During the Second Temple, the Greek empire reigned (over Israel),1 and they (the Greeks) passed decrees against the Jews and (tried) to erase their religion, and did not allow them to carry out Torah (study) or the commandments. They put their hands on their property and their daughters. They entered the Temple, destroyed and made the pure unclean. The Jews were in great distress because of them and were much oppressed, until the G-d of their fathers had mercy on them, delivering them from their hands and saving them. Then overcame, the sons of the Hasmonean High Priest, (the Greeks) and killed them and saved the Jews from their hands. They appointed a king from the Priests, and the kingdom of Israel was restored for more than 200 years until the destruction of (the) second (Temple). When the Jews overcame their enemies and destroyed them, it was the 25th of Kislev2 when they entered the Sanctuary (inner room) and did not find pure (olive) oil in the Temple, except one jar sealed with seal of the High Priest, and it did not contain enough to light except for one day only. But they lit from it the lamps of the Menorah3 for eight days, until they could crush olives and produce a (new quantity) of pure oil. For these reasons, decreed the Sages of that generation that these eight days that begin on the 25th Kislev, will be days of joy and praise. One lights on them lamps at evening at the entrance to the houses, every evening of the eight nights to show off and demonstrate the miracle. These days are called ''Hanukah'' that is to say ''they rested'' (chanu) on the ''25'' ('th of the month) because on the 25th they rested from their enemies. and also because of those days they (re)-dedicated the house (Temple) which their foes had defiled. Also some say that it is a commandment to increase slightly the festive meals on Hanukah. Another reason is because the work of (building) the Sanctuary (in the desert) was completed in these days. One should tell one's children the story of the miracles that were done for our fore-fathers in those days, (see Josephus) However, these meals are not considered as part of the commandment unless one says at the meal songs of praise. One should increase charity in these Hanukah days, for this can help mend any defects in our souls. This charity, should be given particularly to poor Torah scholars. (KSA 139:1)
1) 352 BCE until 70 CE
2) 139 BCE
3) The Menorah was made of gold and had seven branches.
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Baltimore, MD – May 24, 2023 – Have you noticed all the publicity – the lawn signs, the press coverage, sporting an angelic sleeping baby girl dressed in pink -- for the AIM Event, and wondered what AIM is?
AIM is a much-needed Baltimore-based organization that will be holding its inaugural annual event, a dairy dessert reception at its Gala Chinese Auction, on Tuesday, June 6, at the Hilton DoubleTree Hotel in Pikesville, at 7:30 p.m. It will feature a musical performance by Chayala Neuhaus and promises to be an exciting and entertaining evening – AND a purposeful one, knowing that you are helping numerous families of newborns in our community by helping them raise happy and healthy generations of Klal Yisroel! As Mrs. Shayna Meiselman, AIM Event Coordinator, ex...
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Baltimore, MD - May 28, 2023 - We are thrilled to announce our special Israel real estate event for the Baltimore community!
Our events are designed to provide you with comprehensive information on every aspect of the real estate process, from searching for the right property to navigating Israeli real estate law, mortgage rates, currency transfers, property management, and more.
Whether you are in the early stages of your property search or actively looking to make a purchase, we highly recommend attending one of our events.
For those actively looking to buy, we will be showcasing unique market opportunities and off-plan properties.
The event will take place on Monday June 5th at 7:30 PM at Shomrei Emunah
To register for the event, visit:
www.israelevent.live/baltimore
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Baltimore, MD - May 23, 2023 - Yeshivas Chofetz Chaim - Talmudical Academy is proud to announce its upcoming “Hadran Aloch” Campaign, which will infuse our talmidim with a chashivus Hatorah and an increased sense of accomplishment, and at the same time raise much-needed operating funds for TA through our the crowdfunding campaign..
The theme for this year’s campaign is “Our Torah, Our Key”, and symbolizes TA's mission of imbuing our talmidim with a love and geshmak for learning and living Torah. The campaign will take place on June 14th and 15th, and will feature weeks-long learning, chazara, and Siyumim by our Talmidim, which begins this week.
TA is also thrilled to announce the opportunity we have to recognize four disti...
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Baltimore, MD – May 27, 2023 - It is with regret that Baltimore Jewish Life (BJL) informs the community of the petira of Mr. Manny Sadwin, z’l, husband of Mrs, Loretta Sadwin and father of Rabbi Ariel (Pessi) Sadwin, Mrs. Elisheva (Avrohom Shmuel) Shnidman, Mrs. Rivka (Ari) Kahn and Rabbi Moshe (Ruchama) Sadwin.Shiva will be observed at 407 Neale Ave, Silver Spring, MD 20901Minyanim:Shacharis - Monday-Friday: 7:30amMincha/Maariv: Sunday-Thursday: 8:10pm Mincha Erev Shabbos: 3:00pm Bila HaMaves Lanetzach…
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BJL was recently approached with a request to promote fire safety awareness within our community. This call to action was prompted by an incident in another Orthodox Jewish community, where a couple endured a major inconvenience due to a fire. This incident highlights the importance of preventative fire safety measures. Had such procedures been in place, the disruption and damages could have been largely mitigated. In response to this request and in our ongoing commitment to community safety, we're sharing seven key measures to ensure your home is fire-safe:Baltimore, MD - May 28, 2023 - Fire safety is of paramount importance in our quest to make our homes safe and secure. Knowing how to prevent and control fires is crucial. Here are eight key measures to ensure your home is fire-safe...
BaltimoreJewishLife.com (BJL) is proud to partner with STAR-K CERTIFICATION that realizes that there is no substitute for a person’s own Rav. In an effort to offer a possible solution, it has launched its Institute of Halachah as a public service. Over the years, the agency’s Kashrus Hotline has answered generic halachic questions from kosher consumers the world over, including inquiries regarding the kosher status of foods and certified Sabbath mode appliances. The formation of a separate official division within STAR-K testifies to the need for addressing these issues.
The Institute of Halachah is directed by HaRav Mordechai Frankel, under the guidance of HaRav Moshe Heinemann, STAR-K’s Rabbinic Administrator. It is an invaluable resource for a diverse array of rabbis to discuss general halachic matters, as well as gain access to source materials for shiurim and answers to congregants’ questions.
Shailos for regular or Kashrus shailos may emailed or discussed using this widget.
Mortgage rates are beginning to feel the impact of the debt-ceiling standoff, jumping higher for the second week in a row amid the uncertainty.
The 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 6.57% in the week ending May 25, up from 6.39% the week before, according to data from Freddie Mac released Thursday. A year ago, the 30-year fixed-rate was 5.10%.
“The U.S. economy is showing continued resilience which, combined with debt ceiling concerns, led to higher mortgage rates this week,” said Sam Khater, Freddie Mac’s chief economist.
Mortgage rates topped 5% for the first time since 2011 a little more than a year ago and have remained over 5% for all but one week during the past year. Since then they have gone as high as 7.08%, last reached in November. Since mid-Mar...
Elon Musk said Tuesday he was willing to expand his business in China, as he met Foreign Minister Qin Gang in Beijing on his first trip to the country in over three years.
China is the world’s biggest electric vehicle market and Musk’s company Tesla announced in April it would build a second massive factory in Shanghai.
Musk said he was “willing to continue to expand its business in China", according to a foreign ministry readout in which he also reportedly stressed Tesla’s opposition to economic “decoupling" with the United States.
Qin told Musk that China was “committed to creating a better market-oriented, rule-of-law-based and internationalised business environment" for foreign enterprises, the ministry said on its website.
The two countries, Qin...
The American semiconductor giant, NVIDIA, unveiled on Monday morning a supercomputer named Israel-1, estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
According to the company, it is the most powerful supercomputer in Israel and one of the most powerful on earth. It includes 2,048 H100 graphic processors and 2,560 BlueField-3 DPU chips, all developed locally.
The stated purpose of the new supercomputer is to facilitate collaborations with industry, support internal R&D, and serve as a showcase for building high-performance computers based on NVIDIA's new Spectrum-X platform.
A supercomputer is an exceptionally powerful entity, composed of thousands of processors, used for performing highly complex tasks, including the development of generative artificial intelligen...
The Israeli military early Tuesday morning made preparations for the demolition of the homes of a Palestinian terrorist who carried out a deadly shooting attack on the Dee family in the West Bank in April, and a suspect accused of directing the killing of a soldier last year.
On April 7, Hamas terrorists Hassan Qatnani and Moaz al-Masri opened fire at Lucy Dee, 48, and her daughters Maia Dee, 20, and Rina Dee, 15, as they drove through the northern Jordan Valley. The daughters were declared dead at the scene, while Lucy was rushed to a hospital in critical condition but died three days later.
Qatnani and al-Masri, along with a third Palestinian gunman, were killed in an Israeli raid in Nablus in early May.
In the predawn hours of Tuesday morning, the Israel Defense Forces...
Nvidia (NVDA) became the first chipmaker to ever hit a $1 trillion market valuation on Tuesday. Nvidia's stock rose more than 5% during the session, temporarily crossing over the threshold before giving back some of those gains in the afternoon.
The Santa Clara, Calif.-based chipmaker is now the ninth public company to ever hit the $1 trillion level, joining the ranks of tech giants such as Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon (AMZN), and Apple (AAPL).
Nvidia shares have seen a stunning rally this year — up more than 165% since the start of 2023. The chipmaker is at the center of an AI craze thanks to its high-powered graphics cards and server products.
On Monday, Nvidia took the wraps off a slew of new AI-centric products, including a new high-powered super...
The last time an accused war criminal visited South Africa, he had to cut his visit short or risk being arrested. Now, the South African opposition wants to do the same thing to Vladimir Putin.
South Africa’s leading opposition party, the Democratic Alliance (DA), said Tuesday it had taken legal action to force the government to arrest Putin if the Russian president were to visit the country.
Putin is currently under an international arrest warrant, issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague in March, over the forced deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia as part of Moscow’s full-scale invasion.
The DA has now launched a court application requesting Putin be “detained and surrendered” to the ICC if he were to arrive in South...
The United States is still gathering information on reports of drones striking in Moscow, the White House said on Tuesday, reiterating that Washington does not support attacks inside Russia and is focused on helping Ukraine retake its territory.
"We saw the news and are still gathering information about what happened. As general matter, we do not support attacks inside of Russia," a White House spokesperson said in a statement.
The spokesperson said Washington was "focused on providing Ukraine with the equipment and training they need to retake their own sovereign territory," and pointed to Russian attacks on Kyiv, which has been hit by drones or missiles 17 times in May.
Russia said Ukrainian drones struck wealthy districts of Moscow on Tuesday, targeting areas where Presiden...
The top Chinese official who led Beijing’s COVID-19 response admits he can’t rule out that the deadly virus leaked from a lab.
“You can always suspect anything. That’s science,” Dr. George Fu Gao, who was China’s equivalent of Dr. Anthony Fauci, told the BBC when asked about the ongoing theory about his own nation’s scientists.
“Don’t rule out anything,” he told the podcast “Fever: The Hunt for Covid’s Origin.”
The global pandemic has killed 7 million people globally, according to the World Health Organization.
The scientist’s admission, no matter how vague, is stunning given how forcefully Beijing has always denied the possibility that researchers at the now-notorious...
In the last week of the Gadol Hador’s life, as the great light was preparing to ascent to Shomayim, Rav Gershon Edelstein, zt”l, who left this world at 100 years of age—following a century of Torah on this earth— sat down to sign a letter on behalf of Shas Yiden which was so close to his heart.
It would be the last signature in his lifetime. Rav Gershon alluded to the great Torah pillars of the past, Rav Meir Shapiro and the Ponovezher Rov, who established Torah for generations. He noted that the Pozna Ruv, Rav Avrohom Eisen, founder of Shas Yiden, has come to ‘seal’ their work by producing yungeleit who are ‘yodei haShas ve’haTorah.” He continued with a Bracha for the continued success of the organization in all of its endeavors,...
Several thousand people participated this afternoon (Tuesday) in the funeral procession of Rosh Yeshivas Ponevezh and Lithuanian community leader Rabbi Gershon Edelstein who died this morning at the age of 100.
The funeral procession began with the recitation of Tehilim and other liturgical prayers by the son of the late rabbi at the Ponevezh Yeshiva hall and ended at the Ponevezh cemetery in Bnei Brak.
The funeral procession was secured by thousands of policemen after a special operation for a mass funeral procession was announced by the Tel Aviv district. When the body was taken out of the Yeshiva hall, people crowded together to reach the bed so hard that they endangered one another, and a police officer had to call for the public to back away from the bed and refrain from climbing on...
Elizabeth Holmes, the disgraced Theranos founder convicted on multiple counts of fraud, reported on Tuesday to the Texas prison where she has been sentenced to spend the next 11 years.
Holmes, 39, was due to arrive at a women's prison camp located in Bryan, Texas by 2 p.m. local time. The facility is located near her hometown of Houston, granting her greater access to family members.
Holmes has a nearly 2-year-old son and a 3-month-old baby, who she conceived after her conviction and prior to sentencing. The children will be raised by their father, her partner, Billy Williams. Most recently the family lived in San Diego, California.
According to a former inmate at the Texas facility, Holmes will be allowed up to 300 minutes per month to speak with loved ones on the phon...
Former first lady Rosalynn Carter has been diagnosed with dementia, according to The Carter Center.
“She continues to live happily at home with her husband, enjoying spring in Plains and visits with loved ones,” the organization said in a press release on Tuesday, referring to their hometown in Georgia.
Carter, 95, has been a longtime advocate on mental health issues, which The Carter Center said influenced the family’s decision to share her diagnosis.
“We recognize, as she did more than half a century ago, that stigma is often a barrier that keeps individuals and their families from seeking and getting much-needed support,” the center said. “We hope sharing our family’s news will increase important conversations at kitchen t...
Jerusalem, Israel - May 30, 2023 - The annual Eli Hurvitz Conference on Economy and Society, formerly the Caesarea Economic Policy Planning Forum, sponsored by the Israel Democracy Institute, is recognized as one of Israel's most influential economic conferences.
For 30 years, the conference has served as a crossroads where public discourse and professional knowledge in economics and society meet, with the aim of improving the decision-making processes in the administration and improving the quality of Israel's social and economic policy for the benefit of the public.
This year’s conference, held May 30-31, includes the participation of Israeli Government Ministers and Knesset Members, directors-general of government ministries, and senior lead...
Bnei Braq, Israel - May 30, 2023 - 10 Sivan 5783 - The oilam HaTorah is mourning the petirah of Gadol Hador HaGaon HaRav Yerachmiel Gershon Edelstein, ZT’L.
HaRav Edelstein served as the head of the Ponevezh Yeshiva for 80 years and was the Nasi of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah. Following the petirah of HaGaon HaRav Aryeh Leib Shteinman, ZT’L, and HaGaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky, ZT’L, he became the leader of the Torah community in Eretz Yisrael.
The levayah is provisionally set for 3:30 p.m. at the Yeshivas Ponevezh. A bittul melachah, has been declared in Bnei Brak city during the levayah