Hundreds of talmidim of Yeshiva Birchas Shmuel gathered for a Chanukah mesibah attended by the yeshiva’s nosi, Chevron rosh yeshiva Hagaon Rav Dovid Cohen, who delivered a forceful address warning of what he described as an unprecedented threat to the Torah world.
The event was held for the first time in the yeshiva’s new and spacious beis medrash on its campus in Givat Shaul, following the yeshiva’s relocation earlier this year due to significant growth in enrollment.
Rav Uziel Leibowitz, one of the yeshiva’s roshei yeshiva, welcomed Rav Cohen and spoke of the privilege of having the yeshiva’s path guided directly by its president. He described the moment as the completion of the spiritual dedication of the new beis medrash, emphasizing the sense of divine assistance that accompanies the yeshiva’s growth and direction.
Rav Cohen then addressed the gathering, opening with words of gratitude for having accompanied the yeshiva since its founding and expressing deep emotion at seeing both its physical expansion and its spiritual growth. He said the development of the yeshiva, in students and rabbinic leadership alike, was profoundly heartening.
Turning to the message of Chanukah, Rav Cohen drew a sharp comparison between the Greek decrees of antiquity and the challenges of the present generation. “Greece wanted to turn all of Yisroel into a people living only for the body, like all other nations,” he said. “A world of nature — no spirituality, no soul — to secularize all of Israel. But Greece added one thing: ‘to make them forget Your Torah.’ Because as long as there is Torah, there can be no forgetting. Only through ‘making them forget’ can spirituality be uprooted.”
Citing classic Torah sources, Rav Cohen explained that without Torah, even the soul itself would be reduced to something purely intellectual. “Through the power of Torah, a person merits his soul,” he said, quoting the Ramchal’s teaching that “Torah is light that illuminates the soul of a person.” He added that the Chashmonaim restored that light by reestablishing Torah for generations.
At this point, Rav Cohen raised his voice in pain and delivered the sharpest warning of his address. “All the culture of the secular world outside the beis medrash — a world of moral filth — is entirely the war of Greek culture,” he declared. “All the war we are facing in our generation, a situation that no one ever imagined or dreamed we would reach, is a war of ‘to make them forget.’”
He continued with a stark comparison: “Today, in our generation, the decree is more severe than it was in Greece. Then, the Greeks wanted to make them forget Your Torah. Today, Jews want to make their brothers forget the Torah.”
Rav Cohen stressed that the struggle is being fundamentally misunderstood. “This war is not about more soldiers or fewer soldiers,” he said. “The war is about Greek culture — to secularize all of Israel, to remove them from the batei medrash, to destroy the entire standing of the Jewish people.”
He said he could not recall a similar battle throughout the long years of golus. “I do not know if in all the generations of galus there was ever such a thing,” he stated, emphasizing that the fighters in this battle are tragically “Jews themselves.”
Concluding his remarks, Rav Cohen told the talmidim that the only true weapon against this threat is Torah itself. “The power to stand firm is the light of Torah,” he said. “The House of the Chashmonaim established Torah for generations, and today we light the light and cry out: ‘For they are our life.’ You have merited to be in a beis medrash of the highest level of learning, a beis medrash of true toil in Torah. Through this, we will merit the complete redemption, speedily in our days.”
{Matzav.com}
The Vizhnitzer Rebbe of London has issued a sharply worded letter to the Jewish community of Antwerp, warning that standards of modesty have weakened in recent times and urging renewed commitment, particularly among women, to strengthen this foundational value.
The letter was written following the Rebbe’s visit to Antwerp during Chanukah, at the request of the city’s rabbinic leadership and in response to an earlier call by the Pshevorsker Rebbe to address what has been described as a recent breach in communal norms of tznius.
In his message, the Rebbe said he was joining the appeal of Antwerp’s rabbanim and the Pshevorsker Rebbe to confront what he called serious lapses that have emerged in matters of modesty. He emphasized that earlier generations of Torah leaders devoted enormous effort to instilling sanctity and restraint within Jewish homes, a commitment that enabled them to raise generations of families shielded from negative influences of the surrounding culture.
He warned that in recent years those protective foundations have begun to erode in many Jewish homes, attributing the trend to what he described as a spreading culture of permissiveness. According to the Rebbe, these influences creep in gradually, step by step, until even communities known for their piety begin to relax standards that were once carefully guarded.
Describing the situation as an urgent responsibility, the Rebbe called on every family to reinforce these values actively. He stressed that parents bear a duty to guide their households with sensitivity and warmth, while remaining firm in preserving the path upon which previous generations were educated, and to treat the boundaries of modesty with respect and seriousness.
In a personal note, the Rebbe expressed gratitude to women who undertook additional commitments during a period of illness he experienced, specifically those who chose not to wear long shaitels. He offered brachos that their sacrifices be fully rewarded.
Citing teachings from earlier chassidic rebbes, the Rebbe linked a range of communal difficulties—including financial hardship—to breaches in modesty, stating that such problems have increased in recent generations largely as a result of weakened moral boundaries.
He concluded on an optimistic note, writing that strengthening resistance to the challenges of the modern era would bring blessing, including livelihood, worthy matches, and both material and spiritual success. By maintaining distinctiveness from surrounding cultures, he wrote, families would merit a heightened sense of divine presence in their homes and ultimately the revelation of hidden spiritual light.
{Matzav.com}
Hod HaSharon has officially filled its long-vacant rabbinic post, with Rav Erez Elcharar elected as the city’s chief rabbi by a decisive margin on Tuesday night.
Rav Elcharar secured the support of 24 members of the electoral body, prevailing after a prolonged and closely watched selection process. He serves as one of the senior heads of the Yechaveh Daas kollel and is regarded as a leading talmid of Rav Dovid Yosef, the Rishon LeTzion.
Following the announcement of the results, Rav Dovid Yosef personally contacted Rav Elcharar to congratulate him and praise the choice made by the city’s electors. “This is a day of good news for the city of Hod HaSharon,” he said. “Rav Erez is an outstanding Torah scholar who combines deep Torah knowledge with refined character and an ability to bring people closer.”
Rav Yosef added that he was confident the new chief rabbi would lead the city with wisdom and warmth, strengthen the standing of the rabbinate, and work to foster unity among all segments of the population. He concluded with a heartfelt brocha that Rav Elcharar be granted great siyata d’Shmaya in his sacred mission, increasing kavod Shamayim and endearing the Torah to the public in the path of Aharon HaKohen, “a lover of peace and a pursuer of peace.”
Later in the evening, Rav Yosef traveled to Hod HaSharon to take part in a festive thanksgiving gathering held in honor of Rav Elcharar’s election.
{Matzav.com}
As New York City prepares for a new mayoral administration, attention has also shifted to Rama Duwaji, the illustrator who will soon assume the ceremonial role of first lady. In a fawning profile published Tuesday by New York Magazine, Duwaji expressed frustration that public interest has focused almost entirely on her marriage to Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani rather than on her own creative work.
Duwaji, 28, made clear that moving into public life will not mean stepping away from her profession. She said she plans to continue working as an artist after Mamdani is sworn in on January 1.
“I’m definitely not stopping that. Come January, it’s something that I want to continue to do,” she said.
Though she avoided media appearances throughout Mamdani’s mayoral campaign, Duwaji suggested she intends to use the visibility that comes with her new position to elevate emerging artists across the city.
“At the end of the day, I’m not a politician. I’m here to be a support system for Z and to use the role in the best way that I can as an artist,” she said, referring to her husband by his nickname.
“There are so many artists trying to make it in the city — so many talented, undiscovered artists making the work with no instant validation, using their last paycheck on material,” Duwaji said.
“I think using this position to highlight them and give them a platform is a top priority.”
Duwaji also reflected on how her life changed as Mamdani’s profile rose and she was thrust into public view. She said she gradually came to terms with the idea that her husband’s success automatically made her a subject of scrutiny as well.
“I realized that it was not just his thing but our thing,” she said.
“I wasn’t necessarily offended, but it was more the perception of being seen as someone’s wife. I was spiraling about how, that night, the first article to come out was like, ‘Who Is Zohran Mamdani’s Wife?’ Blah, blah, blah, blah.
“And I was so upset because that one article showed up when you searched my name and not an interview I did on my art, or my work, or the things that I’ve done and the achievements that I’ve had as an artist,” she said. “And now there’s, like, a bajillion of them.”
Despite her misgivings, the magazine noted that Duwaji has built a sizable online following since stepping into the spotlight, with admirers flocking to TikTok and other platforms.
Although she largely stayed quiet publicly as Mamdani drew headlines and controversy over his far-left positions, Duwaji acknowledged that politics play a central role in her own thinking and creative life.
“Speaking out about Palestine, Syria, Sudan — all these things are really important to me,” she said. “I’m always keeping up to date with what’s going on, not just here but elsewhere. It feels fake to talk about anything else when that’s all that’s on my mind, all I want to put down on paper.
“Everything is political,” she said. “It’s the thing that I talk about with Z… and my friends, the thing that I’m up to date with every morning, which is probably not great for my mental health. It’s what I talk about when I check on my family back home.”
The interview also touched on the couple’s upcoming move from their rent-stabilized apartment in Astoria, Queens, to Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the mayor.
“It’ll be fine,” Duwaji said, pausing after what the reporter described as a deflated breath.
“I’ll be down the street from the Guggenheim and the Met. It’ll be really nice to just explore a new part of the city… And I’m right across the river from Astoria still, so it doesn’t feel too far away.”
{Matzav.com}
Israel has received a proposed roster of roughly 80 individuals who could form a temporary technocratic body to oversee civilian administration in the Gaza Strip, according to a report published Tuesday night. The list was compiled following Egyptian-led consultations with all Palestinian factions and is said to adhere to the “red lines” set by Israel.
The names are divided into two groups and are intended to constitute a non-political, interim civilian authority for Gaza. The goal, according to the report, is to ensure that anyone selected—whether viewed as closer to Fatah or to Hamas—would operate strictly within predefined limitations accepted in advance.
The renewed focus on a technocratic governing framework comes amid preparations for a second phase of the agreement and the need for a temporary civilian alternative to rule in Gaza. The proposed body would reportedly be made up of professionals such as economists, physicians, engineers, bankers, and systems managers who are not formally affiliated with, or identified as members of, any armed faction.
A Palestinian source said the issue is also tied to diplomatic visits and coordination with the White House. Israeli officials are not expected to deliver a final response until all outstanding details are clarified, particularly those related to security arrangements and weapons. “Without an international force, an agreed Israeli withdrawal, or another mechanism to address weapons, any civilian body that is established will be weak,” the source said.
A figure close to Hamas told Israeli media that the terror organization does not intend to force the appointment of specific individuals. According to that source, Hamas submitted a list that includes “independent figures” alongside people considered close to various factions, as well as names viewed as objective.
Among the candidates proposed by Egypt are individuals from the fields of economics, banking, and civil society who, over the years, have not been publicly identified with any of the major Palestinian political movements.
The discussions center on governance of the Gaza Strip, with Egypt acting as mediator between Israel and the Palestinian factions, including Hamas. Israel’s security establishment, alongside the Israel Defense Forces, continues to stress that any future administrative arrangement must prevent the rearmament of terror groups and ensure long-term stability.
{Matzav.com}
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