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Dear Matzav Inbox,

There has been an avalanche of criticism — videos, emails, posts, and commentary — aimed at Eli Stefansky over his Daf Yomi AI rap video and some of the antics that have found their way into his (pre-game) shiur. The tone of much of it has been harsh, dismissive, and, at times, deeply unfair.

But the truth, as it so often is, does not live at the extremes. It lives somewhere in the middle.

On the one hand, the criticism is not entirely baseless. The AI gimmicks, the games, the entertainment factor … at a certain point, it does cross a line. When silliness becomes part of a shiur, something precious risks being diluted. We are not dealing with a talent show or a late-night comedy sketch. We are learning the heilige Gemara, the words of Abaye v’rava, Ravina and Rav Ashi. This is the beating heart of Torah Shebaal Peh. This isn’t color war.

And yet — and this is the part that so many critics refuse to acknowledge — you cannot argue with success. Eli Stefansky has brought an untold number of people into Torah learning. People who were disconnected. People who never opened a Gemara. People who felt that Daf Yomi was beyond them. He doesn’t just teach Torah. He made it accessible, exciting, and alive for thousands. That matters. A lot.

To dismiss that because the style is not to everyone’s taste is unfair.

At the same time, success brings responsibility. When you are influencing that many people, the “ramah” (level) has to rise. A shiur cannot feel like a circus. Energy is good. Passion is good. Creativity can be powerful. But dignity matters too. Torah deserves reverence, not just reach.

So yes, the pile-on has gone too far. The attacks have been excessive, personal, and at times mean-spirited. But it is also fair to say that say that Eli now needs to elevate the tone, tighten the boundaries, and remind everyone — himself included — that while Torah can be engaging, it must always remain sacred.

Criticism without appreciation is cruel. Innovation without restraint is dangerous. The balance between the two is hard, but it is exactly where true growth happens.

Wishing Eli hatzlacha. I know he’ll do the right thing.

A Daf Learner

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How do you persuade a population to have more babies after generations of limiting families to just one? A decade after ending China’s longtime one-child policy, the country’s authorities are pushing a range of ideas and policies to try to encourage more births — tactics that range from cash subsidies to taxing condoms to eliminating […]

Genetic Engineering Through the Lens of Halacha: The Questions That Follow Refuah B’Halacha is a halachic center that provides access to experienced Rabbanim who respond to medical-halacha questions of all kinds. Serving as a practical address for both everyday and complex inquiries, the Center assists individuals, families, physicians, and Rabbanim in navigating situations where modern […]

Israel has released eight Palestinian prisoners, who arrived at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, central Gaza. The releases continue under the ceasefire agreement, even though Hamas has yet to return the body of Ran Gvili hy”d.

VARNEY: Are we now actively selling the oil we’re taking from Venezuelan tankers? SEC. CHRIS WRIGHT: Oh, absolutely VARNEY: How much of that oil are we going to take? SEC. CHRIS WRIGHT: We’ll take the majority of Venezuelan exports

PM NETANYAHU: “Hamas will be dismantled, either the easy way or the hard way.”

PM NETANYAHU: “If Iran makes a mistake and attacks us, we will respond with a force Iran has never experienced… Whatever happens in Iran, one thing is certain, Iran will never be what it was.”

Eight Democratic-led states have been found to have spent at least $1.8 billion on healthcare for illegal aliens.

The FBI briefly opened an investigation into Renee Good’s widow to determine whether she and Good obstructed and attacked the Minneapolis ICE agent who acted in self-defense.

California now reportedly owes the federal government over $1 billion in healthcare funds provided to illegal aliens.

Two infants have lost their lives in a devastating incident at a daycare facility on HaMagid Street in the Romema neighborhood of Yerushalayim. They have been identified as

Leah Tzipporah Goleventzitz a”h, approximately 3-½ months old, and Aharon (Ari) Katz a”h, an infant of about four months.

Authorities are continuing to investigate the precise cause of death amid mounting questions surrounding a suspected poisoning and revelations that the facility was operating without the required license.

Both infants were evacuated from the scene and transferred to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute, where external medical imaging tests, including CT scans, are expected to be conducted without autopsy in an effort to determine whether a toxic substance entered their bodies.

At this stage, officials say the exact cause of death and the source of the suspected poisoning remain unknown.

In total, 55 infants were evacuated from the daycare following the incident. Two were pronounced dead, while the remaining 53 were taken to hospitals across the city for medical evaluation.

Health officials said all hospitalized infants are under observation and that their conditions are currently described as good.

Leah Tzipporah Goleventzitz was the daughter of Rabbi Mordechai Goleventzitz, a talmid of Yeshiva Ateres Yisrael and the son of Rabbi Binyamin Goleventzitz of the Ramot Shlomo neighborhood. Her mother, Mrs. Bracha Goleventzitz (née Rolnik), is from Romema. After their marriage, the family lived in Pisgat Ze’ev and had recently relocated to Romema. Leah is survived by her parents and a younger brother.

Leah’s father, Motti, works as a driver and was in the middle of a route at the time of the incident. He was unreachable for nearly two hours until relatives managed to contact him and convey the devastating news.

Leah’s mother later posted a brief message expressing her grief: “My Leah, thank you for being mine. Your soul will be within me forever. Baruch Dayan HaEmes.”

The second infant, Aharon (Ari) Katz, had begun attending the daycare that very day for the first time. He was the son of Rabbi Yaakov Katz. His mother, Mrs. Chana Katz (née Eisenbach), works at the Tachshik jewelry store on Rechov Shamgar. A relative of the family wrote that this was the first and only time since Ari’s birth that his mother had left him for several hours with a caregiver she knew personally and trusted, adding: “We do not know the calculations of Heaven.”

As the investigation continues, enforcement and health authorities are focusing on multiple possible scenarios. During the afternoon hours, a concern was raised that a gas leak from heating systems may have caused the incident. However, Fire and Rescue officials ruled out that possibility.

Fire Commissioner Shmulik Friedman, commander of the Jerusalem District, said no heating devices were found in the room where the infants were located other than an air conditioner, and a gas leak from that unit was definitively excluded.

Police forensic teams collected evidence from two apartments in the building in which the daycare operates. Three caregivers who were present at the time of the incident were detained for questioning and are being interrogated regarding the daycare’s daily routine, the care provided to the infants, and whether any unusual substances or materials had entered the facility in recent days.

Adding to the severity of the case, the Education Ministry confirmed this evening that the daycare was a private framework operating without the license required by law. The ministry described the incident as “grave and deeply tragic” and said it is maintaining close contact with law enforcement authorities as additional details emerge.

Residents of the neighborhood, however, said the daycare has operated in the building for roughly three decades and was widely regarded as an established institution within the community.

In the political arena, members of the Knesset faction of United Torah Judaism expressed profound shock at the opening of their faction meeting and placed responsibility on government decision-makers.

Faction members sent condolences to the bereaved families and wished a speedy recovery to the infants who were injured. They sharply criticized government policy in recent years, arguing that the cancellation of daycare subsidies for working mothers imposed crushing financial pressure on families and led to severe overcrowding in remaining facilities.

“We warned again and again, in real time, about the cancellation of the subsidies,” the faction said. “We said clearly that the harm is not only to working mothers, but first and foremost to the infants themselves— to their safety and to their health.”

United Torah Judaism members said those responsible for setting policy bear heavy responsibility for the events and called for an urgent reassessment of daycare subsidy structures and oversight mechanisms to prevent similar tragedies in the future.

Umacha Hashem dimah me’al kol ponim.

{Matzav.com}

New York City’s push to require residents to use official city-issued trash containers as part of an effort to curb the rat population is colliding with a basic problem: many people can’t actually get the bins.

Under the new rules, buildings with one to nine residential units must begin using the official “NYC Bin” for garbage pickup by this summer or face fines. Yet homeowners across the city report widespread difficulty locating the containers, while city officials point the finger at a private vendor responsible for producing and distributing them.

The Department of Sanitation itself cautions residents on its website: “Online ordering and the call center are currently unavailable. Select NYC Bins are available at all NYC Home Depot locations.”

That option hasn’t helped everyone. A Brooklyn resident told The Post they went to Home Depot only to discover that the bins were completely sold out.

“How can we not find a consistent supply of these cans without using a Home Depot and an out-of-state manufacturer who can’t even supply them?” the homeowner fumed to The Post.

On Staten Island, 76-year-old Michael Monopoli said he placed an order back in October but never received the bin. When he tried to follow up, he said, he found no way to get answers from the city.

“I sort of got a little tired, and I felt like, to tell the truth, I’m really annoyed with sanitation,” Monopoli said. “I never got the pail. And when I went to call you, the Department of Sanitation, you close down your phone and your website. So how am I supposed to get a ticket from you?”

City officials have blamed the problems on the outside company that manufactures the bins, citing “ongoing issues with the outside vendor that makes and delivers the bins failing to fulfill some orders.” The city advised residents seeking refunds to contact the manufacturer, Otto Environmental Systems, directly.

Otto Environmental Systems, however, told The Post that residents should continue trying to buy the bins through Home Depot.

“We are committed to restoring home delivery as quickly as possible to ensure the success of this important program,” a spokesperson for Otto Environmental Systems said.

Another Brooklyn homeowner, who asked not to be identified because their job occasionally involves working with the city, said the situation is particularly maddening given that similar programs have worked elsewhere.

“It seems like only in New York can you try to match a standard idea from across the country and struggle so much to accomplish it,” they said.

Some residents have eventually succeeded, though not without delays. Brad, a 42-year-old Brooklynite, said he ordered his bins early, when the program was first announced and demand was still relatively low.

“It took like two months or something. And that was early on,” Brad said. He also noted that sanitation crews appear to be having trouble adjusting to the new system.

“It has a latch. They have to drag it over to the truck, flip it up, and then take the bags, throw them out, and then they have to just throw it back where it went and then move on,” he said.

“Before they had a flow,” he went on. “They just grabbed the bags from the curb, tossed them and kept going. It’s like a whole extra step. It’s a lot.”

Containerized trash collection was a major priority of Mayor Eric Adams’ administration as part of his highly publicized “War on Rats.” The City Council later passed legislation to reimburse middle-class homeowners for the roughly $50 cost of the new bins.

Currently, buildings covered by the rule are required to place trash in any lidded 55-gallon container. Beginning in June, however, residents who fail to use the official NYC-branded bins could face fines starting at $50, with repeat violations climbing as high as $200.

A spokesperson for the Department of Sanitation told The NY Post that homeowners who have already ordered a bin but are still waiting for delivery will not be fined.

{Matzav.com}

A truck and a school minibus were in collision in South Africa’s Gauteng province Monday, killing at least 13 children, authorities said. Preliminary reports indicated at least 11 schoolchildren died at the scene, with two others succumbing to their injuries in the hospital. The private vehicle was transporting students to various primary schools and high […]

The disaster that claimed the lives of two infants at a private daycare in Jerusalem’s Romema neighborhood on Monday is first and foremost an unfathomable human tragedy. But if we limit our response to tears, grief, and outward-directed anger alone, we risk missing the difficult and uncomfortable responsibility now facing all of us — and […]

President Donald Trump has sent a written message to Norway’s prime minister declaring that he no longer feels obligated “to think purely of Peace,” while again pressing his demand that the United States take control of Greenland, according to people familiar with the correspondence.

The letter, which U.S. officials circulated to several governments, was Trump’s response to a short message from Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere and Finnish President Alexander Stubb. In their note, the two leaders objected to Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on European allies after they rejected his push for U.S. control over Greenland, Stoere said in a statement.

Stoere and Stubb urged a cooling of tensions and asked to speak directly with Trump by phone, according to the Norwegian prime minister. Trump replied shortly after receiving their message.

“Dear Jonas: Considering your Country decided not to give me the Nobel Peace Prize for having stopped 8 Wars PLUS, I no longer feel an obligation to think purely of Peace, although it will always be predominant, but ⁠can now think about what is good and proper for the United States of America,” Trump wrote in his response, which was seen by Reuters.

Trump has repeatedly voiced frustration over not receiving the Nobel Peace Prize, an award that last year went to Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.

“I have several times explained clearly to Trump the well-known fact that it is an independent Nobel Committee, and not the Norwegian government, which ⁠awards the prize,” Stoere said.

Machado presented Trump with her gold medal during a White House meeting last week, even though the Norwegian Nobel Committee has stated that the prize cannot be transferred, shared, or withdrawn. The committee did not immediately respond Monday to a request for comment.

In the same message to Stoere, Trump again challenged Denmark’s claim to Greenland, questioning its ability to defend the territory and the basis for its sovereignty. “Denmark cannot protect that land from Russia or China, and why do they have a ‘right of ownership’ anyway?”

“There are no written documents, it’s only that a boat landed there hundreds of years ago, but we had boats landing there, also.”

Denmark’s sovereignty over Greenland, a vast island rich in minerals, is established through a series of binding legal agreements, including a treaty reached in 1814, and the United States has repeatedly acknowledged Greenland as part of the Kingdom of Denmark.

Trump also linked the issue to NATO, asserting that the alliance owes the United States for his contributions. “I have done more for NATO than any other person since its founding, and now, NATO should do something for the United States,” Trump added. “The World is not secure unless we have Complete and Total Control of Greenland. Thank you! President DJT.”

{Matzav.com}

Kibbutz Be’eri has decided to keep as is one of the homes burned in the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led assault on southern Israel as a testimony to the horrors of the worst single-day attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust.

The move by the community, located five miles from the Gaza Strip, to move on and demolish the rest of the homes destroyed in the attack is opposed by some bereaved families, but is seen as an attempt to move on and rebuild.

The house selected is on the edge of the community and belongs to a family that was abroad at the time of the terrorist invasion.

“My position was that we should destroy everything and leave no trace, not turn the kibbutz into Auschwitz or a pilgrimage site for visitors,” owner Yogev Dvori told Ynet. “Simply erase everything and commemorate beloved people, not buildings.”

The Dvoris, who have not yet moved back to Be’eri, plan to return to a new house currently under construction.

After residents voted to demolish all but one of the destroyed homes, Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu said that he was considering designating some of them as national heritage sites.

The kibbutz was the hardest-hit community in Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught. One hundred one civilians—or nearly 10% of its residents—and 31 security personnel were murdered, and 32 hostages were taken to the Gaza Strip.

At least 100 Gazan terrorists were also killed and 18 were captured by the Israel Defense Forces and the kibbutz security force. JNS

{Matzav.com}

The death toll from a massive fire at a shopping plaza in Karachi rose to 23 on Monday as rescuers recovered more bodies from the badly damaged building, police said. Dozens remain missing. Firefighters extinguished the blaze at the multistory plaza late Sunday, nearly 24 hours after it erupted, allowing rescue teams to enter the […]

In every industry- nonprofit, retail, real estate, healthcare, education- brands are fighting for one thing: attention. But attention alone has never built a business. It’s the brands people remember, the ones that stay in their minds long after the scroll, swipe, or click, that truly grow. This is exactly what Jewish Ad Group (JAG) focuses […]

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said President Donald Trump’s public threats regarding Greenland are more likely a negotiating strategy than a genuine plan to seize the territory, expressing skepticism while conceding he might be mistaken.

In a radio interview Sunday with John Catsimatidis on “The Cats Roundtable,” Gingrich said he doubts Trump intends to follow through militarily, though he acknowledged uncertainty. “I think he’s making a lot of noise to set up a negotiation to get what he wants, which is tourist rights, economic rights, mineral rights and national security rights,” Gingrich said.

Gingrich pointed to Greenland’s vast reserves of natural resources and noted that major powers—including China, Russia, and the United States—are all eyeing access to its minerals as well as its oil and gas potential.

“It’s a huge economic opportunity,” he said.

His remarks came as lawmakers from both parties traveled to Denmark to discuss the issue with Danish officials. The delegation includes Sens. Thom Tillis of North Carolina and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska as the Republican participants.

Tillis said any attempt to use force to take control of Greenland would face strong resistance on Capitol Hill, warning that such a move “would be met with pretty substantial opposition in Congress.”

Ahead of the trip, Tillis criticized those encouraging the idea, saying: “Right now, people are trying to be deferential, but this is just an example of, whoever keeps on telling the president that this idea is achievable should not be in Washington, D.C.”

Trump escalated the dispute on Saturday by announcing plans to impose 10 percent tariffs on Denmark and several other European countries in response to their opposition to his Greenland proposal.

In a Truth Social post, Trump said the tariffs could rise to 25 percent if negotiations for the United States to buy Greenland are not completed by June 1.

Danish officials sharply criticized the proposed tariffs. Danish Chamber of Commerce CEO Brian Mikkelsen dismissed the move, saying, “Trump’s farce continues.”

“The American president is once again using tariffs as a threat,” Mikkelsen wrote in a translated post on X. “As so many times before, it is damaging to confidence in world trade and damaging to the American and European economies.”

Gingrich also argued that Trump’s leverage in Europe is strengthened by structural weaknesses in European economies, which he said have favored regulation over growth and innovation.

“[The U.S.] made the opposite decision,” Gingrich said. “We decided we wanted to maximize innovation and then regulate lightly but not have enough regulation to crush what we were doing. That has been a disastrous decision for the Europeans.”

{Matzav.com}