In a groundbreaking victory upholding the constitutional right to freedom of religion, a New Jersey judge dismissed a slander and defamation lawsuit against a rabbi who told congregants to avoid all contact with a person who was found to be m’sarev b’din by a Beis Din. The plaintiff in the case, which was brought to New Jersey Superior Court in  December 2016, had been going through a difficult divorce when he was summoned to a Din Torah.  The plaintiff ignored the hazmana, prompting the Beis Din to issue a seruv labeling him as being in contempt of court, but despite the associated sanctions, the plaintiff continued to come to shul as before. Unsure how to interact with a fellow congregant who had been officially classified as m’sarev b’din, members of ...
An opinion poll shows that a majority of Russians think Soviet leader Josef Stalin was the “most outstanding person” in history. The survey by the Levada Center released Monday said 38 percent chose Stalin, in a stark contrast to just 12 percent in 1989 when Russians were beginning to discover the crimes of the Stalin regime. The poll of 1,600 people has a 3.4-percent margin of error. Scholars estimate that under Stalin more than 1 million people were executed in political purges. Millions more died in the vast prison camp system or as a result of mass starvation and deportations. But an increasing number of Russians now admire Stalin as a strong leader who led their country to victory in World War II.
Sergey Kislyak, the Russian ambassador to the U.S. whose meetings with Trump associates have attracted intense scrutiny and apparently forced at least one cabinet member from his job, is reportedly being recalled to Moscow. Kislyak had been expected to depart the nation’s capital, but news outlets had previously reported that he was bound for a new post at the United Nations in New York City. On Sunday Buzzfeed News reported that Kislyak was instead recalled home. His expected departure comes amid multiple investigations, including by the FBI, into Russia’s meddling in the 2016 election and the Kremlin’s potential ties to the Trump team. The ambassador, himself, has been dubbed “the most radioactive man in Washington,” in the wake of his meetings with Presid...
Agudath Israel of America released the following statement today, Monday, June 26, 2017: The Israeli Cabinet’s decision to not upend the status quo of normative, traditional Jewish religious worship at the Kotel Maaravi, or Western Wall, is a prudent and proper one. The Kotel was a place of peace and Jewish devotion for decades after its liberation in 1967.  That peace was shattered, and the holy place turned into a place of protest in the guise of prayer, by Women of the Wall and its allies overseas.  That has been a tragedy. Every man and woman can, as always, pray privately and with genuine emotion at the site.  But maintaining a standard for vocal public prayer is only sensible and proper.  That standard, since 1967, has been halacha, codified Jewish religi...
Tragedy struck the Satmar and Kasho communities on Monday morning when word spread of the sudden Petira of Rav Pinchas Elya Weinberger, Z”L. He was 38 years old. Rav Weinberger was Niftar in his sleep at the Kasho Camp in the Town of Wawarsing in Ulster County on Monday morning, police said. He is a Magid Shiur in the Satmar Yeshiva in Monsey, and a Magid Shiur in the Kasho Camp in the Catskills during the summer months. He is the son of Rav Hillel Weinberger, a Dayan in the Nitra Yeshiva in Mount Kisco, a member of the Hisachdus Horabbonim, and a prominent speaker and Mashpia. The Ulster County Sheriff’s Office is investing the death and Chevra Kaddisha are working with local authorities to ensure proper Kavod Hames. Bila HaMaves LaNetzach...  
Diaspora Affairs Minister explains that despite freeze on Western Wall deal, a place for mixed services already exists at the Kotel. Diaspora Affairs Minister Naftali Bennett released a video Monday in which he explained the situation at the Western Wall following the government's decision to freeze the deal which would have created an egalitarian prayer section at the holy site yesterday. Bennett explained that there is already a section at the Western Wall where men and women can pray together in accordance with the practice of the Reform and Conservative movements, and against the practice of Orthodox Judaism. "Four years ago, in my capacity as Minister of Jerusalem Affairs...at night, I quietly had a nice deck built, called Israel plaza," Bennett said. "It exis...
The New York state police are searching for two fugitives who are wanted for kidnapping and attempted murder in Tennessee, and they are investigating if the pair is responsible for an overnight home invasion. Police said Saturday that 24-year-old Jarret Heitmann and 22-year-old Makayla Stilwell were spotted in Pine Bush, about 85 miles north of New York City. The home invasion occurred at approximately 3:44 am in Bloomingburg, with the suspect or suspects entering a home on Altamont Road and taking personal effects. One resident suffered minor injuries, and the investigation is ongoing. Police in Sullivan County in Tennessee say Heitmann and Stilwell kidnapped a woman and shot a man in the chest on Tuesday, then fled. The shooting victim, 34-year-old Dustin Bishop, was hospitalized fo...
President Donald Trump is hailing Monday’s Supreme Court decision on his controversial travel ban as a “clear victory for our national security.” Trump says in a statement that his “number one responsibility” is to keep the American people safe. The nation’s highest court on Monday said it would let a limited version of Trump’s ban on travel from six mostly Muslim countries take effect. The ban on visitors from Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen can be enforced as long if those visitors lack a “credible claim of a bona fide relationship with a person or entity in the United States.” The justices will hear full arguments in the October.
Baltimore, MD – June 26, 2017 - It is with deep regret that BaltimoreJewishLife.com informs the community of the petirah of Nossie Munk, Z'L, son of Mr. & Mrs. Yehuda Munk, brother of Avraham, Ezriel, and Ari Munk and Mrs. Ruthy Diskind. Shiva will be observed at 24 Mariner Way, Monsey, NY, 10952 until Friday afternoon, June 30. Mrs. Ruthy Diskind will be returning to Baltimore on Thursday and will be sitting Shiva at her home at 6604 Amleigh Road, accepting visitors from Thursday, 7:00 PM - 10:00 PM and  Friday 9:00 AM - 4:00 PM. Bila HaMaves LaNetzach...
Trinity Lutheran Church in Missouri applied for a state grant to fix up its pre-school playground. The State of Missouri has a program that provides rubber from recycled tires to cover play areas like Trinity Lutheran’s. Missouri declined the grant because of a state constitutional provision that “no money shall ever be taken from the public treasury, directly or indirectly, in aid of any church, sect, or denomination of religion.” Missouri is one of thirty-nine states with similar constitutional restrictions, which are referred to as “Blaine Amendments.” Agudath Israel has fought against these constrictions for decades. Trinity Lutheran v. Comer asks whether Missouri can exclude religious institutions from otherwise secular and neutral aid programs unde...
Technology influences nearly every facet of our lives and children today are placed in a digital playground, often without instructions and supervision. The Digital Citizenship Project was designed to empower parents, teachers and students to maximize the benefits of technology by understanding and avoiding its inherent dangers. For the most recent episode of #AgudahLive we sat down with Dr. Eli Shapiro, creator and director of The Digital Citizenship Project, to hear his “Parent Strategies” on “what we can do now” to help build stronger and more meaningful relationships in our family despite the digital playground that we are in. Agudah Live: Technology and Its Impact on Relationships from Agudath Israel on Vimeo.    
The scaffolding on a five story building collapsed on Monday morning, injuring five people. The FDNY was on the scene at 42-20 27 Street near Queens Boulevard at around 11:30AM. The building is a five story 75×100 building under construction. Five people suffered non-life-threatening injuries. After making sure that all construction workers on the site were accounted for, the FDNY was placing emergency shoring to attempt to stabilize the scaffolding. 27th Street remains closed from Queens Boulevard to 42nd Road
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Monday, 2 Tammuz, at the Tel Aviv University Cyber Week, made the following remarks showing his commitment to the nation’s cyber community and its continued advancement: “A few years ago, I decided to establish Israel as one of the five leading cyber powers in the world and I think by all accounts, we’re there. But, the jury in cyber security is always out. And it’s a constant challenge. Cyber security is serious business. It’s serious business for two reasons: the first reason is that it’s a serious and growing threat. And it’s a growing threat everywhere because everything, every single thing is being digitized. And the distinction between hi-tech and low-tech is rapidly disappearing. And as that happens in ...
An influential House committee chairman will press his case on Monday for a $705 billion defense budget in 2018, more military spending than at any point during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and a level even a number of his Republican colleagues don’t support. Rep. Mac Thornberry of Texas, who heads the Armed Services Committee, argues the sharp increase is badly needed to repair a military that’s been at almost continuous combat for a decade and a half. He’ll unveil a blueprint that proposes $37 billion above the $603 billion than President Donald Trump requested for core Pentagon operations along with another $65 billion for warfighting missions. But Thornberry is at odds with fellow Republicans over how much the Pentagon should get in the fiscal year beginning Oct...
Jerusalem, Israel - June 26, 2017 - Monday morning, at the Jewish Agency for Israel Board of Governors meeting at the David Citadel Hotel in Jerusalem, Israel, was to be a routine agenda with reports and plans for new housing for Holocaust survivors. Jerusalem, Israel - June 26, 2017 - However, a special plenary, closed to the press, was held to discuss the previous days' announcements on the Kossel and conversion.  Jewish Agency head Natan Sharansky arrived to a crowded hotel ballroom, with many US delegates furious over the Israeli Prime Minister's actions. A dinner scheduled in the Knesset for the evening was cancelled. In May, had written to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, "We must recognize that Israel is in the midst of an historic and monumental p...
President Donald Trump is eager to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin with full diplomatic bells and whistles when the two are in Germany for a multinational summit next month. But the idea is exposing deep divisions within the administration on the best way to approach Moscow in the midst of an ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in the U.S. elections. Many administration officials believe the U.S. needs to maintain its distance from Russia at such a sensitive time — and interact only with great caution. But Trump and some others within his administration have been pressing for a full bilateral meeting. He’s calling for media access and all the typical protocol associated with such sessions, even as officials within the State Department and National Security Counc...
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court announced on Monday that it will decide whether President Trump’s revised travel ban was lawful, setting the stage for a major decision on the scope of presidential power. Mr. Trump’s revised executive order, issued in March, limited travel from six mostly Muslim countries for 90 days and suspended the nation’s refugee program for 120 days. The time was needed, the order said, to address gaps in the government’s screening and vetting procedures. Two federal appeals courts have blocked key parts of the order. The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, in Richmond, Va., ruled last month that the limits on travel from the six countries violated the First Amendment’s ban on ...
June 26, 2017 - Supreme Court agrees to hear Trump appeal of rulings blocking his travel ban. From the Live feed of SCOTUS BLog: On travel ban: "The clerk is directed to set a briefing schedule that will permit the cases to be heard during the first session of October Term 2017."
Baltimore, MD – June 26, 2017 - It is with deep regret that BaltimoreJewishLife.com informs the community of the petirah of Dr. Martin Alexander, a’h, father of Dr. Miriam Alexander Hurewitz. The levayah will take place on Tuesday morning at Temple Beth El in Ithaca, NY. Shiva will be observed in Ithaca on Wednesday morning. Dr. Alexander will be returning to Baltimore Wednesday evening and will continue sitting shiva at 6216 Green Meadow Way through Monday morning. Bila HaMaves LaNetzach...
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Government websites, many of them in Ohio, were hacked Sunday with a message that purports to be supportive of the Islamic State terrorist group. A message posted on the website of Republican Ohio Gov. John Kasich said, “You will be held accountable Trump, you and all your people for every drop of blood flowing in Muslim countries.” The message, left by “Team System Dz,” also ended, “I love the Islamic state.” The same message also infiltrated government websites in the town of Brookhaven, New York, according to news reports in that state, as well as the website for Howard County, Maryland. In the past, the group also claimed responsibility for similar hacks in the past in Richland County, Wisconsin, and in places such as A...
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