A letter of clarification has been issued by Dayan Rav Yisroel Marmarush, following the publication of a recent psak halacha opposing Israel’s proposed draft law. The dayan stressed that anything publicized in his name is subject entirely to the ruling and guidance of the Gedolei Yisroel.
The clarification came hours after a psak signed by several prominent poskimwas published. That psak stated that “even if, by doing so, many yeshiva students who are currently learning will be saved from being drafted, one may not push aside one soul for another.”
Signatories on the ruling included HaRav Moshe Sternbuch, HaRav Nosson Kopshitz, HaRav Yisroel Marmarush, HaRav Avrohom Pozen, and HaRav Moshe Mordechai Karp and HaRav Amram Fried.
In his clarification letter released Thursday evening, Rav Marmarush, who serves as rav of Kehillas Chaneichei HaYeshivos in Bnei Brak’s Shechunas Gimmel, wrote that it is important to state unequivocally that under the current circumstances, “the decision rests solely in the hands of the Gedolei Yisroel shlita.”
Additionally, HaRav Eliezer Cohen, confidant and gabbai of HaRav Amram Fried, also issued a statement Thursday night clarifying that Rav Fried’s signature did not appear on the version of the letter that was circulated publicly, and that the content had been taken out of context.
{Matzav.com}
Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani took aim at Eric Adams on Thursday, blasting the outgoing mayor for decisions made during his final months in office. He said it was “no surprise” that Adams was using his remaining time “to cement a legacy of dysfunction and inconsistency.”
Speaking to reporters during a visit with Pre-K students at the Friends of Crown Heights Education Center in Flatbush, Mamdani voiced strong opposition to Adams’ move to designate the Elizabeth Street Garden as official city parkland. The decision effectively halts a long-debated plan to develop affordable senior housing on the site—something Mamdani said symbolized City Hall’s failure to address real needs. “What New Yorkers are looking forward to is a City Hall where they can expect taking on these crises as opposed to creating them themselves,” he remarked.
Reports have also surfaced that Adams intends to appoint several landlord-friendly members to the Rent Guidelines Board before leaving office, potentially jeopardizing Mamdani’s pledge to freeze rent for residents in rent-stabilized apartments. The move is being interpreted as a last-minute challenge to the mayor-elect’s progressive housing agenda.
Despite his sharp criticism, Mamdani acknowledged that the outgoing administration has been cooperative as the transition begins. “I will say that while I vehemently disagree with a number of the decisions that he’s taken, his administration has also been open in the transition work that we are doing,” Mamdani said. He added that he looks forward to meeting with Adams upon the mayor’s return from Israel to discuss the path forward.
{Matzav.com}
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani’s proposal to replace police officers with social workers on certain 911 calls may face serious challenges — especially since the very pilot program it’s based on has already been found deeply flawed.
The initiative, known as the Behavioral Health Emergency Assistance Response Division, or B-HEARD, has been running since 2021 in select parts of the city. But according to a May report from the city comptroller, more than 60% of the mental health-related calls reviewed were ruled “ineligible” for B-HEARD intervention.
Adding to the concerns, the audit found that 35% of calls that were considered eligible never received any response from the program, with the Mayor’s Office of Community Mental Health unable to explain why. The office, which oversees B-HEARD, does not currently track the reasons for these lapses.
Mamdani intends to fold B-HEARD into a much larger $1.1 billion agency he’s calling the Department of Community Safety (DCS). His campaign materials describe the new department as one that will “fill the gaps of our programs and services” and operate with the mission to “prevent violence before it happens by taking a public health approach to safety.”
But the comptroller’s detailed findings raise doubts about whether that vision can realistically succeed. “Of the 96,291 mental health calls from within the pilot areas and hours of operation between FY22-24, 59,178 calls (over 60%) were considered ‘ineligible’ for a B-HEARD response because calls were considered potentially dangerous, were ineligible because a mental health professional was already at the scene, or were unable to be triaged because FDNY EMS did not take the call or all necessary information could not be collected about the person in distress,” the report stated.
The release added, “Some calls deemed ineligible for B-HEARD might have been eligible calls.” It went on to say that “of the remaining 37,113 calls assessed as eligible for a B-HEARD response, 24,071 (65%) resulted in 911 dispatching a B-HEARD team, but over 13,000 calls did not result in a dispatched B-HEARD team.”
Currently, the B-HEARD program fields just 18 teams covering parts of the Bronx, Upper Manhattan, central Brooklyn, and northwest Queens. Experts say expanding it citywide — as Mamdani envisions — would require an enormous increase in personnel and funding.
Richard Aborn, president of the Citizens Crime Commission of New York City, told the New York Post that success will depend entirely on execution. “The devil is in the details, and here the detail is implementation,” he said. “The fact that the program is not reaching people does not tell me it’s unsuccessful; that is a matter of resources.”
Still, Aborn cautioned that the plan raises critical questions about when it’s appropriate to send social workers rather than police. “But there are fundamental questions,” he said, acknowledging that some 911 calls can quickly turn dangerous.
Political strategist Hank Sheinkopf was far more blunt. “Exactly what New York doesn’t need: another government agency with an unmanageable bureaucracy,” he told the paper. “Domestic dispute calls can get violent,” he warned. “That’s the time when you need a social worker? He must be kidding.”
{Matzav.com}
