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April 2, 2020 at 11:57 am
As the coronavirus pandemic has led to more people spending time at home and conducting school and business online, an increasing focus has been placed on certain technologies and their ability to facilitate hate and harassment. Reports of “Zoombombing,” a reference to the popular video conferencing platform Zoom in which virtual meetings are disrupted by graphic or threatening messages or actions, often including those that contain hate speech or pornographic content, have quickly garnered attention across the country. Inside Higher Ed recently reported incidents targeting virtual classrooms at Arizona State University and the University of Southern California, as well as a children’s storytelling session in New Jersey. According to NBC News, during a ...
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April 2, 2020 at 11:44 am
Baltimore, MD - Apr. 2, 2020 - Rabbi Menachem Goldberger's Shabbos HaGadol Drasha:
Broken and Whole- The Jewish People and the Matzos
Click here to watch
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April 2, 2020 at 9:13 am
A construction worker in his 30s fell at a building site on HaTzabar Street in Migdal HaEmek.
United Hatzalah volunteer EMT Aviel Ellenbogen, whose wedding is scheduled to be celebrated tonight with a small crowd in accordance with the current regulations in Israel, was the first responder at the scene and treated the fallen worker for his injuries. Ellenbogen relayed from the scene: "I was right nearby when I received the emergency alert from United Hatzalah's dispatch center. The dispatcher told me that a construction worker had fallen. I rushed over and found the worker in bad shape. He had suffered injuries to most parts of his body and I was told that he had fallen off of scaffolding while working at the site. I treated his injuries before he was transported to the hospita...
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April 2, 2020 at 9:00 am
WASHINGTON — The top U.S. infectious disease official says medical experts are no closer to figuring out why some seemingly healthy people infected by the new coronavirus develop only mild or no symptoms but others become very sick.
Dr. Anthony Fauci says on NBC’s “Today” show he’s been “puzzled from the beginning” of the coronavirus pandemic.
Fauci is the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He says it’s “very strange” how the virus can be “completely devastating” and lead to “viral pneumonia and respiratory failure” in one person and be “absolutely nothing” in another person.
Fauci says he’s been working in infectious diseases for almost 50 years but ...
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April 2, 2020 at 8:55 am
Baltimore, MD – Mar. 30, 2020 - It is with deep sadness that BaltimoreJewishLife.com informs the community of the petirah of R’ Binyomin Abramowitz, Z’L, of Boro Park, son of Mr. & Mrs. Yisroel Abramovitz of Baltimore. (410.358.4764)Mrs. Perel Abramovitz (wife) (347) 563 2627 Mrs. Freidy Kreindler (daughter) (347) 988 5232 R' Avrohom Tzvi Dov Abramovitz (son) (347) 404-8680 R' Bentzion Abramovitz (son) (718) 437-6358 R' Tzvi Dov Abramovitz (brother) (646) 645 5073 R' Shmuel Abramovitz (brother) (917) 618 4192 R' Menachem Mendel Abramovitz (brother) (347) 683 7297 Mrs. Esti Kempler (sister) (347) 971 1794 Mrs. Chana Smilovich (sister) (347) 5541853
Bila HaMaves LaNetzach...
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April 2, 2020 at 8:53 am
Just recently, a 78-year-old was hospitalized in Jerusalem in need of immediate oxygen therapy. Initially in serious condition, he fortunately recovered. At discharge, he was presented with a $5,000 bill. Looking at the bill, he began to sob. The kind doctor put his hand on the old man’s shoulder and told him not to worry about the money owed. The old man looked at him and shook his head. “I am not crying about the money. I am crying because for 78 years I have been breathing Hashem’s oxygen for free, not once thinking about how much I owe Him or how I could ever repay.”
We have taken so much for granted for so long. And now, at this moment in time, we are truly humbled. There are no words, certainly no wo...
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April 2, 2020 at 8:52 am
Baltimore, MD - Apr. 2, 2020 -The source in the Torah to tell over the Haggadah comes from Exodus 13:8 – And you shall tell your son on that day saying, “It is because of this that Hashem acted on my behalf when I left Egypt.” (Artscroll Translation). Harav Elyakim Rosenblatt sites the Targum Onkelos that translate the beginning of the verse as “You shall show your son.” From this we learn that we should make the Passover seder as real an experience as possible for our children (and ourselves).
I have compiled four simple and inexpensive ideas that may help bring more reality, enjoyment and memories to your seder. In addition, some of these ideas may give you and your family some activities to do in preparation for the seder.
1. Blood
Exodus 12:7 says...
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April 2, 2020 at 8:45 am
The number of Americans filing claims for unemployment benefits surged to more than 6.6 million last week, breaking a record high for the second week in a row as more states and cities enforced strict stay-at-home measures in an attempt to stop the coronavirus pandemic, bringing the U.S. economy to a stuttering halt.
Claims between the period of March 21 and March 28 blew past the previous week's record of 3.28 million, according to the weekly jobless claims report from the Labor Department published on Thursday.
The report provides the most up-to-date evidence on the economic damage being inflicted by the novel coronavirus and likely reinforces economists' views that the U.S. has already entered a recession, bringing to end a record 11-year e...
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April 2, 2020 at 8:36 am
The IRS has reversed course to eliminate a controversial requirement on Social Security recipients seeking stimulus checks as part of the government's coronavirus response package.
After initially saying that Social Security recipients would have to file a "simple" tax return for 2019 -- which they ordinarily would not do -- the IRS now says the payment will be automatic without it.
"Social Security recipients who are not typically required to file a tax return ... will receive their payment directly to their bank account,” Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin announced Wednesday evening, noting that they will not have to take any action.
The change follows pressure from lawmakers who urged the IRS to drop the condition.
"Th...
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April 2, 2020 at 8:23 am
Grim news of coronavirus infections and fatalities continued in the U.S. on Wednesday, with the number of confirmed cases rising above 200,000 and the number of deaths surpassing 5,000.
The fatalities for Wednesday alone topped 1,000 -- a one-day toll more than double that usually recorded for lung cancer and influenza combined, USA Today reported. Some researchers predicted U.S. coronavirus deaths could surpass 2,000 per day by mid-April, exceeding daily deaths attributed to heart disease, the report said.
Amid the climbing numbers, five more states – Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, Nevada and Pennsylvania – added or expanded stay-at-home orders, while Michigan proposed a 70-day extension of an emergency declaration that had b...
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April 2, 2020 at 8:19 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Chicken with salmonella can make you sick. So can romaine lettuce with E. coli and buffets with lurking norovirus. So why aren’t health officials warning people about eating food contaminated with the new coronavirus?
The answer has to do with the varying paths organisms take to make people sick.
Respiratory viruses like the new coronavirus generally attach to cells in places like the lungs. Germs like norovirus and salmonella can survive the acid in stomachs, then multiply after attaching to cells inside people’s guts.
“Specializing in what tissues to attach to is typically part of the disease’s strategy to cause illness,” according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC and other experts note that the virus ...
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April 2, 2020 at 8:15 am
BERLIN — The chairman of the World Medical Association says China’s figures on the new coronavirus infections aren’t credible.
But German doctor Frank Ulrich Montgomery says the numbers aren’t credible in many other countries, either.
Montgomery says the recent low Chinese numbers were “nonsense” and suggested Beijing was intentionally providing false figures. The radiologist and former head of the German Medical Association says other countries are also working with uncertain figures because better data often isn’t available.
Montgomery cited the lack of proper testing as one reason why many developing countries are reporting low infection rates.
He called for the World Health Organization to do more to impress on governments in poorer nations...
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April 2, 2020 at 8:13 am
Israel must take a series of immediate steps that would enable it to end its nationwide closure and enter a new “corona routine” that would revive the economy and that could begin immediately after Pesach, Interim Defense Minister Naftali Bennett stated on Sunday.
In a new national response plan that he published, Bennett wrote that “the State of Israel saw the danger early and took a series of correct decisions that revolved around ‘closing Israel.’ On one hand, this bought us precious time, but on the other, it had a terrible economic effect. Millions of Israelis lost the source of their income in the past month. They and their families face a double existential anxiety: being infected, and being unable to pay bills and support their families. Many business...
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April 2, 2020 at 8:11 am
Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh claimed on Sunday that the Israel Defense Forces are intentionally spreading coronavirus to Palestinians, according to Israeli media reports.
Shtayyeh said that there have been “testimonies that some of the [Israeli] soldiers are trying to spread the virus on car handles,” according to Ynet. “This is racism and hatred of people who long for the death of the other. We will record this in the list of crimes [against Israel].”
Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted in response that it was “Shameful that, in the midst of a global crisis, PM Mohammed Shtayyeh is blaming IDF soldiers for spreading #COVID19 in Palestinian territories. This #scapegoating is disgraceful & a modern ve...
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April 2, 2020 at 8:10 am
Dr. Mehmet Oz joins ‘Fox & Friends’ after the coronavirus task force projects upwards of 100,000 deaths from COVID-19.
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April 2, 2020 at 8:08 am
Spain wanted some new rapid coronavirus tests so badly that it bought ones that didn’t work. So did the Czech Republic. The U.K. snapped up millions of them as well, even before scientists have established their accuracy.
Why the frenzy? Countries desperate to curb the pandemic need a clearer picture of the virus and its spread. They’re willing to make a big bet on new testing approaches that look more broadly for signs of infection than existing diagnostics. The stakes are enormous as economies around the globe grind to a halt and the death tally keeps climbing.
“They will be cheaper, easier to use and could be widely deployable,” said Catharina Boehme, chief executive officer of the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics in Geneva, a nonprofit group that will...
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April 2, 2020 at 8:05 am
BOISE (AP) — Background checks required to buy firearms have spiked to record numbers in the past month, fueled by a run on guns from Americans worried about their safety during the coronavirus crisis.
According to figures from the FBI, 3.7 million background checks were done in March — the most for a single month since the system began in 1998. It eclipsed the previous record, set in December 2015, when 3.3 million checks were conducted.
Background checks are the key barometer of gun sales, but the FBI’s monthly figures also incorporate checks for firearm permits that are required in some states. Each background check also could be for the sale of more than one gun.
The rush has inflamed tensions between Second Amendment advocates and gun control supporters. Pro-gun g...
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April 2, 2020 at 8:00 am
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Health Ministry Director General Moshe Bar Siman Tov, this evening (Wednesday, 1 April 2020), at the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem, issued statements. Following are the Prime Minister's remarks:
"Citizens of Israel, we are still in the midst of an international tsunami. The corona pandemic is engulfing continents and countries – almost every country on earth. This is a mighty storm. The world is at one great front.
I spoke again, several days ago, with my friend Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte. I heard from him about the awful tragedy striking the people of his country; thousands have died in recent weeks. I asked him: 'Giuseppe, what is your lesson from all this?' He answered me: 'Bibi, do the hard thin...
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April 1, 2020 at 11:46 pm
Prime Minister Netanyahu said tonight that he is working to curb the Corona pandemic, adding the duty of wearing masks in public to help stave. “We ask the citizens of Israel to wear masks in the public domain. If you don’t have a mask, use a scarf or any other covering that will reduce the possibility of infecting others.”
On the other hand, Netanyahu announced an economic move for the benefit of citizens. “I decided together with the Minister of Finance to give a special grant for Pesach, each family with children will receive NIS 500 for each child, up to the fourth child. Each senior citizen will receive an additional NIS 500 in the monthly allowance. The grants will go straight into bank accounts. The government will submit a bill to the Knesset and I call on ...
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April 1, 2020 at 11:43 pm
Israeli Health Minister Yaakov Litzman and his wife have tested positive for the coronavirus.
The minister’s office said that Litzman will be working from his home, in accordance with medical recommendations.
Litzman met with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu this past Thursday, which means Netanyahu will probably quarantine for another week.
