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WATCH: IDF Operating In Rafah Today
DRONE FOOTAGE: IDF Destroys 50 Terror Tunnels On Egypt Gaza Border
DESPERATE: Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Tried To Meet With Kamala Harris To Discuss Cabinet Job
Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sought a meeting last week with Democratic nominee Kamala Harris to discuss the possibility of serving in her administration, perhaps as a Cabinet secretary, if he throws his support behind her campaign and she wins, according to Kennedy campaign officials.
Harris and her advisers have not responded with an offer to meet or shown interest in the proposal, say people familiar with the conversations.
The Kennedy outreach, made through intermediaries, follows a meeting in Milwaukee last month between Kennedy and Republican nominee Donald Trump to discuss a similar policy role and endorsement that resulted in no agreement. In those discussions, Kennedy spoke about advising Trump in a second term on health and medical issues.
The independent candidate and namesake of the most famous American political dynasty is exploring multiple options for the future of his presidential effort, which has seen a decline in national polling since President Joe Biden dropped out of the race. His campaign has produced polling, which it has tried to share with Democrats, that it claims shows both Harris and Trump would get a boost in their public support across 31 states if either candidate announced publicly that Kennedy would have a Cabinet role in their administration.
At the moment, Kennedy says he is continuing to campaign with the expectation that he will defeat both Trump and Harris, making regular interview appearances, releasing an “America Strong” plan for bipartisan governance and planning upcoming rallies in states like Arizona and Nebraska. But he has also left open the possibility of bowing out of the race if he finds another way to bring about the change he seeks in the country, his advisers say.
“From the beginning of this campaign, we were saying people should be talking to each other,” Kennedy said Wednesday in an interview. “That is the only way of unifying the country.”
Kennedy said he hopes Harris reconsiders his offer of a meeting. “I think it is a strategic mistake for them. That’s my perspective,” Kennedy said. “I think they ought to be looking at every opportunity. I think it is going to be a very close race.”
The latest round of outreach follows earlier efforts to convince Democrats that Kennedy would make a better candidate on their ticket than Biden. Even after Kennedy left the Democratic nomination fight to pursue an independent campaign for president last November, his advisers continued to press the case privately that he could replace Biden as the Democratic nominee.
Amaryllis Fox Kennedy, the campaign manager and daughter-in-law to the candidate, argued in an April email to Democrats, obtained by The Washington Post, that Biden could not win the race. “As things are, Biden is going to lose. If Bobby were to drop out, Trump would win by an additional two states,” she wrote. “If Biden were to drop out, Trump would lose. Only Bobby can win this.”
She argued that Democrats had to make sure a president is elected who could handle the responsibility of managing the nuclear arsenal. “I don’t want a president obsessed with the size of his crowds to be given that sacred charge. My bomb is bigger than your bomb is no path to peace,” she wrote. “Nor do I want to entrust my children’s lives to the alertness of a president who, despite honorable service and due to the natural toll of age, I wouldn’t leave babysitting my two-year-old while I went to the movies.”
Democrats have for months attacked Kennedy because Timothy Mellon, a scion of a Pittsburgh banking family, is a top donor to both an independent group supporting Kennedy and a separate group supporting Trump.
“No one has any intention of negotiating with a MAGA-funded fringe candidate who has sought out a job with Donald Trump in exchange for an endorsement,” said Lis Smith, an adviser to the Democratic National Committee.
Kennedy’s campaign reached out earlier this summer to Democratic intermediaries, including Hollywood talent agent Ari Emanuel and director Rob Reiner, in the hopes of starting a dialogue with Democratic officials, according to people familiar with the effort who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations. No meetings resulted. Representatives for Emanuel and Reiner did not respond to requests for comment.
One day after Biden had a disastrous performance in a June debate with Trump, Kennedy campaign staff reached out to a relative of Airbnb founder Joe Gebbia in an effort to get a message to Ron Klain, a longtime Biden adviser who had recently been hired by Airbnb as chief legal adviser.
“The Dems should nominate Kennedy. He is the only candidate under consideration who can beat Trump,” the message read, according to a copy obtained by The Post. “Please give it some thought. Kennedy would win, the Dems would keep the White House, and Americans would avoid the Trump reprise that so many across this nation dread.”
Klain said in a text message Wednesday that he heard secondhand that the Kennedy campaign was trying to reach him, but that he did not respond to the request.
A person who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the interaction spotted Kennedy at a hotel this week in West Palm Beach, Fla., not far from Trump campaign headquarters and Trump’s Florida home. Kennedy, in the interview Wednesday, declined to comment on whether he was in West Palm Beach or whether he has continued conversations with the Trump campaign.
Trump campaign advisers, who also spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe private conversations, said they are still in touch with Kennedy and his senior team, and some of the advisers are expecting Kennedy to drop out and endorse Trump. In his pitch to Trump in Milwaukee, he also discussed a Cabinet-level job.
Since Biden exited the race in July, Kennedy’s standing in national polls appears to have declined, suggesting that Harris has been able to attract some of his previous supporters. A Post average of national polls in July when Biden was still in the race showed Kennedy polling at about 9 percent. Since Biden dropped out of the race, the same average shows Kennedy polling at about 5 percent nationally.
Kennedy campaign officials believe that overall he is pulling support disproportionately from Trump at this point in the race, though there are state-by-state variations. Even if Kennedy did withdraw from the race and endorse one of the two candidates, his campaign believes there are states where he would not be able to remove his name from the ballot. Early voting in some states begins next month.
Kennedy said Wednesday that he had not had any contact with the Democratic Party since launching his campaign. The Democratic National Committee has launched an aggressive legal and political effort to diminish the appeal of Kennedy and other third-party contenders.
“The only contact I have with the DNC is them suing me through intermediaries,” Kennedy said.
(c) 2024, The Washington Post · Michael Scherer, Josh Dawsey
CHUCKY: Announcement of Schumer Book ‘Warning’ About Jew-Hatred Draws Ridicule, Criticism
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who frequently self-identifies as the highest-ranking elected Jewish official in U.S. history and claims that his family name refers to being the Jewish people’s “guardian,” is slated to publish a book titled Antisemitism in America: A Warning next February.
Grand Central Publishing, a Hachette Book Group division, lists Feb. 18 as the publication date for the 224-page book, which sells for $28 in hardcover. It calls the book “urgent and personal,” and states that Schumer “sheds light on the Jewish American experience and sounds the alarm about the troubling resurgence of antisemitism.”
The announcement drew ridicule from some of those who have criticized Schumer in the past.
“It’s been 105 days since the House passed the Antisemitism Awareness Act—and it has been languishing in the Senate ever since,” wrote the Republican Jewish Coalition. “Instead of writing a book, Sen. Schumer should bring the Antisemitism Awareness Act to the floor of the Senate for a vote immediately.”
Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) wrote that he has a “great suggestion” for Schumer’s preface. “Pass the Antisemitism Awareness Act immediately. It’s sitting on your desk and has over 75 Senators ready to vote for it,” Lawler wrote. “Once you pass it, then you can claim credit for tackling antisemitism in America.”
“Is this an autobiography?” wrote David Friedman, a former U.S. ambassador to Israel. (In the past, Friedman has written that Schumer lacks a conscience and is guilty of a “stunning betrayal of Israel.”)
“Did he have to add ‘a warning,’ because people would assume it was a how-to manual?” wrote Karol Markowicz, a prominent conservative writer and commentator.
“Hold my calls,” wrote Seth Mandel, senior Commentary editor and former magazine editor at Washington Examiner.
“If only he was in a position to actually do something/take real action to counter the historic rise of antisemitism that has occurred under his watch,” wrote David Milstein, who advised Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. JNS
{Matzav.com}
DRAMATIC CHASE IN HAR NOF: This Is How A Serial Thief Was Caught In Action
Ruling That Bounced Kennedy From New York Ballot Could Challenge Him In Other States
Billboard In New York’s Times Square Seeks To Highlight Iranian Terror
The Israeli Consulate in New York launched a campaign in Times Square this week against Iran and its Hezbollah proxy in Lebanon in Times Square amid ongoing threats by the Islamic Republic to attack the Jewish state.
“Iran and Hezbollah. Partners in terror. 150k rockets aimed at Israel, 40 years of global terror,” reads the billboard advertisement, which was launched on Wednesday and set to run throughout the weekend.
The calls on passersby to learn more about Iranian terror by scanning a QR code that leads to an Israeli Foreign Ministry website outlining the atrocities committed by Iran and its terror proxies since joining the war in support of Hamas one day after the Islamist group’s Oct. 7 massacre.
The cost of a billboard on Times Square ranges between $5,000 and $50,000 a day, depending on the complexity and location of the ad.
The campaign comes as intelligence reports indicate that Iran and Hezbollah are preparing to drag the Middle East into an all-out regional war by attacking the Jewish state “within days.”
Tehran and its proxies have vowed to avenge both the killing of Ismail Haniyeh, the head of Hamas’s “political” bureau, and of Fuad Shukr, a senior member of Hezbollah’s Jihad Council, whom Israeli defense officials have described as the terror organization’s No. 2 man. JNS
Palestinian On Terror Watchlist Caught At US Border
Seeking Women from Crown Heights, Boro Park, Flatbush, Mil Basin and Manhattan!
GOOD RIDDANCE: Minouche Shafik Resigns As Columbia President Citing ‘Period of Turmoil,’ ‘Toll On My Family’
Citing a “period of turmoil where it has been difficult to overcome divergent views across our community” that has taken a “considerable toll on my family,” Minouche Shafik announced on Wednesday that she is stepping down, immediately, as president of Columbia University.
“I am making this announcement now so that new leadership can be in place before the new term begins,” she wrote. She added that at the request of the U.K. foreign secretary, he next job will be to chair “a review of the government’s approach to international development.”
Under Shafik’s leadership, Columbia’s campus became a place that Jewish faculty and students have said is rife with Jew-hatred and unsafe for Jews. In June, the Ivy League school in Manhattan settled a lawsuit with a Jewish student.
The House Education and the Workforce Committee has said that Columbia is refusing to turn over documents and is threatening to subpoena the school, and three Columbia deans recently resigned after exchanging text messages—which the university said “touched on ancient antisemitic tropes”—during an event about Jew-hatred on campus.
“During Shafik’s presidency, a disturbing wave of antisemitic harassment, discrimination and disorder engulfed Columbia university’s campus,” stated Rep. Virginia Foxx (R-N.C.), chair of the House education committee. “Jewish students and faculty have been mocked, harassed and assaulted simply for their identity. Every student has the right to a safe learning environment. Period. Yet, flagrant violations of the law and the university rules went unpunished.”
“Columbia’s next leader must take bold action to address the pervasive antisemitism, support for terrorism and contempt for the university’s rules that have been allowed to flourish on its campus,” Foxx said.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) wrote that “as a result of president Shafik’s refusal to protect Jewish students and maintain order on campus, Columbia University became the epicenter for virulent antisemitism that has plagued many American university campuses since Hamas’s barbaric attack on Israel last fall.”
“I stood in President Shafik’s office in April and told her to resign, and while it is long overdue, we welcome today’s news,” Johnson said. “Jewish students at Columbia beginning this school year should breathe a sigh of relief.”
“We hope that President Shafik’s resignation serves as an example to university administrators across the country that tolerating or protecting antisemites is unacceptable and will have consequences,” he said.
“Three down, so many to go,” wrote Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.), chair of the House Republican Conference and a member of the House education committee, referencing the resignations of the presidents of Harvard University and University of Pennsylvania.
“As I have said consistently since her catastrophic testimony at the Education and Workforce Committee hearing, Columbia University’s President Minouche Shafik’s failed presidency was untenable and that is was only a matter of time before her forced resignation,” Stefanik wrote. “After failing to protect Jewish students and negotiating with pro Hamas terrorists, this forced resignation is long overdue.”
“We will continue to demand moral clarity, condemnation of antisemitism, protection of Jewish students and faculty and stronger leadership from American higher education institutions,” she added.
“President Shafik came before the House education committee and refused to tell us the truth about how antisemitism was really handled on campus,” wrote Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.). “Columbia has much more work to do but this is a step in the right direction.”
“Long overdue,” wrote the Republican Jewish Coalition. “Good riddance.” JNS
{Matzav.com}
WAKING UP LATE: Hunter Biden Sought US Government Help For Ukrainian Gas Company, NYT Says
Nachamu: From Darkness to Light
By Rabbi Pinchos Lipchutz
We are all familiar with the concept that the tefillah of Ashrei, which we recite three times daily, is comprised of pesukim that begin with all the Hebrew letters in corresponding order. All of the letters, that is, except one. There is no posuk in Ashrei that begins with the letter nun.
The source of this appears in the Gemara Brachos (4b): Rabi Yochanan taught that the reason there is no posuk in Ashrei beginning with the letter nun is because that letter is used to depict the defeat of Klal Yisroel, for the posuk states (Amos 5:2), “Noflah, she fell, and will never be able to get back up, the girls of Yisroel.”
The Gemara (ibid.) says that in Eretz Yisroel, the posuk was read to express a positive message. They read it like this: “Noflah, lo sosif, kum besulas Yisroel – She fell, but not for long, rise up the girls of Yisroel.”
The Vilna Gaon asks how the Gemara can go out of its way to explain the posuk with a positive connotation when it appears among the harsh prophecies that Amos Hanovi envisioned for the Jewish people? A posuk with a comforting prophecy clearly doesn’t fit there.
He explains that this awful prophecy contains a happy prophecy as well, as it foretells that the Jewish people will fall to such a low level that they will not be able to fall any lower. Therefore, the way the people of Eretz Yisroel read the posuk is justified, for the posuk fits in with those surrounding it. “Noflah lo sosif, Klal Yisroel will fall so low that it will not be able to fall any lower.” First, the posuk speaks of the terrible times. Then it says, “Kum besulas Yisroel,” meaning that since they will have fallen so low, the only place for them to go from there would be up.
With this, the Vilna Gaon explains another Gemara that deals with prophetic curses. The Gemara in Chagigah (14a) states that Yeshayahu Hanovi cursed Klal Yisroel with 18 curses, but he wasn’t pacified until he recited this posuk (Yeshayahu 3:5): “The youth will behave with arrogance, raising themselves above their elders, and the low people will behave this way with those who are deserving of respect.”
He asked why Yeshayahu would be pacified by this prophecy. He did not hate Am Yisroel. Rather, he was the prophet of consolation. In fact, the seven haftaros of nechomah that we read for the next seven weeks are all prophecies of Yeshayahu. Why would this terrible prophecy bring Yeshayahu happiness?
He answers along the same lines with which he explained the Gemara in Brachos. Yeshayahu understood that the Jewish people would not commence their upward climb until they had fallen to the lowest level possible. When constructing a new building to replace one that was destroyed, it is necessary to clear away the entire building until its foundation or the new building will fall.
When Klal Yisroel sinks to this level of chutzpah and insolence, it will be a sign of ikvesa d’Meshicha, for they will have fallen to the lowest levels of human behavior, and from there the only way to go is up, and the process that will lead to Moshiach can begin.
Thus, Yeshayahu, the novi of nechomah, was happy when he foresaw that the people would sink to such a low level, because he knew that the geulah would then begin.
This is what took place when Hashem redeemed the Jews from Mitzrayim. Chazal teach that they had sunk to the 49th level of tumah when Hashem took them out of Mitzrayim. They sunk as low as it was possible to sink and still be saved, and therefore Hashem took them out. Reaching the lowest level of tumah is what brought about their redemption.
We can also understand the words of the Tur and Bais Yosef in Hilchos Tisha B’Av (siman 557), which discusses when on Tisha B’Av we recite the prayer of Nacheim, which refers to a consolation for Klal Yisroel following the awful churban. The Tur cites his father, the Rishon, known as the Rosh, who questions why Nacheim is only recited at Mincha and not at Maariv and Shacharis.
The Bais Yosef, in his commentary, quotes the Gemara where this issue is first discussed and the disputes that followed as to when the consoling prayer of Nacheim should be recited. He writes, “It appears to me that the reasoning for the shitah that says to only recite Nacheim at Mincha is because the Bais Hamikdosh was [fully destroyed and] set on fire towards evening. Therefore, [in the tefillah which is recited] at that time, we mention the baseness of Yerushalayim and its mourning and daven for its consolation.”
With the answer of the Vilna Gaon, we can understand the Bais Yosef, for when the Bais Hamikdosh was totally destroyed, it was evident that Yerushalayim was at its lowest and there would be no further destruction. From that point, they would begin their upward trajectory and work to bring back that which had been lost. This is the time to offer and accept consolation, because it will not get worse; it will only get better. That is why we wait until the time when the Bais Hamikdosh was totally destroyed and set ablaze to recite Nacheim.
This concept is found in previous sources, such as the Abarbanel (Bereishis 5:2), Maharal (Netzach Yisroel 26), and Rav Tzadok Hakohein of Lublin (Tzidkas Hatzaddik). They state that we learn from the way the world was created, night before day, that with everything that happens in the world, darkness precedes light and emptiness comes before growth.
This is apparent when a seed is planted. Nothing grows from that seed until it rots away into nothingness, and when that happens, it begins to sprout.
This also explains why Rabi Akiva smiled when he viewed the Har Habayis where the Bais Hamikdosh stood and saw a fox exit from the place of the Kodesh Hakodoshim. He explained that when he saw that the prophecy that the holy place would be totally destroyed came to pass, he knew that the prophecy about Yerushalayim being repopulated and the Bais Hamikdosh being rebuilt would also be realized.
The utter destruction comforted him, because out of desolation comes growth.
The posuk (Micha 7:8) states, “Ki eishev bachoshech Hashem ohr li.” This is commonly understood as “When I sit in darkness, Hashem provides me light.” Rav Tzadok explains it differently, writing that it expresses the thinking of people of faith: “When I am surrounded by darkness and experience loss, and it appears as if Hashem is hidden, I know that Hashem will shine His light upon me and I will find salvation.”
For such is the way of life. Success and light follow darkness and failure.
So often in life, people experience a downturn, and it seems as if Hashem has forgotten them and allowed them to fail. But those who maintain their faith and a positive outlook are able to regroup, rebuild, and succeed where they had failed.
Following the Holocaust and its tragic losses, people who lived through unimaginable human tragedy and misery were shattered and devastated. When the war ended, they had a choice, a very difficult choice, so difficult for us to conceive in the comfortable golus we now find ourselves in. They could either give in to the sadness that overwhelmed them and become lost in the darkness, devoid of faith in Hashem and the future, or they could gather themselves together, and understand that Hashem would rescue them from the depths of devastation if they would look ahead to a better future. They went on to rebuild what they had lost and gave birth to new families and communities where they flourished.
We find ourselves now in a time of darkness. Iran and its proxies seek our destruction. The nations of the world detest, condemn, and torment us. The socialist Jew-haters are gaining, and it is difficult to trust that should they grab the levers of power, they will look kindly to our interests and to Israel. In Israel, at the same that the country fights for its very survival, the left has launched a war against the institutions of Torah and those who dedicate their lives to its study.
For many, it is a fearful time, and people fret about what the future will bring. Will the forces of morality and decency win, or will the others? How strongly will Iran attack Eretz Yisroel and its inhabitants? Will the small country be empowered to repel the evil empire and its proxies? How many will die in the effort?
The novi Yeshayahu calls out to us in our darkness, in the depths of golus, and says, “Nachamu, nachamu,” it is time now to be consoled. Be comforted in your sorrow and fears. You are suffering. Am Yisroel is suffering. But you must know that the sadness and deprivation indicate that recovery and redemption are on their way.
Nachamu. The pains are birth pangs, indications that we are in ikvesa d’Meshicha, the period leading to the arrival of Moshiach, which will herald the end of the golus and the onset of the redemption.
Nachamu. When we see the yeitzer hora seemingly empowered to tempt and corrupt people through more vices and devices, when we see the forces of tumah and evil on the march, when inflation climbs incessantly and we are unable to keep up, we should know that these are further signs of the imminent nechomah and geulah.
Nachamu. When we see the faithless anxious and fearful over what the next day will bring, when we see those who deny Hashem’s existence battling Torah, its students, and its followers, know that if you remain strong and dedicated, things will turn around and the yeshuah will surely arrive.
Nachamu. Monday night and Tuesday morning, we sat with lights dimmed, on the floor, reciting painful lamentations and hearing the plaintive wail of Eicha. This Shabbos, we will lain Parshas Va’eschanon and identify with Moshe Rabbeinu’s desperate desire to behold the Land, to touch its soil, and to fulfill its special mitzvos. And then the pleasant chords of Nachamu tug at our souls, as we echo Moshe Rabbeinu’s prayer with much eagerness.
Nachamu. Our nation has endured much suffering and hardship. We have had periods of great tragedy, losses, and sadness. Our parents and grandparents, and their parents, suffered through the awful pogroms in der heim. They were poor and hungry, freezing cold during the winter and boiling hot during the summer. Then came the Great Depression and the terrible Holocaust. They hit rock bottom. From there, it was only uphill. Their lives were spared, their souls restored. They found homes and jobs. Communities began to blossom and haven’t stopped growing. Shuls, schools and yeshivos were opened and haven’t stopped expanding. There are more people studying Torah than ever before. There have been bumps along the way, many bumps, but each failure, each regression, each period of weakness was followed by even more success and growth.
Nachamu. The darkness surrounding us in this period of golus underscores how close we are to the coming of the geulah. The darkness will give way to a great light that will shine upon the world when Hashem returns His Shechinah to the Har Habayis, which is now utterly defiled. The Bais Hamikdosh will soon be rebuilt, and sadness and grieving will be replaced by sasson v’simcha with the arrival of Moshiach, speedily in our days.
{Matzav.com}
American Handed 15-Day Sentence By Moscow Court On Charges Of Disorderly Conduct
World Heath Organization Declares Mpox Outbreak a Global Health Emergency
The World Health Organization declared mpox, formerly known as monkeypox, a public health emergency of international concern, the most severe declaration the organization can issue, according to CNN.
“In addition to other outbreaks of other clades of mpox in other parts of Africa, it’s clear that a coordinated international response is essential to stop these outbreaks and save lives,” WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a statement on his decision to invoke the declaration, according to the Washington Post.
Mpox has a staggeringly high death rate, with 450 of the 13,791 cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, resulting in death, according to the WHO.
The virus has spread to Liberia, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Kenya and South Africa. The newest strain of mpox, wreaking havoc in the D.R.C., is more virulent and deadly than the 2022 strain which infected 100,000 people, killing 1,700 of them, according to the The New York Times. Researchers have found this strain to be most harmful to children under 15 and women. Read more at CNN.