White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Friday that the White House has "no comment" on reports of overnight Israeli strikes in Iran.
Speaking to reporters, Jean-Pierre said, “I know there’s a lot of interest in reports from the Middle East overnight, we understand that. We get that. I’m going to say it now, though I know you all will certainly ask me about it, that we do not have any comment on the reports at this time.”
A senior US official told ABC News on Friday that three missiles were fired from Israeli fighter aircraft outside of Iran in Friday morning’s very limited strike.
The Israelis were targeting an air defense radar site near Isfahan that’s part of the protection of the Natanz nuclear facility, the official ...
Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi on Friday hailed Tehran's unprecedented retaliatory attack on Israel almost a week ago, but did not mention explosions that were heard in his country's central region, AFP reported.
That attack "showed our authority, our people's will of steel and our unity," Raisi told hundreds of people in Semnan province, east of Tehran.
In the speech, he made no reference to the blasts which reported in Isfahan early on Friday and which were reportedly an Israeli retaliation for the Iranian attack.
Israel has not officially acknowledged that it was behind the strikes, but unnamed Israeli sources told global news agencies that the attack was Israeli.
An Israeli official told The Washington Post earlier on Friday that t...
With rare bipartisan momentum, the House pushed ahead Friday on a foreign aid package of $95 billion for Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan and humanitarian support as a coalition of lawmakers helped it clear a procedural hurdle to reach final votes this weekend.
Friday's vote produced a seldom-seen outcome in the typically hyper-partisan House, with Democrats helping Republican Speaker Mike Johnson's plan advance. Final House approval could come this weekend, when the package would be sent to the Senate.
It was a victory for the strategy Speaker Mike Johnson set in motion this week after he agonized for two months over the legislation. Still, Johnson has had to spend the past 24 hours making the rounds on conservative media working to salvage support for the wartime f...
After the passing of the Chasam Sofer in 1839, Rabbi Yehuda Assad was regarded as head of Hungarian Jewry, a position that he held until he passed away in 1853. Known to be a proficient Kabbalist and an extremely humble individual, Rav Assad also authored several volumes of Responsa (שו"ת מהרי"א) as well as a commentary on Pirkei Avos (חידושי מהרי"א).On the website Ascent of Safed, R’ Yerachmiel Tilles records a fascinating story regarding Rav Assad: Once, a delegation of leading Jewish rabbis went to visit the Austro-Hungarian Kaiser, Franz Josef, on an important communal matter. In the waiting room, before their audience, they were discussing among themselves who among them should address the Kaiser first. The waiting room had mirrors on all its walls. The holy r...
An Israeli source on Friday morning said that the aerial attack on Isfahan, Iran, "carefully calibrated," the Washington Post reported.
The source is an individual familiar with an Israeli briefing on the attack but not authorized to speak about it, the Post said.
The source also said that the IDF carried out an aerial attack within Iran in response to the Iranian barrage of missiles and UAVs launched towards Israel on Saturday night. The attack was intended to signal to Iran that Israel is capable of attacking within Iranian territory.
Iran's IRNA news agency quoted Iranian army chief Major General Abdolrahim Mousavi as saying that the explosion heard in Isfahan was due to air defense systems shooting down “a suspicious object” and that no...
Part of the purification process for one stricken with tzara'as — leprosy, is the bringing of two birds. The selection of birds to serve as atonement for this leper having succumbed to the sin of slander, is to remind us that it all starts with theפטפוטי דברים — purposeless 'chatter', like birds who twitter constantly with chirping sounds.
The coincidence of Shabbos HaGadol with the weekly portion that addresses the rectification of derogatory speech, draws us to a mystical teaching of the Holy Arizal regarding the deeper meaning of the name of the holiday of פסח — Pesach.
He writes that this word which is usually associated with its meaning to 'skip over', alluding to how on the night of the Plague of the Firstborn, G-d skipped ov...
As we prepare for the Yom Tov of Pesach, time is of the essence. At every turn we must be mindful of time. The difference between matzah being kosher l’pesach (fit for Passover use) and chametz is dependent on time. Get the matzah baked in under 18 minutes and you are good to go – delay, and it’s chametz. At the seder, you can’t begin before nightfall and need to consume the afikoman before midnight. In fact, this fixation on time starts even earlier, generations earlier. The first mitzvah we were given (while still in Egypt) was Kiddush HaChodesh, sanctification of the new moon, setting and establishing the calendar. Judaism is fixated on time. This preoccupation is for good reason. Life is filled with beautiful and holy opportunities, bu...
Following the conclusion of an aerial strike on Iran, Iran has removed all restrictions on flights at the Imam Khomeini International Airport and Mehrabad International Airport in Tehran, after the flights were suspended due to alleged Israeli attacks in Isfahan.
However, Fly Dubai has cancelled its Friday flights to Tehran.
The strike was carried out in retaliation for Iran's Saturday night launch of 350 drones and missiles towards Israeli territory. A full 99% of the launches were intercepted, only five fell in Israeli territory; only one person, a Bedouin child, was injured.
Parallel to the strikes on Iran, targets in southern Syria were also hit. Later, the Syrian government confirmed that the Israeli missile attack had targeted aerial defense sites in southern S...
An Israeli missile strike targeted a site in Iran early Friday morning, according to ABC News. The report came shortly after local sources reported explosions in Isfahan in central Iran, in the As-Suwayda Governorate of southern Syria, and in the Baghdad area and Babil Governorate of Iraq early Friday morning.
Videos reportedly from Isfahan appeared to show Iranian air defenses activated in the skies over the area.
The Iranian semi-official Fars News Agency reported that an explosion was heard in Qahjavarestan, east of Isfahan and near the Isfahan International Airport. Fars stressed that the cause of the explosion was unknown as of yet.Reports of strikes on sites belonging to Syrian army
Syrian reports on Friday morning indicated airstrikes had also targeted sites belonging to...
More than 100 people were arrested by New York Police Department officers on a preliminary charge of criminal trespass, as police entered Columbia University on Thursday to disperse a pro-Palestinian Arab protest that began a day earlier, CNN reported.
The individuals were detained with no resistance, and the university is named as the complainant since the incident occurred on its property, a law enforcement official told CNN.
The arrests come one day after clashes erupted at competing rallies of pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian Arab groups on Columbia’s campus.
Several people waving Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) flags had verbal confrontations with police officers, who had begun boxing the protesters in with barricades, CNN affiliate WCBS&nb...
The US on Thursday vetoed a Security Council resolution to admit the Palestinian Authority as a full member state of the United Nations.
12 countries voted in favor of the resolution: Slovenia, Sierra Leone, Russia, South Korea, Mozambique, Malta, Japan, Guyana, France, Ecuador, China, and Algeria.
Two countries abstained – Britain and Switzerland.
Foreign Minister Israel Katz said following the vote, “The proposal to recognize a Palestinian state, more than 6 months after the largest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust and after the sexual crimes and other atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists was a reward for terrorism.”
“I commend the United States for vetoing this shameful proposal, which was rejected today at the UN Security Council. It is outrageous th...
Washington, D.C. - Apr. 18, 2024 The FDA and CDC, in collaboration with state and local partners, are investigating illnesses in a multistate outbreak of Salmonella Typhimurium infections linked to Infinite Herbs-brand organic basil packed in 2.5-oz clamshell packaging and sold at Trader Joe’s stores in AL, CT, D.C., DE, FL, GA, IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MA, MD, ME, MI, MN, MO, NC, NE, NH, NJ, NY, OH, PA, RI, SC, TN, VA, VT, and WI.
Based on epidemiological information collected by CDC, a total of 12 people infected with the outbreak strain of Salmonella have been reported from seven states. Seven of eight cases with information available reported exposure to fresh organic basil purchased from Trader Joe's before becoming ill. Additionally, traceback data collecte...
The secrets of the miracles which happened on Motzei Shabbos Parshas Tazria - 6th of Nissan 5784 when Iran shot 350 ballistic missiles on Eretz Yisroel and they were all intercepted, most on the way on top of Jordan. An in depth Torah vision of this specific day throughout history of the Tanach.
Baltimore, MD – Apr. 13, 2024 - It is with regret that Baltimore Jewish Life (BJL) informs the community of the petira of Mrs. Edith Levy, a’h, mother of Jesse (Ella) Levy and Judd Levy.
Upodatyed on Apr. 18 @ 4:53PM - Baltimore:Shiva will be observed tomorrow, Friday, Apr. 19, from 4:00PM-6:00PM (Mincha at 6:00PM) at 6501 Greenspring Ave., Baltimore, MD 21209 Jesse can be reached at 410-484-0053 or 301-704-0798.
Bila Hamaves LaNetzach...
Baltimore, MD – Apr. 18, 2024 - It is with regret that Baltimore Jewish Life (BJL) informs the community of the petira of Barry Fader, z’l, brother of Pinchas Fader.
Pinchas is sitting shiva in Israel (Nahal Lachish 22/3 Ramat Beit Shemesh א) through Monday morning, Apr. 22 and can be reached at 058-631.3253 or (667) 309-1399.
Bila Hamaves LaNetzach...
Last year, Baltimore lost a giant, Rabbi Moshe Juravel zt”l. I had the zechus to write an article about him, which was warmly received. He inspired so many in various ways. In the article, I shared that before Pesach, Rabbi Juravel wanted to teach the boys about family minhagim and gave out a questionnaire for the boys to fill out. (Click on the graphics below for a larger, printable version.)My brother, who was in his class, brought this home and my father excitedly filled it out. Years later, my other brother used this as a springboard to write a kunteres for our family of its minhagim, all from a handout to a fifth-grader!
In the opening, he writes: "To the parents of my talmidim. Yiddishkeit has survived the galus intact because of our ability to transmit the mesorah of ou...
Rabbi Labish Becker - Pesach 5784 Part 4 -A Bird's Eye View- from Agudath Israel on Vimeo.