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In a significant reconciliation during the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah, the Nadvorna Rebbe and his brother, the Nadvorna Yerushalayim Rebbe, met in Bnei Brak on Thursday night, bringing an end to a five-year estrangement between the two chassidic courts.

The meeting took place at the home of the Nadvorna Rebbe in Bnei Brak following an extended period of behind-the-scenes efforts by representatives of both sides to restore peace between the brothers.

The dispute originated over a parcel of property adjacent to the Nadvorna Yerushalayim bais medrash in Yerushalayim. The property belonged to Rabbi Meir Levin, the director general of the Nadvorna institutions, and the disagreement over the land eventually developed into a legal battle.

The case ultimately resulted in the Nadvorna Yerushalayim community being required to pay for the purchase of the property.

Following the dispute, relations between the two courts were completely severed for approximately five years. In recent months, however, efforts intensified on both sides to resolve the disagreement and bring about a reconciliation.

Those efforts culminated Thursday night, during the Aseres Yemei Teshuvah, when the two Rebbes met and spoke privately for an extended period.

Matzav.com received a green light from both Nadvorna courts to report on this development.

At the conclusion of the visit, the Nadvorna Rebbe accompanied his brother, the Nadvorna Yerushalayim Rebbe, outside and walked with him to his vehicle, marking the restoration of relations between the two brothers.

As part of the court agreement reached several years ago, Rabbi Meir Levin relinquished approximately 40 percent of the property’s value in favor of the Nadvorna Yerushalayim community, a concession that was made in the interest of achdus and bringing the dispute to an end.

More recently, the Nadvorna Yerushalayim community agreed to pay the legal expenses stemming from the case. A formal letter of apology was also sent to the Nadvorna court in the name of all members of the Yerushalayim community’s administration.

The reconciliation was facilitated through the efforts of Rabbi Chaim Meir Katz, director general of the Vizhnitz institutions in Elad, who worked on behalf of Nadvorna, together with strategist Rabbi Yekusiel Yehuda Ganzel, who works closely with the Nadvorna Yerushalayim community.

The meeting, coming just days before Yom Kippur and following five years of separation, was viewed in both courts as a particularly meaningful conclusion to a lengthy and painful dispute.

{Matzav.com}

A federal judge on Thursday declined to grant Rep. Joyce Beatty an emergency hearing over the Kennedy Center board’s latest decision to close the landmark performing arts venue for renovations, but ordered officials to provide at least 30 days’ advance notice before undertaking any major change to the project — including demolition of the building.

U.S. District Judge Christopher Cooper issued the requirement amid growing uncertainty over the Kennedy Center’s future and recent public discussion about the possibility that the Washington, D.C., building could eventually be torn down.

Cooper said the added requirement was intended to “avoid any confusion on that score given more recent events.”

The Trump administration has maintained that the Kennedy Center is suffering from significant structural deterioration and requires extensive renovations. Officials have cited safety concerns and aging infrastructure in defending plans for major work at the complex.

President Donald Trump has also publicly raised the prospect that the building could ultimately be demolished if the administration is unable to move ahead with its plans for the center. On Wednesday night, Trump was photographed aboard Air Force One examining a large printout whose partially visible heading appeared to reference the Kennedy Center and demolition, though the photograph did not establish what the document proposed or who prepared it.

Beatty, an Ohio Democrat who serves as an ex officio member of the Kennedy Center board, sought emergency court intervention after the Trump-aligned board voted Tuesday to close the building as part of its renovation effort. Cooper rejected her request for an immediate hearing while imposing the 30-day notice requirement.

“It is simply outrageous that we have gotten to the point of consistent judicial intervention to protect this historic institution from getting bulldozed by the President,” Beatty said in a statement. “I will continue to fight for the rule of law and defend this memorial on behalf of the American people.”

Cooper, who was appointed to the federal bench by President Barack Obama, had previously blocked an earlier effort involving the center, including plans to place President Trump’s name on the building without congressional authorization. The board has continued pursuing its renovation and closure plans while that litigation proceeds.

Beatty’s attorneys raised additional concerns this week after encountering difficulties gaining access to portions of the Kennedy Center.

Administration officials have said those access restrictions are temporary and are separate from the proposed long-term renovation. Kennedy Center Executive Director Matt Floca said the current closure was ordered because of “acute risks to public safety resulting from continued structural deterioration.” The immediate shutdown was announced as a seven-day measure, although officials have indicated it could be extended if necessary.

The White House defended President Trump’s handling of the Kennedy Center and blamed previous Democratic leadership for allowing the building’s condition to deteriorate.

“For years, Democrats let the Kennedy Center rot, allowing water damage and crumbling infrastructure to turn a national treasure into a building in decay. As President Trump said last night, without his intervention, The Kennedy Center will inevitably continue to decline,” White House spokesperson Liz Huston said in a statement.

{Matzav.com}

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told members of Children’s Health Defense on Thursday that they have an ally in President Donald Trump, using his first official appearance before the organization since joining the administration to emphasize the administration’s continued scrutiny of vaccine safety and federal vaccination policy.

“You have a strong and steadfast friend at the White House,” Kennedy told dozens of people attending a one-day Children’s Health Defense conference in Washington, D.C.

Kennedy helped found Children’s Health Defense and chaired the organization from 2015 until 2023. The group has long challenged established vaccine policies and the recommended childhood vaccination schedule. Kennedy stepped down from the organization before entering government.

Thursday marked Kennedy’s first appearance at an official Children’s Health Defense conference since becoming HHS secretary. He did not attend the group’s national conference last year.

Kennedy’s return underscored his continuing relationship with the vaccine-skeptic movement. Individuals associated with that movement have gained positions and influence within the federal health apparatus during his tenure, while Kennedy has overseen significant changes to federal vaccine policy.

During an address lasting more than an hour, Kennedy initially highlighted the administration’s efforts to combat chronic illness and promote changes in the nation’s food supply before turning extensively to vaccines and questions about their safety.

Kennedy said that President Trump has tasked him to “vigorously investigate the potential contribution of childhood vaccines to the chronic disease epidemic.”

“The question is, should we be looking at the potential that some of these chronic illnesses are associated with vaccines?” Kennedy said.

Kennedy pointed to conditions including diabetes, sudden infant death syndrome and anorexia that have been reported following vaccination, while arguing that federal officials need to investigate whether causal connections exist. Medical authorities note that conditions reported after vaccination are not, merely by appearing in adverse-event reports or product information, established as having been caused by a vaccine. Kennedy also discussed government research into electromagnetic fields and “chemtrails.”

Kennedy urged members of the organization to be patient with the pace of changes inside the federal government, saying legal and bureaucratic requirements prevent officials from moving as rapidly as some supporters would like.

“Over the past 19 months, we have fundamentally changed how the federal government responds to parents who question what they’ve been told about vaccines,” Kennedy said. “President Trump will not allow the government to treat parents who question vaccine orthodoxies as lepers … we have started asking the questions that you and millions of American parents have been asking for years, and the establishment has pushed back very hard.”

Kennedy portrayed his role at HHS as one of challenging longstanding assumptions and practices within the federal health bureaucracy, telling attendees that he intends to continue pressing government institutions for answers to questions raised by vaccine skeptics.

“I didn’t come to Washington to protect institutions from uncomfortable questions,” he said. “I came to make those institutions answer those questions, and I intend to stay in this fight as long as I am able.”

{Matzav.com}

The White House on Thursday sharply rejected allegations from a United Nations-backed investigative mission that American forces committed war crimes in two Feb. 28 strikes in Iran that killed at least 178 civilians, as major disagreements remain over both what happened and, in one case, whether the United States carried out the attack at all.

The Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Iran said it had “reasonable grounds to believe” that U.S. forces were responsible for attacks on a primary school in Minab and a sports complex and surrounding area in Lamerd. The panel concluded that the strikes were indiscriminate and therefore constituted war crimes under international law.

White House spokeswoman Anna Kelly responded by attacking the credibility of the U.N. Human Rights Council, saying it has “accomplished nothing for human rights while spouting unserious nonsense for decades.”

“The only party in this conflict that has committed war crimes is the Iranian regime, which has murdered thousands of its own people, killed Americans overseas, executed acts of terrorism in the Strait of Hormuz, and launched indiscriminate attacks against its neighbors in the region,” Kelly said.

The circumstances surrounding the two strikes cited by the U.N. mission differ significantly, however, and the U.S. government’s position on each is different.

The first involved the Shajareh Tayyebeh Primary School in Minab in southern Iran. Iranian authorities have said 168 people were killed in the strike, most of them children, while the U.N. mission cited figures indicating that more than 120 children were among the dead.

An initial internal U.S. military assessment previously reported by American media indicated that U.S. forces were probably responsible for the Minab strike. According to earlier reporting, outdated intelligence may have led American forces to mistakenly believe the site remained part of an Iranian military installation.

The Pentagon has not publicly released the final results of its investigation. U.S. Central Command commander Adm. Brad Cooper told the House Armed Services Committee in May that the Minab incident “correlated” with a U.S. strike.

President Donald Trump addressed the incident in June, saying the school had not deliberately been targeted.

“Nobody did that on purpose,” President Trump said at the time, adding that “mistakes are made.”

The U.N. investigators reached a different conclusion about the nature of the strike. According to their report, the school itself was “the intended point of impact,” rather than damage caused by an errant weapon or collateral damage from an attack on a nearby Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps facility.

The investigators said the school was a clearly identifiable civilian site and that they found no indication that it was being used for military purposes.

“The U.S. failed in its obligation to do everything feasible to verify that it was a military objective,” the mission said.

The second incident, in the southern Iranian city of Lamerd, involves an even more fundamental disagreement.

The U.N. mission attributed to U.S. forces a strike on a sports complex and nearby residential area that killed and wounded 22 civilians and damaged surrounding buildings, including a school.

Investigators said Precision Strike Missiles dispersed tungsten pellets across what they described as a clearly identifiable sports complex and residential neighborhood. The mission concluded that the attack was indiscriminate and constituted a war crime.

U.S. Central Command has denied carrying out the Lamerd strike, saying in March that American forces conducted no strikes inside the city on the day in question.

The dispute over Lamerd therefore extends beyond the U.N. panel’s legal characterization of the attack. The U.N. investigators say American forces were responsible; CENTCOM says they were not.

The Trump administration has maintained that American military operations comply with the law of armed conflict and that U.S. forces do not deliberately target civilians.

The U.N. mission’s report was not limited to accusations against the United States. Investigators also accused the Iranian regime of committing crimes against humanity during its crackdown on anti-government demonstrations in late 2025 and early 2026.

According to the mission, Iranian security forces engaged in unlawful killings, torture, arbitrary detention and other abuses during what investigators described as a widespread and systematic attack against civilians.

“The report concluded that many of these gross violations amount to crimes against humanity — including murder, imprisonment, torture, and other inhumane acts committed as part of a widespread and systematic attack on civilians,” the U.N. statement said.

The investigators said Iranian forces used assault rifles against crowds, beat demonstrators, detained health-care workers and subjected detainees to torture while in custody. They also pointed to executions and severe restrictions on communications and freedom of expression.

The mission said it based its findings on interviews with 73 people inside and outside Iran, along with satellite imagery, photographs, videos, documentation and information supplied by organizations and experts. Investigators said their work was hampered by the ongoing conflict, internet restrictions and a lack of full cooperation from both Tehran and Washington.

According to the mission, nearly three dozen requests for information sent to the Iranian government went unanswered. Requests made to the U.S. government in June seeking information and meetings with American officials also received no response.

The panel called on both Iran and the United States to halt violations and provide “full reparations to victims.”

The findings themselves do not constitute a criminal conviction, and the fact-finding mission does not have the authority to prosecute the United States, impose criminal penalties or issue a binding legal judgment.

The independent mission was created by the U.N. Human Rights Council in 2022 and is chaired by Bangladeshi jurist Sara Hossain. Its findings can, however, become part of the documentary record used in future efforts to pursue accountability through international legal proceedings.

The report is set to be formally presented to the 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, ensuring that the disputed Feb. 28 strikes — and the sharply conflicting accounts offered by U.N. investigators and the United States — will remain the subject of international scrutiny.

{Matzav.com}

[COMMUNICATED]

No one plans to spend Yom Tov in a hospital.

One moment, a family is preparing for Yom Tov at home. The next, plans change. A medical emergency, an unexpected admission, or a baby arriving earlier than expected – and instead of sitting around their own Yom Tov table, they find themselves spending Yom Tov in the hospital.

Then comes a moment of relief: someone was expecting them.

A Bikur Cholim hospitality room, prepared and waiting. A pantry fully stocked with food and Yom Tov essentials. Fresh meals for patients and their families. Grape juice, challah, snacks – everything they suddenly need, already there.

They never planned to spend Yom Tov here. But Bikur Cholim planned for them – making sure they can still have the Yom Tov they need.

It Takes an Entire Operation

What a family sees when they open a stocked pantry is only the final step of a tremendous operation.

Before Yom Tov begins, kitchens are preparing and packaging thousands of meals. Supplies are purchased by the case and pallet. Volunteers pack, sort, and deliver. Hospital pantries and hospitality rooms across the area need to be fully stocked and prepared.

Transportation is coordinated. Patient and family needs are addressed. Every detail needs to be thought through before Yom Tov begins.

And it isn’t happening in just one hospital.

Across many local hospitals and beyond, Bikur Cholim is preparing pantries and hospitality rooms so that when a Jewish family unexpectedly finds themselves spending Yom Tov away from home, they discover that someone has already thought of them.

This Tishrei Alone

The Yom Tov season is one of the busiest and most costly times of the year for Bikur Cholim.

Over $1 million in services and support.
Over 50,000 Yom Tov meals prepared and delivered.
34 hospital pantries stocked and ready.
72 hospitality rooms available for patients and families.
Hundreds of volunteers making it all possible.

Transportation. Deliveries. Advocacy. Family support. Hospital and at-home care – all continuing across an entire Yom Tov season.

And behind every number is another patient or family who never expected to need us.

Yom Tov Is Here. We Urgently Need Your Help.

The preparations are underway. The kitchens are working. Pantries still need to be stocked. Meals still need to be prepared and delivered. Families still need to be taken care of.

But there’s still a gap — and Yom Tov won’t wait.

We urgently need your help to close it, so we can complete the preparations and make sure every family is taken care of.

Sponsor a Yom Tov Seudah for a Family — $180

VIEW ALL YOM TOV SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

May the zechus of your giving to those in need stand for you and your family, and may you be blessed to spend every Yom Tov together – healthy, happy, and at home.

GIVE LIFE. RECEIVE LIFE.
GIVE LIFE TO ANOTHER FAMILY.

CREATE A ZECHUS FOR YOURS.