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 - Nov. 14, 2019 - The idea to open Laniado Hospital (aka Sanz Medical Center) was actually conceptualized during the Holocaust in 1944. The voluntary, not-for-profit hospital in Kiryat Sanz, Israel - that serves a regional population of over 500,000 in Netanya and the Sharon plain - came into fruition because of a vow made by the-then-39-year-old scion of the famous Sanz rabbinic dynasty, Rabbi Yekusiel Yehuda Halberstam, the first Klausenberger Rebbe.
Video by Avi Dear - Direction/Artwork by MalkaDesign Surviving his wife and 11 children who, r”l, were among those who perished in Auschwitz, Rabbi Halberstam faced death while on a forced 20 kilometer/day (~12.5 mile/day) march from Warsaw to the infamous Dachau death camp in the scorching August sun. Not able...
LOS ALTOS HILLS, Calif. (AP) — Former President Barack Obama is warning Democrats against adopting “purity tests” in the presidential primary and alienating voters needed to defeat President Donald Trump in the general election.
Obama spoke Thursday before about 100 donors during a question-and-answer session with Democratic National Committee Chairman Tom Perez in Los Altos Hills, California. The event came a day after the fifth Democratic presidential primary, which featuring 10 candidates.
Obama urged Democrats to “chill out,” saying, “The truth of the matter is that every candidate on that stage believes we should provide” better health care and education and address climate change.
The event was held at the home of Karla Jurvetson, a Silico...
All are asked to daven for Rav Avrohom Turin, mashgiach of Yeshiva Beth Moshe of Scranton, who is in critical condition and in need of rachamei Shomayim.
Rav Turin, who formerly served as a rebbi at the mechinah of Telshe Cleveland decades ago, was a talmid of the Telshe Yeshiva, where he learned under the roshei yeshiva, Rav Elya Meir Bloch and Rav Mottel Katz. He has been the mashgiach in Scranton for decades.
The name for Tehillim is Avrohom Yechezkel ben Esther Tzipa.
Israel completed its fourth international air exercise in southern Israel, Blue Flag 2019, earlier this month—a drill that planners have described as being the most advanced of its kind to date.
Towards the end of the exercise, held from Nov. 3 to Nov. 14 at Uvda Air Force Base, just north of Eilat, other jets from the Israel Air Force were busy striking Palestinian Islamic Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip as rockets flew in the direction of Israeli cities.
Yet the air forces of the United States, Germany, Italy and Greece joined Israeli flight crews and completed the joint training as planned.
“In 2017, we called Blue Flag our biggest drill. Now, in 2019, we are describing this drill as being the most advanced,” Lt. Col. (res.) Tal Herman, head of the IAF’s Blue ...
JERUSALEM (JNS) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu struck a defiant tone on Thursday night, calling the corruption charges levied against him as an “attempted coup,” and that he vows to remain in office and fight the charges.
“This is what they call a personal investigation. A personal investigation on steroids,” Netanyahu said in a statement from his Jerusalem residence. “They’re spilling my blood, and the blood of my wife and children.”
“I will not allow lies to win,” he said. “I will continue to lead this country, according to the letter of the law.”
Nentanyahu’s statement came just an hour after Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announced the decision on Thursday to indict the premier on corrupt...
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.
NEW YORK - The condition of the Monsey rebbi critically injured in a brutal assault Wednesday has improved considerably, but he is still undergoing multiple surgeries Thursday, as doctors are working to save a stabbed eye.
The 30-year-old victim was stabbed in the back, neck, stomach and one eye, and punched in the face, while walking to shul Wednesday morning, in an apparent random attack.
He underwent multiple surgeries Wednesday at Westchester Medical Center, but doctors could not complete the eye surgery as there was too much trauma to the area.
On Thursday, the patient is undergoing surgery on his skull, following which doctors will perform surgery that will attempt to save the eye.
Readers are asked to daven for the refuah sheleimah of Mord...
Jerusalem, Israel - Nov. 21, 2019 - The annual Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Conference was held in the Jerusalem Waldorf-Astoria hotel on Thursday. Yaakov Katz, Editor-in-Chief of The Jerusalem Post welcomed the invited guests, journalists, and diplomats.
The annual event began with a video message from President Reuven Rivlin, followed by greetings from the Mayor of Jerusalem Moshe Lion.
Antisemitism and BDS campaigns were discussed by Ben Moore in an interview with the editor of the Jerusalem Report Steve Linde.
Tourism Manager at the Jerusalem Development Authority Ilanit Melchior used a slide presentation to develop the idea of sustainable tourism to the international participants.
Rising Antisemitism in the World was the...
The Shas party responded on Thursday night to the indictment filed against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for bribery, fraud and breach of trust - the first party in the right-wing bloc to express support for the prime minister.
"We support and strengthen the hands of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, a man with tremendous credit in the security and development of the State of Israel," the Shas party stated.
"Mr. Prime Minister, we believe and trust that your innocence will be proven and justice will prevail. Be strong and courageous. Don't fear. It's a difficult day for the State of Israel."
Culture and Sports Minister Miri Regev (Likud) said: "This is a sad day for the State of Israel. As I have always said, and I'm saying this evening as well - every pers...
LOS ANGELES (AP) — President Donald Trump does not have to disclose his tax returns to appear as a candidate on California’s primary ballot next spring, a unanimous state Supreme Court ruled Thursday.
The court said the law, the first of its kind in the nation and aimed squarely at Trump, was unconstitutional because it required disclosure of tax returns to qualify for the ballot.
“This additional requirement … is in conflict with the Constitution’s specification of an inclusive open presidential primary ballot,” Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye wrote in the 7-0 decision. “Ultimately, it is the voters who must decide whether the refusal of a ‘recognized candidate throughout the nation or throughout California for the office of President o...
JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Prime Minister Netanyahu’s grandchildren are all Chareidi, since his only married child from his first marriage, Noa Haran, became religious a number of years ago and married Daniel Roth. Their children study in the Darkei Shmuel Talmud Torah in Jerusalem, which is affiliated with the Etz faction of Lithuanian Chareidim who do not accept money from the state of Israel.
The Satmar Rebbe who is presently visiting Israel distributed a reported 5 million dollars on Wednesday night to 150 institutions which do not accept money from Israel, including the institutions of Etz. Over the past year, some 60 new institutions numbering 7000 pupils have been accepted into the network of institutions supported by Satmar, in addition to the 50000 pupils already sup...
Bat Yam, November 20th, 2019 – On Friday, November 15th, United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Tal Cooperstein was on his way to a medical emergency on Mivtza Sinai Street in Bat Yam when a woman struck his ambucycle while driving her car. He was treated at the scene by his comrades before being taken to Wolfson Hospital for treatment.
Tal was seriously injured in the accident and had to undergo a series of surgeries to save his leg and relieve a tension pneumothorax in his lung. Tal is the sole breadwinner of his family and supports his wife and five children from the proceeds of a felafel shop that he owns and runs in Bat Yam.
Following the accident, United Hatzalah volunteers from around the country gathered together and began to volunteer to take shifts working at the felafel shop...
A 16-year-old self-declared neo-Nazi has been found guilty of plotting multiple terror attacks on targets in the UK between October 2017 and March of this year, British media outlets reported Wednesday.
The boy, a follower of far-right ideologies since he was 13, was convicted on six counts of terrorism — including preparing terrorist acts, disseminating terrorist publications and possession of useful terrorist material.
Police took notice of the boy in 2017 when he began posting racist and homophobic tweets. He was questioned that year by authorities but he claimed the extremist content was meant only “for a laugh.”
In March, the boy was arrested and found in possession of instructions on how to make explosives and poison. He was also carrying a drawing of a fellow sc...
The U.N. Security Council convened on Wednesday in the aftermath of the U.S. State Department’s policy change on Tuesday regarding the legal status of the Jewish communities in the West Bank.
“All settlements are illegal and hurt prospects for peace, as is in line with U.N. Resolution 2334,” said British Ambassador to the United Nations Dame Karen Pierce, speaking on behalf of the European Union. She also called on Israel to “cease all settlement activity.”
U.N. Security Council Resolution 2334 was passed in December 2016, denouncing Israeli settlements in the West Bank. The United States chose not to exercise its automatic veto and instead abstained from it, thereby allowing for the resolution to pass. The abstention was seen by critics to be a final partin...
In light of Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit's announcement on Thursday evening that he is indicting Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu for bribery, fraud and breach of trust, Likud MK Gideon Sa'ar's statement earlier on Thursday that he will demand new Likud leadership primaries takes on new meaning.
Politicians from the left and center are calling for Netanyahu to step down but even within Likud voices of dissent are being heard. A Mako report on Thursday night quoted a Likud source as saying: "We need to internalize that the era of Netanyahu is over and bring about a change."
MK Gideon Sa'ar, Netanyahu's long-time nemesis in Likud, said that the right thing to do is set up a time for Likud leadership primaries. He added that he ...
A burgeoning frum community was spared a costly and protracted legal battle thanks to the intervention of Agudath Israel’s New Jersey Office and its vast network of land use attorneys. The saga started when Rabbi Mechael Semah, a son of the esteemed Sephardic Rav, Rabbi Rueven Semah of Deal, New Jersey opened a new Kollel this past Elul zman to be housed in the beautiful Deal Synagogue. Rabbi Semah and eight avreichim purchased homes in the more affordable West Long Branch, a few minute drive from the Deal Orthodox Jewish enclave. During the week the Kollel members would drive to the Deal Synagogue, and spend the day engaged in Torah study. Shabbos arrangements though, were not as idyllic. They were too small of a community to afford a Shul building, and so the nine men would invite ...
NEW YORK (AP) — When Deb Fink heard about a company that could drive her 9-year-old son to his after-school program, she balked at the idea of putting him in a car with a stranger. But faced with the unrelenting pressure of driving him where he needed to go in the middle of her workday, she decided to give it a try.
Now she is sold, and grateful for the handful of ride-hailing companies that have emerged to resolve a dilemma many parents face: How is it possible to pick up children from schools that end at 3 p.m. and drive them to multiple activities across town, all while holding a full-time job?
The ride-hailing companies enable parents to summon a car — and in some cases childcare — for their little ones through smartphone apps. Among them are HopSkipDrive, Kango and...
The fifth Democratic presidential debate of the 2020 campaign, hosted by The Washington Post and MSNBC, had 10 candidates, lasted more than two hours – and did not have many statements that merited fact-checking. Here are 10 claims that caught our attention. Our practice is not to award Pinocchios in debate roundups.
– – –
“The president had to confess in writing, in court, to illegally diverting charitable contributions that were supposed to go to veterans.”
– South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg
This is false.
In a civil complaint filed in June 2018, then-Attorney General Barbara Underwood of New York charged that the now-defunct Donald J. Trump Foundation had violated a federal law known as the Johnson Amendment, which bars charities f...
