The city of Bnei Brak is mourning the petirah of Mrs. Yaffa Eisenstein, wife of Rav Tzvi Eisenstein, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Tiferes Tzion and the longtime legendary chazzan of Yeshivas Ponovezh. She passed away at the age of 89.
Mrs. Eisenstein was born in Yerushalayim on the 30th of Nissan, 5696, to her father, Rav Yaakov Sirota of the Batei Nitin neighborhood, and her mother, Mrs. Devorah Miriam.
In 5717 she married her husband, Rav Tzvi Eisenstein, who served as rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Tiferes Tzion L’Tzeirim in Bnei Brak and for many decades was the renowned chazzan of Yeshivas Ponovezh. Rav Tzvi passed away this past Simchas Torah at the age of 97.
For many years she served as an mechaneches at the Merkaz school in Bnei Brak, where she taught and guided hundreds of Jewish girls, instilling in them a love for Torah, yiras Shomayim, and refined middos.
Throughout the years she stood steadfastly at the side of her husband, Rav Tzvi, supporting his efforts in spreading Torah with strength and dedication, demonstrating wisdom, understanding, and devotion.
She is survived by a large family of children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren. During her lifetime she endured the loss of her daughter, Mrs. Yehudis Tabal, who passed away in the summer of 5761. She was the wife of Rav Yechiel Tabal, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Shaarei Tzion.
Later this week, her son, the chazzan of Yeshivas Ponovezh, Rav Shaul Eisenstein, is scheduled to celebrate the wedding of his daughter immediately following the shivah for his mother.
The levayah took place in Bnei Brak, and she was laid to rest at the Ponovezh cemetery.
Yehi zichrah boruch.
{Matzav.com}
A remarkable miracle occurred Sunday evening at the home of Rabbi Moshe Kass on Rechov Yerushalayim in Bnei Brak after a large missile fragment struck the family’s residence directly. Despite the severe damage caused to the home, no one was injured. Family members had left the apartment just moments earlier after a siren warned of incoming rockets.
The incident took place at the Kass family’s home, located near the intersection with Chevron Street. Rabbi Moshe Kass is regarded as one of the prominent avreichim in Bnei Brak and serves among the rabbonim at Yeshivas Tiferes Mordechai. According to reports from the scene, the house sustained a direct strike from a large piece of shrapnel, yet all those inside managed to escape unharmed.
Witnesses described a scene of extensive destruction inside the apartment, emphasizing how close the family came to a tragedy. The mother and children had rushed out immediately when the siren sounded, leaving the home only minutes before the missile fragment tore through the structure.
The damage left the house resembling the aftermath of a terror attack, with debris scattered throughout the apartment. Those who arrived at the scene said that had the family delayed even briefly before seeking shelter, the outcome could have been far more devastating.
Srulik Kornik, a volunteer medic with United Hatzalah’s Bnei Brak rescue unit, described the scene in a message posted after the incident. “I have had the privilege of saving many lives through my volunteer work with United Hatzalah. The destruction caused and the great miracle from the missile strike in Bnei Brak today are enormous. Just a few minutes earlier, the mother ran to remove the baby from the crib.”
Kornik also recounted another incident in the building. “Another neighbor was in the middle of working from home. Her computer remained on, but the apartment was completely destroyed. The alertness to run to the protected room, with Hashem’s great kindness, saved everyone.”
When Rabbi Kass later entered the damaged apartment to retrieve his tefillin, he discovered that they had remained completely intact despite the powerful blast. His tallis, however, had been punctured by the shrapnel that entered the home. One person present at the scene remarked, “You could clearly see at every step that everything has an address.”
Another extraordinary escape occurred in a neighboring apartment. A young girl had been sleeping in her bed but woke up as soon as the siren sounded and ran to the building’s protected room.
Moments later, the missile fragment struck the building, and the window in her bedroom shattered from the force of the blast. A piece of metal from the missile slammed into the wall, leaving a hole exactly where the girl had been lying only moments earlier. She was saved in what witnesses described as an open miracle.
{Matzav.com}
Israeli security officials are reportedly considering whether the goals of the war against Iran should be reevaluated, according to a report broadcast Sunday evening by Kan News.
The report said security sources indicated that although Israel’s initial strike and the early phase of the conflict surpassed expectations, the overall campaign has not been progressing as quickly as originally planned. One major obstacle, the officials noted, has been the challenge of encouraging large-scale public protests inside Iran.
The sources added that both Israel and the United States are preparing additional significant actions within Iran that could influence the direction and pace of the war.
On Sunday, the IDF Intelligence Directorate released an overview of the first two weeks of the joint campaign with the United States, stating that many additional targets remain inside Iran before the military operation can be considered complete. No timeline was given for when the conflict might end, and the future plans discussed by Israeli officials appear to differ from comments by President Donald Trump suggesting the war could conclude “soon.”
During the opening stage of the conflict, a key priority for the Israeli Air Force was gaining control of the airspace over Iran. According to the IDF, roughly 100 air defense systems along with about 120 radar and detection systems have been destroyed during the fighting.
Over the first two weeks of the war, Iran launched approximately 360 missiles toward Israel. Military officials said the size of each missile barrage has declined significantly since the beginning of the conflict. Intelligence assessments indicate that about 70% of Iran’s missile launchers have been disabled by Israeli strikes, and that Iran currently has no ability to produce additional missiles.
The IDF has also targeted a wide range of regime-linked facilities. So far, about 2,200 sites connected to the Iranian government have been struck, including installations tied to the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, government ministries, senior leadership networks, internal security organizations, and the Basij militia. Many of these operations have concentrated on Tehran, with intelligence units selecting targets based in part on which individuals were present inside the facilities.
{Matzav.com}
Hamas sent two separate letters over the weekend to Iran’s Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei—one public and diplomatic in tone and another secret document that the organization reportedly attempted to keep hidden, according to a report by Kan News.
The report said the publicly released message was written in restrained language and presented in a formal diplomatic style, while the concealed letter adopted a far more militant and operational tone.
In the secret communication, Hamas reportedly made clear that it has no intention of agreeing to any deal that would require it to give up its military strength. “We are aware of attempts to bind the hands of the resistance under the guise of agreements-the organization will not compromise its weapons under any circumstances.”
The letter also stresses the importance of coordinating multiple fronts in the region as part of the effort against Israel. Hamas urges Iran to mobilize what it describes as all elements of the regional alliance simultaneously. “All fronts must be activated to exact a price from the Zionists. We, together with our brothers in Lebanon, Yemen, and Iraq, will create the next victories under your leadership.”
At the core of the document is a message declaring Hamas’ unwavering loyalty to Iran’s leadership and signaling readiness to advance Tehran’s goals even if doing so undermines broader regional stability.
The message also includes criticism of Arab countries that have pursued normalization with Israel. “The normalization camp is a losing camp,” the secret document states. “They did not even dare to protect those who sought refuge in their bases.”
{Matzav.com}
IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin said Sunday evening that Israel’s ongoing military campaign against Iran is aimed at dismantling the regime’s capabilities and removing what he described as an existential danger to Israel, as Israeli and U.S. forces continue coordinated operations across the region.
“Our goal is to strike all components of the regime – together with the US military – in order to remove an existential threat to the State of Israel,” Defrin said.
Defrin said Iran and Hezbollah have recently attempted to escalate their attacks on Israel by increasing rocket launches in response to the growing military pressure being applied by Israeli forces.
“In recent days we have seen attempts by Iran and Hezbollah to increase the firing toward Israel. This is a direct response to our military pressure,” he said. “Our objective is to damage all of the regime’s systems and capabilities, and we are doing this shoulder to shoulder alongside the US.”
According to the IDF spokesman, Israeli forces have carried out extensive strikes against Iran’s missile infrastructure, targeting hundreds of locations tied to the country’s ballistic missile program.
“More than 70 percent of the ballistic missile launchers have been taken out of service, and more than 80 percent of the air defense systems have been struck,” he said.
Defrin also indicated that the campaign is advancing more quickly than Israeli planners had originally anticipated.
“We are ahead of the original plan in the achievements of the war,” Defrin said. “We have an orderly and ongoing plan and we are deepening the damage, striking sites where Iran attempts to conceal its nuclear program. We still have thousands of targets in Iran. The regime is unstable and is hiding this from its own residents.”
He stressed that Israel’s operations are not intended to directly remove the Iranian leadership from power.
“Our objective is not to topple the regime, but rather create the conditions that will allow the Iranian people to take their country into their own hands,” he said. “We will continue to strike the Basij and the security forces and deepen our attack on them. What the Iranian people choose to do is in their own hands.”
{Matzav.com}
Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania said Sunday that members of his own party should support U.S. military strikes against Iran if they believe Tehran must be prevented from developing nuclear weapons, citing comments made by Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential campaign as he continued to distance himself from the Democratic Party’s stance on the issue.
Speaking during an interview with John Catsimatidis on WABC radio, Fetterman said he stood alone among Senate Democrats in backing the operation known as Epic Fury. “I became the only Democrat, certainly in the Senate, to support the mission of Epic Fury,” he said, urging fellow Democrats to acknowledge what he described as a successful effort that damaged Iran’s nuclear program.
Fetterman pointed to remarks Harris made while running for president in 2024, when she described Iran as the United States’ most significant foreign adversary. “When Kamala Harris ran for president … she identified Iran as her top international concern,” Fetterman said. “And now, here we have a situation where the Trump administration through Epic Fury has effectively broken the Iranian nuclear apparatus. Why can’t we agree that that’s a good thing for international security?”
Harris had made that assessment during a 2024 interview on “60 Minutes,” where she said Iran was the United States’ “greatest adversary.”
Fetterman also suggested that even if the military campaign leads to higher energy prices, the strategic benefit of weakening Iran’s nuclear program would outweigh the economic costs.
“If the administration creates the kind of outcome that we all agree and wanted … why can’t we support that?” he said.
During the same interview, Fetterman criticized Democrats over the ongoing dispute surrounding funding for the Department of Homeland Security.
“The Coast Guard people … and the TSA agents … they all deserve to be paid,” he said. “This shutdown has had zero impact on ICE. So, why should we punish all of these workers … who are keeping our nation more secure?”
According to CBS News, nearly every Senate Democrat voted against advancing a DHS funding measure on Feb. 13, with Fetterman standing as the only member of the party to oppose the shutdown effort.
“I [was] the only Democrat to vote against that DHS shutdown,” he told Catsimatidis.
Reports from The Associated Press said Democrats were willing to approve funding for much of the department but were seeking changes to the operations of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection. Reuters reported that the impasse continued as of March 12, contributing to longer security screening lines at airports as TSA agents went unpaid.
Fetterman framed the standoff as a departure from the party’s traditional support for workers.
“Don’t shut the government down. We used to be the party that refused to do these things,” he said. “I thought we are the party of union workers.”
“[Now] we are constantly voting to prevent them from being paid for their work,” he added.
{Matzav.com}
