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November 29, 2021 at 9:46 am
Erdogan suggested Turkish ambassadors could be sent back to Israel and Egypt
Turkey will take steps to improve relations with Israel and Egypt similar to those taken with the United Arab Emirates, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in comments published by Turkish media Monday.
"Just as a step was taken between us and the United Arab Emirates, we will take similar steps with the others," Erdogan told Turkish reporters on board his plane returning from a trip to Turkmenistan at the weekend, NTV broadcaster reported.
Regional issues strained Turkey and the UAE, but Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed's visit to Ankara last week thawed relations as the countries sealed multi-billion-dollar investments.
Erdogan suggested Turkish ambassadors could be sent...
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November 29, 2021 at 9:35 am
For the first time ever, remains have been uncovered in Yavne of a building dating from the time of the Sanhedrin
Israel Antiquities Authority excavations being carried out on a massive scale in Yavne have uncovered the first evidence there of a building from the time of the Sanhedrin—the supreme legislative Jewish assembly that went into exile in Yavne after the fall of Jerusalem, some 2,000 years ago. The building contained fragments of chalk stone vessels, clear evidence of a Jewish presence. The excavation also discovered an impressive cemetery dating from the time of the Sanhedrin * The current excavation was prompted by development work on the city’s expansion, initiated by the Israel Land Authority in cooperation with Yavne municipality.
The Israel Antiquitie...
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November 29, 2021 at 9:14 am
Banking executive fills position left vacant since the departure of David Friedman
After nearly a year without a US ambassador in Israel, newly confirmed envoy Thomas Nides arrived to the Jewish state on Monday morning to take up the post left vacant after the departure of David Friedman.
The Biden appointee was confirmed by the Senate on November 3 and will replace senior diplomat Michael Ratney, who has served as charge d'affaires at the US embassy in Jerusalem since June.
Nides posted on Twitter that landing at Ben Gurion Airport to be the ambassador was an unforgettable moment and that he is following the quarantine rules imposed by Israel to prevent the spread of the omicron variant, "eagerly awaiting a negative test result so I can begin to meet many of you soon!"...
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November 29, 2021 at 9:12 am
Rabbi Levi Duchman recited the holiday's blessings at the Israel Pavilion in front of a large crowd
The Chief Rabbi to the United Arab Emirates lit a giant menorah at Dubai's Expo 2020 on Sunday, to mark the first night of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah.
Rabbi Levi Duchman recited the holiday's blessings at the Israel Pavilion in front of a large crowd, accompanied by Hanukkah songs performed by the local Jewish community's children's choir.
Among those in attendance were Israel's Consul General in Dubai Ilan Sztulman and Commissioner-General of Israel's Expo 2020 Pavilion Elazar Cohen.
Last year's Hanukkah candle lighting was the first in the history of the state.
A similar candle lighting was also held at the Bahr...
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November 29, 2021 at 7:59 am
Israel’s new restrictions in light of the Omicrom Variant have gone into effect today.
As previously reported by Chaim V’Chessed, foreign tourists are now, once again, banned from entering the State of Israel. These rules will remain in effect for at least 14 days. As Chaim V’Chessed clarified yesterday, student visa holders who are fully vaccinated or recovered will continue to be granted entry into the country. Additionally, their children under age 12 continue to have the option to apply for an entry permit, despite not being vaccinated or recovered; see here.
It should be noted that visa holders will receive a rejection notice when completing the pre-flight Health Declaration. This is normal, as the Health Ministry is not awar...
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November 28, 2021 at 11:30 pm
Nitzan Horowitz defends government's decision to allow Shin Bet to use GPS tracking on omicron carriers
Israel's Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz said on Sunday that the omicron variant of Covid-19 was "under control" in the country.
“We assumed that a new variant was going to emerge. Through our defensive and coercive measures, we located this variant quickly. We were among the first to find and isolate it. Everything is under control. There is no need to fear or panic," Horowitz said at a press conference.
The minister also defended the emergency decree signed by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett authorizing the Shin Bet security services to track those infected with the omicron variant, while expressing doubts.
"I have a big problem with the use of tracking. I pre...
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November 28, 2021 at 11:27 pm
Israel's officials expressed concern over the upcoming Iran nuclear negotiations
Brigadier General Abolfazl Shekarchi, a top-level spokesperson for Iran’s armed forces, called for the destruction of Israel on Saturday during an interview with a state-run media outlet.
“We will not back off from the annihilation of Israel, even one millimeter,” Shekarchi told the Iranian Students News Agency (ISNA).
“We want to destroy Zionism in the world,” he added.
Shekarchi also denounced the diplomatic ties established with Israel by Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates, dubbing the moves “intolerable,” according to The Jerusalem Post.
Bahrain and the UAE agreed to normalized relations with Israel back in 2020 under the Abraham Accord...
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November 28, 2021 at 10:25 pm
Rav Elya Ber Wachtfogel, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Gedolah Zichron Moshe of South Fallsburg, addressed the issue of shidduchim on Thursday at the Agudas Yisroel Convention, stating that that young men should be encouraged to enter shidduchim earlier.
The words of the rosh yeshiva were related during a panel discussion on the shidduch crisis. The rosh yeshiva said: “This could be the biggest tragedy facing Klal Yisroel today.”
The panel also featured Lakewood shadchan R’ Shlomo Lewenstein, and Dr. Yossi Shafier.
Rabbi Lewenstein said that he knows families who have good daughters who wait for months just to get a date. He added that many 21-year-old girls who are not picky have never...
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November 28, 2021 at 10:23 pm
Ilana Smith flew to Israel last weekend with the aim of comforting her friend, Devorah Kay, after her son Eli’s death. “Our families have been close friends for years,” she said.
She purposely delayed her trip until the end of the shivah, following the death of Eliyohu Dovid Kay, who was murdered by a Palestinian gunman in Yerushalayim Old City last week.
There were five South African citizens, two of whom came to comfort the family of Eli Kay. According to the passengers, when they left for Israel on Thursday, the restrictions imposed by the Corona Cabinet on flights from Africa had not yet come into force, and after a stopover in Dubai on Friday afternoon, they landed at Ben Gurion Airport. Upon landing in Israel, the passengers were taken for a conversation in a...
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November 28, 2021 at 10:18 pm
Two cases of the quickly-spreading Omicron variant of the coronavirus have been reported in Canada. Both cases were reported in the province of Ontario with individuals who had recently traveled to Africa.
“Today, the province of Ontario has confirmed two cases of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 in Ottawa, both of which were reported in individuals with recent travel from Nigeria. Ottawa Public Health is conducting case and contact management and the patients are in isolation,” a statement from officials said.
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November 28, 2021 at 10:18 pm
Israel was behind a cyberattack on Iran’s fuel distribution system in late October that paralyzed the Islamic Republic’s 4,300 gas stations, according to the New York Times.
The report, published over the weekend, quoted two U.S. defense officials speaking on condition of anonymity.
The attack came on the heels of previous cyberattacks in recent months, which shut down vital services and infrastructure in Iran—from disruptions to traffic lights and train services to water and electric supplies.
No one assumed responsibility for disabling the gas stations or for the previous attacks in Iran. In Tehran, too, officials were careful not to point a finger at the “usual suspects,” although Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi said that a country with cyber-capabilitie...
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November 28, 2021 at 9:52 pm
The head of Israel’s Islamist Ra’am Party on Saturday downplayed the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear program, saying that while the threat was real, it was not existential.
“I don’t see the Iranian nuclear issue as an existential threat to Israel. There is certainly a threat, but we’ll leave that to the professionals,” said Mansour Abbas, speaking at a cultural event in Beersheva.
The Ra’am leader also said at the event that he was not ruling out political collaboration with the Likud Party in the future, but declined to reveal what Likud head and then-Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had offered him in the last election.
“My political partners are also pushing me to release things,” he said.
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November 28, 2021 at 9:52 pm
As a self-described straight shooter, WBAL afternoon/early evening anchor and Baltimore-area native Robert Lang has been a part of the station for more than 17 years, with more than 35 years in the industry.
“I thought about my own family in a synagogue on Shabbat,” Lang said regarding the Tree of Life synagogue killings. “My parents might typically be in a synagogue at Shabbat. My brother, his family, my nieces and nephews. I thought this could have been us. It’s very hard to cover a story like that, but you try to separate your own emotions from your professional responsibility.”
Throughout the years, Lang has covered COVID-19, the death and trials around Freddie Gray, the Maryland general assembly, the approval of gay marriage, va...
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November 28, 2021 at 6:07 pm
The tablecloths may be folded and the dishes washed but the impact of the 99th Agudah Convention this weekend will certainly last until next year and beyond. As they do every year, many members of the Moetzes Gedolei HaTorah joined the assemblage, along with Rabbanim and Roshei Yeshiva, to inspire and guide. A diverse array of rabbonim and community and lay leaders gathered to exchange ideas and compare notes on serving the needs of Klal Yisroel.
Thousands of people attended the sessions – which were open to the public – from Thursday evening through Sunday afternoon, and were treated to words of chizuk, inspiration, and hadrachah. Those attendees in the Parsippany Hilton were joined by over 150,000 additional people who joined by phone and livestream.
The A...
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November 28, 2021 at 2:28 pm
Jerusalem, Israel - Nov. 28, 2021 - In the second of a series of closer looks at artists originally mentioned in the original BJL column for the 5th Jerusalem Biennale of Contemporary Jewish Art, presenting: Yehudis Barmatz-Harris.
Barmatz-Harris describes herself as a "new media installation artist, using dimensionality to explore the human experience through personal narratives...using materials that hold no unique value but are basic materials in our environments. I study their characteristics, to tweak out their meaning."
Throughout the years, she has loved doing site-specific pieces, especially in old buildings in Jerusalem - a perfect fit for the current Biennale site in the old Shaare Zedek Hospital. A room on the first floor to the left of the syn...
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November 28, 2021 at 2:23 pm
Over these eight nights, Jews in the United States, Israel, and around the globe will proudly celebrate Hanukkah, the Jewish Festival of Lights. They will light the menorah, spin the dreidel, eat latkes, and tell of how the Maccabees, guided by an abiding belief in their Creator and an inextinguishable commitment to their faith, prevailed against all odds.
At its core, Hanukkah recounts a story at the heart of the human spirit – one that is inherently Jewish and undeniably American. It commemorates how even the most fragile flame can sustain a tradition and nourish the soul of a people. It teaches us that even a little bit of light, wherever it is found, can dispel the darkness and illuminate a path forward. And it reminds us that whether it is the Holy Temple in Jeru...
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November 28, 2021 at 2:14 pm
Leading U.S. health officials on Sunday cautioned Americans against jumping to conclusions about the omicron variant of the coronavirus as numerous countries outside South Africa, where it was first detected, report cases of the strain.
Experts stressed that data on the omicron variant is extremely limited and that data on whether it can evade vaccine immunity should be available in the next few weeks, providing a clearer picture of how countries should be addressing omicron.
Omicron was first detected in South Africa, and cases soon cropped up in neighboring African countries such as Namibia, Zimbabwe and Botswana. Countries outside the African continent have since reported cases, including the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy and Australia.
Although no cases hav...
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November 28, 2021 at 2:08 pm
President Isaac Herzog: "We must remember that we are not the only ones whose roots branch out from this tomb. Today, of all days; here, of all places, in this site sacred to all Children of Abraham—we must continue to dream about peace between all religions and faiths in his land, and to denounce all forms of hatred and violence."
Today, President Isaac Herzog toured the Cave of the Patriarchs and lit the first Chanukah candle there. Hebron Jewish community head Rabbi Hillel Horowitz, Kiryat Arba local council leader Eliyahu Liebman, rabbis, IDF and Israel Police commanders, local residents, and yeshiva and ulpana students also participated in the candle lighting.
President Isaac Herzog's full remarks:
"I am glad to light the first Chanukah candle with you here, in this holy...
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November 28, 2021 at 2:05 pm
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett lit the first Chanukah candle at the Kotel in Jerusalem, this evening (Sunday, 28 November 2021), with Western Wall Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz and Western Wall Heritage Foundation Mordechai (Soli) Eliav in attendance.
Before the lighting, Prime Minister Bennett toured The Great Bridge Route, which has just been opened to the public, and which in the time of the Second Temple led pilgrims to inside the Temple. During the tour, the Prime Minister visited the rooms and halls from that period and observed the ancient finds that served the people of that time.
