Feed aggregator

Were the Batei Mikdash truly destroyed on Tishah B’Av itself? The pesukim and Chazal appear to point to different dates: the seventh of Av, the tenth of Av, or the days surrounding them. Yet Chazal fixed Tishah B’Av as the single date upon which the churbanos of both Batei Mikdash converge, together with the decree upon the Dor HaMidbar, the fall of Beitar, and the plowing of Yerushalayim. Was this merely a date on the calendar, or did Chazal reveal a deeper pattern woven through Jewish history? At the heart of the shiur stands the unforgettable image of Rabbi Akiva traveling with his chaverim to Rome, seeing what they saw, yet understanding what they could not. In the very place where others heard only the footsteps of destruction, Rabbi Akiva discerned the first sounds of geulah. “Akiva, nichamtanu” was not simply a response to one comforting insight; it was the recognition of a unique Torah vision—the ability to look into the darkest moments of history and perceive, with absolute emunah, the light already forming at the end of the tunnel.

WATCH:

[COMMUNICATED]

By Jamie Geller

I did not expect to hear the word joy so many times while making a film about grief.

In 2025, twenty Jews were murdered in antisemitic attacks outside of Israel. More than 800 severe antisemitic incidents were documented around the world. It was the deadliest year for Jews living outside Israel this century, and so I started working on a film to document it. When I began, I assumed I already understood the shape of that year. I did not. It took sitting across from the people who lived through it to see the pattern that had been there all along. They did not come for us at random moments. They came for us on our holidays.

A terrorist attacked Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation in Manchester on Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish year, while worshippers prayed and fasted. Melvin Cravitz and Adrian Daulby were murdered that morning. Melvin was the first Jewish man killed in the United Kingdom for being Jewish in 80 years. Gunmen opened fire on a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney, killing fifteen people, among them a girl who had just turned ten, a Holocaust survivor, and a rabbi. And during the war between Israel and Iran, a ballistic missile struck a residential building in Haifa on the fourth day of Passover, killing four members of the Gershovitz family.

Yom Kippur. Hanukkah. Passover. While we were praying. While we were lighting candles. While we were celebrating. This has been something that has happened in Israel several times: the Yom Kippur War, October 7th, now it is spreading to the Diaspora.

As the person behind Aish’s Tisha B’Av documentary While We Were Celebrating, I traveled to three continents this year to sit with the people who lived through each of these attacks, and with the families they left behind. I went in bracing myself for grief. I have made enough films and sat with enough loss to know what to expect. What I found instead has not left me since.

REGISTER TO WATCH FOR FREE 

Karen Cravitz told me she was the one who encouraged her husband Melvin to leave for synagogue early that Yom Kippur morning, because that is simply what you do on the holiest day of the year. She has spent every day since turning that decision over in her head, a decision made entirely out of love and faith. Yoni Finlay was holding the synagogue doors shut to keep the terrorist out when a police bullet struck him in the chest and passed through his body into his friend Adrian, who was standing right behind him. And Rabbi Daniel Walker described his congregation to me as a reserved, quiet English crowd that does not usually dance on Friday nights. That next Friday, they danced.

In Sydney, Sheina Gutnik told me about her father, Reuven Morrison, who ran toward the gunmen at Bondi Beach and used his own body as a shield, saving dozens of lives before losing his.

Through the grief, through the funeral, through the memorial service that followed, Sheina lit Hanukkah candles. All eight nights. She told me she was not going to be the one to let the light go out. That message really moved me in ways I cannot explain.

Chavi Israel recounted how she threw herself over her baby, Meir, the moment the shooting started, trying to protect him and trying somehow not to suffocate him at the same time. She told me it was Reuven who saved both their lives. 

Yonatan Frank, a soldier who had come to Australia from Gaza days earlier, and wanted to go to the beach, found himself unarmed in the middle of a massacre and ran toward it anyway. Yonatan helped Chavi’s sister-in-law and her baby reach a waiting car that had arrived to rescue them. Eleven people ended up crammed into a car built for five. Chavi, Meir, Yonatan, and eight strangers who were suddenly not strangers at all. Once they were safe, they lit Hanukkah candles to keep the light alive.

In Haifa, Professor Lena Sagi told me about her neighbors, the Gershovitz family, who were found after an eighteen-hour search through what had been their home. Lena had lost everything but her life that night, the Gershovitz family weren’t as lucky. Lena told me that she later danced at her daughter’s bat mitzvah. Alex Gershovitz, Vladimir’s brother, still cannot speak about his family without his voice catching. In the same moment that he described himself to me as a secular Jew, he looked me in the eye and said that he believes God has a plan.

I sat with each of these people separately. Different continents, different languages, different circumstances. None of them knew what the others had said, yet every single one of them told me the same thing, completely unprompted.

They did not want to talk to me about their pain. They wanted to talk to me about joy. Not in spite of what happened to them, but because of it.

They chose to speak now, ahead of Tisha B’Av, because they understand what that day means to the Jewish world. It is our most reflective moment, the day we sit with our losses across history. None of these people are asking to be pitied. They are asking to be heard; they are asking us to understand our mission to live.  

This is nothing new for us. It runs through our history like a current, from the Inquisition to the pogroms to the Holocaust to October 7th, to Manchester, to Bondi, to Haifa. Our enemies have tried to extinguish our flame in every generation, and in every generation, the answer has been the same.

REGISTER TO WATCH FOR FREE 

Live more Jewishly. Live more joyously. Celebrate again. That will be the ultimate victory over our enemies.

This Tisha B’Av, as we sit on the floor and mourn what we have lost, I am sure that I will keep hearing Karen, Sheina, Chavi, and Lena in my head, asking this of me. I did not write their message. I am only carrying it, but now I am not making simple assumptions; I too am listening.

———————–

While We Were Celebrating, the Aish Original Tisha B’Av documentary film, premieres worldwide on July 22. It is free to watch. Register at aish.com/9av. To arrange a community screening, visit 9av.aish.com/groupscreening. For more information email 9avfilm@aish.com

A chance visit to a restaurant in northern Israel led to an emotional reunion for a Chabad emissary, who discovered that years after encouraging the owner to close on Shabbos and become kosher, the business had undergone a dramatic transformation. According to the franchise owner, the move not only brought financial success but was followed by what he described as a deeply personal miracle after more than a decade of waiting for another child.

Rabbi Bentzi Friedman, who today serves as a Chabad emissary working with youth in Beit Shean, recently returned to Rosh Pina for the first time in years. The unexpected visit brought back memories of his days as a yeshiva student in Tzfas, when every Friday he traveled through the Rosh Pina area participating in Chabad’s Mivtza Tefillin, visiting local businesses, helping Jewish men put on tefillin, and encouraging them to strengthen their observance of Torah and mitzvos.

For nearly three years, from the beginning of his yeshiva studies onward, Rabbi Friedman followed the same weekly route. One of the regular stops was a BBB restaurant that, at the time, was neither kosher nor closed on Shabbos. There he developed a warm relationship with Nissim, one of the franchise operators. Each Friday, the two would put on tefillin together and spend time discussing Yiddishkeit. During nearly every conversation, Rabbi Friedman urged him to consider closing the restaurant on Shabbos.

Looking back, Rabbi Friedman recalled that their conversations were always respectful and sincere.

“Every week I spoke to him about keeping Shabbos,” he said. “I told him, ‘Nissim, close the business on Shabbos. Hashem does not bring blessing through work on Shabbos.’”

Nissim never rejected the message. Instead, he explained that he wanted to stop operating on Shabbos but faced resistance from others connected to the business.

“I’m constantly pushing for it, but they won’t agree,” he would tell Rabbi Friedman. Despite hearing the same response week after week, the young yeshiva student continued returning every Friday, putting on tefillin with him and speaking about the importance of Shabbos, never knowing whether those conversations would ultimately make a difference.

Before leaving for a year of study at Chabad’s central yeshiva in New York, Rabbi Friedman witnessed an encouraging development elsewhere in Rosh Pina. Another dairy restaurant he regularly visited during his Friday outreach decided to become kosher and stop operating on Shabbos.

When he entered one Friday, a waiter approached him and said, “You know this happened because of you. Every week you came here and spoke with the management about keeping Shabbos.”

The comment caught him completely by surprise. He had barely interacted with the restaurant’s owners and had no idea his conversations had made such an impression. Inspired by the news, he shared the story with Nissim, hoping it would encourage him.

“You see? That restaurant became kosher and started closing on Shabbos. You can do the same,” he told him.

Nissim again explained that the decision was not entirely his to make.

Not long afterward, Rabbi Friedman left for New York. In the years that followed, he married, established his family, and later accepted a Chabad shlichus in Beit Shean. His weekly visits to the BBB restaurant gradually became a distant memory from his yeshiva years.

Recently, while traveling through the Rosh Pina area with his family, Rabbi Friedman suggested stopping by to see some of the people he had met years earlier. As he approached the BBB location, he was stunned. The restaurant prominently displayed kosher certification, and its posted hours showed that it closed three hours before the start of Shabbos each Friday.

Filled with emotion, he entered the restaurant and asked employees whether Nissim was there. They directed him to the office.

“Nissim, do you remember me?” Rabbi Friedman asked as he walked in.

The owner recognized him immediately, and the two warmly embraced. Rabbi Friedman then asked the question that had been on his mind ever since seeing the new signs.

“What happened here? How did the restaurant become kosher and start closing on Shabbos?”

Rather than answer immediately, Nissim opened a business application on his phone and showed Rabbi Friedman the restaurant’s financial figures. Before the change, he explained, monthly revenue averaged between 300,000 and 350,000 shekels. After becoming kosher and closing on Shabbos, some months produced nearly double that amount.

Nissim explained that the transformation had not come easily.

“You have no idea what battles took place here,” he told Rabbi Friedman.

According to Nissim, the restaurant chain strongly opposed shutting down a successful location on Shabbos. About three months ago, after repeated unsuccessful attempts to persuade management, he decided to issue an ultimatum. He placed the restaurant keys on the table and told senior executives, “I’m leaving. I’m done working on Shabbos. If you’re not willing to close the business on Shabbos, take the keys and find someone else.”

Surprised by the determination of a successful franchise operator willing to walk away, company officials asked for two weeks to consider the matter. They eventually agreed to allow the restaurant to become kosher and close on Shabbos, provided it underwent an extensive renovation.

Nissim accepted the condition, investing approximately 700,000 shekels to bring the restaurant into compliance with kosher standards while hoping the business would remain financially stable.

But the financial success, he said, was only part of the story.

Nissim shared that he and his wife had one daughter and had spent 12 years hoping and praying for another child. During that time, they underwent lengthy and expensive fertility treatments, but nothing had succeeded.

Then, looking directly at Rabbi Friedman, he said, “The moment we started closing the business on Shabbos, my wife became pregnant.”

He once again reached for his phone, this time showing Rabbi Friedman a photograph of his five-month-old baby boy.

“This is because of you. You have no idea what you accomplished here,” he said emotionally.

Rabbi Friedman said he was left speechless by the revelation.

“I was just a simple yeshiva student who went out every Friday to do what needed to be done,” he recalled. “I put tefillin on with another Jew and spoke with him, never realizing what those conversations would eventually accomplish. Seven years later, I was privileged to see the results.”

According to Rabbi Friedman, the impact extended beyond a single restaurant. After the Rosh Pina location became the first in the chain to adopt kashrus and close on Shabbos, additional franchises followed suit. Today, he said, tens of thousands of customers dine at kosher, Shabbos-observant locations throughout the network. For the Chabad emissary, the unexpected reunion served as a powerful reminder that even the smallest act of outreach—a conversation, a pair of tefillin, or a few words about holiness—can bear fruit years later.

{Matzav.com}

President Donald Trump dramatically escalated his warnings to Iran on Wednesday, declaring that the United States will begin destroying Iranian bridges and power plants if Tehran continues attacking commercial vessels traveling through the Strait of Hormuz.

In a post on Truth Social, Trump announced a new policy tying every Iranian strike on shipping in the strategic waterway to a direct American attack on key Iranian infrastructure.

“From this point forward, any time the Islamic Republic of Iran shoots at a ship in the Strait of Hormuz, whether it be by Missile, Rocket, Drone, or any other device or weapon, the United States will bomb and destroy ONE BRIDGE OR POWER PLANT, including those located next to, or in, the Capital City of Tehran. Thank you for your attention to this matter! President DONALD J. TRUMP.”

Earlier Wednesday, Iran’s Tasnim News Agency reported a powerful explosion on Larak Island in the Strait of Hormuz, saying it occurred after the launch of a U.S. missile.

The latest warning came after U.S. Central Command announced that American forces had completed an eleventh consecutive night of military strikes against Iranian targets.

According to CENTCOM, the operation targeted military command centers, naval assets, aircraft hangars, drone storage sites, and logistical infrastructure in an effort to further weaken Iran’s ability to threaten international shipping passing through the Strait of Hormuz.

“Over the past three months, Iran has attacked more than 30 commercial vessels transiting the international waterway, which is vital to regional and global trade. These unjustified attacks have endangered hundreds of innocent sailors and violated freedom of navigation,” the Central Command said.

CENTCOM added that commercial traffic continues to move through the strategic waterway despite the conflict.

“Despite Iranian aggression, the Strait of Hormuz remains open to the passage of commercial vessels. Since the beginning of May, CENTCOM forces have helped secure the passage of approximately 900 commercial vessels and 450 million barrels of crude oil.”

Iranian media reported that the latest American strikes struck numerous locations across the country, including Bahman, Mahshahr, Bandar Abbas, Chabahar, Bushehr, and Parchin. Reports also indicated that Iranian air defense systems were activated in the Sohank neighborhood of northeastern Tehran, west of Tabriz, and in the city of Sirik.

The United States and Iran have now been engaged in open military conflict for nearly two weeks, following Iran’s refusal to honor its agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz to international shipping and its continued attacks on vessels using the vital trade route. During the conflict, Iran has launched missiles and drones at targets across the region, including Bahrain, Kuwait, and Jordan, striking desalination facilities, energy infrastructure, and American military bases. Iranian attacks have also claimed the lives of three U.S. servicemen in Jordan.

{Matzav.com}

A growing internal disagreement has surfaced within the Gerer chassidus over how aggressively to respond to the arrest of yeshiva students in the ongoing draft controversy, with reports indicating a widening divide between the movement’s political leadership and a group of activists pushing for more confrontational protests.

According to Hebrew media reports, the Gerer political leadership worked behind the scenes to prevent Monday night’s demonstration outside the Tel Aviv home of Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara. The protest came one day after thousands of Gerer chassidim gathered outside Military Prison 10 to demonstrate against the detention of a Gerer yeshiva student classified by the military as a draft evader.

While senior Gerer political figure Motty Babchik reportedly sought to calm tensions, the protest outside the attorney general’s residence was organized by an independent group of avreichim.

Channel 13 correspondent Yoeli Brim reported that the Gerer Rebbe himself instructed followers to intensify the demonstrations with the goal of “wearing down the police.”

The latest protest is said to reflect a broader internal struggle within the chassidus. According to the report, the Gerer political leadership has increasingly found itself at odds with large groups of avreichim who favor a far more forceful campaign and reject any discussion of compromise on the issue of the military draft for bnei yeshivos.

In a separate report, Kan News correspondent Daniel Groveis said the demonstration outside Baharav-Miara’s home took place despite the wishes of Gerer’s official leadership. According to the report, the protest was spearheaded by what was described as a “militant opposition” faction within the chassidus that is said to have ties to the Peleg Yerushalmi.

A Salvadoran illegal immigrant who entered the United States during the Biden administration and was later released into the country is now accused of gunning down a 71-year-old military veteran in what investigators believe was a random attack. Federal officials are also pointing to California’s sanctuary policies, arguing they prevented Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) from taking the suspect into custody before the deadly shooting.

ICE placed a detainer on Axel Eduardo Chavez-Marroquin, an illegal immigrant from El Salvador who crossed the southern border into California in 2021 and was released into the United States by the Biden administration.

“This illegal alien should’ve never been allowed on our streets, and James Witten should still be alive today,” Department of Homeland Security spokeswoman Lauren Bis said. “ICE is now asking officials in Utah to commit to not releasing this criminal from jail and to work with ICE so that we can remove him from our country. Reckless sanctuary policies in states like California are putting American lives at risk.”

Authorities in West Point, Utah, say the fatal shooting took place on May 30 as Randy Witten was decorating the porch of his home with his back turned toward the street. Investigators allege that Chavez-Marroquin drove up, exited his vehicle, and fired 10 shots at the unsuspecting veteran before fleeing the scene.

Police say Witten died from the gunfire. Investigators allege the suspect immediately drove to Las Vegas, Nevada, where he was ultimately arrested on June 16 and charged in connection with the killing.

Detectives say the entire shooting was captured by Witten’s doorbell camera. Despite the video evidence, investigators have not yet determined a motive and remain uncertain whether the victim was deliberately targeted.

Witten is survived by his wife, Maria, along with their children. According to his obituary, he devoted two decades to military service in the U.S. Air Force and served during the Vietnam War, Operation Desert Storm, and the invasion of Grenada.

“His Military decorations include; Meritorious Service Medal; AF Commendation Medal with one device; AF outstanding Unit Award with two devices; AF Organizational Excellence Award with one device; AF Good Conduct Medal with five devices; National Defense Service Medal with one device; NCO Professional Military Education Graduate Ribbon with two devices; Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon with one device; and AF Training Ribbon,” Witten’s obituary reads.

Chavez-Marroquin has been charged with murder with a dangerous weapon, discharge of a firearm causing serious injury, dangerous weapon conduct by a restricted person, and obstruction of justice. He remains jailed in Davis County, Utah, awaiting further legal proceedings.

Federal officials contend the suspect could have been deported before the killing if California authorities had cooperated with ICE. Chavez-Marroquin had previously been arrested in Santa Ana in 2024 on domestic violence allegations and again in Laguna Niguel in 2025 on another domestic violence charge.

Because of California’s sanctuary state policies, ICE says it was never notified after either of those arrests, preventing agents from taking him into immigration custody.

“This monster is charged with murdering a 71-year-old Army and Air Force veteran in Utah. California sanctuary politicians released this criminal from jail twice after arrests for domestic violence,” Bis said. “Following his release, he went on to commit this heinous murder.”

{Matzav.com}