Feed aggregator

In a lengthy profile published by The New York Times, the paper took an in-depth look at Mr. Jacob Kornbluh, the chassidic journalist who has earned a prominent place among reporters covering New York City’s new mayor. The article explored the tension between Kornbluh’s professional role—working closely with Mayor Zohran Mamdani—and his life within the chassidic community of Boro Park, as well as how he defines his own identity: a chassidic journalist or a journalist who is chassidic.

Kornbluh, 44, a resident of Boro Park, serves as the senior political reporter for The Forward. He has established himself as the most visible chassidic journalist following Mamdani’s rise in city politics, particularly amid tensions between the mayor and New York’s Jewish community over Mamdani’s anti-Israel positions.

Sources in the mayor’s circle told the Times that they view Kornbluh as a key channel for communicating with Jewish voters. Mamdani himself praised the journalist, saying he is “a thoughtful and enterprising reporter who doesn’t just cover the conversation across the five boroughs, but helps drive it.”

The Times profile noted that despite the administration’s outreach, Kornbluh maintains a critical stance. During a press conference at the mayor’s residence, Kornbluh quipped as he invited himself to dine there, saying, “Since you won’t be serving pork, I’d be honored to eat in your kitchen.” He then pressed Mamdani with a pointed question about the delayed condemnation of demonstrations that included pro-Hamas chants, asking, “Do you think it’s fair to criticize the timing?”

Kornbluh’s professional visibility has also created ongoing friction within the chassidic community in Boro Park. He told the Times that he is often met with taunts in shul. “People say, ‘Oh, go back to covering Zohran,’” Kornbluh recounted. “They needle me as if I’m the one enabling him.”

He said that the contrast between his work in secular political circles and his communal life raises eyebrows among those around him. “In our community, if you’re Orthodox, you stay in your Orthodox circle—with the clothing, with the same people,” he explained.

Kornbluh added that he has faced harsh reactions over photos of himself with women and similar issues. “I’ve gotten nasty comments about pictures with women and all that stuff. ‘Hey, I’m a professional journalist.’ ‘What’s a professional journalist? We don’t need that,’” he recalled.

His path into journalism was anything but conventional. Kornbluh grew up in London in a Belzer chassidishe family and studied in yeshivos in Israel, where he began developing an interest in politics. “The next day, I’d go to yeshiva and relay all that news to my classmates. I was kind of a reporter,” he said.

After immigrating to New York, he spent years working at food stands and in a pizzeria in Boro Park, while running a political blog and using digital tools to improve his writing. “My English was terrible,” he admitted about his early days.

In recent years, Kornbluh has become a regular presence at political events, from election coverage to celebrations in the Jewish community.

Hanging above his desk in the newsroom is a photograph of himself reporting from Israel after the events of October 7. Pointing to it with a smile, he said, “That’s my Zionist photo. Sorry, Zohran.”

Despite the complexity of his position, Kornbluh insists he sees no contradiction between his way of life and his profession. At home in Boro Park, as he prepares for Shabbos while listening to updates from the mayor’s office, he sums up his professional identity: “I’m a member of the community, and I have a profession. I’m not this ‘chassidic journalist.’ I’m a journalist who is chassidic.”

{Matzav.com}

Egged has agreed to compensate a passenger with NIS 40,000 after one of its drivers ordered him to get off a bus on the grounds that it was a “girls-only” route. The passenger sued the company, alleging unlawful discrimination and a violation of his right to dignity and equality. Egged said the driver acted contrary to company procedures and that disciplinary measures were taken against him, while the Ministry of Transportation announced that a criminal investigation has been opened.

The incident involved Egged and occurred about a year ago on Line 91 in Haifa, according to a report by N12. The plaintiff, Saar Koren, a 27-year-old Technion student who lives in the city, said he was stunned when he was told to leave the bus.

“It was Friday afternoon and I had a few errands to run. I wanted to get to the Ziv Center in the city. On my phone I saw that the first bus going there was 91, a line I hadn’t used before. The bus was full of chareidi girls returning from school, around age 9,” Koren recalled.

He said that during the ride, “the girls shouted at me to get off, because ‘this is a girls-only bus.’ They went over to the driver after realizing I didn’t intend to get off. In the meantime, at one of the stops a chareidi passerby boarded and also asked me to get off. At some point the driver intervened and told me he was sorry, that he hadn’t known, but that he was asking me to get off because I ‘need to respect that this is a girls-only bus,’ and that he wasn’t prepared to continue driving until I got off.”

According to Koren, he argued with the driver for several minutes over whether removing a passenger in this manner was lawful, until he eventually got off the bus feeling “humiliated and shaken.”

Koren filed suit against Egged on the grounds of “unlawful discrimination and harm to the right to dignity and equality.” The parties ultimately reached a settlement under which Egged agreed to pay him NIS 40,000, and now the Magistrate’s Court in Rishon LeZion gave the settlement the force of a court judgment.

In a response, Egged said, “The driver acted in complete contradiction to company instructions and procedures, and disciplinary steps were taken against him. The company regrets the incident and emphasizes that it will continue to act to ensure equal and respectful service for the entire public.”

The Ministry of Transportation said in a statement: “The Ministry of Transportation, together with the National Public Transportation Authority, treats any claim of exclusion or discrimination in public transportation with severity. This is a public route open to all passengers, and any deviation from this is contrary to the ministry’s guidelines and the law. Following the complainant’s approach to the Ministry of Transportation, he was summoned and gave testimony on the matter. The case was examined and a criminal investigation was opened, which was conducted in full by investigators from the National Public Transportation Authority.

“The Ministry of Transportation and the National Public Transportation Authority will continue to act decisively to ensure that public transportation services are provided in an equal, respectful manner and without any discrimination, in accordance with the law and official guidelines.”

{Matzav.com}

Israel’s Attorney General, Gali Baharav-Miara, sent a sharply worded letter on Sunday addressing the implementation of the High Court ruling on the enlistment of yeshiva students, asserting that draft evasion within the chareidi sector has sharply intensified and raising the striking claim that the police do not approve requests by the Military Police to operate in chareidi neighborhoods.

The letter was submitted in response to petitions filed with the High Court of Justice and focused on what Baharav-Miara described as failures in enforcement. She wrote that the number of chareidi draft dodgers, as termed in the letter, had surged within a short period, describing “an increase of hundreds of percent in a very brief time.”

According to the data cited, as of January 2026 there are 15,085 draft dodgers from the chareidi community, compared with just 2,257 in July 2025. The figures further indicate that out of approximately 71,000 draft dodgers nationwide, “about 80 percent belong to the chareidi public.”

Despite the sharp rise, military officials reported what they described as a “certain trend of improvement and increase,” with an estimated 1,100 chareidi recruits expected during the current draft period.

During discussions on the matter, the attorney general said the situation on the ground reflects what she termed “selective enforcement.” Military officials told the meeting that, as a rule, Israel Police do not grant approval for Military Police to carry out enforcement actions inside chareidi neighborhoods.

It was also revealed that chareidi draft dodgers who are detained in what were described as random police arrests are, in practice, released and merely issued a summons to report to a Military Police facility. Responding to police claims of severe manpower shortages, Baharav-Miara stressed that “the need for resources cannot, in and of itself, justify an actual avoidance of enforcing the law.”

In response to the situation, the Israel Defense Forces announced a significant tightening of measures against draft dodgers. The Military Prosecution has decided to lower the threshold for criminal prosecution for draft evasion from 540 days of absence to 365 days. In addition, disciplinary regulations were amended to allow judicial officers to impose up to 35 days of detention, instead of the previous 30. It was further determined that a draft dodger absent for more than six months who undergoes disciplinary proceedings and continues to remain absent “will face criminal proceedings” and will no longer be eligible for repeated lenient disciplinary handling.

On the economic front, professional officials said that “personal sanctions that directly affect the individual” and economic enforcement measures have a particularly significant impact on increasing enlistment.

At the same time, officials at the Ministry of Finance warned that expectations within the chareidi sector that legislation will be passed exempting its members from service “create a negative incentive for enlistment.” To increase pressure, the attorney general instructed officials to examine a requirement for “accounting separation” within yeshivos, aimed at preventing “indirect funding of yeshiva students who are obligated to enlist.”

The letter was written ahead of a High Court hearing scheduled for March 1, 2026, on petitions seeking findings of contempt of court. Baharav-Miara concluded that “all state authorities must intensify enforcement efforts, both criminal and civil-economic,” particularly in light of what she described as “the clear security need and the severe harm to equality.”

{Matzav.com}

It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the petirah of Rabbi Yaakov Yosef HaKohen Kliger z”l of Antwerp’s Gerer community. He was 79.

Rabbi Kliger, known to many as Reb Yankel, was born in Germany on the 10th of Sivan 5707 to his father, Reb Dovid Kliger, one of the founders of the Gerer beis chassidim in Ramat Gan, and his mother, Mrs. Sheindel, daughter of Rabbi Yosef Abramowitz. At the age of two, he immigrated with his parents to Eretz Yisroel.

When he was 15, on the advice of the Gerrer Rebbe, the Bais Yisroel, he traveled to the United States to learn Torah. He learned at Yeshivas Ner Yisroel in Baltimore under the rosh yeshivah Rav Yaakov Yitzchak Ruderman, where he acquired a strong and lasting Torah foundation.

Upon reaching marriageable age, he married into the family of Reb Yudel Baum of Antwerp. Together with his wife, he established his home in the city and became one of the valued members of the community. He was a supporter of lomdei Torah and Torah institutions, and earned his livelihood in the jewelry and gold trade, treating his work as secondary and his Torah as primary.

He was especially distinguished in the mitzvah of honoring his father. As an only son, he traveled frequently to Eretz Yisroel to visit and care for him.

In recent years, he suffered from difficulty walking, yet despite the hardship he exerted himself to go to shul. Over the past year, his health fluctuated, but he consistently expressed gratitude and joy in his avodas Hashem. He passed away at his home on Motzaei Shabbos.

He is survived by his sons, Rabbi Uri Kliger of Golders Green, London, Rabbi Yisroel Kliger of Antwerp, and Raphael Kliger, as well as his daughter, Mrs. Tessler, wife of Rabbi Ari Tessler.

The levayah was held today at the Machzikei Hadass Shul in Antwerp, followed by kevurah at the Pitte cemetery in the Netherlands.

Yehi zichro boruch.

{Matzav.com}

A Norwegian member of parliament has nominated Israel’s Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Center for the Nobel Peace Prize, citing the institution’s role in combating antisemitism and preserving historical memory amid a global rise in anti-Jewish violence. Joel Ystebø, a lawmaker from Norway’s Christian Democratic Party, submitted the nomination to the Norwegian Nobel Committee this week, […]

Thousands escorting the Mita of the Lelover Rebbe Zt’L tonight on Bar Ilan Street as they head to Kevura.

Syrian authorities say they uncovered a “terror cell” behind rocket and drone attacks in Damascus and near a military airport, claiming the weapons used were supplied by Hezbollah. •⁠ ⁠The Interior Ministry said members of the cell were arrested, weapons were seized, and suspects admitted links to foreign entities, adding they were planning additional drone […]

[Video below.] House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday that he believes lawmakers will move quickly to end a partial federal government shutdown sparked by fallout from the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration operations in Minneapolis, predicting the impasse will be resolved by Tuesday.

The shutdown began Saturday after Congress failed to approve a budget for the 2026 fiscal year before the funding deadline. So far, the effects have been limited, with most government operations continuing uninterrupted.

Lawmakers in the House are expected to take up emergency legislation on Monday as they return from recess to a snow-covered Washington. The focus will be a Senate-approved agreement aimed at reopening the government.

“Let’s say I’m confident that we’ll do it at least by Tuesday,” Johnson said during an appearance on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

The funding lapse came after negotiations collapsed amid Democratic outrage over the killing of two protesters in Minneapolis by federal immigration agents. The incident derailed talks over additional funding for the Department of Homeland Security.

Late Friday night, the Senate passed a package that advances five unresolved spending bills to fund most federal agencies through September. The measure also includes a two-week continuing resolution to keep DHS operating while lawmakers continue debating immigration enforcement policy.

House Democrats have made clear they want changes to how DHS carries out immigration raids before backing the spending package. They have objected to operations involving heavily armed, masked agents who are not clearly identified and who, in some cases, have detained individuals without warrants.

House Democratic leader Hakim Jeffries said Sunday that discussions with Republican leaders over DHS reforms will intensify as lawmakers return to Washington from their districts.

“The administration can’t just talk the talk. They need to walk the walk. That should begin today. Not in two weeks, today,” Jeffries said on ABC’s “This Week.”

President Trump publicly endorsed the Senate agreement and called on both parties to support it, signaling that he wants to avoid another shutdown early in his second term, after last summer’s record 43-day government closure.

Much of the U.S. media viewed the White House’s support for the deal as an acknowledgment that it may need to soften its deportation strategy following the deadly Minneapolis episode.

Government shutdowns halt funding for non-essential federal functions, forcing agencies to suspend services, furlough employees without pay, or require staff to work without immediate compensation.

If the shutdown drags on, departments including defense, education, transportation, housing, and financial regulation would face growing disruptions, with broader economic consequences likely to follow.

Should the House approve the Senate plan, lawmakers would then have just two weeks to hammer out a full-year funding bill for DHS.

Both parties concede that those negotiations will be contentious, with Democrats pressing for stricter limits on immigration enforcement and conservatives pushing to advance their own policy demands.

WATCH:

{Matzav.com}

President Trump’s long-promised military “armada” is now in position in the Middle East, but U.S. officials say the buildup is less about launching immediate strikes on Iran than about bracing for what could come afterward. The USS Abraham Lincoln aircraft carrier strike group has recently entered the region, advanced fighter aircraft are moving closer to […]

A huge swath of the U.S. from the Gulf Coast into New England was mired in extra-cold temperatures Sunday after a bomb cyclone brought heavy snow and hundreds of flight cancellations to North Carolina, flurries and falling iguanas in Florida, and more misery for thousands who are still without power from last weekend’s ice storm in the […]

WATCH THIS!: North Carolina truck owners linked four pickup trucks together to pull a stranded semi tanker out of the snow.

Senior chareidi media commentator Yisroel Cohen visited the home of the Yenuka in Rishon Letzon, where the two spoke at length about current issues and Cohen sought guidance and a brocha for his day-to-day challenges in Israel’s media.

During the visit, Cohen was shown rare and significant items that were on the table in the Yenuka’s home in honor of the day. Among them was the original handwritten Sefer HaKavanos authored by Rav Shalom Sharabi, the Rashash, whose yahrtzeit was that evening, as well as an exceptionally rare collection of photographs of Rav Yosef Yitzchak Schneersohn, the Rebbe Rayatz, whose yahrtzeit also fell on that day.

The Yenuka praised Cohen for his work on behalf of the hostages over the past two and a half years, describing his efforts as a kiddush Hashem. Cohen then raised a range of topics and asked for advice and a brocha to help him navigate his frequent appearances in the secular media, where contentious issues dominate the public agenda.

The Yenuka emphasized the importance of tone and approach, saying, “One must always speak pleasantly. ‘Derocheha darchei noam vehcol nesivoseha shalom. Its ways are ways of pleasantness, and all its paths are peace.’ Explain things in a good and gentle manner. But if there is someone who provokes and speaks with hostility, it is possible to be firm and respond.”

He continued, “In general, one must always maintain a line in which the message is conveyed truthfully and cleanly, without creating disputes. The truth can be said in a whisper and be heard from one end of the world to the other; there is no need to fight or quarrel over it. It is simple.”

Addressing faith and geulah, the Yenuka added, “If we truly merited the Torah and understood Who Hashem is and the power of His Torah, there would be no need to fight. He would simply redeem and save us.”

Turning to the issue currently inflaming debate in Israel’s media, the draft law, the Yenuka said, “I say that they do not understand the power of the Torah, and therefore they speak this way. But we also do not merit to fully understand the power of the Torah. These do not understand, and those do not understand.”

Quoting the posuk “Great is Hashem and greatly praised, and His greatness is unfathomable,” he explained, “Hakadosh Boruch Hu created the world with the Torah. If they understood what the Torah is and understood its power, they would tell us: Do not leave it. Continue engaging in it.”

He concluded with a message of introspection, saying, “And on the other hand, if we ourselves truly understood more of the power and greatness of the Torah, we would be in a situation where they would not trouble us and tell us not to engage in it. We would not need to apologize for Torah study, because they would not be able to say anything to us. The fact that they speak to us this way is because we are not sufficiently engaged in and understanding the power of the Torah—and then they are able to speak to us as they do.”

{Matzav.com}

The State Department has signed off on a sweeping package of potential arms sales to Israel worth roughly $6.6 billion, underscoring Washington’s continued military backing of its closest Middle East ally as Israel reassesses battlefield needs after the Oct. 7 Hamas-led attack. According to notices published by the U.S. State Department, the proposed sales are […]

The IDF says an airstrike in the southern Lebanese town of Doueir killed Ali Dawoud Amees, a division head in Hezbollah’s engineering department. The military says the Hezbollah terrorist was involved in rebuilding military infrastructure in the area and advancing terror plans against IDF troops.

Trucks full of aid supplies and blankets entered Egypt’s Rafah Gate on Sunday, heading to Kerem Shalom crossing for Israeli inspection.

President Trump releases a letter from legendary New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner calling on Trump to run for President dated 1989.

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said she believes President Trump supports her, and reiterates she gave the president her Nobel Peace Prize medallion as “a matter of what’s in the superior interest” of her home country.

A senior U.S. Border Patrol official at the center of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown is accused of making antisemitic remarks about a Jewish federal prosecutor during a high-level planning call. Gregory Bovino, a veteran Border Patrol leader who oversaw the recent surge of federal immigration agents in Minnesota, allegedly used offensive language toward Jewish […]