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According to a report on Behadrei, the Rebbe related a story from his youth having been "tested" by his uncle Rav Yoel Teitelbaum on the very same parsha, Ki Tisa, about the story of the Golden Calf. He relates that his uncle, Rav Yoel, asked him how could it be possible for the nation to have worshipped the Golden Calf? He went on to explain that the Calf was not just a golden statue of a calf, but according to the medrash it had some sort of life force to it and the golden calf danced and did miracles and acted a live, which caused people to believe in it as some sort of deity and worship it. According to Rav Yoel there were three types of people worshipping the golden calf:

1. those who saw the miracles and actually worshipped it as a deity like real avoda zara. 
2. those who did not actually worship it but hugged and kissed it and admired it
3. this third category was most of the people, they were happy internally seeing the calf do amazing and wondrous things 

Everyone needs a kapara for that sin because everyone was involved in some way at some level.

Rav Aharon then took the lesson to today saying that we are standing on the side watching this war with Iran and we are watching the golden calf of today doing amazing and wondrous things - dancing, jumping...some are watching and worshiping the Zionist calf and others are not worrshiping it but are happy or even kissing the Zionist calf. Most of the people, like then, are happy internally about the successes of the Zionist calf and about the great wondrous successes it is having. Even just being happy internally is prohibited. Even those happy about the wonders and successes are following all day and checking the news to see this all and be happy about it. For this they all need a kapara. 

Hashem should give us the wisdom, Rav Aharon prayed, to understand that avoda zara is prohibited even when it does wondrous things. It might dance and make us wonder, but it is still idol worship and is prohibited to kiss it, to worship it and be happy about it. 

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I always was, and still am, amazed at how, as religious people, and they might be considered super religious people, they can refuse to see God's hand in the formation and continued success of the State of Israel. I truly do not even understand it. EVen if God is behind it that does not mean you have to celebrate and say hallel and wave the blue and white flag and all that. You can still see it as needing improvement. To continue to see it as the work of Satan and not the hand of God behind it though is bewildering.  

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Matnat Chaim contacted Guiness to turn this into an official World Record.

Guiness responded that at this time they are not accepting records submitted from this region, neither from Israel or from the Palestinian ruled territories. They hope to be able to restart soon they say.

not sure what they are waiting for - the war has basically ended already. Even most of the airlines have returned to flying their Israel routes...

On a similar note, Eurovision announced recently that it will not ban Israel from participating in the 2026 competition. As a result of that announcement four European countries said they would not compete due to Israel being included - Spain, Netherlands, Ireland, and Slovenia. 

I thought they wanted Israel to end the war. The protests just wanted Israel to end the genocide and then   we could all go back to kumbaya. The war is over, the "genocide" that never happened is over, but they are still boycotting Israel.

Why am I happy? 

I am happy because it is about time - after nearly two years of accepting deals on the terms set by Hamas, accepting many of the demands put forth by Hamas, finally Israel is being proactive and trying to set the tone and terms of the deal.

Will the Israeli team stick to it and keep the demands for a full deal (end the war, return all the hostages) and will Israel capitulate and agree to a smaller partial deal? This remains to be seen, but for now I am happy Israel did not accept the first Hamas response and is standing firm on its demand. 

I am not even talking about the specific terms of the deal on the table and of the Hamas offer. I am just saying I am happy Israel now isnt just accepting whatever crumbs Hamas offers and is instead finally being proactive about the terms of a deal.

We visited this farm back in the late 90s. Even back then we saw crocs that were disfigured from injuries and missing limbs and it was clear to us they were fighting with each other and biting each other. I did not know they were cannibals due to lack of food, just assumed it is how they interact with each other.

So after the farm closed down due to a change in the law making these crocodiles a protected species, they kind of just got abandoned and became a menace to society with the area not being maintained. Honestly it seems irresponsible for the government to change the law forcing this farm to shut down with no plan of what to do with the existing crocs. But regardless of that, that is what happened and the crocs have been running wild on each other ever since.

Israel recently culled over 200 crocodiles from that area.

I think this was a missed opportunity.

Israel could have cleaned them up and gifted them to President Donald Trump to add to his Alligator Alcatraz compound. What a waste.

you can get the full rant on Matzav, but here are the things I want to mention:

1. The Rebbe said, "If we were truly in such danger in recent years, under threat from enemy nations, why did no one urge the public to flee Eretz Yisroel? The answer is clear—they caused the danger themselves."

This reminds me of the Holocaust era. Did community leaders urge the public to flee Hungary, Poland, Germany and other countries overtaken by the Nazis? Did the Satmar Rebbe at the time urge his adherents to flee? So did they cause the damage themselves?

2. The Rebbe said, "Without a state, there would be no decrees, no wars, and no draft of bnei yeshiva"...

 And if my grandmother had wheels she'd be a bicycle

Obviously with no state there wouldnt be wars between Israel and her neighbors, and there wouldnt be an army or a draft, secular or haredi.. it doesnt take a genius to figure that out. But we have a state, it exists and isnt going away (as far as we can tell at this time). deal with reality. 

We Israelis were told about the ceasefire by President Trump and by the Iranians but our own government stayed silent about it for a long time, so we in Israel had no idea what was true, what was bluster, what was happening, and what was real or fake. Eventually the Israeli government confirmed it as well. Despite the ceasefire the Iranians shot missiles at Israel. Israel was going to retaliate and Trump seems to have harshly told Israel to back off. Strange day.

The ceasefire seems imposed. It also seems like subterfuge with Trump going crazy about Israel possibly retaliating despite being so close over the past two weeks. Maybe it is more deception and a distraction with something sneaky to come out of nowhere in a few days. 

During the campaign against Iran Netanyahu strutted around proud of what Israel had accomplished, and rightfully so. He even gave interviews (to news outlets other than Channel 14) and press conferences with questions, that he rarely does, and speeches proudly tooting his horn. he also sounded like a leader again, and less like the divisive politician worried about his own interests as he has acted and sounded over the past 4-5 years. Now with Netanyahu receding into the shadows to avoid Trump's anger he again seems back to being the Netanyahu of recent rather than the Netanyahu of old where he suddenly doesnt talk to the Israelis anymore and his personal politics is going front and center. 

The Israeli government at some point released another statement about accepting the ceasefire and that Israel had accomplished all of its goals in Iran so can end it now. The statement is strange because just yesterday members of the war cabinet spoke about how we still have what to do and it will end in a few days when it is all accomplished, and just this morning the Iranians shot ballistic missiles at Israel killing several people and wounding many more. The official war goals had been to dismantle the nuclear program and to dismantle the threat of ballistic missiles. The first one seems to have been accomplished with flying colors, while the second makes it seem like the ceasefire was imposed because that is clearly not something that has been accomplished.

All that being said, the mission in Iran seemed, using the few tools we can judge it with, to have been a great success and we Israelis had some very proud moments over the past 11 days. The issue of the ceasefire is strange and unclear and from what has been said publicly it has seem to left a bad taste in the mouths of many. Despite all that, I think this is mostly a minor thing relative to what Israel has done over the past 11 days, and the lashing from Trump is also minor relative to what has been accomplished with and by the USA, over the past 11 days.

This year, as we approach Israel's 77th birthday, the numbers look like this:

Israel has finally crossed the 10 million mark with a official population of 10,094,000 (is it really such a round number?).

That 10+ million is made up of 20.9% Arabs (2,114,000), 2.5% foreign workers (248,000), and 77.6% Jews and non-Arab "others" (7,732,000).

In the past year the Israeli population has increased by 135,000 people. During the past year 174,000 new babies were born in Israel. 5% of Israelis are under the age of 10.

96% of Israelis are satisfied with their lives and with their relationships with family. 92% are in regular contact with friends, and 78% do not feel lonely on a regular basis. 

There are 15.8 million Jews in the world today. In 1939 there were 16.6 million, so we are on the cusp of getting back to that level. In 1939 3% of world Jewry was in Israel (Palestine at the time), and today we are at about 49.9% in Israel. In 1948 right before the State was founded there were 11.5 million Jews in the world with 6% in Israel.

but we are not counting.

kenaina hara. 

This past week as Qatargate stepped up a level found people debating whether Qatar is an enemy of Israel or not. People who used to say Qatar is an enemy State are now saying Qatar is complex or Qatar is complicated but not an enemy. People who previously did business with Qatar are now saying Qatar is a hostile entity or an enemy of Israel.

To me the question of whether Qatar is an enemy of Israel or not is besides the point. Pointing out the fact that Qatar is one of the main financiers, if not THE main financier, of Hamas, is beside the point.

I dont think anyone other than the State of Israel should be funding salaries in the Prime Ministers Office, or any other government office or Ministry. Not even Israel's greatest friends and allies in the world. If I heard the USA was paying the salaries of the aides of Israel's Prime Minister, I would think that is a problem. If I heard Hungary was paying the salaries of aides of the Defense Minister of Transportation Minister, to me that would be a serious problem. 

In my mind it does not matter, for this issue, if Qatar is an enemy or not - no foreign entity should be paying the salaries of people in the government (Knesset included) of Israel. If Qatar is an enemy state that makes it worse, but if they are not an enemy it is still not ok.

The government has been pretty busy at times over the past year getting upset (even to the point of passing laws about this) that foreign money is funding leftist protest movements in Israel and anti-government activity, when it turns out that foreign money was also funding people in the government itself.

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People were wondering who was the spy in Hezbollah helping Israel. It was somewhat of a joke, maybe also a little bit serious. Israel's level of secured intelligence turned out to be off the charts great and accurate.

Well, at this point, one might say Ayatollah Khameini is either next in line to be eliminated or he is possibly the Israeli agent revealing the whereabouts of all the terrorist leaders so they can be eliminated. That would be great if it turned out Khameini is the Israel plant who has been foiling the nuclear plans all along and helping Israel take out the terrorists

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I do not know what Israel's response was, or if Israel responded at all, but if Israel were to respond I would hope and expect that Israel would refuse to give any such commitment.

No report was included as to what Qatar is offering in exchange for such a commitment, so why commit to this? Qatar hasnt given Israel anything other than time for Hamas, so they should consider taking a hike.

And, if the recent reports are true that Qatar has banished Hamas leadership from its country, why does it have to continue to worry about what Israel might do to the Hamas leaders in Qatar - arent they no longer there?

Hey,, I guess it cant hurt to ask... as they say, you miss 100% of the shots you dont take...

The race took place down south, in the Negev. With thousands of cheering spectators. I wonder if betting on the camels was allowed.

It seems like this is one of those theories of how to deal with [certain] crimes - legalize it and make it as safe as possible and collect tax money from it, or keep it illegal and dont collect tax money and allow it to remain unsafe and dangerous with likely cruelty to animal abuses as well. Camel races have been going on a long time, though only illegally. This is the first time it was done in a legal format. Maybe Israel decided legalizing it will better regulate it, since it is happening anyway, and make some tax revenue on it.

The camel races this past Friday were set for two distances - 12 kilometers and six kilometers for young camels, with prize money offered to the winning camels. The top prize was  12000nis.

Honestly, slightly disappointing - 12 kilometers isnt even a half marathon! The camels should have been able to do better than 12km.

They have turned this into a symbol of hope and coexistence, with both Bedouin and Jewish attendees. I am somewhat skeptical about this but if it makes them feel good about themselves, all the better. Peace and coexistence will be achieved when the Jews are not just among the spectators but also of owners of some of the competing camels.

Next time, if I find out about this in advance, I will plan to go.

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It seems that Satmar has applied for the "Chapter 46" designation as a certified organization for tax deductible donations.

The debate happening is whether to grant them that status or not. Some are opposing the status saying that Satmar is anti-Zionist and opposed to the State of Israel and should not be rewarded with such a benefit form the State. Others are saying that aside, legally they qualify and we have to grant them the status despite their positions regarding Israel. And, as the Supreme Court has required in other similar situations, discriminating against Satmar for their beliefs will not fly.

I think it should be granted. One need not always fight. And I always shake my head when people fight the fights of yesterday rather than today. 100 years ago, 80 years ago, maybe even 60 years ago, the fight around religious recognition of the State of Israel was a big thing. Today? Today talking about that is fighting the fight of 100 years ago. Today the State of Israel is an established fact, with no need for any specific group's recognition or acceptance. There is no need to punish them and there is no need to continue fights that were long ago resolved.

Satmar should not only be granted the status, just like any other qualifying organization, but it should be lauded as their finally coming to some level of acceptance of the fact and the reality of the State of Israel, the homeland of the Jewish People. They may still have a ways to go, but applying to the government for official status is really tacit acceptance, and a major change from their positions until now. Accept it with grace. Maybe this can be built upon for further integration over the coming decades.

Halley's Comet appears once every 75 years or so. Haley's Rocket made an appearance today as Nikki Haley came to Israel and took some time to sign a rocket designated for Hamas

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