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.
War monitor the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said two members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah group and one Iranian were killed in Israeli strikes around the Syrian capital Damascus overnight.
An Israeli military spokesman on Saturday said Israeli aircraft struck Iranian forces near Damascus that had been planning to launch “killer drones” at targets in Israel.
An Iranian Revolutionary Guards commander on Sunday denied that Iranian targets had been hit in the strikes.
Former Vice President Joe Biden mistakenly praised the state of Vermont Saturday when asked about his impression of Keene, New Hampshire by reporters during a press gaggle.
Video of the exchange shows Biden remarking about Vermont’s “beauty” after an unseen reporter asks him for his “impression” of the town, which is located in southwestern New Hampshire, close to the state’s border with Vermont.
“I love this place. Look, what’s not to like about Vermont in terms of the beauty of it? And what a neat town, this is like a scenic, beautiful town. The mayor’s been a good guy, everybody has been really friendly. I like Keene a lot.”
Read more at The Hill.
Former Rep. Joe Walsh on Sunday announced he would mount a primary challenge to President Trump.
“We’ve got a guy in the White House who is unfit, completely unfit to be president and it stuns me that nobody stepped up, nobody in the Republican Party stepped up, because I’ll tell you what George, everybody believes in the Republican party, everybody believes he’s unfit,” Walsh told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos. “He lies every time he opens his mouth.”
Walsh in a tweet announcing his campaign said the U.S. “can’t take four more years of Donald Trump.”
“It won’t be easy,” he added. “but bravery is never easy.”
Read more at The Hill.
It is with great sadness that Matzav.com reports the passing of Rav Yosef Rosenbaum zt”l, the Kalisher Rebbe of Flatbush, Brooklyn. He was 84 years old.
During seudah shlishis on Shabbos afternoon, the rebbe suddenly collapsed and was rushed to the hospital, where he passed away.
The rebbe was a son of the Streznitzer Rebbe and Rebbetzin Chaya Esther Rosenbaum.
The rebbe was a talmid of Yeshiva Torah Vodaas, where he learned under and was greatly impacted by the illustrious rabbeim of the yeshiva.
The rebbe visited Eretz Yisroel last month after not visiting for many years, and met his older brother, the Cleveland-Raanana Rebbe, after six years of not seeing each other.
The rebbe&...
The United States condemned the deadly terror attack on Friday that killed an Israeli teenage girl, in addition to injuring her brother and father.
“Another savage attack by Palestinian terrorists kills an Israeli teenager enjoying time with her family. This isn’t the path to peace, just endless suffering. May her memory be a blessing. Our prayers are with her family especially her father & brother also wounded in the attack,” tweeted U.S. special envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt.
Rina Shnerb, 17, of Lod, succumbed to her wounds after being critically injured and treated at the scene. She was buried in her home city of Lod at 3.30 p.m., just one week after celebrating her birthday.
“Her father, Eitan Shnerb, is said to be conscious and in moderate co...
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Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif flew into Biarritz in southern France for the G7 summit on Sunday in an unexpected and dramatic attempt to break a diplomatic deadlock over Tehran’s disputed nuclear program.
Zarif’s presence had not been announced and represented an attempt by French host Emmanuel Macron to find a way to soothe spiraling tensions between Iran and the United States.
The French presidency confirmed his arrival but emphasized no talks were planned with the American side.
Read more at i24NEWS.
Voter turnout in Israel’s Sept. 17 election may be very low, according to a new Israel Hayom-i24 News poll, sparking concern among the various political parties.
Segmenting the results by the respondents’ stated political affiliation, the survey found that only 65% of Likud voters planned to cast their ballots on Sept. 17. Blue and White could count on the support of 69% of its electorate, and the Joint Arab List would see 55% of its supporters arrive at the polls.
Labor-Gesher would see greater support, as 82% of its supporters plan to vote, followed by United Torah Judaism (74%), Yamina (formerly the United Right) with 62% of its voters, Yisrael Beytenu (68%), the Democratic Union (74%), Shas (62%), Zehut (73%) and the radical Otzma Yehudit Party, which can count on 69% of ...
Iran has produced highly-accurate missiles which it has not publicized, Iranian Deputy Defense Minister General Qassem Taqizadeh said on Friday, according to the semi-official Fars news agency.
Taqizadeh did not provide details about the weapons.
US President Donald Trump pulled out of an international agreement on Iran’s nuclear program last year and stepped up sanctions on Tehran in order to curb Iran’s development of ballistic missiles and its support for proxies in Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq.
“Today we have very accurate missiles which we have not publicized,” Taqizadeh said, according to Fars.
Iran displayed what it described as a domestically built long-range, surface-to-air missile air defense system on Thursday, amid rising tensions with the United S...
Gaza banks disbursed $10 million in Qatari cash to 100,000 families in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip Qatar on Sunday.
The funds are part of an agreement brokered by Egypt, Qatar and the United Nations in an attempt to calm the recent flare-up in violence between Hamas and Israel, including multiple attempts by terrorists to infiltrate into Israeli territory.
In recent years, Qatar has sent more than $1 billion dollars into the coastal enclave.
Hamas has claimed the infiltration attempts were carried out without its knowledge.
“Both sides are committed (to the truce) and they have no war intentions at all,” Qatari envoy to Gaza Mohammed al-Emadi told Reuters on Saturday during a visit to Gaza. “Both sides have no war intentions but there is a lack of money and the humanit...
Dozens of families from the Mevo Modi’im moshav were left homeless in May following a fire that devastated the village and destroyed their homes.
The families protested on Sunday evening outside Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s residence in Yerushalayim, protesting the state’s failure to address their crisis.
While the state offered alternative housing for several months, but Mevo Modi’im residents want to return home and demand that Netanyahu find a permanent solution for them.
Read more at Arutz Sheva.
Palestinian-American congresswoman Rashida Tlaib called Friday’s West Bank attack that killed an Israeli teenager “tragic and horrible”, instead advocating “nonviolent approaches to ending the Israeli occupation.”
“This is absolutely tragic & horrible. My heart goes out to Rina’s family. More than ever we need to support nonviolent approaches to ending the Israeli occupation and guaranteeing equal rights for all. Extremism that puts innocent lives at risk moves us no closer to peace,” Tlaib wrote on Twitter.
Rina Shnerb was killed Friday while her father rabbi Eitan Shnerb and 19-year-old brother Dvir were injured when an improvised explosive device (IED) detonated at a popular spring near the Dolev settlement in the West Bank.
Read mo...
Illinois officials said Friday that a person who had recently used an e-cigarette and was hospitalized with severe lung illness had died. The death appears to be the first among a spate of mysterious lung illnesses now under investigation by state and federal health officials in connection to vaping – at least 149 cases in 15 states, many in teens and young adults, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Reports of the number of people hospitalized for vaping-related lung illnesses has doubled in the past week, Illinois officials said in a statement. At least 22 people, ranging in age from 17 to 38, have experienced respiratory illness after using e-cigarettes or vaping, it said. State officials are working with local health departments to investigate another 12...
The condition of Nachum Nevies, the 17-year-old victim of last Friday’s ramming attack, improved slightly.
The attack occurred as Nevies and his 19-year-old sister Noam made their way to the bus stop at the Elazar Junction. Noam suffered light to moderate injuries, while Nahum suffered a skull fracture and brain hemorrhage.
The family has asked everyone to daven for Nachum Elimelech Rafael ben Zehava Rivka.
Read more at Arutz Sheva.
Amid rising tensions in the North, IDF attacked in northern Gaza on Sunday night as a response to a rocket fired from Gaza that fell in Southern Israel earlier on Sunday, the IDF confirmed.
The IDF also added that the targets belong to Hamas, and that one of the targets was the office of a Hamas battalion commander.
The security cabinet is expected to meet Monday to discuss the security situation. According to the army, three projectiles were fired from the Strip towards southern Israel. Two were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system, while the third fell next to Route 34 outside Sderot, causing a fire.The Red Alert alarms were heard in the city of Sderot, in Ibim, Or HaNer, Nir Am, Gevim and at Sapir College. MDA provided treatmen...
About 9,000 Palestinian Arabs rioted on Friday along the Gaza border fence, an increase in the number of rioters compared to recent weeks.
The rioters threw explosives, some of them powerful, as well as grenades, firebombs and rocks towards IDF soldiers stationed in the area, reported Kan News.
The IDF said the soldiers responded by using riot dispersal means. Palestinian Arabs reported that 122 rioters were injured, 50 of them by gunfire.
Read more at Arutz Sheva.
After years of sharing ideas by phone, email and a what's app group, הצלה members from 20+ neighborhoods came together for the first time to brainstorm on ambulance design, technology, service and procurement. To help facilitate the discussion, 18 ambulances from New York, New Jersey, and Maryland were on display. Combined, these neighborhoods operate a fleet of approximately 150 ambulances. Those in attendance got to see ambulances from four of the leading ambulance manufacturers on a variety of vehicle chassis. In addition, participants got to see and operate the latest in emergency lighting, communications, patient handling, storage, and medical equipment.
Senior Care Ambulance graciously hosted the event in the...
A gas explosion at a shopping center in Columbia, Maryland, caused the front of an office building to collapse on Sunday morning.
Howard County Fire and Rescue reported the explosion just before 8 a.m. in the 8800 block of Stanford Boulevard at the Lakeside Office Building and shopping center.
They received a call around 7:30 a.m. with reports of a gas leak, according to Howard County Fire and Rescue.
No injuries have been reported.
Stanford Boulevard is closed at McGaw Road as Howard County Fire and Rescue crews as well as BG&E work at the scene.
About 30 BG&E customers are impacted by the outage.
A widespread power outage in the Stanford Boulevard and McGaw Road area is affecting area businesses, according to Howard County Fire and Rescue.
Read more at WTOP
ALTIMORE, MD — The Maryland attorney general says phone companies have agreed to curb the more than 100 million illegal robocalls made each month in the state. Twelve phone companies have agreed to adopt eight principles to fight illegal robocalls and make it easier for attorneys general to investigate and prosecute bad actors nationwide, officials said.
A record 5.2 billion robocalls were placed nationwide in January 2019, while 4.7 billion such calls were made last month, according to YouMail's robocall index, and 58 percent of them were scam or telemarketing calls. That includes 105.7 million robocalls in Maryland in July 2019, an average of 12.7 for every person in the state.
"We are harassed by robocalls every day. It is the number one complaint to att...
Mazel Tov to Baruch Rosenbluth and Miriam Fisher on their wedding today!
As such, Tov Pizza will be closed today, Sunday Aug 25, 2019.