The U.S. House of Representatives recently unanimously passed bipartisan legislation urging President Barack Obama to oppose or veto anti-Israel resolutions at the United Nations before he leaves office. The resolution, which was approved by voice vote, calls on the United States “to oppose and veto United Nations Security Council resolutions that seek to impose solutions to final status issues, or are one-sided and anti-Israel.” It also calls on Obama to reject any resolution that sets ‘parameters’ for a final settlement between Israel and the Palestinians. Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce’s (R-CA) said before the vote that “there is a growing concern in Congress that despite established, bipartisan United States policy, the Obama Administr...
And Jacob left Be’er Sheva and he went to Haran (Bereishis 28:10) Two different conversations – yet, both had the same result – Yaakov would have to leave home.  Rivkah told Yaakov to flee the familial home in order to save himself from Esav’s wrath.  Yitzchak told Yaakov to travel to Haran in order to find a suitable spouse.  Yaakov accepts the wise counsel of his parents and begins the long journey away from his home and away from his land.  Although his mother said it would only be “yamim achadim, a few days,” Yaakov understood that the road ahead was long and tumultuous. The commentaries question why the Torah had to tell us both that Yaakov left Be’er Sheva (Va’Yetzei Yaakov M’Be’er Sheva) and that he we...
Iran was Jimmy Carter’s Waterloo. Just as Napoleon’s fate was sealed on that bloody Belgian battlefield, so was Mr. Carter’s by the metal and human carnage strewn across Desert One, the area south of Tehran where U.S. special operations forces attempted, and then were forced to abort, the rescue of American hostages held by the just-established Islamic Republic of Iran. Too much information to process in that sentence? You must be a millennial. The late Anwar Sadat, Egypt’s president (L), shakes hands with then Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, a”h, (R), as former President Jimmy Carter looks on,at Camp David, Maryland, September 1978. (AP Photo) Well, then, some ancient history: Back in 1979, the Shah of Iran, a friend of both the U...
Security cabinet decides to return bodies of all Arab terrorists - except for those affiliated with Hamas. Israel will hold the bodies of terrorists from Hamas, but will return the bodies of other terrorists to their families, Haaretz reported Friday morning. According to the report, the new policy comes after a disagreement between Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman and Major General Nitzan Alon regarding the issue of returning the bodies of terrorists. Liberman expressed complete opposition to the return of the bodies of terrorists and said that holding the bodies establishes a deterrent against future terrorist attacks. Gen. Alon disagreed and argued that holding the bodies only increases tension with the Arabs in the PA and Gaza. He said that it does not deter terrorist a...
MDA reports man seriously injured after falling nearly 20 feet in Old City of Jerusalem. A man was seriously injured Friday morning when he fell nearly 20 feet in the Old City of Jerusalem. The man, estimated to be roughly 40 years of age, fell off the edge of Hayehudim Street, built above the parallel street in the hilly urban area and protected by a handrail, suffering serious head injuries. Emergency responders from MDA provided first aid to the man and evacuated him to Hadassah Ein Karem Hospital in southern Jerusalem. MDA reports that the man was unconscious and on a respirator. MDA paramedic Yosef Kasoto, one of the first to arrive at the scene, described the accident. “Lying on the sidewalk there was a man roughly 40 years of age. He was partially conscious and had a he...
Chesed Chesed
Father killed, son seriously injured during hike through Tze'elim Canyon in Judean Desert. A hiker was killed Friday afternoon near the Tzfira Pool after falling from a cliff on the edge of Tze’elim Canyon in the Judean Desert. In addition, the hiker’s son was seriously injured in the fall, suffering head injuries. The pair were taking part in a group hike organized for families in the southern edge of the Judean Desert. It is unclear how the two fell, and an investigation into the circumstances of the accident is underway. The IDF’s elite 669 rescue unit was deployed from Arad, and recovered both the father and son. The father was then declared dead at the scene, while the son was evacuated to Soroka Hospital in Beer Sheva.
President-elect Donald Trump, who won the hearts and minds of millions of working-class voters, may help deliver a multibillion-dollar bonanza to America's wealthiest families. The Manhattan businessman's election offers congressional Republicans their best chance in years to eliminate the estate tax, which he and others call the "death tax." Abolishing it would save more than $20 billion a year for the millionaires and billionaires the tax applies to -- including the Trump family and several of the people he has chosen for his administration. "A lot of families go through (expletive deleted) over the death tax," Trump said during his presidential run. The tax's opponents say it forces some families to sell their farms or small businesses in order to pay up. St...
Parshas Vayetze / Baltimore Zmanim / Eruv is UP! Baltimore, MD – Dec. 9, 2016    Parshas:  Vayetze Today:    9 Kislev      Chatzos: 11:59 PM Hadlakas Nairos: 4:25 PM Shkiah:                   4:43:16 PM Tzais HaKochavim:  5:34 PM Kiddush Levanah Dec. 2, 8:47 AM through Dec. 14, 3:09 AM Kiddush Levanah may only be said at night 
U.S. President Barack Obama, whose administration failed to break the impasse between Israel and the Palestinians during eight years in office, is coming under pressure to act one last time as events in Israel and at the UN clash. In Jerusalem, the parliament is debating legislation that would give official recognition to Israel's expanding settlements in the disputed West Bank that were built without government approval. That, in turn, is bolstering efforts by United Nations Security Council members in New York who are circulating competing versions of a draft resolution that would condemn those settlements, or at least express the world body's concern about them. Obama may have to decide whether the U.S. should exercise its UN veto against a resolution criticizing...
Eight Arabs from eastern Jerusalem arrested while planning series of terror attacks in the capital. Israeli security forces recently foiled a string of terror attacks aimed at the capital, the Shin Bet internal security agency reports. A joint operation by the Shin Bet and Israeli police broke up a terror cell consisting of eight Arab residents of Jerusalem, from the Sur Baher and Sheikh Jarrah neighborhoods. The Hamas-linked terror cell had been planning a series of shooting attacks in the capital, including against an IDF base and targets on Mount Scopus, home to the Hebrew University and Hadassah Hospital. During interrogation by the Shin Bet of the suspects, it was discovered that the cell was formed in 2015, after several of the group’s members were released from prison, h...
“Vayachalom v’hinei sulam mutzav artzah v’rosho magiah hashmaymah” - “And he (Yaakov) dreamed, and behold there was a ladder standing on the ground with it’s head reaching the heavens.” This week the world lost one of its most famous people, a person that fought in wars, served as senator, and even reached the heavens. John Glenn, who accomplished a lot in his life and was certainly virtues in his contribution and inspiration to mankind, was “Magiah hashamaymah,” he reached the heavens, being the first person to orbit the earth. Yaakov Avinu however, was never an astronaut and never went to space, but was also “magiah hashamymah” going far beyond where John went - all while staying right here on this earth. Yaakov was a &l...
New Jersey - The Lakewood Police Department is asking homeowners to check their valuables after a 31 year old Toms River resident was found to be selling items taken from at least one Orthodox Jewish home where she was employed as a cleaning woman. Police said that Guadalup Menses Gomez was suspected of taking items from an Attaya Road residence in Lakewood.  After conducting an investigation, Detective Chase Messer discovered that Gomez had been selling jewelry at area pawn shops since July. Gomez was arrested and charged today. Police suspect that she may have stolen jewelry from multiple employers, some of whom may not have even discovered their losses yet. Anyone with any information is asked to call Detective Messer at 732-363-0200 x 5348.
An interesting story surfaced very recently in one of the Jewish news outlets. A gas attendant at a station on the Palisades Parkway came up with a clever scam. When filling up for an Orthodox Jew, he would mention that on Passover, “one of your guys” filled up on gas but forgot his wallet and he paid for it instead. Many individuals ended up giving this man money in order to make a kiddush Hashem. But this is the 21st century and thanks to social media, these stories began to spread and the attendant was exposed as a con artist. He targeted Orthodox Jews, however, because he knew he could rely on their honesty and integrity and feeling of responsibility. To some degree, it is a similar tactic employed by our enemies around and within Israel who seem to constantly seek the sig...
South Korea's National Assembly voted by a huge margin Friday to impeach President Park Geun-hye over her role in a corruption and influence-peddling scandal, forcing her to immediately hand over the running of the country to a caretaker prime minister. But despite the clear condemnation from both politicians and the general public, Park signaled that she would not be standing down but would wait with a "calm and clear mind" while the conservative-leaning Constitutional Court decided whether or not to uphold the impeachment motion. That means that South Korea could be in for a long period of paralysis. The court now has six months to rule, creating a power vacuum in South Korea at the same time as the United States goes through its own presidential transition. A total of ...
As Yaakov was completing his long journey to Lavan he stopped by a well. The Torah explains that this well had a huge boulder on top of it which required the combined strength of many men to remove it, in order to ensure that no one single shepherd could take from the well until every shepherd was present. The Torah goes on to relate that when Yaakov saw Rachel approaching, he single-handedly rolled the rock off the well - an incredible feat of strength. Rashi comments that he did this with ease, and that the Torah is coming to tell us how mighty Yaakov Avinu was. Judaism does not value the physical might of man; It values accomplishments. Why does the Torah specifically tell us how strong Yaakov was? What is the lesson that it is conveying by doing so? On one bright and sunny day in Flo...
In what appears to be a moment of utter frustration, a tortured and childless Rachel blurts out to Yaakov, הבה לי בנים ואם אין מתה אנכי (בראשית ל א), “Give me children - otherwise I am dead.” Although the pain of a woman who cannot bear children is unimaginable, nevertheless we may ask, is this an appropriate expression for one our illustrious matriarchs? Throughout our long history there have been paradigms of faith who despite having lost everything; their homes, wealth, spouses, children and personal dignity, and were submitted to cruel and inhumane torture, yet remained steadfast in declaring that there is only one thing that even G-d can’t take away from them, which is their emunah, their faith in Him. These individuals continued livin...
A story that shook the Brooklyn Jewish community, has thankfully turned out to be benign. As had been reported on November 2nd, a suspicious male had been seen taking photos of a Jewish girls school, causing the parent body of the school as well as the Jewish community at large to be concerned. After a month of tireless work by the NYPD, people can now rest assured that the incident was in no way a threat to the school. At the time, a male was seen exiting a car and walking up to the Bais Yaakov D’Rav Meir School building located on Parkville Avenue in the Kensington section of Brooklyn. As can be seen in the attached security camera footage, the individual took multiple photos of the building from various angles. He is then seen getting back into his vehicle, and driving aw...
His legend is other-worldly and now, in his 95th year, that’s where John Glenn has gone. An authentic hero and genuine American icon, Glenn died this afternoon surrounded by family at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center in Columbus after a remarkably healthy life spent almost from the cradle with Annie, his beloved wife of 73 years, who survives. He, along with fellow aviators Orville and Wilbur Wright and moon-walker Neil Armstrong, truly made Ohio first in flight. “John Glenn is, and always will be, Ohio’s ultimate hometown hero, and his passing today is an occasion for all of us to grieve," said Ohio Gov. John R. Kasich. "As we bow our heads and share our grief with his beloved wife, Annie, we must also turn to the skies, to salute his remarkable ...
Not long ago, I was walking along a street and I noticed a sign in a storefront window, “College Prep.”  Beneath the sign was another sign that read, “A must for success!”  Hmm, I thought to myself, that’s interesting.  We offer preparation classes for all sorts of things, except the things that we really need preparation for!  I thought back to a conversation I’d had with a young man only a couple of weeks earlier.  He had met a young woman and he was smitten with her.  “She’s the one,” he confided to me.  “One what?” I asked. “The one I’m going to marry,” he proclaimed. “And are you ready for marriage?” I asked. He shrugged his shoulders.  “Wh...
No, this is not an article about money from non-kosher sources. It is an article about non-kosher money. Literally. It seems that a spokesperson for the Bank of England recently stated that they have just become aware that the polymer used to make Britain’s new Five Pound Bank note contains tallow. The tallow, explained the spokesperson, is used to make the note more anti-static. Tallow, of course, is chemically treated animal fat. The news had reverberations. A petition to the Bank of England to remove the tallow from the new notes has now gathered more than 120,000 signatures. The Bank of England responded that its supplier was now “working intensively” to find a possible solution to the issue, adding that the issues “has only just come to light.” Religi...
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