BJL & the entire community wish Mazel Tov to this week’s Bar Mitzvah boys (Parshas Vayikra): Shlomo Zalman Brody, Shmuel Dovid Eichorn, Moishy Sachs and Yisroel Moshe Shafranovich. Baltimore, MD - Mar. 26, 2020 - These heilige boys could not receive an aliya or lain for a minyan this week. They could not take part in the bo bayom seuda and/or Shabbos celebration that entailed months of preparation and effort. They could not give the long awaited pshetel that they worked so hard to perfect or even lain their parshios and haftarahs in shul after months of practice. These plans had to be curtailed but that didn’t stop some of the boys whose bar mitzvahs fell out over the past two weeks from thinking up some very innovative ways to celebrate their bar mitzvah day. One local f...
Parshas Vayikra / Baltimore Zmanim / Eruv is UP! Baltimore, MD – Mar. 27, 2020 Parshas:  Vayikra Today:    2 Nisan       Chatzos today: 1:12 PM Hadlakas Nairos Shabbos: 7:08 PM Shkiah:                 7:26:15 PM Tzais HaKochavim:  8:17 PM   Kiddush Levanah: Friday, Mar. 27 @3:53 AM – Tuesday, Apr. 7 @10:15 PM
Lekovod the members of our choshuv tzibbur and the wider community, Every week on Shabbos Kadoshesh we meet in shul to daven together and listen to divrei hisorerus.  Unfortunately, it seems that we will unable to daven be’tzibbur this Shabbos.  However, we can still share divrei Torah.  The attachment contains some thoughts about the parshas ha’shavua and the current situation.  If you can’t come to the speech, the speech can to come to you!  I encourage you print this out and read it before or on Shabbos and share it with your families.                     ...
MIAMI (VINnews) —Eli Beer, the head of United Hatzalah is hospitalized in serious condition in Miami suffering from coronavirus. His family gave the following update on Eli’s condition: “As you may be aware, Eli was diagnosed with COVID-19 at the end of last week. He was put on a ventilator last Friday evening. Eli is showing signs of improvement. His vital signs continue to get stronger and the level of fluid in his lungs is decreasing. If Eli continues to improve they will start the process of waking him slowly in the coming days. We should continue our prayers for Eli’s full recovery. Thank you to everyone for their concern, prayers, messages and donations in Eli’s honor.” Please say Tehilim for Eliezer Yehudah Ben Chaya
Total MD coronavirus cases jumped by nearly 200 in the past 24 hours, Gov. Larry Hogan said Friday. A fifth death has been confirmed. MARYLAND — The number of coronavirus cases in Maryland increased by 194 between Thursday and Friday, bringing the total number of cases in the state to 774, Gov. Larry Hogan announced Friday. A fifth death has been reported due to the respiratory disease, as well. Friday's increase is the largest one-day increase since the Maryland Department of Health began reporting the number of cases in the state, breaking the record set Thursday with an increase of 157. Friday is the fourth day of record-breaking increases. The state also released data Friday including the number of those hospitalized due to the new coronavirus, the gender of those who t...
BNEI BRAK (VINnews) — Bnei Brak mayor Avraham Rubinstein who is isolated in quarantine at present issued a special appeal to local residents in the wake of the recent surge in coronavirus cases. “In Bnei Brak unfortunately there are about 300 cases of coronavirus. This is the most rampant and dangerous level of infection in the whole of Israel, and the prognosis is even more scary. It’s time to wake up! “The rabbis of the city and leading poskim are crying out: Stop trying to be smart with minyanim of more than 10 people, keep distances between one another.” Rubinstein’s appeal come’s after Israel suffered its worst week since the outbreak of the coronavirus, with cases spiking nationally from 1000 to over 3000 and for the first time 12 people h...
Death toll hits 12, more than 3,000 infected with coronavirus; Israel to increase tests to 30,000 daily Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu instructed on Friday to significantly tighten movement restrictions in a way that will further reduce the number of people staying outside the home to prevent the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.Netanyahu noted in a meeting on Friday afternoon that "if we do not see a change in the proportion of infections over the next two days, there will be no escape from a full shutdown of the country." The Ministry of Finance will formulate a plan for further reduction of labor in the economy.The Prime Minister also directed increased enforcement in supermarkets and pharmacies to ensure distance, disinfection and adherence to the Health Ministry's instruct...
This morning, I saw a few fellows dressed like me walking to a (“house”) minyan/prayer quorum, a day after 13 people died of Coronavirus in one New York City hospital alone, a day after NYC officials announced that over 20,000 of its residents have Coronavirus, 3,750 hospitalized, 840 in ICU units, and 280 dead. I could not help but wonder what G-d they are purportedly praying to, and what religion they are practicing. It certainly isn’t the G-d who instructed us to suspend even the halachos/laws of Shabbos/Sabbath to save a human life. It certainly isn’t the G-d who instructed us to be respectful of our elders, to be mindful of the vulnerable and less fortunate, and to be good citizens who follow the laws of our lands. Our Navi/Prophet Yeshayahu/Isaiah (1:15) sh...
“Number one …” presidential hopeful Joe Biden Jr. said at his March 15 debate with equally hopeful (though less entitled to be so) Senator Bernie Sanders, “if I’m elected president and have an opportunity to appoint someone to the courts, I’ll appoint the first black woman of the courts. It’s required that they have representation now. It’s long overdue.” He continued with his number two: “If I’m elected president, my cabinet, my administration will look like the country, and I commit that I will, in fact … pick a woman to be vice president. There are a number of women who are qualified to be president tomorrow.” No doubt there are, as there are a number of qualified men. But am I alone in finding it puzzling...
The Trump administration unsealed sweeping indictments against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and members of his inner circle on narcoterrorism charges Thursday, a dramatic escalation in the U.S. campaign to force the authoritarian socialist from power. The administration announced a $15 million reward for information leading to Maduro’s capture or conviction, an extraordinary bounty on a man still recognized by the Russians, Chinese and others as Venezuela’s rightful leader. The move effectively turns the 57-year-old former union leader into an internationally wanted man, giving Venezuelans a new motive to act against him and adding a new level of risk to any travel he might attempt beyond the confines of his power center in Caracas. Attorney General William Barr...
The Israeli government has opened up a war bunker in the Jerusalem hills to help coordinate its campaign against the spread of the coronavirus, Israeli officials said on Thursday. The bunker, called the “National Management Center,” was built more than a decade ago because of concern about Iran’s nuclear program and missile exchanges with Hezbollah and Hamas. According to Israeli officials, it includes living quarters and command facilities and can be accessed from the government complex in Jerusalem and the western foothills leading to Tel Aviv. “This (bunker) is another tool for managing, controlling, oversight and tracking” the coronavirus, said an Israeli official who requested anonymity. “We understand that this crisis will accompany us for an ex...
Many people who weren’t planning to make Pesach suddenly find their plans changed. Relax – it’s actually manageable and things will be fine.
It has been a busy week.  it began with a Bar Mitzvah on Motzai Shabbos, a wedding on Tuesday and a funeral on Wednesday.  Truthfully, this is not all that different from what a typical week looks like.  The difference was, the Bar Mitzvah was on zoom, the wedding livestreamed on YouTube and the funeral took place in the parking lot of my shul in the pouring rain with 10 men, standing 6 feet apart, while I delivered a eulogy standing under the open trunk door of the minivan containing the casket.  These are challenging times.  During these last two weeks we have seen the normal rhythms of life come to a grinding halt.  The way we do virtually everything has changed.  The social and religious norms that many have known their entire lives have changed. ...
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has tested positive for coronavirus. Mr Johnson said he developed mild symptoms over the past 24 hours, including a temperature and cough. He said he will now self-isolate in No 10 but will "continue to lead the government's response via video-conference as we fight this virus". Mr Johnson was last seen on Thursday night, as he clapped outside No 10 as part of a nationwide gesture to thank NHS staff. In a video on his Twitter account, Mr Johnson, 55, said: "I'm working from home and self-isolating and that's entirely the right thing to do. "But, be in no doubt that I can continue thanks to the wizardry of modern technology to communicate with all my top team to lead the national fightback against coronavirus. "I want to thank everybody invo...
We are in the midst of a crisis. The world is in turmoil. The end of the tunnel is not yet in sight. People are succumbing, people are suffering. In our personal world we are so frustrated. We want so desperately to daven in Shul once again. We miss our chevra, our learning. We yearn to celebrate another beautiful Seder surrounded by our greater family, but it is seemingly not in the cards for this year.  We just celebrated Rosh Chodesh Nissan. It is not only the entree to Pesach, but a historically significant day in its own right. It was the day the Mishkan was established as the residence of the Divine Presence. We are taught that in the short time of a mere three months the Mishkan was completed and ready to go. From the day after Yom Kippur, after receiving the Tab...
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