The Rabbinical Council of America, the leading organization of orthodox rabbis in North America, appreciates and supports the efforts of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel to reverse the decision of the local Bet Din of Petach Tikvah which refused to accept its recommendation to recognize the validity of the conversion to Judaism of an applicant for marriage arranged by our colleague Rabbi Haskel Lookstein.  Rabbi Shalom Baum, president of the RCA, said, "We regret the angst caused to this righteous convert, as well as the vulnerability felt by many righteous converts who feel that their legitimate status as Jews remains always subject to scrutiny. We call upon the Chief Rabbinate and the Israeli Religious Courts to ensure that in the future such applicants are treated with the dign...
The Lord spoke to Moses, saying: Speak to Aaron and say to him: "When you light the lamps, the seven lamps shall cast their light toward the face of the menorah (Vayikra 8:1-2)" Nothing is random.  As such, Rashi asks, “Why does the Torah juxtapose the section of the offerings of the Tribal Princes to the commandment to kindle the Menorah?”  Rashi explains that Aharon was despondent that neither he nor his tribe was represented in the dedication offerings (at the end of last week’s Parsha).  God tells Aharon, “Do not despair; your lot is greater than theirs for I have given you (and your descendants) the mitzvah to kindle the Menorah.”  Aharon’s sadness was understandable.  The entire nation, each and every tribe was participati...
Banning Muslims isn’t an answer What does the word “magazine” bring to mind? A glossy periodical or, perhaps, a news program? To many Americans, the word would more readily conjure a metal receptacle holding up to 30 or more bullets, inserted into a semi-automatic weapon. The sort favored by soldiers on battlefields. And people intent on killing as many civilians as possible at, say, a school, military base, office party, church or club. The Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which provides American citizens a right to own lethal weapons, was, in my opinion, a bad idea. Had I been a Founding Father (instead of a Fumbling Grandfather — though I much prefer my current role), I would have opposed it. And were there a current effort to repeal it, I&r...
London -  Britons have voted to leave the European Union, a decision which leaves the world’s fifth-biggest economy facing deep uncertainty about its growth prospects and its attractiveness to investors, and which could hurt other economies in Europe and beyond. The vote is expected to deliver at least a short-term hit to growth in Britain and might push it into recession. It could prompt the Bank of England to cut interest rates to zero and test the willingness of creditors to keep on funding Britain’s current account deficit. Further ahead, the implications of the vote will depend on what kind of trading relationship Britain can strike with the EU, which accounts for nearly half the country’s exports. Below is a summary of the economic implications of th...
Washington - The United States respects the decision of the people of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union, President Barack Obama said Friday, insisting that the special relationship between Washington and London will endure. In his first public reaction to the vote, Obama said the people of the U.K. had spoken. Obama had strongly urged that the UK remain in the EU, and the decision is a significant blow to his efforts to counter the isolationist viewpoints taking hold in many parts of the world. “The United Kingdom and the European Uniion will remain indispensable partners of the United States even as they begin negotiating their ongoing relationship to ensure continued stability, security, and prosperity for Europe, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the ...
New York -  Bernie Sanders told a roaring crowd of supporters Thursday that his campaign is “just getting started” fighting economic inequality, changing the Democratic Party and bolstering Democrats running for Congress. Speaking to a packed hall in Manhattan, Sanders took something of a victory lap as he reviewed the states he won and the fact that many young people flocked to his campaign over presumptive Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s. “Our goal from day one has been to transform this nation and that is the fight we are going to continue,” Sanders, his voice hoarse, told supporters who packed venue called The Town Hall near Times Square. “What started last year as a radical idea? Nobody thinks it’s radical anymore.&rdqu...
 Baltimore, MD  Daily Dvar Halacha -  June 24, 2016 /  18 Sivan 5776 - According to the Talmud Don't Drink This Way!
Jerusalem - Israel’s army says troops have shot and killed a Palestinian woman after she purposely rammed her vehicle into an Israeli car, injuring two people in the West Bank. The military says the woman “accelerated and crashed into a stationary vehicle” at the entrance to the settlement of Kiryat Arba. Forces opened fire and killed her. The two injured Israeli civilians were taken to hospital. Friday’s incident is the latest in nine months of dozens of Palestinian attacks, including stabbings, shootings and assaults using cars. The attacks have killed 32 Israelis and two Americans. About 200 Palestinians have been killed during that time, most of them described by Israel as attackers. The rest died in clashes. The assaults were once near-daily incide...
Pledges to Dedicate $3 Million in Proceeds from His Award to Programs for Persons with Disabilities and Music Education Jerusalem, June 23, 2016 – Tonight at the gala ceremony held at the Jerusalem Theater, Israel’s Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu presented the 2016 Genesis Prize to the world’s preeminent violinist, teacher and advocate for people with disabilities Itzhak Perlman. Over 500 Israeli and international dignitaries attended the ceremony, which was emceed by the prominent British actress Dame Helen Mirren.  Perlman also received congratulatory messages from US President Barak Obama and Former US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger.  The Genesis Prize honors exceptional individuals who have attained excellence in their professional field, have m...
Washington - Former Secretary Hillary Clinton failed to turn over a copy of a key message involving problems caused by her use of a private homebrew email server, the State Department confirmed Thursday. The disclosure makes it unclear what other work-related emails may have been deleted by the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee. The email was included within messages exchanged Nov. 13, 2010, between Clinton and one of her closest aides, Deputy Chief of Staff Huma Abedin. At the time, emails sent from Clinton’s BlackBerry device and routed through her private clintonemail.com server in the basement of her New York home were being blocked by the State Department’s spam filter. A suggested remedy was for Clinton to obtain a state.gov email account. “Let...
New York - U.S. stock index futures dipped sharply lower Thursday evening ET as results from the British referendum continued to roll in. Dow Jones futures briefly saw an implied open down more than 400 points. After paring those losses briefly, futures then broke below an implied open down 600 around 11:50 p.m. ET (4:50 a.m. London time). The FTSE futures also extended their losses, pointing to a roughly 6 percent fall at the U.K. stock market open.
Turnberry, Scotland - Donald Trump, in a visit to Scotland on Friday, hailed Britain’s vote to leave the European Union, drawing parallels to the anger driving his own presidential campaign. “I love to see people take their country back,” he told reporters at a news conference at one of his golf courses in Scotland. “And that’s really what’s happening in the United States” and other parts of the world. The campaign leading to Thursday’s stunning vote for Britain to leave the European Union shared some of the populist themes driving the Trump campaign, including a wariness of immigration, concern about borders and skepticism of the value of multinational organizations. “People want to see borders. They don’t necessarily ...
Jerusalem - After a historic and stunning decision by British voters in favor of leaving the European Union in Thursday’s referendum, causing UK Prime Minister David Cameron to announce his resignation on Friday, Israeli leaders have begun to debate the implications for Israel of the so-called Brexit. “Britain seeking its nationalism and not the European Union is good for Israel,” wrote MK Moti Yogev, of the nationalist Jewish Home party, in a Facebook post on Friday morning. “A European Union that applauds [Palestinian President] Abu Mazen as he tells blood libels about us deserves to be weakened and to deal with its own problems instead of pressuring Israel,” Yogev added, referring to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas by his familiar Arabic nick...
New York -  New York Rabbi Haskel Lookstein, told The Jerusalem Post on Thursday that the Petah Tikva rabbinate’s rejection of one of his conversions involving an American woman who moved to Israel was, in his view, cruel. The woman, who Rabbi Lookstein says is quite observant, moved to Israel and got engaged to an Israeli man. She had been unable to get married however since the local rabbinate where she sought to register for marriage would not recognize the validity of her conversion. “I was very sad because first of all a woman is being hurt at one of the most vulnerable moments in her life and at a time when she should be at her absolute happiest planning a wedding and instead she is running up against the cruelty of a rabbinic court,” he told the Pos...
Maharal on the Parsha - Behaaloscha - Being 'Taken', The Year at Sinai, The Cloud of Succos Click here to listen
A prominent Rabbi and educator living in Beit Shemesh has been accused of misusing his authority and position for his own gratification. A Beis Din of senior rabbis in Israel and the US issued a warning instructing women to avoid all contact with Rabbi Meir Pogrow, the founder of a website and study program called Master Torah, designed to aid the study of religious texts and retain the knowledge acquired. According to the Master Torah website, Pogrow has rabbinical ordination from several authorities, including from the Chief Rabbinate, and is qualified as a rabbinical judge. He has taught at Yeshiva University High Schools of Los Angeles, the Michlala seminary in Jerusalem, and was head of the Kollel (program for married yeshiva students) of Aish HaT...
The next time you’re stuck in a long security line, consider this: At most U.S. airports it’s possible to buy your way out of the wait. All major domestic airlines and some smaller carriers offer programs that allow people to skirt lines leading to the taxpayer-funded Transportation Security Administration checkpoints even if they don’t qualify for the government’s expedited security program. For a price. While that arrangement seems fine to people within the airline and travel industry — and is lauded by people who use it — critics say that it unfairly allows businesses to profit by taking advantage of a critical government function. “Buying your way to the front of the line — that has nothing to do with the level of security,” for...
Initial attempts to download information from the flight data and voice recorders of an EgyptAir plane that crashed into the Mediterranean last month have failed, and key parts of the recorders are being sent to France for repairs, according to Egyptian and U.S. officials. The “electronic boards” of the recorders are being flown next week to the offices of the French aviation accident investigation bureau near Paris, authorities said. After the boards are repaired and salt removed, they will be sent back to Cairo for data analysis, Egypt’s Investigation committee said in a statement late Thursday. The recorders, also known as black boxes, were extensively damaged when EgyptAir Flight 804 traveling from Paris to Cairo plunged into the sea on May 19, killing all 66 people...
Parshas Be’Ha’alos’cha / Baltimore Zmanim / Eruv is UP! Baltimore, MD – June 247, 2016    Parshas:  Be’Ha’alos’cha Today:    18 Sivan       Chatzos: 1:09 Hadlakas Nairos: 8:19 PM Shkiah:                   8:37:35 PM Tzais HaKochavim:  9:28 PM
The Bostoner Rebbe (right) from Beit Shemesh was Niftar moments ago at Jersey Shore Medical University Center.  The Rebbe Zatzal was in Lakewood for a granddaughter’s Chasunah, and on Shabbos suddenly suffered a heart attack and went into Cardiac Arrest. Hatzolah rushed to the Rebbe’s aid and managed to bring back a pulse. The Rebbe was transported to JSUMC, where he began recuperating. Several hours ago he suddenly took a turn for the worse and they were unfortunately unable to revive him. Pictured is the Rebbe just days ago visiting Lakewood BMG Rosh Yeshivah Reb Malkiel Kotler. Levaya details will be published when available. The Bostoner Rebbe from Beit Shemesh was Niftar moments ago at Jersey Shore Medical University Center, TLS is reporting. The Reb...
More articles