By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz
The Gemara teaches that Chananyah, Mishoel and Azaryah were inspired by the frogs of Mitzrayim to give up their lives al kiddush Hashem.
The Gemara in Pesochim (53b) explains that they learned a kal vachomer from the actions of the frogs during makkas tzefardeia, when the frogs jumped into the flaming Egyptian ovens.
They analyzed the pesukim and concluded that the frogs could have fulfilled their obligation by simply hopping around Mitzrayim and making a general nuisance of themselves. For them to fulfill G-d’s will during that makkah, it was not necessary for them to be roasted to death.

By Ira Stoll
The New York Times is marking the death of Archbishop Desmond Tutu with a new push to depict Israel as a racist state like apartheid-era South Africa.
The Times obituary of Tutu reports, “In 2010 he unsuccessfully urged a touring Cape Town opera company not to perform in Israel, invoking South Africa’s struggle against apartheid in criticizing Israel’s policy toward Palestinians. He said that the company’s production of “Porgy and Bess” should be postponed “until both Israeli and Palestinian opera lovers of the region have equal opportunity and unfettered access to attend performances.”

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz
There are all types of people. Some see the positives in this world and others see the negatives. Taking a look at what is going on now, you can almost fall in with those who see the sky about to fall.
The president and his administration have proven to be totally inept. They can do nothing right. Inflation is raging and nobody is sure about the economy. Covid is far from gone and nothing anyone has tried has accomplished anything to stop it. Government mandates promoted by the administration and Democrat states have been held off by the courts, and even where they have been enforced, they show no signs of slowing the virus. The Democrats and media spread hysteria throughout the population and shutdowns begin again.

By Rafael Medoff 
It has often been said that if only the State of Israel had existed in the 1940s, its air force could have bombed Auschwitz, interrupting the gassing of countless innocents.
Well, now it does exist. And it turns out that it has been using its air force to interrupt a contemporary regime’s gassing of countless innocents.
The Washington Post has just revealed that two Israeli bombing raids inside Syria in 2020 and 2021, which previously had been shrouded in mystery, were in fact part of a covert campaign to stop “a nascent attempt by Syria to restart its production of deadly nerve agents.”

The following is from an op-ed in the New York Times by Bret Stephens:
Is it a good idea for Joe Biden to run for re-election in 2024? And, if he runs again and wins, would it be good for the United States to have a president who is 86 — the age Biden would be at the end of a second term?
I put these questions bluntly because they need to be discussed candidly, not just whispered constantly.

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz
Parshas Vayechi completes the Torah’s discussion of the founding of the world, and the first adherents of Yahadus and their families. Seder Bereishis contains many stories that can be understood on many levels. Gleaning from them lessons for how to conduct ourselves is the foundation of our belief. Through the Torah’s narrative, we have met Adam and Chava, Noach and his sons, and Avrohom, Yitzchok and Yaakov and their families. This week, the circle is closed, as the last of the avos grows old in exile, blesses his children with eternal brachos, passes away, and is brought for burial to the Me’oras Hamachpeilah in Chevron.

By Dick Morris
Chris Wallace announced his retirement from Fox News this past Sunday amid tributes from his fellow fake-news journalists.
These tributes don’t change the fact Wallace almost single-handedly destroyed the credibility of presidential debates, possibly for all time.
On Sept. 29, 2020, he moderated the Trump vs. Biden presidential debate, making it also the most biased in presidential history.
Wallace lobbed softball after softball question at his favored candidate, Joe Biden.
He then spewed vitriol at the candidate he disdained, President Donald Trump.
Here’s an example of a Wallace loaded question for Trump:

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz
The emotional meetings between the brothers and Yosef reach a crescendo in Parshas Vayigash. The brothers came several times to Mitzrayim in search of food, each time harassed by the Egyptian viceroy. Finally, after the man told them that he intended to jail Binyomin on trumped up charges, Yehudah confronts the ruler and tells him that the charade must come to an end.

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz
As the winter begins to set in, bringing with it early nights and cold weather, Chanukah arrives, warming our hearts and souls, and bringing much light to a dark world. How blessed we are!
As we light the menorah each day, we endeavor to perform the mitzvah in the best possible way, going beyond the exact strictures of halacha to fulfill the obligation with all the many hiddurim. We seek to light with olive oil and the best type of wicks. Every member of the family is provided with a menorah on which to light, increasing the lights every day of the chag.

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz
The Yom Tov of Chanukah is almost upon us; beginning this Sunday evening. A fuller understanding of the special days helps us appreciate and enjoy them better. The basic story of the miracles we commemorate during these days are well known; we’ve been hearing them for as long as we can remember.
Although the eight-day celebration was established by Chazal of that period and the Yom Tov has the status of a mitzvah miderabonon, there is no shortage of oblique references to Chanukah in the Torah.