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As a harsh flu season spreads across the United States, the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services stirred debate by questioning confidence in the annual flu shot while urging Americans to focus on personal health measures to fight infection.

Appearing Tuesday on Newsmax, Mehmet Oz said the vaccine has drawn increased skepticism and suggested that broader Make America Healthy Again initiatives could help people withstand illness during a year marked by a particularly aggressive strain of influenza.

“Flu is always a problem. Every year there’s a flu vaccine. It doesn’t always work very well. That’s why it’s been controversial of late,” Oz said. “But like many illnesses, the best news out there is if you can take care of yourself, so that when you do end up running into the flu, you can overwhelm it.”

Public health experts note that concerns this season stem from uncertainty about how closely the vaccine matches the dominant strain, known as H3N2 subclade K. Even so, they say vaccination remains an important defense against severe illness and widespread transmission.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention continues to advise that everyone aged six months and older receive a flu shot, ideally before the end of October each year.

Backing that position, Jerome Adams said this week that even when the vaccine is not perfectly matched, it still meaningfully reduces risks tied to influenza.

“Even in mismatched years, flu vaccines provide cross-protection because the strains are related. Historical data … show mismatched vaccines can still reduce lab-confirmed flu risk by around 50-60% overall and are particularly good at preventing severe outcomes like hospitalization and death,” Adams wrote on social platform X.

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In contrast, allies of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have increasingly challenged the effectiveness of the flu shot, arguing that it offers little benefit and could even worsen respiratory outcomes.

One of the most vocal critics has been Aaron Siri, a lawyer aligned with Kennedy who addressed the CDC’s vaccine advisory committee earlier this month. Siri pointed to studies he said undermined claims of benefit from the flu vaccine.

“no convincing evidence — none — that flu shots lowered the chances of dying, being admitted to the hospital, suffering serious complications from the flu, or transmitting flu to others,” Siri argued in October.

“That said: get a flu shot, don’t get a fu shot. That’s freedom. Everyone should be free to choose,” he added.

Oz, meanwhile, used his Newsmax appearance to emphasize lifestyle choices as a key line of defense against severe flu, rather than relying solely on vaccination.

“Things like getting sunlight, and you can’t do that in northern parts of the country, which is tough this time of year, take some vitamin D. Zinc seems to be effective as a basic supplement,” he added. “But fundamentally, the MAHA initiatives: Eat the right food, food that came out of the ground looking the way it looks when you eat it and consume it, and getting physical activity actually makes sense. But the most important tool of all is sleep.”

The H3N2 subclade K strain, sometimes referred to as a “super-flu” variant, has circulated widely this season, with patients reporting longer-lasting and more intense symptoms.

Despite the debate, vaccination rates have ticked upward. The CDC reports that 42.2 percent of adults had received a flu shot as of Dec. 13, a higher share than at the same point last year.

For those who do fall ill, the CDC currently lists four antiviral treatments for influenza: Tamiflu, Xofluza, Relenza, and Rapivab.

{Matzav.com}

Leading chassidishe rebbes have ruled to postpone a major protest rally against the Israeli draft law by one day in order to avoid unnecessary ביטול תורה and ensure that yeshiva students participate at a time when regular learning schedules are anyway suspended.

In advance of the large-scale Yerushalayim gathering titled Kol Shav’asam, to be led by prominent Sephardic and chassidic Torah leaders, mashgichim and roshei yeshiva from the chassidic yeshiva world visited the home of the Tchernobyler Rebbe to seek his ruling regarding the timing of the rally.

The question presented was whether the protest—originally scheduled for Monday of next week and expected to draw tens of thousands of chassidic yeshiva bochurim—should be moved. Since Nittel falls on the following day, Tuesday, those making the request suggested that holding the rally then would prevent additional loss of learning time, as there is in any case no regular seder on Nittel.

After considering the arguments, the Tchernobyler Rebbe agreed with the proposal but asked to first hear the opinion of the Rachmastrivka Rebbe. Following his review of the matter, the Rachmastrivka Rebbe concurred with the decision.

As a result, the Kol Shav’asam protest rally against the draft law will take place on Tuesday in Terushalayim. The event s scheduled to pass through the streets of Yirmiyahu, Brandies, and Sarai Yisrael, with mass participation from the chassidishe world.

{Matzav.com}

The advice that legendary investor Warren Buffett offered on investing and life over the years helped earn him legions of followers who eagerly read his annual letters and filled an arena in Omaha every year to listen to him at Berkshire Hathaway’s annual meetings. Buffett’s last day as CEO is Wednesday after six decades of […]

[COMMUNICATED]

Dear Community Members,

We are reaching out on behalf of a family in our Lakewood community who is facing an urgent crisis that requires immediate assistance.

A local family is currently going through an eviction while simultaneously dealing with serious medical challenges. The father is experiencing health issues that have affected the family’s ability to maintain stability during this difficult time. They are in immediate need of approximately $13,000 to prevent displacement from their home.

Out of respect for the family’s dignity, we are not sharing all details publicly, but those who know the situation understand this is a genuine emergency involving real people in our community who need our help right now.

This is more than just a financial crisis—it’s about keeping a family together and housed during one of the most vulnerable moments of their lives. No family should face homelessness while also managing serious health concerns.

How You Can Help:

• Financial contributions of any amount will make a direct difference

• Share this appeal with others who might be able to help

Time is critical. This family needs our help now.

For those wishing to contribute or learn more about how to help, please visit: https://thechesedfund.com/oht/save-a-mishpacha-from-eviction

Please see the letter of support from the Roshei Yeshiva below.

May we all be blessed with health, success, and the ability to help one another in times of need.

Your fellow community members 

The political rift between the chareidi parties Degel HaTorah and Shas is deepening, as a senior Degel HaTorah official laid out his party’s version of the events that led to the breakdown in relations surrounding the appointment of the chair of the Yerushalayim Religious Council.

Speaking at length, the senior figure said the crisis began with what he described as an attempt at coordination with Shas chairman Aryeh Deri, which initially appeared promising but quickly turned out to be a unilateral move. “I called him and told him I wanted cooperation,” the official said. “Deri said, ‘Excellent, I’m glad you called.’ But immediately afterward, his representatives made it clear to us that they were appointing the chairman that very day and that he would be a Shas person only.”

Within Degel HaTorah, there is anger over what party officials describe as exploitation of the situation, at a time when Degel is preoccupied with the struggle over the draft law and recent arrests. The senior figure rejected Shas’s claim that Degel HaTorah is a small party, arguing that electorally this is simply not true. “We are the largest party in Yerushalayim, whether you count United Torah Judaism with its nine seats or Degel HaTorah on its own. In raw votes, we are larger than Shas,” he said. He added that genuine cooperation cannot amount to “having a Degel HaTorah representative holding flowers in the room,” while substantive positions are taken exclusively by Shas.

Tensions have also spilled over into parliamentary conduct in the Knesset, where Degel HaTorah has refrained from advancing certain legislation. However, the senior official insisted on drawing a clear distinction between the issues. According to him, the current boycott of coalition votes in the plenum is primarily aimed at accelerating legislation on the draft issue in light of the arrests, and did not stem directly from the dispute over the religious councils. Still, he made clear that Degel HaTorah is capable of flexing its political muscle. “Contrary to what they say, we did not vote against transferring the Ministry of Religious Services, but everyone knows that it wouldn’t be difficult for me to recruit one MK to vote with us, and that would have ended it,” he said.

The Degel HaTorah official launched a sharp attack on former Religious Services Minister Michael Malkieli and on the ministry’s director-general Yehuda Avidan, accusing them of refusing even to sit down for substantive negotiations over the identity of the council chair. “He told him, ‘You should know that today I am appointing the head of the appointed committee,’” the official recalled of the tense exchanges.

He also questioned Deri’s past declarations to Shas’s Moetzet Chachmei Hatorah. “Deri told the Moetzet Chachmei Hatorah that he was in the opposition. Is this opposition?” he asked. “So you go and take advantage of the fact that Moshe Gafni is not in the Finance Committee in order to do things there and marshal a majority for whatever you want?”

In closing, the senior Degel HaTorah figure stressed that all of his actions were carried out under close supervision from the party’s rabbinic leadership. He rejected accusations directed at Degel HaTorah and emphasized that harming the party’s representatives amounts to harming the leading Torah authorities themselves. “I didn’t do anything without receiving instructions from the gedolei Torah,” he said. “Whether to vote against, to abstain, or not to enter — I received direct instructions. I was on the line with them all day.”

He concluded by warning that Degel HaTorah will not accept a reality in which religious services are used as a weapon against it, and said the struggle over representation of the Lithuanian ציבור in Yerushalayim will continue “at full intensity.”

{Matzav.com}

The Trump administration expects Israel to reopen the Rafah Crossing in the coming days to allow both the entry and exit of Gazans, following discussions between Donald Trump, his senior aides, and Benjamin Netanyahu during meetings in Washington earlier this week, a U.S. official told The Times of Israel. The Rafah Crossing, Gaza’s main gateway […]

Somaliland President Abdirahman Mohamed Abdullahi is planning to make an official visit to Israel in the near future, according to Israeli media reports, following Jerusalem’s recent recognition of the autonomous region. Israel’s Kan public broadcaster reported that Abdullahi is expected to use the visit to formally join the Abraham Accords and sign a series of […]

The District Court hearing in the cases against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Wednesday revealed more shocking police improprieties and illegal actions confirmed in testimony by a police investigator. It was revealed during the hearing that Israel Police and the prosecution obtained wiretapping warrants in Case 1000 by misleading the court to believe that investigators […]

The Judicial Ombudsman’s Office (Commission for Public Complaints Against Judges) on Wednesday published a summary of the Ombudsman’s decision, Judge Asher Kula, regarding the complaints filed against Supreme Court Justice Yitzchak Amit. Kula ruled that the President of the Supreme Court, Yitzchak Amit, acted in a conflict of interest when he sat in judgment on […]

An emotional scene unfolded this week at a kollel in Cholon, when Rav Yitzchak Zilberstein publicly pledged to personally pay 1,000 shekels to any kollel member who succeeds in finding a shidduch for an older single girl in need of a shidduch.

The incident took place Tuesday, the fast of Asarah B’Teves, at Kollel Beis Dovid in Cholon, following a special tefillah held by Rav Zilberstein on behalf of the girl, who is the daughter of one of the kollel’s avreichim. Speaking briefly before Minchah to dozens of talmidim, Rav Zilberstein made an impassioned appeal that surprised those present.

“Dear and beloved friends,” Rav Zilberstein said, according to a recording aired on the ‘Siach Yitzchak’ hotline. “I have a request. We have a very dear brother in the kollel, one of the most precious among us. He is suffering greatly. He has a daughter—certainly as precious as he is—and there are no shidduchim. I think today we should ask everyone to say three chapters of Tehillim.”

Rav Zilberstein then added an extraordinary commitment. “I want to say something else,” he continued. “If one of us finds a shidduch, I will give him one thousand shekels. First, we will daven for him—he is our brother, and the pain is very great. The daughter is getting older every day, and he is a great talmid chacham. So I am saying: If one of us finds a shidduch, in addition to the shadchanus fee he will receive from the families, he will personally receive one thousand shekels from me.”

Quoting the words of Tehillim, Rav Zilberstein urged the avreichim to internalize the pain of the situation. “Let us now say the chapter, ‘Esa einai el heharim, mei’ayin yavo ezri.’ This is our help. This is not hefker here. ‘From where will my help come?’ It hurts us. I repeat again: Whoever hears my words now and finds a shidduch—aside from the shadchanus—I will, with Hashem’s help, give another one thousand shekels. After the tefillah we will say Tehillim, and bli neder I will give the money to the one who merits this great mitzvah of finding her a chosson. May Hakadosh Baruch Hu help us quickly.”

In recent years, Rav Zilberstein has repeatedly spoken about the growing crisis of older singles. At a Chanukah gathering at the same kollel, he addressed the issue directly. “Es achai anochi mevakesh,” he said then. “There are avreichim whose sons or daughters are older and waiting for a zivug. Sadly, this is a tzarah of all of Klal Yisroel—one of the most difficult problems of our time. Beyond tefillah for one another, and the principle that one who davens for his friend is answered first, there must also be real, practical effort.”

He continued at that event by urging every avreich to actively think of shidduchim for others, describing the effort as an extraordinary act of chessed and a partnership in building a bayis b’Yisroel, bringing light and joy to families who wait and yearn for that moment.

{Matzav.com}

Zohran Mamdani will become mayor of New York City as the clock ticks over into 2026 — but the celebrations are set to last through New Year’s Day. The Democrat’s team is planning two separate swearing-in ceremonies Thursday — a small, private one with his family in an old subway station around midnight, followed by […]

Mrs Lipsker, the Rebbitzen of the late Rabbi Lipsker of the Bal Harbor Shul, speaking at the event with Prime Minister Netanyahu.

Chairman of Shas Aryeh Deri lashed out Wednesday evening at his coalition partners—Bezalel Smotrich, Itamar Ben Gvir, and the Likud—over what he described in closed-door conversations as their “deafening silence” following a High Court decision freezing funds for chareidi Torah education.

According to associates who spoke with Deri, the Shas leader expressed deep anger and disappointment at the lack of public condemnation from senior coalition figures after the High Court issued an interim order halting the transfer of roughly one billion shekels earmarked for chareidi educational institutions. The ruling has intensified tensions inside the coalition as preparations for elections—widely expected later this year—accelerate, with cracks and internal rifts becoming increasingly visible.

Deri was quoted as saying that the decision was being treated “as if it were a budget for climate issues or beach cleanups,” adding a pointed warning to his partners: “They must understand clearly—the Jewish identity of this country is the foundation of this government. Without education based on the Torah of Israel, even the struggle for the Land of Israel will not succeed.”

Earlier in the evening, Deri held what was described as a sharp and heated phone call with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is currently in the United States. During the conversation, Deri conveyed what his office termed a “forceful protest” against the High Court’s decision, warning that its implications amount to “the destruction of the entire chareidi education system.”

Deri told Netanyahu that the issue transcends chareidi party politics and constitutes a fight for the coalition as a whole. He demanded that upon his return, the prime minister immediately convene the ministerial team established to address chareidi education and mobilize all available political and financial resources to combat the ruling. Netanyahu, according to those briefed on the call, voiced full backing for Deri’s demand and pledged to convene the ministers promptly to deal with the matter.

Meanwhile, MK Moshe Arbel publicly broke his silence with a scathing attack on the High Court. “There are no judges in Yerushalayim,” Arbel said. “Since I became politically aware, I cannot recall a petition by a party that failed to secure a parliamentary majority managing, within a single day, to cancel a Knesset decision through a judicial ruling that directly harms the salaries of teachers in Israel.” He went on to mockingly invite what he called the “High Court Party” to run together with Yesh Atid in the next Knesset elections.

The High Court’s interim order, issued Wednesday evening by Justice Yael Wilner, freezes the transfer of approximately one billion shekels approved earlier this week by the Knesset Finance Committee. The funds were designated for chareidi educational frameworks and were halted following a petition filed by Yesh Atid. In her ruling, Wilner wrote that after reviewing the request, responses, and replies, an interim injunction was warranted barring any further transfers until a subsequent decision is issued.

Yesh Atid officials said the interim order does not go far enough and signaled their intention to seek an expanded remedy that would require chareidi teachers to return funds already disbursed earlier in the day, before the injunction took effect.

Shas responded with an especially harsh statement, accusing the High Court of “antisemitic persecution” and likening it to “a reckless driver barreling through a crowded highway, ruthlessly running over the chareidi public.” The party charged that the ruling robs children of their basic sustenance, undermines Torah study, and harms the education of tens of thousands of students. Declaring that “there are no judges in Yerushalayim, only a dangerous group of arsonists,” Shas called on Jews worldwide to raise their voices in protest, vowing that the chareidi public would stand firm against what it described as malicious and unprecedented decisions.

{Matzav.com}

BREAKING: U.S. forces strike another 2 alleged drug boats, killing 5 narco-terrorists, Pentagon says

ox’s Bret Baier reports a U.S. intelligence assessment today from CIA Director John Ratcliffe noting that Ukraine did NOT attack Russian President Vladimir Putin’s residence as he falsely claimed to President Trump earlier this week

Dashcam footage shows a semi-truck sliding off I-469 in Fort Wayne, Indiana, vaulting over the highway divider and narrowly avoiding oncoming traffic.

Eric Swalwell says that if elected governor of California, he would seek to have federal agents charged with “kidnapping” and “assault” and aims to revoke their driver’s licenses.

Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper had to use a PIT maneuver to safely stop a drowsy driver on the road.

Somali-owned daycare in Minneapolis claims they were burglarized and says thieves made off with all of their documentation.