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Dear Matzav Inbox,

There was a time when a shtreimel was a symbol of dignity and inherited mesorah. It sat on a head quietly, without screaming for attention, without demanding applause, without turning its wearer into a walking spectacle. That time, apparently, has passed.

Somewhere along the line, subtlety was declared obsolete, and excess crowned itself king—quite literally.

Shtreimels are getting taller, wider, and more absurd by the year. What once rested respectfully atop a head now looms overhead like an architectural project gone rogue. It is no longer headwear. It is a statement piece. And the statement is deeply embarrassing. It’s a busha. And I say that as the wearer of a shtreimel – a normal one.

Do the wearers realize how clownish they look? Or is that awareness drowned out by the applause of a society that has confused ostentation with chashivus?

Let us stop pretending this is about mesorah. Our grandfathers did not parade around with fur towers balanced precariously above their ears. They did not need height to signal worth. Their dignity came from who they were, not from how much fur they could stack on their skulls. The shtreimel was never meant to compete with skyscrapers.

And yet, here we are, locked in a silent but vicious arms race: taller than his, wider than theirs. A grotesque one-upmanship that masquerades as chassidishe refinement. If the goal is to look ridiculous, mission accomplished. If the goal is to honor mesorah, we have veered wildly off course.

Worse still is the money. The staggering sums being poured into these monstrosities would make even the most hardened fundraiser blush. Thousands of dollars—sometimes more—spent not on chinuch, not on helping struggling families, not on communal needs, but on looking like an overgrown cartoon character. And for what? To stand out in a crowd that should be running in the opposite direction?

We live in a generation crushed by tuition, suffocated by housing costs, strangled by simcha expenses. Families are drowning quietly, cutting corners, juggling debts, pretending everything is fine. And in the middle of this, we normalize the idea that a man must place an ever-expanding fur monument on his head to be taken seriously.

What message does this send to our children? That image matters more than substance? That dignity is measured in inches? That Torah values are best expressed through theatrical excess?

This is not hiddur mitzvah. This is vanity dressed up as piety. This is insecurity wrapped in sable. This is a costume contest that no one had the courage to shut down before it spiraled into parody.

And yes, someone needs to say it plainly: It looks ridiculous. It invites mockery. It cheapens what was once noble. It turns something meaningful into a joke — and we are the punchline.

Yiddishkeit has survived because our zeides and bubbes knew when to hold firm and when to rein things in. Not every escalation is growth. Not every “more” is better. Sometimes, more is just more….and sometimes more is grotesque.

It is long past time to ask ourselves an uncomfortable question: Are we honoring our minhagim or are we inflating them until they collapse under their own weight?

Because if we continue down this path, the only thing that will keep growing faster than the shtreimels themselves is the embarrassment they bring upon us.

And let us be brutally honest about the final, uncomfortable truth: No one looks at these towering shtreimels and thinks “yiras Shamayim.” They think excess. They think insecurity. They think parody. What was once meant to humble a man before the Eibishter now elevates his ego several inches above everyone else in the room. We have taken an article of kedusha and turned it into a grotesque measuring stick of status, where taller means “more,” and “more” means “better.” That is not avodas Hashem. That is theater. And if we do not stop congratulating ourselves for it, we will wake up one day and realize that in our frantic race to look holier, we have succeeded only in making ourselves look foolish—before the world, before our children, and worst of all, before the Ribbono Shel Olam Himself.

Running for Cover

New York

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{Matzav.com}

Saudi Arabia on Thursday formally called on Emirati-backed separatists in Yemen to withdraw from two governorates their forces now control in the country, a move that threatens sparking a confrontation within a fragile coalition battling the Houthi rebels. The statement from Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry appeared aimed at putting public pressure on the Southern Transitional Council, a […]

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The U.S. Supreme Court is nearing a decision that could eliminate race-based congressional districts.

Turkish authorities detained 115 suspected Islamic State members, saying the group was planning attacks targeting Christmas and New Year celebrations across the country.

ELIMINATED: IDF and ISA kill senior Iranian Quds Force terrorist Hussein Mahmoud Marshad al-Jawhari in southern Lebanon. Israel says he planned Iran-backed attacks from Syria and Lebanon under the IRGC’s direction.

RISHON LEZION MAN CHARGED WITH ACTING ON BEHALF OF IRANIAN INTELLIGENCE * A 40-year-old resident of Rishon LeZion has been charged on suspicion of acting on behalf of Iranian intelligence. * Prosecutors say he filmed near the home of former PM Naftali Bennett in Ra’anana as part of the activity. * An indictment has been […]

“Ma, this Santa is a Yid!” Watch as HaRav Moshe Weinberger, the Mora D’asra of Aish Kodesh in Woodmere, recounts the time he met Santa Claus.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un inspected construction at the site of a new 8,700-ton nuclear-powered strategic guided-missile submarine.

This year’s flu season is shaping up to be one of the most punishing in recent memory, with hospitalizations climbing sharply and the CDC estimating 4.6 million flu cases nationwide so far—even as peak season is still weeks away. Health officials say the surge is being driven by an unusually aggressive strain of influenza A, […]

IDF soldiers from Duvdevan and the Ephraim Brigade arrested the members of a terror cell planning an imminent terror attack against Israeli targets, the IDF spokesperson announced on Thursday morning The arrests were made overnight Wednesday in the village of Jayyus, near Qalqilya, during a targeted counterterrorism mission in several Palestinian villages. The arrest of […]

An emotional l’chaim gathering was held this week in the home of Rav Yitzchak Zilberstein, marking the publication of his new sefer Eshmera Shabbos. In the course of his divrei chizuk, Rav Zilberstein addressed the grave threats facing Klal Yisroel, including those posed by Iran, declaring that the Jewish people possess their own powerful “bombs” — the sefarim of Torah written through toil and mesirus nefesh.

The modest gathering, attended by close talmidim and associates, was held in honor of the appearance of the first volume of Eshmera Shabbos, published by the Zikaron Avigdor Institute. The sefer is the opening volume of a new series of chiddushei Torah by Rav Zilberstein on Hilchos Shabbos, based on Shulchan Aruch and Mishnah Berurah cheilek gimmel.

After authoring dozens of volumes of Chashukei Chemed over many decades, spanning the entire Shas from Berachos through Niddah, Rav Zilberstein began work over the past two years on this new series devoted specifically to the laws of Shabbos. The work follows the well-known derech of Rav Zilberstein, plumbing the depths of each halachic sugya and extracting clear psakim on contemporary and practical questions, suitable both for lomdei Torah in the beis medrash and for discussion at the Shabbos table.

The roots of Eshmera Shabbos go back to the days immediately following the outbreak of the Iron Swords war, after the horrific massacre of Simchas Torah תשפ״ד. Already during the hakafos, Rav Zilberstein ascended the bimah by the Aron Kodesh and cited the words of the Ibn Ezra in the piyut Ki Eshmera Shabbos — Keil Yishmereini, explaining that one who strengthens himself in the learning and observance of Hilchos Shabbos is guaranteed special Heavenly protection.

Only days later, it became apparent that Shabbos-observant kibbutzim were spared from the terrible slaughter. On Isru Chag Sukkos תשפ״ד, Rav Zilberstein published a public letter titled “Eis Tzarah Hi L’Yaakov U’Mimenah Yivashea”, calling upon every Jew to learn two halachos of Shabbos daily. He concluded with a striking promise that whoever would do so would be protected from harm.

That letter reverberated throughout the Olam HaTorah, leading to the opening of countless shiurim in Hilchos Shabbos. Thousands took upon themselves daily study, with many reporting yeshuos beyond the natural order.

Rav Zilberstein himself fulfilled his own words. He instructed the avreichim of Kollel Beis Dovid in Cholon, which he heads, to overhaul their learning program and shift from Maseches Zeraim to an in-depth focus on Shulchan Aruch and Mishnah Berurah, cheilek gimmel. Together with the kollel, Rav Zilberstein began learning Hilchos Shabbos and simultaneously writing the new sefer.

A unique feature of the Eshmera Shabbos series is the inclusion, for the first time, of previously unpublished manuscripts and handwritten notes that Rav Zilberstein composed for himself over many years on the Mishnah Berurah. After careful editing and review by Rav Zilberstein, these writings have now been brought to print.

The project, including the substantial financial investment required, was undertaken by Rav Zilberstein’s close confidant and trusted associate, Rav Mordechai Porges, who established the Zikaron Avigdor Institute in memory of his father. A team of talmidei chachamim served as editors, overseeing the work with great diligence.

After two years of intense labor, the first volume of Eshmera Shabbos has now emerged from the press, covering simanim רמ״ב through רס״ט. The volume is filled with timely and penetrating halachic discussions drawn from Rav Zilberstein’s vast storehouse of Torah, intended to illuminate the laws of Shabbos for all who learn them.

The l’chaim opened as Rav Zilberstein received the freshly printed sefarim directly from the press. With visible emotion, he recited the brachah of Shehecheyanu with Shem U’Malchus over the new sefer.

Rav Zilberstein delivered stirring divrei chizuk.

“I want to tell you something,” he said. “The Jewish people need tremendous rachamim. We are bnei yeshivos and we do not go to the army, because this is written in the Chumash. When HaKadosh Baruch Hu commanded the conquest of Eretz Yisroel, one shevet did not go — Shevet Levi — because although an army is necessary, Shevet Levi remained to sit and learn Torah. As the Rambam explains… today as well, baruch Hashem, we have bnei yeshivos, and they also do not go to the army.”

He then spoke sharply about Israel’s enemies. “Now these reshaim arurim arise, descendants of Haman ha’rasha, making ‘bombs’ to destroy Medinas Yisroel. What do you want from us? What do you have to do with Eretz Yisroel? You don’t even sit on our border. What do you want, rasha merusha? These bombs he makes…”

Rav Zilberstein emphasized that Torah labor itself is a form of מלחמה. “So we bnei yeshivos do not go to the army, but we must fight. We fight with amal and zeiah to write sefarim. We sweat — truly sweat. In our kollel there are fifty avreichim; there is not one who speaks devarim beteilim.”

“This,” he said, referring to the new sefer, “is our war with Iran. It was written with tremendous effort — two full years of learning. This is our battle. We do not go to the army, but we must do what was done in the days of the nevi’im. By us there is no idle talk — only ‘Ki eshmera Shabbos, Keil yishmereini.’”

He continued: “Those who do not go to the army must remember — we are protecting Am Yisroel. We must learn with strength. Baruch Hashem, by us no one speaks during learning. We only daven for all those who are there in the army.”

Rav Zilberstein concluded with words that deeply moved those present. “We want to protect all our brothers. Lomdei Torah protect, and HaKadosh Baruch Hu will help us see yeshuos for all of Klal Yisroel. Since he has declared that he wants to destroy the nation, we too declare: we will publish sefarim. Today he spoke in Iran about terrible bombs — we too have bombs. Sefarim. That too is a bomb. And our bomb will be bigger than his bomb.”

{Matzav.com}

The military police dragged a feverish yeshivah bochur from his sickbed at his home in Be’er Sheva for the crime of “draft dodging.” The bochur, 20, is a talmid of the Kisei Rachamim yeshiva. The yeshiva says that the talmid had been feeling unwell for the past few days and his parents picked him up […]

A Powerball ticket sold in Arkansas won Wednesday night’s $1.82 billion jackpot, the second-largest in lottery history, with winning numbers 4, 25, 31, 52, 59 and Powerball 19; the winner can choose between the full prize paid over 29 years or a $834.9 million lump sum, beating odds of just 1 in 292,201,338, with the […]

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar on Wednesday slammed Western countries that issued a joint statement earlier in the day condemning Israel’s approval of 19 new yishuvim in Yehuda and Shomron. The statement, claiming that Israel’s move “not only violates international law but also risks fueling instability,” was issued by the UK, Canada, France, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, […]

A senior American Jewish activist claims that Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu privately acknowledged that appointing Itamar Ben Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich to senior cabinet posts was a mistake and pledged to correct it, according to revelations published in a newly released book in the United States.

The claim was made by Abraham Foxman, the longtime former head of the Anti-Defamation League, who says the admission was made during a closed-door meeting with Netanyahu in the Prime Minister’s Office in Yerushalayim in the summer of 2023. Foxman’s account appears in a new American publication that includes a detailed transcript of their conversation.

The account is published in A Shattered World: Jews and Israel After October 7, recently released in the United States by Purdue University Press. One chapter of the book is based on an extensive interview conducted last spring with Foxman by Professor Gilbert Kahn of Kean University in New Jersey.

According to Foxman, he confronted Netanyahu during the meeting over the decision to appoint Itamar Ben Gvir as minister of national security and Bezalel Smotrich as finance minister. Foxman said he warned that the appointments were causing serious damage to Israel’s image internationally and questioned why Netanyahu chose to give the two such influential portfolios rather than limiting them to less prominent roles.

Foxman claims Netanyahu agreed with the criticism, telling him that the appointments were a mistake and that he intended “to fix” the situation. According to Foxman, the prime minister repeated this acknowledgment more than once during the roughly 90-minute meeting.

Foxman also said that Ron Dermer, who at the time served as minister for strategic affairs and is considered one of Netanyahu’s closest advisers, was present for part of the discussion.

Despite the alleged private remarks, Netanyahu has never publicly expressed regret over the appointments and has continued to defend both ministers, even amid sharp criticism from close allies of Israel. Ben Gvir has drawn repeated condemnation from U.S. officials, particularly over his policies and statements regarding Judea and Samaria, while Smotrich has faced international backlash for his positions on the Palestinian Authority and broader diplomatic issues.

Foxman, who led the ADL for 27 years and now heads the Center for the Study of Antisemitism at the Jewish Heritage Museum, said he has yet to see any follow-through on Netanyahu’s pledge. “The quotes are accurate,” he said. “I am still waiting for the correction.”

The Prime Minister’s Office declined to comment on the report.

{Matzav.com}

Former Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro is undergoing double hernia surgery on Thursday at a hospital in the country’s capital, his family said. Bolsonaro, who has been hospitalized since Wednesday, has been serving a 27-year prison sentence since November for an attempted coup. He was granted court permission to leave prison after federal police doctors confirmed […]

A group of Western governments issued a joint declaration on Wednesday condemning Israel’s approval of additional communities in Judea and Samaria, warning that the move could heighten regional tensions and undermine diplomatic efforts.

The statement, signed by Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Iceland, Ireland, Japan, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, and the United Kingdom, characterized the decision as a unilateral step. It asserted that such actions “not only violate international law but also risk fueling instability.”

According to the signatories, the move could weaken “the implementation of the Comprehensive Plan for Gaza amid efforts to progress to phase 2” and damage “prospects for long term peace and security across the region.” The countries reiterated their opposition “to any form of annexation and to the expansion of settlement policies,” specifically citing “the approval of the E1 settlement and thousands of new housing units.”

The statement further urged Israel “to reverse this decision, as well as the expansion of settlements,” referencing UN Security Council Resolution 2334. It also voiced backing for “Palestinians’ right of self-determination” and reaffirmed an “unwavering commitment to a comprehensive, just and lasting peace based on the Two-State solution,” concluding that “there is no alternative to a negotiated two-state solution.”

Responding sharply, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar rejected the criticism, saying, “Israel strongly rejects the statement issued by foreign countries regarding the Cabinet decision on settlements in Judea and Samaria.”

Sa’ar argued that the objections amounted to unfair treatment of Jews, declaring, “Foreign governments will not restrict the right of Jews to live in the Land of Israel, and any such call is morally wrong and discriminatory against Jews.”

He explained that the government’s move was driven in part by security considerations, stating, “The Cabinet decision to establish 11 new settlements and to formalize eight additional settlements is intended, among other things, to help address the security threats Israel is facing. All of the settlements are located in Area C and are situated on state land.”

Addressing the legal dimension, Sa’ar said, “Israel acts in accordance with International Law. The incorporation of the 1917 Balfour Declaration into the Mandate was explicitly agreed upon at the San Remo Conference in 1920. According to the Mandate, the right of the Jewish people to establish its national home extends over the entire territory of ‘Mandatory Palestine.’ These rights were preserved in Article 80 of the Charter of the United Nations.”

He concluded by criticizing what he described as selective outrage, adding, “In the aforementioned statement, the blatant silence of foreign states regarding the Palestinian Authority’s illegal construction in Area C is extremely striking.”

{Matzav.com}

A beautiful handwritten and autographed letter in Yiddish by the great gaon Rabbi Meir Shapiro, Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivas Chachmei Lublin and one of the great rabbanim of Poland in the pre-war period.

Australian authorities are probing a possible hate-related incident after a vehicle displaying a message marking Chanukah was deliberately burned in Melbourne, prompting concern within the local Jewish community.

Victoria Police said the blaze occurred in the early hours of Thursday in St Kilda East, describing the incident as a “suspicious fire.” The vehicle was parked in the driveway of a private residence at the time.

Images broadcast by national network ABC showed the empty car badly damaged by flames, with a “Happy Chanukah” sign still visible on its roof. As a precaution, residents of the home were evacuated while emergency services responded.

Police said progress has been made in the investigation. “Detectives have identified a person who may be able to assist with their investigation and they are actively searching for and making enquiries into their whereabouts,” authorities said.

The incident comes amid heightened tension following a deadly attack earlier this month. In response to a December 14 mass shooting at a Chanukah celebration on Bondi Beach that left 15 people dead, Australian officials have moved to strengthen legislation and penalties targeting hate crimes.

Local Jewish leaders say the Melbourne fire fits a troubling pattern. Rabbi Effy Block of Chabad of St Kilda said the act was unmistakably motivated by antisemitism.

“Thank God no people were harmed,” said Rabbi Effy Block.

“But this is a continuing escalation, where we see these events happening again and again,” he added.

“My Jewish community in St Kilda and Melbourne do not feel safe in their own homes and country.”

{Matzav.com}