|
June 25, 2017 at 10:56 pm
Mayors are warning President Donald Trump that toughening immigration enforcement meddles with U.S. cities’ affairs.
More than 250 mayors are meeting at the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Miami Beach to take a stance on issues from climate change to the federal budget and health care. They are reviewing resolutions that would strongly oppose Trump’s crack down on illegal immigration.
Mayors were struck a blow in January, when Trump ordered to cut funding to jurisdictions that deny in some way cooperation with federal immigration agents. Most cities have defied the order, and a federal judge blocked it in April, at least temporarily.
“Some of us are proud to be places of sanctuary, to protect immigrants, but this idea that we’re in violation of something, I think is...
|
June 25, 2017 at 9:37 pm
Baltimore, MD - June 25, 2017 - Kol Torah (Rabbi Yosaif Berger) is honored to have HaRav Zev Cohen, Shlit"a ,of Chicago, give Divrei Chizuk in the Shul's large classroom, tonight, Sunday Night, at 9:40pm, after the 9:20pm Maariv.
|
June 25, 2017 at 7:23 pm
The average price of a gallon of regular-grade gasoline dropped 7 cents nationally over the past two weeks, to $2.32.
Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey said Sunday that the drop reflects lower costs for crude oil.
She says the national average is 4 cents a gallon below the price a year ago.
Gas in San Francisco was the highest in the contiguous United States at an average of $3.06 a gallon. The lowest was in Charleston, South Carolina, at $1.91 a gallon.
The U.S. average diesel price is $2.53, down 3 cents from two weeks ago.
|
June 25, 2017 at 7:23 pm
The crisis continues surrounding the hemo-oncology unit at Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital continues, and has even made its way from the court of public opinion to Israel’s High Court of Justice.
The doctors who resigned from the pediatric bone-marrow unit remain in a stand-off with the Ministry of Health and Hadassah Director-General Prof. Ze’ev Rothstein.
During the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday, 1 Tammuz, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed the crisis while the media was present. Following are his remarks pertaining to the crisis: “I would like to refer to the crisis at Hadassah. It has gone on far too long. Attempts have been made, also by me, via the Health Minister who has worked tirelessly on the matter, and by others, including the Presiden...
|
June 25, 2017 at 7:21 pm
The United States says some demands on Qatar by its Mideast neighbors “will be very difficult to meet.” But the U.S. isn’t rejecting the demands outright.
Secretary of State Rex Tillerson says in a statement that a list of demands from Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates includes major areas that “provide a basis for ongoing dialogue leading to a resolution.”
He’s calling for Qatar and the other Arab countries to “sit together” to work through the list.
Tillerson is also calling for a “lowering of rhetoric” to “help ease the tension.” He says the U.S. is supporting Kuwait’s efforts to mediate.
The demands include shuttering Al-Jazeera and severing ties to the Muslim Brotherhood. Tillerso...
|
June 25, 2017 at 5:02 pm
Brooklyn, NY - Several hundred people turned out today in Borough Park to pay their respects to Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz, Z'L, the founder of Artscroll publications whose works transformed the landscape of Jewish literature with a library of Seforim and books that brought Torah to the masses in an unparalleled way. Rabbi Zlotowitz passed away on Shabbos in Borough Park at the age of 73.
The son of Rabbi Aron Zlotowitz, rov of Congregation Etz Chaim Anshei Lubin in Flatbush and executive director of the Board of Orthodox Rabbis of Brooklyn, Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz attended Rabbi Jacob Joseph School and continued his education under the guidance of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein at Mesivta Tifereth Jerusalem.
The energy and enthusiasm which made the Artscroll brand a household name were e...
|
June 25, 2017 at 5:01 pm
Many sectors of Israel’s workforce have become dependent on Muslim workers, including construction and drivers, and this is particularly apparent during the month of Ramadan when some services halt or are significantly cut. During Ramadan, when workers are fasting, their performance is compromised and often, they call it a day early, especially this year when Ramadan falls during a hot period.
The Metropolin Bus Company has been compelled to cancel lines; four times in one week as a matter of fact, due to drivers observing Ramadan not showing for work. The result of this is that residents and of Dimona found themselves stranded, waiting well over an hour. When the company was called, they were unaware the bus hadn’t been running. While anxious passengers were instructed to wai...
|
June 25, 2017 at 5:01 pm
After years of court battles with NGOs representing non-religious and anti-religious interests, the IDF Judge Advocate General’s Office has announce amending regulations to permit a secular civilian military funeral if requested.
The official change in the IDF burial order became known to the Hiddush organization in a letter from the Military Advocate General’s Office, after decades of requiring exclusively Orthodox kvura, including a military rabbi.
The legal adviser of the IDF Casualties Unit writes: “The order came into force and was signed. The default set forth in the ordinance is that a military funeral must be held in a military cemetery. However, it is possible to deviate from this, and conduct a military funeral service in a civilian cemetery, if that was the w...
|
June 25, 2017 at 4:51 pm
Jerusalem, Israel - June 25, 2017 - The Jewish Agency Board of Governors is meeting in Jerusalem, Israel, at the Citadel Hotel. The Jewish Agency held a mega event celebrating fifty years since Jerusalem’s reunification at Sultan’s Pool on Sunday evening.
The presentation began with a perek Tehillim and Shofers blown. The event was attended by hundreds of Jewish leaders, new immigrants, and young people from around the world who are participating in Jewish Agency programs, and featured some of Israel’s leading performers.
Remarks by Jewish Agency Head Natan Sharansky were especially meaningful and well received by the audience, as was his declining to sing into the microphone for Yerushalayim Shel Zehav.
...
|
June 25, 2017 at 3:36 pm
A Jerusalem police spokesman reports three minors are in custody for an attack that took place against a mispallel who left the tziyun of Shimon HaTzaddik on a Shabbos morning. The attack took place on the morning of Shabbos Shelach.
The Arab youths saw the man walking with a tallis on as he was leaving the area after davening.
Police learned that after spotting him, the three crossed the street and began hurling rocks at the victim. The victim began running from the area. police spotted the man running and headed to him, fearing something was wrong. After learning what occurred they headed out in search of the suspects. The victim sustained light injuries.
The suspects were found in the yard of an area home. They were arrested and being charged in a hate attack. They were arraigned and...
|
June 25, 2017 at 3:14 pm
Why are Republicans struggling mightily to reach a consensus on how to overhaul the nation’s tax system?
The GOP is supposed to be really good at cutting taxes. President George W. Bush cut taxes. So did President Ronald Reagan, though he also raised them.
Why is President Donald Trump, who has promised the largest tax cut ever, having so much trouble accomplishing one of his main initiatives?
Some questions and answers about why tax overhaul is hard and why Republicans have been unable to reach a consensus.
———
WHAT’S THE HOLDUP?
After weeks of private negotiations, the White House and congressional Republicans still don’t agree on exactly what they want to accomplish.
House Republican leaders are firm that they want to completely overhaul the ta...
|
June 25, 2017 at 3:08 pm
In an exclusive ceremony at the Presidential residence, Special in Uniform will receive the Presidential Award for Volunteerism, one of 12 exceptional programs selected for this prestigious recognition in 2017.
Lt. Col. Ariel Almog will accept the award on behalf of the program. Almog is one of the founders of Special in Uniform, the trailblazing program that integrates young people with autism and other disabilities into the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) and into Israeli society.
This is not Almog’s first brush with national recognition. In 2001, he received the Medal of Appreciation for risking his life and preventing a multi-casualty terrorist attack. Stopped behind an Egged bus at the Sde Trumot Junction, Almog saw a suspicious individual trying to board. The IDF officer jum...
|
June 25, 2017 at 3:04 pm
Rebitzen Mina Finkel, A”H, 57, wife of Mir Brachfeld Rosh Yeshiva HaGaon HaRav Binyamin Finkel Shlita, was niftar on Sunday morning 1 Tammuz.
The rebbetzin during the recent period endured difficult yisurim from her illness and was on a waiting list for a liver transplant. Her husband, known as Rav Binyamin HaTzaddik, is a son of the late Mir Brachfeld Rosh Yeshiva HaGaon HaRav Aryeh Finkel, ZT”L.
The levaya took place early Sunday afternoon from Yeshivas Mir to Har Menuchos.
|
June 25, 2017 at 3:00 pm
President Donald Trump said he doesn’t think congressional Republicans are “that far off” on passing a health overhaul to replace “the dead carcass of Obamacare” and believes his majority party is “going to get there.”
Trump’s optimism runs counter to the public opposition of five Republican senators so far to the Senate GOP plan that would scuttle much of former President Barack Obama’s health law. Unless those holdouts can be swayed, their numbers are more than enough to torpedo the measure developed in private by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and deliver a bitter defeat for the president.
McConnell has said he’s willing to make changes to win support, and in the week ahead, plenty of back-room bargaining is e...
|
June 25, 2017 at 2:57 pm
In a joint Shin Bet -Israel Police operation, on 6 June 2017, Muhammad Ahmed Azzam, born in 1993, an Israeli citizen, a resident of Kfar Manda, was arrested in the wake of information to the effect that he supports and identifies with Islamic State, that he is in contact with ISIS militants and supporters, and that he was making preparations to join the organization and the fighting.
In his investigation, it was learned that Azzam supports the ISIS hashkafa, followed ISIS propaganda online and recently made tangible preparations to leave for the combat zone in order to join the ranks of ISIS fighters. It was also learned that Azzam was in online contact with several ISIS fighters who were assisting him in his aforesaid preparations.
An indictment was filed against Azzam on Sunday, 1 Tamm...
|
June 25, 2017 at 2:54 pm
Iran said Sunday the two-stage missiles it fired at Islamic State targets in Syria broke apart over the Iraqi desert as planned, mocking reports that some of the projectiles fell short.
State TV’s website quoted the airspace division chief of Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh as saying “we had coordinated the fall of the engines in the desert in Iraq” in advance.
“The missiles we used were two-stage, it means that the engine separates from the warhead,” said Hajizadeh.
Hajizadeh said U.S. drones hovered over the targets after shortly the Iranian missiles hit them. He said the U.S. may have been informed beforehand about the attack, as they had informed the Russian military, which may have relayed the information to the Americans.
The...
|
June 25, 2017 at 2:52 pm
Twenty-three Breslov Chassidim were taken into custody after visiting Kever Yosef in PA (Palestinian Authority) occupied Shechem without prior authorization and coordination with the IDF as required. They visited the holy site to be mispallel and did not arrange in advance as expected to do, placing themselves and IDF soldiers in harm’s way and at significant risk.
IDF officials handed them over to police for violating the law preventing Israelis from entering an ‘Area A’, under exclusive PA control, without authorization.
It is pointed out that while this is the policy today, in accordance with the Oslo Agreements, Israelis are supposed to have full and safe access to the holy sites but Israel prefers to turn a blind eye and enforce the requirement to arrange for an ID...
|
June 25, 2017 at 2:51 pm
Temperatures in Israel are expected to continue climbing this week, reaching 89F (32C) in Jerusalem on Sunday, 1 Tammuz, and getting into the high 90s (30S) as the week continues. The forecast for some other areas is considerably hotter, with Tiveria reaching 100F (38C) on Sunday, climbing to 108F (423C)later in the week.
A heat wave is set to hit Israel in the coming days, with extraordinarily high temperatures. On exceptionally hot days, more calls are received at MDA’s 101 emergency number with people reporting of weakness, fatigue, fainting, dehydration and heat strokes, requiring MDA to raise its preparedness level. The heat can be hazardous for anyone, especially toddlers and the elderly. Follow MDA’s safety guidelines to avoid any heat-related physical harm.
Stay hyd...
|
June 25, 2017 at 2:50 pm
This coming Thursday, 5 Tammuz, another Israel Air Force pilot’s training program will graduate. It is reported that 14% of the graduates are talmidim who attended hesder yeshivot.
Class 174 is about to graduate and the cadets will receive their wings in the presence of President Reuven Rivlin, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-General Gadi Eizenkott, and Air Force Commander Major-General Eshel.
46% of graduates come from cities and 30% from a yishuv kehilati and 22% from a moshav. Geographically speaking, 46% of the graduates come from northern Israel, 46% from the center and 8% from the south.
22% of the new pilots are the oldest child, 54% the middle child and 21% the youngest in the family. Only 3% are an only child and 11% are not the first in the fami...
|
June 25, 2017 at 1:37 pm
Brooklyn, NY - Rabbi Meir Zlotowitz, whose Artscroll publishing house opened up the world of Torah learning to the masses and revolutionized the Jewish publishing business, passed away on Shabbos in Brooklyn at the age of 74.
A student of Rabbi Moshe Feinstein, Rabbi Zlotowitz was working as the director of a graphics firm when he collaborated with Rabbi Nosson Scherman in 1976 on a new edition of Megillas Esther in memory of a friend who had passed away. With insightful commentaries and a contemporary English translation, the sefer was so well received that its first printing of 20,000 copies sold out in just two months, as reported by The Jewish Week (http://bit.ly/2tHZGKs).
Since that time the Artscroll catalog has grown to include well over 1,000 titles including the full Tanac...
