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The number of Jewish visitors to Har Habayis has surpassed all previous years since the liberation of Yerushalayim in 1967.

As of Sept. 6, 51,672 Jews have visited the holiest place on earth since last Rosh Hashanah (Sept. 16, 2023), according to the Beyadenu—Returning to Har Habayis‎ organization.

It should be noted that all gedolei haposkim have said that it is halachically forbidden to go on to the Har Habayis.

As of the beginning of the month of Elul (Sept. 4), some 48,144 Jews had ascended since last Rosh Hashanah, marking a 14% increase from the 44,317 Jews who visited Har Habayis‎ throughout the entire previous year (5783).

This number of Jews who visited this past year also surpassed the previous record from two years ago, when 47,988 Jews visited Har Habayis‎ during 5782.

A turning point in the number of visitors was recorded after the “Return of Israel to the Temple Mount” conference held at the Knesset on July 24, where National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir announced the prayer policy of the “political echelon.” A 45% surge was recorded during this period compared to the same time last year.

However, despite that declaration, and following the comments made by Ben-Gvir in recent days where he called for a cessation of anti-Jewish “racism” on Har Habayis‎ with regard to who is allowed to pray there, and stating that if it were up to him he would build a Shul on Har Habayis‎, Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu said that “there is no change to the status quo” barring Jews from worshiping there.

President Yitzchak Herzog also reiterated that Israel has an “unequivocal commitment to preserving the status quo at the holy site—in accordance with political agreements laid down since 1967 [with Jordan], and in the spirit of the rulings by leading rabbis and religious figures over the last 100 years.”

However, not all rabbis agree that the status quo is non-negotiable.

Rabbi Steven Burg, the CEO of Aish, located opposite Har Habayis‎ in Yerushalayim’s Old City, said in a recent interview on ILTV, “It’s almost surreal to hear people arguing so vehemently against people being able to pray in a holy site. I think there needs to be a conversation about how everyone, Christians, Muslims and Jews, could be allowed to pray and to reach out to the Almighty from all the different religions that believe in one God.

“I think people should be allowed to pray on the Temple Mount. How the structure will be, and what that would look like, that is a real conversation that should happen. I feel that we shouldn’t ban anyone from praying in any place where they feel they could reach out to the Almighty,” he said.

Burg added that the threat of violence as repercussions to prayer and religious worship “is a premise that we shouldn’t accept. There needs to be a conversation about it. The Temple Mount should be a place of unity, not a place of distrust.”

Ben-Gvir said in an interview with Army Radio on Aug. 26 that Jewish prayer is allowed on Har Habayis‎. That prompted the denial from the Prime Minister’s Office, which stated that policy at the holy site is determined by the Cabinet and the prime minister.

A statement published by the Prime Minister’s Office on Monday said: “Last night, at the start of the Security Cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Netanyahu declared that on the issue of the Temple Mount there is no change in the status quo, nor will there be. The prime minister repeated his directive that government ministers are not to visit the Temple Mount without his approval in advance via his military secretary.”

The Har Habayis‎ Administration activist group reacted to the report of the record-breaking number of visitors, saying, “It is heartening to see the people of Israel returning to Har Habayis‎t. The increase in the number of worshippers ascending the Mount, even during times of war, makes the return of Israel to Har Habayis‎ a living and existing reality.

“This surge has many contributors: the tens of thousands of visitors, the commanders and police officers who ensure that Har Habayis‎ remains calm, peaceful and safe for visits, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who tirelessly works for positive progress on Har Habayis‎, and also Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu, who has been enabling and encouraging this positive transformation for a decade.” (JNS)

The IDF confirmed on Tuesday that an airstrike in December, targeting Hamas Gaza City Brigade Chief Ahmed An-Dur, unintentionally killed three Israeli hostages. This announcement, which had been hinted at by officials in the past, marks the first public acknowledgment of the tragic incident. In December, the IDF revealed that they had recovered five bodies of hostages in Gaza, three of whom were later linked to the airstrike. Although the military initially withheld specific details, it had hinted that its airstrike might have been responsible for the deaths of the hostages, saying it would only confirm the details after a thorough forensic investigation. On Monday night, Israeli media outlet Channel 12 reported that the military had informed the hostages’ families but had not yet released the findings to the public. By Tuesday morning, the IDF officially confirmed the incident. The three hostages killed in the strike—Elia Toledano, Nik Beizer, and Ron Sherman—were being held in a massive underground tunnel complex in northern Gaza, which the IDF described as a strategic stronghold for Hamas, complete with command centers, medical stations, and even rooms for weapons production. Back in December, the IDF disclosed the discovery of five hostages’ bodies within the tunnel. However, the military only announced the recovery of two hostages’ bodies—Eden Zechariah and Ziv Dado—on December 12. The subsequent discovery of the other three bodies was kept under wraps until the IDF completed its operations in the area, due to concerns that revealing more details would endanger forces still in the field. The entire tunnel complex was later destroyed by IDF forces using 13 tons of explosives. The IDF’s delayed announcement of the incident has drawn some criticism. While Channel 12 suggested a possible cover-up, the IDF disputed this characterization but did not provide a full explanation for the delay in releasing the findings to the public. Hamas had previously released a video showing the three hostages—Toledano, Beizer, and Sherman—while they were in captivity. In the video, the hostages were seen holding pieces of paper with their names and personal details. Hamas claimed, “they tried to keep them alive – but Netanyahu insisted on killing them,” an accusation that was accompanied by visual effects simulating gunshots and blood. Forensic investigations into the timing and circumstances of the hostages’ deaths are ongoing. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

It took 19 years for the symptoms to emerge. Tom Beyrer, who served for six months as a police officer at Ground Zero following the Sept. 11 attack on the World Trade Center, was 65 when his memory and cognitive abilities began to crumble.

Gradually, he pulled away from things that brought him joy. He no longer remembered how to open the family’s backyard pool in the spring. He stopped tinkering on his Corvette. He began sitting in his living room alone without the television on.

Then one night, distraught, he called his wife, Maria.

“I don’t know where I am,” he told her. He had driven 15 to 20 miles north of his suburban home outside Manhattan – an area he’d known for years – but suddenly needed his wife to give him directions.

Cancer, respiratory ailments, mental health conditions and musculoskeletal disorders have long been linked to work at the site of the World Trade Center attack, and medical costs for them have been covered by the World Trade Center Health Program since it was established by an act of Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2011.

Only recently, however, have scientists begun to find that cognitive impairment and dementia are also afflicting first responders at rates far higher than in the general population. The revelations are pushing physicians and advocates to be more vocal about lobbying the World Trade Center Health Program, overseen by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, to include dementia among illnesses covered.

“I’m hoping they will,” said Benjamin Luft, director of a program at Stony Brook University that cares for and monitors the health of first responders. “They have a systematic process in which they evaluate the scientific data. We’ve spent a huge amount of time and effort to establish that exposure to the neurotoxins and dust could cause these problems and so should be eligible for coverage.”

Luft was the senior author of a study published this summer involving more than 5,000 first responders who have undergone regular testing for over a decade. Those with the highest exposure to the dust and potentially neurotoxic debris at the World Trade Center, he found, were over 14 times more likely than those with the lowest exposure to be diagnosed with dementia before the age of 65.

Ray Dorsey, professor of neurology at the University of Rochester, said tiny grains of ordinary dust, called fine particulate matter, can enter the nose and reach the brain to cause damage.

“The nose is the front door to our brain,” Dorsey said. “Dust and chemicals set up shop in the smell area of our brain, then spread to the parts of the brain important for memory.”

Recent studies have found that air pollution from factories, automobiles and forest fires can all increase the risk of dementia. “And you couldn’t get worse air pollution than being at that World Trade Center site,” Dorsey said.

On the morning of 9/11, Beyrer was stationed at a firearms training center in the Bronx. Within minutes of the first plane flying into the World Trade Center, he and other officers set off in a van, arriving before either of the buildings had collapsed.

“We were the only guys at that time who had the long guns,” he recalled. Told to station himself a couple of blocks away to provide security, he was enveloped in white-out conditions when the first building fell.

“It was terrible,” he said. “It was completely dark with dust.”

After some 48 hours on and around the mound of debris without a mask or any other protective equipment, Beyrer returned home covered in white soot.

“He took a shower and told me to take those clothes, throw them outside, get rid of them,” Maria Beyrer said. “Then he got dressed and went back out. He was there for six months, 12 hours a day.”

Although light face masks were eventually distributed, he said, “they didn’t really help. I guess they were better than nothing.”

Told by Luft that his months of exposure probably played a role in his cognitive symptoms, the Beyrers have made accommodations. She does the driving, for instance, when they’re together.

But whether it was dust alone that increased the risk of dementia in first responders, or harmful chemicals that piggy-backed on the dust, is impossible to disentangle, at least for now, said a co-author of the study led by Luft, which was published in the journal JAMA Network Open.

“We focused on dust in this study because that is what people could see,” said Sean Clouston, the director of research and a professor in the department of family, population and preventive medicine at Stony Brook Medicine. “They knew if they had or had not been exposed to it. But there were fumes from chemicals, jet engine fuel, burning computers, asbestos, heavy metals. There’s a whole bucket of things people were exposed to.”

The longer responders spent on the site, and the less protective gear they wore, the higher their risk of developing early dementia, the study found. Using a metric called “person-years” (by multiplying the number of responders times the amount of time they spent at the site), they found that for those who had the lowest exposure, the incidence rate of dementia was 2.95 per 1,000 person-years. But even those who had “mild” exposure had a greatly increased risk: 12.16 per 1,000 person-years.

The next highest level of exposure, labeled “moderate,” carried only slightly more risk, at 16.53 per 1,000 person-years. Those with “high” exposure, however, had an incidence rate of 30.09 per 1,000 person-years, while responders with “severe” exposure had a rate of 42.37 per 1,000 person-years.

“The fact that they’re showing a dose-response effect makes me more confident in the results,” said Caroline Tanner, a neurologist at the University of California at San Francisco who was not involved in the study. “It’s usually very hard to know exactly how much exposure people have to fine particulate matter. It’s remarkable that they could measure it and show a higher risk of dementia as the exposure went up. It’s an extremely well-done study.”

An earlier study by Clouston and Luft offered a possible explanation for why exposure to the World Trade Center site would be linked to dementia. In a paper they published last year in the journal Molecular Neurobiology, they reported that the longer responders spent at the site, the more inflammation they had in their hippocampus (the seahorse-shaped brain area that plays a crucial role in memory) and cerebral white matter (the nerve fibers that connect neurons to each other).

The years it has taken for cognitive deficits to develop among responders is one reason that the World Trade Center Health Program, overseen by the CDC, does not cover dementia or milder cognitive disorders.

Anthony Gardner, spokesman for the World Trade Center Health Program, said in a statement that the program’s leaders are aware of the study by Clouston and Luft and are reviewing the findings. In fact, he said, the program partly funded it.

But, he said, the program has a high scientific standard for adding any condition to the list of those covered by the program. “Meeting this standard generally requires consistent findings among several high-quality large studies of persons representing different groups,” he said. “To date, the program has not received a valid petition to add dementia or other cognitive conditions to the list of WTC-related health conditions.”

Benjamin Chevat, the executive director of 911 Health Watch, an independent group that monitors World Trade Center programs and advocates for changes when necessary, said the study of dementia risk will need to be replicated by other researchers to meet the requirements of the federal program.

“It would be great if this condition could be added tomorrow, but regretfully science does not work at the speed we would like,” he said.

Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said that he helped to establish and fund the World Trade Center program so responders and survivors get the care they need. “We pushed for robust research funding for the program and wrote a process that allows for the program to follow the research to add conditions that are supported by scientific evidence,” he said. “I very much support this process and the research running as quickly as possible.”

Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) said the study’s finding of a 14-fold increased risk of early-onset dementia is “extremely alarming.”

“It’s essential that the CDC and medical community analyze this further in order to determine whether to add it to the list of conditions covered by the [World Trade Center Health Program],” she said.

Regardless of whether dementia and other cognitive issues are recognized by the program, Tanner said, an important lesson can already be drawn from the study of dementia in World Trade Center responders.

“The big take-home from this paper is that people who used personal protective equipment were protected from the worst effects,” she said. “That should apply to people in any industry where they run the risk of exposure to fine particulate matter. It applies certainly to firefighters. And for those of us who live downwind from a forest fire, maybe we should be asking about public health measures that can protect people when we know the air quality is poor.”

Beyrer’s cognitive symptoms, which have stabilized in the past couple of years, are hardly the only effects he has lived with since serving at Ground Zero. He suffered for years with lung, stomach and sleep problems, and half of his left lung had to be removed because of a noncancerous growth, which doctors told him was probably due to something he breathed in at the site. But despite it all, Maria insists they are among the lucky families who sent a loved one to respond to the World Trade Center attack.

“He still has problems sleeping,” she said. “But we are one of the fortunate ones. We’re able to manage. Whereas people have lost their parents, lost their children.”

As Tom Beyrer sees it, “There are times when it’s not okay. But I did what I had to do. Me and my friends. That was our job.”

(c) Washington Post

Stanislawa Wasilewska was 42 when she was captured by Nazi German troops on Aug. 31, 1944, in Warsaw and sent to the women’s concentration camp at Ravensbrück, Germany. From there, she was sent to the Neuengamme forced labor camp, where she was given prisoner number 7257 and had her valuables seized. Eighty years later, Germany’s Arolsen Archives returned Wasilewska’s jewelry to her grandson and great-granddaughter at an emotional ceremony in Warsaw late Tuesday during which families of 12 Polish inmates of World War II Nazi German concentration camps were given back their confiscated belongings. Some relatives had tears in their eyes as they received the mementoes of their long-gone, often unknown family members. More such ceremonies are planned. Wasilewska’s family was given back her two amber crucifixes, part of a golden bracelet and a gold wristwatch engraved with the initials KW and the date 7-3-1938, probably marking her wedding to Konstanty Wasilewski. “This is an important moment in our lives, because this is a story that we did not fully know about and it came to light,” Wasilewska’s great-granddaughter, Malgorzata Koryś, 35, told The Associated Press. When Nazi Germany was defeated in 1945, Wasilewska was taken by the Red Cross from Neuengamme to Sweden, but later returned to Poland. She is buried in her native Grodzisk Mazowiecki, near Warsaw. From another family, Adam Wierzbicki, 29, was given two rings which belonged to Zofia Strusińska and a golden chain and tooth filling of Józefa Skórka, two married sisters of his great-grandfather, Stanislaw Wierzbicki. Captured together on Aug. 4, like Wasilewska, the sisters also went through Ravensbrück and Neuengamme before the Red Cross took them to Sweden. A family story has it that a Swedish man fell in love with one of the sisters and wanted them both to stay, promising to take care of them, but they decided to go back to Poland, Wierzbicki said. The return of their jewelry is “important for sentimental reasons but also for historical reasons,” Wierzbicki told the AP. The items were returned by the Arolsen Archives, the international center on Nazi persecution, which holds information on about 17.5 million people. It stores some 2,000 items which were seized by the Nazis from concentration camp inmates from more than 30 countries, and are intended to be returned to their relatives. When the prisoners were sent to concentration camps, their valuables — wedding rings, watches, gold chains, earrings and other items — were confiscated and put in envelopes marked with their owners’ names. That allowed for the items’ return to the families, 80 years later. It was an uplifting moment when the archives volunteers contacted him, Wierzbicki said, but there was also the thought that “history will catch up with you. It was like my aunts were looking at me from the past.” The archives launched its restitution campaign, “Warsaw Uprising: 100 Untold Stories,” to mark 80 years since the city rose up against the Nazi invaders on Aug. 1, 1944, with the goal of reaching the families of 100 victims and reviving the memory of them through their belongings. Archive director Floriane Azoulay said they are only custodians of the belongings, which should be returned to the families. “Every object that we return is personal,” Azoulay said. “And it’s the last personal thing a person had […]

Although it happens every time, it’s always jarring to see videos and images of Palestinians celebrating the deaths of Israelis killed in terror attacks. The celebration and distribution of candies on the streets occur even when those killed are civilians, such as the celebration in Jordan over the murder of three Israeli fathers and grandfathers in the shooting attack at the Allenby Crossing on Sunday. The celebrations take place even when the victims include women and children. Twenty-three years ago, Palestinains celebrated on the street on September 11, rejoicing at the deaths of almost 3,000 Americans. The Democratic party seems to have forgotten the jarring images. Some of President Biden’s first actions as president was to increase funding to the Palestinian Authority to the tune of millions of dollars and beg Iran, the world’s leading sponsor of terrorism, to resume nuclear deal talk and release tens of billions of dollars to the mullahs.   (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

Yerushalayim will work with Jordan to strengthen the Jewish state’s eastern frontier to maintain “peace and security” in the border area, Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu vowed on Wednesday amid a rise in terrorism throughout Yehuda, Shomron and the Jordan Valley.

“We are fighting on multiple fronts,” Netanyahu said during a visit to the border with the Hashemite Kingdom, speaking alongside Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who also serves as a minister in the Defense Ministry with authority over civilian issues in Yehuda and Shomron.

“In this multifront battle, we know we need to secure our eastern border with Jordan. It is a border of peace,” he continued. “We cooperate with the Kingdom of Jordan to ensure that it remains so.

The premier noted that “challenges are increasing” as Iran, and its terrorist allies are increasingly using the porous border to smuggle weapons and know-how into Yehuda and Shomron and Israeli cities.

“We will work to erect a stronger barrier here to stop smuggling attempts. We do it in coordination with our neighbors. We must ensure that this border remains a border of peace and security,” he concluded.

As part of the visit, Netanyahu and Smotrich received an operational briefing from IDF Deputy Chief of Staff Maj. Gen. Amir Baram, Central Command chief Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth and Jordan Valley Brigade commander Col. Aviv Amir, the Prime Minister’s Office announced.

On Sunday morning, a Jordanian terrorist murdered three Israeli border guards at the Allenby Bridge border crossing. Following the attack, all three land crossings between Israel and Jordan were briefly closed.

Amman’s foreign ministry condemned the incident some 14 hours later, denouncing the “targeting [of] civilians for any reason” while accusing Jerusalem of “escalatory steps” that provoked the terrorist shooting.

On Sunday evening, thousands of Jordanians rallied in support of the slain terrorist in Amman. According to pictures posted to social media, protesters hoisted signs that read in Hebrew, “Death to Israel!” They also chanted “Mohammed Deif is still alive,” referring to the commander of the so-called “military” wing (the Al-Qassam Brigades) of Hamas, who was killed in an Israeli Air Force strike on July 13.

Israel signed a peace treaty with Jordan in 1994, but the kingdom has a majority Palestinian population and its government has taken an increasingly hostile tone since the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre of some 1,200 people in southern Israel and the ensuing war in the Gaza Strip.

On Nov. 1, Jordan recalled its ambassador to Israel and told Jerusalem not to return its ambassador to Amman. Jordan’s foreign ministry said that the move was a protest against the “raging Israeli war on Gaza, which is … causing an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.”

According to official assessments, around 600 people enter Israel illegally from Jordan every month. By comparison, in all of 2023, security forces arrested fewer than 90 infiltrators from Jordan.

The eastern frontier with Jordan extends 192 miles, making it the Jewish state’s longest border.

There is mounting concern in Israel’s security establishment that pro-Iranian elements could attempt to penetrate the border to commit a mass attack similar to the Hamas-led Oct. 7 massacre. The military is working to prevent such a scenario, including by reinforcing its troops.

Another situation is the dramatic increase in arm-smuggling into Yehuda and Shomron and the Jordan Valley that Yerushalayim has explicitly attributed to Iran. In the past two years alone, IDF border units have seized more than 1,000 weapons during patrols on the eastern frontier.

Over a year ago, the Israeli government announced its intention to build a security barrier along the eastern border to thwart Iranian efforts to smuggle weapons to terrorist organizations in Yehuda and Shomron.

(JNS)

Former First Lady Melania Trump publicly questioned law enforcement’s actions Tuesday, demanding answers regarding the attempted assassination of her husband, former President Donald Trump. In a brief video posted to her social media accounts, Melania expressed frustration over the lack of clarity surrounding the attack, which occurred at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13. “The attempt to end my husband’s life was a horrible, distressing experience,” she said in the 30-second clip. “Now, the silence around it feels heavy.” She went on to question why law enforcement failed to apprehend the shooter before the incident. “Why didn’t law enforcement officials arrest the shooter before the speech? There is definitely more to this story, and we need to uncover the truth.” The video, released just hours before Donald Trump’s scheduled debate with Vice President Kamala Harris, ended with a call to pre-order her forthcoming memoir, Melania. It marks one of the few times the former first lady has addressed the assassination attempt publicly since issuing an initial statement shortly after the shooting. In her earlier response, Melania thanked law enforcement and the Secret Service for their protection of the former president. “When I watched that violent bullet strike my husband, Donald, I realized my life, and Barron’s life, were on the brink of devastating change,” she said at the time. “I am grateful to the brave Secret Service agents and law enforcement officials who risked their own lives to protect my husband.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Tens of thousands of Chassidim go to Yerushalayim each year for Rosh Hashanah. This Rosh Hashanah – which is a three-day Yom Tov – many families are once again looking to rent apartments to stay for the Yom Tov and be as close as possible to their Rebbe.

In the Belzer Chassidus, a national committee has been established for renting apartments to those wishing to stay near the Rebbe. The committee is headed by Rav Shamai Kehas Gross, a member of the Badatz of Machzikei Hadas, along with other rabbonim. This committee, together with the Housing Committee led by the Belzer Rebbe, has set reasonable prices for apartments this year, alongside a series of other decisions for Rosh Hashanah.

In the Belzer Chassidus, it has been noted that in recent years, the industry of renting apartments for Rosh Hashanah in the Belzer complex in Yerushalayim and the surrounding area has become a bloodbath of sorts. Chassidim and others coming from all corners of the country and the world arrive and want to stay in the area, but are required to pay an exorbitant sum that is far from within their means.

According to the rental managers, most of whom are not Belzer Chassidim, they exploit the situation to make a fortune at the expense of the Chassidim. This phenomenon has no parallel worldwide. Even in the most prestigious hotels during peak demand times, such high sums are not charged for basic services.

In the explanatory pages for combating the high prices, it is stated that “a hotel provides full catering services including serving and clearing… A hotel provides spacious and courteous room services including maintenance and cleaning… A hotel offers comfortable beds and proper conditions, not thin mattresses in the corridor and kitchen. A hotel is left as is at the end of the stay, whereas a rented apartment needs to be cleaned thoroughly after the chag. …Despite all this, the prices are higher than hotels.”

The reports emerging this year from the field are horrifying. Apartment owners who charged exorbitant prices for their apartments last year are now demanding double that amount. They already know that if they found someone who paid their demanded price last year, they will also find someone this year willing to pay the inflated current price.

In the Biala Chassidus, they reached the conclusion that many Chassidim are facing a untenable situation, and therefore this year they instructed that no apartments should be rented at all, and only the yungeleit will come to stay with the Rebbe, while their families will remain in their homes.

As a result of the dramatic step taken by Biala, minyanim will be held in the shuls for the women who remain at home.

It has been reported that in the Biala Chassidus, Chassidim have already canceled their apartments in complete adherence to the instructions received.

The Belzer Chassidus Housing Committee, led by Rav Aharon Mordechai Rokeach, has announced that they are working with brokers and landlords and are already seeing a positive response from them. The committee has created a large database of apartments that meet their price standards.

The committee is also working to flood the market with additional accommodation options for families by renting entire buildings suitable for this purpose, with the aim of balancing the prices.

Belz is also calling on Chassidim and stating that if you have an apartment you have been renting for many years, and it exceeds the committee’s prices, report it immediately to the committee’s office. They will negotiate with the landlord and simultaneously offer you a selection of apartments that meet your requirements and are within the committee’s prices. The public is asked to report immediately to the committee’s office any apartment that exceeds the new regulations.

Below are the prices published by the Belz Housing Committee, and according to the managers, they hope that other Chassidic courts will join the fight.

What’s the Frequency, Kamala?

Some individuals with a penchant for conspiracy theories have suggested that Vice President Kamala Harris might have received covert—and unjust—assistance during her debate on Tuesday night against the Republican candidate.

Here’s how the theory goes: Harris’ earrings supposedly concealed a secret Bluetooth device, allowing her to be fed lines by unseen staff during the ABC News debate in Philadelphia, in blatant disregard for the rules set by the Disney-owned network.

An X user, who goes by The Maverick Approach and describes themselves as an “alternative news source,” floated the idea on Wednesday morning, claiming Harris had been equipped with a pair of smart earrings made by the German company NOVA.

“There’s a major issue with this debate,” they posted. “I told myself she was fed what to say during the debate and my hunch was right. Nova is the world’s first and only wireless earphone earrings.”

However, the NOVA H1 Audio Earrings bear little resemblance to the ones Harris wore during the debate, except for the fact that both feature pearls. The earrings the vice president was actually wearing appeared to be a gold version of Tiffany & Co.’s Double Pearl Hinged Earrings, which are not known to contain any electronics.

The NOVA H1 Audio Earrings, which are clip-ons, retail for around $625 each. They can, according to their Kickstarter page, “project sound from inside the pearl directly into your ear canal.” The Kickstarter campaign has been inactive since last year, and some backers have left comments claiming they never received the product after contributing funds.

“These earrings are fully packed with the latest technology embedded in real pearls to provide you with music, phone calls, and digital assistants all day long,” the page states.

In the past, Harris has criticized Bluetooth devices as potential security risks and has often been seen using wired headphones during her campaign events.

Despite these facts, the conspiracy theory gained traction on the r/conspiracy subreddit and was shared widely across various social media platforms.

The Maverick Approach’s post quickly garnered nearly 100,000 views before the user appeared to admit the whole thing was a joke.

“I can’t believe how easy it is to troll and get everybody worked up,” The Maverick Approach later wrote on X. “This is how politicians do it. FYI, she was terrible and was terrible all on her own. She didn’t need any help with that! If she did have an earpiece, that’s even worse—the fact she had help and still loss [sic].”

On Wednesday morning, former President Trump chimed in, suggesting that Harris may have been given an unfair advantage before the debate began.

“They had a rigged show with somebody that maybe even had the answers,” Trump told “Fox & Friends.” “I mean, I’ll be honest, I watched her talk and I said, ‘You know, she seems awfully familiar with the questions.’”

{Matzav.com}

According to a report released by the US Census Bureau on Tuesday, inflation-adjusted household income increased in 2023, but a measure of the poverty rate also rose. The report provides insight into how American households fared as the economy recovered to pre-pandemic growth levels, job growth surged, and inflation eased. The real median household income rose to $80,610 in 2023, a 4.0% increase from 2022. However, the poverty rate, adjusted for government support, edged up to 12.9% from 12.4% in 2022. The official poverty rate fell to 11.1% from 11.5%. The report comes two months before the US presidential election, with the economy and inflation remaining key issues. The surge in inflation following the pandemic and its impact on household incomes after government support programs expired continue to be a concern. In 2023, the economy posted stronger-than-expected growth, returning to its pre-pandemic path, with the unemployment rate falling to 3.4% in January 2023. Employment growth averaged around 250,000 new jobs per month, above the pre-pandemic average. The Federal Reserve has kept interest rates above 5% since mid-2023 to reduce inflation, which has fallen from 7.1% in June 2022 to 2.5% currently. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Hamas has profited by at least a half billion dollars from humanitarian aid entering the Gaza Strip, Channel 12 reported on Tuesday. Approximately 200 aid trucks enter the Palestinian enclave daily. “It’s actually become the main oxygen pipeline for the terrorist organization,” reported Channel 12‘s Almog Boker.

Hamas steals the humanitarian aid and sells it to the population. It then uses the money to finance recruitment, Boker said, noting that 3,000 terrorists have been added to Hamas’s payroll in northern Gaza.

Israelis on both right and left have condemned the ongoing aid theft by Hamas, their anger rekindled by last week’s murder of six Israeli hostages in captivity.

The Tzav 9 (“Order 9”) protest group has led the movement against Jerusalem’s decision to allow humanitarian aid to enter the Strip.

“There is no logic in bringing the trucks directly to the hands of Hamas terrorists,” the organization said. “It is up to the entire nation to stand up so that this miserable and intolerable reality will end. No aid should go in until the last hostages return.”

Although the estimated $500 million that Hamas is reaping was first reported back in May, the government treats the aid as proof of its positive conduct towards Gazan civilians, with spokespeople for the Prime Minister’s Office regularly counting off the number of trucks entering the Strip during press briefings.

However, Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu addressed the issue of Hamas exploiting aid for its benefit at a Sept. 4 press conference in Yerushalayim, promising that Israel would in time strip the terrorist group of its ability to use the aid for financial gain.

He noted that Israel has largely deprived Hamas of cash by taking control of the Rafah border crossing, leaving Hamas with humanitarian aid as its only source of funds.

“They don’t have [Rafah]. So we’re choking them. But there’s one thing that they have, which is the distribution of food,” Netanyahu said.

“We let all those trucks come in, and Hamas’s strategy is to steal, hoard and gouge. That’s what they do. … They steal the food. They charge exorbitant prices from the Gazans. And that’s how they continue, [or] they hope to continue, to survive. And we have to take that away from them,” he said.

The prime minister did not provide a timeline for when that would occur.

The Israeli government has been under pressure from the Biden administration to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza from the war’s start, with President Joe Biden promising that if aid ended up in the hands of Hamas it would cease.

Nevertheless, the White House has continued pressuring Israel to increase the flow despite admitting publicly that Hamas—a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization—seizes much of the aid.

On June 14, the U.S. State Department sanctioned Tzav 9, which it called “a violent extremist Israeli group that has been blocking, harassing and damaging convoys carrying lifesaving humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in Gaza.”

The State Department said that the Israeli government “has a responsibility to ensure the safety and security of humanitarian convoys,” calling the aid “vital to preventing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza from worsening and to mitigating the risk of famine.” JNS

{Matzav.com Israel}

Agudath Israel welcomes the announcement today by the US House Ways and Means committee that a federal school choice proposal will be considered for “markup” on Wednesday, September 11th. The Educational Choice for Children Act (ECCA) (H.R. 9462) will encourage taxpayers to invest in education and cover expenses facing public and private school children. It does this by allowing a dollar-for-dollar federal tax credit for taxpayers who contribute to Scholarship Granting Organizations (SGO), following a model already operating successfully in more than twenty states. These SGOs would then provide scholarships for a range of educational expenses, including private school tuition. Agudath Israel has been at the forefront of promoting ECCA as well as similar legislation on the state and federal levels. In a memo to the House Ways and Means committee Agudath Israel explained the importance of the bill , writing “We firmly believe that one of the keys to educational excellence is parental involvement and that there is no better way to encourage such involvement, and to ensure educational accountability, than to allow parents to choose the school that is best suited for their children, whether public or nonpublic, secular, or sectarian.” The memo points out that “school choice is beneficial for all states and gaining in popularity with voters and elected officials of all parties. In urban areas, school choice has helped stabilized neighborhoods, as it takes away the incentive of young families to move to the suburbs in search of better schooling.” “We encourage lawmakers, to put a bipartisan stamp on the common-sense policy that is at the heart of this bill: assisting parents to access the learning environment and the educational benefits that are best suited for their children, and that will enhance educational achievement for all of America’s students, “ said Rabbi Abba Cohen, Agudath Israel of America’s Vice President for Government Affairs and Washington Director. “While school choice is advancing across the nation, nearly half of the states in this country have not yet enacted any such program. This bill will allow parents in all 50 states to benefit from educational freedom,” added Rabbi Avi Schnall, Agudath Israel’s Director of Federal Education Affairs.

NewsNation host Chris Cuomo came to the defense of supporters of former President Donald Trump during an episode of The Chris Cuomo Project, accusing the media of misrepresenting them. Cuomo, known for his more liberal leanings, pushed back against the common narrative that paints all Trump supporters as aligned with the former president’s behavior. During Tuesday’s discussion, Cuomo referred to Trump as the “spirit animal of grievance” and argued that many Trump voters back him not because they emulate him, but because they see him as a force for change. “Man, if you want to punish, Trump is your boy. He is the spirit animal of grievance,” Cuomo said. “Something that we keep getting wrong in the media, and I think a lot of us just in general, is that you think people who support Trump are like Trump, and that’s not true.” Cuomo further explained that many Trump supporters are willing to overlook his divisive rhetoric because they believe he represents a disruption to the current political system. “Most of the people who support Trump are desperate to change the system, and they are willing to swallow everything that he isn’t because of what he is, which is a disruptive force of what they want changed,” he noted. This perspective stands in contrast to how Trump supporters are often portrayed in the media, with many outlets characterizing them as bigoted or fully in agreement with everything Trump says. Cuomo argued that this broad-stroke portrayal misses the mark. “Doesn’t mean that they’re just all bigots or that they all act like him or think like him or sound like him. They just want what he’s selling them, which is to change, disrupt, and break the system,” he explained. “Will he do it? I don’t think so, but that doesn’t matter. That’s for you to decide. That’s for all the voters to decide,” he concluded. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Assemblyman Avi Schnall, Agudath Israel’s Director of Federal Education Affairs, reports from Washington, D.C. on the “Educational Choice for Children Act” (ECCA), a transformative multi-billion-dollar tax credit proposal which was reviewed by the House Ways and Means Committee on Capitol Hill today – and passed the committee review.

The bill will now continue through the legislative process, being considered by the Senate.

This is the farthest along any such bill has gotten to date.

WATCH:

A Palestinian migrant accused of assaulting a Jewish man in Long Island had been previously detained for illegally entering the United States, only to be swiftly released, according to a NY Post report. Bechir Lehbeib, 26, a self-described Palestinian from Mauritania, crossed into the U.S. through Lukeville, Arizona, on July 20, 2023, along with a group of more than 200 migrants. A report by the House Judiciary Committee, obtained by The Post, revealed that Lehbeib was released two days later on his own recognizance after claiming he feared for his safety in his home country. Lehbeib eventually made his way to New York, where, in February 2024, he allegedly stole a pro-Israel flag from a porch in Hewlett, Nassau County. When the homeowner, Aleksandr Binyaminov, attempted to retrieve the flag, Lehbeib attacked him. “I told him, ‘Give me the flags,’ and he just started fighting with me and punching me in my face,” Binyaminov recalled. “He basically got me in a choke position, threw me on the floor, and headbutted me. He was saying, ‘I’m from Palestine.’” Binyaminov noted that a relative of his wife had been killed in the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks in Israel. Lehbeib allegedly told police at the time of his arrest, “If I see the flag of the people that killed my people, we will have a problem.” He now faces charges of second-degree assault, robbery, and criminal mischief, with hate-crime enhancements. Lehbeib is being held on a $50,000 bond. Nassau County officials expressed outrage at the situation, criticizing the lax border enforcement that allowed Lehbeib to enter the U.S. and eventually commit the alleged attack. “Nassau County is not a sanctuary county,” County Executive Bruce Blakeman said, denouncing the alleged inadequate vetting process at the southern border. “These aren’t people kissing the ground when they come here. They’re spitting on our flag. It’s an invasion. It’s a disgrace.” The House Judiciary Committee has been releasing reports on crimes allegedly committed by migrants in major U.S. cities, such as New York and Chicago. Critics argue that insufficient vetting allows criminals to enter the U.S. unchecked. Former Border Patrol chief Rodney Scott testified last year that current vetting procedures are lacking, comparing them to “referencing a blank sheet of paper.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Canada has canceled around 30 existing permits for arms shipments to Israel, including a deal with the Canadian division of a U.S. defense contractor, Ottawa’s foreign minister told reporters on Tuesday.

“As for the question regarding General Dynamics, our policy is clear,” Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly said, speaking with journalists on the sidelines of a caucus retreat of her governing Liberal Party.

Last month, the United States announced a $61.1 million deal to supply the Israel Defense Forces with 120mm high explosive mortar cartridges and related equipment produced in Quebec by Virginia-based General Dynamics.

Joly said, “We will not have any form of arms, or parts of arms, be sent to Gaza. Period. How they’re being sent and where they’re being sent is irrelevant. And so therefore my position is clear, the position of the government is clear, and we’re in contact with General Dynamics.”

Canada’s top diplomat on Tuesday revealed that, over the summer, the government revoked around 30 export permits issued before January, when Ottawa announced a ban on new sales of arms that could be used by the Israel Defense Forces in the war against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.

In March, Israeli Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz slammed Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau after he said he would honor a motion in the House of Commons and halt all arms exports to Yerushalayim.

“It’s regrettable that the Canadian government is taking a step that undermines Israel’s right to self-defense against Hamas terrorists, who have committed terrible crimes against humanity and against innocent Israeli civilians, including the elderly, women and children,” said Katz.

Canadian military exports to Israel amounted to more than $15.4 million in 2022, according to official figures. (The largest non-American export destination was Saudi Arabia, which received about $1.15 billion, or about 54% of the total value of all non-U.S. Canadian military exports.)

The Ottawa-based Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs said on Wednesday: “Less than a week after six hostages were brutally murdered following more than 300 days in Hamas captivity, and while hundreds of thousands of Israelis remain displaced by Hezbollah’s relentless bombing in the north, Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly continues to proclaim Israel’s right to self-defense—just not with Canada’s support.

“This decision marks a disturbing shift. Canada, once a steadfast ally of the Jewish state, now risks becoming complicit in the ongoing assault against it,” the Canadian Jewish community group added, charging, “While Minister Joly may seek favor in the looming leadership race, it comes at the expense of Canada’s principles and moral standing.”

On Oct. 7, some 6,000 Palestinian terrorists invaded Israel by land, sea and air from Gaza, murdering around 1,200 people including Canadians, abducting 251 people back to the enclave and using rape and torture as weapons while temporarily conquering several southern Israeli towns.

Earlier this month, the British government suspended some arms sales to the Israel Defense Forces, claiming there is a “clear risk” the weapons could be used by the Jewish state’s military to “commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law” in the Gaza Strip.

U.K. Foreign Secretary David Lammy informed lawmakers that London would cancel 30 out of 350 licenses, banning the export of aircraft, drones, helicopters and ground targeting equipment.

Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant responded by saying he was “deeply disheartened to learn of the sanctions placed by the U.K. Government on export licenses to Israel’s defense establishment.”

(JNS)

French authorities foiled three plots to attack the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Paris and other cities that hosted the summer events, the national counterterrorism prosecutor said on Wednesday. Olivier Christen said the plots included plans to attack “ Israeli institutions or representatives of Israel in Paris” during the July 26-Aug. 11 Olympic competition. The prosecutor told broadcaster France Info that “the Israeli team itself was not specifically targeted.” He didn’t give further details. In all, five people, including a minor, were arrested on suspicion of involvement in the three foiled plots against the Summer Games, which were held against the backdrop of the Israel-Hamas war and Russia’s war in Ukraine. The suspects are facing various terrorism-related charges while they remain in pretrial detention, the prosecutor said. France was on its highest security alert in the months ahead of the Olympics and Paralympics, which wrapped up last week. During preparations for the Games, Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin repeatedly warned that security threats included those from Islamic extremist groups, violent environmental activists, far-right groups and cyberattacks from Russia or other adversaries. In May, members of the General Directorate of Internal Security arrested an 18-year-old man from Chechnya on suspicion of being behind a plan to attack Olympic soccer events that were held in the southern city of Saint-Etienne. The planned attack was to target “bar-type establishments around the Geoffroy-Guichard stadium,” the prosecutor said. The suspect is accused of planning “a violent action” on behalf of the Islamic State group’s jihadi ideology. Jihadists threats dominated the foiled plots and 80% of legal proceedings against suspects include the extremist ideology that still influences France’s youth, the prosecutor said. IS continues to “spread propaganda,” he added. Preventive measures included increased house searches and house arrests before the start of the Olympics, the prosecutor said, adding that police and other security personnel conducted 936 house searches so far in 2024, compared to 153 last year. France also strengthened its airspace defences during the summer Olympics and Paralympics, deploying war planes, attack helicopters, surveillance aircraft, military and police drones among others to patrol the skies over Paris and the Mediterranean port city of Marseille that hosted sailing and soccer events. The French Air and Space Force completed more than 750 flight hours in 350 missions that resulted in 90 interceptions, according to a statement from the Defense Ministry on Wednesday. Most interceptions were civilian drones, the statement said, adding that 85 drone operators were arrested. They were mostly tourists unaware of the regulations in place during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the statement said. Two civilian drone operators were arrested for “delivering illegal equipment to a prison,” it added. (AP)

[COMMUNICATED]

Last week, the ‘Shinun Ve’Chazara’ program, dedicated to training Rabanim and Dayanim under the guidance of leading Gedolei Yisroel, marked the conclusion of seven years of significant success. This initiative has successfully examined dozens of Talmidim, granting them Semicha and Hoiruah certificates. The program’s monthly scholarship expenses amount to approximately $52,000.

The ‘Shinun Ve’Chazara’ program was established approximately seven years ago to address the challenge faced by Talmidim who, despite their hard work and dedication to Torah learning, struggled to retain and master what they had learned. The program was created to provide a structured method of reviewing and reinforcing Limud Hatorah.

The program, established seven years ago, is designed to double the Lemudim every six months, with a complete Chazarah cycle lasting four years. There are also slower tracks available, extending over five or seven years.

The program offers five different Chazarah tracks covering all areas of Torah, including parts of the Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De’ah, Choshen Mishpat, Gemarah Rashi, Gemarah Rashi and Toisfes, and more. To keep pace with the curriculum, the program administers monthly tests, followed by comprehensive tests every six months on both new material and previously covered content.

After completing four years of tests and thorough Chazarahs, Talmidim are tested on all material by Gedoilei Yisroel and receive Semicha and Hoirueh certificates. To encourage and motivate participants, the ‘Shinun Ve’Chazara’ program awards scholarships for each successful exam, with a total of approximately 33,000 NIS awarded to each student by the end of the four-year cycle.

Since its inception with just 15 students, the program has grown significantly. Today, it includes around 600 dedicated Masmidim from various Kehilas in Yerushalayim and other cities in Eretz Yisrael. Many Talmidim from the first and second cohorts have already passed rigorous tests and received their Semicha and Hoirueh certificates at grand celebratory events.

Harav David Schlesinger Shlit”a, the program director, shared that they are continually working to include more Talmidim and expand the program. The monthly scholarship expenses now amount to about $52,000. Despite significant efforts, the program director faces financial challenges and appeals to the broader community for support.

Donations can be made via credit card, and contributors will have the merit of supporting this important Torah initiative and ensuring its continuation

Last week, the ‘Shinun Ve’Chazara’ program, dedicated to training Rabanim and Dayanim under the guidance of leading Gedolei Yisroel, marked the conclusion of seven years of significant success. This initiative has successfully examined dozens of Talmidim, granting them Semicha and Hoiruah certificates. The program’s monthly scholarship expenses amount to approximately $52,000. The ‘Shinun Ve’Chazara’ program was established approximately seven years ago to address the challenge faced by Talmidim who, despite their hard work and dedication to Torah learning, struggled to retain and master what they had learned. The program was created to provide a structured method of reviewing and reinforcing Limud Hatorah. The program, established seven years ago, is designed to double the Lemudim every six months, with a complete Chazarah cycle lasting four years. There are also slower tracks available, extending over five or seven years. The program offers five different Chazarah tracks covering all areas of Torah, including parts of the Shulchan Aruch, Yoreh De’ah, Choshen Mishpat, Gemarah Rashi, Gemarah Rashi and Toisfes, and more. To keep pace with the curriculum, the program administers monthly tests, followed by comprehensive tests every six months on both new material and previously covered content. After completing four years of tests and thorough Chazarahs, Talmidim are tested on all material by Gedoilei Yisroel and receive Semicha and Hoirueh certificates. To encourage and motivate participants, the ‘Shinun Ve’Chazara’ program awards scholarships for each successful exam, with a total of approximately 33,000 NIS awarded to each student by the end of the four-year cycle. Since its inception with just 15 students, the program has grown significantly. Today, it includes around 600 dedicated Masmidim from various Kehilas in Yerushalayim and other cities in Eretz Yisrael. Many Talmidim from the first and second cohorts have already passed rigorous tests and received their Semicha and Hoirueh certificates at grand celebratory events. Harav David Schlesinger Shlit”a, the program director, shared that they are continually working to include more Talmidim and expand the program. The monthly scholarship expenses now amount to about $52,000. Despite significant efforts, the program director faces financial challenges and appeals to the broader community for support. Donations can be made via credit card, and contributors will have the merit of supporting this important Torah initiative and ensuring its continuation

On Wednesday evening, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant publicized a letter written by a since killed senior Hamas commander, describing the immense losses the terror organization has faced.

The letter was written by Rafe Salama, the former commander of the Khan Yunis Brigade and deputy to Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif, and was written to Hamas terror leader Yahya Sinwar and his brother. Salama was killed alongside Deif in an Israeli strike in July.

Gallant said: “In the letter that Rafe Salama, who was killed by us in July, wrote to the Sinwar brothers, he describes the situation – 70 percent of the weapons were destroyed, 95 percent of the rockets were destroyed, 50 percent of the terrorists were killed or wounded and a great many fled, leaving them with 20 percent according to him. This is a real loss that hurts Hamas and is felt by its most senior commanders.

He cries out for help from the Sinwar brothers, but of course they can’t save him. Why? Because we are continuing the effort that started in October and continues step by step, step by step, and reaches all senior Hamas officials. This is what he wrote to the Sinwar brothers, who we will also reach.”