Trump’s tariffs and what they show - Facts!

For every 1,000 children who get measles, one or two will die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

 

A Second Child Dies of Measles 

 

It is the second confirmed measles death in the U.S. in a decade. If the outbreak continues at the current pace, the nation may lose its elimination status.

Listen to this article · 4:46 min Learn more

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A billboard in Seminole, Texas, in February. Nearly 500 cases of measles have been reported since January in West Texas

The measles crisis in West Texas has claimed the life of another child, the second death in an outbreak that has burned through the region and infected dozens of residents in bordering states.

The child, an 8-year-old girl, died early Thursday morning of “measles pulmonary failure” at a hospital in Lubbock, Texas, according to records obtained by The New York Times. Her death is the second confirmed from measles in a decade in the United States.

The hospital, part of UMC Health System, said on Sunday that the girl was unvaccinated and had no underlying health conditions.

The first death in the West Texas outbreak was an unvaccinated child who died in February. Another unvaccinated person died in New Mexico after testing positive for measles, though officials have not yet to confirm that measles was the cause of death.

Since the outbreak began in late January, West Texas has reported 480 cases of measles and 56 hospitalizations. The outbreak has also spread to bordering states, sickening 54 people in New Mexico and 10 in Oklahoma.

How Measles Attacks an Unvaccinated Child

If the virus continues to spread at this pace, the country risks losing its measles elimination status, a hard-fought victory earned in 2000. Public health officials in West Texas have predicted the outbreak will continue for a year.

Shortly after the 8-year-old’s death, a prominent figure in the anti-vaccine community blamed the death on the hospital, which he claimed had “improperly medically managed” the case.

Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group that Robert F. Kennedy Jr. helped establish years before he became health secretary, also claimed that a “medical error” at a different hospital in Lubbock had led to the state’s first measles death.

These claims incensed experts, who emphasized that the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine is extremely effective at preventing measles infections and their complications.

“These are not medical errors,” said Dr. Michael Osterholm, who is an epidemiologist at the University of Minnesota and a former official in the Department of Health and Human Services. “This sits squarely on the back of anti-vaccine voices that have continued to spread disinformation.”

Mr. Kennedy has faced strong criticism for his handling of the outbreak. A prominent vaccine skeptic, he has offered muted support for vaccination and has emphasized untested measles treatments, like cod liver oil.

According to doctors in Texas, Mr. Kennedy’s endorsement of alternative treatments has contributed to patients’ delaying critical care and ingesting toxic levels of vitamin A.

“This is a tragedy, an absolutely needless death,” said Dr. Peter Marks, who was the nation’s top vaccine regulator until he resigned last week from the Food and Drug Administration, in part because of Mr. Kennedy’s handling of the measles outbreak.

“To date, the federal response to the ongoing measles outbreak has been inappropriately focused on distracting and ineffective alternatives to the only truly effective prevention — measles vaccine,” he said.

Experts also fear that the Trump administration’s recent decisions to dismantle international public health safeguards and pull funding from local health departments have made large, multistate outbreaks more likely.

On Sunday, Senator Bill Cassidy, a Louisiana Republican who is a medical doctor and cast a critical vote to confirm Mr. Kennedy, encouraged the public on social media to get vaccinated, adding that “top health officials should say so unequivocally b/4 another child dies.”

Why Measles Outbreaks May Be the New Normal

April 5, 2025

Measles is one of the most contagious pathogens. The virus can linger in the air for up to two hours after an infected person has left the room and spreads when a sick person breathes, coughs or sneezes.

Within a week or two of being exposed, those who are infected may develop a high fever, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes. Within a few days, a telltale rash breaks out as flat, red spots on the face and then spreads down the neck and torso to the rest of the body.

In most cases, these symptoms resolve in a few weeks. But in rare cases, the virus causes pneumonia, making it difficult for patients, especially children, to get oxygen into their lungs.

It may also cause brain swelling, which can leave lasting problems, like blindness, deafness and intellectual disabilities.

For every 1,000 children who get measles, one or two will die, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The virus also harms the body’s immune defenses, leaving it vulnerable to other pathogens.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/04/06/health/measles-death-texas.html

The Giants The Jews No Longer Have --- Rav Kook at Hebrew University - 100 Years Ago

 Chief Rabbi of Eretz Yisrael, Rav Abraham Isaac ha-Kohen Kook's participation in the event was an act of courage; indeed, many of his rabbinic colleagues viewed his presence as an act of treachery. Even more courageous was the message he delivered that afternoon, which minced no words about his true feelings regarding the Hebrew University and its place in the life of a revitalized Jewish yishuv in the Land of Israel. Rav Kook’s sermonic invocation, with its textured and flowery Hebrew, rich with biblical and rabbinic allusions, was a masterful midrashic exposition on the event being celebrated that day.

Lord Balfour speaking at the dedication of the Hebrew University; Rav Kook sitting on the dais. Painting by Leopold Pilichowski (click to enlarge).

On April 1, 1925, 100 years ago today, the Hebrew University was formally inaugurated on Mount Scopus in Jerusalem. The event was presided over by Chaim Weizmann, then President of the World Zionist Organization, with representatives from the governments of the United States, France, Germany, and other nations, along with distinguished scholars representing the worldwide academic community.

 The countless Jewish dignitaries present included rabbis, poets, and philosophers. Among them were Chief Rabbi Joseph Herman Hertz of England, Hayyim Nahman Bialik, and Ahad Ha’am. Some six to seven thousand persons sat or stood in the audience, in order to witness the historic ceremony, which opened with an invocation, delivered by none other than the Chief Rabbi of Eretz Yisrael, Rav Abraham Isaac ha-Kohen Kook. His participation in the event was an act of courage; indeed, many of his rabbinic colleagues viewed his presence as an act of treachery. Even more courageous was the message he delivered that afternoon, which minced no words about his true feelings regarding the Hebrew University and its place in the life of a revitalized Jewish yishuv in the Land of Israel. Rav Kook’s sermonic invocation, with its textured and flowery Hebrew, rich with biblical and rabbinic allusions, was a masterful midrashic exposition on the event being celebrated that day.

In TRADITION’s Fall 1994 issue Shnayer Z.  Leiman presented an annotated translation of Rav Kook’s speech at that historic event, featured in our “From the Pages of Tradition” column:

 

 READ & WEEP FOR THE RABBIS WE DO NOT HAVE:

https://traditiononline.org/rav-kook-at-hebrew-u/

This Mechutzef (Wise Guy) From Yeshiva Torah Vodaath Looking To Establish His Charedi Credentials in "Yiddish" Of Course * Slamming The Views of His Grandfather & Father - Rav Joseph Ber Soloveitchik & Rav Aaron Lichtenstein Zichronam Levracha

Contrast His Older Brother's Views Consistent With Torah Values & Mesorah From The Avos. Rav Moshe Lichtenstein Served In The IDF Proudly, In Gaza & Lebanon!

Mosheh Lichtenstein (Hebrew: משה ליכטנשטיין; born July 7, 1961) is a co-rosh yeshiva of Yeshivat Har Etzion located in Alon Shvut.^[1] He is the eldest son of Rabbi Aharon Lichtenstein and Dr. Tovah Soloveitchik.

Biography

Mosheh Lichtenstein came on Aliyah with his family in 1971 from New York, when his father Rav Aharon Lichtenstein was offered the position of Rosh Yeshiva at Yeshivat Har Etzion.^[1] He studied at the Netiv Meir High School [he] in Jerusalem, and thereafter, spent a year studying with his grandfather, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, in America from 1979 to 1980.^[2] From 1980 to 1985, he did hesder at Yeshivat Har Etzion, serving in the Armored Corps.^[2] He received Semicha from the Rabbanut and a degree in English Literature from Hebrew University.^[1] Lichtenstein was hired as a Ram at Yeshivat Har Etzion in 1992.^[2] He went on sabbatical during the 1997 and 1998 academic years and served as Rosh Kollel of the Torat Tzion Kollel in Cleveland.^[1] He also taught at Bruria, an Advanced Program for Women in Jerusalem from 1992 to 1997.^[2] At present, he is responsible for the Yeshivat Har Etzion's Kollel Gavoha, teaches Shiur Hei at Yeshivat Har Etzion, teaches an Iyun Shiur on Zevachim and gives a weekly Shiur for Shana Bet. He also teaches at the Beit Midrash for Women Migdal Oz. On September 25, 2008 (Tishrei 5769), Rav Yehuda Amital officially announced his retirement, to take effect on the last day of the Jewish month of Tishrei, in the year 5769 (October 28, 2008). He also announced that Lichtenstein would assume the position as the fourth Rosh Yeshiva on that same day. Lichtenstein was inaugurated as Rosh Yeshiva alongside Rabbis Aharon Lichtenstein, Yaakov Medan and Baruch Gigi.^[1]

Helping rabbis provide Halakhic guidance and hopes that the book validates the suffering and destigmatizes the symptoms of mental illness.

This shift moves away from a past inclination in general society to blame patients for their symptoms, which was reflected in the approach of some earlier poskim and Orthodox therapists.  Past studies of Orthodox use of mental health services have described clients’ fear of stigmatization and of feelings that they should overcome the problems themselves because the symptoms indicate moral weakness. 

A Halakhic Guide to Dealing with Mental Illness

A review of Yonatan Rosenzweig and Shmuel Harris, Nafshi BiShe’elati – The Halakhot of Mental Health (Maggid books, 2025).^[1]

Rabbi Yoni Rosenzweig and Dr. Samuel Harris’s Halakhic book, Nafshi BiShe’elati – The Halakhot of Mental Health has recently been translated into English from the Hebrew edition by Maggid press.

The book  presents a comprehensive Halakhic treatment of mental illness, offering the first systematic approach to applying Jewish law to mental health issues. While a few articles have addressed some of these halakhic questions, this work stands out for its thoroughness and scope. The book’s strengths and multidisciplinarity are reflected in the diverse and laudatory approbations (haskamot) it has received.

Rav Eliyahu Abargel praises its scholarship, summaries, and novel interpretations of rabbinic literature. Rav Baruch Gigi and Rav Eliezer Melamed emphasize its practical utility for issuing halakhic rulings for mentally ill individuals, noting R. Rosenzweig’s extensive consultations with contemporary poskim. Rav Re’em Hacohen and Rav Yuval Cherlow view the work as essentially developing a new area of Halakha, attributing the previous lack of such a treatise to recent advancements in psychiatric diagnoses and our more sophisticated understanding of psychology, genetics, and mental health treatment. In the English translation, there are additional approbations from Roshei Yeshiva at RIETS: Rabbi Michoel Rosenzweig (the author’s uncle), Rabbi Hershel Schachter, and Rabbi Mordechai Willig.

Nafshi Be-She’eilati is structured in three sections, with only the first two translated into English. The first part is a legal handbook, written in the style of guides like Shemirat Shabbat Ke-hilkhatah, which first lays out concepts such as Shoteh (mental incompetence) and addresses what the Halakhic obligations are for people suffering from mental illness. It addresses Halakhic attitudes to treatment and practical questions such as laws of prayer, rules for holidays, kashrut, family laws including niddah, obligations to parents, and gossip laws. Some examples of questions the book deals with are whether someone with OCD must pray, whether an anorexic patient must fast on fast days, and whether a depressed person can listen to music on Shabbat. The second section provides extensive annotations citing a wide range of Halakhic sources for each legal question and decision. The untranslated third section contains lengthy Halakhic discussions of critical sources along with R. Rosenzweig’s interpretations and innovations. There is also a survey of accounts of mental illness in rabbinic literature, and a comprehensive table and discussion that translates DSM-5 categories and risk factors for each mental illness into Halakhic categories.

The authors state that they wrote the book to help patients suffering from mental illness. R. Rosenzweig hopes the book will further legitimize the suffering of mental health patients and their need for support, and Dr. Harris writes about helping rabbis provide Halakhic guidance and hopes that the book validates the suffering  and destigmatizes the symptoms of mental illness. However, despite the book’s virtues, one might wonder about its true contribution, given that many of its conclusions, for example that the principle of Pikuach Nefesh (preservation of life) overrides other commandments in mental health situations, seem intuitively obvious.

In his Iggerot (1:31), Hazon Ish points out that Halakhic decision-making involves two components: Halakhic principles and metziut (reality). He suggests that Halakhic principles, such as Pikuach Nefesh,  are usually clear, with most questions arising in their application: what situations are defined as Pikuach Nefesh? R. Rosenzweig’s book clarifies the reality (metziut) of mental illness. What situations arise, and what are their implications? Mental illness presents a unique challenge: the Halakhic applications are underdeveloped, and the psychiatric realities are complex and vary by situation. This results in ignorance of the dangers and realities of mental illness, compounded by the perplexing and uncertain prognosis in many cases. The book is therefore peppered with terminology from DSM-5, reflecting the latest diagnostic categories, and is accompanied by recent research on risk factors for various mental illnesses. In addition, the book cites extensively from the entire range of relevant rabbinic sources: the Talmud, sometimes-obscure Rishonim and Acharonim, the world of She’eilot and Teshuvot. Due to the relative scarcity of existing sources, R. Rosenzweig includes consultations with present-day Halakhic experts as an additional source. The bi-focal view of Halakha and psychiatry is the successful outcome of a book written jointly by a rabbi and a psychiatrist.

R. Rosenzweig’s approach involves borrowing Halakhic principles from other areas and applying them to mental health realities. He maps the concepts of Holeh she-ein bo sakana (non-life-threatening illness), Holeh she-yesh bo sakana (life-threatening illness), and Pikuach Nefesh (preservation of life) to mental health contexts. By codifying how to deal with mental illness using Halakhic medical models, R. Rosenzweig effectively treats mental health issues in a medical framework.

This shift moves away from a past inclination in general society to blame patients for their symptoms, which was reflected in the approach of some earlier poskim and Orthodox therapists.  Past studies of Orthodox use of mental health services have described clients’ fear of stigmatization and of feelings that they should overcome the problems themselves because the symptoms indicate moral weakness. Dr. Abraham Amsel, an early Orthodox therapist, in a representative passage, described mental illness as resulting from  sin in the following manner: “A sin is associated with a spirit of madness because irrational choosing momentary pleasure instead of permanent good makes for the beginnings, the kernels of madness. Since the sinner had free choice at the start between good and evil, he is, of course, punishable.”^[2] R. Rosenzweig (66) in his book  writes that some early poskim saw psychotherapy as emphasizing “the anthropocentrism of treatment, at the expense of Judaism’s Theocentrism and submission to God’s will,” also implying that psychotherapy can be a way of avoiding one’s obligations.

The book is innovative in further developing Halakhic concepts related to preventative care and probabilistic risk assessment in mental health. For example, if a patient isn’t suicidal at the moment but there is a chance they will be in the future, can one violate Shabbat to help prevent the patient from becoming suicidal soon? The book’s overall orientation adamantly upholds the principles of Pikuach Nefesh (preservation of life) and sustaining well-being. However, it carefully balances this approach with the weight of Halakhic obligations, emphasizing that each case requires individual evaluation through professional and/or rabbinic consultation. This dual consultation helps determine whether a situation constitutes Pikuach Nefesh and whether relaxing religious obligations will aid treatment.

Regarding treatment, the book argues that, despite reservations of poskim in the past, patients should seek psychotherapy due to new developments and professionalism, adding that some poskim even regard it as a Mitzvah. They offer broad guidelines including permitting behaviors normally discouraged, such as expressing anger, if they are therapeutic, while simultaneously upholding Torah obligations and values when it isn’t therapeutically helpful, and in some cases limiting who an observant therapist should treat. They support a range of therapies leaving the details up to the decision of the professionals and the patient.

The written style of the book is also noteworthy. The guidebook format makes the Halakha accessible and user-friendly. However, this technical approach is less likely to engender empathy. A narrative approach presenting complex dilemmas, similar to those described on R. Rosenzweig’s Facebook page, might have enhanced its emotional impact. Perhaps a future edition of the book can add more rich real-life stories and their Halakhic resolution to illustrate some of its principles. However, and perhaps ironically, the familiar and straightforward procedural guidebook style helps normalize mental health challenges as illness and anchor them in a clear Halakhic language and framework.

Even though some of the conclusions are intuitively obvious, the significance of this work extends beyond serious Halakhic scholarship. Many rabbis have limited exposure to mental illness (and are mentally ill as well,) and this book helps destigmatize and frame mental health issues within a medical model. It emphasizes the potential risks in mental health situations and therefore provides the basis for appropriate leniencies. It may also alleviate the concerns of Orthodox Jews who feel self-conscious, constrained, or guilty regarding their condition. Perhaps most importantly, as reflected in the approbations, the book’s value lies as much in fostering a more empathic and understanding approach to mental illness among rabbis and Orthodox Jews as in its Halakhic innovations. The book excels in three areas: translating the reality of mental illness into Halakhic principles, clarifying the Halakhic obligations of patients with mental illness, and explicating the broad Halakhic areas where leniency may be appropriate.

Cultural understandings of mental illness have changed over time and have contributed to different assumptions and interpretations of its reality. We have seen a shift from a moralistic model of mental illness where the patient is at fault and all they require to improve is better willpower, to a medical model where the illness is externalized and the patient needs outside help such as medication, support, and therapy to overcome their sickness. We have also seen, in the past few decades in the Orthodox community, a greater willingness to treat mental illness, reduced stigmatization of symptoms, and a greater awareness of the risks. This book reflects and catalyzes these trends by providing a Halakhic language for mental health challenges.

In conclusion, although the book’s Halakhic decisions may seem intuitive to some, Nafshi Be-she’eilati contributes by systematically addressing the place of mental health challenges within a normative Halakhic framework. This allows for accessible practical guidance, but perhaps more significantly, plays a crucial role in shaping a more compassionate and informed approach to mental health in Orthodox Jewish communities. Despite the procedural language the book adopts, it reflects a Halakha that isn’t limited to delineating what is permitted and prohibited; the book encourages and fosters values such as compassion, hesed, and caring for people’s well-being and lives. In the same vein, R. Rosenzweig, in addition to authoring this book, has become an address for psak Halakhah on mental health issues and founded an organization to train, educate, and sensitize rabbis to challenges of mental health and Halakha. Placing mental health patients at the forefront of this Halakhic caring is innovative, and is an important and necessary reminder of Halakha’s underlying values.

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^[1] Parenthetical citations refer to this volume.

^[2] Abraham Amsel, Judaism and Psychology, (Feldheim Press, 1969), 93.

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Meir Ekstein is a rabbi, community activist, and the director of Tiferet Orot, a nonprofit organization dedicated to educational ventures in Israel. He is a clinical psychologist in private practice in Beit Shemesh.

On Your "Haredi Rabbis" The Quakers & Tremblers" - "It seems to me that the experience of knowingly doing wrong is all-too-common. The coward, the hypocrite, the sell-out, the swindler—these people generally know that they are violating every standard of goodness"

 

 

Whether this the current war is categorized under Jewish law as a “required war’ (milchemet mitzva) or an optional war (milchemet reshut) is almost irrelevant. It is a situation of pikuach nefesh — danger to life — on a national scale (see Rambam H. Shabbat 2:23). I can think of no greater kindness or chesed one can do for the Jewish people during this time of need than to serve in the IDF.

 

I enlisted in the IDF

 

The more haredim who join the army, the quicker the army will evolve into a haredi-friendly army. Opinion.

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IDFHaredimChaim Goldberg

• 2 minutes

It is my first day of training in the Israel Defense Forces. I’m in the IDF Shlav Bet program, primarily geared to haredi Jews who didn’t enlist in the army at 18, or to religious immigrants who came Israel after the exemption age. I am in the second category.

The first person I meet. I’m in shock. “Sonnenfeld,” he introduces himself. “Are you related . . . ?” I ask, hesitantly. Yes, indeed, he is a direct descendant of the saintly scholar, Rabbi Yosef Chaim Sonnenfeld, founder of the anti-Zionist EidahHaredit community in Jerusalem over 100 years ago. I later find out that our logistics officer is Rabbi Sonnenfeld’s great-great-grandson-in-law. Other notable comrades included a well-known haredi author and two sons of a leading Beth Jacob (Bais Yaakov) haredi seminary principal.

Since December, I’ve engaged in numerous dialogues, including with Agudath Israel spokesmen, multiple kollel deans and others about the haredi refusal to serve in the IDF. We examine the Torah sources that are frequently cited as justifications for the haredi non-enlistment. After I point out that these justifications do not seem to be faithful representations of those sources — a discussion beyond the scope of this article — the bottom line issues I hear revolve around rabbinic leadership’s opposition to the Israeli army’s secular ethos*.

The religious Zionist hesder yeshivas go a long way toward meeting this concern, but they have also made various religious compromises. And philosophically, religious Zionist soldiers embrace certain nationalistic elements foreign to the haredi belief system. So the hesder yeshiva model isn’t a fully adequate response to the haredi concerns. I once had sympathy for such concerns, but based on my army service I have seen firsthand how these concerns do not represent an accurate understanding of what army service would look like for haredim today.

Here are some of the arguments I’ve heard against army service, along with my experience in Shlav Bet.

The army is secular. Haredi youth will be negatively influenced and become irreligious.

My experience?

• Every commander I had was haredi or devoutly religious.

• There was zero interaction between genders.

• There was time to study Torah each day.

• All food had a high-level kosher supervision widely accepted in haredi circles. For those who did not want to rely on them, pre-wrapped meals supervised by the Eidah Haredit itself were provided.

•There was davening (prayer) with a minyan three times a day. Many comrades, whose children are in haredi schools, remarked that they davened with a minyan more frequently in the army than they do in civilian life.

A couple of anecdotes.

Though everything in the army is done under precise timing, one day our company commander implored us to daven slower, noting that we can ask for time extensions if necessary.

One commander repeatedly stressed that our yirat shamayim (fear of Heaven) should not diminish one bit during our army service.

“And if we feel it does?” asked one soldier.

“Then leave your unit and find a different unit with a commander sensitive to your particular religious needs,” was the reply.

If a haredi youth would become secular in such an environment, that would be an indictment of the religious education they received prior to enlistment.

The Israel army’s agenda is to secularize everyone.

One of my commanders stressed that the IDF is no longer the melting pot that David Ben Gurion envisioned. Just as in the business world, the IDF now recognizes the value of diversity over homogeneity.

Another anecdote.

“Hatikvah.” Every morning we stand in formation and sing Hatikvah. Some in the haredi community take issue with Hatikvah’s lyrics, specifically the line “to be a free nation in our land.” The haredi understanding is that the composer’s intent was to be “free of mitzvah observance.” A comrade of mine raised an objection based on this.

“Not everything you say is a statement of ideology,” the commander reassured him. “However,” he added, “if you remain uncomfortable saying it, then don’t say it. Or, replace ‘free nation’ with ‘Jewish nation’ or ‘Torah nation.’”

Every day after Hatikvah, we sang “Ani Maamin” (“I believe in perfect faith . . . ” by Maimonides), which I understand frequently occurs in other units with religious, non-haredi soldiers.

The army is guided by an ethos of “kochi v’otzem yadi” (a biblical idiom that disapproves of attributing military success to human endeavor, leaving G-d out of the equation), and this too would imprint such an attitude on haredi youth.

We were in training the very nights that Hamas’ political chief Ismail Haniyeh and Hezbollah’s second-in-command Fuad Shukr were assassinated.

We were called to a special formation immediately upon waking. The message? To thank G-d for these miracles during the upcoming morning prayers.

Further, we were stopped later in the day — twice, by two separate commanders — to recite the Psalm of Thanksgiving, “Mizmor le-Todah.”

“We are not an army of kochi v’otzem yadi,” a different commander emphasized.

Now, some may say, all this is excellent, but it is not representative of the army as a whole. “Not every unit has these accommodations!”

Paradoxically, as I learned, that would be good for haredi soldiers. Because the only thing that matters is what your commanders say. It doesn’t really matter what other commanders might say. If your commander is haredi or supportive of your religious needs, as so many today are, you are good to go.

An equally critical takeaway is that the more haredim who join the army, the quicker the army will evolve into a haredi-friendly army.

A respected general has been tapped to build a haredi army base. He has an unlimited budget to build whatever haredi soldiers might need, be it a halakhically stringent eruv for Shabbat, a mikveh, a large shul, whatever. It is a male-only base. Its motto? “The way they come into the army — haredi — is the way they will leave the army.” No reeducation agenda. The brigade is called Hasmonean and it is waiting for haredi young men to enlist in large numbers.

Granted, this was not the case 20 or even 10 years ago. Haredi concerns were well founded. But times are changing. The reality is different. Will haredi leaders be a part of the change to a more Torah-observant army?

I was in Shlav Bet, not a full time army training. My framework was only two weeks. But alumni of this framework are found in critical roles such as Judea and Samaria patrols and logistics operations in Gaza.

This is extremely important not only intrinsically. Due to the unprecedented dimensions of the war Hamas began on Oct. 7, Israel’s reservist soldiers, and their entire families, are collapsing under the logistical, financial and emotional strain of being asked to go back into service again and again. I know many of them. They are proud, they are resilient and they are determined. But they are beyond exhausted.

This is to say nothing of those who, G-d forbid, develop PTSD, get injured or are killed.

Each and every soldier who joins the IDF now enables a reservist soldier to get a reprieve. To give a father back to his children, to enable a husband to return home to his wife.

Whether this the current war is categorized under Jewish law as a “required war’ (milchemet mitzva) or an optional war (milchemet reshut) is almost irrelevant. It is a situation of pikuach nefesh — danger to life — on a national scale (see Rambam H. Shabbat 2:23). I can think of no greater kindness or chesed one can do for the Jewish people during this time of need than to serve in the IDF.

*Another issue posed to me has been how can one be in an army where major issues of Jewish law, life and death issues, are decided by army personnel, and not rabbinic decisors? Chapter 4 of Tzavah K’halacha addresses this, a work written in full consultation with Rabbi Shlomo Zalman Auerbach. I heard this directly from the author, Yitzchak Kaufman, and it has been confirmed by Rabbi Auerbach’s sons in the introduction to Shulchan Shlomo.

 

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/406209

 

Top ultra-Orthodox rabbi orders yeshiva students to ignore IDF conscription orders

 

In letter published on front page of party newspaper Yated Neeman, Degel HaTorah spiritual leader Rabbi Dov Lando prohibits yeshiva students from reporting to recruiting office

41

 Dov Lando

 

ANYONE SEE DOV? FORGOT HIS DIAPER!

One of the most prominent ultra-Orthodox rabbis in Israel publicly called on yeshiva students to ignore IDF conscription orders, writing that they “should not report to the recruiting office at all” after receiving summonses.

In an open letter published Friday on the front page of Degel HaTorah mouthpiece Yated Ne’eman, Rabbi Dov Lando — the chairman of the party’s ruling Council of Torah Sages and one of the most prominent rabbinic leaders of the so-called “Lithuanian” stream of ultra-Orthodoxy — issued a series of instructions aimed at minimizing contact between members of his community and the armed forces.

Alongside the Hasidic Agudat Yisrael, Degel Hatorah is one of two factions comprising the coalition’s United Torah Judaism party.

 MORE:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/top-ultra-orthodox-rabbi-orders-yeshiva-students-to-ignore-idf-conscription-orders/

 

 UOJ & Liberman calls for arrest of leading haredi rabbis

MK Avigdor Liberman, head of Yisrael Beytenu, UOJ

ראש מועצת גדולי האינטערנעט - call for arrest of former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, haredi leader Rabbi Dov Lando, for their anti-draft statements.

https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/406287

I’m at a stage in life when one imagines that one better understands, and accepts, human frailty. It is, therefore, startling to realize that the list of people with whom I can no longer safely share a dinner table is growing, rather than shrinking.

It seems to me that the experience of knowingly doing wrong is all-too-common. The coward, the hypocrite, the sell-out, the swindler—these people generally know that they are violating every standard of goodness, including their own.

View in browser Failure of Character Sam Harris Mar 31 ∙ Paid   READ IN APP   In recent years, I’ve watched several friends who I once believed to be good, or at least good enough, become ethically grotesque. This has been disconcerting, for many reasons. I’m at a stage in life when one imagines that one better understands, and accepts, human frailty. It is, therefore, startling to realize that the list of people with whom I can no longer safely share a dinner table is growing, rather than shrinking. It says that one shouldn’t worry about the speck in another’s eye when there is a beam in one’s own. I admit that there is some generic wisdom in this, but I can’t pretend to believe that I have less integrity than the people I am now judging—for it simply isn’t so. These former friends are saying and doing things that are unethical. Knowing this, I believe I am right to find their behavior contemptible. It's possible, however, that my friends didn’t change, or didn’t change much, and that I just happen to be a terrible judge of character. If so, I’m not sure what to do with this bit of self-knowledge, apart from becoming slower to decide that I like people—which seems like a depressing lesson to learn. It would be tempting to simply ignore these developments, if it weren’t for the fact that some of these former friends have large public profiles and are actively poisoning our culture with lies. Most have joined the cult of venality and abject loyalty that surrounds President Trump. I won’t name them—though anyone who has followed my work over the years can probably read between these lines—apart from one, as he is now the primary offender on planet Earth: Elon Musk. I have discussed Elon’s unraveling several times already. And I admit that this is getting tedious. However, it is hard to think of a person who is doing more harm to global culture at this moment than he is. Invariably, one encounters in these MAGA cultists a brazen unwillingness or inability to explain themselves. Their poverty of language indicates, in almost every case, a poverty of ideas—of historical knowledge, moral imagination, and much else. Instead of explaining their actions, they grind down their critics with inane boasts and impossible lies. The result is that we are now witnessing a sordid parody of governance that doesn’t so much as nod in the direction of higher principles—neither toward a shared national destiny at home nor toward the defense of common humanity abroad. For these people, and for the America they now rule, nothing exists but leaden self-interest. I’m sure that everyone in Elon’s circle now recognizes that there is something seriously wrong with his ethics. However, I suspect that very few have said anything about this to him directly. Some are cowards, of course, but many probably realize that the man now lives in a digital oblivion, beyond reach of honest feedback. For months, Elon has been prowling the halls of American power like the High Sparrow, striking fear in public servants over whom he should hold no power. While no one is actually against cutting “waste, fraud, and abuse” from the federal budget, Elon and his Faith Militant aren’t nearly as good at detecting these sins as they pretend. They make absurd errors, which they then conceal or lie about. They have also cut many jobs and programs that no sane American would want to lose. And for all their vaunted commitment to efficiency, they may actually be increasing the federal deficit. In the end, it seems likely that DOGE will turn out to be a political and economic sham, an irresistible invitation to espionage, and a colossal act of national self-harm. Consider Elon’s gleeful dismantling of USAID, which may have violated the Constitution. Whether legal or not, there is little question that he and his DOGE minions now have blood on their hands. While they would surely deny this, the claim seems uncontroversial. One cannot suddenly suspend treatment for AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis to millions of people in Sub-Saharan Africa and not kill many of them as a result. At least a million are expected to die this year alone, if these programs are not reinstated. No doubt streamlining the federal government is hard work, and it would demand agonizing choices even if done with the best of intentions. But then, just think of how easy it would be for Elon to communicate his awareness of the moral complexity of the task. Instead of saying anything remotely sensible or compassionate, the man just vilifies our nation’s civil servants on X. It has become quite clear from all the pointless noise he creates, and from all the lies he tells while doing it, that Elon doesn’t care about the consequences of his actions. And now he has turned his attention to entitlements—which, admittedly, will have to be cut if DOGE is to realize any of its stated goals. Rather than say anything sane on this politically fraught topic, Elon is spreading the vulgar delusion that the Democratic Party has been using Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid to “attract and retain vast numbers of illegal immigrants and buy voters.” Someone should tell him that undocumented immigrants can’t vote and that naturalized immigrants represent no more than 10 percent of those eligible to do so. And then someone should remind him that a majority of these immigrants voted Republican in the last election. There’s a long tradition in philosophy, both western and eastern, which holds that virtue is a form of knowledge—and thus that evil can only result from ignorance. In Protagoras, Socrates claims that no one knowingly does what is morally wrong. A similar argument is central to the teachings of the Buddha. If true, we could say that behind every moral error lurks a cognitive one. The opinions of Socrates and the Buddha notwithstanding, it seems to me that the experience of knowingly doing wrong is all-too-common. The coward, the hypocrite, the sell-out, the swindler—these people generally know that they are violating every standard of goodness, including their own. Elon built his companies on federal loans and subsidies, and yet he now pretends that our government is nothing more than a trough of bad incentives. Surely he has caught a whiff of his own hypocrisy? I believe he knows that it is wrong—and, in fact, morally obscene—for the world’s richest man to personally revoke medical aid from the world’s poorest women and children, and to then publicly celebrate the resulting chaos, all the while securing billions of dollars in government contracts for his own businesses. He must know that it is wrong to amplify the delusions white supremacists, antisemites, and conspiracist loons to hundreds of millions of people, poisoning our politics in the process. The man is not a moron. He knows that by battering his way into the inner sanctum of the MAGA cult, he has allied himself with kooks, charlatans, psychopaths, and grifters—and with a president who is nothing if not the very avatar of personal corruption. Elon has now joined the ranks of those who are utterly incapable of self-scrutiny or compunction. These people do not admit their errors, much less apologize for them. And in response to criticism, however sound, they produce vicious absurdities that aren’t fit to be believed by even their most fanatical supporters. Rather, each lie is a test of loyalty. And Elon appears eager to pass them all. I think it is safe to say that Elon’s friends, colleagues, employees, and customers understand how ethically compromised he has become. One can only hope that it will eventually matter to them and that they can help bring the man back to Earth.

100 Years Of Medical & Scientific Progress In The Hands Of Conspiracy Theorists, Crackpots & Ignoramuses... אָך און װײ

 

Top Vaccine Official Resigns From FDA

 

— Peter Marks, MD, PhD, criticizes RFK Jr. for promoting "misinformation and lies"

The top vaccine official with the FDAopens in a new tab or window has resigned and criticized the nation's top health official for allowing "misinformation and lies" to guide his thinking behind the safety of vaccinations.

Peter Marks, MD, PhD, sent a letter to FDA Acting Commissioner Sara Brenner, MD, MPH, on Friday saying that he would resign and retire by April 5 as director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

In his letter, which was obtained by the Associated Press, Marks said he was "willing to work" to address the concerns expressed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), about the safety of vaccinations. But he concluded that wasn't possible.

"It has become clear that truth and transparency are not desired by the Secretary, but rather he wishes subservient confirmation of his misinformation and lies," he wrote.

HHS did not respond to a request for comment.

Marks was offered the choice of resigning or being fired by Kennedy, according to a former FDA official familiar with the discussions, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he didn't have permission to discuss the matter publicly.

Kennedy has a long history of spreading anti-vaccine misinformation, although during his Senate confirmation hearings he seemed to say he would not undermine vaccines. He promised the chair of the Senate health committee that he would not change existing vaccine recommendations.

Since becoming secretary, Kennedy has vowed to scrutinize the safety of childhood vaccinations, despite decades of evidence they are safe and have saved millions of lives.

Marks oversaw the agency's rapid review and approval of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments during the pandemic.

Marks is credited with coining the name and concept for "Operation Warp Speed," the effort under President Donald Trump to rapidly manufacture vaccines while they were still being tested for safety and efficacy. The initiative cut years off the normal development process.

Despite the project's success, Trump repeatedly lashed out at the FDA for not approving the first COVID shots even sooner. Trump told confidants after his 2020 loss that he would have been re-elected if the vaccine had been available before election day.

Paul Offit, MDopens in a new tab or window, of Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, criticized what he called the "firing" of Marks.

"RFK Jr.'s firing of Peter Marks because he wouldn't bend a knee to his misinformation campaign now allows the fox to guard the hen house," Offit said. "It's a sad day for America's children."

Robert Califf, MD, former FD commissioner, said the issues raised in Marks' resignation letter "should be frightening to anyone committed to the importance of evidence to guide policies and patient decisions."

"I hope this will intensify the communication across academia, industry, and government to bolster the importance of science and evidence," he wrote.

The resignation follows news Friday that HHS plans to lay off 10,000 workers and shut down entire agencies, including ones that oversee billions of dollars in funds for addiction services and community health centers across the country.

In a post on social media Thursday, Kennedy criticized the department he oversees as an inefficient "sprawling bureaucracy." He also faulted the department's 82,000 workers for a decline in Americans' health.

The resignation is the latest blow to the beleaguered health agency, which has been rocked for weeks by layoffs, retirements and a chaotic return-to-office processopens in a new tab or window that left many staffers without permanent offices, desks or other supplies. Last month, Jim Jonesopens in a new tab or window, the FDA's deputy commissioner for foods, resigned, citing "the indiscriminate firing" of nearly 90 staffers in his division, according to a copy of his resignation letter obtained by AP.

Marks, who could not be reached for comment, also raised concerns in his letter about "efforts currently being advanced by some on the adverse health effects of vaccination are concerning" as well as the "unprecedented assault on scientific truth that has adversely impacted public health in our nation."

He went on to detail the historic benefits of vaccinations dating back to George Washington and pointed to the ongoing measles outbreak as proof of what can happen when doubts about science take hold.

"The ongoing multistate measles outbreak that is particularly severe in Texas reminds us of what happens when confidence in well-established science underlying public health and well-being is undermined," he wrote.

The measles outbreakopens in a new tab or window, which could go on for months, has now spread to Kansas and Ohio after sickening more than 370 in Texas and New Mexico.

If it hits other unvaccinated communities across the U.S., as may now be the case in Kansas, the outbreak could endure for a year and threaten the nation's status as having eliminated the local spread of the vaccine-preventable disease, public health experts said.

https://www.medpagetoday.com/infectiousdisease/vaccines/114885?

 

NIH Cuts Will Devastate Disease Research, Say Senators and Scientists

 

— "Without the NIH, there would be no cancer immunotherapy ... and no cutting-edge treatments"

 https://www.medpagetoday.com/publichealthpolicy/publichealth/114882?