Baltimore, MD, Aug. 15, 2019 — The Coalition for Jewish Values (CJV), representing over 1000 traditional rabbis in matters of public policy, today commended the government of Israel for refusing entry to Representatives Ilhan Omar (D-MN) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), under the Israeli law that bars entry to noncitizens who advocate for a boycott of Israel.  "Besides the fact that they requested no meetings with Israeli officials, wishing only to travel to 'Palestine,' these are not people who would be convinced by seeing 'the facts on the ground,'" said Rabbi Yoel Schonfeld, Vice President of the CJV. "Omar says that Israel's careful self-defense is 'hypnotizing the world' regarding its 'evil doings,' and that her colleagues only support...
With great sorrow we inform you of the petirah of Judge Michele Loewenthal's father, Amor Lane. Funeral and Shiva information to follow. 
For thirty-two years, Ner Tamid has been blessed with the leadership of Noa Goldman, affectionately known to the whole community as “Ms. Noa.” From envisioning a child-centered, Jewishly-stimulating, Israel-loving environment, to training teachers and nurturing each and every child – and often the entire family – in her care, Miss Noa has ensured that Ner Tamid Montessori has thrived and flourished.  Miss Noa began with one room and 23 children and over her tenure has educated upwards of thousands of children. Among those children are multiple generations of families both within the congregation and across the entire community. Her sweet demeanor and unwavering advocacy for the unique capabilities of every child are the hallmark of our school. She ascribed t...
One person was wounded in a terrorist stabbing attack in the Old City of Jerusalem Thursday. According to initial reports, the incident occurred near the Temple Mount’s Iron Gate at just after 6:00 p.m. Thursday, when two terrorists attacked security personnel near the holy site. The victim, a 30-year-old police officer, was stabbed in his arm, and is said to be in light condition and fully conscious. MDA emergency first responders have been dispatched to the scene, and are treating the victim. Following the attack, Israeli security personnel opened fire on the terrorists, killing one and seriously wounding the second. Additional security forces have been deployed to the area following the attack. “At 18:08, a report was received in MDA's Jerusalem Regional Dispatch ...
Erie, PA - A fire chief says there weren’t enough working smoke detectors at a Pennsylvania home day care center where a fire killed five children. Fire Chief Guy Santone told a Tuesday news conference that state officials who inspect home day care centers do not check for smoke detectors. City authorities and state legislators are working on legislation that would make home day care centers register with the city, so it can deploy inspectors. A message seeking comment was left with the Department of Human Services. Santone said fire officials suspect the blaze that broke out Sunday morning at Harris Family Daycare was accidental. An adult and two adolescent boys were able to escape the fire. Five children ranging in age from 8 months to 7 years died.
London - British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Tuesday that getting a free trade deal with the United States would be “a tough old haggle,” after U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton promised the U.K. quick sector-by-sector trade deals once it leaves the European Union. Bolton said after meeting Johnson on Monday that “it might be possible to reach a bilateral agreement very quickly, very straightforwardly” in some areas of trade after Brexit. Bolton said that “in the Trump administration, Britain’s constantly at the front of the trade queue — or line as we say.” The comments could be interpreted as a boost to Johnson, who has vowed that Britain will leave the EU on Oct. 31, with or without a divorce deal. Supporters ...
Berkely Heights, NJ - Trying to hold support in the manufacturing towns that helped him win the White House in 2016, President Donald Trump is showcasing growing efforts to capitalize on western Pennsylvania’s natural gas deposits by turning gas into plastics. Trump will be in Monaca, about 40 minutes north of Pittsburgh, on Tuesday to tour Shell’s soon-to-be completed Pennsylvania Petrochemicals Complex. The facility, which critics claim will become the largest air polluter in western Pennsylvania, is being built in an area hungry for investment. The focus is part of a continued push by the Trump administration to increase the economy’s dependence on fossil fuels in defiance of increasingly urgent warnings about climate change. And it’s an embrace of plastic at a...
Brussels - The United Nations refugee agency urgently appealed to European governments Tuesday to let two migrant rescue ships disembark more than 500 passengers who remain stranded at sea as countries bicker over who should take responsibility for them. The people rescued while attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea from North Africa are on ships chartered by humanitarian aid groups, which the Italian government has banned from its territory. The archipelago nation of Malta has refused to let the ships into the country’s ports. It’s unclear where they might find safe harbor, even though the Italian island of Lampedusa appears closest. About 150 of the rescued passengers have been on the Spanish-flagged charity ship, the Open Arms, since they were plucked from ...
Israel - VIN News regrets to inform you of the Petirah of the Mekubal Rav Chaim Cohen, also knows as The Chalban (The Milkman). According to Kikar Shabbat, Rav Chaim was in serious condition for a few months. He reportedly collapsed in his home on a Shabbos a few months ago, after which he was brought to the hospital. He was Niftar Tuesday afternoon in Israel at the age of 84. The nickname “Chalban” originated from Rav Chaim’s occupation, as the founder and operator of a dairy farm.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is weighing the possibility of blocking an expected visit in the coming days by two pro-BDS congresswoman, Rashida Tlaib (D-Michigan), and Ilhan Omar (D-Minnesota), diplomatic officials said on Thursday.According to the officials, Netanyahu met on Wednesday with Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, Foreign Minister Israel Katz, Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, National Security Council head Meir Ben-Shabbat, and Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit to discuss the issue. Read more @ Jpost
1) Moshe’s Argument Moshe tells over that I davened to Hashem and I wanted to go into Eretz Yisrael, and Hashem said to me, “Rav lach”.  It’s enough.  “Al tosef dabeir eilai od ba’davar hazeh”.  Perek 3, pasuk 26.  So, there’s a medrash that says a very interesting thing that Moshe, was obviously a Torah scholar of note.  So, Moshe had a very, very big tainah to Hashem.  He said: Rebono Shel Olam, you wrote in Your Torah: Im amar yomar ha’eved, in parshas Mishpatim, that if the slave says that I don’t want to go free, then he will stay, and so I am going to evoke that claim of the slave, and you’re telling me to go free and that I can’t go into Eretz Yisrael, and I’m saying that I w...
COLUMBUS, Ohio — Ohio State University wants to trademark the word "The" when used as part of the school's name on university merchandise. The Columbus Dispatch reports the school submitted a trademark application this month to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. The application requests a standard character trademark for the title "The Ohio State University" that would cover various items including T-shirts, baseball caps and hats. University spokesman Chris Davey confirms the application. A statement from Davey says the school "works to vigorously protect the university's brand and trademarks." The school has previously secured other trademarks, including names of football coaches Woody Hayes and Urban Meyer. An Ohio State spokesman said last fall that the un...
Jerusalem -  Israel is planning for the possibility that Reps. Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib will visit the Temple Mount. Tlaib, D-Mich., is visiting Israel next week, and Omar, D-Minn., is reportedly joining, according to the Jerusalem Post. The Times of Israel cited a report by Israel’s Channel 13 that said Israeli officials held a meeting where they said that if Tlaib, who is Palestinian-American, and Omar, who was born in Somalia, visit the Jerusalem site, they should not do so alongside Palestinian Authority officials, as it could be seen as backing Palestinian claims to the site. The Muslim congresswomen have been vocal in their criticism of Israel. They have both been accused of occasionally relying on anti-Semitic tropes in their criticism of the Jewish state. The Tem...
Washington - A vaping industry group sued the U.S. government on Wednesday to delay an upcoming review of thousands of e-cigarettes on the market. The legal challenge by the Vapor Technology Association is the latest hurdle in the Food and Drug Administration’s yearslong effort to regulate the multibillion-dollar vaping industry, which includes makers and retailers of e-cigarette devices and flavored solutions. The vaping group argued that the latest deadline of next May to submit products for review could wipe out many of the smaller companies. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Kentucky. E-cigarettes first appeared in the U.S. more than a decade ago and have grown in popularity despite little research on their long-term effects, including whether they can help smoke...
At least five Philadelphia police officers were wounded, at least one reportedly grazed in the head, in an ongoing shootout in the city's Nicetown neighborhood on Wednesday afternoon. Two officers were rushed to Temple University Hospital, officials told Fox 29. Two other officers were taken to Einstein Hospital, at least one of them was shot in the arm. All four officers are in stable condition and one suspect is in custody, while another remains at large. The situation was being described as an active shooting scene that began around 4:30 p.m. Officers called for backup frantically saying "shots fired, shots fired at North 15th street." Video footage of the scene showed a massive police presence in the neighborhood as dozens of responding pol...
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is a living example of how an election campaign can be decided at the last minute, on the days the polls open. In 2015, he amazed everyone when he led the Likud to 30 seats, many more than the last polls had predicted. Many attribute that victory to the blitz of interviews Netanyahu gave on Election Day, as well as his unforgettable warning that “the Arabs are flocking to the polls.” In April Netanyahu did it again, closing the lead polls had predicted Blue and White would maintain over the Likud, this time by broadcasting a live feed on his Facebook page. But this September, Netanyahu won’t be alone—the other parties have learned their lessons and intend to fire back on Election Day. But they mean to focus not on the riva...
The draft of a new ethnics studies curriculum for California public school students is being slammed by critics. They accuse it of espousing bias against Israel and Jews, defining capitalism as a “form of power and oppression” and promoting a far-left-wing political agenda. The pushback has been so strong that California education officials say the curriculum “needs to be substantially redesigned.” A law signed in 2016 by Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown mandated that California create an ethnic studies course. An advisory committee constituted mostly of K-12th grade teachers and professors was appointed in 2018 by the State Board of Education to draft a curriculum that could be used by local school systems to create their own courses. Linda Darling-Hammond, who was ap...
New York City showed resilience when it rebuilt the World Trade Center after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, but the project was also supposed to generate profits that could go toward bridges, tunnels and airports. Now, nearly five years after the office tower at One World Trade Center opened, the World Trade Center complex as a whole is still losing money. That is largely because costs related to security efforts to prevent any future attacks are making it hard to break even. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the 16-acre site and manages some of its buildings, recorded a loss of almost $30 million from World Trade Center operations last year, not counting depreciation, amortization and bond payments, according to the agency’s latest annual report. W...
The Regional Planning Committee of the City of Yerushalayim, headed by Attorney Amir Shaked, ratified the plans for the expansion of United Hatzalah’s national headquarters in the Romema neighborhood. According to the plans submitted by the organization, the building will be expanded by adding six additional floors to the existing four floors. The building is situated on the corner of Yirmiyahu and Ohaliav streets, opposite the Health Ministry building. The plans call for the addition of 3,000 square meters to the building that will allow the organization to expand its activities and increase the quality of training for its volunteers. The plans were drafted by Architect Michal De Lafergola. The building currently serves as the national dispatch center, an educational facility and ...
Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas apparently backed out of a meeting with a 31-member GOP delegation at the last minute on Tuesday, sending other senior officials to meet them in his stead. The incident comes just a week after Abbas met a 41-member Democratic delegation led by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), during which he said he would not accept American “dictates.” Abbas’s P.A. has boycotted the U.S. administration ever since President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem as the capital of Israel in December 2017. Though PLO General Secretary Saeb Erekat and P.A. Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh were sent to meet the Republicans, several legislators opted not to go to Ramallah after Abbas announced his cancellation. Those who did attend were told ...
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