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September 14, 2021 at 11:10 am
Esteemed colleagues, dear friends, I want to thank you all for joining us to celebrate the oneyearanniversary of the historic Abraham Accords.
The United Nations Charter calls on countries “to practice tolerance and live together in peacewith one another as good neighbours”. That is exactly what Israel, the United Arab Emirates,Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan chose to do. The Abraham Accords are the best representation ofpracticing tolerance and living in peace with our neighbors, and that it is why it is essential,essential that the UN, and we as ambassadors, celebrate this incredible, incredible achievement.A year ago, a region yearning for change, a region tired of war and conflict and with endlessuntapped potential, was presented with an opportunity to change the course of its ...
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September 14, 2021 at 11:10 am
Israel's ambassador to UN applauds role the US has played in promoting the historic pact
Israel’s Ambassador to the United Nations Gilad Erdan on Monday offered bipartisan praise to the Trump and Biden administrations for helping to "nurture" the Abraham Accords.
The lesson is "don't try to force anything on Israel," Erdan told i24NEWS senior US correspondent Mike Wagenheim at a UN event in New York City marking the one year anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the Jewish state and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
Morocco and Sudan later joined the accord.
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September 14, 2021 at 11:09 am
Afghanistan is currently battling a large-scale cash crisis as institutions cut access to funding
The Taliban are investigating the accounts of former high-ranking Afghan government members to check for ill-gotten gains, officials said Tuesday.
The investigation may lead to the freezing of assets and accounts of former civil servants, an official at Da Afghanistan Bank told AFP, asking not to be named.
A private bank manager confirmed a team of "Taliban auditors" was deployed to the organization to check the accounts of selected former government officials.
Former president Ashraf Ghani was accused of taking millions with him when he fled to Abu Dhabi as the Taliban entered Kabul. Ghani has denied the claims and says he is ready to prove his innocence.
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September 14, 2021 at 11:04 am
President Herzog to the ambassador of Bahrain: “Brave states take brave steps. The Abraham Accords were the fruit of both vision and power. The growing partnership between our countries is a model for the whole Middle East, and I hope that other states in our region will be inspired by your example.”
“At this point in time, as new, credible reports are coming in of Iran's progress toward nuclear weapons capacity, it is more important than ever to be united in our struggle against extremist forces working to undermine stability and peace in our region.”
Ambassador Khaled Yusuf Al Jalahma of Bahrain: “Peace is the strategic choice of the Kingdom of Bahrain… His Majesty the King believes that dialogue, understanding, and building conf...
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September 14, 2021 at 10:55 am
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett, today (Tuesday, 14 September 2021), eulogized Prisoner of Zion Ida Nudel:
"Prisoner of Zion Ida Nudel, a symbol of the struggle for aliyah from the Soviet Union, has passed away.
While she was short in stature, she had a giant spirit.
The story of Ida's life, which arouses interest and admiration around the world, is the story the immigrants and of the entire Jewish people – the yearning for Zion, love of the country and the struggle to immigrate to the Land of Israel at any cost.
Even after she immigrated, she continued to act in Israel for the education of the children of the new immigrants, to who she was devoted until her last day.
Ida Nudel was an exemplar of Jewish heroism for us all.
May her memory be blessed."
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September 14, 2021 at 9:57 am
Secretary Blinken testifies before the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations - 10:00 AM
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September 14, 2021 at 9:46 am
Baltimore, MD – Sept. 13, 2021 - BJL wishes a hearty Mazel Tov to Sara Leah Klainberg & Dovid Nissel on their engagement.
Mazel Tov Avromi & Riffy Klainberg and Mordechai & Yehudis Nissel and grandparents Arnie Goldfein and Chaya Brocha Goldfein, Rabbi & Mrs. Yitzchak Raskas, Dr. Neil & Mrs. Phyllis Nissel and Rabbi Hershel & Mrs. Ricia Klainberg (Detroit)
יה"ר שיזכו לבנות בית נאמן בישראל. אמן!
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September 14, 2021 at 9:45 am
Our hearts are open. From the amphitheatre in Caesarea to the Western Wall, selichot events, singing of niggunim (Chasidic melodies), and other preparations for Yom Kippur are in full gear. Yedidya and I were privileged last night to speak with the residents of Yakir. The gathering was hosted by Yakir's rabbi, Rav Aharon Cohen.Someone provided me with a metaphor for the flow of people engaged in selichot during the The Days of Repentance. She compared what happens this time of year to our response to the button on our computer screen that asks us to press it if we want to upgrade the computer's capacity. We are asked if we want to do that now, tomorrow, or be reminded of it again in two weeks. We then press the two week option, if only to get rid of the distraction and go about o...
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September 14, 2021 at 9:37 am
Baltimore, MD - Sept. 13, 2021 - Important Announcement Regarding Rabbi Yissocher Frand's Annual Teshuva Drasha for Tonight, Tuesday Night, Sept 14.
For a larger, printable copy click on the graphic below
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September 14, 2021 at 9:28 am
Baltimore, MD - Sept. 14, 2021 - 9:25 AM - Traffic on Park Heights at Seven Mile Lane is currently slowed to one lane of traffic due to Fire Department activity in the area.
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September 13, 2021 at 11:04 pm
Agudath Israel of America has joined an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief asking the United States Supreme Court to hear the case of Seattle’s Union Gospel Mission v. Matthew Woods. The case involves whether a religious organization should be free from judicial interference with its ability to make employment decisions that are in conformance with its religious tenets. The brief, submitted by a broad coalition of religious organizations, argues that that the First Amendment broadly protects religious employment decisions by religious organizations, and that a religious organization should be free from judicial interference with its ability to make employment decisions that are in conformance with its religious tenets.
This brief is in response to a previous ...
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September 13, 2021 at 8:02 pm
Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Monday insisted that the Biden administration had prepared for worst-case scenarios in Afghanistan as irate lawmakers accused the White House of presiding over a historic disaster.
The famously even-tempered diplomat is facing two days of grilling by congressional committees, the first opportunity by lawmakers to directly challenge President Joe Biden’s administration over his end to the 20-year war that brought a swift victory to the Taliban.
Blinken told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that the Biden administration was “intensely focused” on the safety of Americans and had been “constantly assessing” the staying power of the Western-backed government.
“Even the most pessimistic assessments did not predic...
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September 13, 2021 at 4:22 pm
Baltimore, MD - Sept. 3, 2021 - The world stands on three pillars: Torah, Avodah, and Gemilus Chasadim. Previously, the world stood in merit of the Beis Hamikdash. The Beis Hamikdash was the source of knowledge, it was where Avodah happened, and it was the place from which all blessing was graciously given to the entire world.
In our times, the world stands on individual Mikdashei Mi’at, our Shuls and Batei Midrash. Shuls are a place where we strive to better ourselves in davening, it is where we have our chavrusas and sedarim, and it is where we can socialize and help others, whether it is helping someone out with parnassah, finding someone a shidduch, or even just being nice and saying hello.
For a shul to excel in these three areas equally is rare. To do so, the Rav must be a ...
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September 13, 2021 at 4:05 pm
Victoria, Australia has imposed severe restrictions in their fight against COVID. These rules include shuttering houses of worship and prohibiting communal prayer.
Agudath Israel of America joins rabbinical bodies and Jewish organizations around the world, including Agudas Harabonim of America and the Chief Rabbis of Israel and Russia, appealing to government leaders and health officials in Australia.
Orthodox Judaism attributes high value to communal prayer. Adult Jews pray three times each day with a minyan, a quorum of ten men without which certain prayers may not be recited according to Jewish law. In addition, the Jewish holidays of Yom Kippur, this week, and succos, beginning next week, are among the most important days for communal prayer in the Jewish calendar.
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September 13, 2021 at 3:55 pm
The family of an Alabama man who died after struggling to find an available hospital bed due to full cardiac ICUs within 200 miles is urging skeptical Americans to get vaccinated for COVID-19.
Ray Martin DeMonia, 73, died from complications after a heart attack just three days before his 74th birthday, his family said, after 43 full hospitals forced him to seek care far from home.
“In honor of Ray, please get vaccinated if you have not, in an effort to free up resources for non-COVID-related emergencies,” the obituary read, Fox-8 reported.
Alabama Hospital Association Deputy Director Danne Howard says the situation in the state from the COVID-19 surge is at its peak since the start of the pandemic.
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September 13, 2021 at 3:52 pm
The heads of the community of followers of Rabbi Shaul Alter have signed a contract for a large property on Yirmiyahu street in Jerusalem, just a few hundred meters from the Gur central institutions located further down the same street. The property, which includes the current location of the Chayei Moshe yeshiva ketana as well as a number of apartments and garages, measures 1.5 dunam and cost 40 million NIS ($12.5m) but includes an option to purchase another adjacent property in the future. The community intends to build an 8-storey building which will contain the Beis Midrash and other institutions of the community.
Rabbi Shaul Alter, the former rosh yeshiva of the Sfas Emes yeshiva, left the mainstream Gur chasidic community and formed his own community two years ago, which now...
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September 13, 2021 at 3:48 pm
MK Meir Porush of the UTJ party was attacked outside his home Monday morning by an unknown assailant who tried to cut his beard with scissors. The attack occurred when Porush left his house in the Shikkun Rabbanim neighborhood of Jerusalem.
The suspect, who wore Chareidi clothes, escaped on a scooter. Police initiated a large manhunt for the assailant whose motives are as yet unknown. Sources close to Porush said that the assailant first asked his identity and then attacked him.
Police say that there were “apparently two suspects who attacked Porush and escaped. He did not require medical treatment. Police are conducting searches for the suspects and have opened an investigation.”
MK Yaakov Litzman (UTJ) expressed his dismay at the attack. “I am shocked by the violent ...
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September 13, 2021 at 3:47 pm
David, 23, admits that he felt a twinge of relief when the first wave of Covid-19 shut down his Arlington, Virginia, office. A recent college graduate, he was new to the job and struggled to click with his teammates. Maybe, he thought, this would be a nice break from “the face-to-face stuff”: the office politics and small talk. (His name has been changed for this story.)
“I couldn’t have been more wrong,” David says.
That’s because, within their first week of remote work, David and his team were introduced to a digital surveillance platform called Sneek.
Every minute or so, the program would capture a live photo of David and his workmates via their company laptop webcams. The ever-changing headshots were splayed across the wall of a digital conference...
