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September 7, 2019 at 9:52 pm
As Hurricane Dorian was unleashing its unimaginable devastation on the Bahamas earlier this week, Rabbi Sholom and Sheera Bluming, co-directors of Chabad of the Bahamas, hunkered down in the capital city of Nassau, making phone calls to residents, galvanizing the community, coordinating with government aid officials and rallying volunteers during their country’s time of need.
After pummeling the islands for two days with winds in excess of 180 miles per hour and rain pouring down by the inches, Dorian moved on. At least 30 people have been reported dead on Grand Bahamas and Abaco islands, with scores more unaccounted for or injured. With power still out and some areas still difficult to access, the true extent of the destruction is only now becoming clear.
“During the hurrica...
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September 7, 2019 at 9:35 pm
WASHINGTON—President Trump said Saturday he called off a planned Camp David summit with Taliban leaders and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani after a Taliban bomb attack in Kabul killed an American soldier.
On Twitter, Mr. Trump said the Afghan government and Taliban officials had been coming to the U.S. Saturday night. The president’s tweets reflected his most extensive direct involvement in the monthslong talks.
“Unbeknownst to almost everyone, the major Taliban leaders and, separately, the President of Afghanistan, were going to secretly meet with me at Camp David on Sunday,” he wrote. Following the attack, “I immediately cancelled the meeting and called off peace negotiations. What kind of people would kill so many in order to seemingly strengthen the...
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September 7, 2019 at 9:31 pm
Avi Berkowitz, who serves as White House adviser Jared Kushner's assistant in the White House, will receive most of the responsibilities of outgoing US Special Envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt.
Greenblatt announced his resignation on Thursday. In a statement, the White House said Greenblatt had originally planned to serve in his role for two years, but stayed on longer as the roll-out of the peace plan was continuously delayed. He will remain in his position until after Israel's September 17 elections.
Berkowitz, 30, is an Orthodox Jew who assisted Kushner when he served as a businessman, during US President Donald Trump's election campaign, and later in the White House.
Though he is closer to Kushner, Berkowitz's official title has been "spec...
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September 7, 2019 at 9:00 pm
Heroes of the Daf: A Dream Realized from Agudath Israel on Vimeo.
Heroes of the Daf: A Dream Realized Become a fellow Yid’s Chavrusa in an instant The lawyer from Washington, D.C. and the TSA agent from Columbus, Ohio. These two yidden did not know each other, yet in an instant became chavrusos. It occurred when attorney Judah Lifschitz was in the Columbus Airport to catch a flight home after a day in court. During security screening, a TSA agent wearing a kippah serugah approached Judah to ask whether he had learned The Daf that day. After the attorney responded affirmatively, the agent asked him to explain The Daf as he had difficulty understanding it. It was a difficult sugya in Maseches Shabbos and the two spent twenty minutes discussing it – as the other TSA agent...
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September 6, 2019 at 3:44 pm
Traffic Alert: The repaving of Cross Country Blvd starting at Greenspring Avenue and heading toward the Mt Washington Village is scheduled to begin on or about 9/11/19. Please adjust your routes accordingly.
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September 6, 2019 at 3:26 pm
Hoisted by its own petard, The New York Times cried foul. Please forgive the clichés, but they’re really most apt.
Let’s start with the paper of record’s wail of indignation. It came last week in the form of a lengthy front-page article reporting that “A loose network of conservative operatives allied with the White House is pursuing what they say will be an aggressive operation to discredit news organizations deemed hostile to President Trump by publicizing damaging information about journalists.”
The “operation,” the paper continues, is “the latest step in a long-running effort by President Trump and his allies to undercut the influence of legitimate news reporting.”
I have no dog in the president-media fight (...
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September 6, 2019 at 11:42 am
U.S. employers added 130,000 jobs in August, missing Wall Street's expectations, as trade uncertainty and slowing global growth darkened the economic outlook.
The unemployment rate remained steady at 3.7 percent, near a 50-year low, while the labor force participation rate was little changed at 63.2 percent. Average hourly earnings, meanwhile, rose 3.2 percent over the past year to $28.11. That was slightly higher than projections of 3.1 percent.
Economists expected employers to add 158,000 jobs, in line with average growth this year but sharply below the 2018 average of 223,000. The June and July jobs numbers were trimmed by a combined 20,000, the Labor Department said Friday.
Employment in the federal government increased in the l...
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September 6, 2019 at 11:38 am
An American Airlines mechanic was arrested Thursday on a sabotage charge accusing him of disabling a navigation system on a flight with 150 people aboard before it was scheduled to take off from Miami International Airport earlier this summer.
The reason, according to a criminal complaint affidavit filed in Miami federal court: Abdul-Majeed Marouf Ahmed Alani, a veteran employee, was upset over stalled union contract negotiations.
None of the passengers and crew on the flight to Nassau were injured because the tampering with the so-called air data module caused an error alert as the pilots powered up the plane’s engines on the runway July 17, according to a criminal complaint affidavit filed in Miami federal court.
As a result, flight No. 2834 was aborted and taken out of service ...
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September 6, 2019 at 10:49 am
Baltimore, MD – September 6, 2019
Parshas: Shoftim
Chatzos: 1:04:55 PM
Hadlakas Nairos: 7:12pm
Shkiah: 7:30pm
Tzais HaKochavim: 8:10pm
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September 6, 2019 at 10:13 am
BALTIMORE (WBFF) -- Governor Hogan is frustrated over the lack of air conditioning in city schools.
Just after the second day of school after soaring temperatures prompt school officials to send students and staff in buildings without AC to close 2 hours early yesterday.
The early dismissal only applied to schools without AC.
Still that meant that dozens of schools and their students lost class time on the second day of of the new school year.
This has been raising concern for many.
So when do schools without air-conditioning close early because of the heat?
When the temperature in the majority of classrooms in most buildings is 85 degrees or higher and students cannot be relocated to cooler areas or the outside heat index reaches 100 degrees by 10:30 a.m.
The district may also cl...
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September 6, 2019 at 9:30 am
Just a year ago, as our nation celebrated Labor Day, men of all ages, stages, backgrounds, and walks of life celebrated and enthusiastically participated in the opening day of Agra D’Pirka in Baltimore. The organized, high-level Monday-Thursday morning Kollel learning program, including a light breakfast, is geared towards local professionals, business owners, college students, retirees, or anyone who wishes to increase his morning limud haTorah.
However, Baltimore is no longer the “newest kid” on the Agra D’Pirka block, which includes the vast network of Agra D’Pirka locations including: Kew Gardens Hills, Flatbush, Boro Park, Monsey, Lakewood, Miami, and Boston. Agra D’Pirka recently announced that it will further expand to include progr...
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September 6, 2019 at 8:20 am
ה׳ באלול תשע״ט (SEPTEMBER 5, 2019) “When you besiege a city for many days to wage war against it to capture it, you shall not destroy its trees by wielding an ax against them, for you may eat from them, but you shall not cut them down. Is the tree of the field a man, to go into the siege before you?” (Devorim 20:19)
Wars must be fought, and when the Jewish army fights, it must fight to win. Victory often comes with a heavy price; lives are lost, and resources destroyed. The Torah teaches that even in war, one cannot engage in wanton destruction. If the fruit trees are providing cover for the enemy, if they somehow pose a threat to the Jewish soldiers, they may be destroyed. But to destroy for the sake of punitive destruction is prohibited. God makes this poi...
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September 6, 2019 at 7:42 am
Six of the seven people charged Tuesday in an July killing are members of MS-13, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials say.
Of the six, five are Salvadoran and one is Mexican. All of them are in the country illegally, ICE spokeswoman Kate Pote said in an email. All six are identified in ICE gang databases as members of MS-13. After their arrests, ICE placed detainers on them.
Pote said she could not provide further information, citing privacy concerns.
Baltimore County police arrested Jonathan Escobar-Hernandez, Marlon Fabian-Flores, Edwin Garcia-Martir, Hugo Portillo-Chavez, Odaliz Rosas-Yanez and Leonal Velasquez-Hernandez in connection with the July 31 stabbing death of Daniel Cuellar.
Velasquez-Hernandez is 16, but is being charged as an adult in the case. He waiv...
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September 6, 2019 at 7:42 am
A tropical storm watch related to Hurricane Dorian has been upgraded to a warning for Friday. The warning covers parts of Southern Maryland, the lower Eastern Shore and parts of the Maryland and Delaware beaches.
The warning means tropical-storm force winds are expected somewhere within the area within the next 36 hours. A storm front that moved into Maryland Wednesday night is one of several weather systems that will push Dorian away from the mid-Atlantic coast.
Hurricane Dorian was downgraded to a Category 1 storm Friday morning, with a maximum of 90 mph sustained winds. According to the National Weather Service, Dorian's center will likely move "near or over the coast," over the next several hours. Friday will be cloudy Friday and showers can be expected as the outer b...
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September 6, 2019 at 7:41 am
BALTIMORE —
Move it or lose it: Maryland State Police will turn up the heat as troopers try to get parked trucks moved at the Interstate 70 park and ride lot in the Windsor Mill/Woodlawn area.
Tractor-trailers aren't the only issues in the location where the state of Maryland, Baltimore City and Baltimore County jurisdictions converge. At the Baltimore City park and ride lot near where I-70 begins, the 11 News I-Team found some vehicles that haven't moved for a while, including a Honda involved in an accident that has expired license plates. Next to the Honda was a truck that has no license plates. The Baltimore County line is just a few feet away.
Michael Bannan, the owner of a pickup truck and trailer parked at the location, spoke with the I-Team.
"I'm in the cou...
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September 6, 2019 at 5:54 am
There are numerous places in the Torah where Chazal derive significant lessons from the placement of one Mitvzah or historical event directly opposite or next to another Mitzvah. A classic example would be in next weeks Parsha where Rashi points out that the Halacha of Ben Tzorer Umoreh (the rebellious child) follows an Isha S’nuah (the despised wife), which follows Yifas To’ar. (the woman captured in battle) This teaches us that someone who marries a Yifas To’ar will eventually come to hate her and produce a rebellious child. In this week’s Parsha, there is another set of Halachos directly juxtaposed, about which the commentaries seem strangely silent.
Six P’sukim are devoted to some of the particular Halachos of Arei’ Miklat...
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September 5, 2019 at 9:54 pm
Hurricane Dorian is once again a Category 3 storm — with wind gusts roaring at more than 110 mph — after weakening earlier in the week.
The National Hurricane Center provided the update at 11 p.m. Wednesday night, saying “some fluctuations in intensity” were expected in the next 12 hours followed by “slow weakening” Thursday through Friday.
Dorian was moving north at a speed of 7 mph — with meteorologists predicting “a turn toward the northeast” on Thursday. It will likely make a “northeastward motion at a faster forward speed” on Friday, according to NHC officials.
Read more at THE NY POST.
