Israeli Supreme Court Orders Stop to Yeshivah Funding for Haredim Required to Enlist in Idf

 

 Israel’s Supreme Court on Thursday issued an interim order prohibiting the government from providing stipends to some haredi, or ultra-Orthodox, Jewish men who do not serve in the Israel Defense Forces.

Yeshivah students who did not obtain a military service deferral and who have failed to report for IDF service since July 1, 2023, will now be ineligible for the monthly financial stipends, according to the ruling.

The Supreme Court, sitting as the High Court of Justice, also decided that an extended panel of nine justices will hear petitions demanding a universal military draft starting in May.

Earlier on Thursday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wrote to the court asking for another extension—this time for 30 days—so he could reach a political agreement regulating the haredi IDF draft.

“The government’s intention to settle this complex issue, which has not been resolved for decades, is clear from the fact that the government committed in June of last year to resolve the issue within nine months,” wrote the premier in a letter to the court.

However, Hamas’s Oct. 7 terror attacks “obliged us to devote our time and attention mainly to the conduct of the war in the six months that have passed since,” Netanyahu wrote.

He said that while “considerable progress” has been made towards reaching an agreement within the coalition government, the “work is not yet complete.”

Wow!! Half Of US Muslims Support Hamas, Nearly A Third “Not Sure” If Burning Jews Alive Is Wrong

 

A recent Pew survey reveals that 49% of Muslims in America believe Hamas has “valid” reasons for attacking Israel, while 54% reject Israel’s right to defend itself. Only 45% of Muslims condemned the October 7 massacres, with 21% admitting they supported the attacks and 31% unsure if burning Jewish families alive was wrong.

These findings contrast sharply with the views of the general American public, where an overwhelming majority opposes Hamas and supports Israel’s right to defend itself. The survey also showed that 67% of Muslims in America have an unfavorable view of the “Israeli people,” while 37% admit to a favorable view of Hamas.

The results have sparked concern about the growing support for terrorism among Muslims in America, with many questioning the long-held narrative that Islam has no connection to terrorism. As Muslims and leftists riot in support of Hamas, and public figures praise the terrorist organization, it raises questions about the true extent of support for terrorism in the Muslim community.

The findings have been met with denial and accusations of “Islamophobia” from some quarters, including the Biden administration. However, the survey suggests a troubling reality that cannot be ignored.

Weingarten Brothers from the Lev Tahor (AMI) Cult Convicted Of Kidnapping

 Three members of the infamous Lev Tahor cult – Yoel Weingarten, Yakov Weingarten, and Shmiel Weingarten – have been found guilty of kidnapping a 12-year-old boy and a 14-year-old girl, and then spiriting the girl outside the United States to continue an illegal and forced marriage with her adult “husband.”

The kidnapping occurred on a Shabbos in December 2018, when Lev Tahor cultists kidnapped two children from the Teller family, who had escaped the clutches of the cult and traveled to the United States just a month earlier, and were spending Shabbos in Woodridge, NY. Their mother, Mrs. Sara Feiga Teller, is a sister of current (now jailed) Lev Tahor leader, Nachman Helbrans. She is married to Aron Aryeh Teller, rosh yeshivah of Lev Tahor.

Yaakov and Shmiel Weingarten were extradited to the United States in 2022 to face charges over the kidnapping.

“The defendants’ conduct — which included forced child marriages, physical beatings, and family separations — is unthinkable and has caused irreparable harm to children in their formative years,” said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, who prosecuted the case. “Whether in the name of religion or any other belief system, subjecting children to physical, sexual, or emotional abuse will never be tolerated by this Office.

With Wednesday’s verdict, all nine Lev Tahor leaders and operatives charged for these heinous crimes have been held to account, and will spend decades in prison for their evil acts. The three Weingartens join the monsters who ran the lev Tahor cult, Nachman Helbrans and Mayer Rosner, who were sentenced in 2022 to twelve years in prison.

Lev Tahor was founded and led by Shlomo Helbrans, from the 1980s until his drowning death in Mexico in 2017. Since then, the leadership has moved into the hands of his son Nachman Helbrans, along with Mayer Rosner, and Yankel and Yoel Weingarten – who are even more radical and aggressive than the late founder, they are all on prison.

Yitzchok Frankfurter of Ami Magazine claimed the exact opposite – and ran the following sentence below their headline,

 “The unjust persecution of a group of pious Jews, and the unsettling silence of the Jewish community.”

Senator Joe Lieberman Dies at 82 after falling ...His Last official statement was Against the Jewish Traitor Schumercrap

 

Joe Lieberman meeting the Rebbe, with his wife and daughter, after winning the 1988 election for Senator of Connecticut.

May his memory be a blessing. 🕯️ pic.twitter.com/dSQF8IrW7q

— Frum TikTok (@FrumTikTok) March 27, 2024

 Former U.S. Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut, who nearly won the vice presidency on the Democratic ticket with Al Gore in the disputed 2000 election and who almost became Republican John McCain’s running mate eight years later, has died, according to a statement issued by his family.

Lieberman died in New York City on Wednesday due to complications from a fall, the statement said. He was 82.

The Democrat-turned-independent was never shy about veering from the party line.

Ezra Friedlander Under FBI Scrutiny didn't officially disclose his ties with Azerbaijan in meetings with top Adams aides

 

Ezra Poses With the Antisemite from Turkey 

A longtime political consultant attended a City Hall meeting last year with Azerbaijan’s deputy foreign minister and top officials in Mayor Eric Adams’ administration — but did not report it in federal filings.

Ezra Friedlander, who has worked as an agent for both Azerbaijan and Turkey, previewed the meeting on May 21, 2023, with a video posted on the X platform.

In the short clip, Adams’ international affairs commissioner, Edward Mermelstein, and mayoral staffer Rana Abbasova can be seen walking by City Hall with Friedlander and Elnur Mammadov, the deputy foreign minister for Azerbaijan, a country closely allied with Turkey.

“With Deputy Foreign Minister of @AzerbaijanMFA @ElnurIMammadov walking to a meeting at City Hall hosted by NYC Commissioner of International Affairs Edward Mermelstein and Senior Advisor to @NYCMayor @joeleisdorfer!” Friedlander tweeted at the time, including a mention of Abbasova.

The meeting, which hasn’t been previously reported, comes as Adams’ ties to Turkey have come under scrutiny.

Biden's Dangerous Mistake Explained

 

 

Chareidie in Meah Shearim Wears Palestinian Flag Tie, but Someone Tricked him and stole it!

 

 

Kamala Harris is Hamas’ useful idiot

 

As the Biden Presidency continues to sink at a rapid pace, with nearly two thirds of Americans now believing the country is on the wrong track, Kamala Harris is unwittingly doing her best to speed its demise.

Her latest television interview, with ABC News, can only be described as a train wreck that cements her reputation as a calamitous vice president. The interview followed her recent gaffe-ridden visit to Puerto Rico, where Harris cluelessly applauded anti-American protesters singing a song in Spanish accusing her administration of war crimes.

Bleacher Collapses At Aminshover Rebbe’s Tisch In Bayit Vegan, 4 Injured

 

A bleacher packed with chassidim collapsed at the Amshinover Rebbe’s Neilas Chag tisch in the Bayit Vegan neighborhood of Jerusalem on Tuesday afternoon.

One person was moderately injured and three people were lightly injured.

Emergency services were called to the scene and evacuated three people to Shaarei Tzedek and Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospitals.

“When we arrived at the scene, we saw a large commotion and three injured people in various states at the scene after being injured as a result of a bleacher collapsing,” Hatzalah paramedics said.

“Together with MDA paramedics and a rescue team, we provided initial medical assistance to a 15-year-old suffering from head and stomach bruises in a mild-moderate condition, an 11-year-old boy suffering from mild limb bruises, and a 25-year-old man suffering from facial bruises. They were evacuated in an intensive care vehicle and MDA ambulances for further treatment in the trauma rooms at the Hadassah Ein Kerem and Shaare Tzedek hospitals in the city.”

Video Playe

Rosh Yeshivas Don't Want Their Students to Protect Other Jewish People “Bochurim Will Go To Jail:”

 So far they haven't explained how 45 Jews were killed in Meron if "Torah is Matzil" 

Torah isn't "matzil" if you do not care about your fellow Jew in our very own Jewish country! This "Torah is Matzil" mantra wasn't made by Moshe Rabbeinu, Yehoshua, Shaul, Duvid, Shlomeh Hamelech. BTW even Shevet Levi went to war in a Milchemes Mitzva a defensive war! Even a Chassan under the Chupa has to go to war! The Roshei Yeshiva, with all due respect to them are completely out of touch with the vast majority of the Jewish people and are clueless to what is going on. They should be busy preparing lists of bochrim that are roaming the streets and who have no shaychis to learning and get them quickly to put on uniforms. If the RYs are afraid that they will go off the derech, they should sit with government officials and work out plans for separate units. But this is not sustainable! 

?האחיכם יבאו למלחמה ואתם תשבו פה 

Rosh Yeshivas Porat Yosef HaGaon HaRav Moshe Tzadka, one of the most senior Sefardi Roshei Yeshivos in Israel, spoke strongly against the new Chareidi draft law currently being drafted during the Purim seudah on Monday in Jerusalem, Kikar H’Shabbat reported.

“The Roshei Yeshivos should gather for a meeting and we’ll declare in one voice that our bochurim don’t recognize the law and they will all go to prison,” HaRav Tzadka said. “What should be done? This is the best option in my opinion. The Va’ad HaYeshivos should gather the Rabbanim and decide that all yeshivah bochurim will go to prison. What will they do? Take everyone to prison? So they’ll go.”

HaRav Tzadka instructed those who asked him about the issue to also speak to Rosh Yeshivas Chevron HaGaon HaRav Dovid Cohen in order to consult with him about what to do about the new law.

Kikar H’Shabbat published a recording of the conversation between HaRav Cohen and a Sefardi avreich.

Avreich: “I was sent by HaRav Tzadka to discuss the new recruitment bill.”

HaRav Cohen: “I haven’t seen the draft and I’m not well-versed on the matter but as I have expressed my opinion in the past, I and the Roshei Yeshivos are completely opposed to recruitment targets.”

During a time of war Chareidim Are Ready to topple Government Because they refuse to Serve in our own Jewish Country

Chaim Yankel said it best on a news site:

חיים יענקל פון וויליאמסבורג

 

The חילול השם that is being done by “Charedim” is horrific. They are okay demanding money for their institutions but they also want their students not to serve in any capacity. Shame on them. This is brech worthy. Nauseating.

In the latest twist in the Charedi draft saga, the United Torah Judaism party (UTJ) is threatening to quit Netanyahu’s government if a Draft Law is passed that includes sanctions and quotas.

According to sources involved in the negotiations, Charedi political leaders on Tuesday evening raised the threat of abandoning the coalition, and demanded the removal of economic sanctions against yeshivas and draft quotas for Charedim. In addition, a Knesset meeting that was scheduled for Tuesday was postponed indefinitely amid opposition from Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara, Finance Ministry officials, coalition members, and Agudas Yisrael representatives.

The deadline to submit an outline for the new law is Wednesday, which was set by the High Court.

The heads of the Chareidi parties met with Netanyahu on Monday to discuss the newly drafted recruitment law, which dropped a controversial clause raising the exemption age for lomdei Torah to 35. However, it still regulates the status of Torah learners, establishes recruitment targets for Chareidim who aren’t learning full-time, and outlines financial sanctions on yeshivos that fail to meet recruitment targets.

Some sources claim that Netanyahu is expected to ask the High Court for an extension of several more days, in order to reach a government agreement.

HYPOCRISY: Biden YM"S ‘disappointed’ Israel cancels delegation to D.C. after throwing Israel under bus

 

John Kirby, the White House national security communications advisor, told reporters on Monday that the Biden administration is “disappointed” that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called off a high-level delegation to Washington to discuss a potential Israeli ground operation in Rafah.

Israel decided to cancel the ministerial visit after Washington abstained on, rather than vetoing, a ceasefire resolution at the U.N. Security Council on Monday.

“We’re very disappointed that they won’t be coming to Washington, D.C., to allow us to have a fulsome conversation with them about viable alternatives to going in on the ground in Rafah,” Kirby told reporters.

Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer and National Security Adviser Tzachi Hanegbi had been scheduled to arrive in Washington on Tuesday for meetings with U.S. counterparts to discuss Israel’s plans for a military operation in southern Gaza. Kirby said the officials would discuss proposals for “viable options and alternatives to a major ground offensive.”

Following Monday’s vote, Jerusalem announced that “in light of the change in the American position, Prime Minister Netanyahu decided that the delegation will not depart.”

Kirby denied a shift in U.S. policy in abstaining from the nonbinding ceasefire resolution. There is no reason for there to be an escalation of tensions between America and Israel, he said.

“Nothing has changed about our policy—nothing,” Kirby said. “We still want to see a ceasefire, and we still want to get hostages out—all of them. And we would still want to see more humanitarian assistance get in to the people of Gaza. The reason we abstained is because this resolution text did not condemn Hamas.”

Kirby also denied that there has been a change in the way the Biden administration talks about the potential Israeli military operation in Rafah, from asking to see a “credible plan” to rejecting the operation outright.

“We said weeks ago that we believe a major ground operation in Rafah would be a disaster, absent any proper accounting for the safety and security of the refugees that are still there,” Kirby said. “We still believe the same thing.”

“I don’t see any change in the rhetoric,” he said. “We don’t support a ground operation into Rafah.”

Mother of 12-Year-Old Accused of Stabbing 56-Year-Old Woman: ‘He’s Just a Boy, We Learn from Our Mistakes’

 

The mother of a 12-year-old Harris County, Texas, boy who allegedly stabbed a 59-year-old says she is sorry but her son is “just a boy” and “we learn from our mistakes.”

Click2Houston reported the boy allegedly stabbed the “59-year-old woman outside of her April Valley Court home on Saturday afternoon,” following an argument with the woman.

Investigators said the boy and his 7-year-old brother were on bikes, and they rode off after the argument only to return. It was upon returning that the 12-year-old allegedly stabbed the woman.

When the mother of the 12-year-old spoke to reporters about the incident she said, in part, that she is “remorseful.”

She also said her son is “just a boy” and “we learn from our mistakes.”

FOX 26 noted the 12-year-old is still in police custody and has now been charged with “aggravated assault.”

Newsweek: Hamas Hails Biden's 'Clear Changes' on Israel Policy

 

A senior Hamas official has told Newsweek that the Palestinian movement has identified shift in the United States' position toward Israel after Washington declined to back its ally's stance at the United Nations, a change the group believes is due to pressure being felt by President Joe Biden from at home and abroad.

After using its permanent member status to issue several vetoes against U.N. Security Council calls for a ceasefire since the beginning of the Israel-Hamas war nearly six months ago, the U.S. abstained on Monday from the latest draft resolution demanding a cessation of hostilities throughout the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. The move drew condemnation from Israel, which canceled a high-level delegation set to visit Washington for talks this week.

Hamas, usually deeply critical of the extensive political and military support the U.S. has extended to Israel, praised the passing of the resolution. The group believes Washington may be forced to make other tough decisions as pressure builds to find a solution to the deadliest-ever flare-up in the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"Regarding the American administration, there is no doubt that there are clear changes in its policy towards Israel," Hamas senior official and spokesperson Ghazi Hamad told Newsweek, "and this is perhaps due to the stupid and foolish policy of the occupying state, which commits genocide, killing civilians, and starvation."

"America has found that Israel is putting it in an awkward position before the world, and it cannot justify its retaliatory actions against civilians," he added. "America also feels that Israel is floundering and is not achieving any of the goals it has set for itself."

Left-wing activist who hired one of Farrakhan's 'top soldiers' has visited Biden White House 7 times

 

 A prominent social justice and environmental activist group with high-level access in the Biden administration employs one of the so-called "top soldiers" of the Nation of Islam, a Black nationalist religious organization with a long track record of antisemitism and racism.

Terence Muhammad, the lead events and field coordinator for the Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit Hip Hop Caucus, has repeatedly praised the Nation of Islam and its current leader, Louis Farrakhan, according to a Fox News Digital review of social media posts. The Hip Hop Caucus, whose stated mission is to fight injustice and enact change, has been involved in key Biden administration policy decisions.

And according to the White House visitor logs, Hip Hop Caucus President and CEO Lennox Yearwood has visited at least seven times since Biden took office, with six of those visits happening in 2023. In the most recent example, Yearwood and two other Hip Hop Caucus officials, Tanya House and Cynthia Swann, were hosted in the West Wing for a private meeting with White House Domestic Policy Council adviser Sofia Carratala.

"Bless Minister [Louis Farrakhan] allowing one of his top soldiers [Terence Muhammad] 2 be w/ me for #MOW50. Much LOVE to the [Nation of Islam]," Yearwood wrote in a 2013 post during an event commemorating the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington.

In April 2015, during an event protesting police brutality, Muhammad posted a picture of Yearwood "with Malik Farrakhan and the brothers of the F.O.I." The acronym "F.O.I." appears to be a reference to the Fruits of Islam, the paramilitary wing of the Nation of Islam. 

Prepare for a Biden-Netanyahu showdown: Israel sees UN resolution as a real threat

 

There has been no shortage of hints when it comes to the White House's efforts to convey the message that Israel should refrain from taking action in Rafah, find a path to a ceasefire, and increase aid to Gaza. The vice president turned this subtlety into explicitly policy when she threatened Israel that there could be consequences to an operation in the city. On Monday, the rhetoric turned into action at the UN.

Israelis by and large will likely brush off the Security Council resolution as yet "another example of a delusional UN," but high-ranking Israeli officials see it as a real threat to Israel's freedom of action, as a deliberate undermining of Western legitimacy to act against Hamas terrorists, and a a potential weapon that will be seized by Israel-haters around the world to demand an end to the war even before the return of the captives and the toppling of Hamas.  

The doom and gloom that had until Monday been dismissed as paranoia became a potential reality in the hours following the resolution, which calls for a halt to the war in Gaza for the entire month of Ramadan and the release of the captives passed without condemning Hamas.

The text was hailed by the murderous terror organization, and Palestinian representative to the UN also demanded that the international community actively force Israel to implement the decision with the tools at its disposal (and there are such tools). The sponsor of the resolutions even went on to contradict the US by saying they viewed the decision as binding. 

So is this just American naivete or an attempt by Washington to use tools at its disposal to show the Israeli government that it is serious in its intentions against the operation in Rafah? Senior Israeli officials who held talks with the White House in the hours leading up to the resolution in tried to have the wording changed or have it vetoed –  as was the case with previous similar statements – but they were told that "Very senior officials at the White House are opposed to a veto this time."

The Biden administration had felt compelled to show a tougher hand on Israel for electoral purposes, but Israel sees this move as a way to appease progressive voters on the backs of the captives and Israelis living in border communities.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's reaction – scrapping the talks that had been planned in Washington – at first glance, appears measured. The rationale is that if the White House is not interested in supporting Israel's efforts on the battlefield, there is no reason for a senior Israeli delegation to travel to Washington to hear alternatives to the operation in Rafah.

But this is not going to be the end of Israel's response. The American decision caused consternation from within the Democratic Party and even more intensely among Republicans – who may now do what they did in 2015 all over again. Back then it was President Barack Obama who came out against Netanyahu, which resulted in the latter being invited for a fiery speech in Congress in which he lashed out at the administration This time it's Biden who is president, and the current Speaker of the House has already said he would invite Netanyahu. 

There are those who think that these actions will ultimately push Biden to express unequivocal support for the continuation of Israel's offensive operations in Gaza until Hamas is defeated.

The pressure exerted from Israel and internally from Republicans and within the Democratic Party is supposed to silence the rising tones from the progressives, or at least create a counterweight that will force Biden not only to quietly support Israel by arming it, but also publicly. This may also be what Israel needs most at this stage, when the legitimacy of its actions is dwindling at an alarming rate. It needs American backing on the world stage that would push back against the pressure exerted by European countries that have already begun taken action to stop the war. 

Steven Spielberg warns: 'Jews may again have to fight for right to be Jewish'

 

Acclaimed Hollywood director Steven Spielberg warned of the dangers of modern antisemitism while being honored by the University of Southern California yesterday (Monday).

Speaking at an event marking the 30th anniversary of the USC Shoah Foundation, an organization he founded in 1994, Spielberg said that "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

The Schindler's List director stated that he is "increasingly alarmed that we may be condemned to repeat history, to once again have to fight for the very right to be Jewish."

He warned that “the machinery of extremism is being used on college campuses” and that “the echoes of history are unmistakable in our current climate."

In November, Spielberg announced that the Shoah Foundation would launch a new project in which it would interview survivors of the October 7th massacre and document the various acts of terror it included, similar to its efforts to gather testimony from Holocaust survivors to document the crime that led to the creation of the word genocide.

“I never imagined that I would see this kind of unspeakable barbarity against Jews in my lifetime,” Spielberg commented at the time.

In an interview with Fox News, he commented on the growing antisemitism in the world. “I find it very, very surprising because antisemitism has always been there. It’s either been just around the corner and slightly out of sight but always lurking, or it has been much more overt, like Germany in the 30s,” he said. “But not since Germany in the 30s have I witnessed antisemitism no longer lurking but standing proud with hands on hips like Hitler and Mussolini.

Watch the Brave Muslim who murdered innocents in Russia turn into a Coward Screaming and Weeping Like a baby

 I hope the IDF watches this ... 

This is the moment one of the four terrorists who carried out the Moscow concert hall massacre cried and screamed as he was caught by Russian soldiers, who then went on to cut off his ear and make him eat it.

Russian border guards and FSB agents were seen furiously battering a man understood to be suspect Saidakrami Murodalii Rachabalizoda after chasing him through dense woodlands, in the 90-second-long clip shared to Telegram.

Moments later, an enraged soldier sliced off Rachabalizoda’s ear with a knife and forced him to eat it in a video too gruesome for MailOnline to publish.

Rachabalizoda is one of four ISIS terrorists who were charged  with terrorism, after they were caught, allegedly tortured and detained by Russian security services following the deadly attack at a Moscow concert hall on Friday night. 

Neo-Nazi skinhead is now an observant Jew thanks to DNA discovery

The neo-Nazi who inspired Edward Norton’s skinhead character in “American History X” has revealed he is now an observant Jew after turning his life around — and discovering his heritage through DNA testing.

Frank Meeink, 48, became a leader of a violent ultra-right group in the early 1990s, torturing enemies who stood in the way of his attempt to foment a race war.

Intensely anti-semitic and flaunting a flaming swastika tattooed on his neck, he railed against what he called the “Zionist occupation government” and believed the Jews were “the root of all evil.”

 In 1998’s “American History X,” Norton’s Derek Vinyard character was based, in part, on Meeink’s road to redemption as he began to ditch his racist views after kindling friendships with black inmates in prison. 

But now Meeink has revealed to The Post an astonishing twist: he is Jewish. 

Can Gedolim err? They Can and they did!

 

When the Rebbe of Belz came on aliyah, he said, ‘We realize now that we erred in our estrangement from Eretz Yisrael.’

by Rabbi David Samson

An opinion of our Sages teaches that the evil decree in the Purim story came when the Jews of Shushan attended the feast of Achashverus which celebrated his false understanding that the Jews would not return to Eretz Yisrael to build the Beit Hamikdash. Apparently, Mordechai was the only Jew who protested. He begged the Jews not to participate, but they were happy to attend, insisting that the food and drink would be glatt kosher.

The cause for the celebration – the belief that the Jews were freed of the obligation to return to the Land of Israel and to rebuild the Beit HaMikdash did not seem to bother anyone save Mordechai. There is no record that the other great Rabbis of the time, of which there were many, supported Mordechai’s vehement protest. Perhaps they did and perhaps they erred and attended the gala party which celebrated the disconnection from Eretz Yisrael and an open door to acceptance amongst the Gentiles and assimilation, believing it would cement good relations with the powers that be.

The modern version of that question arises – how could Gedolai Yisrael make a mistake in such a serious matter as the return of the exiled Jewish Nation to Israel? 

Rav Tzvi Yehuda HaKohen Kook, of blessed memory, my Rosh Yeshiva at the Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva in Jerusalem, told us that great Rabbis and Tzaddikim can also make occasional mistakes as seen in their opposition to Hashem’s returning the Jewish People in modern times. He discussed this very sensitive matter with us in spite of the reverence he held and taught us to feel for our Sages and for all Torah Scholars. However, he wanted us to understand that even great Torah Scholars can err.

In this past week’s Torah portion of Vayikra several types of sin offerings are mentioned. Situated between the offerings of a High Priest who sins and a king who sins are the laws of a sin offering for the whole congregation (Vayikra 4:13). The tractate Horiot explains that this is a case where “the majority of the Great Sanhedrin makes a mistake” and because of their error in deciding the law a majority of the congregation transgresses. The Sages of the Great Sanhedrin were the leading Rabbis of the time, yet the Torah defines a situation where even they can make an error of judgment.

The Torah testifies about Korach and his followers that they were outstanding Torah Scholars, stating: “They were princes of the congregation, the elect men of the assembly, men of renown” (Bamidbar, 16:2), yet they made a terrible mistake in their opposition to Moshe and Aharon. Datan and Abiram even went so far as to call Egypt, “a land flowing with milk and honey,” the very special expression the Torah bestows upon Eretz Yisrael. For their own personal reasons, they turned the words of the Torah upside down.

Ben Gurion's and Begin's talking points for Netanyahu

 Typically, Israel assumes a reactive, defensive attitude in foreign affairs: “Please like us, we haven’t done anything wrong”. It has never worked. 

We might best learn from Ben Gurion and Begin in their best moments, proactive and assertive. Biden probably doesn’t remember when Begin told him: “Don’t threaten us with cutting off your aid. It will not work. I am not a Jew with trembling knees. I am a proud Jew with 3,700 years of civilized history. Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers and ovens. Nobody came to our aid when we were striving to create our country. We paid for it. We fought for it. We died for it. We will stand by our principles. We will defend them. And, when necessary, we will die for them again, with or without your aid.”

Or as Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben-Gurion, famously noted: "It does not matter what the goyim say, it only matters what the Jews do.”

Reactive and defensive may convince our friends, it will not help us with our enemies. We need to be proactive and assertive. We need to set the agenda, not refuse theirs. Should he chose to go, Netanyahu could practice some of these lines on the plane to Washington:

-“If we didn’t care more about Gaza citizens than Hamas, this would have been over on October 8th.”

-“They already have ‘From the river to the gulf’ and that’s all worse than Gaza ever was. That’s over now in Gaza.”

-"Joe, it was not theirs until 1948, they possessed it for 19 years which was not internationally recognized and introduced ethnic cleansing, took away freedom of religion, and women's rights. They destroyed historic sites. Why is that 19 years the gold standard we should return to?"

And for 2-staters in the Biden administration:

-"How long have you supported ethnic cleansing?"

-"We are very happy with freedom and rights. If you don't like them, you can cross the river to Palestine, often called Jordan, where the rest of your Syrian and Egyptian families live."

-"We paid for it with the blood of our son's, our brave soldiers, in defensive wars that they started. They can try to take it away from us but I don't suggest that. We paid dearly for it, we're not giving it to them."

-"We are sitting on the Jordan River, we are staying here. If they have something to say about that come to our capital, Jerusalem and we can discuss their concerns."

-"No, we're not going to Qatar to talk to them, if they want to talk they can come to Jerusalem."

Those are the positions our neighbors understand. They should be the starting and finishing point of any discussion. If they would like tea and biscuits in the middle we would gladly boil the water and make the tea.

Appeals court Spanks Letitia James cuts Bond to 175 Million