Month: July 2016 – ד׳ בתמוז תשע״ו

Against Libertarian Anti-Zionism

At Long Last, A Defense of Israel Against Rothbard

Back in 1967, in response to the outbreak of the Six Day War, Dr. Murray Rothbard penned an article entitled “War Guilt in the Middle East“. In the article, Rothbard denies Israel’s right to exist and accuses it of starting an unjust war. We, obviously, disagree.

Now, 50 years later, we his students have written a rebuttal, just published in The Indonesian Journal of International & Comparative Law. It is coauthored by Alan Futerman, Dr. Walter Block, and me. I wrote section 8 and much of the conclusion. Walter wrote section 7. Alan wrote the rest, and we all collectively edited.

Continue reading…

From the Jewish Libertarian, here.

האם ישנו מצות עשה בלימוד סימני טהרה של החיות?

ספר סימני חיה ובהמה

מדריך מעשי להבנת סימני החיה והבהמה והכרת החיות הטהורות. מאת הרב שמחה יאיר פוסטולסקי שליט”א, ספר חובה בכל בית יהודי!

צלצל עכשיו: 050-4140778

המשך לקרוא…

מאתר שטייגן, כאן. [האתר נעלם]

Critiquing Sefer ‘Chafetz Chaim’ and Defining ‘Toeles’

In general, I am not in favor of Chofetz Chaim-based lashon hara guidelines (as her propounds in this essay), for several reasons. People over-apply them. They are formulated in a way biased to prevent possible slander, more than concerned for protecting potential victims. They took what had, until this point, been a mostly hashkafic and good-middot matter, and transformed them into halacha. And while some contemporaries disagreed with him, for lashon hara, unlike the rest of his halachic work, we don’t have an Aruch HaShulchan disputant to give contrast to his Mishna Berurah.

Hear hear!

The Pischei Teshuva (O.C. 156) notes that while Mussar books are strongly focused on the prohibition of speaking Lashon Harah, there is a worse sin – not speaking up to prevent harm to others!

I think the entire post shows the problem with trying to work out “Judaism” using feelings and Mussar instead of Halacha. This is a far wider topic. Anyway, see the rest of the article.

End the Israeli Occupation!

Yeshayahu Leibowitz said this about the end-results of occupying Arab territories:

The Arabs would be the working people and the Jews the administrators, inspectors, officials, and police—mainly secret police. A state ruling a hostile population of 1.5 to 2 million foreigners would necessarily become a secret-police state, with all that this implies for education, free speech and democratic institutions. The corruption characteristic of every colonial regime would also prevail in the State of Israel. The administration would suppress Arab insurgency on the one hand and acquire Arab Quislings on the other. There is also good reason to fear that the Israel Defense Forces, which has been until now a people’s army, would, as a result of being transformed into an army of occupation, degenerate, and its commanders, who will have become military governors, resemble their colleagues in other nations.

It’s hard to disagree with awkward facts. The only question left is how to deal with the current situation.

Should the state annex all the land of Israel and pay all Arabs to leave per Feiglin?

Relinquish Arab areas as has been tried since forever without success?

Or end the state itself, so everyone can pay insurance companies and defense firms for protection (and pay each other to leave)?