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December 5, 2021 at 10:33 pm
NYC Mayor de Blasio has weighed in on a report first appearing on Matzav.com about an elderly Brooklyn couple was kicked off an American Airlines flight for refusing to drop a bag holding tallis and tefillin on the floor. Roberto and Elana Birman were returning home from Miami in August aboard Flight 322, when the incident occurred.
On Twitter, De Blasio remarked, “This an outrageous insult. Just tremendous disrespect to our entire Jewish community. @AmericanAir, you owe the Birmans a real apology and you need to change this policy. Now.”
Roberto, 76, and Elana, 71, boarded the plane with only a briefcase, a handbag, and his tallis bag — a small, 8.5-inch-by-8.5-inch clear plastic carrier. They sat across from one another in a...
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December 5, 2021 at 10:13 pm
Twin brothers Leo and Rudolph Blitz were 16 when they applied to join the Navy. They were so young that their father had to go to the recruiting office in Omaha and give his permission. Rudolph wanted a Navy career. Leo wanted to learn a trade.
It was 1938. Times were hard and the boys lived with their family in a two-bedroom house in a neighborhood of Russian immigrants in Lincoln, Neb. They enlisted that May. Three years later, on Dec. 7, 1941, they were killed when their ship, the USS Oklahoma, was sunk during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
For 78 years, they rested among hundreds of the ship’s fallen who were recovered but never identified, buried as unknowns in a cemetery in Hawaii. Then, in 2019, a remarkable Pentagon forensics project identified them as part of an effo...
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December 5, 2021 at 10:11 pm
MK Meir Porush (United Torah Judaism) on Sunday downplayed the reports on efforts that are allegedly being made to add the haredi parties to the government, and claimed that this was not possible.
"That has never happened. I do not know where this is coming from, it is impossible at all to think of entering such a government," he said in an interview with the haredi Radio Kol Chai.
Porush commented on the issue of the planned reforms in conversions, after a bill on the issue by MK Yulia Malinovsky (Yisrael Beytenu) was approved by the Ministerial Committee on Legislation.
"The conversion industry has become 'everyone can come and do it.' Two weeks ago the proposal was that any mayor could convert. Now the proposal is that yeshiva heads will also be able to convert. We are...
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December 5, 2021 at 10:09 pm
For the first time in two months, the U.S. is averaging more than 100,000 new COVID-19 cases each day, shortly after millions of Americans traveled for the Thanksgiving holiday.
The seven-day moving average of new cases was 121,437 as of Saturday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University (JHU). Prior to this week, the U.S. last topped the 100,000-cases-a-day mark in early October.
Also on the rise is the number of COVID-19 deaths, with a seven-day average of 1,651 people dying from the virus each day as of Saturday, the JHU data showed. Average daily deaths haven't been this high in more than a month.
The vast majority of new cases in the U.S. continue to be from the delta variant, but U.S. health officials have detected the new omicron coronavirus variant in at least 16 sta...
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December 5, 2021 at 10:08 pm
The Maryland Health Department website was taken offline Sunday due to a "network security incident."
As of Sunday evening, the department's website redirected to the state's main website.
Andy Owen, a spokesman for MDH, sent a statement to 11 News, saying: "The Maryland Security Operations Center is investigating a network security incident involving the Maryland Department of Health. The Maryland Department of Information Technology, the Maryland Department of Health and the Maryland Department of Emergency Management are working closely with federal and state law enforcement partners to address the incident and to gather additional information. Certain systems have been taken offline out of an abundance of caution and other precautions have and will be taken.
"The investiga...
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December 5, 2021 at 9:59 pm
Jerusalem, Israel - Dec. 5, 2021 - Sunday afternoon, as it began to lightly rain, the red carpet had to be rolled up after Israeli President Isaac Herzog received the credentials of the new Ambassador of the United States, Thomas R. Nides, at an official ceremony at Beit Hanasi in Jerusalem, Israel.
President Herzog and Ambassador Nides delivered statements to the press, held a working meeting, and wore black yarmulkes to light the candles for the eighth night on the Chanukah menorah in the main diplomatic hall. The President surprised Ambassador Nides by inviting to the ceremony the principal from his old Hebrew school in Duluth, Minnesota, Elizabeth Aloni who mentioned that former US Ambassador Dan Shapiro was also from Duluth.
Nides opened his remarks by the ret...
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December 5, 2021 at 9:57 pm
Six months after the formation of the new Bennett-Lapid government, a new poll shows a plurality of Israelis prefer former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the helm.
On Sunday night, Channel 12 published a new poll conducted by the Midgam polling agency which found that 43% of Israelis would rather have a government headed by Netanyahu than the current ‘change’ coalition, compared to 36% who favor the current government led by Naftali Bennett and Yair Lapid.
Nearly half (45%) of respondents preferred Netanyahu as premier over Bennett, with just 25% favoring Bennett.
In a head-to-head matchup against Lapid, Netanyahu led by an even wider margin, with 48% of respondents compared to 24% who prefer Lapid.
Forty-four percent of respondents said they hope Lapid, who...
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December 5, 2021 at 12:40 pm
Baltimore, MD – Dec. 5, 2021 - BJL wishes a hearty Mazel Tov to Chani Sadwin (Baltimore) & and Binyomin Vilner (LA) on their engagement.
Mazel Tov parents Rabbi & Mrs. Ariel Sadwin and Rabbi & Mrs. Menachem Vilner and grandparents Mr. & Mrs. Manny Sadwin and Rabbi & Mrs. Ben Zion Malin
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December 5, 2021 at 12:27 pm
America’s new ambassador to Israel vowed the Biden administration will ensure Iran does not achieve nuclear weapons capabilities, and reiterated the administration’s support for Israel’s Iron Dome missile defense system.
Speaking at his first address in Israel as ambassador Sunday at an event hosted by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Thomas Nides vowed that the US would continue to back the Iron Dome system, despite pressure by some within the Democratic party to cut defense aid to Israel.
“My agenda as Ambassador will be first and foremost to reinforce our unshakeable and enduring commitment to Israel’s defense,” Nides said at a ceremony in Jerusalem marking his reception as ambassador.
“And I want to take a moment to reiterate, as President Bi...
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December 5, 2021 at 12:22 pm
Former Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kansas) died early Sunday at the age of 98, the Elizabeth Dole Foundation said in a statement.
“Senator Robert Joseph Dole died early this morning in his sleep. At his death, at age 98, he had served the United States of America faithfully for 79 years,” foundation said.
The former presidential candidate said earlier this year that he had been diag...
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December 5, 2021 at 10:59 am
On the penultimate day of Chanukah, police detectives discovered a number of valuable archaeological items, among them a coin from the Hasmonean era, in the possession of an Arab from eastern Jerusalem. The Hasmonean-era coin is marked with the image of a menorah, the ritual candelabra that was used in the Holy Temple.
Police detectives from the Jerusalem district were searching the home of the Jerusalem Arab, a man in his thirties, when they found dozens of ancient coins of great value. The suspect has been detained for questioning and the coins have been transferred to the Jerusalem police department, prior to being examined by the Antiquities Authority.
Among the coins is one that appears to date back to the times of the High Priest Mattityahu Antigonos, who lived in the first ce...
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December 5, 2021 at 10:13 am
New U.S. coronavirus testing rules aimed at slowing the spread of the omicron variant will begin Monday, when all international travelers must show proof of a negative test taken within a day of their flight to the United States.
The new requirement announced this week is part of a strategy that includes the extension of a mandate that people on commercial aircraft and in other transportation settings wear masks, as well as the expansion of a program offering voluntary testing for new arrivals at key U.S. airports.
Airline and travel industry officials said Friday they were generally supportive of the temporary measures, seen as a way to ensure passenger health and confidence in flying. The new rules call on airlines to build upon a foundation for testing created earlier in the pandemic....
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December 5, 2021 at 10:10 am
Israel’s Shin Bet has put Religious Services Minister Matan Kahana under guard after discovering a group saying that he has a ‘din rodef‘ – a ruling sanctioning his murder. Haaretz reports.
Sources have tied the threats to Kahana’s efforts to undermine halacha and Yiddishkeit in areas such as kashrus and geirus, conversion.
The Shin Bet ordered the boosted security following the discovery that an extremist group had called for applying the din rodef permitting the killing of a person whose actions threaten another’s life.
The din rodef is based on the idea that “the saving of the life of a person pursued by an attacker is so important that even the killing of the pursuer is allowed to save the person from the pursuer, if no o...
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December 5, 2021 at 10:02 am
Baltimore, MD – Dec. 3, 2021 - It is with regret that BaltimoreJewishLife.com informs the community of the petira of Edward Bernard, z’l, father of Rick Bernard.
Shiva in Baltimore begins with Mincha on Monday at 4:30PM at 2804 Cheswolde Road, Baltimore, MD 21209
Minyanim:Mincha: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday - 4:30 pm Shacharis: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday - 7:00 am
The family requests no visitors between 12:00-1:00, 6:00-7:00 or after 9:00. The family also requests that all visitors wear a mask.
Bila HaMaves LaNetzach…
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December 5, 2021 at 9:56 am
Booster shot would initially target immunocompromised individuals
Israeli health officials this week are expected discuss authorizing a fourth Covid-19 booster shot for immunocompromised individuals as the omicron variant circulates globally, Channel 12 news reports.
The Health Ministry's vaccination advisory committee and the team in charge of epidemics will not be considering the fourth dose for the general population, but only for the vulnerable group that has not developed antibodies.
However, the third dose was originally targeted to the immunocompromised in July and then was authorized for the general population.
Over 4 million Israelis have received all three vaccine doses, according to Health Ministry data.
The experts will also talk about vacc...
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December 5, 2021 at 9:54 am
Hundreds of worshipers protested as the Women of The Wall held prayer services Sunday which included protest shirts in violation of decisions by the court and attorney general which prohibit protests at the Western Wall.
The Western Wall Heritage Foundation said that the women had persistently acted in violation of these decisions. The foundation and the police called on the sides to prevent violence and desecration of the holy site and separated between the rival groups.
A Sefer Torah was also brought to the women’s section in violation of the rules. A senior official from the chareidi parties said that MK Gilad Kariv, a reform rabbi, had made a deal with police that he would not come and arouse provocations if the Women of the Wall would be allowed to bring a Sefer Torah.
Kariv ...
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December 5, 2021 at 9:53 am
President Biden announced a plan with much fanfare on Thursday for free at-home COVID-19 tests as part of his effort to tame the pandemic this winter.
But the catch is that people will still have to pay the cost up front for the tests, which can be over $20 for a pack of two at the local CVS, and then submit receipts to their health insurer to get reimbursed.
That process has raised concerns among experts that the upfront cost and added hassle of reimbursement will still cause barriers to testing, a contrast to European countries where tests are free or just a couple of dollars up front.
Larry Levitt, a health policy expert at the Kaiser Family Foundation, said Biden’s announcement would “certainly make at home testing more accessible,” but added that &ldqu...
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December 5, 2021 at 9:47 am
In the wake of last week’s decision by the Jerusalem Regional Committee to promote the establishment of a new chareidi neighborhood on the site of the former Atarot airport, Israeli transport minister Merav Michaeli is attempting to promote a different idea. Michaeli suggests renovating the airport and using it as an entrance point both to Jerusalem and the PA – the only place which could be used jointly both by Jews and Palestinians.
It is unclear whether Michaeli is touting the move due to strong US criticism of the establishment of a new neighborhood there and in order to maintain Israeli control of the disused airport or whether she simply wishes to block the establishment of another Jewish neighborhood adjacent to Ramallah.
Michaeli recently established a committee to lo...
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December 5, 2021 at 9:36 am
A blast was reported Saturday in the vicinity of the nuclear site in Natanz, Iran, according to preliminary reports by student union media outlets.
After the initial reports surfaced , the authorities in the Islamic republic announced that the explosions were part of a test of air defenses’ response to a potential attack.
The explosion was heard in the skies over the Iranian city of Badroud, just 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the nuclear plant, according to a report by the official IRNA news agency
“Badroud residents heard the noise and saw a light which showed an object had just blown up in the skies over the city,” a witness told IRNA.
There were also unconfirmed reports of villages being evacuated in the region of the nuclear site. Some social media sites claimed t...
