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.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday he denied he has agreed to serve just six months as prime minister as part of the negotiations for the unity government.
"I don't want to serve six months, I want two years," he said, referring to the rotation issue.
Baltimore City Council President Brandon Scott is calling for further investigations into former Mayor Catherine Pugh's book dealings with the city, according to WBAL-TV 11.
The calls come not long after Pugh pleaded guilty to four counts related to her children's book sales in federal court.
Scott said CEO and president J.P. Grant of Grant Capital Management was "closely-tied" to Pugh, and he wants to discover if there were any questionable deals made pertaining to city contracts, WBAL-TV 11 reports.
In 2016, Grant paid $100,000 to Pugh's Healthy Holly LLC, according to court records. Last month, prosecutors alleged Grant violated state election laws by paying $50,000 for books, and the money went to Pugh's mayoral campaign.
The company's website shows it ente...
Gov. Larry Hogan on Thursday announced a $3.8 billion proposal to more than clear local school systems' capital funding requests. Hogan also announced a measure to allow communities to take over struggling schools.
"Education has been and will continue to be our administration's highest priority because I believe very strongly that every single child in Maryland deserves a world-class education, regardless of what neighborhood they happened to grow up in," Hogan said.
The state has received a total of $3.7 billion in requests from school systems, Hogan said.
"No governor in the history of our state has ever invested more in K through 12 education," Hogan said.
Hogan also announced a proposal, modeled on a similar law in Massachusetts, to allow schools that get two straig...
WARWICK, PA (VINnews) – A Pennsylvania man faces charges of ethnic intimidation and harassment after spending part of his Thanksgiving sending antisemitic images and videos to a Jewish man via text message.
Hunter Robert-William Ryan, 21, of the 2600 block of Fallow Hill Lane in Warwick Township, was arrested Tuesday night and arraigned on the misdemeanor charges.
District Judge Maggie Snow ordered Ryan to have no contact with the victim and set bail at $50,000 unsecured.
“People deserve to feel safe across all forms of communication,” said District Attorney Matthew D. Weintraub. “While we review these incidents on a case by case basis, generally hate speech becomes criminal when it is implicitly harassing or threatening towards someone else. If you are threatene...
BERLIN (AP) — An activist group has apologized to Jewish organizations outraged over their use of purported Holocaust victims’ remains in an installation outside Germany’s parliament building meant to draw attention to the perils of far-right extremism.
The Center for Political Beauty, a Germany-based activist group known for provocative stunts, installed an urn outside the Reichtstag building on Monday, saying it contained victims’ remains that it had unearthed from 23 locations near Nazi death and concentration camps in Germany, Poland and Ukraine. Soil the group said contained the remains could be seen in the transparent orange urn, about the size of an oil drum, set atop a metal pillar.
Following the uproar from Jewish organizations decrying the stunt as an in...
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.
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WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Thursday that the House is moving forward to draft articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump.
‘’Our democracy is what is at stake,” Pelosi said. “The president leaves us no choice but to act.”
Pelosi delivered the historic announcement as Democrats push toward a vote, possibly by Christmas.
She said she was authorizing the drafting of articles of impeachment “sadly but with confidence and humility.”
“The president’s actions have seriously violate the Constitution,” Pelosi said.
At the heart of the impeachment probe is a July call with the president of Ukraine, in which Trump pressed the leader to investigate Democrats and political rival Joe Biden as Tr...
JERUSALEM (VINnews) — Tzipi Rimel, who was tragically killed in a road accident Sunday evening together with her three-week old daughter Noam, was a dedicated and much loved teacher who recently spent four years in Chicago with her family where she taught, inspired, educated and motivated her students at Ida Crown Jewish Academy (ICJA). Many of her proteges have successfully made Aliya and established themselves in Israel, after she encouraged and advised them on how to integrate into Israeli society and how to make a meaningful contribution to others, just as she did for so many.
Tzipi Rimel’s (z’l) family has requested that we share stories about Tzipi so that they can share them with her children. The stories reveal a multifaceted woman who was both mother and te...
CHESTER, NY (VINnews) – Attorney General Letitia James today took action to fight discriminatory housing practices that the Town of Chester and Orange County have utilized to prevent members of the Jewish community from moving to Chester, New York.
Attorney General James filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit against the Town of Chester and Orange County alleging that they have engaged in a concerted and systematic effort to prevent Hasidic Jewish families from moving to Chester by blocking the construction of a housing development. The original lawsuit, filed in July 2019 by the developers of the “The Greens at Chester,” outlined countless discriminatory and unnecessary actions that Chester and Orange County have taken to stop the homes from being built in order to pr...
WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is bristling over a question about whether she “hates” President Donald Trump.
Pelosi told reporters at her weekly press conference Thursday that as a Catholic, she resents the suggestion that she hates anyone. She fired back at the questioner: “Don’t mess with me when it comes to words like that.”
The reporter asked: “Do you hate the president, Madam Speaker?”
“I don’t hate anybody,” Pelosi responded. She went on to call Trump, the subject of only the fourth presidential impeachment inquiry in history, a “coward” on gun policy, “cruel” on immigration and “in denial” about climate issues.
Earlier, Pelosi announced that the House will draft a...
Baltimore, MD - Dec. 3, 2019 - This year (5780/2019) in chutz la’aretz we will begin reciting vesein tal umotor livracha at Maariv of Thursday night, December 5th. It is well known that in chutz la’aretz we usually begin saying vesein tal umotor livracha in Shemoneh Esrei at Maariv of December 4th. Why is this year and every four years different?
The Shulchan Aruch (Orach Chaim 117:1), based on the Gemara in Maseches Taanis (10a), says that in chutz la’aretz, we begin reciting vesein tal umotor on the 60th day of tekufas Tishrei. [Note: “Tekufos” are seasons.]
In the 20th and 21st centuries, Tekufas Tishrei always occurs on October 7th. If we count October 7th as Day #1, then December 5th is Day #60. The halachic day of December 5th begins th...
Extending the chain of learning begun by Rav Meir Shapiro, ZTL, as the 14th Daf Yomi cycle begins anew, Klal Govoah aims to maximize Torah study by rallying Klal Yisroel to join Daf Yomi on the first day of the new cycle and experience its joy and fulfillment even for one day. The initiative is dedicated in memory of Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz, z’l, whose efforts sparked an explosion of learning.
Revolutionizing Torah study through ArtScroll’s many volumes, Rabbi Zlotowitz made Gemara accessible to the masses and Daf Yomi an attainable goal. With the new cycle beginning on Sunday, January 5th, Klal Govoah is recruiting an even larger number of people to start Daf Yomi with a free live stream that will give anyone, anywhere in the world, the ability to participate as the daily ...
Jerusalem, Israel - Dec. 5, 2019 - The Condition of the Brisker Rosh Yeshivah, Hagaon Reb Dovid Soloveichik, Shlita, has worsened. He is now hospitalized in the ICU and is in need of Rachamei Shamayim.Please Daven for R’ Meshulam Dovid Halevi ben Alta Hendel.
Baltimore, MD - Dec. 5, 2019 - I love to attend Rabbi Silber’s parshah shiur on Wednesday nights. He is very clear and articulate. If I stare at his face, I’m OK. But I miss a few words when he turns his head the other way. That is why I am so excited about the unearthing of a fabulous speech-to-text technology made in Australia called OTTER. Otter is a free download on any smart phone or device that can transcribe everything you say in real time. It picks up a voice from within three feet but if you attach a microphone, you can stand further away and still enjoy its benefits.
I started losing my hearing about 40 years ago and more recently I had to stop attending public lectures. But one year all my friends were talking about going to attend WIT’s video pres...
The Siyum Presents: Why We Learn Volume 1: What if I Don't Remember What I've Learned?
Don’t remember everything? You’re still a changed man!
You take the time to learn The Daf every day, dedicating both precious time and concentration. Still, come a day or two later, you have already forgotten much, even most, of what you’ve learned. This feeling is familiar to some Daf Yomi learners and often leads them to question themselves: What am I gaining?
Certainly, working to review and retain what you’ve learned is a most worthwhile goal. However, even if you find limitations in working towards that goal, don’t despair. Every word that you’ve learned is a mitzvah. Every word that you’ve learned made an indelible impression upo...
19-year-old Tamar Fenigstein from Petah Tikva identified as the woman killed in light rail accident in Jerusalem.
The young woman killed in an accident involving Jerusalem’s light rail train system has been identified as 19-year-old Tamar Fenigstein, the daughter of the director of the pre-army preparatory yeshiva in Givat Shmuel.
A resident of the central Israeli city of Petah Tikva, Fenigstein was a volunteer in Israel’s civilian National Service, an alternative to military service in the IDF.
Fenigstein had recently begun working at Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem.
“Tamar began her service three months ago at the Shaare Zedek hospital, and with her wonderful smile and cheerfulness which characterized her, she brought light to the place,” said Y...
The Jewish News, the UK's most read Jewish newspaper and website, is urging Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to issue a real apology to the Jewish community for the anti-Semitism in his party.
Under the headline, “This is what a REAL apology looks like, Mr. Corbyn”, Thursday’s front page of the newspaper will feature a photo of Corbyn holding a piece of paper with the following suggested apology to the Jewish community:
“My years of endorsing anti-Semites and Holocaust deniers, calling them honoured citizens and inviting them to Parliament, has justifiably prompted concerns about my fitness to be prime minister. I acknowledge the vast majority of British Jews feel this way and I understand why. I should not have allied myself with such people. Their views disgust ...
HONOLULU (AP) — The military says a U.S. sailor shot and killed two and wounded civilian Department of Defense employees at the Pearl Harbor shipyard before taking his own life.
The military didn’t release a motive or any identifying information about the sailor who opened fire Wednesday at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard. A third victim is at a hospital. Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam has reopened following a lockdown.
Baltimore City Council President Brandon M. Scott reacted Wednesday to the revelation from State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby that there are more than 300 current or former police officers she won't call to testify, citing integrity issues.
On Tuesday, Mosby told a state commission looking into the Gun Trace Task Force that some of the officers on her blacklist face allegations while others have convictions. She said some of the convicted officers remain with the department. Police downplayed Mosby's comments.
Scott, who is a candidate in the 2020 mayoral race, touted his own whistleblowing as a young councilmember. He called for an investigation into police overtime fraud involving people later named in the federal investigation of the Gun Trace Task Force. Many o...
A veteran Baltimore police officer was sentenced to 15 months in jail for lying in testimony during a handgun trial, prosecutors said Wednesday.
In June 2018, Officer Michael O'Sullivan gave false testimony in a district court that led to the wrongful conviction of Yusuf Smith, who spent 38 days in jail, prosecutors said.
“Our justice system is hinged upon the integrity of law enforcement and when officers perjure themselves in order to convict innocent people, they must be held accountable for their violation of public trust – that was done today,” State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby said in a statement.
On May 31, 2018, O'Sullivan and other officers learned about a possibly armed man who may have been involved in illegal activity in the area of the 5600 bl...