An emotional scene unfolded this week at a kollel in Cholon, when Rav Yitzchak Zilberstein publicly pledged to personally pay 1,000 shekels to any kollel member who succeeds in finding a shidduch for an older single girl in need of a shidduch.
The incident took place Tuesday, the fast of Asarah B’Teves, at Kollel Beis Dovid in Cholon, following a special tefillah held by Rav Zilberstein on behalf of the girl, who is the daughter of one of the kollel’s avreichim. Speaking briefly before Minchah to dozens of talmidim, Rav Zilberstein made an impassioned appeal that surprised those present.
“Dear and beloved friends,” Rav Zilberstein said, according to a recording aired on the ‘Siach Yitzchak’ hotline. “I have a request. We have a very dear brother in the kollel, one of the most precious among us. He is suffering greatly. He has a daughter—certainly as precious as he is—and there are no shidduchim. I think today we should ask everyone to say three chapters of Tehillim.”
Rav Zilberstein then added an extraordinary commitment. “I want to say something else,” he continued. “If one of us finds a shidduch, I will give him one thousand shekels. First, we will daven for him—he is our brother, and the pain is very great. The daughter is getting older every day, and he is a great talmid chacham. So I am saying: If one of us finds a shidduch, in addition to the shadchanus fee he will receive from the families, he will personally receive one thousand shekels from me.”
Quoting the words of Tehillim, Rav Zilberstein urged the avreichim to internalize the pain of the situation. “Let us now say the chapter, ‘Esa einai el heharim, mei’ayin yavo ezri.’ This is our help. This is not hefker here. ‘From where will my help come?’ It hurts us. I repeat again: Whoever hears my words now and finds a shidduch—aside from the shadchanus—I will, with Hashem’s help, give another one thousand shekels. After the tefillah we will say Tehillim, and bli neder I will give the money to the one who merits this great mitzvah of finding her a chosson. May Hakadosh Baruch Hu help us quickly.”
In recent years, Rav Zilberstein has repeatedly spoken about the growing crisis of older singles. At a Chanukah gathering at the same kollel, he addressed the issue directly. “Es achai anochi mevakesh,” he said then. “There are avreichim whose sons or daughters are older and waiting for a zivug. Sadly, this is a tzarah of all of Klal Yisroel—one of the most difficult problems of our time. Beyond tefillah for one another, and the principle that one who davens for his friend is answered first, there must also be real, practical effort.”
He continued at that event by urging every avreich to actively think of shidduchim for others, describing the effort as an extraordinary act of chessed and a partnership in building a bayis b’Yisroel, bringing light and joy to families who wait and yearn for that moment.
{Matzav.com}Chairman of Shas Aryeh Deri lashed out Wednesday evening at his coalition partners—Bezalel Smotrich, Itamar Ben Gvir, and the Likud—over what he described in closed-door conversations as their “deafening silence” following a High Court decision freezing funds for chareidi Torah education.
According to associates who spoke with Deri, the Shas leader expressed deep anger and disappointment at the lack of public condemnation from senior coalition figures after the High Court issued an interim order halting the transfer of roughly one billion shekels earmarked for chareidi educational institutions. The ruling has intensified tensions inside the coalition as preparations for elections—widely expected later this year—accelerate, with cracks and internal rifts becoming increasingly visible.
Deri was quoted as saying that the decision was being treated “as if it were a budget for climate issues or beach cleanups,” adding a pointed warning to his partners: “They must understand clearly—the Jewish identity of this country is the foundation of this government. Without education based on the Torah of Israel, even the struggle for the Land of Israel will not succeed.”
Earlier in the evening, Deri held what was described as a sharp and heated phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is currently in the United States. During the conversation, Deri conveyed what his office termed a “forceful protest” against the High Court’s decision, warning that its implications amount to “the destruction of the entire chareidi education system.”
Deri told Netanyahu that the issue transcends chareidi party politics and constitutes a fight for the coalition as a whole. He demanded that upon his return, the prime minister immediately convene the ministerial team established to address chareidi education and mobilize all available political and financial resources to combat the ruling. Netanyahu, according to those briefed on the call, voiced full backing for Deri’s demand and pledged to convene the ministers promptly to deal with the matter.
Meanwhile, MK Moshe Arbel publicly broke his silence with a scathing attack on the High Court. “There are no judges in Yerushalayim,” Arbel said. “Since I became politically aware, I cannot recall a petition by a party that failed to secure a parliamentary majority managing, within a single day, to cancel a Knesset decision through a judicial ruling that directly harms the salaries of teachers in Israel.” He went on to mockingly invite what he called the “High Court Party” to run together with Yesh Atid in the next Knesset elections.
The High Court’s interim order, issued Wednesday evening by Justice Yael Wilner, freezes the transfer of approximately one billion shekels approved earlier this week by the Knesset Finance Committee. The funds were designated for chareidi educational frameworks and were halted following a petition filed by Yesh Atid. In her ruling, Wilner wrote that after reviewing the request, responses, and replies, an interim injunction was warranted barring any further transfers until a subsequent decision is issued.
Yesh Atid officials said the interim order does not go far enough and signaled their intention to seek an expanded remedy that would require chareidi teachers to return funds already disbursed earlier in the day, before the injunction took effect.
Shas responded with an especially harsh statement, accusing the High Court of “antisemitic persecution” and likening it to “a reckless driver barreling through a crowded highway, ruthlessly running over the chareidi public.” The party charged that the ruling robs children of their basic sustenance, undermines Torah study, and harms the education of tens of thousands of students. Declaring that “there are no judges in Yerushalayim, only a dangerous group of arsonists,” Shas called on Jews worldwide to raise their voices in protest, vowing that the chareidi public would stand firm against what it described as malicious and unprecedented decisions.
{Matzav.com}
American intelligence agencies have concluded that Russia’s assertion of a Ukrainian attempt to assassinate President Vladimir Putin with a large-scale drone attack is unfounded, contradicting statements Moscow made earlier this week.
Officials briefed on the matter told the Wall Street Journal that there is no evidence supporting the allegation that Ukraine targeted one of Putin’s residences. A CIA assessment reached the same conclusion, determining that Kyiv did not attempt to strike Putin’s home in Russia’s northwest Novgorod region.
According to a US official, Ukrainian forces were aiming at a military site that had been targeted in the past and is located in the same broader area as Putin’s country residence, but not anywhere near the property itself.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky publicly rejected the accusation, calling it a “complete fabrication” on Monday, as Western security officials dismissed the claim as baseless.
A source familiar with internal discussions said CIA Director John Ratcliffe briefed President Trump on Wednesday about the alleged incident. Later that day, Trump shared a link to a New York Post editorial suggesting that Putin may have fabricated the story to disrupt ongoing peace efforts.
Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, claimed that air defenses intercepted all 91 drones involved in the supposed attack and said there were no reports of injuries or damage.
Trump told reporters on Monday that Putin had “told me about” the alleged drone assault during a phone call that took place after Trump met with Zelensky at Mar-a-Lago. Trump criticized Ukraine over the reported incident while recounting the conversation.
“This is not the right time,” Trump said of the alleged drone incursion. “It’s one thing to be offensive, it’s another thing to attack his house. I was very angry about it.”
At the same time, the president acknowledged uncertainty surrounding the Russian account, saying it was “ possible” Putin was lying about drones being directed at his home.
{Matzav.com}When Zohran Mamdani takes office at midnight on Jan. 1, he will become the first mayor of New York City to be sworn in on a Quran, according to city officials.
The initial oath will be administered in a private ceremony shortly after midnight at the long-abandoned Old City Hall subway station. State Attorney General Letitia James will conduct that swearing-in, while Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders is scheduled to administer the oath again later in the day during public festivities.
Mamdani plans to use multiple copies of Islam’s holy book during the ceremonies. His spokesperson said the mayor-elect will rely on at least three Qurans across the private and public events.
Among them will be a Quran that belonged to his grandfather, along with another tied to the legacy of writer and historian Arturo Schomburg. That volume is being lent for the occasion by the New York Public Library and will be used during the midnight ceremony.
For the daytime swearing-in outside City Hall, Mamdani will again place his hand on his grandfather’s Quran, along with at least one additional family copy. The New York Times first reported the details, which were later confirmed by Mamdani’s representative.
Mamdani, who will be the first Muslim to lead City Hall, has spoken openly about faith and identity during his campaign. In October, after drawing criticism for appearing in a photograph with a controversial imam, he addressed the issue directly.
“The dream of every Muslim is simply to be treated as any other New Yorker, and yet for too long we have been told to ask for less than that and to be satisfied with whatever little we receive,” the progressive said at the time.
The use of the Schomburg Quran carries additional historical weight. Although Schomburg himself was not Muslim, the text was part of his extensive collection documenting Black history and culture. Born in Puerto Rico in 1874 and later settling in Harlem, Schomburg became a leading figure in promoting African American scholarship and research, according to the New York Public Library.
The selection of that Quran was made by senior advisor Zara Rahim and Mamdani’s wife, Rama Duwaji, working with Hiba Abid, the NYPL’s curator for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies, the Times reported.
“It’s a highly symbolic choice because we’re about to have a Muslim mayor swearing in using the Quran but also a mayor who was born on the African continent, in Uganda,” Abid said.
“It really brings together here elements of faith, identity and New York history.”
Recent New York City mayors have frequently chosen religious texts with personal or historical significance for their inaugurations. Eric Adams, who served one term after withdrawing from his re-election bid, was sworn in on a family Bible in 2022 while holding a portrait of his late mother as the New Year’s Eve ball dropped in Times Square.
Bill de Blasio, when beginning his first term in 2014, selected a Bible once owned by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. That historic volume briefly went missing after the ceremony, prompting concern before it was eventually recovered.
Michael Bloomberg, sworn in during the months following the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks, placed his hand on the same Jewish Bible he had used at his bar mitzvah, according to a 2002 report.
At the federal level, former House Rep. Keith Ellison of Minnesota made history in 2007 as the first lawmaker to use a Quran during a congressional swearing-in, a precedent that Mamdani’s inauguration will now echo on the city stage.
{Matzav.com}
Israel’s justice minister, Yariv Levin, on Wednesday sharply criticized a High Court interim order freezing roughly NIS 1 billion in government funding earmarked for chareidi education, calling on chareidi lawmakers to take immediate steps against the judiciary.
Earlier in the day, Yael Wilner issued an interim injunction halting the transfer of funds to chareidi educational institutions. The decision sparked furious reactions from chareidi members of Knesset, with Levin later joining the condemnation.
“I am joining the protests of my United Torah Judaism colleagues over the High Court’s decision regarding chareidi educational institutions,” Levin wrote in a public post. He urged lawmakers not to stop at statements alone, but to announce their immediate support for advancing a series of judicial reform bills that, he said, have been stalled in the Knesset for months.
“This is the best response to the deliberate harm being inflicted on the chareidi public,” Levin concluded.
Following the High Court’s move, the Yesh Atid party said it would not be satisfied with the interim injunction alone and plans to demand an expanded remedy. According to the party, the court should require chareidi teachers to return funds already received earlier in the day, since part of the frozen allocation had reportedly been transferred before the injunction took effect.
The chairman of Degel HaTorah, MK Moshe Gafni, responded with unusually harsh language, declaring that “the court has declared war on the chareidi public and on Torah institutions.” He accused the justices of intentionally harming educators’ livelihoods and damaging the entire system, vowing, “We will do everything to restore the situation to what it was.”
Shas likewise denounced the ruling, branding it “antisemitic harassment.” In a statement, the party said the High Court was “rampaging like a reckless driver on a crowded road, brutally and unprecedentedly running over the chareidi public — from robbing young children of their daily bread to undermining Torah study and the education of tens of thousands of students.”
“There are no judges in Yerushalayim, only a dangerous group of arsonists,” the statement continued, accusing the court of taking the chareidi community “hostage” in a desperate effort to preserve its waning power. Shas called on Jews worldwide to raise an outcry against what it termed “this antisemitic persecution,” adding that “the chareidi public will stand firm, like an impenetrable wall, against these malicious decisions.”
{Matzav.com}
