Rabbi Reuven Levinson, ZL

It is with great sorrow that I report the passing of Rabbi Reuven Levinson, one of Chicago’s most beloved Mechanchim. He was a Rebbe at Arie Crown Hebrew Day School for well over 40 years having taught countless young elementary school kids including my own son. 

Rabbi Levinson’s reputation as a Rebbe went far beyond the 4 walls of Arie Crown. He influenced countless numbers of young people as principal of an afternoon Hebrew school as well as being involved in various after school and summer programs. His long career saw him teaching not only many children of former students, but even many grandchildren.

He was also a composer of Jewish music having composed somewhere between 75 to 100 songs, some of which were recorded by major Jewish recording artists.

I just returned from his funeral and one of the eulogizers was a a former student who was now teaching the same class in Arie Crown his Rebbe did. He was so inspired by his Rebbe that he chose to follow in his footsteps. He applies his Rebbe’s teaching philosophy to guide him. Always consulting him practically to the last moments of his life. Making  sure he was doing things right. 

One of the most important features of his teaching philosophy was to never give up on a student. No matter what!  He never rejected any one of them. Always trying to find the key to reach him. I believe that for the most part he succeeded where others failed. This was transmitted to his former student now teaching at his former school.

Rabbi Levinson was a gentle person who always had aa smile on his face. He never had a bad word to say about anyone. Not to a student. Not to a parent. Not to anyone. 

After his retirement from Arie Crown about 9 years ago, one of the other major day schools asked him if he would be willing to teach there. He obliged. 

As one of the eulogizers said: His loss was not only Arie Crown’s loss. It was the entirety of Jewish Chicago’s loss. He will be sorely missed. 

Baruch Dayan Emes 

Articles of Faith

He’s a lot smarter than I am. (Just wanted to get that out of the way before I say anything else.) Considering that he is probably about 20 years my junior and that I have that  much more life experience than he does, that’s saying a lot. Rabbi Gil Student is one of those people who in my opinion deserves a lot more credit and recognition than he already gets, which is still quie considerable. If there is anyone that could be a role model for what I refer to as a Centrist Orthodox Jew, Gil student is it. I am a pale imitation of that by comparison.

Lest anyone think I am engaging in false flattery for some reason, dismiss that thought from your mind. Be assured that I am not. I have absolutely no reason to do that. I simply admire who he is and what he does online.

Although I have no personal relationship with Gil and have never met him in person, we both go back to an email list called Avodah/Areivim owned and operated by Rabbi Micha Berger. It was (and still is) a forum for Jewish thought focusing on Halacha, Hashkafa, and world events affecting the Jewish people. Gil and I both participated quite profusely offering our insight on all of those issues.

As blogging became a more popular form of online discussion, Gil started his own blog: Hirhurim. Whose subject matter followed along similar lines of Avodah/Areivim. 

I had continued to opine on that Avodah/Areivim but some of my more ciritical material was censored. Some subjects, like Chabad Meshichism became entirely off limits.  At the time it was at the height of its controversy. I was frustrated by my inability to comment on what I felt is a vital issue that needed to be discussed. Gil suggested I start  my own blog and the rest as they say is history.  

A few years ago and for his own reasons, Gil converted his blog into a website that featured a variety features including opinions by Gil and other prominent Orthodox rabbis and personalities on Jewish issues.  His website now called Torah Musings is a valuable resource for my own blog.

As for me, any success that I have had in expressing and spreading what I believe to be the ‘Emes VeEmunah’ of Judaism I attribute to Rabbi Gil Student. For which I would like to now express my sincere gratitude.

All of this was just an introduction to Gil’s latest book entitled Articles of Faith. Therein he describes his own journey as a spokesman for observant Judaism and why he transitioned from blogging to an online magazine of sorts.  The topics he discusses in his new book are based on decades of articles he has written on his views of Halacha and Hashkafa in the Internet era. Views that I generally strongly agree with. Areas of discussion include: belief, technology, sacred texts, and the State of Israel. Obviously Judaism has a lot to say about all of those issues, and I can think of no one better to  express them than Rabbi Gil Student.  

I do not generally review books. But I sometimes do make an exception. This is one of those times. I highly recommend this book. If you want to know what  the fundamentals of Judaism has to say about the online world in which we live today, Articles of Faith (published by Kodesh Press) is a great way to begin that journey.

The Simchas Torah Massacre - One Year Later

The late Hezbollah leader, Hashem Safieddine - another one bites the dust (TOI)

What do Donald Trump and Louis Farrakhan have in common?  Anyone care to hazard a guess to this unusual question? Never mind. I’ll tell you. They both admire Hitler. I kid you not.

Farrakhan once said that Hitler was a great leader. Wickedly great. But great nonetheless. For this he was thoroughly and rightly criticized.

It should not surprise anyone that an open antisemite like Farrakhan said flattering things about a man who succeeded in murdering 6,000,000 of our people. 

But Trump has been one of the most pro Israel presidents in American history. And yet his former chief of staff, GeneralJohn Kelly said the following about Trump: 

“He commented more than once that, you know, that Hitler did some good things, too,”  

Trump has also said some other things about Hitler he liked. Like the loyalty he inspired in his generals. And that he (Trump) would like to choose people in his administration with that kind of loyalty to him too. 

The Trump campaign denies he ever said any of those things. But it would not surprise me in the least that John Kelly is telling the truth and that Trump is obviously going to lie about it and deny he ever said anything like that to anyone. 

I cannot imagine any Jew worthy of the name voting for someone that said anything positive about Hitler. 

And yet, Trump has a far better record of support for Israel than Biden/Harris does. That is the truth too. And that is the conundrum we face in the next election.

I wasn’t going to talk politics today, but this story is too big to ignore. 

In other news there is the following: 

Hashem Safieddine, the top Hezbollah official widely expected to succeed slain secretary general of the terror group Hassan Nasrallah, was killed in an Israeli strike earlier this month, the terror group confirms. 

This is good news, despite the fact that there are dozens of Hezbollah terrorists ready to replace the one last assasinated. Good news because maybe they will think twice before assuming a position that will very likely end their lives in very short order.

Meanwhile rockets keep being fired across the border from Lebanon into Israel while the media whines about how many  innocent people Israel is killing. As though Israel just decided one day to bomb a neighboring country and kill innocent people for no reason. There is very little talk by the media about the fact that there has been non stop rocket attacks from Lebanon ever since Hamas massacred over 1000 Jews and kidnapped hundreds!

This is how ‘knee jerk’ liberalism works. The media sees Israel dropping bombs in Lebanon followed by innocent civilians suffering and they blame Israel without thinking about why this is happening and whose fault it really is. It is a ‘knee jerk’ reaction to the immediacy of what they see! But it is also evil to ignore the context.

They might be ignoring the context of the rocket attacks because Israel has been able to avoid the kind of massive carnage that Lebanon has not been able to avoid. But that is not for Hezbollah’s lack of trying. Hezbollah would love to kill as many Jews as possible if they only could. Israel is responding to their nonstop intent. Not their ability to carry it out. 

It is the right of every sovereign nation to defend its people from foreign attack. That Israel has bee able to do so thus far and Lebanon has not does not mean that they will forever be unsuccessful. Israel must not be deterred from continuing their campaign toward victory over their enemies. Which will only come when their enemies surrender.  Or their patrons in Iran are brought to their knees  (As Trump tried to do when he was in office).

I don’t know when - or even if that will ever happen. But I don’t see that Israel has any other choice. They must fight on until they achieve the peace their citizens deserve. Which means a  cease fire that will actually be permanent. Not the ‘permanent’ cease fire that Biden/Harris keeps demanding.  Which will only be permanent until Hamas and Hezbollah reconstitute themselves and decide to attack Israel again. 

Tomorrow is Simchas Torah (in Israel)  exactly one year to the day (on the Hebrew calendar)  since Israel was so viciously attacked by Hamas terrorists. I will never forget where I was on that day. I was in Israel visiting my children, grandchildren an great-grandchildren. And was on my way to Shul in the morning for Shachris and Hakafos when I heard what sounded like bombs going off not to far from where I was walking. (I later found out that what I heard was Iron Dome doing its job.)

I could not have known then what the world would look like a year later. I had thought that the war might be over by now. It did not occur to me that that the talk at the time of a long war would mean longer than a few months. So around last Pesach I bought tickets on Swissair to fly to Israel for Sukkos again.  They were supposedly going to resume flights to Israel long before my flight was scheduled. But they didn’t. My flight was canceled and the fare was refunded. 

The only airline that has continued flying to Israel is El Al.  I managed to contact them and they had 2 round trip seats available for just over $10,000. That was a bit too rich for my blood. So we stayed home and have been spending Yom Tov with our American children and grandchildren. 

As I enter Shemini Atzeres and Simchas Torah, it is with some somber thoughts. A mixture of joy about the day and trepidation about the year ahead. I do not want to see any more Jewish blood being spilled. 

It is my fervent hope and prayer that the war ends soon. That all the hostages are returned to their families, and that a permanent cease fire - that actually IS permanent - takes hold in the Middle East so that our people can once and for all live in peace and security without fear of ever being attacked like that again.

Chag Sameach

Trump? Or Harris?

I have never been more disgusted by a candidate for president than I am right now. Former President Trump’s rhetoric has sunken to a new low, He recently used profanity at a public rally to describe his opponent Kamala Harris. As well as praising the male anatomy of a long ago deceased renowned athlete. How on earth can anyone vote for someone like that to be the President of the United States?!

And that is just the tip of the iceberg. His campaign rhetoric this time around has gone from bad to worse. Instead of focusing on issues that clearly give him an advantage over Harris, he has chosen to just smear her with a variety of hateful invectives that have zero to do with the issues most Americans care about. And this doesn’t even speak to what he has said he will do to his ‘enemies’ after he is elected. Nor does it include his many other lewd comments about women or what he could do to them at will because of his celebrity. 

Nor does it address his appeal to racists, bigots and even antisemites. Or his claims immediately after the last election that it was stolen from him. Or his constant harangue attempting to overturn the results of the election. Or his encouragement of supporters to protest it on that fateful day on January 6 when congress was to certify those results.  Some of those protesters thought it should include an insurrection if they could not overturn the election results any other way. The list goes on.

Trump is the one person I do not want to ever see leading the country again. He is a role model for everything a president should NOT be. A vindictive self absorbed megalomaniac who will do whatever it takes to get his way and push aside those who even dare to disagree with him. 

Kamala Harris is nothing like that. She has never used profanity at one of her rallies. While she has her baggage to contend with, she looks like Gandhi compared to Trump. Those who criticize her for smearing Trump by saying he is not fit to be president, are criticizing the truth. At least as far as his rhetoric is concerned.

Does this mean that I think Harris would be a better president? In many ways, yes I do. She will dignify the Oval Office, not degrade it – as would Trump by his mere presence.

At the same time, there is one issue that prevents me from supporting her. I am not sensing that her policies will be favorable to the Jewish nation. There have been many instances that indicate she will be a lot more ‘even-handed’ with respect to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians. 

Despite her constant pledge that she will always give Israel what it needs to defend itself, in the same breath she has strongly hinted that she will not tolerate the kind of mass civilian casualties suffered by Palestinians in Gaza. Which she seems to attribute entirely to Israel. Or more precisely, Netanyahu. 

Her sympathy for Palestinians may be genuine. But she is blaming the wrong party for that suffering. She has not given any indication that the fault of all of those ‘innocent’ Palestinian deaths in Gaza (and now Lebanese in Lebanon) is the direct result of Hamas and Hezbollah . While admitting that Hamas began the war and that Israel has a right to defend itself, she nevertheless believes that Israel cannot do so at the cost of so many Palestinian casualties. 

Even if she was right, she has not suggested how Israel is supposed to otherwise defend itself?  If Hamas deliberately places themselves in highly populated and sensitive areas like schools and hospitals, how are they going to avoid civilian casualties? By definition the way any country defends itself against being attacked is to ‘take out’ the attackers!  What is Israel supposed to do that would achieve that goal without killing the people Hamas deliberately lays out in front of them?  By constantly insisting on a cease fire she is telegraphing what she might do once in office. Which is to pressure Israel to stop fighting Hamas. That will surely lead them to reconstitute their numbers and resupply the weapons they get from Iran..

Hamas and Hezbollah don’t care that all their leaders have been killed. Nor do they care how many innocent Palestinians or Lebanese are killed. They keep firing rockets and sending deadly drones into Israel. Resulting in retaliation by Israel that causes more death and destruction for them than thier rockets and drones do to Israel.

Harris doesn’t want to see any of that, apparently. All she sees is  Palestinian and Lebanese death and suffering via Israeli airstrikes. She will not have it.  I believe that when she gets into office, she will put a stop to it. And force Israel to cease fire before the job gets done. 

Harris gave another indication of that misplaced sympathy at one of her rallies recently when she was challenged by a Palestinian sympathizer to call what Israel is doing - genocide. While she didn’t say it is, she did not deny it either. After that protester lost control and was ejected, Harris continued to justify his claims, saying ‘it’s real.’ ‘Listen, what he’s talking about, it’s real…’

Well death and suffering of Palestinians and Lebanese IS real. But the implication that it’s entirely Israel’s fault and must be stopped is not only false, but could end up hurting the Jewish state and helping its enemies. 

It is because of this one issue, I cannot see myself voting for Harris either. The welfare of my people is much too important for me to leave it to the machinations of someone whose sympathy is so misguided.

So this is my dilemma. I don’t agree with Harris’s agenda on many issues.. But considering who and what her opponent is, I would still vote for her. She will maintain decorum and dignity to the Oval Office whereas Trump will do the opposite -  as his current rhetoric clearly suggests. On the other hand when the welfare of my people is at stake, that issue overrides everything else.  

Both alternatives are unacceptable. 

I keep thinking - maybe Harris won’t be as bad for Israel as her recent comments suggest? Maybe she says those things to gain votes in battleground states with high Muslim populations? Maybe she will be no worse than Biden after she is elected? 

Will Trump be as supportive of  Israel in a second  term as he was in his first? I haven’t really heard much about what he will do in this regard so far in  this campaign. Trump likes to deal. Maybe he too will force some sort of  deal that will not be to Israel’s advantage. 

On the other hand maybe all that trash talk is just that. Trash talk. And that will not be how the Oval office will be run. Maybe he will be no different than he was last time. And his polices  - which I mostly supported - will be the same. Policies that were very pro Israel. I don’t know.

I do not remember ever being this perplexed about an election. And I have no clue what to do.

The Increasing Animosity Between Observant Jews

Charedim protesting the draft

Once again, Rabbi Natan Slikkin has made some valid observations about the lack of unity in Judaism. He made his remarks based on articles written in Jewish Action lamenting the lack of it among the Jewish people. I tend to agree with much of what he says. Rabbi Slifkin lays much of the blame on the Charedi community’s lack of willingness to participate in the physical defense of the country and the fact that they are woefully underrepresented in the workforce. Both of which generates a lot of resentment from the secular and non Charedi observant world And I can’t really argue with those observations. I see the same thing from here in the US. 

The resentment of the Charedi world that attitude generates is quite understandable. But the leadership class of Charedi world is not passive in their attitude about observant Jews that are not in their orbit. One of the most troubling things to me is that many (if not most or even all)  of the extreme right wing sees them as an enemy of Judaism. And as the size of the extreme right wing world keeps growing exponentially with new every generation, so too do they get more critical of it. 

I could not believe my ears when I heard a quite normal post high school Charedi student studying in a mainstream Lakewood Yeshiva (not BMG) tell me what his Rebbe (or Rosh Yeshiva)  said about Datim (Modern Orthodox or Religious Zionist Jews in Israel). He is of the firm belief that those observant Jews are ‘the kiss of death’ to the country! I kid you not.

 The kiss of death!

I don’t believe this Rebbe is an outlier. His students are being indoctrinated to believe that observant Jews who do not toe the Charedi line will ultimately be responsible for Israel’s demise. Not secular Jews. Not Hamas. Not Hezbollah. Just the kind of Jew that might study in. a Hesder Yeshiva for example. This is what his students are absorbing right along with  Gemara, Rashi, and Tosephos.

Protest against Charedim 

This Rebbe quite likely represents the sentiments of the Lakewood educational establishment. When they are challenged about the Hasmada (diligent study of Torah) typical of most Hesder boys, they will respond with a snarky comment like, ‘Hesder Yeshivos never produced any Gedolim’. If a Yeshiva doesn’t produce a Charedi Gadol, they are – not only not worthy of the name - they are the kiss of death to the country. And maybe even to the Jewish people!

Of course not every Charedi leader feels the way this Rebbe does. Rav Asher Weiss comes to mind. While he is not the only exception, I am beginning to think that the ‘Rav Asher Weisses’ of the world are the exceptions. The far greater proportion of Charedi leaders feel the way this young student’s Rebbe does. And therefore a lot more students are under their influence.

It wasn’t always like this. Oce upon a time there was more integration. More acceptance of non Charedim. The founder and Rosh Yeshiva of Ponevezh raised an Israeli flag over his Yeshiva every Yom Ha’atzmaut.  The Rosh Yeshiva of Telshe once spoke at a Religious Zionist event in Cleveland. Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach made himself available to all comers regardless of their Hashkafa. Always greeting everyone with a smiling face and graciousness.

But now, if they aren’t Charedi  they are considered the kiss of death to the country?!

It’s not so much that they do not believe as I do. They are entitled to believe as they wish. Same as I am. That is not what Achdus is all about. It is about respecting each other’s views even when we vehemently disagree. This they do not do!

I would extend this attitude to all Jews. Including those who are secular. One can disagree with a secular Jew without disrespecting them. They will in turn respect you even if they don’t agree with you.  As long as we don’t impose our views on each other we should be able to listen to each other and remain friends.

However, with respect to observant Jewry, I have always maintained (and still believe) that observant Jews of all stripes have a lot more that unites them than what divides them. For me that is just plain simple logic. On a daily basis our almost identical way of observing Halacha by far outweighs any Hashkafic differences we might have. As a practical matter we can live together in the same community; be friends and interact with each other’s families.

In his Jewish Action article, OU head, Rabbi Moshe Hauer says that we should live with a “pragmatic pluralism.” That is already  the reality in many observant communities here in the US. I have mentioned many times that Modern Orthodox Centrists and moderate Charedim already live in the same neighborhoods, eventually get similar advanced education towards a career, work in similar professions or jobs, and our families interact socially with each other. Sometimes we even send our children to the same schools.

How, one may ask, is this possible? Disgusting rhetoric like that of the aforementioned Lakewood Rebbe should make it impossible for the two worlds to unite in any way. When the negative rhetoric is as strident as that, it will surely make social interaction impossible. And yet I know that these ‘mixed’ neighborhoods do exist and the people in them get along quite well.

What appears to have been happening is that once a student left the confines of the Lakewood type Beis HaMedrash and sees that the people who were vilified are not exactly the way they were led to believe,  they tend to mellow and see the world as it really is.

But as the stridency by the 2 worlds against each other increases, I worry that this trend will be reversed. There is more divisiveness than ever. A divisiveness that crosses oceans. And it appears that there is nothing anyone can do about it. Where will all this end? I don’t know. But if Israel and the Jewish people suffer - the fault will lie with all of us.

Sinwar's Death and Ending the War

Yahya Sinwar - killed by the IDF (Reuters)

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, mastermind of the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust was killed last friday by the IDF. Sinwar was easily one of the worst terrorists on the planet. A man responsible not only for the death, mutilation and kidnapping of over 1000 Jews last year on October 7^th, but since then responsible as well for the over 42,000 deaths (according to the Hamas Health Ministry) of of his own people in Gaza. 

As if on cue, the Biden/Harris administration and likeminded liberal politicians and supporters used that milestone to suggest that this would be a good time for Israel to end the war. As though Israel was the only one doing the fighting. The media – on cue as well – was quick to report that Netanyahu has rejected that call and has chosen to continue the fight. Which of course is meant to cast him as a war monger whose sole purpose in prolonging the war is to stay in power. That he is the real obstacle to peace. That he is to blame for all the innocent Palestinians being killed there. That he is responsible for the hostages not being released. 

Nary a word about the fact that Hamas has rejected any call for them to cease fire. Promising instead to prolong the war; continue attacking  Israel; and refusing to release the hostages unless Israel surrenders to them (by stopping their part in the war and withdrawing from Gaza.)

Can anyone imagine what the reaction of the US would be to suggestions by its allies that the US should ceasefire in a  war against perpetrators of a massacre and kidnapping of Americans on the same scale as Israel?  Let’s just say it wouldn’t be - OK. We’ll stop.

I don’t think that Biden/Harris, are anti Israel. They are just ignorant about what is at stake. Instead focusing on the death and destruction in Gaza (and now in Lebanon). Which they blame entirely on Netanyahu. 

They ignore the fact that no country has the right to tell another country how to fight their wars. Those directly involved in the fight know best what is at stake and what they need to do.  Listening to what is in effect arm chair quarterbacks is not necessarily in Israel’s best interests. Israel’s leaders have the right - indeed the obligation to conduct a war against their enemies in ways they see fit. Without interference from outsiders or even political adversaries in their own country. 

But Biden /Harris and their echo chamber in the media are using the death of Sinwar to push an agenda to end the war prematurely. Which is not in Israel’s best interests  Ending the war now would not end the reign of  terror orchestrated by Iran and its proxies in the Middle East. It would only prolong it.

Thankfully there are other voices in this country that understand what Biden /Harris does not. You cannot make peace by negotiating with terrorists. That has never worked before and it will not work now. The ceasefire Biden /Harris is asking for is exactly what Hamas wants. It is a ceasefire that would require Israel to vacate Gaza. Leaving Hamas to regroup and rebuild. And then attempt many more versions of October 7^th. 

What about the hostages? Where do they fit in to all of this? 

First let me say that I don’t know a single person that doesn’t want to see them released today! This is something we all fervently pray for every day - and have been praying for - for over a year now. 

The hostage families are understandably desperate to bring them home. They also know that appealing to Hamas’s sense of mercy isn’t an option. To Hamas there is no such thing as mercy for Jews. So the hostage families focus on Israel’s leader and accuse him of ignoring the hostages in favor of winning the war. They accuse him of appeasing the right wing extremists in his coalition in order to stay in power. They want him instead to make whatever deal he can with Hamas to get the hostages out! Frankly, if it was one of my close relatives being held in Gaza, I’d probably feel the same way.

The problem is that you cannot allow the fate of the hostages to determine the conduct of the war. Especially when the only condition Hamas will accept for the release of their captives is the one that will let them survive, rebuild and re-attack! That is a nonstarter. Doing that endangers the entire country.

And yet Biden/Harris seem to think that a cease fire with Hamas and Hezbollah will be permanent if it is accompanied by an agreement on a 2 state solution. This shows just how naïve they are. Hamas and Hezbollah are part of the axis of evil led by Iran. Their Islamist theology will never accept a 2 state solution. Their goal is to eliminate the Jewish state entirely. They won’t stop until they succeed. Or until they are completely defeated. Israel must be allowed to pursue that goal and the US ought to be helping them!

Sinwar is dead. But to the axis of eveil it doesn’t matter. Until Iran and their proxies understand that Israel will do whatever it takes to defeat them - and that the US will help them achieve that, the war will continue. 

Right now they see the Biden/Harris hampering Israel rather then helping them.  That feeds their dream that victory for the Radica Islam that is Iran and its proxies is actually achievable. 

Instead of placating the axisi of evil with calls for a cease fire, the US should compeltely disabuse the axis of evil from their thoughts of victory. 

I wish Biden/Harris, would open their eyes to this reality. And allow Israel to fully do whatever they deem is necessary for their own survival without US interference. And instead offer any aid Israel needs to achieve that goal. Because if there is any chance of ending this war, it will only happen if the axis of evil is defeated.  That seems so obvious to me. Biden/Harris on the other hand seem determined to prevent Israel from doing that under the false belief that they can make peace with the devil. Can they really be that stupid?

Illusions of Life*

Are illusions something to avoid? Do they counter reality? Are they nothing but lies? The intuitive answer to these questions might be yes. But that would be the wrong answer. The truth is that life without illusions would be very boring and depressing. Meaningless even. The fact is that many Halachos are tied to illusions.

Sukkos is replete with illusions. For example the concept of Lavud. When there is a break less then 3 Tefachim wide (about 15 inches) in a wall, it is considered as though it is not there. One of the wasy this applies to Sukkos is the following. If there is a 3 Tefachim wide space in the Schach (the Halachic roof of a Sukkah) it is considered a closed roof. An obvious illusion that nonetheless allows the fulfillment of the Mitzvah even if one sits directly under that break and considered a fulfillment of the Mitzvah.  

Another example is this concept of Tzuras HaPesach.  A Sukkah requires a minimum of three walls to be considered valid. If one has only two walls one may erect two poles and affix a fishwire atop the two poles across the distance between them. That is considered a wall. Even though in reality it is nothing more than an open space between 2 poles.

Are these lies? Not at all. They are illusions that we are allowed to have in order to fulfill the Mitzvah. 

Then there is the Mitzvah of Teshvu Kein Taduru. We are supposed to live in a Sukkah the same way we live in our homes. But even though we eat and many of us sleep in the Sukkah, we do not really move into the Sukkah and out of the house. Kein Taduru requires us to have the illusion of living in the Sukkah. We are supposed to feel like we live there all of Sukkos.

Illusions are not only the stuff of Halacha. Illusions affect our everyday lives If one were to live their lives based solely on facts, life would be pretty boring. In a scientific sense, a home is really just a house filled with furniture. People are objects made up of atoms and molecules. Relationships are impersonal. A wife is only a housekeeper. Children are tax deductions. Gifts are bonuses that part of the household budget. As though the home was nothing more than a commodity market. Beauty and sweetness is sterilized out of our lives by ignoring such illusions as dignity, love, hope, purpose, happiness, and humor. 

Take the much abused word love for example. We can talk about sexuality in our post Freudian world all day long. But love is taboo and considered a comforting illusion. 

A narrow factualism regards integrity and honesty as illusions because ‘they don’t pay’. An idealistic appreciation of illusion considers that in the long run there is justice. Maybe a thief will prosper in business butlike a worm borig its way into a luscious fruit. However, that same dishonesty will find its way into the innermost recesses of the home.

Of course some illusions are harmful and even dangerous. Like race superiority. Or the idea that might makes right. But these are myths. They are false. Substitutes for facts. 

Illusions do not ignore facts. They build upon them and see them from a broader perspective.

What are some of the noble illusions that Judaism teaches? The principle of Teshvu Kein Taduru provides us with some outstanding examples. One is that Man is basically good. In the words of Tehilim (8:6) VaT'chasrehu Me’at Me’Elokim – he was created but a little lower than angels.

Man was given a Neshama, a soul. The man who sees only the hard facts of body parts will not see a soul in the human personality. For this you must have an eye for larger illusions and a heart for great ideals.

How silly was a Russian astronaut who - after returning from a mission in orbit said, ‘I looked through the heavens and found no God.’ Same thing the surgeon who said he conducted a thorough search of the anatomy and found no soul.’ That’s like a someone saying he took apart the violin and found no music.

What a wonderful Yom Tov Sukkos is. Teshvu Kein Taduru teaches us the noble, beautiful, and precious exchange of illusions. No wonder it is called Z’man Simchaseinu – the time of our happiness. May it continue for all of Klal Yisroel and indeed for all of humanity.

*Based on a sermon delivered by Rabbi Norman Lamm - published in Fetivals of Faith

The Good War 2.0

Palestinian protesters on Columbia's campus (Arutz Sheva)

I am tired of the world just standing by and watching our people be killed. Our enemy is determined to commit genocide against us. We therefore declare our right to destroy the enemy by all means necessary. Even if it means sacrificing our own people. 

To that end we will continue attacking the enemy until we get the job done. It doesn’t matter how many civilians die. It is our moral right to engage in armed struggle until we succeed in our goal. We will never give up no matter what the cost.  We have a right to exist as a free people in our own land. There is no such thing in collateral damage in our holy mission.

How many people think Netanyahu said this? And how many people think this attitude is immoral?

I would think basic human decency would militate for a very harsh response to people with this attitude. Killing innocent people to get what you want is about as immoral as you can get.

Thing is it is not Netanyahu making this argument. That is not Israel’s philosophy. It is the philosophy of the Islamist extremists that make up an axis of evil led by Iran. 

This is not something I just made up. It is the mantra of Hamas and their terrorist allies. It is even the mantra of their supporters protesting in the US - as noted by Arutz Sheva:

Last week, CUAD (Columbia University Apartheid Divest) retracted the apology it issued on behalf of Khymani James for his statements that Zionists do not deserve to live and expressing his desire to murder Zionists. The retraction was published a day after the first anniversary of Hamas’ Oct. 7 invasion of Israel...

The apology “does not represent Khymani or CUAD’s values or political lines,” the statement said. “CUAD organizers were complicit in not maintaining our political line.”

CUAD's statement also included an explicit endorsement of violence. “We support liberation by any means necessary, including armed resistance,” the CUAD statement said. “In the face of violence from the oppressor equipped with the most lethal military force on the planet, where you’ve exhausted all peaceful means of resolution, violence is the only path forward.”

This is why Hamas was willing to allow Gaza to be flattened by Israeli bombs. They knew Israel would be blamed for the civilian casualties they are themselves responsible for. They planned it that way and have admitted it publicly. They knew Israel would respond harshly to the mass murder, rape, mutilations, and kidnappings they carried out last year on October 7^th.  Point being that they used their civilians not so much as human shields but to increase world sympathy for their cause. 

They have succeeded to the point of the world accusing Israel of genocide. Instead of accusing those really responsible for that, Hamas!  And they are not going to stop no matter how many of their people they are willing to have Israel kill for their cause. 

If they cared at all about the crying Palestinian mother carrying her bloodied dead child after being hit in an Israeli air strike on a Hamas command and control center located in the middle of a sensitive civilian facility - they would have surrendered a long time ago and saved tens of thousands of their own people. But they will keep letting their people die. Because hurting Israel's image in the world is more important to them than the lives of their own woman and children.

Their strategy is working. The progressive left that passes for European leadership sees only a mighty military power (the oppressor, Israel)  killing the unarmed helpless innocent Palestinian civilians (the oppressed) that had nothing to do with October 7^th. (Other than to have felt good about that momentary victory for their beloved leaders, Hamas, whose goals they share.)

Netanyahu is therefore correct for fighting the current axis of evil no less than the US and the allies were were correct for fighting the axis of evil in what some have called the good war - World War II. The only way to truly end this war now is with the kind of victory the allies had then. If only the Biden/Harris administration would let them do it. 

But instead of offering their full throated full support Biden/Harris has done exactly what Hamas wanted them to do: Pressure Israel to put the brakes on their war against the current axis evil. Biden/Harris watches the news just like everyone else. They see innocent Palestinians (and now Lebanese) being killed by Israeli air strikes targeting enemy strongholds. Biden and company also watch protesters on campuses demanding a cease fire and demanding that their schools divest from companies doing business with Israel. And then they say things like, ‘They have a point!’ They accuse Netanyahu of not caring enough about civilian casualties.

Israel has to pay attention to what its only true ally says. They have therefore  been held back to an extent. Although not enough to the liking of Biden/Harris.

Biden/Harris wants to see a permanent cease fire. Well so do I. But the only ones that have ever honored an agreed upon cease fire in the past is Israel. Hamas and Hezbollah have lobbed rockets into Israel whenever they felt like it. It was only then that Israel would respond. The only way there can be a permanent  cease fire is if the enemy is completely destroyed. 

And that includes Iran. There can be no victory with out that. Israel is about to attack Iran in retaliation for the 200 missiles they fired into Israel earlier this month. With the blessing of the US. But also with a warning that certain targets are off limits. I believe Israel has no choice but to listen to its closest ally.

I only wish Israel’s closest ally saw the reality instead of the images they are fed on TV and the Palestinian protesters calling for a ceasefire - some of whom think killing Jews is a good idea.

If there was ever a time to finish off a regime whose stated ultimate goal is world domination, now is that time. It’s time to let the dogs out. Israel should be allowed to do as much damage to Iran that it is capable of doing. With the blessing of the US - if not outright joining them in that endeavor. 

The people of Iran  deserve to be liberated from the tyranny of a regime that brutalizes their own women for not covering their hair in public. A regime that jails or kills their own people when they express public dissent. Iran was once a Western style nation that had friendly relations with Israel which had an embassy in Teheran. 

There would be no better service to world than to overthrow a regime responsible for spreading terrorism all over the world. and restore freedom to its people. 

There is no way that a fanatic Islamist regime like Iran should be allowed to continue to exist. They are on the precipice of enriching uranium to nuclear weapons grade. Which pretty much coincides with time when that terrible deal with Iran was supposed to expire. A deal that allowed them to continue spreading terror with impunity. The time to strike is now. Before it’s too late. If only Biden/Harris realized that.

Why Trump May Win the Election

There is not the slightest doubt in my mind that Donald Trump is every bit as bad as his critics say he is. Critics on both sides of the political aisle have been saying the same things about him. Which pretty much boils down to the fact that in virtually every way that matters, he is unfit to be president. This includes hard core Conservative Republicans that once enthusiastically supported him despite his horrible rhetoric. And still support his policies.

On an almost daily basis Trump exaggerates or lies about his opponents and says that once he is elected he will do things that sound like the acts an all powerful dictator after a military coup. I’m not going to bother listing all of the horrible things he has been saying. The list is way too long. Suffice it to say that if even one of those things would have ever been said about any presidential candidate in the past, he would have been completely rejected by the American electorate as unfit. Presidential candidates have dropped out for a lot less. (Gary Hart and Ed Muskie come to mind.)  

And yet the latest polls have shown the election to be a dead heat. The more Trump talks his trash, the better his poll numbers become. The latest numbers according to the latest NBC poll show an actual tie between likely voters: 48% for Harris and 48% for Trump. And a statistical tie in al the battleground states. The election is 3 weeks out and these are the best numbers for Trump since Harris replaced Biden as the Democratic nominee. 

Considering that  more than half the electorate votes democratic, this means some Democrats are switching their vote to Trump.

Not only that but while the percentages for Harris are still high, Black and Hispanic support for her has dropped from what they were for Biden in the last election. Some in these both of these 2 demographics have switched their allegiance to Trump, too.

The media has been relentless. Every day they report on a new and obvious exaggeration or lie Trump tells his supporters at a rally about his opponent - or the revenge he’s going take against his ‘enemies’ after he wins the election.  And yet, it is as though this is helping him rather than hurting him.

The media must be pretty shocked by all this. Is there nothing they can say or do to wake the American people up to the reality of who and what they will be voting for – if the vote for Trump? They must be collectively shaking their heads in utter disbelief.

Indeed. This is pretty shocking, all things considered. How is any of this possible? Are the American people that stupid? Is half the electorate not paying attention to who he really is and what he has been saying? Are they not aware of his lack of personal morals and ethics? Or his vindictive governing style? Do they not fear that Trump’s reelection will be the end of democracy in America? 

I think the answer to all of those questions is that the American electorate knows exactly what he has been saying and they don’t care! They do not take his trash talk literally and don’t care about his lies and exaggerations. Nor do they care about his vindictiveness over his ‘enemies’.   

Those same polls show what the electorate does care about. The two most important things being the economy and illegal immigration. Most of the electorate believes they were far better off financially when Trump was president. And they fully support his policy of mass deportation of all illegal immigrants. By far. While the abortion rights issue favor Harris, I don’t think that is what’s moving the electorate.

This is the only explanation I can think of. It appears that these 2 issues override all other considerations. They do not believe that Trump will destroy the country in a second term anymore than he did in his first term. They in fact believe the opposite. That they were better off then than they are now. They want to go back to that.

If the media wants to understand why their very harsh and very legitimate criticism of Trump isn’t working, they ought to think about that.

Media Bias? You Bet!

The anti Israel bias of UN has never been more obvious than now. Nor has it been more blatant. I don’t see how any objective observer could see it otherwise. Except that the mainstream media actually does see it otherwise – having reported the latest Israeli attack against Hezbollah in Lebanon exactly the way the UN sees it – pretending they were reporting it objectively

Injuries were sustained by so-called UN  peacekeepers placed in Lebanon at its Northern border. They  were originally stationed there to prevent hostilities between Hezbollah and Israel.

Which of course Hezbollah never honored - firing rockets into Israel from time to time with impunity. . Since October 8^th in an act of solidarity with the Nazis of the Middle East (Hamas) Hezbollah has been firing a barrage of rockets into Israel for over a year now. Only a complete idiot would say that the so-called peacekeepers are doing their job. The only job they were doing was letting Hezbollah do whatever they wanted.

Israel finally did something about that relentless attack for purposes of returning Israelis safely to  homes evacuated after October 8^th.  After warning civilians in Northern Lebanon to evacuate, Israel started bombing Hezbollah strongholds - from which they were firing rockets. 

UN ‘peacekeepers’ stationed there were also advised to leave. The UN hierarchy refused to allow that with the ridiculous claim that they were still needed for their intended purpose (of preventing cross border attacks). So they stayed and some of them were injured. The UN condemned Israel claiming that Israel deliberately attacked them. The UN was joined in their condemnation of Israel  by bunch of European countries. (No surprise there.) The mainstream media has for the most part reported it from the UN perspective, too. (No surprise there either.)

Anyone who doesn’t see the obvious bias here is either ethically blind, stupid, or an antisemite.

Ta-Nehisi Coats and Tony Doukopil (mediaite)

And if that isn’t enough consider what happened to Tony Dukoupil - one of the 3 news anchors of CBS Mornings - as reported by JNS:

Dokoupil’s Sept. 30 interview with Coates on “CBS Mornings,” which Dokoupil co-hosts, prompted a backlash within the newsroom after he pressed (writer Ta-Nehisi) Coates on why the new book, The Message, presents a one-sided, pro-Palestinian - anti Israel view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

 Dokoupil asked Coates some hard questions about his one sided presentation. Like this one:

Why leave out that Israel deals with terror groups that want to eliminate it? Is it because you just don’t believe that Israel in any condition has a right to exist?”

And then this happened: 

Adrienne Roark, the head of newsgathering at CBS, said that “many” people in the newsroom had complained about Dokoupil’s interview with Coates.

“After a review of our coverage, including the interview, it’s clear there are times we have not met our editorial standards,” Roark said during the meeting, per a recording that the Free Press obtained. “I want to acknowledge and apologize that it’s taken this long to have this conversation.”

Editorial standards?! The only standards the mainstream media seems to have is one the aligns with the progressive left. Anything to the right of that is considered a violation of their journalistic standards - for which they need to apologize and reprimand the journalist deemed guilty of it. 

I wouldn’t even attempt to count the vast number of times a mainstream journalist challenged someone who had a pro Israel position. Not a word of reprimand. But when the reverse happens all hell brakes loose. 

In fact in this case the brass at CBS’s news division hired Donald Grant - a self described  DEI “strategist” and “trauma trainer” to address a staff meeting. But that was cancelled after the following: 

(The) network unearthed a social media post, in which Grant photoshopped Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), who is black, onto a cover of Uncle Tom’s Cabin and labeled him “Uncle Tim.”

Scott used a screenshot of Grant’s post in a fundraising appeal on the Republican Party’s WinRed platform.

It was gratifying to finally see some pushback by someone that CBS cannot ignore .Shari Redstone, the controlling shareholder of CBS’s parent company Paramount Global who said the following: 

“I frankly think Tony did a great job with that interview,” Redstone said at Advertising Week New York on Wednesday. “I think he handled himself and showed the world and modeled what civil discourse is.”

The same attitude was expressed by one of CBS’s more respected journalists, Jan Crawford: 

“I don’t understand how Tony’s interview or any of his comments that he’s made with anchors fail to meet our editorial standards,” Crawford said at the meeting. “When someone comes on our air with a one-sided account of a very complex situation, as Coates himself acknowledges that he has, it’s my understanding that as journalists, we are obligated to challenge that worldview, so that our viewers can have that access to the truth or a fuller account, a more balanced account.”

“To me, that is what Tony did,” Crawford said. 

It’s nice to know that there are some journalists at a major broadcast network news organization who are not ‘holier than thou’ progressives. Progressives whose ideology is  so deeply ingrained... so deeply believing they have the moral high ground - that anyone who disagrees must be reprimanded as a matter of conscience. And then call that objective journalism. What makes this particularly nefarious is that they do they actually believe they are being objective.

These two examples of media bias should convince anyone with even a half way open mind that the mainstream media is run by people that do not have a clue what it means to be objective. They may not be deliberately lying. But when extreme bias passes for objective journalism they may as well be.