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Walking down Avenue J in the day preceding sukkos, seemingly every vacant store is suddenly occupied and the sidewalks teeming with street vendors selling arba minim. From the aspiring bachurim looking to hustle during bein hazemanim to the decades old established esrog centers, everyone has the same goal in mind – hidur mitzvah. Despite the friendly competition, it is beautiful to watch on erev sukkos the achdus as one vendor walks over to another to help him out with some extra lulalivim when one is out. Finally, driving around Midwood in the late hours, the glows of peoples sukkahs emanate as they put the finishing touches ahead of the chag. Photo Credits: PB Photo via Kuvien Images

At almost every street corner and in front of virtually every bank on 13th Avenue, one cannot miss the fact that sukkos is around the corner. While some uninitiated passerby may look on at the bustle in the streets, one can not help but notice the minute details of hachanas mitzvahs chag as one peers down the alleyways and driveways. Photo Credits: PB Photo via Kuvien Images

NEC Director Kevin Hassett: “Right now, we just want a clean Continuing Resolution — and any government worker that loses their job… is going to be because the Democrats are being intransigent.”

French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu has resigned less than a month after taking office.

[COMMUNICATED]

by Rabbi Eliezer Sandler

The concept of the Yissachar-Zevulun Torah Learning Pact goes back well over 3,500 years, to the time of Yaakov Avinu and his sons. It is named for the Torah pact between two of his sons – Yissachar the scholar and Zevulun the merchant. Not only was it an equal pact but, Chazal explained, the deed of Zevulun/the Sponsor is considered even greater than that of Yissachar, because without the support of Zevulun, Yissachar would not have had the wherewithal to study Torah undisturbed.”

It is well-known that when it comes to learning Torah, people who sponsor the learning, often do so, not just as a donation. By financially supporting specific Torah scholars, they enter into a binding, written, signed and sealed learning partnership pact whereby the Sponsor (the Zevulun) is deemed by Halacha as if he personally studied the Torah completed by the Scholar (the Yissachar). (See below.) 

Thus, those who support the Talmidei Chachomim at Shas Yiden via a Yissachar-Zevulun Pact merit a portion in every daf of the entire Talmud Bavli and associated texts that they study, and complete the entire cycle in the space of ONE year. Some of the Sponsors opt to continue sponsoring repeat cycles of Shas which accrue to them.

Sar Hatorah, Maran Hagaon Harav Chaim Kanievsky, zt”l, Nasi Shas Yiden, emphasized: The most mehudar Yissachar-Zevulun pact to support in our times is that offered by Shas Yiden – it comprises the entire Shas, Rashi and Tosfos – all in just one year!

Rav Chaim explained why this pact with Shas Yiden is the most mehudar. Chazal say that the highest level of learning is when one understands what he is learning b’iyun u’ve’amkus. However, even higher than that is when one remembers b’al peh all what he has learned. I have farhered the Shas Yiden avreichim geonim many times and can attest ZEI KENNEN SHAS (they know Shas)!

YES! YOU CAN MAKE

your OWN SIYUM on the ENTIRE Shas, Rashi & Tosfos IN JUST ONE YEAR!

The Yissachar-Zevulun Pact in Halacha

The Shulchan Aruch in Yoreh De’ah Chapter 246 regarding the efficacy of the Yissachar-Zevulun Sponsorship Pact for the Zevulun (the Sponsor) states clearly:  It is deemed as if he (the one sponsoring the learning) himself learned all the Torah studied under the pact. 

All the learning under the Shas Yiden Yissachar-Zevulun Pact is yours בעוה”ז ובעוה”ב (in both This World and the World to Come)! Concerning this, the Netziv of Volozhin comments that in Olam Habah, the Zevulun sponsor will sit together with the Gedolei Torah of the past and merit to participate in their discussions and pilpulim on all the Torah learned.

Achieve Almost 7 million Mitzvos in One Year

The Vilna Gaon in Shnos Eliyahu Pe’ah 41 states that one should hold precious every word of Torah that he learns because each word is considered a mitzvah of its own. 

Thus, since in Talmud Bavli, Rashi and Tosfos there are 6,608,891 words, that translates into almost 7 million mitzvos accruing through Yissachar-Zevulun at Shas Yiden. 

Official Shtar from Shas Yiden

Each Yissachar-Zevulun pact is confirmed by an official contract (shtar) from Shas Yiden specifying the learning of the entire Shas, and is witnessed by talmidei chachomim.

All who wish to enter into a Yissachar-Zevulun Pact for the entire Shas during ONE year should contact Shas Yiden to make arrangements: 718-702-1528.

The opportunity to complete the entire Shas has been a cherished way to honor family members and others as a prized achievement. It has also proven to be a source of comfort for mourners to obtain such a zechus for their dear ones during the year of mourning – a siyum of the entire Shas can be completed on the yahrzeit!

Yissachar-Zevulun Pact –

Beyond the Grave

The legendary visionary and “Father of Yeshivos”, Reb Chaim of Volozhin, was the founder of the famous yeshiva in the town of Volozhin and the beloved talmid of the Vilna Gaon. 

Reb Chaim had an ongoing Yissachar-Zevulun pact with a local shoemaker – a man who was not learned but who dearly valued Torah learning. They had a ‘deal’ whereby the shoemaker would pay the monthly financial support needed for Reb Chaim and his family. For this financial support, the shoemaker would have an equal share in all Reb Chaim’s daily Torah study – both in the mitzvah of Torah study בעוה”ז and that the knowledge of the Torah learned would continue to be his בעוה”ב (in the World to Come).

One day the shoemaker passed away suddenly. During the shiva period, Reb Chaim was facing a perplexing halachic question and researched high and low for a solution. That night the shoemaker appeared to him in a dream and gave him the full solution that he sought. Reb Chaim was amazed and commented, “Azoi gich, Azoi Gich – So quickly, so quickly has he acquired the zchus and knowledge of the Torah that I have studied!”

In the words of Gedolei Torah:

Maran Hagaon Harav Chaim Kanievsky, zt”l, Nasi Shas Yiden:

“In just ONE year, through Yissachar-Zevulun at Shas Yiden, you can be zoche to the entire Shas forever – בעוה”ז ובעוה”ב (in olam hazeh and olam habah).

“Moreover, whoever supports Shas Yiden is zocheh to fulfill both Yissachar-Zevulun and support of aniyei (the poor of) Eretz Yisroel in the fullest sense of the word.

“Those who support Shas Yiden will be saved from chevlei (the travails of) Moshiach – spiritually and materially, and will be zoche to have ehrlicher bonim u’vanos yir’eishomayim ”

Maran Hagaon Harav Dov Lando, shlit”a, Rosh Yeshiva, Slabodka:

“Who compares to the Shas Yiden? Incredible talmidei chachomim geonim who raised the bar in limud Hashas b’iyun u’v’amkus. Blessed are those who enter a Yissachar-Zevulun pact with them.”

Hamashpia Hagadol Reb Meilech Biederman, shlit”a:

 “Yissachar-Zevulun at Shas Yiden – best possible deal, and in just 1 year! 100% partnership! 100% Shas x 5 times! 100% Shisha Sidrei Mishna – בעוה”ז ובעוה”ב”

Sanzer Rebbe, shlit”a:

“A first in 2000 years of Jewish history! Until Shas Yiden, never a Torah institution where ALL the avreichim metzuyonim v’geonim know the entire Shas by heart”

Harav Yaakov Hillel, shlit”a:

“Therefore, the great mitzvah to support the efforts [of the Talmidei Chachomim] with generous donations in order that they should continue diligently with their studies to enhance the greatness of the Torah and its glory. 

ShasYiden.com

The IDF said a drone strike in southern Lebanon earlier today killed Hassan Atwi, a senior Hezbollah terrorist in the group’s air defense unit, along with his wife, when their car was targeted in the town of Zebdine near Nabatieh.

Two people were killed and one was wounded in an Israeli drone strike targeting a car in the town of Zebdine, on the outskirts of Nabatieh in southern Lebanon.  

The IDF said it demolished the home of one of two Palestinian terrorists who killed seven people and wounded 15 in a shooting and stabbing attack at a Tel Aviv light rail station in October. The terrorists, Ahmad Himouni, and Mohammad Mesek were both shot during the attack — Mesek fatally by a municipal security officer and Himouni seriously wounded by armed civilians.

Amid Israel’s pause in offensive operations in the Gaza Strip, the IDF said it carried out an airstrike that killed a squad of terrorists preparing to launch mortars, while a separate mortar attack lightly wounded an Israeli soldier.

Prime Minister Netanyahu receives Lulav and Esrog from Chabad Shluchim in Eretz Yisroel on Erev Sukkos.  

Veteran NYC Hatzalah Paramedic, and founder of Hatzalah Air, Eli Rowe, passes by a small fire in packed Meah Shearim on Erev Sukkos, and immediately keeps the crowd safe.

IDF troops operating in Gaza City last week uncovered long-range rockets that were already primed for launch toward central Israel, the military said. According to the IDF, the discovery was made by soldiers from the 401st Armored Brigade, who also located and safely neutralized the launchers that had been prepared to fire the rockets. In addition, the troops found a cache of weapons and other military equipment in the area, the IDF said.

Russian authorities say they have arrested three men suspected of planning to carry out attacks at synagogues in two separate locations. The country’s FSB security agency says it arrested two nationals from an unnamed central-Asian country who were planning to detonate explosives at synagogue.

IDF soldiers stationed in Gaza discovered that the esrogim they received in their army-issued Sukkos kits were posul, according to a report by Doron Kadosh on Galei Tzahal. The IDF confirmed that some of the esrogim distributed to soldiers were indeed Posul, explaining that the issue stemmed from a “technical problem” in storage conditions handled by an outside contractor. In response, the IDF Rabbinate immediately began replacing the invalid esrogim across all units to ensure that every soldier would be able to properly fulfill the mitzvah

In light of the recent attack in Manchester, Police have been in close and continuous contact with Shomrim since Yom Kippur and have substantially increased their presence across North West London. Throughout Yom Tov, additional police resources will be deployed across the community. This includes enhanced patrols around shuls and mosdos, as well as the presence of armed officers and mounted police, as part of the updated High Holy Days policing plan. As part of this coordinated effort, Shomrim have also intensified high-visibility patrols in marked vehicles to provide added reassurance and deterrence throughout the kehilla. We urge everyone to remain calm, while staying alert and vigilant. We all have a part to play in keeping our community safe. Shul doors must remain locked at all times.

Amid a growing wave of measles infections across Israel, Health Ministry Director-General Moshe Bar Siman Tov spent Sunday visiting outbreak zones in Yerushalayim and Beit Shemesh, where he held meetings with senior municipal officials and community representatives, including prominent askanim from the neighborhoods of Meah Shearim, Geulah, and surrounding areas.

The visit was part of a broad national effort by the Health Ministry to contain and eradicate the spread of measles. During the tour, Bar Siman Tov also convened a meeting with the heads of all local authorities currently dealing with active outbreaks.

In a statement, the Health Ministry said, “During his visit to Yerushalayim and Beit Shemesh, the Director-General spoke with community representatives and municipal professionals about strengthening cooperation between the Health Ministry, the Yerushalayim Municipality, and the local communities, in order to increase vaccination rates and protect the health of both children and adults.”

According to the statement, all participants emphasized “the urgent need to act swiftly and respond to the call to vaccinate, in order to prevent future deaths, reduce further illness, and limit the scale of the outbreak.”

Following the meetings, Bar Siman Tov underscored the importance of unity and swift action in combating the disease. “The fight against measles is a fight for our children’s lives,” he said. “This is a disease with a vaccine that is safe, effective, and lifesaving. We are working together — the Health Ministry, the Yerushalayim Municipality, the health funds, and the communities — to stop the outbreak, provide accurate information, and ensure that every child receives the protection they deserve.”

Later in the day, Bar Siman Tov also held a conference call with the directors of Israel’s major health funds to discuss additional measures to accelerate vaccination efforts and coordinate action among the various medical providers.

The Health Ministry once again urged parents to send their children for treatment and vaccination only at authorized clinics and hospitals, warning against unlicensed or informal medical setups.

Since the start of the current outbreak, vaccination rates have risen sharply:

• In Yerushalayim alone, more than 15,000 first-dose measles vaccines have been administered.

• In Beit Shemesh and Bnei Brak, an additional 12,000 first doses have been given.

{Matzav.com Israel}

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg and 170 other members of the Global Sumud flotilla were deported from Israel on Monday, departing from Ramon International Airport in southern Israel on flights to Greece and Slovakia, according to the Israeli Foreign Ministry. Photos released by the ministry showed Thunberg and other detainees walking through the airport dressed in gray sweatsuits and white T-shirts. The deportees represent a broad coalition of activists from across Europe and North America, including Greece, Italy, France, Ireland, Sweden, Poland, Germany, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Austria, Luxembourg, Finland, Denmark, Slovakia, Switzerland, Norway, the United Kingdom, Serbia, and the United States, the ministry said. In a statement, Israel’s Foreign Ministry maintained that “all the legal rights of the participants in this PR stunt were and will continue to be fully upheld,” adding that “the lies they are spreading are part of their pre-planned fake news campaign.” The ministry also said that the only instance of violence occurred when a Spanish participant allegedly bit a medical staffer at Ketziot Prison. Thunberg and several other activists have accused Israeli authorities of holding them in unlawful or harsh conditions during their detention. With Monday’s flights, Israel has deported 341 Global Sumud flotilla participants in total, while 138 remain in custody, the ministry said. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

An Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post that within two to three days of talks opening in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, it will be clear whether meaningful progress toward a hostage deal is being made.

“[US President Donald] Trump’s envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, are not coming to play games,” the official said. “We’ll know very quickly – by the end of the week – whether Hamas is heading toward a deal or not.”

The talks, scheduled to begin Monday, will include an Israeli team led by Strategic Affairs Minister Ron Dermer, joined by Brig.-Gen. (res.) Gal Hirsch, Israel’s Coordinator for Captives and Missing Persons, as well as Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu’s adviser Ophir Falk, and senior representatives from both the Shin Bet and Mossad intelligence services.

The Hamas delegation arrived in Egypt on Sunday evening, while Witkoff and Kushner are expected to land on Tuesday to take part in the discussions.

According to several Israeli and international officials cited by the Post, the main obstacle to reaching an agreement will likely be finalizing the withdrawal map and securing firm American assurances that the war will conclude once the hostages are freed.

Trump unveiled the proposed map Saturday night, outlining an Israeli pullback to the positions held at the start of the operation to capture Gaza City in mid-August. Reports indicate that Hamas is insisting on a broader withdrawal—to the lines held by the IDF in January.

Signs of cautious optimism have already emerged, with preparations underway to activate a joint operations room for mediators and Israeli officials to oversee the deal’s implementation once it is finalized.

Even among the mediators, there is growing confidence that an agreement could be reached “within a few days,” a source familiar with the matter told the Post.

An Israeli official also remarked that “Hamas understands it doesn’t really have a choice – it needs to agree.”

During a meeting Sunday with the Gvura Forum for families of fallen soldiers, Netanyahu reaffirmed that no part of Trump’s peace plan will move forward until every one of the 48 hostages is back in Israeli hands. He further warned that if the hostages are not released by Trump’s specified deadline, “Israel will resume fighting with full backing from all involved countries.”

Netanyahu also confirmed that Israel will take the lead role in overseeing Gaza’s disarmament and made clear that neither Hamas nor the Palestinian Authority will be allowed any governing role in the Strip after the war.

Although no formal timeline has been set for the hostages’ release, the humanitarian situation in Gaza continues to evolve. According to the IDF, approximately 900,000 Gazans have evacuated Gaza City since mid-August, when the initial phases of Israel’s incursion began, followed by the full-scale ground operation that commenced on September 16.

The military estimates that between 100,000 and 200,000 civilians remain in the city. While the IDF acknowledges that its figures are not exact, officials believe the total prewar population may have exceeded the one million frequently cited by media reports.

These figures suggest that roughly 100,000 additional residents have left Gaza City over the past week, pushing the total number of evacuees up from around 800,000. Early in the conflict, only 70,000 had fled, with numbers climbing to 250,000 by late August and then surging after Israel’s ground invasion began in mid-September.

{Matzav.com Israel}

A gripping new drama of secrets, lies, and the courage to face the truth. Check out the trailer! 

In an unprecedented step underscoring a serious medical danger facing the captives held by Hamas, Israel’s Coordinator for the Captives and Missing, Brigadier General (res.) Gal Hirsch, has officially asked the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to instruct the terror group on how to properly feed the hostages before their release. Hirsch presented the request this morning during a meeting with Jülien Larridon, the head of the ICRC delegation in Israel.

The concern focuses on the potentially fatal condition known as refeeding syndrome — a severe complication that can occur when people who have endured prolonged starvation suddenly consume large amounts of food. According to Israeli health officials, Hamas reportedly overfed several captives just before their release in the previous exchange, leading to fears that this could happen again. The abrupt reintroduction of calories and nutrients can cause dangerous electrolyte imbalances and even cardiac arrest.

To prevent such outcomes, Hirsch handed Larridon a detailed document prepared by the Israeli Ministry of Health, outlining the specific dietary protocols necessary for safely reintroducing nutrition to malnourished captives. The ICRC said it would make every effort to deliver these critical medical instructions to Hamas.

The move was prompted by accounts from hostages freed in the earlier exchange, who described being given excessively large meals by their captors only hours before being handed over.

In addition, Hirsch requested that Red Cross personnel — who will be the first to meet the hostages following their transfer — arrive at the exchange site fully equipped with medical supplies and trained staff to provide immediate treatment if required.

The meeting also addressed logistical coordination for the upcoming operation, as the current framework being discussed involves the release of 48 live hostages as well as the retrieval of the bodies of several deceased captives from various locations throughout the Gaza Strip — a process that will require complex, carefully synchronized planning.

These discussions come as Hamas prepares for renewed negotiations in Egypt. A Hamas source told Al Arabiya that the group has started gathering the remains of deceased Israeli captives and has requested a temporary halt to airstrikes to complete the effort. The source added that while the release of the living hostages would take place in one stage, the recovery and transfer of the bodies “will take some time.”

{Matzav.com Israel}