Anger has swept through the chareidi public following revelations surrounding the arrest of a 23-year-old yungerman who was transferred to military police custody on Motzaei Shabbos, with his family alleging severe mistreatment that included preventing him from putting on tefillin and misleading them about his whereabouts. Senior Knesset member Moshe Gafni warned that “this will not pass quietly.”
The case, detailed extensively in the Israeli daily Yated, has raised serious accusations of callous and harmful conduct by law enforcement authorities toward the detainee and his family.
The incident began when Reb Avraham Ben Dayan, a talmid of Yeshivas Me’or HaTalmud who married just months ago, was stopped for a routine check by police in southern Israel. After authorities determined that he was listed by the army as a deserter, he was transferred to the military police. According to family accounts, what began as a standard arrest quickly escalated into a prolonged ordeal. Relatives who rushed to the scene brought his tefillin with them, but say officials categorically refused to allow him to put them on.
Beyond the religious violation, the report describes what the family says was deliberate deception. According to their account, Avraham was moved repeatedly throughout the night from one station to another—first from Netivot to Ofakim, and then to Sde Teiman—while each time the family was given incorrect information about his location. This, they say, prevented them from seeing him or delivering basic personal items.
Ultimately, Ben Dayan was tried in an expedited proceeding and sentenced to ten days of detention in a military prison. The episode sparked sharp reactions within the political system. Knesset member Moshe Gafni, chairman of Degel HaTorah, condemned the incident in unusually strong terms.
“This avreich was arrested for no wrongdoing, and according to the family he was not allowed to put on tefillin,” Gafni said. “This is an army that calls itself a Jewish army, and they prevent a ben yeshiva from putting on tefillin.” He added, “This will not pass quietly. I will turn to the defense minister, and I will not let this hatred toward anything connected to Judaism pass as routine.”
Avraham’s attorney, Shlomo Hadad, has filed an appeal against the sentence in an effort to secure his prompt release, as scrutiny over the conduct of the authorities continues to intensify.
{Matzav.com}
[Video below.] King Charles III has sent a personal letter to Rav Moshe Sternbuch, raavad of the Badatz of the Eidah HaChareidis, extending his warm wishes on the occasion of the Rav’s 100th birthday.
The letter was sent in keeping with a long-standing royal tradition, initiated during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, under which individuals in the United Kingdom and certain Commonwealth countries who reach the age of 100 are eligible to receive an official message of congratulations from the reigning monarch. Rav Sternbuch, who was born in London in 1926, qualifies for the honor by virtue of his British birth.
The gesture has drawn attention across Torah circles, highlighting the remarkable life and enduring influence of one of the senior gedolei Torah of our generation, whose century of life has been devoted entirely to limud haTorah, harbotzas Torah, and psak halachah.
Rav Sternbuch was born in London on February 15, 1926, one of nine children. His father, Reb Osher Sternbuch, was known for opening his home to rabbanim who visited London on behalf of their yeshivos. As a young boy, Rav Sternbuch’s brilliance was already evident. Rav Elchonon Wasserman, after learning with him, famously described him as a davar sheyeish bo mamash, while Rav Yechezkel Abramsky regularly tested him in learning and foretold that he would one day become a great moreh hora’ah. Before long, he became known as the “Londoner Illui.”During the years of the Blitz in World War II, the family fled London, and Rav Sternbuch spent time sharing a room with Rav Eliyahu Eliezer Dessler, later the author of Michtav M’Eliyahu, who predicted that the young Moshe would grow into one of the gedolei hador. In a moment of hidden hashgachah pratis, Rav Sternbuch narrowly avoided boarding a ship that later sank with hundreds of children aboard, after guidance from Rav Elya Lopian led his mother to keep him home.
He learned for a decade in Yeshivas Toras Emes in Stamford Hill under Rav Moshe Schneider, alongside future Torah leaders and prominent figures, developing into one of the outstanding bnei aliyah of his generation.
After the war, Rav Sternbuch came to Eretz Yisroel to immerse himself further in Torah and to be close to the great gedolim of the era. He learned in Yeshivas Chevron and forged close relationships with the Brisker Rov, the Chazon Ish, and the Chebiner Rav, Rav Dov Berish Weidenfeld. Following his marriage in 1954, he served as rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Hamasmidim and later devoted himself to strengthening Torah in a variety of settings, including the establishment of Torah institutions and chesed frameworks for immigrant communities.
For many years, Rav Sternbuch has resided in the Har Nof neighborhood of Yerushalayim, where he serves as the rav of the Gra Shul, named for the Vilna Gaon, of whom he is a direct descendant. Since 2003, he has served as raavad of the Eidah HaChareidis.
The letter from King Charles III arrives as Rav Sternbuch continues, even at the age of 100, to learn, write, and guide Klal Yisroel. His extensive sefarim—including Teshuvos VeHanhagos, Moadim Uzmanim, Ta’am VeDaas Al HaTorah, and many others in both Hebrew and English—are studied throughout the yeshivah world and remain foundational works in contemporary halachic discourse.
WATCH RAV SHTERNBUCH RECEIVE THE LETTER FROM THE KING:
{Matzav.com}
After days of punishing cold across New York, forecasters say temperatures are expected to slowly climb as the new week gets underway, offering relief following one of the harshest cold spells of the winter.
The recent freeze brought conditions described as “colder than parts of Antarctica,” with thermometers plunging to just three degrees on Sunday. Wind chills made it feel even more severe, dropping perceived temperatures to 14 degrees below zero, according to a report by the New York Post.
The Weather Channel warned that the Northeast was in the grip of an intense cold wave, stating:
“Bitterly cold temperatures are here for the Northeast, including New York City and Boston. Cold alerts blanket most of the region…where wind chills up to 15 degrees below zero are possible for millions. Single-digit high temperatures are possible for interior portions of the Northeast, and frostbite is a major concern. These temperatures are expected to be the coldest this winter season for the region.”
Despite the brutal conditions, meteorologists say a gradual shift is expected, with milder air moving into the New York City area as the week progresses.
City officials, meanwhile, are grappling with the human toll of the cold. Zohran Mamdani said Monday that 16 people were found dead outdoors during the extreme weather, according to Breitbart News. He reiterated that a “Code Blue” had been declared on January 19, urging residents to seek shelter indoors.
Addressing the deaths, Mamdani said, “Each of these lives lost is a tragedy. My heart was with the families of those mourning their loved ones,” and added that city agencies were continuing efforts to bring vulnerable individuals into warming centers.
Throughout January, tens of thousands of residents reported being without heat or hot water, with many placing responsibility on the mayor, Breitbart News reported.
Mamdani has also reportedly been summoned to appear before the City Council to answer questions about how the city handled the emergency. The outlet noted that “lawmakers are asking if the socialist mayor has done enough to protect tenants as heat complaints reach record highs.”
As the cold lingered, video footage captured frozen waterways in parts of the city, underscoring the severity of the conditions.
The New York Post cited a National Weather Service warning that read: “Rare Extreme Cold Warnings have been issued for more than 43 million people, including major metro areas such as New York and Philadelphia, through Sunday evening by the National Weather Service.”
{Matzav.com}
[Video below.] Rep. Mike Lawler said Sunday that removing more than 25 million undocumented immigrants from the United States is not a practical option, arguing instead for immigration reforms that combine border enforcement with a structured legal framework for those already living in the country.
Appearing on This Week, Lawler was questioned by host Jon Karl about an opinion piece he recently authored addressing immigration policy. Karl said, “You had an interesting op ed in the New York Times, about immigration, saying that, you know, not only do we need security on the border, we need, and reforms to, to to the way ICE is operating. We need a legal pathway forward for the people who are here illegally. Tell me why this is important and if you’ve gotten any traction on this.”
Lawler responded by pointing to decades of inaction on immigration and what he described as widespread public frustration. “Look, this is an issue that I’ve been focused on for years. You know, for 40 years, we have not solved our immigration crisis. The American people were rightly outraged by what happened under the Biden administration, where you had over 10.5 million migrants cross our border, most of them illegally. You know, porous Southern border needed to be shut down. President Trump did that. The fact is, we have had nine straight months of net-zero illegal border crossings. You’ve had 675,000 people deported, 1.9 million people. Self-deport. Many of those folks are criminal aliens or people who have been involved in the criminal justice system. The American people overwhelmingly support that. But what they do believe, if you’ve been in this country, right or wrong, for five, ten, 15, 20 years, your children and your grandchildren are American citizens. People don’t want to see families broken apart. And so there’s got to be a legal path forward, not a path to citizenship, but a legal path forward for people to come out of the shadows so that they can work legally, that they can pay their taxes, pay any back taxes owed, pay a fine, not collect government benefits, and not commit a crime.”
He concluded by tying his position to pending legislation and reiterating that large-scale removals are not feasible. “That is the basis of the Dignity Act, so that we can actually start to solve a crisis that has been, in effect, for 40 years. We have over 25 million people in this country who are undocumented. You’re not rounding them all up and kicking them out. It’s not realistic.”
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{Matzav.com}
[Video below.] Sen. Adam Schiff said Sunday that President Donald Trump is laying the groundwork to interfere with upcoming elections, asserting that the president is openly signaling an intention to manipulate or overturn the democratic process.
Speaking on This Week, Schiff responded to questions from host Jon Karl, who pressed him on what Trump meant by statements suggesting federal control over elections and Republican involvement in voting procedures. Karl asked, “What does he mean? What do you think he means when he says nationalize the elections? Or specifically that Republicans should take control of the voting?”
Schiff replied, “I think he fully intends to try to subvert the elections. He will do everything he can to suppress the vote. And if he loses the vote, and I think the Republican does now expect they’ll get a real drubbing in the midterms. He’s prepared to try to take some kind of action to overturn the result, and we really shouldn’t question that. We saw him try to the point of insurrection to overturn the 2020 election. We see him now taking these extraordinary steps with an election now five years ago. He’s basically telling us he intends to interfere in this coming upcoming election. He hasn’t brought prices down. There’s chaos and killing in American streets by ICE agents. The public has turned against him in every election we’ve had since his election.”
Continuing his remarks, Schiff argued that Trump’s political standing has steadily eroded and that the president is unwilling to accept another defeat at the ballot box. “The voters have swung wildly against him. And as you know, he said at that prayer breakfast, his ego cannot stand another loss. So we have to prepare for the worst. We have to prepare in every way we can. And frankly, the best preparation we have is not the Congress, because Republican senators, for the most part, are not going to stand up to him. The courts are useful at the lower levels, but at the Supreme Court, they have left him unrestrained. The best protection we have is to mobilize the largest voter turnout in U.S. history to so overwhelm the vote and get the kind of margins we saw in Texas in that special election so that there’s no way they can cheat.”
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President Donald Trump said he is weighing a plan to send Americans $2,000 rebate checks using money generated from tariffs, signaling a potential new round of direct payments tied to his trade policies.
Speaking in an interview with NBC News correspondent Tom Llamas that aired ahead of the Super Bowl, Trump said the idea is under active consideration, citing the scale of revenue he says tariffs are producing for the country.
“We’d make it — I’m looking at it very seriously,” Trump said in the interview. “I’m the only one who can do it because I’m taking in hundreds of billions of dollars of money from tariffs.”
When asked whether the public should anticipate receiving the payments, Trump indicated it was possible but said a final decision has not yet been made.
“Oh yeah, sure. I can do that,” he said. “I haven’t made the commitment yet, but I may make the commitment.”
Trump likened the potential rebates to recent one-time bonus payments issued to U.S. service members, pointing to a $1,776 check tied to his budget initiatives.
The comments come as Trump continues to aggressively defend his tariff strategy, arguing that it has boosted the American economy while compelling other countries to contribute financially to U.S. prosperity. He said tariffs are “making our country rich” and bringing in “tremendous amounts of money.”
“The one thing that they don’t say anymore is affordability, because I fixed the problem that they created,” Trump said.
{Matzav.com}