President Donald Trump took to social media to release security footage showing damage in the White House Rose Garden, blaming a subcontractor for leaving a deep crack in what he described as “the most beautiful marble and stone available anywhere.”
On Truth Social, Trump said he recently found a “huge gash” stretching over 25 yards across the limestone just three days earlier.
“Surfaces are very important to me as a Builder,” Trump wrote. “As everyone knows, I built many GREAT Buildings, and other things, over the years. … [The limestone crack] was deep and nasty! I started yelling, ‘Who did this, and I want to find out now!’—and I didn’t say this in a nice manner.”
Trump explained that he initially questioned whether the cause was vandalism or simply “stupidity,” and he praised White House security cameras for uncovering the truth.
“They brought back the stupid people, with their boss watching (in sunglasses!),” he wrote. “It was a subcontractor that was installing heavy landscaping on a steel cart that was broken and tilting badly, with it rubbing hard against the soft, beautiful stone.”
The video clip he shared depicted two workers maneuvering a yellow cart holding what appeared to be a shrub, rolling it over the freshly installed stone.
The recording also showed at least two other individuals nearby observing the scene as it took place.
Although stressing his “love and respect” for laborers and contractors, Trump emphasized that such damage could not be excused and confirmed the stone would have to be replaced.
“Now, I’ll replace the stone, charge the contractor, and never let that contractor work at the White House again—But, how great is the video equipment? We caught them, cold,” Trump added. “MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!”
{Matzav.com}
Rabbi Evyatar Amrani, rav of Kehillas Neiro Ya’ir, has issued a sharply worded open letter to Rabbi Dovid Leibel, president of Achvas Torah, taking aim at his approach to resolving the longstanding issue of army conscription for yeshiva students.
In his letter, published on August 30, Rabbi Amrani acknowledges that Rav Leibel has invested “hours upon hours and vast resources” over the years in seeking a formula that would settle the debate over the draft. He notes that Rav Leibel has engaged in countless meetings, written letters and articles, toured military bases, and even gone into the field during times of war to speak with soldiers and propose initiatives. Recently, legal experts have been retained, and claims have been made of preliminary understandings reached with the army, all with the hope that such agreements could withstand Supreme Court scrutiny.
However, Rabbi Amrani argues that “in the test of results, the facts speak for themselves. The chareidi public—its leadership and its many segments—has not adopted your approach.” He adds that even within Rav Leibel’s own circle, “no significant movement toward enlistment can be seen.”
The letter suggests that the reason may not only lie with opposition from the government or military establishment, but also with Rav Leibel himself: “Perhaps you are simply not acting in the right direction.” Rabbi Amrani urges Rav Leibel to take his ideas to the highest rabbinic authorities: the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Degel HaTorah, Agudas Yisroel, and Shas. “If they express support, you could approach the army as a true representative, not as a lone voice. But as long as your proposals are not accepted by the gedolim, who lead the community and to whom over 95% of it adheres, they have no public standing.”
Rabbi Amrani warns that without rabbinic backing, Rav Leibel’s initiatives appear not as balanced compromises but rather as “one-sided concessions.” He goes further, charging that Rav Leibel himself seems aligned with a worldview that sanctifies the state and the army: “You yourself stand on one side of the debate, the side that views the state and the army as almost holy and seeks to integrate into them as an ideal. But the chareidi public, across its spectrum, does not see this as an ideal!”
He stresses that the struggle is not merely over military service conditions but over identity and belief: “Our battle is not only about the terms of service, but about the very consciousness. It is not about how one serves, but about whether at all. Not out of arrogance, but out of deep faith in a spiritual mission that cannot merge with another ideology and way of life.”
Rabbi Amrani concedes that Rav Leibel’s efforts may provide some benefit for individuals who already chose to enlist, provided that any frameworks created remain under proper supervision and agreements are honored. But on the larger question of preserving the independent character of the chareidi community, he argues, Rav Leibel’s approach “misses the core.”
He concludes by acknowledging Rav Leibel’s sincerity but delivers a pointed caution: “I have no doubt you are acting with good intentions. But sometimes, precisely when good intentions are detached from an understanding of the community you seek to represent, they can push people further away instead of bringing them closer.”
{Matzav.com Israel}
[COMMUNICATED]
A complete work that has never been published: Commentary on Torah, Nevi’im, and Kesuvim in the handwriting of the Maggid Rabbi Tzvi Hirsch of Lessla, author of Kli Tiferes.
With a handwritten approbation by the Gaon Rabbi Yaakov of Lissa, author of Chavas Daas and Nesivos HaMishpat. The approbation is dated Elul 1819 and consists of seven full lines in his holy handwriting. It was originally written for his sefer Kli Tiferes, though it was not printed there due to the printing costs, as mentioned at the beginning of the sefer.
At a mass demonstration held outside Military Prison 10, thousands of members of the Yishuv HaYashan gathered to protest the imprisonment of yeshiva bochurim and avreichim who were recently arrested in Yehud and transferred to military custody.
The central address was delivered by Rav Yehoshua Dovid Turchin, who drew on the posuk, “Re’eh anochi nosien lifneichem hayom… See, I set before you today a blessing and a curse.” He declared that those who connect themselves with the Zionist establishment transform the curse into a supposed blessing, calling this “the greatest curse of all,” as it destroys separation from secularism and uproots the most basic foundations of Jewish identity.
Rav Turchin emphasized repeatedly the principle of havdalah—maintaining separation—and said that without it, there is no continuity of the mesorah. He sharply criticized those who have strayed from this path, charging them with bringing the current decrees upon Klal Yisroel. In contrast, he lauded the yeshiva students and avreichim who are sacrificing themselves, calling them the ones who “declare the truth, sanctify Hashem’s Name, and thereby save all of Klal Yisroel, the Torah, and the mitzvos.”
In a lengthy and impassioned speech, the rosh yeshiva painted the present crisis as a fulfillment of the verse, “And the land was chaos and void, and Hashem separated between light and darkness.” He argued that those who blur the distinction between holiness and secularism bring only confusion and destruction, while those who remain steadfast in separation preserve the light of Torah.
Turning to the imprisoned yeshiva students, whom he referred to as Asirei Tzion, Rav Turchin praised them as the true saviors of Klal Yisroel. “Those who stand firm in the test are saving themselves, saving the Jewish people, and saving everyone,” he proclaimed, adding that “a little bit of light pushes away much darkness.”
{Matzav.com Israel}
A dramatic scene unfolded in Beitar Illit on Motzoei Shabbos when hundreds of residents rushed to a residential building following the activation of the “Tzeva Shachor” alert system. The alarm was triggered after the military police attempted to detain a yeshiva student classified as a deserter.
According to sources, military police arrived at the home of the bochur‘s parents on Elazar Hamodai Street. However, they did not find him there, as he does not reside in that location. The arrest attempt was therefore unsuccessful.
The “Tzeva Shachor” emergency network, which alerts activists and local residents of arrest attempts, quickly spread word of the military police’s arrival. In response, large crowds of locals converged on the scene.
Eyewitnesses reported that the military police ultimately withdrew without carrying out an arrest. Organizers of the alert system informed residents to remain on heightened alert in case of further attempts.
{Matzav.com}
