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Don’t Even Listen to the Spider!

July 23, 2021 – י״ד באב תשפ״א by Hyehudi

The known Ohr Hachaim on avoiding argument with temptation, as brought on Sefaria (the translation of this is awful):

נחזור לענין שבאנו עליו כי בחינת החושב בדבר ערוה תגביר החפץ ותשליטנו ברצון ולא יושג הנצחון החפץ אלא דוקא באמצעות הרחקת הדבר מדעתו ומחשבתו לבל ראות הכיעור ולא יחשוב בו, אבל אם עיניו יביטו בדבר הנה הוא מסתכן, וכמעשה דוד המלך עליו השלום כשנסבב הדבר וראה מה שראה נתעורר לבו שהיה חלל ועשה מעשיו, ואפילו תחלת המחשבה בדבר זה תגרום תגבורת והולדת טבעיות החפץ ותגבורתו, ולזה נתכחם חכם החכמים שלמה המלך עליו השלום ואמר (משלי א’) בני אם יפתוך חטאים פירוש בחינת החטא אל תאבה פירוש לא תכנס עם פתוייך בטוען ונטען, כי אריכות הרגשת החושב אפילו לבחינת השולל תפעיל הגברת החפץ ותהפך הרצון אליה. ומצות ה’ ברה באה על הדבר בבחינת דיבור ואמירה, דיבור לומר גזירת מלך היא דבר מלך שלטון, אמירה לשון מענה רך ולשון רוממות לצד שהם ישגם במדריגה זו לאמר עליהם אני ה’ אלהיכם ליחד שמו יתברך עליהם. גם מעלה גדולה היא לשומר בריתו, והיא ההדרגה שאין למעלה ממנה לזה אמר ואמרת.

The Spider and the Fly (poem)

I.
“Will you walk into my parlour?” said a spider to a fly;
” ‘Tis the prettiest little parlour that ever you did spy.
The way into my parlour is up a winding stair,
And I have many pretty things to shew when you are there.”
“Oh no, no!” said the little fly, “to ask me is in vain,
For who goes up your winding stair can ne’er come down again.”

II.
“I’m sure you must be weary, with soaring up so high,
Will you rest upon my little bed?” said the spider to the fly.
“There are pretty curtains drawn around, the sheets are fine and thin;
And if you like to rest awhile, I’ll snugly tuck you in.”
“Oh no, no!” said the little fly, “for I’ve often heard it said,
They never, never wake again, who sleep upon your bed!”

III.
Said the cunning spider to the fly, “Dear friend, what shall I do,
To prove the warm affection I’ve always felt for you?
I have, within my pantry, good store of all that’s nice;
I’m sure you’re very welcome—will you please to take a slice?”
“Oh no, no!” said the little fly, “kind sir, that cannot be,”
I’ve heard what’s in your pantry, and I do not wish to see.”

IV.
“Sweet creature!” said the spider, “you’re witty and you’re wise.
How handsome are your gauzy wings, how brilliant are your eyes!
I have a little looking-glass upon my parlour shelf,
If you’ll step in one moment, dear, you shall behold yourself.”
“I thank you, gentle sir,” she said, “for what you’re pleased to say,
And bidding you good morning now, I’ll call another day.”

V.
The spider turned him round about, and went into his den,
For well he knew, the silly fly would soon come back again:
So he wove a subtle web, in a little corner, sly,
And set his table ready, to dine upon the fly.
Then he went out to his door again, and merrily did sing,
“Come hither, hither, pretty fly, with the pearl and silver wing;
Your robes are green and purple—there’s a crest upon your head;
Your eyes are like the diamond bright, but mine are dull as lead.”

VI.
Alas, alas! how very soon this silly little fly,
Hearing his wily, flattering words, came slowly flitting by;
With buzzing wings she hung aloft, then near and nearer drew,
Thinking only of her brilliant eyes, and green and purple hue:—
Thinking only of her crested head, poor foolish thing!—At last
Up jumped the cunning spider, and fiercely held her fast.

VII.
He dragged her up his winding stair, into his dismal den,
Within his little parlour—but she ne’er came out again!
—And now, dear little children, who may this story read,
To idle, silly, flattering words, I pray you ne’er give heed:
Unto an evil counsellor, close heart, and ear, and eye,
And take a lesson from this tale, of the Spider and the Fly.^[1]

— Mary Howitt (1829)

War = Welfare for the Rich

July 23, 2021 – י״ד באב תשפ״א by Hyehudi

It’s Saigon in Afghanistan

07/06/2021 Ron Paul

The end of the 20-year US war on Afghanistan was predictable: no one has conquered Afghanistan, and Washington was as foolish as Moscow in the 1970s for trying. Now, US troops are rushing out of the country as fast as they can, having just evacuated the symbol of the US occupation of Afghanistan, Bagram Air Base.

While perhaps not as dramatic as the “Fall of Saigon” in 1975, where US military helicopters scrambled to evacuate personnel from the roof of the US Embassy, the lesson remains the same and remains unlearned: attempting to occupy, control, and remake a foreign country into Washington’s image of the United States will never work. This is true no matter how much money is spent and how many lives are snuffed out.

In Afghanistan, no sooner are US troops vacating an area than Taliban fighters swoop in and take over. The Afghan army seems to be more or less melting away. This weekend the Taliban took control of a key district in the Kandahar Province, as Afghan soldiers disappeared after some fighting.

The US is estimated to have spent nearly 100 billion dollars training the Afghan army and police force. The real number is likely several times higher. For all that money and 20 years of training, the Afghan army cannot do its job. That’s either quite a statement about the quality of the training, the quality of the Afghan army, or some combination of the two.

Whatever the case, I am sure I am not the only American wondering whether we can get a refund. The product is clearly faulty.

Speaking of money wasted, in April, Brown University’s Cost of War Project calculated the total cost of the Afghanistan war at more than two trillion dollars. That means millions of Americans have been made poorer for a predictably failed project. It also means that thousands of the well-connected contractors and companies that lurk around the US Capitol Beltway pushing war have become much, much richer.

That’s US foreign policy in a nutshell: taking money from middle-class Americans and transferring it to the elites of the US military and foreign policy establishment. It’s welfare for the rich.

Reprinted with permission.

From Mises.org, here.

A Perfect Storm: How Jew Hatred Became the NEW NORMAL

July 23, 2021 – י״ד באב תשפ״א by Hyehudi

To Antisemites, A Jew Is A Jew Is A Jew

July 21, 20213:45 pm

The antisemites came for Israelis.

They relentlessly attacked the lone democracy in the Middle East and the realization of a 3,500-year-old vision, with the aim of its destruction. No sovereignty allowed for nearly seven million Jews!

They attacked Israelis at home and abroad through rockets and missiles, tunnels, kidnappings, plane hijackings, bus bombings, incendiary balloons, and embassy assaults. Meanwhile, their supporters and enablers added on 24/7 demonization, delegitimization, flotillas, BDS campaigns, and legal maneuvers.

But, hey, I wasn’t Israeli, so it didn’t really touch me.

For decades, they repressed millions of Soviet Jews.

They identified those Jews by internal Soviet passports that declared a person’s nationality based on the nationality of the parents — and, since the days of Stalin, Jews were officially deemed a nationality. No escape from that. Through scapegoating and vilification, they made life impossibly difficult for Jews when it came to education, jobs, street life, and more. And they sought to ensure that Jews had no access to accurate information about Judaism, Jewish history and tradition, Hebrew language, or Israel — in other words, cultural genocide.

But, hey, I wasn’t a Soviet Jew, so it didn’t really touch me.

They made life tough for Ethiopian Jews.

Frequently the targets of persecution and discrimination, Ethiopian Jews, one of the world’s most ancient communities, lived in constant fear of their non-Jewish neighbors, to the point that thousands died while seeking to escape on foot to neighboring Sudan — and eventually found refuge in Israel at the center of their millennia-long prayers.

But, hey, I wasn’t an Ethiopian Jew, so it didn’t really touch me.

They emptied most Arab countries of their Jewish communities.

Hundreds of thousands of Jews, who had lived for centuries in what are today Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, all fled hatred, deadly mobs, and unending persecution. Only small communities remained in Morocco and Tunisia. And the Jewish populations in neighboring Iran and Turkey declined dramatically, while in Afghanistan the Jews are no more.

But, hey, I wasn’t a Mizrahi or Sephardic Jew, so it didn’t really touch me.

Beginning just over 20 years ago, the antisemites re-emerged with a vengeance in Europe.

Jews were targeted and killed in Paris, Toulouse, Brussels, Burgas, and Copenhagen. Synagogues and cemeteries were assaulted and desecrated. Jews became, once again, the targets of outlandish conspiracy theories. Anti-Israel protesters went into the streets of European cities waving the flags of Hamas and Hezbollah, genocidal terrorist groups. Some public schools became impossible for Jewish children to attend. A number of Jews, especially in France, had to change neighborhoods because of threats. Thousands of Jews made aliyah.

But, hey, I wasn’t a European Jew, so it didn’t really touch me.

From Matzav.com, here.