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Some of the biggest names in technology and finance gathered at the White House on Thursday night as President Donald Trump hosted Chinese President Xi Jinping for a state dinner, with Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Sam Altman and Jeff Bezos among the high-profile business leaders invited to the event.

The black-tie dinner in the White House East Room concluded a day of diplomatic meetings and elaborate ceremonies surrounding Xi’s state visit to Washington. The visit marked Xi’s first trip to the White House in more than a decade and included discussions between the two leaders as the United States and China continue to grapple with major disputes involving trade, artificial intelligence, advanced computer chips and Taiwan.

According to the White House guest list, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, OpenAI co-founder Sam Altman, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos were among the prominent corporate figures invited to the dinner. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang was also among the technology executives attending.

Trump had previewed the intense interest surrounding the dinner earlier in the week while attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York.

“Everyone wants to be there,” Trump said during the United Nations General Assembly. “It’s the hottest ticket in town.”

Asked who had secured invitations to the event, Trump indicated that the guest list drew from a broad cross-section of America’s most powerful industries.

“Sort of everybody,” he said, adding that it included “the entire tech world, the entire banking world and a lot more.”

The final roster reflected that description, bringing together dozens of executives from Silicon Valley, Wall Street and other major sectors of the economy. They were joined by members of the Trump administration, lawmakers, Supreme Court justices, media personalities and members of the Trump family. Reuters reported that the White House press office released the official list of invited guests Thursday night.

The particularly large contingent of technology executives came as artificial intelligence and advanced semiconductor technology have become increasingly important sources of competition between Washington and Beijing.

Nvidia and other American semiconductor companies have found themselves directly affected by that rivalry, as Washington has sought to limit China’s access to some of the most advanced American technology while U.S. companies continue to view China as a major commercial market.

Trump and First Lady Melania Trump welcomed Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, to the White House ahead of the dinner. Melania wore a tuxedo-inspired ensemble featuring an oversized bow for the formal occasion. The White House had earlier welcomed the Chinese president with an elaborate state arrival ceremony involving hundreds of members of the U.S. military.

The corporate guest list extended well beyond Zuckerberg, Musk, Altman and Bezos. Google and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai was invited, as were Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison and Tim Cook, who recently stepped down as Apple CEO.

French billionaire Bernard Arnault, chairman and CEO of luxury conglomerate LVMH, was also among the guests. His company controls major brands including Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior. Arnault attended with his son Alexandre Arnault.

The judicial branch was represented as well, with Chief Justice John Roberts and Supreme Court Justices Amy Coney Barrett and Brett Kavanaugh appearing on the White House guest list.

The dinner itself was held in the East Room, where guests dined using the Reagan State Service. The White House said the décor incorporated red flowers and linens in recognition of the color’s longstanding cultural significance in China, while the menu combined American ingredients with Chinese influences.

The meal began with yellow squash velouté accompanied by wild mushroom fricassee, crispy pancetta and scallion oil, followed by sesame-crusted sea bass with baby bok choy, roasted garden eggplant and sauce verte. Dessert featured vanilla crémeux, sour cherry confit, walnut frangipane and ice cream made with White House honey.

The evening also featured performances by tenor Christopher Macchio and military musicians from the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Army.

The glittering guest list underscored the enormous economic stakes surrounding Xi’s Washington visit, with leaders of companies at the center of the global AI and technology race sitting down for dinner as Trump and Xi sought to navigate the increasingly consequential competition between the world’s two largest economies.

[Video below.] A remarkable display of humility unfolded today in Yerushalayim when the Dushinsky Rebbe chose to walk down eight flights of stairs rather than inconvenience a group of workers riding in an elevator.

The Rebbe had been visiting a chassid who resides in a luxury penthouse on the eighth floor of a building. When the visit concluded, the Rebbe and those accompanying him waited for the elevator.

When the doors opened, they found the elevator filled with Arab workers. Recognizing the Rebbe, the workers immediately began stepping out to make room for him.

The Rebbe refused to allow them to leave on his account. He warmly instructed the workers to remain inside and even directed one worker who had already exited the elevator to get back in.

One of the workers, astonished that the Rebbe would give up the elevator and walk down eight floors rather than inconvenience them, pleaded with him, “B’Chayat Rabbeinu!—Please, Rebbe!”

The Rebbe remained firm. The workers continued their ride, while he made his way down all eight flights of stairs on foot.

The moving incident, documented by photographer Shlomi Cohen, is an extraordinary example of the Rebbe’s humility and consideration for others.

Another episode illustrating the Rebbe’s sensitivity occurred during a separate visit that day. As he made his way to a shivah home located on the third floor of a building without an elevator, he noticed a man struggling to carry cases of soda and water.

The Rebbe asked where the delivery was headed. Upon learning that the drinks were intended for the very shivah home he was visiting, he took a six-pack of water from the man and began carrying it himself. He then instructed those accompanying him to help bring up the remaining packages.

{Matzav.com}

Rav Shalom Ber Sorotzkin, rosh yeshivah of Yeshivas Ateres Shlomo, left open the possibility of returning to Uman next Rosh Hashanah after telling a major donor that another visit would depend on his continued financial support for the yeshivah.

Rav Sorotzkin’s historic Rosh Hashanah visit to Uman generated considerable discussion throughout the Torah world. His trip to Ukraine was described as an unprecedented step prompted by an extraordinary donation to the yeshivah from a prominent benefactor. Additional donors subsequently joined the initiative, resulting in an enormous contribution that reportedly led Rav Sorotzkin to make the trip.

During the Yom Tov, one of the major donors approached Rav Sorotzkin and asked whether he would return to Uman the following year.

Rav Sorotzkin answered without hesitation: “Look in the mirror and answer the question yourself. That depends entirely on you.”

His response indicated that he was not ruling out another visit if it would generate further support for the bochurim and avreichim of Ateres Shlomo.

Those close to Rav Sorotzkin emphasized that he is prepared to do whatever is necessary for the institution’s bochurim and avreichim—including spending another Rosh Hashanah in Uman if such a trip would help strengthen and sustain the Torah world.

Israel’s Real Estate Enforcement Authority is launching a nationwide crackdown ahead of Sukkos on illegally constructed balconies, platforms and structural additions that could endanger the public. Violators may face administrative fines reaching hundreds of thousands of shekels.

Officials stressed that the enforcement campaign is not directed at ordinary temporary sukkahs erected for the holiday. It will instead target more substantial structures that require building permits and engineering approval.

As part of its preparations, the authority sent warning letters to suppliers, metalworking businesses and contractors, reminding them that all work must comply with the law and that structures may not be erected without the necessary permits and approvals.

Authority inspectors are also expected to conduct proactive operations throughout the country in an effort to identify unauthorized construction during its earliest stages. Enforcement proceedings will be opened against those involved when balconies or other structures are found to have been built without permits.

As a preventive measure, the Bnei Brak municipality and the Real Estate Enforcement Authority issued a special public notice on behalf of the city’s rabbanim. The announcement warned residents against constructing unauthorized balconies and building additions and highlighted the safety hazards they can create.

The authority said that construction performed without a permit—or in violation of a permit’s conditions—is illegal and can result in enforcement orders and administrative fines amounting to hundreds of thousands of shekels. Depending on the circumstances, both the property owner and the contractor who carried out the work may be held responsible.

“A balcony built without a permit and without the approval of a structural engineer is not a temporary solution for the chag, but could pose a danger to life,” the Real Estate Enforcement Authority said. “We are working with property owners, contractors and local authorities to stop this phenomenon before construction takes place. Anyone who chooses to build in violation of the law should know that the authority will be in the field and will use every enforcement tool at its disposal.”

{Matzav.com}

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu lavished praise on Argentine President Javier Milei during a meeting in New York on Thursday, calling him “one of the great leaders of our time” and thanking him for his outspoken and consistent support of Israel.

The two leaders met at United Nations headquarters on the sidelines of the 81st UN General Assembly, capping Milei’s visit to New York and continuing an increasingly close relationship between Israel and Argentina under the Milei government. Argentina’s presidency confirmed the meeting and said it followed Milei’s address to the General Assembly.

Netanyahu thanked Milei for what his office described as his steadfast support for Israel and congratulated him on receiving an award from Yeshiva Darchei Torah in New York recognizing his leadership in support of the Jewish people and his fight against antisemitism. Argentina’s presidential office described the honor as the “Ohev Yisrael” award.

The meeting also focused on expanding cooperation between Israel and Argentina and building stronger ties between Israel and other Latin American countries. A central topic was the “Isaac Accords,” an initiative launched by Milei and Netanyahu earlier this year to deepen security, diplomatic and economic cooperation between Israel, Argentina and other like-minded countries in the Western Hemisphere.

The Isaac Accords were formally launched in Yerushalayim in April as a framework for cooperation against terrorism, antisemitism and drug trafficking, while also expanding collaboration in technology, innovation and trade. The agreement specifically cited efforts to counter Iranian terrorist networks and activity in the Western Hemisphere. The initiative was modeled in part on President Donald Trump’s Abraham Accords.

Netanyahu used particularly effusive language in praising Milei and his economic program in Argentina.

“President Milei is one of the great leaders of our time. What you have done for the economy of Argentina is masterful, very hard to do, with a lot of political resistance. But you’ve broken out of the cage, and you are giving freedom to people. It may take time for them to understand it, but I want to tell you: Anybody who understands anything in economics knows that there has never been such a transformation. And as someone who’s made a transformation myself, know that’s a compliment made from the heart and from the mind,” Netanyahu told Milei.

Netanyahu then turned to Milei’s support for Israel, praising the Argentine leader for speaking publicly in Israel’s defense.

“And second, you stand up for the truth. You don’t care. You just speak up for the truth. That’s why you support Israel because we share this common heritage of justice and speaking the truth, and no one speaks it better than you,” he added.

Milei responded with equally warm praise for the Israeli prime minister.

“Thank you very much my friend. For me an honor to receive your words, being you one of the greatest leaders of all history of the world.”

The meeting came one day after Milei delivered a sharply critical address to the UN General Assembly in which he accused the international organization of failing in some of its most basic responsibilities and singled out its treatment of Israel. Milei called the UN “useless” and accused its bureaucracy of sustaining what he termed “fatally arrogant parasites.”

“Those who were supposed to guarantee collective security and human rights failed in their task. They allowed chaos, violence and international terrorism to flourish,” Milei said.

“The alleged defenders of human rights have sheltered bloodthirsty dictatorships and regimes that stone women in the streets; they have systematically voted against Israel while remaining silent in the face of Islamic terrorism and the genocide of Christians in Africa.”

Milei also accused the UN of applying its stated principles selectively, arguing that authoritarian governments have been allowed to participate in UN human-rights institutions despite their own records.

“We have simultaneously shown a total inability to respond to the scourge of terrorism,” he said.

“In this same house, that purports to defend human rights, we have also included bloody dictatorships in the Human Rights Council, including Cuba and Venezuela without reproach,” Milei said.

Milei has made support for Israel a prominent feature of Argentina’s foreign policy since taking office. Earlier this year, while promoting the Isaac Accords, he said Latin American countries had a responsibility to align themselves in defense of “life, liberty and democracy,” and described the initiative as a coalition against antisemitism, terrorism and drug trafficking.

Thursday’s Netanyahu-Milei meeting was part of a broader series of meetings Netanyahu held with Latin American leaders while in New York. The prime minister also met leaders from Paraguay, Panama and Bolivia as Israel sought to expand its diplomatic relationships in the region.

For Netanyahu and Milei, however, the meeting was marked by an unusually personal exchange of praise, with the Israeli leader portraying Milei as both a major economic reformer and one of Israel’s most forceful international allies.

{Matzav.com}

After years of pandemic disruptions, war, canceled flights, and security concerns, wealthy American chareidi families are returning to Yerushalayim in large numbers for Sukkos, filling available flights and fueling extraordinary demand for luxury apartments, hotels, transportation, catering, and private entertainment.

A senior figure in the tourism industry who works annually with American chassidishe and Litvishe visitors said the current influx represents a significant recovery for Israel’s tourism sector, although the number of visitors remains below its full potential because of reduced airline service and exceptionally high fares.

“Every plane leaving New York for Israel is packed to the last seat,” the industry official said.

The shortage of flights continues to limit the market. Major airlines including American Airlines, Delta, and Turkish Airlines are still absent from the route, while several European carriers only recently began restoring service. Turkish Airlines had previously provided one of the most popular connecting options for travelers flying between the United States and Israel.

Airfare has also risen dramatically since the COVID-19 pandemic, with tickets reportedly costing between $3,000 and $10,000. As a result, this year’s visitors largely consist of wealthy families capable of absorbing the unusually high travel costs.

Industry figures believe broader mass tourism will return only when fares fall to approximately $1,000, making the trip affordable for hundreds of additional families.

Despite the conspicuous wealth and extravagant accommodations surrounding many of the visitors, the tourism executive rejected the assumption that the phenomenon is simply an exercise in ostentation.

“It is not merely showmanship, as people tend to think,” he said.

The official described hundreds and thousands of American chareidim who have worked hard throughout their lives, earned their money honestly, and remained punctilious in their religious observance. The visitors include both self-made businesspeople and families possessing generations of inherited wealth.

“There are very good people here, and I would even describe some of them as modest,” he said.

According to the official, many of the millionaires and billionaires arriving for the holiday maintain deeply traditional lives, attending three daily prayer services with a minyan and participating in regular Torah shiurim despite their financial success.

The influx includes some of the wealthiest members of the overseas chareidi community, ranging from Satmar circles to prominent families bearing names such as Wolfson and Ziskind, along with well-known businessmen including Yoeli Landau and Moishy Rubin.

Both chassidishe and Litvishe families are arriving in substantial numbers, although their preferred destinations reflect the cultures and institutions of their respective communities.

In Yerushalayim, many chassidishe visitors gravitate toward the Schneller area and neighborhoods near their respective chassidishe courts. Litvishe families are more likely to stay in luxury hotels and residences near the Waldorf Astoria, the David Citadel, and Mamilla, providing easy access to the city’s leading Torah centers and the Kosel.

One of the primary destinations for the wealthiest visitors is Jerusalem Estates, an exclusive residential development that has been described as the “Waldorf” of Israel’s luxury-apartment market.

Nearly 400 high-end residences in the development have attracted dozens of overseas families. Renting one of the apartments for the Yom Tov period alone reportedly costs between 30,000 and 100,000 shekels.

Many families arrive with newly equipped Mercedes vehicles and receive an extensive package of private services. Personal chefs prepare meals throughout the day, while security personnel, production teams, and support staff handle the practical details so that parents can concentrate on the holiday and their families.

The demand extends to the Waldorf Astoria, the David Citadel Hotel, and other luxury properties across central Yerushalayim. Some residences are decorated with elaborate floral arrangements imported directly from the Netherlands.

During Chol Hamoed, families arrange private excursions tailored to their preferences, including jeep and all-terrain vehicle trips and even helicopter flights.

On the second day of Yom Tov, American families also bring in leading Jewish singers from Israel and abroad, along with musical ensembles hired specifically to provide entertainment and create a festive atmosphere.

The return of affluent visitors is injecting substantial foreign spending into Israel’s economy, benefiting airlines, hotels, property owners, caterers, drivers, entertainers, security companies, and tourism operators.

“We are certainly experiencing an encouraging period as this traffic returns, and it is also bringing a great deal of foreign money into the State of Israel,” the tourism official said. “But in my opinion, the peak is still ahead of us. Once regular flight service resumes, we will see thousands of families coming here.”

The entire membership of the Chabad Rabbinical Court in Eretz Yisrael issued an extraordinary public letter Thursday opposing the inclusion of a Chabad chassid on Otzma Yehudit’s slate for the upcoming Knesset election.

The rabbinical court, regarded as Chabad’s highest religious authority in Eretz Yisrael, declared that the decision was made without its approval and conflicts with Chabad’s longstanding approach toward political parties.

“We hereby clarify that the inclusion of a Chabad chassid on the Otzma Yehudit slate for the Knesset was not undertaken with our consent and is contrary to the path of Chabad chassidus regarding these matters,” the rabbonim wrote.

They warned that placing an identifiable Chabad representative on a party’s electoral slate inevitably creates the impression that the movement is aligned with that political organization.

“The entry of a Chabad chassid onto a political slate is intended to connect Chabad with the party,” the letter stated. “A declaration, from one party or another, that the candidate is not acting on behalf of Chabad is insufficient. This causes a desecration of Chabad’s name and misleads and deceives the public.”

The rabbonim emphasized that Chabad does not officially identify with any political movement and rejects efforts to associate the chassidus with partisan endorsements.

“Chabad chassidus does not identify with any political movement and disassociates itself from all party support,” they wrote, adding that this position does not diminish the responsibility and obligation to vote.

Concluding their letter, the rabbonim said that the Rebbe’s approach was centered upon bringing Torah and chassidus to every segment of the Jewish people, without binding Chabad to a particular political camp.

“The path of the Rebbe, who established the direction of Chabad chassidus, is to spread Judaism and chassidus to every part of the nation, with love for and unity among the Jewish people,” they wrote.

The members of the rabbinical court signed the letter “with sorrow and pain.”

{Matzav.com}

Two senior roshei yeshiva of Ponevezh Yeshiva issued unusually forceful letters Thursday condemning a series of violent disruptions and attacks targeting Rav Eliyahu Meir Feivelson, rosh yeshiva of Yeshivas Pischei Olam.

Rav Chaim Peretz Berman and Rav Dovid Miller expressed their support for Rav Feivelson following repeated incidents in which extremists interfered with his shiurim and activities, including a disturbance during Tisha B’Av prayers.

Rav Berman described Rav Feivelson as “a distinguished person, wise and understanding, righteous and G-d-fearing, one who brings merit to the public and has turned many away from sin.”

Quoting Chazal, Rav Berman wrote, “Those who are insulted but do not insult others, who hear themselves disgraced but do not respond—regarding them, the posuk says, ‘Those who love Him shall be like the sun emerging in its strength.’”

He expressed deep anguish over the Tisha B’Av incident, writing that “young boys came out and mocked you with violence, brazenness, and degradation of the Torah.”

Rav Berman explained the description “young boys” through the words of Chazal in Maseches Sotah, referring to people “shorn of the mitzvos” and “small in emunah.”

He added that the assailants “continued their actions with appalling cruelty of a kind that should not be found among the Jewish people.”

Rav Berman offered Rav Feivelson a brachah that “only goodness and kindness should pursue you all your days, and may the schemes of all those plotting evil against you quickly be frustrated and their plans ruined.”

He also prayed that “the accusations against talmidei chachomim should cease, and the actions of violent men should come to an end.”

Rav Dovid Miller added a handwritten message to Rav Berman’s letter, condemning the growing belief that ideological and religious disputes may be settled through intimidation or physical force.

“The words above require neither reinforcement nor elaboration,” Rav Miller wrote. “How great is the anguish that the notion has taken root among part of the public that debates—whether concerning halachah, aggadah, or communal leadership—should be settled with a wicked fist and the hands of Eisav whenever they lack arguments capable of persuading others, thereby silencing the voice of Yaakov.”

The letters from the Ponevezh roshei yeshiva join a series of public expressions of support Rav Feivelson has received from leading gedolei Yisrael.

Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch previously issued a strongly worded letter supporting Rav Feivelson, describing the violence against him as “false kana’us” that “causes a chillul Hashem.” He urged Rav Feivelson to continue his educational work despite the intimidation.

Rav Feivelson has faced repeated attempts in recent months to disrupt his shiurim and communal activities. On Tisha B’Av, extremists entered a bais medrash during the recitation of kinnos and interfered with his shiur, an incident that caused widespread outrage in the Torah community.

Rav Feivelson is among the prominent talmidim of Rav Moshe Shapira and is also one of the leaders of Chelki B’Kehillati.

{Matzav.com}

Former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s visit to a popular cholent restaurant in Bnei Brak descended into confrontation Thursday night as protesters shouted at him, a right-wing activist clashed with his security detail, and an object was thrown in his direction.

The incident occurred while Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu was addressing the United Nations General Assembly in New York. Bennett, who now heads the Beyachad movement, arrived at the Bnei Brak restaurant and sat down to speak with dozens of yeshiva students.

Videos from the scene showed Bennett surrounded by young men, with many more crowding around the gathering and recording the encounter on their phones. Singing and assorted chants could be heard as police officers and security personnel remained close to Bennett.

Right-wing activist Mordechai David arrived at the restaurant and attempted to approach the former prime minister but was blocked by Bennett’s security guards.

During the heated exchange, Bennett told him, “I suggest that you enlist quickly, because from the moment I become prime minister, you will not receive a single shekel from the state.”

The remark reflected Bennett’s increasingly forceful position on chareidi military enlistment. Last month, he declared his support for “zero exemptions” and said that anyone who does not serve in the Israeli military should not receive government funding.

Hezki Dortman, an activist affiliated with the Yerushalmi faction, was also present. Footage from the scene showed Dortman repeatedly shouting, “Bennett is an anti-Semite,” toward the former prime minister.

At a later point, an object was thrown in Bennett’s direction. It did not strike him, and he was not injured.

Officers from the Bnei Brak-Ramat Gan police station who were already at the scene immediately apprehended a suspect and took him for questioning.

“During a public figure’s visit to a restaurant in Bnei Brak, a passerby threw an object that did not strike the public figure,” police said. “Officers from the Bnei Brak-Ramat Gan police station who were present immediately arrested the suspect, and he is now being brought to the police station for questioning.”

{Matzav.com}

Yonatan Karlinsky, the 49-year-old Breslover chassid from Beitar Illit who was detained after returning from Uman and forcibly conscripted into the Ukrainian military, is expected to be assigned as a medic at a rear military base near Kharkiv. Jewish organizations say there is currently no prospect of securing his release.

Karlinsky has been held at a military detention facility near Odesa since Ukrainian authorities arrested him approximately ten days ago at the border with Romania.

A native of Ukraine who also holds Israeli citizenship, Karlinsky traveled to Uman for Rosh Hashanah. During a document inspection at the border, authorities determined that he remained subject to Ukraine’s military conscription laws. Ukrainian military police detained him, and his family initially lost all contact with him.

His worried relatives appealed to numerous officials and organizations in an effort to secure his release. They were subsequently informed that because Karlinsky was born in Ukraine and is legally obligated to serve, obtaining an exemption would be extremely difficult.

Reports claiming that Karlinsky has six children and therefore qualifies for an exemption available under Ukrainian law to fathers of three or more children were found to be inaccurate. Karlinsky has one daughter.

Approximately a week ago, military authorities informed the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine that Karlinsky was being held at a detention center for alleged deserters in Odesa. Working with Rav Shneur Vigler, Chabad representatives in Odesa and the city’s chief rabbi, Rav Avraham Wolff, the federation arranged for Karlinsky to receive kosher food and began examining his legal rights.

The organization has since informed attorney Shlomo Haddad, who is representing Karlinsky’s family, that his basic needs are being met. It also said he will soon be assigned as a medic to a military unit stationed near Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine.

Karlinsky is not currently expected to be sent to a front-line combat position. Instead, he will reportedly serve at a rear base located several dozen kilometers from the active fighting.

Officials with the Federation of Jewish Communities said efforts to free him had been unsuccessful.

“We tried to secure his release, but it was not possible,” federation officials said. “The fact that he has medical knowledge, together with the Ukrainian military’s growing shortage of personnel in that field, means that the army needs him now and cannot release him. In addition, he previously served in the Ukrainian military before becoming religious and moving to Israel, so from their perspective, he belongs to them.”

The federation said it has provided Karlinsky with kosher food for weekdays, the previous Shabbos, the seudah hamafsekes before Yom Kippur and the meal following the fast. He also received a machzor and a set of arbaah minim for Sukkos.

The supplies were delivered by federation representative Yaakov Siniakov, who works with Jewish soldiers serving near the front.

During the past month alone, Siniakov and a team of volunteers distributed more than 1,000 holiday packages at military bases and camps across Ukraine for Jewish soldiers serving in the country’s armed forces.

Tens of thousands of Jewish families throughout Ukraine also received similar packages through a joint effort involving the federation and Chabad shluchim. Each box contained a Hebrew-Ukrainian calendar, a booklet explaining the Tishrei holidays, a jar of honey, grape juice, a special-edition liqueur, a yarmulke, a refrigerator magnet listing Shabbos and Yom Tov candle-lighting times, a desk calendar and Shabbos and Yom Tov candles.

For the first time, this year’s packages also included toy shofars for children to help involve them in the holiday preparations. Organizers added personal sports water bottles at the last minute because renewed Russian attacks have increasingly targeted Ukraine’s water infrastructure.

Jewish aid workers said the expanded range of Russian FPV drones created a severe challenge in delivering the packages this year.

“The significant challenge this year was the increased range of the Russian FPV drones,” organizers said. “The Russian military has increased production to tens of thousands of drones each month, and their destructive activity is clearly evident. The Russian drones do not attack only along the front but also civilian targets deep inside Ukraine.”

The drones can now strike targets as far as 70 kilometers from the front, according to the organization. Russian forces have also targeted trucks traveling within that area based on claims that they may be transporting military supplies.

Deliveries to Jewish communities in the Kherson, Chernihiv, Dnipro, Sumy and Zaporizhzhia regions consequently became exceptionally dangerous. Drivers transporting packages to Nikopol and Marhanets in southern Dnipro Oblast and to Pavlohrad in the eastern part of the region were forced to turn around after seeing Russian drones strike vehicles traveling ahead of them.

Aid organizers ultimately arranged for Jewish residents of those cities to travel to Dnipro, where the federation maintains its offices and warehouses, and personally collect the packages for their families and local communities.

“In the end, we sent the packages to these cities through Jews who live there,” said Alina Teplitskaya, who helped oversee the distribution for the Jewish umbrella organization. “They came to the large city of Dnipro, where our offices and aid warehouses are located, and took the packages themselves—for their own families and for the Jews of their cities.”

Teplitskaya said the alternative distribution system required the use of smaller vehicles, making the operation considerably more complicated. Ukraine is experiencing a severe shortage of both drivers and vehicles, she explained, because many drivers previously employed by the organization were drafted into the military during the past year.

Many of those who remain are reluctant to enter dangerous areas even when offered substantial compensation. Organizers began searching for drivers immediately after Tisha B’Av, and negotiations continued for two weeks before enough drivers were secured.

As a result, the distribution operation took longer than in previous years—even longer than during the first year of the war, when aid organizations were still learning how to operate under wartime conditions.

Rav Meir Stambler, chairman of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Ukraine, said the country’s desperate need for personnel makes a military exemption for Karlinsky highly unlikely.

“Ukraine is fighting a very difficult war against an aggressive enemy that for nearly five years has been striking people, buildings, schools, hospitals and more,” Rav Stambler said. “People are killed every day, and there is therefore a severe shortage of manpower. Every Ukrainian citizen is needed here, and it is consequently impossible to obtain exemptions.”

“Compared to Israel, it would be as if Hamas and Hezbollah invaded the country and Israel remained unable to drive them out even after five years,” he continued. “This is truly a war for survival. At the same time, Ukraine is doing everything it can, and we are very grateful for its consideration of the religious needs of every faith and every soldier.”

Rav Stambler said Karlinsky informed the authorities that he did not wish to carry a weapon because of his religious convictions. The military accommodated that request by assigning him to serve as a medic.

“Perhaps in the future, we will be able to arrange for him to serve in the Ukrainian military rabbinate,” Rav Stambler added.

{Matzav.com}

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani unleashed a blistering attack on New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani on Thursday, denouncing his hostility toward Israel, questioning his loyalty to the United States, and accusing his administration of worsening conditions across the city.

The former New York City mayor spoke on Newsmax shortly before Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the United Nations General Assembly, where Netanyahu was expected to discuss Mamdani and his anti-Israel record.

“You don’t have to be Jewish to be disgusted with him,” Giuliani said during an appearance on Newsmax’s “Bianca Across the Nation.”

Giuliani said his objections to Mamdani extended beyond the mayor’s rhetoric about Israel.

“I’m disgusted with him because I’m a supporter of Israel,” he added. “I’m also a supporter of my country, and he gives me a tremendous sense that he hates my country. I don’t particularly like people that hate my country.”

Mamdani has previously described Netanyahu as a “war criminal.” He also once said that he would have the Israeli leader arrested if Netanyahu visited New York City, although he later retreated from that position.

Giuliani predicted that Netanyahu would use his UN address to answer Mamdani directly, pointing to the mayor’s statements and his ties to far-left political commentator Hasan Piker.

“I think he’s going to use illustrations of [Mamdani’s] virulent, hateful statements and his association with Hasan Piker,” Giuliani said, arguing that Netanyahu would likely present specific examples instead of limiting himself to broad criticism.

Giuliani portrayed Mamdani’s attacks on Israel as one element of a wider ideological campaign aimed at undermining Western society.

“The calumny against Israel has been orchestrated, and I think very, very, very much a part of the Communist plan, as well as the Islamic extremist plan to take over Western civilization,” he said.

Asked how Mamdani could win office in a city with one of the world’s largest Jewish populations, Giuliani compared the situation to the resistance he encountered when prosecuting organized crime figures decades ago.

“I view this a little bit like when I dealt with the Mafia 30, 40 years ago,” he said. “There were some Italian Americans who used to defend them, and some were members, and some were just overly, almost in a sick way, defensive. But most Italian Americans didn’t. And most Jewish people, I think, are disgusted with Mamdani.”

Giuliani, who led New York City from 1994 through 2001 and was mayor during the September 11 terrorist attacks, also criticized Mamdani’s performance at City Hall. He called the mayor “pathetic” and branded his administration’s policies “vicious, mean, and horrible.”

“I also, as a former mayor, think he’s a pathetic mayor,” Giuliani said. “What he’s doing with homelessness is vicious, mean, and horrible to the homeless people. He just took the police out of helping the homeless people.”

Giuliani maintained that homelessness was only one manifestation of a broader collapse in municipal leadership under Mamdani.

“We could go on all day about all of the problems that are occurring in New York City as a result of our poor leadership,” he said.

Rudy Giuliani denied that his administration concealed information about the dangerous contaminants that filled Lower Manhattan following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, maintaining that City Hall disclosed what it knew and relied on federal environmental guidance.

The former New York City mayor addressed the accusations as the city Department of Investigation begins examining what municipal officials knew about Ground Zero’s contaminated air, when they learned it and how they responded.

“My administration posted everything,” Giuliani insisted, saying his City Hall followed guidance from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency as large sections of downtown Manhattan reopened following the destruction of the World Trade Center.

“EPA initially said everything was safe,” he said.

“I was at the end of my administration when 9/11 happened. I was told approximately 10 months after I left office that more information was known.”

Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration recently agreed to release approximately 170,000 records involving concerns about air quality near Ground Zero. Mamdani has alleged that “people got sick because the leaders they trusted lied and told them they were safe to breathe in toxic air.”

Giuliani, who has frequently criticized his socialist successor, raised doubts about whether an investigation conducted under Mamdani’s administration could remain impartial. He nevertheless said he would reserve judgment if the inquiry genuinely focuses on establishing the facts.

“DOI can question me — fine,” said Giuliani, who became widely known as “America’s Mayor” for his leadership following the attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people.

“I’ll give it a chance.”

Giuliani’s tenure concluded at the end of December 2001. Michael Bloomberg succeeded him and presided over the rebuilding of Lower Manhattan below Canal Street, including the redevelopment of the World Trade Center site.

A prominent advocate for people suffering from 9/11-related illnesses contended that city officials were more focused at the time on protecting New York from potential lawsuits than on establishing whether the air was actually safe for residents, students and emergency workers.

“There was not a concern for the safety of the people in the neighborhood, the schools and the first responders,” said Benjamin Chevat, executive director of 9/11 Health Watch, which sued the city to obtain the previously undisclosed health records.

Chevat said, “I’m not going to fault people for making mistakes” during the deadliest terrorist attack in American history.

However, he added, “It’s a little early for Mayor Giuliani to say he knew nothing.”

The Department of Investigation has retained outside attorneys to assist in determining what successive mayoral administrations knew about the toxic dust at Ground Zero and whether they took any action in response.

Because the agency does not have enough personnel to conduct the labor-intensive review of the enormous collection of documents on its own, it is arranging a contract with the national law firm Epstein Becker & Green.

“Services will include conducting an investigation to ascertain the knowledge possessed by mayoral administrations on environmental toxins produced by the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and to submit a report to the Council thereon,” the DOI stated in a procurement notice.

The inquiry was mandated by a City Council resolution approved in July 2025. The DOI was also allocated $3.8 million over two years to conduct the fact-finding investigation.

Environmental advocates have argued for years that New York City officials gave the public misleading assurances about the health hazards posed by contaminated air after the attacks.

Mamdani agreed to release the long-withheld collection of records as part of a settlement with 9/11 Health Watch.

“For 25 years, four different mayoral administrations kept from the public, the US Congress, and the City Council documents showing what the city actually knew about the danger of the toxic chemicals in Lower Manhattan and Western Brooklyn after the World Trade Center collapse — even as city officials continued messaging to the public that the air was ‘safe and acceptable,’” Chevat said.

An extraordinary and emotional maamad took place in Lemberg in recent days, as a minyan of Yidden gathered at the kever of Rav Tzvi Hirsch Ashkenazi zt”l, the Chacham Tzvi, to formally ask his forgiveness on behalf of the rabbinic leadership and Jewish community of Amsterdam more than three centuries after he left the city under painful circumstances.

The unusual initiative began approximately six months ago during a visit to Amsterdam by the Rebbe of Mevakshei Emunah. During his stay, the Rebbe heard about a number of difficulties that had befallen prominent families in the community, as well as the severe level of assimilation that has become one of the most significant challenges facing Dutch Jewry.

The discussions led to the idea of seeking mechilah from the Chacham Tzvi, one of the great poskim of his generation, who served as Rav of Amsterdam. His tenure in the city ended amid a bitter machlokes, and he ultimately left Amsterdam abruptly and with considerable pain and anguish.

The proposal was brought before Rav Eliezer Wolff, Rav and Av Bais Din of Amsterdam and a member of the European Bais Din, who endorsed the initiative and composed a detailed text of mechilah to be recited in the name of Amsterdam’s rabbinic leadership and community.

Carrying out the plan, however, required traveling from Amsterdam to Lemberg, where the Chacham Tzvi is buried. The initiative therefore remained pending until an appropriate opportunity arose.

That opportunity came in recent days, when Rav Moshe Balt, a prominent avreich in Amsterdam’s Tzvi Ashkenazi kollel, headed by Rav Yehuda Fischer, traveled to Lemberg. Together with a minyan of Yidden, he went to the Chacham Tzvi’s kever to carry out the request for forgiveness.

At the kever, the group recited the special text composed by Rav Wolff, asking forgiveness for the anguish caused to the Chacham Tzvi and for the circumstances surrounding his departure from Amsterdam. The text stressed that those participating were not seeking to pass judgment on previous generations, but rather to repair, to whatever extent possible, the affront to the honor of one of the great Torah leaders who had served the Amsterdam community.

Among the passages recited at the kever was the following:

“Our teacher, the Chacham Tzvi, forgive us. Forgive the community of Amsterdam. Forgive the rabbinate of Amsterdam. Forgive anyone who harmed your honor, directly or indirectly, through speech or action, and caused you pain and anguish. If you were treated improperly, if the honor of your Torah was harmed, and if you left our city with a hurting heart and a feeling of insult, we come today, after many generations, to repair whatever is within our ability.”

Toward the conclusion of the request, the group declared:

“Let this request for forgiveness serve as testimony that Amsterdam has not forgotten our teacher, and that his name and his Torah remain engraved in the history of the city’s rabbinate and in its heritage.”

The maamad concluded with tefillos that the great zechus of the Chacham Tzvi stand on behalf of Amsterdam’s Jewish community, its rabbonim and dayanim, and all of its members. The participants also prayed that the Chacham Tzvi serve as a meilitz yosher for them and for all of Klal Yisroel, that kavod Shomayim and kavod haTorah be increased, that the community be spared from machlokes and the scourge of assimilation, and that its members merit yeshuos.

{Matzav.com}

WASHINGTON — President Trump welcomed Chinese President Xi Jinping to the White House on Thursday with an elaborate display of pageantry, personal attention and behind-the-scenes access, even taking the Chinese leader aboard the presidential helicopter after showing him renovations to the grounds.

The cordial public appearances offered little indication of what the two leaders discussed privately. Xi ignored questions from reporters, including inquiries from The Post, while touring the White House grounds as Trump’s guest of honor.

Trump spent approximately three hours hosting Xi before the two leaders separated ahead of an evening state dinner. The guest list was expected to include a lineup of leading technology executives, including Elon Musk, Jensen Huang, Sundar Pichai, Jeff Bezos, Sam Altman, Michael Dell and Tim Cook.

Following their private meeting, Trump escorted Xi to the newly constructed granite helipad and invited him aboard the presidential helicopter.

Demonstrators representing several groups oppressed by the Chinese government gathered outside the White House gates. Among them were protesters dressed as Winnie the Pooh, whose perceived resemblance to Xi has led Chinese authorities to censor images and references to the character.

The formal welcome began with brief statements in the Grand Foyer before moving outdoors, where military bands and color guards performed in the Rose Garden. Fighter jets and a B-2 stealth bomber later flew overhead as part of the ceremony.

Xi, often described as China’s “president for life,” has experienced periods of both cooperation and tension with Trump. None of that strain was visible Thursday as Trump directed Xi’s attention to a photograph of the two leaders hanging in the West Wing.

“We have a lot of respect for you. We’ve had that up for a year,” Trump told him.

Xi was also seen laughing when Trump showed him a satirical image portraying Joe Biden as an autopen.

Trade was expected to feature prominently in the closed-door talks following last year’s exchange of tariffs between Washington and Beijing.

During his opening comments, Xi appeared to press for expanded access to the American market for Chinese-made automobiles, arguing that Chinese companies should be “treated fairly.” He also sought greater Chinese access to sophisticated artificial-intelligence chips and called on the two countries to “develop and manage AI for good.”

Xi said China was “willing” to cooperate with the United States in combating narcotics trafficking. His statement came after a U.S. official used a recent White House-arranged press call to accuse Beijing of failing to do enough to stop fentanyl shipments.

Fentanyl has been linked to approximately 488,000 American deaths over the past decade, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Xi also announced that China would loan two pandas to a zoo in Atlanta.

Trump was expected to confront Xi privately over fentanyl trafficking and to press Beijing to end its support for the Iranian and Russian militaries.

Those sensitive subjects did not surface publicly. In a departure from the arrangements made during many visits by foreign leaders, reporters were not admitted to the Oval Office for a press conference. Only photographers were briefly permitted inside.

“From the time of my first election in 2016, President Xi and I forged a friendship, a truly great friendship, actually built on mutual respect and the vital interests of our people,” Trump said in the Grand Foyer of the executive mansion.

“We have spent time together all over the world, from Germany to Argentina, Japan to South Korea, and Beijing to Palm Beach, Florida. But remarkably, this is our first time meeting together here at the White House, and as President Xi has already seen, a lot has changed since he was last here.”

Trump said “our teams have been working to encourage a more balanced trading relationship, including the new market access for American farmers and ranchers” and that “we will also discuss pressing issues concerning security, technology, and super-intelligence.”

Trump traveled to Beijing in May and appeared determined to provide Xi with a similarly grand reception in Washington. Military personnel were positioned dramatically along the West Wing roof while bands and color guards marched across the white paving stones recently installed at Trump’s direction.

The White House also attempted to reproduce one of the memorable scenes from Trump’s Beijing visit, when groups of Chinese schoolchildren greeted Trump and Xi at the Great Hall of the People.

First lady Melania Trump and Xi’s wife, Peng Liyuan, attended a children’s performance at the Smithsonian National Museum of Asian Art.

Students from the Hope Chinese School waved American and Chinese flags and cheered for the two first ladies in a scene resembling the reception Trump received from students during his trip to China earlier this year.

The children, who ranged in age from 8 to 15, performed songs in both Chinese and English. Peng, who was a prominent singer before marrying Xi, was seen silently following the lyrics and clapping with the music.

Xi has ruled China since 2012 and last visited the White House in 2015, when he met with then-President Barack Obama. During Thursday’s visit, Trump personally showed him several changes made to the White House grounds, including the new helipad.

“He’s an expert on stone aside from many other things. And he loves good granite,” Trump told reporters as he and Xi headed back inside.

Because no formal press conference was held, journalists shouted questions at Xi following the helipad tour. He did not respond.

Xi kept a fixed half-smile as The Post questioned him about China’s role in facilitating fentanyl exports blamed for nearly half a million American deaths and Beijing’s lack of transparency regarding the origins of COVID-19.

Other reporters asked Xi about Taiwan and imprisoned Hong Kong publisher Jimmy Lai. The Chinese leader offered no reaction and left every question unanswered.

The Vizhnitzer community is mourning the passing of Reb Chaim Litman Walzer z”l, one of the senior and prominent Vizhnitzer chassidim and a leading baal menagen in the chassidus for more than six decades. He was 83.

Reb Chaim had been seriously ill for the past two years. Over the course of his long life, he merited to sing in the presence of three generations of Vizhnitzer Rebbes, beginning with the Imrei Chaim, continuing for decades with the Yeshuos Moshe, and, in more recent years, with the present Vizhnitzer Rebbe.

Reb Chaim was born on the 20th of Kislev 5703 to Reb Dov “Berel” Walzer z”l and Mrs. Rivka Walzer a”h. His father was among the distinguished Vizhnitzer chassidim who survived the Holocaust and played an important role in rebuilding Vizhnitz in Eretz Yisroel in the years that followed.

Raised in a home steeped in simple emunah, devotion to the Vizhnitzer Rebbes and dedication to the chassidus, Reb Chaim remained deeply attached to Vizhnitz throughout his life.

A particularly significant part of his life was his role in preserving and transmitting the rich musical tradition of Vizhnitz. Blessed with a sweet and distinctive voice, Reb Chaim became one of the leading baalei menagnim in the Vizhnitzer court and remained in that role for more than 60 years.

He first sang before the Imrei Chaim and subsequently spent decades singing before the Yeshuos Moshe. In later years, he continued in the presence of the current Vizhnitzer Rebbe.

For Reb Chaim, negina was far more than a matter of possessing a beautiful voice. It was an integral part of his avodas Hashem and his connection to the Vizhnitzer dynasty. His voice accompanied countless gatherings, tefillos and tisches over the decades, becoming familiar to generations of Vizhnitzer chassidim.

He was present for some of the most memorable moments in the recent history of the chassidus. He accompanied the Rebbes during the periods surrounding their respective coronations, escorting the Yeshuos Moshe to the bais medrash and later participating in the coronation Shabbos of the current Vizhnitzer Rebbe.

Reb Chaim also sang at the major gatherings and celebrations of Vizhnitz over the years. Among the remembered occasions was the Lag BaOmer celebration in 2002, when he sang before the Yeshuos Moshe, leading the traditional songs in honor of Rav Shimon bar Yochai.

For many years, Reb Chaim earned his livelihood by operating a silverware store on Admor MiVizhnitz Street in Bnei Brak. He became a familiar and beloved figure to residents of the city, known for conducting his business with integrity and honesty.

Those who knew him recalled his warm countenance, sensitive nature and exceptional middos. Despite his prominent place within Vizhnitz, he conducted himself with modesty, avoided honor and maintained regular times for limud haTorah.

Reb Chaim shared an especially close relationship with the current Vizhnitzer Rebbe. That bond was poignantly demonstrated just days before his passing.

On Erev Rosh Hashanah, the Rebbe visited Reb Chaim at his home while he was ill. During the visit, Reb Chaim presented the Rebbe with an extraordinary gift: an antique gartel that had belonged to the Ahavas Yisroel of Vizhnitz and had been preserved as a family inheritance.

The gift, given during what would prove to be one of their final encounters, carried particular meaning for a man whose life had been defined by his attachment to the Vizhnitzer Rebbes across generations.

Reb Chaim leaves behind a distinguished family. His only son, Reb Yisroel Walzer, is a prominent Vizhnitzer communal activist in London and serves as an administrator of the Vizhnitzer institutions there. He has been extensively involved in establishing and developing the chassidus’s Torah institutions and facilities in London.

Reb Chaim’s sons-in-law are Reb Moshe Korenboim and Reb Chaim Finkelstein.

The levayah was held at the Vizhnitzer bais medrash on Shlomo Hamelech Street in Bnei Brak. Kevurah took place at the Vizhnitzer bais hachaim in the city.

Yehi zichro baruch.

{Matzav.com}

The Trump administration asked the U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday to clear the way for immigration authorities to continue rapidly deporting migrants to countries other than their homelands, including nations with which they have no previous connection.

In an emergency filing, the administration urged the justices to suspend lower-court rulings requiring the government to give migrants effective notice and a meaningful opportunity to argue that they could face persecution or torture in the proposed destination country.

The filing marks the administration’s latest appeal to the Supreme Court in the closely watched case, D.V.D. v. Department of Homeland Security, which centers on the extent of the protections migrants must receive before being sent to so-called third countries.

“The government has been able to remove thousands of aliens to third countries in recent months, and thousands more are eligible for such removal,” Solicitor General D. John Sauer wrote in the administration’s filing.

The administration argues that third-country deportations are necessary when the United States cannot quickly return migrants to their countries of origin. According to government attorneys, receiving countries provide diplomatic assurances that those sent there will not be persecuted or tortured.

Officials contend that the procedural requirements imposed by the lower courts would cause lengthy delays, complicate deportation operations and potentially force the United States to renegotiate agreements reached with foreign governments.

The administration said the rulings have already resulted in the cancellation of a deportation flight that was scheduled to carry 70 migrants with criminal convictions to three different countries.

The Supreme Court previously intervened in the dispute in June 2025, temporarily lifting an injunction imposed by U.S. District Judge Brian Murphy in Boston. That decision allowed third-country deportations to continue while the administration pursued its appeal.

Since then, Judge Murphy issued a final ruling declaring the Department of Homeland Security’s third-country deportation policy unlawful. A three-judge panel of the Boston-based 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals largely upheld that decision last week.

The appeals court did not prohibit the government from deporting migrants to third countries. It ruled, however, that migrants must receive sufficient notice of their intended destination and a meaningful chance to claim that sending them there could expose them to persecution or torture.

The court found that the administration’s policy offered no advance notice when the State Department believed it had received credible diplomatic assurances from the destination country. In other cases, the policy generally contemplated notice of 24 hours or less before deportation.

The case was filed as a class action on behalf of migrants with final removal orders who faced deportation to countries that had not been named during their immigration proceedings.

The plaintiffs do not dispute the government’s authority to remove them from the United States or to deport migrants to third countries under certain circumstances. They argue that the government cannot lawfully send them to a previously undisclosed destination without first allowing them to raise credible fears concerning that country.

The administration has significantly expanded the use of third-country deportations as part of President Donald Trump’s sweeping immigration crackdown. Thousands of migrants have been sent abroad through agreements with nearly two dozen countries, including South Sudan, Equatorial Guinea and Panama.

Attorneys for migrants have warned that diplomatic assurances do not always protect deportees after they arrive. Lawyers for two men sent to Equatorial Guinea alleged earlier this month that police beat them and held them at gunpoint inside a hotel being used as a detention facility.

The Supreme Court’s eventual decision could determine whether the administration may continue carrying out third-country deportations on an expedited basis or whether migrants must first be afforded a formal opportunity to challenge the country selected for their removal.

{Matzav.com}

Dear Matzav Inbox,

I would like to take this opportunity to wish a heartfelt refuah sheleimah to all those who are once again packing their suitcases and running away for Sukkos. Some are off to Eretz Yisroel, some to Florida, some to hotels, some to rented houses, and some elsewhere. Wherever you are going, I hope you have a wonderful time, because after the difficult few weeks you have just endured at home, you certainly deserve the break.

I realize that many of you are still recovering from the summer. It was only a few weeks ago that you returned from your summer homes, where you spent July and August escaping from the large and beautiful homes that you worked so hard to buy. You packed up clothing, food, linens, toys, bicycles, scooters, cases of drinks, half your kitchen and enough supplies to establish a small settlement in the Catskills, all so that you could spend the summer getting away from it all. Then came the exhausting trip back home, followed by several very difficult weeks of having to live in your own house.

Somehow, you made it.

I can only imagine how challenging it must have been. You had to sleep in your own bed, sit on your own couch and eat in the kitchen you spent a fortune renovating. You had to use your own bathrooms and enjoy the central air conditioning that you complain about paying for all year. You may even have had to spend a Shabbos or two in your own neighborhood. Yet you persevered, and now, baruch Hashem, salvation has arrived. Sukkos is here, which means it is finally time to get out of the house again.

I have begun to wonder about these houses. I actually feel bad for them. These are beautiful homes, many of them purchased at prices that would have caused our grandparents to faint. Their owners spend years improving them. The kitchen gets redone, the basement gets finished, the dining room gets new furniture, the backyard gets a patio, and the bedrooms are decorated down to the last throw pillow. People spend months choosing countertops and agonizing over light fixtures. They debate whether the island should be eight feet or nine feet and whether the refrigerator should have custom panels. Then, when everything is finally perfect, they reach the conclusion that the best place to enjoy life is anywhere else.

Imagine being one of these houses and watching the suitcases come down the stairs again.

“Where are they going now? They just came back!”

The poor dining room must be terribly confused. Here it is, waiting patiently with a beautiful table that extends halfway to the front door, enough chairs for the entire extended family and a breakfront filled with dishes that are apparently too beautiful to eat on, and suddenly everyone is heading to Florida for Yom Tov. The kitchen must take it personally. Two sinks, two ovens, two dishwashers, a giant refrigerator, another refrigerator in the garage and three freezers downstairs, and the family still decided that making Yom Tov at home was simply too much.

What more could the house possibly have done?

Of course, after Sukkos, everyone will come back completely exhausted and tell us how difficult the trip was. The airport was mobbed, the flight was delayed, the rental car line was ridiculous, the kids didn’t sleep, the food wasn’t what they expected, somebody got sick, the weather wasn’t great, and by the time they finally walked back into their own house they needed a vacation from the vacation. This will be said without the slightest trace of irony.

Fortunately, there will then be a few weeks during which they can recuperate at home. I hope they use that time wisely, because Chanukah will be coming, and you know what that means. People cannot possibly be expected to spend Chanukah in the same place where they spent the three weeks after Sukkos. Florida will once again beckon. Then comes midwinter, because after spending several consecutive weeks in your own ZIP code, any normal human being obviously requires emergency evacuation.

Once midwinter is over, we can begin the serious business of discussing Pesach. This generally starts before the suitcases from Florida have been fully unpacked. Where are you going? Which program? Which hotel? Who is catering? Who is speaking? Who else is going? Is there a kids’ program? Is there a twenty-four-hour tea room? Heaven forbid someone should find himself hungry at 1:30 in the morning after consuming nine meals that day.

Then comes Shavuos, when another opportunity presents itself to flee the premises, and shortly thereafter it is time to begin packing for the bungalow again. Before you know it, another year has passed, during which the mortgage was faithfully paid every month on a house whose owners appear to regard spending time inside it as some sort of punishment.

I understand vacations. I really do. People work hard. Families enjoy going places together. Some people have parents or children in Eretz Yisroel and want to spend Yom Tov with them. There are a hundred legitimate reasons to travel, and everyone is entitled to spend his money and his vacation time however he wishes. What amazes me is how completely normal it has become to spend every possible break trying to get away from home, to the point that staying home for Yom Tov almost sounds like something that requires an explanation.

Tell someone, “We’re staying home for Sukkos,” and watch the reaction.

“Oh. You’re staying home?”

Yes. At home. Where we live. We have beds there and food and running water. There are even chairs. We think we’ll manage.

Sometimes the next question is, “You’re not going anywhere?”

Anywhere? I am going from my kitchen to my sukkah. I may even stop in the living room along the way. It’s going to be quite a trip.

Perhaps I am old-fashioned, but I always thought the whole point of having a home was that you actually enjoyed being there. Apparently, the new American dream is to buy the biggest and nicest house you can afford and then arrange your calendar so that you spend as little time there as possible.

So as Sukkos approaches, I really do wish all the travelers well. Have a safe flight. Have an easy drive. Enjoy Eretz Yisroel. Enjoy Florida. Enjoy the hotel, the rented house, the pool, the buffet and whatever other destination has rescued you from the terrible fate of spending another week in the home you chose, bought, furnished, renovated and continue to pay for.

And when you return after Yom Tov, exhausted and surrounded by suitcases, take a good look around. Say hello to the couch. Visit the dining room. Check whether the kitchen still remembers you. Maybe even spend a little time there.

Don’t worry. It won’t be for long.

Chanukah is coming.

A Reader Who Somehow Survives Staying Home

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An unusual public dispute erupted Thursday between the IDF and Israel Police over what security forces discovered beneath Qalqilya, with the military directly rejecting the police’s announcement a day earlier that a tunnel under excavation had been uncovered in the Palestinian city.

The controversy began after police announced Wednesday that forces operating in Qalqilya had discovered “a tunnel whose excavation had not yet been completed” that had already reached a depth of at least 25 meters. Police also reported finding what they described as the beginning of another tunnel excavation.

The announcement prompted widespread reports that security forces had uncovered underground tunnel infrastructure in Qalqilya.

On Thursday, however, the IDF issued a sharply different account, saying that an examination of the site determined that no tunnel route existed.

According to the IDF, troops operating overnight together with Border Police forces from the Yehuda and Shomron district, under the command of the Ephraim Brigade, discovered two shafts approximately 12 meters deep.

“Contrary to the official and irresponsible statements issued on the matter, following an examination of the shafts, the existence of a tunnel route in the shafts was ruled out, and the proximity of the shaft to the seam-line area was also ruled out,” the IDF said.

The wording represented an unusually open rebuke between two Israeli security bodies that had participated in the same operation. Although the IDF did not explicitly identify Israel Police as the target of its criticism, its statement came directly after the police’s official announcement regarding the alleged tunnel.

Police had stated Wednesday that “a tunnel and weapons were located beneath the ground in Qalqilya.”

The police announcement further said that “a tunnel whose excavation had not yet been completed was located, and already at this stage its depth is at least 25 meters,” adding that forces had also uncovered “the beginning of the excavation of an additional tunnel.”

The IDF now says the findings were substantially different. According to the military, the two underground shafts were approximately 12 meters deep, and an investigation of the shafts ruled out the possibility that they formed part of a tunnel system. The military also emphasized that the shafts were not close to the seam-line area separating Yehuda and Shomron from pre-1967 Israel.

Despite the dispute over the underground structures, weapons were indeed discovered during the operation.

Security forces found an M16 rifle, a hunting rifle, a handgun and ammunition near the shafts. The weapons were confiscated.

Four suspects accused of involvement in terrorist activity were also arrested during the operation and transferred to security forces for questioning.

Israel’s High Court of Justice on Thursday cleared the way for NIS 286 million in previously frozen Education Ministry funding to be released, ending a weeks-long legal battle over budget transfers approved by the Knesset Finance Committee. The funds include money for chareidi education, including increased salaries for kindergarten teachers, student transportation, after-school programs and teacher training.

The decision came after the petitioners withdrew their challenge following a recommendation from the High Court, allowing the interim order that had blocked the transfers to be lifted.

The funding is significant for a broad range of chareidi educational institutions and programs. Among the allocations are additional funding for chareidi kindergarten teachers, transportation for students in the Chinuch Atzmai and Bnei Yosef school systems, subsidies for afternoon programs at exempt and recognized-but-unofficial schools, and funding for teacher training in seminaries.

Additional money included in the transfers is earmarked for Jewish cultural programming and initiatives serving struggling and at-risk youth.

The latest development follows months of legal disputes over government funding for chareidi education and the procedures used by the Knesset Finance Committee and Finance Ministry to approve and transfer the money.

Earlier this year, the High Court sharply criticized a separate transfer of hundreds of millions of shekels after it emerged that substantial sums had already been transferred before the Finance Committee formally approved them. In March, the court ordered the Finance Committee to reconsider that earlier decision.

That episode also sparked a dispute between Knesset Legal Adviser Sagit Afik and the Finance Ministry over the practice of transferring government funds before receiving the committee’s formal authorization. Afik described the practice as serious and sought information from the Finance Ministry regarding similar cases in previous years.

The money involved in the latest case was approved by the Finance Committee on August 4 in two separate transfers to the Education Ministry. The larger transfer totaled NIS 270 million, while a second transfer totaled NIS 16 million, bringing the combined amount to NIS 286 million.

The approvals came during the Knesset election recess and were challenged in a petition filed by MK Naama Lazimi and the Hiddush organization. The petitioners argued that the Finance Committee had been improperly convened and that the resulting transfers should therefore be invalidated.

The High Court subsequently issued an interim order freezing NIS 409 million in transfers approved during the disputed Finance Committee session. Of that amount, NIS 286 million was designated for the Education Ministry and NIS 123 million for the National Missions Ministry.

The court had already begun easing portions of the freeze before Thursday’s decision. In August, it released NIS 78 million earmarked for the Religious Services Ministry while leaving the other disputed transfers blocked.

Among the most closely watched portions of the Education Ministry funding is money connected to salaries for chareidi kindergarten teachers, following an extended dispute over salary increases and implementation of the Ofek Chadash wage framework in chareidi kindergartens.

With Thursday’s decision, the legal barrier preventing the Education Ministry transfers from moving forward has now been removed, allowing the government to proceed with funding the affected institutions and programs.

Degel HaTorah chairman MK Moshe Gafni welcomed the development and thanked Knesset Legal Adviser Sagit Afik and Finance Committee Legal Adviser Shlomit Erlich for the legal positions they presented during the dispute.

“We acted in accordance with the Knesset regulations and through a completely proper process. This petition was vexatious and unnecessary, and it was clear to us from the outset that this would be its fate,” Gafni said.

Gafni said the money represents essential funding for the chareidi education system and can now finally reach its intended recipients.

Mr. Moishe Indig, a Satmar political activist who broke with other Orthodox Jewish leaders to embrace jihadist socialist Zohran Mamdani during last year’s mayoral race, lashed out at Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu on Thursday after the Israeli leader used his United Nations address to deliver a blistering attack on the New York City mayor.

In a social-media post following Netanyahu’s speech, Indig rejected Netanyahu’s assertion that many New York Jews have grown fearful under Mamdani and defended the mayor as an ally of his community.

“Mr. Netanyahu, you do not speak for New York’s Jewish community,” Indig wrote.

“Your government arrests hundreds of innocent yeshiva students each week, while we in New York practice our faith and live freely and safely.

“Mayor Zohran Mamdani is a friend and ally to our community.

“You are not.”

The post marked the latest chapter in Indig’s controversial relationship with the Muslim Mamdani, an outspoken critic of Israel who has accused the Jewish state of genocide in Gaza and previously pledged during his mayoral campaign to seek Netanyahu’s arrest if the prime minister came to New York.

Indig emerged as one of the terror supporter’s most prominent chassidishe supporters during the 2025 campaign, despite significant opposition to Mamdani within the Orthodox community and even within Indig’s own Satmar faction.

During Sukkos last year, Mamdani received a warm welcome at Indig’s sukkah in Williamsburg. At the gathering, another Satmar figure, speaking about Indig’s view of the candidate, said Indig had called Mamdani “a friend of the Jewish people” and believed he would make “the best mayor of New York City.”

The relationship continued into the final days of the campaign. On Nov. 2, Indig formally endorsed Mamdani, a decision that exposed a split within Satmar’s Ahronim faction. Other leaders of the same faction endorsed Andrew Cuomo and warned that the progressive political movement posed a threat to the ability of Orthodox Jews to maintain their way of life.

After Mamdani won the election, Indig attended his victory celebration and told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that he felt “great” about the result, citing issues including affordable housing and the needs of large families.

Mamdani was subsequently welcomed at a major Satmar event marking Kuf Alef Kislev. Indig described the community as “honored” to host the mayor-elect, while a speaker at the event recalled that Mamdani had promised Indig before the election that he would be a friend of the community.

Indig has continued publicly praising Mamdani since he took office. Earlier this year, he applauded the mayor after Mamdani was filmed helping residents shovel out a vehicle following a snowstorm in Williamsburg, writing, “Not a photo op — a shovel.”

The alliance has drawn criticism in parts of the Orthodox community because of Mamdani’s positions on Israel and Zionism. In a post-election interview with Mishpacha, Indig defended his willingness to cultivate relationships with politicians whose views he strongly opposes, arguing that his role as an askan requires him to work with elected officials in the interests of his community.

Thursday’s clash came after Netanyahu singled out Mamdani during his UN General Assembly speech and accused him of contributing to a climate in which Jews in New York increasingly feel unsafe.

“Mr. Mamdani, since you were elected mayor of this city, many Jews no longer feel safe in New York,” Netanyahu said. “They talk to me. They tell me: ‘This isn’t the city we remember. It changed so quickly.’”

Netanyahu then accused Mamdani of maintaining relationships with radical anti-Israel figures and repeatedly making what Netanyahu called false allegations of genocide against Israel.

“You praise criminals convicted of supporting Hamas. You count as friends people like Hasan Piker, who said America deserved 9/11. Some friends you have,” Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu also accused Mamdani of trying to prevent him from coming to New York.

“Mr Mamdani, you tried to stop me from coming here. You tried to silence me. Well, you can’t silence me; you can’t silence the truth.”

The prime minister later warned that rhetoric demonizing Israel has consequences for Jews outside Israel as well.

“The lies you and other antisemites spread about the Jews and the Jewish State have real consequences,” Netanyahu told Mamdani. “In New York, Jews are threatened on the way to synagogue. Jews have been stabbed in the streets. Jews are demonized, targeted simply for being Jews.”

It was that portrayal of Jewish life in New York that Indig directly challenged in his response.

His reference to the arrests of yeshiva students appeared to invoke the long-running confrontation in Israel over the military draft and the arrests of chareidi men accused of failing to comply with IDF conscription requirements. Indig’s Satmar community is fiercely anti-Zionist on theological grounds and rejects participation in the Israeli military.

Indig’s assertion that Mamdani is an ally of “our community” reflects his own relationship with the mayor and that of some Satmar leaders, rather than a consensus among New York Jews or even within Satmar. His endorsement of Mamdani itself divided the Ahronim leadership, and the heavily Satmar district associated with Indig ultimately voted for Cuomo rather than Mamdani in the 2025 election.

That divide has persisted into Mamdani’s administration. Indig attended the mayor’s interfaith breakfast earlier this year, while other Orthodox leaders have remained sharply critical of Mamdani’s anti-Zionism and positions on Israel.

Indig, however, made clear Thursday that the bitter confrontation between Netanyahu and Mamdani has not altered where he stands.

{Matzav.com}