I actully agree with Lindsay Graham!
— David Vance (@DVATW) February 1, 2026
President Trump cannot threaten like Reagan and act like Obame. pic.twitter.com/zG5pAHyU5B
“I don’t speak because I have the power to speak; I speak because I don’t have the power to remain silent.” Rav Kook z"l
I actully agree with Lindsay Graham!
— David Vance (@DVATW) February 1, 2026
President Trump cannot threaten like Reagan and act like Obame. pic.twitter.com/zG5pAHyU5B
The parents of fallen IDF soldier Shai Aravis A”H, finally receiving his personal weapon with which he fought with until the last moment
by Rabbi Yair Hoffman
To this day, people marvel at his Chumash – a product of a mere nine months of researching and writing – an endeavor that would take others ten years or more to create – and one that would not match the quality of it. In the annals of modern Torah scholarship, few figures have left as indelible a mark in such a brief time as Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan zt”l. Described by those who knew him as “a meteor, a dazzling light that illuminated the darkened skies of post-Holocaust Torah learning, but burned out far too soon,” Rabbi Kaplan’s life was a testament to the transformative power of Torah and the boundless potential of the human spirit. In his mere forty-eight years, he produced approximately fifty books, inspired countless souls to return to their heritage, and opened doorways to realms of Jewish thought that had remained inaccessible to English readers for centuries.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a letter to all U.N. member nations obtained Friday by The Associated Press that cash for its regular operating budget could run out by July, which could dramatically affect its operations.
DIN: #1
Let’s begin by addressing his argument about the ג' שבועות—an argument so weak that even Satmar abandoned it.
No Jew ever witnessed these “ג' שבועות” and no one can identify when or where they supposedly occurred.
This aggadatah appears in Kesubos 110a, yet Rashi and Tosafos offer no commentary on it. None of the major commentaries printed at the back of the tractate—Rosh, Ran, Maharsha, Rif etc., mention it. It is entirely absent from the Rambam’s Mishneh Torah, and it receives no mention whatsoever in the Shulchan Aruch or its nosei keilim.
I have already cited Emailim BaTorah, which notes that
"the Zohar in Parshas Vayechi explains that “Bnos Yerushalayim” refers to the neshamah. The Avnei Nezer therefore concludes that since the oaths were made with the soul and not with the physical human being, they do not apply to us in any halachic sense.
Indeed, the overwhelming majority of Gedolim—Agudas Yisroel, Shas, Degel, and most of the leading Torah authorities—did not consider the ג' שבועות to have halachic force. Even those who opposed the establishment of the State did not base their position on these oaths."
#2
Next, he invokes כיבוש הארץ & התגרות באומות.
This claim keeps resurfacing, regurgitated by commentators living abroad in comfort and safety, while criticizing Israel.
They live far from danger yet speak harshly about the State of Israel—whose soldiers risk their lives daily to protect millions of Jews in the only Jewish country on earth, surrounded by hostile enemies—and then accuse Israel of “provoking the nations.”
Jewish husbands leave their families for months, placing themselves in danger and leaving their wives and children as living widows and living orphans in emotional and financial strain, all to defend Jewish lives. Yet this commentator dismisses and mocks their sacrifice as “התגרות באומות”
The audacity is astonishing. What exactly do they offer as an alternative—disband the army? Avoid defending ourselves so as not to “antagonize” others?
Insanity!
As for כיבוש הארץ: The Ramban explicitly writes that settling the Land of Israel and securing it are mitzvos aseh d’Oraisa בזמן הזה.
Every major war Israel has fought was initiated by surrounding hostile nations that swore to destroy and eliminate her. Suggesting that Israel should have simply stood by passively defies both logic and halachah.
Finally, he quotes a 75-year-old description by Ben-Gurion in reference to the IDF that the IDF is a “secular melting pot.”
And what of it? So?
Since when does a historical comment override Torah obligations such as
?לא תעמוד על דם רעך
or
?ואהבת לרעך כמוך
The army has made significant efforts to accommodate Chareidim, yet he claims that mainstream Chareidim should not enlist.
Why should others bear the burden entirely? Why should Chilonim die for you?
Moshe Rabbeinu has a message to this fool
?האחיכם יבוא למלחמה ואתם תשבו פה
My message to this Lakewood-based WhatsApp administrator is simple: We do not need your commentary, and we do not need your interference. Please stay out of our affairs.
Hussam Abu Safyia was photographed wearing a Hamas camo military uniform while at a gathering of Hamas elites to celebrate the completion of the Kamal Adwan Hospital in 2016, according to the Jerusalem-based watchdog NGO Monitor.
Safyia’s photo appeared on the Gaza Medical Services‘ Facebook page — a group overseen by the Hamas-run health ministry.
The ceremony was attended by ranking members of the brutal terror group, including Gen. Abu Obaida Al-Jarrah, Director of Military Medical Services Saeed Saoudi and National Security Forces commander Col. Naeem Al-Ghoul, according to the post.
Following Hamas’ massacre of over 1,200 Israelis on Oct. 7, 2023, which led to the war in Gaza, Safyia penned two screeds in the Times bashing Israel on Oct. 29, 2023, and Dec. 2, 2024.
“We are suffering and paying the price of the genocide that is happening to our people here in the northern Gaza Strip,” Safyia wrote in one op-ed.
Critics decried media giving the alleged Hamas member any ink.
“Those who platformed Abu Safyia must do some serious soul-searching, and figure out how they ended up promoting the propaganda of a literal Hamas terrorist,” NGO Monitor senior researcher Vincent Chebat said.
The Times referred to the colonel as a “pediatrician and the director of Kamal Adwan Hospital in northern Gaza” in each op-ed.
Neither Safyia nor the Times disclosed his alleged affiliation with the terror group, even though Palestinian media refers to him by his military rank. He is also referred to as a colonel in a 2020 Facebook post on the Gaza Strip Medical Services page.
An IDF spokesman said Safyia was a ranking member of Hamas, and that the hospital was teeming with hundreds of Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad terrorists.
Neither NGO Monitor nor the IDF accused Safyia of participating in any specific terrorist acts.
The New York Times did not respond to The Post’s request for comment. The Post was unable to reach Safyia.
The Israeli Defense Forces confirmed Safyia was apprehended during the war on suspicion of “involvement in terrorist activities.” He was not charged and was released by the IDF, but the Israeli Prison Services agency did not respond to a request for comment on his current whereabouts.
Specifically, when it comes to the homeless he’s decided to let freeze to death.
Last weekend saw at least 10 New Yorkers die in the cold, and temps remain glacial now.
Yet the mayor’s sticking by his order to cops and other city workers to leave encampments alone last weekend and not force the homeless to come in out of the deadly cold.
The idea is that the city should respect the autonomy of these (highly dysfunctional) individuals — which sure sounds like an obsessive care for “rugged individualism” to us.
That he himself called that “frigidity” is all the more damning.
Why is the newly prominent Democratic Socialist leader embracing a cold, laissez-faire attitude out of a Charles Dickens novel?
The most his office will do to get people into the collectivist warmth of a homeless shelter is “redouble outreach efforts.”
“Outreach” is a magic word in blue-city social services circles, because the alternative — compulsory shelter — is (mysteriously) a big no-no.
Even when a homeless person is clearly mentally ill, the ethic among the provider class is to make contact, extend the offer of help . . . .and retreat.
Under Mayor Eric Adams, the city had a policy of “involuntary removal” of homeless people with severe mental illness, but Mamdani rejects that approach because it doesn’t yet lead to “permanent supportive housing.”
Well, involuntary elementary school doesn’t always lead to an Ivy League degree, either, but it’s a good first step.
Nor is it remotely humane or compassionate to leave people to freeze to death just so you can push for some transformative change that might benefit others.
Even the designation of a “Code Blue,” which means it’s cold enough to override normal shelter admission policies, isn’t enough to let the city force people to come inside, unless they’re found to be in a state approaching death — but if they’ve gone hiding after the “outreach” crew has stopped by, they probably won’t get found in time.
It’s bizarre: Progressives are completely down with meddling maximally in people’s lives most of the time — taxing us, regulating us, telling us how to tip on food delivery and where to dispose of our vegetable peels.
But they become fiercely libertarian when it comes to letting mentally ill people refuse to come out of the cold.
“The law, in its majestic equality,” snarked Nobel Prize winner Anatole France, “forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges.”
Mamdani’s corollary is that the law permits rich and poor to sleep outside in the cold.
Sorry: Virtually everyone sees the value in rejecting “the frigidity of rugged individualism” in extreme cases, and the virtue of imposing the “warmth of collectivism.”
Live up to your clear promise, Mr. Mayor, and do right by the city’s most vulnerable.
Iran has been hit by multiple explosions with at least four people reported killed.
The regime has moved swiftly to dismiss suggestions that a Revolutionary Guard chief was the target of the blasts.
The wave of explosions follows threats from Trump to launch strikes against the Ayatollah over the deaths of thousands of protesters.
Whether the incidents are connected to US military action remains unclear.
Four fatalities were reported following a blast in Ahvaz, a city on the Iraqi border.
A separate explosion hit Bandar Abbas, a southern port city.
An eight-storey building was struck, with dramatic images showing serious damage to its lower levels.
The official IRNA news agency reported several injured people were taken from the scene, while cars and a shop also suffered damage.
Iranian media outlets have suggested the incidents were caused by "gas explosions".
Further blasts were recorded in Shahr-e Jadid-e Parand, Karaj, Tabriz, Nowshahr, Hashtgerd and Qeshm.
Washington has increased its military footprint in the region amid mounting tensions.
Nationwide demonstrations swept through Iran during the new year period.
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DIN: Tznees alert!
The hearing began with the judge stating that he would be granting the motion to vacate Weberman’s original sentence. Weberman had originally been sentenced to 103 years, but that sentence had been reduced by law to 50 years because of caps on incarceration. Weberman was then given an opportunity to address the court and his victim, who was present in court with her husband, her lawyer, friends, and advocates.
Weberman read from a prepared statement saying that he was not there to revisit the past. He said that he stood ready to take full, unconditional responsibility for the harm he caused. He said that he had misused the position of authority that was given to him and had desecrated God’s name. Turning to his victim he told her that she deserved a protector, and instead he had violated her. He told her that she had done nothing to deserved what had happened to her, that she had been an innocent child.
He then said that his time served – 13 years – had paid his debt to her, and that he stood before the court as a changed man. He pleaded to his victim, saying that he wasa truly, and deeply sorry.
The ADA, Joe Alexis, then asked Weberman to be more specific about what he was apologizing for. He asked Weberman if he accepts that his victim was 12 years old, and Weberman said he didn’t remember exactly, but that she was a child. The ADA then asked Weberman what specifically he had done to his victim. Weberman said it was sexual abuse. When asked to be more specific, Weberman bristled, saying he didn’t want to get graphic. His family was sitting in the courtroom, including two of his children.
He said that he’d been in jail for 13 years and couldn’t remember the specifics well enough to graphically say what it was, but it was sexual abuse, and that he didn’t want to think about it. The ADA asked him if he didn’t remember anything about it, and he said that he remembered what he’d said – that it was sexual abuse, but that he wouldn’t be using graphic language and it wouldn’t be true if he said it was this or that. The ADA asked him what he did remember. Weberman said “let’s call it sexual abuse.” The ADA pushed him, saying that Weberman kept saying that, but what did it specifically mean.
Iran’s threat to strike “the heart of Tel Aviv" should the US attack Iran sounds less like confidence than fear. It resembles a terrified animal puffing itself up to appear larger than it is. Iran desperately needs the world to believe it remains dangerous.
Tehran’s deranged mullahs are weaker-militarily, economically, diplomatically, and internally-than they have been in years.
Israel’s stunning success in its 12-Day War with Iran in 2025 stripped away long-cultivated myths of Iranian invulnerability. Israel demonstrated that it could penetrate Iran’s largely Russian air-defense systems and identify and strike key targets almost at will.
IDF Chief of Staff Eyal Zamir has given final approval to the General Staff orders for the integration of haredim into the military, Channel 13 reported on Thursday.
According to the report, the orders are intended to ensure that every haredi soldier maintains the same way of life he did at home before enlisting.
Among the orders that will be incorporated into IDF regulations in some tracks: an absolute ban on women entering the base, and a ban on exposing soldiers to women.
In addition, the soldiers' commanders will only be observant, and in some tracks, there will be mandatory Torah study and prayers.
The order states that soldiers will be able to receive food in several levels of kashrut, according to the practice in their homes. They will be exempt from wearing a uniform in haredi population centers, and the customary oath of allegiance to the IDF will be replaced by a declaration of allegiance to avoid the Torah prohibition on false oaths.
In addition, an external rabbinical council will be formed to oversee the implementation of the orders.
| Lapid & Bennett sit with the Atab MK |
The unification of the Arab parties negatively impacts Netanyahu’s opponents, who are unable to form a coalition without relying on the votes of the Joint List, according to a poll conducted by the "Mida" Institute for Channel 12 News.
The poll shows that if elections were held today, the Likud party would win 27 seats, and Naftali Bennett’s party would win 21.
The Joint List, if the Arab parties unite, would achieve 12 seats, the Democrats 11, Shas 9, Yesh Atid 8, Yisrael Beytenu 8, Otzma Yehudit 8, and United Torah Judaism 7.
The Religious Zionist Party does not pass the electoral threshold, but is close to it. Also, the Blue and White Party and the Reservists’ Party do not pass the electoral threshold.
The opposition bloc achieves 57 seats, while the coalition bloc has 51, with the Arab parties in the middle.
A union between Bennett, Yesh Atid, and Gadi Eizenkot does not bring any change to the bloc map. A joint party of the three would win 38 seats, with Likud maintaining its strength with 27 seats. In this scenario, the Joint List gets 12 seats, the Democrats 11, Shas 9, Yisrael Beytenu 8, Otzma Yehudit 8, and United Torah Judaism 7.
The concern spans multiple slaughter/production seasons over roughly two years, meaning significant quantities may already be in home freezers, butcher shops, and institutional kitchens.
Two specific products:
a premium frozen beef “asado” cut with bone under the Super Beef brand, and an asado-with-bone product marketed by Of Yerushalayim, produced in Paraguay. Consumers and retailers are instructed not to use the meat unless it is immediately corrected by a qualified menakker under kosher supervision, and to return affected product to the point of sale or through kashrut supervisors for reprocessing.
This is a halachic/kashrut compliance issue—not a food safety recall—but the Rabbinate is treating it as an urgent “stumbling block” and says distributors and mashgichim have been directed to pull and fix inventory fast.
Before the war in Gaza, relations between Saudi Arabia and Israel had taken a hopeful turn, as the prospect of the Arab state joining the Abraham Accords appeared to be approaching reality.
But the Oct. 7 attack derailed that plan, which appeared to serve one of Hamas’s goals of starting the war. Still, even during the war, there was hope that Saudi Arabia would continue to soften its stance and normalize relations with Israel.
But tensions between Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates have since escalated. The two countries had long enjoyed warm relations and a strong strategic partnership, but differences regarding Yemen have turned into an emerging rivalry amid increasing hostility, with Saudi Arabia demanding that the UAE withdraw from parts of Yemen, while drawing closer to Turkey and Qatar, both hostile to Israel.
At the same time, Saudi Arabia started to jack up its anti-Israel rhetoric, including anti-Jewish conspiracies, on its state-run media and its local Al-Jazeera station, as the hope for normalization with Israel receded in the rear-view mirror.
This calls into question the wisdom of the November 18 meeting between President Donald Trump and Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud (also known as MBS) about the sale of F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia. It also raises doubts about the reliability of Saudi Arabia as a U.S. ally, even as Trump continues to maintain a positive and warm relationship with MBS, who serves as the country’s prime minister.
Authorities said the driver claimed a mechanical problem caused the crash and that he had no terrorist intent.