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Germany has returned a painting stolen by the Nazis in 1942 to the heirs of two Jewish brothers, Arthur and Eugen Goldschmidt. The artwork, a landscape titled “Valley of Mills near Amalfi” (ca. 1830) by 19th-century German artist Carl Blechen, was intended for a museum Adolf Hitler planned to establish. The painting originally belonged to the Goldschmidt brothers, who were art collectors. Their father had purchased the piece in Berlin, and it was inherited by the brothers after his death. Arthur, a publisher, and Eugen, a chemist, faced relentless persecution under the Nazi regime. Following the horrors of Kristallnacht in November 1938, both brothers tragically took their own lives. The Goldschmidt art collection was passed on to their nephew, Edgar Moor, who had recently emigrated to Johannesburg, South Africa. However, the collection remained in the brothers’ former Berlin apartment. In July 1942, the Gestapo confiscated all of Moor’s possessions left in Germany, including “Valley of Mills near Amalfi.” Earlier this month, Germany’s Federal Art Administration announced that the government had returned the Blechen painting to Moor’s heirs, following the signing of a restitution agreement in May. The administration stated, “Based on the information available, it can be safely assumed that the painting in question was confiscated from Edgar Moor as a result of Nazi persecution.” This restitution marks the 69th piece of artwork returned by the Federal Republic of Germany to rightful owners. The Blechen painting was acquired in 1944 by a special commission set up by Hitler to curate items for a planned Führermuseum in Linz, Austria. “Valley of Mills near Amalfi” was stored in Hitler’s Munich building, the Führerbau, which still stands today. However, the painting was stolen in 1945. It was recovered by Munich police in 1946, and in June 1949, the American military government transferred it, along with other unrestituted objects, to Bavarian Prime Minister Hans Ehard. The painting was eventually handed over to Germany’s federal government in 1952 and officially became federal property in 1960, along with other items formerly owned by the Nazis. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

President Biden has made it clear that Hamas is responsible for the deaths of American-Israeli citizen Hersh Goldberg-Polin and five other hostages, a US official stated on Monday. This response came after Biden faced criticism for earlier comments suggesting that Prime Minister Netanyahu wasn’t doing enough to secure a hostage deal. “The President has been clear that Hamas is responsible for killing Hersh and the others and Hamas leaders will pay for their crimes,” the official emphasized. Biden is also urging the Israeli government to act with urgency in securing the release of the remaining hostages. A statement from the Whitehouse reads: “Today, President Biden and Vice President Harris met in the White House Situation Room with the U.S. hostage deal negotiation team following the murder of American Hersh Goldberg-Polin and five other hostages by Hamas. President Biden expressed his devastation and outrage at the murder, and reaffirmed the importance of holding Hamas’s leaders accountable.” Earlier in the day, Biden mentioned that Netanyahu is not doing enough to secure the release of hostages held by Hamas and added that he is “close” to presenting a final deal to negotiators working on a hostage and ceasefire agreement in Gaza. “We’re very close to that,” Biden said in response to a question from CNN about his plans to present a final proposal. In response, a senior official from Prime Minister Netanyahu’s office expressed confusion over Biden’s comments, stating, “It is puzzling that President Biden is pressing Prime Minister Netanyahu, who agreed to the US (hostage deal) proposal as early as May 31 and to the US bridging proposal on August 16, and not Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, who continues to vehemently refuse any deal.” The Israeli official further warned that Biden’s admission is “especially dangerous when it is made just days after Hamas executed six Israeli hostages, including an American citizen,” referring to the killing of Hersh Goldberg-Polin. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Imagine a customer-service center that speaks your language, no matter what it is. Alorica, a company in Irvine, California, that runs customer-service centers around the world, has introduced an artificial intelligence translation tool that lets its representatives talk with customers who speak 200 different languages and 75 dialects. So an Alorica representative who speaks, say, only Spanish can field a complaint about a balky printer or an incorrect bank statement from a Cantonese speaker in Hong Kong. Alorica wouldn’t need to hire a rep who speaks Cantonese. Such is the power of AI. And, potentially, the threat: Perhaps companies won’t need as many employees — and will slash some jobs — if chatbots can handle the workload instead. But the thing is, Alorica isn’t cutting jobs. It’s still hiring aggressively. The experience at Alorica — and at other companies, including furniture retailer IKEA — suggests that AI may not prove to be the job killer that many people fear. Instead, the technology might turn out to be more like breakthroughs of the past — the steam engine, electricity, the Internet: That is, eliminate some jobs while creating others. And probably making workers more productive in general, to the eventual benefit of themselves, their employers and the economy. Nick Bunker, an economist at the Indeed Hiring Lab, said he thinks AI “will affect many, many jobs — maybe every job indirectly to some extent. But I don’t think it’s going to lead to, say, mass unemployment. We have seen other big technological events in our history, and those didn’t lead to a large rise in unemployment. Technology destroys but also creates. There will be new jobs that come about.’’ At its core, artificial intelligence empowers machines to perform tasks previously thought to require human intelligence. The technology has existed in early versions for decades, having emerged with a problem-solving computer program, the Logic Theorist, built in the 1950s at what’s now Carnegie Mellon University. More recently, think of voice assistants like Siri and Alexa. Or IBM’s chess-playing computer, Deep Blue, which managed to beat the world champion Garry Kasparov in 1997. AI really burst into public consciousness in 2022, when OpenAI introduced ChatGPT, the generative AI tool that can conduct conversations, write computer code, compose music, craft essays and supply endless streams of information. The arrival of generative AI has raised worries that chatbots will replace freelance writers, editors, coders, telemarketers, customer-service reps, paralegals and many more. “AI is going to eliminate a lot of current jobs, and this is going to change the way that a lot of current jobs function,” Sam Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, said in a discussion at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in May. Yet the widespread assumption that AI chatbots will inevitably replace service workers, the way physical robots took many factory and warehouse jobs, isn’t becoming reality in any widespread way — not yet, anyway. And maybe it never will. The White House Council of Economic Advisers said last month that it found “little evidence that AI will negatively impact overall employment.’’ The advisers noted that history shows technology typically makes companies more productive, speeding economic growth and creating new types of jobs in unexpected ways. They cited a study this year led by David Autor, a leading MIT economist: It concluded that […]

Members of the Gvura Forum converged on the Prime Minister’s Office in Yerushalayim on Monday to protest against a general strike called by the Histadrut labor federation following the IDF’s recovery over the weekend of six hostages’ bodies from the Gaza Strip.

“We call on the prime minister not to give up to [Hamas terror chief Yahya] Sinwar and instead to keep up military pressure to achieve total victory,” Yehoshua Shani, a member of the forum whose son IDF Capt. Ori Shani was killed in action at Kissufim on Oct. 7, told JNS.

“Our heart is with the families of the hostages who were killed by Hamas and not the government of Israel, which needs to do everything possible to bring the hostages back while at the same time destroying Hamas and ending terror,” Yehoshua continued.

Captives Hersh Goldberg-Polin, 23, Eden Yerushalmi, 24, Almog Sarusi, 25, Alexander Lobanov, 32, Carmel Gat, 40, and Master Sgt. Ori Danino, 25, whose bodies were recovered from a Rafah tunnel in southern Gaza overnight Saturday, were shot multiple times at close range shortly before their discovery.

Israelis reacted with anger and many blamed the Netanyahu government for Hamas’s ongoing refusal to accept a U.S.-backed ceasefire proposal, one that Yerushalayim has accepted.

WATCH: Hersh Goldberg-Polin laid to rest in Jerusalem
September 2, 2024
An estimated 30,000 people protested in Tel Aviv on Sunday night, demanding the government return the hostages.

The Histadrut, representing roughly 800,000 Israeli trade unionists, declared a 24-hour general strike starting at 6 a.m. on Monday. Ben-Gurion International Airport halted departures, initially from 8 to 10 a.m.. Hospitals moved to reduce operations. Ports only offloaded expendable items and medical supplies.

The Tel Aviv Labor Court subsequently ordered the strike to end at 2:30 p.m., with the court’s president calling the economic shutdown “political.”

Judge Hadas Yahlom, president of the court in Bat Yam, just south of Tel Aviv, said in her decision that “after hearing the parties’ positions and perusing the materials submitted to the case, we hereby grant a temporary injunction against the announced strike.”

Shani said, “We understand the pain, we understand the families, but we still appeal to the government to keep the war on until they end Hamas’s terror reign because we need to protect the whole nation here.”

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About 200 people participated in the forum’s protest. Demonstrators erected a tent adjacent to the Prime Minister’s Office where people can visit and exchange stories of Israelis heroes, including those who were killed in the current war, from bereaved families demanding total victory over Hamas.

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir stopped by the rally on Monday, stating, “We are using our power in the government to prevent a reckless deal. With Hamas you need to speak only between gunsights.”

On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he was “outraged to the depths” of his soul by the murder of six hostages in Gaza by Hamas, blaming the terrorist group for blocking a ceasefire agreement.

“Our efforts to free our hostages are continuing constantly. Since December, Hamas has refused to hold genuine negotiations,” he said.

“Three months ago, on May 27, Israel agreed to a hostage-release deal with full backing from the United States. Hamas refused. Even after the United States updated the deal framework on Aug. 16—we agreed, and Hamas again refused.

“Whoever murders hostages—does not want a deal,” continued Netanyahu. “For our part, we will not relent. The government of Israel is committed, and I am personally committed, to continue striving toward a deal that will return all of our hostages and ensure our security and our existence.”

Last month, the prime minister held a meeting with representatives of both the Gvura Forum and the Tikva Forum, another group that believes ongoing military pressure is the best way to secure the freedom of the 101 remaining captives.

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While the larger Hostage and Missing Families Forum has accused Netanyahu of abandoning the captives, the Tikva Forum on Sunday called on the government to end months of indirect negotiations with Hamas.

“Hamas has actually started to kill people directly to raise the pressure on the government to enter a deal on its conditions,” Shimon Or, the uncle of captive Avinatan Or and a member of the Tikva Forum, told JNS on Sunday.

“We knew that Hamas was a murderous terror organization, but they are now killing during negotiations. This represents a change in their strategy,” he continued.

“Hamas anticipated that instead of blaming the killers, the Israeli people would put the responsibility on the government, which actually wants to bring back the hostages,” he added.

Regarding the Israeli Security Cabinet vote last week in support of Netanyahu’s stance of maintaining an Israel Defense Forces presence in the Philadelphi Corridor on Gaza’s border with Egypt, Or stressed that such a position will save lives.

“Keeping troops in the corridor ensures that Hamas will not rearm in Gaza, and so there will not be another October 7,” he said. “The government didn’t go to war for nothing, we went to war keep the whole country safe.

“There cannot be a situation where the government gives up clauses in any deal that are essential to keeping the Israeli people and the country safe once the hostages are back,” he continued.

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“We are demanding from Prime Minister Netanyahu that he stop negotiating and makes sure Hamas knows that it will no longer exist,” Or said.

Severing ties with Hamas, he added, would show that taking hostages will not be rewarded.

“Continuing to speak with Hamas after what it did will lead to more deaths, because Hamas will understand these actions bring results,” Or said.

“The blood of the hostages will be on the Histadrut labor union and the Kaplan Force [left-wing activist group], which try to gain political ground by exploiting the pain of the poor families of hostages,” he said.

In a controlled explosion, military and police bomb sappers on Monday detonated the powerful car bomb discovered at the entrance to the yishuv of Ateret in the pre-dawn hours of Monday morning. Two huge gas canisters were inside the car, wired to a detonator. The terrorists likely intended to detonate the bomb as school buses filled with children entered the yishuv at the start of the school day.

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, a “military” arm of Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas’s Fatah movement, claimed responsibility on Monday for a drive-by shooting that killed three Israeli police officers in Yehuda.

In an announcement posted on official channels, Fatah’s “militia” praised the terrorist who carried out the “Tarqumiya operation,” naming the perpetrator as Muhannad al-Aswad from the nearby town of Idhna.

The terrorist group warned that its gunmen would continue to “pursue the occupier [Israel] at every intersection, alley and neighborhood, until it is expelled from our land and our holy sites, Inshallah [‘God willing’].”

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed on Sunday that al-Aswad had links to the P.A.’s ruling faction and had served in Abbas’s presidential guard.

On Sunday, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades declared responsibility for this weekend’s double car bombings in the Gush Etzion area of Yehuda.

In a statement, it claimed that the bombing attacks came in response to “Zionist massacres in the Gaza Strip, the crimes of the occupation in the occupied West Bank and violations against the blessed Al-Aqsa mosque.

“The fighters of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades continue their heroic operations against the forces of the Zionist enemy within the Battle of Al-Aqsa Flood,” it said, referring to the war initiated by Hamas on Oct. 7.

Many members of Israel’s security brass support the Palestinian Authority’s control over parts of Judea and Samaria as a “moderating force,” as opposed to Hamas and other Iran-backed terrorist groups.

Members of Ramallah’s security forces have a long history of carrying out attacks against IDF soldiers and Israeli civilians. Last year, Fatah boasted that most of its “martyrs” served in the P.A. Security Forces.

In addition, the Hamas terrorist organization has recruited dozens of PASF operatives, using them as terrorist combatants and for intelligence gathering, Israel’s Kan News public broadcaster reported in mid-2023.

Hamas’s Al-Qassam Brigades “military” wing also took responsibility on Monday for the Yehuda car bombings, describing the twin attacks as the terrorist group’s “first martyrdom operation in the Hebron Governorate.”

The statement also mourned Tarqumiya shooter al-Aswad as a “heroic martyr fighter” but stopped short of taking responsibility for the attack.

The Al-Qassam Brigades vowed to continue providing weapons to “martyrs and those who carry out qualitative [terrorist] operations that will uproot this occupier from our land soon, with the help of Allah.”

On Sunday, Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich urged the Cabinet to launch a counterterrorism campaign throughout Judea and Samaria. “Gaza, Lebanon, and Judea and Samaria are part of the same Iranian choke ring that seeks to destroy the State of Israel,” Smotrich said.

In the six months of 2024, Yehuda and Shomron saw more than 500 Arab terrorist attacks each month on average, according to figures Rescuers Without Borders published on Aug. 1.

During that time, first responders recorded 3,272 acts of terrorism in the region, including 1,868 cases of rock-throwing, 456 attacks with Molotov cocktails, 299 explosive charges and 109 shootings.

Terrorists have killed 14 people and wounded more than 155 others in Judea and Samaria since the start of the year, the rescue group said.

(JNS)

Nicki Kämpf watched her daughter toddle across the sand in a Berlin playground and wondered whether she and her wife should move their 1 1/2-year-old west, after Alternative for Germany became the first far-right party to win a state election in post-World War II Germany. Kämpf, 29, and her wife discussed a backup plan as Sunday’s election results came in. They’re concerned that a gay couple and their child might not be safe in the future if parties like Alternative for Germany, or AfD, gain more power in the formerly communist and less prosperous eastern states. Even though they live in the liberal city of Berlin, Kämpf was scared the far-right’s power could spread. She’s especially worried because the paperwork to formally adopt her daughter is still pending — and could be for another year or more. “I don’t think I would be able to adopt her if they’re in power,” Kämpf told The Associated Press on Monday. “I don’t want to bring her up in a hostile environment.” The couple talked about a possible move west to Cologne — “people there are really open-minded” — but Kämpf is reluctant to take their daughter far from the toddler’s 91-year-old great-great-grandmother and other family in Thuringia and neighboring Saxony. AfD won its state election in Thuringia on Sunday under one of its hardest-right figures, Björn Höcke. In Saxony, the party finished only just behind the mainstream conservative Christian Democratic Union, which leads the national opposition. Deep discontent with a national government notorious for infighting, inflation and a weak economy, anti-immigration sentiment and skepticism toward German military aid for Ukraine are among the factors that contributed to support for populist parties. A new party founded by a prominent leftist was the second big winner on Sunday — and will probably be needed to form state governments since no one is prepared to govern with AfD. AfD is at its strongest in the east, and the domestic intelligence agency has the party’s branches in both Saxony and Thuringia under official surveillance as “proven right-wing extremist” groups. Höcke has been convicted of knowingly using a Nazi slogan at political events, but is appealing. Höcke bristled Sunday when an ARD interviewer mentioned the intelligence agency’s assessment, responding: “Please stop stigmatizing me. We are the No. 1 party in Thuringia. You don’t want to classify one-third of the voters in Thuringia as right-wing extremist.” Voters went to the polls on the 85th anniversary of Nazi Germany’s invasion of Poland at the start of World War II. Some far-left protesters demonstrated against AfD in Hamburg, Dresden and Leipzig. Lukas Meister said his sons, 6 and 3 years old, are too young to understand elections. But as the 3-year-old played with sand toys Monday, the 38-year-old father thought about how his eldest child will have to learn about it someday. “We don’t talk much about politics so far. He’s more into ‘Paw Patrol,’” Meister said. “It’s hard to explain. How is it that people are so proud to vote for a party that is so bad for everyone?” Older Germans who lived through the Nazi reign of terror are frightened. Many believed their country had developed an immunity to nationalism and assertions of racial superiority after confronting the horrors of its past through education and laws to outlaw […]

The funeral of slain Israeli-American hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin got underway at Yerushalayim’s Har HaMenuchos cemetery on Monday, two days after his body was retrieved from a tunnel in southern Gaza.

Ahead of the funeral ceremony, which started at 4 p.m., thousands gathered in the capital’s streets, waving Israeli flags to pay their final respects as the Goldberg-Polin family made its way to the cemetery.

(JNS)

South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem joins ‘Sunday Morning Futures’ to weigh in on Tim Walz’s record as a congressman and Minnesota governor, his ties to China, and her take on the 2024 race.

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There was no summer honeymoon for Keir Starmer. Britain’s new prime minister, elected in a landslide less than two months ago, had to cancel a planned vacation after anti-immigrant unrest erupted across the country. He has spent his first weeks in office dealing with the aftermath, and issuing stark warnings about the state of the nation and the economy. As lawmakers returned to Parliament on Monday after a shortened summer break, Starmer’s left-of-center Labour Party government was preparing for a budget statement next month that’s likely to include tax rises or public spending cuts — or both. The mood music is in stark contrast to the campaign song used by former Prime Minister Tony Blair, the last Labour leader to win an election: “Things Can Only Get Better.” “Frankly, things will get worse before they get better,” Starmer told voters in a televised speech last week. Starmer is seeking to hammer home the message that the right-leaning Conservative Party, booted out by voters in the July 4 election, presided over “14 years of rot” that’s left Britain weakened economically, structurally and even morally. During the election campaign, Starmer vowed to get the country’s sluggish economy growing and restore frayed public services such as the state-funded National Health Service. Since winning power he’s said the situation is “worse than we ever imagined,” with an unexpected 22 billion pound ($29 billion) hole in the public finances. Labour has decided not to increase taxes on “working people,” but it has to find money somewhere. It has already scaled back a payment intended to help pensioners heat their homes in winter. Starmer said last week that a budget statement coming on Oct. 30 will be “painful” and involve “short term pain for long term good.” Conservative economy spokeswoman Laura Trott accused Starmer and his government of trying to “run from responsibility for the tax rises they always planned but hid from the public during the election.” Paul Johnson, who heads economic think-tank the Institute for Fiscal Studies, has said Labour is being “disingenuous” when it claims to be surprised by the state of the finances, but that the Conservatives had “left Labour a mess to clear up.” Rob Ford, professor of political science at the University of Manchester, said Starmer’s government was going to “have to grasp the nettle” and confront the fact that two key pledges – improving public services and not raising any of the main taxes – “aren’t both achievable.” Starmer faced a big test within weeks of taking office when anti-immigrant violence erupted after three children were stabbed to death in the town of Southport. The violence, fueled by online misinformation blaming a migrant and stirred up by far-right groups, spread across England and Northern Ireland over several days. Starmer responded firmly, condemning a “mindless minority of thugs” fueled by the “snake-oil of populism” and pledging swift justice and tough sentences for rioters. But he says he was hobbled by past Conservative spending cuts that have left courts overstretched and prisons overcrowded. Amid alarm from some Labour lawmakers about the gloomy messaging, the government is now trying to sound more positive. It notes that in his first weeks in office, Starmer scrapped the Conservatives’ stalled and controversial plan to send some asylum-seekers who arrive in the U.K. to Rwanda, struck […]

An Israeli labor court ordered a general strike that began on Monday morning to end at 2:30 p.m., with the court’s president calling the economic shutdown “political.”

Judge Hadas Yahlom, president of the Labor Court in Bat Yam, just south of Tel Aviv, said in her decision that “after hearing the parties’ positions and perusing the materials submitted to the case, we hereby grant a temporary injunction against the announced strike, in such a way that the strike will end today at 2:30 p.m.”

She added: “The strike is political, there is no connection between the killing of the abductees and the economy.”

On Sunday, the Histadrut labor federation, which represents some 800,000 Israeli trade unionists, declared a general strike starting at 6 a.m. on Monday, shutting down large sectors of the economy, to protest against the lack of a ceasefire deal with the Hamas terrorist group in Gaza.

It came after the IDF announced on Sunday morning that the bodies of six hostages were recovered overnight Saturday from a tunnel in Rafah in southern Gaza, sparking anti-government protests and calls by left-wing political leaders for a general strike.

At the request of Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanayhu, the state filed a petition on Monday morning against Histadrut Chairman Arnon Bar–David.

According to the petition, the strike was not called “for the purposes of a collective labor dispute, and as such is a political strike.”

The strike was set to last for 24 hours with the possibility of an extension, but Bar-David told the Labor Court that the strike would end on Monday at 6 p.m., before the judge’s decision ended it hours earlier.

In a statement, Bar-David said that he accepted the court’s decision to end the strike early.

“It is important to emphasize that the solidarity strike was a significant measure and I stand behind it. Despite the attempts to paint solidarity as political, hundreds of thousands of citizens voted with their feet,” he wrote.

“I thank every one of you — you proved that the fate of the hostages is not right wing or left wing, there is only life or death, and we won’t allow life to be abandoned,” Bar-David continued.

Smotrich praised the court’s ruling, tweeting, “The court accepted our position and determined that the Histadrut’s strike was political and illegal.

“The Israeli workers who showed up for work today in droves proved that the days of the red register that enslaves the workers for political needs are over. It is not possible to damage the Israeli economy and thereby serve the interests of [Hamas leader in Gaza Yayha] Sinwar and Hamas!”

Meanwhile, the Hostages and Missing Families Forum urged protests to continue despite the ruling.

“This is not about a strike, this is about rescuing the 101 hostages that were abandoned by Netanyahu with the Cabinet decision last Thursday,” the forum said, referring to the vote by ministers to back the IDF’s continued presence at the Gaza-Egypt border, known as the Philadelphi Corridor.

Nationwide protests are scheduled for the evening at 7 p.m., including in Yerushalayim in front of the prime minister’s residence, Tel Aviv on Begin Street and in Caesarea in front of the prime minister’s house. JNS

{Matzav.com Israel}

Rav Gershon Ribner, rosh kollel of Kollel Nesivos Hatorah and son-in-law of Rav Shneur Kotler, has succeeded in applying classical Talmudical analysis and methodology to understanding all areas of Yiddishkeit, bringing out its profundity and sense.

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Vice President Kamala Harris and President Joe Biden are co-headlining a campaign event Monday in the marquee battleground state of Pennsylvania as Harris balances presenting herself as “a new way forward” while remaining intensely loyal to Biden and the policies he has pushed. The pair will attend Pittsburgh’s Labor Day parade and offer some remarks, the first time the two have shared a speaking slot on the political stage together since the surprising election shakeup that provided a fresh jolt of Democratic enthusiasm to the 2024 election. Harris’ campaign has said Pennsylvania voters are newly energized since Harris moved to the top of the ticket six weeks ago, with tens of thousands of new volunteers signed up to canvass for her and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, the Democratic vice presidential nominee. Harris’ and Biden’s appearance at the parade, one of the largest such gatherings in the country, is part of a battleground state blitz with just over two months until Election Day. Harris first heads to Detroit Monday for a campaign event before meeting Biden in Pennsylvania. Harris, 59, has sought to appeal to voters by positioning herself as a break from poisonous politics, rejecting the acerbic rhetoric of her Republican opponent, former President Donald Trump, while looking to move beyond the Biden era as well. Yet while her delivery may be very different from Biden’s, Harris’ agenda is chock-full of the same issues he has championed: capping the cost of prescription drugs, the Affordable Care Act, the economy and helping families afford child care. “We fight for a future where we build what I call an opportunity economy, so that every American has the opportunity to own a home, start a business and to build wealth and intergenerational wealth. And a future where we lower the cost of living for America,” she said at a recent rally, echoing Biden’s calls to grow the economy “from the bottom out and the middle up.” Harris briefly appeared on stage with Biden after the president delivered his remarks on the opening night of last month’s Democratic National Convention, but the two haven’t shared a microphone at a political event since Biden himself was running for office. At that time, the campaign was using Harris mostly as its chief spokeswoman for abortion rights, an issue they believe can help them win in November as restrictions grow and health care worsens for women following the fall of Roe v. Wade. The pair have appeared at official events and met together at the White House since the ticket-swap. For more than 3 1/2 years, Harris has been one of Biden’s chief validators. Now the tables are turned, as Harris looks to lean on Biden — a native of Scranton, Pennsylvania — to help win the potentially decisive state. Biden, for his part, has laid low since ending his reelection bid. He was last at the White House on Aug. 19 and has since been vacationing in Southern California and Delaware. But even as she’s taken on the mantle of leading the Democratic Party, Harris has stood steadfastly at Biden’s side. In her first sit-down interview of her candidacy, Harris delivered an impassioned defense of Biden’s record and ability to do the job, even despite the events of the past two months that ended with her […]

The bar mitzvah year marks a monumental transition in a boy’s life—a time of rapid physical, emotional, and social changes. It’s a time when guidance, support, and safe spaces to navigate sensitive topics are needed more than ever. Yet, despite the profound importance of this stage, comprehensive bar mitzvah preparation that addresses these crucial needs has been largely inaccessible to most families. The Jewish community has not yet provided a widespread, structured approach to equipping our boys with the tools they need to thrive during this transformative time. Until now. At BigTalks, we’re revolutionizing bar mitzvah preparation by offering a service that’s been sorely missing, yet is absolutely essential.  We’ve developed a groundbreaking program that goes beyond the traditional focus on leining and celebration planning to address the deeper, more significant aspects of this transition. Our Bar Mitzvah Schmooze provides: Expert coaching to navigate the complexities of adolescence A safe, Torah-based space to discuss sensitive topics openly Tools for building self-esteem, healthy relationships, and a strong sense of identity We’re not just filling a gap; we’re creating a new standard for bar mitzvah preparation. We’re ensuring that every boy has access to the support he needs to enter this new stage of life with confidence, resilience, and a deep connection to his Jewish heritage. Don’t let your son navigate this crucial transition alone. Give him the gift of guidance, support, and empowerment. For more information and to book a bar mitzvah schmooze,visit: bigtalks.org/bar-mitzvah

President Herzog’s at Levaya of murdered hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin: “Beloved Hersh, with a torn and broken heart, I stand here today as the President of the State of Israel, bidding you farewell and asking for your forgiveness, from you, and from Carmel, from Eden, from Almog, from Alex, and Ori, and from all your loved ones. I apologize on behalf of the State of Israel, that we failed to protect you in the terrible disaster of October 7, that we failed to bring you home safely. I apologize that the country you immigrated to at the age of 7, wrapped in the Israeli flag, could not keep you safe.” Rachel, Jon, dear Libby, and Orly, grandparents, and the whole family – I ask for your forgiveness, forgiveness that we could not bring Hersh back home alive. Your special light, Hersh, captivated all of us from the first glance, even through the posters crying out for his return. Most of us did not have the privilege of knowing you in life, but you have been so alive in us for eleven months now; together with many other brothers and sisters, held captive by cursed, monstrous murderers – since Simchat Torah – which turned into the day of our disaster. Know this: We are witnesses, and we will never forget. There is no door in the world on which your beloved family did not knock for you, for your rescue and well-being. There is no stone they left unturned, no prayer or plea they did not cry out – from one end of the world to the other – in the ears of God and man. Michal and I met with your parents and family dozens of times in the past year, and we had the privilege of getting to know up close people of exceptional stature and to learn from them a lesson we will never forget – about a mother’s and father’s limitless love. Only recently, on the evening of Tisha B’Av, together with your parents, we prayed at the President’s Residence for your return, together with all the hostages. And now, our heart, already broken, is shattered into pieces. In one night, we were informed of the murder of six innocent and pure souls, each of them a whole world, with loved ones who have not slept a single full night, nor taken a full breath, for eleven months now. Now – the State of Israel has an urgent and immediate task. Decision-makers must do everything possible, with determination and courage, to save those who can still be saved, and to bring back all our sons and daughters, our brothers and sisters. This is not a political goal, and it must not become a political dispute. It is a supreme moral, Jewish, and human duty of the State of Israel to its citizens. We did not fulfill this duty. And now – we have a sacred and shared obligation, to stand up and bring them all back to their homeland. For the spirit, resilience, and unity of Israel. Of course, we do not forget for a moment our obligation to hold accountable the despicable murderers who butchered you – Hersh – your friends, our sisters, and our brothers. Here too, the mission is clear and binding: To continue fighting […]

Thousands of people line the roads of Jerusalem to pay their last goodbye to Hersh Goldberg-Polin HY’D before he is laid to rest on Har Hamenuchos

‘The Big Weekend Show’ co-hosts react to the murder of six hostages held by Hamas in Gaza.

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In yet another act of sadistic cruelty, the Hamas terror group released a video on Telegram on Monday afternoon featuring the six hostages executed in cold blood last week. The video shows short clips of each of the hostages confirming their identities and then ends with the threat to release their final messages in the coming hours. The threat comes as the levayos of the victims are still taking place. The levaya of slain US-Israeli hostage Hersh Goldberg-Polin is taking place on Monday afternoon in Jerusalem. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

An imam from Utica, New York, called to “take out” a prominent pro-Israel professor at Columbia University, sparking widespread backlash. The imam, Tom Facchine, made the comment against Professor Shai Davidai during a webinar titled “Islamic Political Activism,” hosted by the Columbia University branch of Students for Justice in Palestine. “If you’re able to take out somebody like that and make an example, that might shut up a hundred more,” Facchine said during the online event. The video of his remarks was later removed from Instagram, which also permanently banned the video from its platform, according to a report by The College Fix, a publication that covers higher education and campus news. Davidai posted a segment of the video to his X account, drawing further attention to Facchine’s comments. “That Shai Davidai guy: How do we get him in trouble? How do we create a situation in which he’s in jeopardy,” Facchine was recorded as saying during the webinar. Facchine, 35, originally from New Jersey, has had a roller coaster religious and ideological journey. Educated at Vassar College, he left Christianity, became an atheist, and then a Marxist before converting to Islam in 2010. In response to the incident, Columbia University initiated an investigation into Facchine’s comments, enlisting outside security experts to assess the situation. According to Gerald Lewis, the university’s vice president of public safety, the investigation concluded that Facchine’s rhetoric “did not create conditions that require enhanced security measures.” “I will not be silenced—I know I’m speaking the truth. It feels like they put a target on my back with the explicit goal to take me down, to get me fired, to make up complaints about me,” Davidai said in response to the imam’s remarks. Davidai has been in the spotlight since October last year when he gained attention for a viral video in which he criticized Columbia University for failing to protect Jewish students from terrorism-supporting groups on campus. In the video, he vowed never to send his daughter to Columbia due to what he perceived as the university’s lack of action against pro-terrorism organizations. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)