It was a big "win" for the Afghan women’s youth development soccer team. The girls, many in their teens, plus coaches and family, 130 in all, arrived recently at a London-area airport. The girls are happy and grateful after their lives had been threatened by Afghanistan's new, harsh Taliban rulers, who oppose many freedoms and rights for women -- especially in sports. Former Afghan women’s soccer captain Khalida Popal was a key "player" in getting the girls and others out.      "Some of their family members were killed or taken by the Taliban," Popal said. "So the danger and distress was very high, and that’s why it was very important to move very fast to get them outside Afghanistan."  But with the departure of U.S. troops, gett...
Pirkei D’rebbi Eliezer (16:16) states that חתן דומה למלך" “- a bridegroom is compared to a king. By association, we can say that a bride is compared to a queen. The explanation is that as the groom and bride wear expensive clothing, are escorted and celebrated upon, they in fact resemble “royalty”. While all of that makes sense there must be something deeper than the externals of the new couple. The statement of Pirkei D’rebbi Eliezer should have meaning that applies beyond the superficial. I believe that the deeper lesson comes from the dreams in Parshat Mikeitz. Paroh’s dreams include 7 healthy and 7 scrawny cows ,7 healthy stalks followed by 7 withered ones. These dreams greatly disturb not only his sleep but his peace of mind. Paroh t...
Baltimore, MD -  Nov. 30, 2021 - Sunday evening, the first light of Chanukah, was celebrated at Baltimore’s Downtown Esther Anne Menorah by Mayor Brandon Scott, public officials and a cadre of Chabad Shluchim led by senior Maryland region Shliach Rabbi Shmuel Kaplan. Due to Covid concerns there was only limited participation by the public. In his remarks Mayor Scott emphasized the importance of the Menorah standing at one of the most prominent locations in the downtown district. The city is the center of the entire region and the Menorah belongs here. Rabbi Kaplan highlighted the important message of the lights of Chanukah bringing light which represents bringing intelligence and experience that comes with age to guide the energy and actions of youth.  Rabbi Yaakov Kapla...
Baltimore, MD - Nov. 30, 2021 - Ushering in the special days of Chanukah, Yeshiva Gedolah Ohr Hatorah celebrated with an uplifting mesiba on Sunday night, the first night of Chanukah. Held in the Yeshiva’s Bais Medrash at 3506 Bancroft Road, the atmosphere and setting were just right for an evening of aliyah and simcha. Led by the Roshei Yeshiva, Rabbi Dovid Hoffman and Rabbi Moshe Aharon Rosenbaum, the ruach and spirit of achdus of the Hanhala, Bochurim and Kollel yungerleit shone through as dancing began even before sitting down. After a few minutes everyone found their seats to enjoy the sushi, donuts and other Chanukah delectables. Third year Bais Medrash Bochur Avrami Saltzman of Milwaukee addressed the asifa. He noted the chizuk that we can take from the Chashmona’im an...
A woman in her 60s is in critical condition in Carmel hospital after choking on a sufganiya (jelly donut) on HaHursha Street in Haifa. United Hatzalah volunteer EMTs responded to the incident, the second of its kind in two days, and performed CPR on the woman in an attempt to save her life. Volunteer EMT with United Hatzalah Itamar Galili who was one of the first responders at the scene relayed: "When I arrived at the scene I was told that the woman had choked while eating a sufganiya and that she was eating it while she was riding in a minibus. I treated her at the scene, including performing CPR on her in an attempt to save her life. She was later taken by ambulance while still undergoing CPR, to the Carmel Medical Center. This is the second incident of choking due to eating sufganiyot, ...
More Than A Dozen Hanukkah Celebrations Planned Over the Holiday DUBAI – Thousands are expected to attend Hanukkah events held in the United Arab Emirates, between Sunday, November 28 – December 5. Participants hail from all over the world, including: Bahrain, Canada, Israel, Europe, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, South America, the United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States. Many Emiratis – including government officials – will be participating as well.In this video, Bahrain’s Ambassador Houda Nonoo lights the menorah at the Bahrain pavilion at Expo 2020 in Dubai. Last December, it was estimated that 70,000 Israelis visited the United Arab Emirates, and the Jewish community is looking forward to hosting close to that amount of Jewish an...
 Two Gedolei Yisrael have spoken out against a potential government plan to desecrate the Kosel. Harav Chaim Kanievsky and Harav Gershon Edelstein, shlita, have signed a scathing letter denouncing the plan, and have called upon the government to abandon it and protect the sanctity of the Kosel. Although the letter does not mention names, it is clearly directed at Matan Kahana, Minister of Religious Affairs, who according to reports has endorsed a new layout of the Kosel plaza that would be truly devastating. The headline of the letter is “U’Partzu Chomos Migdolai”, and the text translates as follows: “Regarding the terrible rumor that someone from Klal Yisrael has come to destroy and cut off all Kodshei Yisrael, after they have persevered to demolish the wal...
 An oversized public Hanukkah menorah was toppled in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, formerly Dniepropetrovsk. The act of vandalism was captured on security cameras that showed five people knocking it over, reported Ynet. Dnipro’s Chief Rabbi Shmuel Kaminezki said the incident was not typical in the country’s fourth-largest city, home to as many as 60,000 Jewish residents. “The incident is being examined, and local law enforcement is working to apprehend those responsible,” said Kaminezki, according to the report. “This is not an ordinary case for Dnipro; it just reminds us that we are still in exile. The city has a large concentration of Jews, thus quite Jewish in nature.” “I hope they get caught, that we know who did this,” he added....
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and his wife attended a lighting ceremony for the second Chanukah candle with Nativ course soldiers, this evening (Monday, 29 November 2021). President Isaac Herzog, IDF Chief-of-Staff Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi and his wife, Intelligence Minister Elazar Stern and Jewish Agency Acting Chairman Yaakov Hagoel were also in attendance.
On the backdrop of the talks in Vienna that begin today, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has issued the following message:   "Today, Iran will be arriving at negotiations in Vienna with a clear goal: To end sanctions in exchange for almost nothing. Iran won't just keep its nuclear program; from today, they'll be getting paid for it. Iran doesn’t hide its intentions. Just a couple of days ago, the senior command of Iran’s Armed Forces declared, and I quote, "We will not back off from the annihilation of Israel, not even one millimeter." Just this week, the Iranian regime shot its own people on the streets of Isfahan for having dared to protest the lack of water in their country. Yes, they shot their own citizens just for being thirsty. Such a murderous regime ...
Donald Trump has challenged newspaper editors and politicians to a debate on his unfounded claims of widespread election fraud during the 2020 presidential election. In a typically bullish statement, shared via email on Sunday, former President Trump complained "the fake news media" had demeaned what he called "the real results" of the election. Former President Trump said he would relish the opportunity to debate the claims of election fraud and said it would be "a ratings bonanza." In the statement, Trump added: "I am willing to challenge the heads of the various papers or even far-left politicians, who have perpetuated the Real Big Lie, which is voter irregularities and fraud on a massive and determinative scale "This includes members of the highly partisan Unselect Committee of&nbs...
National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins offered caution about the new omicron variant of the coronavirus in a Sunday interview, saying it will take weeks to understand whether it can evade COVID-19 vaccines, The Hill reports. Appearing on “Fox News Sunday,” Collins explained that omicron has more than 30 mutations on its spike protein, which raises the question of how effective the antibodies created by vaccines are against the variant. “If you’ve raised antibodies against [COVID-19] from previously being infected or from being vaccinated, the question is, will those antibodies still stick to this version of the spike protein, or will they evade that protection? We need to find that out, to be honest, though that’s gonna take tw...
The foreign ministers of the United Kingdom and Israel pledged to work "night and day" to stop Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, just a day before the world powers and Iran met in the UK to discuss a return to the JCPOA nuclear deal, in a joint article for The Daily Telegraph published online on Sunday evening. "We believe that with the right approach, freedom and democracy will prevail over malign forces," wrote Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss in the article titled "Together we can propel both our nations to safety and prosperity." "We will also work night and day to prevent the Iranian regime from ever becoming a nuclear power," added the two. "The clock is ticking, which heightens the need for close cooperation with our pa...
Federal workers who have defied President Joe Biden’s vaccine mandate likely won’t be fired until 2022 at the earliest, with the White House encouraging education and counseling as a first step. Biden’s vaccine requirement for the 3.5 million-strong federal workforce took effect last week. In a letter to agencies on Monday, the Office of Management and Budget “encouraged” managers to stick to education, counseling and, at most, letters of reprimand for unvaccinated employees until Jan. 1, 2022. OMB said that agencies “may need to act on enforcement sooner for a limited number of employees” but that in general, severe consequences should be delayed until at least January, after the U.S. holiday season. “We believe this approach is the best ...
Justice Brett Kavanaugh could be the deciding vote when the Supreme Court takes up a challenge to Roe v. Wade later this year, The Washington Free Beacon reported. The court on Wednesday will hear arguments in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, the most significant abortion case since Roe v. Wade. The 1973 Roe v. Wade decision legalized abortion nationwide. The Dobbs case will force the justices to consider the constitutionality of a Mississippi law that limits abortions after 15 weeks of gestation with exceptions for health emergencies and fetal abnormalities. A Jackson, Mississippi clinic is attacking the law on constitutional grounds, and the state has responded by asking the court to overturn Roe v. Wade altogether. Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, and Neil ...
Baltimore, MD – Nov. 29, 2021 - BJL wishes a hearty Mazel Tov to Leah Friedman (Baltimore) and Naftali Lynn (Philadelphia) on their engagement. Mazel Tov parents Mr. & Mrs. Jules Friedman and Rabbi and Mrs Shmuel Lynn and grandmother Mrs. Judy Pressman יה"ר שיזכו לבנות בית נאמן בישראל. אמן!
Jerusalem, Israel - Nov. 29, 2021 - On Monday evening, כ''ו כסלו the second night of Chanukah, the family of terror victim Eli Kay, z"l, H'yd, participated in the candle lighting ceremony at the Kotel along with dignitaries that included MK Miri Regev,  President of Yeshiva University Rabbi Dr. Ari Berman, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov, and the Rabbi of the Western Wall and Holy Places Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich. The large flames of the Chanukah have been moved on top of the new Western Wall educational building in the back of the plaza. The traditional menorah is still placed near the Kotel with barriers to keep the crowds away from the flames. Rabbi Rabinowich began his remarks after the brachos speaking of Eli Kay, z"l. Live music was heard ove...
A federal judge in Missouri on Monday temporarily blocked the Biden administration’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers in 10 states. U.S. District Judge Matthew Schelp granted a preliminary injunction barring the administration from enforcing the mandate while litigation continues in the case filed by a coalition of 10 state attorneys general. Judge Schelp, a Trump-appointee, ruled that the administration did not have the authority to issue the mandate requiring health care workers employed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to be vaccinated by Jan. 4. “Congress did not clearly authorize CMS to enact this politically and economically vast, federalism-altering, and boundary-pushing mandate, which Supreme Court precedent requires,” Judge Sch...
The United Nations vote to partition Palestine.One more step on the long road to the rebirth of Israel.One more step which led to the miracle of today’s Jewish country of Israel. On 29 November 1947, the United Nations General Assembly voted 33 to 13, with 10 abstentions and 1 absent, in favour of the Palestine Partition Plan. This vote did not just emerge out of nowhere, contrary to popular efforts to delegitimize the history that led up to this momentous occasion. In 1922, the League of Nations approved the British Mandate over Palestine - an ancient land with a name bestowed by the Romans only after the destruction of the Jewish Temple on the Temple Mount, Har HaBayit that had since exchanged hands, rulership, and social demographics. Citing the Balfour...
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