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There are Good Samaritans, and then, as the Iranian warship IRIN Jamaran demonstrated on Satruday, Bad Sasanians.

The Iranian frigate was some eight nautical miles from the M/V Verbena—a Ukrainian-owned and Polish-operated cargo carrier flagged in Palau—which Iran-backed Houthi terrorists struck with two missiles on June 13. On Saturday, the crew of the ship issued a distress call and said it was abandoning ship.

“M/V Anna Meta responded to render assistance. Anna Meta has recovered the mariners and is transporting them to safety. The crew abandoned ship due to continued fires and an inability to control them,” stated U.S. Central Command.

“The Iranian frigate IRIN Jamaran was eight nautical miles from M/V Verbena and did not respond to the distress call,” CENTCOM said. “This continued malign and reckless behavior by the Iranian-backed Houthis threatens regional stability and endangers the lives of mariners across the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden.”

“CENTCOM will continue to act with partners to hold the Houthis accountable and degrade their military capabilities,” it added.

“The Islamic Republic of Iran and its terrorist proxies in Yemen, the Houthis, are literally pirates,” wrote Israel Nitzan, former acting consul general of Israel in New York. “They pose a threat to international commerce, peace and security. They must be stopped.”

{Matzav.com}

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore will issue a mass pardon of more than 175,000 marijuana convictions Monday morning, one of the nation’s most sweeping acts of clemency involving a drug now in widespread recreational use.

The pardons will forgive low-level marijuana possession charges for an estimated 100,000 people in what the Democratic governor said is a step to heal decades of social and economic injustice that disproportionately harms Black and Brown people. Moore noted criminal records have been used to deny housing, employment and education, holding people and their families back long after their sentences have been served.

“I’m ecstatic that we have a real opportunity with what I’m signing to right a lot of historical wrongs,” Moore said in an interview. “If you want to be able to create inclusive economic growth, it means you have to start removing these barriers that continue to disproportionately sit on communities of color.”

Moore called the scope of his pardons “the most far-reaching and aggressive” executive action among officials nationwide who have sought to unwind criminal justice inequities with the growing legalization of marijuana. Nine other states and multiple cities have pardoned hundreds of thousands of old marijuana convictions in recent years, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws. Legalized marijuana markets reap billions in revenue for state governments each year, and polls show public sentiment on the drug has also turned – with more people both embracing cannabis use and repudiating racial disparities exacerbated by the War on Drugs.

The pardons, timed to coincide with Wednesday’s Juneteenth holiday, a day that has come to symbolize the end of slavery in the United States, come from a rising star in the Democratic Party and the lone Black governor of a U.S. state whose ascent is built on the promise to “leave no one behind.”

Derek Liggins, 57, will be among those pardoned Monday, more than 16 years after his last day in prison for possessing and dealing marijuana in the late-1990s. Despite working hard to build a new life after serving time, Liggins said he still loses out on job opportunities and potential income.

“You can’t hold people accountable for possession of marijuana when you’ve got a dispensary on almost every corner,” he said.

Nationwide, according to the ACLU, Black people were more than three times as likely than White people to be arrested for marijuana possession. President Biden in 2022 issued a mass pardon of federal marijuana convictions – a reprieve for roughly 6,500 people – and urged governors to follow suit in states, where the vast majority of marijuana prosecutions take place.

Maryland’s pardon action rivals only Massachusetts, where the governor and an executive council together issued a blanket pardon in March expected to impact hundreds of thousands of people.

But Moore’s pardons appear to stand alone in the impact to communities of color in a state known for having one of the nation’s worst records for disproportionately incarcerating Black people for any crimes. More than 70 percent of the state’s male incarcerated population is Black, according to state data, more than double their proportion in society.

The most diverse state on the East Coast, Maryland has a dramatically higher concentration of Black people compared with other states that have issued broad pardons for marijuana: 33 percent of Maryland’s population is Black, while the next highest is Illinois, with 15 percent.

Maryland is the only state in the D.C. region that has fully legalized cannabis sales, though both the District and Virginia have decriminalized possession and have gray markets for the drug. Virginia and D.C. have not issued mass pardons of cannabis convictions, according to the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, but Biden’s pardons had impact in D.C. because they applied to thousands of people arrested on federal land.

Maryland Attorney General Anthony G. Brown (D), called the pardons “certainly long overdue as a nation” and “a racial equity issue.”

“While the pardons will extend to anyone and everyone with a misdemeanor conviction for the possession of marijuana or paraphernalia, this unequivocally, without any doubt or reservation, disproportionately impacts – in a good way – Black and Brown Marylanders,” he said in an interview. “We are arrested and convicted at higher rates for possession and use of marijuana when the rate at which we used it was no different than any other category of people.”

Reducing the state’s mass incarceration disparity has been a chief goal of Moore, Brown and Maryland Public Defender Natasha Dartigue, who are all the first Black people to hold their offices in the state. Brown and Dartigue have launched a prosecutor-defender partnership to study the “the entire continuum of the criminal system,” from stops with law enforcement to reentry, trying to detect all junctures where discretion or bias could influence how justice is applied, and ultimately reform it.

Maryland officials said the pardons, which would also apply to people who are dead, will not result in releasing anyone from incarceration because none are imprisoned. Misdemeanor cannabis charges yield short sentences and prosecutions for misdemeanor criminal possession have stopped, as possessing small amounts of the drug is legal statewide.

Moore’s pardon action will automatically forgive every misdemeanor marijuana possession charge the Maryland judiciary could locate in the state’s electronic court records system, along with every misdemeanor paraphernalia charge tied to use or possession of marijuana. Maryland is the only state to pardon such paraphernalia charges, state officials said.

The electronic records in some Maryland jurisdictions date back to the 1980s, while others begin in the 1990s or later. People with older cannabis convictions stored on paper records may also apply for a pardon.

Demographic data on those pardoned is limited as of Monday.

But Moore’s administration noted nearly a quarter of the pardoned convictions were in Baltimore – a city with a history of unconstitutional over-policing of Black communities – even though less than 10 percent of the state’s population lives there. In the D.C. suburbs, roughly 12 percent of the pardoned convictions are in Prince George’s County, and 6 percent are in Montgomery County.

An ACLU report from 2013 noted that cannabis arrests in states increased nationwide in the first decade of the century, and Maryland and D.C. had among the top five highest arrest rates in the country.

As recently as 2020, according to a state analysis, cannabis arrests in Maryland exceeded 10,000 per year – nearly a decade after possession of small amounts was decriminalized and three years after it became legal to be a medical patient.

As Maryland prepared to legalize the drug for recreational use in 2022 – joining nearly two dozen other states – a report by state analysts found that White Maryland residents use cannabis at higher rates than Black residents, but Black people were more than twice as likely to be charged with possession. By law, 35 percent of the tax revenue generated by legal marijuana sales must go back into communities where cannabis enforcement was disproportionate to the rest of the state.

“The entire basis of the work that we did was about righting injustices from the War on Drugs,” said Del. Jheanelle K. Wilkins (D-Montgomery), chair of the Maryland Legislative Black Caucus. She noted Maryland has newly elevated Black people to key offices of power – the House speaker among them – and said, “We’re in this moment in Maryland where we’re truly focused on equity.”

People who benefit from the mass pardon will see the charges marked in state court records within two weeks, and they will be eliminated from criminal background check databases within 10 months. The convictions, however, will still appear in public court records unless someone applies for an expungement.

Other states have forgone pardons – which forgive the crime – and instead simply blocked cannabis convictions from public view. California, for example, has sealed, dismissed or expunged more than 200,000 convictions since a 2018 law passed requiring it.

The nationwide efforts to lessen the impact of marijuana convictions follow a recent loosening of federal regulations that could clear the way for more widespread access to the drug across the United States.

The Biden administration began working on the issue in 2022, when the president directed health officials to review whether existing science supported reclassifying cannabis so that it would no longer be considered a Schedule I controlled substance, which carries the most stringent restrictions. Other Schedule I drugs include heroin, LSD and ecstasy.

Health officials recommended reclassifying cannabis as a Schedule III drug, which puts it among substances such as Tylenol with codeine, ketamine and anabolic steroids. In April, the Drug Enforcement Administration concurred with federal health officials and Attorney General Merrick Garland officially recommended reclassifying the drug.

Although reclassification does not legalize cannabis federally, it does pave the way for more research on the drug and may broaden access to medical marijuana.

This year for the first time marijuana surpassed alcohol in daily use, with 17.7 million people reporting daily or near-daily marijuana use.

Liggins, who is being pardoned, said he applauds Moore’s forgiveness of marijuana crimes that would not be prosecuted under Maryland’s laws today – even if it wasn’t immediately clear how much this would transform his life.

Shortly after leaving prison in 2008, the Center for Urban Families helped find the job he still holds today with an HVAC construction company in Baltimore. He said his employer trusts him to lead teams on multimillion-dollar projects as a foreman, but Liggins cannot work on the highest-paying contracts with the federal government because of his marijuana convictions. Despite his pardon, Liggins is unsure whether a related charge for providing a false statement will still prevent him from working on those projects.

“A person can change,” he said. “A person should be able to pay their debt to society and start fresh.”

– – –

Ovetta Wiggins contributed to this report.

(c) Washington Post

By Rabbi Yair Hoffman IT IS A PROBLEM THAT a number of Jewish students face. At home, they have been accustomed to wait six hours between meat and dairy. This is their family Minhag. When they go away to their various institutions of learning, some of these institutions have a different policy. These institutions are serving dairy suppers only 5 and ½ hours after they have served a meat lunch. In this author’s estimation, it is a problem that over five thousand young Jewish men face. Why is it so large a problem? Because the institutions happen to be two of the largest Yeshivos in the world, one in Eretz Yisroel and one in the United States. OTHER CUSTOMS This is not to suggest that other customs are, heaven forbid, incorrect. Customs among observant Jews range the gamut from one hour (Dutch Jews) to three hours (German and British Jews) to five hours to five and half hours. But a number of questions do arise: What should these students who wait six hours be doing? Should the students undo their family tradition and adopt that of their Yeshiva? Also from where did the customs of 6 hours and 5 and ½ arise? Before we answer these questions, let us first examine the source of the custom to wait six hours between meat meals and dairy meals in the first place, and then let us examine where 5 and ½ may fit in. The Talmud (Chullin 105a) states: “Rav Chisda said: One who eats meat may not eat cheese, [one who eats] cheese, may eat meat… Mar Ukvah said: Regarding this, I am like vinegar, the son of wine. My father, if he would consume meat today, would wait until tomorrow to eat cheese. I, however, will not consume them during the same meal, but at another meal I will eat cheese.” The Rif writes that by virtue of the fact that Mar Ukvah referred to himself as “vinegar the son of wine” – no authority permits a waiting period of less than six – from the morning meal to the evening meal. The Baalei HaTosfos disagree and understand the notion of another meal to refer even to a case where a second meal was started right away. [This is also the position of the Mordechai, the HaGaos Ashri, the Hagaos Maimonius and the Raavya.] Nonetheless, the spread of the idea of six hours has taken almost universal dimension. Now, although generally speaking the term “one meal to another” is understood as approximately six hours, there is a debate between Rabbeinu Tam and the Vilna Gaon as to how exactly we understand Mar Ukvah. Rabbeinu Tam writes that even Mar Ukvah’s position is not the halachic requirement, but rather a pious position. He thus allows for other customs. The Vilna Gaon, on the other hand, is of the opinion that Mar Ukvah held of the six hours as a full halachic requirement. He writes that the source is based on a passage in tractate Shabbos – where the Gemorah discusses the different eating times of cannibals, thieves, the rich, the workers, and the Torah scholars. The Gemorah tells us that Torah scholars would not eat before the sixth hour of the day, nor after this time. The Vilna Gaon extrapolates from […]

The Chairman of United Torah Judaism, Minister Yitzchok Goldknopf, addressed the issue of charedi enlistment in the army on Sunday evening, asserting that the IDF lacks genuine interest in integrating charedim.

“The charedim are in the forefront, yet they still fail to grasp why we emphasize our adherence to Torah. Without Torah, I wonder where we would be today,” he remarked during an event commemorating Bnei Brak’s centennial.

Expressing concern, he questioned, “Who will defend us? Why do we witness tweets like Chaim Ramon’s, claiming 4,000 charedim sought to enlist this year, yet 3,300 were rejected? If you don’t want or need us, why persist in undermining us?”

Responding to criticism regarding the timing of his celebratory event in Bnei Brak coinciding with funerals of fallen IDF soldiers, Goldknopf clarified that he refrained from personal family engagements to honor the fallen soldiers by speaking at the event.

“At this challenging time for the people of Israel, I wish to convey my condolences. The loss of the eight soldiers laid to rest yesterday brings sorrow to the entire nation,” he solemnly stated.

In response, MK Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beytenu) criticized Goldknopf on social media, writing, “At a time of national mourning for our fallen soldiers, one minister, disconnected from reality, finds cause for celebration. Goldknopf, the people of Israel truly do not need you.”

MK Vladimir Beliak (Yesh Atid) also condemned Goldknopf, labeling him as audacious for allocating substantial housing benefits to the charedi sector and celebrating while the nation mourns. He placed blame on Netanyahu and Likud members for compromising Jewish and democratic values to appease corrupt and anti-Zionist charedi interests.

{Matzav.com Israel}

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh maintains that Israel has not achieved even one of its goals in the war.

According to Haniyeh, after the withdrawal of the National Unity party, the government has started showing “signs of disintegration, which indicate its defeat and collapse.”

The solution to the war in Gaza, he said, “will be realized through negotiations, that will lead to a comprehensive agreement, even if the enemy evades it and thwarts the possibility of any deal.”

He claimed that efforts will continue on all levels to bring about an end to the war, and Hamas and the Palestinian organizations are inclined to reach an agreement, based on the following four points: a permanent ceasefire, a full withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, rehabilitation of the Gaza Strip, and a deal to release hostages in exchange for terrorists.

Haniyeh noted that the agreement must be “clearly worded without any possibility of interpretation, delay in execution or negotiations.”

Haniyeh said that Hamas supports the role of the mediators and is willing to accept some maneuvering to enable them to fulfill their mission. For this purpose, the Palestinian organizations have shown a serious approach and great flexibility to reach an agreement that will bring an end to the “aggression.”

{Matzav.com Israel}

by Rabbi Yair Hoffman The saving of thousands of people who received Sugihara visas was miraculous.  The ship that transported the refugees from Russia to Japan was the Amakusa Maru. The Titanic sank in 1912, when it hit an iceberg.  The Amakusa Maru sank thirty years later – in 1942. The Titanic was located in 1985.  The Amakusa Maru was located in 2016 – also 30 years later. Watch the discovery and Rav Dovid Kviat zatzal – discussing the voyage,  The editor can be reached at yairhoffman2@gmail.com   

Hagaon Harav Shmuel Kamenetzky shlit”a, the zkan roshei yeshiva of America, on Sunday evening traveled to the Adirei Hatorah maamad at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, marking his first appearance at a public event since suffering a stroke just over a year ago. The rosh hayeshiva’s appearance at the maamad despite the difficulties the trip entailed for him underscores his unwavering appreciation for talmidei chachomim and yungerleit, as well as his appreciation and support for the machzikei hatorah who support them. Rav Shmuel, 99, suffered a debilitating stroke in May 2023, just hours after attending the levaya of Harav Meir Hershkowitz zt”l in Lakewood. Since that time, the rosh hayeshiva has been undergoing rehabilitation and slowly returning to his regular schedule. However, he remains in a weakened state and continues to be in need of our teffilos. Please continue to daven for the rosh yeshiva, Harav Shmuel ben Itta Ettel. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

In a June 9, 2024 interview on Al-Manar TV (Hezbollah-Lebanon), Hamas spokesperson Osama Hamdan discussed the American presence in the Gaza Strip, and issued a bold threat to the United States. He stated that America is cooperating with Israel in Gaza. Hamdan further mentioned that any force present in the Gaza Strip would be treated the same as the Israeli army. He emphasized that it is natural for such a force (the United States Military) to face casualties and have their soldiers taken hostage. Osama Hamdan: “Early on, we said that the U.S. participated [in the Israeli hostage rescue operation]. We also said that any force on the ground in Gaza that supports the occupation forces would be treated as occupation forces. It will be treated the same as the occupation army. “If the [U.S.] forces participate in any confrontation, it is only natural that some of them will be killed or taken captive. We will not distinguish between the occupation army, or any other force that is engaged in combat. “Regarding the floating pier that was installed – it is only natural that all forces of the resistance are calling for a reevaluation of its role and its management, since it was announced that it had been used in the Nuseirat massacre.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Israel’s government approved on Sunday a proposal by the prime minister authorizing the director of the Tekuma (“Revival”) Authority, Brig.-Gen. (res.) Moshe Edri, to extend the temporary housing of residents evacuated from their homes in the “Gaza Envelope.”

The proposal extends their state-funded stay until Aug. 15. The decision was made in consideration of the ongoing hostilities.

“On October 7, the residents of the area were evacuated to temporary quarters in hotels, sheltered housing, apartments and additional absorption facilities,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a statement.

The Tekuma Authority has overseen the return of many residents to their homes or intermediate dwellings. “Approximately 70% of the residents of the area have returned to their homes in recent months,” the PMO said.

On April 17, the Israeli government unveiled a five-year 19 billion shekel (~$5 billion) strategic plan to “rebuild the communities in the western Negev.”

“We will invest in housing, infrastructure, education, employment, health and more,” Prime Minister Netanyahu said.

“The Hamas terrorists sought to uproot us. We will uproot them and deepen our roots. We will build the Land of Israel and safeguard our state,” he added.

Edri said, “The plan is spread over the next five years; already in the coming years, we will start to see the rebuilding, the rehabilitation, the growth and the prosperity we intend.”

{Matzav.com}

The Park Avenue Synagogue in New York City was vandalized with anti-Israel graffiti on Friday, in an incident being investigated by the NYPD Hate Crimes Task Force.

“Palestine” was scrawled on the wall of the building located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, under the biblical verse “How great are your tents O Jacob, your dwelling places O Israel” (Numbers 24:5), and directly under the word “Israel.”

No arrests have been made in the incident, which City Councilmember Julie Menin, a former congregant, described in an X post on Friday as a “vile antisemitic act.” Menin continued: “A house of worship is a sanctuary. Defacing it is an attack on all of us.”

The shul, which has a membership of more than 1,700 households, posted to its Instagram account that its congregants are “disheartened” by the vandalism and are investigating, assuring that “the synagogue building is secure” and wishing everyone Shabbat Shalom.

The shul’s Rabbi Elliot Cosgrove said in shul on Friday night, “It’s actually with a heavy heart that we begin Shabbat services tonight. … The facility is OK, we are all safe, and it is shocking and it is distressing.”

According to Cosgrove, a crowd gathered outside of the historic shul, founded in 1882 by German Jews, to show solidarity following the incident.

The number of antisemitic and anti-Israel incidents has risen sharply across New York City since Hamas started the current war with the Jewish state on Oct. 7.

Last week, an anti-Israel group defaced the homes of the Brooklyn Museum’s director and board members and a mob of pro-Hamas protesters chanting “Intifada revolution” rallied outside an exhibit memorializing the hundreds of victims of the terrorist group’s Oct. 7 attack on the Nova music festival near Kibbutz Re’im in southern Israel.

Also last week, masked agitators on a city subway car demanded to know if there were any “Zionists” on board. The group then warned, “This is your chance to get out,” according to a video circulating on social media. JNS

Iran International, a London-based media platform for the Iranian opposition, has obtained information exposing the identities of the people behind the MuddyWater and Darkbit hacker groups. The groups are affiliated with Iran’s Intelligence Ministry, and have been commiting cyberattacks against targets in Israel, Turkey, Egypt, Azerbaijan, the UAE, Iraq, Italy, Russia, Algeria and Saudi Arabia, and others.

According to Iran International, the Darkbit hacker group operates under the command of Amir-Hossein Fard Siahpoush, also known as Parsa Sarrafian, who runs the Ravin Academy, a US-sanctioned school that trains individuals in cyber security and hacking, and recruits from among these trainees for Iran’s Intelligence Ministry.

Other members of the group include Seyyed Ali Emami, Pouria Kazemabadi Farahani, Ahmadreza Irani, Amin Dadashi and Seyyed Hossein Siadat.

Members revealed of the MuddyWater hacker group include Mohammad Khoshlahn, Younes Valiaei and Mohammad-Reza Khoroush. They serve as liaisons between the group and the Intelligence Ministry.

These Iran affiliated hackers have committed attacks against government organizations, military bodies, educational institutions and communication networks in Jordan, Turkey, Azerbaijan and Pakistan. Additionally, they targeted sensitive databases in Mali, Austria, Russia and Bahrain, and carried out repeated attacks on state institutions in Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

The Darkbit group works under MuddyWater, and reportedly operates out of the same office building in Tehran. According to Iran International, Darkbit is the team in the MuddyWater group that attacks Israeli targets.

Early in 2023, this group carried out a cyber attack against the Technion in Chaifa, and at the beginning of 2024, they claimed to have attacked the systems of the Tel Aviv Municipality, the National Cyber ​​System and the Department of Mental Health at the Ministry of Health. No evidence was presented to back up these claims.

{Matzav.com}

At least 1,200 people in California were evacuated this weekend as a wildfire in Los Angeles County spread over thousands of remote mountain acres, officials said.

As of late Sunday morning, the fire had spread across more than 12,200 acres, the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said on its website. The blaze also damaged two commercial structures, fire officials said.

At 9 a.m. local time, the Los Angeles County Fire Department announced that the fire was just 2 percent contained.

The National Weather Service office in Los Angeles issued a red flag warning for the Interstate 5 corridor in Los Angeles County and Ventura County due to strong winds and low humidity.

Officials said they’re investigating what caused the fire and haven’t reported fatalities or injuries.

The blaze, which officials are calling the Post Fire, started about 1:45 p.m. Saturday in Gorman, about 65 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles, according to state fire officials. It then moved southeast, toward Pyramid Lake.

California State Parks officials evacuated 1,200 people from the Hungry Valley recreation area in Gorman and closed Pyramid Lake, the state fire department said. The fire was traveling with wind gusts up to 30 mph, officials said.

(c) Washington Post

Tonight’s Adirei Hatorah event is being held at Wells Fargo Arena in Philadelphia, PA.

The event is being held as part of the annual campaign to raise funds to cover the kollel budget of Beth Medrash Govoha in Lakewood, NJ.

This is the third consecutive year that the event is being held, a continuation of an initiative started several years ago by Mr. Leizer Scheiner and his partners.

WATCH THE EVENT LIVE HERE ON MATZAV.COM:

Tonight, after many weeks of preparation and anticipation, thousands of our beautiful kollel yungerleit will gather as one. It is perhaps one of the most momentous events of the year as everyone stands together to applaud this very special group. Although I won’t be able to attend for personal reasons, I stand proud that we have this very special group amongst us all. At the same time, I’d like to ask you all a few questions. I’m asking with the utmost respect and I’m not coming from a place of envy, bitterness or any negative energy. Being a business owner for many years, I’ve come across the most angelic of heros I’ve ever met. Heros in the form of competitors, fellow vendors and many more. I’ve seen firsthand the absolute beauty of them practicing and living the Torah. Of them breaking the very laws of human nature and holding onto emunah in the most purest of forms. I as well as others had to worry about filling payroll despite rough times over the years. When the world, the media and every business analyst all scream that the economy is on a suicidal downward spiral, we’ve had to grab onto the lifeline of emunah. Merely reading the words of the Chovas Halvavos won’t do it, we need to live it and believe it in our very core. When a direct competitor whom you’ve helped build up, undercuts your bid, knowing very well what he’s doing, the self work we need to do is so real. We’re not just learning “shnayim ochzin b’tallis”, we’re living it. The stories I’ve witnessed first hand send chills up my spine. In another realm, the relatives standing at the bedside of their dying loved ones, holding onto to Hashem is true heroism. When the doctors all mention their statistics; a week, a month at most, while the mothers stand there steadfast in their emunah, is that not the definition of an angel? And what about the many suffering from mental health and addiction. They are fighting the biggest and most silent battles out here. They unfortunately are fighting alone, without any fanfare or crowd cheering them on, yet they fight and fight and continue to fight. Some can’t go to shul, some can’t keep all the mitzvos, some can’t see any light or future. They soak their pillows at night, they cry on the way to and from work, they sit alone wondering and searching for a reason to continue. But they somehow all manage to gather the strength to go out and conquer some of the most difficult battles. Are they not true heroes? And what about the ones who’ve been abused and traumatized, the ones with the hoodies and piercings. The ones we tend to look away from. The ones we look down at. Having been involved in this field a bit, I see the absolute beauty in their souls. They have every reason to throw everything away but their souls are too bright with a hidden fire that doesn’t allow them to leave the fold. And so they do yiddeshkeit in their way, they serve Hashem in their way but every action, every tefilah has so much meaning and is so real and true to them. The beautiful emails I’ve received of young […]

In a historic first, evidence of the last Jewish revolt against Roman rule in Israel 1,650 years ago has been uncovered in the central Israeli city of Lod, the Israel Antiquities Authority announced on Sunday.

The discovery of a large public Jewish building from the Late Roman-Early Byzantine period that had been violently destroyed over a millennium and a half ago unveiled a hoard of 94 coins hidden underneath the flooring dating back to the time of the final revolt, the state-run archaeological body said.

The silver and bronze coins, dated between 221 and 354 C.E., were placed there by a person or persons unknown in the hopes of returning to collect them when the situation calmed down.

The dates coincide with the little-known Gallus Revolt against the Romans in 351-354 C.E., in which major Jewish communities such as Lod, Tzipori and Tiverya were destroyed by the forces of Roman Ceasar Flavius Claudius Constantius Gallus more than two centuries after the failed Bar Kochba Revolt.

(Under Emperor Constantius II, Gallus served as deputy emperor, based in Antioch.)

Among the various finds in the building, which was uncovered during an excavation on Nordau Street, were impressive stone and marble artifacts; Greek, Hebrew and Latin inscriptions; and one inscription bearing the name of a Jewish man from a priestly family, which is still being studied.

The inscriptions and the complete absence of pig bones in the bone assemblage uncovered at this site attest to this building’s association with the Jewish community, the IAA said.

In the wake of the Roman destruction of the Second Beis Hamikdash in Yerushalayim almost 2,000 years ago, Lod became a significant Jewish center in the Land of Israel. Some of the renowned Jewish “Sages of Lod” include Rabbi Eliezer ben Horkanos, Rabbi Tarfon, Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Yosi HaGalili.

“In all likelihood, this is a magnificent Jewish building that housed the city’s elders,” said the site archaeologists, Shahar Krispin and Mor Viezel of the IAA.

“This building, destroyed down to its very foundation, is a clear indication that the revolt was forcefully put down with violence and cruelty, and was not simply a local uprising event, as some earlier studies contended. This is the singular witness, thus far, to the extent and power of this revolt in Lod, located in the country’s center,” they reported.

“This is an exciting and very emotionally moving find, another link in the chain of Lod’s Tannaitic period heritage as host to the authors of the Mishna, and to Lod’s Jewish history,” said Mayor Yair Revivo. “The finds in the area prove that Lod is one of the oldest cities in the world. Lod is connecting to its past and is looking forward to a bright future.”

The details of the find were published in a book that will be available at the annual Central Israel Region Archaeological Conference which will take place on June 20 at the Eretz Yisrael Museum in Tel Aviv, hosted jointly by Tel Aviv University, Bar-Ilan University and the IAA.

{Matzav.com}

Egypt is reportedly urging Hamas to accept the initial phase of the Gaza hostage and ceasefire agreement without any modifications, after Hamas submitted its formal response to the proposal last week, which included “amendments” that Israel deemed unacceptable. The proposal, which was presented by Israel and backed by President Joe Biden, aims to secure a ceasefire and the release of hostages held by Hamas. Despite Israel’s rejection of Hamas’ modified proposal, Egypt and Qatar have pledged to continue mediating the negotiations until a deal is reached. According to an Egyptian source who spoke to the Qatar-owned Al-Araby Al-Jadeed newspaper, Cairo and Washington have been exerting intense pressure on Hamas leadership to accept the first phase of the deal. Additionally, Hezbollah has urged Hamas to approach the proposal with “flexibility” and “patience,” advising against closing the door on ongoing negotiations. Asharq Al-Awsat wrote that Hezbollah’s stance is based on the assumption that Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu does not fully support the offer himself. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

A short time ago, the Israeli Navy welcomed their newest landing craft – The INS Komemiyut LSV (landing craft). Arriving after a long journey from the port of Pascagoula in the United States, the craft is now docked at the Israeli Navy Base in Chaifa.

Upon entering the territorial waters of the State of Israel, the vessel was accompanied by Israeli Navy vessels in a ‘missing’ formation, this in memory of the fallen soldiers from the current‘Swords of Iron’ war.

“Today, while IDF soldiers conducted intense operations in various arenas, the Israeli Navy received a vessel with strategic importance to the State of Israel. During these historic moments, we salute our brothers in arms who fell while fulfilling their primary mission of maintaining the security of the State of Israel,” said David Saar Salama, the Commander in Chief of the Israeli Navy.

He continued: “Sailors of the INS Komemiyut, today you have completed a voyage of thousands of miles. The end of the voyage is the beginning of the journey for you. Your future actions will strengthen the cooperation between the IDF branches, expand the range of military operations, and maintain the security of the State of Israel.”

{Matzav.com}