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Emergency responders treated and evacuated 23 participants from the hilulah of Rashbi in Meron. In a separate incident, a 15-year-old bochur was moderately injured after being burned in a medurah in Arad.

The simchas Lag BaOmer continued without any major incidents, despite the heightened security restrictions in place this year.

Emergency teams stationed at the various hadlakos in Meron and Yerushalayim reported only a limited number of injuries, the overwhelming majority of them minor, including fainting and light trauma.

According to official figures, as mentioned, Magen David Adom teams on site in Meron provided treatment and transported 23 individuals to hospitals. Among them was a man in his 50s in moderate condition with a head injury, while the remaining 22 were listed in light condition, suffering from weakness, fainting, or minor injuries. Additional MDA teams treated another 39 participants at the scene who did not require hospital transport.

In Yerushalayim, at the central hadlakah led by the mashpia Rav Elimelech Biderman on Rechov Shefa Chaim, Hatzalah reported that approximately 20 participants received assistance at a medical station set up on site.

Leizer Heiman, deputy CEO and head of volunteers and operations at Hatzalah, said, “With chasdei Hashem, the security operation concluded just moments ago without any unusual incidents. I would like to thank the Deputy Mayor of Yerushalayim Yitzchak Meir Brim and the entire dedicated Activer team for their cooperation for the benefit of the public.”

Gilad Solomon, deputy CEO and head of operations, added, “After many days of preparation and extensive readiness for the security operation, it can be concluded that aside from a number of minor injury cases, the event passed without unusual incidents.”

In addition to the events in Meron and Yerushalayim, a more serious incident occurred in Arad, where MDA paramedics treated and evacuated a 15-year-old bochur to Soroka Medical Center in moderate condition after he sustained second-degree burns over approximately 18% of his body from a medurah of Lag BaOmer.

This year, due to the complex matzav and the strict restrictions imposed by the security forces and Pikud HaOref, the usual masses were not able to ascend to the tziyun of Rashbi in Meron as in past years. According to the approved misgeres, three official hadlakos were held to preserve the mesorah — the central hadlakah of the Boyaner Rebbe in Meron, the hadlakah of Edot HaMizrach led by Rav Shlomo Amar, and the hadlakah of the dati leumi tzibbur led by Rav Shmuel Eliyahu.

At the same time, major maamadim of hadlakah took place in Yerushalayim.

{Matzav.com}

Barack Obama said in a recent interview that he has deliberately limited how often he publicly criticizes President Donald Trump, explaining that speaking out too frequently would lessen the weight of his words.

“For me to function like Jon Stewart, even once a week, just going off, just ripping what was happening — which, by the way, I’m glad Jon’s doing it — then I’m not a political leader, I’m a commentator,” Obama told the New Yorker for a wide-ranging profile.

Since leaving office in January 2017, Obama has periodically taken aim at Trump and his administration, though he has done so sparingly.

Earlier this year, he sharply criticized federal immigration enforcement after an incident in Minneapolis in which officers fatally shot two American citizens, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, and also weighed in on Republican-led redistricting efforts across the country.

“The rogue behavior of agents of the federal government is deeply concerning and dangerous,” he told liberal commentator Brian Tyler Cohen, referring to the actions of immigration officers.

He also voiced opposition to the way congressional maps are being drawn, arguing that the process should not be controlled by elected officials.

“Redistricting is another good example of where I strongly believe we should not be having politicians draw lines that determine who’s voting for them,” he later said.

The issue has become a central political fight ahead of the midterm elections, with Republicans in Texas having redrawn congressional districts last year at Trump’s urging, while Democratic-led states such as California and Virginia have taken steps to counter those changes in an ongoing redistricting battle.

Obama also backed a ballot initiative in Virginia that enables Democrats to redraw congressional districts in the state.

Reflecting on his public role, Obama suggested that many of his efforts go unnoticed due to the current media climate, and that when he does speak out, it prompts questions about why he does not do so more often.

“The media environment is so difficult that people don’t even know all the stuff I am doing, right?” Obama told the New Yorker. “And, I think, when they do see me, then the sense is, ‘Well, why isn’t he doing that every day instead of just during a midterm election, or during a referendum campaign around gerrymandering, or what have you?’”

When Obama left office, his approval rating stood at 59 percent, according to the American Presidency Project, placing him among the most popular departing presidents since Harry Truman and trailing only Bill Clinton and Ronald Reagan.

A Gallup survey conducted in January 2025 found Obama’s approval rating remained at 59 percent, the highest among the five living current or former presidents at the time, while Trump’s stood at 48 percent shortly after beginning his second term.

More recent polling shows a decline in the sitting president’s approval rating, with an average of surveys compiled by Decision Desk HQ putting it at 39.7 percent as of Friday.

{Matzav.com}

The Supreme Court on Monday moved swiftly to implement its decision striking down Louisiana’s congressional map, accelerating the timeline for returning the case to a lower court and setting off a pointed dispute between Justices Samuel Alito and Ketanji Brown Jackson.

By issuing the order immediately, the justices bypassed the typical 32-day waiting period before formally sending the case back, allowing the lower court to proceed without delay.

The move came amid concerns raised by some parties that the lower court may have acted prematurely in positioning Louisiana Republicans to quickly redraw the map ahead of this year’s elections, given that the case technically remained before the high court at the time.

With the case now officially returned, the ruling effectively opens the door for Louisiana to redraw one of its two majority-Black congressional districts, a change that could create an opportunity for House Republicans to gain a seat before November.

In a dissenting opinion, Jackson criticized the majority’s handling of the case, arguing that it had abandoned standard procedural limits. She wrote that the majority “unshackles itself” from “constraints,” insisting that the court should adhere to its usual practices.

Her criticism drew a strong response from Alito, who was joined by Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch. The three justices pushed back forcefully, describing a portion of Jackson’s dissent as “baseless and insulting.”

“The dissent in this suit levels charges that cannot go unanswered,” Alito wrote. “The dissent would require that the 2026 congressional elections in Louisiana be held under a map that has been held to be unconstitutional.”

No additional justices publicly revealed how they voted on the order.

The dispute follows last week’s 6-3 ruling in which the court found Louisiana’s addition of a second majority-Black district unconstitutional, a decision that weakened a key provision of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

The timing of the ruling created complications for election officials, as it coincided with the distribution of overseas ballots and preparations for early voting in the state’s primary elections.

Despite the urgency, the court did not clarify whether Louisiana must redraw its congressional map before the upcoming midterms, even though prior rulings have cautioned against making changes too close to an election.

Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry postponed the state’s primary election to give lawmakers time to draft a new map, a step the lower court indicated would be permitted.

Still, the case had remained with the Supreme Court under its standard 32-day window following a decision, prompting disputes among the involved parties over whether to expedite its return.

Voters who challenged the map — identifying themselves as “non-African American” — urged the justices to skip the waiting period so Louisiana could move forward immediately with redistricting.

At the same time, the court has historically been cautious about endorsing election changes close to voting dates, even as Louisiana’s congressional primaries have now been delayed from their original May 16 schedule.

Black voters who had successfully pushed for the creation of the second majority-Black district argued that the Supreme Court should retain the case until after the election. Louisiana officials themselves did not take a position, asserting they already had the authority to eliminate the invalidated district.

“The Court’s decision in these cases has spawned chaos in the State of Louisiana,” Jackson wrote in her dissent, adding later “The question whether our decision should affect the map to be used in the ongoing primaries raises a host of legal and political questions that are entirely independent of the issue in Callais.”

The ruling comes as part of a broader national struggle over redistricting, with both Republican- and Democratic-led states working to redraw congressional boundaries ahead of the midterm elections in a bid to influence control of the House.

Control of the House is widely viewed as a key battleground, with Democrats aiming to regain a majority in November, a shift that could complicate the final two years of President Trump’s term. Party leaders have also signaled potential investigations into the administration should they take control.

Republicans, encouraged by the White House and allied groups, have already begun redrawing maps in Texas and are expanding those efforts to states such as Missouri, North Carolina, and Florida. Democrats, in turn, have moved to counter those changes in states like California and Virginia.

Legal challenges over multiple congressional maps remain ongoing across the country.

During a rare rehearing of the Louisiana case in October, the justices appeared poised to place new limits on the role of race in redistricting, though uncertainty lingered about when a final decision would be issued and whether it would come too late to impact the midterm cycle.

Following last week’s ruling, which appears to favor Republicans by allowing map changes ahead of the elections, other states are now preparing to take similar steps.

Alabama has asked the Supreme Court to release its pending case involving a second majority-Black district, which the justices had held while considering the Louisiana matter. The situation is further complicated by the fact that Alabama’s second district was created following a separate Supreme Court decision in 2024.

Tennessee has also signaled plans to revisit and potentially redraw its congressional districts before the midterms.

{Matzav.com}

Tesla CEO Elon Musk agreed to pay a $1.5 million fine in a settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over allegations that in 2022 he cost Twitter shareholders $150 million by being late to disclose that he was amassing shares in the social network. Musk went on to acquire the company for $44 billion in late 2022 and renamed the service as X.

The SEC sued Musk in January 2025, days before President Donald Trump’s second inauguration. The financial regulator alleged that the billionaire had bought more than 5 percent of Twitter shares without disclosing his position to the public within 10 days, as securities laws required.

By keeping the transactions private until 11 days after he was required to disclose them, Musk saved $150 million on subsequent purchases of Twitter stock, the SEC alleged, by preventing public attention to his actions from triggering an increase in the company’s share price.

When Musk finally disclosed that he had acquired 9 percent of Twitter’s stock, the company’s shares jumped by 27 percent, the SEC said in its complaint.

Musk did not admit to wrongdoing as part of the settlement, which is still subject to court approval.

Musk’s purchases of Twitter stock and later the whole company have triggered a series of legal fights. After becoming its biggest shareholder through regular stock purchases, the billionaire considered taking a seat on its board by then launched a hostile takeover bid.

Musk then struck a deal to buy the company for $44 billion before attempting to pull out. A shareholder lawsuit ultimately forced him to go through with the deal.

The SEC settlement announced Monday comes days after Musk testified in the trial for a lawsuit he brought against two leaders at ChatGPT developer OpenAI, who he alleged broke their commitments to maintain the company they co-founded with Musk as a nonprofit venture.

Legal filings in the case have revealed unflattering private text messages and emails between some of the tech industry’s most powerful figures.

(c) 2026, The Washington Post · Gerrit De Vynck 

Sen. Ted Cruz said Monday that the ongoing conflict with Iran is expected to conclude within a relatively short timeframe, expressing confidence that the situation will stabilize in the coming months.

Speaking during an interview with Bloomberg, Cruz said the current hostilities are not expected to drag on indefinitely and suggested the situation will soon come under control.

He opened by saying that things will “wrap up in time.”

Cruz also addressed the economic implications of the conflict, particularly its effect on fuel costs, noting that prices had previously declined significantly before rising again amid the current tensions.

He added, “[I]n terms of gas prices, you go back a couple of years under Joe Biden, and gas prices were about six bucks a gallon. President Trump and the Republicans in Congress came in, and we dropped it in half, to about three bucks a gallon, that was a massive savings. Now, any time you have a military conflict in the Middle East, that’s going to have an upward pressure on gas prices. So, gas prices have risen to about four, four-and-a-half bucks a gallon. So, about — it’s gone up about halfway from the distance it fell. That being said, this conflict will be over. It will be over in a matter of months. And when it is over, if we can have anything like a stable regime in Iran, that will have a long-term, major downward pressure on gas prices. But, more importantly, look, the Iranian regime is the world’s leading state sponsor of terrorism, they’ve killed nearly 1,000 Americans. The president is acting to keep people safe. And, by the way, you noted, California. California, people are paying seven bucks a gallon. That is not because of Iran, that is because Gavin Newsom and the Democrats tax and regulate the heck out of gas. They’ve made the decision that they want it to be really expensive to live in California, which is a big part of the reason so many people are leaving California.”

WATCH:

{Matzav.com}

By Mikkael Sekeres, MD

Q: Can vaping cause cancer? And is vaping any safer than smoking traditional cigarettes?

The modern electronic cigarette, or e-cigarette, was invented in the early 2000s by a Chinese pharmacist in response to his father’s death from lung cancer. It was meant to be a nicotine-delivery device that was an alternative to traditional, tobacco cigarettes.

Since their introduction in Europe in 2006 and the United States in 2007, the use of e-cigarettes – a.k.a., vapes – has skyrocketed. The percentage of U.S. adults who used electronic cigarettes increased from 4.5 percent in 2019 to 6.5 percent in 2023, and sales from brick-and-mortar retailers jumped 34.7 percent, to over 21 million units, between February 2020 and June 2024.

According to the 2024 National Youth Tobacco Survey from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration, almost 6 percent of middle and high school students – 2.25 million children – reported using the devices in the past 30 days. The World Health Organization estimates that there are more than 16,000 flavors of e-cigarettes and that 88 countries do not require a minimum age to purchase.

But while they were introduced as a healthier and less carcinogenic option than tobacco cigarettes, the contents of e-cigarettes and their aerosols can contain harmful or potentially harmful substances that nobody should be eager to introduce to their bodies. These may include nicotine, heavy metals, particulate matter, propylene or diethylene glycol (found in antifreeze), diacetyl (linked to lung diseases), acrolein (an herbicide) and benzene (a known carcinogen).

A recent review from researchers in Australia found the results from laboratory investigations of e-cigarettes and their effects to be compelling enough to shift their recommendations from describing a need for more investigations to expressing frank concern about e-cigarette carcinogenicity.

That’s not something to take lightly. However, it’s important to note that the existing research does not definitively prove that vaping on its own (without smoking cigarettes currently or in the past) causes cancer in humans. While studies that have firmly established the link between tobacco smoking and multiple cancers have been conducted over the course of decades, studies focusing on e-cigarettes are still coming of age. E-cigarettes are still relatively novel and more popular among young adults. Presumably, younger people simply haven’t been smoking e-cigarettes long enough to develop cancer at high rates – yet.

However, research in animals and laboratory-grown cells, plus a handful of studies in humans, can give us a general idea of risk until more long-term research matures.

Here’s what we know – and still don’t know – about the connection between vaping and cancer.

Studies are still relatively sparse, but a few that have been conducted in laboratory-grown cells and mice suggest that vaping likely causes cellular changes that are associated with cancer development.

One study in mice showed that e-cigarettes delivered at the high-powered setting could cause damage to DNA in lung and liver cells, while studies of laboratory-grown breast cancer cells demonstrated that exposure to e-cigarettes increased levels of proteins in the cells that would make them more likely to metastasize and spread in mice.

Other laboratory studies have linked the liquid contents of e-cigarettes to growth and changes in squamous cell cancers found in the mouth, to the transformation of normal bladder cells into cancerous cells, and to brain tumor cell growth.

Again, these studies are compelling and their findings provide the rationale for additional research. But the results don’t always translate to humans, in part because they don’t perfectly mimic real-life use – for example, the lengths and concentrations of exposure used in mouse studies are not necessarily reflective of the average user’s puffs per day.

How vaping compares to cigarettes as a cancer risk
Unfortunately, here again the data are limited and imperfect but worrisome enough to be concerned that e-cigarette use may lead to cancer – perhaps not as strong a risk factor as traditional cigarettes, but certainly more than abstaining altogether.

For example, e-cigarettes can cause changes to chemicals in bodily fluids. In one small study that included 150 people, one-third smoked only tobacco cigarettes, one-third smoked only e-cigarettes, and one-third were non-smokers. Those who smoked tobacco cigarettes were more likely than the other two groups to have markers of inflammation associated with cancer risk in their saliva, but e-cigarette smokers still had higher levels of the markers than non-smokers.

One case report from China describes two patients who smoked e-cigarettes for more than a decade, but not tobacco cigarettes, who developed cancers of the mouth we would usually associate with long-term tobacco use.

In another study exploring e-cigarette use patterns in the U.S., among almost 120,000 participants, 1 percent reported current e-cigarette use, 5 percent past use, and over 500 people reported having a lung cancer diagnosis. Those with lung cancer were over two-and-a-half times more likely to use e-cigarettes than those without lung cancer, but it was not known if they adopted use after their cancer diagnosis or before. Further confounding the results, many also reported simultaneously using tobacco products.

There does appear to be a worrisome cancer risk when people vape and smoke cigarettes. In a study of more than 32,000 people, those who used e-cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes had four times the risk of developing lung cancer than those who smoked tobacco cigarettes alone. Their cancer risk was 40 times higher than those who didn’t smoke at all.

Similarly, in a preliminary population study from Korea that included more than 4 million people, over 50,000 people developed lung cancer. Those who stopped smoking tobacco cigarettes and took up e-cigarettes were 23 percent more likely to develop lung cancer than those who stopped smoking tobacco cigarettes but did not take up e-cigarettes.

In short, the data are accumulating and I suspect will become more definitive over the next few years in linking vaping to cancers of the lung, oral cavity and pharynx. Vaping is already linked to a potentially life-threatening condition known as EVAL1 (mostly associated with the delivery of THC in noncommercial vapes), a scarring condition known as bronchiolitis obliterans or “popcorn lung” and a higher risk of infections.

Some people do use e-cigarettes as a method of tobacco smoking cessation, and from what we can tell so far, e-cigarettes have not been tied to cancer in the way that tobacco smoking has. If possible, though, my advice is to try to kick the habit now, and discourage use in youth, before those studies come out.

Mikkael A. Sekeres, MD, MS, is the chief of the division of hematology and professor of medicine at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Miami. He is author of the books “When Blood Breaks Down: Life Lessons from Leukemia” and “Drugs and the FDA: Safety, Efficacy, and the Public’s Trust.”

(c) The Washington Post · Mikkael Sekeres, MD · HEALTH-FEATURES, SCIENCE