They spent their first year in Washington as an untouchable White House power couple, commanding expansive portfolios, outlasting rivals and enjoying unmatched access to the president. But Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump have undergone a swift and stunning reckoning of late, their powers restricted, their enemies emboldened and their future in the West Wing uncertain.
Kushner, long the second-most powerful man in the West Wing, is under siege. President Donald Trump’s son-in-law has lost influential White House allies. He remains under the shadow of the Russia probe and has seen his business dealings come under renewed scrutiny. He has been stripped of his top security clearance, raising questions how he can successfully advance his ambitious agenda — including achieving Mideast peace, a goal that has eluded presidents for generations.
Kushner’s most powerful patron, the president himself, has wavered recently on whether his daughter and son-in-law belong in the White House anymore.
...“Kushner’s vulnerable and in an accelerated fall from grace.
Just the opposite of what happened with the Jews in the Purim story. That last statement could be applied to American Jews in general - vulnerable and falling from grace. Read the handwriting on the wall people! Don't keep sitting there like the proverbial frog in the pot of hot water as the temperature increases! ____________________________ A picture of the American Jewish experience on the eve of disaster.
15 Adar 5778 - Shushan Purim Erev Shabbat Kodesh Parashat Ki Tisa Shame is out of fashion. It is an emotion to be avoided at all costs. The modern world makes it out to be extremely negative, even harmful - not healthy. But, like everything God created, it has its purpose and its place and there are times when it is appropriate. Despite the joyous outcome of the Purim story, we have to feel a bit shameful in regard to how our ancestors behaved at Achashverosh's banquet. It was a celebration of the (perceived) failure of the prophecy of the return of the Jewish people to Eretz Yisrael. And to top it off, the king wore the clothing of the Cohen Gadol and ate and drank from the keilim used in the service of the Beit Hamikdash. I'm sure he reasoned (erroneously) that since the Jews would not be returning, they would have no further use for them anyway. Right on the heels of that story, we move into Shabbat - Parashat Ki Tisa which recounts what I consider to be one of the two most shameful events of our history - the incident with the Golden Calf. (The second being the crying and refusal to enter Eretz Yisrael on the first Tisha b'Av.) We have to hang our heads in shame when we recall our abominable behavior at the moment which should have been the pinnacle of our success in the aftermath of our redemption from Egyptian bondage. And what we put poor Moshe Rabeinu through after all he had sacrificed for the nation! Unfaithfulness, ingratitude, fearfulness - these are traits to be ashamed of for sure. But, shame is only a negative when it fails to elicit the desired response for which it was created. It is supposed to inspire us to act - to change these negative traits into their positive opposites. If it inspires teshuvah, as it was intended to, then it serves the purpose for which the Creator intended and everyone benefits. It is entirely appropriate at this moment in time to ask ourselves whether we are still eating from Acheshverosh's table today; are we still dancing around the Golden Calf today? As we read the parashah, we should allow ourselves to experience the shame of failure to live up to HKB"H's ideal for us and then allow it to infuse us with a new determination to rectify that failure and begin - today - to live up to the ideal.
14 Adar 5778 Chag Purim Just in time for Purim... Trump peace plan could recognize Palestinian state – report
Arab diplomats quoted as saying yet-to-be revealed plan will nix refugees' right of return, raze far-flung settlements, place Jerusalem's Old City under international protection It was entirely predictable(last five paragraphs). Now, when we are making our requests of HKB"H today, let's ask that He make Trump's plan as successful as Haman's, y"sh. But, this time, with open and revealed miracles! No more hiding!!
Sugar, sugar and sugar! A lot of empty, nutritionless calories. With the invasion of western culture into the Jewish State, this is the kind of mishloach manot that can be seen all over at all the shops in Israel. I'd like to encourage all my readers to resist the temptation to buy these ready-made baskets and invest some time, effort and imagination into creating healthier versions, perhaps something more in keeping with our time-honored traditions. Even something simple like these cheery butterflies meets the halachic requirements for mishloach manot. See the following...
There is a mitzvah to send one gift called Mishloach Manot, consisting of two foods, to one person on Purim. After fulfilling one Mishloach Manot according to the halacha, one may give more even if they don’t fulfill all the stringencies of Mishlaoch Manot. Anyone who increases in sending Mishloach Manot is praiseworthy. Some explain that we’re supposed to give gifts in order to increase friendliness and spread kindness and peace among Jews. Others explain that the obligation is meant to supply people with food for the Purim Seuda especially those who are poor and are embarrassed to ask for money.
Mishloach Manot should be given during the day of Purim and not the night. It is preferable to give it before eating the Seudat Purim. The food being sent should be cooked or ready to eat,.... Canned food is considered ready to eat and is acceptable. ...Many say that each food should be something that could serve as a course in a meal. If one sends bread it counts as one food and only one other is required. ...A drink counts just like a food, but some are strict to give two foods.
Women are obligated to fulfill Mishloach Manot. However, if she’s married she may fulfill her obligation if her husband sends more than one. ...If a Mishloach Manot is addressed to a group of people such as a family one should make sure that there’s 2 separate foods per person of the group. (Source)
10 Adar 5778 Shavua tov! Introducing Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff. According to his Wikipedia entry, he is an English American rabbi, educator, and writer. He is on the Judaic studies faculty of the Stern College for Women at Yeshiva University and is also the Assistant Director of Admissions. Hajioff served as the official rabbi for Birthright Israel in Manhattan, New York. Hajioff is also the author of three books: Jew Got Questions? (2014), Will Jew Marry Me?: A Guide to Dating, Relationships, Love and Marriage (2016), and The Future: A Guide to the Jewish Messiah, Israel, and The End of Days (2018). He has several excellent shiurim on the subject of Mashiach at his Youtube channel, like the one posted below and also, an entire series on Megillat Esther, as well as many more. Happy Listening and Learning!
...In total, some 4,500 soldiers from the two militaries will take part in the exercise — 2,500 of them from the United States’ European Command (US EUCOM) and 2,000 from the Israel Defense Forces. This is a substantial increase from the 2016 exercise, in which some 3,200 soldiers took part.
The Juniper Cobra exercise is scheduled to begin on March 4 and will formally run until March 15, though some American troops will stay in Israel and continue training with the IDF until the end of the month, the army said.
...On Monday, a top IDF general warned that this year was more likely to see war break out between Israel and the Iranian-led axis of Tehran, Damascus, and the Beirut-based Hezbollah terrorist organization — all three of which have called for Israel’s destruction — as the trio’s victories in the Syrian civil war will allow them to focus their attentions on fighting the Jewish state.
“The year 2018 has the potential for escalation [of military conflict], not necessarily because either side wants to initiate it, but because of a gradual deterioration. This has led us to raise the level of preparedness,” Maj. Gen. Nitzan Alon, head of IDF Operations, told Army Radio in a rare interview.
Russia has deployed two of its most advanced and sophisticated stealth jets in Syria, in a power move likely to draw US criticism, as the Pentagon expressed its alarm earlier this month over recent close calls with Russian planes in the war-torn country.
Satellite images by Israeli company ImageSat International this week showed the fifth generation jets — two Su-57 fighter aircraft — at Russia’s airbase in the coastal Syrian city of Latakia. A source in the defense ministry confirmed to RBK news agency this week that the two planes were sent to the Hmeimim base “for a test in real conditions.” The jets are said to be a potential rival to the US’s Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, which American forces use in patrols over Syria.
The deployment came with a covert warning to Israel by a Russian official, who said that the presence of the Su-57s will doubtlessly send a political message, serving as a deterrent “for aircraft from neighboring states, which periodically fly into Syrian airspace uninvited.”
Government sources in Moscow reported Saturday, Feb. 24, that four fifth-generation Sukhoi-57 jet fighters are currently deployed in Syria after a second pair landed Friday. ...The Su-57’s weapon bays are designed to carry Russia’s new nuclear tactical X-50 air-launched cruise missile, although it is not known whether the aircraft in Syria are carrying them. DEBKA Weekly’s military sources see President Vladimir Putin’s decision to send the Su-57 fighters to Syria as substantially raising the big power stakes in Syria after the loss of dozens of Russian troops on Feb. 7 to massive US artillery and air strikes that decimated the Russian, Syrian and pro-Iranian forces crossing the Euphrates River. An American radar-invisible F-22 took part in that raid. The Russians have dubbed the Su-57 the “F-22 killer.”
It is also Russia’s response to Israel’s air offensive on Feb. 10, which targeted the shared Russian-Iranian T-4 air base near Palmyra and smashed four Iranian Revolutionary Guards forward command centers in Syria, after downing an Iranian drone. It is also seen in Moscow as a challenge for Israel’s newly acquired fifth-generation US F-35 combat aircraft.
Does Putin intend to order his mighty airborne strike force to go into battle against the US or Israel in the boiling Syrian arena? If he does, he will be launching the first contest between the most sophisticated warplanes ever devised for a test of superior might between the US and Russia and a war escalation unprecedented, even in Syria.
Meanwhile, nothing like provoking HKB"H with yet another graven image on holy soil and one representing the Christian man-god no less!
A 1,034 lb. male lion will be given to Israel this spring if plans go as expected,....
This lion will be a gift from American Christians to the Jewish state in honor of its 70th anniversary as a modern nation.
...The large than life, 105 percent size is based on the dimensions of the largest male lion ever known. An additional 5 percent was added for God, according to the Christian sculptor and evangelist.
For thousands of years, the lion has been a symbol of the Jewish nation, King David and the Messiah. It is even referenced in the first and last books of the Bible, in Genesis 49:10 and Revelation 5:5. (Source)
This is, of course, in keeping with Christian tradition and "Lion of Judah" is a popular appellation for JC of Nazareth. Hashem yerachem!
