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New reporting citing Western media and alleged internal Iranian data suggests the death toll from Iran’s two-day crackdown on protests may be far higher than the government has acknowledged, potentially reaching into the tens of thousands.

The Jerusalem Post reported Sunday, referencing Time magazine and what it described as Iranian hospital records, that as many as 30,000 people may have been killed nationwide during the Jan. 8–9 suppression of demonstrations, a figure that dwarfs official statements from Tehran.

According to Time, two senior officials from Iran’s Health Ministry told the magazine that up to 30,000 people may have died during the crackdown. Time also said it reviewed a separate hospital-based tally listing 30,304 deaths as of Friday, Jan. 9.

The magazine cautioned that it was unable to independently confirm the figures.

Officials cited in the report said the volume of fatalities overwhelmed local systems, depleting body-bag supplies and forcing authorities to use semitrailer trucks to transport bodies.

The reporting described security forces deploying rooftop snipers and vehicles equipped with heavy machine guns after cutting communications. It also referenced an alleged broadcast on Iranian state television warning that anyone “entering the streets” should not complain if a bullet struck them.

Time said the hospital-based figures were compiled by Dr. Amir Parasta, identified as a German-Iranian ophthalmologist. Parasta told the magazine, “We are getting closer to reality,” while noting that the count likely omitted deaths from military hospitals and areas inaccessible to data collectors.

Public health experts quoted in the report urged caution in drawing firm conclusions from hospital data alone but said the internal figures pointed to a large-scale killing carried out over a very short period.

Iranian authorities have acknowledged a much smaller number of deaths.

State media reported on Jan. 21 that 3,117 people were killed during the unrest, citing a statement attributed to the Martyrs Foundation and carried by Press TV.

Other independent estimates differ sharply.

The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, or HRANA, said in a report posted Sunday that it had verified 5,459 deaths and was reviewing 17,031 additional cases.

Iran International, a London-based broadcaster, previously reported at least 12,000 deaths linked to the Jan. 8–9 events and on Sunday released a separate report claiming more than 36,500 killed, citing documents it said were reviewed by its editorial board.

International attention has also intensified in recent days.

In a media advisory issued Friday, the United Nations human rights office said the U.N. Human Rights Council had extended the mandate of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran for an additional two years and called for an urgent probe into alleged serious violations connected to protests that it said began on Dec. 28, 2025.

Time reported that if the internal estimates prove accurate, the episode would rank among the deadliest mass shootings over a comparable period in modern history, drawing a parallel to the Babyn Yar massacre in Nazi-occupied Ukraine, where the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum says 33,771 Jews were killed over two days on Sept. 29–30, 1941.

{Matzav.com}

The IDF said in a statement that troops under the Southern Command began a targeted operation in the area of the Yellow Line in the northern Gaza Strip to retrieve the body of the last remaining slain hostage still being held by Hamas in Gaza, Ran Gvili. The IDF said it will continue all necessary […]

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FLATBUSH: Flatbush Hatzolah snow removal units are busy clearing all their garages to assist the ambulances in a speedy response during the storm.

The Lelover Rebbe lights a Medrura along with hundreds of Chassidim outside the Kever of Reb Duvid of Lelov ZT’L, on his Yartzheit, in the city of Lelov.

When Archwest Capital, a fast-moving real estate lender with 25+ years of experience in real estate finance, partnered with David Altshuler and Jewish Ad Group (JAG), the objective was clear and ambitious: generate high-quality borrower leads — fast. What happened next surpassed expectations. This wasn’t a slow rollout or an experimental test. It was a precision-built, rapid-deployment lead engine, designed and executed […]

Dana Bash: It feels as though in some ways your blaming the victim here. Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino: The victims are the Border Patrol agents. I’m not blaming the Border Patrol agents… The suspect put himself in that situation. The victims are the Border Patrol agents there.

Dana Bash: It doesn’t look anything like he is trying to massacre law enforcement.” Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino: In fact, I believe the fantastic training that our law enforcement partners have. The fact that they’re highly trained prevented any specific shootings of law enforcement.

A deer runs gracefully through the backyards of homes in Monroe as heavy snow falls.

Waterbury Hatzolah service team chaining up tires on all response vehicles as they prepare for 18 inches of snow.

Dear Matzav Inbox,

In recent weeks, a glossy new effort has begun making the rounds, complete with polished language and lofty promises, all centered on one seductive phrase: helping bochurim “know Kol HaTorah Kulah” by learning Rambam. It sounds inspiring. It sounds ambitious. It sounds holy. And it is precisely because it sounds so good that it deserves to be challenged, forcefully and without apology.

A bochur is not supposed to be mastering Kol HaTorah Kulah. That may sound jarring to some ears in an age addicted to slogans and shortcuts, but it is a simple truth rooted in mesorah, experience, and common sense.

A bochur is supposed to be learning how to learn.

That is not a semantic distinction. It is the entire foundation of the yeshiva system.

The goal of the formative yeshiva years has never been encyclopedic knowledge. It has never been box-checking or coverage. It has never been about being able to say, “I finished X” or “I know Y.” The goal has always been something far deeper and far less flashy: acquiring the tools, discipline, patience, and intellectual honesty required to engage Torah seriously for a lifetime.

Learning how to learn means grappling with a sugya until it hurts. It means struggling through a Tosafos that refuses to cooperate. It means developing the ability to ask the right questions, to recognize when something does not yet make sense, and to sit with that discomfort rather than paper it over with summaries or surface-level clarity. It means learning a derech halimud, not collecting achievements.

And crucially, it means learning what one’s yeshiva tells him to learn.

The yeshiva system is not an accident. It is not a haphazard assembly of masechtos and meforshim. It is the result of generations of refinement by Torah giants who understood that Torah growth requires structure, restraint, and patience. Bochurim are not free agents building personal Torah portfolios. They are talmidim being shaped, carefully, by a framework designed to produce depth, not breadth.

When a yeshiva chooses a particular masechta, a particular approach, a particular emphasis, it is doing so with one goal in mind: building a ben Torah. Not a walking index. Not a marketing success story. A ben Torah.

The recent push to redirect bochurim toward mastering Rambam under the banner of “knowing Kol HaTorah Kulah” fundamentally misunderstands this. Limud of Rambam is, of course, sacred. Learning Rambam is invaluable. But when, how, and for whom matters. Not every good thing is good at every stage. Not every lofty goal is appropriate for every age. And not every powerful sefer belongs at the center of a bochur’s already demanding and carefully calibrated learning schedule.

What worries me most is not the Rambam itself, but the mindset behind the campaign.

We are increasingly uncomfortable with process. We crave outcomes. We want to be able to say that our bochurim are “doing something,” “finishing something,” “knowing something.” We want neat narratives and impressive claims. And so we invent new tracks, new initiatives, new frameworks, often without asking the most important question of all: Who asked for this?

Our bochurim are already under immense pressure. They are navigating demanding learning schedules, expectations from yeshivos, families, peers, and shidduch systems, all while trying to figure out who they are and how they fit into the world of Torah. The last thing they need is yet another external program whispering in their ear that what they are doing is not enough, that unless they are also “knowing Kol HaTorah Kulah,” they are somehow missing the boat.

That is not encouragement. That is distraction.

And distraction in the formative years is not benign. It pulls a bochur off track, not in dramatic rebellion, but in subtle misalignment. Focus becomes divided. Priorities blur. The message shifts from “immerse yourself fully in your yeshiva’s derech” to “add this on, just in case.” Over time, that erosion matters.

We should be deeply wary of new inventions in chinuch, especially those introduced from outside the yeshiva world and marketed directly to bochurim. Mesorah does not reject innovation out of fear; it rejects it out of responsibility. The burden of proof lies with those who want to change the system, not with those who are protecting it.

There will be a time—many times, in fact—when a Jew can and should broaden his horizons, build bekius, master Rambam, and aspire toward encompassing Torah knowledge. That time is not defined by a catchy campaign or an advertising push. It comes naturally, organically, after the foundations have been laid.

A bochur does not need to know Kol HaTorah Kulah.
He needs to know how to learn Torah.
He needs to know a derech halimud.

How to make a laining – or a “lainis‘ for the old timers – on a Gemara.
He needs to know how to stay on track even when shiny alternatives beckon.

Let us not confuse ambition with wisdom.
Let us not mistake slogans for substance.
And let us not pull our bochurim off the path that generations before us fought so hard to preserve.

Sometimes the most responsible thing we can say to a new idea—no matter how well-intentioned—is simply this: not now, and not for them.

A Simple Yid

The Tri-State

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LAKEWOOD: Drone footage captures the beautiful serenity of Lakewood covered in layers of snow

Prime Minister Netanyahu, Construction and Housing Minister Haim Katz, and Settlement Minister Orit Struck announced at a cabinet meeting the establishment of five new settlements in the Negev. Prime Minister Netanyahu proposed that one of the settlements be named “Rananim,” in memory of Ran Gvili, the last slain hostage still being held by Hamas in […]

Earlier today, the IDF struck a structure in the Bir al-Sansal area of southern Lebanon, which the IDF said was used by Hezbollah terrorists as a weapons manufacturing site. The IDF said it had recently identified terrorist activity at the location. In a separate strike, the IDF targeted additional Hezbollah military infrastructure in the Beqaa […]

Several matzeivos were desecrated at a Jewish cemetery in the Les Corts neighborhood of Barcelona, after headstones were smashed and vandalized by unknown individuals, the Jewish community said. * Photos released by the community show shattered matzeivos and extensive damage to the site. * Israel Foreign Ministry condemned the incident, warning against the normalization of […]

The IDF says that following last week’s exchange of fire with hamas terrorists in Rafah—during which six gunmen were killed—troops discovered military equipment, bomb-making instruction manuals, and at least one explosive device in the area. At a separate location, the military says forces also found five disused rocket launchers.

The IDF says combat engineers recently demolished a four-kilometer-long Hamas tunnel in the southern Gaza Strip. According to the military, the tunnel contained weapons and included several rooms used by terrorists. Demolition work began about a year ago and was completed in recent days.

New details surrounding the death of a Minneapolis protester shot by federal agents have prompted speculation that a firearm may have discharged accidentally, setting off the chain of events that ended with the man’s death during an anti-ICE demonstration.

Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse who had been protesting President Trump’s immigration enforcement policies in Minnesota, was armed with a loaded Sig Sauer P320 9mm handgun when he allegedly attempted to interfere as federal agents tried to arrest a woman in public. Authorities said Pretti was legally permitted to carry the firearm.

Footage from the scene shows one federal agent shouting “gun” before seizing the weapon from Pretti. As the agent walks away holding the firearm, another agent abruptly rises and fires several shots, killing Pretti.

Rob Dobar, an attorney representing the Minnesota Gun Owners Caucus, said he believes the incident may have escalated after the handgun discharged unintentionally once it was taken from Pretti.

“I believe it’s highly likely the first shot was a negligent discharge from the agent in the grey jacket after he removed the Sig P320 from Pretti’s holster while exiting the scene,” Dobar said on X.

The Sig Sauer P320 is a widely used handgun among civilians and law enforcement agencies, including ICE, but it has also faced more than 100 claims alleging it can fire without a trigger pull, often described as “uncommanded” discharges.

Following the shooting, authorities released an image of Pretti’s firearm, showing a fully loaded magazine. The weapon appears to be a customized P320 AXG Combat model, which is typically sold with three 21-round magazines and carries a retail price ranging from $1,100 to $1,300.

Minneapolis police confirmed that Pretti possessed a valid permit to carry the gun. However, the Department of Homeland Security has previously stated that it is “unlawful” for demonstrators or bystanders to bring firearms to protests.

Concerns about the P320 have surfaced in prior legal cases. In November 2021, a jury in Philadelphia awarded U.S. Army veteran George Abrahams $11 million after his holstered pistol fired while he was walking down stairs, leaving him with permanent injuries.

“We’ve been asking Sig for over three years now to recall this gun, to fix it, and frankly to use the same type of safeties that other manufacturers are using that Sig Sauer is not,” the plaintiff’s attorney, Robert W. Zimmerman, said following that verdict.

Sig Sauer, which is based in New Hampshire, has repeatedly defended the firearm. At the time, the company described the P320 as “among the most tested, proven, and successful handguns in recent history,” in a statement posted on its website.

In April 2025, Sig Sauer executive Bobby Cox successfully pushed for legislation in the New Hampshire State House that shields the company from liability lawsuits related to the P320.

Republican Gov. Kelly Ayotte signed the measure into law the following month, despite objections from some Democrats who argued that Sig Sauer should be required to defend its claims in court.

Sig Sauer has maintained that the alleged defect has been addressed and that unintended discharges are extremely rare given the millions of pistols the company has manufactured.

{Matzav.com}

Rav Reuven Hechster, the mashgiach of Yeshivas Mir Brachfeld in Modiin Illit, has been named as mashgiach at Bais Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, NJ, marking a significant development for the largest yeshiva in the United States.

The appointment comes nearly two years after the passing of the longtime Lakewood mashgiach, Rav Mattisyahu Salomon zt”l.

Rav Hechster, a close talmid of his revered rebbi, Rav Nosson Meir Wachtfogel zt”l, mashgiach of Bais Medrash Govoah, will assume the new role while continuing his position in Mir Brachfeld.

According to details that have emerged, Rav Hechster was recently approached with the proposal to take on the Lakewood post and sought guidance from Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch before reaching a decision. Delegations from Modiin Illit appealed for him to remain, citing the many mussar talks and vaadim he delivers in the city, while representatives from Lakewood urged him to come and serve the yeshiva as its mashgiach.

Following consultations with Rav Hirsch, it was decided that Rav Hechster would divide his time between the two mosdos. Under the agreed arrangement, Rav Hechster will spend approximately 20 days each month in Modiin Illit at Mir Brachfeld and 10 days in Lakewood. He is expected to travel to the United States on Sundays following his free Shabbos in Mir Brachfeld to fulfill his responsibilities in Lakewood.

Rav Hechster is widely regarded in the Torah world as a central address for guidance and chizuk, with thousands of avreichim seeking his counsel. In Modiin Illit in particular, he is viewed as a trusted source of direction and inspiration. He was originally appointed as mashgiach of Mir Brachfeld by the late rosh yeshiva, Rav Nosson Tzvi Finkel zt”l.

In addition to his role at Mir Brachfeld, Rav Hechster delivers a mussar talk every Motzaei Shabbos, gives a weekly vaad on Tuesdays at Kollel Ateres Shlomo attended by hundreds of avreichim, leads a Thursday night vaad for dozens of talmidim at Mir Brachfeld, hosts a Friday vaad for alumni in his home, and conducts a biweekly Sunday vaad at the Mir Ueshiva in Yerushalayim for alumni.

Following the decision of Rav Hirsch, the appointment is set to take effect in approximately a week and a half.

Rav Hechster is expected to arrive at Bais Medrash Govoha in Lakewood during the week of Parshas Yisro, when he will formally begin his role as mashgiach at the yeshiva.

{Matzav.com}