Yeshiva World News

Syrian President Ahmad al-Sharaa meets U.S. envoy to Syria Tom Barrack in Damascus, this morning.

Britain is considering sanctions on Israeli ministers Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben-Gvir, which would be the first time the UK has imposed sanctions on ministers from an allied nation.

Chaos in the Gaza Strip: A group of Gazans robbed a A-Sahaba market in Gaza City this morning.

Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino confirms they are closing in on suspects surrounding the J6 pipe bombs: “We had two pipe bombs planted on January 6th. We were told this was an insurrection. I’m pretty confident that we’re closing in on some suspects.”

Video captures Houthi passengers escaping a Yemenia A320 moments before the Israeli strike on Sana’a airport yesterday morning. Israel allowed evacuation time prior to targeting the aircraft.

The IDF issues an unusual warning to Palestinians in the Nuseirat area of central Gaza, telling them to stay away from several locations where the military claims Hamas operatives are. The IDF also names six prominent Hamas operatives in its announcement.

The IDF says it recently demolished a Hamas attack tunnel during operations of the Gaza Division and the Yahalom combat engineering unit in the southern Gaza Strip. The tunnel was hundreds of meters long and featured several exits, some of them rigged with explosives, the army says.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Wednesday the U.S. will begin revoking the visas of some Chinese students, including those studying in “critical fields.” China is the second-largest country of origin for international students in the United States, behind only India. In the 2023-2024 school year, more than 270,000 international students were from China, making up roughly a quarter of all foreign students in the United States. “Under President Trump’s leadership, the U.S. State Department will work with the Department of Homeland Security to aggressively revoke visas for Chinese students, including those with connections to the Chinese Communist Party or studying in critical fields,” Rubio wrote. The Chinese Embassy in Washington didn’t immediately respond to a message seeking comment Wednesday night. The action comes at a time of intensifying scrutiny of the ties between U.S. higher education and China. House Republicans this month pressed Duke University to cut its ties with a Chinese university, saying it allowed Chinese students to gain access to federally funded research at Duke. Last year, House Republicans issued a report warning that hundreds of millions of dollars in defense funding was going to research partnerships linked to the Chinese government, providing “back-door access to the very foreign adversary nation whose aggression these capabilities are necessary to protect against.” The Department of Homeland Security raised similar issues in a letter barring international students at Harvard University last week. Secretary Kristi Noem accused Harvard of “coordinating with the Chinese Communist Party,” citing research collaborations with Chinese scholars. It also accused Harvard of training members of the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps, a Chinese paramilitary group. The announcement came a day after Rubio halted the scheduling of new visa interviews for international students as the department prepares guidelines for increased vetting of their activity on social media. The crackdown on visas adds to uncertainty for international students Together, the announcements from the State Department added to uncertainty for America’s international students, who have faced intensifying scrutiny from President Donald Trump’s administration. Earlier this year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement arrested and tried to deport students who had been involved in campus protests against the Israel-Hamas war. And the Trump administration abruptly terminated the legal status of thousands of international students before reversing itself and then expanding the grounds on which students can lose permission to study in the U.S. University of Wisconsin student Vladyslav Plyaka was planning to visit Poland to see his mother and renew his visa, but he doesn’t know when that will be possible now that visa appointments are suspended. He also doesn’t feel safe leaving the U.S. even when appointments resume. “I don’t think I have enough trust in the system at this point,” said Plyaka, who came to the U.S. from Ukraine as an exchange student in high school and stayed for college. “I understand it probably is done for security measures, but I would probably just finish my education for the next two or three years and then come back to Ukraine.” The Trump administration last week moved to block Harvard University from enrolling any international students, a decision that has been put on hold by a federal judge, pending a lawsuit. Trump said Wednesday that Harvard, whose current student population is made up of more than a quarter of international students, should limit that percentage to about 15%. “I want to make […]

A federal court in New York handed President Donald Trump a big setback Wednesday, blocking his audacious plan to impose massive taxes on imports from almost every country in the world. A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of International Trade ruled that Trump overstepped his authority when he invoked the 1977 International Emergency Economic Powers Act to declare a national emergency and justify the sweeping tariffs. The tariffs overturned decades of U.S. trade policy, disrupted global commerce, rattled financial markets and raised the risk of higher prices and recession in the United States and around the world. The U.S. Court of International Trade has jurisdiction over civil cases involving trade. Its decisions can be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington and ultimately to the Supreme Court, where the legal challenges to Trump’ tariffs are widely expected to end up. Which tariffs did the court block? The court’s decision blocks the tariffs Trump slapped last month on almost all U.S. trading partners and levies he imposed before that on China, Mexico and Canada. On April 2, Trump imposed so-called reciprocal tariffs of up to 50% on countries with which the United States runs a trade deficit and 10% baseline tariffs on almost everybody else. He later suspended the reciprocal tariffs for 90 days to give countries time to agree to reduce barriers to U.S. exports. But he kept the baseline tariffs in place. Claiming extraordinary power to act without congressional approval, he justified the taxes under IEEPA by declaring the United States’ longstanding trade deficits “a national emergency.” In February, he’d invoked the law to impose tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, saying that the illegal flow of immigrants and drugs across the U.S. border amounted to a national emergency and that the three countries needed to do more to stop it. The U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to set taxes, including tariffs. But lawmakers have gradually let presidents assume more power over tariffs — and Trump has made the most of it. The tariffs are being challenged in at least seven lawsuits. In the ruling Wednesday, the trade court combined two of the cases — one brought by five small businesses and another by 12 U.S. states. The ruling does leave in place other Trump tariffs, including those on foreign steel, aluminum and autos. But those levies were invoked under a different law that required a Commerce Department investigation and could not be imposed at the president’s own discretion. Why did the court rule against the president? The administration had argued that courts had approved then-President Richard Nixon’s emergency use of tariffs in a 1971 economic and financial crisis that arose when the United States suddenly devalued the dollar by ending a policy that linked the U.S. currency to the price of gold. The Nixon administration successfully cited its authority under the 1917 Trading With Enemy Act, which preceded and supplied some of the legal language later used in IEPPA. The court disagreed, deciding that Trump’s sweeping tariffs exceeded his authority to regulate imports under IEEPA. It also said the tariffs did nothing to deal with problems they were supposed to address. In their case, the states noted that America’s trade deficits hardly amount of a sudden emergency. The United States has racked them up […]

QUESTION:   I know that according to many poskim the brachos of Elokai Neshama and Hamaavir Sheina are not recited in the morning if one did not sleep. How long must a person sleep at night to justify reciting the brachos? ANSWER: The Mishnah Berurah (46:24) quotes the Chayei Adam (7:8) that if one slept at night for a duration of sixty breaths, he may recite the brachos of Elokai Neshama and Hamaavir Sheina in the morning. How long is a duration of sixty breaths? The Chayei Adam writes that it is the length of time it takes to walk 100 amos. Since it takes 18 minutes to walk 2,000 amos, 100 amos would take slightly less than a minute. The themes of these brachos are emotions of hakaras hatov for the neshama‘s return after temporarily departing while we sleep. The Chayei Adam explains that even during a very short sleep there is “a taste of death”, and the brachos are warranted. However, the Mishnah Berurah elsewhere (Beiur Halachah 14, s.v. Dovid) quotes three different opinions about the time length of sixty breaths: three hours, thirty minutes, and three minutes. Many poskim write that regarding these two brachos thirty minutes is required (Dirshu M.B. footnote 30). The Elya Rabba writes that even if one dozed off for this duration at a table, he may recite these brachos. If one did not sleep at all, some poskim allow the recitation of these brachos (Oruch Hashulchan 46:13 and Yechaveh Da’as 3:33). However, the Mishna Berura recommends listening to someone else (such as one’s wife) recite these brachos and answering Amen.If there is no one available to recite these brachos, he can fulfill the bracha of Elokai Neshama with the second bracha of Shemoneh Esrei, provided one has in mind to be yotzei in this manner (MB 6:12). Alternatively, sefer Even Yisroel (9:63) writes that if a person sleeps in the morning for more than 30 minutes before Chatzos (halachic midday), the bracha can be recited when waking up.  

A delegation of Gedolei Eretz Yisroel will be traveling to the United States two weeks after Shavuos in support of Keren Olam Hatorah, the fundraising initiative established to sustain yeshivos and kollelim across Eretz Yisroel amid deep and painful funding cuts by the Israeli government. Gedolim confirmed to participate are: • HaGaon Rav Dov Landau shlit”a, Rosh Yeshivas Slabodka • HaGaon Rav Moshe Hillel Hirsch shlit”a, Rosh Yeshivas Slabodka • HaGaon Rav Yaakov Hillel shlit”a, Rosh Yeshivas Ahavas Shalom • The Sanzer Rebbe shlit”a • HaGaon Rav Avraham Nissim Salim shlit”a, Rosh Yeshivas Me’or HaTalmud • The Rachmastrivker Rebbe shlit”a • HaGaon Rav Dovid Cohen shlit”a, Rosh Yeshivas Chevron • HaGaon Rav Shimon Galai shlit”a Tentative Itinerary Sunday, June 15: Baltimore Sunday night, June 15: Monsey Monday, June 16: Los Angeles Tuesday/Wednesday, June 17–18: Lakewood Thursday, June 19: Brooklyn Friday/Shabbos June 20–21: Monsey Sunday, June 22: Deal, NJ Monday, June 23: Toronto Tuesday, June 24: Five Towns Various events are in the works for each city on the itinerary. More details about specific events, locations and times will be shared in the coming days. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

The Va’ad HaYeshivos published an announcement on Thursday morning that, according to the instructions of HaGaon HaRav Dov Landau, any ben yeshivah who has received a draft order is forbidden from leaving the country. The letter states, “At the instruction of the Rosh Yeshiva HaGaon HaRav Dov Landau, Nasi of the Va’ad HaYeshivos and Maranan Verabanan Gedolei Yisrael, we hereby order absolutely and without any exceptions, except in extremely rare and necessary cases and subject to the approval of the Rosh Yeshiva and after clarification with our office.” “This instruction is given now, in light of the recent changes in the authorities’ approach and various cases that have caused much distress and real damage to talmidim. This applies to both talmidim of yeshivos ketanos, yeshivos gedolos, and kollelim.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

With the world’s attention fixed on efforts to free Israeli hostages held by Hamas in Gaza, talks are quietly continuing to liberate an Israeli hostage held in Iraq by a different Iranian-backed militant group. A 38-year-old Middle East scholar from Israel was kidnapped in 2023 while doing research in Iraq, and officials from several countries say progress is being made to secure her release. The family of the scholar – Elizabeth Tsurkov, who also holds Russian citizenship – is trying to remain optimistic. Even though the circumstances are completely different, the release of hostages from Gaza earlier this year gave the family reason to stay hopeful that Tsurkov, who marks 800 days in captivity on Thursday, will also be freed. “It’s like a phoenix rising from the ashes when the hostages come out. You see that despite everything they’ve been through, there is still life in them,” said Emma Tsurkov, the scholar’s sister. There were reports over the weekend that negotiators were very close to a deal, but the terms are complicated and Tsurkov’s sister said no deal appears imminent. “One of the most difficult parts about having a loved one in captivity is the uncertainty,” she said. Negotiators are focusing on an exchange that would include seven Lebanese captured during the latest war between Israel and Hezbollah. But Iraqi and Lebanese officials told The Associated Press the talks recently stalled over Iran’s demand for the release of one of its citizens detained in Iraq for the killing of an American. Held captive by an Iraqi militant group Elizabeth Tsurkov disappeared in Baghdad in March 2023 while doing research for her doctorate at Princeton University. The only direct sign of life her family has received is a November 2023 video of her broadcast on an Iraqi television station and circulated on pro-Iranian social media. In the past few months, officials from several countries, including the Iraqi foreign minister and deputy prime minister, have confirmed she is alive and being held in Iraq by a Shiite Muslim militant group called Kataeb Hezbollah, according to her sister. The group has not claimed the kidnapping nor have Iraqi officials publicly said which group is responsible. Kataeb Hezbollah’s leader and founder died in an American airstrike in 2020 that also killed Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the commander of Iran’s elite Quds Force and the architect of its military alliances in the region. The group, an ally of Hezbollah in Lebanon, is part of a coalition of Iranian-backed militias that are officially part of Iraq’s armed forces but in practice often act on their own. The U.S. government listed Kataeb Hezbollah as a terrorist organization in 2009. Moving pieces from Iraq, Iran, Lebanon, Israel, and the US Emma Tsurkov, who lives in California, believes the U.S., Israel’s closest ally, has the most leverage to pressure the Iraqi government for her sister’s release – either by withholding arms or financial assistance. Israel, which does not negotiate directly with Iraq because the two countries have no formal relations, has less influence, she said. Although Tsurkov entered Iraq using her Russian passport, Russia has declined to get involved in negotiating for her release, Emma Tsurkov said. Earlier this year, a senior Israeli official said the Israeli government is working with allies in a renewed push to win the freedom of Tsurkov. Israeli officials declined to comment for this story. […]

A 64-year-old man remained missing Thursday after a huge mass of rock and ice from a glacier crashed down a Swiss mountainside the day before. The landslide sent plumes of dust skyward and coated with mud nearly all of an Alpine village that authorities had evacuated earlier this month as a precaution. State Councilor Stéphane Ganzer told Radio Télévision Suisse that 90% of the village was destroyed. The Cantonal Police of Valais said that a search and rescue operation was underway for the man, whose name wasn’t made public, and it involved a drone with a thermal camera. The regional government said in a statement that a large chunk of the Birch Glacier above the village had broken off, causing the landslide, which also buried the nearby Lonza River bed, raising the possibility of dammed water flows. Video on social media and Swiss television showed that the mudslide near Blatten, in the southern Lötschental valley, partially submerged homes and other buildings under a mass of brownish sludge. In recent days, authorities had ordered the evacuation of about 300 people, as well as all livestock, from the village amid fears that the 1.5 million-cubic meter (52 million-cubic foot) glacier was at risk of collapse. Swiss glaciologists have repeatedly expressed concerns about a thaw in recent years — attributed in large part to global warming — that has accelerated the retreat of glaciers in Switzerland. The landlocked Alpine country has the most glaciers of any country in Europe, and saw 4% of its total glacier volume disappear in 2023. That was the second-biggest decline in a single year after a 6% drop in 2022. (AP)

The baby of Tze’ele Gez, who was shot and killed near Bruchin in the Shomron while on the way to the delivery room two weeks ago, was niftar early Thursday morning, the Shomron Regional Council announced. Following the attack, the doctors at Beilinson Hospital in Petach Tikvah delivered the baby in an emergency C-section. He was transferred to the Schneider Children’s Medical Center in critical condition and has been treated in the neonatal intensive care unit since his birth. His father, Chananel Gez, who expressed great emunah following the attack, chose to name the baby before his bris so Am Yisrael can daven for him with his name, Ravid Chaim. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu responded to the news by stating: “It is with deep sadness and pain that we received the news this morning of the death of the infant Ravid Chaim, son of Tze’ele, z’l, and Chananel Gaz. There are no words of comfort over the murder of a one-day-old baby along with his mother. The heroism of the pioneering settlers in Yehudah and Shomron and their dedication will defeat all our enemies. ארץ אל תכסי דמם.” Yossi Dagan, the head of the Shomron Regional Council, responded to the tragic news. “This is a double murder. The world should be outraged.” National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir said, “I bow my head and embrace the Gez family in their difficult hour. The death of the infant Ravid Caim, who was murdered in the deadly attack at the Shomron junction, is a painful reminder of who we are facing—and the need for a complete victory over a cruel enemy that murders mothers and children as a hobby. We must not surrender or compromise with terror. We must fight the terrorists with all our might so that Jewish children are not murdered in their land.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

As a coalition crisis looms over the stalemate in the Chareidi draft law, the Shas party on Thursday threatened for the first time to withdraw from the coalition in the coming days. A message from senior party officials on the front page of the Shas newspaper Haderech on Thursday morning stated: “Immediately after Shavuos, the question of deciding on Shas’s continued path in the government and coalition will be placed on the table of the Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah.” “We hope that the Prime Minister will take responsibility and address the issue with full force, exerting all his influence so that there are immediate agreements, both on the wording of the law and on the timetable for its enactment.” Senior Shas and UTJ officials told Kikar HaShabbat on Wednesday evening that “the issue of the draft and the dissolution of the government will be decided within a few days, not weeks or even two weeks. If there are no agreements on the principles of the law, we will withdraw from the government in the coming days.” “We will not allow Netanyahu to drag the crisis to the Knesset’s winter session, when he himself will dissolve the government and claim that he did not agree to grant us the law. The issue will be decided in the current session, and long before the end of the session—probably already in the middle of next week.” The officials added: “There is full cooperation between Degel HaTorah and Shas. Every decision will be made jointly.” (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

US Middle East Envoy Steve Witkoff on Wednesday evening presented a new hostage release/ceasefire deal to Israel and the Hamas terror organization. The new outline includes the release of nine living hostages, one less than his previous outline, along with the remains of 18 hostages. In exchange, an undisclosed number of Palestinian terrorists will be released from Israeli prisons. A 60-day ceasefire will be implemented, during which negotiations will take place for the end of the war and the release of the remaining hostages. At the end of this period, Israel will have the option of returning to war if there is no agreement or continuing negotiations in exchange for the further release of hostages. The deal also requires Israel to withdraw from the areas of Gaza that it conquered since March 17. In addition, Hamas has demanded that the UN take over the distribution of humanitarian aid from the US-based Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. Finance Minister Betzalel Smotrich spoke out on Wednesday evening against the reported deal, saying he will not allow such an agreement to be reached. “Hamas is under immense pressure and distress in recent days as a result of the change in the aid distribution system and the loss of its control over the population in the Strip, combined with the continuous military pressure,” he said. “We must continue to tighten the noose around its neck and force it into a complete surrender deal with all the hostages at once. It would be a delusional folly to reduce the pressure now and sign a partial deal with Hamas that would provide it with oxygen and a lifeline and allow it to recover. I will not allow such a thing to happen. Period.” Other ministers and some families of the hostages voiced similar objections to the deal, especially the fact that not all the hostages will be released. Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli called for the release of all the hostages in exchange for allowing Hamas leaders to leave the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu scheduled a Cabinet meeting on Thursday evening to discuss the proposal. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

President Donald Trump has pardoned former U.S. Rep. Michael Grimm, a New York Republican who resigned from Congress after a tax fraud conviction. The pardon was disclosed Wednesday by a White House official who requested anonymity before an official announcement. Grimm, a former Marine and FBI agent, pleaded guilty in late 2014 to underreporting wages and revenue at a restaurant he ran in Manhattan. He resigned from Congress the following year and served eight months in prison. Grimm tried to reenter politics in 2018 but lost a primary for his old district. While he was in Congress, Grimm made headlines for threatening to throw a reporter off a balcony in the Capitol after the reporter asked about the long-running FBI investigation into his campaign finances. “Let me be clear to you. If you ever do that to me again, I’ll throw you off this (expletive) balcony,” he told the reporter during the exchange, which was captured on video. When the reporter pushed back, telling the then-congressman that it was a valid question, Grimm responded, “No. No. You’re not man enough. You’re not man enough. I’ll break you in half. Like a boy.” After heavy criticism, Grimm said he was wrong for threatening the reporter and that “it shouldn’t have happened.” The former congressman worked at the conservative news outlet Newsmax. Last year, Grimm was paralyzed from the chest down after being thrown from a horse during a polo tournament. In a short video posted on Grimm’s Facebook in January, the former congressman said, “little by little, I’m getting better,” and said he was working on getting more dexterity in his fingers and getting his legs to move. In March, a GoFundMe page that was set up for Grimm posted that he had been able to “withstand 4 minutes upright assisted on the tilt-table,” along with a picture of Grimm smiling. (AP)

Newly uncovered online messages have shed light on the deeply troubling mindset of Elias Rodriguez, the pro-Palestinian gunman who murdered two Israeli embassy staffers outside the Capital Jewish Museum last week. Rodriguez, a 31-year-old Chicago resident, was arrested at the scene of the May 21 attack, which claimed the lives of Yaron Lischinsky and Sarah Milgrim — two young diplomats who were leaving a reception when gunfire erupted. Rodriguez shouted “Free, free Palestine” while in custody and later admitted to committing the crime “for Gaza.” But new reporting by investigative journalist Ken Klippenstein has revealed an additional undercurrent to the story — one that suggests the rampage may have stemmed not just from radical political anger, but from a deeply disturbed and hateful worldview. Klippenstein, who spoke with several former friends and associates of Rodriguez, published a disturbing profile of the suspect on Tuesday. According to his report, Rodriguez was a prolific contributor to a private group chat, where he posted a torrent of disturbing and violent messages in the days and weeks leading up to the shooting. In those messages, Rodriguez reportedly fantasized about genocide against white Americans, expressed admiration for Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin, and made shockingly callous suggestions about how to “dispose” of a mentally ill person. “Lol you probably would have to actually genocide white people to make this a normal country,” he wrote in one message, before suggesting that “tens of millions” of white people would need to be imprisoned as part of a national rehabilitation effort. Elsewhere in the chat, Rodriguez advised a group member to chain their schizophrenic brother in a basement, and “slide meals under the door,” adding coldly, “Just dispose of him.” According to Klippenstein’s reporting, the suspect described being emotionally overwhelmed by “the genocide” every few days and breaking down in tears — an apparent reference to the war in Gaza. But his rants extended far beyond Middle East politics. Rodriguez wrote of personal trauma and repeatedly expressed deep bitterness, isolation, and disdain for nearly every segment of society. “He was a bitter man who hated all sorts,” Klippenstein wrote, quoting one associate. “He seemed to have no filter — no boundaries.” In one message, Rodriguez justified his admiration for Stalin by praising him for “ending the most antisemitic regime ever yet known to man” — a line that stands in grim contrast to his ultimate decision to murder two Israeli diplomats who he almost certainly thought were Jewish. The new revelations only deepen the mystery surrounding Rodriguez’s radicalization and ultimate descent into violence. While law enforcement has not yet classified the attack as terrorism, the ideological content of his online posts — combined with his alleged confession — may put growing pressure on federal authorities to label the shooting a hate crime or act of domestic terror. The disturbing nature of the messages has sparked outrage, with some questioning how such a dangerous individual went unnoticed and unmonitored. Others are calling on tech companies and law enforcement to take more proactive steps to identify and intervene when individuals publicly express fantasies of violence and extremism. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Iran has hanged a man convicted of spying for Israel, Iranian state media reported on Wednesday. According to the reports, Pedram Madani was hanged after Iran’s supreme court upheld a death sentence issued by a lower court. The official IRNA news agency said Madani had visited Israel and met Mossad officers to convey classified information about buildings in Iran where “infrastructure” equipment was installed. The report did not elaborate but said Madani received foreign currency and cryptocurrency for the information. It said Madani also met Mossad officers at the Israeli Embassy in Belgium. Israel’s security agency had no immediate comment. Madani, 41, was arrested in 2020. Executions in Iran have escalated in recent months. According to Iran Human Rights, a watchdog group based in Norway, at least 60 people have been executed in the past 10 days alone. Madani was the third person this year executed on charges of “spying for Israel,” which are often based on vague accusations, the organization said. In April, Iran executed a man convicted of working with Mossad and of playing a role in the 2022 killing of a Revolutionary Guard colonel in Tehran. (AP)