Fiery Purim Meshulash In Israel: Heat Wave Conditions In Most Of The Country: The weather in Israel has been unusually warm this week, with temperatures rising to above seasonal averages on Wednesday. The temperatures are expected to continue to rise on Thursday, with hot and dry conditions. There will be another slight rise on Friday, Purim day, and Shabbos. The temperature will continue to climb on Sunday, Shushan Purim, with heatwave conditions in the mountains and inland areas.
WATCH AND ENJOY! Renowned Chazan Nissim Saal, known for his once-in-a-generation voice, wows us again as he does each year, with a new “Aseres Bnei Haman” for Purim!
President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened a 200% tariff on European wine, Champagne and spirits if the European Union goes forward with a planned tariff on American whiskey. The European tariff, which was unveiled in response to steel and aluminum tariffs by the U.S. administration, was expected to go into effect on April 1. But Trump, in a morning social media post, vowed a new escalation in his trade war if the EU pushes ahead with the planned 50% tariff on American whiskey. “If this Tariff is not removed immediately, the U.S. will shortly place a 200% Tariff on all WINES, CHAMPAGNES, & ALCOHOLIC PRODUCTS COMING OUT OF FRANCE AND OTHER E.U. REPRESENTED COUNTRIES,” Trump wrote. “This will be great for the Wine and Champagne businesses in the U.S.” The Republican president on Wednesday had signaled that he intended to take the action. “Of course I will respond,” Trump told reporters during an Oval Office exchange with reporters. Trump, in announcing the new steel and aluminum tariffs on Wednesday, openly challenged U.S. allies and vowed to take back wealth “stolen” by other countries, and he drew quick retaliation. He has separate tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China, with plans to also tax imports from the European Union, Brazil and South Korea by charging “reciprocal” rates starting on April 2. The EU announced its own countermeasures. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said that as the United States was “applying tariffs worth 28 billion dollars, we are responding with countermeasures worth 26 billion euros,” or about $28 billion. Those measures cover not just steel and aluminum products but also textiles, home appliances and agricultural goods. European Commission spokesman Olof Gill said Thursday shortly before Trump’s announcement that the EU was “prepared for whatever might come, and we have been preparing for over a year.” “We call on the U.S. to immediately revoke the tariffs imposed yesterday, and we want to negotiate to avoid tariffs in the future,” Gill added. “They bring nothing but lose-lose outcomes, and we want to focus on win-win outcomes.” U.S. bourbon makers, meanwhile, urged Trump to back off his trade war. “The US-EU spirits sector is the model for fair and reciprocal trade, having zero-for-zero tariffs since 1997,” Chris Swonger, president and CEO of the Distilled Spirits Council, said in a statement. “We urge President Trump to secure a spirits agreement with the EU to get us back to zero-for-zero tariffs, which will create U.S. jobs and increase manufacturing and exports for the American hospitality sector. We want toasts not tariffs.” (AP)
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent: “What we’re trying to do is create economic certainty. We’re going to do it with the tax plan. We’re going to do it with deregulation.”
*WATCH:* IDF Soldier asks children not to light firecrackers in Israel this year. He says every time a soldier hears an explosion, it triggers post-traumatic symptoms and reminds him of fighting inside Gaza. He also says: ” Not all soldiers will admit this, so please share this video message as widely as possible.”
Immigrants kept the largest urban counties in the U.S. growing last year. Core counties in the Houston, Miami and Phoenix metropolitan areas grew more than any others in the country primarily because of people moving in from outside the United States, according to population estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau released Thursday. Without the international migration, Harris County, Texas, Miami-Dade County, Florida, and Maricopa County, Arizona, would have had nobody moving there last year. That’s because more people already living in the country moved out of than into those counties. Miami-Dade County would have lost population without the immigrants, since the number of births outpacing deaths wasn’t enough to overcome the tens of thousands of residents who moved out. Immigration in 2024 drove the overall U.S. population growth to its fastest rate in 23 years as the nation surpassed 340 million residents. The Census Bureau changed how it counted immigrants last year by including more people who were admitted to the U.S. for humanitarian, and often temporary, reasons. “A substantial excess of births over deaths has long been the primary driver of U.S. population growth, but as this surplus dwindled in the last four years immigration provided the bulk of the nation’s population increase,” Kenneth Johnson, a senior demographer at the University of New Hampshire, said in an email. Domestic vs. international migrants The 2024 estimates reflect a continued dissonance this decade between where current U.S. residents and immigrants choose to live. Immigrants last year moved to the urban cores of metro areas, while those already living in the country preferred counties in the far suburban reaches of metro areas. The most popular counties for international migrants last year were Miami-Dade and Harris counties, followed by Los Angeles County and Cook County, Illinois, which is home to Chicago. The most popular counties for domestic residents last year were Montgomery County, Texas, north of Houston; Pinal County, Arizona, southwest of Phoenix; and Pasco County, Florida, northeast of Tampa. Also at the top ranks were Polk County, Florida, located between Orlando and Tampa, and Collin County, Texas, in the far northern suburbs of metro Dallas. New York is on the rebound When the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. in 2020, the New York metro area and others with some of the densest populations in the U.S. lost tens of thousands of residents to relocation. But the region has been on the rebound since the pandemic subsided. The New York metro area — the largest in the U.S. with 19.9 million people — added more people than any other metropolitan area in the country last year. As 147,000 residents moved out, nearly 288,000 immigrants moved in, including tens of thousands who arrived on buses provided by the state of Texas. San Francisco and Washington, D.C., are other metro areas that have gained population through international migration, after initially losing them during the pandemic. The New York metro area also had the nation’s largest natural growth last year, with nearly 214,000 births outpacing 141,000 deaths. South Florida last year jumped two spots over metro Washington and metro Atlanta to become the sixth most populous metropolitan area in the United States. Metropolitan Charlotte, North Carolina, bypassed metro Baltimore for the 21st spot. Among counties, Tarrant County, Texas, home to Fort Worth, leapfrogged over San Bernardino County in South California as the nation’s 15th most populous […]
Vaccines could be a key means of suppressing bird flu and avoiding the slaughter of millions of chickens, which is blamed for egg prices averaging nearly $6 a dozen. But the move has been delayed in part because of concerns it could jeopardize chicken exports worth billions of dollars a year. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has announced plans to spend $100 million to study bird flu vaccines to fight the disease in concert with meat chicken, egg and turkey groups. That’s part of a larger $1 billion effort to invest in more protections to keep the virus off farms that President Donald Trump believes will help lower egg prices. Chicken meat producers remain the most resistant to vaccines because of concerns they could harm meat exports, which totaled nearly $4.7 billion last year. Egg and turkey producers sell most of their products in the U.S. and have been hit hardest by the virus. Why is a vaccine needed? Without a new policy including vaccines, the government will continue to slaughter every flock with a bird flu infection to limit the spread of the disease. Those deaths have totaled over 166 million birds in the U.S. since 2022. Most birds killed are egg-laying chickens, and the death of so many hens is the main reason egg prices keep rising. The average price per dozen has hit $5.90, and in some part of the country, it is far higher. Poultry veterinarian Simon Shane, who runs www.Egg-News.com, said the government is hesitant to use vaccines and change its policy of killing birds largely because of the meat chicken industry’s opposition. “Basically this is a political issue, and this only came to a head because eggs are at $8 to $9 a dozen, and it’s embarrassing the government — embarrassing the present administration,” Shane said. Why doesn’t the US use a bird flu vaccine? Before using vaccinations, the government must decide how to devise an effective system and monitor for outbreaks within vaccinated flocks that might not show any symptoms, said John Clifford, the USDA’s former longtime chief veterinary officer, who now works with a poultry industry export group. Once that is figured out, the industry can negotiate with countries to minimize trade problems. “What the industry wants is the ability to develop the strategic plan to share that with the trading partners and then find out what kind of impact that that will have on trade,” Clifford said. There are fears that vaccinating could allow the virus to linger undetected in flocks and mutate in ways that could make it more of a threat to humans and allow sick birds to get into the food supply. Like with other diseases, properly cooking chicken to 165 degrees Fahrenheit (74 degrees Celsius) will kill bird flu, but the industry and chicken buyers don’t want it there at all. For meat chicken, known as broilers, the virus isn’t as significant because those birds are slaughtered at 6 to 8 weeks old and thus have less chance of being infected compared with egg-laying hens, which live to 2 years or older. Also most broilers are raised in the Southeast, which hasn’t had as many outbreaks as the Midwest and West. Another delay to vaccinating concerns distribution. Egg farmers want to administer it through chicken feed or water, saying it’s not practical to give shots to millions of […]
Poland’s President Andrzej Duda again called on the United States to deploy nuclear weapons to Poland as a deterrent to Russia, the latest indication that the frontline NATO nation is increasingly considering nuclear protection as fears of Russia grow. Duda made his appeal in an interview with the Financial Times published on Thursday, repeating an appeal he made to the Biden administration in 2022. Duda’s adviser for international affairs, Wojciech Kolarski, followed up on Duda’s appeal with an interview on Poland’s RMF FM radio Thursday morning in which he argued that nuclear protection would improve security for Poland, a NATO member along the alliance’s eastern flank that shares borders with Ukraine, Belarus and the Russian territory of Kaliningrad. Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a political opponent of Duda’s, said last week that Poland was in talks with France concerning President’s Emmanuel Macron’s proposal to use France’s nuclear deterrent to protect the continent from Russian threats. Moscow called that idea “extremely confrontational.” Tusk made his comment to parliament after Macron said he has decided to open a “strategic debate” on using France’s nuclear deterrent to protect European allies amid concerns over potential U.S. disengagement. The French president described Moscow as a “threat to France and Europe” in a televised address to the nation. France is the only nuclear power in the European Union. (AP)
The Israeli Air Force attacked an Islamic Jihad terror command center in Damascus at noon on Thursday. The target of the attack were Islamic Jihad commanders who were planning attacks against IDF forces on the northern border and in the buffer zone. Defense Minister Yisrael Katz confirmed the attack. “There will be no immunity for Islamic terror against Israel, not in Damascus and not anywhere else,” he said. “Wherever terrorist activity is organized against Israel, the leader of radical Islam, Al-Julani, will find the Air Force planes hovering over him and attacking terrorist targets. We will not allow Syria to become a threat to the State of Israel.” This past Monday, Air Force fighter jets attacked dozens of military targets from the Assad regime in southern Syria. According to the IDF Spokesperson’s announcement, the targets included radars and intelligence means, headquarters and storage sites for weapons and military equipment. The attack was carried out by 22 fighter jets that launched over 60 munitions. The attacks this week follow a series of IDF attacks in Syria since the overthrow of the Assad regime last December. The IDF targeted the Assad regime’s military assets, partially to prevent the establishment of Palestinian terrorist elements in the country under the new jihadi regime. According to a Ynet report, the IDF has also carried out attacks in recent weeks on several weapons warehouses belonging to Palestinian terror elements. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
U.S. President Donald Trump threw a curve ball at China by linking the fentanyl issue to his tariffs on imports. The Chinese government is swinging back. First it issued a report detailing its efforts to control the illegal trade in fentanyl, specifically the ingredients for the opioid that are made in China. Then, the Chinese foreign minister blasted the U.S. for responding to Beijing’s goodwill with tariffs. And this week, Chinese officials expressed their indignation at a rare background briefing with journalists. “In the spirit of humanity, China assisted the U.S. in various ways,” Foreign Minister Wang Yi told journalists last week in an annual appearance before the media. “The U.S. should not meet good with evil or even impose arbitrary tariffs. No responsible major country should do that.” Trump cited the fentanyl issue as the reason for imposing a 10% tariff on all Chinese imports in early February, on top of any existing duties. He doubled that to 20% earlier this month. He also has cited fentanyl, along with other reasons, for imposing tariffs on Canada and Mexico. What Trump is saying In his executive order on the first 10% tariff, Trump accused China of subsidizing chemical companies to export fentanyl and related “precursor chemicals” and of providing a safe haven for Chinese criminal organizations that launder the revenues from the opioid trade. It’s not unusual for the Chinese government to subsidize industries, and the precursor chemicals are also used to make legal painkillers. But some of the production finds it way to Mexican drug cartels who make fentanyl and send it to the United States. “Despite multiple attempts to resolve this crisis at its root source through bilateral dialogue, PRC officials have failed to follow through with the decisive actions needed to stem the flow of precursor chemicals to known criminal cartels,” the statement said, referring to China by the acronym for the People’s Republic of China, its official name. China’s response The Chinese government hit back both times Trump imposed tariffs with its own duties on selected U.S. products and other measures aimed at American companies. Analysts have described the response as a measured one designed to try to avoid an escalation of the trade war, which could deal a blow to an already sluggish Chinese economy. The government’s report on its fentanyl-related actions said that China and the U.S. have held multiple high-level meetings since early last year to promote cooperation, and that its Narcotics Control Bureau holds regular exchanges with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency. China is committed to cooperation, the report said, “but firmly opposes the U.S. imposition of unlawful sanctions and unreasonable pressure on China on the pretext of responding to fentanyl-related issues.” From Biden to Trump Under former President Joe Biden, cooperation on fentanyl was relaunched in early 2024 after falling victim to geopolitics in 2022. In August of that year, a visit to Taiwan by a top U.S. legislator, then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, angered China, and the government responded by cutting off talks on a range of issues including drug control. A rapprochement in late 2023, negotiated over several months, led to a meeting on fentanyl in January of last year. Drug enforcement, like climate, was held up as an area where the two countries could cooperate despite growing differences and their military, economic and technological competition. Now Trump, back in the White House after a four-year hiatus, […]
Hundreds of mispallelim, accompanied by the IDF, entered Kever Yosef in Shechem on Wednesday night, ahead of Taanis Esther and Purim, as part of the regular visits arranged by the Shomron Regional Council and approved by the IDF. Yossi Dagan, the head of the Shomron Council, called for the restoration of full Israeli control over Kever Yosef. “There is no real reason to continue this absurdity, that a place that is supposed to be under full Israeli control, even according to the cursed Oslo Accords, has remained abandoned for over 24 years – one of the most kodesh places for the Jewish nation,” he said. “I call on the government to act to restore the permanent presence at the site, to correct the disgrace and allow every Jew to daven in this kodesh place without fear. We must have a ונהפוכו and fully return to Kever Yosef.” Israel abandoned Kever Yosef, handing it over to the Palestinian Authority, after an Arab mob targeted the site, setting it on fire and causing rampant destruction during the early days of the Second Intifada in 2000. Hours after the IDF evacuated the area, a mob set the kever on fire and destroyed the entire site until it was nothing but rubble. For three years, no Jews were permitted to visit the site. Since 2003, Jews are allowed to visit but only on pre-approved visits in the middle of the night under heavy military protection. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
Russia claimed Thursday that its troops have driven the Ukrainian army out of the biggest town in Russia’s Kursk border region, as a senior Kremlin official said that a U.S.-proposed 30-day ceasefire in the war three years after the full-scale invasion of Ukraine would help Kyiv by giving its weary and short-handed military a break. The Russian Defense Ministry’s claim that it recaptured the town of Sudzha, hours after President Vladimir Putin visited his commanders in Kursk and wore military fatigues, could not be independently verified. Ukrainian officials made no immediate comment on the claim. The renewed Russian military push and Putin’s high-profile visit to his troops came as U.S. President Donald Trump presses for a diplomatic end to the war. The U.S. on Tuesday lifted its March 3 suspension of military aid for Kyiv after senior U.S. and Ukrainian officials made progress on how to stop the fighting during talks held in Saudi Arabia. Trump said Wednesday that “it’s up to Russia now” as his administration presses Moscow to agree to the ceasefire. The U.S. president has made veiled threats to hit Russia with new sanctions if it won’t engage with peace efforts. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that U.S. negotiators were on their way to Russia, but he wouldn’t comment on Moscow’s view of the ceasefire proposal. “Before the talks start, and they haven’t started yet, it would be wrong to talk about it in public,” he told reporters. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told Fox News that national security adviser Mike Waltz spoke Wednesday with his Russian counterpart. She also confirmed that Trump’s special envoy Steve Witkoff will head to Moscow for talks with Russian officials, possibly including Putin. Russian news agencies reported Thursday that Witkoff’s plane had landed in Moscow. It wasn’t immediately possible to verify the reports. Senior U.S. officials say they hope to see Russia stop attacks on Ukraine within the next few days. But Yuri Ushakov, Russian President Vladimir Putin’s foreign policy adviser, complained in televised remarks Thursday that a ceasefire would grant a “temporary break for the Ukrainian military.” Ushakov said that Moscow wants a “long-term peaceful settlement that takes into account Moscow’s interests and concerns.” His comments came a day after his phone call with Waltz. Ushakov’s comments echoed statements from Putin, who has repeatedly said a temporary ceasefire would benefit Ukraine and its Western allies. The U.S. still has about $3.85 billion in congressionally authorized funding for future arms shipments to Ukraine, but the Trump administration has shown no interest so far in using that authority to send additional weapons as it awaits the outcome of peace overtures. By signaling its openness to a ceasefire, Ukraine has presented the Kremlin with a dilemma at a time when the Russian military has the upper hand in the war — whether to accept a truce and abandon hopes of making new gains, or reject the offer and risk derailing a cautious rapprochement with Washington. The Ukrainian army’s foothold inside Russia has been under intense pressure for months from a renewed effort by Russian forces, backed by North Korean troops. Ukraine’s daring incursion last August led to the first occupation of Russian soil by foreign troops since World War II and embarrassed the Kremlin. Speaking to commanders Wednesday, Putin said he […]
The weather in Israel has been unusually warm this week, with temperatures rising to above seasonal averages on Wednesday. The temperatures are expected to continue to rise on Thursday, with hot and dry conditions. There will be another slight rise on Friday, Purim day, and Shabbos. The temperature will continue to climb on Sunday, Shushan Purim, with heatwave conditions in the mountains and inland areas. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
In a special shailos and teshuvos ahead of Purim, HaGaon HaRav Yitzchak Zilberstein issued guidelines on the obligation to be careful about drinking too much wine on Purim, especially this year when Purim falls out on Erev Shabbos. At the end of his lengthy remarks about the pitfalls of drinking more wine than Chazal recommended, HaRav Zilberstein issued a surprising p’sak, saying that it’s a special mitzvah this year to refrain from getting drunk. The Rav wrote: “And especially this year when Purim falls out on Erev Shabbos and one who gets drunk may, chalilah, be mechallel Shabbos, rachmana litzlan – anyone who refrains from drinking and does what the Rema wrote that he should drink more than his learning and sleep – fulfills a great mitzvah and prevents himself from severe aveiros, that he won’t be mechallel Shabbos from drunkenness or carry muktzah items and the like. This year it’s a mitzvah to refrain from drunkenness because of Kavod Shabbos!” Read the full shailos and teshuvos below: Shaila: What is the fine line between drinking wine b’simcha and deteriorating to a state that is not fitting for a Ben Torah? HaRav Zilberstein: “Wine has many benefits. It brings simcha and it says in Masechtas Brachos that Shira is only said over wine. Kiddush and Havdalah are also made on wine. But on the other hand, wine poses great danger, and therefore it is only considered a mitzvah if you drink wine in the amount that Chazal determines. If if you start to overdo it, it is a very great danger.” “And it is possible to say that all the the tzaros in this world began as a result of drinking more wine than Halacha requires, as it says in Masechtas Sanhedrin, that the sin of the Eitz HaDaas that brought death to the world was that Hakadosh Baruch Hu forbade Adam HaRishon to eat from the vine and drink wine. And it is written in the Zohar HaKadosh that the decree was until Shabbos, for then he would make Kiddush over wine. But he was tempted and drank the wine beforehand. Also Noach, after he emerged from the Mabul and began to build the world could have based the world on the foundations of mussar and Derech Eretz, and our whole world would have looked different. But he failed to learn from Adam HaRishon and drank wine and got drunk, and this caused a lot of tzaros in the world.” “It also says in the Gemara there that if someone drinks wine and gets drunk, he has a red face and looks good in this world, but in the next world his face will be white from tza’ar. And drinking more than necessary brings poverty, woes, sorrow, strife, physical injuries, and all types of tzaros to a person. After the Gemara brings more tzaros that wine can cause, it concludes ‘There is nothing that brings lamentation to a person but wine.'” “Wine also stimulates the Yetzer Hara in a person and causes him to sin, as Chazal said in Masechtos Berachos: ‘Don’t get drunk on wine and don’t sin because drunkenness leads to sin.’ And so wrote the Rambam: ‘Anyone who gets drunk is a sinner and is disgraceful and loses his wisdom.’ And the Beit Yosef brought in […]
It was supposed to be a brief and relaxing getaway, a short escape to the sun-drenched shores of the Caribbean. But for two young avreichem from New York, their tropical vacation turned into a terrifying ordeal, as they vanished without a trace, setting off a frantic international rescue effort that ended in nothing short of a neis. The two men had traveled to Aruba with a third avreich, eager to enjoy a few days of rest before returning to their daily routines. While one remained at the hotel, the others ventured out for an afternoon excursion, their spirits high as they embarked on their adventure. Hours passed and the third avreich reached out to see where they were, but his calls and messages went unanswered. Concern gave way to panic. Their friend, now gripped with fear, reached out to askanim, and within moments, the gravity of the situation became painfully clear—two young Jewish men were missing in the Caribbean Sea. Chabad of Aruba says it was connected by Rabbi Dudi Farkas of Chabad of Olympia to Chaverim Of Rockland, which is renowned for its advanced search and rescue capabilities. Together, they sprang into action, working alongside local authorities to locate the missing men. For three and a half agonizing hours, uncertainty hung heavy. Every possibility loomed large, every scenario played out in the minds of their loved ones. And then, in a miraculous moment, the Aruba Coast Guard spotted them adrift in the rough waters of the open ocean. They were cold, wet, and exhausted. A lot more importantly, however, they were alive. The men’s jet skis had capsized, leaving them stranded far from shore, battling the elements. Yet, against all odds, their tefillos were answered. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)
As is known, Purim in Yerushalayim this year is Purim Meshulash, which means that Shushan Purim falls out on Shabbos and since all the mitzvos of the day cannot be fulfilled on Shabbos, some are fulfilled earlier and some later so the mitzvos are fulfilled on three consecutive days, Friday, Shabbos, and Sunday. The mitvzos of Megilla and Matanos L’Evyonim are fulfilled on Thursday night and Friday, along with Jews in unwalled cities throughout the world. On Shabbos, the Kriyas Hatorah of Purim is read along with a special Haftorah for Purim, and Al Hanissim is recited in davening and bentching. On Sunday, the mitzvos of Mishloach Manos and the Purim seudah are fulfilled. HaGaon HaRav Avigdor Nebenzahl’s son-in-law, HaRav Yehonatan Katzburg, a Rav in Givat Shaul, recently discussed the halachos of Purim Meshulash with his father-in-law and published the p’sakim in the L’Reich Nichoach kuntress this week. What is the din for Yerushalayim residents this year regarding the Purim seudah on Shabbos? HaGaon HaRav Avigdor Nebenzahl cites the opinion of his Rav, HaGaon HaRav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt”l, that there is no obligation to have a Purim seudah on Shabbos, although some add one food item, and it is appropriate to drink wine but to be careful not to get drunk. And why not get drunk? Because of the obligation of “Zachor es Yom HaShabbos.” HaRav Nebenzahl recommends having kavanah while eating Melaveh Malka on Motzei Shabbos for the Purim seudah as well in order to fulfill the shitah of the Meshach Chochmah. He also says regarding Kriyas HaMegillah in Yerushalayim on Friday that it is mekubal that a minyan is required in order to recite a bracha but he brings the opinion of HaRav Auerbach, z’tl, who wrote: “In Yerushalayim, they are noheig b’dieved to recite with a bracha even when reciting b’yechidus.” Regarding Mishloach Manos on Friday, HaRav Nebenzahl’s opinion is that although the Mishnah Berurah says to send on Sunday, it is appropriate to ‘be concerned’ (לחשוש) about the shitah of the Chazon Ish as well, who writes that one should also send on Friday (like the din of matanos l’evyonim), and therefore it is appropriate to be machmir. (YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)
