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Israeli Defense Minister Yisroel Katz issued a stark warning following the destruction of a massive Hezbollah underground tunnel network beneath the Ali Taher Ridge in southern Lebanon, declaring that any attempt by the terror group or another hostile force to return to the strategic area would be met with overwhelming force.

Katz said that the Ali Taher Ridge is an integral part of Israel’s Yellow Line and the Israeli security zone in Lebanon, which stretches approximately 700 kilometers from the Mediterranean coast in the west to the Mount Hermon region in the east.

According to Katz, the IDF has made operational preparations to maintain control over the strategic ridge and prevent Hezbollah or any other hostile element from reestablishing itself there.

“Anyone who approaches the ridge will be destroyed,” Katz warned.

The statement followed the completion of a major IDF operation to destroy Hezbollah’s extensive terror tunnel infrastructure beneath the Ali Taher Ridge. The underground network, built with Iranian assistance, stretched for approximately 5.4 kilometers and was considered one of Hezbollah’s key command centers in the region.

Because of the depth of the tunnels and the extensive fortifications surrounding them, the underground complex could not be effectively destroyed from the air. Hezbollah had used the network as a regional command headquarters as well as a fire-control and observation position overlooking the Nabatieh plateau and Israel’s northern home front.

Following the demolition of the underground complex, IDF forces repositioned and withdrew from the immediate ridge area to commanding positions along the Yellow Line, where troops had already begun deploying in recent days.

At the same time, IDF forces will, for now, remain stationed at the Beaufort compound.

Israeli defense officials are closely monitoring developments and preparing for the possibility of a response by Hezbollah or Iran in the coming days following the destruction of the strategic underground infrastructure.

Katz stressed that the policy he shares with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu has not changed.

“We are not moving from the security zone, and the IDF will not withdraw or redeploy until Hezbollah is disarmed throughout Lebanon,” Katz said.

In the meantime, the IDF will continue operating forcefully throughout the area to eliminate terrorists and destroy Hezbollah terror infrastructure both above and below ground.

From a historic Mi Shebeirach after 50 years of estrangement, to a Rebbe who was rushed to the hospital and returned hours later to lead the tefillos with extraordinary strength; from baalei tefillah who became weak and electrical failures in packed batei medrash; from 65,000 people in Uman to enormous minyanim in the great yeshivos — Rosh Hashanah 5787 was filled with memorable and stirring moments throughout the Torah world.

Across Eretz Yisroel and around the globe, the two days of Rosh Hashanah were observed with awe and trepidation, as multitudes of Yidden proclaimed the sovereignty of the Ribbono Shel Olam through their tefillos and, on the second day, the blowing of the shofar.

More than 65,000 people from around the world spent Rosh Hashanah in Uman, Ukraine, near the tziyun of Rav Nachman of Breslov. Despite the enormous crowds, the gathering concluded peacefully and without unusual incidents, following extensive advance preparations by Ichud Breslov in Uman and cooperation with local authorities.

Tens of thousands also streamed to the massive Tashlich gathering in Uman on the second day of Rosh Hashanah, with ambulances and United Hatzalah volunteers deployed to safeguard the huge crowds.

What follows is a comprehensive roundup of Rosh Hashanah 5787 in the great chassidic courts and yeshivos, in the presence of the Gedolei Yisroel, Admorim, roshei yeshiva and thousands upon thousands of their talmidim and chassidim.

IN THE CHASSIDIC COURTS

Ger: 40,000 Chassidim and Nine Brissim

Approximately 40,000 people spent Rosh Hashanah at the world center of Ger in Yerushalayim. The tefillos concluded at 1:21 p.m. on the first day and 1:22 p.m. on the second day. The Gerrer Rebbe participated continuously in all the tefillos, with no unusual incidents.

During the tekios of Malchiyos in the silent Shemoneh Esrei, the blasts were repeated after the Rebbe did not continue with the tefillah, which was understood as an indication that he wanted the tekios blown again. The baal tokeia was Rav Moshe Aryeh Weinstein, while the baal makreh was Rav Mordechai Wolkowitz, the rov of Ger.

The longtime chazzan, Rav Gedalia Moshe Lev, became weak and was unable to remain at the amud. He was replaced by chazzan Dovid Yehoshua Schoenfeld, who led Shacharis through Hamelech. For Mussaf, a new chazzan, Rav Yisroel Kornik of Bnei Brak, was called upon.

Rav Avraham Konopnitzky received the aliyah for the Torah reading on the first day, while Rav Moshe Yehuda Krol did so on the second day. One bris was held on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, while an extraordinary nine brissim were held on the second day, bli ayin hara.

Belz: A Pre-Yom Tov Address and the Bochurim’s Minyan

Before the onset of Yom Tov, Rav Avraham Elimelech Biderman delivered a special preparatory address in the main Belzer beis medrash.

On the first day, davening concluded at 5 p.m., while on the second day it ended at 6:40 p.m., together with Mincha.

The Belzer Rebbe went down to the minyan of the bochurim in the “Groisse Shtub.” The Rebbe’s grandsons, Rav Shalom Rokeach and Rav Avraham Shmuel Tzvi Rokeach, led Pesukei Dezimra and Shacharis on the two days. Rav Shalom blew the initial tekios for the bochurim.

Vizhnitz: The Rebbe Leads the Tefillos Despite Great Weakness

Thousands of Vizhnitzer chassidim were deeply moved as the Vizhnitzer Rebbe led the tefillos despite his significant physical weakness. Even on the second night, when each year the Rebbe honors his brother-in-law Rav Menachem Ernster with leading the tefillah, the Rebbe insisted on going to the amud himself.

On the first night of Yom Tov, the Rebbe’s powerful voice could be heard throughout the entire beis medrash. At the beginning of Mussaf, his voice was clearly audible, but as the tefillah progressed he weakened and could barely be heard. During Mussaf on the first day, there was a 15-minute break.

On both nights, the Rebbe conducted the tish immediately after davening.

On the first night, the Rebbe wished the entire assemblage “L’shanah tovah” together, after which the thousands passed before his son, Rav Chaim Meir Hager, rov of Vizhnitz, to receive a personal L’shanah tovah.

There was also a brief power outage in the main Vizhnitzer beis medrash on the first night due to an electrical failure in the surrounding area.

Sanz: A Change in Longstanding Practice and Special Mi Shebeirachs for Ailing Admorim

Because of the enormous crowd and the late hour, the Sanzer Rebbe changed the customary procedure on the first night. Rather than having the chassidim pass before him individually as in previous years, the Rebbe wished the entire gathering “L’shanah tovah” three times, and the assembled chassidim responded together.

During Krias HaTorah, the Rebbe recited separate Mi Shebeirachs for the Belzer, Vizhnitzer, Boyaner and Hordenker Rebbes, praying for their refuah sheleimah.

The tefillos concluded at 6 p.m. on the first day and 6:40 p.m. on the second.

During his address at the tish marking the conclusion of Yom Tov, the Rebbe urged chassidim who are not learning in kollel to join the examinations offered to working men through Sanz’s “Mishemeres” program, as participants prepared to begin Maseches Pesachim during the coming month.

Karlin-Stolin: A Bris, Thousands Reciting Shema and One Kaddish

A bris was held on the first morning of Rosh Hashanah in Karlin-Stolin following the birth of a grandson to the Karlin-Stoliner Rebbe, a son born to his son-in-law Rav Michoel Eliezer Kahn. Ten kiddushim were also held that morning.

The vach nacht took place on Friday night, the first night of Rosh Hashanah, following Maariv, at the “A Gut Yohr” tish. The chassidim subsequently passed before the Rebbe to receive his bracha. Some 7,000 people participated in what was described as an enormous Krias Shema, reciting Shema Yisroel in the presence of the baby.

Another change this year concerned Kaddish Yasom. To prevent confusion, only one person recited it. Reb Moshe Dzalovsky stood on the bimah and said Kaddish Yasom on behalf of those requiring it.

Vizhnitz: An Ancient Machzor and a $30,000 Aliyah

Before Rosh Hashanah, communal activist Rav Yosef Aryeh Katz arrived from the United States and presented the Vizhnitzer Rebbe with a rare antique machzor that had belonged to the Rebbe’s grandfather, the Imrei Chaim of Vizhnitz.

The Rebbe wore the historic kittel of the Ahavas Shalom, while the Rebbe’s aliyah was sold for $30,000 to benefit construction of the Vizhnitz world center.

When the Rebbe received his aliyah, he requested that a special announcement be made and recited a Mi Shebeirach for the recovery of his brother, the other Vizhnitzer Rebbe.

Toldos Aharon: Kiddush Comes First in a Change of Schedule

In Toldos Aharon in Meah Shearim, a change was made to the usual schedule on the first night.

Immediately after davening, a platform was set up and the Toldos Aharon Rebbe sang the zemiros and made Kiddush. In previous years, the thousands of chassidim would first pass before the Rebbe to exchange wishes for a L’shanah tovah. This year, it was decided to reverse the order and hold Kiddush first.

The tish continued after the L’shanah tovah procession, which itself lasted more than three hours.

The first day’s tefillos concluded at 5 p.m., together with Mincha, while the second day concluded at 6:20 p.m.

Toldos Avraham Yitzchok: The Rebbe Holds the Hands of the Nagidim

At Toldos Avraham Yitzchok in Meah Shearim, during the singing of Bo’i V’shalom on the first night, the Rebbe held the hands of nagidim Reb Shmili Horowitz and Reb Shemaya Reich.

The Rebbe personally blew the first 30 tekios and then turned the shofar blowing over to his sons. He also led Mussaf on both days.

Historic Moment in Dushinsky: Belzer Rebbe Included in Mi Shebeirach After 50 Years of Estrangement

A remarkable moment took place in Dushinsky on the first day of Rosh Hashanah, when the Dushinsky Rebbe publicly included the Belzer Rebbe in a Mi Shebeirach for those in need of a refuah.

Following his aliyah, the Dushinsky Rebbe customarily mentions the names of Admorim and Gedolei Yisroel requiring a refuah. He first mentioned the Vizhnitzer Rebbe. He then turned to the gabbai announcing the names and instructed him to add: “Yissachar Dov ben Miriam.”

Thousands of chassidim were stunned when they realized that the name was that of the Belzer Rebbe.

The gesture was particularly striking against the backdrop of some 50 years of estrangement between the Eidah Hachareidis and Belz, dating back to the period of the Dushinsky Rebbe’s father, the Maharim of Dushinsky zt”l, who served as Gaavad of the Eidah Hachareidis in Yerushalayim.

Various efforts have been made over the years to bring the dispute to an end and restore peace, but until now those attempts had not succeeded. Following the unexpected public gesture in the middle of Rosh Hashanah, chassidim expressed hope that the decades-long estrangement may finally be moving toward an end.

Seret-Vizhnitz: 3,000 Pomegranates and an Electrical Failure

In Seret-Vizhnitz in Haifa, davening began at 8 a.m. on both days and concluded at 4:15 p.m.

The Seret-Vizhnitzer Rebbe led Maariv, Hamelech and Mussaf, and recited a Mi Shebeirach for the recovery of the Vizhnitzer Rebbe.

At the second night’s tish, the Rebbe distributed more than 3,000 pomegranates to the chassidim, young and old.

During Mussaf on the second day, a fuse in the electrical panel burned out, leaving the air-conditioning system inoperative during the tefillah.

Sadigura: A New Niggun for Zichronos and a Bris Before Tekias Shofar

With space at a premium in Sadigura, additional parentches were erected in the galleries, where the bochurim stood during the tefillos.

Following Maariv on the first night, the Sadigura Rebbe entered the special children’s beis medrash, where hundreds of children of the chassidus daven under the supervision of designated mashgichim. The Rebbe wished all of them a shanah tovah.

The entire congregation then passed before the Rebbe over approximately an hour and a half to exchange brachos for the new year. Afterward, as he does each year, the Rebbe visited the home of Rebbetzin Zalmanovitz of Gorlice to exchange brachos for the year.

On the second night, in accordance with the Ruzhiner minhag, the Rebbe conducted the special Kiddush and recited Shehecheyanu. During Kiddush, the Rebbe and the entire gathering sang the Zichronos section from Mussaf to a special new nusach composed by the Rebbe this year. It was repeated numerous times with great hisorerus.

On the second day, a bris was held before tekias shofar. During the tekios in Mussaf, the Rebbe emerged from his private prayer room and aroused the congregation to greater tefillah and hisorerus, particularly during the singing of Areshes Sefaseinu.

On Motzoei Yom Tov, the Rebbe made Havdalah in the Salash hall before a large crowd. The gathering sang Avinu Malkeinu Pesach Shaarei Shomayim with yearning and joy, after which the chassidim passed before the Rebbe for an extended period to receive a bracha for a gmar chasimah tovah.

Concern in Modzhitz: Rebbe Hospitalized Overnight, Then Returns to Lead the Tefillos

Concern swept through Modzhitz on the first night of Rosh Hashanah when the Modzhitzer Rebbe began feeling generally weak.

On the advice of his doctors, the Rebbe was taken to Mayanei Hayeshua Medical Center for testing. He remained in the hospital throughout the night and, after undergoing the necessary examinations, was cleared for release.

The Rebbe returned to his beis medrash at 7 a.m. and entered for Shacharis at 7:25.

Despite what he had endured during the night, the Rebbe displayed extraordinary strength, leading Chazaras Hashatz of Shacharis and Mussaf on both days.

The chassidus asked the public to continue davening for the Rebbe, Rav Chaim Shaul ben Beila Rochel, for a refuah sheleimah and renewed strength.

Modzhitz also inaugurated a new Aron Kodesh on Rosh Hashanah, standing approximately 11 meters high and featuring pure gold plating imported from Italy.

Nadvorna: The Be’er Yaakov’s Shtreimel and a Stirring Niggun

In Nadvorna, the first day’s tefillos concluded at 5:45 p.m. and the second day’s at 5:20 p.m.

For the first time, renowned baal tefillah Reb Simcha Elbaum did not lead Pesukei Dezimra. In his place, the Rebbe’s eldest son, Rav Chaim Mordechai Rosenbaum, went to the amud.

On the first night, the Nadvorna Rebbe wore the shtreimel of his father, the Be’er Yaakov of Nadvorna zt”l.

During Aleinu in Mussaf on the second day, the Rebbe signaled for the congregation to sing the V’yekablu Chulam niggun, creating a powerful atmosphere of hisorerus.

At the first Hayom Haras Olam on both days, the Rebbe requested that only the children sing.

Strikov: Tefillos at the Ger Seminary and a Collective Bracha

The Strikover chassidim again held their Rosh Hashanah tefillos at the Ger Seminary because the newly completed beis medrash on Alshich Street does not yet have air conditioning.

After davening on the first night, the Rebbe said “L’shanah tovah” three times to the entire congregation. The chassidim then passed before him merely to shake his hand rather than each receiving an individual bracha.

Davening began at 7:30 a.m. On the first day, Mussaf ended at 5:02 p.m. and Mincha at 5:50 p.m. On the second day, Mussaf concluded at 5:25 p.m. and Mincha at 6:10 p.m.

On both days, the Rebbe recited a Mi Shebeirach for the Vizhnitzer Rebbe.

Pittsburgh: A Clever Move Changes a Longstanding Ashdod Tradition

For many years, an unusual Rosh Hashanah tradition existed in Ashdod. The previous Pittsburgher Rebbe, the Tiferes Mordechai zt”l, would make a point each year of visiting Rav Dov Tzvi Karelenstein zt”l, rosh yeshiva of Grodno, after Maariv on the first night of Rosh Hashanah, to receive his bracha for a shanah tovah and to offer his own good wishes.

Following Rav Karelenstein’s petirah, the Pittsburgher Rebbe continued the custom by visiting the home of the current rosh yeshiva, Rav Moshe Shmida.

After the petirah of the Tiferes Mordechai, however, Rav Shmida surprised the current Pittsburgher Rebbe by beating him to it: The rosh yeshiva himself came to the Rebbe following davening on Rosh Hashanah night to exchange brachos.

The Rebbe protested strongly, maintaining that it was not proper kavod haTorah to inconvenience the rosh yeshiva. Rav Shmida nevertheless continued the practice in subsequent years.

This year, the Rebbe devised a solution. On the night before Erev Rosh Hashanah, known as Leil Zechor Bris, close to midnight, the Rebbe went to Rav Shmida’s home to exchange brachos, effectively ensuring in advance that the rosh yeshiva would have no reason to make the trip to him on Rosh Hashanah night.

Zhvill: Rebbe Wears Ancient Tallis of the Yikra D’Malka

There was great emotion in Zhvill when the Zhviller Rebbe entered for Mincha on Erev Rosh Hashanah wrapped in the ancient tallis of his ancestor, the Yikra D’Malka of Zhvill.

The historic tallis had been brought to the Rebbe on Erev Yom Tov, and he wore it throughout the Rosh Hashanah tefillos.

During Yom Tov, the Rebbe led Kabbalas Shabbos and Maariv on the first night and went to the amud for Hamelech on both days.

Following Mincha on the first day, a seudah shlishis was held, while on the second day a tish marking the conclusion of Yom Tov took place.

The Rebbe also went downstairs several times during Yom Tov to daven with the children. Davening concluded at 4 p.m. on the first day and 4:15 p.m. on the second.

Mishkenos HaRo’im: Thousands Receive Brachos and Tashlich Inside the Beis Medrash

At the court of the Mishkenos HaRo’im Rebbe, the senior Admor of the Eidah Hachareidis, the tefillos were held in his beis medrash on Meah Shearim Street. The bochurim davened in the galleries, while the children gathered in the Tzehlim beis medrash on Batei Ungarin Street.

Following davening, the congregation, joined by thousands of Yerushalayim residents, passed before the Rebbe for an extended period. Groups at a time wished the Rebbe a L’shanah tovah, and the Rebbe responded to each group, “Gam atem” — “You as well.”

On the first day, Shacharis began at 7 a.m. Mincha was held immediately following Mussaf, and the tefillos concluded at 3:50 p.m.

On the second day, Shacharis began at 7:05 a.m. Before the tekios, the Rebbe delivered words of hisorerus about the reasons underlying tekias shofar, the need to awaken to teshuvah, and the theme of Malchiyos. Mussaf concluded at 3:55 p.m.

Mincha on the second day began at 5:45 p.m. Afterward, Tashlich was held inside the beis medrash. A large container filled with water and fish had been brought in before Yom Tov for that purpose.

The Rebbe subsequently conducted the tish marking the conclusion of Rosh Hashanah and spoke about teshuvah undertaken with both joy and a sense of shame before Hashem. Following Maariv on Motzoei Yom Tov, the congregation again passed before the Rebbe to receive his bracha.

Lelov: Air Conditioning Fails and Rebbe Issues Halachic Warning

As in recent years, the Lelover Rosh Hashanah tefillos were held in a spacious tent erected on Ezra Street because the beis medrash on Tzefania Street can no longer accommodate the crowds arriving for Yom Tov.

When the air-conditioning system stopped working on the first day, the Lelover Rebbe summoned event organizer Reb Yaakov Chaim Miller and instructed him to consult a rov before bringing a non-Jew to make repairs, warning him to be careful regarding the halachos of amirah l’akum.

On the second night, Rav Boruch of Lelov, son of the previous Lelover Rebbe, the Maharid zt”l, joined the tefillos. The Lelover Rebbe honored him with leading Maariv and the recitation of L’Dovid Mizmor.

IN THE YESHIVOS AND IN THE PRESENCE OF THE GEDOLEI YISROEL

Rav Moshe Shternbuch: Tefillah Near Har Hamenuchos and Special Hiddurim in Tekios

Rav Moshe Shternbuch spent Rosh Hashanah, as is his custom, with his talmidim at the yeshiva campus in Ramat Beit Shemesh.

On his way to the yeshiva, Rav Shternbuch traveled near Har Hamenuchos, where he offered tefillos on behalf of donors to Taharas Hamishpacha, invoking the zechus of the Gedolei Yisroel buried there.

Large numbers of Beit Shemesh residents came to the yeshiva to receive his bracha for a shanah tovah and to hear the divrei chizuk he delivered before Maariv and before the tekios.

Rav Shternbuch warned that there are difficult gezeiros that Klal Yisroel must tear up through tefillah and supplication before Hashem, crying out: “Tatte, Tatte, hob rachmanus oif Yiddishe kinder…” — “Father, Father, have mercy on Jewish children…”

He also spoke at length about the sanctity of the day on which Klal Yisroel crowns Hashem as King. He repeated the teaching of the Aruch LaNer that when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos, we require the zechus of Shabbos to protect us, and he therefore stressed the importance of accepting greater care in the halachos of Shabbos.

On the second day, Rav Shternbuch served as the baal makreh for the baal tokeia. He was careful to fulfill additional forms of tekios, including those following the opinion of the Chazon Ish and blasts in accordance with the tradition of Yemenite Jewry.

He received an aliyah on both days and afterward recited a Mi Shebeirach for the Gedolei Yisroel, as well as mentioning donors to the yeshiva who had undertaken a substantial portion of the costs of constructing its buildings.

Rav Meir Tzvi Bergman: “And So to the Sweet One” and the Practices of the Chazon Ish

Rav Meir Tzvi Bergman held the Rosh Hashanah tefillos in his beis medrash at Yeshivas Rashbi in Bnei Brak.

Following Maariv on the first night, thousands passed before the rosh yeshiva to receive his bracha for the coming year. Because of the enormous crowd, Rav Bergman responded to each person with the traditional expression, “V’chein l’mar” — “And so to you.”

When one of his distinguished talmidim approached, Rav Bergman quipped, “It is difficult for me to say to you ‘v’chein l’mar.’ To you, I have to say ‘v’chein l’matok’” — “And so to the sweet one.”

On the second day, Rav Bergman served as baal makreh for the baal tokeia, following the precise halachic practices he received from his rebbi, the Chazon Ish zt”l.

Before tekias shofar, the rosh yeshiva delivered stirring words calling for teshuvah and cheshbon hanefesh. As he does each year, he cited the Rambam in Hilchos Teshuvah regarding the message of the shofar.

Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch Spends Rosh Hashanah at Slabodka

Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch spent Rosh Hashanah in Yeshivas Slabodka, where he participated in the yeshiva’s tefillos.

On the first night, thousands came to the heichal hayeshiva to receive Rav Hirsch’s bracha for a L’shanah tovah. A number of gabbaim who had been specially prepared in advance directed the enormous crowd in an orderly fashion.

Ponevezh: Nearly 3,000 at One of the Torah World’s Largest Yeshiva Minyanim

Nearly 3,000 talmidim and alumni joined together for the Rosh Hashanah tefillos at Yeshivas Ponevezh in Bnei Brak, in one of the largest yeshiva minyanim in the world.

The tefillos were held in the presence of the roshei yeshiva and rabbonim, led by Rav Boruch Dov Povarsky.

On Rosh Hashanah night, thousands of talmidim, joined by large numbers of Bnei Brak residents, passed before Rav Povarsky for more than an hour to receive his bracha for a shanah tovah.

After the daytime tefillos, because of the late hour, Rav Povarsky ascended the steps of the Aron Kodesh and gave a collective “Gut Yom Tov” to the thousands of talmidim.

Shacharis began at 6:30 a.m. on both days and concluded after 2:30 p.m. Remarkably, although no shofar was blown on the first day because it was Shabbos, the tefillos concluded at approximately the same time on both days. This was because of the yeshiva’s custom to spend considerably longer reciting the piyutim on the first day of Rosh Hashanah.

For the Kohen aliyah, Yeshiva President Rav Eliezer Kahaneman and his son Rav Yosef Kahaneman, one of the yeshiva’s rabbonim, were called up. The Levi aliyah went on the first day to Rav Refoel Shmuelevitz, one of the yeshiva’s rabbonim, and on the second day to Rav Yissachar Dov Lederman, who, despite approaching the age of 100, continues to come to the yeshiva and daven together with its talmidim.

For decades, the third aliyah had been shared between the late roshei yeshiva Rav Gershon Edelstein zt”l and Rav Boruch Dov Povarsky, with each receiving it on one of the two days. Following Rav Edelstein’s petirah in 5783, the third aliyah had been given to Rav Chaim ben Reisha Reizel Berman, one of the yeshiva’s great masmidim, for a refuah sheleimah.

This year, because of Rav Berman’s illness and hospitalization, the third aliyah was given to the yeshiva’s baal tefillah, Rav Mordechai Shmuel Edelstein, rov of the Ne’os Yosef neighborhood.

Rav Chaim Peretz Berman received Maftir. The two additional aliyos added this year because the first day fell on Shabbos were given to longtime members of the yeshiva’s minyan, Rav Yaakov Margalit and Rav Menashe Lindenfeld.

Following his aliyah, Rav Povarsky recited a special Mi Shebeirach for Rav Chaim ben Reisha Reizel Berman, as well as for the Vizhnitzer Rebbe, Rav Yisroel ben Leah Esther, for a refuah sheleimah.

The baal tefillah for Mussaf, Rav Shaul Eisenstein, introduced several melodies this year from the repertoire of the legendary chazzan Reb Yossele Rosenblatt z”l. These were used for Hineni He’ani Mimaas, for the words V’karev Pezureinu during Chazaras Hashatz, and during the verses of Malchiyos.

As was begun last year, the niggun of Rav Dan Segal was sung for Areshes Sefaseinu.

One of the most emotional moments came during Zichronos, when Rav Shaul broke down in tears while invoking the zechus of Akeidas Yitzchok and pleading that Hashem remove His anger from His nation, His city and His inheritance. He wept for several minutes and was unable to continue the tefillah.

The yeshiva’s baal tokeia was Rav Yisroel Edelstein, rosh yeshiva of Ohalei Shalom and son and successor in this role to his father, Rav Gershon Edelstein zt”l. Every tekiah was sounded with clarity, without a single blast needing to be repeated.

Following davening, Rav Yisroel spent approximately an hour giving brachos to bochurim awaiting their zivugim, warmly blessing each one individually that he should soon be able to share besuros tovos.

After davening, Rav Avraham Simcha Edelstein, son of Rav Yisroel and son-in-law of Rav Chaim Peretz Berman, blew additional tekios to satisfy the opinion of the Ramban regarding the shevarim, in accordance with the longstanding custom of the yeshiva.

Ponevezh bochurim also seek to fulfill numerous additional opinions regarding the tekios, including those of Rashi and the Ritva and different forms of the teruah and shevarim. As a result, additional shofar blasts could be heard throughout the day in the dormitories, dining rooms and homes of the ramim across the yeshiva campus.

The extraordinary crowding was strongly felt throughout Rosh Hashanah, and several people fainted and required treatment on site. The yeshiva administration had installed an additional powerful air-conditioning system above the Aron Kodesh to help alleviate the intense heat.

Rav Dan Segal: Levi and Pesichah Sold for $50,000

At the beis medrash of Rav Dan Segal in Givat Moshe, Yerushalayim, where the mashgiach led Mussaf on both days, the Levi aliyah and the pesichah on both days were sold in his zechus for $50,000.

Mir: Five Minyanim and Tears During Mussaf

Five separate Rosh Hashanah minyanim were held at Yeshivas Mir in Yerushalayim.

The central minyan took place in the main building under the leadership of rosh yeshiva Rav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel, mashgiach Rav Binyomin Finkel and Rav Yitzchok Ezrachi.

Rav Binyomin Finkel led Maariv on the first night and Mussaf with tremendous emotion and tears.

Thousands of talmidim and alumni passed before the roshei yeshiva on the first night to receive their brachos. An especially long line formed for Rav Binyomin Finkel, continuing for many hours.

Before the tekios on the second day, Rav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel delivered divrei hisorerus, continuing the tradition of his grandfather and the previous roshei yeshiva. The beis medrash was filled to capacity.

The first day’s tefillos concluded at 1:40 p.m., while the second day ended at 2 p.m.

On the second night, Rav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel davened with the bnei chutz la’aretz and delivered a special shmuess before Maariv. Rav Binyomin Finkel also addressed the bnei chutz la’aretz from Europe.

At Yeshivas Mir in Modiin Illit, Rav Shemaryahu Yosef Finkel led Maariv and Mussaf with great emotion, while Rav Eliyahu Godlevsky led Shacharis. More than 1,000 people packed the beis medrash, and hundreds of talmidim and local residents passed before the yeshiva’s roshei yeshiva and rabbonim on the first night to receive their brachos.

A new musical element was introduced this year during Kedushah of Shacharis: the old Mimkomcha composed by Reb Ben Zion Shenker z”l, a niggun that has recently become increasingly popular throughout the Jewish world.

A historic first also took place in the yeshiva on Shabbos, when a bris was held on Rosh Hashanah for the first time. The baby was a grandson of Rav Reuven Haksheter, mashgiach in Mir and Lakewood, and a son of his son, Rav Yehuda Leib Haksheter. The grandfather was honored with sandakus.

Throughout the day, numerous bochurim and residents of the city came to receive brachos from the American mashgiach.

Rav Meir Greineman: The Chazon Ish’s Minhag and Private Requests on Shabbos

Rav Meir Greineman davened the Rosh Hashanah tefillos in the large beis medrash of his late brother, Rav Chaim Greineman zt”l, on Chiddushei Harim Street.

After davening, large numbers of people from the beis medrash and nearby shuls and yeshivos came to receive his bracha for the new year. Along the route to his home as well, many bnei Torah approached with their children to receive a bracha for a shanah tovah.

As he has done for decades, Rav Greineman served as baal makreh for the baal tokeia, following the practices and precise halachic details he received from his uncle and rebbi, the Chazon Ish zt”l.

Rav Greineman was present each year when the Chazon Ish’s baal tokeia, Rav Shlomo Cohen zt”l, would come before Rosh Hashanah to blow the shofar in the Chazon Ish’s presence and receive his instructions.

Asked whether one may make personal requests on Rosh Hashanah, Rav Greineman responded that the Chazon Ish held that private requests may be made on Rosh Hashanah. He noted, however, that there is room to discuss whether the same applies when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos, when the usual restriction against requesting personal needs may apply — as reflected in the omission of Avinu Malkeinu when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos.

Yeshivas Hanegev-Schar Sachir: Son Continues His Father’s 50-Year Shofar Tradition

At Yeshivas Hanegev-Schar Sachir in Netivot, the roshei yeshiva, led by Rav Aryeh Levi, a member of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah, spent Rosh Hashanah on the yeshiva campus, which is currently undergoing extensive renovations.

As the Yom Hadin began, hundreds of talmidim spent approximately three hours passing before the roshei yeshiva and rabbonim to receive a bracha for a L’shanah tovah. The arrangement had been instituted by Rav Levi to prevent tircha d’tzibbura following Maariv.

There was particular emotion among the bnei hayeshiva at having Rav Levi present on campus for Rosh Hashanah after he had been unwell in recent months.

For approximately 50 years, Rav Moshe Butbul zt”l served as the yeshiva’s baal tokeia, stirring hearts with his tekios and deeply emotional tefillos. He was niftar on Erev Pesach 5785.

Following a decision by the roshei yeshiva, his son, Rav Yitzchok Meir Butbul, continued his father’s legacy and blew the shofar this Rosh Hashanah in the yeshiva.

Rav Farkash, who has led the tefillos in the yeshiva for more than 60 years, led Mussaf on the first day, while Rav Yosef Yisraeli, one of the yeshiva’s rabbonim, led it on the second.

The tefillos concluded at approximately 2 p.m. on both days. At Maariv following Rosh Hashanah, mashgiach Rav Moshe Kuhn went to the amud and aroused the bochurim with the tefillah.

Rav Shalom Ber Sorotzkin Spends His First Rosh Hashanah in Uman

Rav Shalom Ber Sorotzkin, rosh yeshiva of Ateres Shlomo, spent Rosh Hashanah in Uman for the first time.

On the first night, he davened in the main Breslover kloiz. On both mornings, he joined the vasikin minyan of philanthropist Leizer Scheiner.

On the first night, Rav Sorotzkin visited Rav Tzvi Cheshin of Mir, and the two spoke at length. On the second night, he davened at the minyan of Rav Gamliel Rabinowitz.

Rav Sorotzkin brought tremendous energy to the vasikin minyan, with powerful singing breaking out among the mispallelim and creating an atmosphere of intense hisorerus.

Rav Chaim Feinstein: Kvittel Station and Hours of Brachos

On the first day of Rosh Hashanah, as part of a tefillah on behalf of donors to the Kupas Mekablei Ol Torah, Rav Chaim Feinstein recited a special and emotional Mi Shebeirach for the complete recovery of Rav Yisroel Bunim Schreiber.

Because of the large number of people seeking brachos and yeshuos and wishing to submit kvittlach containing names for tefillah, a special stand was installed outside Rav Feinstein’s home on Erev Rosh Hashanah where notes with names could be deposited.

On Erev Yom Tov, following an early Mincha and a preparatory shmuess in the heichal hayeshiva at the Ateres Shlomo campus in Rishon Lezion, more than 1,000 talmidim passed before Rav Feinstein over the course of approximately two hours to receive an individual bracha for the new year.

Because of the enormous crowd, the event was held inside the main heichal, with hundreds of bochurim standing in lines awaiting their turn.

Ponevezh: Mashgiach Returns to the Amud and Tehillim Recited Before Tekios

At the Ponevezh yeshiva led by Rav Shmuel Markowitz, there was particular emotion on the first night when the longtime shliach tzibbur, mashgiach Rav Aharon Zev Grossbard, led Maariv, with his recent weakness not apparent during the tefillah.

Rav Grossbard has served as a chazzan in the yeshiva for nearly 40 years, dating back to the eras of Rav Elazar Menachem Man Shach zt”l and Rav Dovid Povarsky zt”l, alongside the unforgettable chazzan Rav Tzvi Eisenstein zt”l.

Before Maariv, chapters of Tehillim were recited verse by verse, followed by a special Yehi Ratzon, in light of what was described as a gezeirah hanging over the yeshiva.

After Maariv, the thousands passed before the roshei yeshiva and rabbonim to receive their brachos, with the L’shanah tovah procession concluding at approximately 10:30 p.m.

Before the verses of Lamnatzeiach preceding the tekios, chapters of Tehillim were again recited with tremendous hisorerus, led by Rav Moshe Kaufman, one of the roshei yeshiva. In an unusual departure from the norm, the rosh yeshiva also delivered brief remarks before the tekios.

The first day’s tefillos concluded at 2:15 p.m., while the second day’s concluded at 2:40 p.m.

Yeshivas Bais Mattisyahu: Dormitory Fire Ends Without Disaster

At Yeshivas Bais Mattisyahu, davening concluded at 2:30 p.m. on the first day and 3:15 p.m. on the second.

Rosh yeshiva Rav Tzvi Weisbecker served as baal makreh, while Rav Yehuda Weisbecker, one of the roshei yeshiva, led Mussaf on both days.

A fire broke out in the yeshiva dormitory known as “Sorotzkin,” but b’chasdei Shomayim, the flames did not spread.

Yeshivas Kiryas Melech: Two Hours of Brachos and a Minhag from Rav Chaim Kanievsky

Following Maariv on the first night at Yeshivas Kiryas Melech, rosh yeshiva Rav Shlomo Kanievsky remained standing at his place for more than two hours as hundreds of bnei hayeshiva, joined by many alumni who had returned to spend Rosh Hashanah at the yeshiva, passed before him.

Rav Kanievsky personally blessed each person: “L’shanah tovah tikaseiv v’seichaseim l’alter l’chaim tovim aruchim ul’shalom.”

Only after the final bochurim had passed did the other roshei yeshiva, Rav Yosef Karp and Rav Binyomin Rimer, together with the ramim and mashgichim, approach to receive his bracha. Only then did Rav Kanievsky leave for his home to begin the seudah.

Rav Kanievsky served as shliach tzibbur for Mussaf on both days and also served as baal korei. A special Mi Shebeirach was recited for his mechutan, Rav Yisroel Bunim Schreiber, for a refuah sheleimah.

Rav Kanievsky also follows a distinctive practice that he received from his father, Rav Chaim Kanievsky zt”l. The simanim are brought to the table on both nights of Rosh Hashanah, but on the second night the Yehi Ratzon is not recited before eating them.

The reasoning given for the practice is that some people have already had their favorable judgment sealed on the first day, making it unnecessary to repeat a request concerning what has already been decreed for the coming year.

Yeshivas Kol Torah: A New Chazzan for the Yamim Nora’im

At Yeshivas Kol Torah in the Bayit Vegan neighborhood of Yerushalayim, a new chazzan assumed the role this year in place of longtime chazzan Rav Yeshaya Rothenberg, rov of the Gra beis medrash, who had led the tefillos in the yeshiva for more than half a century.

The new baal tefillah was Rav Yehuda Wolpin, son of Rav Refoel Wolpin, one of the roshei yeshiva, and grandson of rosh yeshiva Rav Moshe Yehuda Schlesinger.

Yeshivas Bais Meir: Rosh Yeshiva’s Weakness Forces Long Break During Mussaf

At Yeshivas Bais Meir in Bnei Brak, rosh yeshiva Rav Tzvi Rotberg was suffering from considerable weakness.

On the first day, the congregation waited for an hour and 15 minutes during a break before the rosh yeshiva was able to enter for Mussaf. Rav Rotberg ultimately went to the amud but was forced to sit for portions of the tefillah.

On the second day, Rav Rotberg did not lead Mussaf. His nephew, Rav Yaakov Yizre’eli, a grandson of the late rosh yeshiva Rav Zalman Rotberg zt”l, led the tefillah in his place.

Rav Chizkiyahu Mishkovsky Spends Rosh Hashanah at Yeshivas Ner Zerach-Otzem

Rav Chizkiyahu Mishkovsky, mashgiach of Yeshivas Orchos Torah, spent Rosh Hashanah at Yeshivas Ner Zerach-Otzem together with his son-in-law, Rav Shmuel Ansbacher, one of the roshei yeshiva.

On Motzoei Yom Tov, Rav Mishkovsky delivered divrei hisorerus. He was followed by rosh yeshiva Rav Yitzchok Zev Feinstein, who delivered a general vaad to the bnei hayeshiva, as is the yeshiva’s annual custom.

Rosh Hashanah Opposite the Old City Walls With the Yenuka

Large crowds participated in the Rosh Hashanah tefillos with the Yenuka at the Vista halls opposite the walls of the Old City of Yerushalayim.

On the first night, the tefillos and reception for those seeking brachos continued until a late hour. Afterward, hundreds escorted the Yenuka home through the streets of Yerushalayim with singing.

The daytime tefillos began at netz hachamah and concluded close to midday.

On Motzoei Yom Tov, hundreds participated in a gathering marking the conclusion of Rosh Hashanah, with songs of hisorerus, yearning and simcha.

During the gathering, the Yenuka spoke for an extended period about the greatness of teshuvah and urged each person to view himself as having emerged meritorious from the Yom Hadin and to return home with simcha.

At the conclusion, large crowds escorted him to the David Citadel Hotel with singing and dancing through the streets of Yerushalayim.

Yeshivas Kisei Rachamim: 122,000 Blatt Gemara Pledged for Pesichas HaAron

At Yeshivas Kisei Rachamim in Bnei Brak, headed by rosh yeshiva Rav Tzemach Mazuz, the rosh yeshiva served as shliach tzibbur for Mussaf during Rosh Hashanah and also served as baal tokeia.

In his address at the beginning of Yom Tov, Rav Mazuz spoke about the significance of these days and the need to exert oneself spiritually because they determine the course of the entire year. He also spoke about the greatness of those who learn Torah, describing their learning as sustaining the entire world.

Rav Mazuz said that even secular Jews recognize this truth. He related that approximately a month earlier, a government minister who does not wear a yarmulke had visited the yeshiva. Upon entering the beis medrash, the minister was deeply impressed by the diligence and intensity of the bochurim’s learning and told the rosh yeshiva: “Rabbi, the truth is that it is in their merit that we exist!”

Before Mussaf on the first day, Rav Mazuz addressed the fact that Rosh Hashanah had fallen on Shabbos and therefore the shofar was not blown. He asked how Chazal could prevent Klal Yisroel from performing such an important mitzvah as tekias shofar, with its profound spiritual effect of confounding the Satan, merely because of the seemingly remote concern that someone unfamiliar with the mitzvah might carry a shofar through a public domain.

The rosh yeshiva answered that this year Klal Yisroel was given another great mitzvah: obeying Chazal, who instructed us not to blow the shofar when Rosh Hashanah falls on Shabbos.

At Kisei Rachamim, the honor of pesichas ha’Aron for the special tefillah for parnassah is traditionally “sold” not for money, but for commitments to learn pages of Gemara. This year, the various pesichos were sold for commitments totaling tens of thousands of blatt each, reaching an extraordinary combined record of 122,000 blatt Gemara.

The haftarah honors were given to grandchildren of Rav Rachamim Mazuz zt”l, one of the roshei yeshiva, who was niftar during the past year.

The closing shmuess following Rosh Hashanah was delivered by mashgiach Rav Moshe Sagron, who spoke about the importance of undertaking a meaningful kabbalah tovah during these days and about the paths of teshuvah.

{Matzav.com}

A tragedy struck the Satmar community in Beit Shemesh over Rosh Hashanah with the sudden petirah of Reb Yaakov Weiss z”l, a noted member of the community, at the age of just 47.

Reb Yaakov collapsed suddenly at the onset of Yom Tov while visiting his parents in the Satmar neighborhood of Yerushalayim. He was rushed to the hospital, but tragically was niftar on Friday night, leaving his family, friends and acquaintances devastated.

The tragedy was particularly heartrending as Reb Yaakov leaves behind his only son, just nine years old, who was born after his parents had waited 16 years to be blessed with a child.

Reb Yaakov was the son of Reb Isaac Weiss, a longtime communal activist in the Eidah Hachareidis in Yerushalayim.

In his youth, Reb Yaakov was educated in Satmar institutions in Yerushalayim. As a bochur, he learned at Yeshivas Yetev Lev of Satmar in the city, where he was a talmid of Rav Moshe Aryeh Freund zt”l, the Gaavad of the Eidah Hachareidis, who headed the yeshiva.

Upon reaching marriageable age, he married his wife, the daughter of Rav Reuven Ruderman of Beit Shemesh.

The couple settled in the Ramat Beit Shemesh Bet neighborhood, where Reb Yaakov worked at a local grocery store. Residents and friends remembered him as an exceptionally pleasant and gracious avreich who greeted everyone warmly and always had a smile for those around him.

One customer at the grocery related that Reb Yaakov routinely used his position there as an opportunity to perform anonymous acts of chesed. Children would sometimes arrive at the store without money or with insufficient funds to pay for what they wanted to purchase. Rather than embarrass them or send them away, Reb Yaakov would discreetly make up the difference from his own pocket.

The customer recalled that this was only one example of the many acts of chesed Reb Yaakov performed regularly, reflecting the kindness and warmth that characterized his interactions with others.

At the onset of Rosh Hashanah, Reb Yaakov was at his parents’ home in the Satmar neighborhood of Yerushalayim when he suddenly collapsed. He was transported to the hospital, but on Friday night he returned his neshamah to his Creator.

The levayah was scheduled to leave the Shamgar Funeral Home in Yerushalayim at 1:15 a.m. on Motzoei Rosh Hashanah, proceeding to Har Hamenuchos, where he was to be laid to rest.

Yehi zichro baruch.

{Matzav.com}

More than 65,000 people from around the world spent Rosh Hashanah in Uman this year, overcoming the ongoing war in Ukraine, closed airspace and lengthy overland journeys to be near the kever of Rav Nachman of Breslov for the Yom Tov.

Despite the extraordinary logistical and security challenges involved in bringing tens of thousands of people into the war-torn country, the massive Rosh Hashanah kibbutz concluded successfully. B’chasdei Shomayim, the days of Yom Tov and the large tefillos passed without any unusual incidents.

The tremendous influx was already evident in the days leading up to Rosh Hashanah, as the streets surrounding the tziyun filled with thousands of visitors and the numerous batei medrash and minyanim in the area operated virtually around the clock.

One of the most powerful moments of the gathering came on Erev Rosh Hashanah with the massive worldwide Tikkun Haklali. Tens of thousands gathered in the streets surrounding the tziyun to recite together the ten chapters of Tehillim designated by Rav Nachman as the Tikkun Haklali.

According to Rabbi Nosson Ben Nun, chairman of Ichud Breslov in Uman, this year’s gathering was the largest Tikkun Haklali event held in Uman since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

As the enormous crowd participated in the Tikkun Haklali, officials at Ichud Breslov’s central command center monitored the gathering through an advanced closed-circuit camera system. Rabbi Ben Nun remained at the command center together with security and emergency personnel, keeping watch over the movement of the crowds so that any situation requiring assistance could be addressed immediately.

Behind the scenes, preparations for this year’s Rosh Hashanah gathering had begun at the start of the winter of 5786. Ichud Breslov representatives held extensive meetings and discussions with officials in several European countries to facilitate the passage of the thousands making their way overland to Uman.

Throughout the year, organizers were also in contact with Ukraine’s national and regional governments, as well as representatives of various security agencies, in an effort to prepare for the arrival of the massive crowds and ensure their safety.

Among those who came to Uman this year was Rav Shalom Ber Sorotzkin, who participated in the Rosh Hashanah kibbutz for the first time in his life.

During his visit to the central Ichud Breslov command center, Rav Sorotzkin was warmly welcomed and met with Rav Yaakov Shiloach, the official rov of Uman.

Rav Sorotzkin later met with Rabbi Ben Nun, who gave him a warm bracha that he should merit returning to Uman for Rosh Hashanah each year and that he should no longer have to travel around the world raising funds for the support of Torah.

Against the backdrop of the tense situation in Eretz Yisroel, Rabbi Ben Nun added another bracha to the rosh yeshiva: “May no student from the yeshiva be forced to enlist in the army, chalilah.”

Immediately after Yom Tov, another complicated stage of the massive operation began, as thousands started the difficult overland journey out of Ukraine toward border crossings in neighboring countries. From there, they were to board flights back to Eretz Yisroel and destinations around the world. Heavy outbound traffic was expected to continue for several days.

Summing up this year’s gathering, Rabbi Ben Nun said that seeing more than 65,000 Yidden in Uman after months of preparations was a source of tremendous simcha.

“After months of preparation and work, seeing more than 65,000 Jews here who came from all over the world to spend Rosh Hashanah with Rabbeinu is a great joy. The journey this year was not simple, and nevertheless, people did everything to get here. Thank you to everyone who helped and assisted so that the kibbutz could pass peacefully. We wish all the tens of thousands an easy and pleasant journey home. As far as we are concerned, the work does not end when Yom Tov is over. We are here all year and continue working on behalf of the tziyun and those who come to Uman.”

{Matzav.com}

Reb Yehuda Aharon Widavsky z”l, one of the oldest Holocaust survivors in Israel and a venerable chossid of Sochatchov and Modzhitz, was niftar on the first night of Rosh Hashanah at the age of 107.

A survivor of the Lodz Ghetto and Auschwitz, Reb Yehuda Aharon rebuilt his life after the Holocaust, merited to establish generations of descendants, and devoted decades to preserving Jewish cemeteries and the resting places of tzaddikim throughout Poland.

The levayah was scheduled to take place on Motzoei Rosh Hashanah at midnight at the Nachalat Yitzchak Cemetery in Givatayim, where he was to be laid to rest.

Reb Yehuda Aharon was born on 27 Tammuz 5679 (1919) in the Polish town of Turek to his father, Reb Avraham Mordechai z”l. As a young man, he was among the young chassidim of Sochatchov and developed a deep attachment to the Admorim of the chassidus.

The family later moved to Lodz, where Reb Yehuda Aharon managed the family textile business and became involved in the life of the local Jewish community.

With the outbreak of World War II, his world was shattered. Reb Yehuda Aharon endured the horrors of the Holocaust, first imprisoned in the Lodz Ghetto and later deported to the Auschwitz extermination camp. Amid unspeakable brutality and the constant threat of death, he remained steadfast in his emunah and Jewish identity with extraordinary mesirus nefesh.

He survived the inferno, but most of his family members were murdered al kiddush Hashem.

Following liberation, he married his wife, Mrs. Dabrish Widavsky a”h, née Wasserzug. In 1950, the couple made aliyah to Eretz Yisroel, where Reb Yehuda Aharon rebuilt his home upon foundations of Torah and yiras Shomayim. He viewed the family he was privileged to establish as the ultimate victory over the Nazis who had sought to destroy the Jewish people.

Over the ensuing decades, Reb Yehuda Aharon became widely known for what developed into one of the great undertakings of his life: preserving the memory of the Jewish communities destroyed in the Holocaust and rescuing and restoring Jewish cemeteries throughout Poland.

Beginning in the 1970s, he invested enormous effort and resources in dealing with Polish authorities and others to restore the vast Jewish cemetery in Lodz and to redeem hundreds of Jewish graves and cemetery sites across Poland.

Among the most significant accomplishments resulting from his efforts and meticulous research was the restoration and rebuilding of the ohel of the Sochatchover Admorim in the town of Sochaczew. The site subsequently became a destination for thousands of chassidim who traveled there to daven at the resting places of the tzaddikim.

Reb Yehuda Aharon also endured personal tragedy in his later years. Several years ago, his son-in-law, Dr. Reb Mordechai Himmelpharb z”l, was niftar. Dr. Himmelpharb, a Modzhitzer chossid, was a prominent ear, nose and throat physician in Bnei Brak and at Ichilov Hospital and passed away while still at the height of his professional activities.

For decades, Reb Yehuda Aharon maintained a deep connection with the Admorim of both Modzhitz and Sochatchov and was privileged to have close relationships with numerous tzaddikim.

With great chasdei Shomayim, he merited extraordinary longevity while retaining his clarity of mind into his final years. When he reached his 100th birthday, a special gathering was held in his honor, attended by Admorim, rabbonim and public figures, who paid tribute to his remarkable life as an oved Hashem b’simcha and a man devoted to chesed.

Reb Yehuda Aharon leaves behind doros yesharim u’mevorachim, generations of descendants continuing the legacy of a man who survived the destruction of European Jewry and spent the decades that followed rebuilding, preserving and perpetuating its heritage.

Yehi zichro baruch.

{Matzav.com}

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez drew sharp criticism Friday after cameras showed the two smiling and laughing together during the solemn reading of victims’ names at the Ground Zero ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. The brief exchange occurred during a ceremony in which relatives spent hours reading the names of the 2,977 people killed on September 11, as well as the six victims of the 1993 World Trade Center bombing.

A live broadcast of the ceremony captured Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez appearing cheerful during their interaction, while other portions of the coverage showed grieving relatives and attendees overcome with emotion as the names of those murdered in the attacks were read from the podium.

The images quickly circulated online, prompting criticism from political figures and commentators who questioned the appropriateness of the exchange during such a solemn event.

“Why …. are these two laughing?!?” Meghan McCain, former “The View” host and daughter of late GOP Sen. John McCain, wrote on X.

“How … do you laugh while the names of those murdered on 9/11 are being read aloud? Why would you do so?” wondered Texas GOP Sen. Ted Cruz.

Brooklyn Republican Councilwoman Inna Vernikov also condemned the scene, tying it to the controversy that had preceded Mamdani’s attendance at the ceremony.

“After thousands of families of victims of terror beg Mamdani not to show up, he stands there and laughs while families weep. This is NYC’s Mayor,” scolded Brooklyn Republican Councilwoman Inna Vernikov.

According to an unnamed source cited by the New York Post, the exchange occurred after Gov. Kathy Hochul, New York Attorney General Letitia James and Sen. Chuck Schumer had departed during the ceremony, leaving Mamdani standing without many of the other prominent officials who had been nearby.

“Nobody wanted to be by him,” the source said. “It was awkward.”

Members of the mayor’s administration and Ocasio-Cortez subsequently took seats around Mamdani, according to the account, and it was during that period that the exchange between the mayor and the congresswoman was captured on camera.

The same source, however, offered a more favorable assessment of Mamdani’s conduct during the ceremony overall, saying the mayor remained respectful for the rest of the event, stayed longer than many other elected officials and remained through the conclusion, speaking afterward with relatives of 9/11 victims.

“He doesn’t help his case,” the insider quipped. “This guy doesn’t distance himself from people who say America deserved to be attacked. And where the f—k was his wife? She misses America 250, now this.”

Mamdani’s wife, Rama Duwaji, has generally maintained a low profile during her husband’s mayoralty, describing herself as a private person, although she has appeared at some major public events, including the Knicks’ ticker-tape parade and New York Fashion Week.

Mamdani’s attendance at Friday’s commemoration had itself become the subject of controversy before the ceremony. Some relatives of 9/11 victims and Republican political figures had urged him not to attend. Mamdani rejected those calls and said he wanted the anniversary to remain focused on the victims, their families and first responders. The mayor has called the September 11 attacks a “horrific act of terror.”

There was also pushback against the interpretation of the video. Michael Ragusa, who served as head of security for Mayor Rudy Giuliani, said he was standing near Mamdani and Ocasio-Cortez and maintained that the widely circulated footage did not provide the full context of what happened.

“The camera just caught her greeting him hello. Multiple other politicians were laughing and joking behind me. Republicans and Democrats,” he wrote on X.

“And for the record I am a life long republican who has been very critical of these two,” he added.

Earlier in the ceremony, Mamdani was seen exchanging an awkward handshake with Giuliani, who was mayor of New York City at the time of the September 11 attacks and had publicly argued before Friday’s commemoration that Mamdani should not attend.

One source cited by the Post claimed that Giuliani nevertheless gave Mamdani a warmer reception than some of the other elected officials at the ceremony.

“None of the elected wanted to be near him,” they said.

The previous evening, Mamdani participated in the final portion of a Manhattan interfaith memorial walk commemorating 9/11. The walk included stops at Jewish, Christian and Muslim houses of worship, although the mayor joined at its final stop, the Islamic Center of New York City. There, Mamdani delivered remarks remembering those killed in the attacks and praising first responders and religious leaders who assisted New Yorkers in the aftermath.

Mamdani had also faced criticism during his mayoral campaign over comments he made while discussing the experiences of Muslims in New York following the September 11 attacks.

“I want to speak to the memory of my aunt, who stopped taking the subway after Sept. 11 because she did not feel safe in her hjiab,” then-candidate Mamdani intoned.

[Video below.] President Donald Trump singled out Shimmy Biegeleisen z”l, the 42-year-old Brooklyn father of five who was killed in the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, as he paid tribute Friday to individual victims of the terror attacks during a solemn 25th-anniversary commemoration at the Pentagon. Trump recalled that Biegeleisen was on the 97th floor of the South Tower and surrounded by photographs of his five children when the building came down. Records and memorial sources identify Biegeleisen as a vice president at Fiduciary Trust International who was killed at the World Trade Center.

Trump delivered the remarks at a ceremony honoring the 184 people killed when American Airlines Flight 77 was deliberately crashed into the Pentagon on September 11, 2001.

Opening on a somber note, Trump commemorated all 2,977 victims who were killed in the coordinated attacks in New York, Virginia and Pennsylvania, reflecting on the magnitude of the loss a quarter-century later.

The President recalled several of the children who were aboard American Airlines Flight 77, among them three 11-year-old students traveling on a school trip. He also remembered sisters Zoe Falkenberg, 8, and Dana Falkenberg, 3, who were traveling with their parents. Trump then recounted the fate of a group of Pentagon colleagues who had gathered for a sergeant major’s dinner party the weekend before the attack: “Every person at that sergeant major’s party was murdered by terrorists who flew Flight 77 straight into this legendary building.”

“Today we renew the sacred oath that we first swore in their names a quarter of a century ago. We will never, ever forget,” the president said. “That’s why we fight today. We don’t have a choice. There can only be victory. We fight hard, we fight to win. We will always remember the victims and the families of September 11th, 2001.”

WATCH:

https://matzav.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/VIDEO-2026-09-11-17-45-26.mp4

Trump proceeded to recount the stories of individual victims whose lives ended that morning. Among them was Patrick Danahy, 35, who was working on the 90th floor of the South Tower. After the North Tower was hit, Danahy telephoned his pregnant wife, Mary, told her he was safe and urged her not to watch television. She later watched as the second plane struck the South Tower and the building collapsed with her husband still inside. Their youngest daughter was born exactly one month later, on October 11.

Trump then turned to the story of Shimmy Biegeleisen, who was 42 and working on the 97th floor of the South Tower. The Brooklyn resident and father of five was killed when the tower collapsed. Trump described Biegeleisen as being surrounded by photographs of his five children in his final moments.

“Free people must never avert their eyes from such hideous cruelty. We cannot forget that moment of immense and horrible evil that took place in this world, bent on the destruction of all that is good,” Trump stated.

“But this morning, we also remember how America responded to that wickedness,” he continued. “On days like 9-11, we learn what a country is truly made of. We’re learning right now what we’re made of and we have to be strong and we have to be smart. And Americans are made of a goodness spirit that can transcend any earthly force.”

The President also revisited the heroism aboard United Airlines Flight 93, whose passengers and crew fought back after realizing the plane had been hijacked as part of the wider attack. Trump recalled a flight attendant boiling water to use against the hijackers and spoke about Todd Beamer, the 31-year-old New Jersey passenger who asked a telephone operator in Illinois to join him in The Lord’s Prayer before uttering his now-famous final words — “Let’s roll” — as passengers moved to retake the cockpit. Their actions prevented the plane from reaching its intended target, and it crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

“In those harrowing days after the attacks, we saw the authentic spirit of our nation. We were all New Yorkers that day, every one of us,” President Trump said.

Trump also highlighted the massive American flag that became a symbol of the Pentagon’s resilience in the immediate aftermath of the attack. On September 12, 2001, General James Jackson ordered the largest flag in the military’s collection to be displayed beside the damaged portion of the Pentagon. During Friday’s ceremony, Trump asked those assembled to stand in recognition of the flag and the three firefighters who originally raised it: Joseph Morabito, Scott Morgan and Carl Sahlberg.

“In the generation since 9-11 American sons and daughters have traveled to the darkest corners of the earth and done battle with a shadowy enemy so that our children might once again know carefree days in cloudless skies,” said Trump. “For 25 years, our best and bravest have kept America safe, and today we salute every member of the United States military who served in the war on terror.”

“A generation after 9-11, we also know that the final response to those atrocities and the ultimate victory over the perpetrators will not be found on a foreign battlefield,” Trump remarked while also recognizing current American service members involved in efforts to prevent Iran from obtaining a nuclear capability.

The President additionally paid tribute to FDNY Captain Timothy Stackpole, a father of five who had endured years of grueling rehabilitation after suffering severe burns over 40% of his body in a five-alarm fire in 1998. Stackpole had returned to full duty and was promoted to captain shortly before September 11. Although he was off duty on the morning of the attacks, he rushed to the World Trade Center to help and was killed when the South Tower collapsed.

“As scripture tells us, the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it,” said the commander-in-chief. “September 11th reminded us of the terrible power of hate. The 25 years since have shown us the even greater power of the American spirit to endure and prevail and to win.”

{Matzav.com}

After nearly four decades at the center of chareidi political life in Israel, MK Moshe Rafael Gafni is concluding his lengthy tenure in the Knesset, closing a remarkable chapter that took him from a young communal activist in the southern development town of Ofakim to one of the most powerful and influential chareidi lawmakers in the country.

Throughout the corridors of the Knesset in Givat Ram, governments have risen and fallen, ministers have come and gone, and Israel’s political landscape has repeatedly been transformed. Yet for close to 40 years, Gafni remained a remarkably constant presence. He never held the title of government minister, never commanded an army and never led a secular political party, but the practical influence he accumulated at some of the most important intersections of Israeli public life established him as one of the country’s most seasoned and respected parliamentarians.

Gafni’s personal story became intertwined with the modern history of the chareidi community in Israel. It began in the country’s south, continued through the dramatic night when he was summoned to the home of Rav Elazar Menachem Man Shach zt”l, and eventually brought him to the coveted chairmanship of the Knesset Finance Committee, the position through which he would leave an enduring imprint on Israel’s economic and political system.

Moshe Gafni was born in the early summer of 5712 in Tel Aviv to his parents, Eliyahu and Chava Bracha, Polish Holocaust survivors who were affiliated with Ger.

He received his early education at the Yesodei HaTorah Talmud Torah before continuing his Torah development in two of the most prominent Lithuanian yeshivos in Israel, Slabodka Yeshiva in Bnei Brak and Grodno Yeshiva in Ashdod. Under the Toraso umnaso arrangement, he deferred military service and became firmly rooted in the Lithuanian yeshiva world.

Following his marriage to his wife, Chana, in 5733, Gafni moved to Ofakim in the western Negev. The move was part of a broader initiative by the Lithuanian Torah leadership to strengthen communities in Israel’s outlying areas by establishing thriving Torah centers there.

In Ofakim, Gafni quickly became a central figure in the local community. He headed the Zichron Eliyahu kollel and eventually entered municipal politics as a member of the Ofakim City Council.

Long before he entered the Knesset, Ofakim provided Gafni with his first real education in politics and public service.

Recalling those years, Gafni once described the intensive grassroots work that characterized his approach: “לא היה בית שאני ואשתי לא היינו בו” — “There was not a home that my wife and I had not been in.”

Rather than limiting himself to matters directly affecting religious institutions and Torah education, Gafni became deeply involved in the everyday difficulties facing residents of the development town. He dealt with welfare issues, helped struggling families and confronted the often-unyielding bureaucracy of municipal and national government agencies.

Thus, Gafni did not arrive at the Finance Committee years later as a detached technocrat. His political education had been acquired on the ground, dealing directly with ordinary citizens and the hardships of families living on Israel’s socioeconomic periphery. That experience would later shape the way he approached the national budget and social policy, often extending his involvement well beyond matters affecting the chareidi community alone.

His years in Ofakim also gave him practical experience in public administration, bridging social divides and navigating government ministries and bureaucracies. At the same time, his writing for the Yated Ne’eman newspaper helped develop the sharp public style for which he would later become known.

The Historic Split: The Night That Changed Chareidi Politics

The year 5749 marked a watershed in chareidi politics. Long-simmering tensions between the chassidic wing of Agudas Yisrael, led largely by Ger, and the Lithuanian Torah community reached a breaking point. Many in the Lithuanian community believed they were underrepresented and increasingly marginalized, circumstances that had already contributed to the establishment of Yated Ne’eman and the Shearis Yisrael kashrus organization.

Ahead of elections for Israel’s 12th Knesset, Rav Shach, the Ponovezh Rosh Yeshiva, made the historic decision to break with Agudas Yisrael and establish an independent political party, Degel HaTorah.

Rav Shach sought young, energetic individuals to build the new movement. Late one night, Gafni was summoned to Rav Shach’s home and instructed to run for the Knesset. Rav Shach gave him one succinct directive that Gafni would carry with him throughout his political career: “תשמור על החוק” — “Observe the law.”

Running under the eitz ballot symbol, the fledgling Degel HaTorah stunned Israel’s political establishment by winning 34,279 votes and securing two Knesset seats. Gafni entered the Israeli legislature for the first time.

Upon joining the 12th Knesset in 1988, Gafni began developing a distinctly different model of political power. Instead of pursuing a ministerial portfolio, he concentrated on accumulating influence within the Knesset itself, particularly through its committees. He served on bodies including the Knesset Committee and the Labor and Welfare Committee, laying the foundations for the parliamentary power he would later wield.

Inside the Movement: The Rotation Years and Degel HaTorah Leadership

During the 13th and 14th Knessets, after Degel HaTorah and Agudas Yisrael joined together under the United Torah Judaism banner, Gafni had to contend with carefully negotiated rotation agreements between the factions. The delicate balance between the two components of UTJ meant that he moved in and out of the Knesset at different points.

Those years outside the Knesset, however, became another important stage in his development as a public figure. Moving between parliamentary and extra-parliamentary activity gave him an intimate understanding of both the political system and the communal infrastructure behind it.

Recognizing his organizational and administrative abilities, Rav Shach entrusted Gafni with another major responsibility, appointing him secretary-general of Degel HaTorah. Gafni was no longer merely an elected official working in the Knesset chamber; he was responsible for operating the machinery of the young political movement itself.

He helped build the party apparatus, developed relationships with mayors and municipal officials, local askanim, community administrators and roshei yeshiva throughout the country, and managed the movement’s ongoing activities in accordance with the direction of the Gedolei Torah.

That period became crucial to understanding Gafni’s later effectiveness on the national stage. He knew the political machinery from the inside, understood the intricacies of local government and maintained direct relationships with communities on the ground. The combination ultimately made him a particularly skilled parliamentary operator capable of navigating virtually every major decision-making center.

A Shaliach, Not a Minister

One of the defining principles of Gafni’s political career was rooted in Rav Shach’s position regarding participation in an Israeli government.

Under the principle of collective ministerial responsibility established in Israel’s Basic Law: The Government, ministers share responsibility for the actions of the government as a whole. From the Lithuanian chareidi perspective articulated by Rav Shach, this created serious concerns regarding responsibility for public chillul Shabbos, consequential security decisions and government spending contrary to Torah values.

Rav Shach therefore instructed Degel HaTorah representatives not to serve as ministers in Israeli governments.

Gafni adhered to that position throughout his career. Even as representatives of other chareidi factions eventually accepted ministerial posts, and despite offers of senior portfolios including the Housing Ministry, Gafni refused to become a minister.

The sole exception to his general avoidance of executive government office came between 1990 and 1992, when he served as deputy religious affairs minister in Yitzchak Shamir’s government. The deputy-minister position gave him executive authority without making him a full member of the government carrying collective ministerial responsibility.

Rise to the Center of Parliamentary Power

Another important milestone came during the 15th Knesset, when Gafni was appointed chairman of the Knesset Interior and Environment Committee.

The committee dealt with some of the most complicated issues facing the country, including local authorities, planning and construction, municipal government, public administration and environmental matters. Gafni’s earlier years on the Ofakim City Council gave him firsthand familiarity with many of the issues now reaching his committee on the national level.

A major turning point came in January 2009 with the passing of MK Rabbi Avrohom Ravitz z”l, Gafni’s longtime political partner and a leading figure in Degel HaTorah.

Following Ravitz’s passing, Gafni became chairman of Degel HaTorah, placing him at the forefront of the Lithuanian chareidi community’s political representation while remaining completely subordinate to the direction of its roshei yeshiva and Gedolei Torah.

From there, Gafni eventually reached what would become his most important center of parliamentary influence: the chairmanship of the Knesset Finance Committee.

Across several terms totaling more than a decade — approximately 13 years during the 18th, 20th, 23rd and 25th Knessets — Gafni transformed the Finance Committee chairmanship into an extraordinary center of political influence. From that position, he repeatedly confronted and negotiated with Finance Ministry officials while directing resources toward preserving the Torah world and advancing social policies benefiting Israel’s periphery and economically vulnerable populations.

Political Moderation and Loyalty to the Right-Wing Bloc

Gafni’s political worldview has long contained an unusual combination. On diplomatic and security matters, he has described himself as a faithful student of Rav Shach, rejecting messianic approaches to territorial issues and supporting diplomatic flexibility when necessary for pikuach nefesh. Gafni has even said in the past that his diplomatic positions were relatively close to those of the political left.

At the same time, his political alliances remained firmly with the right-wing bloc led by Binyamin Netanyahu. The traditionalist camp was viewed as a more natural partner for the chareidi parties because of its greater respect for the religious status quo, in contrast to the secular left associated with influential sectors of Israel’s academic and judicial establishments.

The End of an Era

Gafni’s final years in the Knesset unfolded against the backdrop of the bitter battle over the draft law, an issue that has deeply divided Israeli society and posed an existential challenge to the yeshiva world.

High Court rulings, the freezing of government funding and sanctions directed at yeshiva students eventually led to a dramatic development in July 2025. At the instruction of the leaders of the Lithuanian chareidi community, Rav Dov Landau and Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, Degel HaTorah withdrew from the governing coalition, bringing Gafni’s latest tenure as chairman of the Finance Committee to an end.

Gafni and his longtime colleague Uri Maklev subsequently moved away from the front line of parliamentary leadership, with MK Yaakov Asher expected to assume the leading role in representing Degel HaTorah in the Knesset.

Yet Gafni’s departure from the Knesset after nearly 40 years of public service did not mark the end of his involvement in Degel HaTorah.

Despite his retirement from parliamentary life, Rav Dov Landau asked Gafni to continue leading Degel HaTorah’s national movement, reflecting the appreciation within the party’s Torah leadership for his decades of devotion to the Torah world.

Moshe Gafni thus closes one of the longest and most consequential chapters in modern chareidi political history. From a young avreich and communal activist in Ofakim to the chairman sitting at the center of Israel’s national budget process, his political career was defined by a combination of social activism, parliamentary maneuvering and, above all, his conception of himself as a shaliach carrying out the directives of the Gedolei Torah.

{Matzav.com}

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar sharply rebuked European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas on Friday after she compared Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria to Russian-controlled Crimea while advocating for an EU-wide prohibition on trade in goods originating from those communities.

Speaking to The Irish Times, Kallas called on European governments to take what she characterized as a “principled stance” by backing a bloc-wide ban on commerce involving products from “Israeli settlements in Occupied Palestinian Territories.” Kallas said there was widespread agreement among EU countries that Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria violate international law.

To bolster her argument, Kallas invoked the European Union’s actions following Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea. “The question is what do we do about this? If we take the example when Crimea was occupied, then it was very clear, it’s illegal, we don’t recognize this, which means that we stop the trade with any products that come from Crimea,” she told the newspaper.

“We should have the same principled stance – you know this is illegal, everybody agrees – so we should stop trading with Occupied [Palestinian] Territories.”

Sa’ar responded forcefully on social media, rejecting both the historical and legal premise behind Kallas’ analogy.

“The comparison drawn by Kaja Kallas has no factual or legal basis whatsoever and is completely unacceptable.”

Sa’ar argued that the Jewish connection to Judea and Samaria stretches back through thousands of years of recorded history and rejected the contention that the territories could be equated with land seized from an existing sovereign state.

“The Jewish people’s connection and right to Judea and Samaria and the Land of Israel are more extensively documented than those of any other people in human history. Contrary to the comparisons drawn by Ms. Kallas, Judea and Samaria have never belonged to a Palestinian state, which never existed. Even the Palestinians themselves signed on a negotiated solution for the disputed territories.”

Sa’ar also questioned why the EU’s top foreign policy official would draw such a comparison between Israel and Russia, pointing to Israel’s democratic system and its security relationship with Europe.

“And finally – what does the high representative for foreign affairs and security policy is trying to do? Comparing the only democracy in the Middle East, that contributes in so many ways to Europe’s defence and security, to Russia? Did she stop to think about what she was actually saying?” concluded Sa’ar.

The clash followed additional European moves targeting Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria. Days earlier, British Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband announced that Britain would bar imports of goods produced in those communities. France and Canada joined the announcement, saying they too would “bring forward national measures to ban trade in settlement goods.”

Israel subsequently unveiled a series of retaliatory steps through Sa’ar. Among them, Israel said it would shutter the British Consulate in Yerushalayim, remove British personnel from the International Gaza Support Center in Kiryat Gat, and terminate British involvement in training Palestinian Authority forces in Judea and Samaria through the “British Support Team in Ramallah.”

In addition, Israel announced that 12 British elected officials and other British citizens would be denied entry to the country. Israeli officials said the individuals were being barred because of antisemitic or anti-Israel activity, or because they had denied Israel’s right to exist.

{Matzav.com}

[Video below.] New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Rudy Giuliani exchanged a handshake Friday at the 25th anniversary commemoration of the September 11 attacks at Ground Zero, a notable moment of civility after Giuliani had publicly urged Mamdani to stay away from the ceremony. The two men briefly spoke as they greeted each other at the memorial.

Giuliani, who served as mayor when the September 11, 2001, attacks devastated New York City, had said just days earlier that he was personally offended by Mamdani’s plans to attend the anniversary observance.

“Having lost friends there, and being very close to many of the families, it offends me that he’s coming.”

Giuliani also questioned Mamdani’s views regarding the nature of the September 11 attacks during his interview with Newsmax.

“Frankly, whatever he’d like to say, he doesn’t agree that Sept. 11 was an Islamic terrorist attack on the United States of America,” Giuliani said in the Sunday interview.

Giuliani’s criticism also included broad assertions about Muslims and claims that Mamdani supported an effort by Muslims to dominate American society. Those assertions about Mamdani’s beliefs have not been substantiated.

“They have every desire to take us over. This is not, they want to be just another religion, they want to dominate us,” Giuliani said of Muslims. “Mamdani is a clear supporter of that.”

Some of the opposition to Mamdani’s presence at Ground Zero also centered on his appointment of Ramzi Kassem as New York City’s chief counsel. Kassem previously represented Ahmed al-Darbi, an al-Qaida member who was convicted in connection with the 2002 bombing of the French oil tanker MV Limburg. Al-Darbi’s brother-in-law, Khalid al-Mihdhar, was one of the 19 September 11 hijackers.

Relatives of some 9/11 victims organized a petition calling on Mamdani not to attend Friday’s ceremony. By earlier this week, the petition had collected more than 100,000 signatures.

Among the objections raised in the petition were allegations that Mamdani had supported or associated with individuals viewed by its organizers as “dismissive of American institutions or insufficiently critical of extremist ideologies.”

Giuliani, meanwhile, repeatedly invoked Mamdani’s Muslim faith while criticizing his planned attendance and made a series of broader claims about Muslims and the September 11 attacks.

Mamdani rejected demands that he stay away. Instead of engaging extensively with Giuliani’s criticism, the mayor said attention surrounding the 25th anniversary should remain on the nearly 3,000 people murdered in the attacks, their families and the first responders who rushed into danger that morning. When reporters pressed him further about Giuliani’s remarks, Mamdani said he “did not have much more to add.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul was among those who defended Mamdani’s presence at the ceremony, arguing that the anniversary should emphasize the sense of common purpose that followed the attacks.

“Division should not prevail over the spirit of unity that brought us together after September 11th,” Hochul said in a post on the social platform X. “On this 25th anniversary, we should honor those we lost by coming together again as New Yorkers and Americans. The Mayor of New York City will be there, as he should be.”

Days before the anniversary, the Mamdani administration also released approximately 170,000 pages of previously unavailable city records dealing with the government’s response to September 11, including documents concerning air quality and the health risks faced by first responders, workers and residents following the collapse of the World Trade Center.

Mamdani said the newly disclosed material underscored what he described as a failure by government authorities to adequately protect and assist those exposed to toxic conditions after the attacks.

“It would be one thing if government had stood alongside survivors and provided them with everything they needed at every step of the way,” Mamdani added, noting that “could not be further” from what occurred.

The records released by City Hall include documents dating to Giuliani’s administration, which governed New York City at the time of the attacks and throughout the immediate aftermath. The release is part of a broader effort to make city records concerning post-9/11 air quality and health concerns publicly accessible.

Asked specifically whether he believed Giuliani had lied to New Yorkers about the safety of the air following September 11, Mamdani declined to make that accusation himself.

“I leave it to New Yorkers to make their judgements.”

Against that backdrop of days of bitter public disagreement, the brief handshake between Mamdani and Giuliani at Ground Zero stood out Friday as the two joined victims’ families, first responders and current and past national and city leaders in commemorating a quarter-century since the deadliest terrorist attack on American soil.

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{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump on Friday pushed back against reports that he chose not to attend the 25th anniversary commemoration of the September 11 attacks at Ground Zero because organizers would not allow him to deliver remarks, saying he was “99 percent” certain he could have spoken had he wanted to.

Trump addressed the controversy during an interview with Sid Rosenberg on 77 WABC, disputing a New York Times report last month that said his team had expressed interest in having him speak at the New York City ceremony.

“It’s just not true. I didn’t demand to speak,” he told Sid Rosenberg on 77 WABC on Friday.

Trump said he believed organizers would have accommodated him had he actually sought a speaking role.

“I’m sure if I wanted to speak, they would have let me,” he said, adding that he’s president and he knows “the guys down there.”

“I am 99 percent sure,” he continued.

The New York Times reported in August, citing people familiar with the planning, that Trump’s team had initially signaled an intention to attend the Ground Zero commemoration and that his interest in speaking had been conveyed to organizers. The National September 11 Memorial & Museum has barred politicians from delivering speeches at the annual ceremony since 2012, seeking to keep the observance focused on the victims and their families rather than politics.

Trump, however, suggested Friday that he had little interest in adding another speech to his schedule.

Trump joked that “I speak enough, the last thing I want to do is speak.”

“I don’t need it for any reason,” he said.

Trump also singled out New York Times White House correspondent Maggie Haberman, one of the reporters who worked on the original story. He had already sharply disputed the account in a Truth Social post last month, describing the Times report as “Corrupt News.”

“I’ve been to New York many times over the years, and no one ever speaks, it’s a ‘solemn ceremony!’” he wrote.

Trump ultimately marked Friday’s anniversary at the Pentagon, where he delivered remarks honoring the victims and reflecting on the attacks 25 years later. Vice President JD Vance represented the administration at the Ground Zero ceremony in Lower Manhattan, joining victims’ families and all four living ex-presidents — Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Barack Obama and Joe Biden.

Previous presidents have at times visited all three locations struck on September 11 — New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and the Flight 93 crash site near Shanksville, Pennsylvania — on major anniversaries. Biden visited all three on the 20th anniversary in 2021, Obama did so for the 10th anniversary in 2011, and George W. Bush visited the three sites on both the first and fifth anniversaries.

{Matzav.com}

A rare and lengthy meeting took place between the Toldos Aharon Rebbe and Beit Shemesh Mayor Shmuel Greenberg, during which the Rebbe personally asked the mayor to assist with the continued expansion of the chassidus’ mosdos in Ramat Beit Shemesh Daled, including plans to establish an additional yeshiva for the growing community.

Toldos Aharon has long maintained a substantial presence in Beit Shemesh, and in recent years the kehillah has expanded significantly into Ramat Daled. The Rebbe is said to view Beit Shemesh, and particularly its rapidly developing neighborhoods, as an important center for the future growth of the chareidi community.

Three active Toldos Aharon batei medrash have already been established in Ramat Daled, along with a mikvah, representing a combined investment of approximately NIS 2 million. The facilities have become central gathering points for local Toldos Aharon families as the community continues to expand.

The Rebbe arrived in Beit Shemesh in the middle of Elul for approximately a week of rest. During his stay, he received chassidim each evening, offering his birchas hashanah ahead of Rosh Hashanah.

Among those who came to receive a blessing was Mayor Shmuel Greenberg, who was granted an unusually lengthy private audience at the Rebbe’s residence.

During their meeting, the Rebbe and Greenberg discussed the needs of the developing Toldos Aharon community in Beit Shemesh and the challenges accompanying its rapid growth.

Community leaders and askanim told the Rebbe that although Toldos Aharon does not participate in municipal elections, Greenberg has nevertheless worked with the kehillah and assisted its needs wherever possible.

The Rebbe warmly thanked the mayor for his efforts and blessed him that he should merit serving as a faithful and effective shaliach on behalf of the future of the chareidi community in the neighborhood.

In keeping with the custom during the days preceding Rosh Hashanah, the Rebbe then presented Greenberg with an apple and honey and wished him a shana tovah u’mesukah.

Following the exchange of blessings, the Rebbe and Greenberg continued their discussion privately.

During that closed-door conversation, the Rebbe personally raised the need to further expand and strengthen Toldos Aharon’s network of mosdos in Ramat Daled. A particular priority discussed was advancing plans for an additional yeshiva to serve the community’s growing number of families and bnei yeshiva.

The unusual meeting was seen within Toldos Aharon as another indication of the increasingly significant place Beit Shemesh occupies in the chassidus’ future plans, as its leadership looks toward further strengthening and expanding the Toldos Aharon presence in the city.

Britain’s top domestic intelligence official issued a stark warning on the 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks, saying the next major security catastrophe could already be developing beyond the areas intelligence agencies are currently watching.

Ken McCallum, director general of Britain’s MI5 intelligence service, said that while security agencies must continue learning from previous terrorist attacks, concentrating too heavily on yesterday’s threats could leave countries dangerously exposed to an entirely different type of attack in the future.

McCallum made the warning in an opinion piece published Friday to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, when al-Qaida terrorists hijacked passenger aircraft and attacked the World Trade Center and Pentagon. His remarks were also reported by Reuters.

“We know that the next strategic shock will, by definition, not resemble the last one. That is perhaps the most important lesson of all,” McCallum wrote in the commentary for the Independent newspaper.

The MI5 chief cautioned that intelligence agencies cannot simply prepare to prevent another attack modeled on what happened on 9/11. The next catastrophic threat, he suggested, may emerge through entirely different methods, actors or targets.

“We must of course always learn from the last attack – but must beware of preparing brilliantly to fight yesterday’s enemy, using yesterday’s methods, against yesterday’s target … The uncomfortable truth is that the next strategic shock may already be taking shape somewhere we are not yet looking.”

McCallum stressed that the terrorist threat has not disappeared. Although al-Qaida is substantially weaker than it was at the time of the September 11 attacks, he said the organization remains dangerous, while it and other terrorist groups continue to harbor ambitions of carrying out attacks capable of inflicting mass casualties.

He pointed in particular to a recently thwarted Islamist terrorist plot targeting the Jewish community in Manchester, England. According to McCallum, the plan called for gun attacks intended to murder hundreds of Jews — an example, he said, of the continuing desire among extremists to carry out large-scale atrocities.

But terrorism is no longer the only danger occupying MI5.

McCallum said British intelligence is increasingly confronting threats backed by hostile states. Those operations can take forms ranging from sabotage carried out through criminal proxies to cyberattacks targeting critical infrastructure, including power stations.

That changing landscape, he argued, means governments cannot prepare for the next major crisis on their own.

The world’s infrastructure also looks markedly different from what existed in 2001. Many systems and essential services that were once largely controlled by governments are now operated by private companies. McCallum said protecting those systems will therefore require cooperation between government agencies, private businesses and academia.

The time to establish those relationships, he warned, is before an attack occurs — not while a crisis is already unfolding.

“We cannot wait for the next shock to discover who owns the vulnerability, who has the authority to act, or who was supposed to pick up the phone,” he wrote.

McCallum framed that preparation as part of the responsibility owed to the nearly 3,000 people murdered on September 11, arguing that marking the anniversary cannot be limited to looking backward and remembering those who were killed.

Instead, he said, the lesson of 9/11 must include preparing for threats that may look nothing like the attack that changed the world 25 years ago.

“We owe the victims of 9/11 – and those who will otherwise become the victims of tomorrow’s attack – something more than remembrance. We owe them preparation, resilience and the courage to adapt before the next shock arrives.”

[Video below.] A deeply emotional scene unfolded after midnight at the Har Nof home of Rav Moshe Shternbuch, as the senior posek broke down in uncontrollable tears following Selichos, crying out over the difficult situation facing Klal Yisroel and pleading with the Ribono Shel Olam for mercy as the Yemei Hadin approach.

The extraordinary scene took place in Rav Shternbuch’s home in Yerushalayim while much of the city was asleep. After completing Selichos after chatzos, Rav Shternbuch remained immersed in intense emotion, tears streaming from his eyes as he began speaking to those gathered around him.

His words, delivered amid repeated sobbing, left those present shaken. Several of Rav Shternbuch’s close attendants themselves began to cry, later remarking that the raw emotion and unusual manner in which he spoke were unlike what they were accustomed to seeing from him.

Rav Shternbuch began with a piercing call to teshuvah.

“Come, let us return to Hashem, because the time is difficult and the troubles of our hearts have multiplied, and we do not know what will be…”

Then his voice broke.

“Father, Father, Father! Come back to us! How much longer will we have to suffer? You told us that we are Your children, and a father does not abandon his children. Please, do not abandon us! It is true that we sinned before You with brazenness and defiance, and we did not listen to the voice of the holy Creator, but You are our Father…”

Rav Shternbuch continued through his tears, pleading that the relationship between Hashem and His children should itself serve as the source of forgiveness.

“HaKadosh Baruch Hu will help us and He will forgive us, because it is the way of a father to forgive his son, and You will forgive us because we are Your children, for that is what You promised us: ‘You are children to Hashem your G-d.’”

He then uttered a brief sentence that encapsulated the anguish evident throughout his remarks:

“The situation is bitter, bitter, bitter!”

Rav Shternbuch went on to speak with profound pain about the gezeiros and spiritual challenges confronting the Torah community. His words were deliberately guarded, and he indicated that there were matters about which he could not speak openly.

“They are killing us and fighting against us. Oy.”

Then, addressing those gathered around him, Rav Shternbuch issued a stark warning.

“Rabbosai! The situation is not good! I am not permitted to speak, and I will not speak, chas v’shalom, but the situation is bitter, bitter, bitter, bitter! Oy, they want to completely uproot us from HaKadosh Baruch Hu, and they want us to become a nation like all the nations, a people like all the other peoples. And about this HaKadosh Baruch Hu said, ‘That which enters your minds shall not be!’ It will not happen!”

With his voice filled with anguish, Rav Shternbuch continued:

“And they disgrace HaKadosh Baruch Hu and do not listen to His voice. And what will be the end? They are killing us and fighting against us… Oy, HaKadosh Baruch Hu should help and have mercy! This is a time of tzaros, and HaKadosh Baruch Hu should help us get through it.”

WATCH:

https://matzav.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/VIDEO-2026-09-11-13-32-03.mp4

{Matzav.com}

The return of the final 20 living hostages on Hoshana Rabbah. The arrests of bnei yeshiva and the massive “Million-Man Rally.” War with Iran, missile strikes and extraordinary miracles in Bnei Brak and Arad. Heartbreaking tragedies that left the Torah world reeling. The dramatic ruling in the decades-long Ponevezh Yeshiva dispute and a shocking murder inside Kollel Chazon Ish. And, as the year drew to a close, an extraordinary scene at the White House: the two Satmar Rebbes standing side by side.

As 5786 draws to a close, it is difficult to remember a year containing so many events that seemed, at the moment they occurred, almost impossible to absorb. It was a year of gezeiros and arrests, war and loss, tefillah and chizuk, heartbreak and remarkable yeshuos — twelve months that left an indelible mark on the chareidi community in Eretz Yisroel and throughout the world.

Here is a look back at a year that will not soon be forgotten.

Tishrei A Hoshana Rabbah of Tears and Joy: The Final 20 Living Hostages Come Home

An extraordinary wave of emotion swept through Klal Yisroel on Hoshana Rabbah, as the final 20 living hostages held by Hamas in Gaza were finally returned to Israel.

For two long years, since the outbreak of the Simchas Torah War, Jews around the world had waited, worried, cried and davened for their return. Their plight had become part of the daily consciousness of Jews everywhere, with countless tefillos offered on their behalf.

Then, on the sacred day of Hoshana Rabbah, as the final peteklach are sealed, the news that so many had desperately awaited finally arrived. The complicated operation was completed, and the remaining living captives emerged from the nightmare of Hamas captivity.

Across the Jewish world, the response was one of overwhelming gratitude to Hashem. In yeshivos, shuls and Chassidic batei medrash, spontaneous singing broke out as Jews expressed their thanks for the tremendous chasdei Hashem and celebrated the fulfillment of the great mitzvah of pidyon shvuyim.

Arrests Rock the Yeshiva World

The closing days of Tishrei brought an entirely different kind of upheaval, as a wave of arrests involving bnei yeshiva sent shockwaves through the Torah world.

Ariel Rosenzweig, a bochur learning at Yeshivas Neveh Eretz in Be’er Yaakov who had only recently lost his father, was arrested while still sitting shivah.

Then came the arrest of Ariel Shamai, a bochur at Yeshivas Ateres Shlomo, who was taken into custody by military police at his home in Ramat Gan.

Shamai’s arrest galvanized the yeshiva world. His rosh yeshiva, Rav Shalom Ber Sorotzkin, had just landed in the United States when he learned what had happened. He immediately boarded a flight back to Eretz Yisroel.

A massive gathering was subsequently organized outside Prison 10, led by Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch. In an extraordinary scene, Rav Moshe Hillel delivered a shiur klali there to mark the opening of the winter zman.

Thousands of children from Ateres Shlomo institutions around the country also traveled to the prison area. Rav Sorotzkin addressed them about the battle to secure his talmid’s release and responded to criticism of comparisons that had been made between the campaign for the arrested bochur and the struggle to free the hostages from Gaza.

Cheshvan Hundreds of Thousands Gather Against the Draft

The arrests ultimately led to one of the largest chareidi demonstrations in recent memory.

At the beginning of Cheshvan, plans were finalized for what became known as the “Million-Man Rally” at the entrance to Yerushalayim, called in response to the arrests and the ongoing battle over the drafting of bnei yeshiva.

Hundreds of thousands poured into the area on Thursday, with many beginning their journeys during the previous night. Knowing that transportation into Yerushalayim would be extraordinarily difficult, participants arrived hours ahead of time.

The yeshiva world was careful not to allow the demonstration to come at the expense of seder. Bnei yeshiva left early in the morning and dispersed among nearby batei medrash, where they learned Seder Alef before proceeding to the rally.

Gedolei Yisroel representing numerous communities and chugim participated from specially prepared balconies overlooking major intersections. The enormous gathering joined in tefillah over the draft gezeirah, amid a declaration that the chareidi community would not accept a reality in which lomdei Torah were taken from the batei medrash and imprisoned.

Dramatic Ruling in Decades-Long Ponevezh Dispute

Later in Cheshvan came a major development in one of the longest and most bitter disputes in the yeshiva world.

After decades of conflict at Ponevezh Yeshiva, Judge David Cheshin, who had spent four years serving as arbitrator between the opposing sides, issued his final ruling.

The decision ordered the faction commonly known as the “Mechablim” to vacate the yeshiva’s campus in Av 5786.

An appeal followed, and Judge Shavach subsequently issued another ruling in Elul, setting Tishrei as the time for the yeshiva operated by that faction to leave the campus.

Kislev Tens of Thousands Gather With Rav Tzvi Meir Until 4 A.M.

Kislev saw tens of thousands gather for the annual night of chizuk led by Rav Tzvi Meir Zilberberg.

The enormous gathering stretched deep into the night. Until approximately 4 a.m. on Motzoei Shabbos, participants continued streaming forward to undertake personal kabbalos aimed at strengthening themselves in ruchniyus and protecting the sanctity of the Jewish home.

The gathering has developed into an annual event whose influence is felt across broad segments of the chareidi community.

At its center was Rav Tzvi Meir’s approximately two-hour address, delivered in Yiddish. Thousands of special headsets provided simultaneous Hebrew and English translation.

Among the subjects Rav Tzvi Meir addressed was the need for vigilance regarding technology. He also spoke forcefully about the spiritual dangers posed by artificial intelligence, describing it as one of the significant challenges confronting the generation.

Teves Tragedy After Protest: 14-Year-Old Yosef Eisental Killed

Teves brought a tragedy that shook the yeshiva world.

At the conclusion of a demonstration in Yerushalayim against the draft law, 14-year-old Chaim Yosef Eisental, a beloved bochur at Yeshivas Ohel Torah in Ramot Daled, was fatally struck by a bus.

The inscription subsequently placed on his matzeivah described a young masmid taken in the prime of his youth while returning from a gathering of tefillah held for the preservation of Torah in Eretz Yisroel.

It also recorded the extraordinary wave of chizuk that followed his petirah, as people accepted upon themselves greater diligence in Torah learning, work on their middos, and teshuvah in his memory.

Rav Uri Lupolianski Zt”l: A Life of Chesed Comes to an End

On Thursday night, 19 Teves, painful news emerged from Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Yerushalayim: Rav Uri Lupolianski zt”l, the renowned founder of Yad Sarah and former mayor of Yerushalayim, had passed away following years of illness. He was 77.

Rav Uri enjoyed an especially close relationship with Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv zt”l, who held him in exceptionally high regard and viewed him as a trusted representative in matters affecting the broader community.

Those familiar with their relationship knew that Rav Uri’s public activities were conducted under Rav Elyashiv’s guidance. Rav Elyashiv publicly expressed his esteem for his devoted shaliach on numerous occasions.

Despite his enormous accomplishments, Rav Uri remained strikingly unassuming. Shem Shomayim was constantly on his lips. He walked without airs, spoke with humility and treated everyone he encountered with warmth. The smile and pleasant countenance for which he was known remained part of him under virtually every circumstance.

Shevat Two Toddlers Lost in Romema Daycare Tragedy

At the beginning of Shevat, tragedy struck a daycare center on Rechov HaMem-Gimmel in Yerushalayim’s Romema neighborhood, where toddlers Leah Tziporah Goloventzitz a”h and Aharon Katz z”l lost their lives.

In the immediate aftermath, intense media attention focused on the daycare and accusations were directed at its operators. Parents of children attending the facility later strongly disputed the allegations and said much of what had been circulated was false.

In a letter, parents said their children were feeling the effects of the daycare’s closure and that they hoped operations would resume. They expressed their desire to continue sending their children there, describing the care as loving, devoted and responsible.

The parents also condemned rumors that had circulated following the tragedy, saying they unfairly maligned the daycare workers. They concluded their letter with an expression of grief and a tefillah that such terrible news no longer be heard among Klal Yisroel.

Another Young Bochur Killed Near Komemiyus

Barely a day after the daycare tragedy — and only weeks after Yosef Eisental’s death — another young bochur was killed.

Naftali Tzvi Kramer z”l, 17, a talmid of the Satmar yeshiva in Komemiyus, was fatally struck after returning from a demonstration against proposed autopsies of the two children who had died in the Yerushalayim daycare tragedy.

Police initially presented the incident as an ordinary traffic accident unrelated to the demonstrations in the area.

Video footage subsequently released, however, raised troubling questions about the bus driver’s conduct. Audio from inside the bus captured girls recognizing the approaching danger before the impact and screaming in alarm over the manner in which the vehicle was being driven.

The Rebbe Known as the “Tzinor HaShefa”

Shevat also saw the remarkable rise in prominence of the Krechnif Kfar Ata Rebbe, who became known among some of his American followers as the “Tzinor HaShefa.”

The Rebbe had been quietly elevated following the shivah for his father, the Krechnif-Sighet Rebbe zt”l. But it was an enormous Tu B’Shevat tish in Yerushalayim that suddenly brought him widespread attention.

Dozens — and soon hundreds — were drawn to him. Young and old, baalei batim and bnei Torah, yeshiva bochurim and working men, Jews from strikingly different backgrounds found themselves crowding around the same relatively young Rebbe.

They sang together with intense deveikus and danced with extraordinary enthusiasm. A Rebbe who had previously been known largely within a more limited circle suddenly became a phenomenon attracting Jews far beyond the traditional boundaries of his own chassidus.

Adar Operation Roar of the Lion: War With Iran and a Deadly Strike in Beit Shemesh

On Shabbos Zachor, the joint Israeli-American offensive against Iran began, in an operation dubbed “Roar of the Lion.”

Israel sustained severe missile strikes in the fighting, with one of the earliest devastating impacts occurring in Beit Shemesh.

Nine people were killed when an Iranian missile directly struck several buildings. Another 28 people were injured, including children; two were seriously wounded, two moderately, and the remainder sustained lighter injuries. At least some of those hurt had been inside a shelter.

Amid the devastation came a striking image.

Shrapnel from the Iranian missile penetrated a Sefer Torah inside the shelter — precisely at Parshas Zachor, the very parshah that Jews around the world had read that Shabbos.

For those who discovered it, the symbolism was impossible to miss: Parshas Zachor, with its command to remember Amalek, had been read on the very Shabbos that war erupted against modern-day Persia — Iran — evoking unmistakable associations with the story of the Megillah.

Nissan Open Miracles in Bnei Brak and Arad

The war with Iran continued into Pesach, and Bnei Brak experienced numerous missile impacts. Homes were badly damaged, yet numerous families emerged unharmed in what residents described as extraordinary miracles.

In the aftermath, signs of gratitude to Hashem appeared on damaged and destroyed homes, as families publicly expressed thanks for having survived.

An especially remarkable story unfolded in Arad on Erev Yom Tov within the Gerrer community.

Three-year-old Yedidya Rotlevy was blown from the fourth floor of his home by the force of a missile explosion. He plunged downward with a collapsing wall and became trapped beneath debris — yet survived.

When his family was finally reunited with him at the hospital, the little boy innocently described what had happened:

“לא קיבלתי שום מכה, ורק הגיעו אנשים פתאום ולקחו אותי באמבולנס”.

“I didn’t get hurt at all. Suddenly some people came and took me in an ambulance.”

His father, Rav Tzvi Meir Rotlevy, described the terrifying moments after their fourth-floor apartment sustained a direct hit. Racing into the destroyed children’s room, he discovered that two of his children had miraculously survived.

Then he saw that Yedidya’s bed was empty.

The little boy had fallen into the abyss together with the wall.

Trapped inside the devastated apartment and not knowing where his son was, Rav Rotlevy said an extraordinary thought took hold of him.

“מה שעבר לי בראש זה שאת העיר ערד הקים הרבי ה’לב שמחה’ מגור”, סיפר האב. “אמרתי לעצמי: הילד נמצא עכשיו בידיים שלו. איפה בדיוק? אני לא יודע. אבל בידיים שלו הוא נמצא”.

“What went through my mind was that the city of Arad was established by the Gerrer Rebbe, the Lev Simcha,” the father recalled. “I told myself: The child is now in his hands. Where exactly? I don’t know. But he is in his hands.”

Iyar The Double Tragedy of the Spiegel Family

As Nissan bein hazmanim came to an end and Iyar began, an unspeakable tragedy befell the Spiegel family of Yerushalayim’s Ramat Shlomo neighborhood.

The double catastrophe left the Torah world stunned and brought tears into thousands of Jewish homes.

On Erev Shabbos, at the Sanz beach in Netanya, two brothers — Yissachar Dov “Dubi” Spiegel z”l, 21, and Avraham Yeshaya Spiegel z”l, 17 — were swept into the sea.

They were the sons of Rav Shlomo Spiegel, a rosh yeshiva in Yerushalayim’s Beis Yisroel neighborhood.

The older brother, Yissachar Dov, was pulled from the water in critical condition. Doctors fought for his life for several days as tens of thousands of Jews around the world poured out their hearts in tefillah.

But the terrible decree had been sealed, and Yissachar Dov’s neshamah returned to its Creator.

Even as the family sat shivah, there was still no closure. Search teams continued desperately combing the sea for his younger brother, Avraham Yeshaya.

Days of agonizing uncertainty and tefillah followed.

Then came the devastating news: Avraham Yeshaya’s body had been found in the water.

The grieving family rose from one shivah to accompany a second son and brother to his levayah, before beginning another period of shivah.

The tragedy left an open wound throughout the chareidi community. Jews everywhere followed the family’s ordeal with tears, while marveling at the extraordinary strength with which the family accepted the crushing news.

Sivan Murder Inside the Beis Medrash: Rav Yishai Por Zt”l Killed at Kollel Chazon Ish

On Erev Shavuos, an act of horrifying violence took place inside Kollel Chazon Ish in Bnei Brak.

Rav Yishai Por zt”l, one of the distinguished avreichim of the kollel, was stabbed to death. He was 52.

The accused killer, Guy Achtlinger, had reportedly repeatedly antagonized Rav Yishai.

Rav Yishai, who possessed a profound reverence for the words of the earlier Torah giants, had prepared a handwritten notice that he intended to post in the beis medrash protesting what he regarded as the degradation of the teachings of the kadmonim. He never had the opportunity to hang it.

Friends remembered Rav Yishai as a person of extraordinary yishuv hadaas. Nothing about him was hurried or impulsive.

Even his modest meals were eaten privately in a quiet corner of the stairwell, slowly and with meticulous cleanliness. Those who knew him said that his presence was always pleasant, his surroundings orderly, and his conduct measured and refined.

An Historic Shavuos in Vizhnitz

Thousands of Vizhnitzer Chassidim from Eretz Yisroel and abroad gathered in Kiryas Vizhnitz in Bnei Brak for an emotional and historic Shavuos in the presence of the Vizhnitzer Rebbe.

The Yom Tov carried an added dimension of simchah with a historic hachnosas Sefer Torah. The Rebbe, who continues to require a refuah sheleimah, had begun writing the Sefer Torah while undergoing medical treatment in Los Angeles.

The hachnosas Sefer Torah began approximately three hours before Yom Tov with a special gathering for the children of the chassidus outside the main beis medrash.

The Rebbe then emerged from his home on Rechov Toras Chaim carrying the Sefer Torah. Lining both sides of the street were dozens of grandchildren and great-grandchildren of the Yeshuos Moshe and the Rebbe, including family members who had traveled especially from Skver in the United States, holding flaming torches as the procession moved forward.

Mother and Infant Die Following Horrific Crash

Another tragedy during this period became seared into the collective memory of the chareidi community.

Mrs. Ayala Davidson a”h, just 33 years old and the daughter of Rav Aharon Seler, was critically injured in a devastating car accident on Erev Shabbos Parshas Bamidbar while traveling to a postpartum recovery center. Her infant son was killed in the crash.

Resuscitation efforts initially succeeded, and Mrs. Davidson was rushed to the hospital for surgeries and intensive treatment.

For a week, doctors fought to save her.

Near Shavuos, the battle ended, and she returned her neshamah to her Creator.

The tragedy left behind five young yesomim and a grieving husband who had himself been seriously injured in the crash. With chasdei Shomayim, he subsequently emerged from immediate danger and continued his recovery.

Tammuz Mekubal Rav Amos Kamos Chaim Guetta Zt”l Murdered in His Yeshiva

Shock and grief swept through the Torah world in Tammuz following the murder of the renowned mekubal, Rav Amos Kamos Chaim Guetta zt”l, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Rabbi Yitzchak Chai Taieb in Netanya and rav of the city’s Libyan Jewish community.

Rav Guetta, 75, was stabbed to death inside his yeshiva.

His levayah continued for hours as masses accompanied him to kevurah. In the weeks that followed, his kever in Netanya became a destination for those wishing to daven there.

His matzeivah describes a towering figure devoted to Hashem, Torah and his fellow Jews, who dedicated himself with mesirus nefesh to bringing Jewish hearts closer to their Father in Heaven.

Gur Comes to Prison 10 — and a Vehicle Protest Paralyzes the Country

Tammuz also brought an unprecedented sight in the battle over the arrest of bnei yeshiva.

For the first time, thousands of Gerrer Chassidim traveled from across Eretz Yisroel to the gates of Prison 10 at Beit Lid following the arrest of Yechiel Kutainer, a Gerrer bochur detained at an IDF recruitment office.

The demonstration was organized with little advance notice and was led by the Gerrer Rebbe, who made the special trip from Yerushalayim to the prison.

At roughly the same period came the massive “vehicle protest,” which blocked major arteries across Israel.

Within half an hour of its start, the scale of the demonstration was evident. Traffic was severely affected, the Israeli media devoted extensive coverage to it, workers began leaving their offices early, and workplaces emptied as commuters attempted to avoid becoming stranded.

For those participating, the intended message was unmistakable: the arrests and imprisonment of lomdei Torah would not pass quietly.

Av Gedolim Convene Over Crisis Facing the Chadarim

In Av, leading Gedolei Yisroel and cheder administrators convened for an emergency gathering to confront an increasingly serious problem: the shortage of qualified melamdim.

The gathering brought together Rav Dov Landau, Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch, Rav Dan Segal, Rav Shraga Steinman, Rav Chaim Feinstein, Rav Binyamin Finkel and Rav Shimon Galai, along with prominent community rabbonim from around Eretz Yisroel.

At the center of the discussion was how to strengthen the sacred work of melamdei tinokos shel beis rabban and encourage qualified individuals to enter the field.

The Gedolim called upon community rabbonim to identify and encourage men blessed by Hashem with the necessary abilities to undertake the holy responsibility of educating the next generation — and to view becoming a melamed as a lechatchilah, not as a fallback career.

A person capable of succeeding in the sacred work of teaching Jewish children, they stressed, is a marbitz Torah in the fullest sense, whose importance to Klal Yisroel is immeasurable.

At the same time, parents and the broader community were urged to show greater appreciation and respect for the melamdim whose daily toil and devotion are building the future generations of Klal Yisroel.

Elul Despite Arrests and Gezeiros, Yeshiva World Opens Elul With Unprecedented Growth

After a year dominated in no small measure by the battle over the draft and the arrests of bnei yeshiva, the Torah world entered Elul with remarkable momentum.

Elul 5786 was an unusually short zman, but one filled with tremendous spiritual intensity. Despite the uncertainty, arrests and continuing gezeiros, the yeshivos opened their doors to extraordinary growth and expansion.

Even as bochurim lived with the possibility of arrest hanging over them, the response inside the yeshiva world was to retreat more deeply into the daled amos of Torah and halachah.

The sounds of learning filling the batei medrash provided their own answer to a turbulent year.

The Picture No One Expected: The Two Satmar Rebbes Together at the White House

And then, in the closing days of 5786, came an image that few in the Chassidic world could have imagined seeing.

The two brothers who lead the rival Satmar communities — the Satmar Rebbe, Rav Aharon Teitelbaum, and his brother, the Satmar Rebbe, Rav Zalman Leib Teitelbaum — stood side by side at the White House.

For decades, the division between the two Satmar camps — commonly referred to as the “Aharonim” and “Zalonim” — has been one of the most deeply entrenched splits in the Chassidic world.

Yet there they were in Washington, together, following a handshake and an historic conversation during a visit hosted by President Donald Trump.

At the very end of the year, before the cameras in the seat of American power, a wall that had long seemed virtually impossible to breach suddenly showed a crack.

The symbolism of the moment was difficult to overstate: the trappings of the White House surrounding two of the most prominent leaders of Satmar, brothers whose respective communities have spent decades apart, now presenting an image of unity and brotherhood.

Nor was the encounter merely accidental. It had been arranged in advance, and Rav Zalman Leib approached his older brother and extended his hand.

It was a remarkable image with which to close a remarkable year.

After twelve months of war and miracles, arrests and mass gatherings, terrible tragedies and extraordinary yeshuos, 5786 leaves behind memories that will remain with the chareidi community for many years to come.

May the coming year bring only besuros tovos, yeshuos and nechamos. May it be a year of geulah and salvation, and may we merit in 5787 to report only happy news, b’ezras Hashem.

A kesivah vachasimah tovah.

A gut yohr.

{Matzav.com}

[Video below.] Vice President JD Vance turned an unexpected disruption during his primetime address at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas into one of the night’s most talked-about moments, firing back at a protester waving Mexican and Palestinian flags and drawing a thunderous response from the crowd as speculation about Vance’s political future continued to build.

The interruption came Thursday night as Vance addressed Republicans gathered at the American Airlines Center. The protester unfurled what appeared to be Mexican and Palestinian flags and was subsequently removed by security as attendees booed and began chanting “USA!”

After the disruption, Vance explained to television viewers what had happened inside the arena.

“What the people at home missed is that we just had a protester interrupting us and waving the Mexican flag.”

“Well, my friend, if you love Mexico so much, get your a– over there. I’ll buy you the plane ticket,” the VP said, to which the crowd erupted into applause.

The unscripted exchange immediately drew attention from conservative commentators online, with many praising Vance’s ability to respond to the interruption on the spot.

“JD Vance just MIC DROPPED a leftist heckler who interrupted him waving a Mexican flag…this place is DEAFENING,” conservative commentator Eric Daugherty wrote on X, adding, “TOTAL PANDEMONIUM.”

Conservative commentator Benny Johnson described Vance’s comeback as an “epic response,” while Trump supporter and activist Scott Pressler said the vice president responded “without missing a beat,” describing the exchange as “an iconic moment.”

Another conservative commentary account, Overton, compared Vance’s handling of the episode to President Donald Trump’s confrontational political style.

“This was masterful. A Trump-level move from JD Vance,” wrote Overton, a conservative commentary and news account. “Vice President Vance perfectly handled a protestor waving a Mexican flag at the RNC in Dallas. Then he fired back with a savage one-liner that sent the American Airlines Center into absolute bedlam.”

As the confrontation ended, convention attendees broke into a loud chant of “USA!” — a response also reported by other news organizations covering the speech.

Ryan Fournier, a co-founder of Students for Trump, was among those who celebrated the exchange online.

“JD Vance just absolute [sic] WIPED THE FLOOR with a leftist heckler who interrupted his rally waving a Mexican flag.”

“The crowd went completely WILD. Unbelievable energy,” wrote Fournier.

The reaction came during a convention that placed Vance in a prominent role alongside President Trump and gave the vice president an opportunity to present his message to a national Republican audience. Reuters reported that attendees at one point chanted “48,” a reference to supporters who would like to see Vance become the 48th president. Trump, while praising Vance during the convention, did not make an endorsement for the 2028 presidential race.

Andrew Kolvet, a spokesman for Turning Point USA, also portrayed the confrontation as a defining moment of the convention.

“JD Vance just notched the most iconic moment of the RNC when he told a protester waving a Mexican flag exactly what all red blooded Americans were thinking,” wrote Turning Point USA spokesman Andrew Kolvet.

Conservative commentator Brilyn Hollyhand went further, explicitly connecting the incident to the next presidential election.

“Yea JD for President after this.”

Vance, meanwhile, quickly incorporated the interruption into his broader argument, telling the audience that he would have to depart from his prepared address because of what had just occurred.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I had a whole speech written. But I think I’ve got to change it because we just discovered the symbol of the far left — an idiot waving … a Mexican flag at a protest when he should be waving the flag of the United States of America.”

The vice president then used the protester and the foreign flag as a transition into a broader message about American identity and the country’s standard of living.

“Now, we all know, of course, that as much as that person might wave around a foreign flag, he’d much rather live in Dallas, or in Cincinnati, or in any one of our great cities than Mexico,” President Donald Trump’s No. 2 continued. “But while we wave the American flag and fight for the American dream, we have to remind ourselves tonight that the good life that is the foundation of this country’s promise is not guaranteed.”

The remarks returned Vance to one of the central themes of his address: his argument that Americans have inherited economic, cultural and political benefits that each generation has an obligation to preserve.

“Every generation of Americans has had to fight for these things when it’s our turn,” he went on.

Vance then turned his attention to the November midterm elections, sharply attacking Democrats and portraying the election as a contest over cultural and political values.

“And this fall, the Democrats are running candidates who will tell your children what they’re allowed to say, how they’re allowed to live, and importantly, who they ought to hate, because that’s what the Democrat Party is about in 2026,” Vance continued. “It’s not about you, it’s about foreign fraudsters, and it’s about who they hate. And we got to send their a–es back in November.”

The speech was one of the marquee addresses of the Republican convention’s second and final night. Vance also paid tribute to slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk and urged Republicans to remain united heading into the midterms.

The vice president’s prominence at the gathering also fueled discussion about the Republican Party’s potential field for 2028, when President Trump will be constitutionally barred from seeking another term. Vance has been widely discussed as a possible candidate, although the next presidential contest remains more than two years away and no Republican nominee has been determined.

For the moment, however, it was the spontaneous confrontation rather than the 2028 speculation that produced one of Vance’s biggest reactions of the convention — transforming a brief protest from the stands into an applause line that reverberated through the American Airlines Center.

[Video below.] President Donald Trump marked the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks on Friday with a solemn address at the Pentagon, paying tribute to the nearly 3,000 people murdered that day, honoring the extraordinary heroism displayed amid the devastation, and pledging that America will never allow the memory of the victims to fade.

Joined by First Lady Melania Trump, the President commemorated those killed at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and aboard United Airlines Flight 93, while emphasizing the obligation to remain vigilant against terrorism a quarter-century after the attacks.

“Today we renew the sacred oath that we first swore in their names, a quarter of a century ago,” Trump said during a ceremony at the Pentagon. “We will never, ever forget.”

Reflecting on the passage of a full generation since September 11, 2001, Trump said the passage of time has done nothing to diminish the horror of what occurred or the place that day occupies in the nation’s history.

“Twenty-five times we have gathered at this hallowed place and at Ground Zero in New York, in a lonely field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania,” Trump said. “In 25 years, a generation has passed since the terror attacks of September 11th, 2001, yet time has not dimmed the horror of that day when our country came face-to-face with true evil.”

Trump then recounted the events of that Tuesday morning, including the departure of American Airlines Flight 77 and its eventual hijacking and crash into the Pentagon at 9:37 a.m.

“With the events of that morning, 2,977 beautiful souls were ripped from our world, and many more died in the weeks and years after,” Trump said.

“For anyone who lived it, no words can do justice to the anguish of that day,” he added.

The President also focused on the individual stories behind the staggering death toll, recalling Patrick Dennehy, who was working in the World Trade Center’s South Tower when the North Tower was struck.

Dennehy called his pregnant wife, Mary, from his office following the initial attack. She would subsequently watch on television as United Airlines Flight 175 slammed into the South Tower.

“Free people must never avert their eyes from such hideous cruelty,” Trump said. “We cannot forget that moment of immense and horrible evil.”

But Trump said September 11 is remembered not only for the brutality of the terrorists, but also for the remarkable courage and selflessness Americans displayed in response.

“On days like 9/11, we learned what a country is truly made of,” he said. “Americans are made of a goodness in spirit that can transcend any earthly force.”

Trump recalled the heroic passengers and crew aboard Flight 93, who fought the hijackers after learning what had happened to other aircraft that morning. Their resistance prevented the terrorists from reaching their intended target before the plane crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

The President specifically remembered passenger Todd Beamer, who recited the Lord’s Prayer before joining his fellow passengers in their attempt to storm the cockpit.

“And then he said his last words, ‘Let’s roll,'” Trump said.

“We remember the many lives lost on 9/11,” he continued. “We also give thanks for the countless lives saved by the immortal heroes of Flight 93.”

Trump also recalled the extraordinary national unity that emerged in the hours and days after the attacks, saying political, geographic and other differences suddenly seemed insignificant.

“We were all New Yorkers that day, every one of us,” he said. “But we were also all Americans. We were all family. We were all patriots.”

The President then turned to one of the iconic images from the Pentagon following the attack: an enormous American flag unfurled over the damaged building.

That same flag was displayed during Friday’s 25th-anniversary ceremony, with firefighters Joseph Morabito, Scott Morgan and Karl Solberg — who helped raise it following the 2001 attack — present for the commemoration.

“The enemy might destroy what American hands had built, but they could not touch the fight and the fire and the love in our great American hearts,” Trump said.

Trump also honored the millions of Americans who served in the U.S. military during the quarter-century that followed 9/11 and the wars launched in response to the attacks.

“For 25 years, our best and bravest have kept America safe,” he said. “And today we salute every member of the United States military who served in the war on terror.”

The President then connected the lessons of September 11 with the current U.S. confrontation with Iran, saying American forces remain committed to preventing Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth also addressed Iran during Friday’s Pentagon commemoration.

“We salute the service members working right now to ensure the world’s number one sponsor of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran, will never, ever have a nuclear weapon,” Trump said.

Another significant portion of Trump’s address was devoted to the story of FDNY firefighter Timothy “Timmy” Stackpole.

Stackpole had nearly lost his life in a 1998 Brooklyn fire, suffering severe burns before undergoing a lengthy recovery. Despite his injuries, he fought his way back to active duty with the FDNY.

On September 11, 2001, Stackpole responded to the World Trade Center and was killed while carrying out his duties.

“The greatest high you can ever get in life is by helping someone and making a difference,” Trump quoted Stackpole as saying.

Trump recognized Stackpole’s widow, Tara, and their children, noting that several members of the family went on to serve their country in the military or follow their father’s example of public service.

The President said the country cannot know when it will be confronted by another moment of unimaginable tragedy, but it can determine the values and character with which it responds.

“No one can ever prepare for a day like 9/11, but we can always choose to be the kind of nation the world saw in those days after,” Trump said.

“We can raise our children to know that their country is good, that their fathers are brave, and that our flag is a symbol of justice and freedom,” he added.

Trump concluded his address by contrasting the hatred that drove the September 11 terrorists with the resilience displayed by Americans during the 25 years that followed.

“September 11th reminded us of the terrible power of hate,” Trump said. “The 25 years since have shown us the even greater power of the American spirit to endure and prevail and to win.”

The President predicted that long after those who personally remember September 11 are gone, future generations will continue to tell the stories of those who were murdered and those who risked — and in many cases sacrificed — their lives trying to save others.

“They will still honor the heroes of 9/11/2001, who no age will erase from the memory of time,” Trump said. “It will never, ever be forgotten. It will never be forgotten. And we can never forget.”

WATCH:

A massive Rosh Hashanah seudah expected to draw some 2,000 Israelis at the Chabad House in Phuket, Thailand, has been canceled at the request of Israeli security officials amid concerns that pro-Palestinian demonstrators could target the gathering and create a dangerous confrontation.

The Friday night seudah had been scheduled as one of the major Rosh Hashanah gatherings for the large number of Israeli travelers currently in Phuket. Chabad Houses throughout Thailand regularly serve as a home away from home for thousands of Israeli tourists, providing tefillos, Shabbos and Yom Tov seudos, kosher food, and other Jewish services.

According to the Chabad House, the decision to call off the event was made following a request from Israeli security officials.

The security concerns reportedly centered on the possibility that pro-Palestinian activists could gather near the Chabad House and attempt to provoke a confrontation with the Israelis attending the Rosh Hashanah seudah.

In a message distributed to those who had been planning to participate, organizers warned people not merely that the seudah had been canceled, but that they should stay away from the vicinity altogether.

“Dear guests, due to a request from Israeli security officials, we deeply regret that we must cancel the event,” organizers told those planning to attend. “Please do not approach the area. The protesters may become violent, and it could be dangerous. If you know of other travelers who were planning to attend, please pass this message along.”

The cancellation affects the large Friday evening event, but does not mean that the Chabad House is canceling its broader Rosh Hashanah schedule.

Chabad officials said that the other planned Rosh Hashanah tefillos and Yom Tov seudos, beginning on Shabbos and continuing thereafter, are presently expected to proceed according to schedule.

The unusual cancellation comes as Chabad Houses around the world continue to operate under heightened security concerns, particularly at locations frequented by large numbers of Israelis and during Shabbos and Yom Tov, when sizable groups of Jews may be gathered together in one location.

For the approximately 2,000 Israelis who had expected to spend Friday night together at Chabad of Phuket, however, the security warning means that the large communal Rosh Hashanah seudah will not take place — with organizers explicitly urging travelers to remain away from the area because of fears that the anticipated protest could turn violent.

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu marked the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terror attacks on Friday by drawing a direct parallel between the atrocities committed in the United States on 9/11 and the Hamas massacre in Israel on October 7, declaring that America and Israel stand together against the same forces of terrorism and evil.

In a message commemorating the nearly 3,000 people murdered on September 11, 2001, Netanyahu recalled the innocent victims who left their homes that morning never imagining that they would not return.

“25 years ago, thousands of innocent people went to work in the World Trade Center in New York. They never came home,” Netanyahu said.

The Prime Minister said that the pain of such a devastating loss does not fade with the passage of time and emphasized that Israelis share in America’s remembrance of those murdered.

“For those who know such loss, it never leaves you. America remembers them. Israel remembers them.”

Netanyahu also honored the extraordinary heroism displayed by first responders and ordinary Americans as the attacks unfolded, including those who entered the burning towers and those who fought the hijackers aboard the planes.

“We remember the firefighters who ran up the stairs while everyone else was running down. We remember the police officers, the first responders, the passengers who bravely fought back on the hijacked planes, and we remember the evil that murdered them.”

Netanyahu then connected the attacks of September 11 to the October 7, 2023 massacre, when Hamas terrorists invaded southern Israel, murdering approximately 1,200 people and abducting more than 250 others into Gaza. Israeli law now formally refers to the events as the October 7, 2023 massacre.

“On September 11th, America was hit by pure evil. On October 7th, Israel was hit by it again,” the Prime Minister stated.

Netanyahu argued that acts of terrorism directed deliberately against innocent civilians cannot be excused or rationalized by pointing to political grievances or broader circumstances.

“There is no context for burning families alive. There is no grievance that justifies murdering innocents deliberately.”

“There is no ‘yes, but’ when it comes to terrorism,” he added.

The Prime Minister also pointed to the slogan “Death to America, death to Israel,” saying that the hostility directed toward both countries comes from the same ideological source.

“They hate both of us for the same reason, because America and Israel stand for freedom, for democracy, for civilization. For life.”

Netanyahu has repeatedly framed the October 7 massacre as an attack extending beyond Israel itself, portraying Israel’s fight against Hamas and the broader Iranian-backed terror axis as part of a larger confrontation between democratic societies and radical Islamist terrorism. In an address to President Donald Trump at the Knesset last year, Netanyahu similarly recalled the October 7 atrocities, including the murder of American citizens and the abduction of Americans into Gaza.

In Friday’s message, Netanyahu also singled out President Donald Trump, praising the President’s approach to confronting terrorism.

“Under President Trump’s leadership, America has shown once again that it stands up to terror.”

Netanyahu concluded by returning to the victims and heroes of September 11, saying that remembrance must include both those who were murdered and those who willingly placed themselves in danger to save others.

“So today, we remember. We remember those who were taken. We honor those who ran towards the flames.”

The Prime Minister ended with a joint message on behalf of Israel and the United States, declaring that neither country would allow terrorism to force it into submission.

“And America and Israel say together, we will never bow to terrorism. We will never surrender to evil. And together, we will defeat it.”

A public unveiling of a $100,000 statue honoring slain conservative activist Charlie Kirk descended into angry confrontations in Times Square on Thursday, as supporters and opponents of Kirk screamed at one another, shoved and scuffled amid a heavy police presence on the first anniversary of his assassination.

The 6-foot-5 sculpture was created by Italian-born New York artist Sergio Furnari, who said he intended the memorial to Kirk to promote free speech and dialogue rather than deepen political divisions. Instead, the unveiling quickly became another demonstration of the intense polarization that continues to surround Kirk and his legacy one year after he was murdered.

Video from the scene showed heated confrontations developing around the sculpture as Kirk supporters — including men draped in American flags — exchanged insults with protesters who had gathered to oppose the memorial.

The confrontations at times became physical. Footage showed people pushing and shoving, objects being thrown and individuals ending up on the pavement as police officers attempted to maintain order. At least one physical altercation was captured on video.

Opponents of the memorial shouted obscenities at the statue and made obscene gestures toward Furnari during the unveiling.

At another point, several young men stood in front of the sculpture with their hands raised while arguments continued around them. One Kirk supporter wearing an American-flag vest could be heard telling others to “calm down.”

Another man carrying a large American flag shouted about “Islamists” as protesters confronted him.

Police temporarily stopped traffic through part of Midtown Manhattan while the event was underway, as large numbers of spectators and protesters crowded into the Times Square area.

The statue itself depicts Kirk holding a microphone and wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the word “FREEDOM,” an apparent reference to the campus debates and political activism for which he became nationally known.

Furnari said before Thursday’s unveiling that he considered the work broader than simply a tribute to Kirk.

“It’s a monument definitely to Charlie, but it’s even a monument to freedom of speech,” he told Fox News.

Furnari began working on the sculpture shortly after Kirk was shot and killed on September 10, 2025, while appearing at an outdoor event at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah.

Kirk, 31, was answering questions before a large crowd when he was fatally shot. Prosecutors have charged Tyler Robinson with aggravated murder, alleging that Kirk was targeted because of his political views. Robinson has pleaded not guilty, and a Utah judge recently ruled that prosecutors may continue seeking the death penalty.

Furnari said the reaction to Kirk’s murder — and particularly what he regarded as a lack of sympathy toward Kirk’s widow, Erika, and his parents — motivated him to create the Times Square memorial.

‘I [saw] how Erika [Kirk] got treated, including the parents of Charlie, and that’s what I think became my catalyzer,’ he said.

Furnari emphasized that his decision to create the statue did not stem from agreement with everything Kirk had said or advocated.

‘If you’re a parent, no matter if you were Democrat or Republican, you should have a little bit of empathy.’

The sculptor said he had not considered himself a major Kirk supporter before the assassination and that his response was driven primarily by the killing and its aftermath.

‘It’s not like I agree with him. There’s a lot of stuff I didn’t agree with,’ Furnari said.

‘But still, freedom of expression and, in my case, freedom of creation — there are no boundaries, no borders. That’s where we kind of stand together.’

Furnari estimated that the project cost him ‘probably more than $100,000’ when the materials and extensive time devoted to creating it were taken into account.

He initially financed the sculpture with his own savings and subsequently launched an online fundraiser in an effort to recover some of the expense. Furnari has said donors to the project will have their names engraved on the statue’s platform.

As the project progressed, Furnari said, his determination to display the sculpture publicly increased because of the continuing mockery of Kirk following his assassination.

‘I became more passionate about it — just because of the way everybody was making fun of him,’ he said.

‘I feel like they killed him once, and they kill him each time, over and over again.’

Thursday’s confrontation in Times Square was just one of numerous events across the country marking one year since Kirk’s death.

At Utah Valley University, where Kirk was killed, classes were canceled Thursday as the school marked the anniversary. Turning Point USA organized a large memorial there, while a student group opposed to the organization planned a protest outside.

Kirk was also honored Thursday evening at the Republican midterm convention in Dallas. A memorial video was played for convention attendees, and Vice President JD Vance spoke extensively about Kirk during his keynote address, recalling their friendship and Kirk’s role in conservative politics.

Vance also addressed Kirk’s two young children, telling them that history would remember their father as both a significant political figure and a good man. Kirk’s widow, Erika, has assumed leadership of Turning Point USA since her husband’s death.

Turning Point USA itself has expanded considerably during the year since Kirk was killed. Reuters reported Thursday that the organization now has a presence at more than 3,500 high schools and 1,500 colleges, further entrenching the organization Kirk co-founded as a major force in conservative youth activism.

Other commemorations were organized around the United States and overseas, including gatherings in Kirk’s hometown of Arlington Heights, Illinois, at Turning Point USA’s headquarters in Phoenix and as far away as Australia and Britain.

But the Times Square scene demonstrated the other side of Kirk’s posthumous legacy. His supporters continue to regard him as an influential advocate for conservative ideas and open political debate, while critics remain strongly opposed to his political positions and rhetoric.

{Matzav.com}