Feed aggregator

Shulem Lemmer, a resident of Toms River, performing at the White House Chanukah party this evening

TEHILLIM: HaMekubal HaTzaddik Rav Dovid Batzri, the Rosh Yeshivah of HaMekubalim “HaShalom” Yeshivah, was hospitalized in serious condition in the past day at Haddash Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem. The Rav’s family members and talmidim have requested that the public tear the gates of Shamayim for his recovery. Please daven for a refuah sheleimah for […]

RESPONDING BEYOND BORDERS: Rockland Hatzoloh Paramedic Chaim Ishakis (RH-123) of the Northern District was seen assisting two patients onboard a flight to Eretz Yisroel, helping avert a potential emergency landing.

Salim Hamdani, one of the few Jews still living in Syria, was recently arrested by the regime of President Ahmad al‑Shar’a, according to a Kan News report on Tuesday morning. Hamdani owns a shop in the Old City of Damascus, and according to Syrian sources familiar with the details, the official reason for the arrest […]

Candace Owens’ recent barrage of conspiracy theories and attacks targeting Erika Kirk, the widow of slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk, are being driven by personal resentment and long-standing grievances stemming from her removal from Turning Point USA, according to multiple sources who spoke to the New York Post. Owens, 36, has used her platform in […]

A Jewish, pro-Israel professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) was shot multiple times inside his home Monday night and died of his injuries early Tuesday, authorities announced. The victim, Nuno F. Gomes Loureiro, 47, a Portuguese-born professor of nuclear science and engineering at MIT, was found gravely wounded at his Brookline apartment after […]

President Trump has signed a new proclamation tightening U.S. entry rules, imposing full travel bans on nationals from Burkina Faso, Mali, Niger, South Sudan, and Syria. The order expands a previous list of 12 countries and also imposes restrictions on holders of travel documents issued by the Palestinian Authority.

Israeli Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon lays out Israel’s goals at the UN for 2026: 1. Hamas disarmed in Gaza. 2. Iran’s terror proxies dismantled. 3. The Palestinian Authority ends payments to terrorists. 4. Syria protects its citizens.

Justice Minister Yariv Levin told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that he has reached a dead end in his efforts to appoint a suitable state official to oversee the investigation into the disgraced Military Advocate General after it twice disqualified appointments he proposed: retired judge Kula and later retired judge Yosef Ben-Hamo. In an unusual […]

Yesterday, Agudath Israel of America filed an amicus curiae “friend of the court” brief in Lost Lake Holdings, LLC v. Town of Forestburgh (S.D.N.Y.), a private discrimination lawsuit brought pursuant to the Fair Housing Act. The lawsuit alleges that the Town of Forestburgh and other individual and municipal defendants engaged in a series of discriminatory acts to prevent an Orthodox Jewish developer from building housing units in Forestburgh because it would attract Orthodox Jews.

The case began in 2020 when an Orthodox Jewish developer purchased the rights to a previously approved “shovel-ready” property. As soon as the Jewish developer made the purchase, approvals were withdrawn, and the town passed a series of ordinances aimed at thwarting the development. This prompted a lawsuit from the developer accusing the town of violating the Federal Fair Housing Act.

Significantly, the United States filed a Statement of Interest in the case, expressing concern over the allegations in the Complaint, including a number of communications among town officials that show blatant discrimination.

For example, the Chairman of Forestburgh’s Town Planning Board states: “Please don’t be scared about the [H]asidic threat ― we’re energized and have the cash to fight and make their lives miserable…. Bloomingberg [sic] was asleep: we’re on amphetamines.”

In another instance, a private citizen wrote: “I have no qualms with their religion, but I would note that their sect is notorious for misogyny [sic] and child abuse. I do fear their wanton destruction of the towns and school districts . . . they take over, like locusts – killing everything they encounter, draining every last resource, bleeding the beast (as they say internally regarding welfare), and destroying Forestburgh as we know and love it today.” After receiving the email, instead of deleting the email or replying that he rejects this characterization of Hasidic Orthodox Jews, the Town Board Planning Chair forwarded the email to unknown recipients, stating “I too have been thinking strategy about how to prevent Lost Lake from overwhelming the town.”

Following a dismissal of the lawsuit by the United States District Court of the Southern District of New York, an appeal was filed by Plaintiff. The brief filed by Agudath Israel focuses on the issue of “ripeness” and specifically how a demonstrated hostility in the form of antisemitism towards the Plaintiff and clear showing that the municipality has dug in its heels against approving the project renders the requirement to obtain a final determination inapplicable. Therefore, dismissal of the lawsuit on those grounds was contrary to the law. Furthermore, the Court’s failure to account for prejudice in land-use processes threatens special harm to Jewish communities. The brief cites many examples of institutionalized antisemitism through hostile zoning laws that have been documented by Agudath Israel.

Agudath Israel thanks The Jewish Coalition for Religious Liberty, The National Council of Young Israel, and The Jewish Community Council of Sullivan County for joining in this brief and the Religious Liberty Clinic of Notre Dame, John Meiser, Esq., Meredith Kessler, Esq., and Dominic Canonico, Esq. for authoring the brief with the assistance of Agudath Israel’s General Counsel, Daniel Kaminetsky, Esq.

{Matzav.com}

A man who drove past warning signs was found dead early Tuesday in a car submerged in floodwaters near Seattle, officials said, in the first reported death following a week of heavy rain and flooding in the region. Rescue swimmers found the driver and his vehicle in about 6 feet (1.8 meter) of water in […]

The 13th Battalion of the Golani Brigade, lighting the third Chanukkah candle in Rafah.

The moment an Israeli drone struck a Hezbollah terrorist in a vehicle near Sebline, southern Lebanon, earlier today.

Video shows Ukrainian forces destroying a Russian military convoy, in the Donetsk region.

President Trump announced on Truth Social that he will deliver an address to the nation tomorrow night at 9:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

ZAKA members have deployed to Sydney, Australia, ensuring that proper kavod hameis is given to the victims of the Chanukah massacre at Bondi Beach.

Prime Minister Netanyahu: I demand that Western governments do what is necessary to fight antisemitism and provide the required security and protection for Jewish communities around the world. They should heed our warnings. I demand action — now.”

Internal FBI communications released by Sen. Chuck Grassley on Tuesday reveal that bureau officials did not believe they had established probable cause to seek a search warrant for President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate ahead of the August 2022 raid.

One internal record, written by an unidentified assistant special agent, stated that the FBI’s Washington Field Office “does not believe (and has articulated to DOJ [counterintelligence]) that we have established probable cause for the search warrant for classified records at Mar-a-Lago.” The memo added that “DOJ has opined that they do have probable cause,” and was “requesting a wide scope including residence, office, storage space.”

According to the same FBI official, agents spent roughly six weeks attempting to build a probable cause case, an effort described internally as “counterproductive.” Interviews conducted during that period also failed to produce evidence that sensitive intelligence materials remained at Trump’s Palm Beach, Florida, property after documents were returned on June 3, 2022.

Additional emails included in the release show that, just one week before the Aug. 8, 2022, search, senior FBI officials were exploring alternative approaches. In one message, Washington Field Office counterintelligence chief Tony Riedlinger wrote that the bureau was seeking “a second path” related to the search warrant.

Riedlinger and Washington Field Office head Steven D’Antuono were also copied on correspondence indicating the FBI hoped any search would be carried out “in a professional, low-key manner … mindful of the optics of the search.” That strategy included an attempt to secure cooperation from one of Trump’s attorneys, a step FBI officials cautioned “may not go well at DOJ.”

Grassley, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, made the documents public and described them as deeply troubling. In a post on X, he wrote that the records were “shocking,” asserting that the “FBI DID NOT BELIEVE IT HAD PROBABLE CAUSE to raid Pres Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home but Biden DOJ pushed for it anyway.” The Iowa Republican further argued that the emails and memos demonstrated a “miscarriage of justice” directed at Trump.

The disclosure comes after special counsel Jack Smith charged Trump in June 2023 with dozens of counts tied to allegations that classified materials were improperly stored in various locations at Mar-a-Lago, including a bedroom, bathroom, ballroom, and basement. That case was later dismissed by South Florida U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon, who ruled that Smith had been unlawfully appointed without congressional authorization.

{Matzav.com}

A dramatic incident shook the Olam HaTorah in Eretz Yisroel on Tuesday night, as a student of Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Ozer in Bnei Brak was arrested beneath his home in Ramat Gan, shortly after lighting the Chanukah candles with his family. The detainee has been identified as Yitzchak Revivo, a prominent yeshiva student of Yeshivas […]