President Reuven (Ruvi) Rivlin commented today, Thursday 12 December / 14 Kislev, on the dissolving of the Knesset and appealed to the Israeli public to keep faith in the democratic system President Rivlin: “I pray that the depth of the current political crisis and the divisions it exposes amongst us will lead us as a society and as a country to fight not only for the right to disagree with each other – but also to the duty to find what we can agree about.” “We must not allow ourselves to sink into despair or grievance, which does no good. We must not lose faith in the democratic system or in its ability to create the reality we live in with our own hands.” In his remarks, the president said, “Dear fellow Israeli citizens, after two ...
The Siyum Presents: Why We Learn Volume 2: A Yid Has to Know Shas “Knowing Shas is incredible – but not impossible!”  The Daf Puts Entire Torah Within our Reach Why We Learn: Volume 2 from Agudath Israel on Vimeo. “I am a working man, not the Gadol Hador. Knowing ‘kol haTorah kulah’ is out of my realm.”  This sentiment may be common, but it is untrue. No yid is complete without completing Shas. Even if one is familiar with all the practically relevant halachos, he is missing “the full picture” of the gift that Hashem has given Klal Yisroel. These holy words – and the values and vision behind them – are the core of who we are, and who we will continue to be throughout the generations.  How can one acc...
Agudath Israel of America welcomes President Trump’s Executive Order that seeks to target and combat anti-Semitism at American colleges and universities. This action embodies an understanding of federal law that has enjoyed bipartisan support in Congress, and offers a definition of anti-Semitism that has been adopted by the State Department and by several international bodies and foreign governments. It is no secret that Jewish students on campus fear for their safety. The rise in anti-Semitic incidents and the increasingly poisonous atmosphere towards Jews at our institutions of higher education have been widely reported upon and acutely felt in our community. Jewish students on too many campuses face the reality of verbal and even physical attacks by other students, and of hostile...
'Given close proximity of new elections, it would be gratuitous for court to now decide issues raised by petitions,' judges state. Supreme Court Judges Noam Solberg, George Kara, and Yosef Elron today rejected petitions by the Movement for Quality Government and Adv. Raful Shafik demanding that Netanyahu resign and order the Attorney General to declare Netanyahu's incapacity. The petition asked the Supreme Court justices in addition to order Netanyahu to resign as Health Minister, Labor, Social Welfare, and Social Services Minister, Diaspora Minister, and Acting Agriculture and Rural Development Minister. In the decision the judges ruled the petitions be dismissed outright, "both because of failure to exhaust due process, and because the issues do not require adjudi...
A few weeks ago, Ayelet Wasserman, a 17-year-old girl originally from Los Angeles who now lives with her family in Jerusalem, visited the Jerusalem headquarters of United Hatzalah of Israel to donate an emergency ambucycle. Ayelet started raising money for United Hatzalah four years ago when, after a series of terror attacks in Jerusalem, she decided to do something to help protect the people in Israel. She had always had a dream of learning the entire bible and so she committed to learning two chapters a day – every day and to review the weekly portion every Shabbat (Saturday) with the goal of finishing the entire Bible within the year. Thinking of how reassuring it was to see Hatzalah volunteers present at every terror attack and always ready to help, Ayelet decided to use her dai...
(CNN) Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is expected to hold a final vote to acquit President Donald Trump should he be impeached, when a majority of senators believe his trial has run its course instead of holding a vote on dismissing the articles of impeachment, two Republican senators told CNN on Wednesday. That's significant, because Republicans want to have a vote on acquittal -- to clear the President of the charges against him -- not simply rely on a 51-vote threshold procedural motion to dismiss the hotly disputed case. The Constitution mandates 67 votes are required to convict the President and remove him from office, a barrier widely considered too high to be reached in this case. One vote McConnell can't rely on is that of Vice President ...
A Chessed Fund page opened for the officer killed in yesterday’s shooting attack in Jersey City has raised nearly $30,000 for the family. From the page: An 18 year law enforcement veteran and married father of five was tragically murdered in the Jersey City attack on Tuesday December 10. Detective Joseph Seals 40, was the first person identified as a victim of the horrific attacks in Jersey City which ultimately took the lives of three people inside the kosher grocery store on Martin Luther King Drive.‎ The attacks also injured many others. Seals a beloved Police officer was the department’s leading officer in removing guns from Jersey City’s streets and frequently worked in plain-clothes. The veteran officer joined the Jersey City police force in 2006, accor...
Singer Lipa Schmeltzer shared his personal enconter with Hakodesh Moshe Deutch HY”D, one of the victims in yesterday’s attack at the Jersey City Kosher Supermarket. It’s hard to find the words right now. Just five days before this evil incident, Hakodesh Moshe Hersh Deutsch HY”D, had been serving me a main dish at a sheva brachos for his friend Shmelka, at the Satmar Yeshiva. “The Menhal’s Rebetzin is a really good cook,” he said. I told him that I have a little toothache so I don’t eat meat. “At least take another bowl of soup,” he responded graciously on his last Thursday on this planet. He promptly brought me another plate of beef soup. “In the picture above you could see him helping me with the song for דוי הסר �...
A man died in Baltimore from cold-related illness, according to Maryland health officials. BALTIMORE, MD — Officials said a man who died Wednesday was the first person in Maryland to die from a cold-related illness during the 2019-2020 season. He was not identified other than as a 45 to 64-year-old man who died in Baltimore, according to the Maryland Department of Health. "As temperatures continue to drop, Marylanders are urged to take every precaution to help prevent cold-related illnesses," Deputy Secretary for Public Health Fran Phillips said in a statement. State health officials said the death occurred Wednesday, Dec. 11. There was a coating of snow on the ground when many Baltimoreans awoke Wednesday morning, and forecasters predict temps will drop below freezing from 10 p...
Baltimore, MD - Dec. 11,  2019 - BJL wishes a hearty Mazel Tov to Elana and Mordechai Gardyn on the birth of a son. Mazel Tov grandparents Shimon & Tzirel Zylberminc and Shimmy & Devorah Gardyn. יה"ר שיזכו לגדל בנם לתורה, לחופה, ולמעשים טובים. אמן
President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Wednesday that would effectively allow the government to interpret Judaism as both a race or nationality and a religion under federal law so that the Education Department can take direct action against what he views as anti-Semitism on college campuses. Trump, joined by lawmakers and administration officials in addition to New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, said the order "makes clear" that Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 would "apply to institutions that traffic in anti-Semitic hate." Pointing to past bipartisan efforts to pass similar legislation, Trump said that "they didn't get it done," adding, "This year, there's no roadblock." The interpretation would allow the Education D...
JERUSALEM (VINnews) — A 20-year-old Yeshiva bachur from the United States who was studying in The Mir, passed away Wednesday in a fatal car accident. The accident occured at approximately 6:20 PM on the Begin Highway near Ramot. Israel Police reports that the accident was between a private vehicle and a tractor trailer. United Hatzalah arrived at the scene to find 2 victims in critical condition. Both victims were transferred to Shaarei Tzedek hospital in traumatic arrest. Shortly thereafter, Shaarei Tzedek reported that one of the victims had passed away. The other occupant of the vehicle was also from the United States.
WARM SOULS GUNNED DOWN IN COLD BLOOD Jersey City, drenched in a river of tears Leah Minda Ferencz and her husband, Moshe Dovid, owned and operated a small kosher grocery in Jersey City. It was where Leah Minda, a 33-year-old mother of 3 young children, worked every day with a warm smile. It was where Leah Minda was gunned down in cold blood. JC Kosher was the Ferencz family’s livelihood. It was where the life of the wife and mother of the Ferencz family was suddenly snuffed out. Yesterday, JC Kosher was a sign of a newborn Jewish community coming to life. Today, its Mezuzah speckled in blood, JC Kosher is sadly blanketed in the dark shroud of Anti-Jewish hate. Shulem Deutch was a  24-year-old young man who walked into JC Kosher to do some shopping. The Mitzvah of Kosher is a...
New election, which comes after no party was able to form a government, provides a lifeline for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu TEL AVIV—Israel will hold a third election in less than a year after lawmakers missed a deadline to find a consensus candidate to form a government, prolonging months of political stalemate at a time when the country faces threats ranging from Iran to militants in Gaza to an uncertain economy. The third election, to be held in March after no party was able to form a government following inconclusive votes in April and September, provides a lifeline for the country’s right-wing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s longest-serving leader. He is now better placed to fight corruption charges while in office a...
NEW YORK (VINnews) — During the course of a press conference about the Jersey City shootings attended by the mayors of Jersey City and New York City, a senior member of the Chasidic community, Rabbi David Niederman, the executive director of UJO (United Jewish Organizations),  thanked the mayor of Jersey City for deploying “all that he had” in order to halt the bloodshed. However he then broke down while describing the “hundreds of bullets” which were shot at an innocent young man standing in the JC kosher store. New York mayor Bill De Blasio was deeply moved by the scene and came over to comfort the grief-stricken rabbi.
JERSEY CITY (VINnews) — The levayos for both of the Jewish murder victims in the deadly Jersey City shooting attack will be held Wednesday night. The funeral of 24-year-old Moshe Hersh Deutsch will be held at 8:00PM at the Satmar Bais Medrash on Rodney Street in Williamsburg. The funeral of 33-year-old Mrs Leah Mindel Ferencz will be held at 127 Martin Luther King Blvd in Jersey City at 8:00PM. Both the Jewish victims were among the 3 civilians that were killed inside The JC Kosher Supermarket. The third civilian has been identified as Miguel Jason Rodriguez. Rodriguez had been working at the grocery store in Jersey City for more than a year to provide for his family, which includes a wife and an 11-year old daughter.
A man considered the last remaining survivor of Roman Jews who were deported from Italy’s capital to Nazi death camps during World War II died on Sunday at the age of 91. Piero Terracina was 15 when he and his family went into hiding in 1943 after escaping the roundup of Jews in Rome by German occupying troops. A few months later, as his family celebrated Passover in April 1944, he was arrested and deported to the Auschwitz-Birkenau concentration camp with his family, where his parents, three siblings and other relatives perished, The Associated Press reported. On Jan. 19, 1945, Terracina and other Auschwitz prisoners were forced to march by Nazi officers, but during the trek, German troops fled to escape approaching Russian soldiers. Terracina and his fellow inmates, freezing in ...
JERSEY CITY, New Jersey (WABC) -- A multi-agency investigation is underway and communities are in mourning after four people -- a police officer and three civilians -- were killed in a wild shootout and standoff that ended in a Jewish grocery store in Jersey City Tuesday afternoon.The two suspects were also killed.Latest Developments: Device found in back of stolen U-Haul was operable pipe bomb The suspects are identified as David Anderson and Francine Graham, believed to be members of the Black Israelites The incident is being investigated as a case of domestic terrorism Authorities believe the Jewish grocery store was targeted The victims found dead inside the supermarket were identified as 24-year-old Moshe Deutsh, 49-year-old Miguel Douglas, and 32-year-old Mindy Ferenz The o...
Baltimore, MD – Dec. 2019 - Every Shabbos table offers every Jewish family an incredible opportunity by which they can share their joy for Shabbos, for Yiddishkeit and for HaShem with their children. Unfortunately, our schedules are hectic and many people don’t have the time to prepare themselves to utilize the Shabbos table to its fullest. Therefore, we at ACHIM created TableTalk as a pre-packaged talking points pamphlet which is attractive, fun and has something for everyone. Limited copies are distributed to many shuls on a weekly basis but they are snatched up very quickly. Get yours ASAP or click on the graphic below and print your own.What’s in it and what’s all the excitement about?TableTalk features•    Weekly halachic dilemma creating li...
WASHINGTON (VINnews) — President Trump tweeted a link to Ami Magazine’s website on Wednesday. Ami Magazine wrote an article called “The Exclusive Ami Magazine Poll, What Orthodox Jews really think about President Trump.” The poll showed overwhelming support in the Orthodox Jewish community for the president. President Trump acknowledged the support by tweeting a link to the article. The support from the Orthodox Jewish community comes amid reports that President Trump will sign an executive ...
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