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In a significant development, Salbdoak rosh yeshiva Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch has issued a rare and strongly worded letter of support for Rav Eliyahu Meir Feivelson, condemning what he described as “violent persecution” carried out under the guise of “false zealotry.”

The letter came after Rav Feivelson wrote directly to Rav Hirsch addressing controversial excerpts that had been circulated from one of his past shiurim concerning the relationship between the Written Torah and the Oral Torah.

Rav Hirsch’s decision to issue the letter followed considerable thought and discussion before he ultimately decided to make his position clear.

In his response, Rav Hirsch sharply protested the campaign against Rav Feivelson, declaring that such conduct is contrary to the Torah and causes a desecration of Hashem’s name. He also offered Rav Feivelson encouragement to continue teaching Torah to his talmidim and bringing them closer to Hashem.

In the letter that preceded Rav Hirsch’s response, Rav Feivelson explained the context of the shiur from which the disputed excerpts had been taken. He maintained that the quotations had been deliberately distorted and emphasized that the shiur had originally been delivered to baalei teshuvah struggling with questions of faith in Chazal and the Oral Torah.

Rav Feivelson wrote: “To the esteemed Maran shlita: Regarding the quotations that were collected from a shiur of mine concerning the relationship between the Written Torah and the Oral Torah, aside from the responses that I have already written before the esteemed Rav, which demonstrate that the quotations were taken maliciously and with the intention of distorting them, I have an additional point to add. The aforementioned shiur was delivered before baalei teshuvah in order to establish firmly in their hearts belief in Chazal and the Oral Torah. Today, when our bais medrash consists primarily of those who were raised from childhood with emunah and observance of mitzvos, I do not deal with these subjects, and I also removed those shiurim from Kol Halashon years ago.”

Rav Hirsch subsequently responded to Rav Feivelson with a letter of his own: “Greetings. I heard with pain about the violent persecution against the esteemed Rav under the guise of false zealotry. Aside from the fact that this is not the way of Torah, it also causes a chillul Hashem, rachmana litzlan. May it be Hashem’s will that you be able to immerse yourself in Torah and avodah in peace and tranquility, and continue teaching Torah and wisdom to your talmidim, bringing them closer to their Father in Heaven.”

The letter represents an unusually direct public intervention by Rav Hirsch in the controversy surrounding Rav Feivelson and the criticism directed against his teachings.

The exchange also comes shortly after Rav Feivelson suffered a devastating personal tragedy with the sudden passing of his daughter. During the shivah, Rav Hirsch sent his son, Rav Aharon Hirsch, to be menachem avel, and Rav Hirsch also personally offered nechamah to Rav Feivelson by telephone.

{Matzav.com}

[Videos below.] Argentine President Javier Milei received an enthusiastic welcome at Yeshiva Darchei Torah in Far Rockaway on Tuesday, where the outspoken supporter of Israel and the Jewish people addressed talmidim, received the yeshiva’s Ohev Yisrael Award and joined bochurim in spirited dancing to “Am Yisrael Chai.”

The unusual presidential visit came as Milei was in New York for the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly. It marked his first major engagement with the Jewish community during the trip and came one day after Yom Kippur.

Milei arrived at the Far Rockaway campus amid extensive security and was greeted by yeshiva officials and members of the school community. Yeshiva Darchei Torah had notified parents in advance that the Argentine president would be visiting and that security requirements would result in changes to dismissal procedures and schedules.

During the program, Milei was presented with the Ohev Yisrael Award in recognition of his public support for the Jewish people and Israel. The Argentine president’s office formally confirmed the presentation, saying that Milei delivered an address at Yeshiva Darchei Torah as part of his official New York visit.

Milei began his remarks by apologizing for arriving late and expressing appreciation for the honor.

“I don’t know if I deserve it,” Milei said, according to an English translation of his Spanish remarks. “First of all, I want to apologize for arriving late, but as you know, I am dealing with the obligations of my current job, and I apologize for being late.”

He then thanked the leadership of Darchei Torah, saying that receiving an award from “such a prestigious institution” filled him with pride.

Milei focused specifically on the meaning of the Ohev Yisrael Award, saying he viewed the honor as carrying an obligation rather than merely recognizing his past record.

“It is a great honor for me to receive this recognition because of what it means,” Milei said. He noted that the award recognized his support for the Jewish people during what he described as an especially difficult period, and said he regarded being an “Ohev Yisrael” as connected to pursuing truth and demonstrating love for the Jewish people.

“I am going to take this recognition not as praise, but as a commitment that I will not abandon until the last day of my life,” he said.

Much of Milei’s lengthy address went beyond Israel and antisemitism, as the libertarian president presented his own interpretation of the Torah’s teachings on freedom, work, private property and economic life.

Milei discussed Bereishis and the creation of Adam Harishon, arguing that work was part of mankind’s purpose even before Adam’s sin. He went on to connect the Aseres Hadibros with the principles underlying his free-market philosophy, particularly the prohibitions against murder, theft, false testimony and coveting another person’s possessions.

He cited the opening of the Aseres Hadibros — Hashem’s declaration that He had taken the Jewish people out of Mitzrayim — as what Milei described as a declaration of human freedom.

“The Ten Commandments begin with the declaration of freedom,” Milei said in the translated remarks. “God does not choose to begin with a prohibition, but rather begins with an act of liberation.”

Milei then linked “You shall not murder” to the protection of human life and “You shall not steal” to the protection of private property, using the Torah passages to elaborate on the economic and political philosophy that has become a hallmark of his presidency.

The president also repeatedly spoke about the Torah and Jewish religious teachings, at one point referring to the idea of bringing holiness into the physical world and citing pesukim from the Torah concerning the material blessings that follow observance of Hashem’s commandments. His address also drew connections between religious morality, economic freedom and prosperity.

The atmosphere took a decidedly more festive turn as Milei prepared to leave.

Video from the visit showed the Argentine president surrounded by singing and dancing bochurim, with Milei joining the celebration as “Am Yisrael Chai” rang through the room. Footage of the scene quickly circulated on social media and Jewish news outlets.

Milei has made his relationship with Israel and the Jewish community an unusually visible part of his presidency. Since taking office, he has repeatedly expressed support for Israel and has cultivated relationships with rabbonim and Jewish communal figures both in Argentina and abroad. His government has also emphasized strengthening Argentina’s relationship with Israel.

The Darchei Torah appearance was part of a packed New York itinerary for Milei surrounding the United Nations gathering. His schedule included a meeting with U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio, meetings with business and academic figures and an address to the U.N. General Assembly.

For Yeshiva Darchei Torah, the visit brought a sitting foreign head of state directly into the Far Rockaway yeshiva community — and ended with an image that quickly spread well beyond the school’s walls: the president of Argentina dancing alongside yeshiva bochurim to “Am Yisrael Chai.”

{Matzav.com}

Republican Bruce Blakeman has moved to within nine percentage points of Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul in the race for New York governor, according to a new Siena University poll of likely voters released Wednesday, with six weeks remaining before the Nov. 3 election.

The survey puts Hochul at 50% and Blakeman at 41%, compared with a 49%-39% margin in Siena’s August poll. The results show a considerably smaller gap than Siena measured at roughly the same stage of the 2022 governor’s race.

“At this time four years ago, Hochul led Lee Zeldin by 17 points, 54%-37%, before going on to win by six points,” said Siena pollster Steven Greenberg.

Blakeman has gained one percentage point since last month’s Siena survey, while Hochul has also gained one point. The latest results leave the Republican with ground to make up as the campaign enters its final stretch.

Hochul’s personal and job-performance numbers remain closely divided. The Siena poll found that 48% of likely voters view her favorably, while 46% view her unfavorably. Her job approval rating stands at 48%, with 47% disapproving.

Blakeman continues to be less familiar to many voters. His favorability rating is 35%, while 34% view him unfavorably, leaving nearly one-third of likely voters without a favorable or unfavorable opinion of the Nassau County executive.

The survey also found substantial dissatisfaction with the direction of both New York and the country. Just 38% said New York is on the right track, compared with 49% who believe the state is headed in the wrong direction. Nationally, 28% said the United States is moving in the right direction, while 66% said it is headed the wrong way.

“With six weeks until election day, voters offer good news to both Hochul and Blakeman. She now has the support of 50% of voters and saw her favorability and job approval ratings edge into positive territory. He now trails by single digits — well, nine points — in a state where Democrats outnumber Republicans by more than two-to-one,” Greenberg said.

The poll found Hochul with modest advantages when voters were asked which candidate would better handle several major issues.

On affordability, 49% chose Hochul as better equipped to make prices more affordable, compared with 40% who selected Blakeman. On public safety, Hochul held a 49%-43% advantage, while voters preferred her by 47%-43% when asked about addressing undocumented immigrants living in New York.

The poll also examined how endorsements from President Trump and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani are being received by likely voters.

“About half of likely voters think Trump endorsing Blakeman is a negative for Blakeman’s campaign, including 69% of Democrats, 49% of independents and 24% of Republicans,” Greenberg said. “On the other side, half of voters think Mamdani’s endorsement of Hochul will be a positive for her campaign, including 72% of Democrats, 40% of independents, a plurality, and 22% of Republicans.”

Overall, 51% said President Trump’s endorsement would have a negative effect on Blakeman’s campaign, while 30% viewed it positively. Mamdani’s endorsement of Hochul was viewed as positive by 50% and negative by 30%. Those figures reflect voters’ perceptions of the endorsements rather than a measurement of their actual effect on voting behavior.

The two campaigns have sought to capitalize on those political associations. Hochul has spent heavily on advertising linking Blakeman to President Trump, while Blakeman and Republicans have sought to connect Hochul with Mamdani.

The Siena survey also asked likely voters who they expect to prevail in November. While 50% currently support Hochul, 66% said they expect her to win, including 37% of Republicans. That finding measures voter expectations and is not a forecast of the election result.

Geographically, Hochul’s largest advantage comes from New York City, where she leads Blakeman 61%-27%. The race is much closer elsewhere in the state. Hochul has a 48%-46% edge in the downstate suburbs, while Blakeman leads 47%-44% among upstate voters.

Those numbers underscore the different regional coalitions behind the two candidates. Blakeman, who serves as Nassau County executive, is competitive in the suburban and upstate portions of the electorate, while Hochul’s New York City support accounts for a substantial portion of her statewide advantage.

Other polls released by Republican-aligned groups have reported smaller margins. A Blakeman campaign poll released earlier this month put Hochul ahead 50%-46%, while a survey conducted for the pro-Blakeman Strong and Safe Super PAC had Hochul leading 47%-43%. Another survey from co/efficient for the pro-Blakeman Coalition to Protect Nassau Taxpayers showed Hochul ahead 47%-41%. Those surveys were commissioned by organizations supporting Blakeman and therefore differ from the independently conducted Siena poll.

Siena conducted its latest survey from Sept. 11 through Sept. 17 among 1,144 likely New York voters, using live landline and cellphone interviews as well as text-to-web responses. The portion of the survey involving the core questions has an overall margin of error of plus or minus 3.9 percentage points.

An unusual scene unfolded at Yeshivas Ateres Shlomo on Motzoei Yom Kippur, as Rosh Yeshiva Rav Sholom Ber Sorotzkin led the yeshiva’s bochurim in spirited dancing to well-known Breslover songs, just days after returning from his first-ever Rosh Hashanah visit to Uman.

The sight of a prominent Litvishe Rosh Yeshiva enthusiastically singing melodies closely associated with Breslov and Uman drew considerable attention, particularly because traveling to Uman for Rosh Hashanah has traditionally been uncommon — and often strongly discouraged — within the mainstream Litvishe yeshiva world.

Rav Sorotzkin’s trip to Uman itself turned out differently from what had initially been expected. Before his departure, people close to the Rosh Yeshiva indicated that he intended to daven privately in his apartment with a small minyan. Once in Uman, however, Rav Sorotzkin became deeply involved in the atmosphere surrounding the Rosh Hashanah tefillos.

On the first night of Rosh Hashanah, Rav Sorotzkin davened with the large minyan in the main Breslover kloiz. During the day, he participated in the well-known minyan organized by philanthropist Louis Scheiner, which begins at 6 a.m.

Two major minyanim are held each year in Scheiner’s enormous tent in Uman. The first traditionally runs from approximately 6 a.m. until 10 a.m., while the second begins at around 10 a.m. and continues until approximately 4 p.m.

For years, the later minyan was considered the larger and more prominent of the two. In recent years, however, that dynamic has changed. Tzvika Berg, the longtime gabbai of the second minyan who helped lead it together with singers Beri Weber and Yoely Lebowitz, has moved to the earlier minyan. This year, the early minyan became the larger and more central gathering, while attendance at the later minyan was reportedly considerably smaller.

Rav Sorotzkin chose to participate in the first minyan, where the tefillos ultimately continued until 11:15 a.m., more than an hour beyond their usual conclusion.

A special VIP area had been established at the minyan to serve as a mizrach for prominent guests, complete with designated seating. Rav Sorotzkin, however, left the confines of that section and began energizing the crowd during “Atah Vechartanu” and “Uvechein Tzaddikim.” Hundreds of mispallelim joined in extended singing that continued for several minutes.

The enthusiasm Rav Sorotzkin displayed in Uman apparently followed him back to the yeshiva.

During the dancing at Ateres Shlomo on Motzoei Yom Kippur, the bochurim began singing the familiar Breslover song based on Rav Nachman of Breslov’s teaching, “Rabbeinu shouted in a loud voice: There is no despair in the world at all.”

The musicians then moved into “Mi Yitein Li Eiver Kayonah, Aufah Tzion Hakadosh Umanah,” a song that for years has been closely identified with those traveling to Uman for Rosh Hashanah.

Rav Sorotzkin did more than join the dancing. The Rosh Yeshiva took the microphone himself and sang the words, encouraging the bochurim as the dancing continued.

The scenes have attracted particular attention because of the longstanding attitude toward Uman within much of the Litvishe yeshiva world. In many yeshivos, a bochur choosing to travel to Uman for Rosh Hashanah has traditionally faced serious consequences and, in some cases, expulsion from the yeshiva.

Rav Sorotzkin’s decision to make the trip himself — followed days later by his public participation in Breslover songs together with his talmidim — is therefore being viewed as an unusual development.

WATCH:

{Matzav.com}

By Rabbi Shraga Freedman

Noam Gil grew up in Kfar Saba in a secular home with virtually no exposure to Torah. Shabbos, tefillin, shul, and even Krias Shema were simply not part of his world.

But Noam had always wanted to make a difference.

A competitive tennis player who represented Israel at international championships, he was also known for organizing community initiatives.

One of his projects brought Jews and Arabs together, based on a simple belief: stereotypes disappear when people sit down, talk, and get to know one another.

Then a friend asked him a question that would change everything.

“You have no problem bringing Jews and Arabs together,” Tzvika said. “Why not bring religious and secular Jews together too?”

Noam laughed.

“I don’t know any chareidim. I’ve never really met one. I wouldn’t even know where to find them.”

The irony was striking. Noam had spent time bringing Jews and Arabs together, yet the chareidi community was more foreign to him than the Arab community.

Tzvika, who was involved with the Lev L’Achim Midrasha in Kfar Saba, knew exactly where to start.

He contacted Rabbi Kellerman and explained that Noam simply wanted to meet religious Jews and understand their world.

“Of course,” Rabbi Kellerman replied. “Bring him this Wednesday.”

No one could have imagined what would happen next.

Instead of leaving with plans for organizing dialogue between religious and secular Jews, he left with something entirely unexpected: a chavrusa.

One week became two. Two weeks became months.

Noam found himself drawn into Gemara, discovering a world he had never known existed.

His original project was put to the side. His encounter with Torah had become far more significant.

Eventually, Noam approached the rabbi learning with him.

“I want to learn halachah too,” he said. “If I’m studying Torah, I also want to know how to live it.”

And his journey accelerated.

Shabbos, once completely foreign to him, became a central part of his life.

Then came another milestone. Noam spent a substantial amount of his own money on a beautiful pair of mehudar tefillin.

Since then, he has put them on every day.

Even when he travels overseas to represent Israel at international tennis championships, his tefillin travel with him.

Noam thought he needed to build a bridge between religious and secular Jews.

But the real bridge was much simpler: a genuine exposure to Torah and its way of life.

No pressure. No arguments. No debates.

Just exposure.

(Shared by Lev L’achim)

As we prepare for Sukkos and purchase our daled minim, we are reminded of a powerful message about the honor of Hashem in the world: Kavod Shamayim is deeply connected to the unity of Klal Yisroel.

The Gemara in Menachos 27a teaches that of the four species of the lulav, two produce fruit and two do not produce fruit. Those that produce fruit need those that do not produce fruit, and those that do not produce fruit need those that produce fruit. A person does not fulfill his obligation with them until they are all bound together in one bundle.

So too, with Klal Yisroel: we are worthy of acceptance before Hashem only when we are all bound together as one. Rashi explains that this refers to the entire Jewish people coming together, the צדיקים ורשעים.

At a time when we are witnessing so much painful division within our own people, we have a special responsibility to strengthen the bonds between us through interactions of kiddush Hashem.

This is the message at the heart of the Living Kiddush Hashem Foundation’s latest film.

Through 3 powerful true stories the film challenges us to see Kiddush Hashem not as an abstract idea, but as a mission that plays out in every interaction and every setting.

May we be zocheh, through our efforts to increase Kavod Shamayim and strengthen the bonds of achdus among Klal Yisroel, to see the fulfillment of:

“וְהָיָה ה’ לְמֶלֶךְ עַל כָּל הָאָרֶץ.”

Watch the film now: https://livingkiddushhashem.org/

A priceless experience, at no cost.

The sicko is getting clicks.

Anti-Semitic YouTuber Tyler Oliveira has once again ignited controversy over his coverage of Orthodox Jews, releasing a nearly hour-long video targeting chareidi educational institutions in New York and alleging misuse of government funding, even as Oliveira himself acknowledges that the institutions and individuals featured in his video have not been charged with wrongdoing.

The sick video comes nearly four months after Oliveira was denied entry to Israel and sent back to the United States from Ben Gurion Airport, with Israeli authorities accusing him at the time of producing content that crossed the line from legitimate criticism into antisemitic incitement.

Oliveira, 26, released the 55-minute video on Sunday, just hours before Yom Kippur. He gave it the provocative title, “I Exposed a Jewish Fraud Network Stealing From Poor Kids.” Within less than two days, the video had accumulated approximately 6.3 million views on X and another 2.3 million on YouTube. Combined with its circulation on other platforms, its total audience is approaching 10 million views.

The video begins in New Square, the Skverer Chassidic village in Rockland County, New York, where a large crowd gathers around Oliveira as he films.

Oliveira tells viewers that approximately 200 people are behind him and suggests that they might attack him. As he walks through the crowd, he compares the scene to the splitting of the Red Sea, saying that “instead of a sea, there are Jews.”

No physical assault is shown in the footage. The video nevertheless presents the encounter as highly confrontational, showing local residents recording Oliveira, representatives of local institutions demanding that he leave and police eventually being called to the scene.

According to a report by Ynet, Oliveira’s central allegations concern the federal E-Rate program, which subsidizes internet and telecommunications services for eligible schools and libraries. His report draws upon previous criminal cases involving individuals associated with Orthodox institutions and examines 10 companies that provide services to Jewish schools.

Oliveira raises questions about the prices charged by those companies and instances in which contracts allegedly attracted only a single bidder, presenting those circumstances as evidence warranting further scrutiny.

However, Oliveira includes an important qualification in the description accompanying the video. Aside from several previous cases that resulted in criminal convictions, he acknowledges that none of the organizations or individuals featured in his current report have been prosecuted and that no government authority has determined that their activities are illegal.

Critics said the gap between those acknowledged facts and the video’s sweeping “fraud network” title helped fuel an outpouring of antisemitic responses online. Comments circulating alongside the video included references to a supposed Jewish “mafia” and conspiracy theories regarding Jewish institutions and government funding.

The timing of the release also drew criticism. Because Oliveira posted the video shortly before Yom Kippur, large numbers of Orthodox Jews were offline for the fast and unable to respond during many of the hours in which the video was spreading rapidly across social media.

Oliveira originally built his online following through challenge and entertainment videos before increasingly moving into provocative on-the-ground reports involving minority communities and other contentious subjects. His style has repeatedly generated controversy, and his Patreon account was previously suspended over content posted on the platform.

At the same time, Oliveira has received support from prominent right-wing figures, including Tucker Carlson, as well as far-right activist Nick Fuentes.

The controversy follows Oliveira’s attempt to enter Israel in May, when Israeli authorities prevented him from entering the country at Ben Gurion Airport and sent him back to the United States. Israel’s Ministry of Diaspora Affairs, headed by Minister Amichai Chikli, said at the time that Oliveira’s activity went beyond legitimate criticism and amounted to serious antisemitic incitement.

Israeli officials have reiterated that assessment in connection with his more recent activity.

Oliveira, meanwhile, is now calling on American authorities to halt remaining government payments to the institutions he discusses. His video has already reached millions of viewers, while the allegations — despite the certainty expressed by many commenters online — have not resulted in findings by authorities that the institutions and individuals featured in the report committed the wrongdoing alleged in the video.

{Matzav.com}

Degel HaTorah’s new political lineup gathered Tuesday for its first election strategy meeting without veteran MKs Moshe Gafni and Uri Maklev, with MK Yaakov Asher conspicuously seated at the head of the table as the party moves ahead with its new leadership ahead of the upcoming Knesset elections.

The gathering offered a striking visual of the dramatic changing of the guard within Degel HaTorah. Gafni and Maklev, who for decades were among the most prominent faces of the Litvishe political party, have been removed from the party’s Knesset slate. Asher is expected to replace Gafni as Degel HaTorah’s senior political representative and head the joint United Torah Judaism slate.

The meeting came one week after a broader gathering in which the incoming candidates sat together with Gafni and Maklev as the party sought to demonstrate unity following the upheaval surrounding the veteran lawmakers’ departure.

In an official statement released by Degel HaTorah, the party said: “Ahead of the opening of the election campaign, Degel HaTorah’s Knesset candidates convened this afternoon.”

The statement added: “The candidates gathered for a working and preparation meeting ahead of the launch of the election campaign, during which the central messages, working arrangements and planned activities for the coming weeks were discussed.”

Tuesday’s meeting included Asher and fellow incumbent MK Yitzchok Pindrus, along with incoming candidates Moshe Rosenthal, Yehuda Weissfish, Dudi Zaltz and Dovid Ochana. Former MK Eliyahu Baruchi was also present despite being placed in a position on the slate that is considered unlikely to result in a Knesset seat.

The gathering underscored just how quickly Degel HaTorah’s internal hierarchy has changed. Earlier this month, the party’s rabbinic leadership informed Gafni and Maklev that they would not be candidates in the October 27 election, bringing their lengthy Knesset careers to an end. Gafni has served in the Knesset for nearly four decades, while Maklev has been an MK since 2008.

Last week, only days after the shakeup, Degel HaTorah held an initial election preparation meeting in Bnei Brak bringing together the outgoing veteran representatives and the candidates who will replace them. The gathering was viewed as an effort to move beyond the turmoil surrounding the changes and begin preparing the party machinery for the election.

In the party’s announcement following that meeting, the incoming candidates were listed first: Asher, Pindrus, Rosenthal, Weissfish, Zaltz, Ochana and Baruchi.

The announcement then named Gafni and Maklev among the veteran party figures who participated, together with Yitzchok Reich, Degel HaTorah municipal department director Menachem Shapira and party director Moshe Schiffman.

Participants at last week’s meeting discussed preparations for the 26th Knesset election and strategies for mobilizing the chareidi electorate behind the joint United Torah Judaism slate, which brings together Degel HaTorah, Agudas Yisrael and the new faction associated with MK Meir Porush. The factions have also agreed to operate their principal election campaign through a unified headquarters rather than running largely separate campaigns.

A source who attended last week’s gathering said that the meeting lasted more than an hour and that Gafni and Maklev cooperated fully with the incoming representatives despite having been removed from the Knesset slate.

Tuesday’s gathering, however, presented the next stage of the transition: Gafni and Maklev were no longer at the table, and Asher was seated unmistakably at its head. For a party whose parliamentary leadership remained largely unchanged for decades, the photograph released from the meeting offered the clearest indication yet that Degel HaTorah has entered a new political era.

{Matzav.com}

Sen. Ted Cruz is pushing back against a growing strain of economic populism within the Republican Party, arguing that the GOP should focus on creating jobs and helping working Americans rather than competing with Democrats by promising government-funded giveaways.

“I consider myself very much a populist,” Cruz said Tuesday on Fox News’s “The Will Cain Show,” claiming “the base that has elected me every time has been blue-collar workers.”

Cruz said Republicans can embrace populist politics without adopting the type of government spending programs long associated with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

“Here’s the difference: the way to be a populist is not get in the [Sen.] Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) game of giving away free stuff,” the Texas senator told host Will Cain. “The way to be a populist is fight for the jobs of working men and women, fight for small businesses.”

His comments come after President Trump proposed earlier this month that every American adult receive a $5,000 dividend if Republicans retain control of Congress in November. Several Republican lawmakers have criticized the proposal, pointing to its potential cost at a time when the national debt has climbed above $40 trillion.

Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio), however, has embraced Trump’s proposal and said he intends to prepare legislation authorizing the payments if Republicans maintain control of both the House and Senate. Providing $5,000 to roughly 270 million American adults would carry a total price tag exceeding $1 trillion.

Cruz’s remarks came as he also criticized the success of democratic socialist candidates in a number of Democratic primaries around the country, arguing that Republicans should not respond by moving toward similar economic policies.

“There are two answers to ‘right-wing socialism’: no, and … no,” Cruz wrote on social platform X, arguing that socialism “has been a train wreck” everywhere it has been implemented.

Cruz said he believes some voices within President Trump’s political movement are encouraging Republicans to adopt a less expansive version of policies traditionally associated with the political left.

“There are misguided voices in MAGA saying, ‘Let’s embrace socialism lite,’” the former presidential candidate told Cain. “You know what? If we campaign and say, ‘We’ll be just like the Democrats except not as a generous Santa Claus,’ that’s a path to losing.”

The Trump administration plans to cap refugee admissions at 17,500 for fiscal year 2027, maintaining a dramatically lower ceiling than the 125,000-person target established during the Biden administration and reserving most of the available slots for Afrikaners from South Africa. The new fiscal year begins in October.

The State Department disclosed the plan in a notice provided to Congress on Tuesday. According to the notice, admissions will “primarily be Afrikaners from South Africa,” referring to the predominantly white, Afrikaans-speaking population descended largely from Dutch and other European settlers.

The 125,000 ceiling had been established under President Joe Biden for fiscal 2025. By comparison, the lowest annual ceiling during President Trump’s first term was 15,000, set for fiscal 2021. The refugee ceiling is a maximum number authorized for admission rather than a guarantee that the full number will ultimately enter the country.

For fiscal 2026, the Trump administration initially established a ceiling of 7,500 before expanding the number of available admissions to 17,500 amid its effort to resettle Afrikaners. The newly disclosed plan would keep that overall level in place for fiscal 2027.

In its congressional notice, the administration laid out its justification for prioritizing Afrikaner applicants, alleging that they have faced discriminatory government policies, threats to property rights and racially charged rhetoric in South Africa.

“Afrikaners face the seizure of agricultural property without compensation; government policies designed to dismantle equal opportunity in employment, education, and business; and hateful rhetoric fueling disproportionate violence against racially disfavored minorities,” the State Department said in its notice to Congress.

The administration also said it expects Afrikaner refugees admitted through the program to integrate into American society without placing significant demands on taxpayer-funded services.

“The United States anticipates that Afrikaners from South Africa will fully assimilate into the United States in a manner that preserves taxpayer resources for U.S. citizens and does not anticipate other countries resettling Afrikaners,” the notice stated.

The federal government projects that the Afrikaner resettlement initiative will cost approximately $500 million.

Refugees admitted through the US Refugee Admissions Program undergo overseas processing before being resettled in American communities. Once admitted, refugees are legally authorized to live and work in the United States and can qualify for specified federal resettlement assistance and other benefits, depending on eligibility.

The Trump administration has sharply restricted refugee admissions from many other parts of the world while making Afrikaners a priority. CBS News reported that the administration has effectively suspended much of the broader refugee resettlement program while admitting thousands of Afrikaners during the past year and a half.

Refugee-resettlement organizations have criticized the policy. Naomi Steinberg of HIAS accused the administration of “diminishing and distorting” the refugee program’s four-decade history in pursuit of political priorities.

The administration, meanwhile, has expanded its pressure campaign against South Africa over what Washington says are discriminatory policies. The State Department recently imposed visa restrictions targeting South African officials, while South Africa’s government has rejected US allegations that Afrikaners are systematically persecuted.

South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola has argued that Washington’s approach reflects a distorted account promoted by fringe groups, while President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government maintains that its policies are intended to address the lasting effects of centuries of racial inequality.

US officials have indicated that additional measures could follow. Ambassador Brent Bozell has described the visa restrictions as an initial step rather than the conclusion of the administration’s response.

[COMMUNICATED]

Erev Rosh Hashanah 5787

As we stand on the cusp of a new year, we look back with profound gratitude to Hakadosh Baruch Hu—and to His emissaries, our partners and supporters— for another year of extraordinary growth, accomplishment, and kavod haTorah in the Kollelim Shas Yidden. 

134 Gaonim. One Shas.

This past year once again brought the remarkable sight that has become synonymous with Shas Yidden: 134 avreichim geonim gathering together for a public farher on Kol HaShas Kulo—the entire Shas.

The farher, held at Yeshiva Ohr Hachaim in Yerushalayim, took place alongside a siyum on Shas by each of the participating avreichim. Gedolei Torah “strolled” through Shas with question after question, and the answers came with astonishing speed, clarity, and precision.

Questions ranged across the entire Shas, touching on the Chachmei Yisrael and the Tzedokim, darkei shalom, dreams mentioned throughout Shas, forgotten Torah that Abaye reminded Rav Yosef of, and countless other topics. The rapid-fire responses demonstrated not merely knowledge, but a remarkable bekius, depth, and command of the vast expanses of Torah.

“I Have Never Seen Talmidei Chachomim Such as These”

Hagaon Rav Reuven Elbaz, Rosh Yeshivas Ohr Hachaim, was visibly moved by the scene. Seeing 132 true gaonim together, he remarked that he was nearly convinced that the berachah of “Baruch Shecholak Meichachmaso Lirei’av” should be recited.

Hagaon Rav Menachem Cohen, Rosh Yeshivas Nesiv Hada’as, testified that despite having spent years among the greatest batei midrash and alongside outstanding talmidei chachomim, he had “never seen Talmidei Chachomim such as these.”

A Torah Revolution Across the World

Today, seven Kollelim Shas Yidden—in Yerushalayim, Bnei Brak, Beit Shemesh, Beitar, Kiryat Sefer, London, and Flatbush—are cultivating a generation of lomdei Shas whose accomplishments are inspiring the entire Torah world.

In Flatbush alone, the Kollel continues its demanding daily regimen of nine blatt of Gemara, studied five times each together with Rashi and Tosfos, in addition to Yerushalmi, monthly written examinations, and rigorous farheren.

The impact reaches far beyond the Kollelim. Those who witness these farheren are inspired to take on new shiurim, deepen their own limud haTorah, and raise their aspirations for what can be accomplished through unwavering dedication to Torah.

As we enter the new year, we extend our deepest hakaras hatov to each and every supporter who makes this Torah empire possible.

May the zechus of supporting such unparalleled yegias haTorah and Torah mastery stand by you and your families for a year of brachah, hatzlachah, yeshuos, and kol tuv—a year in which all your tefillos are accepted b’rachamim u’v’ratzon, and you are blessed with birkas Hashem b’ruchniyus u’v’gashmiyus.

                                                 Kesivah v’chasimah tovah,

A Gut Gebentsht Yor,
and with heartfelt gratitude,
Kollel Shas Yidden

ShasYiden.com

As Americans debate futuristic threats from artificial intelligence, including autonomous weapons and AI-powered warfare, national security experts are warning that China’s more immediate challenge to the United States is already unfolding. They point to efforts by Chinese companies to extract capabilities from leading American AI systems, distribute inexpensive open-source alternatives around the world and potentially harness the technology for influence operations and other strategic purposes. US intelligence and cybersecurity agencies recently issued their own warning about what they described as industrial-scale efforts by China-based AI companies to extract capabilities from American models.

The warnings come as Chinese President Xi Jinping prepares for a state visit to Washington this week, where artificial intelligence is expected to be among the subjects discussed with President Donald Trump.

Experts who spoke to Fox News Digital described what they see as a three-pronged Chinese strategy: learning from advanced American AI models, competing aggressively by offering open-source technology at little or no cost, and eventually using increasingly powerful systems in areas ranging from industry to information warfare.

They argue that this approach could allow Chinese developers to capitalize on enormous investments already made by American companies, while simultaneously encouraging businesses and developers around the world to adopt Chinese-built models.

“I think a ‘race’ is the wrong metaphor for this,” Leah Siskind, an AI research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, told Fox News Digital. “I think it’s kind of like a multi-front war. And in some places, we’re winning, and some places we’re losing.”

American technology companies have invested enormous sums developing proprietary AI systems, while several major Chinese developers have aggressively pursued open-source models. Siskind said the cost difference could become an important competitive advantage for Chinese technology, particularly as corporations look for less expensive ways to integrate AI into their operations.

She also raised concerns that businesses relying on Chinese models could expose themselves to censorship requirements imposed by Beijing or to vulnerabilities that users might not immediately detect. Those concerns remain allegations and risk assessments rather than proof that every Chinese open-source model contains such mechanisms.

“How can you compete with something that’s free when American tech is very, very expensive?” Siskind said. “How can we ensure that a Chinese open-source model would be truly clean, that it’d be truly free of CCP censorship? We can’t be — we just wouldn’t know. And that’s by design. We wouldn’t know what sort of trick backdoors might be implanted and how that could rear its head later on.”

China analyst Gordon Chang compared the strategy to Beijing’s earlier approach to the global solar-panel industry, arguing that low prices could eventually squeeze American competitors and give Chinese companies greater control over the international AI market.

“This is a tactic that China used with solar panels,” Chang told Fox News Digital. “Beijing sees that one day it will drive out the American models on cost and availability, and they will then dominate global AI.”

One major obstacle facing Chinese developers is computing infrastructure. The United States maintains significant advantages in advanced semiconductors and data-center capacity, while Washington has imposed restrictions aimed at limiting China’s access to cutting-edge chips.

Chinese developers, however, have sought ways to build highly capable systems while using fewer resources. One technique receiving particular attention is knowledge distillation, in which a smaller AI system learns from the outputs of a more capable model.

“They are able to leapfrog the process by kind of stealing this information,” Siskind said, pointing to the Chinese model DeepSeek as a prime example. “This is how they were able to release models like DeepSeek in 2025, which was seismic news because they were able to show that they were really competing with cutting-edge American models and had invested a fraction of the resources.”

The issue has now drawn the attention of the US government. On Sept. 8, CISA, the NSA and FBI issued a joint cybersecurity advisory alleging that China-based AI companies have engaged in “industrial-scale knowledge distillation campaigns” targeting proprietary capabilities of American frontier AI models. The agencies stressed that knowledge distillation itself is a legitimate machine-learning technique but alleged that some Chinese companies have used it systematically to obtain restricted capabilities from US developers. China’s Commerce Ministry rejected the allegations as groundless and accused Washington of politicizing a standard AI-development technique.

The concerns extend beyond competition between software companies. Experts are also watching China’s efforts to integrate AI into manufacturing, supply chains, autonomous systems and influence operations.

Siskind said the more immediate physical application may not resemble the science-fiction image of armies of “killer robots.” Instead, she pointed to “embodied AI,” in which artificial intelligence is incorporated into machinery and real-world systems such as industrial automation, drones and autonomous supply networks.

Chang focused on a different potential threat: AI’s ability to make propaganda and influence campaigns more sophisticated, targeted and difficult to identify.

“They’re very good at cognitive warfare, and they can enhance their capabilities with artificial intelligence,” Chang said. “We do not want our elections determined in China. We do not want our critical national security decisions being made in Beijing. And that’s not impossible.”

With Xi arriving in Washington this week, the experts argued that American officials should view competition over AI as a national-security issue extending well beyond conventional military capabilities. The upcoming Trump-Xi talks are expected to include AI risk management alongside trade and other economic issues.

Siskind called for Washington to close loopholes in restrictions on advanced chip exports, impose penalties on foreign laboratories found to be deceptively extracting American AI capabilities and encourage more American investment in open-source models. She said “it is very important that the most advanced systems are developed under democracy and represent democratic values, as opposed to authoritarian values.”

Chang argued that the broader struggle over AI could eventually affect international political power, invoking the traditional Chinese concept of Tianxia in describing what he views as Beijing’s ambitions.

“Xi Jinping throughout this century has been pushing the Chinese imperial-era notion of Tianxia, or ‘all under heaven’ that China’s rulers have a right to rule the world,” Chang warned. “That sounds ludicrous to us, but a Chinese regime powered by AI might actually be able to accomplish that. We certainly do not want our decisions being made in the Chinese capital.”

The issue also featured prominently in Trump’s address to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday. The president announced that his administration would begin referring to artificial intelligence as “superintelligence” in government documents and framed technological competition with China as a critical priority for the United States.

“The United States totally rejects any attempt to construct a globalist scheme to control the artificial intelligence being spoken of,” Trump told world leaders. “Whoever wins superintelligence wins. And we’re leading now over China by a lot and everyone else. And we’re going to keep it that way.”

Health officials in Philadelphia are warning travelers of a possible measles exposure at Philadelphia International Airport, the second reported exposure in the city within a week, and are urging anyone who may have been affected to verify their vaccination status and monitor closely for symptoms.

The latest exposure occurred at Philadelphia International Airport on Sunday, Sept. 13, beginning at 7:45 p.m. and continuing until 12:05 a.m. on Monday, Sept. 14, according to the Philadelphia Department of Public Health. Officials identified terminals B and F, along with connecting areas used by passengers traveling through terminals C, D and E, as potential exposure locations.

Authorities said the infected traveler was passing through the airport and did not venture outside the facility. People who were present in the affected areas during the specified hours are being advised to determine whether they are protected against measles and to watch for signs of infection.

The airport alert came only days after Philadelphia officials disclosed another potential measles exposure, this one involving the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, or CHOP.

That exposure occurred Sept. 11 and involved several areas of the hospital. Potential exposure at CHOP NICU West and the NICU West Family Lounge occurred between 9:30 a.m. and 4:15 p.m. The CHOP Atrium was also identified for the same time period, while the hospital’s Main Cafeteria was listed as a possible exposure location from 12:05 p.m. until 2:45 p.m.

Pennsylvania and Philadelphia health authorities, working together with CHOP, said they are “working closely to ensure potentially exposed infants receive a preventative antibody product to prevent or lessen severe disease and to take steps to prevent the further spread of measles.”

Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Palak Raval-Nelson said the two incidents underscore the importance of maintaining protection against the highly contagious virus, describing the exposures as “a reminder of how important it is for all of us to be up to date on our vaccinations.”

Raval-Nelson said people who have received the recommended vaccinations face significantly less risk while also helping shield those who are particularly vulnerable to serious illness.

“Every Philadelphian who is fully vaccinated has little to fear from the situation at CHOP and the airport,” she said. “Even more importantly, every one of those people is doing their part to help protect our most vulnerable from measles. With outbreaks continuing in Pennsylvania and other places, this is even more important.”

Health officials said anyone who may have been exposed and does not have immunity to measles should contact a medical provider. The same recommendation applies to people who are uncertain about their vaccination history, as well as infants, pregnant women who are not immune, and individuals with compromised immune systems.

Officials noted that medical intervention may still be possible for certain people after an exposure, potentially preventing infection or reducing the seriousness of the illness.

“Some people may still be eligible for treatment after exposure that can prevent measles or reduce the severity of illness,” the department wrote. “Anyone who develops symptoms should call ahead before visiting a healthcare facility and tell the provider about the possible measles exposure.”

The Philadelphia warnings come amid broader concern over measles in Pennsylvania. In August, state authorities confirmed two measles-related deaths, the first fatalities attributed to the virus in Pennsylvania in 35 years.

The Pennsylvania Department of Health said both people who died were Lancaster County residents who had not been vaccinated against measles.

Health authorities recommend vaccination as the primary means of protection. The MMR vaccine, which protects against measles, mumps and rubella, is administered in two doses and is approximately 97% effective against measles after both doses, according to the CDC.

Measles is among the most contagious infectious diseases. While most patients recover, the illness can result in serious complications, including pneumonia and encephalitis, or swelling of the brain. Available public-health data indicate that approximately one to three of every 1,000 children infected with measles die from respiratory or neurological complications.

The virus spreads through the air when an infected individual coughs, sneezes or breathes. Measles virus can remain infectious in an enclosed airspace for as long as two hours after an infected person has departed, which is why public-health agencies issue exposure alerts even when travelers never had direct contact with the infected individual.

Symptoms generally appear seven to 21 days following exposure. Early signs commonly include fever, coughing, a runny nose and red or watery eyes. Several days later, patients typically develop a rash that begins around the head and then spreads downward across the body.

Officials are advising anyone who believes they were exposed and subsequently develops symptoms to contact a healthcare provider before arriving at a medical facility, allowing precautions to be taken to prevent additional exposures.

I feel helpless, because no mother should ever have to stand by and feel unable to save her child.

My name is Chaya. And my son is Chaim Rafael — my whole world.

Chaim Rafael was born with HLHS (Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome), one of the most complex congenital heart conditions.

It means the left side of his heart didn’t develop properly, and from his very first days, his life has been a fight.

He has already been through a long series of treatments and surgeries in Israel.

So many procedures. So many hospital rooms. So many nights I didn’t sleep.

People tell me, “Be strong.”

But I’m a mother… and I’m scared.

Because now the doctors told us clearly: Chaim Rafael needs another critical stage of treatment — and it must be done abroad.

We were offered treatment in three different places: Vienna, Germany, and Boston.

And in all three places, the costs are extremely high.

And the truth is crushing: I don’t even have the ability to pay the deposit required to secure his treatment.

That is why we are raising $300,000 — to cover the deposit, medical costs, specialist evaluations, travel, lodging near the hospital for an extended stay, medications, and the follow-up care he will need to recover.

Every day I look at my son and I try to smile for him…

But inside, I’m terrified that time will run out.

I’m begging you — please don’t let us face this alone.

If you can donate, please donate.

If you can’t donate right now, please share.

Because for my son… every day matters.

And every donation brings Chaim Rafael closer to the treatment that can keep him alive.

Donate today

Is Your Sukkah Up To Code?

You may be comfortable eating at a restaurant under a reliable hashgachah, but what about eating in its sukkah? In this special Sukkos episode, Rabbi Yosef Fund of the KCL in Lakewood joins R’ Yitzchok Hisiger to explore the kashrus of public sukkos. From s’chach and sukkah walls to lavud straps, sukkah construction, and the effects of wind and weather, Rabbi Fund walks us through the practical shailos that can arise in the sukkos we encounter throughout Yom Tov.

WATCH:

View it in its entirety at: https://www.kashrusawareness.com/post/mind-the-gap-please 

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https://open.spotify.com/show/6Rj5rIndHc886Fblqh8U49 

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/lets-talk-kashrus/id1631553497 

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https://www.kosher.com/shows/lets-talk-kashrus-73

CLICK HERE to watch more episodes of Let’s Talk Kashrus

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We invite your questions, comments, or feedback. If there’s a specific kashrus topic you’d like to bring to public attention, feel free to contact us by email: info@kashrusawareness.com

Message or call: 678-8-Kosher

You can also visit our website  www.kashrusawareness.com for a growing list of resources, timely conversations, and to watch episodes of the Let’s Talk Kashrus audio-visual series.

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Transcription

R’ Yitzchok Hisiger: Hello, everyone, and welcome back to Let’s Talk Kashrus, presented by the Kashrus Awareness Project in conjunction with the Chicago Rabbinical Council. Today I am privileged to be joined by Rabbi Yosef Fund, one of the rabbanim of the KCL in Lakewood. Rabbi Fund, welcome to the Let’s Talk Kashrus studio. 

R’ Yosef Fund: Thank you. 

R’ Yitzchok Hisiger: So, with the Yom Tov of Sukkos coming, I mean, we don’t know when people will watch this episode, but this is being put out special for Sukkos, a topic that has rarely been addressed in a forum of this sort is the topic of sukkos in establishments, public sukkos. You go to stores, you go to maybe amusement venues, wherever you go, and you’re going to be eating in someone else’s sukkah that was built by someone else, you don’t know the details of the sukkah. So the question is, can you rely on the kashrus of the sukkah without knowing these details? And I guess to encapsulate the the crux of the question: if I’m going to a store, let’s keep it simple, I go to a store, store is under a reliable hashgachah and it has a sukkah, can I assume that the kashrus organization that is supervising the establishment also supervised the construction of the sukkah and the maintenance of the sukkah? Walk us through this topic.

R’ Yosef Fund: Okay, it’s a great question. 

I’m not familiar with what’s happening in other va’adeikashrus. In KCL of Lakewood, as long as I’ve been involved, which is a number of years, the policy is that whoever, whichever establishment puts up a sukkah for the patrons, pizza stores mostly, there have been even halls that do it, other fast food places, maybe some restaurants, they should inform the Va’ad HaKashrus, and then sometime shortly before Yom Tov, one of the rabbanim from the va’ad visits the sukkah and assesses the kashrus of the sukkah. Sometimes we have a vendor who puts up a sukkah on Sukkos unexpectedly. Sometimes there are some who have maybe zoning issues or building issues, and they could only put up on Chol HaMo’ed, but usually it’s done before, and one of the rabbanim visits and examines the sukkah. 

I want to share an interesting thing. You know, we grew up, many of us, there was a sefer, a squat green sefer from Rav Elya Weisfish, two squat green sefarim, most sefarim weren’t green, still aren’t green, one on Sukkah and one on DaledMinim. And in Tav-Shin-Ayin-Zayin, Rav Elya Weisfish put out a new edition of the one on Sukkah, which I have right over here. It turned into two volumes with pictures on the cover and glossy pictures inside. 

And I met him shortly afterwards in Ayin-Ches or so, maybe Ayin-Tes, walking right near Zichron Moshe with his son, and I told him that the sefer came to America. And he told me that his first sefer was on Daled Minim, and after the sefer on Daled Minim was published, Rav Elyashiv encouraged him to write a sefer on Sukkah. And he asked Rav Elyashiv, he said, “I understand that people need a sefer on Daled Minim, but why do people need a sefer on Sukkah? They tend to do it right.” And he said, “Yeah, when people make a sukkah in their own home, then they tend to do it right. When they make a sukkah when they tend to travel, then it’s often more makeshift, and that’s when people need to know the halachos.” So I would add, in my experience, that restaurant sukkos, for whatever reason the dynamic is, some of them are great, some of them need shipur, need fixing when I come, some need more than fixing, some need refu’ah sheleimah, but they’re all put up by well-meaning people, but sometimes they have problems and sometimes it’s great from the get-go. 

R’ Yitzchok Hisiger: So you’re talking about the importance of a sefer on sukkah. What are specific issues that you’ve encountered? You come to a store, store owner presumably maybe hired someone or he put it up himself. What are the issues that you find, you know, could be problematic? 

R’ Yosef Fund: Okay, one thing I find, I don’t know why this is, but often there is a gap between the wall and the schach. This doesn’t tend to happen in people’s houses. 

I’ve been in many sukkos. In restaurant sukkos, pizza store sukkos that are quite large, sometimes the size of the sukkahand the amount of schach they have is also off, and sometimes I show up before Yom Tov, and I say, “Have someone go and buy some more schach.” We also have, I should add, we have some some nursing homes that are under the hashgachah of the KCL, and then the sukkah is inspected. Some of these nursing homes have very large sukkos, so they need a nice amount of schach, and for whatever reason, this is something I often find. The halachah is that between the wall and the schach, there can’t be more than three fists’ space, and often it is, and then I insist they get more schach or to adjust the schach to bring it out closer to the wall. 

Sometimes, again these are large sukkos, and sometimes there’s a middle space. When you have a space in the middle, sometimes that space will just mean you can’t sit under that space, a gap, sometimes it will be a space that will ruin the continuity of the sukkah. Regardless, I have them fix that space because someone may sit under there, and that’s something I have them fix. That’s one very common thing in store sukkos, restaurant sukkos. 

R’ Yitzchok Hisiger: Now when you show up to a store sukkah after it’s already built, you don’t know who necessarily put the schach on, right? You don’t know if it was any yehudim who work in the store, and the owner maybe didn’t realize and he asked them to take care of the whole sukkahwithout realizing that someone who’s a bar mitzvah would have to put on the schach. How do you navigate that type of an issue? 

R’ Yosef Fund: Okay, so that’s a great question. Me’ikarhadin, sukkas ganva”ch (Goyim, Nashim, Beheima, Kutim) is kasher, so therefore even if the person who put it up was not a yehudi, it would be kasher. The proper thing is to be mechadesh bo davar to actually put, add some, one corner tefach al tefach, or lift up a part of the schach and put it back on. 

Some do it just leshem tzel, some are makpid to do leshemmitzvah. Regardless, I haven’t found it yet that I showed up by a restaurant or hall and they told me that it wasn’t a yehudiwho put it on. I’m not saying it can’t happen. It wouldn’t be the biggest problem because it would be me’ikar hadin kasher, and then I would be mechadesh bo davar, but lechatchilah, it would still be kasher livrachah without it, but it hasn’t happened yet, maybe it will happen. 

R’ Yitzchok Hisiger: How about an issue, and this is something that people ask a lot about, the dina demalchusacomponent of you can’t build a sukkah, the old joke about the guy who builds a sukkah on the sidewalk outside his store, and he gets a notice from the local municipality, “You have seven days to take it down,” and you know this joke is said over every Yom Tov, and so on and so forth. Talk about that, the convergence of municipal laws and regulations and the building of a sukkah on public property.

R’ Yosef Fund: Okay, so that’s an important question, but a lot of it will also have to do with whether the local tzibbur, the local public minds or doesn’t mind, meaning every vendor needs to be responsible for the legality of it. But if it’s in a place where the local populace doesn’t really mind, then from a kashrus perspective, I wouldn’t be concerned with eating in that sukkah. 

R’ Yitzchok Hisiger: What other concerns have come up as far as…

R’ Yosef Fund: One of the most common issues are with the integrity of the walls. We know that one controversial topic is the…

R’ Yitzchok Hisiger: is the canvas sukkos? 

R’ Yosef Fund: Canvas sukkah flapping walls. Right. Okay, now, Shulchan Aruch discourages the use of walls that are from yeri’os, that are from curtains that could flap. 

Shulchan Aruch mentions a a fix for this problem, which is to have poles spread out around the sukkah. I’ll try to explain in a minute what that means. Now, there’s more than one legitimate interpretation of what is a problem with these walls that flap. There are some who understand that a wall that moves is not a kosher sukkah, even if it just moves a little bit. 

This is maybe a position that the Mishnah Berurah seems to go with, Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach was choshesh for. The Chazon Ish was okay as long as it doesn’t move three tefachim, three fists. Some are concerned if in the middle there’s a belly when the wind blows, that that’s not a teishvuke’ein taduru. Rav Moshe is concerned for that, Rav Moshe Feinstein, Rav Chaim Kanievsky was not concerned for that. 

Almost all are concerned with the problem that sometimes it tends to get detached on the bottom, on the top, it tends to come loose. Rav Chaim Kanievsky signs off on the eitzah for that of these plastic zip ties, those usually don’t go anywhere, that is a solution. Now this is something that I see both before Sukkos and on Sukkos, that yes, if you just tie down your canvas, so then it will often come a point that it will get detached by the wind, it will shift from the wind and no longer be a legitimate wall, and there’s also a problem that Rav Moshe mentions that sometimes people, children will knock it into it and cause it to become detached. Now, the solution the Shulchan Aruch says is to put poles. 

I want to explain what that is. You could make a sukkah, which we had one vendor who had a nice wrought iron fence around his property, so he had poles, vertical poles every couple, I don’t know, every six, eight inches, whatever it is. What I told him to do is put cross the other way, horizontal. Okay, if you have poles that are both vertical and horizontal, then you definitely, clearly have lavud, and that will be a kasher mechitzah, walls of a sukkah. 

If you don’t have in both directions, you only have in one direction, it’s more controversial. Is it kasher or not? Many hold that even if it’s not kasher, it’s kasher min haTorah. So, there is a mahalach that many poskim go with, which is that if you have a canvas sukkah, what there are concerns it will get detached, or according to some it’s too floppy, according to others maybe it’s not too floppy, the way you make it okay is by having lavud, and you’ll often see these lavud straps, and either it will be kasher with that alone, or at least it will be kasher min haTorah, and therefore we’ll be relying on the two things together. So, if someone wants to make their entire sukkah without canvas walls or tent walls, I will definitely insist that if they’re using lavud, it should go both directions. 

So we definitely have one pizza store that has a wrought iron fence. He does have, you know, other walls added to it. Maybe he has for privacy curtains, but the sukkah is kasherwith that alone. But I have him introduce in the other direction so there should be Horizontal. crisscross horizontal, the verticals and horizontals, that’s something that’s that we would allow, and that’s perfectly kasher. 

What if they have walls and you do your best, these curtain walls, whether they are canvas or sometimes plastic material? So yes, I will insist that they tie them well top and bottom. On top of that, that they should use these lavud straps. Now, often people don’t understand what these lavud straps are all about. 

So, I come, and the sukkah is assembled, and it has these lavud straps, and they’re all over the place. And I don’t blame them, no one ever told them what these lavud straps are for. Often they think it’s just some kind of backup to provide some additional support. And they have these lavud straps and they’re crooked and this and that. 

They have to be lined up. If they’re horizontal, they have to be lined up nicely, that they’re within three fists from each other. What I insist on doing is, you know, we know that fists come in different sizes, different poskim have different values, some four inches, some three inches, some three and a half, I insist in going in both directions. I insist not on three lavud straps, but on four lavud straps, and each one should be about eight inches apart, going up to a height of about forty inches. 

And that way I’m covering from from both directions. I’m going with a, call it minimal shiur of three tefachim and a maximal shiur of three tefachim. But importantly, whatever shiur you’re doing, if you show up and see a sukkah, a restaurant sukkah, whatever, and they have these lavud straps and they’re kind of all over the place, That’s a problem. or this wasn’t assembled properly, it wasn’t to me that’s a a red flag that this is not a sukkah that is being properly supervised. 

Sometimes, I said just have them come out and add some string around it, whatever it is. And again, it’s a very simple fix if you understand, if you have the application what it is we’re trying to do. And the vendors are always very happy to to comply, and they’re very happy to make a kasher sukkah. After everything is said and done, sometimes there’s a storm. 

You know, if I remember correctly, last year, there was very stormy weather the night of Hoshana Rabbah. There were some sukkos I knew about that came down from some of the vendors, but it was raining throughout Hoshana Rabbah. I’m not going to insist that they put the sukkah back up when the forecast says it’s going to be raining for the whole rest of Hoshana Rabbah. So if you see a sukkah that is under our responsibility and it’s down or three-quarters down, that may be the reason why. 

R’ Yitzchok Hisiger: So again, to review the this important point, as far as kashrus organization organizations taking responsibility. You said you can’t speak for other organizations, people should find out, but as far as the KCL is concerned, any store that has KCL supervision, the KCL is also taking achrayus for the kashrus of the sukkah? 

R’ Yosef Fund: Correct. The kashrus of the sukkah, the sukkahis inspected, and the sukkah has to be on the standards that the rabbanim require of the KCL stores. 

R’ Yitzchok Hisiger: Now, if people can’t reach the mashgiachor the kashrus organization, if you show up to a sukkah in an establishment and you trust the establishment, is there any quick inspection of some sort that a person should do when they come to the sukkah, look around, make sure everything looks right, and then feel comfortable to eat? 

R’ Yosef Fund: Okay, so I would say if the sukkah looks like they’re not cutting corners. 

When I say not cutting corners is there are poskim, is a Maharil who say that there’s a hidur to, call it, make a sukkahto the max, four walls, etc., etc., even though lahalachah we know that less than that is kasher. The accepted psak that we allow for our vendors is, if it’s kasher lechatchilah, it’s kasherlechatchilah. They don’t have to have a sukkah with four full walls, etc., etc. But then you have to know what you’re doing, and that’s when a sefer like this comes in. If a sukkah looks well-made, then you definitely don’t have a question. 

Now, I once, you know, we got a call, one of our vendors, someone had a large sukkah, a restaurant, and there was like a nice entrance on one side, a nice entrance on the other side, and you could walk straight through into the front door, etc., etc., and for whatever reason, to this person, it seemed like a problematic sukkah, and it was perfectly kasher, it was kasherlechatchilah, and there will be other such situations that we get calls during Yom Tov. So I’m happy that people are calling, I’m happy that they’re paying attention, and yesh sacharlif’ulasech, that someone cares. Right. But if the sukkah looks like it’s flopping, and the easiest is if the schach isn’t really covering properly, then it it may be kasher, may not, but it there isn’t someone being on top of it. 

Now again, it may be that it was great before Yom Tov and the wind did its thing. We try to make sure it doesn’t, but just like in our homes, it happens. In our homes it happens, and then people take personal responsibility. In the pizza store, sometimes the owner may be with his family on a Chol Hamoed trip, and and he doesn’t know what’s happening in the sukkah, yeah? Right. 

So I don’t have a problem with that. We try to make sure the sukkah is a sukkah that will last for Yom Tov, but just like in our houses, that doesn’t always happen, rabos machashavos, and so too in the establishments. 

R’ Yitzchok Hisiger: Rabbi Fund, thank you so much for joining us. This is a very instructive conversation. 

I would say it’s long overdue that this topic be brought to the fore. So thank you very much, and thank you for all your efforts in general and at the KCL in particular, and I guess I could use this opportunity to wish you a good Yom Tov. 

R’ Yosef Fund: Okay, and I appreciate being here and this opportunity. Thank you so much.

British Prime Minister Andy Burnham used his address to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday to sharply criticize Israeli policies in Gaza and Judea and Samaria, arguing that the threats Israel faces from Hamas and Iran do not justify its actions. Burnham also defended his government’s recent decision to restrict trade involving Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria, saying Britain intends to take concrete steps to preserve the possibility of a two-state solution.

Burnham began by condemning the October 7 Hamas massacre and emphasizing that Britain continues to support Israel in confronting threats from Iran and other hostile actors.

“I have condemned October 7 in the strongest possible terms. We continue to condemn Hamas, and we stand with Israel in the face of the ongoing threats, including from Iran, against Israel and Jewish people around the world. But this does not justify the Israeli government’s actions in Gaza or the West Bank,” he stated. “We will not stand by as the horrific suffering continues to grow and the prospect of a two-state solution… comes under attack.”

The British leader said his government wants the fighting and bloodshed to end and remains committed to the establishment of an Israeli and Palestinian state existing alongside one another.

“We want to see the suffering and death finally come to an end. We want to see Israeli and Palestinian people living side by side in peace and security. And we will do all we can to keep the hope of that possibility alive,” Burnham declared.

Burnham also singled out Israel’s plans for the E1 area between Yerushalayim and Ma’aleh Adumim, where Israel has advanced construction tenders. The British government argues that development of the area would undermine the territorial viability of a future Palestinian state, a position it has cited in explaining its recent trade measures. Israel and supporters of the E1 project dispute the international criticism and maintain that Israel has legitimate claims and security interests in the area.

Burnham said the E1 plan would “threaten to put a viable Palestinian state beyond reach.”

Earlier this month, Britain joined France and Canada in announcing steps to prohibit imports from Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria and impose targeted measures on settlements and those connected to them. The British government says the policy is intended to counter settlement expansion and protect prospects for a two-state solution. Israel responded by announcing the closure of the British consulate in eastern Yerushalayim and condemning the measures.

In his UN address, Burnham defended the decision as necessary to demonstrate that Britain’s stated support for Palestinian statehood is backed by action.

“We live in an age of low trust in politics. If we were to continue to talk about the two-state solution, but fail to back those words with deeds, that trust will fall even lower and our enemies will seek to exploit the alienation that follows from that. We won’t let it happen.”

Burnham became Britain’s prime minister in July, succeeding Keir Starmer. His government has adopted a more confrontational approach toward Israeli policy in Judea and Samaria, including the trade restrictions announced this month. Britain’s move has also faced criticism from pro-Israel voices, including Labour Friends of Israel, which has warned that restrictions formally aimed at communities in Judea and Samaria could have broader consequences for Israeli businesses and the UK Jewish community.

Before becoming prime minister, Burnham had already called for Britain to increase pressure on the Israeli government. During his campaign for the Labour leadership, he advocated considering further restrictions on arms exports and additional measures relating to Israeli communities in Judea and Samaria.

He had also pledged that a government under his leadership would examine further sanctions against individuals and organizations as well as restrictions on products originating in communities that Britain considers “illegal settlements.”

Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu has waded directly into the heated battle over the drafting of chareidim into the IDF, declaring that he intends to increase chareidi enlistment while drawing a sharp distinction between those learning Torah and anti-draft demonstrators who refuse to serve.

Netanyahu made the comments in an election video presented as a humorous interview with the character “Abu Tabla,” as the issue of the status of yeshiva bochurim continues to dominate political discussions ahead of Israel’s elections.

“I’m dying to enlist them [the chareidi public], and we are going to enlist them,” Netanyahu said.

The prime minister then sought to distinguish between yeshiva bochurim engaged in Torah learning and those taking part in demonstrations against military service.

“I respect those who learn Torah, but someone who says, ‘We will die rather than enlist’ — you know where he’s going? To jail!” Netanyahu said.

The slogan “We will die rather than enlist” has been used prominently at chareidi demonstrations against the draft. The dispute has intensified amid increased enforcement against draft evaders and continued political battles over legislation regulating the status of yeshiva bochurim.

Netanyahu also pointed to the IDF’s establishment of military frameworks specifically designed for chareidi soldiers, highlighting the Chasmonean Brigade as evidence that chareidim can serve while maintaining a chareidi lifestyle.

“I established the Chasmonean Brigade. They fight like great warriors,” Netanyahu said.

The Chasmonean Brigade was established as an all-chareidi IDF framework, with accommodations intended to enable soldiers to maintain chareidi religious standards. Recent enlistment figures showed that 75 chareidi recruits joined the brigade during the first day of the IDF’s latest combat recruitment cycle, part of an overall increase in chareidi enlistment compared with the corresponding period a year earlier.

Netanyahu’s comments come as the chareidi parties have taken an increasingly firm position regarding their participation in any government formed after the election, insisting that the legal status of yeshiva bochurim must first be resolved.

Senior chareidi political figures have made clear that even if the right-wing bloc led by Netanyahu secures 61 seats, they do not intend to automatically enter a Netanyahu-led coalition or support its first state budget without legislation addressing the draft and protecting the status of yeshiva bochurim.

Degel HaTorah and Agudas Yisroel, the two factions comprising United Torah Judaism, have been working on an election agreement under which they would condition their participation in a future coalition on resolving the status of yeshiva bochurim. The parties have demanded legislation providing broad protection from military service and sanctions for those engaged in Torah learning.

United Torah Judaism chairman MK Yaakov Asher highlighted the depth of the political divide during an interview, saying that the chareidi parties no longer view their alliance with Netanyahu and Likud as automatic.

“We have a problem of trust and a problem with this bloc, with Likud and with the person who heads it,” Asher said. “What will happen the day after the elections? It’s impossible to know. In any case, we are not automatically committed to anything!”

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump issued a new warning to Iran on Tuesday, saying Tehran must change course quickly as Washington increases financial pressure on the Islamic Republic and threatening an immediate US strike on Pickaxe Mountain if renewed nuclear activity is detected at the heavily fortified site near Natanz. Trump’s comments came during meetings with Middle Eastern leaders on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly.

Trump said the United States is using economic pressure in an effort to further isolate Tehran and force its leaders to alter their policies.

“We’re completely isolating Iran financially and we’re just putting the pressure on because hopefully they’ll do the right thing fast before it’s too late,” Trump said.

Trump: We may have to blow up Pickaxe Mountain.
pic.twitter.com/uJM9umxool

— Open Source Intel (@Osint613) September 22, 2026

The president followed with an even sharper warning about the consequences Iran could face if the confrontation continues.

“There’s going to be a time when it’s too late and we won’t have a chance of letting them survive as a nation. I would like to see that,” he added.

Trump then turned specifically to Pickaxe Mountain, a deeply buried complex located near Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility. The site has drawn increasing attention amid evidence of significant construction activity. A recent analysis of satellite imagery by the Center for Strategic and International Studies found a surge in construction during 2026, although the researchers said the available imagery could not establish that enrichment activity was taking place there.

Trump warned that the United States would respond quickly if it determines that Iran is carrying out prohibited nuclear activity at the mountain.

“We may have to blow up another one. Pickaxe Mountain… if we do [see activity], we’ll blow it up immediately,” he said.

The warning was the latest in a series of threats Trump has directed at the facility. Earlier this month, he said the United States had detected some activity at Pickaxe Mountain and cautioned Tehran that Washington could strike the site.

Trump’s remarks came after he addressed the UN General Assembly earlier Tuesday and devoted part of his speech to Iran. The president reiterated his position that Tehran will not be permitted to obtain a nuclear weapon.

“There is no better example of a danger that was allowed to gather strength at the world’s peril than the number one sponsor of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran. From the first day I entered the political arena, I have been unwavering – I will NEVER allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”

Trump said that after taking office he offered Iran the possibility of extensive economic cooperation if Tehran abandoned its nuclear ambitions and support for terrorism. According to Trump, Iranian leaders rejected that approach. He also asserted that Iran has developed ballistic missile capabilities that could threaten European countries.

“Iran has created a missile that will allow them to strike Europe,” Trump warned.

Trump said Iran had sought to use its ballistic missile arsenal as protection while advancing its nuclear capabilities.

“Their goal was to complete their mad race for nuclear arms behind the defense of ballistic missiles.”

The president concluded his discussion of Iran by saying he faces a consequential choice over the future of US policy toward Tehran. While raising the possibility of further military action, Trump said he still believes an agreement can be reached after the US midterm elections.

“I have a big decision to make. Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world? Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again? Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness for generations? But I believe we’ll make a deal right after the election, because it doesn’t make sense for them not to. They’re waiting to see how I do in the midterm election. What they don’t realize is that I’m not running. I did that already and won in a landslide.”

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa says Syria and Israel had completed nearly 90 percent of the work toward a security agreement before Israel backed away from the emerging arrangement, while sharply criticizing Israeli military operations inside Syria and insisting that the October 7 attack cannot be used to determine Israel’s policies toward his country.

Speaking in a series of interviews while attending the United Nations General Assembly in New York, al-Sharaa said negotiations between Damascus and Yerushalayim had advanced significantly before Israel withdrew, citing various objections and conditions. He indicated that the discussions could have paved the way for broader diplomatic arrangements had they been completed.

Turning to the current tensions between Syria and Israel, al-Sharaa condemned Israeli military strikes inside Syrian territory, noting that Israel had twice struck the presidential palace and had repeatedly targeted airports. He argued that Israel’s security concerns following October 7 should not dictate its conduct toward Syria, saying such military actions create additional dangers rather than greater stability.

“If you want to protect your own security, you need to respect the security of others,” al-Sharaa said.

The Syrian leader also pointed to the war in Gaza, saying that any discussion of October 7 must also take into account what has subsequently occurred there and claiming that more than 70,000 people have been killed.

Al-Sharaa struck a considerably warmer tone when discussing President Donald Trump and the United States, praising Trump for what he described as the historic decision to remove sanctions on Syria. He also recounted an exchange between the two men at the White House concerning the Golan Heights.

“When Trump said that the Golan Heights belongs to Israel, I joked and asked: Why don’t you give New Jersey to the Israelis?” al-Sharaa recalled. “After all, the Golan Heights doesn’t belong to you for you to give it away, but New Jersey does. Besides, it’s full of Democrats who aren’t going to vote for you anyway.”

Al-Sharaa said that despite the humor of the exchange, his position on the Golan Heights is serious. He maintained that the territory belongs to Syria and noted that the United Nations recognizes it as Syrian territory, arguing that neither an American president, a Syrian president nor anyone else has the authority to give it away.

The Syrian president also disclosed a major regional infrastructure initiative being discussed with Iraq. According to al-Sharaa, Damascus is seeking to extend an oil pipeline from Iraqi oil fields directly to Syrian ports on the Mediterranean.

The proposed pipeline would provide Iraq with an alternative export route that bypasses the Strait of Hormuz, reducing its reliance on the strategically sensitive waterway for shipping oil to international markets.

Al-Sharaa also addressed the continued presence of foreign military forces inside Syria. He said his government’s long-term objective is the removal of all foreign military bases from Syrian territory, arguing that ending foreign military deployments is necessary to preserve Syria’s national unity and territorial sovereignty.

By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

One of the great ironies of life is that we spend so much of it trying to achieve the very thing that we often find most difficult to hold on to.

We want to be happy. We want our homes to be happy, our families to be happy, and our children to be happy. We want to be surrounded by happiness. Yet, too often, happiness is elusive. We can spend years working toward something we are certain will bring us satisfaction, only to discover that once we have attained it, the feeling we anticipated does not quite last. The new home becomes familiar, the accomplishment becomes yesterday’s news, the long-awaited vacation ends, and the thing we once imagined would make everything feel right simply becomes another part of our lives.

It is not that these things do not bring happiness. They do. A beautiful simcha, a nachas-filled moment, a meaningful accomplishment, a family gathering, a good piece of news – these are genuine sources of joy. The question is why the joy they bring so often seems to fade and why a person can possess so much of what he once dreamed of having and still find himself searching for something more.

Perhaps the answer begins with the simple distinction that there is a difference between having reasons to be happy and knowing how to be happy.

A person can have many blessings and fail to experience them as blessings. He can live surrounded by people he loves and remain preoccupied with what is missing. He can be blessed with health, family, Torah, parnossah, and steady kindnesses from Hashem, yet spend his days measuring his life against someone else’s and wondering why he does not have what the other person has. Happiness is not determined by what a person possesses. It is determined by what he sees when he looks at his life.

The Torah understands this profoundly. Simcha is not presented as a luxury, an emotional bonus that comes naturally when circumstances happen to cooperate. It is something we are commanded to pursue and cultivate. And when the Torah speaks of the Yomim Tovim, it commands us, “Vesomachta bechagecha – You shall rejoice on Yom Tov.”

Yet, one Yom Tov is singled out in a remarkable way.

Chazal refer to Pesach as Zeman Cheiruseinu, the time of our freedom, when we went from slavery to freedom; from being under the control of Mitzrayim to becoming a nation.

Shavuos is referred to as Zeman Matan Toraseinu, the time when we received the Torah.

Sukkos is referred to as Zeman Simchoseinu, our time of joy.

The name bears a strong message for us, especially in our day.

As the posuk (Vayikra 23:43) says, the Yom Tov of Sukkos commemorates the sukkos in which Hashem sheltered us in the midbar. Sukkos has distinctive mitzvos: the obligation to dwell in the sukkah and the mitzvah of daled minim.

Yet, when Chazal seek to tell us what Sukkos is, they do not call it the time of the sukkah or the time of the arba minim. They refer to it as a time of simcha.

What did Chazal see in Sukkos that makes simcha not merely one of its themes, but its very identity?

Chazal saw in Sukkos the root of happiness.

Happiness always seems to be just a little bit ahead of us. We can almost see it, and we are certain that we will catch up with it when the next thing happens, when the next problem is resolved, when the next accomplishment is achieved, or when the next long-awaited moment finally arrives. And then it does arrive, and we enjoy it, sometimes immensely, but before long, we find ourselves looking ahead once again, waiting for the next thing that we believe will bring us the happiness that seems to have slipped just beyond our reach.

What is it that makes a person happy? Happy people are not necessarily those who have the most, and unhappy people are not necessarily those who have the least.

Quite often, in Yerushalayim, you will meet people who live with their ten children in tiny apartments, and they seem to be the happiest people alive. And then you can read about the wealthiest people and they are miserable. The richest man in the world recently wrote that “whoever said ‘money can’t buy happiness’ really knew what they were talking about.”

So how do we attain happiness? What is the secret?

We are commanded to serve Hashem with joy, and when the Torah speaks about the Yomim Tovim, it repeatedly emphasizes the obligation of vesomachta bechagecha, to rejoice on this Yom Tov.

What is it about Sukkos that makes simcha its defining characteristic? Why is this the Yom Tov that Chazal identify specifically with happiness? What does Sukkos teach us about something every human being wants so desperately – the secret of being genuinely happy?

We are taught to serve Hashem with simcha, and the Yomim Tovim are specifically associated with the obligation of “vesomachta bechagecha,” to rejoice during the Yomim Tovim. Yet, although this command applies to all the Yomim Tovim, Sukkos possesses a unique distinction. It is not merely a time when we are instructed to be happy. Chazal define the very essence of the Yom Tov as Zeman Simchoseinu, the Time of Our Joy.

Why does its name focus on the joy of the Yom Tov rather than on the sukkos in which Hashem protected us in the midbar, or on the daled minim that occupy such a prominent place in our observance of the Yom Tov? What is it about Sukkos that creates and mandates such an extraordinary degree of happiness that simcha itself becomes the name by which the Yom Tov is identified?

Perhaps the answer begins with something that seems almost paradoxical. On Sukkos, the Yom Tov that is called the Time of Our Joy, we leave our homes.

We step away from the permanent structures that normally provide us with a sense of security and stability and enter a temporary dwelling. We leave behind our solid walls and sturdy roofs, our comfortable bedrooms and dining rooms, and all the physical structures that make us feel that we have established ourselves securely in this world. For seven days, we eat our meals, spend time with our families, and, as much as possible, conduct much of our daily activity in a structure whose very temporary nature is central to its mitzvah.

And perhaps that is precisely where the secret of simcha lies.

One of the greatest impediments to happiness is the mistaken belief that happiness depends upon what we possess and upon the circumstances in which we find ourselves. We imagine that if our house was a little larger, our finances a little more comfortable, our business a little more successful, or our lives a little less complicated, we would finally be able to relax and enjoy what we have. We spend so much of our lives looking toward the next improvement, the next acquisition, or the next hoped-for change that we can easily overlook the blessings already surrounding us.

The sukkah comes to challenge that way of thinking.

For seven days, we deliberately leave the permanent structure that represents the physical security we have worked so hard to establish and place ourselves in a temporary dwelling, beneath a roof that is not even a conventional one. We are reminded that the walls around us were never the ultimate source of our security, that the things we own can provide us with comfort but cannot provide us with the inner sense of peace for which we yearn, and that the difference between a house in which a person is happy and one in which he is miserable has very little to do with the quality of its construction.

A magnificent home without shalom bayis cannot create happiness. A beautifully set table cannot compensate for a lack of warmth among the people gathered around it. A person can surround himself with every physical comfort and still feel empty, while another person can sit at a simple table in a modest home, surrounded by people he loves and with gratitude in his heart, and experience a happiness that no luxury could purchase.

The sukkah strips away the illusion that the structure itself is what makes us secure and comfortable, and it teaches us that we can leave our physical permanence behind and still be happy. We are commanded to be happy precisely there, in that temporary dwelling. Vesomachta bechagecha.

This lesson comes at a particularly significant time of year. We have just emerged from the Yomim Noraim, when we stood before Hashem and confronted the fragility of our existence. On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we asked Hashem for life, health, sustenance, and the ability to continue serving Him. We acknowledged how dependent we are upon Him and how little is actually within our control, despite the tremendous effort we invest in creating a sense of security and predictability in our lives.

And then, almost immediately, Hashem gives us the mitzvah of Sukkos and tells us to rejoice.

Hashem gives us a remarkable progression. After the introspection of the Yomim Noraim, after we have stood before Him and asked to be granted another year, after we have examined our lives and contemplated what truly matters and what does not, we are told to leave the security and permanence of our homes, enter the sukkah, gather our families and friends around us, take the daled minim in our hands, and rejoice in the blessings Hashem has given us.

After experiencing Yom Kippur and teshuvah, we are best able to hear the message of the humble sukkah. Now, rather than immediately returning to our routines and comforts, we step outside of them and enter a temporary dwelling, where we look at our lives with fresh eyes, recognize the goodness that is already there, and rejoice in it.

Because one of the greatest sources of unhappiness is not necessarily what we lack, but our preoccupation with what we lack. A person can be surrounded by blessings and yet be unable to enjoy them because his eyes are constantly directed elsewhere. He sees what someone else has, the house someone else lives in, the vacation someone else takes, the success someone else has achieved, and slowly, almost imperceptibly, the blessings in his own life become invisible to him. The more we compare, the more our sense of what we have is diminished by what we imagine we should have.

There will always be someone who has more. There will always be another person with a larger house, a greater accomplishment, a more impressive position, a nicer car, or a more seemingly perfect life. If a person looks outward at what others have, he will never have enough. He can spend his entire life surrounded by gifts and still view himself as deprived.

On Sukkos, we step away from the pursuit of more and recognize what we have. Sukkos changes our field of vision. Instead of focusing on the permanent structures that distinguish one person from another, everyone leaves them behind and enters a simple sukkah, where the important things become much clearer. The family sitting around the table matters more than the table, the people sharing the meal matter more than the chairs they are sitting on, and the mitzvos surrounding us become more precious than the physical comforts we have temporarily left behind.

The daled minim reinforce that lesson in another way. We take four minim that are different from one another and bring them together because the Jewish people are not meant to be a collection of individuals, each concerned only with his own accomplishments and possessions. We need one another, and there is a special joy that comes from recognizing that we are part of something larger than ourselves.

The sukkah teaches us to appreciate what Hashem has given us, while the daled minim teach us to appreciate the people with whom He has surrounded us. Both lessons lead us toward the same destination. A person becomes happier when he stops measuring his life according to what he thinks is missing and begins to recognize the abundance that is already present.

There is yet another dimension to the simcha of Sukkos. On Pesach, we celebrate what Hashem did for us when He took us out of Mitzrayim, and on Shavuos, we celebrate the Torah that He gave us at Har Sinai. On Sukkos, we experience the relationship itself. We place ourselves under the protection of Hashem and live in the sukkah, which Chazal describe as tzila demehemnusa, the shade of faith.

We are reminded that the security we imagine comes from our homes, our resources, and our plans was never absolute. We were always dependent upon Hashem, though we don’t always notice it. The temporary nature of the sukkah reminds us that the world itself is temporary and that our security does not come from the walls we construct around ourselves, but from the One Who sustains us within those walls and beyond them.

Recognizing that dependence does not make us fearful. It makes us joyful, because once a person understands that Hashem is holding him, he no longer has to feel that he is responsible for holding his entire world together.

Perhaps that is why Sukkos follows immediately after Yom Kippur. We have just spent the holiest day of the year asking Hashem to forgive us and grant us another year. We have confronted our shortcomings, acknowledged our mistakes, and promised to do better. We stood before the Melech with nothing to hide behind, and then Hashem tells us that the next step is to rejoice.

Build your sukkah. Take your daled minim. Invite guests. Eat and drink. Learn Torah. Sing. Dance. Celebrate that you have been given another year and another opportunity to draw closer to Hashem.

This is not a command to manufacture happiness. Rather, it is an invitation to discover the source of happiness. We do not need to wait until every problem has been solved or every aspiration has been fulfilled before allowing ourselves to appreciate the goodness in our lives.

The world around us constantly tells us the opposite. We are encouraged to look at what we don’t have, to notice what we could buy, to compare ourselves with people who appear to have more, and to believe that the next acquisition or accomplishment will finally give us the satisfaction we seek. Sukkos teaches us to step away from that pursuit and to sit beneath the s’chach with the people and the blessings that are already ours.

When we do that, we can begin to understand the words Zeman Simchoseinu in a deeper way. The Torah is not simply telling us that Sukkos is a time during which we are supposed to smile more. It is teaching us how to become capable of experiencing simcha, namely by recognizing that our lives are gifts, that our families are gifts, that our Torah and mitzvos are gifts, and that the opportunity to stand before Hashem and serve Him is itself an extraordinary reason for gratitude.

And then we understand why Chazal did not define Sukkos by the temporary dwelling in which we live, even though the sukkah is central to the Yom Tov, nor by the daled minim that we hold with such care. They called it Zeman Simchoseinu because after Pesach we were free, after Shavuos we had the Torah, and after Sukkos we have simcha.

In our modern world, people are driven to buy things. Since society teaches that having more things makes people happier, it follows that the act of purchasing things brings happiness. In the language of science and psychology, people experience a dopamine rush from shopping and acquiring new things. And while in earlier times a person had to get dressed, leave the house, and travel to a store to obtain something new, today the process has become almost effortless. From the comfort of home, people can click away and purchase virtually anything they need or want.

People have become so accustomed to the experience of buying that there are now, believe it or not, sites where the products do not even exist. The sites do not actually sell anything. They do something else. They provide the experience of shopping.

Think about what that means. A grown person who seeks happiness goes through the motions of browsing, selecting, and purchasing items, even though nothing is actually being purchased and nothing will arrive at his door. The experience itself has become the source of the pleasure. It is simulated; it is not real. And yet, the desire behind it is very real: the desire to be happy, the desire to buy, to have, to accumulate, because people think that having more will make them happier.

But much of the pleasure of indulgence comes from anticipation. People look forward to having something and imagine how good it will feel when it arrives, and then, once they have it, the excitement begins to fade, and before they know it, their attention turns toward the next thing they want to acquire.

The happiness they imagine they will obtain from having more things – a nicer house, a nicer car, a fancier tie or scarf – is all an illusion. And that is precisely part of the message of the sukkah.

There is a classic Yiddish tune about the sukkah, which celebrates that a Yiddele sitting in his little sukkaleh, bundled up against the elements, can be happier and warmer than the wealthiest man whose butler is throwing logs into his fireplace to warm him. The Yiddele sitting in his rickety sukkaleh feels safer and more secure than the wealthy landowner ensconced behind his iron gates.

The world tells us that the more we have, the happier and more secure we will be. The sukkah teaches us the opposite. It takes away the permanence, the comfort, and the possessions that we imagine are the foundations of happiness and shows us that a person can have very little and still be genuinely someiach when he knows that what he has is from Hashem and that he sits betzila demehemnusa, under His protection.

Happiness does not come from having more. It is a simple message, one we have heard many times. On Sukkos, it is no longer a soundbite or a cute saying to hang on the refrigerator. On Sukkos, we sit in the sukkah and discover that it is true.

May we all merit true simcha on Sukkos and all year round, and may we merit the coming of Moshiach bekarov.

Iran’s military leadership warned Tuesday that it is prepared to unleash “more severe, crushing and unpredictable” attacks against the United States and Israel if Iran comes under further attack, issuing the threat after President Donald Trump used his address to the United Nations General Assembly to warn Tehran against pursuing nuclear weapons and later threatened a strike on the fortified Pickaxe Mountain facility. Iran’s military also dismissed Trump’s UN remarks as domestic political messaging.

Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff and the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, the country’s senior joint military command, rejected the idea that Trump’s warnings had changed the strategic situation.

“The US president’s rhetoric does not change the calculations of power and will never compensate for this country’s diminished position in the emerging world order or America’s humiliating defeats in the war against Iran and the resistance front,” they said in a statement carried by Iranian state media.

Iran’s military went further, warning that its forces remain prepared to retaliate against either Washington or Israel in the event of renewed attacks. The statement threatened “more severe, crushing and unpredictable” strikes against the two countries.

The warning followed Trump’s appearance Tuesday before the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York, where Iran figured prominently in the president’s address. Trump portrayed Tehran as an international security threat and repeated his longstanding position that the United States will prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

“There is no better example of a danger that was allowed to gather strength at the world’s peril than the number one sponsor of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran. From the first day I entered the political arena, I have been unwavering – I will NEVER allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”

Trump also laid out two dramatically different possibilities for Iran’s future, saying he hopes Tehran ultimately chooses an agreement with Washington. He suggested that Iranian leaders may be waiting until after the US midterm elections before reaching a deal.

“I have a big decision to make. Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world? Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again? Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness for generations? But I believe we’ll make a deal right after the election, because it doesn’t make sense for them not to.”

Hours after the UN address, Trump issued an additional warning while meeting with Middle Eastern leaders on the sidelines of the General Assembly. This time, he singled out Pickaxe Mountain, a heavily fortified facility near Iran’s Natanz nuclear complex. The site has long drawn scrutiny over its potential role in Iran’s nuclear program.

Trump said the United States is not currently detecting substantial activity at the site but warned that any change could trigger immediate military action.

“We may have to blow up another one. Pickaxe Mountain… if we do [see activity], we’ll blow it up immediately,” he said.

Despite the increasingly severe public warnings from both Washington and Tehran, diplomatic efforts have continued on the sidelines of the UN gathering. Trump said Tuesday that there was “a lot of momentum” toward an agreement with Iran, while US officials said American representatives had been engaged in indirect discussions through mediators.