|
March 24, 2017 at 11:07 am
Khalid Masood, who attacked Britain’s Parliament, killing four people and wounding some 50, was born Adrian Russell Ajao, London’s top counterterror officer said Friday.
Mark Rowley revealed the name in a briefing outside Scotland Yard in which he also announced two more “significant” arrests had been made. That brings the total number of people in custody for the Wednesday attack to nine.
“We remain keen to hear from anyone who knew Khalid Masood well, understands who his associates were and can provide us with information about places he has recently visited,” Rowley said. “There might be people out there who did have concerns about Masood but did not feel comfortable for whatever reason in passing those concerns to us.”
The 52-year-old ...
|
March 24, 2017 at 11:05 am
The Trump administration issued a permit Friday to build the Keystone XL pipeline, reversing the conclusion of the Obama administration and clearing the way for the $8 billion project to finally be completed.
The decision caps a years-long fight between environmental groups and energy industry advocates over the pipeline’s fate that became a proxy battle over global warming. It marks one of the biggest steps taken to date by the Trump administration to prioritize economic development over environmental concerns.
The State Department, responsible for reviewing the project because it crosses an international border, determined that building it serves U.S. national interests. That conclusion followed a review of environmental, economic and diplomatic factors, the department said.
It ...
|
March 24, 2017 at 11:04 am
Towards ensuring the safety of mispallalim and the integrity of the Kosel, as is the case before Pesach and Rosh Hashanah, work is ongoing at the Kosel ahead of Yomtov.
Workmen are checking the integrity of the stones, a necessary step to avoid an unwanted situation chas v’sholom as from time to time, some of them have to be reinforced. In addition, cleaning is done to remove buildup and matter left behind by birds.
The countless number of kvitlach are also removed twice annually in preparation for the many visitors who arrive at the Kosel in Tishrei and Nissan.
|
March 24, 2017 at 11:01 am
Belgian authorities have charged the Frenchman who drove his car at high speed through a busy shopping area in Antwerp with terror-related offenses.
The Federal prosecutor’s office said Friday that Mohamed R., 39, was charged with “attempted murder in a terror context,” and infractions against the gun law.
After driving through the busy Meir shopping road on Thursday, he was arrested at the port docks. No one was injured.
In the car, authorities found knives, a shotgun and a gas can with an unknown liquid.
An official at the prosecutor’s office said the suspect “was under the influence” but refused to elaborate whether it was drugs or alcohol.
Authorities immediately raised security in the center of Antwerp.
|
March 24, 2017 at 11:00 am
MK (Yahadut Hatorah) Uri Maklev has turned to Minister of Religious Services David Azoulai questioning how private mikvaos in Israel are less expensive than state-run ones.
Maklev calls on the minister to sharply reduce the fees for state-run mikvaos, explaining the tzibur cannot afford the price. He explains prices have increased signifyingly in this administration and there is no justification for state services to be more costly than private.
Azoulai blames the treasury for not permitting the ministry to offer a discount. He added that he agrees and it is unacceptable that a father and sons come to toivel erev Shabbos and this is prohibitively expensive.
Azoulai explains that he will okay any discount but it is not up to him, but rather the treasury.
|
March 24, 2017 at 10:50 am
Parshas Vayakhail/Pekudei / Parshas Hachodesh / Shabbos Mevarchim Nisan / Baltimore Zmanim / Eruv is UP!
Baltimore, MD – Mar. 24, 2017
Parshas: Vayakhail/Pekudei
Today: 26 Adar
Chatzos: 1:13 PM
Hadlakas Nairos: 7:05 PM
Shkiah: 7:23:01PM
Tzais HaKochavim: 8:14 PM
Rosh Chodesh Nisan: Tuesday, March 28
Kiddush Levanah (may only be said at night): Thursday, March 30, 12:43 PM – April 11, 7:05 AM
|
March 24, 2017 at 10:48 am
Baltimore, MD – Mar. 22, 2017 - It is with deep sorrow that BaltimoreJewishLife.com informs the community of the petirah of R' Refoel Naftoli Hertz Soloff, Z’L, brother of Rabbi Ari Soloff.
Rabbi Soloff will be sitting shiva Thursday, Sunday and Monday Morning at 1171 E 13th St., Brooklyn, NY 11230, and will be sitting in Baltimore on Friday at 6118 Biltmore Ave.
Minyanim at 6118 Biltmore Ave:
Friday: Shacharis: 8:15 AM
Friday: Mincha 4:00 PM
Motzaei Shabbos: Maariv 8:15 PM
Rabbi Soloff will be leaving back to NY right after Maariv on Motzaei Shabbos
Bila HaMaves LaNetzach...
|
March 24, 2017 at 10:42 am
[Ed. Note] Out of the respect and recognition of the impact made by longtime BJL friend and contributor, Reb Shaya Gross, z’l, we will maintain a living memoriam to Shaya through the sweet words and thoughtful insights of his Divrei Torah. BJL readers will remember his weekly column on the Parsha and on various Torah ideas and concepts. These meaningful words will help us remember this special young man who will be sorely missed and for those who did not merit to know him, this will be the most appropriate way for them to become familiar with who he was.
In this week's Parsha the Torah gives a detailed description of the silver donations that were contributed to the Mishkan. The commentators explain that this accounting of the donations was made s...
|
March 24, 2017 at 10:35 am
This week’s Parshah is almost entirely devoted to listing the many physical details of the Mishkan. Why does the Torah, which never wastes a single letter, spend so much time discussing even the most “trivial” details of the Mishkan? Furthermore, the Mishkan will never again be reconstructed. If so, why does the Torah need to list every painstaking detail, down to the very measurements of each board, of how it was built?
Sometimes we may feel that our “small” mitzvos aren’t important. We may even question why Hashem would care whether or not a “small” mitzvah is done. One lesson from the Mishkan is to dispel this notion. For, on one hand, we don’t understand the purpose of many of the acts of serving Hashem that happened within it. Why...
|
March 24, 2017 at 10:35 am
For years the IRS has been telling people that, unlike fraudsters, they would never call you to demand payment. Now, that is now changing.
The IRS will start using collection agencies to call people who owe back taxes. Some say that’s a problem.
“We have been stating for a long time saying the IRS does not call you to demand payment in any way shape or form, that’s not what they do, that’s not their M.O. Unfortunately, the IRS now is seeking third party collection agencies which is calling on behalf,” said Steve Bernas, Better Business Bureau.
The Better Business Bureau is concerned because this comes after a strong message from consumer advocates and the IRS that the IRS will not call people for payment.
That’s been the warning to consumers about cr...
|
March 24, 2017 at 10:34 am
Charedi magazine publishes names and phone numbers of defense officials, calls on haredi women to launch campaign against haredi enlistment.
In what has been referred to as an imitation of the anti-Trump Women's March movement in the US, the leaders of the struggle by an extremist haredi faction against the recruitment of haredim to the IDF are promoting a women's protest to be directed against senior members of the defense establishment.
The Ketoret Hebrew magazine reported that the decision to engage in an Israeli 'Women's March' following a New York Times report which stated: "The congressional offices in Washington and across the United States are overwhelmed by phone calls, letters and the presence of concerned citizens who are organi...
|
March 24, 2017 at 10:34 am
An Amtrak train bound for Washington, D.C., bumped an NJ Transit train as it departed New York’s Penn Station at the height of Friday’s morning rush, breaking some windows and causing a minor derailment but no serious injuries, authorities said.
NJ Transit said one of its trains on the Montclair/Boonton line was coming into the Manhattan transit hub shortly after 9 a.m. when the departing Acela sideswiped it between the north tube and the station. Amtrak did not acknowledge the bump in a later statement, but said its Acela Express Train 2151 “had a minor derailment while moving at a slow speed.” The train originated in Boston.
“The rear of the train was still on the platform, and all 248 passengers have exited the train onto the platform and into the station...
|
March 24, 2017 at 10:31 am
The arrest of an Israeli for JCC bomb threats shows the need to be cautious when analyzing hateful acts. Opinion.
JTA - Many Jewish groups blamed white supremacists, emboldened by Donald Trump’s campaign, for the bomb threats that have plagued Jewish institutions since the beginning of this year.
It appears the groups were wrong.
The news that one Jewish teen -- an Israeli, no less -- was behind most of the approximately 150 bomb threats that have hit Jewish community centers since the start of 2017 is a shocking twist in light of months in which the Anti-Defamation League and other groups pointed their collective finger at the far right.
“We’re in unprecedented times,” said Oren Segal, director of the ADL’s Center on Extremism, at a March 10 news conf...
|
March 24, 2017 at 10:27 am
In response to its international isolation, the Palestinian terror group Hamas has undertaken a new political program in an attempt to present a “more moderate image,” aiming to improve relations with Western countries and neighboring states such as Egypt, The Associated Press reported.
In its new manifesto, Hamas has removed references to a holy war against Jews and includes the possibility of accepting a Palestinian state created along the 1967 lines in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip and eastern Jerusalem.
The document fails to clarify, however, what would be considered an effective end to the terror group’s conflict with the Jewish state, and does not include any reference regarding official recognition of Israel.
The manifesto also down...
|
March 24, 2017 at 10:26 am
Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney made clear Thursday evening that President Donald Trump is done negotiating on the hotly-debated health care bill and wants a vote on Friday.
And, if the president doesn't get a vote to repeal and replace Obamacare, he will move on to other priorities, Mulvaney said according to a source in the room during the tense talks with GOP members. A senior administration source confirms to NBC News the "very definitive, very clarifying" message from the president and the administration's intention to move on — should the health care bill fail to move forward — to other matters such as tax reform, trade and border security.
If the bill does not pass, the president would see it as "people in Congress breaking their promis...
|
March 24, 2017 at 10:26 am
The Knesset finalized a law Wednesday preventing foreign-funded organizations that operate against Israel from enjoying the benefits of Israel’s national service program. The bill passed in its second and third Knesset readings, with 40 lawmakers voting in favor of the measure and 12 opposing it.
Israel’s national civic service program provides an alternative framework for post-high school youths who, for various reasons, do not enlist in the IDF as part of the mandatory draft. The program coordinates volunteer positions in a wide range of areas so young Israelis can contribute in a way comparable to military service.
The bill, sponsored by Member of Knesset Amir Ohana (Likud) and endorsed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, was presented following an October 2016 report in...
|
March 24, 2017 at 10:26 am
The Trump administration’s Israel policy earned unexpected praise from a former Obama administration official.
Former U.S. Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro. Credit: State Department.
Dan Shapiro, the U.S. ambassador to Israel from August 2011 to January 2017, told Reuters in an interview published Thursday that so far, Trump’s “approach on the Israeli-Palestinian issue has been more cautious and more responsible than almost anything else.”
Shapiro still reserved criticism for President Donald Trump's White House in his comments, adding, “I can’t quite explain why on this one issue they’re closer to the norm than they’ve been on other issues.”
Jason Greenblatt, Trump’s internat...
|
March 24, 2017 at 10:14 am
New film, 'The Zookeeper's Wife', recounts true story of Polish couple who hid 300 Jews in their zoo during the Holocaust.
The director of the Warsaw zoo and his wife always carried cyanide during World War II. Danger was ever-present but they were ready to take their secret to the grave.
The couple hid nearly 300 Jews and resistance fighters on zoo grounds during most of the war, under the noses of the German Nazis occupying Poland.
It sounds like a Hollywood movie, and now it is. But "The Zookeeper's Wife", which opens in Polish cinemas this week before rolling out internationally, is based on actual events.
Inside the zookeeper's villa, whose windowless cellar had a secret tunnel leading to the garden, Jan Zabinski and his wife Antonina gave refuge to the ...
|
March 24, 2017 at 10:04 am
A written bomb threat targeting the Jewish community at Canada’s York University prompted the evacuation of campus buildings on Wednesday, though no explosive devices were discovered.
The threat — along with antisemitic graffiti — was found on the wall of a men’s bathroom on the school’s Glendon campus.
Toronto Police Constable Victor Kwong told Jewish human rights group B’nai Brith Canada that since March 8, there have been seven racially motivated incidents at the Glendon campus.
“Not all of them have targeted Jewish people. There have been scribbles and graffiti in bathrooms against blacks and Muslims, too. We think one person is responsible for this and he is desperately attempting to get attention,” he said. “Every ti...
|
March 24, 2017 at 10:04 am
A Canadian university investigating a Facebook post comparing Jews to rodents rejected the charge that it was conducting a “witch hunt” involving “racial profiling,” a spokesperson told The Algemeiner on Thursday.
University of Ontario Institute of Technology (UOIT) vice president of external relations Susan McGovern said the inquiry into an online celebration earlier this month by suspected members of the school’s chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), following the covering up of an Israeli flag with its Algerian counterpart at an on-campus multicultural language festival, was “being done according to university policies.”
McGovern said part of the “democratic i...
