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MAGA! “A record-breaking number of Americans heading off to enjoy the final days of summer — and drivers, getting a boost from the LOWEST Labor Day Gas prices in years.”

CNBC: Second quarter GDP has been revised up to 3.3% — while inflation has been revised down to 2%, right on track with the Fed’s target rate.

Backed by the U.S. administration and the American Foundation, two new humanitarian aid and food distribution centers are nearing completion in southern Gaza.

The Lebanese Army reportedly intercepted seven truckloads of Palestinian heavy weapons, asserting control over the situation.  

The IDF recently struck multiple Hezbollah sites in southern Lebanon, hitting terrorist infrastructure and a rocket launcher.

Palestinian activist Saleem Nussibeh at a London rally: “This will be the Embassy of Palestine. No peace until Israel is gone.”

The IDF and ISA are continuing operations in Gaza based on intelligence, eliminating several terrorists and dismantling infrastructure in the south while reinforcing control over the “Magen Oz” corridor in Khan Yunis. 2

Rav Yitzchok Zilberstein, the rov of Ramat Elchonon and renowned posek, addressed questions from mispallelim after reports circulated claiming he had issued a psak allowing chillul Shabbos to avoid army service, Lechatchila reported.

During a shiur, someone asked Rav Zilberstein about the alleged ruling, and he responded sharply: “Whoever publicized that does not know his right hand from his left hand. One didn’t hear what I said, and publicized it. It’s all a tale.”

He clarified that his words were in the context of a completely hypothetical situation. He had asked what a Yid should do if, chas v’shalom, a government would issue a gezeirah forbidding limud haTorah. In such an extreme case, he said, it would be mutar to travel on Shabbos to escape.

“But where is that happening here in the Land of Israel? Do the authorities prevent Torah study? Of course not! If when they do their army service, they want to learn Torah, will someone oppose that? G-d forbid!” Rav Zilberstein continued. “This was said only about a scenario where the nations of the world ban Torah study.”

One participant mentioned that his son was mechalel Shabbos “because Rav Zilberstein said to desecrate Shabbos and not to enlist.” The rov reacted with disbelief: “Maybe he had a dream. Maybe he dreamed a dream! I did not say that.”

When asked about bochurim who are not shteiging in Torah and instead spend their time wandering the streets, Rav Zilberstein was clear that such cases are different: such a young man should “enlist where Rav [Aharon Leib] Shteinman said – of course. What’s the question? Of course he should.”

The specific framework he was referring to is the IDF’s Netzach Yehuda battalion, established to accommodate those from chareidi backgrounds who cannot sit and learn full-time. The program allows them to fulfill their army obligations while continuing with some level of limud haTorah.

{Matzav.com Israel}

The Tel Aviv-based Rosh Yehudi outreach organization will once again host Yom Kippur tefillos in a public area this year, after receiving official permission from the municipality. This approval follows last year’s Supreme Court decision allowing gender-separate services at Meir Park.

On Thursday morning, Rosh Yehudi was granted a permit from city officials to hold davening at the park on Yom Kippur eve, starting at 5:30 p.m., as well as on Yom Kippur day itself, between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.

“We are expecting a large and calm prayer per the approval of the municipality and Supreme Court,” Rosh Yehudi Chairman Yisrael Ze’ira told Ynet. “We invite the residents of the area to a unifying and uplifting prayer, as one person with one heart, in accordance with the municipality’s approval.”

The annual event has sparked significant tension in recent years. In 2023, fierce confrontations broke out when anti-religious activists tried to halt the service and tore down the makeshift partition the organizers had set up using Israeli flags, after the municipality initially banned separate seating at public gatherings.

{Matzav.com Israel}

Students at the Galili high school in Kfar Saba hung a sign of protest on the school fence after their principal publicly claimed that the IDF is “harming the people of Gaza.” The principal was one of a group of left-wing teachers and principals from various schools who participated in a video entitled “Teachers in the education system cannot stand idly by in the face of hunger and harm to the population in Gaza.” The students expressed their dismay with the principal’s public stance on the protest sign, which states, “Inciteful administration.” One student explained, “The principal is inciting against the IDF and claiming that it is carrying out starvation and war crimes.” In a letter to the parents, the principal claimed that “an extremist group chose to distort my derech as principal and chose to respond in a violent, bullying and inciteful way. It’s a shame.” (YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

The House Oversight and Government Reform Committee has launched an inquiry into claims of coordinated efforts to insert bias into Wikipedia articles and the platform’s handling of such incidents, according to a report from The Hill on Wednesday.

Committee Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., along with Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., who leads the subcommittee on cybersecurity, information technology, and government innovation, sent a formal request to Maryana Iskander, CEO of the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit that manages Wikipedia.

In their letter, the lawmakers explained that the committee is investigating “the efforts of foreign operations and individuals at academic institutions subsidized by U.S. taxpayer dollars to influence U.S. public opinion.”

The request asked for “your assistance in obtaining documents and communications regarding individuals (or specific accounts) serving as Wikipedia volunteer editors who violated Wikipedia platform policies as well as your own efforts to thwart intentional, organized efforts to inject bias into important and sensitive topics.”

Comer and Mace pointed out that “multiple studies and reports have highlighted efforts to manipulate information on the Wikipedia platform for propaganda aimed at Western audiences,” adding that “one recent report [that] raised troubling questions about potentially systematic efforts to advance antisemitic and anti-Israel information in Wikipedia articles related to conflicts with the State of Israel.”

They noted that the Wikimedia Foundation, “which hosts the Wikipedia platform, has acknowledged taking actions responding to misconduct by volunteer editors who effectively create Wikipedia’s encyclopedic articles.”

The lawmakers also stated that “the committee recognizes that virtually all web-based information platforms must contend with bad actors and their efforts to manipulate. Our inquiry seeks information to help our examination of how Wikipedia responds to such threats and how frequently it creates accountability when intentional, egregious, or highly suspicious patterns of conduct on topics of sensitive public interest are brought to attention.”

The letter further stressed that “this includes questions concerning the tools and methods Wikipedia utilizes to identify and stop malicious conduct that injects bias or undermines a neutral point of view on its platform. We also seek to better our understanding of the individuals caught engaging in prohibited behavior.”

{Matzav.com}

Fewer Americans sought unemployment benefits last week as employers appear to be holding onto their workers even as the economy has slowed. Applications for unemployment benefits for the week ending Aug. 23 dropped 5,000 to 229,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. Measures of the job market are being closely watched on Wall Street and by the Federal Reserve as the most recent government data suggests hiring has slowed sharply since this spring. Job gains have averaged just 35,000 a month in the three months ending in July, barely one-quarter what they were a year ago. Weekly applications for jobless benefits are seen as a proxy for layoffs and have mostly settled in a historically healthy range between 200,000 and 250,000 since the U.S. began to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic more than three years ago. While layoffs are low, hiring has also weakened as part of what many economists describe as a “no hire, no fire” economy. Still, the unemployment rate remains a low 4.2%. Growth has weakened so far this year as many companies have pulled back on expansion projects amid the uncertainty surrounding the impacts of President Donald Trump’s tariff policies. Growth slowed to a 1.3% annual rate in the first half of the year, down from 2.5% in 2024. The sluggishness in the job market is a key reason that Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled last week that the central bank may cut its key interest rate at its next meeting Sept. 16-17. A cut could reduce other borrowing costs in the economy, including mortgages, auto loans, and business loans. The Labor Department’s report also showed that the four-week average of claims, which softens some of the week-to-week swings, rose by 2,500 to 228,500. The total number of Americans collecting unemployment benefits for the previous week of Aug. 16 fell 7,000 to 1.95 million, down from nearly a four-year high reached earlier this month. The stubbornly high number of people continuing to collect jobless aid suggests that once out of work, many Americans are having trouble finding new jobs. (AP)

Of course, you heard about the chessed. How amid the darkness of October 7 and its aftermath, amid the missiles, the wounded or fallen soldiers, the hostages’ torment, the thousands of Jews who almost overnight became refugees – the light of Am Yisrael prevailed. There was the light of unity when the nation came together. The light of volunteers, old and young, rich and poor, chareidi and not-yet-religious, bringing socks and barbecues and Shabbos meals and hospital visits and countless other deeds meant to comfort and strengthen a shocked and hurting nation. In Chessed Under Fire, ArtScroll’s newly released (and already bestselling!) book by Rabbi Nachman Seltzer, you will discover yet another luminous light: the non-stop, unique, and incredibly effective chessed of Shai Graucher and his team. Take a look at this fascinating Inside ArtScroll interview, where Rabbi Seltzer and Shai share incredible stories of chessed that bring the book’s pages vividly to life. Who would have thought to put washing machines and dryers on the back of a flatbed truck, so soldiers covered with the filth of battle could have a clean change of clothing?  Who realized early on just how powerful barbecues and food trucks could be in lifting morale? Who understood the importance of the spiritual needs of soldiers and arranged for the printing of tens of thousands of a special battlefield edition of the Schottenstein Edition Talmud? Shai Graucher and his team, that’s who! The amazing story begins literally the night after October 7, when Shai was approached by well-known philanthropists Bob Book and Jay Schottenstein. They realized that this was no passing phase, the country was at war, and they tasked Shai with the mission of reaching out to the thousands who needed help.  Shai answered the call, and he and the organization he founded, B’Yachad Nenatzeiach, threw themselves into the challenge — in hospitals and army bases, at funerals, and in the homes of those who had lost a loved one, whether taken as a hostage or fallen as a soldier in battle. But Shai’s work didn’t actually begin on October 7. It started when he was a young boy watching the generous and genuine loving kindness of his parents, the famed singer Dedi Graucher and Dedi’s wife, Malca. His “chessed lessons” continued in a small room on Rechov Rashbam, as he became a ben bayis – almost a family member – in the simple home of Rav Chaim Kanievsky, zt’l. For years, Shai visited Rav Chaim regularly,   soaking in his guidance. He also fundraised extensively for Rav Chaim’s tzedakah causes, helping generate millions of shekels for poor families, widows, and yeshivos. In Chessed Under Fire, Rabbi Nachman Seltzer turns his much-hailed storytelling talents to the incredible story of Shai and his team. We’ll join Shai as he alleviates the financial distress of a bereaved mother and as he brings a pony to a courageous boy living in the shadow of missile attacks. We’ll be with him as Shai and music legend Avraham Fried dance together with troops about to enter Gaza. We’ll attend brissos of infants who will never meet their fathers, and travel down south and up north and all through Eretz Yisrael with Shai, making birthday parties for war orphans or dedicating Sifrei Torah in memory of fallen soldiers. And the music-lovers among us (isn’t that everyone?) will particularly enjoy the special bonus feature: a tribute to Dedi Graucher. Though the background is heartbreaking, Chessed Under Fire is not a book about sadness. It […]

President Trump announced that since his victory in November, he has secured $1.5 billion in total fundraising, reaching a significant benchmark. “I am pleased to report that I have raised, since the Great Presidential Election of 2024, in various forms and political entities, in excess of 1.5 Billion Dollars. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” he posted Wednesday on Truth Social.

The primary super PAC supporting Trump, MAGA Inc., disclosed that it currently holds nearly $200 million in its accounts, as preparations intensify for the 2026 midterm elections when control of Congress will once again be determined.

In a recent CNBC “Squawk Box” interview, Trump remarked that he will “probably not” pursue a third term since the Constitution prohibits it. However, he also hinted at his interest in another run, pointing to strong polling numbers that continue to fuel speculation.

Over the past several months, Trump and some of his allies have occasionally suggested the possibility of seeking a third term. While these comments have often been dismissed as lighthearted, there have also been moments when he appeared to seriously consider it despite the 22nd Amendment, which restricts any individual from serving more than two terms.

When asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” about discussions on passing leadership to Vice President J.D. Vance, he responded that the president regularly explores a wide range of topics. “And if it’s in the news, the president and I have certainly discussed it. But I think the president is just focused on doing a good job for the American people,” Vance said. “He wants me to be focused on doing a good job for the American people.”

Trump also recently commented that it was premature to decide who should lead the Republican ticket in 2028 but acknowledged that Vance is the “most likely” successor at this point. He additionally mentioned Secretary of State Marco Rubio as a potential running mate for Vance, suggesting such a pairing could create a strong and competitive campaign.

{Matzav.com}

Bicur Joilim (Bikur Cholim), the oldest shul in the Chilean capital of Santiago, was vandalized on Friday with anti-Israel graffiti. The vandalism took place while the mispallelim were still inside the shul. Security cameras showed three masked vandals spraying red paint and hanging a poster of Netanyahu with a bullet hole in his head, along with other posters that stated, “Your silence is consent to genocide.” According to the Jewish community in Chile, the incident is the fourth time the shul has been vandalized with anti-Israel graffiti since the October 7 massacre. Chilean President Gabriel Boric has a long-time history of anti-Israel rhetoric, even before the October 7 massacre. When the Jewish community sent him a Rosh Hashanah gift in 2019, he responded on Twitter: “I appreciate the gesture, but they could start by asking Israel to return the illegally occupied Palestinian territory.” (YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)

Socialist Democrat Zohran Mamdani, the party’s nominee for New York City mayor, is on track to easily win November’s election in a crowded field — but a new poll claims he would lose in a direct showdown with former Governor Andrew Cuomo. The survey, conducted by Tulchin Research for the New York Apartment Association, found Mamdani leading a five-way race with 42% of the vote, trailed by Cuomo at 26%, Republican Curtis Sliwa at 17%, incumbent Mayor Eric Adams at 9%, and independent Jim Walden at 3%. But in a hypothetical one-on-one matchup, Cuomo surged ahead, with 52% to Mamdani’s 41%, suggesting nearly all of Sliwa, Adams, and Walden’s voters would gravitate toward the ex-governor. Against Adams alone, Mamdani held a narrow 45% to 42% lead. Political operatives outside the campaigns quickly dismissed the findings. “Looks like a fantasy poll commissioned by Andrew Cuomo,” said Democratic strategist Ken Frydman, adding: “If the election were held today, Cuomo would not beat Mamdani in a one-on-one race.” Another veteran consultant, Sam Raskin of Slingshot Strategies, called the results “barely credible.” He noted that pollsters misjudged Mamdani’s strength in the Democratic primary, overstating Cuomo’s support while underestimating the progressive’s base among younger voters. The apartment association poll leaned heavily toward older voters: 63% of respondents were over age 50, while just 37% were under 50. Analysts noted that Mamdani dominated the under-40 demographic during the primary, driving his upset win over Cuomo and others. Tulchin’s memo on the poll emphasized that Cuomo “is currently leading Mamdani in a head-to-head matchup, with a broader and more diverse coalition,” while Mamdani’s support remains “limited to his progressive base.” Despite polling in third, Sliwa has vowed to stay in the race. The longtime Guardian Angels founder and GOP nominee could outperform expectations due to his strong name recognition and favorable ballot placement, strategists say. Adams, plagued by corruption scandals, is running as an independent after skipping the Democratic primary, but the poll shows him mired in single digits. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

In what appears to signal a potential change in approach, Rav Yitzchak Yosef, the former Sephardic Chief Rabbi and nosi of the Shas Moetzet Chachmei Hatorah, stated in a newly released recording that a yeshiva bochur who is not actually learning should enlist in the IDF.

The remarks, captured in a conversation published by journalist Avraham Freund, mark a significant nuance compared to the strong positions Rav Yosef has previously voiced on the draft law. In the recording, Rav Yosef clarified the intent behind his past statements:

“הזכירו לי שאני אמרתי באחד השיעורים אפילו בחור בטלן לא ילך לצבא. שאלו אותי למה התכוונתי. לא התכוונתי לאחד שעובד בלילות כמלצר וכל מיני עבודות. לא התכוונתי לזה. אתם יודעים, אצל מי שלומד בישיבה, יש לפעמים תקופות של משבר.”

“They reminded me that I once said in a shiur that even a lazy bochur shouldn’t go to the army. They asked me what I meant. I didn’t mean someone who works nights as a waiter or does other jobs. That wasn’t my intention. You know, among those learning in yeshiva, there are sometimes temporary periods of crisis.”

In other words, Rav Yosef explained that his opposition to enlistment referred only to yeshiva students who are genuinely part of the Torah learning framework but temporarily struggling, not to those who have left learning entirely. For a bochur who is no longer engaged in Torah study, he implied, the draft may be appropriate.

This statement comes after repeated past declarations from Rav Yosef in which he strongly opposed the enlistment of chareidim, including into special frameworks such as the Chashmonaim Brigade. Those remarks were often accompanied by sharp criticism of the army, politicians, and rabbanim advocating for broader chareidi recruitment, as well as of the religious-Zionist (dati leumi) sector.

Meanwhile, related developments emerged yesterday when Matzav.com reported that another member of the Shas Moetzet, Rav Moshe Maya, recently met with Brig. Gen. Shay Tayeb, head of the IDF’s TUMACH division, to discuss the conditions required for chareidi enlistment into the Chashmonaim Brigade. Rav Maya has reportedly stated in recent days that if specific religious conditions are formally anchored in IDF orders, a pathway could be opened for some chareidim to serve.

{Matzav.com Israel}

The Treasury Department wants U.S. financial institutions to monitor for suspected Chinese money laundering networks handling funds that are used to fuel the flood of fentanyl across American communities. An advisory Thursday to banks, brokers and others highlights how such operations are working with Mexican drug cartels. The Trump administration is calling on banks to flag certain customers who may fit a profile of people who could launder money for cartels. That could include Chinese nationals such as students, retirees and housewives with unexplained wealth, and those who refuse to provide information about the source of their money. The Treasury contends that many of these people unknowingly work with cartels to bypass Chinese currency controls that restrict the renminbi exchange rate through a system limiting the annual foreign currency conversion for individuals, which is about $50,000. It is not uncommon for Chinese individuals to evade such restrictions by turning to underground banks where their money is converted into foreign currencies, often U.S. dollars. The Chinese Embassy in Washington had no immediate comment Thursday. Also Thursday, the department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, known as FinCen, released a report about how Chinese money laundering networks are expanding their ties beyond drug cartels. Financial institutions are increasingly filing suspicious activity reports on human trafficking and adult senior day care centers in New York that have become a vehicle for money laundering, according to the report. FinCen analyzed more than 137,000 Bank Secrecy Act reports from January 2020 to December 2024 that accounted for approximately $312 billion in total suspicious activity. Last year, law enforcement officials uncovered a complex partnership between Mexico’s Sinaloa Cartel and Chinese underground banking groups in the United States that laundered money $50 million from the sale of fentanyl, cocaine and other drugs, federal prosecutors said. The government’s instruction to banks to be more vigilant about Chinese students and other Chinese nationals comes as Republican President Donald Trump says he will allow 600,000 Chinese students into American universities. “I hear so many stories about ‘We are not going to allow their students,’ but we are going to allow their students to come in. We are going to allow it. It’s very important — 600,000 students,” Trump said during a meeting with South Korean President Lee Jae Myung in the Oval Office on Monday. (AP)

Police have identified the individual responsible for Wednesday’s deadly shooting at a Catholic school in Minneapolis as Robin Westman, who killed two children and injured 17 others. Investigators discovered a YouTube channel believed to be tied to her, featuring numerous weapon-related videos and a manifesto.

The YouTube account, which has now been deleted, contained disturbing videos showing Westman’s arsenal of firearms. Some of the weapons were marked with antisemitic and anti-Israel phrases, including “six million wasn’t enough,” “extra Jew gas,” and “Israel must fall.”

On one firearm, Westman wrote “I am a terrorist” and “I’m a nightmare” in Russian, along with other messages such as “Where is your god?” and “Kill pedos.” A bump stock was inscribed with the names of six other school shooters, including Adam Lanza, who carried out the Sandy Hook massacre.

Footage from the deleted channel also showed what appeared to be Westman flipping through a handwritten journal in which she described “being that scary, horrible monster standing over those powerless kids” and expressed admiration for the Sandy Hook attack.

Videos linked to her account revealed that Westman sometimes used Cyrillic letters to disguise her writings. According to an analysis by The Jerusalem Post, she meticulously planned the attack for several months, mapping out both the school grounds and the attached church.

“I’m feeling good about Annunciation,” reads a passage from her manifesto that surfaced on social media. She explained that she deliberately chose a time when parents were unlikely to be present, fearing that they might “have a gun to attack her with scary ferocity.”

Her writings suggest she delayed the attack until the school reopened after a break. In several entries, she openly stated that she “can’t wait to kill” and confessed that she “wants to kill kids for fun.”

Reuters reported that Westman’s mother, Mary Westman, had been employed as an administrative assistant at Annunciation Church, the same campus where the shooting occurred.

In additional videos from the manifesto, Westman expressed that she either had cancer or viewed herself as “a cancer on the world.”

She also repeatedly wrote in Cyrillic script, “I am sick, I fall, and I die.” Another chilling entry read, “I am your nightmare. I am the harbinger of destruction.”

According to local officials, Westman had purchased all of her weapons legally. In a 20-minute video traced back to her account, she claimed that her father had given her $2,000 in financial support, which she then used to buy a firearm.

Authorities confirmed that police are examining the direct link between Westman and the deleted channel, according to The New York Post.

Meanwhile, the FBI has classified the case as “an act of domestic terrorism and hate crime targeting Catholics,” Reuters reported.

{Matzav.com}

The IDF launched a major air operation Thursday night against Houthi targets in Sanaa, Yemen, striking more than ten sites in the heart of the Iran-backed group’s stronghold. “The IDF is operating decisively against the Houthi terrorist regime, while simultaneously intensifying strikes against the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza, and will continue to act to remove any threat to the citizens of the State of Israel,” the army said in a statement. The IDF accused the Houthis of working under Iranian direction and funding since the outbreak of the war, destabilizing the region and disrupting global shipping lanes. Defense Minister Yisrael Katz issued an ominous warning: “As we warned the Houthis in Yemen: after the plague of darkness comes the plague of the firstborn. Whoever raises a hand against Israel—his hand will be cut off.” According to Arabic media, Israeli Air Force jets carried out precision strikes on multiple targets in the Houthi capital. An Israeli security source told Kan News the operation targeted a gathering of senior Houthi officials, who were believed to be assembled to watch a speech by the group’s leader, Abdul-Malik al-Houthi. Yemeni military sources told the Hezbollah-affiliated Al-Mayadeen network that the strikes caused no casualties among top officials, vowing that “the hands of the Yemeni people will yet reach the Zionist war criminals.” Israeli security officials, however, described the attack as a major rapid operation enabled by precise intelligence, hitting multiple sites within minutes. The results are still under assessment. The strikes followed a series of aerial threats from Yemen. Earlier Thursday, the Israeli Air Force intercepted two drones launched by the Houthis that triggered air-raid sirens in southern border communities, including Bnei Netzarim and Naveh, near the Egyptian frontier. “Following the hostile aircraft infiltration sirens that sounded a short while ago in the communities near the Gaza Strip, a UAV launched from Yemen was successfully intercepted by the IAF,” the military confirmed, noting there were no reports of injuries or damage. A second drone was downed about 90 minutes later before it reached Israeli territory. On Wednesday, air-raid sirens sounded across central Israel, including in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh, as the IDF intercepted a ballistic missile fired from Yemen — one of more than 70 missiles and 20 drones the Houthis have launched at Israel since the October 7 Hamas invasion ignited the war. The strikes marked the second major Israeli operation in Yemen this week. On Sunday, the IDF targeted military sites in both Sanaa and Hodeidah after the Houthis fired a cluster warhead missile at Israel, the first of its kind used against the Jewish state. The warhead split into 22 bomblets mid-air, scattering fragments near homes but causing no casualties. Israeli officials said the Houthis’ use of advanced Iranian weaponry underscores the growing regional stakes. With Hamas under fire in Gaza and Hezbollah engaged in cross-border clashes from Lebanon, Israel now faces a multi-front campaign that extends more than 1,200 miles south to Yemen. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)