For the first time in history, a kosher catering company will open in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, with plans for a kosher restaurant in the future. According to Yediot Ahronot, the company was founded by the leader of Dubai’s Orthodox Jewish community, Ross Kriel. It is expected to serve all of the Gulf States. Currently, the company serves only dairy and fish-based meals, and does not yet have a consistent mashgiach. Read more at Arutz Sheva.
West Haven, CT - An ailing Connecticut man who had a bucket-list wish fulfilled when he received a call of encouragement from President Donald Trump died Wednesday, his sister said. Jay Barrett was 44. Barrett had been terminally ill with cystic fibrosis and was receiving palliative care at the home of his sister, West Haven City Councilwoman Bridgette Hoskie. Hoskie, a Democrat, had gone on social media to build a campaign for Trump to offer her brother a gesture of support. Last week, the president called Barrett , telling him, “You’re my kind of man, Jay.” Hoskie said she appreciated the help of everyone who reached out to the White House on her brother’s behalf. “He really did live one of the best weeks of his life last week,” she said. “...
West Palm Beach, FL - A New Jersey man had to get a new phone number after he was overwhelmed with birthday wishes when his sons put up a billboard asking people to call him. The SunSentinel reports Chris Ferry doesn’t turn 62 until Saturday. But already he’s received some 15,000 Facebook messages and phone calls from people who saw the sign along a highway in Linwood, New Jersey. The sign has Ferry’s phone number, his photograph and the words ‘WISH MY DAD HAPPY BIRTHDAY”. Ferry’s son, who shares his name, lives in Boynton Beach, Florida. He told station WPBF he and his brother Michael never thought the sign would be such a hit. The elder Ferry took a selfie in front of the billboard, but he’s looking forward to the day it comes down.
Washington - The chairman of the House Oversight and Reform Committee says he does “not see the need for further action” against Trump’s former lawyer Michael Cohen after he clarified his testimony under oath about never seeking a pardon from Trump. In a letter to Rep. Elijah Cummings, lawyer Michael Monico clarified that Cohen had asked one of his lawyers to explore the possibility of a pardon before he left a joint-defense agreement with Trump last June. Cohen’s Feb. 27 declaration before Cummings’ committee that “I have never asked for, nor would I accept, a pardon from President Trump” set off a firestorm. Congressional investigators promised to look into the claim, and Trump called him a liar on Twitter. The statement Cohen made “coul...
Washington - The Pentagon plans to begin flight tests this year of two types of missiles that have been banned for more than 30 years by a treaty from which both the United States and Russia are expected to withdraw in August, defense officials said Wednesday. By moving forward with these missile projects, the Pentagon is not excluding the possibility that the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty could still survive, although it likely will be terminated in August. At that point, Washington and Moscow would no longer face legal constraints on deploying land-based cruise or ballistic missiles with ranges between 500 and 5,500 kilometers (310 to 3,410 miles). The INF treaty has been in effect since 1987. The INF treaty was an arms control landmark in the final years of the Cold War, bu...
27 years after he was honored with the Humanitarian Award at Agudath Israel of America’s 70th annual dinner for taking a strong stance against religious discrimination in a Rockland County village, Attorney General William Barr once again proved himself an ally by assuring delegates to the Agudah’s Washington mission of the federal government’s commitment to upholding the religious rights of every United States citizen. Attorney General Barr met with the Agudah group at the Robert F. Kennedy Department of Justice Building on Wednesday morning. With instances of zoning laws and other regulations cropping up with alarming frequency in an effort to stop the Jewish community’s spread, particularly in the greater Lakewood area and in Upstate New York, religiou...
“One person can make a difference!” This theme, the ability of the very few to make things better for so many others, was the rallying cry of last night’s orientation for Agudah’s annual Washington Mission. The two day lobbying event began on Tuesday afternoon and will include numerous meetings with elected officials and others in the high government positions who work closely with the Agudah’s leadership and regional directors throughout the year. Representing Jewish communities from coast to coast, more than 50 delegates from ten states traveled to Washington D.C. to discuss matters of concern affecting Orthodox Jews with top federal officials during Agudath Israel of America’s Washington Mission.  Agudah board of trustees chairman Shlomo We...
Please be advised the Hometown Food Company initiated a limited, voluntary retail-level recall on two specific lot codes of its Pillsbury® Unbleached All-Purpose 5 lb Flour (UPC 51500-22241) because it may be contaminated with Salmonella. Only Best If Used By Dates APR 19 2020 and APR 20 2020 are impacted. Roughly 12,245 cases of impacted Pillsbury® Unbleached All Purpose Flour product were distributed through a limited number of retailers and distributors nationwide.   The only product lots affected by the recall are as follows: Item NameCase Item CodeUPC Item CodeLot CodeBIUB Date Pillsbury® Unbleached All-Purpose Flour 5Lb 0 5150022241 3 0 5150022241 6 8 292 APR 19 2020 P...
Peace can only be achieved “through strength,” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu asserted on Tuesday. Speaking at a state memorial ceremony in Jerusalem for the late former Prime Minister Levi Eshkol, Netanyahu — the Likud leader who is seeking a fifth term as prime minister in April’s Knesset elections — stated, “Only when our neighbors are convinced that our strength and our presence here are irrefutable facts, only then some of them will be persuaded to make peace with us, and we are fully advancing this recognition and agreement process with our remaining neighbors, not with all of them, but with most of them.” “We are doing this with extensive segments of the Arab and Islamic world in an expedited normalization process, only pa...
A young Lakewood woman has lost nearly every penny she had after falling prey to a scam today. At approximately 1:30 PM this afternoon, a Lakewood businessman walked into a convenience store at the intersection of Route 9 and Chestnut Street, when he saw this young woman crying bitterly. When he asked her what’s wrong, she stated she had just lost almost all her money. The approximately 20-year-old woman, an American-Israeli, moved to Lakewood approximately four months ago. Today, she received a call on her cell phone from a man who threatened her with arrest by the U.S. Marshal’s Office is she doesn’t withdraw all her money from her account and send it to them – or it could become frozen and she would lose it. The scared woman complied to their orders. The woman...
ANNAPOLIS, MD — Harry Hughes, Maryland's 57th governor, has died at the age of 92. The two-term Democratic governor served from 1979 to 1987. Gov. Larry Hogan confirmed the news of Hughes' passing in a statement Wednesday, saying all state flags will fly at half-staff until sunset of the day of interment. "The First Lady and I are deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Governor Harry Hughes, a longtime friend and Maryland legend whom I deeply admired. His dedication to our great state - as a distinguished member of the Maryland General Assembly and as our 57th governor - and his service to our nation as a member of the Navy Air Corps during World War II leave a legacy behind that will be forever remembered," Hogan said. "Our most sincere prayers are with his two daug...
Jerusalem - A senior Israeli official says the army has opened criminal investigations into the deaths of 11 Palestinians killed by Israeli fire during protests along the Gaza border over the past year. Israeli officials briefed journalists in Geneva on Wednesday to rebut allegations made in a U.N. human rights report last week alleging soldiers intentionally fired on civilians and could have committed crimes against humanity in violence that has killed 189 people and left more than 6,000 hurt by live ammunition. The Israeli official says full-fledged criminal investigations in such cases are opened if “reasonable grounds” of suspicion of criminal misconduct are found. Critics say such investigations rarely result in prosecution of soldiers. The officials spoke on condition ...
The Israel Prison Service has uncovered a sophisticated method of smuggling cellphones into Israeli jails, the agency announced on Sunday. Security prisoners, the agency said, have been caught trying to smuggle miniature cellphones into prisons by swallowing them. The smugglers would commit petty crimes just so they could be arrested and then deliver the phones to a specific person already behind bars. In other cases, phones were hidden within the prison walls. These phones were used by inmates to direct terrorist acts. More than 70 smuggled cellphones have been seized thus far in 2019. The IPS said it recently began installing jammers in prisons in order to ensure smuggled phones would be rendered unserviceable. “The IPS is at the forefront of the war on terrorism,” the a...
In 2018, Israel was the eighth largest arms exporter in the world, according to the annual arms transfer report released Monday by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), an institute dedicated to research into conflict, armaments, arms control, and disarmament. Israel was the seventh largest exporter of weapons in the world between 2014 and 2017, according to SIPRI’s previous annual report, accounting for 3.1 percent of the global arms trade, up from 2.1 percent in the four years prior. The five largest suppliers — the US, Russia, France, Germany, and China — made up 75 percent of all arms exports. Over the past decade, Israeli arms exports increased by 60 percent, according to SIPRI’s report. In comparison, American arms exports increased b...
Germany has said that it will not officially designate Hezbollah as a terrorist group, a development likely to cause tension between Berlin and Washington. The country’s minister of state, Niels Annen, told Der Spiegel on Friday that the US-designated terrorist group plays a crucial role in Lebanon, and that the European Union already blacklists the organization’s terrorist wing, reported Reuters. This comes two weeks after the United Kingdom officially designated Hezbollah as a terrorist group, joining 12 other countries that have a similar designation. Previously, the United Kingdom distinguished between the Hezbollah terrorist and political facets.
Get ready: A rare weather phenomenon that meteorologists have ominously dubbed a “bomb cyclone” is due to hit the central U.S. on Wednesday, bringing in its wake hurricane-force winds, blizzards, and floods. CNN reports the huge weather system is expected to hit the Rockies, Central/Northern Plains to the Upper Midwest with blizzards and winds as strong as 50 to 70 miles per hour. Heavy snow, severe storms, and tornadoes are also possible. Winter storm warnings are in effect for parts of Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska and South Dakota. More than 45 million Americans are under a high-wind threat; over 10 million are under winter storm threats; and more than 15 million are under a flood threat. The National Weather Service in Boulder, Colorado, warned Tuesday: “Please cancel ...
CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — A window-rattling late winter storm brought blizzards, high winds, rain or floods to more than 25 states Wednesday, stretching from the northern Rocky Mountains to Texas and beyond. "This is a very epic cyclone," said Greg Carbin, chief of forecast operations for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Weather Prediction Center. "We're looking at something that will go down in the history books." It could develop into the worst storm of its type in 35 or 40 years, he said. Blowing snow forced major highways to close in Colorado, Nebraska, South Dakota and Wyoming. About 1,000 flights were canceled at Denver International Airport, and nearly 40 more were canceled at Colorado Springs. "It caught me completely off guard," said Sarah Brin...
Washington - President Donald Trump has had it with the #fakeMelania conspiracy theories that have been circulating on social media. Trump claims that photos of his wife were altered to make it appear that a look-alike accompanied him to Alabama last week to survey tornado damage. Trump’s favorite TV program, Fox News’ “Fox & Friends,” reported on the body double theory Wednesday, following up on a Monday segment that aired on ABC’s “The View.” Trump blames the so-called “fake news” for altering the photos and says “they are only getting more deranged with time!” Commentators on “The View” noted that the woman with Trump last week looked shorter than the president in photos. The first lady ditched her cu...
Washington - U.S. health regulators are moving ahead with a plan designed to keep e-cigarettes out of the hands of teenagers by restricting sales of most flavored products in convenience stores and online. The new guidelines, first proposed in November, are the latest government effort to reverse what health officials call an epidemic of underage vaping. E-cigarettes typically heat a flavored nicotine solution into an inhalable vapor. Federal law bans their sale to those under 18, but 1 in 5 high school students report using e-cigarettes, according to the latest survey published last year . Under proposed guidelines released Wednesday by the Food and Drug Administration, e-cigarette makers would restrict sales of most flavored products to stores that verify the age of customers entering...
 “As Freud has shown, blunders are not the merest chance. They are the result of suppressed desires and conflicts. They are ripples on the surface of life, produced by unsuspected springs. And these may be very deep - as deep as the soul itself. The blunder may amount to the opening of a destiny.” - Joseph Campbell, The Hero With a Thousand Faces  “Speak to the Children of Israel, saying, When a person will sin unintentionally from among all the commandments of Hashem that may not be done, and he commits one of them.” (Vayikra 4:2) Now this, of all commands, strikes one as troubling.  To seek atonement for errors and mistakes made consciously and even intentionally… that seems only right.  Every one of us must be held accountable for ou...
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