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Tensions escalated just hours before today’s mass atzeres tefillah in Yerushalayim, as at least ten Chabad bochurim were arrested upon landing at Ben Gurion Airport on a flight from New York.

The arrests were reportedly carried out because the students had failed to report to the army draft offices during the past year.

The detainees are part of “the k’vutza,” the long-standing Chabad tradition in which young men spend a year studying in Crown Heights before returning to Israel. Upon arrival, however, security officials and military police detained them and transferred them to a military prison.

Sources indicated that additional arrests may follow, as dozens more bochurim are en route to Israel after completing their year of study in Lubavitch.

Leaders within Chabad expressed outrage over the arrests, describing them as a serious violation of a long-standing understanding with the IDF that allowed k’vutza participants to return home without facing detention. “This is an unprecedented breach of the long-established arrangement between the army and the Chabad community,” one figure said.

The timing of the arrests—just hours before the massive protest in Yerushalayim—has fueled anger across the Torah world.

Chabad rabbonim joined other rabbonim in signing a public letter urging their followers to travel to Yerushalayim and “cry out for the honor of Torah” in solidarity with the detained yeshiva students.

Community activists, including askan Reb Eliezer Shisha and attorney Menachem Shtauber, are reportedly involved in efforts to secure the young men’s release.

{Matzav.com}

The Sephardic Chief Rabbi, Hagaon HaRav David Yosef, at the million-man rally in Yerushalyim.

The view from the Chords Bridge at the entrance to Yerushalayim.

THERE’S JUST NO WAY! People are seen climbing a crane at the intersection of Malchei Yisroel and Sarei Yisroel Streets.

Speaking aboard Air Force One on Wednesday, President Donald Trump addressed the swirling chatter about a potential 2028 run, acknowledging that constitutional limits bar him from serving another term. “I have my highest poll numbers that I’ve ever had and, you know, based on what I read, I guess I’m not allowed to run, so we’ll see what happens… It’s too bad,” he said, according to AFP.

The 22nd Amendment to the U.S. Constitution restricts presidents to two elected terms, a rule that has long defined the boundaries of American presidential power. Trump, who began his second term in January after first serving from 2017 to 2021, appeared to accept those limits with his trademark mix of humor and defiance.

Despite that, Trump’s base has kept the idea of another campaign alive. On his desk in the Oval Office, visitors have spotted red caps emblazoned with “Trump 2028,” sparking a flurry of online theories and hopeful speculation. Some supporters floated a hypothetical ticket featuring Vice President JD Vance, but Trump brushed that aside this week, saying it was “pretty clear” he couldn’t run again. “But we have a lot of great people,” he added.

When pressed about who might succeed him as leader of the Republican Party once his current term ends, Trump didn’t hesitate to praise his running mate. “I think most likely, in all fairness,” he said when asked whether he would back Vance as the party’s next nominee. “So it’s too early to talk about it, but certainly he’s doing a great job, and he would be probably favored at this point,” the president added.

Still, Trump’s comments didn’t come out of nowhere. Earlier this year, in March, he openly mused about the idea of seeking a third term, offering a characteristically provocative hint at the time. “I’m not joking,” he said, suggesting that “there are methods which you could do it.” Yet even then, he cautioned supporters not to expect anything imminent, adding, “It is far too early to think about it.”

{Matzav.com}

In a striking show of support from within the Likud party, MK Galit Distel-Atbaryan spoke passionately on Kol Chai Radio about her admiration for Torah learners and her frustration with the ongoing campaign against the chareidi community.

“Talmidei chachamim are the very soul of the Jewish people,” she said. “Last night in the Knesset I told those who attacked them: ‘They’re in distress.’ There’s definitely been change among the chareidim, but the problem lies with the army—it simply isn’t suited to them. A chareidi from Bnei Brak doesn’t understand the culture of the IDF: the presence of women, the language, the foreign environment. The first thing to collapse is spirituality. In the army there’s no respect for religion. The chareidi lifestyle is viewed as outdated, strange. Every minority deserves democratic respect.”

Distel, a close ally of the right-wing bloc, accused Israel’s media, judicial system, and liberal elite of exploiting the draft controversy to weaken the current government.

“The left—in the media, the courts, the entire elite—uses you cynically to bring down a right-wing government,” she warned. “Even if a draft law passes, they won’t let go. It’s too powerful a weapon for them. During the so-called ‘change government,’ they didn’t pass a draft law because it wasn’t truly important to them. Lapid told Deri and Gafni, ‘Take everything, just join us.’”

When asked whether chareidi parties might benefit from forming a coalition with the left, Distel responded candidly. “From a purely practical perspective, it would be the smart and justified move,” she said. “If you align with the left, they’ll leave you alone. The stipends, the draft issue—it will all disappear from the headlines. But I was raised from a young age to believe that the chareidim are my closest brothers, and I’ve fought for them all my life. When I see how hard things are now, I can only imagine how much harder it is for you.”

She also reflected on what she sees as the right’s political missteps in recent years. “Our biggest mistake was standing on a stage and announcing loudly, ‘We’re making a change,’” she said. “That was a tactical error. It should have been done quietly—under the radar, maybe through private legislation. We shouldn’t have talked about it so much or given the left and the elite the ammunition for war. That was a mistake.”

Distel’s remarks come on the eve of today’s million-man atzeres in Yerushalayim.

{Matzav.com}

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As anticipation builds for today’s massive atzeres in Yerushalayim protesting the draft decrees against yeshiva students, set to get underway in just a few minutes, Rav Shabtai Levi, Rav of the Ramat Aharon neighborhood and head of Badatz Hilchos Moshe, issued a halachic clarification regarding a special bracha that will apply to this historic gathering.

In a message, Rav Levi explained that the bracha of “Chacham HaRazim”—recited upon seeing 600,000 Jews assembled in one place—should be said at the event. “When so many Jews gather, and each one is unique—in face, in opinion, in outlook—only HaKadosh Baruch Hu knows the secret depths of every individual heart,” he said. “That is the meaning of Chacham HaRazim—the One Who knows the inner thoughts of all.”

Rav Levi drew upon the commentary of the Ra’ah in Maseches Berachos 58a, which explains that 600,000 represents the fullness of Klal Yisroel’s spiritual and intellectual diversity. “The Torah was given to 600,000 because that number embodies all possible understandings and insights,” Rav Levi quoted. “Every person represents a distinct perspective, and together they reflect the totality of the Torah’s 600 facets. When all those minds stood at Har Sinai, every one of them heard and interpreted the Torah in his own way.”

“Since more than 600,000 Jews are expected to attend this atzeres,” Rav Levi declared, “it is fitting to recite the bracha: ‘Baruch Atah Hashem Elokeinu Melech HaOlam Chacham HaRazim.’”

The rav went on to describe the moral urgency of the protest. “The gathering is being held in honor of those who learn Torah—to cry out against the disgrace being heaped upon Torah scholars,” he said. “They are sending Jews to prison for the ‘crime’ of learning Torah. Has there ever been such audacity in our history? Never.”

He added passionately: “It has never happened in the history of the Jewish people that Jews themselves would imprison other Jews for studying Torah. The nations of the world did that—Rabi Akiva was arrested for it—but for Jews to do this to one another? It is unthinkable. We must protest it with all our strength.”

Concluding his remarks, Rav Levi noted that even if participants cannot see all 600,000 people at once, the bracha still applies. “When 600,000 Jews gather in one place—even if not all are visible simultaneously—the bracha of Chacham HaRazim is recited,” he said. “It recognizes the unity of the multitudes and the individuality of each soul within Klal Yisroel.”

{Matzav.com}

Wild scenes at the trains in Yerushalyim, as tens of thousands of Yeshiva Bochrim arrive for the Million-Man Rally.

Chareidim on the way to the atzeres pass IDF soldiers at the Jerusalem train station.

A soldier in the Chareidi Tomer brigade plays piano for the Chareidim arriving at the atzeres in the Jerusalem train station. He is soon drowned out by bochurim singing .עוצו עצה ותופר

Deep sorrow has spread throughout the Slonimer chassidus with the passing of the revered elder chassid, Reb Yechiel Aharon Boimel zt”l, who was niftar at the age of 92. The levayah will take place today in Yerushalayim.

Reb Yechiel Aharon was born on Erev Pesach 5693 (1933) to his father, Reb Mordechai Boimel zt”l, and his mother, Mrs. Feiga Rachel a”h. His bris milah was performed on the knees of the saintly ga’on Rav Moshe Kliers zt”l, the rav of Tiveria.

He studied at Talmud Torah Or Torah in Tiveria, where he became deeply attached to the Rebbe Reb Mordechai of Slonim zt”l. Later, he was brought by his Rebbe, the Nesivos Shalom, to learn at Yeshivas Beis Avrohom of Slonim, where he was among the first talmidim and learned b’chavrusa with Rav Moshe Halberstam.

Over the course of his life, Reb Yechiel Aharon merited to bask in the presence of six Slonimer Rebbes: the Beis Avrohom, the second rebbe, Rav Motel of Slonim, the Birchas Avrohom, the Nesivos Shalom, and the current rebbe.

He later married into the distinguished family of Reb Binyomin Ze’ev Sokolovsky. building a home of Torah and chesed together with his wife.

Reb Yechiel Aharon shared a particularly close bond with his Rebbe, the Nesivos Shalom, who even asked him to study b’chavrusa with his son, the current Rebbe, during the war years when they were in Tiveria. In later years, he merited to care for his Rebbe during his illness at Hadassah Hospital.

For over fifty years, Reb Yechiel Aharon served as the baal tefillah for the yemei hadin—leading the davening on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur—and as baal koreh at the main Slonimer Beis Medrash on Salant Street in Yerushalayim, his voice echoing in the memories of generations of mispallelim.

In his later years, his health declined, and he resided in the home of his daughter, Mrs. Mili Schneider, chairwoman of Kesher Yehudi. He was blessed with children and grandchildren who follow his path.

The levayah will take place today, with kevurah near the tziyun of his Rebbe, the Nesivos Shalom, on Har HaZeisim in Yerushalayim.

Yehi zichro baruch.

{Matzav.com}

Chareidim who traveled to Jerusalem for the mass atzeres join Mercaz HaRav talmidim in their Beis Medrash.

HaGaon HaRav Zilberstein joins HaGaon HaRav Moshe Hillel Hirsch at the Yirmiyahu Hotel, where they will stand during the atzeres tefillah.

The father of socialist mayoral front-runner Zohran Mamdani helped found the so-called Gaza Tribunal—a self-styled “court of conscience” that serves as a propaganda vehicle for Hamas sympathizers seeking to criminalize Israel and the West. Mahmood Mamdani, a 79-year-old Columbia University professor and longtime anti-Israel activist, attended the group’s inaugural meetings in London last year. The […]

Ben Cohen, co-founder of the iconic Ben & Jerry’s ice cream brand, revealed that Unilever, the company’s corporate parent, blocked his request to release a flavor meant to express “solidarity with Palestine.” According to the BBC, Cohen is now planning to produce the controversial flavor independently, as part of a personal line highlighting causes that he says the company has forbidden him from supporting publicly.

Cohen announced the initiative in an Instagram video, describing a watermelon sorbet inspired by the red and green hues of the Palestinian flag — a color scheme often used as a symbol of solidarity with Palestinians. He invited viewers to help shape the project, encouraging them to contribute “names, recipes, and packaging designs for the flavor.”

“Unilever refused to make it,” Cohen said. “So I’m doing what they wouldn’t — I’m making a watermelon-flavored ice cream calling for permanent in Palestine and repairing all the damage done there.” He added that this is only the beginning of a larger effort to create additional flavors centered on issues Ben & Jerry’s has been “silenced” from addressing by Unilever.

The decision highlights years of tension between Ben & Jerry’s founders and their corporate owner. Since Unilever acquired the Vermont-based company in 2000, Cohen and co-founder Jerry Greenfield have repeatedly accused the conglomerate of limiting their political independence — which they say was guaranteed under the original acquisition deal.

In recent months, those disputes have boiled over. Greenfield announced his departure last month, lamenting, “They’re silencing me.” Cohen’s new flavor appears to be a direct challenge to the boundaries Unilever has imposed.

Israel has long been a focal point of the conflict between the founders and Unilever. In 2022, the multinational giant settled a legal battle that allowed Israeli businessman Avi Zinger to take over local rights to the Ben & Jerry’s brand in Israel, after the global company sought to halt sales in the West Bank.

The company’s internal divisions grew sharper after the October 7 Hamas terror attack and the subsequent war in Gaza. The global Ben & Jerry’s board — which operates independently from the Israeli franchise — issued a public statement denouncing Israel’s actions, declaring, “Ben & Jerry’s stands for human rights and peace. We join those around the world condemning the genocide in Gaza.”

Meanwhile, Ben & Jerry’s Israel continues to function separately under Zinger’s ownership, serving customers throughout Israel and distancing itself from the brand’s international political controversies.

{Matzav.com}

Please forgive me if I sound like I am preaching. I do not write this as someone entitled to lecture on the weighty decisions that are the realm of the gedolim who guide us. I write simply as one who wishes to share an example where we can see the truth of what our gedolim have taught us. The […]

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