Eating Donuts on Chanukah: History and Practice (Book Review of Schwartz, Emek Ha-Sufganim): Henry Abramson, YouTube, Nov. 29, 2021 — Video review of Reuven Melekh ben Binyamin Yitzhak Schwartz’s Emek Ha-Sufganim: Iyunim u-beiurim be-inyan minhag akhilat sufganim be-yemei hanukah Israel: Sh. Vaynraikh, Hanukah 5780 (2019), 431 pages.
Jewish Rappers Nissim Black, Kosha Dillz Debut Remix of Adam Sandler’s Iconic ‘Hanukkah Song’: Shiryn Ghermezian, Algemeiner, Nov. 29, 2021, Includes video–– Rappers Nissim Black and Kosha Dillz teamed up to release a new spin on Adam Sandler’s famous Hanukkah anthem.
MEDIA-OCRITY OF THE WEEK
Can Liberals Survive Progressivism?: Bret Stephens, NY Times, Nov. 23, 2021“Nowhere are dysfunctions more concentrated than in the very places that were supposed to have become beacons of progressive sunshine…This is not social science; it is common sense…The Democratic Party has…thrown that legacy [of supposed liberal progress] away. Joe Biden disavowed his [own] 1994 crime bill [and crime, drug abuse and aggressive panhandling has flourished]. Last year’s protests often devolved into naked criminality, to which many progressives, including those in the news media, closed their eyes…in the rush to defame, defund, diminish, or abolish. And who has been helped the most by all this, politically speaking? Donald Trump and his mini-mes. The country won’t be safe from them until a more serious Democratic Party can set itself free from ideas that embarrass it and endanger us all.”
“They pimped out the conscript female soldiers who served at the prison to provide female soldiers to terrorists to satisfy their urges. This pimping out was a groundbreaking event.” — Gilboa Prison Commander, Colonel Freddy Ben Sheetrit. He testified before the government investigation committee into the escape of six terrorist prisoners from Gilboa Prison. He admitted for the first time that IDF female conscripts were sent out to meet the needs of terrorists. The specific event took place before his appointment. (Jewish Press,Nov. 24, 2021)
“On Hamas, I think it is the right decision; it was a difficult and controversial decision, but I think the right thing, and by the way, a decision that I think was almost immediately vindicated by the appalling incident that we saw in Israel.” — UK PM Boris Johnson to Israeli President Isaac Herzog during their meeting on Tuesday about the decision by British lawmakers to outlaw Hamas as a terrorist organization. (Jewish Press, Nov. 24, 2021)
“Now that you’re on the clock to withdraw your troops from Iraq, and with the withdrawal from Afghanistan, there are a lot of worries here. Your partners on the scene are worried, and some of them are starting to run for cover.”—Farhad Alaaldin, chairman of the Iraq Advisory Council, a Baghdad research institute, to visiting US Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austen. [NB: The article also notes US ignoring of Iran-backed armed drone attack on an American military base in southern Syria last month, foiled at last moment by Israeli intelligence. Its intention is supposedly not to derail impending US-Iran talks on resuming the JCPOA nuclear deal—Ed.] (NY Times, Nov. 20, 2021)
“[Scott} Atlas’s book has exposed a scandal for the ages. It is enormously valuable because it fully blows up what seems to be an emerging fake story involving a supposedly Covid-denying president who did nothing vs. heroic scientists in the White House who urged compulsory mitigating measures consistent with prevailing scientific opinion. Not one word of that is true. …The book is about the war between real science (and genuine public health), with Atlas as the voice for reason both before and during his time in the White House, vs. the enactment of brutal policies that never stood any chance of controlling the virus while causing tremendous damage to the people, to human liberty, to children in particular, but also billions of people around the world. … he calls the media “the most despicable group of unprincipled liars one could ever imagine.” He proves that assertion in page after page of shocking lies and distortions, mostly driven by political goals.” – Jeffrey A. Tucker reviews Dr. Scott Atlas’s A Plague Upon Our House. The book is a complete and mind-blowing account of the famed scientist’s personal experience with the Covid era and a luridly detailed account of his time at the White House. (Brownstone Institute, Nov. 27, 2021)
“Is silence still violence? If it is, then a whole lot of people, from the Hollywood set to the virtue-signaling left, are guilty of some serious violence right now. Their silence on the Waukesha massacre, on the slaughter of six innocents by a man wielding his SUV as a deadly weapon, is deafening. More than that, it is sinister. Dancing grannies, an eight-year-old boy, people singing and cheering at a Christmas parade, all mown down. Six were killed, 62 injured, in what police are treating as a suspected act of intentional homicide. That is mass murder. And yet, there’s been nothing from Hollywood stars … influencers seem to have been struck dumb. There are no blacked-out squares on Instagram. The big woke corporations aren’t pumping out pained, concerned press releases. It’s just tumbleweed, everywhere.” – Political writer Brendan O’Neill (Spiked, Nov. 26, 2021)
“On Hamas, I think it is the right decision; it was a difficult and controversial decision, but I think the right thing, and by the way, a decision that I think was almost immediately vindicated by the appalling incident that we saw in Israel.” — UK PM Boris Johnson to Israeli President Isaac Herzog during their meeting on Tuesday about the decision by British lawmakers to outlaw Hamas as a terrorist organization. (Jewish Press, Nov. 24, 2021)
“Now that you’re on the clock to withdraw your troops from Iraq, and with the withdrawal from Afghanistan, there are a lot of worries here. Your partners on the scene are worried, and some of them are starting to run for cover.”—Farhad Alaaldin, chairman of the Iraq Advisory Council, a Baghdad research institute, to visiting US Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austen. [NB: The article also notes US ignoring of Iran-backed armed drone attack on an American military base in southern Syria last month, foiled at last moment by Israeli intelligence. Its intention is supposedly not to derail impending US-Iran talks on resuming the JCPOA nuclear deal—Ed.] (NY Times, Nov. 20, 2021)
“[Scott} Atlas’s book has exposed a scandal for the ages. It is enormously valuable because it fully blows up what seems to be an emerging fake story involving a supposedly Covid-denying president who did nothing vs. heroic scientists in the White House who urged compulsory mitigating measures consistent with prevailing scientific opinion. Not one word of that is true. …The book is about the war between real science (and genuine public health), with Atlas as the voice for reason both before and during his time in the White House, vs. the enactment of brutal policies that never stood any chance of controlling the virus while causing tremendous damage to the people, to human liberty, to children in particular, but also billions of people around the world. … he calls the media “the most despicable group of unprincipled liars one could ever imagine.” He proves that assertion in page after page of shocking lies and distortions, mostly driven by political goals.” – Jeffrey A. Tucker reviews Dr. Scott Atlas’s A Plague Upon Our House. The book is a complete and mind-blowing account of the famed scientist’s personal experience with the Covid era and a luridly detailed account of his time at the White House. (Brownstone Institute, Nov. 27, 2021)
“Is silence still violence? If it is, then a whole lot of people, from the Hollywood set to the virtue-signaling left, are guilty of some serious violence right now. Their silence on the Waukesha massacre, on the slaughter of six innocents by a man wielding his SUV as a deadly weapon, is deafening. More than that, it is sinister. Dancing grannies, an eight-year-old boy, people singing and cheering at a Christmas parade, all mown down. Six were killed, 62 injured, in what police are treating as a suspected act of intentional homicide. That is mass murder. And yet, there’s been nothing from Hollywood stars … influencers seem to have been struck dumb. There are no blacked-out squares on Instagram. The big woke corporations aren’t pumping out pained, concerned press releases. It’s just tumbleweed, everywhere.” – Political writer Brendan O’Neill (Spiked, Nov. 26, 2021)
ISRAEL BANS ARRIVALS FROM MOST OF AFRICA AFTER NEW CORONAVIRUS VARIANT DETECTED (Jerusalem) – Israel imposed a travel ban on most African states after reporting cases of a new and potentially vaccine-resistant coronavirus variant first detected in South Africa. Prime Minister Naftali Bennett widened the ban announced on the entry of foreigners from seven African countries and travel to them. (Algemeiner, Nov. 26, 2021)
APPLE SUES ISRAELI SPYWARE MAKER, SEEKING TO BLOCK ITS ACCESS TO IPHONES (California) — Apple sued the NSO Group, the Israeli surveillance company, in federal court on Tuesday, another setback for the beleaguered firm and the unregulated spyware industry. The lawsuit is the second of its kind — Facebook sued NSO in 2019 for targeting its WhatsApp users — another consequential move by a private company to curb invasive spyware by governments and the companies that provide their spy tools. (NYTimes, Nov. 23, 2021)
HAMAS OLD CITY TERRORIST REPORTEDLY TRAVELED TO TURKEY MULTIPLE TIMES FOR INSTRUCTIONS (Gaza City) — Schoolteacher Fadi Abu Shkaydam, 42, a member of the political wing of Hamas, murdered 25-year-old Israeli civilian Eliyahu (“Eli”) Kay and injured four others before being shot dead by police. According to the report, Israeli security forces suspect that Abu Shkaydam met with Hamas members in Turkey, who provided instructions on carrying out the attack. (Jewish Press, Nov. 24, 2021)
HEZBOLLAH SMUGGLING GUNS TO ISRAELI ARABS FOR USE IN NEXT WAR (Beirut) — Israel Police say Lebanon’s Iranian proxy terror group Hezbollah is attempting to smuggle “quality weapons” to Israeli Arabs for use in a future war. The weapons are mainly destined for crime operations in the Israeli Arab community. They would also be available to arm local Arabs for terror attacks during future violence against Jews. (Jewish Press, Nov. 21, 2021)
ISRAEL PLANS TO BUILD $7 MILLION HIGH-TECH PARK FOR ARAB SECTOR (Nazareth) — The Israeli government announced it is planning to build the first high-tech park for the country’s Arab sector in the predominantly Arab city of Nazareth. The 10-acre park will cost around $7 million, and the Economy Ministry projects it will provide 200 jobs in high-tech. (Jewish Press, Nov. 24, 2021)
ISRAEL APPROVES EVACUATION OF THOUSANDS OF ETHIOPIAN JEWS AMID ESCALATING CIVIL WAR (Jerusalem) — The Israeli government approved a plan for the entry of thousands of Ethiopian Jews who have been waiting in refugee camps amid an ongoing civil war in the African nation. Formulated by Ethiopian-Israeli Minister of Immigration Pnina Tamano-Shata, the scheme would see some 3,000 refugees, including those with immediate family in Israel, airlifted out of Ethiopia as soon as possible. (WIN, Nov. 29, 2021)
ISRAEL’S ECONOMIC COUNCIL PREDICTS DOUBLE THE HAREDIM, TRAFFIC JAMS GALORE IN 2050 (Jerusalem) — A study of Israel’s National Economic Council this week presented for the first time a long-term demographic forecast that’s binding for all government ministries. The forecast shows the government prefers the development of the Southern District over the Haifa District, sees a critical need for the Metropolitan Tel Aviv subway project, and has no plans to hinder the doubling of Jewish residents in Judea and Samaria. Also: the Council estimates a dramatic jump in the size of the Haredi population, especially in the Southern District. They expect the Haredi population in the south to multiply almost fivefold, from 139,000 in 2021 to 616,000 in 2050. This increase depends on establishing the Haredi city of Kasif at the Tel Arad junction off Highways 80 and 31. (Jewish Press, Nov. 24, 2021)
UN HOLDS SOLIDARITY EVENT WITH PALESTINIANS ON ANNIVERSARY OF RECOGNIZING ISRAELI STATEHOOD (NYC) — On the 74th anniversary of the United Nations decision to recognize the Jewish People’s right to statehood and the partition Plan (Nov. 29, 1947,) the UN General Assembly held a solidarity event with Palestinians. It ignored the founding of Israel and the history of massacres and expulsions of 850,000 Jews from Arab Countries and Iran. The pro-Palestinian conference on “Solidarity with the Palestinian People,” intended to strengthen support for the Palestinians “right of return,” was attended by the President of the GA, the President of the Security Council Juan Ramón de la Fuente Ramírez of Mexico, the Palestinian Authority’s Ambassador to the U.N., and representatives of Palestinian civil society. (WIN, Nov. 30, 2021)
BLACK EYED PEAS FRONTMAN DEFIES ISRAEL BOYCOTT CALLS(Jerusalem) — The Black Eyed Peas’ will.i.am said that politics don’t dictate his actions. Pro-Palestinian activists did not deter him from performing in Israel and maintaining ties to the country’s high-tech scene. The Grammy-winning group was performing in Jerusalem. Speaking to The Associated Press ahead of the concert, which took place on the U.N.’s international day of solidarity with the Palestinian people, will.i.am said that personal and business ties keep him performing and investing in the country. (Yahoo, Nov. 29, 2021)
TOP US COMMANDER: IRAN ‘VERY CLOSE’ TO NUCLEAR BOMB(Washington) — The top U.S commander in the Middle East said that Iran is “very close” to a nuclear bomb and his forces stand ready with a potential military option should talks with the Islamic Republic fail. General Kenneth McKenzie, commander of U.S, Central Command, said he believes Tehran has not decided to press ahead with manufacturing an actual nuclear warhead. Still, he shares concerns with America’s Middle East allies about the progress Iran has made. “They’re very close this time. I think they like the idea of being able to breakout.” (TIME, Nov. 25, 2021)
BELGIUM ANNOUNCES LABELING OF ISRAELI PRODUCTS FROM JUDEA AND SAMARIA (Brussels) — Belgium will start labeling Israeli products coming from Judea, Samaria, Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights, marking them for boycotts. Subsequently, Israel’s Deputy Foreign Minister Idan Roll has canceled his meetings in Brussels in protest. Israel’s Foreign Ministry issued a statement condemning “the Belgian government’s anti-Israel decision.” (Jewish Press, Nov. 24, 2021)
ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVER THE GRAVE OF AVRAHAM STERN THE JEWISH LEONARDO DA VINCI (Warsaw) — Polish archaeologists discovered the tomb of the inventor Avraham Stern (1762 – 1842), best known for his mechanical calculators, which are considered the precursors of cybernetics. The archaeologists dug out of Stern’s grave a sewage pipe containing the remains of a prayer book, a leather box with Torah portions, and fragments of a buried Sefer Torah. (Jewish Press, Nov. 24, 2021)
US RAMMING ATTACK KILLER POSTED HITLER MEME, SAYS BLACK PEOPLE ARE ‘TRUE JEWS’ (Waukesha) — The suspect in the deadly car-ramming attack in Waukesha, Wisconsin, had a history of posting support for the Black Hebrew Israelites, antisemitic theories, and anti-white racist posts to social media. Social media accounts belonging to Darrell Edward Brooks were screen captured by journalist Andy Ngo before they were removed them from the internet. They reveal a history of posting violent threats and antisemitic conspiracy theories. (WIN, Nov. 24, 2021)
CANADA’S LARGEST LABOR UNION REJECTS ISRAEL BOYCOTT BY 2-TO-1 MARGIN (Ottawa) — Members of the 700,000-strong Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) held the body’s biennial summit online this week. Resolution No. 70 called for CUPE to “support the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination and their demands to end Israel’s military occupation and colonization” and officially back the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign against Israel. CUPE members spurned the measure, with 32% voting for and 68% against. (Algemeiner, Nov. 26, 2021)
UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO STUDENT UNION SLAMMED FOR BARRING PRO-ISRAEL KOSHER FOOD PROVIDERS, CUTTING PROPOSED PROTECTIONS FOR JEWS (Toronto) – On Nov. 24, the University of Toronto’s Scarborough Campus Student Union (SCSU) passed a resolution calling for sourcing kosher food from providers that do not support Israel. At the same time, a second motion stripped language proposed to protect Jewish students. It also recommitted itself to the BDS campaign. (Algemeiner, Nov. 29, 2021)
TALIBAN CLOSE IN AS DESPERATE AFGHAN WOMEN AWAIT RESCUE(Bamiyan) — In Bamiyan province, through which the Silk Road once flourished, and the towering statues of Buddha once stood, an Afghan woman’s naked body was just found. She had been raped and tortured to death. Her shamefully naked corpse was meant to terrify other women and serve as a warning about what can be done to them simply because they are women. The woman who told me about this reported atrocity — along with hundreds of other endangered and educated women — is living in hiding. These women exist in a permanent state of terror. However, one of these women had a medical emergency last week. She had to risk going out to see her doctor. Luckily, although the Taliban reportedly beat her badly, they did not kill her. (Algemeiner, Nov. 26, 2021)
FRESH VIOLENCE IN DARFUR ADDS TO SUDAN’S CRISES (Darfur) — Dozens of people were killed and their villages burned in inter-communal violence in Sudan’s West Darfur state, the United Nations said, worsening the state of crisis that has troubled the region for years. The violence comes as Sudan’s leaders are working through their crisis, one that is likely to distract them from Darfur’s mounting problems. Sudan’s effort at a democratic transition is faltering, with thousands of demonstrators flooding the streets to denounce the military’s deal with the civilian prime minister, Abdalla Hamdok. (The UN/African mission ended this year). Under deposed dictator Oman Hassan al-Bashir, over 300,000 were killed and 2.7 million people displaced in the region). (NYTimes, Nov. 26, 2021)
WATCH: Since Nov. 29, 1947, the Jewish State has Thrived!: United With Israel, YouTube, Nov. 29, 2021 — On November 29, 1947, the United Nations voted to approve the Partition Plan. The Jewish population accepted the borders created by the plan while the Arab population and the surrounding Arab states rejected it.This really was a beautiful #Chanukah video and message from British PM @BorisJohnson: Twitter, Nov. 28, 2021
The Diminishing Democratic Majority: Ross Douthat, NY Times, Nov. 20, 2021 —Last weekend, I wrote about how the landscape of 2021 is suddenly letting Republicans play politics on “easy” mode by giving them back the kind of issues that built Ronald Reagan’s majority in the 1970s and 1980 — rising inflation, rising violent crime, a Cold War rivalry (Chinese rather than Russian this time) and backlash against a culturally ascendant but overreaching and self-deceiving left.
