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Israeli authorities are investigating whether a service vehicle that struck an Israir aircraft at a London airport before takeoff may have been part of a deliberate act with a nationalist motive. The incident forced the cancellation of a flight to Tel Aviv and marked the third time in less than a year that an Israir plane has been hit by an airport service vehicle in London.

The aircraft was preparing to depart for Tel Aviv on Friday when a ground service vehicle collided with it, requiring an inspection to assess the damage. Following the investigation, officials determined that the aircraft could not operate the flight, and the departure was canceled.

The string of similar incidents has raised concerns within Israel’s aviation industry. Senior aviation officials have questioned whether the repeated collisions could be intentional, prompting Israeli authorities to raise the matter with aviation officials in London and the United Kingdom while considering additional steps with local authorities.

The canceled flight caused significant disruption for passengers. Some travelers were accommodated in hotels, while others were rebooked on alternate flights later that day.

Passengers who observe Shabbos were unable to travel before sunset on Friday and remained in London until Sunday, when they returned to Israel on another flight.

According to passengers, they remained seated inside the aircraft for approximately an hour without air conditioning. The aircraft was then shut down, and they waited for another hour before being informed that the flight had been canceled.

{Matzav.com}

Former Israeli Supreme Court President Aharon Barak made a series of surprising remarks during a recent interview with Rav Ido Weber-Erlich, expressing support for Torah study as a fundamental value, commenting on the arrests of bnei yeshiva, reflecting on past judicial decisions, and addressing the Netanyahu trial.

During the conversation, Rav Weber asked Barak about the recently enacted law declaring Torah study to be a supreme value of the Jewish people.

“Yes,” Barak replied. “There is no problem.”

Rav Weber then raised the issue of the arrests of yeshiva bochurim, saying, “These chareidim really are suffering. A yeshiva bochur is walking down the street, and suddenly they arrest him.”

Barak did not dispute the characterization and continued the discussion.

The conversation then turned to Barak’s judicial career. Asked whether there were rulings he regretted, Barak answered without hesitation.

“Of course.”

When asked for an example, he responded, “Doesn’t a person make mistakes?” However, he declined to identify any specific ruling.

“I need to know myself that I made a mistake. Other people don’t need to hear it.”

Barak noted that he authored approximately 34,000 judicial decisions during his career.

“Do you know how many rulings I issued in my lifetime? Thirty-four thousand. Small and large. Of course there are mistakes.”

Asked whether any of those mistakes related to issues affecting Judaism and the chareidi community, Barak pointed to the Tal Law.

“Specifically there, with the Tal Law, I said that it served a proper purpose and was consistent with the values of the State of Israel.”

When Rav Weber asked why the Tal Law was ultimately struck down, Barak disputed that characterization.

“We didn’t cancel it. I didn’t cancel it. I rejected the petition.”

According to Barak, the law ultimately failed because the military was unable to implement it effectively.

“Because the army was not prepared to manage it. Therefore, all the arrangements contained in the Tal Law were never realized.”

When asked whether that meant the collapse of the arrangement was not the fault of the chareidim, and whether that marked the beginning of today’s draft crisis, Barak replied: “That’s where it began.”

The interview concluded with questions about President Bibi Netanyahu’s ongoing criminal trial and reports that the judges had suggested prosecutors reconsider the bribery charge.

Barak said he was unfamiliar with the matter.

“I don’t know. I’m not familiar with it. If they said that, they know what they are relying on.”

Asked whether the prosecution should heed the judges’ comments, Barak responded:

“The judges are not supposed to say that, and the prosecution should take it into consideration. Yes, it should take it into consideration.”

During the Nine Days, when Klal Yisroel mourns the destruction of the Bais Hamikdash, Rav Ovadia Yosef zt”l strongly urged people to maintain personal hygiene and kavod habriyos, criticizing what he viewed as unnecessary stringencies. In one of his well-known derashos, he explained that the basic halachah does not prohibit bathing during the Nine Days, emphasizing the distinction between accepted minhagim and the strict letter of the law.

According to the enactment of Chazal, the prohibition against bathing applies only on Tishah B’Av itself. Over the generations, however, early authorities adopted the custom of refraining from bathing during the days leading up to the fast.

Among Sefardim, the accepted custom is to refrain from bathing in hot water only during the week in which Tishah B’Av falls. By contrast, among Ashkenazim, where the climate was historically cooler and people perspired less, the custom developed to avoid bathing throughout the entire Nine Days, even in cold water.

In his derashah, Rav Ovadia sharply criticized excessive stringencies that, in his view, resulted in unpleasant body odor and caused discomfort to others.

“Go to Bnei Brak and you’ll see—they don’t bathe. There’s sweat there… A person sits next to someone else—and with all due respect—he doesn’t smell good. Did the Torah say to do that? That’s not respect for other people. Someone sits next to him and suffers.”

Rav Ovadia stressed that, according to the minhag of Sefardim, bathing remains permissible even after Rosh Chodesh Av.

“We have the custom to bathe even after Rosh Chodesh Av. Our Chachamim never prohibited bathing. They prohibited it only on Tishah B’Av.”

He continued, “For our Sefardim, even hot water is permitted. Let them keep their own stringencies… They get upset; they don’t want to be lenient.”

Addressing the Ashkenazi minhag, Rav Ovadia related that he had once sought to permit bathing in cold water for laborers who work hard and perspire heavily, but encountered strong opposition.

“Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach, alav hashalom, heard that I was being lenient regarding their customs and became very upset. I was afraid—I didn’t want to get involved with the Ashkenazim.”

The posek hador did not mince words when speaking about those who adopt stringencies where the Torah permits leniency, particularly when those chumros come at the expense of others.

“Someone who is machmir about this is a donkey. That’s what I call him—a donkey. He’s not acting like a human being. Why make stringencies against the Torah? What for? If the Torah permits it, do you want to be a big shot and be stricter than the Torah? What do you want? Everything has to be done with sound judgment and common sense… Someone who is machmir, as I said, is a donkey.”

Rav Ovadia concluded that people should follow the minhagim of their forefathers and bathe in accordance with those traditions. He added that women preparing for tevilah, as well as those who customarily immerse for taharah, may bathe and immerse as usual throughout the Nine Days. Only on Tishah B’Av itself does the prohibition on bathing fully apply.

Dear Matzav Inbox,

I don’t know if I’m the only one who’s bothered by this, but every year it gets worse, and this year I finally couldn’t stay quiet.

What in the world has happened to Tisha B’Av?

We all talk about the churban. We’re supposed to cry over the golus. We lament how far we’ve fallen. But then comes Tisha B’Av, and what do so many people spend the day doing? Sitting in front of a screen watching movie after movie after movie.

Seriously? That’s how we’re mourning the Beis Hamikdash?

People will tell you, “They’re inspirational.” So what?

Let’s be honest: Most of these videos have absolutely nothing to do with the churban. Nothing to do with golus. Nothing to do with Kinnos. Nothing to do with why this day even exists. They’re emotional stories, biographies, historical dramas, or productions with a Jewish message. Nice? Maybe. Appropriate for Tisha B’Av? Since when?

We’ve reached the point where people actually look forward to Tisha B’Av because of the movie lineup.

Read that sentence again.

Isn’t that terrifying?

The day we’re supposed to be mourning the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash has become the day people ask, “Which films are coming out this year?”

Something is very wrong.

I don’t understand the logic. On Tisha B’Av we can’t learn regular Torah because Torah brings simchah. We accept that. We put our seforim away except for the parts we’re allowed to learn.

But somehow sitting in front of a giant screen for hours is perfectly fine? How did we get here?

And please don’t tell me, “It’s better than wasting time.” That’s not the point.

The point is that Tisha B’Av isn’t supposed to entertain us. Even meaningful entertainment is still entertainment. The whole purpose of the day is to sit with the pain. To feel the emptiness. To think about what we lost and why we’re still in golus. If we spend the entire day watching productions, when exactly are we supposed to feel the aveilus?

And that’s before getting into another issue. Some of these productions come from places whose hashkafos are, at the very least, debatable. Have they been reviewed and approved by rabbinic authorities? I know for a fact that 90% of them have not. Who is taking achrayus for what’s shown?

Even the ones that are completely fine still don’t belong on the saddest day of the year if they have nothing to do with the churban.

We’re becoming a generation that can’t sit quietly for even one day.

Everything has to be packaged. Produced. Filmed. Projected onto a giant screen.

Are we really incapable of spending Tisha B’Av with an Eicha, a Kinnos, a meaningful conversation, or simply sitting and thinking?

What are we teaching our children? That the highlight of Tisha B’Av is the feature presentation? Where does this end?

We already have advertisements months in advance. Trailers. Premieres.

Before you know it, people will be voting for their favorite Tisha B’Av film. Maybe we’ll even have Jewish Oscars for “Best Tisha B’Av Movie.” I wonder who’s gonna win “Best Actor.” I wonder if he’ll accept his award while wearing his Tisha B’Av shoes.

It sounds ridiculous.

Years ago, what we’re doing today would also have sounded ridiculous.

I know that some people think that others feel inspired by these films. But good intentions don’t automatically make something appropriate.

Maybe it’s time for all of us to ask a very uncomfortable question: Are these productions helping us mourn the churban or are they helping us avoid mourning the churban?

Those are two very different things.

We’re living in a generation drowning in distractions. Must Tisha B’Av become another one?

It’s a sick world when we can spend hours watching movies on the very day we are supposed to be sitting on the floor crying over the destruction of the Beis Hamikdash.

Maybe instead of asking what new movie is coming out this Tisha B’Av, we should be asking why we’re still in golus. That question is infinitely more important.

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