“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
Monday, November 2, 2020
Police Arrest Gerrer Chassidim in Ashdod as "Gerrer Civil War " Erupts in Violence ...Updated ...see video
Palestinians in talks with Biden campaign
Palestinian leadership said to be placing its bets on Biden victory in November 3 presidential election
The Palestinian Authority (PA) maintains contacts with Democratic contender Joe Biden's campaign in the 2020 race for the White House, The Media Line reported on Sunday.
The outlet cited two senior PA sources as saying there are direct communication lines between Ramallah and the Biden camp.
Those were reportedly established with the help of a Palestinian-American businessman.
Stressing the importance of these channels for the PA leaders, one of the sources told the agency: “We want to let Mr Biden know that we are willing and ready to talk.”
The PA's relations with the administration of US President Donald Trump quickly went sour as the US leader recognized Jerusalem as the Israeli capital and moved the US embassy there from Tel Aviv.
The Palestinians proclaimed that under Trump, the US can no longer be viewed as a fair broker in the conflict and refused to consider Trump's peace plan, dubbed Peace to Prosperity.
As the November 3 presidential vote approaches, the Palestinian leadership has placed its bet on a Biden victory.
As the vice president in the administration of President Barack Obama, which saw US-Israel ties hit lows in its final years, Biden is perceived by the PA as someone who would quickly change the US approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and reinvigorate the two-state solution.
The Left Promises To Revolt If Trump Wins
Democrats want you to be worried about voter intimidation. They also want you to know that they will not be going gently into that good election night if President Trump wins again.
It seems like threats of “creating serious disruption,” as one Resistance group expressed plans to do if Trump wins, might be a worrisome voter intimidation tactic. (If someone told me he would bring mass chaos to the streets if I voted for a particular candidate, I’d feel intimidated.)
But the media and Twitter establishments are a lot more interested in a narrative where voter intimidation comes from the right.
Much was made of emails circulating, allegedly from the extremist group “Proud Boys,” threatening to “come after” people unless they cast their votes for Trump.
The Proud Boys denied sending the emails, and government officials eventually deemed the emails to be from Iranian hackers. John Ratcliffe, U.S. director of national intelligence, suggested that the emails may have been actually a plot to “damage President Trump,” possibly by associating him with the Proud Boys or with voter intimidation tactics.
Still, the “right-wing voter intimidation” narrative continued.
Orthodox rabbis urge Trump to pardon Jewish comedian
Ari Teman, a Jewish standup comic who once won a national contest seeking a “Jewish community hero” has united an array of Orthodox rabbis with leading standup comics in an appeal to President Trump to pardon him for bank fraud.
Teman has compiled a video to be launched on social media next week with more than 60 people saying “Mr. President, please pardon Ari Teman.”
A jury found him guilty in January; Teman says his accusers perjured themselves and that federal prosecutors withheld evidence. His lawyers have asked the judge to vacate the decision. He faces sentencing in December.
Among those making the appeal are a number of Chabad rabbis; Rabbi Steven Pruzansky, who has held senior positions in the Rabbinical Council of America; Brian Kiley, a longtime staff writer for Conan O’Brien; and Dan Naturman, a comic who has made numerous appearances on late-night TV. His parents close the video saying, “Mr. President, please pardon our son, Ari Teman.”
Alan Dershowitz, the famed constitutional lawyer, is on Teman’s team.
Teman straddles multiple worlds, working comedy clubs and volunteering with Chabad. He invented an artificial intelligence security system that he markets. Teman withdrew funds from the accounts of landlords who were using the security system. He says he was authorized to withdraw the funds. The landlords in court testimony said they did not anticipate the withdrawals but they acknowledged they did not fully read the terms of the contract.
In 2009, he won the Jewish Federation of North America’s “Jewish Community Hero” award for a group he founded, JCorps, that matches young Jews with volunteer opportunities.
Make America Great, or make America Somalia
America is at an inflection point more ominous and dangerous than the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860. Then, America elected a president who would fight for the good of the Union against misguided forces that broke with the Nation and sought to continue the evils of slavery.
Egged fined for refusal to allow scantily dressed girl to board bus
The Tel Aviv District Court has issued a ruling demanding that the Egged Ta’avura bus company, a subsidiary of Egged, pay damages to Mor Simhi, a teenage girl who was told by a bus driver employed by the company that he did not allow her to board due to her immodest manner of dress.
The driver, Yuval Avital, defines himself as religious, and was working on the route between Jerusalem and Kochav Yaakov, a national-religious community, when the incident occurred.
According to a report in Kikar Hashabbat, when the girl approached the bus, Avital refused to allow her to board, telling her, “You’re not getting on [dressed] like that.” The next day, as the girl got on the same bus, she asked the driver why he had refused to allow her to board the day before.
“You were wearing the shortest pants in the world,” he told her.
In his defense, the driver told the Court that he only asked the girl not to board, and when she complied, he understood that she did so in order to respect his beliefs as a religious man.
However, Justice Kochava Levy accepted the version of events provided by the girl, and added that a bus driver was not entitled to impose his personal views on travelers – he must only provide a service to them without discrimination.
The judge then ruled that Egged Ta’avura, which she claimed had tried to influence the proceedings, should compensate the girl to the sum of NIS 120,000.
Open Letter To the Esteemed Rabbis of the Agudath Israel of America Organization
You recently published a "Statement of Agudath Israel of America on Haredi Principles." When I read your statement, I was shaken to the core. This statement both profoundly saddens me and frightens me.
Your statement saddens me because, as a G-d-fearing Torah Jew, it is my belief that we must conduct ourselves in a way that would bring Nachat Ruach to our Creator. Of course, this means keeping the Mitzvoth of the Torah. Central to these commandments is VeAhavta L'Rayecha Kamocha, love your fellow as you love yourself. As Hillel HaZaken stated, "This is Torah. The rest is commentary."
Trump caravans snarl traffic on Garden State Parkway
Two caravans of President Trump supporters wreaked havoc on the Garden State Parkway and the Mario M. Cuomo Bridge on Sunday — creating traffic jams by stopping their cars and exiting the vehicles on the major motorways.
In New Jersey, the demonstrators in cars, SUVs and pickup trucks honked their horns and waved pro-Trump flags, according to video posted to Twitter by Yeshiva World News.
“Yeah — woo!” a man filming the video can be heard saying. “We shut it down, baby. We shut it down.”
The caravan was at a complete standstill, with some people standing atop their cars, the video shows.
A similar scene played out in New York on the bridge connecting Nyack and Tarrytown.
Video shot by FNTV shows Trump supporters either idling in their cars or standing on the bridge to chants of “USA, USA, USA.”
New York state Sen. David Carlucci, whose district covers Nyack, slammed the caravan and called on state police to charge those involved.
“What was seen in New York was aggressive, dangerous, and reckless behavior by some Trump supporters,” Carlucci said in a statement posted to Twitter.
Sunday, November 1, 2020
Matzivah of R' Zalman Notik ... States that the Rebbe of Lubavitch "Is Alive"
I am sure when the "niftar" entered gan eden , he died again when he met the Rebbe up there, thinking he is alive and well ..on earth..
Belgian Gov’t Allows Only 4 People at A Wedding
Due to Belgium’s surging coronavirus infection rate and its current status as the worst-hit country in the European Union, the government decided over the weekend to allow only four people at gatherings, including in shuls and at weddings.
Leaders of the frum community have been attempting to influence the government to increase the number of participants to ten but to no avail as of yet, B’Chadrei Chareidim reported.
An askan in Antwerp told B’Chadrei that the problem is that the government categorizes shuls with churches and mosques. Four people are sufficient for churches and mosques: the priest or muezzin, a photographer and two technicians who take care of the live broadcast.
The askan said that the new regulation is also wreaking havoc on families who have weddings planned.
“The comparison between Jews and other religions is the problem because as much as we explain the difference, they simply don’t understand what the problem is with davening alone or getting married via Zoom,” the askan said. “They tell us to delay weddings which isn’t always possible. We don’t know what will be.”