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By Rabbi Pinchos Lipschutz

One of the great ironies of life is that we spend so much of it trying to achieve the very thing that we often find most difficult to hold on to.

We want to be happy. We want our homes to be happy, our families to be happy, and our children to be happy. We want to be surrounded by happiness. Yet, too often, happiness is elusive. We can spend years working toward something we are certain will bring us satisfaction, only to discover that once we have attained it, the feeling we anticipated does not quite last. The new home becomes familiar, the accomplishment becomes yesterday’s news, the long-awaited vacation ends, and the thing we once imagined would make everything feel right simply becomes another part of our lives.

It is not that these things do not bring happiness. They do. A beautiful simcha, a nachas-filled moment, a meaningful accomplishment, a family gathering, a good piece of news – these are genuine sources of joy. The question is why the joy they bring so often seems to fade and why a person can possess so much of what he once dreamed of having and still find himself searching for something more.

Perhaps the answer begins with the simple distinction that there is a difference between having reasons to be happy and knowing how to be happy.

A person can have many blessings and fail to experience them as blessings. He can live surrounded by people he loves and remain preoccupied with what is missing. He can be blessed with health, family, Torah, parnossah, and steady kindnesses from Hashem, yet spend his days measuring his life against someone else’s and wondering why he does not have what the other person has. Happiness is not determined by what a person possesses. It is determined by what he sees when he looks at his life.

The Torah understands this profoundly. Simcha is not presented as a luxury, an emotional bonus that comes naturally when circumstances happen to cooperate. It is something we are commanded to pursue and cultivate. And when the Torah speaks of the Yomim Tovim, it commands us, “Vesomachta bechagecha – You shall rejoice on Yom Tov.”

Yet, one Yom Tov is singled out in a remarkable way.

Chazal refer to Pesach as Zeman Cheiruseinu, the time of our freedom, when we went from slavery to freedom; from being under the control of Mitzrayim to becoming a nation.

Shavuos is referred to as Zeman Matan Toraseinu, the time when we received the Torah.

Sukkos is referred to as Zeman Simchoseinu, our time of joy.

The name bears a strong message for us, especially in our day.

As the posuk (Vayikra 23:43) says, the Yom Tov of Sukkos commemorates the sukkos in which Hashem sheltered us in the midbar. Sukkos has distinctive mitzvos: the obligation to dwell in the sukkah and the mitzvah of daled minim.

Yet, when Chazal seek to tell us what Sukkos is, they do not call it the time of the sukkah or the time of the arba minim. They refer to it as a time of simcha.

What did Chazal see in Sukkos that makes simcha not merely one of its themes, but its very identity?

Chazal saw in Sukkos the root of happiness.

Happiness always seems to be just a little bit ahead of us. We can almost see it, and we are certain that we will catch up with it when the next thing happens, when the next problem is resolved, when the next accomplishment is achieved, or when the next long-awaited moment finally arrives. And then it does arrive, and we enjoy it, sometimes immensely, but before long, we find ourselves looking ahead once again, waiting for the next thing that we believe will bring us the happiness that seems to have slipped just beyond our reach.

What is it that makes a person happy? Happy people are not necessarily those who have the most, and unhappy people are not necessarily those who have the least.

Quite often, in Yerushalayim, you will meet people who live with their ten children in tiny apartments, and they seem to be the happiest people alive. And then you can read about the wealthiest people and they are miserable. The richest man in the world recently wrote that “whoever said ‘money can’t buy happiness’ really knew what they were talking about.”

So how do we attain happiness? What is the secret?

We are commanded to serve Hashem with joy, and when the Torah speaks about the Yomim Tovim, it repeatedly emphasizes the obligation of vesomachta bechagecha, to rejoice on this Yom Tov.

What is it about Sukkos that makes simcha its defining characteristic? Why is this the Yom Tov that Chazal identify specifically with happiness? What does Sukkos teach us about something every human being wants so desperately – the secret of being genuinely happy?

We are taught to serve Hashem with simcha, and the Yomim Tovim are specifically associated with the obligation of “vesomachta bechagecha,” to rejoice during the Yomim Tovim. Yet, although this command applies to all the Yomim Tovim, Sukkos possesses a unique distinction. It is not merely a time when we are instructed to be happy. Chazal define the very essence of the Yom Tov as Zeman Simchoseinu, the Time of Our Joy.

Why does its name focus on the joy of the Yom Tov rather than on the sukkos in which Hashem protected us in the midbar, or on the daled minim that occupy such a prominent place in our observance of the Yom Tov? What is it about Sukkos that creates and mandates such an extraordinary degree of happiness that simcha itself becomes the name by which the Yom Tov is identified?

Perhaps the answer begins with something that seems almost paradoxical. On Sukkos, the Yom Tov that is called the Time of Our Joy, we leave our homes.

We step away from the permanent structures that normally provide us with a sense of security and stability and enter a temporary dwelling. We leave behind our solid walls and sturdy roofs, our comfortable bedrooms and dining rooms, and all the physical structures that make us feel that we have established ourselves securely in this world. For seven days, we eat our meals, spend time with our families, and, as much as possible, conduct much of our daily activity in a structure whose very temporary nature is central to its mitzvah.

And perhaps that is precisely where the secret of simcha lies.

One of the greatest impediments to happiness is the mistaken belief that happiness depends upon what we possess and upon the circumstances in which we find ourselves. We imagine that if our house was a little larger, our finances a little more comfortable, our business a little more successful, or our lives a little less complicated, we would finally be able to relax and enjoy what we have. We spend so much of our lives looking toward the next improvement, the next acquisition, or the next hoped-for change that we can easily overlook the blessings already surrounding us.

The sukkah comes to challenge that way of thinking.

For seven days, we deliberately leave the permanent structure that represents the physical security we have worked so hard to establish and place ourselves in a temporary dwelling, beneath a roof that is not even a conventional one. We are reminded that the walls around us were never the ultimate source of our security, that the things we own can provide us with comfort but cannot provide us with the inner sense of peace for which we yearn, and that the difference between a house in which a person is happy and one in which he is miserable has very little to do with the quality of its construction.

A magnificent home without shalom bayis cannot create happiness. A beautifully set table cannot compensate for a lack of warmth among the people gathered around it. A person can surround himself with every physical comfort and still feel empty, while another person can sit at a simple table in a modest home, surrounded by people he loves and with gratitude in his heart, and experience a happiness that no luxury could purchase.

The sukkah strips away the illusion that the structure itself is what makes us secure and comfortable, and it teaches us that we can leave our physical permanence behind and still be happy. We are commanded to be happy precisely there, in that temporary dwelling. Vesomachta bechagecha.

This lesson comes at a particularly significant time of year. We have just emerged from the Yomim Noraim, when we stood before Hashem and confronted the fragility of our existence. On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, we asked Hashem for life, health, sustenance, and the ability to continue serving Him. We acknowledged how dependent we are upon Him and how little is actually within our control, despite the tremendous effort we invest in creating a sense of security and predictability in our lives.

And then, almost immediately, Hashem gives us the mitzvah of Sukkos and tells us to rejoice.

Hashem gives us a remarkable progression. After the introspection of the Yomim Noraim, after we have stood before Him and asked to be granted another year, after we have examined our lives and contemplated what truly matters and what does not, we are told to leave the security and permanence of our homes, enter the sukkah, gather our families and friends around us, take the daled minim in our hands, and rejoice in the blessings Hashem has given us.

After experiencing Yom Kippur and teshuvah, we are best able to hear the message of the humble sukkah. Now, rather than immediately returning to our routines and comforts, we step outside of them and enter a temporary dwelling, where we look at our lives with fresh eyes, recognize the goodness that is already there, and rejoice in it.

Because one of the greatest sources of unhappiness is not necessarily what we lack, but our preoccupation with what we lack. A person can be surrounded by blessings and yet be unable to enjoy them because his eyes are constantly directed elsewhere. He sees what someone else has, the house someone else lives in, the vacation someone else takes, the success someone else has achieved, and slowly, almost imperceptibly, the blessings in his own life become invisible to him. The more we compare, the more our sense of what we have is diminished by what we imagine we should have.

There will always be someone who has more. There will always be another person with a larger house, a greater accomplishment, a more impressive position, a nicer car, or a more seemingly perfect life. If a person looks outward at what others have, he will never have enough. He can spend his entire life surrounded by gifts and still view himself as deprived.

On Sukkos, we step away from the pursuit of more and recognize what we have. Sukkos changes our field of vision. Instead of focusing on the permanent structures that distinguish one person from another, everyone leaves them behind and enters a simple sukkah, where the important things become much clearer. The family sitting around the table matters more than the table, the people sharing the meal matter more than the chairs they are sitting on, and the mitzvos surrounding us become more precious than the physical comforts we have temporarily left behind.

The daled minim reinforce that lesson in another way. We take four minim that are different from one another and bring them together because the Jewish people are not meant to be a collection of individuals, each concerned only with his own accomplishments and possessions. We need one another, and there is a special joy that comes from recognizing that we are part of something larger than ourselves.

The sukkah teaches us to appreciate what Hashem has given us, while the daled minim teach us to appreciate the people with whom He has surrounded us. Both lessons lead us toward the same destination. A person becomes happier when he stops measuring his life according to what he thinks is missing and begins to recognize the abundance that is already present.

There is yet another dimension to the simcha of Sukkos. On Pesach, we celebrate what Hashem did for us when He took us out of Mitzrayim, and on Shavuos, we celebrate the Torah that He gave us at Har Sinai. On Sukkos, we experience the relationship itself. We place ourselves under the protection of Hashem and live in the sukkah, which Chazal describe as tzila demehemnusa, the shade of faith.

We are reminded that the security we imagine comes from our homes, our resources, and our plans was never absolute. We were always dependent upon Hashem, though we don’t always notice it. The temporary nature of the sukkah reminds us that the world itself is temporary and that our security does not come from the walls we construct around ourselves, but from the One Who sustains us within those walls and beyond them.

Recognizing that dependence does not make us fearful. It makes us joyful, because once a person understands that Hashem is holding him, he no longer has to feel that he is responsible for holding his entire world together.

Perhaps that is why Sukkos follows immediately after Yom Kippur. We have just spent the holiest day of the year asking Hashem to forgive us and grant us another year. We have confronted our shortcomings, acknowledged our mistakes, and promised to do better. We stood before the Melech with nothing to hide behind, and then Hashem tells us that the next step is to rejoice.

Build your sukkah. Take your daled minim. Invite guests. Eat and drink. Learn Torah. Sing. Dance. Celebrate that you have been given another year and another opportunity to draw closer to Hashem.

This is not a command to manufacture happiness. Rather, it is an invitation to discover the source of happiness. We do not need to wait until every problem has been solved or every aspiration has been fulfilled before allowing ourselves to appreciate the goodness in our lives.

The world around us constantly tells us the opposite. We are encouraged to look at what we don’t have, to notice what we could buy, to compare ourselves with people who appear to have more, and to believe that the next acquisition or accomplishment will finally give us the satisfaction we seek. Sukkos teaches us to step away from that pursuit and to sit beneath the s’chach with the people and the blessings that are already ours.

When we do that, we can begin to understand the words Zeman Simchoseinu in a deeper way. The Torah is not simply telling us that Sukkos is a time during which we are supposed to smile more. It is teaching us how to become capable of experiencing simcha, namely by recognizing that our lives are gifts, that our families are gifts, that our Torah and mitzvos are gifts, and that the opportunity to stand before Hashem and serve Him is itself an extraordinary reason for gratitude.

And then we understand why Chazal did not define Sukkos by the temporary dwelling in which we live, even though the sukkah is central to the Yom Tov, nor by the daled minim that we hold with such care. They called it Zeman Simchoseinu because after Pesach we were free, after Shavuos we had the Torah, and after Sukkos we have simcha.

In our modern world, people are driven to buy things. Since society teaches that having more things makes people happier, it follows that the act of purchasing things brings happiness. In the language of science and psychology, people experience a dopamine rush from shopping and acquiring new things. And while in earlier times a person had to get dressed, leave the house, and travel to a store to obtain something new, today the process has become almost effortless. From the comfort of home, people can click away and purchase virtually anything they need or want.

People have become so accustomed to the experience of buying that there are now, believe it or not, sites where the products do not even exist. The sites do not actually sell anything. They do something else. They provide the experience of shopping.

Think about what that means. A grown person who seeks happiness goes through the motions of browsing, selecting, and purchasing items, even though nothing is actually being purchased and nothing will arrive at his door. The experience itself has become the source of the pleasure. It is simulated; it is not real. And yet, the desire behind it is very real: the desire to be happy, the desire to buy, to have, to accumulate, because people think that having more will make them happier.

But much of the pleasure of indulgence comes from anticipation. People look forward to having something and imagine how good it will feel when it arrives, and then, once they have it, the excitement begins to fade, and before they know it, their attention turns toward the next thing they want to acquire.

The happiness they imagine they will obtain from having more things – a nicer house, a nicer car, a fancier tie or scarf – is all an illusion. And that is precisely part of the message of the sukkah.

There is a classic Yiddish tune about the sukkah, which celebrates that a Yiddele sitting in his little sukkaleh, bundled up against the elements, can be happier and warmer than the wealthiest man whose butler is throwing logs into his fireplace to warm him. The Yiddele sitting in his rickety sukkaleh feels safer and more secure than the wealthy landowner ensconced behind his iron gates.

The world tells us that the more we have, the happier and more secure we will be. The sukkah teaches us the opposite. It takes away the permanence, the comfort, and the possessions that we imagine are the foundations of happiness and shows us that a person can have very little and still be genuinely someiach when he knows that what he has is from Hashem and that he sits betzila demehemnusa, under His protection.

Happiness does not come from having more. It is a simple message, one we have heard many times. On Sukkos, it is no longer a soundbite or a cute saying to hang on the refrigerator. On Sukkos, we sit in the sukkah and discover that it is true.

May we all merit true simcha on Sukkos and all year round, and may we merit the coming of Moshiach bekarov.

Iran’s military leadership warned Tuesday that it is prepared to unleash “more severe, crushing and unpredictable” attacks against the United States and Israel if Iran comes under further attack, issuing the threat after President Donald Trump used his address to the United Nations General Assembly to warn Tehran against pursuing nuclear weapons and later threatened a strike on the fortified Pickaxe Mountain facility. Iran’s military also dismissed Trump’s UN remarks as domestic political messaging.

Iran’s Armed Forces General Staff and the Khatam al-Anbiya Central Headquarters, the country’s senior joint military command, rejected the idea that Trump’s warnings had changed the strategic situation.

“The US president’s rhetoric does not change the calculations of power and will never compensate for this country’s diminished position in the emerging world order or America’s humiliating defeats in the war against Iran and the resistance front,” they said in a statement carried by Iranian state media.

Iran’s military went further, warning that its forces remain prepared to retaliate against either Washington or Israel in the event of renewed attacks. The statement threatened “more severe, crushing and unpredictable” strikes against the two countries.

The warning followed Trump’s appearance Tuesday before the 81st session of the UN General Assembly in New York, where Iran figured prominently in the president’s address. Trump portrayed Tehran as an international security threat and repeated his longstanding position that the United States will prevent Iran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.

“There is no better example of a danger that was allowed to gather strength at the world’s peril than the number one sponsor of terror, the Islamic Republic of Iran. From the first day I entered the political arena, I have been unwavering – I will NEVER allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”

Trump also laid out two dramatically different possibilities for Iran’s future, saying he hopes Tehran ultimately chooses an agreement with Washington. He suggested that Iranian leaders may be waiting until after the US midterm elections before reaching a deal.

“I have a big decision to make. Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before, maybe one of the greatest in the Middle East or even the world? Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic and do it quickly, never giving them a chance to kill and destroy people and countries again? Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness for generations? But I believe we’ll make a deal right after the election, because it doesn’t make sense for them not to.”

Hours after the UN address, Trump issued an additional warning while meeting with Middle Eastern leaders on the sidelines of the General Assembly. This time, he singled out Pickaxe Mountain, a heavily fortified facility near Iran’s Natanz nuclear complex. The site has long drawn scrutiny over its potential role in Iran’s nuclear program.

Trump said the United States is not currently detecting substantial activity at the site but warned that any change could trigger immediate military action.

“We may have to blow up another one. Pickaxe Mountain… if we do [see activity], we’ll blow it up immediately,” he said.

Despite the increasingly severe public warnings from both Washington and Tehran, diplomatic efforts have continued on the sidelines of the UN gathering. Trump said Tuesday that there was “a lot of momentum” toward an agreement with Iran, while US officials said American representatives had been engaged in indirect discussions through mediators.

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President Donald Trump used a packed day at the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday to issue stark warnings to Iran, tout American power abroad and announce a new security arrangement involving Greenland, while developments away from the podium included reported US-Iran discussions, a continuing dispute with several media organizations and Trump’s consideration of restricting American diesel exports.

During the speech, Trump pointed to the US military operation that removed Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro earlier this year and portrayed the outcome as an example of Washington reasserting its influence in the Western Hemisphere.

“To the victor go the spoils,” Trump told the crowd, referring to an oil agreement reached with Venezuela following the January military operation.

The president’s UN appearance was only the beginning of a busy diplomatic schedule. Later Tuesday, Trump said American officials had held three hours of discussions with representatives of Iran, even as the two countries remain at odds nearly seven months into their conflict.

The day also produced a new agreement among the United States, Denmark and Greenland that expands Washington’s military access to the strategically important Arctic island.

Here are five major developments from Trump’s day at the UN.

US and Iranian Officials Hold Talks

Trump told reporters that American officials met members of the Iranian delegation for approximately three hours Tuesday. Special envoy Steve Witkoff participated in the discussions, according to Trump, along with presidential adviser and Trump son-in-law Jared Kushner.

“I feel very good right now,” Witkoff said, hesitating to answer reporters’ questions about the talks.

Iranian officials had not publicly confirmed the meeting. Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian and Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi were both in New York for the UN gathering.

Earlier in the day, Trump used his General Assembly address to present Tehran with two sharply different possibilities: abandon its nuclear ambitions and potentially receive extensive American economic cooperation, or face further confrontation.

“Do I drive them into hell with no chance of survival and no hope of future greatness for generations?” Trump posed to the global body and suggested Iran was waiting to see if he is in a weakened position after the midterms in November.

Trump dismissed the notion that the results of November’s congressional elections would affect his approach to Tehran.

“I gave absolutely no credence and will not give credence to the election when it comes to Iran,” he said.

Media Dispute Follows Trump to New York

Trump’s ongoing battle with CNN, MS NOW and Politico also followed him to the UN after the White House barred the three organizations from certain access.

A major television network did not accompany Trump after the White House television pool decided to boycott the trip in solidarity with CNN. Despite the dispute, reporters continued questioning Trump about the controversy throughout Tuesday.

The three organizations filed suit against the administration Monday over the restrictions. Trump said he believed a federal judge would “probably will” rule for the news organizations.

“He’s not a particularly fair judge, so you never know,” Trump said, referring to U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly, who the president nominated to the federal bench during his first term.

CNN had originally been scheduled to accompany Trump as part of the press pool. The network nevertheless continued covering his activities in New York, with correspondent Kaitlan Collins managing to question him as he entered the United Nations.

“You should not be here covering me. You said you weren’t going to be covering me,” Trump told CNN’s Kaitlan Collins.

US, Denmark and Greenland Reach Security Agreement

One of the day’s most significant diplomatic developments was the signing of a security agreement among the United States, Denmark and Greenland. The arrangement gives Washington the ability to establish two additional military installations in Greenland while seeking to limit Russian and Chinese strategic and economic influence there.

American officials plan to restore a military presence at Narsarsuaq in southern Greenland and establish another facility at Mestersvig in the east.

The agreement also allows the United States to establish additional bases in the future and to “modernize and expand its activities” at Pituffik Space Base, where American military personnel are already stationed.

“You go back way back in the line of presidents, and almost every president at least mentioned it,” Trump said in brief remarks on Tuesday. “But most of them just mentioned it. Some really wanted to make a deal and never got done. But we’re getting it done.”

The agreement follows months of tension surrounding Greenland after Trump repeatedly raised the possibility of the United States acquiring the semi-autonomous Danish territory, including earlier suggestions that military force was not off the table.

Trump Wants AI Called ‘Super Intelligence’

Trump also used the UN stage to propose a change in how the US government describes artificial intelligence, declaring that official documents would begin referring to AI as “super intelligence.”

The president said the word “artificial” makes the rapidly developing technology “sound fake.”

“It’s not fake. It’s actually amazing. But we have to be careful. In fact, it is exactly the opposite of what it purports,” he said.

Trump then unveiled his preferred terminology and abbreviation.

“In other words, welcome to the new world of super intelligence — SI,” the president continued. “Let’s see if that goes. It sounds much better. It is much better, and it’s much more accurate.”

The term “superintelligence” already has an established meaning in the field of artificial intelligence, generally referring to hypothetical AI systems whose intellectual capabilities broadly surpass those of humans.

Trump also used the speech to reject proposals for international governance of AI, saying, “The United States totally rejects any attempt to construct a globalist scheme of control for the Artificial Intelligence being spoken of so much now — hereinafter officially called ‘Super Intelligence.’”

Trump Considers Diesel Export Ban

Another issue confronting the administration Tuesday was the rising price of fuel amid the ongoing conflict with Iran and disruptions to energy shipments through the Strait of Hormuz and Red Sea.

Asked about the possibility of restricting American diesel exports, Trump indicated that he favors the idea.

“I’ve said let’s not send out the diesel,” the president said in response to reporters’ questions and suggested a decision on the ban could happen “fast.”

The question comes only weeks before the November midterm elections, with fuel prices and the broader cost of living emerging as significant political issues.

Recent polling has meanwhile shown significant public dissatisfaction with Trump’s performance and the Iran conflict. According to the Reuters/Ipsos survey cited in the original report, Trump’s approval rating stood at 32 percent on Monday. A CNN poll released Tuesday found that nearly two-thirds of respondents did not believe the United States was winning the conflict with Iran. Those figures are snapshots of the respective surveyed populations and do not themselves determine how voters will behave in November.

{Matzav.com}

Bochurim at Yeshivas Tiferes Halevi in Elad returned to their dormitory following Maariv on Yom Kippur night to discover that a thief had taken advantage of the empty building to break into their rooms and steal thousands of shekels in cash.

The burglary took place while the entire yeshiva was gathered in the bais medrash for davening, leaving the dormitory rooms unattended.

When the bochurim returned after Maariv, they immediately realized something was wrong. Lights had been left on throughout the rooms, indicating that someone had been moving through the dormitory while they were away.

As the bochurim began checking their belongings, the extent of the theft became apparent. The burglar had apparently gone from room to room searching for cash and made off with numerous sums belonging to individual bochurim.

Among the amounts reported stolen were 1,600 shekels from one room, 2,000 shekels from another, as well as sums of 100 shekels, 150 shekels and additional amounts from other rooms.

Perhaps the most painful loss involved 3,000 shekels that bochurim had worked to collect in mikvaos throughout Elad on Erev Yom Kippur.

That money was intended to help finance the yeshiva’s retzufos program during the long Friday nights, when bochurim spend extended hours learning continuously through the night.

The bochurim discovered the break-in immediately upon returning from davening and began going through their rooms after noticing the lights that had been left on. They soon determined that the intruder had apparently used the time when virtually everyone was in the bais medrash to carry out the theft.

Yeshivas Tiferes Halevi is one of Elad’s large yeshivos and is home to hundreds of bochurim.

{Matzav.com}

The Tosher community in Canada is reeling from the sudden passing of Reb Eliyahu Spitzer z”l, a longtime gabbai of the main Tosher Bais Medrash and one of the senior and beloved figures of the kehillah. Reb Eliyahu collapsed during Yom Kippur and passed away the following morning at the age of 81.

His passing has brought renewed attention to an extraordinary episode from approximately two years ago, when Reb Eliyahu wrote that he was transferring a powerful bracha for a complete recovery that he had received from the previous Tosher Rebbe ZY”A to the Vizhnitzer Rebbe, who was ill at the time.

Reb Eliyahu was born to his father, Reb Meir Moshe Spitzer Z”L. He devoted much of his life to chinuch, educating generations of children and instilling in them Torah and yiras Shomayim.

For decades, he also served as a gabbai in the central Tosh Bais Medrash in Kiryas Tosh, where he became a familiar presence to generations of residents and visitors. Among his responsibilities was welcoming the many guests who came to spend Shabbos and Yom Tov in Tosh.

His devotion to hachnosas orchim was legendary. Those who knew him related that on Shabbos, Reb Eliyahu made certain that every guest had a place to eat and was properly taken care of before he would go home to begin his own Shabbos seudah. He was remembered for his constant warmth, exceptional devotion to others and deep attachment to the Tosher Rebbe ZY”A.

A remarkable story involving Reb Eliyahu became widely known approximately two years ago, during the illness of the Vizhnitzer Rebbe. The Vizhnitzer Rebbe shared a particularly close relationship with the Tosher Rebbe ZY”A, who held him in great affection and esteem.

At the time, Reb Eliyahu wrote an emotional letter recounting that he himself had once suffered from a serious illness. During that period, the Tosher Rebbe had given him a bracha that he would recover completely — “100%.”

Reb Eliyahu wrote and signed a declaration stating that he wished to transfer the full bracha for health and recovery that he had received from the Tosher Rebbe to the Vizhnitzer Rebbe. He expressed his complete belief that the Tosher Rebbe, from the Olam Ha’emes, consented to what he was doing.

The letter deeply moved those who saw it and became widely discussed among chassidim at the time.

Reb Eliyahu himself remained healthy until his final day. On Yom Kippur, while in the Bais Medrash, he suddenly collapsed. The following morning, to the profound sorrow of his family and the entire Tosh community, he returned his neshama to his Creator.

His sudden petirah has left the kehillah in deep shock, with many once again recalling the remarkable letter he had written and the selflessness that characterized his life.

Reb Eliyahu leaves behind an enduring legacy of Torah, chinuch, chesed and hachnosas orchim, as well as children, grandchildren and further generations who follow the path of Torah and mitzvos.

Yehi zichro baruch.

{Matzav.com}

With Israel’s election approaching, the government is pressing opposition lawmakers to support a series of imminent budget votes involving funding for Shas-associated food vouchers, the annual Lag Ba’omer gathering in Meron and preparations for the national election.

According to a report in TheMarker, the government is seeking opposition support for a transfer of NIS 101 million to the Interior Ministry. Among the items included in the request is NIS 12.8 million needed to help finance preparations for the election scheduled for late October. Israel’s Central Elections Committee is already carrying out logistical preparations for the vote, including shipping ballot materials to Israeli missions around the world.

The election-related money is intended in part for management of the voter registry and the distribution of voter notifications. The request also includes NIS 42 million for the five-year development program for Druze and Circassian communities covering the years 2025 through 2029.

At the center of the political dispute, however, are two additional allocations. One is NIS 37 million earmarked for the food-voucher program closely associated with Shas chairman Aryeh Deri. Another NIS 46 million is being sought to cover expenses connected with the annual Lag Ba’omer gathering in Meron, including payments to suppliers through the Ministry of Jerusalem Affairs and Jewish Tradition.

The dispute is unfolding alongside a separate battle involving Section 46 of Israel’s Income Tax Ordinance, which provides tax benefits to donors who contribute to qualifying nonprofit organizations.

According to the report, chareidi parties have been blocking approval of Section 46 status for hundreds of organizations after the benefit was denied to certain chareidi nonprofits on the grounds that they encourage avoidance of IDF service. In response, the chareidi parties imposed a veto on granting the benefit to other organizations awaiting approval.

That standoff has now become intertwined with another urgent matter being advanced by the Finance Ministry.

The ministry has asked the Knesset Finance Committee to quickly approve Israel’s Pillar Two regulations, which are designed to ensure a minimum 15% tax rate for large multinational corporations in accordance with the international framework developed through the OECD.

According to the report, Israel must approve the regulations before the end of the year or risk sanctions. Opposition representatives, however, have informed Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s office that they will not permit consideration of the regulations as long as the chareidi parties continue blocking Section 46 tax benefits for nonprofits.

The disputes come during the final stretch of the election campaign, with the Central Elections Committee already deep into preparations for voting. Last week, election officials began dispatching ballot boxes and other materials to 99 Israeli diplomatic missions in 79 countries, 42 days before Election Day.

The coming votes are therefore expected to test whether the government and opposition can reach agreements on the various funding requests, with election preparations, the food-voucher program, Meron funding, nonprofit tax benefits and the multinational corporate tax regulations all caught up in the broader parliamentary standoff.

An 84-year-old blind Jewish woman was killed in a fire that broke out at her two-story home in Buenos Aires on Monday, prompting Argentina’s chief rabbi to intervene with local authorities in an effort to secure the prompt release of her body for burial.

The victim, Felisa Binberg, lived in the Villa Santa Rita neighborhood of the Argentine capital. The blaze occurred at her home on César Díaz Avenue.

Firefighters responding to the scene found Binberg lifeless inside the residence. By the time emergency crews arrived, officials said the source of the fire had already been completely extinguished and there was no longer smoke inside the building.

An 83-year-old relative of Binberg was also at the scene. She was treated by local emergency medical personnel after suffering severe anxiety and emotional distress following the tragedy. She did not require transportation to a hospital.

Emergency personnel temporarily blocked traffic in the surrounding area as authorities began investigating what caused the fire and the circumstances surrounding Binberg’s death.

Following the tragedy, Argentina’s Chief Rabbi, Rav Eliyahu Hamra, immediately became involved and has been assisting the family in dealing with the authorities.

Rav Hamra is working with local officials to have Binberg’s body released from the Buenos Aires forensic medical institute as quickly as possible. The effort is aimed at preventing unnecessary delays and allowing the family to proceed with kevurah at the earliest opportunity.

{Matzav.com}

New sanitation companies have begun operating across Bnei Brak following a prolonged garbage crisis that left piles of refuse and serious sanitation problems throughout the city. Municipal officials say the first signs of improvement are already visible in areas where the new contractors have started working.

The change follows a period in which, according to city officials, existing sanitation contractors deliberately scaled back their work as part of what the municipality describes as an organized “contractor revolt.” Officials say the dispute erupted over a municipal demand that digital monitoring systems be installed in sanitation and garbage trucks, allowing the city to track routes, working hours and completion of assigned cleaning tasks.

Municipal officials contend that some contractors intentionally reduced their services in response to the new oversight requirements, effectively leaving Bnei Brak residents caught in the middle of the dispute. The sanitation crisis reached a peak during the Tishrei holiday season, when large quantities of garbage accumulated on streets and around dumpsters. In some neighborhoods, the refuse remained well beyond the time by which contractors were supposed to have removed it.

During a City Council meeting, Deputy Mayor and Degel HaTorah chairman Menachem Shapira offered a stark description of conditions in the city.

“We are living in garbage. There are mountains of garbage, the cleanliness of the streets is catastrophic, and this is something that is impossible to live with,” he said.

Shapira said the municipality had spent recent months developing new work plans, establishing oversight mechanisms and creating the infrastructure needed to continuously monitor sanitation contractors. The digital tracking requirement, he explained, was intended to ensure that companies followed their assigned routes, schedules and cleaning targets.

According to municipal officials, however, the attempt to impose tighter supervision met resistance from contractors and failed to produce the immediate improvement city leaders had expected.

“We thought it would already work, but we were very disappointed,” Shapira said. “We cannot live with this catastrophe anymore.”

After extended efforts to resolve the situation, the municipality decided to bring additional sanitation companies into Bnei Brak. The goal is to reduce the city’s dependence on its existing contractors, introduce greater competition and give officials the ability to replace a company that fails to meet its obligations without disrupting garbage collection throughout the city.

“The central and most important thing happening now is that new companies are being added, in order to prevent a cartel and prevent a situation in which companies can hold us and control us,” Shapira told the council.

The new contractors have already begun operating, and municipal officials say several areas have shown an initial improvement. City officials cautioned, however, that it remains too early to determine whether those gains will last. The larger test will be whether Bnei Brak can establish consistent garbage collection and street cleaning across all of its neighborhoods.

Complicating the effort are concerns surrounding Bnei Brak’s financial situation. Municipal officials fear that cash-flow difficulties or future budget cuts could interfere with plans to expand sanitation operations, maintain the new monitoring systems or continue employing the additional contractors.

Shapira is calling for sanitation services to be protected from any potential budget reductions. He argued that after the municipality invested in the necessary infrastructure and succeeded in bringing new companies into the city, financial difficulties should not be allowed to derail the effort.

“Even if there are various difficulties, they must not harm sanitation,” he said. “If we have reached the point where the municipality has the mechanism and the tools, we have to make sure these processes are not stopped or stalled because of budgetary problems.”

The deputy mayor said clean streets must be treated as a basic municipal service rather than an expense that can be postponed when finances become tight.

“Today, this is simply no way to live. This is the bare minimum affecting residents, and therefore we will insist on it with all our strength,” he said.

Shapira added that Bnei Brak’s status as a major Torah center should give the city an additional reason to maintain particularly high standards of cleanliness.

“We need and want to be cleaner than anywhere else. We are supposed to be an example for every place and not be inferior to anyone,” he said.

Municipal officials are now hoping that the combination of new contractors, digital oversight and reduced reliance on the existing sanitation companies will finally bring the garbage crisis to an end. Although officials say improvements are already beginning to appear on Bnei Brak’s streets, the long-term outcome will depend on keeping the additional companies operating and ensuring that sufficient funding remains available.

{Matzav.com}

The Torah community in Yerushalayim is mourning the passing of Rebbetzin Chana Rottenberg a”h, wife of Rav Yeshayahu Pinchas Rottenberg, rov of the Gra Bais Medrash in the Bayit Vegan neighborhood of Yerushalayim and one of the city’s prominent morei horaah. She was approximately 72 years old.

Rebbetzin Rottenberg passed away at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Yerushalayim.

She was born in Antwerp, Belgium, in 1954, to her father, Reb Shalom Dovid Horowitz z”l, who was among the leaders of Agudas Yisroel.

Upon reaching marriageable age, she married Rav Yeshayahu Pinchas Rottenberg, author of the Minchas Pri seforim. Throughout their decades of marriage, she devoted herself wholeheartedly to enabling her husband to immerse himself in Torah learning and serve the wider community as a posek.

As the daughter of Holocaust survivors, Rebbetzin Rottenberg devoted decades to transmitting the story of Jewish spiritual heroism and unwavering emunah during the Holocaust. She authored the bestselling book “How Did I Not Know?” and delivered numerous lectures through the Nefesh Yehudi organization and other forums. She also accompanied educational trips to Poland, helping participants understand the experiences of European Jewry during the Holocaust and the extraordinary faith displayed during those years.

Those who knew Rebbetzin Rottenberg and her family described her as an exceptional aishes chayil whose life was filled with tzedakah and chesed. She regularly visited the sick in hospitals and was known for greeting everyone warmly and pleasantly.

She is survived by her mother, Mrs. N. Horowitz; her husband, Rav Yeshayahu Pinchas Rottenberg; and a distinguished family of children and sons-in-law who are marbitzei Torah.

Her sons are Rav Yisroel Rottenberg, a rosh mesivta at Yeshivas Daas Moshe in Yerushalayim; Rav Nechemia Meir Rottenberg of Savyon, who also serves as a rov in Vienna; Rav Mordechai Rottenberg, rosh kollel of Kollel Toras Moshe Aharon in Modiin Illit and a rosh mesivta at Yeshivas Tiferes Yisroel in Yerushalayim; and Rav Aharon Simcha Rottenberg, a rosh kollel in Yerushalayim.

Her sons-in-law are Rav Tzvi Boyer; Rav Yosef Schwartz, a rosh mesivta at Yeshivas Nagari in Beit Shemesh; Rav Yitzchok Shuv; and Rav Mordechai Chevroni.

The levayah was held tonight at the Gra Bais Medrash at 49 Hapisga Street in Bayit Vegan, Yerushalayim, proceeding to Har Hamenuchos for kevurah.

The family will be sitting shivah at the Rottenberg home at 82 Uziel Street in Bayit Vegan until Erev Yom Tov.

Yehi zichrah baruch.

{Matzav.com}

Israeli advocacy activist and Amcha Yisrael Knesset candidate Yoseph Haddad received a series of explicit death threats by email on Tuesday, with his party saying the messages appeared to have originated from elements connected to Iran. The threats come after Haddad was included on a list published by Iran’s Intelligence Ministry identifying Israeli individuals with whom Iranians are prohibited from having contact.

Haddad, who holds the No. 2 spot on Ofer Winter’s Amcha Yisrael slate, received several emails containing graphic threats against his life.

“We will cut off your fingers one by one and dismember your bodies together with the Americans. We are men of war. Curse you,” one of the threatening messages stated.

According to Amcha Yisrael, the language and content of the emails led to the assessment that they were sent by individuals connected to the Iranian regime. Independent confirmation of who sent the messages was not immediately available.

The threats follow the Iranian Intelligence Ministry’s recent publication of a list of Israeli figures it considers hostile and with whom Iranian citizens are forbidden to communicate. Haddad appeared prominently on that list, according to Israeli reports.

Haddad, an Arab Israeli advocacy activist who served in the IDF and was wounded during the Second Lebanon War, entered electoral politics this summer when he joined Winter’s newly established Amcha Yisrael party. He was placed second on the party’s Knesset slate.

The latest emails are also not the first threats Haddad has faced since entering politics. Earlier this month, Israel Hayom reported that he had received direct threats against his life and that a campaign sign featuring Haddad and Winter had been vandalized with the words “Haddad traitor.”

Haddad said Tuesday that the latest threats would not deter him from continuing his public activities.

“The Iranian regime has never been more predictable. I also receive explicit murder threats on social media. It did not scare me in the past and it does not scare me today; on the contrary, it strengthens me. I will continue to act for the State of Israel and for Israeli society. And to the enemies threatening us from Iran to Gaza, I convey the well-known Arabic saying: روحوا بلّطوا البحر ‘Go pave the sea.’”

{Matzav.com}

With 35 days remaining until Israel’s election, a new Channel 12 poll shows Israeli Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu moving ahead of Naftali Bennett in a head-to-head question over suitability for prime minister, reversing the result of a similar survey released just one week earlier. Netanyahu also narrowed Gadi Eisenkot’s advantage over him, while Eisenkot’s Yashar party remained the largest party in the Knesset projection.

According to the survey, 41% of respondents said Netanyahu was better suited to serve as prime minister when compared directly with Bennett, while 37% chose Bennett. Another 19% said neither man was suitable, and 3% answered that they did not know.

That marks a shift from Channel 12’s previous poll a week earlier, when Bennett received 40% compared with Netanyahu’s 39%. In the new survey, Netanyahu gained two percentage points while Bennett fell by three.

Netanyahu also improved his numbers in a head-to-head comparison with Eisenkot, although Eisenkot remained ahead in that matchup. The new poll gave Eisenkot 41% and Netanyahu 38%, a three-point difference. A week earlier, Eisenkot held a six-point advantage, 42% to 36%. In the latest survey, 15% selected neither candidate and 6% said they did not know.

The projected Knesset map showed relatively little movement. Yashar, headed by Eisenkot, remained in first place with 23 seats, followed by Netanyahu’s Likud with 20 and Bennett’s Beyachad with 13. Those top-line numbers were unchanged from the previous Channel 12 survey.

Avigdor Liberman’s Yisrael Beytenu gained one seat to reach nine, while Yair Golan’s Democrats dropped from 10 seats to nine.

The chareidi parties remained unchanged, with United Torah Judaism, headed by Yaakov Asher, receiving eight seats and Shas, led by Aryeh Deri, receiving seven. Together, the two parties were projected to hold 15 Knesset seats.

The Joint List, led by Yousef Jabareen, fell by one seat to seven. Itamar Ben Gvir’s Otzma Yehudit remained at six seats, while the Religious Zionism-Zehut list headed by Bezalel Smotrich held steady at five.

Ra’am, headed by Mansour Abbas, gained one seat to reach five. Ofer Winter’s Amcha Yisrael received four seats, while the joint Reservists-New Economic Party list headed by Yoaz Hendel and Yaron Zelekha also received four seats, once again clearing the electoral threshold in the poll.

Several parties remained below the threshold. Benny Gantz’s Blue and White received 0.7%, Moti Leitner’s Hatzibur Hachareidi received 0.3%, Avi Maoz’s Noam LeYisrael received 0.1%, and Sharren Haskel’s Yisrael Techila registered 0%.

Despite movement among individual parties, the overall bloc totals were unchanged from the previous Channel 12 poll. Parties opposed to Netanyahu were projected at 66 seats, including 54 seats for Zionist parties and 12 for Arab parties. Parties currently aligned with the coalition received 50 seats, while the Hendel-Zelekha list, categorized by the survey as part of a separate “third bloc,” received four.

The survey also compared Netanyahu with Liberman on suitability for prime minister. Netanyahu received 38% compared with Liberman’s 28%, while another 28% said neither was suitable and 6% answered that they did not know.

The poll was conducted on September 22 by Midgam Consulting and Research, headed by Manu Geva. It surveyed a representative sample of Israeli residents age 18 and older, with 501 respondents participating out of 2,498 people approached. The reported maximum sampling error was 4.4 percentage points.

{Matzav.com}

Spain’s government has allowed a U.S. extradition request against American multimillionaire James “Fergie” Chambers to move forward to the courts, advancing a case in which U.S. authorities accuse the wealthy pro-Palestinian activist of money laundering and other offenses connected to alleged support for Hamas-linked organizations. Chambers denies wrongdoing, while his attorneys contend that the case is politically motivated.

The 41-year-old Chambers has been held in Spain since July, when he was arrested in Ibiza at the request of U.S. authorities. He is currently being held in pretrial detention in Madrid.

The case centers in part on $7.5 million that Chambers transferred from a U.S. bank account to Tunisia, where he previously lived. U.S. authorities allege that the transaction was connected to money laundering and financing organizations linked to Hamas. The full details of the U.S. case have not been made public, and the underlying charges remain sealed.

Chambers’ attorneys reject those allegations. They maintain that his money went toward humanitarian and other projects and say the $7.5 million transfer was connected to Club Africain, a Tunisian soccer club. His defense team argues that Washington’s extradition effort is driven by Chambers’ political activism and outspoken support for the Palestinian cause.

Chambers comes from the Cox family, whose business holdings include the privately owned Cox Enterprises media and communications empire. He broke financially with his family several years ago, receiving approximately $250 million after selling his stake back to the family in 2023, according to his representatives.

In recent years, Chambers has embraced radical left-wing politics, describing himself as a communist and anti-imperialist. He has provided financial support to numerous left-wing and pro-Palestinian causes, including humanitarian projects connected to Gaza and legal expenses involving activists associated with Palestine Action.

His public statements following the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack have also drawn controversy. Chambers publicly defended what he termed Palestinian resistance and has made statements rejecting the legitimacy of Israel. The New York Times recently reported that Chambers had championed Hamas following the October 7 attack.

Those statements have become part of the broader debate surrounding his case, although his attorneys maintain that Chambers’ political views do not establish that he illegally financed Hamas or any other terrorist organization.

Chambers’ wife, actress and activist Stella Schnabel, has publicly defended him and says documentation exists showing where his money was sent. She has also lobbied Spanish lawmakers against approving the extradition. Chambers’ legal team, led by former Spanish judge Baltasar Garzón, has additionally applied for asylum in Spain.

The case has generated significant political opposition inside Spain. Members of Sumar, the junior partner in Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez’s coalition government, as well as Podemos politicians, have urged the government to block the extradition. Supporters of Chambers have also organized demonstrations, while public figures including Richard Gere and Greta Thunberg have joined calls opposing his transfer to the United States.

Tuesday’s decision by the Spanish government does not mean Chambers will automatically be extradited. Government spokeswoman Elma Saiz described the action as “purely procedural,” explaining that Spain’s National Court must now examine the U.S. request and Chambers’ legal arguments before a final determination is made.

If the court determines that the legal requirements for extradition have been met, the matter will return to the Spanish government for a final decision. Spanish law also allows extradition to be denied when authorities determine that a request is politically motivated, an argument Chambers’ attorneys are expected to press as the proceedings continue.

Gulf Arab leaders were preparing to press President Donald Trump to avoid a new escalation with Iran during talks in New York on Tuesday, hours after Trump used his UN General Assembly address to warn that he could “annihilate” the Islamic Republic if efforts to reach an agreement fail. Reuters confirmed that Trump was scheduled to meet representatives of the six Gulf Cooperation Council states following his speech.

Officials representing the GCC — Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait and Oman — coordinated their positions before meeting Trump on the sidelines of the UN gathering, according to Bloomberg.

The New York Post likewise reported that Gulf officials intended to make the case for diplomacy and caution Trump against expanding the conflict.

Their meeting came shortly after Trump delivered a stark warning to Tehran from the UN podium, framing the next stage of the conflict as a choice between an agreement and further military action. Reuters reported that Trump simultaneously predicted that Washington and Tehran would ultimately reach an agreement.

“But I have a big decision to make,” Trump said. “Will a deal be made with Iran that lets them rebuild and create a far greater country than it ever was before? Or do I annihilate the Islamic Republic, and do it quickly?”

Trump used his address to defend the U.S. military campaign against Iran and argue that it had helped prevent Tehran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. He warned that the Islamic Republic could face further devastating action if negotiations fail.

At the same time, Trump said he expected the two countries eventually to reach an agreement, suggesting that a settlement could come after the November 3 midterm elections.

The six Gulf nations have been directly exposed to the repercussions of the nearly seven-month conflict. Attacks in the region, threats to Gulf territory and interruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz have created security and economic concerns for the GCC states. Reuters reported Tuesday that the continuing tensions have also weighed on Gulf financial markets and energy flows.

Bloomberg reported that Gulf governments had warned Trump before the war against military action, arguing that a broader confrontation with Iran risked destabilizing the region.

After hostilities began and Iran retaliated, some Gulf governments took tougher positions toward Tehran, according to Bloomberg. As the conflict dragged on and Iran retained the ability to target neighboring states, however, those governments increasingly returned their focus to finding a diplomatic way out.

Qatar’s Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani described the conflict Sunday as an “earthquake” for the region and said lasting security could not be built through “repeated cycles of escalation and retaliation,” Bloomberg reported.

CNN reported that the Gulf leaders entered their meeting with Trump facing concerns in both directions: they want to avoid becoming further entangled in the war, while also seeking clarity about the level of U.S. security support they could expect if Washington eventually reduces its military presence in the region.

According to CNN, Gulf leaders have previously urged Trump to pull back from a major escalation, arguing that negotiations with Tehran could still produce an agreement.

The meeting also took place amid fresh signs that both Washington and Tehran may be willing to explore another diplomatic track. Trump said later Tuesday that there was “a lot of momentum” toward an agreement after U.S. envoys held talks involving Iranian officials and regional mediators.

A senior Iranian official separately told Reuters that Tehran could reopen the Strait of Hormuz within seven days if Washington reduced military pressure and ended its blockade of Iranian ports. The official said Iran’s delegation in New York had authority to pursue renewed diplomacy and described the UN gathering as an opportunity to restart negotiations.

With the war approaching the seven-month mark, the Gulf leaders were expected to use their meeting with Trump to emphasize the regional dangers of another military escalation while the administration considers whether to pursue renewed negotiations or further action against Iran.

{Matzav.com}

Israeli Prime Minister Binyomin Netanyahu’s office sharply rebuked French President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday after Macron declared at the United Nations that Hamas “has never been very active” in Judea and Samaria, pointing to the murder two days earlier of Netanel Shakron, a father of six, in a shooting attack near Neve Tzuf. Israeli reports identified the suspected gunman as a Hamas operative.

Macron made the assertion while addressing developments in Judea and Samaria during his speech at the UN General Assembly, drawing a furious response from the Prime Minister’s Office.

“The grotesque absurdity of Emmanuel Macron’s statement is staggering. On Sunday, the eve of Yom Kippur, just two days ago, Netanel Shakron – a FRENCH CITIZEN and father of six – was murdered in his car by a Hamas terrorist in Judea and Samaria. With his final breath, he told his son to run,” the statement said.

Shakron had gone with his eldest son to a spring near Neve Tzuf ahead of Yom Kippur when the shooting took place. He was critically wounded and later died at Beilinson Hospital. His son was unharmed.

Netanyahu’s office continued its attack on Macron’s characterization of Hamas activity in the region.

“Hamas terrorists carry out attacks against Jews almost every day. They have murdered countless Israeli civilians in Judea and Samaria. Ignorance is NO EXCUSE for erasing their blood,” it added.

Macron’s disputed remarks came as he criticized Israeli policy and activity in Judea and Samaria from the podium of the General Assembly.

“Look, just look at what is happening in the West Bank. Day after day, we are seeing violations,” Macron said, referring to Israeli government policies and activity on the hilltops in the area.

He then argued that Hamas activity could not justify those policies.

“And in the name of what? Hamas has never been very active in the West Bank. What we need is respect for the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, their legitimate right to exist.”

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich also responded forcefully, citing Shakron’s killing as evidence against Macron’s assertion and accusing the French president of giving a false account of Hamas’s involvement in Judea and Samaria.

“President Macron is lying. This week, on Sunday, a despicable terrorist from the Hamas terrorist organization murdered Netanel Shakron, may God avenge his blood, who was bathing with his sons in a spring ahead of Yom Kippur. This is just one attack out of hundreds of attacks led by the Hamas terrorist organization. The terrorist organization fuels Arab terrorism in Judea and Samaria and is a significant part of it and its activities.”

Smotrich went on to frame Israel’s expansion and strengthening of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria as part of its response to terrorism. He also turned to domestic Israeli politics, warning that a future government led by opposition figures could reverse those policies.

He added: “Against this terrorism, we stand as a fortified wall, fortifying and strengthening the communities and building the State of Israel’s security belt. And I warn: An Eisenkot-Liberman-Golan government will evacuate the communities we established and establish a terrorist state in the heart of the State of Israel. Macron is waiting for this, the European Union is waiting for this, and we must not allow it to happen – and only a strong Religious Zionist party will prevent it from happening.”

{Matzav.com}

Weeks before the October 7 massacre, Israeli security officials received an unusual message attributed to Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar warning that “An earthquake is expected in the prisons because of the prisoner issue.” The warning triggered discussions inside Israel’s security establishment, but officials at the time connected it to the captivity of Israeli researcher Elizabeth Tsurkov in Iraq rather than viewing it as a possible signal connected to an impending Hamas attack.

Channel 12 News reported Tuesday evening on new details surrounding the intelligence assessment and the circumstances that led officials to interpret Sinwar’s message through the lens of the Tsurkov case.

According to the report, Israeli intelligence had learned at roughly the same time of a development involving Tsurkov, who had been abducted in Iraq. A senior Iranian official had reportedly approached Hamas with a proposal that the terror group take responsibility for negotiations aimed at securing her release, while the pro-Iranian Iraqi group holding Tsurkov had agreed to the arrangement.

Against that backdrop, Israeli intelligence officials believed Sinwar’s reference to prisoners fit with the information they were already receiving about Tsurkov.

“Sinwar’s message fit the new intelligence picture like a glove,” officials who participated in the discussions told Channel 12 News.

The message led the Shin Bet to request a special situation assessment. According to the report, those taking part in the discussion did not offer an alternative explanation for Sinwar’s words, and the prevailing assessment remained that his warning was connected to the developing Tsurkov negotiations.

Channel 12 reported that the assessment proved incorrect. In retrospect, according to the network, Sinwar’s message was part of an effort to secure additional concessions from Israel while delaying and concealing the attack Hamas was preparing. The network reported that the message had been conveyed in September 2023 through Sufian Abu Zaida, a senior Fatah figure associated with Mohammed Dahlan, before reaching Israeli intelligence officials.

The report also revisited recent claims involving a warning from the United Arab Emirates ahead of October 7. Channel 12 reported that Emirati intelligence had warned the Shin Bet in September 2023 that Hamas could carry out a violent action, and that UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed subsequently contacted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to ensure that the information had reached him. Netanyahu has denied that such a conversation took place.

A senior Israeli security official cited in the report said that such a warning, had it reached Netanyahu as described, might have prompted officials to reconsider the reassuring intelligence assessments that were prevailing at the time.

“If a message indeed subsequently reached the Prime Minister himself from Mohammed bin Zayed, it could have been the missing piece that would have prompted us to take additional, more in-depth steps,” the senior official said. “Something was needed that would outweigh the reassuring signs that we had presented to ourselves. It is possible that this could have been that sign.”

Chris Christie is openly considering another run for the White House in 2028, with the former New Jersey governor acknowledging Tuesday that the possibility of a third presidential campaign remains very much on his mind.

Christie, who sought the Republican presidential nomination in 2016 and again in 2024, discussed his political future while appearing at the Granite State Summit on Responsible Gambling in Manchester, New Hampshire. The event listed Christie as its keynote speaker.

The onetime Trump ally, who later became a prominent Republican critic of President Donald Trump and challenged him for the GOP nomination in 2024, said the results of this November’s midterm elections could influence how Republicans think about the party’s direction heading toward the next presidential race.

Christie suggested that significant Republican losses could prompt questions within the party about whether its current approach, and what he called its “dominant wing,” should change.

“So, am I looking at it? Look, anybody who comes up here, anybody who comes up here and has ever run for president and not one and told you they’re not looking at it again is lying. …,” Christie said, according to footage of his appearance shared by WMUR political director Adam Sexton.

Christie said that once someone has gone through the process of seriously envisioning himself in the Oval Office, the idea does not simply disappear after an unsuccessful campaign.

“Once you go through the thought process of convincing yourself that you can be president, and then the next step that you should be president, that doesn’t leave your brain.”

But Christie indicated that merely wanting to run again would not be enough. Any third campaign, he said, would have to be based on a credible rationale that he could explain to his wife, Mary Pat.

“So, the way I look at this is, if I’m going to go back home to my wife and say, ‘I know you may not believe this, but third time is the charm,’ like, I better have a real theory,” Christie continued. “And what she has said to me is, ‘Chris, I want to see the path.’”

Christie’s comments come six weeks before the 2026 midterm elections, with control of Congress at stake. Public polling and outside election forecasts are continuing to shift as voters prepare for November, making the eventual results a potentially significant factor in how both parties approach the 2028 presidential campaign.

Although the next presidential election remains more than two years away, prospective candidates from both parties have already been making appearances in early-primary states. New Hampshire, where Christie spoke Tuesday, is required under state law to hold its presidential primary before any similar contest, despite continuing disputes over the Democratic Party’s nominating calendar.

Within the Republican Party, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio are among the prominent figures who have drawn public discussion about 2028. Neither point, however, changes Christie’s calculation: he has repeatedly declined to close the door on another campaign and has indicated that the political landscape following the 2026 elections will play a role in his decision.

For Christie, who ended his 2024 campaign shortly before the New Hampshire primary, the latest comments represent one of his clearest acknowledgments yet that his presidential ambitions may not have ended with his second attempt at the Republican nomination.

{Matzav.com}

The Trump administration has removed roughly 750,000 people from Affordable Care Act health plans as part of a broad crackdown on suspected fraudulent, unauthorized or otherwise ineligible enrollments, Vice President JD Vance announced Tuesday. Administration officials said the cancellations are expected to save taxpayers approximately $2.2 billion.

The initiative is being carried out through the White House Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, headed by Vance, with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services playing a central role. CMS has been tightening verification and enforcement procedures across the ACA exchanges, saying unauthorized enrollments and improper subsidies have become a significant problem.

“These are not real people. We’re not paying insurance for nonexistent ghosts,” Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), said during a press conference.

Oz also estimated that approximately 35 percent of people enrolled through the ObamaCare exchanges have never made use of their insurance coverage.

Vance stressed that the administration views the initiative as an anti-fraud effort rather than an attempt to strip legitimate beneficiaries of health coverage.

“This is not about cutting off anybody from their benefits. It’s about cutting off fraudsters from stealing from these programs,” the vice president said Tuesday.

Vance and Oz said they were confident that legitimate beneficiaries would not be improperly removed, pointing to factors including the absence of insurance claims, missing Social Security numbers and failures to respond to attempts by the government to verify enrollment information. Reuters reported that the canceled policies involved unverified citizenship or immigration status as well as suspected unauthorized enrollments.

“We are putting ourselves under an extraordinary burden of proof,” Vance said. “So those 750,000 people are people that we feel confident either don’t know that they’re enrolled in the program, aren’t using the program at all, are unaware of it or … are potentially phantom people who are enrolled against their will, or maybe they don’t even exist.”

The administration is also temporarily freezing the registration of new insurance agents and brokers as it expands scrutiny of the enrollment system. CMS has separately taken enforcement action against hundreds of brokers over alleged violations connected to ACA enrollment. Reuters reported that 569 brokers were barred from participation after applications were submitted at implausibly high rates or without key identifying information.

The healthcare crackdown comes weeks before the November midterm elections, as Republicans and Democrats clash over healthcare affordability and access. Republicans have defended recent changes as necessary to curb waste and improper spending, while Democrats have argued that changes to ACA subsidies and other healthcare programs could increase costs and reduce coverage.

Enrollment in Affordable Care Act plans expanded significantly during the Biden administration, helped in part by enhanced premium subsidies. The Trump administration has argued that enrollment safeguards during that period were inadequate and allowed improper or unauthorized sign-ups to proliferate. CMS said earlier this year that it had ended premium subsidies for nearly 1.5 million people over the preceding year after determining that they were either ineligible for financial assistance or had been enrolled without authorization.

Administration officials and congressional Republicans have also disputed projections about the number of Americans expected to lose insurance under Republican healthcare changes, arguing that at least some of the reductions reflect the removal of improper enrollments rather than legitimate beneficiaries losing coverage.

Republicans have accused the Biden administration and Democrats of emphasizing increased ACA enrollment without imposing adequate safeguards to ensure that applicants were eligible and had actually authorized their enrollment. Democrats and healthcare advocacy organizations have challenged that characterization and warned that stricter verification procedures can also create obstacles for eligible consumers.

Approximately 19 million Americans were enrolled in health plans through ACA exchanges as of figures released by federal health officials earlier this year. CMS publishes enrollment information for both the federally facilitated marketplace and state-based exchanges.

The Paragon Health Institute, a conservative healthcare policy organization led by Brian Blase, who served as a healthcare policy official during President Trump’s first term, has been among the groups drawing attention to alleged improper ACA enrollment. The organization estimated earlier this year that more than 6 million people were improperly enrolled in exchange coverage during 2026 and argued that improper subsidies could cost taxpayers nearly $25 billion.

Protect Our Care, a Democratic-aligned healthcare advocacy organization, disputed the administration’s characterization of the crackdown, calling the action a “smokescreen” and arguing that eligible Americans could lose health coverage. The organization also pointed to the administration’s previous reinstatement of hundreds of ACA brokers and agents who had been suspected of fraudulent activity.

“Families need coverage they can afford and count on when they get sick. Vance’s task force won’t accomplish that. It’s a smokescreen for an administration whose sole mission is to make it harder to get and stay covered but to shower billionaires with tax breaks instead,” Brad Woodhouse, Protect Our Care’s president, said in a statement.

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich launched a blistering attack on UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Tuesday, accusing the UN chief of fueling terrorism and endangering hundreds of thousands of Israelis following Guterres’ criticism of Israeli policies in Yehuda and Shomron during his address to the UN General Assembly in New York.

“The UN Secretary-General’s wild incitement gives a tailwind to terrorism,” Smotrich wrote on X. “He is endangering the lives of half a million Jewish Israeli citizens living in Judea and Samaria.”

Smotrich also invoked the controversy surrounding UNRWA, arguing that Guterres was in no position to lecture Israel over its policies.

“Someone who heads the organization that funded and provided cover for UNRWA – the operational arm of the Hamas terrorist organization in the October 7 massacre – cannot preach to us about anything.”

The finance minister then defended the Israeli government’s expansion of Jewish communities in Yehuda and Shomron and openly linked those efforts to preventing the establishment of a Palestinian state.

“I am proud to be spearheading a settlement revolution in Judea and Samaria that is, in practice, eliminating the idea of a Palestinian state and strengthening Israel’s security.”

Smotrich’s comments followed Guterres’ final address as UN secretary-general to the General Assembly, in which the UN chief sharply criticized Israel’s conduct in Gaza as well as settlement growth and violence in Yehuda and Shomron. Guterres reiterated his support for a two-state solution, a position he has repeatedly advanced during his tenure.

“It is nearly three years since the abhorrent terror attacks by Hamas on 7 October,” Guterres said, “but what followed was an onslaught on Palestinians in Gaza with a scale of killing and destruction unlike anything I have witnessed in my years as Secretary-General.”

Turning to Yehuda and Shomron, Guterres accused Israel of pursuing policies that threaten the possibility of a future Palestinian state and warned of what he described as the potential for ethnic cleansing. His comments were consistent with positions he has expressed throughout 2026 opposing Israeli settlement expansion and calling for renewed movement toward a two-state solution.

“Meanwhile, violence, displacement and settlement expansion by Israel in the occupied West Bank are bulldozing the path to peace and raising the specter of ethnic cleansing. We cannot allow the two-state solution to disappear before our eyes.”

{Matzav.com}