Yeshiva World News

The Jerusalem court overseeing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial has delayed the opening of the dramatic evidentiary stage until after March 23 elections. The three-judge panel issued a statement late Monday saying the proceedings, which have been repeatedly delayed due to legal wrangling and coronavirus restrictions, would begin on April 5 and take place three days a week. Netanyahu had pushed to delay the witness stage of the trial until after the election, saying that allowing the testimonies before then would amount to “interference” in the political process. A number of former aides have agreed to testify against him as prosecution witnesses. Netanyahu has been charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases. He stands accused of accepting lavish gifts from wealthy associates and offering to grant favors to powerful media moguls in exchange for favorable coverage of him and his family. He denies all charges. Netanyahu is hoping the election will result in a coalition of allies that would grant him immunity from prosecution. (AP)

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Developments surrounding Iran’s nuclear program are at a “critical point” and lifting sanctions on the country is key to breaking the deadlock, China’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday. Spokesperson Wang Wenbin’s comments came a day after Iran officially began restricting international inspections of its nuclear facilities in a bid to pressure European countries and the U.S. into lifting crippling economic sanctions and restoring the 2015 nuclear deal. As a permanent member of the U.N. Security Council, China is a party to the agreement known as the JCPOA, while also maintaining friendly relations and close economic ties with Tehran. That has long set China against sanctions, and Beijing worked with Germany, France, Britain and Russia to maintain the deal after former President Donald Trump’s decision to pull the U.S. unilaterally out in 2018. The new administration of President Joe Biden has sought to reverse that decision, although Iran’s violations of the JCPOA and the move Tuesday to limit international inspections underscore how difficult that task is. “The current situation on the Iranian nuclear issue is at a critical point, with both opportunities and challenges,” Wang told reporters at a daily briefing. “We have always believed that the return of the U.S. to the comprehensive agreement and the lifting of sanctions against Iran are the keys to breaking the deadlock in the Iranian nuclear issue,” Wang said. (AP)

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A yeshivah student in Yitzhar fended off an Arab terrorist armed with a knife who attempted to stab him in the Shomron on Wednesday morning. Binyamin Cohen was waiting at a hitchhiking post at the Yitzhar junction near the town of Yitzhar when the terrorist approached him wielding a knife. Cohen successfully fought him off by kicking and punching him [while holding his kippah in one hand], and then escaped around a car that had approached the area. The terrorist fled the scene toward a nearby Arab village. IDF forces launched a manhunt for the terrorist, closing off all the entrances to Palestinian villages in the area. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

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Three days before Hoshana Rabbah this year, New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo issued a far-reaching, executive order, effectively shuttering our shuls on one of the most joyous days on our calendar. The news set off a flurry of phone calls between askanim and rabbanim. They spent the next 48 hours drafting legal briefs to obtain an emergency temporary restraining order (TRO) in time for Hoshana Rabbah. Before Yom Tov, the court delivered an oral ruling denying the petition for relief. Simchas Torah became a landscape of makeshift minyanim and harried hakafos. On October 21, we filed an emergency motion for injunction pending appeal in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. That too was denied. Our only recourse was to present the case to the US Supreme Court. Harav Brudny Shlita emphasized that in no uncertain terms should such a decision be made lightly. Taking our government to court, which is out of character for our behavior in galus—that requires tremendous amount of kevod rosh. Reb Chaim Dovid’s advocacy was not motivated by politics, but by considerations of Kiddush Hashem. Kevod Shamayim was at stake.” It took courage from The Agudah, who did the right thing because it was right, not because it was easy. Word of the Supreme Court ruling broke shortly before midnight on November 25. B’chasdei Hashem, the Supreme Court resoundingly affirmed the rights of Americans of faith to practice their religion, even amid the pandemic. There’s power in numbers. We need to raise ours, to lend clout to our advocates, faithfully lobbying our causes in the halls of power. We need to count in order to matter. Join the Agudah the Machatzis HaShekel campaign as echod min haminuyim; stand with our nation so the Agudah can continue championing our values and fighting for the klal and the yochid.  Yasher Koach. Rav Yisroel Reisman

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A Navy veteran who was going through an episode of paranoia died after a Northern California police officer knelt on his neck for several minutes, his family said Tuesday. The family of Angelo Quinto called police on Dec. 23 because the 30-year-old was suffering a mental health crisis and needed help. His family says a responding officer knelt on Quinto’s neck for nearly five minutes while another officer restrained his legs. Quinto lost consciousness and was taken by ambulance to a hospital, where he died three days later. “He said ‘Please don’t kill me. Please don’t kill me,’ as they were putting him on the ground. They handcuffed him and one officer put his knee on the back of his neck the whole time I was in the room,” said Quinto’s mother, Cassandra Quinto-Collins. Quinto-Collins said she had been hugging her son and he was calm when officers arrived at their home in Antioch, 45 miles (70 kilometers) east of San Francisco. “I trusted the police because I thought they knew what they were doing but he was actually passive and visibly not dangerous or a threat so, it was absolutely unnecessary what they did to him,” she said. A video recorded by Quinto-Collins shows her son listless, with a bloodied face and his hands cuffed behind his back. She said she began recording after seeing her son’s eyes were rolled up in his head. The family filed a legal claim against the Antioch Police Department last week, which gives the department 45 days to respond. After that time has elapsed, the family will file a federal lawsuit, said John Burris, the Quintos’ attorney. “I refer to it as the George Floyd technique, that’s what snuffed the life out of him and that cannot be a lawful technique,” Burris said. “We see not only violations of his civil rights but also violations against the rights of his mother and sister’s, who saw what happened to him.” Floyd, a Black man, died May 25 in Minneapolis after a police officer pressed his knee against Floyd’s neck while he was handcuffed and saying he couldn’t breathe. Burris said there were other issues with the officers’ response, including how they didn’t try to de-escalate and first talk to Quinto, and how they failed to turn on their body cameras and the camera in their patrol car. A cause of death has not been released by authorities and an independent autopsy is pending, Burris said. The Antioch Police Department didn’t respond Tuesday to a request for comment from The Associated Press. The department didn’t inform the public of Quinto’s death until Jan. 25 when it answered inquiries made by East Bay Times. After the legal claim was filed Thursday, Antioch Police Lt. Tarra Mendes told the newspaper that “the investigation is still ongoing. We want it to be completed. As soon as it is completed, we will be able to provide the public with more information.” Quinto, who was born in the Philippines, was honorably discharged from the Navy in 2019 because of a food allergy, said his sister, Bella Collins. He suffered from depression most of his life, but his behavior changed after an apparent assault in early 2020, when he woke up in a hospital not remembering what had happened and with […]

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When it comes to saving sea turtles, Israeli rescuers have discovered that mayonnaise is a miracle. Employees at Israel’s National Sea Turtle Rescue Center are treating endangered green sea turtles affected by a devastating oil spill that has coated Israel’s coast with thick black tar. The spill, which Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority has called one of the country’s worst ecological disasters on record, has coated most of Israel’s 120 miles (195 kilometers) of Mediterranean coastline with sticky tar. It has caused extensive damage to wildlife, including sea turtles. Guy Ivgy, a medical assistant at the Sea Turtle Rescue Center in Michmoret, north of Tel Aviv, said 11 turtles are being treated. The center is run by Israel’s Nature and Parks Authority. “They came to us full of tar. All their trachea from inside and outside was full of tar,” he said. Workers have been removing the toxic substance from the reptiles’ airways and found a creative way to flush it out of their digestive tracks. “We continue to feed them substances like mayonnaise, which practically clean the system and break down the tar,” Ivgy said. The recovery process is expected to take a week or two, after which the turtles are expected to be released back into the wild. Thousands of volunteers and clean-up crews have mobilized to remove tar from Israel’s beaches, a task that is expected to take months. Israel’s Environmental Protection Ministry says it is investigating the cause of the oil spill. The incident is believed to have taken place in early February, and Israel said it received no prior warning before an estimated 1,000 tons of tar started washing up on shore. The tar has also washed north to Lebanon. (AP)

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This is an historic opportunity that has never been done by us before (and it’s still free) In honor of Purim, Yad L’Achim has arranged for several Talmidei Chachamim, Rabbanim from Iran who will travel the long distance to Hamadan, Iran to the resting place of Mordechai and Queen Esther on Taanis Esther and daven for all who submit their names for Tefillah through Yad L’Achim (no minimum donation required)You can submit your names by CLICKING HERE,  visiting www.YadLAchim.org or by calling Yad L’Achim at 1-866-923-5224PS. You can also fulfil the mitzvah of Matanas L’Evyonim on Purim and the great mitzvah of Pidyon Shvuyim, redeeming of captives.  Feel free to share this opportunity with friends and family. click to share via WhatsApp On this holy day of Taanis Esther at this holy place, have your names davened for free through Yad L’Achim – right before Purim!You can submit your names by CLICKING HERE,  visiting www.YadLAchim.org or by calling Yad L’Achim at 1-866-923-5224

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A Brooklyn man was arrested in Florida in the brazen daylight armed robbery of a SoHo luxury store after authorities say he bragged about the heist on social media, authorities said Monday as the defendant was detained without bail. Eric Spencer, 29, faced a single robbery charge after his Saturday arrest in Fort Lauderdale in the Feb. 2 robbery at a luxury Chanel store. The charge carries a potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison. He was detained without bail after a Monday hearing in federal court in Fort Lauderdale. A message for comment was sent to Spencer’s court-appointed lawyer. According to a criminal complaint in Manhattan federal court, Spencer bragged on social media after the robbery that he had so many luxury items that he could open his own small boutique. Spencer flashed the handle of a handgun toward security guards as he and three accomplices grabbed handbags and other merchandise worth $189,500, the complaint said. Authorities credited arrests on the review of video images from the store, the street and Spencer’s Brooklyn neighborhood as well as social media posts by Spencer. U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a release that Spencer “put the public and store personnel in grave danger when he committed a brazen daylight armed robbery of a SoHo boutique earlier this month.” She said Spencer also allegedly threatened a store security guard by displaying the handle of his gun while he barked orders to his co-conspirators to “grab everything.” (AP)

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A non-religious man threatened to kill a Chabad photographer on the first evacuation flight of Israelis from New York back to Israel on Monday. The photographer, Chaim Tweeto, was standing in the aisle near the non-religious passenger. According to testimonies from other passengers that were published by BeChadrei Charedim, the non-religious passenger sat in the back of the plane and began antagonizing a number of Chabad men who were sitting in their seats, even before the plane took off. The passenger told the Chabad Chassidim that they weren’t sitting 2 meters away from one another. They responded and said that they had been together for the past month, and there was no issue with them sitting close together on the flight as well. The man began to yell at them to get away. The Chassidim did not want to cause a story so they moved further away, and things calmed down. However, as the flight neared its culmination, the man began to scream at Chaim Tweeto, who had gotten up to go to the back of the plane to get a drink. At the same time, a woman, who was connected to the aggressive man, needed medical care and Chaim ran to alert one of the flight attendants. The man, perhaps out of distress, began to scream at the group of Charedim: “You’ve overrun this space. Because of you, she fainted. You are guilty because you are standing so close together.” The flight attendant asked Tweeto what happened, and he said that the aggressive man was blaming the Chareidi students for the woman’s developing medical condition. “Don’t react and don’t pay attention to him. Remain calm,” the attendant reportedly told Tweeto and the group. The aggressive man heard what was said and became enraged. “I will kill you once we land in Ben Gurion Airport. Just wait, I will beat you to a pulp,” the man told Tweeto. He then attempted to attack Tweeto in the airplane, but the flight attendants intervened. Tweeto did not file a complaint on the plane as there was a lot of pressure from other passengers to deplane. After the flight, Tweeto told Bechadrei, “It is appalling to see how far the seeds of anti-Charedi slander by the media spread.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

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During mid-March of 2020, Rabbi Sofer felt very weak and was unable to eat. Seven days past and still he could not swallow even a morsel of food. On March 28th he started losing consciousness and he was admitted to Maimonides hospital. The staff assumed that he had the coronavirus, so they induced a coma on him and put him on a ventilator. After two months of being alone in the hospital, his wife finally came and noticed that he had no feeding tube! His body consumed 80 lbs. of his own weight. This is how he miraculously survived. Due to being confined to a bed for such a long time, the Rabbi suffered horrible bed sores and his heel needed to be cut off. He also had multiple infections that gave him septic shock, a life-threatening infection causing organ failure. Because of these conditions he was not able to move, walk, or use his fingers and limbs properly. From July 1st until September 16, he was in intense rehabilitation to learn how to walk again. Now, he needs a lot of help with daily activities, such as taking a shower, going to bed, and using his hands to move. CLICK HERE TO DONATE His talmidim hear him saying, “How can I repay Hashem for all the good that he granted me! It is a great miracle that I am alive to tell over my situation to others and help people in similar situations.” My friends, before his health problems began, he was involved in running many mosdos in the community. He also gave shiurim, learned with his talmidim, and influenced many people in the community to keep Torah and mitzvos. He cannot work now, and he requires an aid to help him go about his life, and he owes large sums of money to the hospital. Below, you can find a list of rabbonim along with their phone numbers who personally know Rabbi Sofer and can verify his case. Your donation will bring Rabbi Sofer back to learning and teaching Torah and helping klal Yisrael once again. Thank you and tizku limitzvos. Reuven Yusupon,  A talmid of Rabbi Sofer Every $360+ donation Rabbi Sofer will finish the Entire Tehillim in Your merritt, each donor will have an entire sefer read for him. email the rabbi directly to rabbiasofer@gmail.com  with your name Rabbi Sofer will email you back the video as he completes the sefer in your Honor. CLICK HERE TO DONATE

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Leading technology companies said Tuesday that a monthslong breach of corporate and government networks was so sophisticated, focused and labor-intensive that a nation had to be behind it, with all the evidence pointing to Russia. In the first congressional hearing on the breach, representatives of technology companies involved in the response described a hack of almost breathtaking precision, ambition and scope. The perpetrators stealthily scooped up specific emails and documents on a target list from the U.S. and other countries. “We haven’t seen this kind of sophistication matched with this kind of scale,” Microsoft President Brad Smith told the Senate Intelligence Committee. Smith said investigators estimate at least 1,000 highly skilled engineers would have been required to develop the code that hijacked widely used network software from Texas-based SolarWinds to deploy malware around the world through a security update. “We’ve seen substantial evidence that points to the Russian foreign intelligence agency, and we have found no evidence that leads us anywhere else,” Smith said. U.S. national security officials have also said Russia was likely responsible for the breach, and President Joe Biden’s administration is weighing punitive measures against Russia for the hack as well as other activities. Moscow has denied responsibility for the breach. Officials have said the motive for the hack, which was discovered by private security company FireEye in December, appeared to be to gather intelligence. On what, they haven’t said. At least nine government agencies and 100 private companies were breached, but what was taken has not been revealed. White House press secretary Jen Psaki said Tuesday that it would be “weeks, not months,” before the U.S. responds to Russia. “We have asked the intelligence community to do further work to sharpen the attribution that the previous administration made about precisely how the hack occurred, what the extent of the damage is and what the scope and scale of the intrusion is,” Psaki said. “And we’re still in the process of working that through now.” FireEye CEO Kevin Mandia told the Senate that his company has had nearly 100 people working to study and contain the breach since they detected it, almost by accident, in December and alerted the U.S. government. The hackers first quietly installed malicious code in October 2019 on targeted networks, but didn’t activate it to see if they could remain undetected. They returned in March and immediately began to steal the login credentials of people who were authorized to be on the network so they could have a “secret key” to move around at will, Mandia said. Once detected, “they vanished like ghosts,” he said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that this was planned,” the security executive said. “The question really is where’s the next one, and when are we going to find it?” Government agencies breached include the Treasury, Justice and Commerce departments, but the full list has not been publicly released. The president of Microsoft, which is working with FireEye on the response, said there are victims around the world, including in Canada, Mexico, Spain and the United Arab Emirates. The panel, which also included Sudhakar Ramakrishna, the CEO of SolarWinds who took over the company after the hack occurred, and George Kurtz, the president and CEO of CrowdStrike, another leading security company, faced questions not just about how the […]

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The Minerva Helen, a Greek-owned crude oil tanker, is suspected of being responsible for the massive oil spill that has polluted the majority of Israel’s beaches in what is believed to be the worst ecological disaster in Israel’s history, Kan News reported. The tanker, currently anchored off Cartagena in Spain, was involved in a previous major oil spill off of Copenhagen, Denmark, in January 2008. Following petitions by a number of media organizations, the Haifa Magistrates Court on Tuesday revoked the seven-day gag order it had approved at the request of the Environmental Protection Ministry on Monday. כך היא נראתה באותם ימים. לא ברור מה רמת התחזוקה של המכלית, הנמצאת בבעלות יוונית, כיום pic.twitter.com/OCFMgnRZgC — אינטלי טיימס – Intelli Times (@IntelliTimes) February 23, 2021 However, the judge banned the media from publishing details of the investigation until February 28. Also on Tuesday, the government approved NIS 45 million ($13.8 million) for a massive cleanup operation of Israel’s Mediterranean beaches, which are severely polluted with tons of tar across more than 100 miles (160 kilometers) of coastline. Israelis have been instructed to keep away from the country’s beaches along the Mediterranean coast, from the north to the south. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

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Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is moving ahead with plans to honor recently deceased conservative radio broadcaster Rush Limbaugh by lowering flags to half-staff despite protests from some public officials who don’t see Limbaugh as worthy of the honor. DeSantis announced Tuesday that he was directing the U.S. and Florida flags to be flown at half-staff at the Palm Beach County Courthouse in West Palm Beach, the City Hall of Palm Beach and the State Capitol in Tallahassee from sunrise to sunset on Wednesday. A longtime resident of Palm Beach, Limbaugh, 70, died of lung cancer last Wednesday. DeSantis called Limbaugh a legend during a news conference two days later and indicated that he would direct flags to be flown at half-staff to honor him. But many Democrats objected. Nikki Fried, Florida’s agriculture commissioner and the only statewide Democratic officeholder, said Monday that she would not abide by the Republican governor’s orders. She said she would notify all state officers she oversees to disregard the governor’s order. St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Kriseman posted on Twitter that his city wouldn’t honor hatred, racism, bigotry, homophobia or anything else Limbaugh has spewed over the years. The governor’s order doesn’t apply to any of the offices controlled by Fried or the city of St. Petersburg. Town of Palm Beach officials and Palm Beach County court officials didn’t immediately reply to emails asking if they planned to follow the order. A year ago, President Donald Trump awarded Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor, during his final State of the Union address. The day before, Limbaugh had announced that he was battling advanced lung cancer. Limbaugh had for decades championed conservativism — often stridently at the expense of liberals and Democrats. Flags are typically lowered to honor prominent government officials, as well as law enforcement officers and members of the military killed in the line of duty. DeSantis has said Limbaugh’s stature justified the honor. (AP)

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Join Zichru, the revolutionary memory program for Daf Yomi, for Arvei Pesachim and remember all 23 blatt in 23 days! Imagine going into your seder and Yom Tov with the entire perek in your hands.  Experience the memory breakthrough that thousands of our members worldwide have discovered and who now remember what’s on every blatt in Masechta Berachos, Shabbos, Eruvin and most of Pesachim. Sign up for our special Arvei Pesachim Program and receive 14 days of memory coaching. Just go to www.zichru.com or text 973-440-3013 to join via WhatsApp. It’s absolutely FREE! Almost every participant in Daf Yomi is familiar with the struggle to retain more from the Daf.  Day in and day out, the Daf begins to fade away soon after the shiur or the chavrusa ends. For some it’s a frustration they’ve come to accept as the price to stick with the program. For others it’s too hard to bear and they eventually give up. Forget no more! Zichru is a memory-focused program that is designed to significantly enhance one’s daf yomi experience and improve retention. It was developed by Rabbi Avraham Goldhar, a memory expert, and Mr. Barry Lebovits, a Daf Yomi Maggid Shiur, who believe lomdei Daf Yomi can get a much greater return on investment from their daily commitment. How much time does the Zichru program require? Just 20 minutes a day. That’s all. Sign up for our special Arvei Pesachim Program and receive 14 days of memory coaching. Just go to www.zichru.com or text 973-440-3013 to join via WhatsApp. Our members experience breakthroughs in their memory. “Zichru is a total gamechanger. I review over 300 blatt every week with my chavrusa.” Mordechai Golombeck, Passaic “I am a kollel youngeman from Lakewood who just started doing Daf Yomi for the first time. Zichru has made this learning experience like no other! I can’t even imagine what it would be to do the Daf without Zichru. The clarity that I have gotten of the first perek so for is unreal! I haven’t known the pieces of an entire perek so well before, that in seconds can say over what topics of every single blatt! I highly recommend anyone doing the Daf to join Zichru ASAP!” Reuven M. Lakewood “I have an average memory and have always struggled with chazara methods or the lack thereof. But now I walk away from each daf of gemara with tangible, retrievable facts etched in my memory. My U’vlechtecha Badrech learning has never been greater!” “My ability to walk through daf after daf, without a sefer, knowing many things per page, has most pleasantly surprised me. This program is very out of the box and unconventional, and you will be asked to do things you never did before, but boy does it work!” Boruch Leff, Baltimore “I have always been conscious of the importance of chazoro and have therefore tried out many different programs on chazoro over the years, but I have to say that never have I experienced anything as effective and practical as this program especially due to the fact that as a Magid Shiur I have a very busy schedule and haven’t got that much time for chazoro. This program is time effective, practical and fun and above all it actually works!  “I am now able to review many dafim whilst driving, whilst sitting by a simcha, whilst […]

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Agudath Israel of America has expressed strong support for a U.S Small Business Administration (SBA) proposal on “Ensuring Equal Treatment for Faith-Based Organizations in SBA’s Loan and Disaster Assistance Programs.” The rule would eliminate provisions that make certain faith-based organizations ineligible to participate in several SBA business loan and disaster programs simply because they are religious. In comments submitted in response to the SBA’s proposed rule, Rabbi Abba Cohen, Agudath Israel’s Vice President for Government Affairs and Washington Director, laid out the organization’s reasons for supporting the agency’s action. Rabbi Cohen explained that the SBA’s analysis is legally compelling and the agency has a duty to implement the proposed changes, as excluding an organization from a federal relief program, based solely on the organizations religious status, would violate the Free Exercise Clause of the First Amendment. He argued that recent U.S. Supreme Court cases clearly and unequivocally demonstrate that the Constitution requires “equal treatment” of religious entities who seek to participate in such federal programs. Moreover, Rabbi Cohen averred, the proposed rule’s leveling of the playing field for religious entities represents sound public policy. Being that faith-based organizations provide vital services to meet the most pressing needs of their communities, especially during disasters and times of crises, the government should support both their eligibility and their efforts. In fact, it is often the government itself that reaches out to such organizations, many of which are having their own disaster-related financial difficulties, to help serve their communities during time of distress. “It is incumbent upon our government to do whatever it can to help religious groups do their vital work and to remove any unnecessary or illegal restriction that bars the assistance they, and we in our nation, desperately need,” Rabbi Cohen observes.

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Nothing wrong with strawberry, chocolate, and poppyseed. Even pizza and sushi hamantaschen are so last year. But we’re just saying, there’s always room for more hamantaschen innovation. These hamantaschen on Kosher.com are crazy creative! Here’s just a sampling. Dror Elimelech. Blue Rock Hamantaschen. Yes, these are inspired by Breaking Bad. How cool do they look? Get the recipe. 2. Dunkaroos by Dini Klein. Talk about 90’s nostalgia! How fun is this for anyone that grew up in the 90’s! Get the recipe. 3. Another trend we love, drink inspired flavors- Perfect for Purim! Moscow Mule. Get the recipe. 4. Bloody Mary by Alison Gutwaks. To continue the drinks theme, we liked this one too! Get the recipe. 5. Luxury breakfast: Esther Mendelevich This one is pretty cool. Hash brown and sautéed onion crust filled with a runny egg yolk, crispy facon and topped with truffle pate. Get the recipe. 6. Green Tea Hamantaschen, Paula Shoyer,  This one is a little on the subtle side flavor-wise but pretty creative nonetheless. Get the recipe. Alright! Now you’ve seen our favorites, check out the rest at Kosher.com!

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Can gadlus and pashtus really coexist? Can one guard every single word, but still have all the time in the world for anyone? Can one possess the strongest of opinions, but still be accepting of all? Can one need nothing for himself, but others’ needs have no limits?   This film is an in-depth journey exploring the life and times of Maran Hagaon Rav Dovid Feinstein zt”l.   Will we understand him?   No.   But exploring his life will definitely change ours.   Rav Dovid Feinstein was born in 1929 in Luban, a small town located in present-day Belarus, where his father HaGaon HaRav Moshe Feinstein zt”l served as Rav of the community. The family emigrated to America in the winter of 1937 and ever since the boat carrying them arrived at New York harbor, the Jewish world has never been the same.   This feature-length film contains never-before-seen footage, pictures, stories and recollections from the Gadol HaDor’s closest family and talmidim including his wife, tblch”t Rebbetzin Malke Feinstein, Rav Reuven Feinstein, Rav Shmuel Kamenetzky, Rav Dovid’s chavrusas and friends from his youth, R’ Reuven Wolf, and many more. With over 45 interviews and extensive research, this film is truly monumental.   How was Rav Dovid able to pasken such complex shailos instantly? Hear about the time he needed to think about a shailah! Why did Rav Elyashiv zt”l send him shailos? Gain insight into why Rav Dovid did his own grocery shopping. What was his surprising P’sak Halachah he ruled on for Rabbi Dovid Ozeri? Which Roshei Yeshiva say Rav Dovid had Ruach Hakodesh?   Everyone knows about Reb Dovid. We know he lived on the Lower East Side, we knew the pay phones where he answered shailos and the pizza shop where he often ate breakfast. We know all about him, but do we know who he was? Did the simplicity fool us? Did the relatability distract us? This film will explore how no matter where he was, who he was with, or what was at stake, his focus was to do exactly what Hashem wanted him to do at that moment, nothing more, and nothing less. Yes, it may be the ultimate simplicity – but that is what made him so great.   Be a part of this once-in-a-lifetime experience, TONIGHT at 8:00 PM, right here, or on MTJ.EDU   If you would like to place an ad or donate to the yeshiva in memory of Rav Dovid Feinstein zt”l, please CLICK HERE to visit MTJ.EDU now, and express your appreciation for what Rav Dovid zt”l did for our entire community.   

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The Senate confirmed President Joe Biden’s choice to lead U.S. diplomacy at the United Nations on Tuesday. Linda Thomas-Greenfield’s confirmation reflected the Biden administration’s determination to reengage with the world body and former President Donald Trump’s diplomacy that often left the U.S. isolated internationally. Senators voted 78-20 to confirm Thomas-Greenfield to the post, which will be a Cabinet-level position. Thomas-Greenfield, a retired 35-year veteran of the foreign service who resigned during the Trump administration, will be the third African American, and the second African American woman, to hold the job. Her confirmation was hailed by Democrats and advocates of the United Nations, who had lamented the Trump administration’s unilateral approach to international affairs. “This confirmation sends a message that the United States is back and that our foreign service is back,” said Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., who chairs a House Foreign Affairs subcommittee on Africa, global health and global human rights. “We as a country and as a world are safer with Linda Thomas-Greenfield serving as the United States ambassador to the United Nations.” “We can count on Ambassador Thomas-Greenfield to work with international partners to confront our collective challenges head on, and play an active role in ensuring the U.N. evolves with the demands of our era as an essential forum for collective problem-solving and catalyst for global progress,” said Elizabeth Cousens, president of the United Nations Foundation, a private group that supports the world body’s endeavors. “Hers is the leadership America needs at the UN at this critical moment for the U.S. and world.” Republicans who opposed her said she was soft on China and would not stand up for U.S. principles at the United Nations. Thomas-Greenfield had rejected those concerns during her confirmation hearing, telling senators that a 2019 speech she gave to the Chinese-funded Confucius Institute had been a mistake and was not intended to be an endorsement of Chinese government policies. In the speech, she had praised China’s $1 trillion Belt and Road global infrastructure program in Africa and called for “a win-win-win situation” where the U.S. and China would promote good governance and the rule of law. She told senators that China is a strategic adversary and that “their actions threaten our security, they threaten our values and they threaten our way of life, and they are a threat to their neighbors and they are a threat across the globe.” Thomas-Greenfield spoke of China’s diplomatic inroads during the Trump administration, which pursued an “America First” policy that weakened international alliances. And she made clear there would be a change under Biden to reengage internationally and promote American values. She stressed that American leadership must be rooted in the country’s core values — “support for democracy, respect for universal human rights, and the promotion of peace and security.” And she said that effective diplomacy means developing “robust relationships,” finding common ground and managing differences, and “doing genuine, old-fashioned, people-to-people diplomacy.” At her hearing, she recalled attending a segregated high school and then Louisiana State University “as a consequence of a lawsuit.” She said she was “not the norm” among the Ivy League graduates who also joined the Foreign Service in 1982. “And yet, I had an extraordinary 35-year career that culminated as the assistant secretary of state of African affairs,” Thomas-Greenfield said. “To me, that […]

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WE WANT YOU TO BE A PART OF Tehillim United! Here’s what we are doing: On purim night, thousands of women and girls from across the globe are going to unite to harness the power of tehillim on purim. The goal of tehillim united is to have the sefer tehillim completed hundreds of times on purim as a zchus for klal yisroel. The way it works is that you sign up before purim for a yom. You will then receive a text/email/call with your assigned yom and the information about the tehillim united live teleconference.  The teleconference  will take place on leil purim. Thousands will say their tehillim in the allotted time slot which will be followed by short inspiration from incredible speakers including rebbitzen rena tarshish. The tehillim can be said anytime throughout purim.  The power here is in the numbers!! So please pass on this information to everyone you know, post it on chats, spread the word, so that together we can unite in this incredible zchus.  Tehillim united is hosted by kupas yom tov. Sign up now: text the word tehillim to  833-593-0047 or please fill out this form:  https://forms.gle/HFNketJrtMxTBrtw6 Or email tehillimunited@kupasyomtov.Org If you do not have access to any of these options then you can sign up by calling 732.334.0050.

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In a move that some may see as controversial, United Hatzalah Founder and President Eli Beer has instructed the chapter heads of all regions in Israel, Jewish, Muslim, and Christian, both secular and religious, to make sure that all of the volunteers under their jurisdiction have received the Coronavirus vaccine, or are recovering patients, by March 7th. Should a volunteer decide not to receive the vaccine, they will be suspended from all duties, and after a grace period, removed from the organization altogether. “I don’t see this as controversial,” said Beer. “I see it as our duty in saving lives. As medical personnel and first responders, we are at risk, and we can endanger others if we aren’t vaccinated. We’ve had a number of volunteers in the past contract the virus because they responded to an emergency prior to the vaccines being available and in spite of the precautions they took. I don’t want any of our volunteers getting sick, or their families getting sick. G-d forbid I don’t want any of our volunteers passing the virus on to a patient either,” Beer explained. To date, nearly 90 percent of the 6,000 plus volunteers who make up the organization have already received at least the first vaccine. According to the new policy, those who have a legitimate medical reason why they will not be receiving the vaccine, such as pregnant women in their first trimester, will need to submit a request to the organization’s medical department requesting a special exemption for the time being. Upon receiving the temporary exemption, they will then only be allowed to respond to some of the medical emergencies, where the risk of contracting the coronavirus is low. In addition to making sure that all of its volunteers have been vaccinated, United Hatzalah, in partnership with the Claims Conference, has taken upon itself the task of making sure that all homebound Holocaust survivors throughout the country have the ability and opportunity to be vaccinated as well. “Volunteers who do not have the vaccine, will not be allowed to respond to any respiratory emergencies, any emergency where someone in the home is in isolation or sick with the disease, or any emergency involving a fever, as well as others. I myself have already received both vaccines even though I already had the virus. I’ve personally experienced what this virus can do to someone and how terrible it is. The damage that can be caused by an unvaccinated person passing on the virus is unfathomable, and I don’t want our volunteers to be responsible for that,” Beer concluded. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

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