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Rav Dov Landau delivered firm remarks regarding demonstrations against the military draft, warning yeshiva bochurim to stay far away from protests and reassuring them that gedolim are working tirelessly on the issue.

The comments were made ahead of the Fifth Annual Chinuch Conference of the Ha’azinu Center, scheduled for this coming Thursday. In response to questions posed by the organization about the current situation surrounding draft decrees, Rav Landau addressed the growing anxiety among bochurim amid intensified public discussion of enforcement actions by the authorities.

Asked how mashgichim and mechanchim should calm talmidim who feel confused and unsettled by talk of arrests and decrees, Rav Landau acknowledged the gravity of the situation. “The harsh decrees, the draft decree, are something very serious,” he said. “We are making every effort so that the situation should be good.”

When pressed on how an individual bochur can strengthen himself and avoid worry, Rav Landau emphasized caution and trust in the efforts of the gedolei hador. He stressed that talmidim must know that everything possible is being done on their behalf.

Rav Landau sharply criticized those promoting public demonstrations, describing them as deeply harmful. “There are those who go out against [the efforts], and they hold protests, and they are very damaging,” he said. “Do not participate in protests. You must give the bochurim a good feeling that people care deeply about them — that they are cared for very, very much.”

In further remarks, Rav Landau reiterated that the issue is occupying the foremost Torah leaders day and night. “It concerns the elders of the generation greatly,” he said. “They are making every effort. And there are also those who interfere, who hold protests and other foolishness. Do not participate in protests. Tell them that the elders of the generation care very much and are doing everything possible.”

He concluded with a call for vigilance and faith. “There are those who cause damage with protests and other actions. One must be careful and guarded, and we hope, with Hashem’s help, that the actions of the elders of the generation will succeed. Everything is in the hands of Heaven.”

WATCH:

{Matzav.com}

Iranian authorities say they intercepted a shipment of communications equipment that had been smuggled in from a neighboring country and was intended for distribution in several provinces affected by recent unrest.

President Trump issued a stark warning to Minnesota residents on Tuesday, telling them to “fear not” because a “day of reckoning and retribution is coming,” as his administration intensifies efforts aimed at illegal immigration enforcement and rooting out large-scale benefits fraud in the state.

Highlighting what he described as progress made through federal intervention elsewhere, Trump pointed to Chicago as an example, arguing that tougher enforcement leads to improved public safety. “Every place we go, crime comes down. In Chicago, despite a weak and incompetent Governor and Mayor fighting us all the way, a big improvement was made. Thousands of Criminals were removed!” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

Turning his criticism directly toward Minnesota’s leadership, the president accused Democratic officials of enabling unrest. “Minnesota Democrats love the unrest that anarchists and professional agitators are causing,” the president continued.

He followed with a message directed at residents of the state, writing in all caps, “FEAR NOT, GREAT PEOPLE OF MINNESOTA, THE DAY OF RECKONING & RETRIBUTION IS COMING!”

Trump’s comments come after earlier federal actions in other cities. He had previously sent National Guard troops into Chicago in an effort to curb violent crime, though he announced late last year that the deployment would end following adverse court rulings.

At the same time, Vice President JD Vance disclosed last week that the administration plans to appoint an assistant attorney general dedicated exclusively to combating fraud, with Minnesota set to be the first focus of that initiative.

Tensions in the Twin Cities have escalated in recent weeks following the fatal Jan. 7 shooting of Renee Good by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, an incident that sparked widespread protests.

The White House has defended the agent involved, maintaining that he acted in self-defense in response to what it described as an act of domestic terrorism.

Legal challenges have followed. On Monday, officials in Minnesota and Illinois filed lawsuits seeking to block the Trump administration’s plan to significantly increase the number of ICE agents operating in their states, arguing that the move violates the 10th Amendment, which reserves certain powers to the states.

Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem said Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union” that hundreds of additional federal officers would soon be deployed to Minnesota, on top of the roughly 2,000 ICE and Customs and Border Protection agents already stationed there.

Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison pushed back on that plan during a CNN appearance Monday night, saying, “Quite honestly, we need ICE to just do what ICE is supposed to do, which is immigration enforcement. They’re doing far more than that … by harassing people, by using excessive force on a routine basis.”

Trump, in another Truth Social post, framed the issue as a matter of public safety, asking, “Do the people of Minnesota really want to live in a community in which there are thousands of already convicted murderers, drug dealers and addicts, rapists, violent released and escaped prisoners, dangerous people from foreign mental institutions and insane asylums, and other deadly criminals too dangerous to even mention.”

He added that federal agents are motivated by a desire to protect communities, writing, “All the patriots of ICE want to do is remove them from your neighborhood and send them back to the prisons and mental institutions from where they came, most in foreign Countries.”

The president also suggested that demonstrations following Good’s death are being used to divert attention from what he described as massive financial wrongdoing, claiming that billions in taxpayer funds were “stolen by really bad and deranged people.”

While estimates of the total fraud losses differ, Assistant U.S. Attorney Joe Thompson said publicly last month that approximately $9 billion has been stolen since 2018. According to the Justice Department, nearly 100 individuals have been charged in connection with the scheme, with 64 convictions secured so far.

Amid the fallout from the welfare fraud scandal, Democratic Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced on Jan. 5 that he would not seek a third term in office.

{Matzav.com}

BREAKING: The Trump administration has designated Muslim Brotherhood branches in Lebanon, Jordan, and Egypt as terrorist organizations. * The Lebanese branch was labeled a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the State Department. * The Jordanian and Egyptian branches were designated by the Treasury Department as global terrorists for supporting Hamas. * The move makes it a […]

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All are asked to daven for the recovery of Rav Yitzchok Hacker, rosh yeshiva of the Grodno Yeshiva and a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Degel HaTorah, who underwent an emergency catheterization procedure in his leg overnight at Sheba Medical Center.

It has emerged that Rav Hacker has been suffering from a serious infection in his leg. Just last week, he underwent two catheterization procedures in that leg. Doctors have now detected a more severe infection in his other leg, raising concern for a possible life-threatening condition.

Rav Hacker is a son-in-law of the Ponovezh rosh yeshiva, Rav Shmuel Rozovsky zt”l. He has served for four decades as rosh yeshiva of the Grodno Yeshiva, initially in Ashdod and today in Be’er Yaakov.

In the beis medrash of the Grodno Yeshiva in Be’er Yaakov, as well as in the beis medrash of Ponovezh Yeshiva, talmidim and mispallelim recited three chapters of Tehillim for his refuah.

All are asked to daven for the refuah sheleimah of Rav Yitzchok ben Nechamah.

{Matzav.com}

Days after the fatal anti-draft protest in Yerushalayim that tragically claimed the life of 14-year-old Yosef Eisenthal z”l, the boy’s father has drawn attention with blunt remarks reaffirming his opposition to military enlistment.

In an interview with Israel Army Radio on Monday, Rabbi Shmuel Eisenthal addressed the slogan often heard at such demonstrations — “We will die and not enlist” — and said it still reflects his position. “They asked me whether the phrase ‘we will die and not enlist’ still stands. Honestly, I would prefer that he die and not go to the army,” he said.

Yosef Eisenthal was killed after being struck by a bus during a chareidi protest against military conscription in Yerushalayim. The incident unfolded amid severe disorder, as demonstrators blocked major roads, set trash bins on fire, and attacked a bus that entered the area before the deadly collision occurred.

During the interview, Rabbi Eisenthal acknowledged the public reaction his comments would provoke. “I understand that this is difficult to digest, and I am saying this as a bereaved father,” he said. “If they were to ask me whether I had two options — that Yossi go to the army or that he die the way he died — my answer is that I would prefer that he die.”

He stressed that his opposition to the enlistment of yeshiva students has not changed, even after the loss of his son.

The remarks come nearly a week after the deadly demonstration, which has since drawn heavy scrutiny over police handling of the protest. Following the incident, it was revealed that the bus driver had contacted the police emergency center during the unrest and requested assistance, later saying that no officers arrived at the scene in real time.

Last week, N12 reported that, contrary to the police’s initial account, a prior directive had been issued instructing Yerushalayim District officers not to deploy patrol vehicles into the protest zone. The instruction, coordinated with protest organizers and documented in an internal police document, prohibited police vehicles from entering major thoroughfares in the Bar-Ilan area and surrounding streets. As a result, no patrol cars were present in the area even as disturbances intensified.

{Matzav.com}

Inflation likely remained elevated last month as the cost of electricity, groceries, and clothing may have jumped and continued to pressure consumers’ wallets. The Labor Department is expected to report that consumer prices rose 2.6% in December compared with a year earlier, according to economists’ estimates compiled by data provider FactSet. The yearly rate would […]

Pete Hegseth made a high-profile visit Monday to SpaceX headquarters alongside Elon Musk, flashing a Vulcan salute as the war secretary outlined a push to overhaul how the Pentagon develops and deploys new technology.

Welcoming Hegseth to Starbase, the South Texas community built around SpaceX’s launch and manufacturing complex, Musk framed the moment with a pop-culture nod. “We want to make Star Trek real,” Musk said as he greeted the Pentagon chief at the sprawling rocket facility.

Hegseth echoed the sentiment with a brief aside of his own, responding, “Star Trek real,” after Musk introduced him to the audience.

Speaking as part of his “Arsenal of Freedom” tour, Hegseth laid out a sweeping vision for maintaining U.S. dominance in what he described as a global race for technological superiority. He stressed the urgency of outpacing rival nations in areas such as artificial intelligence, autonomous platforms, hypersonic weapons, space systems, directed-energy technology, biotechnology, and long-range drones.

He argued that prior to President Trump taking office, the Department of War’s system for bringing new capabilities into service had fallen badly behind modern realities.

“Worse than that, we’ve done nothing but add layer upon layer” of bureaucracy, Hegseth said, criticizing what he called “endless projects with no accountable owners” and a culture of “high churn with little progress and few outputs.”

Comparing the Pentagon’s approach unfavorably to SpaceX’s rapid-development model, Hegseth said, “That sounds about like the exact opposite of SpaceX,” warning that such stagnation is a “dangerous game with potentially fatal consequences.”

He promised a dramatic shift, saying the department would “supercharge” innovation and abandon what he characterized as a complacent mindset. According to Hegseth, the Pentagon is “done running a peacetime science fair while our potential adversaries are running a wartime arms race.”

To make that change tangible, he pledged to “cut through overgrown bureaucratic underbrush and clear away the debris, Elon-style, preferably with a chainsaw,” to speed the rollout of new technologies.

As part of that effort, Hegseth revealed that the War Department will begin using X’s Grok artificial intelligence system later this month, alongside Google’s Gemini model. Both tools will be deployed across the department’s classified and unclassified networks, he said.

He also announced a key leadership appointment, naming Cameron Stanley, a former Amazon Web Services executive, as the Pentagon’s new chief digital and artificial intelligence officer.

Emphasizing that artificial intelligence depends on the quality and breadth of its data, Hegseth said he has ordered “all appropriate data” to be shared across “every service and component” so it can be “fully leveraged for warfighting capability development and operational advantage.”

“We must ensure that America’s military AI dominates, so that no adversary can exploit that same technology to hold our national security interests or our citizens at risk,” the Pentagon chief said.

He concluded with a warning that the United States’ inherent strengths could be squandered if mismanaged. Hegseth said America’s rivals “do not have our entrepreneurs … our capital markets … our combat-proven operational data … our hard-won classified technologies,” nor the ability to operate in places like “downtown Tehran or downtown Caracas without being seen in the process.” Still, he cautioned, those advantages will count for nothing “if we suffocate those advantages under a stifling bureaucracy.”

{Matzav.com}

The Department of Homeland Security has significantly expanded its public-facing database of criminal illegal aliens, adding roughly 5,000 new entries that allow Americans to review records of what officials describe as the most dangerous offenders living unlawfully in the country, Breitbart News reported exclusively.

Federal officials confirmed Monday that thousands of additional names have been uploaded to wow.dhs.gov, a searchable site that catalogues illegal alien convicts who have been arrested — and in many cases removed — by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

“Since its launch, the Worst of the Worst website has given Americans greater transparency into who the wicked and dangerous criminal illegal aliens DHS law enforcement has removed from their communities,” DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement.

She directed particularly sharp criticism at immigration activists, asking, “To the open-borders and anti-ICE activists, would you like to have these murderers, rapists, gang members, pedophiles, and terrorists living next door?” McLaughlin added, “This update is just a fraction of who we have arrested — and who we will continue to lock up — under the leadership of President Trump and Secretary Noem.”

The newly added entries include Abdirashid Ibrahim and Zakariya Abdi, both Somali nationals convicted of homicide. Ibrahim also has convictions for domestic violence, weapons possession, and burglary stemming from crimes committed in Nashville, Tennessee. Abdi was additionally convicted of larceny in Bayport, Minnesota.

Also listed are violent gang affiliates, including MS-13 member Ever Rodriguez-Mendoza of El Salvador, who has prior convictions for assault, aggravated assault on a police officer, and robbery in Malvern, Arkansas. He appears alongside Tren de Aragua gang member Yohenry Josue Betancourt Brito of Venezuela, previously convicted of assault and larceny in New York City.

DHS officials also added Inland Empire 13 gang member Carlos Merlos Ortiz of El Salvador, as well as Nelson Ricardo Suarez of Cuba and Ghinh Nguyen of Vietnam. Merlos Ortiz has prior convictions for rape, impersonation, and illegal re-entry in Richland, Washington.

Suarez was previously convicted of crimes involving a child, along with assault, battery, and forced entry in Miramar, Florida. Nguyen’s criminal record includes convictions for rape with a weapon, assault, aggravated assault, kidnapping, discharging a firearm, intimidation, and weapons possession in New Bedford, Massachusetts.

Additional names placed in the database include Juan Perez-Barahona of Honduras, who was previously convicted of child molestation, assault, and child neglect in Brooklyn, Connecticut, and Julio Lara-Avila of Mexico, who has prior convictions for assault, battery, terroristic state offenses, cruelty toward a child, and false imprisonment in Pollock, Louisiana.

{Matzav.com}

Thousands of New York City nurses were set to return to the picket lines Tuesday as their strike targeting some of the city’s leading hospital systems entered its second day. The walkout, which comes during a severe flu season, involved roughly 15,000 nurses spread out across multiple private hospitals, including NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia, Montefiore Medical Center and […]

As Canadian leader Mark Carney arrives in China on Wednesday, his hosts see an opportunity to peel the longtime U.S. ally away from their rival, at least a bit. China’s state media is calling on the Canadian government to set a foreign policy path independent of the United States — what it calls “strategic autonomy.” Canada has […]

Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams revealed Monday that he is launching a new cryptocurrency, known as the $NYC Token, announcing the initiative at a press conference held in Times Square.

Earlier in the day, Adams discussed the project during an appearance on Maria Bartiromo’s Fox Business Network program, where he said the digital coin is intended to help counter antisemitism and what he described as a growing trend of anti-American sentiment across the country.

“There’s a wave of anti-Americanism that’s sweeping not only our Ivy League college campuses, but in our inner cities,” Adams said. He added that proceeds tied to the token would also support education in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, as well as provide scholarship opportunities for New York City students.

“The money that’s raised is going to go to those nonprofits like Combat Antisemitism, going into the college funds, such as the historical HBCUs, so this is money that, without raising taxes, you can use to fight the issues, social issues in our city,” the former mayor added.

The $NYC Token’s official website describes the coin as a symbol of New York City’s spirit, stating that it “represents the unstoppable energy of the Big Apple.”

“Built for dreamers, innovators and believers who understand that in New York, anything is possible,” the website continues. “This is more than a token—it’s a movement.”

“There’s a wave of anti-Americanism that’s sweeping not only our Ivy League college campuses, but in our inner cities.” – Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams

Adams has publicly embraced cryptocurrency for several years and has frequently promoted digital assets during and after his time in office.

As one example, he converted his first mayoral paycheck into Bitcoin and Ethereum. Because of U.S. Department of Labor rules, however, the funds had to be exchanged through Coinbase, since New York City is not permitted to directly pay employees in digital currency, according to a press release issued at the time by the mayor’s office.

In October 2025, Adams signed an executive order establishing the city’s Office of Digital Assets and Blockchain Technology. The office was created to “promote the responsible use of digital assets and blockchain technologies, grow economic opportunities for New Yorkers, attract world-class talent and reinforce the city’s standing as the world’s hub for financial and technological innovation,” according to a press release.

In December, one of Adams’ final actions as mayor was the release of a 61-page blockchain strategy document. The plan was designed to guide city agencies in how to “investigate potential opportunities and risks, build public literacy on emerging technologies and establish mechanisms to track progress and coordinate citywide efforts,” according to a letter accompanying the report that was signed by New York City Chief Technology Officer Matthew Fraser.

{Matzav.com}

The Trump administration has reversed a Biden-era policy that barred banks from factoring immigration status into loan and credit decisions, a move that reshapes how lenders assess risk across mortgages, auto loans, and credit cards.

Federal officials confirmed Monday that the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the Justice Department rescinded guidance issued under President Biden that instructed financial institutions to disregard a borrower’s immigration status when reviewing applications. The change, first reported by Bloomberg, effectively removes a requirement that had governed a wide range of consumer lending.

Under the previous administration, officials argued that weighing immigration status in credit decisions could violate anti-discrimination laws designed to guarantee fair and equal access to lending.

The Biden guidelines were promoted as a way to help undocumented immigrants and temporary visa holders put down roots in local communities, including by making it easier to obtain financing for housing, vehicles, and rental arrangements.

The Trump administration, however, concluded that the policy exceeded its legal bounds. Officials said the guidance improperly limited lenders and that taking immigration or residency status into account does not conflict with the Equal Credit Opportunity Act of 1974.

“We are correcting the last administration’s attempt to ignore these well-accepted and common-sense principles of our nation’s fair lending laws,” acting CFPB Director Russell Vought said on Monday.

During Biden’s term, regulators cautioned lenders that “unnecessary or overbroad reliance on immigration status” “may run afoul of ECOA’s antidiscrimination provisions.” The Trump administration’s review determined that this position lacked a firm basis in either statute or regulation.

“This administration is restoring alignment with established federal civil rights law rather than continuing the prior administration’s ideologically-driven departures,” said Harmeet K. Dhillon, Trump’s assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division.

When the rule was unveiled in 2023, it sparked immediate backlash from Republicans, including then-Ohio Sen. JD Vance, now vice president, who criticized the policy as detached from financial reality and called the consideration of immigration status in lending decisions “nothing short of common sense.”

In a November 2023 letter signed by Vance and “every other Republican on the Senate Banking Committee,” lawmakers warned that lenders face heightened risk when borrowers may not remain in the country or under U.S. jurisdiction. “A borrower’s likelihood of repayment significantly falls if there is no guarantee that they will be residing in the same community, let alone the same country or legal system,” the letter stated.

Vance echoed those concerns in a separate press release at the time. “Financial institutions are right to be concerned that they may never see a return on loans issued to illegal immigrants,” then-Sen. Vance said. “If someone is deported to their home country, how is a bank in Ohio supposed recoup the loan it was forced to issue? The federal government should be cracking down on illegal immigration — not encouraging more of it.”

{Matzav.com}

The BBC plans to ask a court to throw out U.S. President Donald Trump’s $10 billion lawsuit against the British broadcaster, court papers show. Trump filed a lawsuit in December over the way the BBC edited a speech he gave on Jan. 6, 2021. The claim, filed in a Florida federal court, seeks $5 billion […]

Former New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced the launch of his digital coin, $NYC Token, at a press conference in Times Square on Monday. While speaking with Maria Bartiromo on her Fox Business Network show earlier in the day, Adams said that the coin will work to “combat antisemitism,” as well as “anti-Americanism” nationwide. […]

A band of thieves disguised as IDF soldiers carried out an armed robbery of a jewelry store in the town of Dahariya, near Chevron, on Tuesday, stealing gold and jewelry worth tens of thousands of shekels. Following the report, the IDF spokesperson stated that “security forces were dispatched a short time ago to the Dahariya […]

WATCH:

Central bankers from around the world said Tuesday they “stand in full solidarity” with U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell, after President Donald Trump dramatically escalated his confrontation with the Fed with the Justice Department investigating and threatening criminal charges. Powell “has served with integrity, focused on his mandate and an unwavering commitment to the […]

A medical resident at a hospital in Argentina has been suspended after posting a series of antisemitic messages on social media that included calls to murder Jews. In one post, Miqueas Martinez Secchi, an intensive care resident at the José de San Martín Hospital in La Plata, wrote, “Instead of performing circumcision, one should cut […]