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September 18, 2017 at 9:22 pm
According to the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), as Rosh Hashanah approaches the population of Israel is 8,743,000. Since Rosh Hashanah 5777, the population increased by about 156,000 and the CBS predicts the population will reach 10 million by 2024. The total population includes 6.523 million Jews (74.6%), 1.824 million Arabs (20.9%) followed by “others” numbering 396,000 (4.5%).
There are 2,470,2000 households, with the average household numbering 3.31 persons. 172,000 babies were born in the closing year as compared to 43,000 deaths. In addition, 62,821 couples were wed and there were 26,000 new immigrants with 57% from the FSU, 17% from France and 11% from the USA.
2.2 million students are part of the education system, including 517,000 in nurseries, 1 million i...
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September 18, 2017 at 8:16 pm
Baltimore, MD - Sept. 18, 2017 - The Baltimore City Department of Public Works has become aware of water bills that were recently sent out with a shortened reading period.
The shortened reads were caused by a glitch when a security patch was installed on the billing computer.
Going forward, customers will remain on a regular billing schedule. The next bills may show greater water and sewer consumption as a result of an extended reading period that is needed to keep this billing schedule. But fixed charges and fees will not increase, and customers will not end up paying more than they would have otherwise.
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September 18, 2017 at 4:46 pm
Schleifer wants uniformed police arresting violent gang members,not directing Ravens game traffic
Noting the historic low (30% decline) in patrol officers currently on the street, Councilman Isaac "Yitzy" Schleifer called on the Mayor and Baltimore City to make the city's streets safer with a resolution presented today, co-sponsored by Councilman Brandon Scott, that calls for an expanded auxiliary police program, as well as expanded use of telephone and online crime reporting. These efforts would free up availability of sworn officers for more serious or violent criminal matters.
Schleifer, a member of the City Council's Public Safety Committee, campaigned on fighting crime as a priority, and said, "While we're examining crime fighting initiatives in other major cities and...
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September 18, 2017 at 4:45 pm
President Donald Trump is meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and says they “are giving it an absolute go’” in Middle East peace talks.
Trump on Monday said that “we’re working very hard” to reach a deal between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.
Netanyahu said that Israel’s alliance with the United States has been “never stronger” than now under the Trump administration. He also blasted the Iran nuclear agreement.
Asked if the U.S. would stay in that deal, Trumped answered only “you’ll see very soon.”
Trump’s meeting with Netanyahu was the first of the many world leader confabs he is scheduled to have on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly this week.
He is slated to me...
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September 18, 2017 at 3:41 pm
During the Mussaf service on Rosh Hashana we recite three sections consisting of verses from the Torah that commemorate respectively, G-d’s Kingship; Remembrance; and Shofar Blasts.
The very second verse extolling G-d’s kingship is a sentiment expressed by one of the greatest all time enemies of our people, Bilaam the Wicked.
לא הביט און ביעקב ולא ראה עמל בישראל ד' אלהיו עמו ותרועת מלך בו (במדבר כג כא)
He gazes at no iniquity among Yaakov and sees no evil schemes in Israel, G-d the Lord is with him, and the affection of the King is in him
Surprisingly not only does G-d never refer to Himself as King, this verse is one of only three verses in the entirety of the Five Books of Moshe that G-d is actually termed מ�...
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September 18, 2017 at 3:27 pm
Baltimore, MD - Sept. 18, 2017 - An overflow crowd of more than 200 men and women from all around the local area flocked to the Agudath Israel of Baltimore on September 17th. They enjoyed a community-wide pre-Rosh Hashanah evening of inspiration an enrichment sponsored by Agudath Israel of America's Commission on Torah Projects.
Rabbi Avrohom Nisan Perl, national director, Commission on Torah Projects
The event, held on the first day of selichos, was the 28th annual nationwide Yom Iyun, with listeners worldwide tuning in to the live broadcast to hear HaRav Moshe Heinemann, rov of Agudath Israel of Baltimore, and HaRav Aharon Feldman, Rosh HaYeshiva at Yeshivas Ner Yisroel, discussing the concept of "Cherishing Our Yiddishkeit," appreciating the beauty of ever...
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September 18, 2017 at 3:02 pm
The Latest on tropical weather (all times local):
10:30 a.m.
The ocean is washing over parts of North Carolina's Outer Banks as Hurricane Jose passes well to the east.
The state Transportation Department said in a Facebook post Monday that the affected areas encompass Pea Island, Rodanthe, Avon and Hatteras village on Hatteras Island.
Jose was about 270 miles (440 kilometers) east-southeast of Cape Hatteras on Monday morning and moving north at 9 mph (15 kph). It had maximum sustained winds of 85 mph (140 kph).
DOT is urging drivers to drive slowly through the water. All roads are passable.
The National Weather Service warns of dangerous rip currents along the coast.
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9:10 a.m.
Five people were knocked off a coastal jetty in the U.S. Northeast by high sur...
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September 18, 2017 at 10:25 am
The Senate is poised to pass a defense policy bill that pumps $700 billion into the Pentagon budget, expands U.S. missile defenses in response to North Korea’s growing hostility and refuses to allow excess military bases to be closed.
The legislation is expected to be approved on Monday by a wide margin in another burst of bipartisanship amid President Donald Trump’s push for cooperation with congressional Democrats. The 1,215-page measure defies a number of White House objections, but Trump hasn’t threatened to veto the measure. The bill helps him honor a pledge to boost military spending by tens of billions of dollars.
Sen. John McCain, the Armed Services Committee chairman battling an aggressive type of brain cancer, has guided the bill toward passage over the ...
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September 18, 2017 at 10:23 am
Hurricane Maria strengthened into a Category 2 storm on Monday and pushed toward the Leeward Islands in the eastern Caribbean, as forecasters warned it was expected to become a major hurricane by early Tuesday.
The storm was on a path that would take it near many of the islands already wrecked by Hurricane Irma and then on toward Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Maria could hit Puerto Rico on Wednesday as a Category 3 or 4 hurricane, said Ernesto Morales with the U.S. National Weather Service in San Juan.
“This storm promises to be catastrophic for our island,” he said. “All of Puerto Rico will experience hurricane force winds.”
The U.S. National Hurricane Center said Maria had maximum sustained winds of 110 mph (175 kph) Monday morning. It wa...
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September 18, 2017 at 9:55 am
“Two recent attacks against visitors to Har Hazeisim breaking many months of quiet are extremely disturbing,” Abe Lubinsky, Chairman of the International Committee on Har Hazeisim said. “While we greatly appreciate the efforts of the security forces over the last two years to end the vandalism on the 3000-year old cemetery, we cannot condone the recent attacks, which included the stoning of a school bus of seventh graders.”
The bus with the school girls was attacked last Thursday night as they were returning from a visit to Har Hazeisim. The many changes that have taken place in the cemetery including the deployment of police and Border police, the installation of cameras and the building of a fence have brought back thousands of visitors, as many as 2000 a day, ac...
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September 18, 2017 at 9:37 am
The Chief Rabbinate of Israel has initiated court inquiries into the Jewishness of Israeli citizens, including people who have previously been confirmed as being Jewish. In addition, the Rabbinate has vastly increased the investigations if the Jewishness of olim (immigrants to Israel), according to an appeal filed about a month ago in Israel’s Supreme Court. In the appeal, the ITIM organization, an NGO working to make religious services in the country transparent and respectful, represents several families whose Judaism has been questioned by the rabbinical courts, as well as organizations who are working to change the rabbinates policy – the Center for Women’s Justice and the Rackman Center at Bar Ilan University.
The appeal also presents new data, obtained by ITIM from...
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September 18, 2017 at 9:35 am
Three people were killed and 15 injured when an MTA bus and a charter bus collided in Queens early Monday.
The Q20 bus collided with the Dahlia charter bus at at Main Street and Northern Boulevard in Flushing around 6:15 a.m.
The NYPD and FDNY responded to the scene and began removing passengers.
All the passengers were quickly taken off the buses, with the exception of one of the drivers, who was pinned in the bus and needed to be extricated. The victims were rushed to area hospitals, where seven of them are listed in critical condition.
One person who died was reportedly found underneath one of the buses, leading authorities to believe that person may have been a pedestrian.
An MTA spokesman said the Q20 bus was making a right turn on Northern Boulevard shortly before 6:30 a.m. when...
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September 18, 2017 at 5:14 am
More than 1 million Americans await a hearing to see whether they qualify for disability benefits from Social Security, with the average wait nearly two years — longer than some of them will live.
All have been denied benefits at least once, as most applications are initially rejected. But in a system where the outcome of a case often depends on who decides it, most people who complete the appeals process will eventually win benefits. The numbers come from data compiled by the Social Security Administration.
About 10.5 million people get disability benefits from Social Security. An additional 8 million get disability benefits from Supplemental Security Income, the disability program for poor people who don’t qualify for Social Security. The disability programs are much ...
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September 18, 2017 at 5:13 am
Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, who spent a number of days in Uman being mispallel at the tziyun of Rav Nachman ZY”A, also visited Babi Yar, a site where over 100,000 Jews were massacred by the Nazis YM”S.
Deri laid a wreath as is customary for dignitaries and he received Kaddish. In his comments he stated, “The anger here is terrible. The Nazis treated the Jews worse than animals, but on the other hand there is something comforting.
“I am a minister in the Israeli Government, and I come here and recite Kaddish. The Jewish community here and in Israel are blossoming. They couldn’t beat us! Am Yisrael Chai!”
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September 18, 2017 at 5:10 am
The Trump administration is considering closing down the recently reopened U.S. Embassy in Havana following a string of unexplained incidents harming the health of American diplomats in Cuba, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Sunday.
Tillerson’s comments were the strongest indication to date that the United States might mount a major diplomatic response, potentially jeopardizing the historic restart of relations between the U.S. and Cuba. The two former foes reopened embassies in Washington and Havana in 2015 after a half-century of estrangement.
“We have it under evaluation,” Tillerson said of a possible embassy closure. “It’s a very serious issue with respect to the harm that certain individuals have suffered. We’ve brought some of those pe...
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September 18, 2017 at 5:08 am
Top advisers to President Donald Trump on Sunday warned North Korea to give up its missile and nuclear weapons programs and to quit making threats against the U.S. and its allies or face destruction.
The warnings came a day after leader Kim Jong Un vowed to continue the weapons programs, saying North Korea is nearing its goal of “equilibrium” in military force with the United States. They also came as world leaders begin arriving in New York for the annual meeting of the U.N. General Assembly this week, where North Korea will be high on the agenda.
Trump is making his first appearance at the U.N. General Assembly, his biggest moment on the world stage since January’s inauguration. He is scheduled to address the world body, which he has criticized as weak and incom...
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September 17, 2017 at 10:53 pm
Jerusalem, Israel - Sept. 17, 2017 - First Lady Nechama Rivlin hosted at Beit Hanasi, the President’s Residence, a reception in honor of the Rosh Hashana for 30 Lone Soldiers from the Givati unit on Sunday morning. Also welcoming the soldiers was Chana Eizenkot, wife of the IDF Chief of Staff.
The two women have had previous receptions, before Pesach and Rosh Hashana, to meet and speak with young IDF soldiers, who have no family in Israel.
Today's group each told their names and where they were from, London, Paris, Switzerland, and Oakland, CA. Beitar Ilit was mentioned by one, a religious community, not fond of army service. Chaim Price of Baltimore, was one of the honored lone soldiers.
The diverse group included one young woman. Several in answering question...
