Yeshiva World News

Meet Omar. He was wearing a Hamas terror uniform in NYC, and boldly claims that he wants to kill Zionists. Hopefully, he is caught and charged with terrorism.

Special Envoy Steve Witkoff on the call between President Trump and President Putin: “Epic, transformational — those are the sorts of adjectives that I’d use….. “They were talking about how to save lives, how to stop the carnage … I was proud to be an American sitting there listening.”

Billionaire White House adviser and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has issued a stunning claim, alleging that a powerful conspiracy is targeting him personally—seeking his death and the destruction of Tesla. Speaking on Hannity Tuesday night, Musk tied recent acts of vandalism against Tesla dealerships to a broader, orchestrated effort to silence him and dismantle the company he built. “I think there are larger forces at work as well,” Musk told host Sean Hannity. “I mean, who’s funding and who’s coordinating it? Because this is crazy. I’ve never seen anything like this.” The remarks come amid a wave of escalating protests and attacks against Tesla properties. In recent weeks, Tesla showrooms and charging stations have been defaced, firebombed, and even shot at. The incidents coincide with mounting backlash against Musk’s political ties—particularly his massive $277 million donation to re-elect President Donald Trump, his work in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), and his embrace of conservative rhetoric. Musk, whose SpaceX on Tuesday completed a high-stakes retrieval mission for two astronauts stranded in space for nine months, argued that his political adversaries are responding violently to his efforts to reform government inefficiencies. “It turns out when you take away people’s, you know, the money that they’re receiving fraudulently, they get very upset,” Musk said. “And they basically want to kill me because I’m stopping their fraud, and they want to hurt Tesla because we’re stopping the terrible waste and corruption in the government.” His Department of Government Efficiency, a Trump administration initiative Musk spearheads, has drawn heavy scrutiny. The group has enacted mass firings of federal employees, blocked billions in congressionally approved funds, and claimed to uncover rampant fraud—though investigative reports suggest its findings have been exaggerated. Nonetheless, Musk insisted the backlash against him is part of a larger, coordinated attack on Tesla and his leadership. Tesla’s brand has been in freefall in recent months, with Musk’s politics alienating customers and sparking boycotts. According to The Wall Street Journal, Tesla’s stock is now in a prolonged selloff, with investors unnerved by the company’s deepening political entanglements. The situation turned more volatile as protests erupted outside Tesla dealerships, where demonstrators accused Musk of fostering division, misinformation, and conspiracy theories. Musk, however, dismissed these demonstrators as a violent, unhinged faction determined to destroy him. “It’s really come as quite a shock to me that there is this level of, really, hatred and violence from the left,” Musk told Hannity. “I always thought that the left, you know, Democrats were supposed to be the party of empathy, the party of caring, and yet they’re burning down cars, firebombing dealerships, they’re firing bullets into dealerships, they’re smashing up Teslas.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

In light of the IDF conscription decree affecting Yeshiva students, Aryeh Deri dances with Yeshiva Bochurim at his granddaughter’s wedding as they sing עוצו עצה ותופר.

*SEE IT:* U.S. Fighter aircraft shoots down Iran-backed Houthi one-way-attack drones with Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System Laser Guided Rockets.

A young child suffered serious injuries after being struck by a vehicle on Hickory Street in Toms River early Wednesday morning. Hatzolah emergency responders arrived at the scene around 8:30 AM, providing immediate medical care before transporting the child to Jersey Shore University Medical Center for further treatment. Read the full story on Lakewood Alerts. 

Secretary Sean Duffy: “We give millions of dollars a year to the New York subway and part of the requirement is they keep it safe. And so, what we’re going to do is say, listen, if you can’t keep your subway safe… we’re going to pull your money — and it’s not just New York.”

Following the IDF’s evacuation orders and renewed strikes in Gaza, roughly 20,000 residents of Beit Hanoun in northern Gaza have fled the area.

Overnight, the Israeli military conducted widespread strikes on Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip, with the Israeli Air Force hitting around 20 sites, including a Hamas military location in northern Gaza where rocket attack preparations were detected.

After the Trump-Putin call, Russians replaced “ZVO,” a wartime symbol, with “We are together” near the U.S. embassy.

US Senator Rick Scott: “Every democracy in the world’s gotta say, stop doing business with Iran. The only way we can do it is hopefully that we have to destroy their economy.

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POTUS on his “great call” with President Putin: “You have a situation where you have a lot of guns pointing at each other, foolishly… because it would have never happened if I were president… we want to get it over with.”

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent sought to ease economic anxieties on Tuesday, dismissing concerns about an impending recession while taking aim at media narratives that he says underplay the economy’s strengths.

Democrats will never give Elon the proper recognition and credit he deserves for this because he likes Trump.

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Every year on Purim, the home of Rabbi Yaakov Bender, the legendary Rosh Yeshiva of Darchei Torah, is visited by countless children, their joyous energy filling the air as they collect for various causes. It is a tradition that has long been encouraged—an opportunity to instill in children the value of helping others. “I am more than happy to give them $5 or $10 each, aside from some of the major campaigns,” Rabbi Bender writes in a post-Purim letter addressed to parents. “In years past, I have always encouraged the talmidim of our Yeshiva to feel the pain of others, urging them to find a way to alleviate the burdens of Yidden. One of those ways is to raise money for the indigent and poor. I felt honored to be part of a Yeshiva where hundreds of talmidim are out there every Purim helping others.” It was a point of pride, something to celebrate. But this Purim, something felt different. “Lo and behold, this year, more boys visited than ever, despite the short day. As always, I asked them for whom they were collecting. Many of the children answered with the names of an organization with which I was not familiar. I asked the children what the organization does; not a single child knew.” The realization set in. These children weren’t collecting for an urgent cause, for a struggling family, for a vital community need. They were collecting—but for what? “I let it go on Purim day,” Rabbi Bender continued. “But on Shabbos, when one of our children came for the seudah, they showed me glitzy booklets delivered with the weekly Jewish magazines. I was stunned.” What he saw in those pages was nothing short of alarming. “Basically, children were promised prizes worth nearly 45% of the amount collected, or even more!” For years, incentive prizes have been a staple of fundraising efforts for children, a small token to recognize their efforts. But this was different. The prizes were not an afterthought; they were the entire motivation. “This Purim, it seemed that these children were in essence collecting for themselves—e.g., if a child collected $650, he would receive a beautiful, expensive, electric scooter.” A scooter. A drone. A robot. It was no longer about giving. It was about getting. And if that wasn’t troubling enough, the booklet made another shocking promise. “The organization has the chutzpah to advertise that ‘if you don’t see the item you want, call us; we will get it for you.’ Further chutzpah—that ‘if any other organization offers a better deal, we will match it.’” This was not fundraising. This was not tzedakah. This was a business. “What have we come to?” Rabbi Bender asked. The essence of tzedakah—giving selflessly, thinking beyond oneself—is being eroded. Children are being trained to see tzedakah as a personal opportunity, not as a sacred responsibility. “Our job as parents and mechanchim is to imbue middos tovos; not to teach our children to be greedy and busy with themselves,” Rabbi Bender warned. Yes, incentives have always played a role in motivating children to participate in fundraising. But there was a time when they understood what they were collecting for. “I remember, as a little child, being asked to collect for Chinuch Atzmai. Sure, we ultimately got a prize—but Chinuch Atzmai representatives […]

China’s energy and auto giant BYD has announced an ultra fast EV charging system that it says is nearly as quick as a fill up at the pumps. BYD, China’s largest EV maker, said Monday that its flash-chargers can provide a full charge for its latest EVs within five to eight minutes, similar to the amount of time needed to fill a fuel tank. It plans to build more than 4,000 of the new charging stations across China. Charging times and limited ranges have been a major factor constraining the switch from gas and diesel vehicles to EVs, though Chinese drivers have embraced that change, with sales of battery powered and hybrid vehicles jumping 40% last year. BYD’s news appeared to give Tesla a jolt on Monday, as the U.S. EV maker’s share price sank 4.8%. BYD, which stands for build your dreams, began pre-sales of its Han L and Tang L models, which are upgraded versions of earlier models. The Chinese company started out making batteries and has been refining its battery and energy storage technology while building an auto empire that is expanding outside China. It says its 1 megawatt flash chargers can provide power for 400 kilometers (nearly 250 miles) in five minutes. Ultra-high voltage and a large current are required to maximize charging speeds, BYD’s founder Wang Chuanfu said in a statement. “To completely solve users’ anxiety over charging, our pursuit is to make the charging time for EVs as short as the refueling time for fuel vehicles,” Wang said. The company also said that its flash-charging system relies on silicon carbide power chips with voltage levels of up to 1,500V that it developed on its own. Its Blade lithium-iron phosphate battery is perhaps the world’s safest and most efficient EV battery, with Tesla opting to use it in some of its EVs, industry analyst Michael Dunne said in a recent report. BYD reported it made just over 4.3 million “new energy vehicles” last year, up 41% from a year earlier, including 1.8 million battery electric vehicles and 2.5 million plug in hybrids. The price of its shares traded on China’s smaller market in Shenzhen has surged nearly 50% in the past six months. While BYD’s fanciest, latest premium models are expected to sell for up to about $40,000, it also makes much less expensive EVs including the Seagull, which sells for around $12,000 in China. BYD barely nudged ahead of Tesla in production of battery-powered EVs in 2024, making 1,777,965 compared with Tesla’s 1,773,443. In early January, Tesla said its sales dropped in 2024, a first in more than a dozen years, as rivals such as BMW, Volkswagen and BYD gained market shares with competitive EVs. But BYD has weaknesses as well, Dunne said, noting that JD Power’s 2024 China New Energy Vehicle Initial Quality Study ranked the BYD Seal and BYD Song Plus battery electrics at the bottom of its rankings. (AP)

Stuck in space no more, NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams returned to Earth on Tuesday, hitching a different ride home to close out a saga that began with a bungled test flight more than nine months ago. Their SpaceX capsule parachuted into the Gulf of Mexico in the early evening, just hours after departing the International Space Station. Splashdown occurred off the coast of Tallahassee in the Florida Panhandle, bringing their unplanned odyssey to an end. Within an hour, the astronauts were out of their capsule, waving and smiling at the cameras while being hustled away in reclining stretchers for routine medical checks. It all started with a flawed Boeing test flight last spring. The two expected to be gone just a week or so after launching on Boeing’s new Starliner crew capsule on June 5. So many problems cropped up on the way to the space station that NASA eventually sent Starliner back empty and transferred the test pilots to SpaceX, pushing their homecoming into February. Then SpaceX capsule issues added another month’s delay. Sunday’s arrival of their relief crew meant Wilmore and Williams could finally leave. NASA cut them loose a little early, given the iffy weather forecast later this week. They checked out with NASA’s Nick Hague and Russia’s Alexander Gorbunov, who arrived in their own SpaceX capsule last fall with two empty seats reserved for the Starliner duo. Wilmore and Williams ended up spending 286 days in space — 278 days longer than anticipated when they launched. They circled Earth 4,576 times and traveled 121 million miles (195 million kilometers) by the time of splashdown. “On behalf of SpaceX, welcome home,” radioed SpaceX Mission Control in California. “What a ride,” replied Hague, the capsule’s commander. “I see a capsule full of grins ear to ear.” Dolphins circled the capsule as divers readied it for hoisting onto the recovery ship. Once safely on board, the side hatch was opened and the astronauts were helped out, one by one. Williams was next-to-last out, followed by Wilmore who gave two gloved thumbs-up. Wilmore and Williams’ plight captured the world’s attention, giving new meaning to the phrase “stuck at work” and turning “Butch and Suni” into household names. While other astronauts had logged longer spaceflights over the decades, none had to deal with so much uncertainty or see the length of their mission expand by so much. Wilmore and Williams quickly transitioned from guests to full-fledged station crew members, conducting experiments, fixing equipment and even spacewalking together. With 62 hours over nine spacewalks, Williams set a record: the most time spent spacewalking over a career among female astronauts. Both had lived on the orbiting lab before and knew the ropes, and brushed up on their station training before rocketing away. Williams became the station’s commander three months into their stay and held the post until earlier this month. Their mission took an unexpected twist in late January when President Donald Trump asked SpaceX founder Elon Musk to accelerate the astronauts’ return and blamed the delay on the Biden administration. The replacement crew’s brand new SpaceX capsule still wasn’t ready to fly, so SpaceX subbed it with a used one, hurrying things along by at least a few weeks. Even in the middle of the political storm, Wilmore and […]

Rabbi Yitzchak Kesselman, a Lubavitcher Chossid living in Crown Heights, and the highest-ranking frum employee at Microsoft, has been promoted to Corporate Vice President of Messaging and Real-Time Analytics Platform at the tech giant. Kesselman, a specialist in enterprise software, leads Microsoft’s real-time data analytics sector through the company’s management product, Fabric. Fabric, a tool designed to help even non-technical employees extract meaningful insights from massive datasets, has been hailed as a game-changer in the industry. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella underscored the software’s importance during the company’s annual conference in May, calling it a tool that will “fuel the next generation of AI services.” Kesselman expressed his gratitude for the promotion in a LinkedIn post, acknowledging the teams and mentors who have supported him. “This journey has been nothing short of amazing,” he wrote. “It’s amazing to think that our team came together less than two years ago, given everything we’ve been able to achieve so far… The best part? We’re just getting started!” In a 2023 interview with Globes, Kesselman remarked, “I have never seen any dissonance between my work and my faith… Every time we build technologies that really succeed in helping people, I am filled with a sense of meaning.” Born in Riga, Latvia, Kesselman immigrated to Israel at age six and grew up in Ramla. He developed a passion for technology at a young age, becoming fascinated with computers and software in elementary school. His journey to authentic yiddishkeit began in high school in Tel Aviv. He enrolled in the pre-army Atuda academic program, studying computer science at Tel Aviv University while also learning Gemara and Chassidus in yeshiva. Following his graduation, he served as an officer in the IDF Intelligence Corps’ computing unit. Kesselman was one of the first frum employees at Microsoft Israel and played a key role in integrating Charedi professionals into the company. His career in tech saw him hold leadership positions at Retalix, Google, and Microsoft, where he now oversees a division of 400 employees worldwide. Kesselman has also been instrumental in fostering diversity at Microsoft, advocating for the hiring of frum professionals. “We invited candidates for job interviews whose dry data did not exactly match the common pattern of the average tech employee, and we saw that a high percentage of them passed the interviews and were accepted,” he said. He stressed that standards were not lowered, but rather barriers were removed. “With the time and experience I have gained, I have learned that accepting the other does not come at the expense of professionalism, but the opposite.” (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)