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Trump Administration Finds Harvard Was “Willful Participant” in Antisemitism, Threatens to Cut All Federal Aid
Matzav Inbox: The Insanity of Summer Schedule – Husbands in the City, Wives in the Mountains
Dear Matzav Inbox,
Every year, as sure as the traffic clogs Route 17, we get treated to the same tired charade: families pack up for the “summer in the country,” only for husbands to vanish back to the city by Monday morning, leaving behind wives to play single parent all week long. Then, come Thursday night, these husbands trickle back up for a quick 48-hour reunion, if that.
This bizarre ritual, so widely accepted in our frum community, is not cute. It’s not “reality.”
It’s dysfunction parading as normalcy, and it’s time someone said it out loud.
Let’s stop pretending this makes sense. We are talking about spouses living apart for two entire months. That’s eight weeks of being disconnected, out of sync, and physically absent. And for what? So that the wives can “sit in the circle” yapping away all day and take walks around the colony loop while their husbands sit in traffic, eat takeout alone, and fall asleep in their Brooklyn or Lakewood home with nobody to talk to but the fan?
We’ve normalized something that is, at its core, completely unnatural and, frankly, a bit insane.
What exactly are we teaching our children? That marriage is a part-time job? That it’s okay for Totty to be a ghost all week and magically reappear just in time to make Kiddush? That a real normal relationship in marriage is optional during the summer?
We wonder why kids are confused. Look no further than this ridiculous arrangement.
And don’t tell me, “It’s just for the summer.” That’s two months of distance, of miscommunication, of drift. Two months of wives hanging out in the bungalow colony in “make believe world.”
And don’t kid yourself—it affects marriages. Absence does not make the heart grow fonder when the only thing growing is resentment.
There is something disturbingly casual about how we’ve embraced this setup. We speak about shalom bayis from the pulpit, about building strong homes and prioritizing family, and then we collectively nod along as thousands of couples live apart for 80% of the summer.
We treat this as a luxury, as if splitting the family in half for ten weeks is a badge of middle-class honor.
It’s not. It’s unhealthy.
And let’s talk about the absurdity of the “Thursday night culture.” These men aren’t coming up for a quiet Shabbos. They’re arriving for a whirlwind of chaos: three-hour traffic, maybe a barbecue and some bug spray, then davening, and by Sunday afternoon, they’re already mentally back in Flatbush.
That’s not quality time. That’s pretending.
This is not to say that every family situation is the same, or that every working man can telecommute from a hammock in Monticello. But this isn’t about exceptions. It’s about the normalization of a lifestyle that has spiraled way out of control. We’ve created a community standard where the nuclear family lives fractured for an entire season in the name of comfort and convenience, or because “everyone is doing it.” How pathetic.
And there’s more to write about what goes on in the city when the husbands are left hanging out each night, but I’d rather not get into that.
Let’s stop whitewashing this. Let’s call it what it is: a breakdown in priorities.
Marriage is not a weekend arrangement. Parenting is not a part-time gig. Family is not something you commute to. And pretending that this summer setup is “ideal” or “the best of both worlds” is just a cover for a situation that is increasingly strained, lonely, and wrong.
It’s time to rethink what we’ve accepted as “normal.”
Because this?
This isn’t normal.
Sincerely,
Saying the Brutal Truth
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IDF Bolsters Gaza Aid Centers with Fencing, Checkpoints, and Surveillance to Block Hamas Theft
CNN Host Praises President Trump For Being ‘On A Roll,’ Citing Very ‘Consequential’ Week
CNN host Michael Smerconish admitted on his program that President Donald Trump has experienced a notably successful stretch over the past week.
“I’m talking about offering an objective analysis in view of what’s transpired in the last two weeks that I’ve laid out substantively and with data. He’s been on a roll,” Smerconish said. “It might not be the roll that you desire, but I like the word that David [Urban] used and that Salena Zito used in her column this morning. Consequential. Who among us could deny how consequential Trump 2.0 is turning out to be? But in order for you to recognize that, you need to have an open mind about what’s transpiring.”
During the broadcast, Smerconish asked viewers to weigh in on whether they were capable of viewing Trump with an open mind. When he shared the results later in the show, a majority of 72% responded that they were not open to reconsidering their views on the president.
“I applaud those of you who are part of the 72% who say you do not have an open mind on Donald Trump, and the reason that I’m applauding you is not that I appreciate your closed-mindedness,” Smerconish said. “I appreciate your candor. Like, you don’t want to hear it.”
He added, “I made the case at the outset of the program today that he’s had a good two weeks. No B.S. He’s winning, maybe not in a way you want. There are many things that he’s doing that I disagree with. And I tell you what they are. Every day on radio and once a week here. But you got to stand back and say it’s consequential. It is consequential. So, interesting.”
Among the recent accomplishments being highlighted by the Trump administration were a successful U.S. strike against Iranian nuclear assets, a possible de-escalation deal between Israel and Iran, and a new NATO pledge to increase defense spending in response to Trump’s pressure.
The president also notched a legal victory when the Supreme Court limited the power of federal judges to issue sweeping national injunctions—an obstacle that had previously blocked multiple executive actions.
While Smerconish has not shied away from expressing his differences with Trump’s policies, he’s also cautioned that relentless criticism from the press may be contributing to Trump’s political resilience.
“It’s like a parenting lesson. The more that you tell people what they can’t do, what’s intolerable, you must not do this, you should not do this, the more they’re going to rebel,” he said during an interview in November.
WATCH:
{Matzav.com}
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Top Iranian Cleric Issues ‘Fatwa’ Against Trump, Netanyahu
Iran’s most senior Shiite religious authority issued a fatwa on Sunday against President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, in a move analysts are calling a provocation that borders on incitement to terrorism.
Grand Ayatollah Naser Makarem Shirazi, one of Iran’s most influential clerics, declared in his religious edict that Muslims worldwide must rise up against any individual or regime that undermines the unity or leadership of the Islamic world. According to The New York Sun, the ruling categorizes such people as mohareb, a term in Islamic law used to describe those who are at war with God. Iranian law prescribes harsh punishments for mohareb, including death, amputation, crucifixion, or exile.
“Those who threaten the leadership and integrity of the Islamic Ummah are to be considered warlords,” the Ayatollah wrote in the fatwa. He concluded his decree with a supplication for divine protection from the “enemies” of Islam and a plea for the Mahdi’s quick arrival.
The ruling was sharply criticized by British-Iranian commentator Niyak Ghorbani, who labeled it a direct endorsement of global religious violence.
Posting to his X account, Ghorbani asserted that the Iranian regime’s threat extends far beyond its borders and warned that the fatwa reveals the Islamic Republic’s wider strategy of exporting extremist violence.
“The West must realise: the Islamic Republic is not only targeting its own people — it is preparing for global violence in the name of religion,” he wrote in the post.
This pronouncement came in the aftermath of what observers have dubbed the “12-Day War,” a fierce round of hostilities that reportedly saw Iran’s nuclear infrastructure significantly degraded by Israeli and American strikes.
{Matzav.com}
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IDF Considers Permanent Return to Kever Yosef Compound in Shechem
After a quarter-century of absence, the IDF is now examining the feasibility of reestablishing a permanent Jewish presence at Kever Yosef in the heart of Shechem. The move comes in response to mounting public and political pressure to restore Israeli sovereignty and security at the site.
According to a report in Yediot Acharonot, a recent special session of the Knesset Subcommittee on Judea and Samaria Affairs—chaired by MK Tzvi Succot of the Religious Zionism party—marked the first time the possibility of permanent Israeli return to the site was officially debated.
Senior security officials participated in the session, including Lt. Col. Lahet Shemesh, Deputy Head of the Civil Administration, and a representative of the IDF Central Command. The latter committed to submitting an operational opinion within six weeks evaluating the practical steps and implications of reestablishing Israeli control over the area.
Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan, who is spearheading the initiative alongside MK Succot, presented an official IDF protocol from the year 2000 confirming that the withdrawal from the site was intended to be temporary. “No nation in the world would willingly relinquish its holiest site,” Dagan said. “After October 7, it’s clear to all: when you flee from terror, it only chases you harder. Returning to Kever Yosef will enhance security in Shechem—and throughout Israel.”
MK Succot strongly criticized successive Israeli governments for abandoning the site, saying, “It’s unacceptable that the State of Israel violates agreements it itself signed and neglects such an important site. Kever Yosef must once again have a permanent Jewish presence, as part of our sovereign responsibility in Judea and Samaria. Leaving it in the hands of the Palestinian Authority is a blow to our national security and to our values.”
Support for the move came from former IDF officers as well. Retired Brigadier General Harel Kanfo, former commander of the Samaria Brigade, stated, “Creating a perimeter around Kever Yosef is simply a matter of political will. In places where Judaism and the state are not respected—nothing will be respected.”
Several Knesset members, including MKs Amit Halevi and Limor Son Har-Melech, voiced strong support. “This is not just a territorial battle—it’s a battle over identity and spirit. Kever Yosef symbolizes exactly that,” said Halevi. Son Har-Melech added, “The disgrace of those nighttime sneak-ins must end. We are in Eretz Yisrael, not in exile.”
The session concluded with emotional remarks from Rabbi Dudu Ben-Natan, father of Staff Sergeant (res.) Shuval Ben-Natan hy”d, who was killed in the line of duty. “We call out, as a father and as a yeshiva student, to correct this injustice and restore full Jewish presence to Kever Yosef,” he said.
{Matzav.com Israel}
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Candace Owens Accuses Rabbi of Bribing Pastors To Criticize Her; Jewish Group Shoots Back
The Israel-based Modern Orthodox network Ohr Torah Stone pushed back strongly against allegations made by conservative commentator Candace Owens, who claimed that the group’s founding rabbi tried to bribe Christian pastors to speak out against her during church sermons, JTA reports.
Owens, who has previously courted controversy with remarks widely regarded as antisemitic, repeated the claim both on her podcast and on her X account. She posted what she said was a copy of a letter from Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, allegedly sent to an unidentified pastor, suggesting the rabbi offered Bitcoin as an incentive for pastors to deliver anti-Owens and anti-Tucker Carlson messages.
“Noticing an increase in anti ‘Candace and Tucker’ content,” Owens wrote in her post on X, sharing screenshots of the supposed email. “Today we showed you verifiable proof that Rabbis in Israel are offering, among other things, BITCOIN to pastors to preach against us on Sunday. Read the email from Rabbi Shlomo Riskin! THIS IS DEMONIC.”
Rabbi Riskin, originally from the United States, founded Ohr Torah Stone and served as its first chancellor. The organization also created the Hertog Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation, the interfaith initiative referenced in the email Owens publicized.
In the document shared by Owens — which she claimed was authenticated via “screen recordings” — the sender offers the pastor “a donation of $2,500 in Bitcoin to your congregation” in return for a summary or recording of remarks that would promote “awareness, compassion, and caution when engaging with media voices that spread division under the cover of opinion.”
The message goes on to single out Owens and Carlson directly, accusing them of using speech that “lately has crossed a line” and “veered into rhetoric that echoes classic antisemitic tropes.”
Rabbi Kenneth Brander, President and Rosh Yeshiva of Ohr Torah Stone, took to X to categorically reject the accusation, calling it “entirely false, baseless, and defamatory.”
A spokesperson for Ohr Torah Stone reiterated the denial in a comment to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency (JTA), stating that the email Owens shared “does not originate from the organization.”
Following a request from JTA for clarification, Rabbi Brander issued a statement via email, slamming the accusations. “Rabbi Riskin and Ohr Torah Stone don’t spend time thinking about Candace Owens,” the statement said. “We are entirely focused on our mission of educating the next generation, supporting agunot [women whose husbands deny them a Jewish divorce], and building bridges between all segments of society and different faiths.”
“We do not engage in smear campaigns, and we certainly don’t make unsolicited offers — Bitcoin or otherwise — to anyone. The claim is absurd and bears no connection to reality,” the statement added.
Although once considered a prominent voice in conservative political circles, Owens has lost favor with some on the right due to her rhetoric, which critics say increasingly flirts with antisemitism. Nevertheless, she remains influential on social media, boasting around 6.9 million followers on X.
{Matzav.com}
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