“…Causing the Multitude to Sin – This is Unforgivable.”
Who’s Who, According to the Rambam
Excerpts;
“The Rebbe’s answer must have come as a shock to his correspondent. In volume 18 of the collection of letters by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneersohn, is found a letter dated the tenth of MarCheshvan, 1958, in which the Rebbe expresses his disapproval that his correspondent has ceased associating with Jews whom he refers to as those who scoff at and rebuff the Torah. ”
“Known for his inclusion of all Jews in the mitzvah of Ahavas Yisroel, the commandment to love your fellow Jew, the Rebbe says that the Torah explicitly does not sanction separating yourself from such people, except for specifically defined cases. The Rebbe refers to the definitions by the Rambam in Hilchos Tshuva, perek Gimmel, Halachos Hes (8) and Yud (10).”
Today’s War News …
The Agony and Hurt of an Israeli Government’s Betrayal of Fellow Jews…
Another right on the mark article from Rachel Saperstein, formerly of Neve Dekalim;
Excerpts:
“There is a good deal of worry about our children. Children who once viewed our soldiers with reverence now see the soldier as an enemy who can readily throw them out of their homes. You can no longer trust a soldier, or a policeman, or a member of the Knesset, or a prime minister. Each engenders fear. One is left with a sense of helplessness.”
” … I am traumatized and my body shakes as I relive, every night, my expulsion by the Israeli army and the Israeli police.”
Overnight War News …
IDF and Hizbullah Exchange Fire; No Troops Wounded
Soldiers Fire at Suspicious Images Along Northern Border
IDF Soldiers Arrest 23 Wanted Palestinians in the West Bank
IDF Artillery Fires at Mortar-Launch Area in Gaza
IDF Artillery Responds to Mortar Fire From Gaza
Mortar Lands North of Gaza Strip; None Wounded
Excerpts:
“IDF directs artillery fire at Gaza Strip in response to rocket attacks on Israeli targets.””
Escalation in the South? IDF forces struck at Qassam rocket launching sites and access roads in the northern Gaza Strip Thursday morning, after Qassam rockets were fired at the southern town of Sderot.”
Caretaker Government Begins as Knesset is Disbanded…
Caretaker Government Begins on Thursday
Excerpts;
“This will clear the way for Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to appoint his allies to vacant ministerial posts, requiring only cabinet approval, no longer required to seek Knesset approval as well. ”
“The caretaker government is expected to continue running national affairs until the March elections.”
War News…
The “Ish Tam” and Distinguishing Good from Evil …
Parsha Vayeitzei: Distinguishing Good from Evil — Revisited.
By Moshe Burt
In view of events of 3 1/2 months ago as well as the current election campaign, this author reflected back on last year’s word on Parsha Vayeitzei.
In last week’s parsha Toldos, we learned about Yaakov, the “Ish Tam”, one who was “totally honest, a man of great integrity”, who was master over the trait of being “tam”, a “‘plain man’, … without trickery, but he did not allow this character trait to dominate him. He knew when and where to act otherwise.”
Politics and the Election …
Prediction: T.O. Time — Kadima’s Self-Destruct Getting Closer! Taking this latest disgruntled free agent is a big step along the way. It’s gonna be fun watching this bunch of infants self-destruct. MB
Police Recommend Indicting Hanegbi; A-G to Decide
Excerpts;
“The Israel Police recommended to the state prosecutor’s office on Wednesday that interim Likud party Chairman Tzahi Hanegbi be indicted for making illegal political appointments when he was environment minister from 2001 to 2003.”
The Plight of the Gush Katif Refugees — Still Relevant 3 plus Months Later …
Jonathan Rosenblum wrote this article mere days after the Expulsion began. The words seem still relevant for the Callous Indifference of the Israeli Gov’t and segments of Israel’s population regarding the Gush Katif and Shomron Refugees 3 plus Months Later. MB
Excerpts:
“In the long span of Jewish history, the uprooting of 8,500 Jews from Gaza will not rank as one of the worst tragedies, though it was unique in that those doing the uprooting were themselves Jews. This was not 1492 and the expulsion from Spain or the Holocaust. And the attempts by some in the settler community to appropriate symbols of those earlier tragedies – yellow Jewish stars, concentration camp uniforms – and by implication, and sometimes explicitly, to cast the soldiers executing the evacuation orders in the role of Hitler’s S.S. troops, only infuriated secular Israelis.”