Category: Erev Rav

Bilvavi on the Bitter Truth of the "Sweet" Shmad of the Erev Rav

26/8/2026

I don't know whether people have read the entire riveting booklet in wonderfully translated English about the Erev Rav (produced by Bilvavi students from the transcripts of the rav's classes):
Erev Rav Talks

Here is an excerpt that applies very strongly today (page 31):

[The Erev Rav] make their appearance in several stages.

They try to get involved in our Torah learning and make problems there, and at other times, they are behind pushing the seminaries to bring secular material into the Torah world.

The Vizhnitzer Rebbe zt”l said that even if they decree that we should learn Tractate Bava Basra, nobody should listen to the government and learn Bava Basra!

This is because Torah cannot be nursed from the Erev Rav.

Most people don’t see it this way, and they wonder,

“What is so terrible? Most of what they [the government] seek is for our own good, with just a little bit of bad mixed in. It’s mostly good with just a little bit of bad involved. All we have to do is collect a lot of money and pay them off, and then all the problems would go away….”

A person is slowly pulled after them and he becomes connected with them over the years.

Chazal say that when you listen to the wícked government during a time of shmad [spiritual genocíde], today they say “Do this,” tomorrow they say, “Now do this,” and in the end, they will tell the person to commit idol worship.

Also in the IDF, you have gentile Russian soldiers wearing crosses and singing carols in December within a room decorated with their holiday decorations on the army bases of the "the only Jewish army in the world!"

My son was their roommate. That's how I know. And they encouraged him to sing these pagan lyrics along with them. And he did!

("...in the end, they will tell the person to commit idol worship.")

He was in IDF uniform wearing a kippah and tzitzit, putting on his tefillin every day, and singing carols because he thought it was a funny lark; it felt fun and innocent.

Erev Rav, AKA "The Sickeningly Sweet Multitude"

And therein lies one popular way of how the Erev Rav present their goals:

"It's all in good fun! It feels good! Peace 'n' love, man! Can't we all just wave daisies and get along? Kumbaya!" And then they intersperse Torah phrases (like "tikkun olam"), which don't mean anything like what the fake "rabbi" or Jew portrays.

Aw, they're just a bunch of big sweeties! [sarc]

Erev, in addition to being rooted in the word for "mixture," also contains the root "arev" – sweet.

Returning to the above example:

Many find the melodies of the holiday carols compelling and appealing. It's like a sweet honeytrap. Also, that feeling of camaraderie while singing the carols with your buddies – that also feels "sweet."

A lot of the peace and camaraderie stuff feels "sweet." It's all so nice & cozy! And comfy.

But once you get into all that thick, sweet, sticky honey...it's very hard to get out.

And it's even harder to get all that sticky goop off you.

The rav continues (page 31, boldface mine):

We see this today with the alliance of otherwise frum Jews with other religions.

With officially Orthodox organizations or Orthodox synagogues hosting church speakers or utilizing methods and/or bringing in associations or influencers from the Far Eastern spiritual groups, we see the last paragraph in real-time:

"...in the end, they will tell the person to commit idol worship."

If someone doesn’t know that he is in a time of shmad, he is totally blind!

The Brisker Rav zt”l expressed, “I see today what is going on in today’s times, which almost no one else sees.”

This was said many years ago.

We are in a time in which most people do not even realize that we are in a time of shmad!

It appears like another decree.

***

This is reality now.

If someone is clear about it, he can’t fall asleep at night.

It is hard to concentrate during these days for anyone who is clearly aware of the situation.

Imagine if a murderer is chasing somebody and he wants to follow him into his house so that he can kill him.

If we see him running after the person, would we keep our doors open as he’s running by our house?

Taking this further, would we want to be in the same room with him?

Would we be comfortable if he’s near us?

What if his hand is touching our body? And what if his hands are nearing our heart?

What do we do if a murderer is right near our own heart?

If someone tends to live in denial, he will think that this kind of stuff only happens in nightmares, and that it cannot happen in reality.

But the decree is pointing right at our heart!

Our very heart is in danger, no less than a murderer placing his hand near our heart.

What more does Hashem want us to do, so that we understand that they [the Erev Rav] are coming to uproot the entire Torah…?

***

If someone would come and decree on us that we cannot keep the mitzvos of the Torah, we would all understand that it is a time of shmad.

Our situation is a bit different than such a decree, but it is still the ‘Snake’ coming toward us with its ‘cleverness’.

It’s the same kind of argument.

These words are not being said so that you should hear them and be inspired.

It is so that you understand what is going on.

***

The gift of it is that He is waking us up from our slumber.

We are being woken up from the sleep we have been from all these years, having gotten used to a lifestyle that was a spiritual slumber.

***

Don’t we understand that the entire way we are living now is incorrect?

How can we just continue peacefully, with all that is going on now?

Hashem is coming to each of us and saying,

“My son. You are My son, and I am Your Father. I love you, and I desire you. I have pain that your other holy brothers are captured by the materialism of This World, swayed by the Erev Rav on This World.”

And what's the answer?

To develop really emunah and also make lifestyle changes.

Depending your personality & situation, you can make a huge change all at once, or go in steps along the way (Rav Schwartz has discussed both).

This also includes connecting with Hashem on a regular basis.

In your own words & according to your own unique soul needs, you can take even just 1 minute a day to tune in with your whole heart & mind to Hashem.

Spring bloom in Eretz Yisrael

The Merit-Filled Daughter of Tzaddikim vs Withering Grass

13/8/2026

Reading the Haftarah for Parshat Shoftim (Yeshayah 51:12 - 52:12) often affects me like a soothing yet reinvigorating balm for the soul.

Throughout one Shabbat Parshat Shoftim years ago, I was getting all nervous and paranoid about something that had happened the day before Shabbat.

Strangely, going into Shabbat didn't do much to calm my fears.

I could tell I was overreacting and that it was just my imagination going into overdrive, but still struggled to let go of the whole thing.

Finally, I forced myself to sit down and read the Haftarah.

The very first verse (Yeshayah 51:12) knocked me between the eyes.

I felt like Hashem was speaking through the Navi directly to me (especially because in the original Hebrew text, it uses the feminine form of address, meaning, "Who are you, lady, that you should afraid?")

Another time, Parshat Shoftim arrived during a time when it felt like the world was slowly crashing down on us.

Again, the very first verse (Yeshayah 51:12) knocked me between the eyes:

אָנֹכִי אָנֹכִי הוּא מְנַחֶמְכֶם מִי אַתְּ וַתִּירְאִי מֵאֱנוֹשׁ יָמוּת וּמִבֶּן אָדָם חָצִיר יִנָּתֵן

"I, I am He Who comforts you all. Who are you that you should be afraid of mortals who will die and of men who will be given over as grass?"

[Note: Malbim defines this specific type of grass (chatzir) as a type of grass that withers and dries up before its time.]

In part, it was the sudden switch to feminine form (מִי אַתְּ/Mi aht?/feminine form of "you") that hit me so hard, as if Hashem is sending a personal message.

(Needless to say, it also applies to men as Hashem speaks here to Am Yisrael as if to a beloved daughter.)

Both Rashi and Metzudat David both interpret it as saying:

"Who are you? A daughter of tzaddikim, full of merits! Why do you fear a mortal whose end is to die?"

Why, indeed?

The REAL you: Full of mitzvot like a pomegranate!

First of all, Rashi and Metzudat David address a person who lost their emuna to a certain extent and cries out, or otherwise behaves in a fearful or desperate manner.

According to them, the proper reaction is to build them up – remind them who they really are.

For example:

"Hey, you're not some bum off the street, remember: You're the child of tzaddikim! You're inherently special. God genetically programmed you to be more than however you perceive yourself right now. That's right! You can't really do anything to nullify that specialness, regardless of how low you've sunk. It's just an innate part of who you are – no matter what."

"Also, aside from your lineage and genetics, you yourself are just brimming with zechuyot and all sorts of goodness!"

And once you've set things in their proper perspective, then confront them with pure logic:

"Those other guys – the Erev Rav, the Esavniks, the missionaries, the jihadi Yishmaelim, and all the rest? They've got nothing over you. N-O-T-H-I-N-G. You've got the whole package. In fact, not only are they going to just drop dead at some point, but they'll also just dry up before their time. Yeah, they look like lush strong grass, but guess what? They're NOT. It's all an illusion. Just chirk up your courage and bide your time...and you'll see."

Not only is the verse immediately soothing with its helpful re-orientation for the mind, but the underlying messages also provide encouragement and set you straight when you veer off course.

Rashi and Metzudat David Imbue Us with Chizuk and Validation

Don't Let the Chatzir Trip You Up

Chatzir--Not so scary now, eh?

Interestingly, the Malbim's definition of chatzir implies a process.

The chatzir doesn't just go from its peak lushness to dead grass in an instant.

It doesn't just die.

It dries up – over time.

(mityabesh – מתיבש – literally: "becomes dry")

Drying up takes time.

It starts off all lush and green, but then it gradually yellows and looses its vitality – and does so before its time.

So why fear the people compared to chatzir?

Take courage, all you fabulous brothers and sisters – and don't let the baddies get you down.

You have the power – because you have Hashem.

Remember who you really are.

Rav Shlomo Brevda on the Erev Rav (Plus the Best Reason I've Ever Heard to Explain the Increasing Chumrahs)

15/7/2026

In a recent email from UKforTorah, they reprinted with permission a series that appeared in the English edition of Yated Ne'eman in 1993, entitled A Powerful Series on Avelius and Awaiting the Geula by Rav Shlomo Brevda.

Born in America in 1931, Rav Shlomo Leib Brevda eventualyl rose to become one of the Gadolim who came out of America.

After the Churban Europa, Rav Brevda joined the newly escaped Mir yeshivah, and then Rav Aharon Kotler's Lakewood yeshivhah, and then he moved to Eretz Yisrael in the 1950s, where he became close to the Brisker Rav and met with the Chazon Ish several times, along with other great talmidei chachamim.

He was known as great in mussar and he also excelled in his study of the writings of the Vilna Gaon to the point that other rabbanim considered him a renowned expert on the Torah of the Vilna Gaon.

His tremendous ahavat Yisrael and knowledge and encouraged a great many Jews over the decades.

Always a truth-seeker, a striking dynamic occurred in his youth:

...as a boy, I was very puzzled about something. I remember someone showing to me on the front page of the newspaper (it could have been The New York Times) about how the head of some "great" world Jewish organization was our spokesman before the President in Washington on this and this day, in this and this year (in
the 1940s).

I saw the face of this person. He had a nice crop of hair, no yarmulke, and didn't even look like he's part of our people, and I said to this person, "What's his name?"

And he said, "Rabbi So and So."

And I said, "That's a rabbi? Without a yarmulke?"

I was told, "One doesn't ask such questions in America."

And I began asking people who is this So and So Rabbi.

They said, his practice of Torah is the following.

Millionaires built him a temple, and he declared on the first day, the chanukas habayis of that Temple, that Shabbos is on Sunday, and not on Saturday.

That was number one.

Number two, there are no restrictions on Shabbos. He himself didn't fast even on Yom Kippur, and ate pork.

His Yiddishkeit consisted in being good with certain non-Jewish minorities in New York and fighting for their cause. And this was his great thing in life.

But with the backing of millionaires and The New York Times, he was able to become the president of this, and this, and this.

He would make demonstrations against Hitler when the true rabbonim said not to.

After the War, those who survived the camps said that every time he made a demonstration in New York, Hitler would take it out on Jews.

It was unbelievable how Hitler would punish the Yidden the next day.

If this "rabbi" had any children, they were meshumadim.

I was becoming very surprised. I found out that he had a competitor, another irreligious "rabbi."

So I began asking questions — they are our leaders?

Leaders in the Golus

Years later in Lakewood, I saw the sefer, Even Shleima, quoting the Gaon.

The Gaon said that in golus these erev rav take charge of our people.

They are the spokesmen. Things began to become very, very clear indeed.

The Gaon says the following: there are countless descendants of the erev rav mingling among our people.

There is a gemara that says of certain people with no charity, that they came from erev rav. A Yid has kindness in him.

So we learn from all this, that the erev rav are people with different traits of personality.

They do not have neshamos of kedushas Yisroel.

From all we know, in Eretz Yisroel today, some of those who are rodef our people, who hate bnei Torah, who hate Torah and mitzvos, who get power in their hands, who, when they see a Yid on Shabbos keeping Shabbos they begin to boil—no one knows if that person today is a Yid or he's an erev rav.

We don't have the power to decide this.

But things begin to become slightly clearer once we know this.

How much things have stayed the same...

We know and we knew at the time that the demonstrations of the mostly secular Leftists in favor of a release myriads of terrorists to free the hostages in Gaza actually made things worse for the hostages.

It prolonged their torturous captivity.

The demonstrations really were anti-Bibi protests – because those people yearned to have someone even worse in charge.

And before that, the demonstrations to exchange over 1000 terrorists for the one secular Left-leaning Gilad Shalit – which directly led to the largest mαssαcre of Jews in Eretz Yisrael since the Second Destruction of the Beit HaMikdash.

As we learned in an interview discussed in this post The Truth behind the 5-Year Shalit Phase & Release-Exchange, Plus Who REALLY Called the Shots during That Time (You Won't Believe Who & To What Extent...), Sinwar loved Gilad Shalit's father and the demonstrations because they all played right into his hands and achieved for him what he couldn't achieved while sitting in an Israeli prison (where he received many rights and fawning treatment).

A Brief History of the Erev Rav

Rav Brevda explains the origins of the Erev Rav and how we got to where we are today:

The Erev Rav

I once saw a quote from the Vilna Gaon, zt'l, saying the following:

When we were in the desert, there were a group of individuals who trailed along with us when we left Mitzrayim.

They are the erev rav, people who even today you can say of them that they can't make up their minds — should they become true believers and practicing Jews, or shouldn't they? — but they trailed along.

Eventually they took advantage of a situation.

Moshe Rabbeinu was gone for forty days, and hadn't returned by the time that everyone thought he would.

They panicked.

They were so used to idol worship that they caused the Cheit HaEgel, the creation of the Egel, and they brought Klal Yisroel to the cheit.

At that time, they were of no significance whatsoever amongst our people.

The erev rav is a topic which is not discussed very much in the gemara and in midroshim, but in the Zohar HaKodosh and in Tikkunei Zohar there is a wealth of literature about these erev rav.

They are still around, and they are of extremely great significance.

And the Gaon, taking together all the places that they are mentioned in the Zohar, says that from generation to generation they have done two things.

They have disguised themselves and mingled amongst Klal Yisroel and married amongst us, and they have been climbing steadily from generation to generation, until, with the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash and as we went into Golus, they have literally taken charge in various generations of our people.

They are very often our spokesmen in the halls of the kings and presidents.

One of the Best Reasons Ever Given for Increasing Stringencies

And with this, Rav Brevda explains to us the prevalence of chumrah, of stringencies, over time.

Many people complain about what they consider stringencies today, which did not exist by very great people around 70-100 years ago.

Sometimes, it's not so true what they say. Sometimes, they people they considered oh-so frum were not so frum and there were problems due to the lack of that particular stringency.

But sometimes, their observation is correct.

And here, Rav Brevda offers one of the best explanations I've ever heard for this increase in chumrah:

Counteracting the Erev Rav

The Gaon says something amazing:

Why did the chachamim have to add chumros in each [generation]?

Why are there so many additions in Shulchan Oruch to things that were not in the gemara a thousand years ago, a thousand five hundred years ago?

Why are there so many more restrictions today?

The Gaon says simply, the erev rav, this fifth column among us, have been destroying chunks of Torah and mitzvos throughout the generations.

And in order to counteract them, the rabbonim in every generation, who have open eyes to the truth and to our true spiritual needs, must add restrictions.

They have to build a much taller wall, the Gaon says, in order to repair what the erev rav are destroying constantly...If the Chazon Ish added restrictions, thanks to that there are still are shomrei Shabbos today in Bnei Brak.

If not for his restrictions, who knows what would have happened in the past forty years with all of the gezeiros and these anti-Torah feelings in the cities bordering on Bnei Brak?

We can only thank all the rabbonim, all of our spiritual leaders, for saving us from the destruction of the Torah and keeping us in one spiritual piece until Moshiach will come.

Now that the Gaon has told us that added restrictions were caused by destructive acts of the erev rav in every generation, we begin to understand certain situations.

Needless to say, the emphasis remains on "the rabbonim in every generation, who have open eyes to the truth and to our true spiritual needs" – not random show-offs or posers, or even well-intentioned but misguided rabbis.

He specifies chumrah determined by rabbanim with "open eyes to the truth" and "to our true spiritual needs."

To see the next part by Rav Brevda, with a special focus on Tisha B'Av, please see:
Rav Shlomo Brevda on the Erev Rav (Plus the Best Reason I've Ever Heard to Explain the Increasing Chumrahs)

For more fascinating, enlightening, and mechazek Torah hashkafah from the words and thoughts of real talmidei chachamim, please send an email to [email protected] with a request to subscribe.

What's the Message of the Erev Rav for Us on 17 Tammuz?

2/7/2026

The first tragic event to occur on the 17th of Tammuz was Moshe Rabbeinu breaking the first set of Tablets when he saw the Jewish Nation worshiping the Golden Calf.

(For a synopsis of the tragedy, please see What was the Golden Calf?)

How did the Jewish people go from the Divinely gifted exalted spiritual level necessary to receive the Torah in all its glory to worshiping an idol only 40 days later?

The Original Fake News & Its Twin: Fake Fear

Moshe Rabbeinu promised to be up on the mountain with Hashem for 40 days, after which he would return.

The people miscalculated, so when Moshe Rabbeinu didn't come back on the 16th of Tammuz, they started to worry.

Or did they?

It was actually the Erev Rav who started to stress out about it...but not for the reasons you might think.

Well-aware of Hashem's objection to their presence and knowing it was Moshe Rabbeinu who allowed them to join along, the Erev Rav feared that without Moshe Rabbeinu, they'd be kicked out by Hashem (as if Hashem couldn't just kick them out anytime He chose to).

This explains why the Erev Rav believed they needed to create a new leader, and to do it on the double.

So they sounded an alarm of sorts, which affected the emuna of the Jews.

In addition, the satan (a prosecuting angel) adjusted nature to provide a gloomy atmosphere.

And thus, rather than taking the emuna-driven "Let's wait and see" approach of yishuv hadaat, the true Jews of Yisrael got sucked into the Erev Rav fear.

Important Reminder:

Am Yisrael NEVER had anything to fear.
They were beloved to Hashem.
So even if something had happened to Moshe Rabbeinu, Hashem would still take care of Yisrael as a mother cares for her newborn baby.
It was the Erev Rav who stood to lose out if Moshe Rabbeinu didn't return.
The Jews would have been fine all along NO MATTER WHAT.

In other words, Am Yisrael panicked for NO REASON WHATSOEVER.

And that was their first mistake.

The Importance of Daat Torah

Before he left, Moshe Rabbeinu told the Elders:
"Wait for us here until we return to you, and here Aharon and Chur are with you; whoever has a case, let him go to them."

So at this point, the Nation consulted with Chur, the son of Miriam HaNeviah and Kalev ben Yafuneh.

Apparently, Chur told them in no uncertain terms they didn't need any new leader and thus forbidden from seeking out a new leader.

So they killed him.

Okay, let's take a closer look at this.

Back then, the difference between Erev Rav and Am Yisrael was obvious. They even looked different to the point that the Moavites could differentiate between the Erev Rav and Am Yisrael.

(Please see the Kli Yakar on Parshat Balak for more about that.)

Also, these Erev Rav people were NOT descended from the Avot and Imahot. And every member of Am Yisrael KNEW this.

So why did they listen to the Erev Rav over their own leader (appointed by Moshe Rabbeinu himself) — a leader who had proven himself time and again?

(See here for a brief and impressive bio of Chur.)

Picture the scene for a moment:

You've got these clearly non-Jewish-looking people talking to you in either Egyptian-accented Hebrew or in Egyptian itself,
people whom you know aren't really a part of you
and whom you know aren't even wanted by Hashem

...and you decide to listen to them over the daat Torah approved by the greatest prophet who has ever and would ever live?

What on Earth were the Jews thinking?

(For more details, please see the Kli Yakar on Parshat Ki Tisa and scroll down past the section on chelbana to the section entitled: "The Corrupt and Bizarre Mind of the Erev Rav.")

The Original Cult Leader

Okay, remember:

This whole thing started out as a quest to create a leader.

Not an idol and not a cult. Just a new leader.

And the Erev Rav probably didn't seem so bad.

They probably just seemed pro-active. "Take charge!" types. Self-empowering.

Maybe they even seemed caring and inspirational.

Maybe they conducted promotional self-empowerment seminars (ha-ha).

Yet the Erev Rav, being steeped in Egyptian ways with a massive emphasis on astrology, wanted to be led by the stars – which explains why a calf representing the Taurus constellation popped out.

In fact, they assumed Moshe Rabbeinu's power derived from some kind of star-image, and not from his own inner work and holiness.

Of course, the Jewish women resisted handing over the jewelry for the dastardly deed, but the men insisted and the calf was made.

(For details of that episode, please see Kli Yakar on Parshat Vayakhel.)

Once the idol was created, the Jews should have immediately realized what they were getting into.

After all, bovine-shaped idols were all the rage in that part of the world for millennia.

It's sort of like if a Jew today was taking everyone to what he claimed was a Chanukah party, then suddenly whipped out a cross right before the festivities started.

I mean, you know the guy is not Torah-true, and now he's waving this big cross around at the party. And you know that's not just some random giant "T" because Christians have been using that symbol for the past 2000 years.

So it seems like they should've known.

But what ensued next was a free-for-all that included debauchery, drugs and alcohol, adultery, and blasphemy.

At this point, viewing the scene from above & putting aside their physical differences, could you differentiate between the Erev Rav and the Bnei Yisrael?

Not really; they were all acting the same.

Perhaps if you looked carefully, you might notice that only certain people are orchestrating the whole event, and those people look kind of different than the participants.

But overall, you would not be able to specify who was who according to behavior.

And upon seeing this, Moshe Rabbeinu smashed the Tablets.

And this is one of the reasons we mourn today.

Lessons from & about the Erev Rav

So what do we learn from this?

These are the lessons:

The Erev Rav think only about themselves, which also means they are obsessed with aligning themselves to whoever seems most powerful & they are obsessed with materialism.

For their own self-interests, they will do whatever they can to get an authentic Yisrael WHO HAS NO REASON TO FEAR all riled up with anxiety and fear over an outcome that affects the Erev Rav ONLY.

Erev Rav motivations are very different than Jewish motivations, although Erev Rav will speak to Jews in a "Jewish" language, using phrases like "emunah" and "give the benefit of the doubt" and so on, all with the goal of meeting their own anti-Torah needs.

The panic whipped up by Erev Rav discourages authentic Jews from listening to tested-and-true daas Torah.

There are other lessons, but that's all I can think of for now.

Signs that You May be Suffering under the "Erev Rav Effect"

So what can we do about it?

Here are some question that might have popped up in your mind:

Am I Erev Rav?
Am I a Yisrael caught up in an Erev Rav fiesta?
Am I a Yisrael with Erev Rav sparks prickling around my holy Jewish soul?

You can't really know (though Rav Itamar Schwartz brings down from earlier sources that today, we all have Erev Rav sparks with which to contend in our souls. Genuine Erev Rav either have a soul containing more Erev Rav than Yisrael or a fully Erev Rav soul – source.)

But what you CAN do is take a step back from it all, especially at the following times:

Are you feeling panicked?

Are you feeling desperate?

Are you feeling pressured to "Move, move, move!" or "Do, do, do!" — without thinking things through first? In other words, you feel pressured to act while feeling pressured to NOT think. You may be scoffed at as "not seeing the obvious" or "bigoted/phobic/brainwashed/backwards/lacking confidence" for your hesitation to embrace new ideas without examining them first.

(In a version of this, a young woman who managed to extract herself from a cult in Rishon Letzion – a case currently going through the court system – described herself as a highly sensitive person and that a man high in the cult's hierarchy deemed her extra sensitivity as "an entity" for which she needed exorcism.)

Are you willing to latch on to anyone or anything who seems to promise security & leadership?

Are you listening to the silver-tongued voices of people who obviously aren't the real deal while dismissing authentic daat Torah? (And I mean REAL daat Torah; not every guy with the title of "rabbi" is daas Torah!)

Are you blindly assuming the other cares about the same things you do, when much of what they say or do points to a completely different motive?

Do you want to contemplate issues and situations before acting, but you have people around you (or even a voice within yourself), pressuring you to just jump into the frenzy without another thought?

Note:
Pirkei Avot 1:1 warns against the above: הֱווּ מְתוּנִים בַּדִּין – Be deliberate, be cautious in judgement. Examine and weigh the factors before deciding. A true representative of Torah values will not pressure you to go against a belief so essential, it stands out as one of the first principles learned from Pirkei Avot.

When you want to discuss real issues of emunah and serving Hashem and genuine Torah observance, are you ever waved off, rejected, mocked, or even attacked? (You might even do this to yourself.)

Are you tempted to follow people who couldn't possibly have the answers since they don't possess Jewish tradition or yichus?

Do you see people insisting on you following them when you clearly see they're holding up a well-known and forbidden idol...but you're caught up in your fear and peer pressure, and anyway, they've got such convincing reasons for what they're doing?

EREV RAV ALERT!

The above is the effect of Erev Rav on a Yisrael.

(If you're doing it to yourself, it doesn't mean you're Erev Rav. It just means one struggles against Erev Rav sparks to clean out of one's self or it derives from the pervasive Erev Rav influence around us.)

And it's a sign to take a step back from it all and inquire of Hashem.

How to Deal with the "Erev Rav Effect"

Our times are different and the Erev Rav no longer look the way they once did.

Remember, at the time they were actually worshiping the Golden Calf, the Erev Rav and Bnei Yisrael were behaving exactly the same.

A Reform Jew holding up a cross at a Chanukah party can still possess a soul of Yisrael.

They only real way to deal with it is via yishuv hadaat — taking a step back and asking:

"What's really going on here?"
"Is this the Torah way? If so, where is it written?"
"Where is Hashem in all this?"
"What does He think?"
"What does He want?"
"Okay, Hashem...tell me what to do!"

Why couldn't Bnei Yisrael have told the Erev Rav, "Wait a minute, Hashem's in charge. Let's give it another day and see"?

Why couldn't they have listened to Chur?

And even at the point that the calf appeared, could they not have said, "Whoa! Wait just one second here! Hmm...I'm going to step out and do some hitbodedut before I do anything else. At the very least, I can say a chapter of Tehillim before acting!"

(Yes, I know Sefer Tehillim didn't exist yet at that time, but certain chapters did.)

They could have taken a step away from everyone and engaged in conversation with Hashem at any point during the ride.

Even after they'd killed Chur, they still could've stopped the madness. They still could have turned to Hashem.

And THAT would've saved them.

(As written in How a Commitment to Shabbat during the Rave Party Saved One Jew from Terror & Slaughter during the Horrific Invasion from Gaza, my husband's cousin did exactly that. And it saved his life.)

So don't give up.

Even if you find yourself swept up in a crowd led by Erev Rav after your real leader has been murdered and your other true leader has gone undercover...and even when you're faced with a clear symbol of everything that's wrong with the world and you're all hyped up to worship it with the basest human behaviors...

STEP BACK. And talk to Hashem.

It's not too late. Even if the Erev Rav stuff seems to be a part of you, don't give up.

Just turn to Hashem and don't repeat the mistake of the first Seventeenth of Tammuz.

We mourn it in order to rectify it.

And we can!

Which Jew is Really for Peace?

18/5/2026

My Moroccan-born husband grew up in an immigrant neighborhood in Eretz Yisrael.

The neighborhood consisted of lots of Moroccans, plus a generous handful of Bucharians, and one Danish family who, for some reason, ended up there after making aliyah.

My husband attended the local mamlachti-dati (government religious) school along with the rest of the neighborhood.

And he was one of the very good boys: He was shomer negiah and always wore his kippah & tzitzit, even when playing basketball, plus he always went happily to shul with his father for all the tefillot & voluntarily attended shiurim at night.

(There are more good things to say about my husband, but to head off any ayin hara, we'll stop here.)

Anyway, he'd gotten into Gemara in his teens. And though he always dreamed of joining the army, he decided to go to yeshivah instead. (For more on that story, please see God Helps: A True Story.)

I asked him how that was viewed in his neighborhood, seeing as everyone went to the army and while people had started off as religious, the secularization process went quickly and intensively.

"It was fine," said my husband. He explained that for all its social problems, it was still a traditional community. Therefore, even the more secular-seeming people still held Torah study in high esteem.

And even though the useless jobnik positions were less back then, people still didn't attack my husband about why their sons had to risk their lives while my husband sat in yeshivah.

They intuitively understood the value of Torah study.

The Right Priorities

The point here is that, yet again, your average Jew in Eretz Yisrael is not innately offended by yeshivah bochurim not "sharing the burden" of army service.

That unforgiving outrage & seething resentment comes from somewhere else.

Here are posts detailing the source of the outrage and resentment:

"Some Johan in Bundestag sat down and decided that the fact that a Jewish teacher teaching a Jewish student about Shabbat in a Jewish state – this bothers him."

The Truth Exposed: What Really Stands behind the Hatred of Jewish Settlement in Yehudah & Shomron (Hint: The Nazi Heirs of Europe), Plus the Main Reason Why Leftist & "Human Rights" Orgs Do Not Actually Want to End Any Conflict or Help Anyone

Since Shevet Levi in Tanach, the Jewish people have always had Jews who sat and learned continuously.

Mishnah Avot states that the world – not just the Jewish world, but the entire world – stands on 3 things:

the Torah
the avodah (tefillah & serving Hashem, service in the Beit Hamikdash)
gemilut chessedim (acts of loving-kindness)

That's our base and for EVERYONE'S sake, it cannot be weakened.

(And if you examine these 3 pillars, you'll see they're all linked. In other words, you can't have one – or two – without the other.)

And many, if not most, Jews sense this.

So where is the venom coming from? Where is this seething rip-their-eyes-out resentment coming from?

It's being aggressively imposed upon the innocent Jewish people by media incitement and by those with political agendas.

And it's the German Amalekites trying to destroy us – again.

Ani shalom v'ki adaber hema l'milchamah – I am peace; but when I speak, they are for war." (Tehillim 120:7)

Or, as Rashi interprets it:

"I am at peace with them, but when I speak peacefully with them, they come to wage war with me."

How Should We Daven for Victory When Our Worst Enemies Have Mixed in with Our Nation and Loved Ones?

2/3/2026

Because we have so much bad mixed into good, it sometimes proves difficult to figure out how to respond exactly.

The word "erev" in Erev Rav means "mixed."

But it also shares a root with the word "arev" – sweet. (This is clearer with original Hebrew letters.)

Bilvavi made this point in the Erev Rav booklet, that part of the challenge we face against the Erev Rav lies in the their ability to make the bitter look sweet – and therefore, attractive.

Along these lines, those with deeper understanding realize the difficulty of what to pray for during these times.

Many of us realize that Erev Rav comprise the top-brass of the army – and most the government officials too.

But serving under this Erev Rav are many good, decent, self-sacrificing Jews (mixed with gentiles, both good and not good, and other Erev Rav).

I myself have 2 sons in the army.

So when our enemies attack (often incited wittingly or unwittingly by the actions and statements of the Erev Rav), how do we daven for victory?

After all, a victory for the Erev Rav is a defeat for Am Yisrael – and vice-versa.

(To understand this better, please see here: The Essence of the Battle between Am Yisrael and Amalekite and How It All Plays Out Today.)

On the other hand, doesn't a military defeat include severe harm to Am Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael, chas v'shalom?

The Erev Rav so deeply mixed into us, what do we do now?

How and for what do we pray – exactly?

The Erev Rav always twisted themselves into us like a thorn – but it's even worse now.

They're like a thorn screwed deeply into innocent flesh. How do we separate from it with causing serious harm to ourselves?

"Save Us, Hashem!"

The answer lies in the da'as Torah of the Brisker Rav via his son, Rav Dovid Soloveitchik:

Maran [the Brisker Rov] would say that one should not give "advice" to Hakodosh Baruch Hu on how to bring about the salvation; HaShem doesn't need our advice, and also sometimes a person doesn’t know which way is truly good and correct for him.

Therefore, one should not daven for a specific means of salvation.

Rather, the main tefilla has to be general, for HaShem to save us, without giving advice to Hakodosh Boruch Hu on how it should happen.

During the troubles that were happening at the beginning of the State [between the Arabs and Tziyonim], Maran said not to daven for victory or for no [victory], but rather that we must daven that HaShem should save us, and He knows how to save us, and doesn't need advice from us…

– (Shiurei Rav Meshulem Dovid Haleivi, Drush V'aggada, page 177. See ibid page 178 citing the Brisker Rov regarding special tzaddikim who merit that HaShem wants their "advice" and will make it materialize in a way which is ultimately beneficial)

(If you're not familiar with him, you can read more about Rav Dovid Soloveitchik here: A Century of Torah Draws to a Close.)

So the above provides simple and straight-forward guidance: "SAVE US, HASHEM!!!"

That's very, very good.

We don't tell Him how; He already knows much better than us.

And He's very touched by us turning to him in such temimus, such guileless sincerity, and also by us including everyone in our prayer ("us" – and not just "me").

Kiddush Hashem Combined with Physical & Spiritual Salvation – and NO Harm to ANY Ben Yisrael or Bas Yisrael

Rav Aharon Feldman also helps us out by first quoting Rav Moshe Sternbuch from Tevet 5784 (winter 2024) after asking Rav Sternbuch what we should pray for:

That HaShem should cause His Name to be sanctified without any Jew having to suffer.

How is that possible?

That is not our responsibility.

Rav Aharon Feldman explains, and includes encouraging advice – with understanding and compassion for the confusion that assaults us.

HaShem wants and expects everyone to pray fervently for the welfare, safety and success of every Jew, both soldier and civilian, but we also beseech Him that our hoped-for physical salvation should be coupled with our spiritual salvation.

In such a salvation, everyone, without exception, recognizes our physical salvation as being the outcome of HaShem's power, providence and kindness, rather than the success and power of any mortal beings, which is what the media would have us believe.

Due to the pervasive influence of the media (including the so-called religious media), and decades of Zionist indoctrination, this seems like a tall order, but not for HaShem.

If there are enough people who have truly internalized the fact that our physical fate depends only on our spiritual state, then HaShem will make sure that military successes will cause a Kiddush HaShem, and physical salvation will be coupled with spiritual salvation.

(War and Redemption, page 41)

Well, I hope you found the above as helpful as I did.

I'm indebted to the wonderful person who sent these to me.

The above material comes from UK for Torah – Talmidei Rav Moshe Sternbuch.

I've been receiving their emails for a while, via this astute friend, and I've developed a deep appreciation of their clear, undiluted da'as Torah from the biggest Torah Sages delivered with a tremendous amount of ahavas Yisrael, based on a deep love of Hashem and his Torah (very similar to the style and motivation of Rav Avigdor Miller).

They don't know I exist, so this isn't some sneaky self-benefitting promotion. But if you'd like to sign up for their emails, you can send an email requesting to subscribe to this email:
[email protected]

How to Reject the Erev Rav and Embrace the Jew by Focusing on the Standards Emphasized throughout Torah and Chazal

15/2/2026

Let's expand on what a previous post (Don't be Afraid to Say with Complete Confidence (whether to yourself or others): "That Person is NOT One of Us." And Here's Why...) mentioned.

One of the distressing aspects of the reprehensible behavior of people with Jewish names and self-proclaimed Jewish identities lies in how most of us find it so hard to deny their Jewish connection.

Sometimes, one goes through the maternal line and immediately discovers a gentile mother, rendering the repellant person 100% not Jewish beyond a smidgen of a doubt.

And that's always a big relief.

But sometimes, both the maternal and paternal line seem full of Jewish names going way back.

Even worse, we discover articles that label the menuval's parents or grandparents as – gulp! – Orthodox.

But wait a minute...not so fast.

The Root of Some of the Confusion

When religious Jewish social pressure existed, it compelled everyone to at least maintain the appearance of Orthodoxy.

At one point, all Jews were some kind of "Orthodox" (though no one called it that; there was no need for the term "Orthodox" until "Reform" tried to take over).

In many places, it never occurred to people to NOT observe Torah and mitzvot (at least minimally).

Some people go through the motions because they feel obligated. But when circumstances remove that obligation, the person realizes they were never really into it after all.

For example, Hamodia published such a story years ago.

An American teenage girl adopted as an infant by frum parents, who attended Beis Yaakov and the whole bit, suddenly discovered her biological mother wasn't Jewish. (Her parents thought they'd adopted the daughter of a Jewish mother, so this came as a shock to them too.)

Initially, she felt desperate to convert.

But wisely, her parents guided her to meet with one of the great talmidei chachamim in America at that time, and he told her to wait; she couldn't make such a monumental decision while in such an emotional state.

Such a decision demands yishuv hada'at.

So she waited a couple of weeks. And indeed, she woke up to the fact that she observed Torah and mitzvot because she understood it as the obligatory and correct thing to do, and everyone around her did it – but her heart had never really been into it.

So she left Torah Judaism and her adoptive parents (and later prevented an intermarriage, which provided the twist and reason why Hamodia published the story) and lived the rest of her life as a gentile.

In a famous story, a boy learning in one of Eretz Yisrael's most prestigious charedi yeshivot discovered that he never officially converted after his mother converted when he was around 2-years-old.

The Rosh Yeshivah at that time gently broke the news to him and, fully expecting this young man (who learned Torah with devotion) to convert, spoke to him warmly and reassuringly.

But to everyone's shock, the young man welcomed the revelation of his new-found gentile status and cheerfully refused to convert to Judaism, saying that it's easier to be a goyish tzaddik rather than a Jewish tzaddik. (Interesting how he kept his yirat Shamayim.)

And similar to another story appearing on this blog (The Major Lessons We Can Learn from the Story (including the Agenda-Driven Portrayal of the Story) of Jack & Oskar, the Identical Twins Raised Apart in Vastly Different Circumstances), the story of Judith Hahn, the gentile daughter of a gentile woman and a Jewish man, who survived the Holocaust in Austria, shows how easily a gentile with some Jewish ancestry can meld into a Jewish community (boldface mine):

Judith Hahn, finally, had already been raised with a strong sense of Jewish identity ...had no intention of blending in and proudly carried a necklace with the star of David in class.

Judith also immediately got in touch with the Zionist youth movement Hakoah, where she met her husband, a Hungarian Holocaust survivor.

Their plans to make Aliyah to Israel, however, did not materialize and they remained in Vienna.

***

...the fact that the descendants of the Hahn family requested the name to be anonymized in order not to endanger their place in today’s Jewish community by highlighting the Catholic descent of one of their maternal ancestors indicates that questions of identity and belonging for these families remain crucial issues until today.

“Privileged” under Nazi-Rule: The Fate of Three Intermarried Families in Vienna
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6817312/

Nowhere does it even imply that Judith Hahn converted.

And clearly, the ancestry of the mother only matters when she doesn't convert according to authentic halachah, so this concern and the purposeful concealment of her true status give further reason for concern.

(I also find it disturbing how her family apparently knows halachah defines her as not Jewish – yet they actively strive to conceal this fact from the Jewish community.)

With her name, husband, and her strong pride in her self-proclaimed "Jewish" identity, who would imagine that she, her children and grandchildren are not actually Jewish?

As Jews spread throughout the Exile, we don't know who decided to marry a gentile woman willing to keep Torah and mitzvos (at least minimally), but never actually converted.

Or, who went through some kind conversion, but maybe not with the right intentions or according to all the halachos.

After all, if a woman who sincerely converted via the charedi community and beit din in Bnei Brak could accidentally misunderstand what needed to be done via her son's status (and he himself did not seem to have any inkling of a problem, despite his frumkeit and level of Torah learning), then certainly a woman converting into a less educated community could stumble in the same way.

Other stories along those lines appear here:
Who is a Jew? Disturbing Stories & Inspiring Stories. And How to Prevent Problematic Lineage from Affecting You & Your Descendants?

Odd Traits – Possibly Erev Rav Traits?

But as sources explain, while the Erev Rav initially started out as a separate nation with obvious physical differences from Am Yisrael, it now seems that a bonafide Jewish couple can produce a child with an Erev Rav soul.

As detailed further in this post The 4 Ways an Erev Rav Soul can End Up in a Quasi-Jew, an Erev Rav soul can manifest due to the following reasons:

The mother or other ancestor in the maternal line is literally not Jewish.
The quasi-Jew underwent a non-kosher conversion.
The quasi-Jew descends from the ancient Erev Rav who assimilated into the Jewish people (but no one realizes the family or the maternal line is Erev Rav due to the passing of so many centuries).
The quasi-Jew descends from Jewish lineage, but for whatever reason, Hashem imbued this quasi-Jew with an Erev Rav soul, rather than a Yisrael/Jewish soul.

The examples in the previous section above exemplify the first reason.

Because the above-linked post already went into the other reasons, this post won't delve in any further into them.

However, even when an article calls a menuval's ancestors "Orthodox," it doesn't mean that they were.

Yes, it could mean that.

But not necessarily.

For one thing, most non-Orthodox Jews don't know any better than to call anyone Orthodox as long as the supposedly "Orthodox" Jew:

seems significantly more traditional than whatever they're used to
self-defines as Orthodox (even if one clearly isn't; tended to happen in the older generation, closer to time of the original immigrants)
has children who label the parent or grandparent as Orthodox (again, mostly occurred in the older generation, closer to the original immigrants)
belonged to an Orthodox synagogue (even if one barely kept any mitzvot)

But going back to the original idea, regarding times or places when everyone kept Torah and mitzvot...

In The Truth & History of What Happens behind the Scenes in Hollywood and Why It has Always Hated Torah-True Jews and Judaism, we see the Warner family history goes way back and once seemed Orthodox. But even way back then in an Orthodox community, at least one of their ancestors committed a very unusual and unforgivable transgression.

He acted as a moisser against his fellow Jews, endangering the entire helpless community.

That transgression was not at all common and a severe taboo stood and still stands against such aberrance. Yet he indulged anyway.

When the family finally came to America and encountered the freedom to drop religious observance and Torah morality – they did.

They immediately dropped Torah, started intermarrying before almost everyone else, and all the brothers behaved in a vile manner throughout their lives.

I don't know whether the Rothschilds were Erev Rav (though a handful of them, particularly some of the women, seemed like sincere Jews).

But they too started breaking with tradition as soon as socially possible.

A bizarre commonality they share with the Warners lies in how they, too, emphasized their patrilineal fidelity and devotion to their paternal surname.

In fact, the Rothschilds prioritized keeping money in their family under their family name over their Judaism.

They started giving their children gentile names (Ferdinand, Adolf, Anthony, Alice, Charlotte) by the early 1800s and by the early to mid-1800s, acquired expensive artworks with blatantly Christian themes (like the Holy Thorn Reliquary and paintings from Carlo Dolci).

Some of the Rothschild females (great-granddaughters of the original founder, Mayer Amschel Rothschild) started marrying gentile men as early as the mid-1800s.

Even more disturbingly, until 1875, a Jew could not marry a gentile without conversion to Christianity (and the Rothschild great-granddaughters indeed underwent conversion and Christian wedding ceremonies).

So they committed these severe transgressions and acts of assimilation before the majority of the Jewish community even thought of intermarrying or assimilating to that extent.

It also strikes me as bizarre, the Rothschild obsession with keeping the money under the family surname to the point of marrying cousins and nieces – but placing a lesser priority on marrying within the faith!

(Because of this, most Rothschilds today with very Jewish-sounding names, like "Naomi Rothschild," are not Jewish at all.)

However, this makes sense in light of the original ancient Egyptian source of the Erev Rav souls.

Ancient Egypt produced a clan-based patriarchal society dominated by eldest sons.

The Middle East always maintained this patriarchal hierarchy and even today in the religion born from desert clans and tribal laws, a child's Muslim status flows from the father, not the mother.

The Roots of the Original Erev Rav as Revealed by the Modern Erev Rav

The original Erev Rav derived from a group of ancient Egyptians.

Ancient Egypt developed into dark and scary society rife with occult worship. Torah sources also repeatedly recall the loose and pervy behavior popular in ancient Egyptian culture.

And they hated Am Yisrael...but preferred to enslave and torment Am Yisrael, rather than let them go.

And we see the same behaviors and values today in those who resemble the modern Erev Rav.

The Touchy Issue of the Holocaust-Surviving Erev Rav

Another difficult issue faced by many religious Jews derives from how some people with blatantly Erev Rav traits are also Holocaust survivors.

Nearly all Jews hate feeling even mildly judgmental toward Holocaust survivors.

Yet just because a person endured vicious Jew-hatred doesn't mean they are Jewish.

A minority of gentiles also got caught up in the Holocaust, suffered persecution, and died in the camps.

Some gentiles persecuted as Jews, like Judith Hahn above, resulted from a union between a gentile mother and a Jewish father (which meant 2-3 Jewish grandparents, depending).

Others suffered as the wholly gentile spouse of what the Nazis defined as a "full Jew."

So anyone the Nazis labeled as a Jew (or a partial Jew) suffered discrimination and persecution.

Forced into a horrific situation beyond their understanding, the Erev-Rav types behaved unethically (which can happen to anyone and not a sign in and of itself) and later went on to echo the same derogatory language used by the Nazis against them as Jews.

For example, Holocaust survivor and unrepentant atheist, Tommy Lapid, described Orthodox Jews "parasites," "barbaric primitives," "idle fanatics," and other such terms – reflecting the same attitude against Torah Jews as asserted by the Nazis against all Jews.

Another infamous Holocaust survivor, Bruno Bettelheim (his once highly lauded methods later revealed as really horrible and his renowned theories as plagiarized or embellished) promoted the false idea of Jews going to their deaths like sheep to slaughter – a false narrative which shamed many survivors into silence during the first decades after the Holocaust.

And Ronald Angres, a former child abused by Bettelheim in Bettelheim's institution, recalls Bettelheim's rants, which contained the following themes (boldface mine):

...Christianity nevertheless represents an advance over Judaism, “the religion of a desert people,” as it is more universal and humanitarian; but that more advanced yet is the modern realization that God is merely a projection onto an imaginary being of our own best human qualities.

(Bettelheim took the Freudian line that religion is an illusion and would not allow us to attend church or synagogue.)

***

Dr. Bettelheim’s first work, in which he described the disintegration of dignity and personality in the Nazi concentration camps, was criticized as well as widely read for its insights. “It was his first impact on the intellectual world, but many Jews were offended because he felt that to some degree the Jews provoked some of the actions of the Nazis,” said Dr. [Peter] Blos.

***

In articles and speeches after the war, Bettelheim continued to work this theme, of the identification and hence the complicity of victims with their aggressors.

Structurally speaking, his implied attack on the behavior of European Jews during the Holocaust would resemble his later explicit attacks on parents for causing mental illness in children.

– https://www.commentary.org/articles/ronald-angres/who-really-was-bruno-bettelheim/

Blaming Jews for their own genocide sounds suspiciously like the Erev Rav in Israeli politics and military elite (NOT the regular and sincere soldiers and commanders) today.

Parallel to this, many biographical articles and books about Bettelheim comment on his narrow-minded "antisemitism" even while noting (with understandable perplexity) that he himself was a Jew.

(In this case, those articles resolve the contradiction by emphasizing his extreme secularism. That's a good thing as, unfortunately, it's rare for gentile and secular Jewish writers to make that distinction. But Bettelheim's vehement contempt for Jews and Judaism forced them to address this contradiction.)

Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Who's the Jew among Them All?

Having said all that, we must not expect perfection or view every stumble or fall as a sign of overall badness or Erev Rav.

Regular Jews can speak lashon hara, get angry, say the wrong thing, hold an incorrect belief or opinion, display laxness in personal modesty, read or watch something they shouldn't, get caught up in unnecessary controversy, feel too much of a pull toward gashmius – and much more.

Hashem created us with all sorts of flaws in need of rectification.

That's why He put us here.

Hashem also placed within us sparks of Erev Rav to rectify those sparks.

(So don't feel alarmed if you perceive certain Erev Rav traits in yourself. Hashem put them there because the process you undergo to rectify the Erev Rav traits elevates these sparks and earns you Heavenly reward for any effort you make.)

The difference lies in how some people contain mostly or wholly Erev Rav souls, while real Jews struggle with sparks within an otherwise pure, Yisrael soul.

Bilvavi offers us guidance in differentiating between a flawed Jew and Erev Rav:

ANSWER:

Only if a person acts this way (running after honor, lusts, money, strife, etc.) out of being truly bad on his inside, with intentions to hurt another Jew, is he from the Erev Rav.

The Erev Rav souls have no compassion on a Jewish soul, unlike the souls of the Jewish people, who have a primary trait of compassion on others.

– HOW CAN WE TELL IF SOMEONE IS FROM THE EREV RAV?

The Rav of Bilvavi further elucidates when bad behavior indicates Erev Rav, rather than regular bad middot (boldface mine):

1: Only if one does so on a consistent basis.

2: Only if he does so intentionally, and on a consistent basis - when it’s the very nature of his soul to do so.

– Identifying “Erev Rav”

In another Bilvavi article, the Rav emphasizes that, in addition to displaying Erev Rav traits intentionally and on a consistent basis, Erev Rav carefully and intentionally plots revenge.

And that's what we're seeing.

We see WeΧner, the NIF, and others very intentionally and with great thought invest millions of dollars into completely corrupting Am Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael, and even physically destroying Am Yisrael – all under the guise of "progressivism" and "liberalism" and "helping."

They basically offer Am Yisrael a big, beautiful, red, juicy, tempting, vitamin-filled – and lethally poisoned – apple.

Coming Full Circle

In an admittedly somewhat long and convoluted way, I'm trying to make the point that we should be proud of the authentic Jews whose accomplishments find favor in the Eyes of Hashem.

This proves challenging at times because some Orthodox writers love to produce articles fawning over a Jew who tromped all over some significant Jewish values and laws – all because of that Jew's material or "progressive" or political accomplishments.

(The daily reading of transcripts of Rav Avigdor Miller's classes and answers provides a wonderful antidote to insidious sheker.)

So we should avoid reading such drivel and ask ourselves whether that person upheld Torah values. If they did, then wonderful. Be proud of them!

If not, then dump them (at least mentally).

I see people sometimes leave comments pointing out how that person really shouldn't be admired. You can do that too. It discourages these writers (and their publishers) from continuing down that path.

And regarding those who seem to personify Erev Rav, we can feel free to reject them.

Even when they express pro-Israel views, the Israel they desire is not any kind of society you or I would want to live in.

They view Israel as a glorified bug-out location. For some reason, they don't want to assimilate completely, even though they easily could. Perhaps, like their ancient Egyptian forebears, they sense the God of Israel might be the "biggest bully on the block" and wish to maintain their imaginary connection to that.

(I'm honestly not sure why these people don't assimilate completely. What advantage does their corrupted distorted "Jewish" identity give them?)

So they wish to create an Israeli society with corrupted anti-Torah values – no matter who dies because of this.

(As we see by how they use their money to destroy anything good or life-saving for Jews. You can't be "pro-Israel" and at the same time, fund initiatives and policies that not only go against the values of the majority of regular Jews in Eretz Yisrael, but also seek destroy the Israeli army from within and prevent it protecting Jews and destroying terrorists.)

So there you go.

Hashem has initiated a massive sifting, which only intensifies.

Simply looking to Torah values for guidance on whom and what ideas to emulate and praise strips away a lot of the chaff and confusion.

Related posts (transcripts of lectures given by a real talmid chacham):

Don't be Afraid to Say with Complete Confidence (whether to yourself or others): "That Person is NOT One of Us." And Here's Why...

15/2/2026

A lot of Jewish-sounding names have started popping up in cringily disturbing reports.

Based on Torah sources, Bilvavi stated:

They [Erev Rav] are very attached to Yisrael, and therefore Yisrael learns from their evil deeds.

They are wealthy and are arrogant because of their wealth; of them, it is stated that “Ben David [Messiah] will not come until the arrogant ones among Yisrael are destroyed.” [Sandhedrin 98a]

– The Vilna Gaon’s Words About the Erev Rav

Hashem has started stripping off the façade of lies and the current exposés represent one way to do that.

The thing is, many of these seemingly Jewish names from seemingly Jewish backgrounds aren't actually connected to the Jewish people.

They're Erev Rav.

And not only do they harm society with their devíancies, but they seek to destroy the Am Yisrael too.

(BTW, being pro-Israel means nothing because these menuvalim view Medinat Yisrael as a glorified bug-out location; therefore, they support policies to make Israeli society liberal and decadent so they'll feel at home if they ever feel compelled to flee to there.)

We don't need to feel any association or kinship with such people.

We share no soul connection with them. They're not "tinok shenishba."

This means we don't need to feel embarrassed by them because they only claim to be us. (They may sincerely believe themselves to be Jews because that's how they were raised and what they were told all their life. But we know the truth.)

In reality, no connection exists between us and them.

At the soul level, they descend from the original Egyptian nation, which promoted all sorts of immorality, occult, and decadence in the world – and also sought to betray Am Yisrael whenever they felt themselves threatened.

They even seek to destroy Am Yisrael.

(If you're wondering how a Jew-in-name-only receives an Erev Rav soul, please see here: The 4 Ways an Erev Rav Soul can End Up in a Quasi-Jew.)

So one name that keeps popping up is WeΧner.

The 5 Categories of Erev Rav

According to the Vilna Gaon, these are the 5 categories of Erev Rav:

Amalekites – they force themselves into leadership positions; seek strife and slander others; they incite destruction and perpetuate violence; via all this, they harm Am Yisrael. (This represents the worst type of Erev Rav.)
Nefilim ("fallen ones") – who fall into f0rnication with fair women and seek to fulfill their taavos.
Gibborim ("mighty ones") – also called "tzevu'im" ("painted ones" – hypocrites) these people build synagogues and yeshivot and donate richly ornamented Torah Scrolls, but they do it not for the sake of G-d, but only to make themselves a name; in other words, they're fakers who are not the same on the inside as they appear on the outside.
Refa'im ("weak ones") – they chase after honor to make a name for themselves; even though they are in a position to help Am Yisrael in trouble, they still abandon Am Yisrael in the most difficult times; they also neglect the Torah and its students in order to ingratiate themselves with gentiles.
Anakim ("giants") – they run after money and caused the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash. They feel compelled to return the world to a state of tohu v'vohu.

All the "Jewish" Leftist news outlets and some journalists at other outlets clearly fit the description of the Amalekite Erev Rav.

To understand more about how the Amalekite Erev Rav feel compelled from their deepest soul-root to annihilate Am Yisrael and even the world – and themselves – please see here: The Essence of the Battle between Am Yisrael and Amalekite and How It All Plays Out Today.

That link explains why they engage in such destructive acts and policies, including acts and policies that make no sense and obviously will only produce terrible outcomes.

On the other hand, many Israeli politicians fit the description of the Refa'im Erev Rav.

And the names dominating many general news outlets today and occupying the minds across America fall into the category of the Nefilim.

Not This Guy AGAIN...

For regular long-time readers of this blog, you've seen the name "WeΧner" pop up in very ugly places.

It must remain clear in our own minds (and when we encounter others, including those who utilize this as part of their arsenal of Jew-hatred – or "anti-Hashemism" in the words of Toras Avigdor) that we despise and reject these people too.

They are not part of us, no matter what they say or how they're presented.

So let's look at what those in-the-know say about WeΧner.

This guy fits the definitions of Amalekite, Nefilim, and Anakim Erev Rav.

When Moran Koors interviewed former prison director, Betty Lahat, Moran brought up the root of the evil: the WeΧner Foundation (known in Hebrew as "Keren Vaksner").

Moran noted how no one can advance to the top of Israeli society unless they attend courses at the WeΧner Foundation.

Betty Lahat explained how the WeΧner Foundation influences Israeli society in a lethal way:

Every person who is an alumnus of the WeΧner Foundation is an administrator in our army today and also in the security apparatus, the Shabak, the foreign ministry, the commanders in chief, and the entire upper echelon of the IDF.

***

Everyone thinks the same.

No one strives to win and destroy our enemy.

We carry out yet another military operation and yet another military operation, and we yet again concern ourselves with their subsistence and we say, "Well, if we don't give them parnassa, then they'll come and harm us."

We gave them parnassa.

Bennett and Lapid raised the number of Gazans allowed entry into Israel for employment by tens of thousands.

And what happened?

Why did they come and slɑughter us on Simchat Torah?

What happened?

It's intolerable that as we as a country bring our dead to burial every single day, we also nurture their murderers inside the prisons.

– Former Prison Director Betty Lahat Shatters the Lies Fed to Us regarding Terrorists, Prison Conditions for Terrorists, Humanitarian Assistance, and the Complicity of the Media and Officials in the Intensification of Terror against Jews

In an Hidabroot interview with Oded Harush, Brigadier-General Erez Viener stated the following:

Because if we'll win, we'll prove it's possible to achieve victory over terror – that there's no need to surrender, that it's not all about concessions and agreements and two-state proposals, etc.

For they understand they can no longer be the majority of Medinat Yisrael, then they understand that in order to maintain control and remain in the existing elites, they need to hold on to the centers of power.

As an ideology, the New Israel Fund zeroes in on how to infiltrate the army, and how – via the infiltration of those agendas – to weaken patriotism and nationhood.

And I want something else.

The senior military leadership has already spoken enough about WeΧner.

Whoever has been around in the last year, year and a half, where the combat soldiers assemble prior to entry, and saw the soldiers in Gaza and all sort of places – that person has seen an eruption of Judaism.

For you understand that when you go out to battle, you're going to risk your mental and emotional health, and you're going to risk your life, you want to merge with something that justifies that.

[This above excerpt appears in Hebrew at the beginning of this video: www.hidabroot.org/video/225830. A thorough English summary of the interview appears here: Truth-Bomb from a Brigadier General: "They Don't Want Us to Win...The Saga with the Hostages is being Used as an Agenda by Those Who Do Not Want Victory."]

So WeΧner the billionaire, via his eponymous foundation, trains Israel's entire military elite (and some of the political elite) to think the same destructive and lethally Jew-hating Torah-hating way.

(Having said that, this in no way lets these elites off the hook. They chose to attend the brainwashing courses at that foundation. They knew foundation's agendas and goals before they arrived. And if they didn't it, it became clear early on. Their lưst for power drives them to such extremes.)

So he stands out as a collaborator in what happened during the Great H0rr0r from Gaza.

He is not one of us.

For a thorough yet concise elucidation of the Erev Rav based on the Arizal and the Vilna Gaon, please see:

Anatomy Of The Erev Rav: The Greatest Barrier For Redemption

We're Not Gonna Take It Anymore: How Am Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael has Started to Push Back and Reclaim Tsniyut and Other Torah Values

11/12/2025

In the spirit of showing how Israeli society is moving more to the right politically and, even more importantly, growing more religious, let's take a look at a recent poll of Israel's most popular news anchors.

But first, a couple of sentences about the poll's background story, and then the poll itself.

Who's the Favorite of Them All?

Initially, Ma'ariv newspaper presented a poll with the names of news anchors from all the news channel – except Channel 14.

(FYI: All the Israeli news channels lean Left and secular – many extremely Left and anti-Torah. Channel 14 remains the only one that appreciates real Jews and Torah Judaism.)

Many contacted or posted against the newspaper to protest, so they included the news anchors of Channel 14.

And who won?

Maggie Tabibi of Channel 14 – winning a whopping 33.2% of the entire vote, overtaking veteran news anchors from other mainstream channels:

Maggie Tabibi – 33.2%
Ayala Hasson – 20.2%
Danny Kushmaro – 13.4%
Lital Shemesh (another Channel 14 anchor) – 7.1%
Yonit Levy 5.8%
Raviv Drucker – 5.2%
Adi Zerifi – 4.5%
Keren Marciano – 4.2%
Lucy Aharish – 3.4%
Tamir Steinman – 1.9%
Niv Raskin – 0.8%
Liel Kyzer – 0.3%

When asked how she felt about the initial exclusion from the above poll, she responded, "It's background noise. I'm ignoring it."

But she responded with appreciation regarding winning a third of the vote:
"Thank you to Hashem. Thank you to all of you for your trust and your vote."

Stay Tuned...

Why is Maggie's win such a big deal? What does it reflect about Israeli society?

For years, the Left controlled Israeli media. (Even now, we see how the polltakers didn't even want to include news anchors from Channel 14 – despite the channel's soaring popularity in Israel – until the public insisted.)

Just as my friend who worked as a personal assistant to a second-tier Hollywood movie star once said: "If you need to validate yourself, where do you point the camera?" She pointed to herself. "Here. You point it at yourself."

So the worst Leftists pointed the cameras at themselves and tried to portray all Israeli society as secular self-hating Leftists and encouraging all Jews in Israel to emulate them.

Except the Jews in Israeli society didn't want to do that.

Along came the young and beautiful secular-traditional Sephardi Jewess, Maggie Tabibi.

I think the first time I heard of her occurred when on air, she smoothly interrupted her broadcast on the 17th of Tammuz to break her fast with a Shehakol blessing over water, then continued her reporting without a snag.

This clip went viral all over Israel.

A proud Jew, who fasts while engaged in demanding work, then publicly breaks her fast and makes a blessing?

That would be considered very uncool and unprofessional in the mainstream news stations.

In fact, an Am Ha'Aretz columnist responded the usual Erev Rav attitude epitomized by this rag.

Here's a quote as he was quoted in a quite good Mishpacha article about the issue:

“Apparently Maggie Tabibi was in mourning on the 17th of Tammuz,” he wrote. “To her credit, it must be said that she still managed to gather her strength and show up to present the evening news broadcast on Channel 14. It’s not to be taken for granted. We surely could have expected her to request a few days off to process her great distress about the destruction of two Temples.”

Then came the sermon:

“Observe your religious ceremonies in private, [Maggie]. In Israel or, by the way, in any other venue in the West. We must separate religion from the news industry. The walls of our liberal fortress will never fall to you. You [religious Jews] are an utter churban. This is not ‘Jewish television,’ it’s religious television.”

– Not Behind Closed Doors

An "utter churban [destruction]"? That's what we religious Jews are?

Wrong, wrong, wrong.

And the authentic Jewish public across all lines and backgrounds loved what Maggie did and loved Maggie for doing it.

And they're right.

And fortunately, Maggie seemed unmoved by the demented public attack from the Am HaAretz media.

Sort of like how Rav Avigdor Miller said we shouldn't give any more significance to the opinions of such lowlifes than to the dust mites in one's carpet.

Sometimes, the Book Makes Sure You Won't Judge It Just by Its Cover

I think most people feel inclined to take a beautiful, petite, young and young-looking (she's in her early 30s, but looks like she's 20) Sephardi female less seriously.

Not as conscious discrimination, but because most people's instinctive response to her appearance would incline toward considering her adorable, rather than a powerhouse of intellect, skill, and spiritual courage.

To her credit (and probably to deflect many people's natural first impression), she maintains a serious and professional demeanor at all times (another reason I personally like her and probably why so many others like her too).

She's clearly intelligent and competent.

Maggie also recites Tehillim on air when appropriate (chapters 25 and 100) and when a mysterious source recently threatened to assassinate her and some of her colleagues, she responded on air by affirming her trust in Hashem to protect them.

The Glories of Tsniyut

(Tsniyut/Tsniyus refers to modesty and dignity in behavior and clothing.)

But another point needs to be emphasized here.

Recently, Maggie revealed she has been in the process of teshuvah for almost 5 years now.

And she (among many other Jews) have made admirable progress in this area.

So just to contrast...

Around 20 years ago, I noticed that American female news anchors started to dress like they're at a bar looking to attract indecent males. (Sorry for the crassness, but that's honestly how they look.) I used to say they looked like cocktail waitresses, but now, they really look like they're hoping to get picked up while lounging at a pub.

In other words – completely unprofessional.

And they also stand in stark contrast to their male counterparts, who must wear a suit and tie, even for those whom, due to their build, a closed collar and tie unfortunately make him look like Mr. Potato Head.

Can you imagine if a male news anchor would open his shirt as low as the necklines of these female news anchors?

Posts and memes jeering him would go viral.

But for some reason, these women believe that exposing their flesh and objectifying themselves makes them "liberated."

I remember the hostess of Good Morning America and the professional feminine-looking suits and classy floppy neck bows or neck scarves she wore.

(Other than that, I don't have good memories of this show, BTW. For some inexplicable reason, the program started at 7 AM and stretched until 9 or 10. This meant that stay-at-home moms – who comprised the majority then – tried to watch the program while getting the kids ready for school and making breakfast. Later, I discovered a lot of kids remember a distracted mother on school mornings, who made them be quiet throughout breakfast so she could keep listening to her boring show. Even without school-aged children, did women really need this kind of show on from 7 in the morning? Weird.)

And it made me sad how styles have changed and women have been duped.

Once upon a time, women needed to wear suits to be taken seriously.

Then everyone decided, no, women need to be eye-candy – even in the most serious work environments. And let's present this to women as an upgrade! She's MORE liberated than the woman in a professional suit! Yeah, yeah, that's the ticket...

As far as I've seen, Israeli female news anchors don't dress as badly as that.

But from the little I've seen, they all wear plunging necklines.

In contrast, I couldn't help noticing how whenever I happened to catch a recent glimpse of Maggie, she dresses now with such beautiful class and style.

Long sleeves, securely closed necklines, and double layers that aren't tight.

Also, her demeanor of serious self-respect also represents tsniyus.

(The little I saw of Lital Shemesh also showed her as dressing in long sleeves and a closed neckline, plus a professional demeanor. And I don't know if Maggie also started wearing long skirts versus long pants because the news broadcasts only show the anchors from the waist up. Also, it says a lot about the Israel public and Lital Shemesh that Lital came out ahead of the veteran Yonit Levi.)

It's admittedly kind of inappropriate to speak about how a specific woman dresses, but in even the charedi community today, women and girls receive such mixed messages regarding tsniyus.

So I feel it's so important to emphasize that a beautiful successful woman in the eye of the media decided to start dressing more modestly.

It's a very big deal and it takes a lot of courage and a deeply strong sense of self to do this.

And furthermore, I know that according to the foundations of tsniyus, a woman shouldn't be sitting in front of mixed audience at all – whether televised or in-person.

But I'm talking about progressing from one spiritual level to another and doing so in the public eye with other media seeking to rip you apart and take you down for that (as described above and in the link below regarding Stav Katzin's experience).

In other words...

No matter how low your level remains now, if you managed to claw your way up from an even lower level, then that shows powerful progress!

Also, beautiful women face a greater challenge to dress modestly because they actually look good in revealing clothes.

In contrast, another female Israeli news anchor, who has a blonde blue-eyed flawless-skinned Russian look and always wears plunging necklines as she spews anti-religious Leftism didn't even make the poll.

That surprised me because her look offers major eye-candy and I felt sure men watched broadcasts just to gaze at her.

But at the end of the day, no one actually likes or respects her.

It's also interesting how Maggie proved 3-6 times more popular than highly lauded veteran news anchors.

Giving Credit Where Credit is Due

Having heaped praises on Maggie (and Lital), it bears noting that news anchor Ayala Hasson, who works for another channel, deserves huge credit for her interviews with Rafael Chayun and revealing how the army and security knew about the plans for the Horrific Invasion from Gaza, and also how humanitarian aid could've brought all the hostages home by January 2024, rather than allowing them to suffer in torturous conditions for 2 years.

I think she was the only mainstream news anchor to do that. If I'm not mistaken, all the other interviews with Rafael Chayun appeared on Channel 14 or religious outlets.

So kudos to Ayala for that.

But mostly, kudos to Maggie (and to the huge chunk of Am Yisrael who voted for her) for proving that highly skilled professionalism, tsniyus, and candid religiosity win the day.

May we all continue to rise higher and higher, and overcome all our stumbling blocks and yetzer hara.

Not Behind Closed Doors (this is a really good Mishpacha article on the topic)
Is the Revolution in the Israeli Entertainment Industry a Sign of Something Deeper & Better Churning within the People
Look Who's Doing Teshuvah Now...

UPDATED: The Real Legacy of Yitzchak Rabin (and the First Time I Ever Went to Kever Rachel)

2/11/2025

Yitzchak Rabin’s legacy actually starts with his mother’s legacy.

In 2015, my son attended a lecture by Ezra Yachin who (age 87 at that time) remained one of the last living members of the Stern Group, and thus felt duty-bound to write and speak about those times and those people.

He told of a friend who just arrived in Israel illegally from Europe and participated in an Irgun demonstration against the British. (This likely would've occurred in the 1930s.)

A group of secular Leftists came and beat the demonstrators with sticks, including beating Yachin’s friend.

One of those violent secular Leftists was Yitzchak Rabin’s mother, Rosa (née Cohen/Kagan) Rabin.

Little Yitzchak

I can’t remember much about the biography I only started reading but never finished, but I do remember the description of Yitzchak Rabin as a 5-year-old coming home to….nothing.

When his mother was home, she was busy holding Communist meetings with her colleagues.

Communism values workers, not little Jewish children in need of maternal nurturing.

Despite the heartless steam roller he later became, it’s hard to forget the image of little solitary unloved Yitzchak and so many neglected children of the Leftist communities and kibbutzim of that time.

The Altalena, April 1948

It isn’t known whether Rabin gave the order or was actually the one who actually fired on the Altalena in June 1948, but it was another act typical of extreme Leftists – they didn’t want the Irgun to have guns.

Ben-Gurion (Haganah) got Begin (Irgun) to agree to take only 20% of the weapons delivered on the ship with the fledgling Israeli army (Haganah) taking the other 80%.

But Ben-Gurion back-peddled at the last minute and sent the arriving ship a threatening message:

They needed to turn over all their arms "to me" – to Ben-Gurion.

The passengers waved white flags and the Irgun arranged a ceasefire with Haganah – a ceasefire which Rabin and his crew refused to honor.

(Perhaps this is why he and his fellow Leftists weren't bothered by the Arabs breaking their agreements and ceasefires with Israel.)

They even shot fellow Jews in the water.

The Battle of Nebi Samwil, April 1948

In April 1948, Rabin was supposed to command an attack on the enemy village of Nebi Samwil (Shmuel Hanavi) in a self-defense effort to stop the Arabs from attacking Yerushalayim.

Unfortunately, Rabin went to sleep in a hotel and never showed up. This was later attributed to "battle fatigue."

His abandonment of his troops, along with the disorganized communication and poor management by his fellow commanders (who were later lauded as Israel's founding heroes), led to a harmful retreat and a great loss of Jewish life.

To the horror of the remaining soldiers, orders were given to abandon the wounded.

The Arab fighters desecrated the Jewish dead and tortured the helpless wounded to death.

The "Piece" Process

During his second term as Prime Minister, the suicide bombings reached their peak. Dati-leumi rabbanim spoke out against Rabin – not threats, but merely expressing an opposing opinion – and they would be arrested soon after.

A Russian staff member at Neve Yerushalayim College for Women exclaimed, “This is just what it was like in Russia – no freedom of speech! Rabbis arrested!”

Not surprising, considering Rabin’s Communist upbringing.

And Rabin kept making concessions even as each bow to the Arab demands meant another flood of glass shards, blood, scattered body parts, and internal organs scarred with bolts and screws.

I felt like Rabin was driving a steam roller down a road full of precious Jews who were trying to flee out of the way, but not everyone could escape in time.

People were screaming, “Stop! Stop!” But Rabin didn’t even slow down. He just kept steam-rolling forward while robotically chanting, “Sacrifices for peace, sacrifices for peace.”

It's hard to convey how horrible it was then.

I remember skimming along Neve’s pretty campus one day, when something felt "off" and I stopped, waiting.

I’d always heard of tension being described as so thick, it could be cut with a knife, but never felt such a thing before. I always thought it was just a colorful description.

But now, on the top of a hill far from the terror attacks, I could actually feel the tension – almost like a tangible thing.

Rabin's Assassination

A friend and I were at Kever Rachel for the first time in our lives when a woman went running through the crowd crying, “They shot him! They killed him!”

Oy, I thought, the poor woman must be remembering some huge trauma she went through. I started davening harder for an end to all suffering.

Walking back to the bus, we overheard people talking about someone shot, someone killed.

I heard Rabin’s name.

Finally, we passed by some dati-leumi girls and one said soberly to the others, “Rabin is dead.”

I stopped and one of the girl's gasped, "He's dead?!" And a crazy laugh burst from her.

The solemn girl looked at her and said, “It’s not funny.” The second girl immediately clapped her hands over her mouth, but a strangled giggle still escaped.

I understood her. She wasn’t amused or happy, it was a burst of relief.

Many of us felt the same way.

It was over. The heartless relentless giant steam roller had finally been stopped.

Sitting at a bus stop in Geula on the way back, a man in a white van stopped in front of us and declared, "Rejoice! He's DEAD." Then he sped off.

The chareidi woman sitting next to me exploded. "How can he talk like that?! It's wrong, it's so wrong!" And so on.

Her friend murmured soothingly, "Nu, nu, you know how he feels. It's been hard for all of us. And now it's finally over."

"Of course I've been just as upset as everyone else, but to rejoice over the death of a fellow Jew?!"

When we got back to the dorm, a group of us got together to say Tehillim.

We'd learned that Gehinnom was worse than anything we could ever imagine. Even without knowing his past crimes, we figured that Rabin was now in a lot of trouble with the Heavenly Beit Din, so we decided to do our part by saying a few prayers on his behalf.

The next day, we heard more about what happened: the 45-minute drive to a hospital located a mere 10-minute drive from where Rabin was shot, the cries of “empty bullets!”, and so on.

Rabin's True Legacy

Years later, Rebbetzin (Heller) Gottleib told of the time she spoke to a group of women and mentioned her Rabin in an understandably derogatory manner.

Suddenly, an older lady cried out, “WHO ARE YOU TO JUDGE?”

“Excuse me?” said Rebbetzin Heller.

“Who are you to judge?” repeated the lady. “I was there. I grew up on his kibbutz. You have no idea what it was like. If you’d been there, you would have turned out no different than him.”

The thing is, despite this lady having grown up on that kibbutz, she still found herself in a Torah class.

Did Rabin?

I once heard one person say he did toward the end of his life (and that was part of the reason why he was assassinated by his own cohorts – and not by the guy who took the fall for it).

But I don't know if that's true.

Rabin committed some really awful, heartless acts in his life.

And former American diplomat, Dennis Ross, who dealt with Rabin in the 1990s, once apparently described Rabin as "the most secular Jew in the whole of Israel that I’ve ever met.”

So I'm not ready to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Rabin’s real legacy is his demonstration of the depths to which a Jew can sink if he commits himself to any “ism” other than Judaism.

Note:
Some of Dr. Uri Milstein’s writings have been translated into English and he is a great resource for understanding the truth behind many of modern Israel's so-called “heroic leaders.”

Note:
Rabin's extremely dysfunctional upbringing combined with terrible decisions that repeatedly cost the lives of the very people he was expected to protect (which should've given him PTSD, but he remained in these positions and kept going, regardless) remains typical of many secular leaders in Israel's military and politics.

Throughout the history of the modern State, we repeatedly see leaders who cannot possibly be normal or have developed a sense of what a normal, high-functioning society and family could look like.

(Within his own immediately family, Rabin was reputed to be cold, with his only warmth focused on one person – his granddaughter, despite having a wife, children, and another grandchild.)

You can read more about that topic here:
Part 1: The Increasingly Destructive Results of Allowing Profoundly Traumatized Unhealed People to Lead

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