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By Rabbi Yair Hoffman A Mitzvah to eat – and yet no bracha was recited.  The current Rosh Yeshiva of the Novardok Yeshiva in Brooklyn, Rabbi Yaakov Drillman once performed a huge Mitzvah of eating – but didn’t recite a bracha on it.  How could this be? First, some background. The hijackings were meticulously planned by the notorious Leila Khaleed a rashanta of the highest order.  Terrorist leader George Habash had started his organization called the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) and on Sunday Sept 6th – the fifth of Elul 1970, five hijackings took place.  [Actually one was thwarted by a hero pilot]. One of the hijacked flights was  TWA flight number 741.  The flight originated in Tel Aviv and  and was headed from Frankfurt, Germany, to New York.  It was diverted to a former British airfield in the middle of the Jordanian desert. On that flight was Rav Yitzchok Hutner zt”l, his son in law, Rav Yonasan David shlita, Rav Hutner’s daughter, Rebbitzen Bruriah David a”h, and two of Rav Hutner’s talmidim Rav Yaakov Drillman and Rav Meir Fund. The flight was hijacked.  Near the two Chaim Berlin talmidim was eight-year old Tzipporah Moran travelling with her mother.  According to one version, her mother was mortally frightened as her daughter’s documents had Hebrew all over them.  According to another version, she was travelling alone.  Regardless, the then 19 year old R’Yaakov Drillman calmly and slowly took the documents and began ripping up the papers into smaller bite-size pieces.  He then ate the documents that would have put young Tzipporah Moran in even graver danger. Perhaps what happened on that flight was an example of one of the greatest Mitzvos of eating that every occurred.  And not just one Mitzvah but several.  The Mitzvah was that of Pidyon Shvuyim – and the Rambam writes that whoever performs it fulfills no less than eight Mitzvos. 1] Lo saametz es Levavcha – Do not tighten your heart(Dvarim 15:7) 2] veLo Sikpotz es yadcha – Nor shall you tighten your hand (Dvarim 15:7) 3] Lo saamod al dam rayacha – Do not stand idly by your brother’s blood (VaYikra 19:16) 4] Lo yirdeno beferech leainecha – Do not let him go down in excessive labor in front of your eyes (Vayikra 25:53) 5] Pasoach tiftach es yadcha lo You shall surely open your hand for him (Dvarim 15:8) 6] Vechai achicha imach – And your brother shall live with you (Vayikra 25:36) 7] Veahavta lerayacha kamocha –love your friend as yourself (Vayikra 19:18) 8] Hatzel lakuchim lemavais – Save those taken toward their death (Mishlei 24:11) And yet the Shulchan Aruch (OC 202:2 and MB 19) unequivocally rule that no bracha is recited.  Rav Yaakov Drillman shlita is not only an outstanding gadol and Rosh Yeshiva, but a remarkable hero as well. The author is honored to host two of his talmidim for the Shabbos Seudah this evening. What happened that eventually precipitated the release of so many hostages? Watch this video to find out. https://youtu.be/COfzKx3hJtI   The author can be reached at yairhoffman2@gmail.com

An intense heat dome is poised to build across much of the central and eastern United States, bringing triple-digit heat index values all the way into Canada as temperatures reach record levels. The National Weather Service is calling for “potentially dangerous and long duration heat.”

The heat will first build over the southern United States and Midwest this weekend before swelling over the Ohio Valley and East Coast next week. Some 82 percent of Americans will see highs over 90 degrees.

The heat dome is already gripping the Desert Southwest, deflecting inclement weather, allowing sunshine to bake the ground and heat the air. Heat advisories and excessive heat warnings are in effect across southern Arizona and New Mexico, where temperatures of 105 to 113 degrees will be common.

On Shabbos, the heat dome will shift into the southeast United States, producing highs from 95 to 100 degrees from Little Rock to Atlanta.

By Sunday, the heat dome will expand northward and eastward, becoming centered first over the Ohio Valley into Monday before sliding over the Northeast on Tuesday. That’s around the time it will intensify markedly, leading to the hottest weather of the summer and potentially years in the Ohio Valley, Great Lakes, Northeast, Mid-Atlantic and southeast Canada.

The Weather Service will probably issue heat alerts by early next week. The agency’s 0-to-4 HeatRisk index shows top-tier Level 3 and 4 conditions spreading from the Midwest to Northeast as next week progresses. At Levels 3 and 4, the Weather Service says the heat will pose a threat to individuals without adequate cooling and hydration. The most vulnerable groups are typically outdoor workers, the homeless, older adults and anyone without access to air conditioning.

Temperature records will be tied or broken in widespread fashion beginning Monday across the Midwest and Ohio Valley. The record heat will then spread to the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast between Tuesday and Thursday, and could linger even beyond that.

Records will be broken for both hot daytime highs and unusually warm overnight conditions, which will “offer little to no relief to those without adequate or reliable cooling,” the Weather Service wrote.

Rising humidity will make the record-challenging heat feel even more oppressive, producing widespread heat indexes – a measure of how hot it feels factoring in the mugginess – over 100 degrees.
– – –
How high temperatures could get

On Shabbos, the southern tier of the United States will see the highest temperatures with highs from 95 to 100 from Texas to Georgia. In the Desert Southwest, temperatures could spike as high as 110 to 120. By Sunday, highs in the mid-90s will spread as far north and east as Iowa and northern Illinois.

Next week, temperatures in the mid- to upper 90s will be common from the Corn Belt to the Eastern Seaboard, with some areas near and above 100. This heat will combine with humidity to send heat index values spiking above 100 or even 105 degrees.

On Monday, the core of the heat will be found over the Mississippi Valley; Little Rock could hit 98 degrees, tying a record set in 1953. St. Louis will flirt with 100 degrees.

Then on Tuesday, mid- to upper 90s will be widespread from the Midwest to the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic. Zanesville, Ohio, is forecast to hit 98 degrees, just 1 degree shy of a record. Kalamazoo, Mich., could hit 95, as could Cleveland – both within a degree of records. Pittsburgh, where records have been maintained since 1875, could tie a record at 97 degrees.

Washington D.C.’s Dulles International Airport is predicted to spike to 96, beating a record by two degrees, and Philadelphia might make it to 95. Hartford and Manchester, N.H., will both climb into the mid-90s too.

Wednesday is when the heat really ramps up. Both Detroit and Boston are forecast to see highs of 95 degrees, and Albany, N.Y. could set a record at 96.

Thursday could be even hotter. Pittsburgh could break a record at 97 degrees, and Hartford could do so at 98 degrees. Boston is predicted to hit 95 again, and Manchester, N.H., could tie a record at 98 degrees.

A few 100 degree readings aren’t out of the question in the Merrimack Valley of northern Massachusetts and southern New Hampshire. Upper 90s could even make it to the Canadian border, with a record-setting high of 96 degrees predicted in Burlington, Vt.

Friday could be quite hot as well in the East. By the weekend, the heat dome may start to weaken and shift offshore but computer models continue to predict above normal temperatures for large parts of the United States into next week.
– – –
A record-setting heat dome

Heat domes are ridges of high pressure that bring hot, dry, sinking air. That sinking air, or subsidence, squashes any cloud cover. It also shunts the jet stream to the north, meaning rain and storms are hard to come by.

Weather models are already bullish on the magnitude of the heat dome. Heat domes expand the air vertically because warm air expands. That means the halfway point of the lower atmosphere’s mass bulges upward. (Think of the every column of atmosphere as its own balloon – if you heat the balloon, it will grow.)

Meteorologists call this halfway point the “500 millibar level.” And that’s pressure level might reach a key threshold next week – 600 dekameters (6,000 meters), or 19,685 feet. The 500 millibar level has seldom, if ever, climbed above 600 dekameters anywhere east of Ohio. Some weather models indicate that could happen by next week. Even if it doesn’t, the heat dome should still be near record intensity.

– – –

Jason Samenow contributed to this report.

(c) Washington Post

By Rabbi Yair Hoffman It is one of the most widely used, yet controversial, methods of reheating food on a blech for the Shabbos day meal.   Across the country, this method is used to reheat fully cooked food every Shabbos morning.  The method involves taking food, such as a kugel, out of the fridge and placing it on top of an upside-down 9 by 13 pan that is on the blech. The Shulchan Aruch (OC 253:5) discusses the permissibility of putting fully-cooked food on top of another pot on Shabbos – the reason being is lefi sh’ain derech bishul b’kach – because it is not the normal manner of cooking.  Food, even if it is dry and fully cooked, cannot be placed on a blech itself on Shabbos if it can reach a heat of Yad Soledes Bo.  This is not because of the prohibition of cooking on Shabbos, but because of another prohibition called Mechzi k’mevashel – it appears like you are cooking. WHAT KIND OF POT? But what kind of pot are we discussing?  Does it have to be a pot with food in it?  Or can it simply be an empty 9 by 13 pan that is put upside down on top of the blech?  This very question is mired in controversy.  In other words, there is a debate between contemporary Poskim as to whether it is permitted. THOSE WHO FORBID Some Poskim, including Rav Elyashiv zt”l (cited in Rabbi Yitzchok Rubin’s Orchos Shabbos Vol. I p. 100)and Rav Binyomin Zilber zt”l (1917-2008), hold that it cannot be an empty 9 by 13 upside down pan, but rather a pot with food in it that is already on the blech. THOSE WHO PERMIT Other Poskim, including Rav Shlomo Zalman Auerbach zt”l (cited in Shmiras Shabbos K’hilchasa, tikunim Chapter One note 112)  and Rav Shmuel Vosner zt”l (1913-2015) in his Shaivet HaLevi (Vol. I #91 “M’achar”), disagree and rule that it is entirely permitted. Rav Zilber in his Az Nidberu (Vol. III #14 “v’halom Ra’isi) cites Rav Vosner and questions how two forms of covering a flame can make it equivalent to a full pot. THE SOURCE OF THE CONTROVERSY Ah, but what is the origin of this dispute?  There is an apparent contradiction in the words of the Shulchan Aruch between what he writes in Sif Gimel and what he writes in Sif Hay.  Here is the scene in Sif Gimel: You wake up Shabbos morning and see that the food in your pot is burning.  You are worried that it will burn even further. If you fulfill the five conditions of Chazarah, you are permitted to remove the burning pot and place an empty vessel on top of the Kirah, and then place the burning pot on top of the empty pot.  You must ensure that you do not put the pot on the ground and that the pot is still boiling. We see clearly that placing the pot containing the food [which will eventually be placed upon that empty pot] on the ground is NOT PERMITTED.  The only way that it would be permitted to place it on the empty pot – is if the 5 conditions of Chazarah are met. (1] The food must still be warm 2]The food must have been fully cooked […]

Israeli undercover operatives — some disguised as women in black dresses and hijabs — rented a residence in the Gaza neighborhood where four hostages were being held, living there for days to gather intelligence for the military’s daring rescue mission on Shabbos, according to a report.

 

In a scene reminiscent of a spy thriller, the Israelis masqueraded as affluent Gaza families displaced from Rafah by the conflict.

They infiltrated the Nuseirat refugee camp to verify that 26-year-old Noa Argamani and three men were being held in the vicinity, the Jewish Chronicle reported Thursday.

One group, dressed in traditional Palestinian attire and speaking with Gazan Arabic accents, passed by the house where Argamani was detained, while another team covertly investigated the locations where Almog Meir Jan, 26, Andrey Kozlov, 27, and Shlomi Ziv, 41, were held in a nearby building after spending several days blending into the area, the Chronicle reported.

Once the hostages’ locations were confirmed, 28 commandos from the elite Yamam police counter-terrorism unit began preparing for the rescue.

They trained using two custom-built models that mimicked the structures where the hostages were held, according to the outlet.

Most of the undercover agents exited the area on the night of June 5, and the mission commenced the following day.

Argamani was successfully rescued and flown back to Israel after the terrorists guarding her were neutralized.

However, complications arose during the extraction of the three men from a different building.

Some commandos used a ladder to reach the exact room where the hostages were held, but about 30 Hamas terrorists in the building — equipped with machine guns and grenades — opened fire, surprising the Israeli forces.

A fierce firefight broke out while the three hostages were sheltered in a bathroom, the Jewish Chronicle reported.

During the clash, Yamam commander Arnon Zamora, 36, was mortally wounded.

As the Israeli commandos escorted the trio of hostages from the building, additional Hamas fighters emerged, firing machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades at them.

Almog Meir Jan took refuge in a bathroom with two other hostages during the firefight.

Israeli firepower from the ground, air, and sea quickly reinforced the rescue mission, as hundreds of soldiers engaged Hamas in close combat.

The reinforcements ensured the hostages and their rescuers could safely escape and return to Israel.

The Hamas-backed Gaza health ministry claimed that 274 Palestinians were killed, though it did not specify how many were Hamas fighters.

{Matzav.com Israel}

A divided Supreme Court on Friday struck down a federal ban on bump stock devices that allow semiautomatic rifles to fire hundreds of bullets a minute, upending one of the few recent efforts by the federal government to address the nation’s epidemic of gun violence.

The 6-3 ruling continues the conservative majority’s record of limiting gun restrictions, most notably in a landmark 2022 ruling that has made it easier to challenge modern gun control laws.

In its ruling, the majority said bump stocks do not qualify as machine guns under a 1986 law that barred civilians from owning the weapons. The Trump administration interpreted the law to ban bump stocks in 2018, after a gunman used the devices to open fire on a Las Vegas music festival, ultimately killing 60 people in the deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history.

In dissent, Justice Sonia Sotomayor said the majority’s opinion would have “deadly consequences,” adding that the court “hamstrings the government’s efforts to keep machineguns from gunmen like the Las Vegas shooter.”

Michael Cargill, a U.S. Army veteran and the owner of a gun shop in Austin challenged the ban after he was forced to surrender two bump stocks. He argued the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms overreached when it reclassified bump stocks as machine guns in 2017 following public calls to ban the devices.

The agency had previously ruled it was legal to own bump stocks, finding they weren’t machine guns. Americans bought about 520,000 bump stocks between 2008 and 2017, while they were legal, according to figures from ATF.

Bump stocks are a piece of molded plastic or metal that replaces the butt of a rifle and the handle closest to the trigger. The piece allows a portion of the gun to slide freely back-and-forth. The recoil from a shot causes the gun to “bump” between the shooter’s shoulder and trigger finger, causing shots to be fired in quick succession.

Rifles equipped with bump stocks can fire an estimated 400 to 800 bullets per minute, a rate approaching that of automatic weapons.

The case, known as Garland v. Cargill, turned on whether bump stocks meet the definition of a machine gun under the 1986 law. Federal appeals court were sharply divided over that question in five earlier decisions on the ban’s legality, before the Supreme Court took up Cargill’s lawsuit.

Cargill’s case did not directly involve the Second Amendment, but is rather a test of the reach of a federal agency to enact and interpret regulations – a major theme in the current Supreme Court term. Other cases deal with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and a legal precedent that says courts should defer to agency interpretations of ambiguous statutes if they are reasonable.

The 1986 law defines a machine gun as “any weapon which shoots, is designed to shoot, or can be readily restored to shoot, automatically more than one shot, without manual reloading, by a single function of the trigger.”

The Biden administration defended the Trump administration’s interpretation that bump stocks are machine guns, arguing the devices allow semiautomatic rifles to fire automatically with a single pull of the trigger. But attorneys for Cargill disputed that characterization, saying bump stocks are activated through repeated pulls of the trigger.

Much of the oral arguments in the case in February were consumed by how bump stocks work. At one point, Justice Elena Kagan and Cargill’s attorney, Jonathan Mitchell, took turns using their hands to demonstrate what it looks like to fire a gun equipped with one of the devices.

Bump stocks were invented in the early 200os, but the question of their legality has often shifted. In 2o03, ATF said an early version was not a machine gun, but later revised its position to ban a version of the device that had an internal spring that aided firing. The agency again reversed course in 2008, approving a model without the spring.

During oral argument, Justices Neil M. Gorsuch and Brett M. Kavanaugh questioned the government’s evolving interpretation of whether bump stocks were machine guns. Gorsuch added he could understand why the government would want to ban the devices, but said Congress needed to explicitly do it.

Liberal Justices Ketanji Brown Jackson and Kagan said bump stocks were the very kind of weapons that Congress intended to ban with the 1986 machine gun law.

Cargill filed his lawsuit challenging the ban in 2019, on the same day he surrendered his bump stocks to ATF.

A U.S. District Court dismissed Cargill’s claims and a three-judge panel of the conservative 5th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the ruling. The full 5th Circuit Court of Appeals then heard the case and reversed the decision. The Biden administration appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court.

In the meantime, the Supreme Court struck down a New York law that required a license to carry a gun in public in 2022. Writing for the majority, Justice Clarence Thomas established a major new test that required gun restrictions be consistent with the nation’s history of firearm regulations.

Gun advocates have since challenged dozens of gun regulations in the courts, arguing they don’t have analogues in American history. The effort has resulted in a messy, unsettled landscape for gun regulations.

Some courts have upheld restrictions, while others have knocked down bans on “ghost guns,” high-capacity magazines, restrictions on the purchase of firearms by young adults and other provisions.

The legal fights have played out at a moment of national anguish over gun violence and fierce debates about gun control.

Last year, there were 39 mass shootings in the United States, the highest number in any year since 2006, according to a Washington Post tracker. Another Post database found school shootings hit a record of 46 in 2022, the most since at least 1999. A surge in homicides during the pandemic also stirred concerns, although the trend has eased in most places.

(c) Washington Post

The U.S. State Department sanctioned the Tzav 9 (“Order 9”) protest movement, which it called “a violent extremist Israeli group that has been blocking, harassing and damaging convoys carrying lifesaving humanitarian assistance to Palestinian civilians in Gaza.”

“For months, individuals from Tzav 9 have repeatedly sought to thwart the delivery of humanitarian aid to Gaza, including by blockading roads, sometimes violently, along their route from Jordan to Gaza, including in the West Bank,” the State Department stated on Friday, using the term that the U.S. government typically applies to Judea and Samaria.

“They also have damaged aid trucks and dumped life-saving humanitarian aid onto the road,” Foggy Bottom added. “On May 13, 2024, Tzav 9 members looted and then set fire to two trucks near Hebron in the West Bank carrying humanitarian aid destined for men, women and children in Gaza.”

The State Department said that the Israeli government “has a responsibility to ensure the safety and security of humanitarian convoys transiting Israel and the West Bank en route to Gaza,” calling the aid “vital to preventing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza from worsening and to mitigating the risk of famine.”

“We will not tolerate acts of sabotage and violence targeting this essential humanitarian assistance,” the State Department said. “\We will continue to use all tools at our disposal to promote accountability for those who attempt or undertake such heinous acts, and we expect and urge that Israeli authorities do the same.”

At times, the State Department, White House and Pentagon have admitted publicly that Hamas—a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization—seizes much of the aid that crosses into Gaza. Hamas terrorists have reportedly sold aid that they have seized to Gazan civilians in the past, and the Israeli government frequently notes that trucks that Israel clears to enter Gaza laden with aid often sit idly on the Gazan side of the border without being distributed.

Israel has also said that many aid workers in Gaza have ties to Palestinian terror groups, and some ostensible humanitarian workers, including for the United Nations, are accused of participating directly in the Oct. 7 terror attack.

Foggy Bottom didn’t specify any individuals connected to Tzav 9 in the designation.

“So the Biden administration is sanctioning an Israeli group called Tzav 9 that is comprised of family members of the hostages,” wrote Hillel Fuld, a prominent pro-Israel activist and technology consultant.

“The group has tried to prevent aid from entering Gaza during the war,” Fuld wrote. “What other country would send aid into a military state during a war? The answer is, no other country. Only Israel.”

“Well, this group was unsuccessful in stopping the 1 billion pounds of food that has entered Gaza. Yes, you read that right. A billion pounds of food has entered Gaza,” Fuld added. “This is what the Biden administration is busy doing, sanctioning the hostages’ families.”

{Matzav.com}

Russian President Vladimir Putin pledged on Friday to “immediately” command a cease-fire in Ukraine and commence negotiations if Kyiv began retracting its troops from the four regions annexed by Moscow in 2022 and abandoned its aspirations to join NATO.

Such an agreement seems highly unlikely for Kyiv, which is determined to join the military alliance and has insisted on Russia withdrawing its forces from all Ukrainian territory. There was no immediate response from Ukraine regarding Putin’s offer.

“We will do it immediately,” Putin stated during a speech at the Russian Foreign Ministry in Moscow.

His comments were made as leaders of the Group of Seven industrialized nations gathered in Italy and as Switzerland prepared to host numerous world leaders — excluding Moscow — this weekend to discuss initial steps towards peace in Ukraine.

Putin described his proposal as a means to achieve a “final resolution” of the conflict in Ukraine rather than merely “freezing it,” emphasizing that the Kremlin is “ready to start negotiations without delay.”

The broader peace demands outlined by Putin included Ukraine’s non-nuclear status, limitations on its military capabilities, and the protection of the Russian-speaking population within Ukraine. He insisted these conditions should be incorporated into “fundamental international agreements,” and called for the removal of all Western sanctions against Russia.

“We’re urging to turn this tragic page of history and to begin restoring, step-by-step, the unity between Russia and Ukraine and in Europe in general,” he said.

Putin’s remarks marked a rare occasion where he explicitly detailed his terms for ending the war in Ukraine, though they did not introduce any new conditions. The Kremlin has previously asserted that Kyiv should acknowledge its territorial losses and forgo its NATO membership ambitions.

Despite Russia not fully controlling any of the four regions it illegally annexed in 2022, Putin reiterated on Friday that Kyiv should withdraw entirely and effectively cede these territories to Moscow within their administrative boundaries. In Zaporizhzhia, southeastern Ukraine, Russia still does not control the region’s namesake administrative capital of 700,000 people, and in the adjacent Kherson region, Moscow pulled back from Kherson’s largest city and namesake capital in November 2022.

{Matzav.com}

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and a spokeswoman for the U.S. Department of Defense are being criticized widely for interviews with terrorism-tied outlets over the Shavuot holiday.

On Wednesday, Sabrina Singh, deputy Pentagon press secretary, fielded a question during a briefing about tensions on the Israeli-Lebanese border from Al Mayadeen, a Lebanese outlet with ties to Hezbollah. She also took a follow-up question from the publication.

“The Pentagon is answering questions put to it directly by Al Mayadeen, a Hezbollah propaganda outlet. What the hell is any U.S. government spokesperson doing talking to Hezbollah?” wrote Michael Doran, a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and director of its Center for Peace and Security in the Middle East.

“Why is a Pentagon spokeswoman giving an interview to pro-Hezbollah, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization, Al Mayadeen?” wrote Jason Brodsky, policy director at United Against Nuclear Iran. “Would be useful to get clarification from the Department of Defense on this matter.”

Also on Wednesday, Blinken sat down for an interview with Jalal Chahda, of Al Jazeera, at Old Doha Airport in Qatar. He did so several days after it was revealed that a Palestinian man with ties to Hamas and Al Jazeera had held Israeli hostages.

“Al Jazeera is a Hamas mouthpiece that literally employs terrorists and has openly violated the Department of Justice’s order to register as a foreign agent of Qatar. So naturally, Blinken spoke to the outlet earlier today,” wrote Eitan Fischberger, a Middle East analyst based in Israel.

“The gentleman who interviewed him, Jalal Chahda,” has posted on social media that Israel’s “paper tiger” Iron Dome is “weaker than a spider’s web, a failure and helpless against the rockets of the honorable resistance that defends the honor of the ummah,” Fischberger wrote, citing the Middle East Media Research Institute.

Chahda has also written that “in the past, I believed that armed resistance in occupied Palestine was one of the methods of liberation, and today I believe that armed resistance is the only method,” added Fischberger.

Gen. Charles Q. Brown, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote on Wednesday that it “was a pleasure to welcome Gen. Joseph Aoun, commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces, to the Pentagon.”

“We discussed the current security situation in the Middle East as well as continued aims to de-escalate tensions,” Brown wrote.

“We subsidize both Hezbollah and the Iraqi militias through our so-called ‘state-building’ enterprises in Lebanon and Iraq,” wrote Tony Badran, news editor at Tablet and a former research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, of Brown’s meeting with Aoun.

“Team Obama-Biden just hosted the commander of the Hezbollah auxiliary force, whose salaries it covered with taxpayer dollars, and which it looks to expand,” Badran added.

The Biden administration has repeatedly snubbed senior Israeli cabinet members—who are not tied to U.S.-designated terror groups—with whom it disagrees.

{Matzav.com}

President Joe Biden greeted Pope Francis with a surprising forehead-to-forehead embrace on Friday, marking the second day of the G7 summit in Italy.

The 87-year-old pontiff, who was brought into the room in a wheelchair, joined world leaders to discuss topics related to artificial intelligence, energy, and the Africa-Mediterranean region. This occasion made him the first pope ever to attend a G7 summit.

Among the leaders participating in the discussion were Argentina’s President Javier Milei, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Biden, 81, and the second Roman Catholic president of the United States, was scheduled for a private meeting with Pope Francis later today.

According to a senior administration official, their conversation was expected to cover the situation in Ukraine, the Israel-Hamas conflict, and issues related to AI and climate change.

{Matzav.com}

Agudath Israel of America’s Florida Office commends Governor Ron DeSantis and the Florida Legislature for including a new $3.5 million grant to support busing for Jewish day school and yeshiva students during the 2024-2025 school year in the state budget.

The grant will be administered by Agudath Israel and will help cover the cost of transportation for hundreds of students including many who have not been able to access transportation previously.

“In the wake of an alarming increase in antisemitic incidents and threats, Jewish schools have become more vulnerable targets,” said Rabbi Avrohom Luban, Associate Director of Agudath Israel’s Florida Office.

Providing transportation will enhance the safety of Jewish students and schools by adding an essential layer of protection. Buses will help streamline the drop-off and pickup processes, limiting the number of private vehicles entering school properties and allowing for better control of the area.

“Ensuring that nonpublic school students have access to safe transportation is a priority for Agudath Israel and something we have worked hard to achieve for students around the country, including in Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and now Florida,” said Rabbi A.D. Motzen, National Director of Government Affairs for Agudath Israel.

“Agudath Israel extends our sincere gratitude to Governor Ron DeSantis, Senator Lauren Book, and Representative Mike Caruso for prioritizing this vital transportation funding in the state budget,” said Rabbi Moshe Matz, director of Agudath Israel’s Florida Office.

{Matzav.com}

A 20-year-old Westchester County man, Zuhdi Ahmed, was arrested on Thursday for his alleged involvement in a hate crime against a Jewish Columbia University student, Jonathan Lederer, during a campus protest in April. According to authorities, Ahmed was part of a group that confronted Lederer, 22, on April 20, ripping away his Israeli flag and throwing a rock at his face. The incident occurred at Amsterdam Avenue and West 116th Street, and Ahmed allegedly screamed at Lederer and flipped him the bird before a third person set the flag on fire. Lederer, who was wearing a yarmulke, suffered minor injuries but refused medical attention. He wrote about the incident in an article for The Free Press, describing how he and his friends were singing songs calling for peace before the violence erupted. Ahmed, a student at Hunter College, was charged with multiple counts, including assault and menacing as hate crimes, aggravated harassment, criminal possession of a weapon, and harassment. He was arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on Thursday and is due back in court on August 6. One of the other accused attackers, James Carlson, 41, was arrested in May and charged with criminal mischief, arson, and criminal possession of stolen property. A third suspect remains at large. The incident occurred during massive campus protests against Israel’s war in Gaza, and Lederer described how he and his friends were confronted by “masked keffiyeh-wearers” who tried to intimidate them. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Further evidence is emerging of the wide-reaching activities of the late Abdullah al-Jamal (his name is sometimes spelled Abdallah Aljamal), the Palestinian journalist who in his spare time served also as the host/jailer for three of the four kidnapped Israeli hostages freed in an Israeli special forces operation in Gaza last week.

Al-Jamal, along with his wife, Fatima, and father, Ahmed, was killed when Israeli forces entered their apartment, where the hostages were being held, in the Nuseirat refugee camp in Gaza. The three rescued hostages held by the al-Jamals were Andrey Kozlov, Almog Meir Jan and Shlomi Ziv.

In addition to his service assisting the Hamas authorities in Gaza in the incarceration of civilian abductees, al-Jamal was employed as a spokesman for the Gaza Labor Ministry. He also found time in his busy schedule to work as a journalist, penning a long list of articles for the U.S.-based Palestine Chronicle newspaper, as well as a co-authored piece for Al Jazeera.

But al-Jamal’s activities don’t appear to have stopped there. Evidence has also emerged, ironically, that in addition to holding (Israeli) prisoners, he was also an activist for the rights of Palestinians incarcerated for terrorist offences. This element of his activities brought al-Jamal into contact with internationally known figures.

For example, a look at al-Jamal’s Facebook page reveals an entry dated May 23, 2023, which shows him taking part in what he describes as “an international meeting via Zoom, which brought together freed Palestinian prisoners with Irish freed prisoners and activists, most notably the freed prisoner Danny Morrison, one of the most prominent leaders of the Irish experience in hunger strikes during the occupation.”

The Gazan journalist/activist continues that the meeting was held to “galvanize the issue of the hunger strike, and expose the occupation’s crimes against prisoners.”

Morrison, a former member of the terrorist Provisional IRA, was director of publicity for Sinn Fein, the political wing of the movement, in the 1980s. Belfast-born, Morrison served as the spokesman for the jailed IRA hunger strikers in 1981.

In 1990, he was sentenced to eight years in jail for conspiracy to murder and false imprisonment, but was released in 1995. Morrison was an active supporter of the peace process that resulted in the Good Friday Agreement of 1998.

{Matzav.com}

The New York State Education Department has announced plans to sunset the Regents exams, a requirement for high school graduation since 1878. Under the new plan, students will no longer need to pass the three-hour exams to graduate, but can opt to take them to demonstrate proficiency in meeting state learning standards. Currently, students must earn 22 credits and pass at least four Regents exams for a Regents diploma, or seven state exams for the advanced diploma designation, which is seen as a boost to college applications. However, efforts led by NYSED Commissioner Betty Rosa have argued that graduation rates remain tied to race, poverty, and special needs, and that a single test is not sufficient to measure student success. NYSED will conduct public forums from July to October and present a timeline and considerations to the Board of Regents in November. The board must approve any changes to graduation requirements. Existing requirements, including Regents exams, remain in place for now. (YWN World Headquarters – NYC)

Watch: Rav Ephraim Wachsman’s Pre-Shavous 5784 Song at Yeshivas Sh’or Yoshuv

Agudath Israel of America has introduced a compelling new initiative, Torah Perspectives, designed to provide profound wisdom and valuable insights from gedolei Yisroel and prominent rabbonim. This series aims to address contemporary issues through the timeless lens of Torah, offering guidance, inspiration, and chizuk to the wider Jewish community. Torah Perspectives is hosted by Rabbi Yitzchok Hisiger, Agudath Israel’s Director of Torah Initiatives. The inaugural episode, titled “A Yid’s Response to the Challenge of Antisemitism Today,” delves into one of the most pressing issues facing the Jewish community. This critical discussion features two distinguished guests: Hagaon Rav Elya Brudny, rosh yeshivah of Mirrer Yeshiva and chaver of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah Hagaon Rav Lipa Geldwerth, rav of Congregation Kol Torah of Flatbush and maggid shiur at Yeshiva Torah Temimah Together, the esteemed rabbonim engage in a heartfelt and intellectually stimulating conversation that addresses the complexities of antisemitism in today’s world. They explore how Torah values and principles can guide a Yid’s response, offering practical advice and support.

Patagonia, Inc., the U.S. outdoor clothing company with about $100 million in annual revenue, states on its website that “Earth is now our only shareholder.” But the company has supported groups tied to Palestinian terrorism, according to a report in the Washington Examiner.

The company’s foundation paid $139,000 to the Arizona nonprofit Alliance for Global Justice, which funds progressive causes and is linked to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine and Samidoun, designated terrorist groups, the Examiner reported.

Rep. Tim Burchett (R-Tenn.), told the magazine, “I would hope Americans would stop buying their products.”

“Patagonia now knows that it is part of the terror funding apparatus and must take swift action,” Marc Greendorfer, president of Zachor Legal Institute, told the Examiner.

{Matzav.com}

By Rabbi Yair Hoffman for Five Towns Jewish Home Published in honor of the Bat Mitzvah Celebration of Raizy Klein  Mazal Tov! The Bat Mitzvah celebration has had an interesting history. Some communities celebrate the Bas Mitzvah quietly and in the home. In other communities, the standards are that they be celebrated in halls and must be catered affairs. Regardless of how they are celebrated, it would be worthwhile to get a background on what the Bas Mitzvah is all about. Earlier Adulthood The Gemorah (Niddah 45b) tells us that a girl becomes an adult at the age of twelve. According to the Ibn Ezra (Vayikrah 20:19), this tradition was handed down to us by Moshe from Har Sinai as were all the figures, numbers, weights and amounts (See Sukkah 5b). A girl enters into adulthood a full year before a boy enters into adulthood in a bar mitzvah celebration. The reason for this is explained by the Talmud (Niddah 45b): It is because Hashem placed more wisdom and understanding into women than into men. This is derived from the pasuk (Bereishis 2:22), “Vayiven Hashem Elokim et hatzelah – And Hashem built the rib” – The word “Vayiven” has a double meaning – it means both “built” and “understanding.” Origins of Bat Mitzvah Celebration Some mistakenly say that the Bat Mitzvah celebration was invented by the founder of Reconstructionist Judaism, Mordecai Kaplan in 1922. This is not correct. A celebration for a Bas Mitzvah is mentioned in the Ben Ish Chai by Rabbi Yoseph Chaim (1883-1909) where he writes that the Bas Mitzvah should be a day of celebration. The Bas Mitzvah girl should wear a new outfit and recite a Shehecheyanu to celebrate her entrance into the “Ol Mitzvos”- the responsibility (and privilege) of observing Mitzvos. So Kaplan actually took it from the Bat Mitzvah celebration of the Italian Jewish communities of Milan and Torrino. There, the girls would stand before the Aron Kodesh and recite special prayers that ended with a shehecheyanu blessing. The Rav of these communities then spoke and gave them a Bracha. A Seudah followed in the home of the girl. Seudas Bat Mitzvah There are many opinions about whether a Seudas Bat Mitzvah is considered a Seudas Mitzvah. Rabbi Yitzchok Nissim cites Rav Mussafya (1606-1675) that a Bat Mitzvah is indeed considered a Seudas Mitzvah. This question was posed to Rav Moshe Feinstein zatzal (Igros Moshe OC I #104) a number of times. In a letter to Rabbi Boruch Poupko dated the 11th of Shvat 5716 (January 25, 1956), Rav Moshe states that it is not considered a Seudas Mitzvah whatsoever and if he had the capacity he would abolish the custom for Bas Mitzvos and Bar Mitzvos as they does not increase anyone’s commitment to Torah and often lead to Chilul Shabbos. This, of course, was in the 1950’s. In a letter written to Rabbi Meir Kahane hy”d when he was the Rabbi of a Howard Beach congregation, Rav Moshe Feinstein writes (Igros Moshe OC IV #36) that a Bas Mitzvah celebration should not be held in a synagogue – even if the synagogue was built with a condition, and even if it was held in the evening. He did write, however, that the Rabbi should only take a stand against it if it would […]

Photo Credits: Sara Heiney Prints of her work can be viewed and purchased here.

Sen. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) was speeding and at fault for a Sunday morning auto accident in western Maryland, where he rear-ended another driver, a 62-year old woman who was taken to the hospital in an ambulance, according to a Maryland State Police report.

Fetterman was also treated for a shoulder injury, and he and his wife were taken to the hospital by ambulance, according to the police report and information from his office. Fetterman brushed off the wreck afterward, brandishing a bag of frozen peas and Tylenol in a video Monday with his wife and thanking people for their well wishes.

The accident was the latest example of unsafe driving by Fetterman, according to public records and people with knowledge of the situation. He has received two speeding tickets for violations of at least 24 miles per hour above the speed limit, one in 2016 and one in March, according to Pennsylvania state records. After the ticket this year, when he was driving 34 miles per hour over the limit, he was required by the state to complete a driver’s improvement course, according to a person familiar with the outcome who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe the episode. Neither record said exactly where he was driving or how fast he was going.

At other times, aides have said Fetterman has texted and FaceTimed while driving, prompting concern among his staff and fears about riding with him, according to three people with knowledge of staff discussions who spoke on the condition of anonymity to describe internal conversations.

Fetterman’s aides have refrained from messaging him while he was behind the wheel, afraid he would answer them, according to the three people. One aide asked to no longer be required to ride in the car with him after witnessing Fetterman driving unsafely, they said. The concerns sparked an informal practice recently instituted in the office that aides should not be in the car when Fetterman is driving, according to one person familiar with the practice.

“It’s not safe,” one person familiar with Fetterman’s driving said.

In response to questions from The Washington Post about the accounts of his driving, a spokesman for Fetterman called them “gossip and inaccurate,” but declined to address any specifics.

In a statement, Fetterman said he would drive more slowly in the future.

“This was an unfortunate accident on Sunday and I’m relieved and grateful that there were no serious injuries,” he said. “I’ve been driving for almost 40 years, and I’ve gotten a small handful of tickets. When I sped, I was held accountable. I need to do better and do it slower – and I will.”

His Chevy Traverse had significant front-end damage after Sunday’s accident, according to a person with knowledge of the wreck. Both vehicles were towed from the scene due to “disabling damage,” according to the police report. A local news station published photos of Fetterman’s car taken at the lot that showed the devastating damage it sustained.

His office did not respond to a question about why the accident occurred or whether Fetterman was distracted by his phone when it happened. The police report stated the person who was hit was “not distracted,” while filling in “unknown” next to the “distracted by” category for Fetterman.

Fetterman, a 6-foot-8 freshman senator who survived a stroke on the campaign trail and then checked himself into a medical facility for depression treatment shortly after coming to Washington, has cut an outsize figure on Capitol Hill. He wears his signature hoodies at formal events and in the Capitol, sparking a debate about the Senate’s dress code. He’s made waves by heckling Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), urging him to retire as he faces federal corruption charges, and in confrontations with activists on the left who disagree with him on his staunch support for Israel’s invasion of Gaza following Hamas’s Oct. 7 attack.

While serving as lieutenant governor of Pennsylvania for two years, Fetterman had a security detail that drove him around the state. But as a senator, he often drives himself, especially around the Keystone State, according to people familiar with his travel. He often drives himself much of the way to and from his hometown of Braddock, Pa., and Washington.

This week’s crash occurred on Interstate 70 near Hagerstown on Sunday morning, according to the Maryland State Police. Fetterman, 54, rear-ended a Chevy Impala while driving west “well over the posted speed limit,” the police report said, citing a witness.

“A passenger in the Traverse and the operator of the Impala were transported by ambulance to War Memorial Hospital in West Virginia for treatment of their injuries,” the accident report said. No citations were given at the scene. Both Fettermans were wearing seat belts, as was the other driver, the report said.

In March, Fetterman pleaded guilty to driving 34 mph over the speed limit in Westmoreland County, near Pittsburgh, according to a record of the traffic docket. A speeding violation of over 31 mph automatically triggers the driver to attend Driver Improvement School, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation.

A speeding violation that severe also requires the violator to either take a special driver’s examination or have their driving privileges suspended for 15 days. The driver’s school and exam tests for knowledge of “safe driving practices” and safety issues.

Fetterman also pleaded guilty in 2016 to exceeding the speed limit by 24 mph in Warren County in northwestern Pennsylvania.

In their X video on Monday, the Fettermans said this Sunday’s accident had put a damper on their wedding anniversary. Gisele Fetterman said the crash made for “the worst anniversary ever.” “But we’re great,” John Fetterman said.

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Razzan Nakhlawi and Dan Morse contributed to this report.

(c) Washington Post