The BBC has acknowledged errors in a recent broadcast after criticism erupted over the way it portrayed the Kindertransport, following a December 26 episode of its program The Repair Shop that failed to mention the Jewish identity of the children rescued in the operation or of the episode’s central figure.
The controversy stems from a segment focused on a damaged 19th-century cello once owned by theater producer Martin Landau, who escaped Nazi Germany for Britain at the age of 14 aboard a Kindertransport train. Nazi guards had smashed the instrument shortly before his departure, leaving it broken for decades until it was brought to the show for restoration.
Although the program devoted a substantial portion of the episode to the cello’s backstory and the wider historical setting of the Kindertransport, it never stated that Landau was Jewish or that the rescue effort was primarily designed to save Jewish children from Nazi persecution. The Kindertransport historically facilitated the evacuation of roughly 10,000 Jewish children from Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia between 1938 and 1939, with assistance from Jewish and humanitarian groups.
During the episode, British actress Helen Mirren introduced the cello to the restoration team. Luthier Becky Houghton carried out the repair, and the restored instrument was later played on screen by Jewish cellist Raphael Wallfisch. Despite these elements, viewers noted the absence of any explicit reference to the Jewish nature of the rescue operation.
According to The Jewish Chronicle, the word “Jew” was allegedly cut during editing from a line spoken by Mirren, which aired as, “…children were sent by the Kindertransport,” without further clarification.
After public criticism, the BBC added a correction to the episode’s iPlayer page, stating that “the Kindertransport was the organized evacuation of approximately 10,000 children, the majority of whom were Jewish.” Even so, as of early this week, the episode’s description on the broadcaster’s official website still did not mention Landau’s Jewish background or the Jewish focus of the Kindertransport.
This episode is the latest in a series of controversies involving the BBC. The broadcaster has drawn repeated criticism in recent years over what critics describe as anti-Israel bias, a charge that intensified following Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
In November 2023, the BBC issued an apology after incorrectly reporting that Israeli forces were deliberately targeting medical teams near the Shifa Hospital in Gaza. Earlier, the network wrongly suggested Israel was responsible for a deadly explosion at a Gaza hospital, later conceding that “it was false to speculate” after evidence showed the blast was caused by an Islamic Jihad rocket.
The corporation also faced scrutiny last year for featuring the son of a senior Hamas official as the narrator of its documentary Gaza: How to Survive a Warzone. In response to the backlash, the BBC admitted there were “serious flaws” in the program.
Most recently, the broadcaster announced that all staff will be required to undergo mandatory anti-discrimination training, starting with modules addressing antisemitism and Islamophobia.
{Matzav.com}
A woman was shot this evening in the West Gate apartment complex, Lakewood, NJ’s largest housing development, prompting a major emergency response from police and local volunteer organizations.
The woman was declared dead.
The shooting occurred at an apartment located on Hillside Boulevard in the West Gate neighborhood.
Details regarding the circumstances of the incident are being withheld as police conduct their investigation. Matzav was asked to withhold details out of respect for the family.
Askanim are working to ensure kavod hameis.
Lakewood police responded in force, with at least a dozen patrol cars converging on the scene within minutes.
Members of Hatzolah provided assistance as well, while Shomrim volunteers were also present.
Authorities cordoned off the immediate area as officers began an investigation, interviewing witnesses and collecting evidence. Hundreds of concerned residents gathered in and around Hillside Blvd.
{Matzav.com}
Rabbi Uri Lupolianski z”l, the renowned baal chessed, founder and longtime chairman of Yad Sarah, and former mayor of Yerushalayim, passed away late Wednesday night at Hadassah Ein Kerem Medical Center after a serious illness. He was 74.
The levayah will take place Thursday at 11:00 a.m., departing from his home in the Sanhedria HaMurchevet neighborhood of Yerushalayim, and proceeding to Har HaMenuchos for kevurah.
Rabbi Lupolianski was born in Haifa to his father, Rav Yaakov who immigrated from Poland on the eve of World War II, and to his mother, Mrs. Malka, of the Rosenblum family. In his youth, he learned at Yeshivas Torah Ore in Yerushalayim under Rav Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg zt”l, and later at Yeshivas HaNegev in Netivot.
The idea that would ultimately grow into Yad Sarah was born out of personal necessity. When Rabbi Lupolianski once needed to borrow medical equipment for his young son, he encountered the significant logistical difficulties involved. What began as a single small humidifier loaned to neighbors eventually developed into one of Israel’s largest volunteer-based chessed organizations, providing medical equipment and vital services to countless families across the country.
He was a close confidant of Rav Yosef Shalom Elyashiv zt”l and, in the later years of Rav Elazar Menachem Man Shach zt”l, played a central role for an extended period in coordinating and hosting meetings between Rav Shach and Rav Elyashiv at the offices of Yad Sarah.
Rabbi Lupolianski was among the leaders of Degel HaTorah and holds the distinction of being the only chareidi to have served as mayor of Yerushalayim. His tenure was marked by quiet dedication, humility, and an unwavering commitment to the city’s residents.
He is survived by his wife and their 12 children.
Yehi zichro boruch.
{Matzav.com}
In a surprising development, Israel’s Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara informed the Israeli High Court of Justice on Wednesday that it should cancel the interim order freezing nearly NIS 1 billion earmarked for chareidi educational institutions.
In a letter submitted to the court, the attorney general wrote that “the interim order freezing the transfer of additional funds to chareidi education should be canceled,” explaining that the issue can be examined within the framework of earlier petitions that are still pending before the court.
The move comes a week after the High Court temporarily accepted a petition opposing the transfer of the funds. At that time, Justice Yael Wilner issued an interim injunction halting the disbursement, effectively freezing state funding for chareidi education.
In her decision, Wilner wrote: “After reviewing the request for an interim order, the responses, and the petitioners’ reply, an interim order is hereby issued according to which no financial transfers shall be carried out pursuant to the decisions of the Finance Committee that are the subject of the petition, until a further decision is made.”
Despite the freeze, the opposition party Yesh Atid said it intends to seek additional relief, including a demand that chareidi teachers return funds that were already transferred before the interim order took effect.
The court’s original decision sparked sharp reactions across the chareidi political spectrum. Knesset Finance Committee Chairman Moshe Gafni, head of Degel HaTorah, accused the judiciary of waging “war on the chareidi public and Torah institutions,” claiming the court acted with unprecedented speed to disqualify funds that had been approved according to law.
The Shas party issued a blistering statement, calling the ruling “antisemitic harassment” and accusing the court of “cruelly running over the chareidi public,” from harming young children to undermining Torah education for tens of thousands of students.
Knesset member Moshe Arbel said the ruling exemplifies a system in which “a party that lost a parliamentary vote manages, within a single day, to overturn a Knesset decision through a judicial ruling that harms teachers’ salaries,” adding that such disputes should be settled at the ballot box.
United Torah Judaism chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf warned that the decision fuels societal division and deepens public mistrust in the legal system, describing the funding freeze as a direct blow to chareidi children and an extension of what he called longstanding budgetary discrimination.
MK Meir Porush also condemned the court, saying the judiciary is “at war against anything sacred” and vowed that no legal process would prevent the transmission of Torah education from one generation to the next.
The High Court has not yet ruled on the attorney general’s request to lift the interim injunction.
{Matzav.com}
A chilling emergency call made in the immediate aftermath of the deadly bus-ramming incident in Yerushalayim has come to light, capturing the chaos and fear at the scene just moments after the tragedy unfolded.
The recording, obtained by Matzav.com, documents the first contact between a civilian eyewitness and the emergency dispatch center of Magen David Adom, in the minutes following the incident in which 14-year-old Yosef Eisensthal z”l was killed during the protest against the draft law in Yerushalayim.
LISTEN:
https://matzav.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/dbe16150-ebee-11f0-94e1-97bff286a07d__d38.mpeg.wavIn the call, the shaken caller can be heard telling the dispatcher, “There are several injured here, the bus ran over several children… I don’t know what this is — I fled.” His voice reflects panic and confusion as he struggles to provide clear details.
The MDA dispatcher attempts to assess the situation and dispatch ambulances to the scene, repeatedly asking about the condition of the injured. However, the caller explains that he is unable to get closer. “I can’t see. I’m not approaching,” he says, underscoring the fear and disorder in the immediate aftermath of the ramming.
Additional voices heard on the recording confirm that multiple teenagers were struck by the bus, though at that stage the precise number of victims and the severity of their injuries remained unclear.
{Matzav.com}
Rav Avrohom Schindler zt”l was niftar on Tuesday in Lakewood, NJ, just shy of his 98th birthday, bringing to a close a life devoted entirely to Torah, talmidim, and unwavering avodas hakodesh.
For decades, Rav Schindler was known as a beloved and deeply respected rebbi, first at Yeshiva of Eastern Parkway and later at Yeshiva Ohr Hameir of New Rochelle (Peekskill). Generations of talmidim remember his warmth, clarity, and steady dedication, as well as the personal care he invested in each bochur who passed through his shiur.
An early talmid of Rav Yitzchok Hutner zt”l, Rav Schindler carried the mesorah of his rebbi throughout his life.
Rav Schindler resided in Crown Heights for much of his life, where he was a central pillar of the well-known Minyan HaKollel of Yeshivas Rabbeinu Chaim Berlin. That minyan, sustained by a small group of dedicated bnei Torah, continued functioning faithfully for many years, up until around the time Rav Schindler moved to Lakewood some 20 years ago.
In Lakewood, Rav Schindler continued to live a life of Torah and dignity, serving as a model of lifelong learning and yiras Shamayim. Even in advanced age, he remained deeply connected to Torah.
His levayah took place on Tuesday in Lakewood.
Rav Schindler is survived by his children and grandchildren, who continue his legacy of Torah and avodas Hashem.
The family is sitting shivah until Monday morning at 1187 Idalia Avenue in Lakewood, NJ>
Yehi zichro baruch.
{Matzav.com}[COMMUNICATED]
It’s midnight in the holy city of Yerushalayim, and a group of exalted and illustrious mekubalim stream in, one by one, into the Beis Medrash overlooking the Makom HaMikdash—the site of our destroyed Beis HaMikdash—where they will spend the night immersed in holiness.
Each and every one of these carefully selected Yidden has already spent years in the study of the Zohar and the writings of the Arizal and his talmidim. Their faces radiate holiness and holy purpose, and they exude humility and piety.
They are the Avreichim of Kollel Kabbalah B’Chatzos—a project of Torah-24 which is founded and led by HaGaon Rav Avrohom Eisen, shlit”a, Pozna Rov, a confidant of gedolei Yisroel.
The night begins at midnight, when the avreichim tearfully and mournfully recite Tikkun Chatzos, along with other tefillos, lamenting what has been lost, and storming the Heavens for its restoration.
Following this, they will delve into the deepest secrets of the hidden Torah—until the sun comes up over Yerushalayim. For the entire night, hour after hour, they chase sleep away, and remain immersed into the Kabbalah that has been handed down to us by the most exalted tzaddikim that Klal Yisroel possessed.
Gedolei Yisroel who have become aware of the Kollel Kabbalah B’Chatzos phenomenon have expressed awe and admiration for these illustrious men.
Hagaon HaMekubal Rav Abish Zenwirth, who has attested that he knows these men up close, has attested that “they are humble tzaddikim who prepare themselves for their holy nights by immersing in the mikveh, and study the secrets of Torah all night amid ahavas Hashem and deep fear of Heaven.”
In his letter of endorsement for Kollel Kabbalah B’Chatzos, Rav Zenwirth writes: “Fortunate are all those who take part in this great and holy endeavor. They will surely merit all the Heavenly blessings and illuminations. They will be pursued by goodness and kindness all their lives, and in their merit we will soon hear the great blast of the shofar of Mashiach. Amen.”
Partner in this incredible and holy endeavor today, and be joined with these holy mekubalim of Yerushalayim who will daven for you and your family to indeed merit the many Heavenly blessings that come to those who spend their nights immersed in Torah.
