Baltimore, MD - May 27, 2016 - It was a beautiful unseasonably warm spring morning, this week, when I joined Baltimore County Police Department (BCPD) Public Information Officer Corporal John Wachter, BCPD Officer Jonathan Neville, and WBAL TV news reporter Omar Jimenez at the home of a Baltimore County resident who requested a BCPD Home Security Survey. This homeowner was one of about 10-15 home and business owners who request this free service throughout the Baltimore County precincts, each month. By calling your precinct, owners can schedule a time to meet with an officer who will walk around the inside and outside of their properties in order to share general safety tips on how they can better secure them.   “It all starts when we pull up to the curb; it starts from the...
Baltimore, MD - May 27, 2016 - If you are reading this, you know an individual or family who has been helped by Baltimore's Ahavas Yisrael Charity Fund (whether you or the recipient of their assistance is aware of it.) Since 1976, Ahavas Yisrael has been providing food, shelter, and clothing to our community members in need. But in order to ensure that Ahavas Yisrael continues their critical mission, they need your help! Please help Ahavas Yisrael continue their noble efforts by contributing generously on Charidy Day, BEGINNING AT 2 PM ON WEDNESDAY, JUNE 1 AND ENDING ON THURSDAY, JUNE 2 – 24 HOURS OF GIVING!! Please donate online (https://www.charidy.com/ahavasyisrael) on this important and special day when every single dollar is QUADRUPLED! In addition, we are looking for ...
Indiana Congressman Luke Messer will be addressing the 94th Anniversary Dinner of Agudath Israel of America to be held on Sunday, June 5th at the Hilton New York. Congressman Messer was elected in 2012 and quickly established himself as an emerging leader. In just his second term, he was elected by his peers to serve as the House Republican Policy Chair - the Conference's 5th ranking leadership position. He serves on the House Financial Services and House Education & Workforce committees. Congressman Messer formed - and chairs - the Congressional School Choice Caucus which is dedicated to expanding quality educational opportunities for every child. School choice programs, such as vouchers and scholarship tax credits, are critically important to the Ortho...
Baltimore, MD - May 27, 2016 - STAR-K Kosher Certification has long been known for its proactive local benevolent efforts which have a ripple effect across the greater Jewish community. The latest such endeavor for the not-for-profit organization will enable Information Technology (IT) job training for a maximum of ten students, made possible by a generous grant to JET Tech (Jewish Entrepreneur Trust Technology Group). The intensive 12 week/30 class course will be held approximately three times weekly, beginning June 1, in Baltimore, and it is endorsed by Rabbi Moshe Heinemann and Rabbi Yaakov Hopfer. JET Tech, a division of JET (Jewish Entrepreneurial Trust), is a volunteer network of experienced Torah observant IT professionals who provide services such as education, mentoring, networki...
Baltimore, MD – May 25, 2016 - It is with deep regret that BaltimoreJewishLife.com informs the community of the petirah of Mrs. Rosa Bondar, a’h, mother of Mr. Joe Bondar. The levaya will take place today, Wednesday, May 25, 2016, at Shomrei Hadas in Boro Park at noon. Kevura will be in Cedar Park Paramus, NJ. Shiva for Mrs. Rosa Bondar, mother of Joe Bondar, will continue to be observed at 168 Ardmore Ave Staten Island, NY until Sunday morning. Joe will continue Shiva at his home, 2708 Steele Rd., from Sunday night through Tuesday after Shacharis.  Davening Schedule:  Sunday 5/29                             &n...
My employer, Agudath Israel of America, as a non-profit organization, is not permitted to endorse any candidate for public office. I, however, write this column each week as an individual, not as an organizational representative. Even so, though, I take no public position on the presidential race. Aspects of the race, though, do strike me as worthy of consideration. Like a recent radio interview with Donald Trump. Among the candidate’s many interesting comments over the course of the campaign so far was his assertion last summer that Senator John McCain was “not a war hero.” This, despite Mr. McCain’s having flown missions during the Vietnam war, having been shot down, seriously injured and captured by the North Vietnamese, having endured torture and lan...
The Torah tells us in stark terms what the outcome will be if we do not live up to specific expectations. The recurring theme is that we must not do what is described as ‘going with G-d ‘b’keri’ or indifference - casualness. “If you will be indifferent to Me; I too will be indifferent.” This phrase is mentioned numerous times and seems to be the main cause of a negative response from G-d. Are we indifferent? There are three main events in the last hundred years which stand out as being unique in the long history of the Jewish people. Each is remarkable. They are the Holocaust, the mass return to Eretz Yisrael and the rise of the State of Israel, and massive assimilation despite a major teshuva movement. It would be quite possible to say that ...
“And you shall not wrong, one man his fellow Jew, and you shall fear God, for I am the Lord, your God (Vayikra 25:17).” The Torah is replete with laws that govern our inter-personal conduct.  We are taught how to treat the property and person of the other.  We are obligated to help another in need and to be sensitive to the challenges and difficulties of our fellow Jew.  So what is the Torah coming to teach us in the above quoted verse?  We are commanded to help and aid when another is in need.  Is it necessary to tell us that we “shall not wrong” another?  What is being added here that has not been covered in the commandments that precede and follow these words?  The Talmud (Bava Metziah 58b) explains that this verse comes to wa...
Listen to Rabbi Moshe Hauer on Behar - Servants of Hashem - 7th Aliyah Click here to listen
B’chasdei Hashem, a large shipment of pipes for use to manufacture mortar rockets was intercepted on the way to Gaza. The shipment also contained dozens of motors that are used by Hamas in the underground tunnel network. Defense Ministry inspector along the passage to Gaza working with Shin Bet agents stopped a shipment at the Tarkumiya Crossing near Hebron. Security officials believe the shipment was heading to Hamas in Gaza. The shipment was hidden among textiles and jewelry but the inspectors found hundreds of metallic four inch pipes as the ones used for mortar rockets along with dozens of the motors used in tunnels. Officials are certain the goods were heading to the Kerem Shalom Crossing, where the goods cross into Gaza.
Canada’s pro-Israel ambassador to the Jewish state is reportedly having her tenure cut short by new Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who is shuffling appointments of his predecessor, PM Stephen Harper. In a veiled confirmation, Vivian Bercovici told The Algemeiner on Thursday that she “serves at the pleasure” of her country’s prime minister, and will “continue to fulfill [her] official duties,” as long as they are requested. Bercovici was responding to reports in the Canadian press that Trudeau is on the verge of replacing her with Deborah Lyons, currently Canada’s ambassador to Afghanistan. Though, according to the Canadian Jewish News (CJN), the administration in Ottawa has not officially confirmed or denied the ...
Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) announced on Thursday that it is providing Sri Lanka with $2,000 worth of supplies to help residents of the areas affected by last week’s deadly floods. The Disaster Relief Management Ministry of Sri Lanka received water pumps, water filters, solar lighting kits and LED torches, as well as 50,000 tablets for water purification. The MFA said in a released statement that, depending on the needs of the Sri Lankan people, Israel will also provide long- and medium-term cooperation, which will include water expertise. “At this difficult times, the people of Israel and its government stand by the people of Sri Lanka,” the ministry said. Sri Lanka’s Disaster Management Center ...
Jerusalem - Israel’s centrist environment minister announced he was resigning on Friday in protest at the inclusion of ultra-nationalist Avigdor Lieberman in the coalition government, the second such cabinet walkout in a week. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu signed up Lieberman as Israel’s new defense minister on Wednesday in a pact beefing up his coalition to six parties with control over 66 of parliament’s 120 seats, up from a razor-thin majority of 61. “The recent political maneuvering and defense minister’s replacement are, in my view, grave actions that ignore what is important for the country’s security and will bring about more extremism and rifts among the people,” Environment Minister Avi Gabbay said in a resignation statemen...
Hiroshima, Japan - Barack Obama on Friday paid tribute to the “silent cry” of the 140,000 people killed by the world’s first atomic bomb attack and sought to renew attention in his unfulfilled vision of a world without nuclear weapons, as he became the first sitting U.S. president to visit Hiroshima. “Death fell from the sky and the world was changed,” Obama said, after laying a wreath, closing his eyes and briefly bowing his head before an arched monument in Hiroshima’s Peace Memorial Park that honors those killed on Aug. 6, 1945, when U.S. forces dropped the bomb that ushered in the nuclear age. The bombing, Obama said, “demonstrated that mankind possessed the means to destroy itself.” Obama did not apologize, instead offering, i...
Members of two prominent student groups who took part in a violent protest against a pro-Israel event at the University of California, Irvine (UCI) are attempting to justify their actions, following intense backlash and calls for legal action against them. UCI’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) and Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) each released separate statements defending their sponsorship of and participation in the demonstration against a Student’s Supporting Israel (SSI) event featuring Israel Defense Forces (IDF) veterans and the screening of a movie about the army. As The Algemeiner reported, anti-Israel students at UCI blockaded attendees. One female student was harassed and chased, to the point that she was forced to flee and take refu...
The Empire State Building will shine blue and white on June 5—mirroring the colors of the Israeli flag—for the annual Celebrate Israel Parade and festival in New York City, Israel National News reported. “We are thrilled that this year, in addition to the parade, we are presenting many opportunities for Jewish New Yorkers to celebrate and demonstrate our collective support for Israel,” said Eric S. Goldstein, CEO of the UJA-Federation of New York, which is hosting the annual parade alongside the Jewish Community Relations Council of New York and the Consulate General of Israel in New York. The parade calls itself “the largest demonstration of support for Israel in the world.”  On June 5, more than 250 organizations will march from 5...
Baltimore, MD  Daily Dvar Halacha -  May 27, 2016 / 19 Iyar 5776 - Look At Both Hands During Havdala?
Robert Kraft, founder, chairman and CEO of The Kraft Group and owner of the New England Patriots, delivers the keynote address and received an honorary doctorate at Yeshiva University’s 85th Commencement Ceremony on May 25, 2016 .
Highlands, NJ - Workers raising a waterfront home in New Jersey made a nautical discovery: a 44-foot wooden boat from the 19th century. The 12-foot wide vessel, its rudder fully intact, was found beneath Eileen Scanlon’s Highlands bungalow on Wednesday, the Asbury Park Press reported (http://on.app.com/1sRr5bR ). The boat likely was used to transport coal and other good along local waterways, and pieces of coal were found scattered along the floor. Rumors of the vessel’s existence had circulated for years. Scanlon got a peek of what looked like a rudder through the home’s crawlspace shortly after buying it in 2010, but she didn’t anticipate the size and scope of the boat. It’s built from 3-inch-thick wooden plants and is held together with 18-inch i...
Brooklyn, NY - Hours after being castigated for its decision to end separate swimming hours for women at a Williamsburg pool, the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation has reversed its decision and will allow the program to continue. Gender segregated swimming has been offered at the Metropolitan Pool and Recreation Center on Bedford Avenue is Williamsburg for years, with women’s only hours offered from 9:15 AM to 10:45 AM on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and between 2:45 PM to 4:45 PM on Sundays.  Several days ago a group of Chasidic women at the pool were told by a lifeguard that the program was to be terminated on June 11th.  Unhappy with the changes, some of the women reached out to Assemblyman Dov Hikind, who attempted to intervene on their beha...
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