Queens, NY - Two adults and a 6-year-old girl were killed and two others were seriously injured in a house fire in New York, authorities said. The blaze was reported Wednesday afternoon in a two-story home in East Elmhurst in Queens. About 100 firefighters responded to the blaze, which was declared under control about an hour and a half later, according to the New York Fire Department. “Unfortunately it’s a sad afternoon here in East Elmhurst,” said FDNY Commissioner Daniel A. Nigro. “It’s quite unusual at that time in the afternoon to have a fire trap five occupants in a private dwelling.” “The first call we received came from the occupant of the first floor apartment in that home who heard an alarm going off and called 911,” Nigro said. ...
Five Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps gunboats tried to seize a British oil tanker in the Persian Gulf Wednesday but backed off after a British warship approached, a senior U.S. defense official told Fox News. The British warship was said to have been less than 5 miles behind the tanker but soon intercepted the Iranian boats and threatened to open fire. A manned U.S. reconnaissance aircraft was above as well, the official said, adding that Iranian forces left without opening fire. Navy Captain Bill Urban, spokesman for the U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM), said the military was aware of the reported actions. He added, “Threats to international freedom of navigation require an international solution. The world economy depends on th...
A 75-year-old San Diego man who led an eventful life of danger and who some thought may have been D.B. Cooper, the legendary hijacker who pulled off one of the most daring heists in modern history, died Tuesday. Robert Rackstraw died in his condominium, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported. An Army veteran and pilot, Rackstraw was often a target for amateur sleuths who thought he could be the infamous hijacker who in 1971 jumped from a plane over Washington state with $200,000 cash. Calling himself Dan Cooper and wearing a black tie and suit, the suspect told a flight attendant he had a bomb in a briefcase before giving her a note demanding the money and four parachutes. Upon landing in Seattle, he traded 36 hostages in exchang...
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez D-N.Y., wondered if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is purposely assigning her busy work, in an effort to discourage her outward dissent and keep her away from the public eye. Ocasio-Cortez made the comments during a Tuesday interview with The New Yorker Radio Hour and said she was given strenuous committee assignments and said she often thinks about whether or not doing so was a calculated move by Pelosi. “I was assigned to two of some of the busiest committees and four subcommittees,” AOC said. “So my hands are full. And sometimes I wonder if they’re trying to keep me busy.” Ocasio-Cortez also said she doesn't have much of a relationship with Pelosi and claimed the last time they spoke one-o...
Baltimore, Md – July 10, 2019 - Sister organizations and community leaders requested volunteer support to assist with the search and rescue/recovery operation. Members of the BSSP (Baltimore Shomrim) and Misaskim of Baltimore are currently on scene to join local officials and agencies in the  search efforts for for Rabbi Reuven Bauman. They wasted no times once they reached their destination and are already on the water aiding in the search. Let us daven that they bring about besuros tovos Please Daven and Learn for the Zechus of Reuven Tzvi ben Esther Baila who is in urgent need of Rachamei Shamayim Members of the BSSP (Baltimore Shomrim) and Misaskim of Baltimore are currently on scene to join local officials and agencies in the  search efforts for for Rabb...
22-year-old Ali Bashar was sentenced on Wednesday by a court in Wiesbaden to life in prison for the murder of Susanna Feldman, a 14-year old German Jewish teenager whose May 2018 murder prompted outrage and spurred calls for Chancellor Angela Merkel to take action to deport failed asylum seekers. The judge found the “murder in cold blood” to be of exceptional severity, making it unlikely the Iraqi asylum seeker will be granted parole after 15 years. The killing fueled far-right protests and exacerbated tensions between the Muslim and Jewish communities, although some question whether the victim was Jewish. Read more at i24NEWS.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is reporting a case of a mysterious, polio-like illness in Maryland. The CDC said the Maryland case comprises one of 11 confirmed cases of acute flaccid myelitis in eight states. The CDC said AFM is a rare but serious condition that affects the nervous system. It typically begins with a fever and stomach problems. Symptoms progress to mimic polio and can cause muscles and reflexes to weaken suddenly. There are no known treatments or ways to prevent it. "(It's) clearly a disease of children, no doubt about that," Dr. Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, told WBAL's sister station, WRC-TV. "So people -- CDC, (the National Institutes of Health), all the health people -- all...
President Donald Trump warned on Wednesday that US sanctions on Iran would be increased “substantially” soon, as the UN nuclear watchdog held an emergency meeting at Washington’s request to weigh Tehran’s breach of a nuclear deal. Trump also accused Iran of secretly enriching uranium for a long time but offered no evidence, and Iran said after the 35-nation meeting in Vienna that it had “nothing to hide.” UN inspectors have uncovered no covert enrichment by Iran since long before its 2015 nuclear agreement deal with world powers. Washington used the session of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s Board of Governors to accuse Iran of extortion after it inched past the deal’s limit on enrichment levels over the past week, while still offe...
Hamas’s armed wing, the Al-Qassam Brigades, and the terrorist group’s various security branches simulated an Israeli ground incursion as part of a surprise drill held in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday. During the drill, Hamas fighters deployed in various parts of Gaza where civilian traffic had been halted. Reports from Gaza on Tuesday said that as part of the drill, fishing was stopped and a high level of alert was declared. A curfew was imposed on some streets. Hamas forces fanned out along Gaza’s land borders and closed crossings to civilians and vehicles. Officials in Gaza estimated that the drill had been prepared ahead of time, possibly in the expectation of a military conflict with Israel in the next few weeks. A spokesman for the Interior Ministry in Gaza said tha...
Jerusalem - An interdisciplinary research team at the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev has trained dogs to respond to haptic vibration commands that are transferred through a modified canine vest, deepening the bond between man and his best friend. Haptics (derived from the Greek phrase “I touch”) technology simulates the senses of touch and motion, which is helpful in a remote operation in which the user is not able to interact with physical objects. The technology may be useful for delivering remote commands to dogs for use in search and rescue, assisting disabled handlers, and other service animal applications. “Our research results showed that dogs responded to these vibrotactile cues as well or even better than vocal commands,” said Prof. Amir Shapiro, dir...
New York - The benchmark S&P 500 closed higher on Wednesday after briefly crossing the 3,000-point mark for the first time following dovish remarks from Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell boosting the case for an interest rate cut this month. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 76.71 points, or 0.29%, to 26,860.2, the S&P 500 gained 13.43 points, or 0.45%, to 2,993.06 and the Nasdaq Composite added 60.80 points, or 0.75%, to 8,202.53. Read more at Reuters
A bipartisan group of Senators plan to introduce this week the “Never Again Education Act” that, if enacted, would create a grant program at the US Department of Education to enable teachers across the United States the resources and training necessary to teach students about the Holocaust and its lessons. “This week I will file the Never Again Education Act to help states obtain resources through @usedgov so our students learn about the historical fact that Nazi Germany systematically murdered over 6 million Jews,” tweeted Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). Sens. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) will join Rubio in introducing the measure, two sources familiar with the matter told JNS. Rosen’s office declined to comment on the record, and Cramer&rsquo...
Shas Chairman Deri asked UTJ leaders to hold an urgent and joint discussion following the by the Ramat Gan city council to allow for public transportation on Shabbos. “I want to hold an urgent discussion between us, representatives of Shas and United Torah Judaism, to formulate a joint position on how to deal with the new situation. The position is brought to the Rabbonim, members of the Moetzes, who will guide us the way to go and what is to be done. “It is important that this be done jointly and in a single voice to properly present the position of charedi Jewry in the situation that has arisen.” Read more at Arutz Sheva.
Rav Baruch Soloveitchik, a member of the Rabbinical Committee of Degel Hatorah, decided to resign from his position and from all public activity in Yerushalayim. Rav Boruch, who was appointed by HaGaon Rav Aryeh Leib Shteinman zatzal, made the decision so he could return his focus to his yeshiva and talmidim. “[The job] came at the expense of my yeshiva, I decided to invest in the yeshiva and leave the public business,” Rav Boruch explained.
The Rambam authored a well-known principle known as the “golden mean” or the middle road. Every trait embedded within the human heart can ultimately prove beneficial, but can also prove dangerous in excess. Given the inherent potential and danger within every trait, each quality should be carefully calibrated. For example, a person shouldn’t be excessively frugal but also not wasteful or profligate. Spending habits should be carefully balanced to avoid either extreme. Similarly, a person shouldn’t be eternally solemn but also shouldn’t be overexcited and frenzied; ideally a balance between sincerity, focus and humor should be struck, to enable a contented life and a pleasant demeanor.  The Rambam underscores that the entire range of human character traits...
Israel’s minister of education said in a cabinet meeting this month that the rate of marriage between US Jews and non-Jews is like a “second Holocaust,” a report said Tuesday. Rafi Peretz made the statement in the July 1 cabinet meeting that was attended by Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Axios reported. He said that because of the rate of mixed marriages, Jewish people have “lost 6 million people,” which is “like a second Holocaust,” according to the report. Read more at THE NY POST.
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — A federal appeals court threw out a lawsuit accusing President Donald Trump of illegally profiting off the presidency through his luxury Washington hotel, handing Trump a significant legal victory Wednesday. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously overturned the ruling of a federal judge in Maryland who said the lawsuit could move forward. The state of Maryland and the District of Columbia sued in 2017, claiming Trump has violated the emoluments clause of the Constitution by accepting profits through foreign and domestic officials who stay at the Trump International Hotel. The case is one of three that argue the president is violating the provision, which prohibits federal officials from accepting b...
New York, NY - July 10, 2019 - The Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah of Agudath Israel of America met on Wednesday, July 3rd at the organization’s national headquarters. They heard a comprehensive report about the state education department’s new rules and regulations regarding substantial equivalence for yeshivos and the danger that presents for Torah Chinuch. They also heard a report about the extraordinary Harbatzas HaTorah that is being generated by the upcoming 13th Global Siyum HaShas, which will be held in Met Life Stadium on January 1st, 2020. They gave their enthusiastic bracha and support to the Daf Yomi Chabura, Chavrei, and Masmidei HaSiyum programs and encouraged all of Klal Yisroel to take part in this tremendous Kiddush Hashem.
You can cage the singer but not the song. Harry Belafonte No “one-hit wonder”, the Torah presents us with two great songs.  The first, and most famous is Az Yashir – “Then sang Moshe and B’nei Yisrael this shirah…”, praising the splitting of the yam suf and allowing the Children of Israel to be free at last from their bondage in Mitzrayim.   The second and less well-known song occurs near the end of Chukat.  It is a short song of gratitude for the uninterrupted supply of water (the well!) throughout the forty years sojourn in the desert.  “Then Israel sang this song; ‘Come up, O well, announce it! Well that the princes dug, that the nobles of the people excavated, through a lawgiver, with their staff. A gift fr...
Baltimore, MD - July 10,  2019 - BJL wishes a hearty Mazel Tov to David & Gabri Kozlovsky (Modiin, Israel) on the birth of Shirelle Rose. Mazel Tov to grandparents Harry & Adriane Kozlovsky and Ely & Marsha Weller (Skokie, IL) יה"ר שיזכו לגדל בתם לתורה, לחופה, ולמעשים טובים. אמן
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