BJL News Ticker
Mazel Tov to Jacob and Kaila Schonland on the birth of a daughter Parshas B’Shalach / Baltimore Zmanim / Eruvs Are Up Ted Cruz: Biden Admin. Poured 'Millions Of Dollars' Into Hamas Former Baltimore Mayor Ordered To Repay $2 Million Business Loan BDE: R’ Ephraim Rubin, z’l [Updated as of Thurs., 9:25AM] Shiva in Baltimore Begins with Mincha on Friday Mazel Tov to Mr. and Mrs. Yonatan Ziegler on the birth of a son Deadly ‘Work Accident’: Hezbollah Commander And Family Killed In Blast Or Levy, Eli Sharabi And Ohad Ben Ami To Be Freed After 491 Days In Captivity Eggflation Crisis: Rising Prices and Shortages Scramble Trump's Economic Promises Passenger Plane With 10 People on Board Goes Missing in Alaska BDE: Mrs. Noemie Wealcatch, a’h [Updated as of 4:11PM Feb. 5] Minyanim Begin Thursday Morning Brace for a Wintry Mix: Snow, Sleet & Freezing Rain Heading to Baltimore The Golden Pager That Netanyahu Gifted Trump: 'Symbolizes The War's Turning Point' US Economy Grew Faster Than Expected During The Second Quarter Foreign Barbarians And Assimilation: Hamas Deeply Concerned About Gazans Emigrating, Doc. Reveals U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers: Major Wreckage Removal From DC-area Plane Crash Is Complete Gallant vs. Netanyahu: Clash Over Timing of 'Beeper Operation' and Missed Opportunity to Strike Hezbollah Watch Horav Michoel Sorotzkin: The Mystery of Pessach. A Sefer Shemos Feature Shiur Le'iluy Nishmas Rav Elazar Mayer Teitz, zt"l (Video) Rabbi Zvi Teichman on Parshas B'shalach: No Veggies Allowed Parhsa B'Shalach- Interpretations And Verbs
Baltimore, MD – Feb. 7, 2025 - BJL wishes a hearty Mazel Tov to Jacob and Kaila Schonland on the birth of a daughter. Mazel Tov to grandparents Addison & Stephanie Schonland and Andrew & Lenie Singer יה"ר שיזכו לגדל בתם לתורה, לחופה, ולמעשים טובים. אמן
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Baltimore, MD – Feb. 4, 2025 - BJL regrets to inform the community of the petira of Mrs. Noemie Wealcatch, a’h, mother of  Rabbi Shaul (Michelle) Wealcatch, Rabbi Yitzchok (Tirza) Wealcatch, Rabbi Yaakov (Chavi) Wealcatch, Dr. Shmuel (Malki) Wealcatch, Chaim (Aviva) Wealcatch,  Moshe (Shirah) Wealcatch, and Rabbi Avi (Miriam) Wealcatch.The Kevurah will take place, Feb. 5, at Mt. Lebanon Cemetery at 11:00AMShiva will be observed through Tuesday morning, Feb. 11, at 6701 Park Heights Avenue, Apartment: 1E, Baltimore, Maryland 21215 Nichum Avelim: 410-963-0393Minyanim begin Thursday morning:Shacharis - 8:00 a.m.Mincha/Maariv - 5:15 p.m. Requesting no visits after 9:30 p.m. please.Friday mincha -1:00 p.m.    
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18-Month-Old Benny Has Cancer. His Family Needs You!  Save baby Benny! – Give him the gift of life  Benny's parents are forced to turn to you for help! 😢  Their 18-month-old baby was diagnosed with colon cancer, and his only chance is surgery they cannot afford. 🩺💔  Desperate to save their baby, they are calling out to you for help. 🙏🏻  Do not let them be alone in this agony!* They need our support now more than ever! 💪❤️  Help save Benny here   https://thechesedfund.com/sfk/benny?aff=jbl4.2at
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Baltimore, MD – Feb. 4, 2025 - BJL regrets to inform the community of the petira of R’ Ephraim Rubin, z’l, father of Yechiel (Rochelle) Rubin, Brenda (Moshe) Sherman, Rochell (Dovid) Hoffman, and Moshe Meir (Shoshana) Rubin Shiva,  through Wednesday morning, will be observed at 3404 Fallstaff Rd. Baltimore, MD, 21215 beginning with Mincha on friday at 2:00PMMinyanim:Friday Mincha 2:00pmMaariv Motzei Shabbos 6:30pmSunday Shachris 8:00amWeekday Mincha / Maariv 5:15pmWeekday Shachris 7:00amBila HaMaves LaNetzach…
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Baltimore, MD – Feb. 5, 2025 - BJL regrets to inform the community of the petira of  Mr. Hershel Goldman, z’l, father of Abigail Goldman and  Beth (Nathan) Adler. The Levayah will be held at Levinson’s today, Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2025, at 2:30PM. Shiva will be observed at Park Regent Condos,  6414 Park Heights Ave., Apt. A2, Baltimore,  MD, 21215Daily from 9:30AMPlease no visitors from 12-1 and 5-6 or after 10PM
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The US poured "hundreds of millions of dollars" into Hamas, Republican Senator Ted Cruz told The Daily Caller following news of the Trump administration's pause on foreign aid. The Trump administration had paused the foreign funds to review if aid allocation was aligned with his foreign policy. “They secretly poured literally uncountable hundreds of millions of dollars toward Hamas, including tens of millions of cash they could never account for,” Cruz said.  "Throughout the Biden admin, they knew the money they were pouring into Gaza would benefit Hamas," the Texas senator wrote in a post to X/Twitter. "They did it anyway." The Daily Caller reported that over $1.3 billion in US taxpayer funds during the Biden presidency ended up funding gr...
Baltimore, MD - Feb. 7, 2025 - Former Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake has been ordered to repay a $2 million business loan, according to court documents.  The court order comes after the lender, Old National Bank, sued the former mayor who was listed as a guarantor with Gulf Coast Technology Corporation, the consulting company that received the loan, according to The Baltimore Banner. The loan was issued in November 2023 under a contract in which Rawlings-Blake said she would repay the loan if the consulting company did not.  Court documents showed that the company at one point agreed to repay the loan in $28,000 monthly payments with a 3% interest rate, The Banner reported.  According to the latest court order, issued on Jan. 22, 2025, Rawlings-Blake must repay...
Baltimore, MD – Feb. 7, 2025 - BJL wishes a hearty Mazel Tov to Mr. and Mrs. Yonatan Ziegler on the birth of a son. יה"ר שיזכו לגדל בנם לתורה, לחופה, ולמעשים טובים. אמן
A Hezbollah field commander, Abbas Haidar, was killed on Friday morning along with several members of his family, in an explosion in Tayr Harfa, located in southern Lebanon. Avichay Adraee, head of the Arab media division of the IDF Spokesperson's Unit, stated that according to information available to the IDF, they were killed as a result of an explosion of an IED belonging to Hezbollah. The explosive was intended to be used against Israel, but it detonated, killing the Hezbollah field commander and his family members, said Adraee. "I remind the Lebanese that Hezbollah's weapons are a double-edged sword, endangering mainly the residents of Lebanon and even Hezbollah members themselves. Stay away from Hezbollah's weapons!" Adraee added. The IAF early Friday morning, with...
Parsha Hashavua
Rabbi Zvi Teichman on Parshas B'shalach: No Veggies Allowed

The Shirah that Moshe and the Children of Israel sang at the splitting of the sea concludes with a prophecy that one day, 'You [G-d] will bring them, ותטעמו — and implant them, בהר נחלתך — on the mount of Your heritage.' 


The holy Arizal advises that when we recite this daily, we should have in mind to merit raising our children to be infused with Torah.


Where is there any allusion in this prayer, that speaks simply about our return to the boundaries of the Holy Land, to inspiring them to grow in Torah?


We echo this verse each Shabbos in the Mussaf prayer where we beseech G-d, שתעלנו בשמחה לארצנו ותטענו בגבולנו — You shall bring us up in gladness to our Land, and plant us within our boundaries. (הר"י בר יקר)


Perhaps it is the intimation of our being 'planted' as trees with its implication of bearing forth heathy 'fruit' — our children, that should draw our thoughts to raising them in the spirit of Torah, at this specific juncture.


The paraphrasing of the verse in the Shirah 'implant them on the mount of Your heritage', with simply 'plant us within our boundaries', leaves out the more significant aspect of being embedded within our 'heritage', our birthright, minimizing its significance to just physical borders.


The Mechilta on this verse in the Shirah, that describes our being 'implanted' in the Land of Israel, directs us to very last verse in the Book of Amos where G-d promises, ונטעתים — And I will plant them on their land, ולא ינתשו — and they shall no longer be uprooted from upon their land. The Mechilta emphasizes that the verb implanting used here is meant to indicate, נטיעה שאין בה נתישה — a planting that will never be uprooted.


Perhaps this is no mere promise of a permanent return to our land, but rather the key for our survival to be worthy of that day.


To succeed in cultivating healthy 'fruits' a tree must be planted in a suitable climate.


The optimum environment for a Jew is in our land, the 'mount of our heritage'. A land set apart from others and their influences. But until we all return to that idyllic region, we must make sure that wherever we plant our 'trees' they are within 'boundaries' that set us apart from the foreign culture that block the healthy rays of 'sunlight' the Torah bathes us in.


The legendary Mashgiach of the Mir, Rav Yeruchem Levovitz, taught that the primary trait that will ensure our success in life is to be a person who is נטוע וקבוע — firmly implanted and consistent in one's convictions, impervious to the 'blowing winds' that seek to uproot and sway us from our deep connection to our heritage. 


The Mechilta also draws us to another aspect of proper implantation.


We must be likened to 'a vineyard that is set in distinct and defined rows', as the prophet Yechezkel (48) describes 'from the eastern side to the western side… for Yehuda, one portion, for Dan, one portion, for Naftali, one portion', and so on for each tribe.


The Jewish nation consists of many diverse characters and unique talents, each one requiring their appropriate climate for growth, no two alike.


We must appreciate that when interacting with our fellow brothers and sisters, and especially with each of our children, no two are alike.


There is one more vital aspect in the metaphor of our being planted trees that bear fruit.


A grapevine out of Egypt You caused to journey; You expelled nations, ותטעה — and implanted it. (תהלים פ ט)


There seems to be an emphasis on our being contrasted with the Egyptians, as a grapevine saved from their grasp.


Rav Uri Shraga Jungreis makes a fascinating observation. The Torah distinguishes the Holy Land which is dependent on rain of heaven to irrigate its seed, from Egypt which is described as כגן ירק — a vegetable garden, which required them to bring water by foot from the Nile River to nourish their crops. (דברים יא י)  


The Torah states, 'When you shall come to the land, ונטעתם and you shall plant any food tree'. (ויקרא יט כג)


We are planter of trees, while the Egyptians tend to their vegetable gardens.


There are two distinctions between trees and vegetables. Trees take years from planting the seed until seeing fruit. Vegetables grow more rapidly. Secondly, fruits are consumed but the tree continues to give new fruit. A vegetable is totally consumed leaving no remnant. In Talmudic terminology, when eating a vegetable one is מכליא קרנא — consuming the principal, there is nothing left.


The key to survival is to patiently invest our efforts towards achieving the greater goal, forfeiting the need for instant gratification.


In Egyptian society it was the 'here and now', the uncontrolled desire to consume rather to reap the bounty that will never diminish the asset. (אורי וישעי שמות א)


The litmus test to determining the value of any endeavor is to ask oneself, "What will I be left with once it is done?"


Those who create boundaries of purpose; who are consistent; unwavering in their beliefs, will never 'veg out', engaging in activities that while away precious time leaving them empty-handed.


If we succeed in planting healthy trees, we are certain to reap a bounty of eternal reward, meriting to be planted forever on the 'mount of our heritage'.


באהבה,


צבי יהודה טייכמאן




























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After 491 days in captivity, Hamas will free hostages Or Levy, Eli Sharabi and Ohad Ben Ami from captivity on Saturday, it was cleared for publication on Friday evening. Levy, 34, was kidnapped from the Nova Music Festival on October 7, 2023. His wife who was with him was murdered. Their three-year-old son is waiting for his father to return home. Sharabi, 52, was kidnapped from Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, 2023. His wife and two daughters were murdered during the Hamas massacre. Sharabi’s brother, Yossi, was also kidnapped by Hamas and it was later announced that he was murdered while in captivity. Hamas continues to hold Yossi’s body. Ben Ami, 56, was taken from Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, 2023, together with his wife, Raz, who was freed in...
Hardened criminals in Pennsylvania undertook a daring heist this week to steal goods increasingly precious: eggs. One hundred thousand of them. The theft, worth approximately $40,000, was described as “extremely rare” by a police spokeswoman, who suggested the night-time raid may be tied to the soaring cost of eggs in the US sparked largely by the biggest bird flu outbreak in a decade. For Donald Trump, a president who made bringing down the price of groceries a key plank of his election campaign, egg prices could become a problem. The average price per dozen eggs hit $4.15 (£3.34) in December – not far off the $4.82 record set two years ago – and is expected to soar a further 20 per cent this year, according to the Agriculture Department. ...
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Authorities in Alaska are searching for a commercial passenger plane that went missing in freezing, windy conditions over the Bering Sea, the third major U.S. aviation incident in the past 10 days. The single-engine plane operated by regional carrier Bering Air had nine passengers and a pilot on board when its position was lost at around 3:20 p.m. local time Thursday, according to the Alaska Department of Public Safety. The Coast Guard, U.S. Air Force and National Guard were involved in an air and land search for the plane, which was roughly 12 miles offshore when its position was lost, authorities said. The Federal Bureau of Investigation was trying to track the passengers through their cellphones, according to the local fire department. The incident comes just over a week after...
Baltimore, MD – Feb. 7, 2025 – A winter storm is set to impact the Baltimore area over Shabbos, bringing a mix of snow, sleet, and freezing rain. The National Weather Service forecasts a mostly sunny Friday with a high near 46°F, though gusty northwest winds up to 31 mph will make it feel colder. Temperatures will drop to 26°F overnight as clouds increase, setting the stage for the approaching storm. On Shabbos, snow is expected to begin in the morning, transitioning into a mix of sleet and freezing rain by the afternoon. Highs will hover around 30°F, with little to no ice accumulation expected. However, light snow and sleet could leave a slippery coating on roads and sidewalks. Motzei Shabbos will bring more freezing rain, followed by a shift to plain rain after...
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu presented US President Donald Trump with a golden pager during their meeting at the White House this week. The gift hints at the operation last summer in which Israel detonated the pagers of thousands of Hezbollah terrorists. Trump smiled when he received the gift and told Netanyahu: "That was a brilliant operation." Netanyahu's office stated that "the pager symbolizes the Prime Minister's decision that led to a turning point in the war and the beginning of the breaking of Hezbollah's spirit. This strategic operation personifies the State of Israel's might, technological superiority, and finesse against its enemies."
The U.S. economy grew at a faster pace than expected at the beginning of 2024 as consumers continued to open their wallets despite ongoing inflation and high interest rates. Gross domestic product, the broadest measure of goods and services produced across the economy, grew by 2.8% on an annualized basis in the three-month period from April through June, the Commerce Department said in its first reading of the data on Thursday.  That is much higher than the 2% increase forecast by LSEG economists and the 1.4% pace seen during the first quarter.  "The U.S. economy is much stronger than people realize and to the extent that markets were worried about a growth slowdown, they should breathe a sigh of relief after this morning’s GDP number," said Chris Zaccarelli, c...
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Hamas sees the emigration of young Gazans from the Gaza Strip as a great concern since this population forms the nucleus of the terror group's strength, according to a document seized by the IDF and exposed by the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (MAITIC) on Thursday.  This comes following US President Donald Trump’s announcement of his plan to relocate residents of the Gaza Strip to neighboring countries earlier this week.  According to unofficial data, approximately 250,000 young people have left Gaza since 2007, primarily due to economic conditions. A survey revealed that 44% of young people in Gaza have considered emigrating, mainly for economic reasons. The document published by the MAITIC, titled "Young People Chasing an Illus...
Arlington, VA - Feb. 6, 2025 -  A significant milestone was made in the DC-area plane crash salvage operations. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Baltimore District, announced Thursday that all major wreckage from the jet and helicopter crash has been removed from the Potomac River in effort with the U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy’s Supervisor of Salvage and Diving. As of February 5, all 67 victims of the crash have been recovered and identified. Officials say the wreckage will be moved via flatbed to a secure location for a wreckage layout examination by the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB). “Thanks to the exhaustive efforts of Unified Command personnel, we were able to safely remove all major wreckage components of both the jet and helicopter from ...
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Former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant claimed that the infamous “beeper operation” that occurred last September could have been conducted just days after the October 7 massacre, directly contradicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s on Thursday.  “On October 11, terrorists had thousands of beepers,” he wrote on X/Twitter. “If we had conducted the operation back then, the beepers would have been secondary to the communication device explosions, which would have eliminated thousands of Hezbollah terrorists.”  Gallant claimed that by waiting over a year, the majority of communication devices were already in storage, and their explosion did not cause damage. Netanyahu appeared on Channel 14 to refute the claims,...
The Shiur is dedicated in memory of an outstanding Rav and distinguished Mechanech, Rav Elazar Mayer Teitz, zt"l, who served for decades as the Rav of Elizabeth and as the leader of the Jewish Educational Center. He was niftar over the weekend. Yehi Zichro Baruch.
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