The 2nd of Iyar is the yahrzheit of Rav Yosef Nechemia Kornitzer. Click here to read a Torah thought form the Rav relating to the blessing of Borei Nefashos and empathy.
In Parshas Tazria-Mitzora we find five kinds of tzoraas, skin, clothing, head, beard, and house. Rav Itzele Volozhin explains that tzoraas is an exterior sign of internal corruption. Each one of these nega'im correspond to a certain tumah within the person.
1. The tzoraas on the skin shows a constant craving by the person to satisfy his bodily desires with food and other physical pleasures.
2. A nega on his clothing is an indication of the pursuit of material items, whether new clothing or anything else. As soon as something new hits the market, says Rav Itzele, it's out with the old and in with the new.
3. Bad character, corrupt ideology, and haughtiness are plagues of the mind and show up as a nega on the head.
4. Sins of the mouth like Lashon Hara an Rechilus manifest themselves as tzoraas on the beard.
5. The chase after wealth such as real estate result in nega'im on ones house.
A NYT article reports on an American citizen, Mohamed Soltan, who was sentenced to life imprisonment in Egypt. The article also related in passing, "Gehad el-Haddad, a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood, was also sentenced to life in prison."
No other information is given in this article about Mr. el-Haddad.
An article at MadWorldNews gives further clarification about the individual.
"El-Haddad served for five years as a top official in the Clinton foundation." http://madworldnews.com/hillary-terrorist-ties-exposed/
Why did the NYT decide to omit this piece of information regarding the man's ties to a Presidential candidate?
Additionally, the NYT article describes the calls of the State Department for the American citizen's release.
D & C has an article about a man named Bryan Morseman who has competed in a number of marathons to help raise medical costs for his son who has spina bifida. Last month he competed in three marathons and won them all.
State Department Spokesperson, Marie Harf, answers a question posed to her about Iran's Holocaust cartoon contest.
MS HARF: Well, a couple points. Obviously, we have for a long time seen very offensive and disgusting anti-Israel, anti-Semitic remarks coming out from Iran’s leadership. And every time these kinds of remarks come out, we speak up as strongly as we possibly can against them. As I said, they are offensive and they’re disgusting and they have no place at all in any kind of dialogue, period. We’ve certainly made that crystal-clear, I think, every time. Again, I hadn’t seen the cartoon issue, but I take every opportunity I can to make clear how awful these are.
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/dpb/2015/04/240762.htm#IRAN
Hillary Clinton recently made an announcement about her Presidential candidacy in an official campaign video which didn't inspire me.
“Everyday Americans need a champion, and I want to be that champion.”
This morning I received an email with a Torah thought from Rabbi Yissocher Frand about Aharon not feeling worthy of taking up the tasks of Kohen Gadol. Moshe Rabbeinu also felt himself unworthy of assuming the role of leader of Bnei Yisrael. It is precisely because of their humility and feeling themselves unworthy that the two brothers were chosen for leadership roles.
At an event hosted by Brandeis Conservatives last Tuesday, TruthRevolt editor-in-chief Ben Shapiro gave students advice on how to combat the left.
Shapiro approached the subject by laying out the four principles of liberalism and then presenting conservatism’s counter-arguments. Shapiro explained that leftism was based on the following premises: 1) “equality of outcome is more important than equality of opportunity,” 2) “group justice is significantly more important than individual justice,” 3) “truth absolutely does not matter,” and 4) “force itself, when used in the service of these other things, is praiseworthy.”
Read more: http://www.truthrevolt.org/news/shapiro-speaks-brandeis-students-about-combating-leftism
IsraelNationalNews reports on a Facebook post by Americans for Peace Now which is causing much consternation.
In a post on its official Facebook page, APN evokes the Passover story of the 10 plagues God visited on the Egyptians for enslaving the Jewish people - but whereas the Biblical account sees the plagues inflicted on the Egyptians to save the Israelites from oppression, the Peace Now version recasts the Jews themselves as a plague for living on land which leftist groups want Israel to cede to the Palestinian Authority.
Read more: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/193467#.VRr5W5VO7IU
Below are some comments posted on the APN facebook page.
You Peace Now people are entitled to your opinions but please don't try to co-opt Jewish rituals to make your misguided points. Passover commemorates the exodus from Egypt. Do you know where G-d was leading them? Hint: it was to a place that included all of Modiin Illit and a lot more! Passover is an affirmation of the Jewish claim to all of Israel, which includes a lot more territory than the modern state currently controls. It is absolutely grotesque to attempt to utilize a Passover ritual to protest Jews living in their own homeland. But thanks for bringing up the Passover ritual and reminding everyone why Israel belongs to the Jews!
If we're spilling additional wine to diminish our joy, let it be over our sorrow that so many Jews have abandoned הקב׳׳ה to worship at the altar of liberalism, who dwell in the Mitzrayim of their Stockholm Syndrome,...