Jerusalem, Israel - May 6, 2024 - Following is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's address, this evening (Sunday, 5 May 2024), at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, to the opening ceremony for Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day [translated from Hebrew except where noted:
"The Honorable President Herzog and Mrs. Herzog,
I will follow your lead and greet our most esteemed guests. First and foremost, the Holocaust survivors, who greatly inspire us all, including during this difficult war. You are living proof of the resurrection of the Jewish people after the destruction of our communities. You are true heroes.
Major Moshe Yedidyah Leiter, an admired officer in the Shaldag unit, went to battle in the Gaza Strip with the legacy of the Holocaust on his shoulders. Thi...
Jerusalem, Israel - Sunday, 5 May 2024 / 27th of Nissan, 5784 - At this hour, this time of remembrance, at the threshold of these 'Days of Awe' for Israelis - which begin tonight and will conclude on the seventy-sixth Independence Day of the State of Israel - a holy spirit descends upon the land, and silence envelops all of the House of Israel. But this is not a regular Memorial Day. This year, the State of Israel is at war. We are at war.
Two hundred and twelve days have passed since the terrible massacre carried out by Hamas terrorists, against on babies, children, and elderly, women and men. Since then, we have been in a period of ‘difficult days and heavy bloodshed.' Since then, our brothers and sisters have been held hostage by a cruel enemy, and our hearts a...
Jerusalem, Israel - May 5, 2024 - Yom HaShoah, Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day is observed this year beginning on Sunday evening, May 5, 2024.
The official Israeli Opening Ceremony for Holocaust Remembrance Day was held on Sunday night in Warsaw Ghetto Square, Yad Vashem, on the Mount of Remembrance in Jerusalem.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivered remarks at the Opening Ceremony.
Holocaust survivor and Chairman of the Yad Vashem Council Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau lit the Memorial Torch as he has done in past years.
Haim Noy spoke on behalf of the survivors and Yitzhak Perlmutter will recite El Maleh Rahamim, the Jewish prayer for the souls of the martyrs.
During the ceremony, Holoca...
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke to Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Sunday and expressed condolences over the deaths of three IDF soldiers who were killed as a result of a mortar barrage on the Kerem Shalom Crossing on the Gaza border.
Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder said in a readout following the call that Austin and Gallant discussed “the ongoing hostage negotiations, humanitarian assistance efforts, and Rafah.”
“Secretary Austin expressed his condolences for the IDF soldiers killed and wounded by a rocket and mortar attack launched by Hamas out of Rafah,” added Ryder.
“The Secretary reaffirmed his commitment to the unconditional return of all hostages and stressed the need for any potential Israeli military ...
CIA Director William Burns is traveling to Doha to meet with Qatari Prime Minister Mohammed Al-Thani in a bid to salvage the hostage talks with Hamas, the Associated Press reported.
An official said that the talks are "near collapse."
“Burns is on his way to Doha for an emergency meeting with the Qatari prime minister aimed at exerting maximum pressure on Israel and Hamas to continue negotiating," the official added.
The US has been pressing for a deal to free some of the hostages in exchange for a temporary ceasefire to prevent Israel from launching an operation in Rafah, where the final Hamas battalions are gathered. Hamas has repeatedly refused offers called "extremely generous" by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken.
This afternoon (Sunday), Hamas launched ten rockets from t...
Jerusalem, Israel - May 5, 2024 - In an era when antisemitism is on the rise and many Jews feel disconnected from their roots and each other, Aish is taking an innovative technological approach to bring Jews of all backgrounds together across geographic boundaries.
The organization is launching a bold new initiative entitled 'Aish+' as part of its ongoing mission to engage unaffiliated Jews. By utilizing social media platforms, and creating online communities to provide support, the organization will combat the pernicious effects of hate while offering top-level educational content. The online communities will be interactive, immersive, guided, and communally led aimed at Jews who have experienced antisemitism for the first time, or the hundredth time, an...
Baltimore, MD – May 5, 2024 - BJL wishes a hearty Mazel Tov to Shimshi & Sara Teitelman on the birth of a son.
Mazel Tov to grandparents: Elie Teitelman, Shani Karen, Ellina Zipman, and Henry Lewis
יה"ר שיזכו לגדל בנם לתורה, לחופה, ולמעשים טובים. אמן!
The Chareidi Draft Crisis: How To Move Things Forward[1]
The Background
Many issues divided the Israeli public leading up to October 7th. With the invasion of the Gaza Envelope and the ensuing bloody war, many of these issues now seem less important; others, however, have become even more significant.
Understandably, the issue that has emerged as the most pertinent and pressing is the drafting of the Chareidi population
This issue has been percolating for many decades. Ben Gurion exempted 400 yeshiva students in 1951. Their number has ballooned to almost 100,000. In addition to the increase in the objective number, the Chareidi community has become a more significant percentage of the overall population. As this percentage is projected to continue increasing, their army exempti...
Jerusalem, Israel - May 5, 2024 - Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today (Sunday, 5 May 2024), on the eve of Holocaust Martyrs' and Heroes' Remembrance Day [translated from Hebrew]:"This evening we will honor the memory of our six million brothers and sisters who were murdered in the Holocaust.Last Thursday, my wife Sara and I met with the Holocaust survivors who will light the memorial torches this evening. We met with 96-year-old Izi Kabilio, a Holocaust survivor, from Yugoslavia. He told us about the horrors he, his family and his friends endured, and told us: 'Today, the State of Israel is the one and only haven for the Jewish People.'Michael Bar-On, another survivor who will light a torch this evening, told us: 'We cannot rely on the nations of the wor...
"October 7 helped spread a fire that was already out of control."
That’s the finding of an alarming new report from the Anti-Defamation League and Tel Aviv University, which shows that the rate of antisemitic incidents increased by dozens of percentage points around the world.
But the study also shows that the number was growing even before the Gaza war broke out in October.
In the U.S., the ADL said that antisemitism reached historic levels. In its recently released annual survey, the organization recorded 7,523 incidents in 2023 compared to 3,697 in 2022, and according to a broader definition, it recorded 8,873 incidents. The number of assaults increased from 111 in 2022 to 161 in 2023 and acts of vandalism rose from 1,288 to 2,106. Spotlighting specific cities, New Y...
Baltimore, MD - May 5, 2024 - One person is dead in a fatal crash on I-95 in Harford County involving a party bus.
At around 6 a.m., first responders received a call for a single-vehicle crash on I-95 northbound near mile marker 79.5.
All Northbound lanes remain closed at this time and are expected to remain closed for an extended time.
Drivers are asked to use alternate routes US 40 or MD 7.
The preliminary investigation revealed that the bus, which had 24 people on board was traveling northbound on I-95 when it lost control and struck a guardrail.
One passenger was pronounced dead at the scene and multiple passengers were transported to a local hospital.
It is currently unknown as to why the bus lost control.
Baltimore, MD - May 5, 2024 - Federal prosecutors have asked to seize former Baltimore State's Attorney Marilyn Mosby's Florida condo, according to new court filings.
Prosecutors argue that because the Florida condo was purchased using the fraudulent mortgage loan Mosby acquired, the condo is eligible for forfeiture.
The government asks that any appreciation of the condo's value and anything Mosby repaid the lender should also be subject to forfeiture. However, Mosby would get her $47,000 down payment back when the government sells the property.
The court scheduled an asset forfeiture hearing for May 23, the same day Mosby is set to be sentenced for perjury and mortgage fraud.
Mosby would get the $47,000 down payment she ...
הוּא הָיָה אוֹמֵר, עֲשֵׂה רְצוֹנוֹ כִּרְצוֹנֶךָ, כְּדֵי שֶׁיַּעֲשֶׂה רְצוֹנְךָ כִּרְצוֹנוֹ.
בַּטֵּל רְצוֹנְךָ מִפְּנֵי רְצוֹנוֹ, כְּדֵי שֶׁיְּבַטֵּל רְצוֹן אֲחֵרִים מִפְּנֵי רְצוֹנֶךָ. (אבות ב:ד)
Rabban Gamliel, the son of Rabbi Yehuda Hanasi, encourages us to “make His will like your own so that He will make yours like His” and to “nullify your will before His so that He will nullify the will of others before yours” (Avos 2:4).
Identification
Rabban Gamliel e...
The Government, today (Sunday, 5 May 2024), unanimously approved the closure of Al Jazeera according to the proposal of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi.The Communications Minister signed the orders, which will go into effect immediately.The law advanced by Prime Minister Netanyahu and Communications Minister Karhi determines that if the Prime Minister is convinced that a foreign media channel is harming the state, the Communications Minister may – after receiving at least one security opinion and the approval of either the Government or the Security Cabinet – take action against the foreign media channel that is acting against the state.The actions will be confirmed in orders signed by the Communications Minister and will include the f...
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, today (Sunday, 5 May 2024) [translated from Hebrew]:"I would like to comment on the tendentious media reports that are damaging the negotiations for the release of the hostages, as well as causing needless suffering to the families of the hostages that are enduring a nightmare. My heart goes out to them.Contrary to these reports, it is Hamas that is holding up the release of our hostages. We are working in every possible way to free the hostages; this is our top priority.Israel has been, and still is, ready for a pause in the fighting in order to free our hostages. This is what we did when we freed 124 hostages, and resumed fighting – and this is what we are ready to do today as well.In recent weeks, we have been working around the clock to formulat...
Al Jazeera has reported that a Qatari delegation left for Cairo to participate in indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas, following reports of progress in the talks for a ceasefire-prisoner swap deal.
According to Asharq Al-Awsat, Hamas agreed to the deal after Israel removed its opposition to releasing a number of senior terrorists from prison, and following a commitment from the US that it would ensure Israel's full withdrawal from Gaza at the end of the second and last stage of the agreement, as well as the full cessation of the war.
Asharq Al-Awsat also reported that in the coming hours, Hamas is expected to announce that it has accepted the Egyptian proposal for a ceasefire, following intensive talks between Egypt and Qatar and between Israel and Hamas.
...
National Security Council chief Tzachi Hanegbi spoke about a military operation in Rafah, stressing that, "the decision has been made - the question is not if, but when."
Speaking to Israel's "Meet the Press" program, Hanegbi said, "Sinwar is living on borrowed time."
"He escaped from one burrow to the next, we were very close to him. There are those who would say that we were incredibly close, at one point. Maybe even less than a few days."
Comparing Sinwar to Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, who was eliminated by US forces in 2011, Hanegbi promised that Sinwar "won't come out alive," but added that "patience is necessary."
"When we say that we are 'a step away from complete victory,' we need to understand what that means," Hanegbi said. "These are three ambitious ...
Several mainstream Jewish groups pulled out of a meeting on Friday with high-level Biden administration officials about campus antisemitism after learning that the Department of Education had also included a number of left-wing groups not usually included in White House convenings, including one organization that is closely aligned with the far-left Jewish activist group IfNotNow.
The meeting with Education Secretary Miguel Cardona and White House Domestic Policy Adviser Neera Tanden was requested by Jewish advocacy groups that had previously met with Cardona in October, shortly after the Oct. 7 Hamas attacks that set off a wave of antisemitism in the U.S. Friday’s meeting was scheduled in light of rising antisemitism at anti-Israel protests at U.S. college campuses. The meeting too...
Baltimore, MD – May 3, 2024 - BJL wishes a hearty Mazel Tov to Mr. and Mrs. Nachum Meir Goldstein on the birth of twin daughters.
Mazel Tov to the grandparents Mr. and Mrs. Yaakov Goldstein
יה"ר שיזכו לגדל בנותיהם לתורה, לחופה, ולמעשים טובים. אמן
