Matzav

The Skverer Rebbe has taken delivery of a new vehicle, marking a notable change after decades in which he was driven in a Cadillac. This time, the choice of his chassidim was a top-of-the-line Genesis luxury car, specially prepared to meet the Rebbe’s unique needs.

The new vehicle arrived at the Rebbe’s residence in New Square, New York, just before Shabbos.

Sources within the Skverer chassidus explained that the decision was driven not by aesthetics or branding, but by practical considerations tied to comfort and health.

Within Skver, it has long been customary to replace the Rebbe’s vehicle every year or two, a practice rooted in the immense distances the car once covered during frequent travel. In recent years, however, the Rebbe rarely leaves the confines of the village. As a result, the decision was made to invest in a vehicle that would provide maximum comfort and stability for the rare occasions when travel is necessary, with the Rebbe’s well-being as the primary concern.

Those close to the Rebbe emphasize that he had no involvement whatsoever in selecting the model, exterior appearance, or interior design. His only requests were purely functional and spiritual: the installation of a special reading light and a dedicated stand for seforim. The Rebbe is known to use every moment of travel for learning Torah, remaining fully immersed in his seforim without looking out the window or engaging with his surroundings.

The Genesis vehicle has been customized accordingly, ensuring that the Rebbe can continue his regular learning schedule even while on the road, with clarity of mind and optimal comfort.

{Matzav.com}

Dolev Davidovitz, an Israeli media personality and lecturer, shared a deeply personal and dramatic life story in a wide-ranging interview with Yossi Avdo on the popular Israeli program Hashem Echad, describing an extraordinary transformation from militant atheism and open hostility toward religious Jews to a life of faith and purpose that he now describes as becoming an “ambassador of God.”

Davidovitz, who grew up in the heart of Kiryat Gat in a thoroughly secular environment and went on to compete as part of Israel’s national boxing team, spoke candidly about a past defined by contempt for religion. He said he was convinced that science had disproven faith, spent his days training, partying, and socializing, and derived particular enjoyment from provoking religious Jews in public spaces.

He described his childhood as happy and full of friends, but intensely secular. “An amazing childhood packed with good experiences and good friends,” he recalled, adding that it was “more secular than probably the average secular home,” to the point that Yom Kippur and Shabbos were entirely absent from his life.

Davidovitz said his attitude went far beyond indifference. “I hated chareidim, I hated Judaism, I hated anything holy,” he admitted. He described deliberately harassing religious Jews on trains, confronting them with taunts about military service, the existence of God, and the Holocaust. He also recalled intentionally taking selfies with seminary girls in the street to disturb them. “I would come back from school and go take selfies with seminary girls. They would run away from the selfie. I was just bothering chareidim for fun,” he said.

On Yom Kippur, he said, he and his friends would deliberately eat sandwiches in front of traditional Jews to provoke them. “On Yom Kippur we would go out with sandwiches to annoy people. We did it especially near more traditional Jews, because they were more observant, so we would annoy them,” he said.

Academically, Davidovitz said he viewed himself as part of an intellectual elite. He studied in a gifted program and immersed himself in physics, mathematics, biology, and chemistry. That environment, he said, reinforced a sense of superiority. “You automatically create this feeling that I’m an atheist, there is no God, and anyone who claims there is a God is stupid. He’s stupid and his whole family is stupid. We were the enlightened, rational secular people who don’t believe in God,” he said.

Despite that worldview, he recalled an early childhood question that lingered in his memory. At around age five, he asked his mother how God could see people if there was a ceiling. “My mother told me that God sees even through the ceiling,” he said.

The first crack in his certainty came unexpectedly through one of his confrontations. Davidovitz recounted stopping a Gerer chassid and asking him deliberately rude questions, only for the encounter to turn into a friendship. “Something went wrong for me,” he said. “I stopped a Gerer chassid, asked him some cheeky questions, and we became friends.”

Their late-night arguments unsettled him. “Those debates made me realize that Judaism actually has answers,” he said. “There were many questions he could answer, and that scared me.” One explanation struck him in particular: “He told me that scientists discovered that the highest level of blood clotting is on the eighth day. Whoever wrote the Torah already knew the mechanisms of clotting.”

Davidovitz said his military service along the Gaza border provided the space for deeper reflection. Standing guard alone under the stars, far from the noise of daily life, he began to question everything. “You’re on guard duty, on the Gaza line, just you and the stars,” he said. “Suddenly I started asking questions and realized one thing: It can’t be that I came into this world for 120 years of ice cream, schnitzel, girls, parties, and drugs, and then you die and worms eat you. There has to be something beyond.”

He read Viktor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning but rejected the idea of inventing purpose for himself. “I said, wait, am I fooling myself? Either there is meaning and I need to discover it, or there is no meaning,” he said.

After becoming intellectually convinced that there was a Creator, Davidovitz asked for a sign. “I said to myself in my heart, Creator of the world, if You really exist, do a miracle for me. I’m starving,” he recalled.

What followed left a lasting imprint. “Not even half a minute passed,” he said, “and on my left there were bushes, and inside them was a blue bag — a huge bag of potato chips — just sitting there, waiting for me. I understood. There was a kiss from God. God was showing me the way. I exist. I want a relationship with you.”

Before committing to change, Davidovitz said he examined other belief systems. “I put Buddhism aside. I was left with Christianity and Islam,” he said. “And I understood that they are based on Judaism. If Judaism is true, they can’t be true, because Judaism claims exclusivity.”

That realization initially filled him with fear rather than joy. “My life was ruined,” he said. “I said, wow, this is a bummer.” He explained that he was afraid of returning to religion because he believed it meant giving up who he was. “Today I understand that returning to religion is not giving up who you are — it’s upgrading who you are,” he said.

He described emotional final drives to the beach on Shabbos in his old car, a 2001 Renault Megane, caught between belief and habit. “One of the last Shabbasos, I remember driving to the sea, and Avraham Fried’s song ‘Ribbon Ha’olamim’ was playing. I was just driving and crying. That dissonance between knowing there is a God and still driving to the sea on Shabbos because it’s hard for you.”

His first visit to a beis medrash shocked him. Seeing young men shouting questions at a rabbi, he initially thought it was disrespectful. “I didn’t understand — is this how chareidim speak to elders?” he recalled. “They told me, no, this is the fire of Torah.”

Asked how he would respond to a secular young man emerging from war who accuses Torah students of parasitism, Davidovitz answered bluntly. “As someone who felt that way in the past, I understand him,” he said. “But with all due respect, you’re standing here a complete atheist, without Torah and without Jewish identity, and you’re calling me a parasite? I’m a Jew in the land of the Jews who refuses to enlist in an army that wants to uproot my Jewish identity. Before talking about parasitism, what about your last Shabbos? Did you keep it?”

In closing, Davidovitz stressed that influence should come through example, not coercion. “Spread the light you were exposed to, but not through preaching or forcing — that only pushes people away,” he said. “Just be yourselves. When people see how good your life is, that’s what brings them closer. Understand that you have responsibility. You are ambassadors of the Creator.”

{Matzav.com}

Dor Shachar, born in Gaza as Ayman Abu Subouh, has come forward with a gripping personal account that spans life under terror rule, brutal imprisonment, and a long, arduous path to conversion to Judaism. His story offers a rare, firsthand look at daily life in Gaza, the methods Hamas uses against suspected collaborators, and the ideology that shaped the enclave long before the group formally seized power.

Shachar was born in Khan Younis and grew up in its alleyways and marketplaces, where Hamas and other terror factions already functioned as dominant local forces years before the January 2006 elections that brought the Islamist organization to power. As a teenager, he fled to Israel and found work as a guard at a construction site. Years later, at the age of 25, he completed a formal conversion to Judaism and changed his name.

Now 49, Shachar says his earliest lessons about Jews came from his grandfather, whose contradictory behavior left him deeply unsettled. The elderly man would invite Jewish guests for coffee and bread, yet in the same breath urge his grandson to one day “liberate the land” by killing Jews. “I said to myself, ‘How can this be? On the one hand he invites them for food and drink, and on the other hand he says to kill them.’ From a young age I understood that something was very wrong,” he said in an interview with the National Post.

Growing up in Gaza, Shachar says he personally knew figures who later became synonymous with terrorism, including Yahya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and Yahya Ayyash. He recalled that they were regarded as prominent community figures, alongside operatives from Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Fatah, and the PLO. He added that even people close to him, including a brother, carried out attacks that killed Israelis.

He described scenes of extreme violence that unfolded openly in public. In one instance, he said he witnessed Sinwar beheading a Palestinian accused of collaborating with Israel as crowds in the marketplace cheered. On another occasion, he and his mother found a severed head lying in the market street. “They said he was suspected of collaborating with Israel,” he recalled. “The passersby and onlookers were indifferent.”

According to Shachar, incitement began early and was deeply embedded in Gaza’s education system. In schools run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, he said children were taught to hate Jews from a young age. “Jews were portrayed as pigs, dogs, and infidels who did not deserve to live, and children were told that Israelis had one eye in the middle of their forehead or three legs.”

Violence, he said, was not incidental but institutionalized. “Every child learned how to throw stones at Jews because that is what they taught us. The teacher would tell us to go out and throw stones, then come back and open books as if we were studying. When soldiers arrived, they saw small children learning. After the soldiers left, the teachers laughed and said, ‘Those pigs, those dogs, those traitors, those Jews — we will slaughter them the way Hitler did.’”

Disillusioned by the extremism surrounding him, Shachar escaped to Israel in his teens. For a period, he served as an informant for the Shin Bet, reporting on terror activity, and later supported himself working as a renovation laborer. An Israeli Jew took him under his protection, even as others repeatedly questioned his loyalty. Shachar says he endured suspicions, arrests, and an eight-year bureaucratic struggle to fulfill his lifelong dream of converting to Judaism.

“Yes, it would have been easier not to be Jewish,” he said, explaining that his motivation stemmed from what he described as a search for a “spark of the soul.” “I feel connected to the Jewish people,” he said. “I wanted to be Jewish because I chose life. I chose love and not hatred. I chose love, not darkness.”

For a time, Shachar lived in Israel without legal status. Immigration authorities eventually located him, brought him before a judge, and deported him back to Gaza. There, he spent seven months in prison, his legs shackled, enduring beatings, electric shocks, psychological abuse, cuts to his arms, and severe starvation. He said his captors knew about his interest in Judaism and his affinity for Israel and tortured him accordingly.

After his release, Shachar managed to escape Gaza via Egypt and Turkey, eventually reentering Israel clandestinely using a Palestinian Authority passport. Reflecting on Gaza today, he said the ideology promoted by Hamas is widely shared. “Between Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Brigades, and every other terror group, and the majority of Palestinians in Gaza, they all share the same ideas about Jews,” he said. “And they say that Hamas will lift their heads and rebuild Gaza.”

The events of October 7, 2023, he said, only strengthened his conviction that a poisonous ideology has overtaken Gaza. He described watching civilians join the violence and celebrate in the streets, saying that no Gazan helped any Jew and that hospitals were used as military positions.

Today, Dor Shachar lives with the quiet clarity of someone who has seen the darkest corners of human cruelty and consciously chosen a different path. Having escaped a world built on fear, hatred, and coercion, he rebuilt his life around faith, moral responsibility, and the sanctity of life itself. His journey from Gaza’s streets to the embrace of the Jewish people stands as a stark counterpoint to the ideology he left behind, a testament to free will, personal courage, and the power of choosing light over darkness, even when the cost is unimaginably high.

{Matzav.com}

Lufthansa has publicly accepted responsibility for its involvement with the Nazi regime during World War II, marking a significant shift after years of downplaying or deflecting scrutiny. The acknowledgment follows the release of a commissioned historical study examining the airline’s origins and conduct during the period.

“Lufthansa was clearly part of the system,” Lufthansa CEO Carsten Spohr said Tuesday at a press conference held at Frankfurt Airport. He disclosed that the company depended on forced labor to help create a “clandestine air force” for the National Socialist government, which he said was used to carry out “war crimes and criminal activities.”

The findings were produced as part of a broader reassessment tied to Lufthansa’s centennial, which also includes an upcoming book detailing the airline’s early history and wartime actions.

For many years, Lufthansa avoided direct responsibility by pointing to a corporate distinction. The original airline, Deutsche Luft Hansa AG, was established in 1926 as a state-backed carrier and arms manufacturer and was dismantled at the end of World War II. A separate entity, Deutsche Lufthansa AG, was founded in 1953 by former employees after purchasing the defunct company’s name and logo.

Historian Lutz Budrass, who has written extensively about Lufthansa’s past, addressed this issue in a 2020 interview with Deutsche Welle, saying, “Lufthansa, like most companies, was not held accountable for its actions.”

Budrass argued that despite the formal dissolution of the original company, there was significant overlap in leadership and personnel. He cited figures such as vice chairman Kurt Weigelt and Kurt Knipfer, a former Prussian officer who led Lufthansa until 1945, adding, “There was a strong continuity in its staff.”

He also noted that the postwar reestablishment of the airline was designed to sever its public association with Nazi-era crimes. “With the new founding, the company wanted to distance itself from the horrors of the past and the crimes committed under National Socialism, which were perpetrated by Lufthansa.”

At the time, Budrass criticized the airline’s reluctance to confront that history head-on, saying, “It’s clear that Lufthansa is not ready to take this step.”

In its statement released Tuesday, Lufthansa signaled a change in approach, writing, “In examining its history, Lufthansa does not limit itself to the post-war chapters of its history. The years from its founding to the decline of the first Lufthansa are also part of the company’s history.”

{Matzav.com}

Senior officials at the FBI, acting under the leadership of Director Kash Patel, instructed agents to shut down a civil rights investigation into the fatal shooting of Renee Good by an ICE officer, after concluding that the inquiry could conflict with public remarks made by President Donald Trump and other top administration figures, according to several people familiar with the decision.

The New York Times reported Saturday that federal prosecutors in Minnesota initially handled the case as they would any other fatal shooting by a federal agent, moving swiftly to open a standard civil rights use-of-force investigation.

As part of that early effort, Joseph H. Thompson, a senior federal prosecutor, sought a search warrant to examine Good’s SUV for forensic material, including bullet paths and blood evidence, and arranged for the FBI to coordinate its work with the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension.

That plan was stopped just as agents were preparing to carry out the court-approved search.

According to sources cited by the Times, the order to halt the investigation came from senior leadership, including Patel, out of concern that pursuing a civil rights theory — and relying on a warrant obtained on that basis — could clash with Trump’s assertion that Good had “violently, willfully, and viciously” struck the ICE agent with her vehicle.

Rather than continue down that path, Justice Department leaders pressed prosecutors to consider other investigative angles, such as applying for a new warrant based on the claim that Good’s vehicle was used as a weapon against the officer, or redirecting attention toward a potential investigation of Good’s partner.

Career prosecutors pushed back, according to the report, arguing that the proposed shift rested on shaky legal grounds and risked inflaming political tensions in Minnesota, a state already unsettled by confrontations involving federal immigration enforcement.

The disagreement set off a cascade of resignations within the U.S. attorney’s office in Minnesota.

Thompson and five colleagues stepped down in protest, and further departures followed, leaving the office severely weakened and struggling to pursue major prosecutions involving fraud, drug trafficking, terrorism, and violent crime.

The turmoil has unfolded as Minnesota has emerged as a focal point in the administration’s intensified immigration enforcement campaign, with several fatal encounters involving federal officers sparking public outrage and deepening political strains.

Although the White House has sought to present an image of stability and restraint, critics argue that stepped-up enforcement is occurring alongside growing pressure on investigators to shape their work around official statements, heightening the risk of further unrest.

The Times also reported that Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem publicly described Good as a “domestic terrorist,” language later repeated by Vice President JD Vance, even as prosecutors were reviewing video footage and anticipating a routine, independent assessment of whether the shooting was legally justified.

Local law enforcement leaders have warned that the fallout could damage long-standing working relationships between federal agencies and local police departments.

Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara told the Times that the resignations and the perception of political influence over prosecutions threaten to derail progress against serious criminal activity.

Both the Justice Department and the FBI declined to comment to the Times, and it remains unknown whether prosecutors ultimately secured a new warrant to search Good’s vehicle.

{Matzav.com}

Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard issued a sharp response to accusations that she concealed a classified whistleblower complaint, rejecting the claim outright and placing the blame on Sen. Mark Warner and what she described as allied media outlets for promoting false allegations.

In a public post, Gabbard said the charge that she personally hid a complaint was fabricated. “Senator Mark Warner and his friends in the Propaganda Media have repeatedly lied to the American people that I or the ODNI ‘hid’ a whistleblower complaint in a safe for eight months,” she wrote.

She followed with an unequivocal denial, stating, “This is a blatant lie.”

Gabbard emphasized that she never had custody of the complaint and therefore could not have concealed it. “I am not now, nor have I ever been, in possession or control of the Whistleblower’s complaint, so I obviously could not have ‘hidden’ it in a safe,” she wrote, adding that “Biden-era IC Inspector General Tamara Johnson was in possession of and responsible for securing the complaint for months.”

According to Gabbard, her first exposure to the document occurred only recently and was limited in scope. “The first time I saw the whistleblower complaint was 2 weeks ago when I had to review it to provide guidance on how it should be securely shared with Congress,” she wrote.

Her remarks came after The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this week on a top secret complaint submitted by an anonymous government insider, alleging that Gabbard had withheld classified material for political reasons and delayed transmitting the complaint to Congress.

Gabbard countered that the handling of the document was appropriate given its contents, arguing that the level of classification required strict security measures. “As Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Senator Warner knows very well that whistleblower complaints that contain highly classified and compartmented intelligence, even if they contain baseless allegations like this one, must be secured in a safe,” she wrote.

She added that the security protocols did not change after congressional leaders were briefed. “After IC Inspector General Fox hand-delivered the complaint to the Gang of 8, the complaint was returned to a safe where it remains, consistent with any information of such sensitivity,” she said.

Gabbard went on to question Warner’s understanding of intelligence procedures, suggesting either deliberate dishonesty or incompetence. “Either Senator Warner knows these facts and is intentionally lying to the American people, or he doesn’t have a clue how these things work and is therefore not qualified to be in the U.S. Senate, and certainly not the Vice Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee,” she wrote.

Laying out a detailed chronology, Gabbard said she was first informed in June 2025 that a whistleblower complaint had been filed against her. She stated that after review, “neither Biden-era IC Inspector General Tamara Johnson nor current IC Inspector General Chris Fox found the complaint to be credible.”

She further explained that the document was stored securely because of the way it was drafted, saying it was locked away since “the complainant chose to include highly sensitive information within the complaint itself,” instead of citing intelligence at a lower classification level.

Addressing claims that she violated statutory deadlines, Gabbard argued that the legal requirements were misrepresented. “When a complaint is not found to be credible, there is no timeline under the law for the provision of security guidance,” she wrote, noting that the “21 day” rule applies only when a complaint is deemed “both urgent AND apparently credible.”

She stressed that those conditions were not met, adding, “That was NOT the case here.”

Gabbard said she received notice from Inspector General Chris Fox on Dec. 4, 2025, that security guidance was required and said she responded without delay. “I took immediate action to provide the security guidance,” she wrote, explaining that the inspector general then transmitted the complaint to Congress last week.

She closed her statement by accusing Warner of politicizing the issue, writing, “Senator Warner’s decision to spread lies and baseless accusations over the months for political gain, undermines our national security and is a disservice to the American people and the Intelligence Community.”

{Matzav.com}

As Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu prepares to meet with President Donald Trump later this week, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir voiced strong confidence in Netanyahu’s handling of the Iran file and sharply criticized American thinking on Gaza.

Speaking in an interview this morning with Kan Reshet Bet, Ben Gvir said Netanyahu has demonstrated skill and clarity in his dealings with Washington on Iran. “The prime minister is doing an excellent job on the Iran issue. I think his demands are very clear. He has proven that he knows how to talk to Trump. This time too, he will bring achievements,” Ben Gvir said.

Turning to the situation in Gaza, Ben Gvir took aim at U.S. officials advising Trump, accusing them of misunderstanding realities on the ground. “The Americans are very naive, especially Kushner and Witkoff. They are feeding Trump incorrect ideas. I am not prepared for the fact that there will be tens of thousands of armed men in Gaza with pickup trucks walking around with crutches,” he said.

Iran’s foreign minister said that Tehran expects negotiations with the United States to restart in the near future, while making clear that certain issues remain off-limits and warning that any American strike on Iranian soil would trigger a military response.

In remarks shared from an interview with Al Jazeera and posted to his official Telegram channel, Abbas Araghchi said Iran’s missile program was “never negotiable” during the most recent round of discussions held Friday in Oman. He emphasized that the program is a “defense issue” and therefore not subject to talks.

Araghchi also cautioned that if the United States were to attack Iran, Tehran would respond by striking American military bases in the region. At the same time, he characterized the Muscat talks as a constructive opening, even though they were conducted indirectly.

“An opportunity arose to shake hands with the American delegation,” he said, describing the meeting as “a good start,” while noting that rebuilding trust would require time. He added that negotiations would resume “soon.”

President Donald Trump said Friday that the discussions had gone “very good” and said another round of talks was planned for next week. Despite those comments, Trump also signed an executive order taking effect Saturday that calls for the “imposition of tariffs” on countries that continue commercial ties with Iran.

In parallel, Washington announced additional sanctions aimed at Iran’s oil trade, targeting a wide network of shipping companies and vessels involved in transporting Iranian crude.

Addressing the nuclear issue, Araghchi told Al Jazeera that uranium enrichment remains Iran’s “inalienable right and must continue.”

“We are ready to reach a reassuring agreement on enrichment,” he said. “The Iranian nuclear case will only be resolved through negotiations.”

His statements echoed reporting by The Wall Street Journal following the Oman talks, which said Iran rejected U.S. demands to stop uranium enrichment, though both sides agreed to keep negotiating in an effort to avoid further escalation.

Earlier this week, Vice President JD Vance said that Trump would “keep his options open” regarding Iran and could turn to military action if diplomatic efforts fail.

In an interview with Megyn Kelly, Vance underscored the administration’s position, saying, “Iran can’t have a nuclear weapon. That is the stated policy goal of the president of the United States. It’s so funny. Sometimes you have people who are saying, ‘Well, the president’s too belligerent.’ And then sometimes you have people who say, ‘Well, the president, he’s talking about diplomacy and he’s talking about negotiating with the Iranians. We shouldn’t negotiate. We should just bomb them.’”

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A yungerman who was handed over to the military police last night is expected to appear Sunday before a military judge, who will decide his sentence and determine how many additional days he will remain behind bars in a military prison.

The arrest has sparked preparations for renewed protests by the Peleg Yerushalmi faction, as tensions continue to rise.

The detainee, Reb Avraham Ben Dayan, a talmid of the Maor HaTalmud yeshiva who was married only about two months ago, is scheduled to be brought before the military court today. The judge will rule on the length of his continued incarceration following his transfer to military custody.

According to the report, Ben Dayan had been spending Shabbos in the southern city of Ofakim when he was stopped by a traffic officer in the community of Yifrach on suspicion of a traffic violation. During the stop, the officer discovered that Ben Dayan had not reported to the enlistment office and was therefore classified as a deserter. He was taken to a police station and later transferred to the military police.

In response to the arrest, activists affiliated with the Peleg Yerushalmi said they are preparing to resume protests across the country, describing the detention as an attack on Torah study. “Ben Dayan was arrested for the crime of studying Torah, and we will take to the streets throughout the country. We will not remain silent while Torah scholars are arrested,” a source in the faction said.

Following the arrest, hundreds of demonstrators gathered near the Ofakim police station, blocking the entrance to the facility as well as Route 241 at the city’s entrance. Police were called in to disperse the crowd and restore order.

During the disturbances, police arrested three protesters and used crowd-control measures, including stun grenades, authorities said.

In a statement issued overnight, police said: “Officers from the Southern District operated at the entrance to the city of Ofakim on Route 241 to restore public order, after disorderly individuals arrived at the scene, blocked traffic routes, acted violently, and disrupted normal life in the area. Police forces arrested three individuals involved in the disturbances.

“The Israel Police emphasize that violent riots by lawbreakers and the blocking of traffic routes are criminal offenses, endanger human life, and could end in a serious disaster.”

As Ben Dayan awaits the military court’s decision, further demonstrations are expected, with the situation likely to remain volatile in the coming days.

{Matzav.com}

A volatile protest broke out late Motzoei Shabbos at the entrance to the southern city of Ofakim following the arrest of a young avreich, leading to road closures, clashes with police, and multiple arrests.

The demonstration erupted after the detention of Reb Avraham Ben Dayan, a recently married avreich who wed approximately two months ago. Reb Avraham, a talmid of Yeshivas Me’or HaTalmud and a resident of Netivot, was arrested during Shabbos in the community of Tifrach and was later transferred to the custody of military police.

According to available details, Reb Avraham had been in Tifrach over Shabbos when he was initially stopped by traffic police. He was subsequently handed over to the Ofakim police, who transferred him to military police at the Bahadim base. He is expected to be moved to Prison 10.

In response to the arrest, hundreds of demonstrators converged on the intersection at the entrance to Ofakim along Route 241. Protesters blocked the roadway, causing major traffic disruptions in the area. Tensions escalated as confrontations developed between demonstrators and police forces, who used stun grenades in an effort to disperse the crowd. Reports from the scene indicated that three protesters were arrested during the disturbances.

In a statement, police said officers from the Southern District were operating at the entrance to Ofakim to restore public order after individuals blocked traffic, acted violently, and disrupted daily life in the area.

Police further said that three people were taken into custody.

{Matzav.com}

In an effort to restore order and ensure safety during encounters with the Sanzer Rebbe, the Sanzer Chassidus has announced the creation of a new committee charged with regulating the flow of chassidim as they approach the Rebbe for a brachah.

The announcement was made on Friday evening in the main beis medrash of the Sanzer Rebbe in Kiryat Sanz, Netanya. The newly formed group is made up of selected avreichim whose role will be to guide participants during the traditional passage before the Rebbe.

The gabbai’im of the chassidus, Rav Avraham Dovid Shechter and Rav Dov Berish Shtemer, explained that in recent times the established order has deteriorated during gatherings in the Sanzer court, at times reaching the level of an actual danger to life.

They wrote that with the blessing and authorization of the Sanzer Rebbe, the decision was made to establish a dedicated group of avreichim who will stand watch and clearly direct chassidim how to proceed during each occasion of passing before the Rebbe. The new system will operate in an organized and appropriate manner, with separate routes designated for avreichim and for bochurim.

According to the announcement, beginning this week—starting with the Shabbos night tish, as will be publicized—every individual has both the obligation and the merit to follow the instructions of the committee.

The gabbai’im emphasized that adherence to the new guidelines will help be mekadeish Sheim Shomayim, uphold the dignity of the Sanzer court, and show proper respect for others.

In their message, the gabbai’im cited Rashi’s commentary on the approach of Klal Yisroel at the time of Matan Torah. Rashi explains that the earlier approach was fitting and respectful, with the younger honoring the elders and allowing them to go first, and the elders honoring the leaders. In contrast, the Torah later describes a disorderly approach, in which the young pushed the elders and the elders pushed the leaders, a model the chassidus seeks to avoid.

{Matzav.com}

Rav Aryeh Aharon Yarom zt”l, a distinguished longtime talmid of Yeshivas Mir Yerushalayim and a resident of the Har Nof neighborhood, passed away on Shabbos morning at Maayanei Hayeshua Medical Center in Bnei Brak. He was 78.

Rav Yarom was born on 27 Elul 5707 to his father, Rav Yosef Yarom, and his mother, Tzipora. From a young age, he was devoted to Torah learning. In his youth, he studied at Yeshivas HaNegev in Netivot, where he was a talmid of the rosh yeshiva, Rav Yissachar Meir zt”l, from whom he absorbed his derech halimud.

Upon reaching marriage age, he married the daughter of Rav Yom Tov Chaim HaKohen Friedman. Together they established their home in Yerushalayim’s Har Nof neighborhood.

Following his marriage, Rav Yarom entered the beis medrash of Yeshivas Mir in Yerushalayim, where he remained immersed in Torah learning for more than five decades. He was counted among the senior avreichim of the yeshiva, known for his consistency and dedication to Torah and avodah.

For decades, Rav Yarom was meticulous to be among the first ten men at every tefillah in his shul, a practice he maintained with remarkable persistence.

He is survived by a large and distinguished family. His sons are Rav Avraham Yitzchak Yarom; Rav Nosson Tzvi Yarom, chairman of Machon Mishnas HaChafetz Chaim; Rav Yehoshua Chananel Yarom; and Rav Moshe Yarom. His sons-in-law include Rav Aharon Malach of Beit Vagan, Rav Betzalel Mendelson of Modiin Illit, and Rav Yitzchak Aryeh Deutsch of Yesodos. He also leaves behind many grandchildren.

The levayah took place on Motzoei Shabbos at the Shamgar funeral home in Yerushalayim, with kevurah on Har HaMenuchos.

Yehi zichro boruch.

SpaceX has decided to put its longer-term plans for Mars on hold and concentrate instead on returning to the moon, telling investors on Friday that lunar missions will take priority, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal.

Under the revised timeline, the company is aiming for March 2027 to carry out a moon landing mission that will not include astronauts, the report said.

Executives told investors that the company’s immediate emphasis is on advancing its Starship rocket and coordinating closely with NASA’s Artemis program. As part of that effort, SpaceX is developing a Human Landing System designed to transport astronauts to the lunar surface, marking humanity’s first return there since the Apollo era.

The shift underscores a mix of progress and pressure, reflecting advances made with Starship as well as the need to demonstrate concrete achievements in lunar exploration before pursuing more ambitious destinations such as Mars.

The update comes shortly after SpaceX agreed to acquire xAI in a transaction valuing the space company at $1 trillion and the artificial intelligence firm at $250 billion.

Elon Musk said last year that his goal was to launch an uncrewed mission to Mars by the end of 2026.

At the center of the company’s strategy is Starship, a massive stainless-steel rocket designed to be fully reusable and capable of supporting a wide range of missions, from lunar flights to eventual journeys to Mars.

The United States is also racing against growing competition from China to put astronauts back on the moon this decade, a destination that has not seen human visitors since the last Apollo mission in 1972.

Musk previously downplayed the importance of lunar missions, calling the moon a “distraction” and saying SpaceX was heading “straight to Mars.”

{Matzav.com}

Presidential adviser Dick Morris said today that a social media video portraying former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama as monkeys was a serious error, describing it as both foolish and unintended, while pressing the Trump administration to take responsibility and quickly redirect attention to its record with minority voters.

Speaking on Saturday Report on Newsmax, Morris was blunt in his assessment of the video, saying, “It was obviously stupid. It was obviously a mistake. And the guy should be fired.”

The remarks came amid backlash over a clip that circulated on social media showing the Obamas depicted as monkeys, imagery that drew widespread condemnation as racist and offensive.

The episode sparked criticism and fueled debate over whether the Trump campaign and its allies are doing enough to prevent messaging that risks alienating minority communities.

When asked whether President Donald Trump’s team needs to respond more forcefully to such incidents and sharpen its overall messaging, Morris cautioned against allowing the controversy to overshadow what he characterized as Trump’s economic record.

“But let’s remember that Donald Trump has been incredible in the progress that’s gone on with both Black and Latino people,” Morris said.

He argued that the administration should use moments such as Black History Month to spotlight policy outcomes rather than allowing negative stories to dominate coverage.

“Their incomes have gone up,” Morris said. “The gap between the Black and white wages has closed. The minimum wage is increasing.”

Morris went on to add, “Clearly there has never been a president who has been as effective as Donald Trump is in ironing out the economic discrimination that had been holding Blacks and Latinos back.”

He concluded by urging the administration to keep the focus on those achievements, saying Trump “should celebrate that with Black History Month and not let the distraction attract the media’s attention.”

{Matzav.com}

The U.S. State Department has removed all content posted before President Donald Trump began his second term on January 20, 2025, from its official X accounts, according to a report published Friday by NPR.

The department said the removed posts have been archived but are no longer visible to the public on X, formerly known as Twitter.

In a statement provided to NPR, a State Department spokesperson explained that the move “is to limit confusion on U.S. government policy and to speak with one voice to advance the President, Secretary, and Administration’s goals and messaging.

“It will preserve history while promoting the present,” the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson further said that the department’s X accounts “are one of our most powerful tools for advancing the America First goals and messaging of the President, Secretary, and Administration, both to our fellow Americans and audiences around the world.”

The decision comes amid broader actions by the Trump administration across federal agencies to remove, alter, or update online material that does not reflect its MAGA-aligned messaging priorities. Critics have argued that such changes to government websites and digital platforms limit public access to previously available information.

The State Department emphasized that although the posts have been taken down from public view, they are being retained in accordance with federal records preservation requirements.

{Matzav.com}

Greenland’s foreign minister said Saturday that while dialogue with the United States is continuing, the discussions have not yet reached a point that meets Greenland’s expectations, and it remains premature to assess their eventual outcome.

Vivian Motzfeldt made the remarks during a joint press conference in Nuuk alongside her counterparts from Denmark and Canada, emphasizing that the process is still at an early stage.

“We are not there where we want to be yet. There is going to be a long track, so where we are going to land at the end, it’s too early to say,” Motzfeldt said.

A former senior official in Israel’s security establishment said that Israel passed up a clear opportunity in 2018 to eliminate Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, claiming the plan was blocked at the political level despite operational readiness.

Ilan Segev, who previously served in a senior role with the Israel Security Agency, made the remarks during an interview on the program Ma’avirim LaRishon. He said the opportunity arose while Benjamin Netanyahu was serving as prime minister.

According to Segev, the window opened in August 2018, after the Israeli government allowed senior Hamas figure Saleh al-Arouri to enter the Gaza Strip as part of reconciliation efforts between Hamas and Fatah. During that timeframe, Israeli security agencies identified what Segev described as a concrete and actionable option to eliminate both al-Arouri and Yahya Sinwar at the same time.

Segev said that despite the existence of a viable operational plan, the strike never went ahead. He explained that the political echelon, led at the time by Netanyahu, ultimately decided not to authorize the action, stopping Israel’s security forces from carrying it out.

He also referenced an earlier episode dating back to 2013, saying that then–IDF Chief of Staff Benny Gantz and then–ISA head Yoram Cohen sought approval to attack Hamas tunnel infrastructure that had crossed into Israeli territory. That initiative, Segev said, was likewise halted after it failed to gain approval from Netanyahu and other members of the political leadership.

{Matzav.com}

U.S. stocks rallied sharply on Friday, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average crossing the 50,000 threshold for the first time as investors shook off earlier technology-sector losses and returned to risk assets.

The blue-chip Dow jumped 1,206.95 points, a gain of 2.5%, finishing the session at 50,115.67.

Other major benchmarks also posted strong daily gains. The S&P 500 advanced 2%, while the Nasdaq Composite climbed 2.2%. Despite Friday’s surge, the Nasdaq was unable to escape a negative week, ending down 1.8% after a three-day sell-off earlier in the week.

Chipmakers and AI-linked technology firms were among the strongest performers. Shares of Nvidia jumped 7.9%, while Broadcom rose 7.1%. Oracle gained 3.2%, and Palantir added 4%.

Cryptocurrency markets also rebounded sharply. Bitcoin surged 11% to just under $70,000 after briefly falling below $61,000 overnight, its lowest level since October.

Even with the rebound, Bitcoin remained more than 52% below its record high of $126,000 reached in early October 2025, when investors were betting that President Donald Trump would relax regulatory pressure on the crypto industry.

Not all technology stocks participated in the rally. Software companies continued to face pressure amid concerns that rapid advances in artificial intelligence could automate many of their services. ServiceNow slid 1.9%, while Salesforce ended up 0.7% after earlier trading lower.

Amazon stood out as a major decliner. The stock dropped more than 5% after disappointing earnings results and plans to spend $200 billion on AI, chips, and robotics fueled doubts about whether heavy AI investment will translate into long-term profits.

“Tech stocks have been dropping as concerns grow that AI may supplant traditional software applications, reduce the utility of legacy search engines, and divert online advertising to AI engines,” Kenin Spivak, chairman and CEO of SMI Group LLC, told The Post.

“As often happens, sellers depressed stock prices to a level that bargain hunters find attractive, leading to at least short term gains. Prices may continue to bounce around as investors evaluate the implications of AI.”

Spivak said a similar dynamic is playing out in the cryptocurrency market: “When Bitcoin’s trading price falls, collectors who believe there will be other collectors step in to push up the price.”

Bitcoin’s rally lifted stocks closely tied to digital assets. Robinhood Markets soared 13.5%, the biggest percentage gainer in the S&P 500.

Coinbase Global climbed 13%, while Strategy — the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin, formerly known as MicroStrategy — surged 26%.

Investors also appeared to rotate toward value stocks during the session, with Goldman Sachs rising 4.2%.

Smaller companies joined the advance as well, pushing the Russell 2000 Index up 3.6%.

Stronger-than-expected consumer sentiment data released Friday likely added fuel to the rally, benefiting cyclical sectors such as airlines. United Airlines, American Airlines, and Delta Air Lines each gained between 7% and 9%.

In commodities markets, gold futures rose 1.8% to $4,979, while silver edged up 0.3% to $76.94.

{Matzav.com}