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Ariel Shamai, a talmid of Yeshivas Ateres Shlomo, was released from Military Prison 10 in Beit Lid on Wednesday, five days earlier than scheduled.

His release came in the middle of the levayah of Rebbetzin Leah Feiga Sorotzkin a”h, the mother of his rosh yeshivah, Rav Shalom Ber Sorotzkin, who had passed away earlier that morning.

Shamai had been imprisoned for not enrolling in the army. His arrest drew widespread outrage throughout the Torah world and turned him into a powerful symbol of resistance against the attempts to coerce yeshiva students into army service.

He was the first student from a mainstream yeshiva—the Ateres Shlomo network led by Rav Shalom Ber Sorotzkin—to be jailed for Torah study. His imprisonment galvanized the Olam HaTorah.

Rav Sorotzkin moved heaven and earth to secure his student’s release, even cutting short a trip to Los Angeles to intervene personally. Protests were held outside the military prison, and gedolim delivered fiery calls for his freedom. Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch delivered a special shiur klali at the prison.

Last week’s massive “Million Man Rally” in Yerushalayim also stemmed directly from his case.

Throughout his time in prison, Shamai remained steadfast in his dedication to Torah learning. Despite the challenges of incarceration, he continued studying diligently, writing Torah insights and letters to his friends in yeshiva. He also maintained contact with Rav Sorotzkin.

The early release was made possible through the joint efforts of attorney Menachem Stober and draft activist R’ Shimon Shisha. The prison commander, exercising his authority, approved the decision to release Shamai ahead of schedule.

{Matzav.com}

Brooklyn, NY — Vandals targeted Magen David Yeshivah overnight, defacing the front walls of the elementary school and neighboring Torah Center with red swastikas in an act of antisemitic vandalism that has shaken the community the morning after the election of Muslim socialist Zohran Mamdani.

Photos from the scene show the hate symbols spray-painted on the school’s exterior wall, directly beneath a plaque and adjacent to the school’s security gate.

In a letter sent to parents and staff, Rabbi Ezra Cohen-Saban, principal of Magen David Yeshivah, condemned the act and assured the community that immediate measures have been taken to protect students and staff.

“Last night, vandals painted swastikas on the elementary school and the Torah Center next door,” Rabbi Cohen-Saban wrote. “Senior officers from the NYPD and Shomrim are actively investigating. We have added extra security on site and will continue to work closely with law enforcement to ensure the safety of our students and staff, which remains our top priority.”

The school administration said it will share updates as the investigation progresses.

Magen David Yeshivah is one of the largest Sephardic Jewish day schools in Brooklyn.

{Matzav.com}

BREAKING: Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries have sent a letter to President Trump calling for a bipartisan meeting “to end the GOP shutdown of the federal government and decisively tackle the Republican healthcare crisis. “Democrats are ready to meet with you in person, anytime and anywhere.”

Queen Rania of Jordan ignited a firestorm of criticism Tuesday after she likened Israel’s military actions in Gaza to Nazi Germany’s persecution of Jews during the Holocaust. Her controversial statements were delivered in Munich at the opening ceremony of the One Young World Summit, an international event bringing together young delegates from over 190 nations.

During her address, as reported by Jordan’s official news agency, Queen Rania accused Israeli leaders of spreading hate in the aftermath of the October 7 Hamas massacre. She charged that Israeli officials were following “a time-tested playbook” designed to “convince the public [they were] dealing with beasts” as a way to justify violence.

Citing a remark made by then-defense minister Yoav Gallant—who called Hamas terrorists “animals” following the attacks—she compared his choice of words to Nazi Germany’s depiction of Jews as “vermin.” The analogy immediately drew condemnation for equating Israel’s fight against terror with genocidal rhetoric.

Attempting to explain her controversial comparison, Queen Rania insisted her purpose was not to diminish the Holocaust. “Every atrocity is unique,” she said, adding that her intention was “not about weighing grief or comparing pain,” but to underscore that “all human life has equal value” and that preserving the memory of the Holocaust must include rejecting dehumanization in any form.

She continued, “We’ve witnessed, in real time, the raw reality of what hate looks like when it transforms from a feeling, to words, to action. To dismiss it as ‘just talk’ is to ignore how every genocide has begun: with words.”

The queen further accused Israel of maintaining an “illegal occupation of Palestine,” despite the IDF’s recent pullback to the Yellow Line under the terms of the U.S.-brokered ceasefire agreement in Gaza earlier this month.

This was far from her first broadside against Israel. In a CNN interview shortly after the October 7 massacre, Queen Rania questioned reports that Hamas terrorists had beheaded Israeli babies, asserting there was “no evidence” such atrocities occurred and claiming the stories had never been verified.

Months later, in a March 2024 appearance, she escalated her rhetoric, saying, “As devastating and as traumatic as October 7th was, it doesn’t give Israel license to commit atrocity after atrocity. Israel experienced one October 7th — since then the Palestinians have experienced 156 October 7ths.” She went on to accuse Israel of orchestrating “a slow-motion mass murder of children five months in the making. It is absolutely shameful, outrageous, and entirely predictable what’s happening in Gaza today because it was deliberate.”

Two months afterward, speaking on CBS, Queen Rania said she empathized with Israeli mothers whose children remain in Hamas captivity, but cautioned Israel not to allow its anguish to become “retribution and revenge.” She added that “Israel could have retaliated through surgical strikes against Hamas. But that’s not what we’re seeing today. You know, we are seeing a war that is not fought in a defensive way.”

In that same interview, she asserted that Hamas does not represent the Palestinian people, continuing her pattern of condemning Israel’s military response while minimizing the atrocities committed by the terror group on October 7.

{Matzav.com}

Pam Bondi: “The President has the authority to do this under his executive authority… this is the most important case in front of the Supreme Court… not only is this about national security, but also our economic security around the world.”

After hours of meetings and consultations, HaGaon HaRav Moshe Hillel Hirsch notified Chareidi MKs on Wednesday to continue negotiations to advance the new draft law. As first reported on Tuesday evening, the Degal HaTorah MKs visited HaRav Hirsch at his home seeking his direction on how to proceed with the legislation. The meeting lasted an […]

President Trump to GOP Senators: “I think it’s very important. We have to get the country open, and the way we’re going to do it… is to terminate the filibuster… It’s time, it’s time… We’ll end up with two, three years, and we’ll have this country so perfect.”

POTUS: “If I thought that they weren’t going to pass the filibuster, I wouldn’t even bring it up. They’re going to pass it within the first hour… if [Democrats] take power… they’ll wreak havoc.”

TRUMP: on the Democrat Shutdown: “Millions of Americans are going to be without SNAP benefits… Countless public servants are now not being paid and the air traffic control system is under increasing strain. We MUST get the government back open.”

TRUMP: “We are in the midst of a disastrous Democrat-created shutdown… that’s now officially the longest shutdown in American history. The Democrat radicals in the Senate have shown zero interest in reopening the government… they’ll take down the country if they have to.”

Israel transferred the bodies of 15 Gazans as part of the agreement, following the return of the remains of American-Israeli hostage Itay Chen.

For the fourth day in a row, Red Cross and Egyptian vehicles, escorted by Hamas’s military wing, are operating in Israeli-controlled areas of the Shuja’iyya neighborhood in eastern Gaza City to search for the remains of hostages.

UPS has issued a statement regarding the deadly plane crash in Louisville, Kentucky.

California voters on Tuesday night approved Proposition 50, redrawing the state’s congressional map to make five districts more favorable to Democrats.

Vice Mayor Michele Weiss has been elected Mayor of University Heights — becoming what appears to be the first female Orthodox Jew ever elected mayor in the United States. A longtime civic leader and Republican, Weiss defied political odds by capturing the mayor’s office in the heavily Democratic suburb of Cleveland through a campaign built […]

Zohran Mamdani celebrated his stunning victory in the New York City mayoral race Tuesday night with a fiery message aimed squarely at Donald Trump.

“Donald Trump, since I know you’re watching, I have four words for you: Turn the volume up,” Mamdani declared to thunderous applause.

From the start of his address, the newly elected mayor made it clear that his administration would confront what he described as the entrenched power of wealthy elites. “We will hold bad landlords to account, because the Donald Trumps of our city have grown far too comfortable, taking advantage of their tenants,” he said, pledging a crackdown on property abuse.

Mamdani also railed against corruption and corporate privilege, vowing to reverse policies that he said benefited the ultra-rich. “We will put an end to the culture of corruption that has allowed billionaires like Trump to evade taxation and exploit tax breaks,” he announced.

He went on to promise strong protections for working-class New Yorkers, aligning himself with organized labor. “We will stand alongside unions and expand labor protections, because we know, just as Donald Trump does, that when working people have ironclad rights, the bosses who seek to extort them become very small indeed.”

The new mayor underscored his commitment to the city’s diverse roots, describing New York as a place built and sustained by immigrants. “New York will remain a city of immigrants – a city built by immigrants, powered by immigrants, and as of tonight, led by an immigrant,” he declared, drawing a prolonged ovation.

As his speech came to a close, Mamdani had one last message for Trump. “To get to any of us, you will have to get through all of us,” he said.

Running as a Democratic socialist with a campaign centered on affordability and equity, Mamdani made history as New York’s first Muslim mayor and its youngest leader in more than a century.

{Matzav.com}

A moving scene unfolded at Yeshivas Slabodka as the Rosh Yeshiva, Rav Dov Landau, returned to Israel after falling ill during his trip to Switzerland as part of the Keren Olam HaTorah fundraising mission. Despite doctor’s orders to rest, the 95-year-old rosh yeshiva wasted no time upon his arrival, choosing instead to deliver a shiur to his talmidim.

Rav Landau had traveled to Switzerland to meet with philanthropists and supporters of Torah institutions, strengthening them with words of inspiration and emphasizing the immense responsibility to sustain Torah learning during these trying times.

Throughout the trip, the Rosh Yeshiva fully invested his strength and spirit in the mission, despite his advanced age. However, due to the cold weather and on medical advice, he was compelled to cut his stay short and return to Israel Monday night.

Rav Landau did not allow himself a moment’s rest. The sight of the venerable Rosh Yeshiva, frail yet radiant with the light of Torah, moved his talmidim deeply. As one of them remarked, “He truly lives the words ‘Ki heim chayeinu v’orech yameinu.'”

{Matzav.com}

A joyous event took place this week in the court of Rav Shaul Alter, Gerer Rosh Yeshiva, as he celebrated the hanachas tefillin of his grandson, the son of his son Rav Avrohom Mordechai Alter.

Following Shacharis, Rav Shaul held a tish lechaim in honor of the milestone. The gathering was held in the beautifully appointed Heichal HaTishin, generously dedicated by philanthropist Mr. Louie Scheiner.

During the tish, the Rosh Yeshiva delivered an inspiring address filled with depth and insight, centering on an unexpected question that captured everyone’s attention: “How did a donkey make its way into the topic of tefillin?”

Rav Shaul explained the fascinating connection with a masterful blend of lomdus and drush. He referenced the Gemara’s account of Rabbah’s dream, in which Rabbah saw a donkey and understood it as a sign that his tefillin had become invalid—a passage that raises puzzling questions discussed by the Aruch. He then tied it to the parsha of peter chamor (the redemption of the firstborn donkey), which is mentioned within the sections of tefillin, and linked it further to the Akeidah, where it says “Vayachavosh Avrohom es chamoro—Avrohom saddled his donkey.”

From this, the Rosh Yeshiva drew a profound lesson: “From Avrohom Avinu we learn that one must take the physical, the material—represented by the chamor, the donkey—and harness it in service of holiness.”

The audience listened intently as Rav Shaul’s words illuminated the symbolic depth of the mitzvah, merging the spiritual and physical in the service of Hashem.

Toward the close of his remarks, Rav Shaul turned to address his grandson’s chevraya, the young students from the yeshiva ketanah who had come early to participate in the morning prayers. These boys had awakened an hour before their regular time to learn seder fartugs before Shacharis.

Commending their enthusiasm, the Rosh Yeshiva told them, “This inspiration you felt today—take it with you every day, and carry it through the entire day.”

{Matzav.com}

Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara was summoned to a joint hearing in the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee and the Constitution Committee regarding conflicts of interest in the probe against ousted Military Advocate General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi in the leak of the Sde Teiman video, but she refused to attend, citing “obstruction of proceedings” in an […]

Investigators examining the recent ordeal of Major General Yifat Tomer-Yerushalmi, who was dismissed from her position as Military Advocate General, have reportedly concluded that her alleged suicide attempt was staged rather than genuine.

According to a Channel 12 News report aired Tuesday night, police are increasingly convinced that her apparent attempt on her life was a calculated act to get rid of her cell phone before it could be seized.

Tomer-Yerushalmi, who has been under questioning since her dramatic arrest on Sunday, was found after several tense hours during which authorities feared for her safety. Her husband helped guide police to her location after she reached out to him — but the device that might hold key evidence was nowhere to be found. She insisted she had no memory of what became of it.

When confronted about the incident, Tomer-Yerushalmi told investigators: “I couldn’t bear the public pressure, the slander, the humiliation, and the threats to my life and my family. This past week has been hell, so I decided to end my life and left a letter for the children.”

Investigators, however, were unconvinced by her account. One of them bluntly responded: “I’m telling you, it’s all a bluff. You simply tried to evade arrest.” Tomer-Yerushalmi, maintaining her position, replied: “I’m not lying. I’m telling you the truth.”

The interrogation continued to grow tense, as the investigator accused her of deception. “From the very beginning, we didn’t believe you. You staged quite a production here — a false display, a perfectly orchestrated event,” he said.

Despite the high-profile nature of the investigation, police sources have indicated that no accomplices are believed to have been involved. Tomer-Yerushalmi is said to have told investigators that she acted on her own initiative and did not notify top legal officials — including the State Attorney and the Attorney General — about the leaked footage from the Sde Teiman military base.

{Matzav.com}