I dont know or care much about what went on there and who said what, but Rav Zilbershtein did say something very interesting that I came across.

Rav Zilbershtein related that he had heard form his rebbi Rav Yechezkal Abramski. He says the psak Rav Abramski said was shocking and Rav Abramski had told him to publicize it but then Rav Abramski himself publicized it.

According to Rav Zilbershtein, Rav Abramski had paskened that there is a decree to join the army but it is very not appropriate. The halacha is that if we cannot work it out with the army and avoid the service then there is a mitzva upon each person to leave Israel and make every effort possible to not live here! 

Rav Zilbershtein says that he said to Rav Abramski that he is shocked to hear that. Rav Abramski basically said what today would be converted to "hold my beer"... you think that is shocking? wait until you hear what I am about to say! Not only should people leave Israel but they should even be mechalel shabbos to run away from Israel if necessary!

That is shocking.

My [funny] response to that is that if one is already going to be mechalel shabbos one can also join the army and be mechalel shabbos!

Minister Amichai Eliyahu today said in an interview that the hostages should be called "shvuyim" and not "chatufim", and their return should only be dealt with at the end of the war.

Some people are upset about him trying to change the term to shvuyim from chatufim, some think he is right, I just dont get it.

Chatufim means kidnapped.

Shvuyim means captives

Bnei Aruba means hostages.

In English the hostages have always been called Hostages. In Hebrew they have been called Chatufim. So that was always a discrepancy.

Honestly I have thought all along that chatufim is a less than accurate term for the hostages. 

Why are some insisting on using the term chatufim, and some prefer to switch it to shvuyim? Technically they should be called Beni Aruba. Shvuyim is pretty close and might even be considered somewhat interchangeable with Bnei Aruba. What is more accurate and what is the big difference if they are called one or the other? 

And maybe Eliyahu is right, I dont know, but the response would then be yalla get to work and finish the war, why is it taking so long?

Everyone says how PM Benjamin Netanyahu is the worlds leading statesman, with nobody having the diplomatic capabilities that he has, definitely not in Israel but also on the world stage. Yet through the rubble and mud of Gaza, justified as it is, Netanyahu has succeeded in turning just about the entire world against us. He still has some of America (and fewer every day) and Argentina behind him, but not much else.

One of Netanyahu's main life goals was to prevent a Palestinian State from being formed, Bar Ilan speech notwithstanding. He has worked very hard over the past 3 decades to prevent it, including moves like building up Hamas to prevent the PA from having too strong of a leadership position among the Palestinians (this strategy eventually turned on him when Hamas became a group of powerful monsters). I find it ironic that Netanyahu himself is going to be responsible for the world recognition of the Palestinian State for running this war with no real consistent strategy or goals and getting mired down into a deteriorating situation with partners pushing him to continue seemingly endlessly. The only goals the world hears about are the goals stated by his partners Smotritch and Ben Gvir (and their ministers) to clean out Gaza, to resettle Jewish communities in Gaza, to stop humanitarian aid, and the like, and the world considers that to be ethnic cleansing and genocidal. And because of all that more and more countries, important ones, are saying they are going to recognize a Palestinian State in the very near future. 

Some of you are not going to like this and will call me a Leftist, but this is the current reality, like it or not.

Thank you Prime Minister. Good job.

The question asked was about yeshiva bochurim who will be going to their camps on Monday, the day after Tisha B'Av, and need to do laundry Sunday night to prepare for their trip away.

To point out - the custom is that during the Nine Days we do not do laundry (caveat that Sephardim do laundry except for the week of Tisha B'Av itself and there are possibly some other customs as well). This has been extended to the night after Tisha B'Av to commemorate that the main burning of the midash actually happened on 10 Av so we refrain from laundry and other restrictions until noon of 10 Av.

So the Rosh Yeshiva asked the Rav was about these young men who cannot wait until the 10th because they will be going away and need the laundry den before that? And also, what about for people who will be getting married on Monday, can they do laundry on Sunday night in preparation for the wedding?

Rav Kook answered with an explanation he heard from his rebbi, Rav Elyashiv.

Rav Kook said that the bride and groom themselves (not guests or family members) can start doing the needed laundry on Sunday night, while other family members can start doing their laundry Monday morning without waiting for mid-day. People who will be traveling on Monday can do laundry on Monday morning before mid-day. At the end of the day, the custom to not do laundry is just a custom.

I am not quite sure what that last comment means. Customs are considered pretty important, especially customs brought in the actual Shulchan Aruch and commentaries.. dismissing it as "just a custom" seems out of character, but it gives me leeway on lots of things! 

Regarding the campers laundry question, Rav Kook said that the comment about someone traveling on 10 Av was regarding someone traveling to perform a mitzva. It is not clear if one is traveling not for a mitzva but for personal reasons and benefits if this would be allowed. Rav Kook concludes though that if any aspect of a mitzva is involved, one can be lenient and do laundry on Sunday night. Yeshva bochurim going on Monday, 10 Av, to camp under the auspices of the yeshiva, is surely involving a mitzva in some way as it will include chizzuk, or inspiration and the boys strengthening themselves religiously, so they can surely do laundry on Sunday night. Better, if possible, to wait until the morning but if that is not possible, laundry can be done Sunday night. 

source: Behadrei

That being said, the one thing I wonder about, before the starvation campaign as well but more so now with the starvation campaign, is where are these brilliant marketers and public relations people in Gaza and in Hamas coming out with the fake images and the powerful messaging, immediately capturing the hearts and minds of almost the entire world.

Israel has destroyed Gaza. Israel has killed much of the Hamas senior leadership in Gaza. Israel has killed out much of the command structure of the Hamas military wing. Who out there in Gaza is the brilliant marketer, or on the brilliant marketing PR team, that comes out with these messages and campaigns, that generates and publicizes the fake Pallywood videos and images? Who are they and where are they hiding? This terrorist organization has people who know how to create these campaigns and bring nearly the entire world to their side? Why has Israel not yet taken out these brilliant marketing agents of Hamas? 

Obviously we all know Israel has not invested an agora in marketing and public relations. the Israeli government has let that fall by the wayside. The few people they brought in they eventually fired. Israel relies mostly on several volunteer activists - they dont really rely on them they just benefit from their freelance work. They dont rely on them because the Israeli government seems to not care about that at all. Was there a counter campaign against the starvation campaign? I think PM Netanyahu made one statement about the lies, well after it was too late. Did Israel do anything to stave it off, to show it to be incorrect?

Maybe if Israel would allow independent international journalists in to Gaza to report on the war they would be putting out the truthful images and comment on whether or not there is actually real starvation and hunger and it would not just be our word against theirs.. 

But the main point of this is where is the Hamas Creative Agency with its brilliant marketers and PR people, and why has Israel not disabled them already a long time ago? How do they continue to function "on a dime" while the rest of Gaza and Hamas continues to be destroyed and dismantled increasingly every day?

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  -- Minister of Heritage Amichai Eliyahu

good? bad? if you agree with the sentiment expressed you can't really be upset that the world (including the ilk of Piers Morgan) gets upset that it looks like Israel is trying to wipe out Gaza and kill tens of thousands of children... the ministers of the government repeatedly say that this is their intention and objective...

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  -- Defense Minister Yisrael Katz

we have heard this threat of the gates of hell opening many times. Has this become a version of the Haredi parties threat to topple the government if a draft law is not passed by date x?

And considering what Gaza looks like, I wonder what it will look like once the gates of hell open on it!

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