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A stirring miracle story has been electrifying the Toldos Avraham Yitzchak court—exactly one year after it began.

The story traces back precisely a year, to the 14th of Shevat, the yahrtzeit of the mekubal Rav Yitzchak Abuchatzira zt”l. That evening, a wedding was held in Beitar Illit for the Rebbe’s grandson, the son of his son, Rav Chaim Meir Kohn, who serves as the rav of the community’s chassidim in the city.

While the Rebbe was attending the celebration, one of his sons told him about the well-known segulah of Rav Yitzchak Abuchatzira involving arak. According to the tradition, bottles of arak are purchased and notes describing the desired salvation are attached to them. If the person is answered, the bottles are opened the following year on the yahrtzeit. The Rebbe listened attentively and immediately instructed his grandson to go out and purchase four bottles of arak so the segulah could be carried out on the spot.

When the bottles were brought, the Rebbe gave precise instructions: On three of the bottles, the names of three of his grandchildren were to be written. These were the children of his daughter, Manche, who lives in the United States: a 32-year-old grandson and two daughters close to age 30. All three had been delayed in shidduchim for many years, and the request was clear and focused: that they should soon find their zivugim.

But the story did not end there. One bottle remained unassigned. For the fourth bottle, the Rebbe himself took a slip of paper and wrote something in his own hand—something no one else saw and no one knows. He attached the note to the bottle, and the secret remained sealed. The bottles were then set aside, as the ancient segulah prescribes, awaiting the salvation that would come over the course of the year.

Now, exactly one year later, the magnitude of the miracle has become clear. The Rebbe fulfilled the arak segulah—and was answered. In what chassidim describe as a Heavenly convergence, all three of the Rebbe’s grandchildren became engaged over the past year. Two have already married, and the third wedding will take place soon. All that remains is to wonder what was written on the secret note attached to the fourth bottle…

This evening, many across the Jewish world are holding yahrtzeit seudos in memory of Rav Yitzchak ben Rav Yaakov Abuchatzira. Many, too, are dedicating bottles of arak with their hopes attached, to be opened at next year’s yahrtzeit.

{Matzav.com}

A federal judge rejects Minnesota’s request to block the ICE-led Operation Metro Surge.

A Hamas tunnel stretching hundreds of meters beneath southern Gaza’s Khan Younis has been destroyed by Israeli combat engineers, the military said. The IDF reported the tunnel contained three rooms used by terrorists and was stocked with weapons, including 45 grenades, Kalashnikov rifles, RPGs and launchers, explosive devices, and other military equipment. The tunnel, discovered […]

Border czar Tom Homan says 145,000 unaccompanied migrant children have been rescued from Biden-era neglect.

Iranian lawmakers chant “Death to America, Death to Israel” in military uniform, after President Trump said earlier that Iran is negotiating with the United States.

President Donald Trump said the United States was beginning to talk with Cuban leaders as his administration puts greater pressure on the communist-run island and cuts off key oil supplies. He made the comment to reporters on Saturday night as he was flying to Florida. It comes in the wake of his moves in recent […]

New York Governor Kathy Hochul is pushing new legislation that would limit cooperation between local law enforcement and US immigration officials, casting the measure as a message to the Trump administration in the wake of violent incidents involving federal agents in other parts of the country.

The new bills would overturn prior state provisions that enabled federal agencies to deputize local police resources for operations involving immigration operations. The proposal would also bar municipal jails from being used for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention.

“We’re sending a strong message to ICE,” Hochul said in a press conference Friday alongside New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch and several district attorneys from around the state. The governor said the goal is to “fortify ourselves” as New York prepares for a potential increase in federal immigration activity in the state.

“You will not weaponize local police officers against their own communities in the state of New York,” she said. “You will not use our police tech to track people who have done nothing wrong. You will not throw innocent people into our jails and you will do everything only with a judicial order.”

Hochul emphasized that New York would continue cooperating with federal authorities on cases involving violent crimes. The legislation would allow information-sharing and custody transfers when a judge issues a warrant or when a person has been convicted of serious violent offenses.

President Donald Trump said this week that New York and other Democratic-led cities were “heading in the wrong direction.”

Hochul’s proposal comes less than a week after Border Patrol agents shot and killed Alex Pretti, an intensive care nurse who was protesting their operations in Minneapolis. Pretti was the second US citizen killed by federal agents in Minnesota, following the shooting death of Renee Good earlier in January.

The killings set off nationwide protests against the Trump administration’s immigration policies. On Friday, demonstrators have called for a nationwide strike, asking Americans to skip school and work and avoid spending at businesses.

In New York, Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman, a Republican expected to challenge Hochul in this year’s gubernatorial race, assailed her plan to bar local cooperation with ICE and said it would endanger public safety.

“These critical agreements have long helped remove violent offenders — including murderers, … traffickers, gang members, and other dangerous criminals — from our streets, and assisted police in keeping them in custody when Hochul’s bail law would otherwise force their release,” Blakeman said in a statement. “Now, local law enforcement’s hands are tied, and these criminals will be released back into our communities.”

But Democrats are pushing measures to curtail the White House efforts, arguing the efforts are necessary to protect the public from agents that they say have engaged in illegal actions toward civilians.

New Jersey Governor Mikie Sherrill announced Wednesday that the state was setting up a portal for residents to upload cell phone video of ICE agents in the streets.

“Get your phone out, we want to know,” she said in an appearance on the late-night television program The Daily Show. “They have not been forthcoming. They will not tell us who they are.”

In New York, Hochul pledged to work with state lawmakers to pass her legislation “as quickly as possible” even as the state maintains a policy of cooperating with the federal government to apprehend violent criminals.

“Public safety must be pursued lawfully, transparently and with humanity,” Hochul said. “These very principles have been abandoned by our federal government and our immigration officers.”

{Matzav.com}

A yeshivah bochur from Ohel Yosef Yeshiva in Jerusalem was arrested on Sunday afternoon in the Ramot neighborhood of Jerusalem, Kikar H’Shabbat reported. The arrest took place near the bochur’s home, in the heart of the Chareidi neighborhood in Jerusalem. A police vehicle stopped near the bochur’s house while he was outside after coming home […]

The Lelover Rebbe, Harav Yissachar Dov Biderman zt”l, was niftar suddenly on Sunday at the age of 84. Earlier on Sunday, he was being toivel in the private mikveh at the Lelov Beis Medrash on Rechov Tzefania in Yerushalayim when he collapsed. Emergency personnel who arrived at the scene carried out prolonged resuscitation efforts, but […]

Border Czar Tom Homan dismissed reports suggesting that the Trump administration is easing up on deportations of illegal aliens, calling those claims “untrue.”

Speaking in an interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity, Homan said that since President Trump entered office, immigration authorities have carried out “over 700,000 deportations between Border Patrol and ICE.” He stressed that enforcement efforts are being directed first toward “the arrests of criminals and public safety threats.”

“The President wants to de-escalate the situation and to set the record straight — because my staff said they’ve seen a lot of people saying President Trump’s backing off on his promise of mass deportation,” Homan said. “That’s just untrue. My message up there was the same message it’s been since January 20, when President Trump took the Oval Office.”

Homan reiterated that large-scale deportations remain a goal, while emphasizing the administration’s focus. “We’re going to have a mass deportation, but we’re going to prioritize the arrests of criminals and public safety threats,” he said. “I said from day one, if you’re in the country illegally, you’re not off the table. I looked at the numbers just about 15 minutes ago, Sean. President Trump’s been in office just over a year. We got over 700,000 deportations between Border Patrol and ICE.”

The remarks followed a fatal shooting involving a Border Patrol agent in Minneapolis last weekend that left 37-year-old Alex Pretti dead, after which President Trump said he would dispatch Homan to Minnesota.

Pretti’s death came weeks after another fatal incident, in which Renee Good was shot by an ICE agent. Authorities alleged that Good had attempted to use her vehicle as a weapon against ICE officers who were trying to free their vehicle from snow.

In explaining his decision, Trump said that although Homan “has not been involved in that area,” he was familiar with and respected “many of the people there.”

“Tom is tough but fair, and will report directly to me,” Trump clarified in a post on Truth Social.

On Tuesday, Homan said he met with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz (D), Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey, and “top law enforcement officials to discuss the issues on the ground in Minnesota.”

“We all agree that we need to support our law enforcement officers and get criminals off the streets,” Homan added.

Homan’s comments came after Trump said in a Fox News interview that his administration would “de-escalate” in Minnesota, according to BBC News.

{Matzav.com}

The next round of peace talks between Russian and Ukrainian delegations will take place on Wednesday and Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Sunday. Envoys from Russia, Ukraine and the U.S. had been expected to meet that day in Abu Dhabi, to continue negotiations aimed at ending Moscow’s all-out invasion of its neighbor. “We have just had a […]

In an article published in Yisrael Hayom, journalist Amit Segal recounted the responses of US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff to the skeptical looks around them in the Prime Minister’s Office during discussions on the “disarmament of Hamas.” The looks on the Israelis’ faces conveyed, “How naïve to think Hamas would ever disarm on its […]

President Donald Trump sharply criticized Minnesota’s Democratic leadership on Saturday, asserting that fraud in the state far exceeds earlier estimates and accusing top officials of failing to act.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump singled out Rep. Ilhan Omar and Gov. Tim Walz, writing, “The Theft and Fraud in Minnesota is far greater than the 19 Billion Dollars originally projected. The Biden Administration knew this FRAUD was happening, and did absolutely nothing about it.”

Trump escalated his rhetoric in the same post, adding, “‘Scammer’ Illhan Omar and her absolutely terrible friends from Somalia should all be in jail right now or, far worse, send them back to Somalia,” and continued, ” ‘Governor’ Waltz is either the most CORRUPT government official in history, or the most INCOMPETENT. Even a very low IQ person, of which there are many, should have known what was going on in Minnesota!!! President DJT.”

According to a recent New York Times report, the U.S. Department of Justice during the Biden administration opened an inquiry into Omar’s finances after reports indicated her net worth increased by as much as $30 million following her election to Congress.

Breitbart News reported additional scrutiny surrounding Omar’s household finances, citing Rep. James Comer, who said he would seek to subpoena Omar’s husband, Tim Mynett, over questions tied to the couple’s wealth. “Most recently, Rep. James Comer (R-KY) said he would subpoena Omar’s husband, Tim Mynett, over the couple’s suspicious net worth. As Breitbart News reported last year, Omar and Mynett’s financial documents indicate that by the end of 2024, the pair had a net worth of anywhere from $6 million to $30 million.”

The outlet has also reported that large-scale welfare fraud cases linked to Minnesota’s Somali community have intensified scrutiny over Omar’s possible knowledge of the alleged schemes. “Reports say that Omar has many close ties to organizations, businesses, and individuals named in the various cases that have uncovered massive fraud of Minnesota’s overly generous welfare schemes, cases that total up to more than a billion dollars in stolen taxpayer money,” the article stated.

Omar has denied claims that she is worth millions and has said she is being unfairly targeted by conservatives. Trump, however, has continued to accuse Omar and Walz of using ICE enforcement actions and the protests and riots aimed at federal agents as a diversion from the fraud allegations, according to Breitbart News.

“Omar, who is Somalia-born, represents Minnesota’s 5th Congressional District and is already the subject of a House Oversight Committee investigation into her and husband Tim Mynett’s finances,” the outlet reported on January 23.

{Matzav.com}

Iranian media outlets aligned with the Tehran regime reported that opposition activists circulated a photograph of David Bennett, the son of Israeli political figure Naftali Bennett, falsely presenting it as an image of a child purportedly killed during the recent protests in Iran.

According to those reports, the photograph was incorporated into online montages and lists that identified supposed victims of the unrest and was disseminated on social media by accounts associated with opposition groups. Regime-linked platforms asserted that the image was intentionally repurposed to deceive the public and promote a fabricated account of protest-related deaths.

The Fars News Agency alleged that the image was part of a broader campaign of disinformation, writing: “We are exposing the major lie of the MKO organization regarding the alleged killing on Pirouzi Street. Media outlets affiliated with the MKO published an image of a child named Kourosh Shirini, claiming he was shot dead on a street in Tehran during the riots. It has now been revealed that the image actually belongs to the son of Naftali Bennett and was used with the aim of deception and incitement.”

Additional regime-affiliated outlets released screenshots of the disputed posts. An examination of the claims shows that social media content does exist in which David Bennett’s image appears without attribution, displayed in posts that reference alleged fatalities connected to the protests.

{Matzav.com}

When Donald Trump won his comeback campaign, he credited the mayor of a small Detroit suburb with helping him make inroads with Michigan’s Arab American community. As a reward, Trump nominated Amer Ghalib to serve as U.S. ambassador to Kuwait. But Ghalib is not on his way to the oil-rich nation in the Persian Gulf. Instead, he […]

WATCH:

For the first time in almost a year, the Rafah Crossing between Gaza and Egypt reopened Sunday morning for a trial run to “assess the operation of the crossing,” a statement from the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) said. Limited, closely monitored movement of people only, coordinated with Egypt and subject to […]

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It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the petirah of Rav Tzvi Lercher zt”l.

Rav Lercher was known for his lifelong attachment to Torah learning and for the deep impression left upon him by his years studying under Rav Moshe Feinstein zt”l. Those who knew him describe a steady presence whose life reflected dedication to Torah and avodas Hashem and commitment to his family.

He is survived by his wife, Mrs. Miriam Lercher; his sons, Rav Shmuel Yosef Lercher, Reb Yaakov Lercher, and Reb Mordechai Lercher; and his daughters, Mrs. Chaykie Adler, Mrs. Peppy Klugman, and Mrs. Etty Kotler; and grandchildren.

The levayah will take place on Sunday morning at Shomer Hadas Chapels in Boro Park at 9:15 a.m.

Yehi zichro baruch.

{Matzav.com}