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May 26, 2016 at 7:39 pm
The Torah states that every 7th year is “Shemittah", during which the Jews who live in Eretz Yisrael (Israel) cannot work their land and must keep it fallow. The Midrash states that those who faithfully observe Shemittah are the mightiest of warriors for keeping such difficult laws (Yalkut Shmoni, Tehillim 860). At the same time, the Torah alleviates all fears of hunger by explicitly promising the Jewish nation that the 6th year will produce a miraculous super crop adequate for 3 entire years. R’ Aharon Kotler asks, if so, why is one who keeps Shemittah considered a mighty warrior? After the farmer receives a 3-year super crop prior to the Shemittah year and benefits first-hand from a miracle, is it so impressive that he kept the Shemittah laws?
Later on, the Torah details the...
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May 26, 2016 at 7:38 pm
Bismarck, ND - Republican presidential contender Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would approve TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline proposal if elected, reversing a decision by the administration of President Barack Obama to block it over environmental concerns.
“I would absolutely approve it, 100 percent, but I would want a better deal,” Trump told reporters at a press conference in Bismarck, North Dakota, where he was scheduled to give a speech to an oil conference on the energy policies he would pursue if elected to the White House.
“I want it built, but I want a piece of the profits,” Trump said. “That’s how we’re going to make our country rich again.”
The Obama administration’s decision to reject the Keystone XL...
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May 26, 2016 at 7:38 pm
Albany, NY - The New York attorney general’s office has raided an office on SUNY Polytechnic’s Albany campus that was used by a lobbyist with deep connections to Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
A spokesman for SUNY Polytechnic says it “cooperated fully” with investigators from Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office on Thursday.
The investigators were interested in searching an office formerly used by Todd Howe, who is also a target in a federal investigation into potential conflicts of interest and improper bidding related to Cuomo’s Buffalo Billion economic development initiative.
Howe worked for Cuomo’s father, former Gov. Mario Cuomo, and then for Andrew Cuomo at the U.S. housing department. As a lobbyist, he represented SUNY Poly and compan...
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May 26, 2016 at 7:38 pm
Washington - Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton was supposed to have turned over all work-related emails to the State Department to be released to the public. But an agency audit found at least three emails never seen before — including Clinton’s own explanation of why she wanted her emails kept private.
After 14 months of public scrutiny and skepticism over Clinton’s motives in keeping her emails secret, new questions emerged Thursday. They centered on her apparent failure to turn over a November 2010 message in which she worried that her personal messages could become accessible to outsiders, along with two other messages a year later that divulged possible security weaknesses in the home email system she used while secretary of state.
The Cli...
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May 26, 2016 at 7:30 pm
Raleigh, NC - Two Navy jet fighters crashed off the coast of North Carolina during a training mission Thursday, and their four crew members were airlifted to a hospital with minor injuries after being plucked out of the Atlantic Ocean by a commercial fishing vessel and Coast Guard rescuers, officials said.
The F/A-18 Super Hornet jet fighters, based in Virginia Beach, crashed about 10:40 a.m. off the coast of Cape Hatteras, following an “in-flight mishap,” said Lt. Cmdr. Tiffani Walker, a spokeswoman for Naval Air Force Atlantic. Walker did not have any further details. Earlier Thursday, the Coast Guard had said the two aircraft collided in the air before crashing.
Two of the aviators were rescued by the crew of the commercial fishing vessel Jamie, and the other two...
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May 26, 2016 at 7:27 pm
This week’s Torah portion discusses the mitzvah of not overcharging and cheating in business, as the Torah says, And if you sell something . . . or buy from your fellow's hand, you shall not wrong one another (Vayikra 25,14,).
The following dilemma relates to an interesting interface between the laws of not cheating in business, and the laws of marriage.
Aaron and Devorah were a happily married couple. One day, several years after their wedding, they were in need of some additional income, and Devorah brought her platinum wedding band to a jeweler to be assessed. To Devorah's surprise, the jeweler told her that her ring was not platinum at all, but it was really stainless steel and worth a lot less than she thought. Devorah came home and told her husband what s...
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May 26, 2016 at 7:26 pm
Washington - Donald Trump has provisionally accepted Bernie Sanders’ proposal to debate, but the billionaire is setting a high price for participating. His condition: The hosting TV network would have to put up millions of dollars for charity.
Representatives for Fox News, ABC News and CBS News say the networks are interested in hosting such a showdown but would not comment on whether they’d be willing to put up the $10 million Trump is demanding for women’s health causes. “We’re always interested in more opportunities to hear from the candidates,” said ABC spokeswoman Julie Townsend.
Trump said Thursday a host network would make millions from sky-high ratings and should agree to turn over at least $10 million to women’s health causes.
...
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May 26, 2016 at 7:26 pm
New York - New York City will conduct regular safety checks of its properties under elevated rail tracks after a fire disrupted commuter rail service at Grand Central Terminal for days last week, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Thursday.
The city will review all such city-owned or managed properties, and amend its lease with the East Harlem garden supply store that burst into flames on May 17 after an accidental gasoline spill, he said in a statement.
“We are ramping up inspections in the affected area and reviewing sites under critical infrastructure citywide to ensure New Yorkers’ safety and peace of mind,” de Blasio said.
Urban Garden Center, the store which occupies city-owned property underneath elevated Metro North railroad tracks, has been issued four sum...
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May 26, 2016 at 6:19 pm
Baltimore, MD - May 26, 2016 - 6:17 PM - A bad traffic accident has just occurred on Park Heights Ave. between Clarks Lane and Bancroft.
Emergency personnel are on scene.
PLEASE AVOID THE AREA!!!
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May 26, 2016 at 5:55 pm
Bismarck, ND - Republican presidential contender Donald Trump said on Thursday that he would approve TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline proposal if elected, reversing a decision by the administration of President Barack Obama to block it over environmental concerns.
“I would absolutely approve it, 100 percent, but I would want a better deal,” Trump told reporters at a press conference in Bismarck, North Dakota, where he was scheduled to give a speech to an oil conference on the energy policies he would pursue if elected to the White House.
“I want it built, but I want a piece of the profits,” Trump said. “That’s how we’re going to make our country rich again.”
The Obama administration’s decision to reject the Keystone XL...
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May 26, 2016 at 5:18 pm
The sefer Ta'amei HaMinhagim (page 251) writes that the Jewish month of Iyar is a time for refuah (healing). אייר is an acronym for אני ה' רפואך (I am HaShem, your Healer). Additionally, he cites the B'nai Yissaschar, who teaches that most weakness and illness come from foods which are harmful to a person's nature or composition. The Rambam (Hilchos De'os 4:15) writes likewise. See also Kitzur Shulchan Aruch chapter 32.
The mahn began to fall in this month (on the 16th day of Iyar 2448). It was the perfect food, from which no sickness, pain or even waste matter resulted (as Dovid HaMelech refers to it in Sefer Tehillim--"lechem abirim"). It even cured those who were ill. Therefore, HaShem left the curative nature of the month in effect for...
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May 26, 2016 at 5:16 pm
Jerusalem Fire Deputy Chief accuses haredim of not taking proper precautions: ‘They like huge bonfires but do not listen.’
Deputy Chief of Jerusalem’s Romema neighborhood fire station, Rashaf Roni Sonino, accused the haredi community for the numerous fires which broke out across the capital on Thursday.
Dozens of fire crews were able to control the raging blazes.
"These fires are the unequivocal result of Lag B'Omer bonfires and negligence on behalf of the citizens,” stated Sonino an interview with Army Radio. "Since yesterday, we have been battling 2,000 fires - the fire fighters are exhausted.”
Sonino explained how the Fire and Rescue Commission released safety guidelines ahead of the holiday, especially among the haredi sector. "We have ...
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May 26, 2016 at 5:13 pm
Ever-growing numbers visit once Jewish neighborhood in Jerusalem in a Lag B'Omer tradition to rival Meron.
Thousands of Jews visited the tomb of Shimon Hatzadik located north of the Old City in Jerusalem on Wednesday night and Thursday for Lag B'Omer, which marks the passing of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai (Rashbi).
Shimon Hatzadik was a High Priest in the Second Temple period and among the last members of the Great Assembly. The neighborhood where his tomb is located - which is named after him - is largely Arab but has a growing Jewish population returning to the once Jewish area.
Yoni Yosef, an organizer of the annual Lag B'Omer festivities at Shimon Hatzadik tomb, told Arutz Sheva that "as is done each year according to the custom of Jerusalem, we ...
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May 26, 2016 at 5:10 pm
World Health Organization's UN resolution marks Israel as the world’s only violator of ‘mental, physical and environmental health.’
The World Health Organization (WHO) called for an investigation into alleged abuses of “mental, physical and environmental health” rights by Israel, the only country singled out during the U.N. agency’s annual assembly in Geneva.
The motion was co-sponsored by the Arab Group of States and the Palestinian delegation, and it commissioned a WHO delegation to investigate and report on “the health conditions in the occupied Palestinian territory” and “the occupied Syrian Golan."
France, Germany and the United Kingdom were among the 107 countries that voted for the proposal. Eight c...
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May 26, 2016 at 5:06 pm
In advance of Agudath Israel's 94th Anniversary Dinner at the Hilton New York to take place iyH on June 5, 2016, theAgudah present a series of short, compelling videos for your viewing pleasure.
Arguably, the most daunting task facing a young family returning from several years of Kollel study in Israel, is that of finding a suitable career for the breadwinner to support that growing family.
Agudath Israel's PCS provides job training, counseling, and placement for thousands of such families, including for this young CFO of a major company...
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May 26, 2016 at 5:06 pm
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has secured the necessary number of delegates to clinch the GOP nomination.
Trump had reached the magic number, put over the edge by a small number of unbound party delegates from Pennsylvania that told the AP that they would support him.
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May 26, 2016 at 5:02 pm
Baltimore County police have charged two men in connection with thefts of packages in the Pikesville area. John Leon Kenney, 25, and Sean Lamont Arrington, 47, both of Baltimore, have been charged with multiple counts of fourth-degree burglary and theft.
Watch video at WBAL-TV
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May 26, 2016 at 4:39 pm
Rav Yaakov Meir Schechter Of Breslov On Lag BaOmer 5776 - 2016 (Video)
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May 26, 2016 at 1:14 pm
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - A court has ruled New Jersey cannot give $11 million in grants to two religious schools.
The state appeals court ruled Thursday the $10.6 million grant to Beth Medrash Govoha yeshiva in Lakewood and $645,323 to the Princeton Theological Seminary are unconstitutional.
The American Civil Liberties Union and Americans United for Separation of Church and State had challenged the grants, part of $1.3 billion in grants in April 2013.
New Jersey officials argued the grants were OK because they were meant to pay for buildings and equipment, not worship or ministries.
Moshe Gleiberman is vice president of Beth Medrash Govoha. He says the yeshiva is disappointed in the ruling.
The court said its ruling doesn't mean the state can't give money to religious-a...
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May 26, 2016 at 12:22 pm
Orange County, NY - Thousands turned out Wednesday night in the Satmar Chasidic village of Kiryas Joel to mark the Jewish holiday of Lag Baomer with the annual bonfire.
Traditionally, a large platform is prepared, wood is piled in the center and large amounts of oil are poured on the wood.
Similar bonfires are held in many Jewish communities, but Kiryas Joel’s is by far the largest such celebration in the United States. This year, a turnout of nearly 20,000 people took part in the event.
The origins of this celebration lie in the village of Meron in the Holy Land, burial site of the Talmudic sage Rabbi Simeon bar Yochai.
Lag Baomer marks the anniversary of his death approximately 1900 years ago. It is a day when Jews traditionally express happiness and thanks to G-d for in...
