Baltimore, MD – Jan. 14, 2025  - BJL wishes a hearty Mazel Tov to Binyomin & Chani Vilner on the birth of a son. Mazel tov to grandparents Rabbi & Mr. Ariel and Pessi Sadwin and to great-grandparents Rabbi & Mrs. Ben Zion and Zipora Malin and Mrs. Loretta Sadwin יה"ר שיזכו לגדל בנם לתורה, לחופה, ולמעשים טובים. אמן!
Baltimore, MD – Jan. 14, 2025 - BJL wishes a hearty Mazel Tov to Yossi and Elisheva Willner on the birth of a daughter. Mazel Tov to grandparents Rabbi & Mrs. Yehudah and Sossy Prero and to great grandparents Mrs. Brenda Willner, Mrs. Millie Prero and Mrs. Chaya Zwick. יה"ר שיזכו לגדל בתם לתורה, לחופה, ולמעשים טובים. אמן!
Following a possible hostage deal to be signed between Israel and Hamas, a major demonstration, with hostage and bereaved families, was held on Tuesday at Maahal Hagvura in Jerusalem. All those present called on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to agree to a deal that does not include all hostages, "Do not forsake Israel's security. Release the hostages only through victory and defeating the enemy." Representatives of the Hostages and Missing Families Forum met with Prime Minister Netanyahu in Jerusalem. 'We are united in our primary goal - bringing home all the hostages.' Lishay Lavi Miran, wife of Omri Miran: "We demand agreements to be made now promising everyone's return, not in the future. Time has not been on our side for a long while." Chaim Hayman, fath...
Baltimore, MD - Jan. 14, 2025 - An increase is coming to your energy bill in January, according to Baltimore Gas and Electric. The utility told 11 News that most of that charge is “out of their control.” The extra fees add up to roughly $26 per month. BGE said that’s why it’s so important to manage your energy use during the cold months in order to save money when possible. “What you pay for energy is increasing significantly in 2025,” said BGE senior manager of communications Nick Alexopulos. There will be five separate increases in six months, starting in January. BGE investments account for 36% of the increase, while the other 64% is out of their control, BGE told 11 News. “This is unprecedented. Unprecedented,” Alexopulos said. Of t...
Annapolis, MD - Jan. 14, 2025 - Residents of Maryland who didn’t receive COVID stimulus payments in 2021 will automatically receive up to $1,400 from the IRS in the coming weeks. The IRS said last month that it is distributing about $2.4 billion to about 1 million taxpayers who failed to claim a Recovery Rebate Credit on their 2021 tax returns. People who missed one of the COVID stimulus payments or had received less than the full amount were able to claim the credit. “Looking at our internal data, we realized that one million taxpayers overlooked claiming this complex credit when they were actually eligible,” IRS Commissioner Danny Werfel said in a statement. Eligible Maryland residents don’t have to do anything to claim the money — unless they&r...
Jerusalem, Israel - Jan. 14, 2025 - In an unusual episode, Chaim V’Chessed, the organization renowned for assisting English-speaking residents navigate life in Israel, stepped out of its regular sphere of activity to address an incident of moral insensitivity involving the English language. On the afternoon of January 13, the organization was contacted by a prominent rabbi who reported a massive political advertisement on a building facing the entrance to Jerusalem. The sign featured a grossly inappropriate word in English, prompting an immediate outcry from those who saw it as a desecration of the city’s sanctity. “This is certainly not something Chaim V’Chessed usually deals with,” said Paysach Freedman, CEO of Chaim V’Chessed. “But I...
New York, NY - Jan. 14, 2025 - Alongtime tenured Columbia University law professor who faced public criticism from Columbia’s president and congressional Republicans will no longer teach at the institution, after more than 25 years as a faculty member there. Katherine Franke said Friday in a letter that she’s effectively been terminated, following a university investigation into a media interview she gave in which she criticized students who formerly served in the Israel Defense Forces for allegedly harming other students at Columbia. The investigation found that her media comments, and her alleged retaliation against a complainant in subsequent comments, had violated Columbia’s Division of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Policies and Procedures. ...
New York, N Y- Jan. 14, 2025 - Around half of adults across the world hold antisemitic beliefs and deny the historic facts of the Holocaust, according to the latest edition of the largest global study of anti-Jewish attitudes by the Anti-Defamation League, a New York-based advocacy group. The study surveyed more than 58,000 adults from 103 countries and territories representing 94% of the world’s adult population, and found that 46% of them—which when extrapolated to the global population would equal an estimated 2.2 billion people—display antisemitic attitudes. A fifth of the respondents haven’t heard of the Holocaust, during which six million Jews were killed, while 21% believe it has either been exaggerated by historians or it never happened....
Families of hostages in Gaza gathered on Tuesday outside the Knesset in Jerusalem amid reports of an emerging deal for the release of their loved ones. The families formed a human chain to send a message: no hostage should be left behind. "The families of the hostages have anxiously followed media reports about a potential deal that could bring their loved ones home," the Hostages and Missing Families Forum stated. "The families are hopeful that any deal, even a limited one, represents an important first step toward a comprehensive agreement. They are grateful for every hostage who returns home and see each release as progress toward their ultimate goal: the return of all hostages - the living for rehabilitation and the deceased for proper burial. We remain hopeful that each step brings ...
No final answer was given from Hamas regarding a hostage deal, an Israeli official told The Jerusalem Post on Tuesday.  Earlier, the Associated Press reported, citing two officials involved in the negotiations, that Hamas has agreed to the proposed ceasefire deal in Gaza and the release of numerous hostages. According to the report, an Israeli official noted that while progress had been made, the final details were still under discussion. The Associated Press obtained a copy of the draft agreement, which was authenticated by both an Egyptian and a Hamas official.  All three officials spoke anonymously due to the sensitive nature of the closed-door negotiations. Qatar, a key mediator in the talks, described the current situati...
Three-quarters of New Yorkers support banning masks in public as activists frequently wear masks at hateful anti-Israel protests, the New York Post reported, citing a recent survey. The survey, which was conducted by the Mercury Public Affairs organization for the civil rights coalition #UnMaskHateNY, found that 75% of New Yorkers support a mask ban. In addition, 68% of respondents said that the value of free expression must be balanced with public safety. 74% of Jewish respondents said that discrimination and harassment based on bigotry is worse than before the October 7 massacre, compared to 60% of all respondents. 76% of Jewish respondents said that they feel less safe now, compared to 50% of all respondents. In June, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) called for a ban on wea...
In an interview with Israel National News-Arutz Sheva, Republicans Overseas Israel Chairman Marc Zell calls on Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to politely refuse the deal with Hamas that President-elect Trump is pressing on Israel to reach before he takes office. "Israel's interests must come first," Zell stated. We ask Zell if Trump's threats are aimed also or even mostly at Israel, and if maybe, for that reason Netanyahu is rushing to reach the deal before the inauguration. Zell answers that he does not want to see it as threats or pressure on Israel, but rather a deal between Israel and the US which is the true deal here. "Trump is a man of deals and negotiations," says Zell and notes that his two main interests at the moment are to fulfill his promise to the American...
Annapolis, MD - Jan. 14, 2025 - Gov. Wes Moore will unveil his proposal to close the state’s nearly $3 billion budget deficit, but depending on who you talk to, the reason why Maryland is facing the massive financial hole is up for debate. When lawmakers arrived back at the State House on the first day of session, there had already been talk about how the General Assembly and Gov. Moore would address the looming budget crisis. Gov. Moore said in an interview that he planned to introduce $2 billion in cuts, leaving the additional $1 billion to make up the difference a big unanswered question in Annapolis. Republicans, however, were quick to point to their counterparts on the other side of the aisle. “This is a self-inflicted wound. We are very much aware of what was going on,&...
Baltimore, MD - Jan. 14, 2025  - Over the last two decades, cell phones have become more common in schools. Challenging administrators to come up with plans to maintain focus on instruction and not what's happening on social media. Insert a bipartisan bill to create a pilot program to limit phone use during the school day. "It's clear now to parents and teachers and school administrators that phones are bad for kids. Especially in academic settings and so I think for some reason there is some resistance previously to get rid of phones in schools but now teachers, administrators, and parents are ready to do so," said Senator Jeff Waldstreicher, a Democrat from Montgomery County. "You know, everybody has a cell phone now and kids have it and it's become a huge issue i...
Baltimore City State's Attorney Ivan Bates has filed a response to Adnan Syed's request for a sentence reduction under the Juvenile Restoration Act. His conviction was overturned and he was released from incarceration by the Circuit Court in 2022. But his conviction currently still stands, pending a repeat vacatur hearing that hasn't yet been scheduled. In the meantime, he's filed for relief under the Juvenile Restoration Act, as he was 17 at the time of the murder. On Sunday, Bates filed a motion requesting the court grant Syed's request for a hearing and his request for a sentence modification. He also requests that the sentence be modified to "Life suspend all but time served with a period of probation." Bates, in his motion, requests a hearing on either Fe...
Code Blue Issued Tuesday (1/14) through Thursday morning (1/16)Baltmore, MD - Jan. 13, 2025  - The Health Commissioner declares a Code Blue Extreme Cold Alert during periods of extremely cold weather. Code Blue Extreme Cold is a multi-agency effort to reduce hypothermia deaths during the winter months by protecting the health and safety of all residents, especially individuals experiencing homelessness, older adults, and other vulnerable populations from extreme cold weather. The Health Commissioner may declare a Code Blue Extreme Cold Alert based on the following criteria: When temperatures, including wind chill, are expected to be 13˚F or below. This threshold can be reached by having a temperature at or below 20˚F with 5 mph sustained winds or a temperature at or below...
Baltimore, MD - Jan. 13, 2025 - Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott spent time in Annapolis on Wednesday for the start of the 2025 legislative session. He explained on The C4 and Bryan Nehman show how he plans to advocate for the city. The mayor said he plans to continue to address the opioid overdoses, keeping with an executive order established in August 2024 to manage the city’s opioid settlement funds. He says he is putting a board together. “We’ll be doing tours, right, listening tours, and not just your typical town hall,” Scott said. “We’ll be doing those kind of focus groups with those who have been impacted by by the overdose epidemic and going specifically also to those people and hearing from them.” The mayor says it will continue to ...
US President-elect Donald Trump spoke to Fox News on Monday evening and commented on the talks for a hostage release deal, amid reports that a deal is close. "We're very close to getting it done - and they have to get it done. If they don't get it done, there's going to be a lot of trouble out there - a lot of trouble like they have never seen before," said Trump. He added, “They will get it done. I understand there’s been a handshake and they’re getting it finished and maybe by the end of the week. But it has to take place.” Earlier on Monday, US President Joe Biden said there has been progress in the talks between Israel and Hamas on a ceasefire and hostage release deal. "I have learned in many years in public service to neve...
More articles