
	View in browser

Yehuda Lave is an author, journalist, psychologist, rabbi, spiritual teacher, and coach, with degrees in business, psychology and Jewish Law. He works with people from all walks of life and helps them in their search for greater happiness, meaning, business advice on saving money, and spiritual engagement.

Love Yehuda Lave

Join my blog by sending me an email to YehudaLave@gmail.c

In Israel, No More Masks Outdoors, By Hana Levi Julian

Israel's Ministry of Health has decided that starting either Sunday or Monday this week, there will be no obligation to wear a face mask outdoors.

The decision comes one year and a day after the mandate to wear a mask both indoors and out came into force.

That is the good news.

The other news is that one must still wear a mask in enclosed spaces, at least for now.

The ministry agreed with researchers who said there is no epidemiological and/or health justification for wearing a mask in open areas.

100+ Cities with No New Cases of COVID-19
There have been no new cases of the coronavirus diagnosed in 112 cities in the Jewish State over the past week.

Among the cities on the "no COVID" list are Kiryat Shmona, Kiryat Ono, Yeruham, Mazkeret Batya, Tirat Carmel, Rosh Pina, Azor and others.

In Jerusalem, there are currently only 536 patients infected with the virus; in Tel Aviv, just 172 active cases, in Be'er Sheva only 93 active cases, in Haifa just 80, Rishon Lezion with 34, Netanya with 74, Ashdod with 81, Petach Tikva with 72, Hadera has 16 and in Modi'in there are fewer than 15 active cases.

Good News for Students (and Parents!)
There was also good news for schoolchildren: the Health Ministry has approved the complete opening of the education system as well.

"Capsules" are being eliminated and all classrooms are to be open; a wide system of COVID-19 testing and monitoring is to be implemented to quickly identify any student who may be infected.

In the event that a student is confirmed to have the virus, all his fellow students in the class, and the teaching staff will also undergo quarantine and testing to ensure no one else comes up positive for COVID-19, before returning to the classroom.

The families of those found to be infected with the virus will also be required to undergo testing.

Of the country's 5,200 schools, none are closed due to the coronavirus at this point.

Now, Damage Control Begins
The return to school also brings with it the necessity to begin damage control among the nation's youth.

There has been a 30 percent decrease in basic skills among first and third-grade students, according to a report by Israel's N12 television news station. There has also been a 25 percent decline in math and language literacy among fourth and sixth graders, and a gap of about 30 percent among students in grades 7 to 10 in math, English and science.

There has also been a serious impact on the children's emotional-social health: one out of every three students reports feeling emotional distress.

There is a 25 percent increase in suicide risk assessments by the education system's psychological service and about 60 percent of education counselors say their students are reporting feelings of loneliness.

Moreover, due to the need for remote learning, there has been 30 percent dropout by students who no longer learn on a regular basis.

There has also been a significant increase in risk behaviors, addictions and violence, as well as a rise in reports of eating and obesity disorders, anxiety and mood disorders among children and adolescents.

The Three Musketeers at the Kotel

Judeovirus,' Zoom bombing, darknet extremism: Israeli anti-Semitism study offers 2020's gritty details

One worrying change, the report notes, is that accusations against the Jews spilled out to populations without strong ideological identities.

By World Israel News Staff

Where there's actual plague, the plague of anti-Semitism quickly follows is the theme of the "Anti-Semitism Report for 2020," published by Tel Aviv University's Kantor Center on Wednesday.

"Blaming the Jews and Israelis for developing and spreading the coronavirus (or the 'Judeovirus'), was the main motif in this year's anti-Semitic manifestations. This notion is rooted in a deep fear of the Jew/Israeli as a spreader of disease in both the past and present," said Prof. Dina Porat, head of the Kantor Center.

Blaming the Jews and Israelis for developing and spreading the virus is a graver accusation than any previously made against Jews throughout history, the report says.

"As the pandemic began to spread across the globe, it was immediately followed by accusations that the virus had been developed and was being spread by Jews and Israelis: they are the ones who would find a cure and vaccine for the disease, selling it to the ailing world and making a huge profit," the report said.

One worrying change, the report notes, is that accusations against the Jews spilled over from extremist circles and anti-Israel accusers into "populations without well-defined political or ideological identities."

Online anti-Semitism

The report notes that new phenomena developed on the internet, such as zoom bombing and extremism shifting to the darknet.

Since the public space was shut down during the pandemic and people stayed at home, activities on social media, including anti-Semitic activities, increased significantly, characterized by aggressiveness and verbal abuse. Such phenomena, however, are inherently difficult to quantify, says the report.

The report also noted the phenomenon called zoom-bombing – breaking into zoom conferences of synagogues, Jewish community centers and Jewish students, disrupting the meetings and using the platform to display swastikas, anti-Semitic presentations or speeches. In the U.S. alone, 200 cases of zoom bombing were registered.

Extremist groups, especially from the far right, like white supremacists and neo-Nazis, left the open social networks and descended into the darknet, which grew significantly over the past year. There, they are free of any supervision or restrictions and can run their own websites, undisturbed. Consequently, the number of anti-Semitic manifestations on the open networks declined, while activities on the darknet intensified, the report says.

Fewer violent events

Lockdowns in the various countries reduced encounters between Jews and their ill-wishers, and consequently the number of violent events declined from 456 (in 2019) to 371 in 2020 – a number that was typical of 2016-18.

No one was murdered this year for being Jewish (although physical attacks could potentially have had fatal outcomes), and the number of bodily injuries decreased from 170 in 2019 to 107 in 2020. Damage to private property was also reduced from 130 to 84 incidents, simply because people mostly stayed at home.

In most countries a decrease was registered in the number of violent incidents, attacks on both people and their property, threats and arson. However, vandalism towards Jewish communal property and institutions remained as frequent, and in some cases they became more frequent.

The number of desecrations of graveyards, Holocaust memorials and other Jewish monuments (open and unprotected sites) rose from 77 (2019) to 96 (2020) incidents worldwide, and the number of vandalized synagogues (being closed, they became easy targets) also increased from 53 (2019) to 63 (2020).

In the U.S., a gradual rise in acts of violence has been observed for several years, reaching 119 this year (compared to 99 in 2017 for example), and Germany also saw a significant escalation in the total number of cases, from a total of 2,032 in 2019 to 2,275 in 2020, including 59 physical injuries. In both countries, vandalism accounted for most of the incidents.

A significant decline was noted in Australia, the UK and especially France, where the Ministry of the Interior and the Jewish Community both reported a drop of 50% in all types of anti-Semitic incidents, due to the tight lockdown, as well as in Canada, where the number of violent cases dropped by more than half.

Most incidents occurred in countries with large Jewish communities: the U.S., Canada, the UK, Australia, France and Germany. In all other countries, with the exception of Ukraine, less than 10 incidents (per country) were reported in 2020.

Vaccine opponents and the Holocaust

Vaccine opponents equated the restrictions and lockdowns aiming to contain the pandemic with policies of the Nazi regime, accusing the establishment and governments in various countries of applying means of coercion.

Lockdowns were compared to incarceration in ghettos and concentration camps; vaccines were described as medical experiments; certificates granting privileges after vaccination were seen as the infamous 'selection' procedure in Nazi death camps.

Anti-vaxxers felt that they were as undesirable and persecuted as the Jews had been; the epitaph on the gate to Auschwitz served as a source for the new slogan 'Vaccination liberates'; and so on.

In Germany, where opposition to the vaccines is particularly strong, demonstrators wore a yellow star on their clothes, with the word 'unvaccinated' replacing the word 'Jew,' and called Chancellor Merkel a Nazi.

President Biden Used Loop Hole To Avoid Taxes on $13 Million

(TJVNEWS.COM) President Biden has come under fire by House Republicans for 'hypocritically' using an IRS loophole to avoid paying taxes on $13 million in income for tax years 2017 and 2018, while slamming wealthy Americans for using similar schemes to minimize their tax burden, according to Fox News.

In a scathing letter(LINK) from the leader of a House conservative caucus Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), the Bidens' used two S-corporations, the CelticCapri Corporation and the Giacoppa Corporation, to funnel proceeds from book royalties and speaking appearances, "avoiding self-employment payroll tax liabilities that would have flowed to America's Medicare program that provides care to over 60 million seniors."

"Tax experts have questioned the propriety of diverting funds raised from one's own intellectual property through an S-corporation," the letter continues. "Even your own failed OMB nominee, Neera Tanden, while she was running the Center for American Progress, described this practice as a "loophole."

Primis Player Placeholder

"Your hypocrisy is highlighted by the fact that Medicare faces significant funding shortfalls," Banks continues in the March 25 letter. "Just this year, the Congressional Budget Office estimated its Hospital Insurance Trust Fund will face insolvency in the middle of the Fiscal Year 2026—roughly five years from now."

"Moreover, during the presidential campaign, you said 'ObamaCare is personal to me," the letter adds. "And your administration has sought to expand ObamaCare wherever possible. Yet, you and your wife avoided paying $121,000 in Obamacare payroll taxes."

Here comes the irony, as Zero Hedge pointed out

Under IRS rules, an S-corporation – a partnership with fewer than 100 shareholders – may pass income directly to shareholders to avoid double taxation. The Bidens, through CelticCapri and Giacoppa Corps. reported $13 million that wasn't subject to self-employment taxes, while paying the Bidens under $800,000 in salaries.

During his 2020 Democratic National Convention acceptance speech in August, Biden specifically called for ending tax loopholes used by the wealthy.

"Because we don't need a tax code that rewards wealth more than it rewards work. I'm not looking to punish anyone," said Biden. "Far from it. But it's long past time the wealthiest people and the biggest corporations in this country paid their fair share."

It Happened this Morning

By Shalom Pollack - 24 Nisan 5781 – April 6, 2021 0

This morning an Israeli Arab was released from prison and received a hero's welcome in the town of Baqa Al Gharbia near Haifa.

Around thirty years ago our hero murdered a young Israeli soldier. He was sentenced to life imprisonment.

After Shimon Peres left politics without ever attaining his dream accomplishment – being voted prime minister, he decided that the president of Israel was a good second prize.

In order to become president, one needs a majority of Knesset members to vote for him.

In Israel, Arabs have the right to vote and influence the nature and direction of the Jewish state.

(Many Jews think this makes sense and is the apex of morality , in fact of Jewish morality.)

In Israel Arab MKs have determined the path of the Jewish state at some of its most vital junctures like Oslo and the expulsions of Gush Katif and Shomron.

Arab votes decided.

The same votes decide who will be Israel's president.

Aware that his ambition depends on Arab MKs, he did what was necessary.

In the name of humanitarianism he promised to reduce the sentences of Arab terrorists if elected president.

it worked.

He was elected and promptly kept his side of the bargain.

Which brings us to this morning.

The Israel/Jew hating murderer from the Israeli town of Baqa can thank Shimon Peres for his freedom and heroe status.

The family of the murdered Jewish soldier are reliving their nightmare and protesting.

The Arab murderer's family are celebrating.

Which brings us once again to this morning.

Israel is undergoing a transformation.

For the first time in its history , the majority of its Jewish politicians openly court Arab parties for their political support and consent to govern the Jewish state.

A few still believe that if this last barrier is broken there is no longer a moral argument to be made for a Jewish state.

The National Religious party (six seats) led by Smotrich and Ben Gvir are amongst these few.

Because they refuse to "change with the times" and accept the popular sell out to the anti-Israel Arab MKs they are demonized by the rest.

These are indeed fascinating and critical times for the still Jewish state.

I am convinced that there is a happy ending to this drama.

God did not wrought so many miracles for his People for nothing.

Can't be.

Mask-Wearing Represents Fear And Blind Obedience

By Dennis Prager

When I see people walking outside, often alone with no one anywhere near them, wearing a mask, my primary reactions are disappointment and sadness.

I am disappointed because I expected better from my fellow Americans. I never thought most Americans would be governed by irrational fears and unquestioning obedience to authority. I have come to realize that I had a somewhat romanticized view of my countrymen.

Had you told me a year ago that nearly every American in nearly every metropolitan area would cover their faces for over a year because one man, one political party, and the media told them to, I would have responded that you underestimate the strength of the American character.

But here we are, over a year later, and where I live (the Los Angeles area), I am usually the only person on the street not wearing a mask. (For the record, I wear a mask in stores and when entering the building in which I work out of courtesy to those who think a person not wearing a mask poses a lethal threat.)

On the rare occasions I pass people not wearing a mask, I thank and praise them. They are invariably enthused by my reaction.

You do not need medical or scientific expertise to understand the foolishness of outdoor mask-wearing. Common sense – that great unused guide to life – suffices.

If you wear a mask, you do so in the belief that you are protecting yourself (and others) from Covid-19. So, then, why do you care if I don't wear a mask? Doesn't your mask protect you?

If it does, my not wearing a mask may irritate you because you resent my assertion of freedom, my obvious lack of respect for government and medical authorities, and my alleged selfishness, but there would be no rational medical – that is, "science-based" – reason for your objecting to my not wearing a mask.

And if masks protect us and others, why have people been refused the right to visit a loved one as he or she lay dying alone? Why couldn't a person – wearing the same mask a doctor, nurse, or any health care worker wears when entering your parent's room – enter that room?

There are two possible answers: One is it's a tacit admission that masks are essentially useless. You were prevented from visiting your dying father because the hospital believes your loved one or others in the hospital might contract the virus from you, even though you were wearing a mask. Which means those running the hospital don't believe masks actually work.

The other is that the medical establishment and lay authorities have abandoned elementary human decency in the name of AOC, or "Abundance of Caution." Forcing hundreds of thousands of people to die alone will go down as one of the cruelest policies ever adopted by American medical and political authorities.

The problem is most Americans who went to college learned to unquestioningly obey "experts." This is why common sense, logic, and reason mean little to the well-educated – and, increasingly, to everyone else, because everyone is taught by the well-educated. All we need to know is what the "experts" say. That plus a fanatical adherence to the rule of AOC have crushed logic and reason.

The irony, however, is that "the science" doesn't justify the fanatical commitment to mask-wearing. There are plenty of experts with evidence-based views to the contrary. Here are but a few examples: Dr. Anthony Fauci himself told the truth about the uselessness of mask-wearing on "60 Minutes" on March 8, 2020:

"Right now, in the United States, people should not be walking around with masks. … There's no reason to be walking around with a mask. When you're in the middle of an outbreak, wearing a mask might make people feel a little bit better, and it might even block a droplet, but it's not providing the perfect protection that people think that it is. And, often, there are unintended consequences: People keep fiddling with the mask, and they keep touching their face."

Dr. Ramin Oskoui, a cardiologist in Washington at a Senate hearing in December 2020, testified under oath: "Masks do not work" (The New York Times, Dec. 8, 2020).

The Wall Street Journal reported on Nov. 11, 2020: "The projected number of lives saved, and the implied case for a mask mandate, are based on a faulty statistic."

Dr. Paul E. Alexander, a Canadian epidemiologist, wrote: "Surgical and cloth masks, used as they currently are, have absolutely no impact on controlling the transmission of Covid-19 virus, and current evidence implies that face masks can be actually harmful" (American Institute for Economic Research, Feb. 11, 2021).

Roger W. Koops, who has a doctorate in chemistry from the University of California, Riverside, wrote: "A 'mask,' and that term usually refers to either a SURGICAL mask or N95 mask, has no benefit in the general population and is only useful in controlled clinical settings. Further, it has been considered a greater transmission risk than a benefit in the general population. … In the open environment, no one should be wearing face coverings" (American Institute for Economic Research, Oct. 16, 2020).

Finally, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine on May 21, 2020, concluded:

"We know that wearing a mask outside health care facilities offers little, if any, protection from infection. Public health authorities define a significant exposure to Covid-19 as face-to-face contact within 6 feet with a patient with symptomatic Covid-19 that is sustained for at least a few minutes (and some say more than 10 minutes or even 30 minutes). The chance of catching Covid-19 from a passing interaction in a public space is therefore minimal. In many cases, the desire for widespread masking is a reflexive reaction to anxiety over the pandemic."

Contrary to mainstream media misinformation, the doctors who wrote that report did not later retract anything they wrote.

People say they "follow the science." They rarely do. They follow the scientists the media tell them to follow.