Choosing the Lesser Evil, Geographically

Here is a well-written article comparing the comparative downsides to the US gang’s depredations upon its citizenry to those of the Israeli government upon their own victims. Some excerpts:

Many who have run-ins with “the system” in the US would disagree about it being “fairly tightly regulated”.  In particular the administrative state in the U.S. has become so ridiculous that it’s pretty hard not to break laws on a daily basis – and get hung out to dry if somebody arbitrarily comes after you on it.  I personally was accused of “building without a permit” for removing old carpeting (go ahead, prove you didn’t build), and for trimming a tree (yes, it was a crime to cut down a tree in my own yard where I lived).  But putting that aside…

Yes the Israeli system has some problems with corruption, and with influence peddling.  In some ways this isn’t so different than the US, just a little more obvious…

There are almost no police shootings in Israel, even in normal crime situations.

How’s the DMV where you live?  Every tried to get a permit (yourself) to remodel your bathroom?  Ever been fined for a “obstructive bush”?

“How do people like you navigate your way through this to achieve some sort of protection from your own country?” 

You learn the system.  How do you avoid getting audited by the IRS, with 100,000 different regulations that could get you?

I recommend reading the full original, especially for those preparing to make Aliyah to Israel.

Vashti Clinton’s War on Libya

Libya: How Hillary Clinton Destroyed a Country

She’s learned nothing from her blood-soaked failure

by , March 04, 2016

These days, however, out on the campaign trail, Mrs. Clinton is not quite so eager to take ownership of what can only be characterized as an unmitigated disaster, a case history dramatizing the perils of “liberal” interventionism from inception to bloody denouement.

Mrs. Clinton was easily won over by the Libyan rebels who presented a utopian view of what the post-revolutionary era would look like: there would be free elections, a free media, women would be able to “do it all,” and everyone would get a pony. They “’said all the right things about supporting democracy and inclusivity and building Libyan institutions, providing some hope that we might be able to pull this off,’ said Philip H. Gordon, one of her assistant secretaries. ‘They gave us what we wanted to hear. And you do want to believe.’”

Continue reading…

From Antiwar.com, here.

Allergic to ‘Mussar’?

Mussar?

​by Reb Gutman Locks

 

A Charedi rabbi started publishing a new weekly booklet and someone has been handing them out at the Kotel. It has very interesting stories that strengthen the reader’s understanding and appreciation of Torah.

Well, the first half of his booklet does this. The second half of the booklet is filled with harsh mussar comments. Mussar is a non-Chassidic movement that tries to direct moral conduct. It is usually instruction or discipline. It really has the good objective of furthering ethical and spiritual discipline, but it almost always comes across as; “You better do this or you are going to be punished in hell!” Yuck! I am totally allergic to mussar.

When the booklet first came out I enjoyed reading it, but the second half of the booklet overwhelmed the nice stories so I told the man who hands them out that I did not want it any more. He asked why. The rabbi who writes them happens to be very skinny. I answered, “What do you do if one of your kids is very skinny? Do you yell at him and threaten him to get him to eat? Or do you serve him healthy and delicious food that is good for him; food that he will enjoy?” He understood.

I saw another non Chassidic rabbi friend accepting the booklet and I told him that I could not handle the mussar end of the booklet. He said, “We need it.” Well, maybe he needs it, but I don’t.

     Mussar has a fine objective, but as many things in the world it is not being delivered right. Here is how mussar is supposed to taught:

Once there was a cheder rebbe (a Torah teacher of small children): As most non Chasidic rebbes, this rebbe was always very particular to be on time. One day his bus got stuck in traffic. He jumped off the bus and ran to get to class on time. He was ten minutes late! He was so upset that he was late, but there was nothing he could have done about it.

As he ran into the classroom one of his best young students looked up at him with a huge smile. Then he pointed to his watch. He looked really happy! The Rebbe burned inside. “Is that how a student is supposed to respect his teacher? UGH!”

He took his place at the front of the room. He opened his book to begin his class but he was so upset with the boy that he could not teach. He could not restrain himself. He called the boy up to his desk intending to punish him severely for his extremely rude behavior.

But just before he started to unload on the boy, the boy smiled again, pointed to his watch and said; “Rebbe I love you so much, I wanted you to be the first one to see my brand new watch.”

Got it? Sure you do. Wait until you get all of the facts before you blow up.

To teach Torah, serve delicious, wholesome, enjoyable food.

From Mystical Paths, here.

Supernatural Sanctions on Socialism

One cannot override Hashem’s plan, but one may certainly be punished for trying.

Gemara Sotah 9a, end – 9b:

תנו רבנן סוטה נתנה עיניה במי שאינו ראוי לה מה שביקשה לא ניתן לה ומה שבידה נטלוהו ממנה שכל הנותן עיניו במה שאינו שלו מה שמבקש אין נותנין לו ומה שבידו נוטלין הימנו

וכן מצינו בנחש הקדמוני שנתן עיניו במה שאינו ראוי לו מה שביקש לא נתנו לו ומה שבידו נטלוהו ממנו

וכן מצינו בקין וקרח ובלעם ודואג ואחיתופל וגחזי ואבשלום ואדוניהו ועוזיהו והמן שנתנו עיניהם במה שאינו ראוי להם מה שביקשו לא ניתן להם ומה שבידם נטלוהו מהם.

Soncino’s translation:

Our Rabbis have taught: The guilty Sotah set her eyes on one who was not proper for her; what she sought was not given to her (She is not allowed to marry her lover) and what she possessed was taken from her; (She dies if she drinks the water, and is divorced with loss of her settlement if she confesses) because whoever sets his eyes on that which is not his is not granted what he seeks and what he possesses is taken from him.

We thus find it with the primeval serpent [in the Garden of Eden] which set its eyes on that which was not proper for it; what it sought was not granted to it and what it possessed was taken from it. The Holy One, blessed be He, said: I declared: Let it be king over every animal and beast; but now, Cursed art thou above all cattle and above every beast of the field. I declared, let it walk with an erect posture; but now it shall go upon its belly. I declared: Let its food be the same as that of man; but now it shall eat dust. It said: I will kill Adam and marry Eve; but now, I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed. Similarly do we find it with Cain, Korah, Balaam, Doeg, Ahitophel, Gehazi, Absalom, Adonijah, Uzziah and Haman, who set their eyes upon that which was not proper for them; what they sought was not granted to them and what they possessed was taken from them.