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Bnei Brak experienced another difficult evening on Monday, as groups of fringe youths engaged in prolonged confrontations with police along Rechov Ezra, igniting fires, attacking motorists, and causing significant traffic disruptions throughout the city. The incidents have raised serious concern among residents, particularly given the impact on the city’s Torah atmosphere and the welfare of its youth.

What began in the early afternoon as a protest near the Vizhnitzer center quickly spiraled beyond control. As the hours passed, additional marginal elements joined the scene, and the demonstration turned into an extended public disturbance. Garbage bins were set ablaze, major roads were blocked, and confrontations with police continued well into the evening.

Large police forces were dispatched to the area multiple times in an effort to restore order and disperse the crowds. According to law enforcement officials, officers used crowd-control measures, including batons, after police personnel and passing drivers were reportedly attacked and a tangible threat to public safety emerged.

As reported earlier, Bnei Brak Mayor Chanoch Zeibert responded sharply to the unrest, expressing deep pain over the events. “In recent hours in the city, there have been uncontrolled and unsupervised demonstrations and protests, which are an educational disaster for our children’s souls. These demonstrations originate with a handful of fringe individuals who are dragging young people into actions whose consequences no one can foresee.”

The mayor urged parents to act decisively to protect their families. “I ask every parent to take responsibility for himself and his family and ensure that no one from their immediate family is present in these areas that are dangerous from an educational standpoint. At the same time, the police are operating on the scene to prevent the continuation of these irresponsible events in our city.”

Although authorities say there is no direct link, the disturbances come just one day after serious clashes broke out on Chagai Street following the harassment of two IDF servicewomen. Those incidents also continued for hours, resulted in numerous arrests, and required a significant police presence in several parts of the city.

Many residents voiced sorrow that such scenes are unfolding in a city identified with Torah and spiritual growth, and community leaders once again called on parents and educators to safeguard both the physical safety and spiritual wellbeing of the city’s precious youth.

{Matzav.com}

WATCH: A 35-year-old British man was arrested Monday for damaging self-service check-in kiosks at Hong Kong International Airport. Social media footage showed him toppling kiosks and smashing them with a metal post, damaging around 10 kiosks, railings, and counters.

Former U.S. President Barack Obama said he did not see evidence that aliens “have made contact with us,” after sending social media abuzz by saying aliens were real on a podcast over the weekend. During a lightning round of questions with podcast host Brian Tyler Cohen, Obama was asked, “Are aliens real?” “They’re real,” he […]

Israeli police are strongly pushing back against reports claiming that security officials advised the Defense Minister not to travel to Bnei Brak amid ongoing tensions in the city. On Monday evening, commentator Amit Segal cited a report by Amiel Yerachi of News24 alleging that the Defense Minister had intended to pay a shiva visit to […]

Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who leads the Religious Zionism party, said this week that he would counsel his own daughter against serving in the Israel Defense Forces, citing the stance of leading rabbinic authorities and long-standing religious principles.

Speaking during his party’s faction meeting in the Knesset, Smotrich was asked directly by a reporter how he would respond if his daughter expressed interest in enlisting. He replied, “If my daughter asked me, I would try to educate her not to go” serve in the military.

He pointed to the guidance of senior rabbinic leadership as shaping his position. “The Chief Rabbinate is against this. This is the position of my rabbis,” says Smotrich. “I hope that you, these big progressives, can also respect the values of several thousand years…. And I of course respect those who think differently than I do.”

The question of religious women serving in the IDF remains a source of ongoing debate within the national religious community. While many young women from that sector choose to perform national service in lieu of military enlistment, it is also not uncommon for graduates of religious high schools to join the army. At the same time, a number of prominent religious Zionist rabbis have publicly opposed female enlistment, contending that army service does not align with standards of modesty and appropriateness.

Smotrich himself entered the military later in life, enlisting at age 28 and completing a shortened period of service. Over the years, he has also voiced criticism of mixed-gender combat frameworks within the IDF.

{Matzav.com}

REPORTER: Now that Gaza is entering Phase Two, should Israel lift it’s ban on foreign journalists from being allowed to into Gaza? TRUMP: We will be lifting a lot of bans pretty soon.

Data from the Knesset Research and Information Center, presented to the Education Committee chaired by Religious Zionist MK Zvi Sukkot, revealed an unusual, unprecedented, and largely unregulated trend in Israel’s school system: a surge in Arab teachers working in the Hebrew state educational system—with no formal government decision dictating such a policy and with no […]

Trump on the Board of Peace first meeting set to take place on Thursday.

Q: What do you expect from these Iran talks in Geneva tomorrow? TRUMP: “So I will be involved in those talks, indirectly, and they will be very important, let’s see what can happen. Iran is a very tough negotiator, I would say they’re bad negotiators because we could’ve had a deal instead of sending the […]

Q: “Recent news reports discussed the possibility Kristi Noem and Cory Lewandowski are in a close personal relationship…will she be in the job much longer?” TRUMP: “I don’t know about that. I haven’t heard that. I’ll find out about it.”

A day after painful scenes of unrest shook the city of Bnei Brak, Mayor Chanoch Zeibert released a heartfelt message to residents, pleading with parents to ensure that their children remain at home and far from any gatherings or demonstrations that could place them in harm’s way.

In a tone reflecting deep concern for the chinuch and ruchniyus of the city’s youth, the mayor warned, “In recent hours in the city, there have been uncontrolled and unsupervised demonstrations and protests, which are an educational disaster for our children’s souls.”

Zeibert stressed that these incidents were not representative of the city’s Torahdike population, but rather the actions of a small and extreme element. According to Zeibert, “The demonstrations originate with a handful of fringe individuals who are dragging young people into actions whose consequences no one can foresee.”

He noted that law enforcement authorities are taking steps to restore calm and prevent further disturbances. At the same time, he placed clear responsibility on parents to safeguard their families, calling on them “to take responsibility and make sure that no member of their family is in these areas.”

Emphasizing that such behavior stands in stark contrast to the derech of Bnei Brak, the mayor declared, “Violence is not our way, unleashing passions goes against our values, and we can not condone moves that negate the Torah and halacha.” He continued with an emotional appeal: “Dear parents, protect your children’s lives, your treasures, with all vigilance. The place for treasures is not in the streets.”

Concluding his message, Zeibert said that his words reflect the daas of the city’s rabbonim, writing that he speaks in the name of the rabbinic leadership “who ask that we live in a tribute to the Torah and those who study it.”

{Matzav.com}

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said he is skeptical about the prospects for a lasting diplomatic breakthrough with Iran, warning that military confrontation may ultimately prove unavoidable as nuclear talks resume this week. Speaking to Jewish leaders at a gathering of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations in Jerusalem, Huckabee questioned […]

Arab MK Ahmad Tibi is upset that Police in Bnei Brak grabbed a Chareidi woman and pulled off her Shaitel.

MONSEY: The Monsey Fire Department responded to a fire at the Oh! Nuts store located within Evergreen Supermarket on Route 59. A popcorn machine caught fire but was quickly extinguished.

The Vizhnitzer Rebbe made an exceptional decision to personally host the Siyum HaZohar of the “Iskanshu” initiative in his private residence, despite recently limiting public events due to his health. At the height of the moving gathering, a kvittel containing the names of thousands of lomdim who dedicated their learning for the Rebbe’s refuah was […]

An injured seabird sought help by pecking at the door of an emergency room at a hospital in Germany until medical staff noticed it and called firefighters to help with its rescue. The cormorant, a shiny black waterbird, had a triple fishing hook stuck in its beak when it made its presence known at the […]

Speaking at a press briefing during a visit to Tel Aviv, US Sen. Lindsey Graham said an American decision on whether to pursue military action against Iran is “weeks, not months” away, as the administration weighs diplomatic efforts against the prospect of force. “I’m here to reassure the Israeli people there is no light between […]

A heavy pall has descended upon the Torah community of Rechasim with the petirah of Rav Yehuda Sharabi zt”l at the age of 91. One of the elder talmidim of Yeshivas Knesses Chizkiyahu and among the founders of the Torah settlement in the northern community, he embodied a lifetime of unwavering dedication to Torah, avodah, and mussar.

Rav Sharabi zt”l was counted among the devoted students of the great roshei yeshiva and baalei mussar of earlier generations. He learned under the guidance of the mashgiach Rav Eliyahu Lopian zt”l, Rav Noach Shimonowitz zt”l, Rav Eliyahu Meiselsky zt”l, and the mashgiach Rav Dov Yaffe zt”l.

From his earliest youth, his heart burned with a love for Torah. Under the direction of Rav Avraham Tzadok zt”l, he was sent to Yeshivas Tiferes Yisrael in Haifa, where he grew in Torah and yiras Shamayim and forged close bonds with his rabbeim. Later, at the instruction of his rebbi Rav Eliyahu Meiselsky zt”l, he transferred to Yeshivas Knesses Chizkiyahu in Zichron Yaakov to learn under Rav Noach Shimonowitz zt”l. It was there that his character was shaped as a profound learner, a man of deep thought and refined mussar.

After his marriage, he established his home near the yeshiva and remained there until his final day, fulfilling in the most literal sense the description of “an elder who sits in the yeshiva.” He fixed his place of tefillah in the yeshiva’s beis medrash and was meticulous in attending the mussar seder and shmuessen. In his later years, he even maintained chavrusos with younger bochurim, studying matters of mussar and avodas Hashem. He was known as a living example of deference to rabbeim, exactness in halachah, and purity of speech. Not a word of disparagement about another person was ever heard from his lips.

For decades, he transmitted Torah at Yeshivas Ohr Chadash, under the leadership of the mara d’asra Rav Moshe Tanaami, alongside his close friend Rav Yaakov Ben Shoshan zt”l. There, he invested heart and soul into bringing his students into the world of Torah, raising many talmidim with mesirus nefesh and a profound sense of responsibility for their spiritual future. His talmidim recalled that his firmness and strength were always coupled with warmth and a shining countenance, and that every demand he made of them was purely lesheim Shomayim.

Rav Sharabi was among the founders of the community in Rachasim and contributed greatly to establishing its Torah character and spiritual fabric. Together with his devoted wife, the rebbetzin, he built a faithful Torah home founded on deep mutual respect. He merited to see sons and sons-in-law who are marbitzei Torah, and all his descendants continue in the path of Torah and yirah.

The family is sitting shivah at his home at 3 Rechov Hazayit in Rechasim.

Yehi zichro boruch.

As Pesach approaches, the Yom Tov B’Harachava Initiative (PSI), in cooperation with participating local shuls, is once again stepping forward to assist families feeling the financial pressure of Yom Tov expenses. With continued Siyata D’Shmaya and the devoted partnership of trusted askanim, baalei batim, gabbaei tzedakah, and local kehillah leaders, PSI is honored to stand […]

U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee said Monday night in Yerushalayim that Washington and Jerusalem are fully coordinated in confronting Iran’s nuclear ambitions, while also addressing his upcoming interview with Tucker Carlson and last week’s White House meeting between President Donald Trump and Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu.

Speaking at the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, Huckabee first commented on his planned sit-down with Carlson, explaining why he agreed to the interview.

“This Wednesday I’m doing a long interview with Tucker Carlson. Many have asked why. I figured instead of him talking about me, he should talk to me. I don’t recognize the Tucker of the last few years. But we do not change the narrative by being silent in the face of misinformation. We change the narrative by pushing back. Silence is agreement. It is why some of the horrific things in human history have happened. Because people were silent in the face of blood libels and lies.”

Turning to the recent meeting in Washington between President Trump and Prime Minister Netanyahu, Huckabee described the discussions in highly positive terms.

“The meetings I felt were extraordinary, in many ways historic.”

Focusing on the Iranian threat, Huckabee emphasized what he called complete strategic alignment between the two allies. “The US and Israel are absolutely aligned on Iran. Iran cannot continue their nuclear and ballistic program. Iran is not Israel’s problem; it is the world’s problem. For 47 years, Iran has said death to America – they preface that with death to Israel, but only because Israel is in the way.”

He cautioned that Iran’s influence extends well beyond the Middle East, pointing to the global reach of Tehran’s allied groups. “The proxies of Iran alone are a threat not only in the Middle East and Israel, but they are already in the western hemisphere. If you think it’s only the Middle East at risk, you fail to understand the threat is global.”

On the question of ongoing negotiations, Huckabee acknowledged uncertainty about whether diplomatic efforts would succeed. “Talks are taking place. But can anything come from the talks this week that will bring peace? I honestly don’t know. There is significant doubt as to whether the Iranian nuclear threat, ballistic program, and funding of terror will be removed. But if they were willing to do that, because they realize the consequences of not doing so, I’d be delighted.”

He further revealed that he had conveyed both hope and resolve in conversations with President Trump. “As I told the President, I hope that, miraculously, something can happen to thwart a military confrontation.

But I also told him, Mr. President, if it has to happen, I’m willing to be in the middle of it, because for the future of my children, to remove this threat. At some time, the United States has to say enough is enough. Either they make a radical change, or they experience ‘the second kick of a mule’. I think the President has made it clear that a military action is not his first choice, but it is his desire to make sure they can’t wreak havoc in the world.”