Free Republic

A little earlier this evening I was sitting at my computer reading something when suddenly a program I had never heard of suddenly popped up on my screen. It seemed to be an antivirus, and since I've had Kaspersky Free for years (and been very satisfied with it) I didn't need a new antivirus. So I attempted to remove it. I thought I did. I didn't. After "removing" the new unwanted antivirus program I noticed my Kaspersky shorcut icon had disappeared. Oops! I clicked on the new one again and sure enough it still worked, so I attempted to create...

For Israel’s progressive elites, the real war is against the enemy withinThe Oct. 7 massacre brought Israelis together. Most of us understood full well that we need to hurry up and heal the wounds created by the bitter struggle over judicial reform so that we can pool our resources together for the momentous task we now face. But the far left, and certainly the hardcore of the permanent protest, does not share the sentiment. After a short lull at the beginning of the war, in which they too felt obliged to offer lip service to unity, their strategists, cheerleaders in...

The Jewish Press web article “New Study Suggests Some Tefillin Boxes Were Not Colored Black 2,000 Years Ago” (June 14) is quite provocative from the standpoint of Jewish law. Based on an analysis of tefillin boxes dating to the end of the Second Temple era (approximately 2,000 years ago), researchers at Ariel University have concluded that “the law requiring tefillin to be made black may not have been in place in the Second Temple period.” Rather, says Professor Yonatan Adler, the study leader, “Only at a later period did the rabbis rule that tefillin should be colored black.” He adds:...

The beauty and elegance of Judaism lie in its masterful fusion of the rational and the irrational, creating a blended religious experience which both excites the intellect and inspires the soul. This duality is not a contradiction, but a sweet melody, composed of reason and enriched by faith. Through our submission to divine mysteries and our commitment to irrational mitzvot as acts of devotion we transcend the limitations of human understanding, allowing faith to soar beyond the confines of logic and into the boundless realm of the infinite. The halachot of the parah adumah comprise the quintessential illogical ritual. There...

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Rabbis since the Middle Ages onwards have sought to prove the validity of the Torah and our belief in G-d from the story of G-d’s revelation to the whole Jewish people at Mount Sinai. As explained by Rabbi Judah Halevi in the Kuzari, the logic goes like this: If G-d had not actually appeared to all the Jewish people, then it would have been impossible for someone to write a book that would be adopted as truth by those people. Because Jews of previous generations accepted the Torah as truth and passed it down to subsequent generations, and ultimately to...

In all my years, covering nearly half a century, of studying, practicing, and teaching Judaic and secular law, I have never seen such gutless cowardice and irresponsible “adjudication” as what just has transpired in Israel with the Israeli “Supreme” Court voting 8-7 to ban a Constitutional Amendment regulating them. On top of that, they rule two days later on the Incapacitation Law. All amid an existential war that, if not prosecuted as a nation united, could result kiv’yakhol (as though possible, G-d forbid) in a situation where there would be no country left to implement those corrupt rulings, reached as...

In Igros Moshe Even HaEzer 4:113 Rav Moshe Feinstein responded to a question that concerned a husband who, unbeknownst to his wife at the time they married, turned out to be engulfed in homosexual behavior. Could the marriage be annulled due to mekach ta'us (a purchase made under false pretenses), or would the wife require a get (writ of divorce) as is standard? After a Talmudic analysis, Rav Moshe writes as follows (see here for original Hebrew): “Regarding the matter at hand, since we find that a great blemish is in essence a mekach ta'us even regarding a woman [who...

In my meandering post from last night I theorized that the Left was using jim crow and the civil rights movement to initiate a process whereby the "unjust" laws of G-d would be superseded by the "just" secular laws of man. This is the root of the whole problem. Because there never was, is not now, and never will be an objective secular standard of morality/ethics/justice. Any system created by people is going to be arbitrary. Furthermore, the very purpose of morality/ethics/justice is submission to the Divine Will. Any system which by-passes this for mere utilitarian results is missing the...

For many decades now I have been wracking my brain trying to understand how things work and why nothing seems to make sense. The following observations/theories are my own and no one else is responsible in any way. Let's look at this freak show of a political coalition: Fundamentalist Blacks, theocratic moslems, sixteenth century Hispanic folk Catholics, scientific materialists, indigenous shamanism, hex-casting "wiccans," and people who put up statues of their conception of "the devil." Maddening, isn't it? I would first like to point out that the basic thrust of the left is the celebration of what it considers to...

After Azerbaijani forces retook Shusha, the cultural capital of the Azerbaijani people and a peace agreement was signed that was favorable to Azerbaijan, Azerbaijanis, both in Azerbaijan and the Diaspora, have been waving Israeli flags at every available opportunity, as a token of appreciation for both Israeli humanitarian assistance and the weapons that Israel sold them, which tipped the strategic balance in their favor. No other Muslim nation except for the Kurds has ever waved the Israeli flag across the streets of their nation. This right here demonstrates how much Israeli-Azerbaijani relations are blossoming. As Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu...

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I was watching some old war movies on Monday, and I am reminded of one with an unforgettable scene but whose title I simply cannot remember. It's set in China, and in the scene I mentioned Philip Ahn (Master Kan from "Kung Fu") is calmly teaching his students as the Japanese bombs fall around them. He asks them what their country is. "Our country is goodness" says one student. "Our country is kindness [or something like that]" says another. "Goodness and kindness [or whatever] make fine countries," he tells them. Anyway the implication is that they are all killed in...

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Dear friends: I'm having a computer problem I would like some advice/help on. Please be aware that this problem has been ongoing for several weeks, so please don't advise me to reboot or clear out the cache since I've done that several times and it makes no difference whatsoever. And please don't ask if my computer is plugged in or turned on. I don't understand why cruelly having fun at the expense of someone with an issue is so popular here. Daily Motion is an excellent site for watching old movies and TV shows that YouTube won't allow. I used...

Four years old, but absolutely heart rending. Click on the link to view the video.

The Hamas terrorist organization was stung by the recent high-profile defection of one of its top operatives, Suheib Yousef. Yousef is the son of Hamas co-founder, Sheikh Hassan Yousef. He is also the brother of Mosab Hassan Yousef, who defected from Hamas in the late 1990s. Mosab provided Israel’s Shin Bet counter-terrorist security service with information on Hamas and ultimately converted to Christianity. He also authored the book, “Son of Hamas,” exposing the group’s corruption, duplicity and brutality.

I meant to post something last night, really, but we had a crisis involving the home cooling system suddenly not working and endangering my 89-year old mother (who has a history of heart failure). Thank G-d it's fixed now, but I realize just a prolonged power outage at the wrong time of year could be fatal. Anyway, yes, today is my 20th anniversary as Free Republic's you-know-what in the punch bowl, as well as its most grumpy and offensive member. I first signed up to defend Israel from the freaking NAZIS who were infesting the site back then. Eventually I...

I think I'm going to be ill. I just sat through the live announcement of the 2019 Pulitzer Prize winners and I have never in my life seen such a vindication of everything we believe about the contemporary mainstream media. First was an agonizing prelude of quotations and videos praising our liberal journalist "friends" for about ten or fifteen minutes (apparently non-liberal journalists don't count as journalists--the hypocrites!). At least it felt like fifteen minutes. Then came the prizes themselves. They literally hit on every left wing trope in existence. They bestrode the entire left wing spectrum from one end...

Click on the link to relive some tragic American folk history.