A Solution
From Rav Moshe
Regarding Rabbi Gil Student’s “The Cost to Frum Jews in Changing Daylight Saving Time” (December 20):
Perhaps this, from an article on the OUkosher.org site, could be a solution for a situation of permanent daylight savings: “In case the congregation cannot wait so long, Igros Moshe (OC 4:6) offers another suggestion. He permits one to put on tallis and tefillin after Alos HaShachar [an earlier halachic time than sunrise] without a beracha, and recite Krias Shema and Shemoneh Esrei. At the end of davening one must wait until mi’sheyakir [yet another halachic time] and then should move the tallis and tefillin slightly and recite the brachos. Although, one does not fulfill the mitzvah when they put on the tallis and tefillin before mi’sheyakir, nonetheless he suggests that one do so, so that one does not get accustomed to davening without tallis and tefillin.”
In case it’s still too early even at the end of davening to say the beracha on tefillin then people can still say the beracha and don tefillin again at any time of the day to fulfill the mitzvah, perhaps during Mincha.
Daniel Hagler
Teaneck, N.J.
Israel’s Wars &
American National Security
Barbara Diamond’s “Israel War Diaries” are always interesting and very informative. In her December 6 column, she discusses Israel’s fight with Hezbollah.
It was a brilliant Israeli campaign that effectively neutralized Hezbollah’s awesome missile capabilities without having to enter into a costly ground war as in Gaza. It was a stunning development where Israel, through a series of precise surgical strikes and also “exploding pagers,” took out much of Hezbollah’s top leadership and missile capabilities, rendering it incapable of the mass destruction originally feared. This was facilitated by meticulous intelligence-gathering about the intended targets.
Unfortunately, last October 7, Israel itself was on the receiving end of an intelligence-inspired action which resulted in horrific casualties to its people. Hamas also had used meticulous, detailed intelligence-gathering to pinpoint Israeli sites, expected reactions or lack of them, and locations of gun storage facilities and safe rooms. Only by a real miracle did Israel “only” suffer horrific casualties, but escaped potentially catastrophic carnage, because the invading terrorists acted more like undisciplined barbaric savages, more interested in murder, rape, and taking hostages than in military conquest. If the invaders behaved like a more disciplined military force and acted in concert with their Hezbollah and/or West Bank Palestinian allies, the cost to Israel would have been too frightening to even contemplate.
Again, the common thread of both actions was the intelligence gathered before the actual raids. Let us now stretch this thread across the ocean to the United States, with its wide open borders, where in just the last few years, millions of unvetted immigrants have been welcomed with open arms into our country. Government officials themselves admit they have no idea who most of these immigrants are, where they came from, and where they have settled. The media, government officials, and the populace are all concentrating on the crime, drug, human trafficking, and huge economic problems these people are causing, which are very legitimate concerns.
However, little is ever mentioned about the threat these hordes of unvetted immigrants present to our national security. It is not only conceivable but very likely that many of them are professional agents or informers who are now embedded all across the American hinterland, in its cities, and near military installations, vital infrastructure and facilities, critical bridges, tunnels, and pipelines, and nuclear facilities. Also, the whereabouts and activities of officials at the highest levels of government are probably under secret scrutiny. During World War II, this subversive activity was called “the fifth column.” Such information can be of vital importance to our adversaries in military actions, or even only as weapons during serious negotiations.
While all this may seem far-fetched, history is replete with far-fetched scenarios that brought horrendous results. October 7, the Yom Kippur War, 9/11, Pearl Harbor, and Hiroshima are just a few recent examples of unanticipated calamities. The United States must awaken to the actualities of these threats, for to be forewarned is to be forearmed.
In the famous words of John Donne, “never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”
Max Wisotsky
Highland Park, N.J.
