Parhat Ki Teiztei ...

by Rabbi Shmuel Knopfler

Parshat Ki Teitze, encounters a commandment that speaks of a reality with which we are completely unfamiliar, the “eshet yefat to’ar” (taking a beautiful woman as a war bride). Here, the Torah describes a scenario in which a Jewish soldier wishes to marry a woman captured from the enemy. The Torah allows the soldiers to do so, even if it is against the woman’s will. The Torah states, “When you go out to
war against your enemies, and the Lord, Hashem, will deliver him into your hands, and you take his captives, and you see among the captives a beautiful woman and you desire her, you may take [her] for yourself as a wife.”

This is undoubtedly a thorny issue, and I am not sure if I would feature it as a preface to a discussion of the basic principles of Judaism, especially considering how much the Torah warns us against marrying non-Jewish women, who could exert a pagan cultural influence on us.

Furthermore, later in the parsha, the Torah cautions us against sexual promiscuity on army bases: “… your camp shall be holy, so that He should not see anything unseemly among you and would turn away from you.” God is in our midst, in our army bases, and this is why we need to take special care.

If so, we would expect the Torah to forbid us from taking non-Jewish wives altogether, and it goes without saying that we should not marry non-Jews against their will. Yet some of our Sages interpreted the fact that the expression used, “eshet yefat to’ar”, instead of the proper Hebrew expression, “isha yefat to’ar”, indicates that the Torah allows us to marry the non-Jewish woman, against her will, even if she was already married to someone else!

You need not possess a particularly gentle soul to find such behavior revolting. It violates our most basic religious and human values, and it begs an obvious and justified question: why did the Torah allow and accept this type of behavior, instead of waging all-out war against it?

Our midrashic Sages never concealed their reservations and criticism of people who behave like this. They state that anyone who marries such a woman will end up hating her later, and that this is why the next subject discussed in the parsha concerns people with hated wives, followed by the laws of sorer u’moreh, the rebellious son that such a marriage would inevitably result in. According to this interpretation, our Sages made a poignant statement against anyone who feels this is the proper thing to do.

Still, this does not answer the question of why the Torah does not explicitly forbid it, just as the Geneva Convention banned harming civilians many centuries later. Rashi, one of our greatest commentators, wrote, “The Torah [in permitting this marriage] is speaking only against the evil inclination. For if the Holy One, blessed is He, would not permit her to him, he would take her illicitly.”

Otherwise put, the Torah is not about to require people to do something at which they could not possibly succeed, simply for it to appear on paper. To do so would be to set people up for failure. Rather, the Torah is trying to foster an understanding of how indecent this behavior is, and how much a person could lose by acting in this way. It will also try to stop this from happening by creating a set of rules that make it hard to follow through with such an idea. Sure enough, the verses describe a list of things the man must do, designed to cause him to restore the woman’s freedom. For example, “… she shall let her nails grow”. Our Sages remark that “she should grow them out so that she should appear unattractive to him”.

The verse continues, “And she shall remove the garment of her captivity from upon herself…” Our Sages comment that “[this is] because they are pretty; they decorate themselves during battle in order to cause others to have illicit relations with them.”

The verse then says, “and [she shall] stay in your house”, which our Sages explained that a person would “see her when he comes in, and when he goes out, when she cries, and when she is repulsive, so that she would become undesirable to him.” In other words, short of prohibiting this practice altogether, the Torah will go to every length to nip it in the bud, because there is always the chance that a person will not heed the words of the Torah.

Why, though, would a person not heed the Torah’s instructions, if the Torah had forbade this behavior? Rav Kook explained that a person cannot base every action on whether it is legal. Humanity needs morality and benevolence to elevate it beyond just doing what is allowed, or not doing what is forbidden. For instance, if a particular law obligates every citizen to give charity to poor people they pass
by on the street, the poor would obviously benefit from the law, but as human beings, we would become less benevolent, since we are only giving charity because the law requires it.

As parents, we know that our children understand what we want from them, not just because they hear us explicitly allowing or forbidding certain behaviors, but also because of the gestures we make, and especially when they notice our faces shining with pride, or green with disgust.

No one studying the Torah would have any doubts about what the Torah wants from him or her. This type of educational guidance is right for us, as families and as a society. It would be wrong to assume that if a certain behavior is legal, it is automatically the right thing to do. Our sense of morality and humanity demand a lot more from us than just doing what is allowed and refraining from what is forbidden.
בברכת התורה והארץ‎

שַׁבָּת שָׁלוֹם

B'Birchat Hatorah V'Haaretz

Shabbat Shalom

Shmuel Knopfler

One May Not Bring Arba Minim Into Israel

With Tishrei on the horizon, the Ministry of Agriculture reminds travelers that one may not bring arba minim into the country for Sukkos.

The Ministry’s Plant Protection & Inspection Services is increasing its manpower assigned to border control, in light of the increase in the number of attempts by private individuals and merchants to bring arba minim into Israel, and at times, the arba minim are infected by various pests.

As in past years, agents assigned to border control will offer a person bringing arba minim with a personal (non-commercial) product made in Israel, including hadassim, aravos, and of course, a lulav. It should be noted that the passengers are permitted to bring one esrog per passenger.

According to the Plant Protection Law, and in order to prevent the passage between countries of pests and pathogens to plants (insects, mites, nematodes, fungi, bacteria and viruses), it is absolutely forbidden to bring fruits and vegetables and any other plant products into the territory of the State of Israel. Any transfer of agricultural produce to the borders of the State of Israel without the approval of the Ministry of Agriculture constitutes a criminal offense.

It should be noted that when an importer or a citizen wishes to bring in agricultural produce from a foreign country, the Plant Protection & Inspection Services of the Ministry of Agriculture conducts tests to ensure that the produce meets the import requirements. Pests and pathogens do not always appear in the eye, but the introduction of lulavim, esrogim, plants, or any other fruit or vegetable left in one’s breakfast bag, then eaten at the hotel and even thrown into the garbage, can cause the introduction of a new species of harm or disease causing local agriculture .

The Ministry of Agriculture makes it clear that those interested in bringing the arba minim to Israel in advance should contact the Plant Protection & Inspection Services of the Ministry of Agriculture.

When Are Arabs Really Happy?

When politics becomes personal

by Judith Colp Rubin

A close American friend recently revealed why a mutual friend was no longer speaking to me.

“She said you support Donald Trump. But that isn’t true, is it?”

My first reaction was incredulity. My second was to laugh hysterically. My third was to get angry. My fourth was to write about this, knowing that it might cost me some more friends.

How had it come to this? How did it happen that I, a relatively apolitical person who hadn’t even voted in the last US presidential election (what was the point when my home state, Maryland, always went Democratic?) and never wrote about political topics, was being shunned because of my political beliefs?

I considered what I had said that prompted my friend to drop me. I had expressed my approval that Trump had moved the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and rescinded the treaty with Iran. Additionally, I had said that it was Northeastern elitism and arrogance that had brought him, not Hillary Clinton, to power. I don’t consider either comment to be especially controversial.

I had also stressed that Trump wasn’t my top choice for president then or likely ever. But I had already said enough.

For many Trump haters, there is a “you are with us all the way or against us” mentality that has reached hysterical proportions. It is a view no longer relegated to just a few hotheads. It is a hysteria that permeates our most elite media, institutions, and individuals. It is mean, ugly, and very personal.

After discussing politics one evening at a café, another friend remarked to me: “I don’t understand how such a nice person as yourself can be right wing.”

The implication is that the left has a monopoly on goodness and caring for others. The comment echoes the words of the late great columnist Charles Krauthammer who once noted: “To understand the workings of American politics you have to understand this fundamental law: Conservatives think liberals are stupid. Liberals think conservatives are evil.”

I understand that comment because I once thought so myself. I was the third generation of my family to attend a “progressive” private school where we learned more about Martin Luther King, Jr than the Founding Fathers. I worked on my first political campaign at age 15 for ultra-liberal Bella Abzug and a few years later trudged through snowy Maine and New Hampshire canvassing votes for liberal icon Sen. Ted Kennedy. President of my college Young Democrats, I wept when Ronald Reagan was elected and bought a t-shirt at the 1984 Democratic Convention reading “Friends Don’t Let Friends Vote Republican.”

I was drawn to liberal Democrats because they represented my values: freedom of speech and religion, civil rights, gender equality, gun control, and non-elitism. I thought conservatives were wealthy white men who abused the poor and saw women as intellectually inferior sex objects.

But slowly, while Trump was just focused on amassing New York City real estate, liberals have been attacking America and Israel, while glossing over the threat of Islamic fundamentalism. They have castigated working class people in middle America as ignorant hillbillies and mocked their religious beliefs. And they have created an intolerance for dissent.

The mythical liberal of the past — an open-hearted and generous soul helping the underdog — has become an ugly figure excoriating anyone who doesn’t share his views. Those who don’t swoon over Obama and foam at the mouth at the mention of Trump are being branded as racist and evil. Equally shocking are the stories of elitist universities refusing to let non-left speakers on campus.

All of this has succeeded in pushing people like me, who do not feel entirely comfortable voting Republican, further and further away from the Democratic Party.  We are the voters up for grabs in the next election. Those that criticize and ostracize us do so at their own peril.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Former journalist -- The Washington Times, USA Today, New York Daily News, Women's International Net -- among others. Co-author -- Arafat: A Political Biography (Oxford, 2001), Hating America (Oxford, 2003). Completed the Masters in Creative Writing at Bar Ilan.

Akiva Meir Hersh of Cleveland A Sexual Predator??

Palestinian Minibus Flips Near Maale Adumim [VIDEO] 1 Dead 9 Injured

The minibus has PA (Palestine Authority) license plates. MDA reports a 50-year-old male was pronounced dead on the scene. Nine men in their 30s are being treated. Three are moderate-to-serious and six light-to-moderate. The victims are being transported to Hadassah Mt. Scopus and Shaare Zedek Hospitals in Jerusalem.

Illegal Alien Charged with First Degree Murder of Mollie Tibbetts

Mainstream Media covering up for this Illegal piece of filth! Not reporting that he is an illegal Alien! 

Daily News Headline:

" Suspect in Mollie Tibbetts case charged with first degree murder after body found"

New York Times:

"Body Believed to Be That of Mollie Tibbetts, Iowa College Student, Is Found" you have to read the article to see that the murderer was arrested, but no mention that he is illegal.

USA Today: Describes murderer as "undocumented" 

"Undocumented immigrant charged with murder in killing of Iowa student Mollie Tibbetts"

The Real Story:

Harvard professor slams coconut oil as ‘pure poison’

If you’re cuckoo for coconut oil, think again.

That’s the message of a lecture from Dr. Karin Michels of Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, which is currently making the rounds on YouTube. The 50-minute German-language talk, titled “Coconut Oil and Other Nutritional Errors,” debunks the popular belief that the ingredient is a waistline-slimming, brain-boosting superfood.

“Coconut oil is pure poison,” the Harvard professor said, according to a translation by Business Insider. “It is one of the worst foods you can eat.”

This warning could come as a shock to advocates of the thick, fatty stuff, who use it not only for cooking but also blend it into their morning cup of coffee. Enthusiasts say the resulting beverage, called “bulletproof coffee,” curbs hunger and helps beat post-wake-up brain fog.

Some fans even believe that a spoonful of coconut oil can prevent gingivitis and sinusitis, which is why they spend 10 minutes a day gargling with it — a habit known as “oil pulling.”

Michels isn’t the first expert to come out against the oil’s alleged status as a miracle food.

The American Heart Association advised against consuming too much of it in June 2017, after a study found that all saturated fats — regardless of the source — are damaging to heart health.

Just because it comes from a plant doesn’t mean it’s good for you: The same study pointed out that coconut oil, which is 82 percent saturated fat, is actually richer than butter. The saturated fat content of that much-maligned ingredient? Sixty-three percent.

Rosh Yeshivah Prohibits Friends of The Chassan To Attend The Wedding Because It's Elul!!!

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The Rosh Yeshiva, Rabbi Eliyahu Abba Shaul, forbade his yeshiva students to attend the wedding of one his talmidim that was held Sunday evening in a banquet hall near Petah Tikva.

According to friends, the Chassan who was married last night was in a "problematic" relationship with the Hanhalah. 

The directive given to the students was that whoever took part in the wedding would be taken from his bed and removed from the yeshiva immediately. 

The official reason: There are no weddings in the month of Elul!

When students of other Yeshivas heard that few students showed to be "mesamach" the Chassan, they came running to the wedding.

The Ironic part was that the Rosh Yeshivah, Hagoen Hatzaddik R' Eliyahu Abba Shaul, participated in the wedding of the daughter of the Rabbi Tzion HaCohen Kook that very same night!

Bobover Meshiginer Gives His New-Born Daughter 9 Names

This past Shabbos in the Bobover Bais Medrish in Boro Park, a father gave his daughter no fewer than nine names.

"And her name shall be called in Israel:

Leah, Hinda, Tzirel, Malka Attia, Sheina Chana Chava Tzivya," the Gabbai declared after the "Aliyah to the Torah."

According to reports from Chasidim, the family name - which the daughter would also have to bear - is Folger.

The interesting name, which undoubtedly breaks every possible record, has drawn a wave of amusing reactions. One of the surfers chirped on Twitter: "Thank God that it's not a boy, imagine what it means to call him the Torah ...

Black South African Government Will Seize Land owned by Whites!

"We are not calling for the slaughter of white people - at least for now"

White South African farmers will be removed from their land after a landslide vote in parliament.

The country's constitution is now likely to be amended to allow for the confiscation of white-owned land without compensation, following a motion brought by radical Marxist opposition leader Julius Malema.

It passed by 241 votes for to 83 against after a vote on Tuesday, and the policy was a key factor in new president Cyril Ramaphosa's platform after he took over from Jacob Zuma in February.

Mr Malema said the time for 'reconciliation is over'. 'Now is the time for justice,' News24 reported.

'We must ensure that we restore the dignity of our people without compensating the criminals who stole our land.'

Mr Malema has a long-standing commitment to land confiscation without compensation. In 2016 he told his supporters he was 'not calling for the slaughter of white people - at least for now'.

A 2017 South African government audit found white people owned 72 per cent of farmland.

Rural affairs minister for the ruling African National Congress party said 'The ANC unequivocally supports the principle of land expropriation without compensation'.

'There is no doubt about it, land shall be expropriated without compensation.' 

Freedom Front Plus party leader Pieter Groenewald said the decision to strip white farmers of their land would cause 'unforeseen consequences that is not in the interest of South Africa'.

The deputy chief executive of civil rights group Afriforum said the motion was a violation of agreements made at the end of apartheid.  

Trump Deports Nazi labor camp guard Video!

A former Nazi SS labor camp guard was deported from his home in Queens, N.Y., to Germany, the White House announced in a statement early Tuesday morning.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents implemented a 2004 deportation order against Jakiw Palij, who immigrated to the United States in 1949 and became a citizen in 1957 after concealing his Nazi background, the statement read.

Palij admitted to Department of Justice officials in 2003 that he trained at a Nazi camp in German-occupied Poland. Court documents indicated that men who trained at the SS Training camp in Trawniki carried out the Nazi regime’s plan to murder Jews in Poland.

The 95-year-old also served as an armed guard at the adjacent Trawniki Labor Camp – where he served an “indispensable role” in the death of roughly 6,000 Jews who were killed in one of the single largest massacres of the Holocaust in 1943, according to the statement.

Palij, who claimed he was working on a farm and in a factory during World War II, had his U.S. citizenship revoked in 2003 by a federal judge, and ordered to be deported a year later. His appeal was denied in 2005.

“Through extensive negotiations, President Trump and his team secured Palij’s deportation to Germany and advanced the United States’ collaborative efforts with a key European ally,” the statement read.

Palij’s deportation process was hindered over Germany’s unwillingness to take him back because he is not a German citizen, ABC News reported.

President Trump tasked U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell to ensure Palij’s deportation was on the top of his list when he arrived to Berlin, according to the outlet.

Hundreds of thousands more Israelis okayed to carry guns

More than half a million Israelis have become eligible to receive gun permits under a major reform of the country’s firearms rules, with the stated goal of improving the immediate response to terror attacks.

Under the new rules, which went into effect immediately upon being announced Monday, hundreds of thousands of veterans of the IDF’s infantry units will be eligible for gun permits, along with police officers who received the equivalent training.

Additionally, army officers ranked first lieutenant or higher, as well as non-commissioned officers ranked first sergeant or higher, who carried a weapon during their military service will no longer be required to return their guns and permits when they are discharged from reserve service, and will be allowed to ask to keep carrying them.

Volunteers in certain police units and in medical organizations Magen David Adom, ZAKA and Hatzalah will also be eligible to receive permits.

The reform was unveiled by Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, who has pushed for allowing more Israelis to arm themselves as a response to terror attacks.

Under the old rules, Israelis had to prove a need for the firearms, such as living or working in an area considered dangerous, and undergo regular testing and training.

Under the loosened directives, individuals who have been in continuous possession of a firearm permit for 10 years will now be allowed to keep the permit indefinitely, without undergoing periodic tests to prove they still match the requirements.

Indictment Filed Against Chareidi Woman Who Injected Her Children With Insulin To Get Welfare

A Ramat Shlomo Chareidie mother who was  accused of injecting her ten children with insulin to mimic signs of diabetes to defraud Bituach Leumi into paying them money monthly, was indicted.

The Jerusalem prosecutor has moved ahead with a criminal indictment against the 30-year-old mother, including charges of abuse of her children. The indictment was filed in the Jerusalem District Court.

One of the children, 18-months-old, who was hospitalized in Shaare Zedek Hospital in the capital, reportedly sustained irreversible brain damage as a result of the insulin shots.

The clueless father of the children denies the allegations against his wife, calling them “baseless”.

Rabbi Malkiel Kotler Lakewood Roshe Yeshivah Takes a Selfie!

4 Belzer Chassidim Graduate Israeli Law School ... Chareidim Furious!

Four brave Belzer Chassidim graduated as lawyers with the blessings of the Belzer Rebbe. 

The Litvisher "velt" and a couple of unemployed Meah Shearim leidegeirs are rattled; concerned that this may become a trend, that Frum Chassidishe Yungeleit will now finally provide for their families and be legal advocates for their respective communities.

 They are upset because these "new" ideas may infiltrate their "no working" cocoon and are concerned that this will encourage more  Chareidim to  break this vicious chain of doing nothing while being supported by their hard working wives .. and learn a trade (Chas Ve' Sholem). 

This monumental achievement is a great threat to the Roshei Yeshivas that depend on their students to hang around until the students are well into their sixties.
Kudos to the Belzer Rebbe!

Dozens of Charedim participated last week in the Ono Academic College campus graduation ceremony.

The ceremony was held at the Performing Arts Center in Ashdod, where graduates were awarded diplomas, including four Belz hassidim from Ashdod who were certified as lawyers.

Later, pictures of the four hasidim with the traditional lawyers' cloak were distributed.

The sight aroused loathing among members of the "Jerusalem Faction" and some Meah She'arim residents who bitterly attacked the Belz hasidim for what they call "academic apostasy (shmad)".

"Appalling! The heretical picture that's shaking the Jewish world!", one wrote. "Four Belz Hasidim at a ceremony for awarding academic degrees to the wretched haredi fallen in Ono Academic College. During the ceremony the fallen wore a uniform reminiscent of Christian priests - a black robe and a black four-cornered hat.

"For the occasion, four Belz chassidim proudly took part in the ceremony, whose beards and sidelocks and even the hasidic shoes and special socks attested to their hasidic affiliation, but the Samet hat and jacket with the gartel that Belzers don't remove for a moment throughout the day, they traded for disgusting garments and were smilingly photographed at the conversion ceremony, G-d forbid, as they hold the academic certificate, with a secular student from the academy standing among them.

"In the Jewish world the images aroused tremendous shock and great pain, despite the fact that from time to time pictures of haredi Jews from all communities and circles are published participating in these gentile ceremonies. But the combination of the blatant Belzer look together with the contemptible academic uniform worn by those fallen who dared to publish their shameful picture and lower everyone's morale just shows the rift and decay taking place in communities and circles within the haredi public."

The writers criticized the Belzer Rebbe for allowing the new lawyers to go to the college. 

"Two of those fallen opened a law firm in the summer and the ceremony was attended by senior Belz rabbis, who had previously received the Rebbe's blessing. It should be noted that at the inauguration of their office they appeared in full hasidic garb, including the famous Belzer gartel, under which they hide the deep rot they absorbed in college and academia."

Shulem Lemmer Sings "Aveenu Malkeinu" Sung First by Barabra Streisand ..

Chazonim Concert of a Lifetime! Rosenblatt, Kwartin, Hershman, Roitman ... All At One Concert at the Pitken Ave Shul in Brownsville Brooklyn

Dead Suspects In Orthodox Jewish Father's Death Called Reclusive, Paranoid

Two adult brothers suspected of being involved in the fatal shooting of their physician father before turning guns on themselves during a SWAT standoff were reclusive, paranoid and likely mentally ill, a suburban Cleveland police chief said.

Authorities have said Richard Warn, 59, was found shot multiple times Aug. 9 by police officers at his home in the upscale suburb of Beachwood last week after his wife reported she couldn’t get inside upon her return from a European vacation. Warn had flown with his wife to Newark, New Jersey, for an overseas connection but then decided not to travel because of motion sickness and drove home in a rental car.

Richard Warn z"l

ALGEMEINER NEWS Will Honor the Actress Sharon Stone At Its Annual Dinner

the "Groiseh Tzedeikis" Sharon Stone