Is the Iranian mullocracy moribund? There is some intriguing writing on the wall for the country’s Shiite leadership. To read what’s on the wall, or, at least, in the air, click here.
Category Archives: News
Slippery Slur
Did you know that the Torah says to vote for Kamala Harris? Or that she’s a radical socialist? Me neither. And what “socialism” encompasses might surprise you. You can read my thoughts on the matter here.
The UN’s ‘memories’ of antisemitic terrorism are painfully faulty
A piece I wrote about the U.N.’s sad decline (and worse) is here.
Re’ei – Killing’s Toll on Killers
Killing takes a toll – on the killed, of course; that’s pretty obvious. But also on the killers.
That is something that the Ohr Hachaim introduces in his commentary on the pasuk “And He will give you mercy and have mercy upon you” (Devarim, 13:18).
That “give you mercy” is his focus. He writes:
“This act of killing [here of the idolaters of an ir hanidachas] creates a natural cruelty in the heart of a person.”
He continues by referring to what “we are told by the sect of Yishmaelim who murder at the command of the leader, that they experience a great euphoria when they kill a man, and the natural feeling of pity is extinguished in them…”
Therefore, he explains, “Hashem assures the Jews that [after their commanded act of killing], their innate feelings of mercy… will be returned to them anew” despite their having been weakened through the act of killing.
And, further, that they will thereby be granted Heavenly mercy themselves, since “Hashem has mercy only on the merciful.”
Modern psychiatry recognizes something called “perpetrator trauma,” a presentation of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms caused by an act or acts of killing.
But what the Ohr Hachaim is expounding upon is a different upshot of perpetrating violence: the erosion of the natural human instinct of mercy.
And his report about not only the post-murder desensitization of assassins (the word “assassin,” as it happens, derived from an Arabic name for the reputedly murderous Nizari Ismaili sect) but of their being enthralled by taking lives resonates all too strongly today, when we have seen Yishmaeli murderers exulting after killing men, women and children. Even the mere imagining of murdering Jews is enough to enrapture some, as they joyfully and mindlessly chant their hope to rid the Holy Land of Jews “from the river to the sea.”
© 2024 Rabbi Avi Shafran
The Vote’s in the Mail
Voting by mail is a thing these days; so is controversy about it.
To read about the extent of fraud in remote voting, please click here.
Agudath Israel Condemns Biased UN Tribute to Terror Victims
The omission of any mention of Israeli victims of terrorism from an International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism display at the visitors’ hall of United Nations headquarters is nothing short of despicable.
The U.N. informs us that “Acts of terrorism propagating a wide-range of hateful ideologies continue to injure, harm and kill thousands of innocent people each year,” and that the international body “has an important role in supporting Member States to implement the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy by standing in solidarity and providing support to victims of terrorism.”
And, indeed, the visitors’ welcome area’s display of large photographs of such victims includes tributes to victims of 9/11 and of terrorist attacks in Boston, Indonesia and Kenya, among other places.
Conspicuously missing, though, is any mention of the countless Jewish victims of Islamist terror over so many years. And this, less than a year since the October 7 Hamas attack on Israelis, the most deadly attack on Jews since the Holocaust.
Many have long judged the U.N. as a hypocritical, corrupt and useless institution. Ample evidence for that contention is displayed at the U.N. today.
PROGERIA AND POLITICS
The average cost of getting a new drug into the market is $1.3 billion. In the 2020 election, political spending reportedly topped $14 billion, A musing on those topics and numbers is here.
Wild Turkey
Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdoğan recently threatened to attack Israel. And slapped a child for not kissing his hand. Read about both here.
Rightly Raised Eyebrows
For an assortment of reasons, former President Trump enjoys broad support among Orthodox Jewish Americans. He also, though, enjoys the support of some very unsavory characters. To his credit, one of them, although she denies it, was jettisoned as a featured guest at a recent fundraiser. Unfortunately, her replacement has problems of his own.
To read about what I mean, please click here.
DECOLONIZATION NATION
Among the vilifiers of Israel as an illegitimate “colonial” power—and the line is long and motley—are some Native Americans.
Emphasis is on the word “some.”
To read about some other, more perceptive, indigenous people, please click here.