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.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu went through a new round of questioning on Friday over one of several graft cases that have threatened to topple him, media reports said.
Investigators arrived at the premier’s residence in the morning to interview him over allegations of corruption involving local telecoms giant Bezeq and its largest shareholder, Shaul Elovitch, according to Israeli media reports.
It would be the 12th time Netanyahu has been questioned in various cases, either as a suspect or a witness.
Read more at Arutz Sheva.
The Palestinian Authority news agency Ma’an published the details of the potential ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas and the other terrorist organizations in the Gaza Strip Friday.
The report is based on the statements of a senior member of the Palestinian Arab delegation in Cairo. The main points in the Hamas demands included in the agreement include: lifting the blockade, supplying electricity for 20 hours a day, allowing all civilian goods into the Gaza Strip, operating the safe passage from Gaza to Shomron, and establishing a sea and air port in the Gaza Strip.
The official claimed that there was no demand to stop the demonstrations on the Gaza border but it was agreed that Hamas would prevent the participants from approaching the border fence and would stop launchin...
WASHINGTON (AP) — Justice Department lawyers asked a federal judge Friday to let them file a legal appeal that could, for now, keep President Donald Trump’s critics from getting access to financial records related to his Washington, D.C., hotel.
Trump has been fighting multiple lawsuits that argue that foreign representatives’ spending money at the Trump International Hotel is a violation of the U.S. Constitution’s emoluments clause, which bans federal officials from accepting benefits from foreign or state governments without congressional approval.
U.S. District Judge Peter J. Messitte, who is based in Maryland, ruled last month that one of those lawsuits could go forward.
In a sally to prevent the case moving on to legal discovery — which would potential...
This week's parsha discusses a wide range of topics. Among them are the unique laws of eidim zomemim, the false, plotting witnesses who are given the exact punishment they planned to cause to the defendant. The manner in which they are refuted must be very specific as well as the timing of their disproof. The mishnah (Makkos 1:6) teaches that the refutation must come after the defendant had been sentenced but before the sentence was carried out in order for these laws to take effect. This is the famous conundrum of eidim zomemim, that the false witnesses are punished accordingly only if they ultimately fail but not if they succeed. The mishnah learns this law in cases of capital punishment from the pasuk (19:19) "And you shall do to him as he plotted to do to his brother." The fact th...
Parshas Shoftim / Baltimore Zmanim / Eruv is UP!
Baltimore, MD – Aug. 17, 2018 Parshas: Shoftim
Today: 6 Elul
Chatzos: 1:11 PM
Hadlakas Nairos: 7:41 PM
Shkiah: 7:59:38 PM
Tzais HaKochavim: 8:50 PM
Kiddush Levanah: Aug. 14 1:12 PM - Aug 26. 7:34 AM
Kiddush Levanah may only be said at night
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CAIRO (AP) — Al-Qaida's chief bomb maker, Ibrahim al-Asiri, who was behind the 2009 Christmas Day plot to down an airliner over Detroit and other foiled aviation-related terror attacks, was killed in a U.S. drone strike, Yemeni officials and a tribal leader said Friday.
The killing of al-Asiri deals a heavy blow to the group's capabilities in striking western targets and piles pressure on the group that already lost some of its top cadres over the past years in similar drone strikes.
A Yemeni security official said that al-Asiri is dead; a tribal leader and an al-Qaida-linked source also said that he was killed in a U.S. drone strike in the eastern Yemeni governorate of Marib.
The tribal leader said that al-Asiri was struck, along with two or four of his associates, as h...
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump said Friday that he suspects he'll "very quickly" revoke the security clearance for a Justice Department official whose wife worked for the firm involved in producing a dossier on Trump's ties to Russia.
Signaling that his efforts to target clearances over his frustration with the Russia investigation were not over, Trump tweeted that it was a "disgrace" for Bruce Ohr to be in the Justice Department.
His comments came two days after he yanked the security clearance of former CIA Director John Brennan, saying he had to do "something" about the "rigged" federal probe of Russian election interference. Critics have cast it as an act of political vengeance.
Ohr has come under Republican scrutiny for his contacts to Glenn Simpson, co-fo...
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin will have plenty to talk about when they meet Saturday — thanks in no small part to U.S. President Donald Trump, whose sanctions and criticisms over trade, energy and NATO have created new worries for both leaders.
The two will meet at the German government’s guest house outside Berlin and will give short statements beforehand but aren’t planning a news conference, German officials have said. Government spokesman Steffen Seibert has said that topics will include the civil war in Syria, the conflict in Ukraine, and energy questions.
Putin is facing the possibility of more U.S. sanctions on Russia imposed by Trump, and has an interest in softening or heading off any...
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is calling on federal regulators to consider scrapping the requirement for public companies to report quarterly results, after business executives told him twice-yearly reports would make better economic sense.
In a tweet early Friday, Trump said that after speaking with several top business leaders, he’s asking the Securities and Exchange Commission to determine whether shifting to a six-month reporting requirement would help companies grow faster and create more jobs.
For companies, “That would allow greater flexibility & save money,” Trump tweeted.
Trump later told reporters the idea was especially urged on him by Indra Nooyi, CEO of PepsiCo, who is stepping down in October. Nooyi, who led the food and beverage gian...
MIAMI (AP) — An Alaska man will spend the rest of his life in prison for the January 2017 Florida airport shooting that left five people dead and six wounded, a federal judge ordered Friday.
U.S. District Judge Beth Bloom accepted a plea deal in which Esteban Santiago, 28, agreed to admit to the shooting if prosecutors would not seek the death penalty. Santiago pleaded guilty in May to 11 charges of causing death and violence at an international airport.
Santiago, of Anchorage, Alaska, admitted he opened fire with a handgun in a baggage area at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport after traveling there on a one-way ticket. He retrieved a box containing a Walther 9mm handgun from checked luggage, loaded it in a restroom and came out firing 15 shots.
Judge Bloom called th...
NEW YORK (AP) — U.S. stocks are higher Friday as investors hope for more progress in trade talks between the U.S. and China. The Wall Street Journal reported that the countries hope to resolve their dispute by November.
Industrial and basic materials companies and health care and technology firms are making some of the biggest gains. The report comes a day after China said it will send an envoy to Washington for the first trade talks between the countries since June.
Electric car maker Tesla is falling further on reports of a wider government investigation into the company and concerns about CEO Elon Musk’s health.
KEEPING SCORE: After a morning of wobbly trading, the S&P 500 index was up 10 points, or 0.4 percent, at 2,851 as of 3:30 p.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones Ind...
Baltimore, MD - Aug. 17, 2018 - 3 1/2 minutes with Rabbi Godberger, yahrzeit of Rabbi Daniel Goldberger, Z'L
Baltimore, MD - Aug. 17, 2018 - The Baltimore Shomrim Safety Patrol (BSSP) responded to two serious incidents this past Sunday evening, August 12, 2018. Between the hours of 9:00 pm and 10:00 pm two assaults were perpetrated: one occurred on the 3600 block of Menlo Drive and the other on the 6200 Block of Biltmore Avenue. BSSP units responded to the scenes of these crimes along with the Baltimore City Police Department. The BSSP is pleased to report the progress that has been made in apprehending the suspects in these crimes. Arrests have been made as well as the issuance of warrants for those who have yet to be taken into custody. The BSSP intends to coordinate a robust victim impact statement campaign to ensure the judiciary is aware of how these crimes affect our community and to ...
Temple, Texas - Gary Malcik wore a Trump T-shirt as he waited in a long, post-rally line to pose for pictures with Ted Cruz.
It was a far cry from the waning weeks of the 2016 GOP presidential primary, when Donald Trump supporters repeatedly heckled the Texas senator at campaign events, and from that year’s Republican National Convention when Cruz was booed for refusing to endorse the party’s nominee. But Malcik, 69 and self-employed, said he’s glad to no longer have to choose sides.
“People like Ted,” he said. “People love Trump.”
Now facing a high-profile re-election fight with Democratic Congressman Beto O’Rourke, Cruz says he’d welcome Trump coming to Texas before November — though he shrugged off suggestions he needs the p...
Gaza City - Two Palestinians were killed by Israeli fire and another 60 injured at a protest along the Gaza border amid ongoing Egyptian efforts to broker a cease-fire, Gaza’s Health Ministry said Friday.
The protesters threw rocks and firebombs from behind clouds of black smoke of burning tires at Israeli troops, who responded with tear gas and sometimes live fire.
Israel’s military said some Palestinians also threw improvised explosives and firebombs at the fence and that several were spotted briefly crossing into Israeli territory. It said troops “fired live rounds selectively according to standard operating procedures.”
Hamas officials have been meeting with Egyptian officials in Cairo for days, hammering out details of a possible truce with Israel.
Is...
ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — The judge in former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort's fraud trial refused Friday to release the names of jurors, saying he has received threats and fears for their safety as well.
U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III revealed his concerns in explaining why he doesn't intend to make jurors' names public at the end of the trial, now in the second day of jury deliberations.
A coalition of media organizations, including The Associated Press, filed a motion requesting the names of jurors, as well as access to sealed transcripts of bench conferences that have occurred during the three-week trial.
Jury lists are presumed to be public unless a judge articulates a reason for keeping them secret.
Eliis said during a hearing Friday afternoon he is c...
Jerusalem - An attempted stabbing attack in Jerusalem’s Old City took place Friday afternoon, the police spokesperson said, adding that police forces are circling the area.
According to the police, the stabber approached a group of policemen in the Old City’s Muslim Quarter and apparently tried to stab one of the officers.
The stabber was neutralized by the security forces, and has been confirmed dead.
The police temporarily closed off Hagay Street in the Old City following the incident.
On Thursday, an Israeli woman was killed in a hit-and-run incident near the Havat Gilad outpost in the Samaria region of the West Bank. Read more at JPost
Washington - For much of the last two years, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr has been the Russia investigator who is seen but rarely heard on Capitol Hill.
In an exclusive interview with The Associated Press, the North Carolina Republican opened up about the investigation that has now consumed 19 months of his life. He says it has been “frustrating as hell” and much more difficult than he originally envisioned. But he says the integrity of the investigation — and its importance to the institution of the Senate — is something he has labored to protect.
“Nothing in this town stays classified or secret forever,” Burr said. “And at some point somebody’s going to go back and do a review. And I’d love not to be the one...
New York - What do you do when your CEO confesses that he’s cracking under the stress of his job?
That’s the question that the nine board members of electric car and solar panel maker Tesla Inc. must answer after Elon Musk, the company’s impulsive leader, admitted to The New York Times that work is rattling his nerves in what he described as the most “difficult and painful year of my career.”
The newspaper reported that during an hour-long telephone interview on Thursday, Musk alternated between laughter and tears, acknowledging that he was working up to 120 hours a week and sometimes takes Ambien to get to sleep.
His comments confirmed what many in and out of the company had suspected as Musk conceded that exhaustion was affecting his personal health and t...