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Why Does Torah Talk About Punishment? A Jew, the Torah says again and again, must connect to G‑d from the heart. When you serve G‑d out of fear of retribution, you may be better off than someone who does not serve G‑d at all, but you’re not serving Him from your heart. You are serving Him only to avoid pain. If so, why do you need to know about punishment—whether in this world or in the afterlife and Gehinnom? Why do the classic works on Jewish ethics find it necessary to discuss these things? Simply because you need to know...

Tucker Carlson recently interviewed Ted Cruz, and by all accounts, it was a train wreck. Tucker was quite aggressive and did not let Cruz answer. It did not appear that Cruz was adequately prepared, misquoting verses and not knowing the references. I thought it would be good to address the one issue that is something I can speak into, and that is Tucker’s confusion over whether rebirthed Israel is the Israel that the Bible speaks of. Dear Tucker, It was excruciating, watching the short clip of you asking Ted Cruz about Israel. You told him, “I’m a Christian. I want...

Netanyahu claims Hamas is refusing to "lay down its arms" so Israel has "no choice but to finish the job". "Given Hamas's refusal to lay down its arms, Israel has no choice but to finish the job and complete the defeat of Hamas," he says. The Israeli prime minister claims there are "two remaining strongholds" in Gaza, that he intends to "dismantle". Netanyahu used the map below to illustrate where he says they are - the central camps, and Gaza City. "We have about 70 to 75% of Gaza under Israeli control, military control," Netanyahu says. He adds: "Last Thursday,...

Just as Americanists opposed and condemned as communist the Anti-Defamation League and similar organizations (including the American Jewish Congress), many Americanist leaders distrusted and denounced Zionism and the State of Israel. “[There is] more ideological and cultural kinship between Israel and the Soviet Union than between Israel and the United States,” declared Dan Smoot in 1969.97 “Behold, then, this strange situation,” he added: “Israel and the Soviet Union, with harsh words, are pursuing a common objective in the Middle East; to isolate all Arab countries from the United States and drive them into the Soviet orbit . . .” 98...

The October 7 atrocities convinced Israelis that any territory given over to the Palestinians would become a launchpad for terror. During a recent meeting at the White House, a reporter asked President Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu “Do you think there can be a two-state solution that creates an independent Palestinian state?” The question surprised me, since from Israel’s point of view the two-state solution is a dead letter. There was a time when many, perhaps even a majority, of Israelis believed a two-state solution with the Palestinians was possible. This was the position of every Israeli government for...

The term "pallyweid" can be used to describe a specific type of rhetoric or narrative about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that is both misleading and one-sided, often found in discussions that accuse Israel erroneously of “apartheid” and “genocide.” Here's how the key elements can be incorporated into the term: Pallyweid and the Apartheid SlurThe term pallyweid draws from the "apartheid" false accusation leveled at Israel, which critics claim is based on systemic racial segregation akin to the policies of South Africa during apartheid. In reality, Israel’s legal and political framework is far different from the brutal racial segregation of the South...

The Trump administration says it boycotted a United Nations conference promoting the two-state solution on Monday, calling the event a “publicity stunt” and an “insult.” “This week, the U.N. will serve as host to an unproductive and ill-timed conference on the two-state solution in New York City,” State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said in a statement. “This is a publicity stunt that comes in the middle of delicate diplomatic efforts to end the conflict.” Bruce said the conference will “prolong the war, embolden Hamas, and reward its obstruction and undermine real-world efforts to achieve peace.” Instead of participating, Bruce said...

In “A Hebron ‘Emirate’ or a Colonial Deception?” (7/9/25), the Wall Street Journal and its editorial author Mahmood Jabari complete the amazing feat of distorting facts through an entire editorial, from the first words to the very last. It would seem that such an achievement would be impossible, but this op-ed accomplished it. Let’s start from the title. Israel cannot possibly be considered “colonial” by any stretch of the imagination. The 3,000-year Jewish presence in Israel is documented in history books, substantiated by numerous archaeological findings, and described in the Bible. Jews are from Judea (as the word “Judea” implies),...

Dear Freepers After almost 25 years of freerepublic.com being a rare bastion of sanity in this crazy world, I will be ending my time as a member of this once great site. The quality of FR has degraded to the point that I no longer find much usage for the site that I can’t find on other platforms and sources. I have had multiple conversations with many freepers, both in the forum and privately and many of them agree with some of my points of contention: A) The primary reason I am leaving is the failure of FR to address...

Conversation Dan Burmawi @DanBurmawy Back in 1994, when Yitzhak Rabin was ready to hand the Palestinians a state on a silver platter, who was the loudest voice against it? Benjamin Netanyahu. And what did the world call him? A radical, an enemy of peace, a warmonger. Even inside Israel, many thought he was being extreme. But was he? Bibi’s argument was simple: You don’t hand a state to people who openly declare that your country has no right to exist and that their ultimate goal is to wipe you off the map. That’s not a “peace process”, that’s national...

Jews seem to generate a lot of negative emotions among non-Jews. While it's become particularly intense since Israel began retaliating against Hamas, it's been going on for a long time.The Romans fought three wars against the Jews, who had been a civilization for over a millennium before the time the Romans touched the sands of the Middle East. The first of those wars, the First Jewish – Roman War 66-73 AD, which ended with the deaths of defenders of Masada resulted in the destruction of the Jerusalem and the Jewish Temple, the death of 50,000 Jews and absolute Roman control...

Israel has hinted it is plotting airstrikes to topple the Iranian regime as it seeks retaliation for its missile attack earlier this month. Tel Aviv has been narrowing down its targets to Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and its volunteer paramilitary force as it consults the US on its response, The Times has reported. Although it is unlikely one round of missile strikes would topple the Iranian regime, it has been suggested by a western official the strength of the attack could encourage opposition from within. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a video statement addressed to the Iranian...

“Not a single Muslim participated in the Holocaust, nor had any responsibility." In 1993, Abbé Pierre gave an interview, saying that it was Catholic Christians who committed the Holocaust, and who gave Palestine to the Jews because they were ashamed of what they did. A staunch supporter of the Palestinian cause, Abbé Pierre said Christians made the Muslims, who did nothing to the Jews, pay the price of Hitler’s actions. “Not a single Muslim had participated in the Holocaust, nor had any responsibility. And we deceived the Palestinians,’ he said. ‘We lied to them.’”Let’s take those assertions one by one.First,...

Columbus’ lineage unveiled through DNA analysis The centuries-old mystery of Christopher Columbus’ lineage has been solved. Scientists revealed the explorer’s roots after DNA analysis in a documentary aired on Saturday, October 10th on Spanish television. Researchers, led by forensic pathologist Miguel Llorente, examined microscopic samples of remains buried in Seville Cathedral. They compared them to those of his known relatives and descendants. The DNA study confirmed that the remains of Christopher Columbus are indeed buried in Seville. Llorente, briefing reporters on the findings, confirmed this. He specifically stated: “Today it became possible to verify with new technologies, definitively confirming the...

Bernard-Henri Lévy takes on the Israeli crisis. Born in 1948 in French Algeria to a family of Sephardic Jews but raised from infancy in France, where he has spent his long and productive life, Bernard-Henri Lévy has led a distinguished career as a philosopher, war correspondent, and prolific author and commentator. Unlike many members of his generation in France, he was not seduced by Marx, and has in fact spent much of his life criticizing Communism and other forms of tyranny, championing oppressed peoples around the world, and defending Israel and the United States at a time when most of...

Tisha B'Av 2024: August 12-13 Tisha B’Av, the 9th day of the month of Av, is the saddest day on the Jewish calendar, on which we fast, deprive ourselves and pray. It is the culmination of the Three Weeks, a period of time during which we mark the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin “Bibi” Netanyahu delivered a one-hour address to a Joint Session of Congress this afternoon, drawing no fewer than 55 standing ovations, the most of any such speaker in Congressional history. It was the Israeli leader’s fourth address to Congress. ... more than any other foreign leader in history, more even than British Prime Minister Winston Churchill during World War II. His speech was brilliant, bipartisan, and electrifying. A true master class in global statesmanship.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to bolster U.S. support for his country's fight against Hamas in a speech to Congress Wednesday that sparked boycotts by some top Democrats and drew thousands of protesters to the nation’s capital.

America is next. Despite fanatical pro-Hamas protesters who set off fire alarms all night in his hotel, left maggots in the conference room set aside for the Israelis, and tried to block all the roads on the way to the Capitol, the forces of evil did not prevail: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke to Congress on Wednesday afternoon as planned and did his best to shore up a U.S./Israel alliance that the Biden-Harris administration, in desperate pursuit of votes from Michigan, has done so much to damage. The signs of that damage were unmistakable as Netanyahu entered the House...

A Vain Battle If there was ever a battle fought in vain, this was it. Or at least, so it seemed at the time. The year is 1924. Vladimir Lenin, the father of the communist revolution, is dead; over 900,000 people pass through the Hall of Columns during the four days and nights that Lenin's body lay exposed to the public. Josef Stalin succeeds him as the new leader of the Soviet Union. During the following thirty years, he would murder 50 million of his own people. Jews and Judaism would be one of his primary targets. He sets up...