THANKS SO MUCH,, IT MEANS THE WORLD TO US IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMESֱ
“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
THANKS SO MUCH,, IT MEANS THE WORLD TO US IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMESֱ
We are in the middle of an era of unprecedented upheaval, fury and dissent to the point of violence. But underneath the loud boisterous anger and arguments, we are also – and predominately – in an era of mourning.
Obviously, we are mourning the physical loss of loved ones to this relentless virus. We mourn the financial losses and terrifying instabilities that accompany it. The psychological toll of these losses is beyond measure. That deep-seated sorrow is generating much of the current political upheaval.
And yet beyond those physical losses we are also mourning the metaphysical loss of truth. Truth is a fragile creature. We have seen it twisted, manhandled and quite frankly, slaughtered like some sort of a choice sacrifice. On the altar of what? Fear and fear-based thinking. On the altar of fear without facts. In short, on the altar of conspiracy theories.
Conspiratorial ideas no longer seem to be merely whispered along the fringes. Rather they are increasingly becoming the dominant narrative in many pockets of the Torah community. Even more concerning, they are very often shared in the context of Torah teachings and wisdom.
THANKS SO MUCH,, IT MEANS THE WORLD TO US IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMESֱ
President Biden warned new members of his administration Wednesday that he’ll fire them "on the spot" if they fail to treat others nicely.
"If you’re ever working with me, and I hear you treat another colleague with disrespect, talk down to someone, I promise you I will fire you on the spot," Biden told new aides during a swearing-in ceremony following his inauguration. "On the spot."
He told the appointees that part of it is that he wants to root out systemic racism and that failing to maintain his standards of decorum would cost them their jobs.
"My dad used to have an expression: He said everyone, every single person, regardless of their background, is entitled to be treated with dignity," Biden said. "I expect you to do that for all the folks you deal with, all the folks we work for, the American people."
"No ifs, ands or buts – everybody, everybody is entitled to be treated with decency and dignity," Biden concluded during his remarks Wednesday. "That's been missing in a big way for the last four years."
The stern call for workplace pleasantness comes after a 2020 presidential campaign in which he said he’d "beat the hell" out of his opponent, former President Donald Trump, if they were in high school together.
"If we were in high school, I’d take him behind the gym and beat the hell out of him," Biden said on the campaign trail in March 2018, taking issue with some of Trump’s past remarks.
The statement prompted a fiery rebuke from Trump and stood out as Biden tried to campaign on a platform of unity and normalcy – concepts he mentioned during his inaugural address Wednesday.
"We can join forces, stop the shouting and lower the temperature," he said. "For without unity there is no peace, only bitterness and fury. No progress, only exhausting outrage. No nation, only a state of chaos. This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the path forward."
THANKS SO MUCH,, IT MEANS THE WORLD TO US IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMESֱ
Rabbi Kenneth Hain and other leaders of Congregation Beth Sholom in Lawrence, New York, banned the 5 Towns Jewish Times from their synagogue because the newspaper featured a front-page photo of one of its columnists at the January 6 protests in Washington, DC
THANKS SO MUCH,, IT MEANS THE WORLD TO US IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMESֱ
As our President Donald J. Trump prepares to leave the White House, I am making this post so it will show back up as a future memory on my timeline. This isn’t a political dispute. I am genuinely curious what the next 4 years will bring:
THANKS SO MUCH,, IT MEANS THE WORLD TO US IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMESֱ
THANKS SO MUCH,, IT MEANS THE WORLD TO US IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMESֱ
Kol BaRama is a Haredi radio station based in Bnei Brak, broadcasting since 2009 seven days a week, from Saturday night until Friday afternoon.
“These are murderers and people who understand that this can kill,” Shwamenfeld told Reshet Bet. “I don’t understand what’s happening here around me, especially when it comes to the Haredim, because the sanctity of life is our greatest value.”
“You are righteous,” he said about Israeli Haredim, “Is there anything you won’t do to save every life? What’s happened to us?”
Shwamenfeld said his father was probably infected by his brother, who is mentally disabled.
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THANKS SO MUCH,, IT MEANS THE WORLD TO US IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMESֱ
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THANKS SO MUCH,, IT MEANS THE WORLD TO US IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMESֱ
Virtually all major media, the intelligentsia, all the Democrats, and even many Republicans tell us that the man we supported for President is guilty of "sedition." That he led an "insurrection" in an "attempted coup" or "putsch" that sought to destroy democracy in America.
We are guilty by association with cretins wearing "Camp Auschwitz" shirts who attacked the high citadel of America. We should cower in silence and shame over the travesty and horror that we aided and abetted. We must be fired from our jobs, cast out of polite society, and have our social media accounts shut down. Even more so, if we dare to continue asserting that there were serious questions about the election that were never properly resolved.
In fact, all such claims have been thoroughly “debunked”; all the lawsuits Trump’s team brought were tossed out of court for lack of evidence. Senators Cruz and Hawley, who (while denouncing the rioters in the strongest terms) persisted in objecting to the certification of the elections, should be thrown out of office and perhaps charged with sedition.
Moreover, as religious Jews, we are being scolded that we ought to be ashamed of ourselves for supporting such a monster – whom the smart people knew all along was the second coming of Hitlerימ"ש . We should engage in a cheshbon hanefesh (personal spiritual accounting) for the terrible 'חילול ה (desecration of G-d’s honor) that we caused by advocating for such an obvious degenerate. We must hang our heads in shame before the wiser, all-knowing liberals who always knew that Joe Biden and the Democrats were morally superior. After all, they have long been warning us that Trump is a rabble-rousing, incompetent, corrupt, arrogant white supremacist who has now proved to be the greatest imaginable danger to America and the world. We must submit to the silencing of our voices and accept our deserved lot as defeated and "canceled," while our political opponents use their now unbridled power to change America forever.
I believe that it is crucial for us – the 71 million who voted for Donald Trump and against Joe Biden – to refuse to allow ourselves to be written off due to the awful actions of a relatively tiny bunch of criminals. (They were only one or two percent of those who came to the Trump rally, let alone the many millions who were not there at all.) Those misguided morons did so much damage – not so much to the United States – but primarily to Trump supporters and the legacy of Trump himself.
It is crucial that 70 million-plus people not feel that their voice has been stolen from them – which is exactly what the left is now trying to do in every possible way.
THANKS SO MUCH,, IT MEANS THE WORLD TO US IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMESֱ
Yehuda Meshi Zahav, the director and founder of ZAKA, lost his mother Sora Zisel to coronavirus this week, less than a month after his brother died from a serious illness. The pain of losing his mother is worse however for Meshi Zahav, who says that for ten months his parents were protected “like an Esrog” by their children.
“My mother was perfectly healthy, active, constantly giving, she’d never had a problem with her lungs before.,” Meshi Zahav said in a Ynet interview. “My brother went away before Chanukah and family members made a Chanukah party with my parents. Everyone at the party got sick and she gradually became more sick until she passed away.”
With coronavirus rates skyrocketing in Israel, the Chareidi public is suffering the most from the third wave, with an estimated 1 in 3 of those infected belonging to the Chareidi sector. Meshi Zahav does not mince words about Chareidim who ignore COVID-19 regulations.
THANKS SO MUCH,, IT MEANS THE WORLD TO US IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMESֱ