העורך Editor

Check out the “Bar Da’at” podcasts here…

Is there a cover up on Planet X? See the details on Lewrockwell.com, here.

The perception of the Chazon Ish is that he was very stringent, a “machmir”. But if you examine his rulings, they are often very lenient (“meikel”). So why the reputation? The Chazon Ish would often write that when in doubt, one must be stringent. That’s why.

When the brothers meet Yosef in Egypt, the word “kenim” is used a lot, as the antonym for “spies”. Like here:

ונאמר אליו כנים אנחנו לא היינו מרגלים

How would you translate the biblical word “kenim”. Honest? Candid? Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan, in his famed translation on the Torah, instead renders it the far stronger “honorable”. See the examples from here:

Genesis(42:11)
We are all the sons of the same man. We are honorable men. We would never think of being spies!’
Genesis(42:31)
We said to him, ‘We are honorable men. We have never been spies.
Genesis(42:33)
‘The man who was the lord of the land said to us, ‘I have a way of knowing if you are honorable.
Genesis(42:34)
Bring your youngest brother back to me, and then I will know that you are honorable men, and not spies

Spies are akin to thieves and murderers. Spies are dishonorable!

I had heard of this article ages ago!

Reading Rafi Farber’s brilliant new academic essay I finally found it. Highly recommended.

• Want to understand the history of Israel’s relative free market improvements by Bibi Netanyahu?
• Why the Israeli high tech industry is so hot – and why it took off precisely when it did?
• What Intel’s part is (partial treatment)?

Read this by George Gilder, of Silicon Israel: How Market Capitalism saved the Jewish State.