Friday, November 1, 2024
Rabbi Kalman Ber elected Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel
Rabbi Kalman Ber, the Chief Rabbi of Netanya, was elected on Thursday to serve as the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Israel. The newly elected Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi is an alumnus of Kerem Beyavne hesder yeshiva, taught there for many years after his hesder army service in the Nachal Brigade and was elected Netanya Chief Rabbi in 2014. He is related to the Rosh Yeshiva of Merkaz Harav, Rabbi Yaakov Shapira.
The elections were held between 12:00 and 4:00 p.m. at the Chief Rabbinate headquarters in Jerusalem. 136 out of the 140 members of the electoral body participated in the voting.
The four members of the body who did not cast their votes were Emek Hefer Regional Council head Galit Shaul, the Rabbi of Rechasim Yaakov Sonnenfeld, MK Yitzhak Kroizer (Otzma Yehudit), and Bat Yam Mayor Tzvika Brot.
Rabbi Ber received 77 votes while his opponent, Petah Tikva Chief Rabbi Micha Halevi received only 58 votes.
The election on Thursday was a runoff after the two candidates tied during the first round last month, both receiving 40 votes.
During the initial round of voting, Rabbi David Yosef, the son of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef z”l, and the brother of the former Chief Rabbi, Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef, was elected as Sephardic Chief Rabbi, having received 72 votes.
Zionists Discover Mechanism to Eliminate Tumors
Israeli researchers have stumbled on a way to stimulate the immune system to fight cancer cells, including in types of the disease considered resistant to prevailing forms of immunotherapy, Tel Aviv University announced on Wednesday.
The “chance technological breakthrough” by the university’s Faculty of Medical & Health Sciences essentially reverses a mechanism in cancer patients that prevents the immune system from attacking tumors, the university said.
The academic lab that made the discovery studies both cancer and the effects of ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun on the skin and body, both of which are known to suppress the immune system.
“While in most cases, we cancer researchers worldwide focus on the tumor and look for mechanisms by which cancer inhibits the immune system, here we proposed a different approach: investigating how UV exposure suppresses the immune system and applying our findings to cancer,” said TAU Prof. Carmit Levy, one of the leaders in the study.
“The discovery of a mechanism that inhibits the immune system opens new paths for innovative therapies,” she said.
The researchers found that after exposure to UV radiation, the immune system’s T cells—that play a critical role in fighting cancer—begin to express high levels of the protein Ly6a, said PhD student Avishai Maliah.
“We suspected that Ly6a serves as a brake through which UV inhibits the immune system, and that by releasing this brake, optimal activation of the immune system might be resumed,” he added.
He treated cancer in the lab with Ly6a antibodies, and the tumors were significantly reduced. Moreover, cancers resistant to known treatments reacted substantially to Ly6a antibodies.
“Immunotherapy has revolutionized the treatment of cancer,” noted TAU Prof. Yaron Carmi, a global expert on the immune system and co-author of the study. “However, about 50% of the patients do not respond to the currently prevailing treatment.”
The Israeli team is now working to translate their findings into a drug for cancer patients, hoping to offer an effective new treatment.
The research has been published in the peer-reviewed Nature Communications journal.
Chief Kapo .. "Shmuck" Schumer A damning report reveals he quietly advised Columbia leaders to ignore criticism of campus antisemitism
The House Committee on Education and the Workforce’s report sheds light on Senator Chuck Schumer’s controversial role in Columbia University’s response to campus anti-Semitism.
According to the report, first published Thursday by the Washington Beacon’s Adam Kredo, Schumer advised former Columbia President Minouche Shafik to downplay and ignore congressional criticism, reassuring her that “the university’s political problems are really only among Republicans.” He suggested that university leadership “keep heads down” rather than confront anti-Semitic incidents openly. This guidance was perceived as politically motivated rather than genuinely protective of students.
Furthermore, as anti-Israel protests escalated on campuses—including incidents of intimidation and harassment of Jewish students—Schumer’s private stance diverged sharply from his public position. When protests turned violent at Columbia’s Morningside Heights campus, Schumer publicly condemned the “lawlessness,” yet privately encouraged Columbia’s leaders to avoid inquiries from Republicans, reinforcing a partisan divide over a significant campus safety issue.
The report argues that this approach contributed to a culture in which universities, including Columbia and Harvard, treated anti-Semitism as a public relations issue rather than enforcing protections under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act. This stance arguably allowed anti-Semitic demonstrations to escalate unchecked into open hostility on campuses across the country. The committee asserts that Schumer’s guidance to avoid accountability and regard anti-Semitism as merely a political inconvenience ultimately compromised the safety and rights of Jewish students.
Former NYS Assemblyman Dov Hikind slammed Schumer calling him A “Kapo in Our time”, a fraud, and a traitor.