“I don’t speak because I have the power to speak; I speak because I don’t have the power to remain silent.” Rav Kook z"l
Friday, July 15, 2022
Ivana Trump 73 Grandmother of Jewish Grandchildren Dies
Ivana Trump, who formed half of a publicity power couple in the 1980s as the first wife of former President Donald Trump and mother of his oldest children, has died in New York City, her family announced Thursday. She was 73.
“I am very saddened to inform all of those that loved her, of which there are many, that Ivana Trump has passed away at her home in New York City,” Trump posted on Truth Social. “She was a wonderful, beautiful, and amazing woman, who led a great and inspirational life. Her pride and joy were her three children, Donald Jr., Ivanka, and Eric. She was so proud of them, as we were all so proud of her. Rest In Peace, Ivana!”
The Trump family also released a statement. “It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of our beloved mother, Ivana Trump. Our mother was an incredible woman — a force in business, a world-class athlete, a radiant beauty, and caring mother and friend. Ivana Trump was a survivor.
“She fled from communism and embraced this country,” the statement continued. “She taught her children about grit and toughness, compassion and determination. She will be dearly missed by her mother, her three children and ten grandchildren.”
The Trumps were a power couple in New York in the 1980s before their equally public, and messy, divorce after Donald Trump met his next wife, Marla Maples. But in recent years, Ivana Trump had been on good terms with her former husband. She wrote in a 2017 book that they spoke about once a week.
Ivana told the New York Post in 2016 that she was both a supporter and adviser to the former president.
“I suggest a few things,” she told the paper. “We speak before and after the appearances and he asks me what I thought.” She said she advised him to “be more calm.”
“But Donald cannot be calm,” she added. “He’s very outspoken. He just says it as it is.”
She was born Ivana Zelnickova in 1949 in the Czechoslovak city of Gottwaldov, the former city of Zlin that just had been renamed by the Communists, who took over the country in 1948. She married Trump, her second husband, in 1977.
Yuval Dayan Israeli Pop Star Who Recently Turned Frum Wouldn't Shake Hands Wit Biden
Israeli folk singer Yuval Dayan recently became religious and now dresses modestly at her performances. However she is still willing to sing in front of men and was invited together with fellow singer Ran Danker to sing in front of President Biden when he visited the Israeli president’s residence Thursday.
Thousands Attend Satmar Business Expo
(VINnews/SandyEller) – More than 4,000 people flocked to the Garden State on Wednesday for the first-ever trade show dedicated to furthering business within the Satmar community.
Held at the New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center in Edison, the full day expo was a project of Congregation Yetev Lev D’Satmar and the Hisachdus Avreichim D’Satmar. The show cast the spotlight on the community’s thriving entrepreneurial spirit, with over 300 booths reflecting the Satmar presence in a wide variety of industries including finance, insurance, real estate, construction, technology, health care, food, publishing and more.
Designed to encourage members of the Satmar congregation to support each other’s businesses, the event was open to the entire Jewish community, with all exhibitors and vendors hailing from the Satmar community.
Thursday, July 14, 2022
Biden Kneels While Meeting Holocaust Survivors in An Emotional Embrace at Yad Vesham
President Biden told Holocaust survivors he met Wednesday upon his visit to Yad Vashem to remain seated, and to not get up for him, instead the President kneeled on one knee, held their hands, smiled and gave each woman a kiss, while wiping a tear.
The President spoke with them for more then 20 minutes, longer than scheduled. As he wrapped the meeting, he said to one of the women. “My mother would say, ‘God love you dear. God love you.’”
The Holocaust survivors, were identified as Rena Quint and Giselle (Gita) Cycowicz.
Cycowicz was born in 1927 in Chust, which was then part of Czechoslovakia. She was rounded up and confined in the ghetto before being deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, and later to forced labor camps, according to Yad Vashem.
Quint was born in 1935 in Piotrkow Trybunalski, Poland. In 1942, her mother and her two older brothers were deported to the Treblinka extermination camp, where they were murdered. Rena and her father were sent to the Buchenwald concentration camp, where her father was murdered. She was eventually sent to the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp.
Below the entire ceremony
Wednesday, July 13, 2022
Watcha Biden's Arrival ..Politically weak Biden meets Lapid an interim prime minister
Prime Minister Yair Lapid greeted US President Joe Biden on the tarmac at Ben-Gurion Airport on Wednesday, it was an interim premier who very well may not be in office in another five months, meeting with a president whose own political future is looking increasingly uncertain.
In other words, this is not a tête-à-tête between two leaders at the height of their political strength with a strong mandate and few immediate electoral concerns.
Lapid’s Yesh Atid party, according to the most recent polls, is trailing Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud significantly and would find it highly difficult right now to put together a government after November’s elections.
Likewise, Biden is at perhaps the lowest point in his presidency in terms of public support.
DISTURBING: Watch: New Uvalde Footage Shows Cops Running Away From Gunshots During School Shooting
Today, the Austin American-Statesman published portions of the hallway surveillance footage taken during the mass shooting at Robb Elementary School in May. The edited clips, which run to just over four minutes in total, show the police response to the shooting, as well as the gunman entering the Uvalde school and heading towards a classroom. Audio and video from the published footage shows heavily armed officers failing to breach the room even as the shooter releases a second burst of gunfire.
At one point in the footage, an officer looks at his phone, and uses a hand sanitizer dispenser attached to the wall. The American-Statesman’s Tuesday report comes ahead of state and local leaders’ promise to release the full, unedited surveillance feed to the public. The footage, which will capture what law enforcement officers lingering in the hallway did for more than 70 minutes on May 24, was given to affected members of the Uvalde community on Sunday, according to state Rep. Dustin Burrows.
Israeli liberals cheered for Trump’s downfall because of their need to appear enlightened. We are all paying for their sin
Many Israelis are concerned over U.S. President Joe Biden’s impending visit. His itinerary is already published, the issues on the table are known and people are worried about the Palestinian Arab consulate, construction in Jerusalem, the Temple Mount and Sheikh Jarrah. A dark cloud will hang over the visit, with the Palestinian Authority's desire to extract a win from it and Biden’s desire to give them one.
Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s main achievement in terms of the Trump administration shouldn’t actually be judged according to the bottom line, although this would be quite sufficient (and in my opinion not enough). The main success was of the spirit.
When we look at the Biden administration’s positions on Israel, the impression is one of identification with a Palestinian Arab narrative that seeks to persuade the world that Israel’s very existence is a “problem.” There are those who support this “problem” and others who have their reservations, but this has been our story since 1948: We are a “problem.” An established problem, a successful problem, a problem the Americans share many interests with, but a “problem” nonetheless.
The Trump administration’s collaboration with the Netanyahu government showed a fundamentally different perception of Israel. It approached Israel naturally, as an indisputable fact, not just because of aligned interests but because of complete identification with the Zionist narrative predicated on the natural and historical rights of the Jewish people. And it saw the Palestinian Arab opposition to those rights as the “problem.”
Perhaps the affection for Biden among some Israelis was caused by Trump’s abrasive and problematic personality. But who the hell cares? Beggars can’t be choosers. Does Israel have the luxury of picking and choosing the source of its salvation?
Most Israelis understand this. Then why the cheers and joy over the Democratic victory and open disgust at anything connected to Trump? First, the need to look like a universalist and approach every dispute in the United States as if it’s happening here. Second, because of the need to be considered enlightened.
This is the powerful engine driving, for example, many Israelis’ emotional reaction to the issue of abortion in the U.S., as if (the longterm dispute over states versus federal rights, which is the real issue and just happens to have risen about abortions this time around, ed.), is any of their business. No, friends, it’s not your business. And yes, Trump was a gift. Biden is the punishment for our sins of denial and falsehood.
Kobi Arieli is a modern-Orthodox writer, columnist and stand-up comedian.
This article was originally published by Israel Hayom.
Tuesday, July 12, 2022
Why Do The Extreme Leftists Admire R' Yoel Teitelbaum z"l
I have always thought it one of the advantages of Modern Orthodoxy that we see value outside of our own orbit. We celebrate the profound thinking of R. Yitzchak Hutner, the bold and sensitive halakhic rulings of R. Moshe Feinstein, and the saintly personality of R. Shomo Zalman Auerbach.
Contrast this with how the Charedi world tends to talk about R. Soloveitchik or R. Kook. The same applies in terms of communal evaluations. We candidly admit that the narrow focus of Charedi ideology has advantages in fostering passion for Talmud Torah and commitment to halakha.
That being said, we should retain the right to reject and the ability to refuse. We need not endorse the legitimacy of every Charedi position, accept every work in their pantheon, and support each Rav they consider a gadol.
For example, an entire community not serving in the army without showing gratitude to those who do cannot be morally justified. Such matters are not subject to elu v’elu. It should be legitimate for us to say that R. Elchonon Wasserman was an outstanding lamdan but that his Jewish thought does not reflect the same greatness.
Dangerous Biden weighing call for settlement building freeze
Finished with the American People now aiming at Israelis |
President Joe Biden is considering making a public statement during his upcoming visit to Israel, calling on the Israeli government to freeze all construction in Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria, Kan Bet reported Tuesday morning.
The Palestinian Authority is pressing the US to use Biden’s trip this week to extract major concessions from Israel, including a total cessation of all construction in Israeli towns in Judea and Samaria.
Tuesday’s report cited Biden administration officials who said that the White House is taking the request seriously, with the president reportedly weighing the possibility of publicly declaring that he believes settlement expansion endangers the two-state solution, and calling on Israel to impose a building freeze in Judea and Samaria.
The White House is also considering including a statement by the president during his visit in which he declares that the two-state solution is the only solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict that the US finds acceptable.
Palestinian Authority officials quoted in the report hinted that President Biden may limit his call for a building freeze to Israeli towns outside of the major settlement blocs.
“The leadership in Ramallah is pressing the American government to have Biden include in his comments during the visit to the region a call for a building freeze in the settlements – or at the very least, outside of the blocs.”
US Won't Allow Israeli government officials to join Biden's upcoming visit to Palestinian Arab hospital in it's own country
The US rejected an Israeli request to allow Israeli government officials to join President Joe Biden’s upcoming visit to the Augusta Victoria Palestinian Arab hospital in Jerusalem, four Israeli officials told Axios’ Barak Ravid on Monday.
Biden is expected to visit the Augusta Victoria Hospital on Friday morning before heading to Bethlehem for a meeting with Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
At the hospital, Biden is expected to meet with Palestinian civil society activists, according to Israeli officials.
He is also expected to announce during the visit $100 million in US assistance to the Palestinian Arab hospitals network in eastern Jerusalem, Axios reported on Sunday.
According to Monday’s report, Israeli Ministry of Health officials spoke to US officials on Sunday and asked if Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz or a lower-level Israeli health official could join Biden’s visit to the hospital.
The Israeli officials told Axios that Biden administration officials rejected the request, saying it is a “private visit," not a political one.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment. The Israeli government did not like the US response. A senior Israeli official told Axios that this is a matter of Israeli sovereignty.
Israeli officials said they are going to continue discussing with the US in the coming days the possibility of Israeli officials joining Biden’s visit to the hospital. The senior Israeli officials added they think the issue will be solved by Friday.
Such a move has political implications, as a visit by a US President to the eastern part of the capital "divides Jerusalem" in principle and can even be perceived to be a non-recognition of Israel's sovereignty over the area.
Chinese Assemblywoman running for congress in parts of Boro-Park Endorses Boycotting Israel
Manhattan-Brooklyn congressional candidate Yuh-Line Niou has endorsed the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against Israel in her platform — provoking condemnation from a leading opponent and the head of the state Democratic Party.
Niou, a state assemblywoman who represents Chinatown and the Lower East Side, is running for an open seat in the 10th Congressional District that takes in brownstone Brooklyn, parts of heavily orthodox-Jewish Borough Park and downtown Manhattan.
“I believe in the right to protest as a fundamental tenet of western democracy, so I do support BDS,” Niou said in an email to the Jewish Insider.
Niou has gained some traction after winning the endorsement of the left-leaning Working Families Party while the socialist left supports the BDS movement against the Jewish State.
But a leading opponent in the congressional race, former Mayor Bill de Blasio, slammed Niou for turning against Israel.
“The BDS movement does not recognize the right or need for Jewish statehood. That is unacceptable,” de Blasio said in a tweet.
“I have always opposed BDS and will build a strong coalition within the Democratic Party to stop BDS from undermining Israel’s economic & physical security.”
State Democratic Party Chairman Jay Jacobs called Niou’s backing of BDS “offensive and I condemn it.”
She should pull out her history book. Her position shows a lack of understanding of the region,” he said.
By supporting BDS, Democratic Party sources said Niou may be trying to solidify support from the hard left in a race with more than ten candidates to give her a shot at pulling off a victory.
But very few New York politicians and members of Congress nationwide support BDS.
The House of Representatives in 2019 overwhelmingly passed a resolution opposing the anti-Israel boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel.
Socialist firebrand Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was one of thee to vote against the resolution.
The tenth congressional district is a progressive district. But it also has a considerable number of Jewish voters — many of whom are Zionists who consider Israel the ancestral home of the Jewish people.
Other candidates in the race, besides Niou and de Blasio include: Rep. Mondaire Jones; Manhattan Councilwoman Carlina Rivera; Dan Goldman, the House Democrats’ chief lawyer for the first impeachment case against former President Donald Trump; Brooklyn Assemblywoman Jo Anne Simon; former Congresswoman and Brooklyn DA Elizabeth Holtzman; parent activist Maud Maron; and anti-communist activist and retired military veteran Yan Xiong.
Monday, July 11, 2022
The 20 Jews that hate other Jews
Here are the 20 Jews who hate Jews that @ NIONCUNY ("CUNY AntiZionist Jews") managed to unearth. Share their names widely-it's what they want. And it's what we want, too.
— SAFE CUNY (@SAFECUNY) July 10, 2022
We oppose them just as we would "blacks against black people" or "women opposed to women." These are racists pic.twitter.com/Elb5jvQwri
A tiny example why Musk told Twitter to go to hell!
Most of the tweets on twitter are fake accounts. This is one tiny example what was really going on.
The tweets below is only 9 out of more than 15,000 similar tweets!
Is Ami's Favorite Cult Lev Tahor breaking apart?
Sources within Ami's Lev Tahor cult working desperately to rebuild cult, prevent members from moving to Israel, report says.
The extremist Lev Tahor cult has essentially broken apart, three members of Lev Tahor told Kikar Hashabbat.
Recently, the members and families of Lev Tahor have spread across a number of countries worldwide: In Guatemala, there are still a number of families who as a group are desperately trying to rebuild their cult. Another group is living in another country; the rest are spread around the world.
Some members of the cult have returned to Israel and been seen in the streets of Jerusalem. Others have been spotted in London, buying food for Shabbat (the Sabbath), Kikar Hashabbat added.