Khan Al Ahmar

Khan Al Ahmar is a Bedouin village in the south that was built illegally. It is so illegal that even the Supreme Court gave the go ahead to evacuate and dismantle it. Yet Netanyahu over the years has always delayed taking action on this, and the last government led by Lapid and Bennett didn't either (maybe they didnt have enough time to get to it, their government was so short-lived). Netanyahu's "full right wing government" has so far only dismantled an illegal Jewish settlement since it took over, but Khan Al Ahmar still stands. And Danon is commenting on it as if his party and coalition is not the ruling party. Danon might be trying to make some trouble as he didnt get a good job from Netanyahu, but still, Danon is talking as if the Likud is not the ruling party right now


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Headlines Podcast: 1/21/23 – Shiur 404 – Adoption in Halacha (audio)







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Israelis: Should partially genetic Jews be eligible for Israeli citizenship? (video)







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UnderDos: Mazel tov Nehorai (video)






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Lenny Solomon Live (video)










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Just One Shabbos - MBD & Lipa Schmeltzer (The Event - March 2009) (video)







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Jan 18, 2023

Tweet of the Day





MK Amir Ohana (Likud) tweeted a montage of messages he received in support of him after his visit to Deri in which he was verbally attacked by Deri supporters



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baseless hatred

Nothing about today's reaction to the Supreme Court's decision was unexpected or surprising (though how the government moves forward remains to be seen). Except one thing.

Politicians and rabbis, and supporters did an aliyah l'regel of sorts to pay visits to Deri after the announcement and express support for him. The important people got in, the supporters had to hang out on the street.

What struck me as weird is that when MK Amir Ohana (Likud) came to express his support, the crowds of Shas supporters booed him and called out degrading insults to him.

This is surprising. Ohana did nothing to Deri or Shas except support them fully. He was booed because of his personal lifestyle as a homosexual.

So he is good enough to be sitting together in a government, he is good enough to hold a senior position, he is good enough for Deri and others to work with on a regular basis very closely, he is good enough to run the Knesset and speak form the podium, he is good enough for Shas to vote for him for the position of Speaker of the Knesset...he is good for everything except for showing up at Deri's house as a show of support? This is really baseless hatred.


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Troll of the Day

this was just too funny to pass up...

In light of the coalition agreements that would allow any rav to nominate himself for positions that require academic degrees - today in the Knesset I said that they should equally allow the opposite and that I have decide to put forth my candidacy for the position of Sephardic Chief Rabbi, being that I am an academic and also want the authority to appoint the Chief Rabbi of the IDF.

  -- MK Avigdor Lieberman

funny, though it is bad timing with the bombshell of the Deri decision. Who is listening to anybody talk about anything else right now?


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Interesting Psak: Cultured Meat

Chief Rabbi Rav Dovid Lau has been investigating the manufacture and processing of cultured "meats" and has now issued an official psak about its halachic status.

Rav Lau has paskened that cultured meat is pareve but. "Pareve but" meaning, it is pareve, but....

Stressing that this only applies to the type of cultured meat he investigated and others that use other methods might be different, Rabbi Lau paskened this type of cultured meat is pareve, with some conditions and qualifications largely about the maris ayin aspect of it:
1. as long as there is supervision that the cells were taken from the embryo and all other parts and ingredients used in the process are supervised, this will be kosher and pareve
2. if it will be marketed as meat or as a meaty product, and if it is made to look like meat and taste and smell like meat, there would be room to be strict and consider it kosher but not pareve as far as eating/cooking it with milk
3. it should not be advertised alongside dairy products as doing so might cause people to be lax about milk and meat.

source: INN

bon apetit

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Dugo Day

We have all sorts of days to commemorate things, whether national or international days, such as Talk Like a Pirate Day, Eat Ice Cream for Breakfast Day, Hot Dog Day, and many more. Some ignore them, some dont even know about them, some commemorate the ones that are representing issues close to their hearts, some celebrate with the ones they like (who cant get behind eating ice cream for breakfast?)...

Dugo Day is one that every Israeli should find a way to celebrate.

Dugo Day is a commemoration created by David "Dugo" Leitner. On January 18, 1945 Dugo survived the Death March from Auschwitz and survived until liberation. When he made his way to the Land of Israel he decided to memorialize the day by eating something round that reminded him of the round rolls his mother made for him. Eating falafel on January 18 became a symbol for him of his victory over the Nazis. It started with just Dugo and spread to his family and friends and community and eventually took off nationally.

Eat your falafel today and stick it to the Nazis and all the other antisemites out there.


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what comes next?

I dont know what the Supreme Court will decide in the Deri case, though it seems all the Shas people do know and are flipping out in advance. As I said, I think their is their campaign to pressure the court. If they decide Deri is out, the Shas people will all say we were right, it was obvious, the Supreme Court is against Deri, against Sefardim, against the Right etc. If they let Deri serve the Shas people will eventually say their campaign was successful.

I dont even find the upcoming Supreme Court decision interesting. What I find interesting is the leadup to the decision. And more interestingly, what will happen after. Obviously if they decide in his favor that means nothing interesting will happen. If they decide against Deri, it gets exciting. 

If they decide against Deri, will he resign? Will Netanyahu fire him? Will they reject the decision and ignore it. If Deri resigns or gets fired by Netanyahu will the government fall? Some voices are saying they would dismantle the coalition if that happens. It seems, some Shas people are saying, they would push through a law that will allow Deri to serve and then dismantle the coalition and go to elections to bring him back.

Would they really risk elections over this? Give up the full right wing government so quickly? they might win bigger but they might not. Big risk. The government got 64 seats which is a big win but in votes it was very close and it was more the mismanagement on the left that gave the right the big win. There is no guarantee it would be repeated.

What elections would do is be a referendum on both Deri and the legal reforms Yariv Levin recently proposed. Previously they spoke about reforms and even mentioned some issues, but they never spoke about the sweeping reforms Levin actually proposed, so it is difficult to say this is what the people wanted. Now that the people know what the reforms are, immediate elections would at least partly be a referendum on that.

But it would be a big risk. Personal positions aside, would Deri really let Shas dismantle the coalition over this and go back to elections?


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Jan 17, 2023

ban one, ban all

Senator Jacky Rosen from the USA is leading a delegation of senators to Israel. She has requested from the Israeli government to not meet with members of Otzma Yehudit and Hatzionut Hadatit, Betzalel Smotritch and Itamar Ben Gvir (or any of their party members).

Rosen and her group of senators have every right to not want to meet with those they find detestable or have strong disagreements with.

The Israeli government on the other hand should make it clear that they are senior members of the government and banning them is banning the entire Israeli government. The Israeli reps who are scheduled to meet with them should refuse to meet unless the ban on other members of the government is lifted.


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bobbing for apples

Those 3 Neturei Karta folk who went to Jenin recently  to commiserate with terrorists have bene in all sorts of trouble since, being detained, arrested, and all that jazz.

Interestingly, according to Kikar, while in court for a hearing about extending his remand, Mr Neturei Karta requested an escort from the court so he could go to the mikva. He claimed, via his lawyer, that he is on a hunger strike of sorts because he cannot eat without first going to the mikva. 

I thought men's mikva immersion nowadays is mostly for prayer, with an element of kedusha. I dont think I ever heard of it having to do with food (unlike in the days of old when mikva was need for tahara to be able to touch certain foods). 

Anyway, the court said this has nothing to do with the courts and is up to the Prison Services administration and that is where he should make his request.


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Jewish Money ● Minimum Wage For Kollel 💯 (video)







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Jan 16, 2023

Israelis: Is there still a divide between Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Mizrahi and Ethiopians? (video)







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YONI Z - WE BELONG (JEWELS) [Official Music Video]







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Proposed Law: Protection

MK Yitzchak Kroizer (Otzma Yehudit) has proposed a law that make "protection" illegal and punishable. Protection, not protrexia. Israel runs on protexia.

The law, if it should pass, will make protection - providing protection and security services  using threats, scare tactics, deceit and extortion punishable with a prison sentence of up to 7 years, and the sentence would not be allowed to be reduced by 3 years or more. Somebody who collects "protection" money would get up to tern years of prison, and also no more than 3 years could be knocked off the sentence, even for good behavior.
source: Kol Hai News

The big complaint about this issue is in the south of Israel and in the Galilee as well, especially with Bedouins, among others. I would be happy for this to go through if it is enforced. I do think there are enough laws already but not enough enforcement, and they might be able to resolve it somewhat already by enforcing what is already on the books, but I am still good with this. I hope they use it in Jerusalem and Bnei Braq as well and put away the people burning down cellphone shops in Geula and Bnei Braq.




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Facebook Status of the Day

Haha!



Yediot is reporting that 7-11 hoped their new self checkout system would work well in Israel but they discovered many were just walking out with the goods without paying, so after just a day they put a guard at the door to make sure people paid for their food


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#113: Behind the Bima: Special Guest - Abie Rotenberg (video)








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a bad reason for aliyah

Originally when the Bennett-led government was working on arranging the qualifications to end the visa requirements for Israelis entering the USA (which the Likud thwarted), those opposed claimed that putting this into effect would snowball into many Israelis leaving Israel for the greener pastures of America.

Interestingly, now the Netanyahu-led government is working on getting this worked out and PM Netanyahu and Minister Ron Dermer are promoting it saying that removing the visa requirements for Israelis entering the USA will effect a wave of aliyah of Jews to Israel.

I am curious about that theory, how does it work?

Jews from the USA will make aliyah in greater numbers because of this? why? Jews from Russia or Ukraine or other places will make aliyah just so they can get into the USA easier? seems like a lousy reason to make aliyah, and why would we do this just so other people can use Israel as a terminal on their way to the USA? They can already make aliyah as Jews so if they arent I dont see this as a good reason to push this program. The reason to push it is to make travel easier for Israelis, and to make the US-Israel relationship bi-directional.



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Jan 15, 2023

Quote of the Day

On Thursday the Supreme Court is expected to invalidate Minister Deri from serving. This would be a scandalous decision that will end up costing lives - the armed forces have consulted with him on security matters for many years..

  -- Minister of Religious Affairs Michael Malkieli

By all accounts Deri is smart and an important figure and talented in many realms and even tempered. By no means is the lack of any one person from being available for consultations going to cost lives. The armed forces will do just fine without Deri, no matter how important he is and no matter how much he has contributed in the past.

I also think all the Shas people are on a reverse psychology campaign. They probably think that the more they accuse the supreme Court of invalidating Deri before it actually happens they will influence the court to go in the other direction and confirm his ability to serve in this capacity.


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Headlines Podcast: 1/14/23 – Shiur 403 – Does yeshiva prepare us for life-after-yeshiva? Should it? (audio)







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Palestinians: Were your ancestors Jews or Christians? (video)








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JERUSALEM. Cardo. the Central Transport Artery of Ancient Cities(video)







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Churshat HeEucalyptus Violin Version (video)







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Jan 12, 2023

throw the book at him

One of the Neturei Karta folk who went to Jenin the other day has been arrested.

I have no problem with anybody not liking the State of Israel for whatever reason. I also have no problem with anyone in particular being opposed to the existence of the State of Israel (for religious or political reasons). Acting to dismantle the State of Israel is another story, but beyond talk not many are doing anything practical to dismantle the State so that isnt all that significant, though we must put our efforts forth to oppose their efforts.

All that being said, opposing the State of Israel is vastly different than actually meeting with terrorists and heads of enemy states or  organizations and supporting them. You might not like the State of Israel but why would you support people who want to kill and harm Jews? That is going way beyond simply opposing the State of Israel.

I have no idea if what he and his friends did the other day was legal or illegal, but if they can get him on something, I have no problem with them throwing the book at him. Not because he is anti-Israel but because he is anti-Jewish and helps people who try to kill Jews.





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Zionist cattle working for the Moosad

The Israeli Mossad seems to have a specialty, at least according to the Palestinians, in recruiting spies and agents from the animal kingdom. In the past they have uncovered nearly an entire safari, or maybe a zoo, of unusual spies, including Zionist dolphins, seal, kestrel, eagle, hawk, stork, shark and others.

In case anyone thinks that the Mossad might be limited in its capabilities, Israel is now expanding to recruiting farm animals to operate as agents, literally in the field.

According to a report in JPost, a Palestinian villager claimed that he had encountered cattle in his village that had been recruited and trained by Israel. The Mossad would hang a medallion on the neck of each cow and the medallion had a recording device and camera in it. The cattle would roam the village and send back data to the Zionist regime. 

He also claimed that settlers in nearby villages release herds of wild boar to trample Palestinian crops.

I wonder what kind of village this is that lets its cows roam the village rather than keeping them in a cowshed. And if they are in the cowshed what valuable information could they possibly gather? I wonder if each cows gets orders for the day/week/month as to where it should "wander" and collect data from, and what it should focus on. is it recording all the time, sending tons or useless data back tot he Mossad, or does the cow have to trigger the recording by pressing a button or moo-ing a certain way when it stumbles across something worth recording? I actually heard a funny comment about this saying the cows work for the Moosad.

I was able to obtain a picture of one of the spies, though it seems to be laying down on the job. The Mossad censors required me to alter the image to protect its identity .









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7-11 lands in Israel (video)

yesterday was the grand opening of 7-11 in Israel, with the first branch opening n Tel Aviv. More branches will be opened across the country in the coming months. This particular branch in Tel Aviv is going to be open on Shabbos so is not certified kosher (though supposedly the food sold is all kosher) but management says each branch will have operating hours appropriate for the surrounding community, so some branches will likely be closed on Shabbos... and yes, they have slurpees and Big Gulp





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Surprising Lipa Schmeltzer With Art | Unofficial Art Tour (English subtitles) (video)







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Jewish Moms Try Each Other’s Brisket (video)







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Botzer - My only one /Prod. by Ori Avni (video)







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