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 - July 25, 2021 - After an enormously successful first year, we do not even contemplate “sitting on our laurels”. Although we recognize the יד השם and tremendous סייתא דשמיא in all of our achievements, we are still working tirelessly to ensure that Mesivta Shaarei Chaim continues to develop into the premier מקום תורה we envision for the community.
Please visit https://www.shaareichaimbaltimore.org/whatsnext for a sampling of some of the new, exciting and dynamic changes and additions taking place for this coming school year of תשפ”א-תשפ”ב.
Famous for gazing over eyeglasses worn on the end of his nose, Carl Levin seemed at ease wherever he went, whether attending a college football game back home in Michigan or taking on a multibillion-dollar corporation before cameras on Capitol Hill.
Michigan’s longest-serving U.S. senator had a slightly rumpled, down-to-earth demeanor that helped him win over voters throughout his 36-year career, as did his staunch support for the hometown auto industry. But the Harvard-educated attorney also was a respected voice on military issues, spending years leading the powerful Senate Armed Services Committee.
Despite his record tenure and status, he kept his role in perspective. At his direction, the portraits of all 38 senators who had served before or with him since Michigan’s stat...
Balltimore, MD - July 29, 2021 - BJL wishes a hearty Mazel Tov to Rabbi and Mrs. Shlomo Bergman on the birth of Nechama Tova.
יה"ר שיזכו לגדל בתם לתורה, לחופה, ולמעשים טובים. אמן!
And it will be, because you will heed these ordinances and keep and perform them, that the Lord, your God, will keep for you the covenant and the kindness that He swore to your forefathers.” (Devorim 7:12)
At first glance, it represents a simple, straightforward theme; if we follow the word of God, He will take care of us. The Torah is replete with verses emphasizing the reciprocal nature of our relationship with God. If we are willing to commit our allegiance to the Torah and Mitzvos, God will see that our needs are met. This idea is at the core of our relationship contract with God: You will get out what you are willing to put in. Yet, the famed commentator, Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki 1040-1105) highlights an additional dimension of meaning:
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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.
A report by Forbes shows that numerous Democrat mayors around the country hired private security after their cities cut or “proposed cutting” police budgets.
According to Forbes, “25 major U.S. cities across the country” took up the defund the police cause and mayors in 20 of those cities “enjoy the personal protection of a dedicated police security detail.”
Moreover, Forbes emphasized that “the defunding of police — coupled with taxpayer dollars spent on police security details protecting public officials — only occurred in cities run by Democratic mayors.”
The cities where this occurred included Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, San Diego, San Francisco, and New York City.
Breitbart News noted similar happenings incidents with som...
No one ever expected a pile of Gan Israel camp T-shirts to be used to stop the bleeding of one of the campers’ teachers—certainly not Rabbi Shlomo Noginski himself.
But on July 1, that was exactly the function they served. The Chabad-Lubavitch rabbi had been taking a call on the front steps of the Shaloh House Jewish Russian Center & Synagogue (doubling as a summer camp at this time of year) in the working-class Boston neighborhood of Brighton when a man walked up to him brandishing a gun and demanding to be taken to the rabbi’s car. After realizing that the attacker had every intention of shoving him into the car—he’d refused the offer of the keys—the rabbi ran to the park across the street in an effort to escape and put some distance bet...
Antisemitic violence in London skyrocketed in May, with Israel’s 11-day conflict with Hamas used as pretext to attack Jews in the city, new police data revealed Thursday.
Statistics released by the Metropolitan Police showed 87 incidents of antisemitic violence in May, which was four times higher than any month since 2018, Sky News reported.
Since May 2018, only a handful of months saw more than 20 such incidents.
Chaim Hochhauser of the Shomrim neighborhood watch organization in the heavily-Jewish Stamford Hill neighborhood in north London, said, “During May, the Jewish community in Hackney were the target of many racially motivated attacks.”
“One of these hate crimes targeted over 30 Jewish-owned vehicles whose tires were slashed. This was pure hate ...
A firm majority of voters do not want the federal government involved in all the key aspects of state voting, especially voter registration, according to a new survey provided to Secrets.
In one finding that rejects Democratic voting reform efforts in Washington, a whopping 67% rejected any proposal to let the president use the Justice Department to sue states over registration efforts the White House disagrees with.
Overall, 58% want Uncle Sam’s hands off state registration procedures, according to the survey provided by the Center for Excellence in Polling, a project of the Foundation for Government Accountability.
“Research from the Center for Excellence in Polling clearly shows that removing state control from the regulation of election processes such as voter regis...
Most Republicans want former President Donald Trump to have at least some influence over their party’s direction even as many who side with the GOP say they are uneasy about its future.
A new poll from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research captures widespread unease among Republicans over everything from the direction of the country to the state of American democracy and, in particular, President Joe Biden. Just 15% approve of the way Biden is handling his job, and 66% continue to say the Democrat was illegitimately elected, a lie perpetuated by Trump that underscores his persistent grip on GOP voters.
Republicans have plenty of concern about their own party, too. Fewer than half of Republicans, 41%, say they are optimistic about the GOP&r...
Masks are once again emerging as a flash point on Capitol Hill after Congress’s top doctor issued new guidance and cases ramp back up due to the delta variant of COVID-19.
More than half a dozen Republican lawmakers refused to comply with a reinstated requirement Wednesday that everyone wear masks on the House side of the Capitol, which followed new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidance the day before urging everyone in high-risk areas to wear masks.
Several Republican firebrands, including Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), Chip Roy (Texas), Lauren Boebert (Colo.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.) and Andrew Clyde (Ga.), defiantly sat together near the center of the House floor sans masks, as nearly all the other lawmakers and staff ar...
As a member of the secretive Senate Intelligence Committee, Sen. Angus King has reason to worry about hackers. At a briefing by security staff this year, he said he got some advice on how to help keep his cellphone secure.
Step One: Turn off phone.
Step Two: Turn it back on.
That’s it. At a time of widespread digital insecurity it turns out that the oldest and simplest computer fix there is — turning a device off then back on again — can thwart hackers from stealing information from smartphones.
Regularly rebooting phones won’t stop the army of cybercriminals or spy-for-hire firms that have sowed chaos and doubt about the ability to keep any information safe and private in our digital lives. But it can make even the most sophisticated hackers work harder to main...
Former Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who served during the Trump administration, said on Sunday that the pandemic is “spiraling out of control yet again,” as cases begin to rise and the country’s vaccination rate plateaus.
“More mitigation is coming, whether it’s masking or whether it’s closures or whether it’s your kids having to return to virtual learning, that is coming. And it’s coming because this pandemic is spiraling out of control yet again, and it’s spiraling out of control because we don’t have enough people vaccinated,” Adams told host John Dickerson on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
“So get vaccinated because it helps your neighbors, but get vaccinated because it’s going to help eve...
Less cereal in the box. Smaller snack sizes. Ice cream gone missing in a container.
You’re not losing your mind. You are actually paying the same price or more these days for everyday items in your fridge and pantry but running through them more quickly because their sizes have shrunk.
The reason? A tactic known as “shrinkflation,” deployed by consumer product brands and grocery stores. The phenomenon — getting less for your money because a manufacturer has reduced the size of the product— has been going on for decades, but it typically becomes more common when companies’ costs go up like the inflation surge we are seeing today.
When costs rise, manufacturers of consumer goods look for ways to offset the increases t...
The change in guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) over wearing masks is due to the latest surge in coronavirus cases amid the Delta variant spreading in the United States and is not a flip-flop in policy, President Joe Biden’s chief medial adviser Dr. Anthony Fauci told MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Wednesday.
The CDC announced on Tuesday that in areas with substantial and high transmission, it now recommends that fully vaccinated people wear masks in public, indoor settings to help prevent the spread of the Delta variant and protect others, Mediaite reported.
Fauci told MSNBC that “even though two months ago the CDC came out with the recommendation that individuals who are vaccinated do not need to wear ...
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has a message for Jewish New Yorkers: If you want to be fully vaccinated by Rosh Hashanah, you need to get your first Pfizer shot by Monday.
“If you get the first one by Monday and then you follow up on time, you will be fully vaccinated by the start of the holiday,” de Blasio said on Thursday. “So yet another incentive.” Rosh Hashanah begins on the evening of Sept. 6.
De Blasio’s comments came as the city began rolling out carrots and sticks to encourage vaccines in response to a surge in COVID-19 cases in the city driven by the Delta variant.
New York City will offer $100 to anyone who gets their first dose at a city-run vaccination site, and all city workers will have to be vaccinated or go through strict weekly testing...
Career politician President Biden is being mocked for claiming he used to drive an 18-wheeler truck — with the White House only able to show he was once a passenger in one.
The 48-year political veteran made the claim while visiting a Mack Truck facility in Pennsylvania on Wednesday.
“I used to drive an 18-wheeler, man,” the 78-year-old commander-in-chief told staff, video of the exchange shows — with him clarifying that he “got to” drive one.
But challenged by Fox News to produce evidence, a White House spokesperson could only point to a December 1973 article from the Wilmington Evening Journal that showed Biden rode in an 18-wheeler, not that he drove one.
“There is zero evidence that Biden ‘used to drive an 18 wheel...
Passengers on a Delta flight from New York to Tel Aviv on Wednesday were displeased when they discovered that the in-flight service included a less-than-sweet treat—Ben & Jerry’s ice-cream.
Many of the passengers on the flight handed the dessert back to the flight attendants, who said that they had warned the airline that it was an “inappropriate” choice, given the company’s recent decision to stop selling its products beyond the Green Line.
The decision caused an international controversy and much concern in Israel, where it was seen as a capitulation to the BDS movement.
One of the passengers was former Likud Knesset member Anat Berko, who was traveling with a relative.
“After the ice cream was served, a lot of people protested the serving of a...
Republicans in Congress are responding to the resumption of U.S. foreign aid to the United Nations Relief and Work Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) by the Biden administration earlier this year by introducing a set of bills aimed at preventing taxpayer funds from being sent to the agency unless certain requirements are met.
The legislation was introduced in the House of Representatives on Tuesday by Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) and co-sponsored by 28 Republican members of Congress, and in the Senate by Sen. Jim Risch (R-Idaho), ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on the same day with 12 Republican co-sponsors.
According to a news release on Tuesday, “The UNRWA Accountability and Transparency Act” would require that prior to providing the aid to...