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December 1, 2021 at 8:51 pm
Who am I?
Jean Valjean cries out this question in Les Misérables. For Javert, the authority chasing him, the answer was and always is a number. But for Jean Valjean, it is his name.
Who am I?
In Shmuel I, we read ki’shmo, kein hoo – for as his name is, so is he. Names and being are intrinsically tied together. In fact, the Midrash teaches that there is no prophecy today save for in one small aspect, the naming of children.
When we name our children, we bestow upon them a gift and a future. Names are not simply identifiers. They speak to who we are and, in a deep sense, who we might become
In Hebrew, neshama is the word for “soul”. Interestingly, the middle two letters of “neshama” ar...
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December 1, 2021 at 8:51 pm
The U.S. government on Wednesday teetered one step closer to a potential shutdown, as a number of Republicans seized on a fast-approaching fiscal deadline to mount fresh opposition to President Joe Biden’s vaccine and testing mandates.
The emerging conservative campaign quickly divided GOP lawmakers, enraged congressional Democrats and threatened to unravel days of delicate bipartisan talks on Capitol Hill, just three days before a current federal spending agreement is set to expire.
“We’re opposed to the mandate,” said Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis. “We don’t want the federal government to be able to fund them in any way shape or form.”
Under Biden’s directive, issued earlier this year, private businesses that employ more than 100 workers must ...
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December 1, 2021 at 8:48 pm
Jerusalem, Israel - Dec. 1, 2021 - The third in the series of closer looks at artists originally mentioned in the BJL column for the 5th Jerusalem Biennale of Contemporary Jewish Art, highlights Sam Griffin.
Sam Griffin was born in 1979 and raised in South London, United Kingdom. After spending a year studying Fine Art at the Cyprus College of Art in Larnaca, he enrolled at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem, Israel. He has been described as both a British Postwar & Contemporary artist.
His exhibition “Wise Old Man” is seen at the Beit Alliance (Alliance House) near Machane Yehudah Market, as part of the current Jerusalem Biennale project “Four Cubits.” Griffin explains tha...
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December 1, 2021 at 8:45 pm
Toys R Us is taking another shot at opening up a store in the United States after its comeback plans were thwarted earlier this year due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The toy retailer’s parent company, WHP Global, an Orthodox Jewish-owned company, said Wednesday that it will open a two-level, 20,000-square-foot Toys R Us location at the American Dream megamall in New Jersey in the middle of this month, which will operate on extended hours for the remainder of the holiday season.
In addition to a variety of toy brands and gaming merchandise, WHP said the location will offer experiences for kids, including a two-story slide. It will also have a cafe and ice cream shop. The store will be located nearby the Nickelodeon Universe theme park and DreamWorks water park at the American Dream,...
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December 1, 2021 at 8:37 pm
Baltimore, MD – Dec. 2021 - Every Shabbos table offers every Jewish family an incredible opportunity by which they can share their joy for Shabbos, for Yiddishkeit and for HaShem with their children. Unfortunately, our schedules are hectic and many people don’t have the time to prepare themselves to utilize the Shabbos table to its fullest. Therefore, we at ACHIM created TableTalk as a pre-packaged talking points pamphlet which is attractive, fun and has something for everyone. Limited copies are distributed to many shuls on a weekly basis but they are snatched up very quickly. Get yours ASAP or click on the graphic below and print your own.What’s in it and what’s all the excitement about?TableTalk features:• Weekly halachic dilemma creating l...
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December 1, 2021 at 8:32 pm
Only a credible military threat will stop Iran from continuing its race to a nuclear weapon, Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid said on Tuesday.
Lapid’s remark came during what he called a “long and warm meeting” with French President Emmanuel Macron in Paris, on the last leg of a three-day trip to Europe.
“I reiterated Israel’s position that Iran is trying to buy time in order to move forward with its nuclear program,” Lapid tweeted after the meeting, held as representatives from the European Union, Russia and China resumed nuclear negotiations in Vienna with their Iranian counterparts.
The Israeli foreign minister, who is slated to replace Naftali Bennett as premier in 2023, said that he also impressed upon Macron “the immediate need for the ...
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December 1, 2021 at 8:31 pm
Baltimore, MD – Dec. 1, 2021 - BJL wishes a hearty Mazel Tov to Yechiel Goodwin (Baltimore) and Rochel Singer (Brooklyn, NY) on their engagement.Mazal Tov to parents Rabbi & Mrs. Hershel Goodwin, Rabbi & Mrs. Shimshon Singer and grandparents Mr. & Mrs. David Canotr
יה"ר שיזכו לבנות בית נאמן בישראל. אמן!
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December 1, 2021 at 8:14 pm
According to Israel’s Population Authority, Bnei Brak’s population has hit 218,592, overtaking Beer Sheva to become Israel’s eighth largest city. Its population is expected to reach 230,000 within a few years.
Bnei Brak has been growing at a rate of about 2.9% annually since 2015, when it had 190,000 residents.
As reported on Matzav.com last week, Israel’s Bureau of Statistics announced that 27% of Jews in Israel aged 0-17 (and defined as children) at the end of 2020 were chareidim. The town with the highest concentration of children was Modiin Illit, with 63%, compared to Tel Aviv, where the concentration was only 20.5%.
Israel had 3.049 million children at the end of 2020, comprising 33% of the population. Some 2.207 million of them were Jews (72...
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December 1, 2021 at 7:49 pm
It is estimated that 37 percent of the global population, around 2.9 billion people, has never used the internet, according to data from the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), an agency within the United Nations.
Despite this figure, the ITU has seen a strong growth in internet use across the world. The predicted number of those who have been online has risen to 4.9 billion in 2021, up from 4.1 billion in 2019.
The atypical uptick in internet users is likely attributable to the COVID-19 pandemic and campaigns throughout the pandemic during lockdowns to engage with people by getting them online.
That brought an estimated 782 million more internet users, increasing connectivity by 17 percent from 2019, stated the ITU.
Of the ...
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December 1, 2021 at 7:45 pm
President Joe Biden threw shade on Donald Trump when asked about a report that the former president tested positive for COVID-19 before their first presidential debate. “I don’t think about the former president,” he told a group of reporters Wednesday.
The COVID revelation came from former chief of staff Mark Meadows’ upcoming book, in which he claimed Trump’s first COVID test before the debate came back positive before a second negative one. Trump claimed Wednesday that he was not sick with COVID, though he did not specifically deny that he received an initial positive test.Read more at Twitter.
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December 1, 2021 at 7:41 pm
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald announced the 15-year-old suspect in the Michigan school shooting will be charged with one count of terrorism causing death, four counts of first degree murder, seven counts of assault with intent to murder and 12 counts of possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
The suspect will be charged as an adult, McDonald said.
"There are crimes that the legislature said that are so serious, that a person who commits them can automatically be charged as an adult. First Degree Murder is the most serious of all those crimes. Second, there are facts leading up to the shooting that suggests, this was not just an impulsive act," McDonald said, who noted those facts "are not appropriate for discussion" at this time.
McD...
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December 1, 2021 at 7:00 pm
This weeks Parsha gives us a deep insight into the human condition. As the famine intensified throughout the land, Yaakov sent his sons down to Mitzrayim to purchase grain. The brothers came to Mitzrayim and eventually found themselves in front of Yoseph, their brother whom they had sold into slavery years earlier. The Pasuk tell us that “Yoseph recognized his brothers but they did not recognize him” (42:8). Rashi is apparently troubled by the notion that the brothers would not have recognized Yoseph. Even with so many years having gone by, this was their brother who had been an integral part of their lives. They had grown up together and were intensely jealous of him on account of the K’tones Passim. He was the one whose dreams alienat...
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December 1, 2021 at 4:36 pm
Baltimore, MD - Dec. 1, 2021 - 4:34PM - An accident at the corner of Slade & Reisterstown Road has traffic clogged in the area.
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December 1, 2021 at 2:33 pm
Tel Aviv is the world’s most expensive city, The Economist reported on Wednesday.
A strong shekel and price increases for goods and services have moved Israel’s “White City” to the top spot this year—up four from 2020—replacing Paris, according to the Worldwide Cost of Living Survey from the newspaper’s sister company, the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU).
The annual survey compares the prices of more than 200 products and services in 173 cities globally, The Economist said, explaining that it is used primarily by companies negotiating compensation when relocating staff, but can serve to gauge local and worldwide trends.
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December 1, 2021 at 2:32 pm
The Israeli military has accelerated its readiness plans aimed at preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear threshold state and to stop its entrenchment in the northern arena, Israel Defense Forces’ spokesman Brig. Gen. Ran Kochav told the Israeli Reshet Bet radio network on Tuesday.
“When I say that we are accelerating the plans against Iran, I mean it,” he affirmed during his radio interview.
Asked to comment on the nuclear talks in Vienna, Kochav replied: “I’m not going into political affairs. As we’ve said in the past, we are preparing for all possibilities.”
On Monday, Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz commented on the renewed nuclear talks, saying, “In the past days, Israeli teams have shared intelligence with our friends around the...
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December 1, 2021 at 2:32 pm
Tonight (Wednesday), the fourth night of Hanukkah, the Education Ministry held the International Bible Quiz for Adults at the Hebrew University.
The quiz was held in the presence of the Education Minister Dr. Yifat Shasha Bitton, and the Director General of the Education Ministry, Brigadier General (Res.) Yigal Slovik.
Twelve contestants from Israel and around the world qualified for the final stage of the quiz. They defeated about 350 contestants who took part in all stages of the quiz, and managed to demonstrate admirable mastery of the holy book.
Two winners were declared for the quiz, Liron Ben Moshe from Alfei Menashe, Israel, and Yair Yosef Guggenheim from Karnei Shomron, Israel.
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December 1, 2021 at 2:32 pm
The entire story of Yosef being sold to Egypt was a result of a “critical review…”
Someone once sent me the following email with the following series of shaylos:
Dear Rabbi Kaganoff,
1. Is a person allowed to write balanced reviews of books? This question concerns hashkafah-type works, halachic works, self-help books, as well as novels.
Obviously, there are many halachic ramifications, including lashon hora, etc. I would specifically like to know if one is allowed to review unfavorably a work that the reviewer finds seriously lacking.
2. May one write reviews of other products, such as wine or restaurants?
3. If a person asks my opinion of a book, a wine, or a restaurant, may I answer truthfully, even if my personal negative opinion may result in the person choosin...
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December 1, 2021 at 2:31 pm
Baltimore, MD - Dec. 1, 2021:
Dear Community Members,
Baltimore County Police Officers will be working the Chanukah Parade on Wednesday, December 1st from approximately 6pm until 7pm. Please be patient as we expect periodic road closures and traffic delays during the event. See below for the parade route for effected areas.
Any questions or concerns please contact the Pikesville Traffic Team at 410-887-6785.Parade will conclude at Quarry Lake, 2800 Quarry Lake Dr. With Menorah lighting and light show.The route:1. Assemble at 5713 Park Heights Ave., along Manhattan Ave. and Clover Rd. and into back parking lot2. Right onto Park Heights Avenue 3. Right onto Fallstaff Road 4. Left on Clarks Ln.5. Left on Sm...
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December 1, 2021 at 2:25 pm
'During the meeting, the commanders discussed regional operational cooperation' Israel's military said
Top Israeli military generals visited the United States Central Command headquarters in Florida as Iran nuclear talks continue in Vienna.
Those visiting are the head of military operations, Major General Oded Basyuk and the head of the Iran-focused Strategy and Third-Ring Directorate Major General Tal Kelman, along with Israel's defense attaché in the US, Major General Hidai Zilberman, and the head of the military's international relations division, Brigadier General Effie Defrin.
"During the meeting, the commanders discussed regional operational cooperation, discussed the common challenges of the two armies and deepened their operational r...
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December 1, 2021 at 2:17 pm
Israel Police arrested on Monday an Israeli-Arab man from eastern Jerusalem who held his wedding celebrations in the middle of the Begin Highway in Jerusalem and blocked the road to traffic.
The incident occurred three months ago but only garnered attention this week after footage of the celebrations obtained by Im Tirtzu's Arab Desk was published on social media by the organization.
In response to the social media uproar, the police arrested the groom and stated: "Following online publications of a video that shows cars wildly blocking a Jerusalem road while severely disrupting traffic, we wish to clarify that the incident occurred some three months ago, and as a result tickets were given to nine drivers who were present and blocked traffic. In addition to traffic enforcement, th...
