Rare Footage of Kever of Esther and Mordechai in Persia

A video has cropped up just in time for the celebration of Purim. The video shows the rarely seen tombs of the great Esther and Mordechai.

The grave-site is located in modern-day Hamadan, Iran. As Iran is not a very safe place for any tourist, let alone Jews to travel in, not many are able to make the pilgrimage to the holy tomb.

In Iran, the gravesite of Esther Hamalka and Mordechai is considered the holiest Jewish site in the country. 

Iran is the last country that is part of the once great Persian empire. At the time the story of Purim occurred, the king Achashverosh ruled the large kingdom. The story of Purim takes place in Shushan, which is in the modern-day city of Shush in Iran.

Not all historians believe that this grave-site is the grave-site of Esther and Mordechai. 

Some place the graveside at the Galilean archaeological site of Kfar Bar’am, close to the kibbutz of the same name, Bar’am, along Israel’s northern border with Lebanon. This is according to another tradition first recorded during the Middle Ages that places the graves of Esther and Mordechai there.

There’s no doubt that no matter, that this is a ancient and holy site to visit.

The Land that G-d gave us, the land that Jews, Arabs & Christians love and Satmar Hates!

Victory for BDS as SodaStream’s last Palestinian workers lose their jobs

The liberal-minded beverage firm used to employ hundreds of locals, until anti-Israel boycott pressure forced the closure of its West Bank factory.

Now the final 75 Palestinian staffers have been fired!

Viva Palestina!!

Two years ago, The Times of Israel reported on SodaStream’s plant at the West Bank industrial zone of Mishor Adumim, where the Israeli carbonated beverage company was employing 1,300 workers. 

Of that workforce, 350 were Israeli Jews, 450 were Israeli Arabs and 500 were West Bank Palestinians. 

Management and staff confirmed to our reporter that pay and benefits were identical for workers in comparable jobs, irrespective of their citizenship and ethnicity.

On Monday, SodaStream reluctantly announced that it was laying off its last 75 Palestinian workers, having failed to secure permits from the Israeli government for them to work at its new factory in the southern Israeli Bedouin town of Rahat. Under pressure from anti-Israel boycott groups, which launched a ferocious campaign against SodaStream and its spokeswoman Scarlett Johansson, the firm had closed its Mishor Adumim plant last October.

Hundreds of Palestinians who had been treated equitably by a fair-minded decent Israeli firm are now out of work.

Bibi Speaking to Birthright!

Satmar "Shoitim" want to put Mir Yerushlayim in Cheirum because all Mir Shiurim will be in Ivrit

So we alluded to this last week, when Mir began instructing their Mageidei Shiur to give their shiurim  in the language that Hashem created the world with.

But Satmar and their partners, the Neturei Karta Nazis, are not happy and want the Mirir Roshei Yeshivos  to continue to give shiurim in the German Slang "Yiddish"!

Though Hebrew is over 5,000 years old and was spoken by Moshe Rabbeinue and Gedoilei Yisroel, the Satmar Terrorists want to dominate even the litvishe Yeshivos... 

It's not enough that the barbarians rule their own sheep, now they want to control the litvaks too!

The other issue that is a bone stuck in the throats of the anti-Jewish sect called Satmar is that Mir instructed their talmidim not to protest the IDF! 

בגלל המעבר לעברית: הקיצונים מאיימים בחרם על ישיבת מיר

גורמים המזוהים עם נטורי קרתא ופלגים קיצונים בחסידות סאטמר, מאיימים להחרים את ישיבת מיר, זאת בשל ההחלטה לעבור למסור את השיעורים בעברית: "חלק מניסיון לשנות את המגזר" (חדשות)

ישראל כהן

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י"ט באדר א' תשעו   17:34  28.02.16 

תגיות: עברית, סאטמר, חרם, ישיבת מיר, קיצונים

ראש הישיבה הגרא"י פינקל. ארכיון (צילום: כיכר השבת)

אאא

גורמים המזוהים עם נטורי קרתא ופלגים קיצונים בחסידות סאטמר, מאיימים בחרם נגד ישיבת מיר, זאת בעקבות המעבר למסירת השיעורים בישיבה בשפה העברית. לטענת הגורמים, אין המדובר באירוע אקראי לפיו ראשי הישיבה החליטו לעבור לשפה מובנת יותר לרוב התלמידים, אלא ב"חלק ממזימה לשנות את אופי הציבור החרדי".

הגורמים מזכירים את האיסור שהוטל על תלמידי הישיבה להשתתף בהפגנה שאורגנה במהלך החורף האחרון על ידי הפלג הירושלמי והעדה החרדית נגד חוק הגיוס המתוקן.

כתב "כיכר השבת" מסביר על המהלך הנדיר (באדיבות "חדשות 10") 

לדבריהם, "המעלה של הישיבה הגדולה בישראל ואולי אף בעולם היהודי כולו, הייתה שתמיד נתנו לכל תלמיד מכל מוצא עדה ומגזר את התחושה שיש לו בית שמקבל אותו. חבל מאוד שנצטרך כעת לצאת בחרם רק כדי למנוע מאותם בחורים להיטמע בתרבות הישראלית".

"בישיבת מיר לומדים מאות בחורים חסידיים שרבים מהם רבותיהם מקפידים שידברו רק בשפת האידיש. בנוסף דעתם ידועה כנגד חוק הגיוס וזכותם הבסיסית של אותם בחורים המגיעים ללמוד בישיבה הינה שיוכלו להישמע לדעת רבותיהם" אומר אחד הגורמים. הגורמים כאמור רואים במעבר לשפת העברית שבירת חומות ההתבדלות ולא מקבלים את ההסבר הפשוט לעניין. 

כזכור לפני כשלושה חודשים קיימו גורמים קיצונים הפגנה בשכונת בורו פארקמול האולם בו נערך דינר עבור ישיבת מיר, זאת בשל החלטת רבני הישיבה לאסור על התלמידים להשתתף בהפגנה נגד חוק הגיוס המתוקן.

Sarit Hadad becoming frum?

Big problemo for the frummies, because the frummies run to her concerts when she sings in SoHo in New York!
Now what will they do?
They will have to listen to Mordechai ben David's "boooo hooo" "beee heee" "oy ya yoi" "booo hooo" or Shweky the Sfardi turned Litvak that sings thru his nose !
According to a report in Kikar Shabbat, Sarit davens every single day, and people are starting to suspect that she is on her way of becoming a "Chozeret Betshuvah"

שרית חדד חוזרת בתשובה?

סינגל חדש שמשחררת היום שרית חדד, מהזמרות הבולטות במוזיקה הים-תיכונית, סוקר את הליך החזרה בתשובה של צעירה חילונית ומעלה תמיהות: הזמרת עצמה עומדת לחזור לדת? (ברנז'ה)

הזמרת שרית חדד לקראת חזרה בתשובה?

 סינגל חדש שמשחררת היום (ראשון) שרית חדד, אחת הזמרות הבולטות במוזיקה הים-תיכונית, סוקר את הליך החזרה בתשובה של צעירה חילונית.

חדד עצמה הסבירה בראיון ל-ynet כי "זה שיר שמתאר מצב שמאוד מוכר בחברה שלנו, של חזרה בתשובה, וחשוב ביותר שאדם יהיה נאמן לעצמו, מבחינתי איש באמונתו יחיה. המוזיקה אצלי מגיעה מהנשמה".

"אני מדברת עם אלוקים כל יום ומודה לו על כל המתנות שהוא מעניק לי" אמרה חדד, "מבחינתי אין מובן מאליו. התפילה נותנת לי כוח, אני כל יום מבקשת למען העם שלנו שנהיה מאוחדים וחזקים. וכמובן מבקשת על משפחתי הקרובה ואהוביי שיהיו בריאים ומאושרים".

היא נשאלה על נושא חילולי השבת ואמרה כי "לאורך השנים השתדלתי לא להיכנס לעניינים של פוליטיקה. הרצון והחלום הגדול שלי הוא שיהיה טוב לכולם ושנחיה בשלום האחד עם השני. המוטו שלי הוא 'ואהבת לרעך כמוך'"

Pesia Soloveichik Comes Out as a Gay Orthodox Gemarrah Teacher

Nu nu .... a litvisheh lesbian! A grandchild of R' Aron Soloveichik will teach gemmarah to girls ! 

Press "read more" 

R' Aron Teitelbaum will fly to Israel next week! Will he apologize to the parents of the murdered teens?

R' Aron Teitelbaum of Monroe will fly to the Zionist State of Israel on March 7 on United Airlines. He will forego the German Luftwaffe that he flew on his last visit! 
The question that all of Jewish people are asking is,  "will he apologize to the parents of the three murdered teens, Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Frenkel HY"D?"

Who can forget when R' Aron shrieked  like a lunatic that the parents are guilty of murder for sending the teens to a Yeshiva in the land that G-d gave us? All this while the parents were still sitting shivah!

R' Aron will spend Shabbos in  the holy Zionist city of Meron and will make sure to benefit from the Zionist IDF that will protect him even though he is a hater of Zion!

Rabbi Moshe Meisels Dies Suddenly! Was a signer to the Kol Korah Against R' Shteinman

Rabbi Moshe Yehuda Meisels z"l dies suddenly on Shabbos in Miami . He was the Rav of Cong Avnei Shlomo in Monsey, and was a fierce fanatic against the State of Israel. He was 66 years old. He recently signed a Kol Korah  that cursed Rav Shteinman! 

The Reform Movement and Israel

The Reform Movement cannot be considered a religious stream in Judaism, but its Jewish members are our brothers.

Rabbi Eliezer Melamed

Recently, questions about the Reform movement and its demand for full religious recognition (at the Western Wall, regarding access to state-funded ritual baths [mikva’ot] to perform conversions, and with regard to chaplaincy in the IDF) have resurfaced.

The movement claims that it is one of several Jewish religious streams and therefore deserves status equal to that of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel. Just as the state funds the appointment of rabbis for cities and neighborhoods and grants legal validity to rabbinical courts in matters of marriage, divorce, and conversion, so too, they feel that they deserve the right to appoint city and neighborhood rabbis and maintain their own rabbinical courts for matters of marriage and conversion. And just as the IDF has a military rabbinate and invites rabbis to give talks and classes on Torah and Jewish values, so too, they demand, it must also invite representatives of the Reform movement as legitimate representatives of the Torah and Judaism (unfortunately, it seems the IDF high command shares this view).

To reinforce their demands, Reform Jews argue that they are the largest stream in the United States, and discrimination against them in Israel insults all Reform Jews abroad. To this argument they add the threat that if they do not win equality, the Reform community’s support for the State of Israel will end, a situation that is likely to adversely affect Israel's status in the United States—the strongest world power whose support for the State of Israel is important, if not critical.

Press "READ MORE"

Hillary wins South Carolina

Yoel Malik molests boys and gets 60 days

The Holy Tzaddik Yoeli Malik

All you have to do is wear  a big beard and langeh pie'is and belong to the Satmar community, have sex with a bunch of teenagers, and all you'll  get is 60 days in the slammer.

The victims were forced to shut up! 

So Satmar curses the Medina and the Zionists but lets sex fiends like "Malik the Monster" walk!

This is one sick society .... These teenagers are ruined for life and this bastard will dip his eggs in  saltwater at the Seder Table in the comforts of his home.

If he were a Puerto Rican, the Satmars would be screaming at the top of their lungs, but because he "chaps shrayim" from the Rebbe, and hates Israel, he gets away with murder .... and I mean murder!

Here read about a Goyishe School Teacher    that had sex with a boy and faces 5 life sentences plus 100 years...
and this Israel Hater gets 60 days!

A Brooklyn rabbi charged with sexually abusing four teenage boys in a hotel was sentenced to 60 days in jail and six years of probation.

Yoel Malik, 33, a highly regarded member the Satmar Hasidic sect, was given the generous plea deal after the victims were extremely reluctant to testify publicly, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the case.

In 2013, Malik was charged with 28 criminal counts and shamelessly blamed his underage victims for trying to seduce him, police sources said.

The boys were all students at Ohr Hameir, a now-shuttered Satmar yeshiva in Borough Park. The alleged victims were between ages 13 and 16 when the incident occurred.

The rabbi was accused of groping the genitals of all four boys inside motels, prosecutors said after his arrest.

The twisted teacher also allegedly forced two of the boys to perform oral sex on him. One of the victims was also forced to perform oral sex on Malik inside his car parked near a cemetery on a separate occasion, according to prosecutors.

In 2014, he quietly pleaded guilty to a felony of luring a child and a misdemeanor of sexual misconduct, records show.

Over the past two years, he completed a series of probation requirements, including a sex offender class and staying away from children, court records show.

As part of the deal, the felony was dismissed upon completion of the intense probation supervision.

On Tuesday, he was sent to Rikers Island for 60 days for the misdemeanor offense.

Advocates for child sex-abuse victims questioned the deal.

"What DA [Ken] Thompson has done is inexplicable," said Ben Hirsch, a spokesman for Survivors for Justice, an organization that advocates and educates on issues related to child sex abuse. "Through unexplained plea deals such as this he has effectively quashed any willingness on the part of victims to come forward."

Malik's lawyer contended his client wasn't getting off easy.

"I will concede he wasn't burnt at the stake," Roger Bennet Adler said sarcastically. "He wasn't stoned running through the village."

It’s a “significant” punishment when any first-time offender gets sentenced to jail, he added.

"Most people would be scared out of their minds," he said, referring to time on Rikers 

Pack your bags ... Center for Muslim Life Opens at RCC ..Time to go home... to Israel

So guys, that's the beginning of the end of Monsey and its environs as we know it!

Time to pack our bags. 
All the Heimishe naive sheep, baaaaa, baaaaa, think they are safe in Monsey &   in Monroe, building and building, more and more houses in Chutz Le'aaretz .
Grabbing land in Lakewood from the Goyim.....
It's over folks! 

It's all over folks .... but it was nice while it lasted!

A friend of mine said it best .... that the heimeshe are not going to care one bit until they get rounded up ..... saying "abi nisht tzyoinim" as long as they are "not Zionists" we can live with it!



Read the invitation:

All are welcome to attend the grand opening of the

 Center for Muslim Life at Rockland Community

 College on Thursday, February 25, from noon to 2

 p.m. in the Student Union, Room 3201. 

Halal food will be served. 

Convicted Murderer Becomes a Frum Jew

Chassidim want to know if he will have a "tish" and hand out "shrayim" I will keep you posted on developments!

Maybe he can look over the peppers?

Steven Hayes, a convicted killer in Connecticut, is serving a life sentence for the brutal murder of the Petit family. He seems to have drastically changed since committing the 2007 murder.

Reportedly, Hayes, now 52, has become an Orthodox Jew, while on death row. In a recent mugshot, he is seen with a long flowing beard, sporting a white kippa.

Hayes and an accomplice, Komisarjevsky, were convicted after the brutal murders of Jennifer Hawke-Petit and her daughters, 11-year-old Michaela and 17-year-old Hayley. The father was also badly hurt but survived.

The women were brutally murdered in their Connecticut home, the mom being raped and strangled to death, while the girls were tied to the bed and set on fire, the youngest girl being raped by Komisarjevsky.

On Tuesday, Komisarjevsky, requested a new trial, saying his lawyers weren’t give all the police recordings. However, Prosecutors say the recordings have no information that warrants a new trial.

Molested Flatbush Girl will not press charges on Yeshiva Bochur because his father is a Yeshiva Principal

The suspect's father is the principal of a yeshiva and his grandfather is a "Gadol.’

Guys ... it's not the cellphones, it's not the internet, its a Yeshivah Bochur who decided to get a free "feel"! 

So because he is a son of a principal, the son goes free...

I'll bet there was Mucho Denaro $$$$$$$$$$ exchanged! 
I'm also convinced that this is not the last we hear from this "Tzaddik!"

An investigation into an attempted abduction of a 14-year-old girl in Brooklyn fell apart after it was learned that the suspect comes from a prominent Orthodox family, law enforcement sources said Wednesday.

The suspect, a 20-year-old Orthodox man, showed up at the 61st Precinct with his attorney Tuesday — a day after the NYPD released an enhanced photo of him as a suspect in the crime.

But when investigators contacted the victim after the suspect came forward the family "stopped cooperating with the cops," a police source said.

A source with knowledge of the investigation said the girl changed her mind about talking to authorities after receiving pressure from the community.

The suspect's father is the principal of a yeshiva and his grandfather is an "influential rabbi," the source said.

The victim was with her mother when the suspect — initially described as a white or Hispanic man — approached her on E. 7th St. in Midwood about 4:30 p.m. Feb. 16.

"Come here," the man demanded of the teen.

When the girl refused, he grabbed her by the shoulder and wouldn't let go until the victim's former teacher intervened, officials said.

"The case and the investigation is closed," an NYPD spokesman said Wednesday. "No one is charged."

Detectives made their decision after conferring with the Brooklyn District Attorney's office, the spokesman said.

Now Peppers & Tomatoes are Treif!

I think that the business of kashrus is the best business in the entire world.  

Not only can you talk  the water companies into thinking that water needs  an hashgacha but you can now assur peppers & Tomatoes!

Peppers?  What can possibly be wrong with peppers?

Tomatoes? Tomatoes now need a hechsher?

Dummy! Yes you.... you are a BIG dummy!

You see the mashgichim got together and said "we got most vegetables covered, we fooled the people that the tiny insects that you can only see under a 100x microscope are chazir treif .... we convinced them that  the Rambam's  psak  that one doesn't have to worry about bugs that cannot be seen by  the naked eye, ......  doesn't exist!"

"Nu Nu ...B"H ... we can rip off  heimishe families, who have an average of 10 kids, and even though they are dirt poor, we know that they will spend the bucks to buy Bodek and Positive lettuce that have our hashgacha!
And even though there is no way that Bodek and Positive check every single leaf, we will sell them the idea, that they are grown in a green house, even though the vegetables grow in  earth and there isn't any earth that doesn't have insects, even in a green house!"

"Also we were B"H successful in asuring most of the RBSH"O's foods such as Strawberries, blackberries, rasberries, asperagus, broccili etc ...
  Now the naive sheep ..... baaaaaaaaaa baaaaaaaaaaa, will have to buy them frozen with our hashgacha (ha ha) so that we can enrich ourselves."

***(notice that all the pamphlets that tell you what fruits and vegetables are "infested" are financed by the Hashgacha Companies, there are no independent Rabbonim that have ever looked into it)

"But Oilim Goilem follow what we, the crooks tell them, so we are covered!

We also assured, just like BDS boycott, all Israeli fruits and vegetables  ........... 

What can we do now to rip off these naive sheep? Baaaaaaaaaaa baaaaaaaa!"

Rav Chaim Meir Vagshall who calls himself the Shiniver Rav (even though there haven't been any Jews living in Shiniav in 75 years ) came up with ingenious idea, let's find something wrong with Peppers  & Tomatoes.... .....we will assur peppers & Tomatoes!

The Nirbarter asked .... "Vus? Peppers and Tomatoes? ..... "Peppers and Tomatoes huben nish kein shratzim"? (peppers have no bugs)

Said the R' Chaim Meir .... "you think you know everything? You may have made millions from all the money you ripped off the heimishe naive families .... but you are a stupid meshiginar ...I will find a way"

"Just because there are no bugs on peppers, I will assur it because it has wax!"

"Wax? What's in the wax?"

 Asked the Nirbarter while counting the millions.....
"Don't they use carnauba wax (from the carnauba palm tree), or beeswax?"

"Shhhhhhh! You shoiteh Shebeoilim!" shouted the Shiniver!

"We will tell them it's made from  shellac (from the lac beetle)!"

"Vos is dus "shellac"? (what is shellac")
Men darf freggen the OU ..zei visen alles." (we have to ask the OU, they know everything!)

"Nu?" Continued the Shiniaver,  "So I called the OU and they said that the secretion of the lac beetle is sometimes called "lac resin," and companies possibly  use it to coat fruits and vegetables to keep them fresh and pretty."

But said the Nirbarter, 
"even if they coated it with "shellac" it's kosher .... 
we already paskened many years ago when the "Pashkas Scandel"  happened, when we found out that all Pashkas candy are covered with shellac the beetle crap" 
we paskened that because shellac is a secretion it is similar to honey, which is also a secretion,  and since honey also  comes from a sheretz,....... it's kosher"?

"Shut the Hell up" shouted R' Chaim Meir .... "you dont have enough money? .... Don't ruin my great idea"

And so, now we need a hechsher for peppers & tomatoes!

Mi Ke'Amcha Yisroel!

YU Book Sale Bans Kahane Books But Sells Books by Reform & Conservative Rabbis

Since I love Seforim, I made it my business to go this year to the largest Jewish book sale in North America: The Annual Yeshiva University Seforim Sale.

At the sale I noticed that there were close to 10,000 titles, including the book Beyond Reasonable Doubt written by Louis Jacobs who rejects Torah Me' Sinai. I also found the book David by David Wolpe who has said that Yestzias Mitzrayim was a myth. 

I found Books written by R' Yoel Teitelbaum, who wrote books denying that RBS"O gave Jews Eretz Yisroel in our time , a land that he says is Tumeh and bizarrely , he states, that America is Holy?

But lo and behold, I couldn't find any books that were written by the holy martyr Rabbi Meir Kahane z"l. 
Rabbi Kahana loved Eretz Yisroel, advocated that the Government of Israel not give back one inch .... loved every single Jew and gave his life for the Jewish people, yet his book was nowhere to be found. 
Books of haters of Israel according to YU is ok to sell, but Seforim written by Holy Jews ... no?

After inquiring further, I subsequently found out that Sarah Sheps, the sale's marketing director, said, that Rabbi Kenneth Brander, the vice president for university and community life at YU,  was responsible for the ban!
 Guys, call the CEO of the Seforim Sale, Nisim Franco
(707) 572-5398

So my friends, looks like YU and Satmar are colluding ...
Strange bedfellows! 

Mir Yerusalyim will have Shiurim in Ivrit ...Yiddish is out!

Nu nu ... what will the Satmar bochrim in Mir do?

They only speak and understand Yiddish and Hungarian.

They will have to leave because according to the Holy Rebbe R' Yoel, Ivrit is a "Tumedik" language, and I understand that Rav Finkel and Rav Shmuelevitz cannot understand  or speak Hungarian. 

Satmar & other Chasidishe Yeshivos speak neither Yiddish or English ...
Their Yiddish vocabulary is a meager 200 word vocabulary. Like when they want to buy  soup they say
"ge'mmir a zip"
But if the Chassidishe Yeshivas taught in Hebrew the bochrum would have had and easier time learning.
When you study Torah in Hebrew, it becomes natural & ingrained.
 The average Israeli elementary yeshiva student knows much more than
the average High School Yeshiva student ...

Now let's see what the Torah Ha'Kdoshe says about the Hebrew language....
Look in
Devarim 11:19

[And you shall teach them to your sons,] to speak with them: From the
moment your son knows how to speak, teach him, “Moses commanded us the
Torah” (Deut. 33:4). Let him learn speech through this (Sukkah 42a).

see Rashi:
From this, our Rabbis taught: When the infant begins to talk, his
father should speak to him in the Holy Tongue, and should teach him
the Torah. If he does not do this, it is as though he buries him, as
it is stated [here], “And you shall teach them to your sons to speak
with them…” [in order that your days may increase, and the days of
your children].

לדבר בם: משעה שהבן יודע לדבר, למדהו תורה צוה לנו משה (דב' לג ד), שיהא
זה למוד דבורו. מכאן אמרו, כשהתינוק מתחיל לדבר אביו מסיח עמו בלשון הקדש
ומלמדו תורה, ואם לא עשה כן הרי הוא כאלו קוברו, שנאמר ולמדתם אותם את
בניכם לדבר בם וגו':

Hundreds of talmidim at Mir Yerushalayim were surprised on Monday morning 13 Adar I when the Rosh Yeshiva HaGaon HaRav Eliezer Yehuda Finkel gave his ‘shiur klalli’ in Hebrew instead of Yiddish, with Yiddish having been the norm for many years.

Kikar Shabbos reports that just days ago, in his shiur, HaGaon HaRav Yaakov Shmuelevitz gave his shiur in Hebrew instead of Yiddish. 

Rav Shmuelevitz recently assumed the post of his late father, HaGaon HaRav Refoel Shmuelevitz ZT”L, who was niftar a few weeks ago.

Talmidim explain the Rosh Yeshiva spoke in Hebrew to avoid having some shiurim in Yiddish and some in Hebrew, hence, he decided to follow the lead of Rabbi Shmuelevitz. 

They further explain the rabbonim understand not all the Israeli talmidim understand the Yiddish, leading to the decision to change to Hebrew to permit everyone to understand. They explain it is better to abandon the long-standing minhag towards everyone understanding a sugya.

The Lubavitcher Rebbe's plan to beat terror

There is a popular joke about a man standing trial for the murder of his own parents. After he is unequivocally proven guilty, the judge turns to him and asks: “Do you have anything to say in your defense?” The defendant replies, unhesitatingly: “Yes. I beg the court to show leniency due to my unfortunate situation. I was recently tragically orphaned of both my father and mother...”

Today, regrettably, this is no longer a joke, but a fact of life. We are constantly being bombarded by claims that Israel is “stuck” in the current political situation. That our inability to quash the murderous wave of terror now sweeping our streets leaves us no option but to return to the bargaining table; 

In other words – to surrender, to retreat, and to offer our enemies ever more gifts, beyond the capitulation and weakness we have already shown by freezing settlement construction, evicting Jews from their homes, and more.

The absurdity of the situation screams out to heaven; for it is the Israeli governments that created the current situation – by promoting the warped idea that by “giving up a little here, giving up a little there, we will gain a little peace and quiet.”

We ourselves have convinced the Palestinian Arabs that they can defeat us with their rocks and knives and guns.


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Erlau Rebbe passes on

The Torah world was plunged into mourning early Monday morning (Israel time), with the petirah of the Erlau Rebbe, Harav Yochanan Sofer, zt”l, in Yerushalayim.

Many tefillos were held since the Rebbe was hospitalized several weeks ago in the Hadasah Ein Kerem Hospital on behalf of the Rebbe. The name Harav Yochanan ben Tushena was on the lips of many, but, alas, the gezeirahwas sealed, and on Monday morning, surrounded by many members of the family, the Rebbe was niftar.

Harav Yochanan Sofer, the Erlau Rebbe, was born in Erlau, Hungary, in Teves 5683/1923.

His father, Harav Moshe Sofer, great-grandson and namesake of the Chasam Sofer, zt”l, was the son of the Rav of Erlau, Harav Shimon Sofer, known for his sefer Hisorerus Teshuvah. In his later years, Harav Shimon appointed his son, Harav Moshe, to serve as Rav of Erlau alongside him.

Harav Yochanan’s mother, Rebbetzin Tushena, was the daughter of Harav Moshe Yochanan Schoenfeld, Rav of Ermihalyfalva in Hungary. Thus, Yochanan was named for his maternal grandfather. He was the second child in the family.

In his early formative years, he learned under the tutelage of his illustrious father and grandfather. As abachur, he learned in the yeshivah of Harav Yosef Asher Pollack, mechaber of She’aris Yosef Asher, in the neighboring town of Verpelet. He also learned for three years in the yeshivah of Harav Chaim Aharon Dovid Deutsch, mechaber of Tvuas Goren, in Balassagyarmat.

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Tzvi Yecheskel Ference z”l, on a suicide mission gets Killed in Wrong-Way Florida Crash

Just three days after writing on his social media account that he was depressed and determined to take his life by driving the wrong way and crashing headlong into a truck on the Florida Turnpike, Tzvi Yeheskel Ference apparently did just that.

The 26-year-old was killed when the car he was driving north in the southbound lanes of the highway collided with a tractor-trailer south of Griffin Road shortly before midnight Sunday, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.

Ference was declared dead at the scene,

The driver of the truck and his passenger were not injured.

According to a Facebook posting on Friday, Ference, of Miami Beach, said he nearly carried out his plan for a public suicide Wednesday night but stopped when "I was overcome with such emotion that I started crying."

Ference pulled over near the entrance to the Turnpike, he wrote, "and cried non-stop for over 10 minutes."

But nothing stopped him about 11:40 p.m. Sunday.

According to the Florida Highway Patrol, Ference was driving a 2009 Hyundai Accent northbound in the southbound lanes of the turnpike when it hit the tractor-trailer being driven by Yadian Palomino-Leyva, 30, of Miami. Asleep in the back of the cab was passenger Leany Cervantes-Rodrigurez, 26, FHP Sgt. Mark Wysocky said.

Ference's Hyundai overturned and came to rest on its roof while the tractor-trailer jackknifed and hit a guardrail on the turnpike's west shoulder.

Ference, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was pronounced dead at the scene, according to Wysocky.

Where Ference got on the road and how long he was driving the wrong way are still being investigated, Wysocky said.

Ference recently had written about his years-long battle with depression on Facebook and Tumblr.

"I have major depression and have attempted suicide in the past," Ference wrote in a Facebook post Friday. "Sometimes life gets so overwhelming that I just want to quit."

Bracha Ference, 22, said her brother had been battling depression and had been on various medications and in therapy since the age of 16. "He definitely had been going through his ups and downs," said Bracha Ference.

Bracha Ference, who lives in New Jersey, said she received the news of her brother's death early Monday in a phone call from her mother, Tamar Ference, an assistant professor of rehabilitation medicine at the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine.