Why One Who Repents Can Be Greater Than One Who Never Sinned in the First Place

Sept. 12 2023

An oft cited talmudic adage states that, “in the place where those who have repented of their sins (ba’aley t’shuvah) stand, even the completely righteous do not stand.” In a 1969 lecture, Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik explains why this is so, drawing on another talmudic anecdote, about a student who—after the death of his teacher—performs the ritual rending of his garments (kri’ah) twice: once at the funeral, and the other after he realizes he can no longer ask his mentor a simple question about saying the blessing (b’rakhah) over bread. (Yiddish with English subtitles. Audio, 17 minutes.)

Read more at Ohr Publishing

More about: Joseph B. Soloveitchik, Judaism, Repentance

The Mass Expulsion of Palestinians Is No Solution. Neither Are Any of the Usual Plans for Gaza

Examining the Trump administration’s proposals for the people of Gaza, Danielle Pletka writes:

I do not believe that the forced cleansing of Gaza—a repetition of what every Arab country did to the hundreds of thousands of Arab Jews in 1948— is a “solution.” I don’t think Donald Trump views that as a permanent solution either (read his statement), though I could be wrong. My take is that he believes Gaza must be rebuilt under new management, with only those who wish to live there resettling the land.

The time has long since come for us to recognize that the establishment doesn’t have the faintest clue what to do about Gaza. Egypt doesn’t want it. Jordan doesn’t want it. Iran wants it, but only as cannon fodder. The UN wants it, but only to further its anti-Semitic agenda and continue milking cash from the West. Jordanians, Lebanese, and Syrians blame Palestinians for destroying their countries.

Negotiations with Hamas have not worked. Efforts to subsume Gaza under the Palestinian Authority have not worked. Rebuilding has not worked. Destruction will not work. A “two-state solution” has not arrived, and will not work.

So what’s to be done? If you live in Washington, New York, London, Paris, or Berlin, your view is that the same answers should definitely be tried again, but this time we mean it. This time will be different. . . . What could possibly make you believe this other than ideological laziness?

Read more at What the Hell Is Going On?

More about: Donald Trump, Gaza Strip, Palestinians