Baltimore, MD - Dec. 8, 2024 - It’s been 48 hours since a massive fire at Camp Small brought hundreds of firefighters to Baltimore to help battle the blaze.
Firefighters remained at the scene Saturday night, dousing a smoldering pile of wood with water.
“This is what the Baltimore City Fire Department does, and I’m happy to say they do this well,” said Kevin Cartwright, a former spokesman for the Baltimore City Fire Department.
The massive inferno at Camp Small that started Thursday evening certainly tested their mettle. Cartwright applauds their efforts to successfully bring the fire under control.
“You have to methodically attack a fire like this, utilizing a best practice of trying to surround and drown while there are no other life elem...
Jerusalem, Israel - Dec. 8, 2024 - By Israeli law, citizens of Israel must enter and exit the country using their Israeli passports — a rule that applies even to dual citizens. However, since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, an exception was introduced allowing dual citizens to enter and exit the country using their foreign passport instead of an Israeli one. This policy was initially implemented due to processing backlogs at the Interior Ministry and the temporary closure or limited operation of Israeli embassies and consulates worldwide. It was extended several times, but the dispensation was set to end on December 31, 2024.
We are pleased to share that the Population Authority has announced an extension of this policy. Dual citizens will be permitted to enter and exit Israel...
We have seen that mitzvah observance is a great privilege. In addition to expressing our commitment to and strengthening our relationship with our Creator, mitzvot benefit us and give our lives meaning.
Pursuing Opportunities
We show our appreciation for mitzvot by seeking opportunities to fulfill them.
Avraham
The first Jew exemplified this trait. Sefer Bereishit describes how Hashem appeared to Avraham after he fulfilled the mitzvah of brit milah.[1] As Avraham was recuperating from the circumcision and conversing with Hashem, he was clearly exempt from other mitzvot. Still, he was on the lookout for visitors to welcome into his home.[2] When he saw three wayfarers from a distance, he immediately ran to fulfill the mitzvah of hachnasat orchim (hosting guests).[3]
It ...
Iran has turned its back and abandoned its ally Syria as opposition forces topple the regime, an exclusive New York Times report on Saturday revealed.
According to an internal memo from a member of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps that the NYT viewed, the situation in Syria was described as “unbelievable and strange.” It is as if “Iran accepted the fall of Assad and has lost the will to resist,” the memo said.
In addition, Iran's media had switched from calling the Sunni rebels “infidel terrorists” to “armed groups” and reported that they had so far treated Shiite minorities well, the NYT reported.
Iran has admitted that the current setbacks to the Syrian regime are a challenge for its reg...
Palestinian Islamic Jihad chief Ziyad al-Nakhalah fled Syria a few weeks ago, Israel's public broadcaster KAN reported on Sunday.
Nakhalah reportedly escaped to Tehran, fearing Israeli elimination.
Nakhalah's deputy, Akram al-Ajouri, was also reported to have left Syria, retreating with the terror group's top military brass to Iraq.
According to KAN, the terror group operated in Syria under the auspices of Assad's regime.
Assad's regime falls
In the early hours of Sunday, the Syrian military's command informed officers that former president Bashar al-Assad's regime had ended, with Syrian rebels announcing Damascus had been freed.
The IDF struck a chemical weapons factory belonging to the regime of former Syrian president Bashar al-Assad to prevent the rebels from seizing it, Arab media first reported on Sunday, and The Jerusalem Post later independently confirmed.
In addition, IDF sources responded about whether the air force had attacked Syrian chemical weapons, saying that the military follows developments that could endanger Israel and takes the necessary steps to attack any such dangerous threats.
Israel's position has always been to avoid conflict with Syria where possible but not to permit dangerous developments regarding advanced weapons, and it has carried out thousands of air strikes within Syria - usually only admitting to a small number of specific strikes - dating back over a decad...
The Russian Foreign Ministry said on Sunday afternoon that former Syrian President Bashar al-Assad had left office and departed the country after giving orders there be a peaceful handover of power.
In a statement, the ministry did not say where Assad was now and said Russia had not taken part in the talks about his departure.
Just minutes before Russia announced Assad's alleged departure, a transport plane took off from a Russian airfield in Latakia, Syria.
This statement comes as various reports emerged on Sunday regarding the whereabouts of Assad after the fall of his regime earlier in the day.
Arab media reported on Sunday that the IDF has captured the Syrian side of Mount Hermon which was abandoned by the army of now former President Bashar al-Assad.
It should be noted that the IDF has not officially confirmed the reports but did confirm earlier in the day that the Israeli troops were operating over the border in the buffer zone.
At the same time, the IDF announced that students from Buq'ata, Ein Qiniyye, Mas'ade, and Majdal Shams in the northern Golan Heights will shift to online studies, while kindergartens operate as usual. Elsewhere in the Golan, studies continue as normal.
The IDF also decided to enforce a closed military zone in agricultural areas between Merom Golan-Ein Zivan and Buq'ata-Khirbat Ein Hura following a situational assessment.
Earlier on S...
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz visited Mount Bental in the Golan Heights this morning (Sunday), an observation point facing the Syrian border. The head of the Golan Regional Council, Uri Kellner, also participated in the visit.
Netanyahu referred to Assad's downfall as "a historic day in the history of the Middle East. The collapse of the Assad regime, the tyrannical rule in Damascus, offers great opportunity but also is fraught with significant dangers. This collapse is the direct result of our forceful action against Hezbollah and Iran, Assad's main supporters. It set off a chain reaction of all those who want to free themselves from this tyranny and its oppression."
He added: "But it also means that we have to take action against possible ...
Syrian rebels announced early Sunday that they had seized control of the capital, Damascus, after a week of rapid military advances against President Bashar al-Assad’s forces. Assad reportedly fled the country in the early hours of Sunday, though his destination remains unknown. His wife and children had already left for Russia last week, according to reports. Assad had planned to address the nation at 8 p.m. local time, but the speech never took place.
Rebel forces have also reportedly taken the eastern city of Deir Ezzour and seized the strategic city of Homs earlier in the day, marking a swift and dramatic collapse of the Syrian military. Many regime forces, demoralized and unpaid after more than a decade of internal conflict, offered little resistance. U.S. special envoy A...
Baltimore, MD – Dec. 7, 2024 - 9:26PM - Due to an accident, Reisterstown Road is shut down on both sides near the on ramp to 695.
Emergency Vehicles are on scene.
Baltimore, MD – Dec. 7, 2024 - BJL regrets to inform the community of the petira of Arlene Fishkind, a’h, wife of Steven Fishkind and mother of Paul Fishkind, and Faith (Stuart) Feldman.
The levayah will be held at Levinson’s on Sunday, Dec. 8, 2024 at 9:30AM.
Keurah will take place at United Hebrew Cemetery 3979 Washington Blvd, Arbutus, MD 21227.
The family will be in mourning at, Moses Montefiore Anshe Emunah Hebrew Congregation (MMAE), 7000 Rockland Hills Dr, Baltimore, MD 21209, on Sunday following the interment until 8 pm with a Minyan at 7pm, continuing Monday through Thursday from 2-4pm and 6-8pm each day with a Minyan at 7pm each night.
Bila HaMaves LaNetzach…
Syrian President Bashar Assad's fate is currently unknown, US officials told CNN.
The officials cautioned that there has been no formal assessment of Assad's status and that his death has not been ruled out.
“The emerging consensus is that is an increasingly plausible scenario,” one senior US official said to CNN.
The Syrian government has denied reports that Assad is not in Damascus, Syrian state news agency SANA reported.
Axios reported on Saturday night that three Israeli defense officials said that Assad was still in Damascus.
Conflicting reports
Bloomberg reported that Assad's whereabouts were unknown, but listed multiple possibilities of where he could be.
Assad could be in Damascus, as Syrian officials have stated....
IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Herzi Halevi and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar have issued strong warnings to Syrian factions to avoid violating existing agreements between Israel and the Syrian state in statements issued on Saturday night.
This came after Syrian factions made rapid gains against Assad, seizing the entirety of the Syrian Golan and beginning encirclement of Damascus.
Sa'ar took to X to warn Syrian factions to avoid continuing to violate the existing ceasefire between Israel and Syria from 1974.
"During the last day, armed forces entered the buffer zone on the Syrian side of the border with Israel. Among other things, attacks were carried out on the UNDF force in the area."
"Israel is troubled by the violations of the separation of for...
Syrian rebel groups have made major advances against the Syrian regime in southern Syria over the last two days. Many of these rebel groups who once operated near Dara’a in southern Syria near the Jordanian border had reconciled with the Syrian regime.
This reconciliation did not always go smoothly because a low-level insurgency continued since 2018 when the groups laid down their arms. This has important ramifications for Israel because the groups operate not far from the Golan border.
The rebel groups appeared to retake control of much of the area they controlled back in 2018 over a 48-hour period from December 6 to 7 in southern Syria. This is a large area that includes the Jordanian border, the city of Dara’a and the countryside around it. The groups are reporte...
The U.S. job market rebounded in November after a major slowdown, according to data released Friday by the Labor Department.
The U.S. added 227,000 jobs last month and the jobless rate ticked slightly higher to 4.2 percent, marking a significant improvement from a weak October jobs report. The U.S. added just 24,000 jobs in October, according to revised figures released Friday.
Economists expected the U.S. to add roughly 200,000 jobs in November and for the jobless rate to hold at 4.1 percent, according to consensus estimates.
The November jobs report comes a week before the Federal Reserve is set to meet for the final time this year. Fed officials are expected to cut interest rates one more time before the end of a year in which inflation fell sharply back toward the central bank&rsquo...
Baltimore, MD - Dec. 7, 2024 - All are asked to daven for Rabbi Paysach J. Krohn, the renowned and beloved maggid, bestselling author, and noted mohel, who was taken to the hospital at the onset of Shabbos due to a stroke.
Rabbi Krohn was attending the Agudah Convention at the Armon Hotel and Conference Center in Stamford, Connecticut, when the incident occurred.
Hatzolah responded immediately and transported him to a local hospital in Stamford, where he is currently receiving treatment.
Rabbi Krohn had delivered a session at the Agudah Convention on Friday morning and was scheduled to speak again that evening.
Please daven for a refuah sheleimah for Paysach Yosef ben Hinda.
Syrian rebel commander Hassan Abdul Ghany said early on Sunday that insurgent forces "fully liberated" Syria's central city of Homs.
This comes after Abu Mohammed al-Golani, leader of the Islamist rebel group Hayat Tahrir al-Sham, a former al Qaeda affiliate, said in a video message on Saturday that the rebels are "in the final moments of liberating" Homs.
Golani called it a "historic moment" and called on his fighters not to harm "those who drop their arms."
The rebels also claimed to have freed over 3,500 inmates from Homs military prison (Baluni prison), posting a video of it to their Telegram channel.
Dozens of fighters from Hezbollah's elite Radwan forces fled Homs after a decision was taken with the Syrian army that the city could no longer be d...
The IDF on Saturday attacked Syrian rebel forces with artillery fire, after the rebels attacked a United Nations (UN) position near Hader in the lower Mount Hermon area, opposite the Israeli town of Majdal Shams.
In a statement, the IDF confirmed that its forces had aided the UN in repelling the attack.
"A short while ago, an attack was carried out by armed individuals at a UN post in the Hader area in Syria," the statement read. "The IDF is currently assisting the UN forces in repelling the attack."
"The IDF is deployed with reinforced forces in the Golan Heights area and will continue to operate in order to protect the State of Israel and its citizens."
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar clarified: "Over the past 24 hours, armed forces have entered the buffer zone on the Syrian side ...
