Many Former Charedim Fell In Oct. 7th Battles, Families Decide How To Mourn Them

 For the nearly 20 charedi families who lost family members in battle or in the Nova music festival massacre, a new challenge has arisen: How do they perpetuate their loved ones in a way that both respects them but also respects the way of life which their parents follow and which was diametrically opposed to their own.

Journalist Yair Ettinger, a member of the Israel Democracy Institute and the Shalom Hartman Institute who focuses on the charedi community, visited several parents of former charedim to see how they are perpetuating their children’s legacy.

Tzivya Krasnitzky, whose son Yaakov died a hero’s death fending off terrorists in Nahal Oz, says that she is proud of her son despite his leaving the charedi mode of life. Yaakov joined a commando unit of the Border Police and studied for university entry, even after he had been described by his teachers as “The next Gadol Hador.”

She describes her son in glowing terms, says she loved him even more after his death, says she had prayed that he would sanctify G-d’s name but never dreamed it would happen in this way and has no regrets about her support for him. Tzivya says she is comforted by the thought that, even after leaving the chareidi way of life, her son reached a place which is “so high I could never have dreamed of it for him.”

Members of the Yotzim LeShinui organization for former charedim consider themselves a community and maintain strong social contacts. Nadav Rosenblatt, the head of the organization, says that the complex situation with the fallen member’s families can vary from acceptance to total rejection and exclusion, especially in light of the choice made by some to do army service, considered anathema in charedi circles.

David Mittleman, a Golani machine gun expert, was adopted by a foster family after leaving his charedi background. David fell in battle while stopping the terrorists from entering kibbutz Kissufim on October 7th. His parents requested that he be buried in a regular civilian burial with no military honors or mention. The foster family from Kibbutz Rosh Tzurim said that they understand and respect the parents’ decision to call him “murdered” on his grave, although stating that he was killed in battle with terrorists.

The second reason the parents did a civilian burial was to prevent Halanas Hameis (leaving the dead unburied) as the IDF was too busy with funerals to perform a ceremony for two days afterwards. The foster family prepared a special pendant with Kriyas Shma and David’s name to be worn by IDF soldiers and distributed 13,000 of these pendants in his memory.

Sick and Getting Sicker: Chareidie Rabbis denounce Chareidie journalists who praise soldiers

DIN: If you look in Tanach ( Shmuel 30:1) there is a similar "Oct 7 Story" with Dovid Hamelech. The Amalekites captured hostages,  women and children in the city of Ziklag, if I'm not mistaken, Ziklag was close to Gaza. So what did Dovid do?? The Tanach writes that he cried until he could no longer shed tears.

The people who had their wives and children taken hostage wanted to "stone" him, even though Dovid had himself two wives and children taken hostage.

 Why you ask would they want to stone him? 

According to the Radak, "Dovid Hamelech left the city of Ziklag unprotected", sound familiar?

The Klei Yakar says something that we in the Chareidie world can relate to, he says that the people were angry at  David Hamelech,  since he had not lost any children in the army as they did !

But then what did he do? 

He told the then Kohen Gadol, Ebiather, to inquire from the Urim Ve'Tumim on what to do.

To ask the Urim a question, it had to be specific. So what did Dovid Hamelech ask the Urim Ve'Tumim????

Did he ask what Kapital Tehillim to say? Did he first ask the Roshei Yeshivos to ask their talmidim to be "mechziek in Torah?"

Open a Tanach and be shocked to what he asked. 

All he asked was " Should I go to war? And will I succeed?"

That's it!!!! 

But why are we jumping to Tanach when we can go to the Torah itself , at the end of Parshas Mattos?

The Jews are ready to go into Eretz Yisrael after traveling 40 years in the Midbar, because they listened to the "gedoilim" who were part of the meraglim that didn't want Israel, and suddenly history repeats itself as two tribes now refuse to go into Eretz Yisrael. Shevet Gad and Shevet Reuvein, they wanted to remain in Chutz Le'aaretz. 

Why? Because they as the Midrash Hagodal states: "They attached more importance to their herds, their wealth. and put heavy emphasis on their material possessions."  

Moshe is of course in shock as we see just 2 verses down, he tells them the repercussions of the meraglim story! He reminds them of the reason they spent 40 years wandering.

But as Moshe regains his composure,  he angrily asks them something the Roshei Yeshiva would like to remove from the Torah:

האחיכם יבאו למלחמה ואתם תשבו פה

"Shall your brothers go out to war while you remain here?"

See the Orach Hachyim Hakodosh who states:

אמת כי ה' הוא הנלחם להם, אבל על כל פנים צריכין להזדמן במלחמה

"It is true that Hashem is the one who does the battle, but you still have to be prepared for war"

Question: Why didn't Bnei Gad and Bnei Reuvein simply tell Moshe , that "we will learn Torah and as you know that Torah is matzil?" "Our learning is on the same level as those going to war, and our words of Torah will be the missiles and we are on the same plane as those putting their lives on the front" 

They knew that this was a cockamamie excuse so they said " we will in fact fight with the IDF and then after the entire country is conquered will return to our families." 

Did Moshe believe them? Apparently not, he made them sign the famous "Bnei Gad and Bnei Reuvein "tnai" a "tnai ka'ful" 

In Moshe's army, learning in kolel or in Bais Medrish was not an exemption to get out of army service, So I'm sure you have been coached to respond to this that in Moshe's army, the troops were all tzadikkim. I agree, they were all tzadikkim, so my suggestion is to open the doors of Ponovitz, Brisk and Mir and draft all those tzaddikim and let's send all the chilonim home. ... Great! 

Today Chareidie leaders have learned nothing from the Torah and nothing from Tnach, and not only that, they are actively discouraging the praising of those ready to give up their lives,!

Mind you, all this while Jewish blood is still pouring on the streets, and he questions whether those fallen are "kedoishim" ... What???? 

Such disconnect from the Jewish people and Jewish values. Even Hashem says:

עמו אנכי בצרה

Is it any wonder then, that a Rosh Yeshiva and an Av Bais Din who gave shiurim in the MIr compares Jewish soldiers to garbage cleaners? 

And to which journalists is he addressing this to? Haaretz? Jerusalem Post? Israel Hayom? 

Naaa! 

He is addressing this to the journalists of the Yated!

Very sick indeed! 

Rabbis of the Edah HaChareidis, a conservative haredi organization with anti-Zionist views, published a strongly worded letter yesterday against haredi journalists they believe to be promoting nationalism. The Rabbis were led by Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch, a member of the organization's rabbinical court.

“It has become known in our communities and throughout Israel that a great error is present in the press who presume to call themselves haredi while spreading false opinions which are far from our ways,” the letter begins.

They criticized the way that haredi journalists are praising soldiers and casualties of the war, calling them "far from the ways of Old Israel."

“Especially at a time like this, when the spirit of nationalism is consuming the camp on every side, and many are pulled into false beliefs coming from scribes that are far from the ways of Old Israel, among them those who promote enlistment of men and women which is absolutely forbidden and has never even been considered to be permitted.”

“Let all mourners mourn the fall of the reinforced dividing wall that has existed since ancient times, and the one thing equal to all such publications and journalists is that they tend to spread and cause damage, and it is your responsibility to guard them.”

The Rabbis call for such publications not to be brought home. “These are not the portion of Israel, and indeed, the greatest men of previous generations have already warned and sounded an alarm in the gates of the masses against such publications, and we do not encourage everyone to check that each man of Israel supervises himself and his family against stumbling over these unfit publications, and someone who protects his soul will stay far from them, not buying them and not bringing home those that are distributed free of charge.”

“In a completely and diametrically opposed manner, it is obligatory that every man and his household and descendants bring the spirit of holiness and simple belief and trust in God into his house, to distance false beliefs and trust in mortals, and as the ancient parable stated by the prophet said: ‘wickedness will emerge from the wicked.’ And let us increase prayer to the Salvation of Israel in matters both public and private.”

IDF Finds Some of the Terrorists that were Directly Involved in Oct 7

 

The Israeli military has released photos of soldiers destroying a well-known statue glorifying the deaths of Israeli soldiers and a separate image showing what it says are 20 militants detained in an arrest raid.

The army said it destroyed the statue in the Shijaiyah neighborhood, which depicted a fist coming out of an armored personnel carrier and three military dog tags.

One of the dog tags had the name of Oron Shaul, an Israeli soldier who was killed during fighting in the Gaza City neighborhood in 2014. His remains have been held by Hamas since then.

The Israeli military also shared footage of what it said were Gaza militants detained during an operation inside a school on Friday.

Around 20 detainees are shown in the photo, kneeling and wearing white jumpsuits. Nine have red circles around their heads and are identified as Hamas and Islamic Jihad militants.

The Israeli military said some of the detainees, who were taken for interrogations by Israeli intelligence, participated in the Oct. 7 attack that sparked the war with Hamas. The cross-border attack killed some 1,200 people and kidnapped 240 others.

INSANE: US leaves open possibility of Hamas retaining power

 

The U.S. State Department on Thursday refused to rule out the possibility of the Hamas terrorist organization retaining power or joining a Palestinian Authority-led governing body for the Gaza Strip, Judea and Samaria.

“We have been clear about our position on Hamas, which the United States designated as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997 due to its premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets,” a U.S. government spokesperson told JNS.

However, “Palestinians’ voices and aspirations must be at the center of post-crisis governance in Gaza, unified with the West Bank under the P.A.,” the spokesperson said, adding, “Ultimately, the future of Palestinian leadership is a question for the Palestinian people.

“We remain committed to working with the P.A. and Palestinian leadership on the critical work of strengthening Palestinian institutions … and reinforcing commitments to nonviolence and countering terrorism,” concluded the official.

On Nov. 8, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Gaza must be handed over to the P.A. once Israel’s operation there ends. The solution “must include Palestinian-led governance and Gaza unified with the West Bank under the P.A.,” stated Blinken.

Nearly Half of Jews Considered Leaving UK Due to Jew Hate

 

Nearly half of British Jews have considered leaving the UK since October 7, according to staggering new data.

The polling by the Campaign Against Antisemitism, was conducted from November 12-17 among 3,744 respondents.

Following the Hamas massacre in Israel, 48% of respondents, including 17% who strongly agreed, said they had considered leaving the UK due to antisemitism. 34% disagreed.

69% of UK Jews agree (40% strongly) that they were less likely than before the massacre to show visible signs of their Jewishness. 15% disagreed, and the rest did not say.

Respondents were asked if they or someone they knew, had experienced or witnessed an antisemitic incident since October 7. 61% responded in the affirmative.

Regarding the statement, “Antisemitic hate crime is treated by the police in the same way as other forms of hate crime,” two-thirds disagreed, almost a third strongly; 16% agreed; and 18% neither agreed nor disagreed.

91% agreed that they would “avoid traveling to a city center if a major anti-Israel demonstration was taking place there”.

When asked if they were “satisfied with the BBC’s coverage of the Israel-Hamas crisis,” 86% said that they weren’t, including 71% who felt strongly. Only 4% were satisfied, including 1% very satisfied, and 4% didn’t express an opinion.

The remaining respondents said they did not watch or listen to the BBC or read its website.

Regarding the statement, “I feel personally connected to events happening in Israel,” 97% agreed, 78% strongly; no one disagreed, and only 2% expressed no opinion.

OMG Is he planning to Open Up another Pesach Program???

 

Submitted to TLS by Heshy Goldstein in response to the Pesach Hotel fiasco. pic.twitter.com/5WyUhOnj7P

— The Lakewood Scoop (@LakewoodScoop) December 17, 2023

Biden will deny visas to Israelis that oppose Two State Solution

 

Secretary of State Antony Blinken has announced visa restrictions on Israelis in response to “settler violence.”

Britain and Belgium plan to follow suit, and other European Union countries will likely jump on the blacklist bandwagon.

The United States frequently uses such visa restrictions to block those guilty of gross human-rights abuses, tyrannical foreign despots and nationals of state sponsors of terrorism.

But this is a far cry from that — it’s simply a big step in the Obama-Biden administrations’ deep delegitimization of those who oppose a “two-state solution.”

The president has broad power to deny entry to foreign nationals — despite the furor over President Donald Trump’s executive orders in this area.

Video reveals ‘biggest Hamas tunnel’ yet discovered — and includes eerie footage of terrorists building it

EXPOSED: The biggest Hamas terrorist tunnel discovered.

This massive tunnel system branches out and spans well over four kilometers (2.5 miles). Its entrance is located only 400 meters (1,310 feet) from the Erez Crossing—used by Gazans on a daily basis to enter Israel for work… pic.twitter.com/RcjK5LbvGL

— Israel Defense Forces (@IDF) December 17, 2023

PAYBACK: Cyberattack Cripples Iranian Gas Stations After Attempted Attack On Israeli Hospital

 

A group known as “Gonjeshke Darande,” or “predatory sparrow” in Persian, which has been previously linked to Israel, took responsibility Monday for a cyberattack that crippled around 70% of gas stations in Iran.

The group claims to have disabled a significant portion of Iran’s gas pumps in what they describe as a response to aggression by Iran and its regional proxies.

“Khamenei, playing with fire has a price,” the group said in a statement released in Persian and English.

Iranian state media confirmed that several gas stations in Tehran ceased operations, saying that a “software malfunction” forced them to shut.

Gonjeshke Darande has previously claimed responsibility for a cyber attack on Iran’s major steel companies. During that attack, Israeli military correspondents, typically briefed off-the-record by senior Israeli officials, hinted at potential Israeli involvement. A cyberattack on Iran’s fuel distribution system in 2021 paralyzed gas stations across the country, leading to long lines of angry motorists. The hacking group claimed responsibility for the attack on fuel pumps.

Interestingly, the cyberattack occurred almost at the same time as Israel’s Cyber Directorate announced that Iran and Hezbollah were behind a cyberattack on the Ziv Medical Center in Tzfas last month.

“In a joint effort by the cyber directorate, the IDF, the Shin Bet, and the Health Ministry and hospital teams, the attack was stopped before it could achieve its goal of disrupting the hospital’s operations and harming the medical care of civilians,” Israeli officials said.

“However,” the officials added, “it was found that the group stole some sensitive information stored in the hospital’s systems.”

Jackson NJ Residents Don't want Chareidim There. "they are taking Over"

 

In a distressing display of hate, a recent council meeting in Jackson Township was marred by anti semitic rhetoric targeting the Orthodox Jewish community, raising concerns about the state of community relations in the Jewish area.

During the meeting, shocking comments were made, including references to a “cultural genocide” and accusations of a “hostile takeover” by the Orthodox community in Jackson Township. The divisive remarks took aim at the Orthodox Jewish community, igniting tensions and casting a dark shadow over what should be a forum for constructive dialogue.

One of the particularly alarming statements involved calls to bar an Orthodox council member from voting, highlighting a troubling attempt to marginalize a representative based on their religious affiliation. Such exclusionary sentiments go against the principles of inclusivity and equal representation that form the foundation of a democratic society.