Friday, August 31, 2018

Levi Aron, slayer of 8-year-old Leiby Kletzky, attacked female prison officer

A Brooklyn man who butchered an 8-year-old boy attacked a female prison officer in an upstate prison over the weekend.

Levi Aron, 42, tried to yank the jailer into his cell inside the Sullivan Correctional Facility in Fallsburg on Saturday at around 8:45 a.m., according to the union representing prison officers.

In 2012, Aron pleaded guilty to kidnapping and cutting up Leiby Kletzky after the boy got lost as he wandered on 18^th Ave. in Borough Park.

Before the murder, Aron kept the boy in his nearby apartment and brought the youngster to a wedding in Rockland County.

The hardware clerk freaked out when the community launched a major manhunt to find the youngster. So he drugged him, smothered him with a towel and then chopped up his body. The majority of his remains were found in dumpster about a mile away from the apartment.

Leiby’s feet were discovered in Aron’s freezer.

As for the prison assault, the union representing prison officers says Aron suddenly snapped after the officer asked him to clean up his cell. Aron yanked her arm but she was able to escape.

The officer suffered a cut to her left eye and bruising on her arm and knees. She was taken to a local hospital.

Aron, who is serving 37 years to life in prison, may be hit with added criminal charges.

He was moved out of the general population “to undergo the internal disciplinary process while the state police conducts an investigation for possible criminal charges,” said Patrick Bailey, a spokesman for the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.

Michael Mazzella, president of the New York State Corrections Officers and Police Benevolent Association, urged Fallsburg authorities to take action against Aron.

“We need our local district attorneys to prosecute inmates that attack and injure staff so a firm message is sent that if you attack staff, you will be held accountable,” he said in a statement.

Thursday, August 30, 2018

Eating Black Peas For Rosh Hashana .... I don't think so

Man allegedly beheaded girlfriend ‘because she didn't’ Do Teshuvah"!

A man from Washington state beheaded his girlfriend in front of their 3-year-old daughter — later telling cops he “had spoken with God” and been ordered to “strike down” the woman “because she did not repent,” reports say.

Moments after the gruesome killing, Timothy Hernandez, 32, allegedly instructed his little one to “go say goodbye to mommy.”

He quoted two different Bible verses while speaking to cops about what happened on Sunday, and insisted he was carrying out God’s will.

“Each of the verses that were quoted had passages in them that spoke about women who did not follow God’s word, so God stuck them down,” investigators wrote in charging documents, which were obtained by local outlets.

Hernandez allegedly gave his girlfriend, Vanessa Cons, a chance “to repent,” but he claimed she refused.

Thousands of Breslov Chassidim will nebech have to spend time this Yom Tov with families, after they purchased airline tickets to Uman for Rosh Hashanah and left out in the cold following the closure of travel agency Europanim.

The closure resulted in the money paid for the tickets being completely lost by the customers. The travel agent who had been supposedly arranging the flights with various airlines, disappeared with all of the money that was supposed to pay for tickets that never existed.

Europanim, provides travel service to various destinations in Europe, one of which is Uman. The travel agency announced a series of subsidized flights to Uman ahead of the Rosh Hashanah holiday and pilgrimage. The travel agency announced today that the agent they dealt with as a middle-man between their agency and the airlines had disappeared with all of their money and hence, the travel agency would be ceasing its operations.

According to Kikar Shabbat news service, sme 2,000 travelers purchased their tickets through the travel agency and currently are now left without a ticket or their money refunded.

Now for some good advice.....

Next time use the internet ...... yes the internet...

Ponivetz Bochrim Beat the Hell Out of Each Other Le'Koveid the New Zman

Happy New Year!

Students hurled tables and book holders on Wednesday at Bnei Brak's flagship Lithuanian-haredi Ponevezh Yeshiva as part of a long-running feud between two rival factions.

The brawl raged on throughout the morning and only ended when police detained the main instigators after being called to the scene. Three students were injured after being sprayed by tear gas

The quarrel was part of a longstanding dispute between the two factions over control of the yeshiva and the division of its territory. The supporters of Rabbi Shmuel Markovitz on the one hand, nicknamed the "haters," and Rabbi Eliezer Kahaneman's rival camp, called the "terrorists" have long been at loggerheads and tensions frequently lead to violence.

The flagship Yeshiva of Lithuanian haredi Judaism has been roiled by the power struggle between the two for over twenty years, and both sides observe an uneasy status quo, in which campus space in Bnei Brak is evenly divided between the two factions.

Ponovezh head Rabbi Berel Povarsky pleaded for calm after the violence and said that the students should concentrate on studying Torah. "The evil inclination wants to interrupt our learning of Torah during the month of Elul in the most important yeshiva in the world, our yeshiva," he said.

A similar brawl took place a year ago after one faction

appropriated a new classroom for themselves, upsetting the delicate status quo. Students from the other faction subsequently defaced the classroom with derogatory graffiti.

The brawl broke out in the Yeshiva dining hall soon after, when a student from the "haters" faction shoved a supporter of the "terrorist" faction. The fight quickly spread to other parts of the campus, as students hurled furniture, deployed tear gas, and set off fire extinguishers.

Ponovezh is one of the top institutions in the haredi world, and the ongoing internal strife has been a black eye for the community.

Uman Drunks Cause 3 Hour Delay After Blowing Shofar and Guzzlng Arak on Plane

A flight from Israel to Ukraine was delayed on Tuesday, 17 Elul, as a group of eight people heading to Uman were removed from the flight after creating a significant disturbance before boarding.

The Ukraine International Airlines flight to was scheduled to take off from Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv at 3:00PM, enroute to Kiev, but was delayed for three hours.

The group of eight arrived at the entrance to the plane, and two of them were apparently drunk. According to reports, one of them complained of feeling ill, prompting the flight crew to refuse to permit them to board. Another member of the group began cursing and confronting the crew.

According to reports, the group had created a scene at the airport; playing, singing, shouting wildly and blowing shofars, while holding a bottle of Arak whiskey.

An airport manager summoned police, and the disorderly bunch physically assaulted police too. The plane’s crew, including the pilots who left their positions when they heard the uproar, asked the police to take the passenger and his friends off the plane.

Compounding the problem, due to the fact that these passengers were removed from the plane, their suitcases also needed to be be removed. The unloading process took a long time, causing the flight to take off about three hours later.

“Every year there are many incidents with passengers traveling to Uman,” a senior official at Ben-Gurion Airport told Ynet. He said there are many people who want to go to Uman for Rosh Hashana and come to the airport without tickets, asking for ‘handouts’ from other passengers. Quite a few of them arrive at the flight at the last minute as if “they were on the bus.”

The official added “there are passengers who arrive to the plane drunk, or even drugged; and there are those who arrive with plastic bags instead of suitcases.”

It is important to note that for Rosh Hashana, tens of thousands of people arrive at Uman, most of whom behave in a proper manner, but naturally the few cases attract attention and cause an unfortunate Chilul Hashem.

Yeshivois in Israel Will not Admit Rapper's children becauae the are "black"

Chasidic rap singer Nissim Black visited HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky on Monday.

In an interview with Menachem Toker on Radio Kol Chai, Black explained the cause of his visit is because his children have not yet been accepted to schools due to the dark color of his skin.

“It was an amazing opportunity,” says the rapper. “I went to Rav Chaim and asked him for advice on what to do, they do not accept us to school because of the color of my children, they tell me that explicitly.”

Black declined to elaborate on the full conversation, and only said Rav Chaim’s eyes said everything, and that the first sentence Rav Chaim told him is “being ‘Black’ is your Mayla (Virtue) not a Chesaron (Lacking)”- “להיות כהה עור זה יתרון ומעלה, ולא חיסרון”.

Black added that “for a second it felt like the whole world stood still”.

An eyewitness reported that Rav Chaim gave Black a warm bracha.

“People know me as a rapper, but I’m on the road all the time for Klal Yisrael,” said Black. “I heard from many people before that it would be a problem because I was dark, but I responded that I was strengthening people precisely because of my skin color.”

Black’s said his children do not know that their skin color is the reason why they have not yet started school.

“My children were at home and not at school because there was no school that received them … We tried to get our 10-year-old into a school that fits our Hashkafa and they rejected us because of our skin color. They can ask my Rav about me, or even say it’s because of my profession. But to reject us for our skin color, is unacceptable.”

“God forbid, the children will know,” adds the rapper. “We do not tell our children and in the meantime they think we are still looking for the best school for them.”

Just before Rosh Hashanah and at the end of the month of Elul, the rapper said that he is not angry at the school principals and those who do not accept his children, and he promises that he will continue to look for the best school in terms of Hashkafa and those who will not see him and his children only in their color, but rather as human beings.

Tuesday, August 28, 2018

3 American Yeshivah bochurim are among the injured in a tragic accident in the Jordan valley earlier this week

Eight people were injured in a horrific car accident in the Jordan valley earlier this week .

The incident took place on highway 1, right after the turn off from Kvish Habikah, between the Almog and Arava junctions.

Three American yeshivah bochurim where among the injured, two of them critically and one moderately. The driver of the car was rescued from the crushed vehicle, and was transported by helicopter to Hadassah Ein Karem hospital in Yerushalayim.

The other 2 bochurim were also transported to Hadassah Ein Karem, one in critical and one in moderate condition.

The three bochurim from New York are learning in Yeshivas Mir, and where heading up north for a tour.

The parents of the 3 boys departed from New York to Israel a short time ago.

Before boarding the plane, the parents spoke with the head of the 'ICU' in Hadassah Ein Karem, Professor Charlie Wiseman, who calmed the parents and told them that their children are not in a life-threatening situation.

Relatives of the bochurim who spoke with "Bechadrei Chareidim", shared that one of the bouchrim, Asher Zelig Chaim Ben Rachel is conscious and recovering. While the other two, Yitzchok Izack ben Sarah Ester, and Ze'ev ben Sima are sedated and on a respirator, but B "H there is no immediate danger to their lives.

David Bedein, the head of the Center for Near East Policy Research, spoke to Arutz Sheva about the late Arizona Senator John McCain, who passed away on Saturday after a year-long battle with brain cancer, and of the US administration's rejection of the so-called 'Palestinian right of return.'

"Ten years ago, exactly, I had the opportunity to meet Senator McCain when Noam Bedein (Bedein's son and the head of the Sderot Media Center) organized a briefing for Senator McCain in Sderot when he was running for president. And he brought him to a house which had been destroyed by missiles," Bedein said.

"I came down there as the correspondent for the Philadelphia Bulletin and covered the event. A few months before Senator McCain had given over an interview to Amir Oren from Haaretzwhere he talked about his commitment to push Israel for unilateral withdrawals from Judea and Samaria," he added.

"We're sitting in the living room which had been destroyed by missiles. I asked Senator McCain, 'well, how do you react?

Will you change your position now that you've seen what happens when Israel hands over territory to the other side?'

"He got very angry at me and said: 'No. You have to understand: Israel has a peace partner. Israel had better withdraw as soon as possible from the West Bank and give it to Abbas. Abbas is a man of peace.' He was very angry and he said 'I don't like your question,'" Bedein recalled.

"My conclusion is that while McCain was, as he saw it, very favorable to Israel, it would have been very difficult to deal with a McCain Administration where we had someone who loved Israel so much, but was at the same time demanding withdrawals.

"It was easier to deal with Obama, who simply didn't like Israel so much and demanded withdrawals," Bedein said.

David Katz Identified As The Shooter in Jacksonville Florida

David Katz

The man who opened fire at a video game tournament in Jacksonville, Florida on Sunday has been identified as 24-year-old David Katz, of Baltimore, Maryland, CNN reported.

Two people were killed in the shooting at the Jacksonville Landing shopping and dining complex. Eleven others were injured.

Katz died at the scene from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, Sheriff Mike Williams said at a news conference on Sunday afternoon. There are no other suspects.

The motive for the shooting, which took place during a qualifying event for the Madden 19 Tournament at the GLHF Game Bar, remains unclear.

Some reports said the shooter participated in the tournament and opened fire at participants after he lost.

The Baltimore Police Department on Sunday evening raided Katz's home, which is located in the city's Inner Harbor area. Investigators are interviewing the suspect's family.

Sunday, August 26, 2018

A Little Gentile Girl Learns About The Holocaust

Oprah Meets a Black Chasidic Family

Filmed in 2012 .....

Yeshivah Bochur Stabbed by His Friend ..... in Modiin Illit

I don't think it was over a Tosfois!

Frummies, afraid that people will compare the Yeshivah boys to Arabs, are saying that the stabber was Meshugah .... I don't buy it!

A talmid of Yeshivas Knesset HaGedolah in Modi’in Illit was stabbed on Sunday by a friend, apparently the result of a heated argument. The incident occurred at the entrance to the yeshiva . According to a Magen David Adom report, the victim was in serious condition when transported to Tel Hashomer Hospital in Tel Aviv. Police have apprehended the stabber, who fled the scene.

Eyewitness report the two were arguing and the atmosphere escalated to the physical attack. The attacker fled, but police did not take long until they were able to apprehend him and take him into custody.

Rabbi Yitzchak Zeev Zacks, the Rosh Yeshivah is declaring a public fast tomorrow for the Yeshivah bochrum ...

Please be mispallel; for Yedidya Ben Michal.

In an update, there has been an improvement in the condition of the victim...

Last week a 25-year-old chareidi male sustained moderate injuries as a result of a machlokes with another person.

It starts with violent protests, and this is the result .....
Modiin Illit is a hotbed for fanatical bochrim!

Latere in the day A frum reporter, Akiva Weiss reporting in front of the Yeshivah was attacked and beaten by the boys of this yeshivah ...and his phone forcibly taken and broken..
Time to draft these guys in the Army ..

Akiva Weiss Reporter Beaten By Yeshivah Boys

He Thinks His Dog is a DemocRAT!

Yosef Yehoshua Folger Bobover Shoiteh Who Gave His Child 9 Names Changes His Child Name to Only 3

"Ehr iz gekimmin tzim seichil"

Yosef Yehoshua Folger, a student of Bobov in Boro Park, received an aliyah last Shabbas on the eve of his daughter's birth, and when the Gabbai asked the father the name he wished to give his newborn daughter, the Gabbai was surprised to hear the name:
"Leah, Hinda, Tsirel, Malka, Attia, Shaina, Chana, Chava Tzviya"

But on the Monday after last Shabbos , Folger asked the Gabbai for another aliyeh and in the blessing of "Mei Brachach" changed the name of the baby, so that she currently has "only" 3 names,...

It is not clear what caused the father in the first place to declare the long name.

Some of them claim that he is a "letz" and that this was a joke, and that at some point the father realized that the person who would suffer would be his daughter, so he wisely decided to change her name.

Empire Chickens May Be Contaminated with Salmonella

Federal authorities issued a public health alert Friday over raw chicken products possibly contaminated by Salmonella.

The Empire Kosher Poultry, Inc. products affected -- which may include raw whole chicken, raw chicken parts, -- were produced and sold to consumers from last September until this past June, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service said.

The agency issued the alert "out of an abundance of caution due to concerns about Salmonella illnesses reported in the northeastern and mid-Atlantic United States that may be associated with raw chicken products."

From Day One, President Trump has been fighting a war for survival on two fronts. One front involves law enforcement, led first by James Comey’s FBI and now by special counsel Robert Mueller. The other front is political, where Trump faces the resistance movement led by congressional Democrats.

But sift through the fog of last week’s dizzying headlines about guilty pleas, immunity deals and possible impeachment, and a clear picture emerges: The two fronts have united, with the anti-Trumpers in the Justice Department and those in politics now openly working hand-in-hand against him.

When John McCain ran for President in 2008, the media called him "sick in the head" and a "racist" "unfit to for office." Now they all pretend to care about him, its fake and a sick game by sociopaths, they destroy a man when he opposes DemocRATS, Now they love him!

'An American patriot and true friend of Israel'

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu this morning, Sunday, issued a statement on the passing of US Sen. John McCain.

"I am deeply saddened by the passing of John McCain, a great American patriot and a true friend of Israel. I will always treasure the constant friendship he showed to the people of Israel and to me personally," Netanyahu said.

"His support for Israel never wavered. It sprang from his belief in democracy and freedom. The State of Israel salutes John McCain."

The prime minister's statement came as Israeli politicians across the political spectrum eulogized the former US Senator McCain's office said in a statement that the Arizona GOP senator died at 4:28 p.m., and was accompanied by his wife, Cindy McCain, and their family.

"At his death, he had served the United States of America faithfully for sixty years,” McCain's office wrote.

McCain’s death from brain cancer came more than a year after he announced he had the condition in July of 2017.

His death comes a day after his family announced that he had chosen to discontinue medical treatment because the “progress of disease and the inexorable advance of age” had rendered “their verdict.”

McCain has been absent from the Senate this year due to his illness, and cast his last vote on December 7. Before he left, treatment had forced him to use a wheelchair in his final days in Washington.

Friday, August 24, 2018

Facebook Censors an Article From New York Post because It Was Pro-Trump

At 7:55 a.m. Thursday morning, I posted a story I had written for The New York Post on both Facebook and Twitter. It was a reported piece on how people who voted for President Trump were feeling after both former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort and his lawyer Michael Cohen found themselves on the wrong side of the law.

Within two hours I started receiving a handful of notes from people who are friends on my personal Facebook page that their posting of my piece, entitled “Why Trump’s supporters won’t care about Cohen and Manafort,” had been removed.

Sometimes the removal was accompanied by a message from Facebook. “Spam” was the most common reason given, but a couple of people were told Facebook removed the post because “it did not follow our Community Standards.”

Immediately I went to my original post, which led to the link with this graph: “Right now the value of Trump to the Trump voter is he is all that stands between them and handing the keys to Washington back over to the people inside Washington. That’s it. He’s their only option. You’ve got to pick the insiders or him.”

The post was gone.

Why? Facebook had given me no reason why it would censor a story, and asking them for an explanation wasn’t easy.

First I politely published a public Tweet requesting some direction. No answer. I noticed that their Direct Message was open on Twitter so I asked in that format. No answer. Then I turned to their own page and asked through a series of confusing messaging options that appear to require a Ph.D. to access let alone find, still no answer.

Ninety minutes after removing it, the article reappeared as if nothing ever happened.

No one told me why it was taken down. No one told me why the piece suddenly reappeared with no explanation of what had happened.

Facebook offers no transparency for its methods or decisions.

The article was based on my conversations with Trump voters. It had no expletives, conspiracy theories, hate speech or sexual language. What sort of algorithm would find it, much less censor it?

Perhaps someone doesn’t like my stories and complained about it. But then, who is that person and why does Facebook give them that sort of power?

The third option is that someone working for Facebook actually saw it and made the decision to take it down. If that’s the case, what standards are they working from?

Lekuvid Shabbos ... Artetha's Frankilin Lecha Dodi

Sung by Chazanit Beth Griffith

Here is the complete Kabbalat Shabbat

Israeli Court Rules That Chareidie Yeshivois Do Not Have to Admit the children of the "Auerbach Crazies"

פסיקה דרמטית: אין חובה לקבל את ילדי 'הפלג' למוסדות החרדיים

בהמשך לדיון המשפטי הסוער שנחשף לראשונה ב'בחדרי', קבע היום בית המשפט המחוזי באופן תקדימי הצפוי להיות בעל השלכות רוחב, כי מותר למוסדות חינוך חרדיים להפלות ילדים ממשפחות 'הפלג הירושלמי' ולהימנע מלקבלם כתלמידים. וגם: כיצד עקץ השופט את העותרים

החלטה דרמטית - חשיפת 'בחדרי חרדים': בית המשפט המחוזי בירושלים דחה היום (חמישי) את עתירת משפחות 'הפלג הירושלמי' תושבי רכסים נגד המחוז החרדי במשרד החינוך, תלמוד התורה הליטאי 'תשב"ר' ומועצת רכסים, והשאיר את החלטת המחוז החרדי לאפשר לת"ת שלא לקבל את ילדי 'הפלג הירושלמי' לת"ת.

כזכור, כפי שנחשף ב'בחדרי חרדים', מספר משפחות תושבי רכסים הגישו ערר למחוז החרדי לאחר שהת"ת המקומי סירב לקבל את ילדיהם בטענה שהם משתייכים לקבוצת 'הפלג הירושלמי' ש"יוצא להפגנות לא חוקיות ופרובוקציות נוספות הקוראות תיגר על הוראות גדולי הדור שליט"א".

כאמור, וכפי שנחשף ב'בחדרי חרדים', באופן דרמטי, המחוז החרדי דחה את הערר שהגישו משפחות 'הפלג הירושלמי' והם הגישו עתירה לבית המשפט, שכאמור דחה היום את טענותיהם - מה שצפוי להשליך על מקרים דומים רבים שיהיו בעתיד.

בית המשפט, שקיים בנושא דיון בדלתיים סגורות, קיבל את עמדת המחוז החרדי, תלמוד התורה ומחלקת החינוך במועצה, וקבע כי הת"ת לא מחויב לקבל לשורותיו את בני המשפחות המשתייכות ל'פלג הירושלמי', וכי לא מדובר באפליה האסורה על פי חוק.

בה בעת, השיתו שופטי בית המשפט המחוזי על העותרים, כאמור משפחות מ'הפלג הירושלמי' בעיר הצפונית, לשלם למשיבים הוצאות משפט בסך של חמשת אלפי שקלים.

בנבירה בהחלטת ביהמ"ש, ניתן לראות שהשופט אלכסנדר רון עקץ את העותרים עם ציטוטים מתוך עיתון 'הפלס', אשר דיווח מצד אחד על פתיחת שנת הלימודים של משרד החינוך, בעוד מנגד העותרים קוראי העיתון עותרים נגד משרד החינוך.

כמו"כ, בפסק הדין יש עוקץ משפטי נוסף נגד עותרי 'הפלג הירושלמי', על כך שהם אוחזים את החבל מ-2 קצוותיו, מצד אחד הם מבקשים ללמוד במוסד מוכש"ר בגלל שהוא קובע לעצמו את הסגנון, ומצד שני מנסים להכתיב לו סגנון אחר.

ב'פלג הירושלמי' אמרו הערב ל'בחדרי חרדים' לנוכח הפסיקה כי: "ליבנו עם אחינו ברכסים הנרדפים על צווואריהם רק בגלל רצונם ללכת בדרך רבותם הגדולים מצוקי ארץ. ולעיר הנידחת רכסים נזעק ארץ ארץ אל תכסי את דמם של מי שנגזר עליהם להיסרק במסרקות הברזל של הברבריות החולנית מבית דגל התורה. יש בורא לעולם והוא כבר יבוא חשבון עם כל כוחות האופל שנהנים לראות את דמם של בני התורה ניגר על העפר".

כזכור, בתגובת הת"ת למשפחות 'הפלג הירושלמי' נכתב כי "לא נוכל לקבל את בתכם לגנ"י/לביה"ס בשל העדר התאמה בין רוח הבית ורוח המוסדות. אי ההתאמה מתבטאת בהשתייכות המשפחה לזרם קיצוני הפועל בניגוד לחוק ובכך נלחם ופועל בניגוד להוראות גדולי דורנו שליט"א. זאת, בין היתר על ידי יציאה להפגנות לא חוקיות ופרובוקציות נוספות הקוראות תיגר על הוראות גדולי הדור שליט"א, ועומדות בניגוד לחוק". כאמור, היום העניק ביהמ"ש גיבוי לעמדה זו.

Alan Dershowitz to UK Interviewer: Don’t Lecture US About Trump When You Have ‘Antisemite’ Corbyn Poised to Become PM

Watch the exchange below:

Two Female Israel Prison Authority Guards Attacked by Meah Shearim Savages

They wouldn't try that with Arabs, but they sure learned from the Arabs how to behave ..

Two female prison guards from the Israel Prison Authority came under attack on Wednesday night while driving through Meah Shearim. Extremists identified them, and the attack began.

At around midnight on 12 Elul, they entered the community in a private vehicle. According to an eyewitness, one asked the woman what they were looking for. They responded “We are okay. We do not require assistance”. A short time after, a few additional residents arrived and inquired, and the women stated they are from the Israel Prison Authority and do not require assistance.

The rumor spread, perhaps they were going to make arrests, and the rocks began flying, smashing the vehicle’s rear window. At one point they shouted police were responding, and this led to more rocks hurled at the vehicle.

A few minutes later, a resident came and managed to calm the extremists. The two were extricated from the area via Shivtei Yisrael Street.

It appears there were not in the community on official business, just traveling through the neighborhood. B’chasdei Hashem, no one was injured.

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

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