"Is the life of a soldier worth less than a Hostage?"

 

Rabbi Eliezer Melamed

A difficult question faces the State of Israel – how to release the approximately 240 captives held by Hamas. Should an agreement be reached to release them in exchange for many terrorists and a ceasefire?

 Let us clarify this issue from the Jewish sources.

Redeeming Captives

Our Sages taught that the redemption of captives is a great mitzvah for which a person should donate charity, placing it at the top of the list of worthwhile causes because the captive suffers greatly from hunger, medical problems, psychological trauma, and often subhuman conditions whereby his life is often in danger (Baba Batra 8B) Therefore, it is not proper to spare means in rescuing captives (Rambam, and Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh Deah252:1).

Nonetheless, Chazal postulated the halakha that it is forbidden to pay an over exorbitant amount for pidyon shivuim (redeeming hostages), as is stated in the Mishna: “They must not ransom captives for more than their value, for the sake of the public wellbeing” (Gittin 45A). The main reason given for this enactment, in both the Gemara and the Rambam, is to not create an incentive for highwaymen and kidnappers to seize more and more Jewish prisoners, since they know that we are willing to pay any price to set them free.

The Talmud mentions another explanation for this enactment – not to pressure the public to donate funds beyond their capability.

However, most of the Rishonim, including the Rif, Rosh, Rambam, and the Tur, say the principle reason is not to encourage our enemies to kidnap more Jews, and this is the ruling in the Shulchan Aruch (Yoreh Deah 252:4).

Biden is the primary obstacle to Israeli victory

 

 The time has come to discuss the Biden administration’s relationship with Israel. With each passing day, two things become obvious. First, Israel cannot fight the war without U.S. resupply of the Israel Defense Forces. As a consequence, Israel is beholden to the administration’s directives. And second, if Israel follows the Biden administration’s directives, it will lose the war.

Israel’s dependence on the United States was stated bluntly by retired IDF Maj. General Yitzhak Brick in an interview earlier this week.

“All of our missiles, the ammunition, the precision-guided bombs, all the airplanes and bombs, it’s all from the U.S. The minute they turn off the tap, you can’t keep fighting. You have no capability. … Everyone understands that we can’t fight this war without the United States. Period.”

Brick went on to explain that President Joe Biden’s demand that Israel permit “humanitarian aid” to enter Gaza means that he is demanding that Israel keep Hamas fully supplied with food, water and fuel.

His demand that Israel minimize Palestinian Arab civilian casualties endangers IDF soldiers and renders the expansion of the ground offensive into central and southern Gaza, where the bulk of Hamas’s force is now located, almost impossible to carry out. Brick suggested various forms of long-term tunnel warfare and other suggestions for how the IDF may be able to defeat Hamas over time while operating within the constraints that Biden and his top advisors are dictating.

Hamas practiced for three years, 1 km from Israel

 

A BBC ​​​​report presents a worrying picture of how Hamas prepared for the October 7th massacre and hid their activities from Israeli intelligence services.

According to the report, compiled by the channel's specialized crew for verifying information, the first of four training sessions had been announced by Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh as early as December 29th 2020. The exercises were codenamed "Strong Pillar".

The training included 10 separate armed Palestinian factions, among them Hamas, who practiced invading Israeli territory and carried out war games that included creating a joint command center between all the factions. Haniyeh noted at the time that it was a powerful message and symbol of solidarity between the various factions in Gaza.

Captive Escaped For 4 Days, Recaptured By “Innocent” Gazans

 

Roni Krivoi, a 25-year-old Israeli with Russian citizenship, was released from Gaza on Sunday evening on the demand of Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Hamas issued a statement that it complied with Putin’s request due to his “support of Palestine.” Krivoi was released in addition to the 13 women and children and 3 foreign nationals released last night and is the first male captive to be released.

Krivoi was born and grew up in Israel, with Hebrew as his mother tongue, but his parents obtained Russian citizenship for him when he was a child. On October 7th, he was working as a sound technician at the music festival near Re’im and was abducted by Hamas.

On Monday morning, Krivoi’s aunt, Yelena Magid, recounted the amazing story her nephew told her to Kan News.

“Roni said that he was caught by terrorists who held him in a building that collapsed due to IDF airstrikes,” she said. “He managed to escape and hide for four days alone. He tried to reach the [Israeli-Gazan] border but he wasn’t familiar with the area and Gazans [those innocent civilians] caught him and returned him to Hamas.”

Yelena also spoke about what happened to her nephew on October 7th. When the terrorists arrived, Roni and his friend tried to flee the area. “At a certain point, Roni decided to stop running,” his aunt said. “His friend was in contact with him until 10:30 a.m. when Roni told him that he could hear the terrorists getting closer to him. Ten minutes later, his friend called him again and someone answered in Arabic. His friend yelled: ‘Roni, Roni’ – they laughed and hung up.

Regarding Roni’s condition, his aunt said: “I asked him if he has nightmares. He said yes, but that’s good because it means he’s dealing with it. He has a few head wounds because he was hit by a stone when the building collapsed but he fine, he’s being taken care of. ”

“Roni is always happy and smiling. What gave us hope from the first day is that we know what he’s like, and someone who’s always smiling can always manage, no matter what the conditions.”

6 Teens Go On Trial For Beheading Teacher Over Showing Caricatures Of Mohammad ...They face 2 1/2 Years if Convicted

 

Six teenagers go on trial Monday in Paris for their alleged roles in the beheading of a teacher who showed caricatures of the prophet of Islam to his class, a killing that led authorities to reaffirm France’s cherished rights of expression and secularism.

Samuel Paty, a history and geography teacher, was killed on Oct. 16, 2020, near his school in a northwest Paris suburb by an 18-year-old of Chechen origin who had become radicalized. The attacker was in turn shot dead by police.

Paty’s name was disclosed on social media after a class debate on free expression during which he showed caricatures published by the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo, which triggered a newsroom massacre by extremists in January 2015.

All hearings at a Paris juvenile court are to be held behind closed doors in accordance with French law regarding minors.

Argentina’s President-Elect Pays Visit to the Rebbe’s Ohel

 

Rabbi YY Jacobson Answers "R" Schreiber's Rant Against Our Heros in Uniform

 

הרב ג'ייקובסון עונה לרב שרייבר: חיילי צה''ל הם עובדי השם! | פרשת וישלח

Message to Turkey From The New Holland Government "We don't need more Islam We need Less"

 

 

The Odyssey of Attending a Rally

By Rabbi Ron Yitzchok Eisenman

Part One- To Go or Not To Go

I wanted to go.

I felt it was important.

Numbers count.

We live in a country where we are allowed and expected to express our feelings.

I wanted to go.

Yet, there were many reasons not to go.

A friend who is somewhat older and much wiser and also a Rebbe advised me not to go.

“You are not as young as you once were and are not in the greatest health. It will be a long, tedious day with lots of walking and many unknowns.

The Event is very critical, and you must encourage the Shul to go; however, you should not feel personally obligated. It’s a very long trip.”

That was on Thursday night, November 16.

I realized the person advising me had my best interests at heart.

I had already booked an airline ticket and a hotel room.

However, after my older friend’s advice, I promptly canceled my airline ticket and hotel reservation.

I could drive.

However, driving seemed to me to be out of the question.

I could never imagine driving four-plus hours (each way).

(Full discretion, “even” driving to Lakewood is challenging and strenuous for me, and over the last few years, I rarely attend Chasunahs there. Please forgive me if you are one of those whose Chasuna, Vort, or other Simcha I missed in Lakewood. I have no driver and tend to fall asleep while driving.)

With a heavy heart, I decided not to go to Washington.

Part Two- What Changed?

Biden apologized to Muslim-American leaders for questioning death toll from Hamas Organization

 

President Biden apologized to some prominent Muslim-American leaders for publicly questioning the Palestinian death toll being reported by the Hamas-controlled Gaza Ministry of Health, a new report says.

Biden huddled with five Muslim American leaders the day after his Oct. 25 comments about reported Gaza deaths roiled the Islamic community, vowing to “do better.”

During the meeting, which was initially planned for 30 minutes but lasted more than twice as long, Biden heard the leaders describe individuals they knew who were personally affected by the conflict.

“I’m sorry. I’m disappointed in myself,” Biden told the group, the Washington Post reported.

A day before, during a press conference, the president openly questioned the accuracy of the casualty figures from Gaza, given Hamas’ terror track record.

“I have no notion that the Palestinians are telling the truth about how many people are killed,” Biden said. 

“I’m sure innocents have been killed, and it’s a price of waging war,” he added.

More than 14,000 Palestinians in Gaza, including many women and children, have been killed in the conflict, according to data from the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health.

Israel has suffered more than 1,200 fatalities — mostly also civilians, who were killed when the terror group launched a sneak attack on Israel on Oct. 7, according to the Jewish state.

The Muslim-American leaders who met with Biden urged him to show more empathy to the Palestinians. Biden reportedly hugged one of the participants at the end of the meeting.

Biden has affirmed US support for Israel following the bloody Oct. 7 attack.

But he also has increasingly pushed for a pause in the fighting to allow humanitarian aid to flow into the beleaguered Gaza Strip and for hostages to get released.

“For weeks, I’ve been advocating to pause the fighting for two purposes: to increase the assistance getting into the Gaza civilians who need help and to facilitate [the] release of hostages,” Biden said Sunday.

“We know that innocent children in Gaza are suffering greatly as well,” the president said.