Friday, September 18, 2026
Rep Gregory Meeks refuses to clear $2.8 billion bomb sale to Israel
While individual congressional committee members do not have unilateral power to prevent an arms sale, they are able to place a “hold” on a transaction in order to acquire more information.
By Sharon Udasin, JTA
U.S. Rep. Gregory Meeks, the top Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee, is obstructing a Trump administration proposal for a $2.8 billion bomb sale to Israel.
Meeks, a longtime supporter of Israel from New York, said he would not clear the transaction due to concerns that these 2,000-pound munitions would not be used in accordance with U.S. and international law.
Despite his concerns, Meeks said in a statement that he remains “firmly committed to Israel’s security and its ability to defend itself against serious regional threats.”
The 15-term congressman, known for his pragmatic and moderate stances, voiced concern about the potential sale of 40,000 of these bombs, which he described as “some of the most destructive munitions in our arsenal.”
The proposal, he added, raised questions “about how these munitions could be used in densely populated areas of Gaza and Lebanon.”
Israel has said its use of American munitions is always in compliance with U.S. and other relevant laws.
If Democrats are able to retake the House majority in November, Meeks would then become the chairman of the committee in January.
More than two years ago, in April 2024, Meeks announced that he would block the sale of F-15 fighter jets to Israel if he did not receive “assurances” as to the intended purposes of these jets.
At the time, he told CNN that he had “enough of the indiscriminate bombing” and wanted to prevent Israel from utilizing weapons to create more deaths.
Meeks has longstanding ties to the pro-Israel community.
In 2020, when he was one of three Democrats on the committee seeking its chairmanship, he met with pro-Israel groups to get what was then their critical endorsement.
The U.S.-Israel relationship has soured in recent years, especially over Israel’s conduct of the Gaza war, and more recently Meeks has criticized the country’s leadership.
In February, Meeks slammed the decisions of Netanyahu and his Security Cabinet to expand Israel’s control over Judaea and Samaria.
“These actions deliberately and potentially irreversibly erode the possibility of a negotiated two-state solution,” he said in a statement, referring to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.
While individual congressional committee members do not have unilateral power to prevent an arms sale, they are able to place a “hold” on a transaction in order to acquire more information.
“The Trump administration has not provided sufficient assurances that these weapons will be used by the Netanyahu government in accordance with U.S. law and with appropriate protections for civilians,” Meeks said on Wednesday.
This decision, he explained, does not weaken Congressional backing “for Israel’s legitimate defense needs.”
“It reflects Congress’s responsibility to ensure that U.S.-funded weapons are used lawfully, responsibly, and with meaningful safeguards for human life,” Meeks added.
Like your drink piping hot? New study warns of cancer risk
A new study indicates that waiting a few minutes for your coffee or tea to cool could significantly impact your cancer risk.
Researchers at the University of Oxford examined the hot-drink habits of more than one million people and found that those who regularly consumed coffee or tea at very high temperatures faced an increased risk of developing esophageal cancer.
The researchers also found an increased risk among people who consumed six hot drinks per day.
The Oxford University study, published in the International Journal of Cancer, classified drinks served at temperatures of 65°C (149°F) or higher as "very hot." It is the largest study to date examining the relationship between hot beverage consumption and the risk of esophageal cancer.
According to the findings, participants who drank beverages at temperatures above 65°C faced approximately three times the risk of developing esophageal cancer compared with those who did not. The researchers therefore recommend allowing hot drinks to cool to 65°C or below before consuming them.
Lead researcher Dr. Keren Papier noted that previous research conducted in South America had produced similar findings, pointing to an association between very hot drinks and esophageal cancer.
"More research is now needed to identify the exact drink temperatures linked to this increased risk," Papier told the British newspaper Independent.
100,000 Gather At The Kosel For Thursday Night Selichos
Approximately 100,000 people gathered overnight at the Kosel for a massive central Selichos gathering, joined by rabbanim, government ministers, public officials and tens of thousands of mispallelim.
Thousands more participated from Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, where the tefillos were broadcast live from the Kosel. The gathering there included released hostages Bar Kuperstein, Matan Angrest, Rom Braslavski, Moran Stella Yanai, Agam Berger, Omer Wenkert, Nimrod Cohen and Eliya Cohen.
Family members of hostages who were murdered in Hamas captivity in Gaza also participated, including relatives of Yonatan Samerano, Guy Iluz, Tamir Adar, Omer Neutra and Eliya Toledano Hy”d.
Mordechai “Soli” Eliav, director general of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, opened the gathering by speaking about the connection forged between the Kosel and Hostages Square throughout the hostage crisis. He noted that approximately 1.5 million mispallelim had joined in tefillah for the hostages during the period of their captivity, particularly during last year’s Selichos gatherings.
Rav Shmuel Rabinowitz, Rav of the Kosel and Holy Sites, delivered a special tefillas hoda’ah for the return of the hostages.
“Tonight, from the Kosel and Hostages Square, I want to say to You, Ribbono Shel Olam: Look down from Heaven and see how, during the most difficult time, we stood together,” Rav Rabinowitz said. “We did not always agree on the path, but we were all partners in concern, prayer and hope.”
“For such a long period, all of our hearts were held captive — until the final hostage returned,” he continued. “In the merit of this Kiddush Hashem, the brotherhood and courage of the hostages, who sanctified the Name of Heaven in the darkest places and continue to do so now — open for us the gates of Heaven and send us a good and blessed year.”
Rabbanim also led tefillos for IDF soldiers and security forces, for the recovery of the wounded, and for peace, security and achdus among Klal Yisroel.
The enormous turnout forced organizers to accommodate thousands who could not enter the Kosel plaza. Giant screens were erected along the walls of the Old City and at Sha’ar Yaffo, allowing additional crowds to participate in the Selichos from outside the packed plaza.
The Western Wall Heritage Foundation said preparations have now been completed for the final central Selichos gathering of the year, scheduled for Motzei Shabbos. The gathering will begin at midnight with Hataras Nedarim and the annulment of curses.
Officials are urging the tens of thousands expected to attend to arrive early and follow instructions from police and event organizers.
Vance Privately Sought To Help Clinton Defeat Trump In 2016
Vice President J.D. Vance privately sought to help Hillary Clinton defeat Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, despite publicly opposing both candidates, according to a new Vanity Fair report detailing Vance’s political evolution.
Vance, then a recent Yale Law School graduate and outspoken Trump critic, voted for independent candidate Evan McMullin in 2016. But according to Vanity Fair, Vance also tried to connect with Clinton’s campaign through an intermediary.
Vance told the intermediary that he disliked Clinton but considered Trump a greater threat, according to the report. He also offered advice on how Clinton could improve her campaign in key Midwestern states.
Vance later communicated directly with Jake Sullivan, one of Clinton’s senior campaign advisers, Vanity Fair reported. Vance urged the campaign to focus more heavily on the industrial Midwest and criticized Clinton’s handling of her comments about Trump supporters.
The account, reported by journalist Chris Whipple in a Vanity Fair profile of Vance’s years at Yale, offers new details about the future vice president’s opposition to Trump before his dramatic political realignment.
Vance had been sharply critical of Trump during the 2016 campaign, at one point describing him in extremely negative terms. His position changed in the years that followed. By the time Vance launched his 2022 Senate campaign in Ohio, he had become a Trump supporter and received Trump’s endorsement.
Trump selected Vance as his running mate in 2024, and Vance became vice president after Trump returned to the White House.
The newly reported Clinton contacts highlight the extent of Vance’s political transformation from a Trump opponent who sought to prevent his election to one of the president’s closest political allies.
The Vanity Fair report does not establish a formal Clinton-Vance political alliance or conspiracy. It describes Vance’s private efforts to influence Clinton’s campaign while he was simultaneously publicly rejecting both major-party candidates.
Thursday, September 17, 2026
Ironic!!! HouthisTell U.S. Officials They’ll Spare American and Israeli Ships, But Saudi Vessels Remain Targets
Houthis Reportedly Tell U.S. Officials They’ll Spare American and Israeli Ships, But Saudi Vessels Remain Targets
Representatives of the Iran-backed group reportedly met American officials at the U.S. Embassy in Oman. One source said Israeli and other commercial ships would be spared, except Saudi vessels. The reported assurance concerns shipping, not a broader ceasefire with Israel.
Watch Beautiful Selichos by Dati-Leumi Bochrum
There are readers here that really believe that the Dati-Leumi community are basically "goyim"
They are convinced that it is only their derech that is the authentic Yiddishkeit.
Shas freaking out, worried about losing voters to Ben Gvir!
Is Shas worried about losing voters to Ben Gvir?
Shas is in fact worried about losing voters to Ben Gvir running around like a poisoned mouse to stop the fallout after Rav Yitzchak Yosef said the following
“According to Jewish law, it is forbidden to vote for someone who has no fear of God and who ascends the Temple Mount.”
So they publicly invited him to a Shas Council of Torah Sages meeting, hoping to stop the bleeding, and showed a video clip of Rabbi Elbaz hugging and kissing Ben-Gvir.
Charedim now training the girls to be "Schnorrers"
I really don't remember a more humiliating, cynical, and exploitative event than the current fundraising campaign of the Olam HaTorah Foundation for the seminary girls.
In the past day, we've received calls: 5 from my building,. 10 from nearby buildings Each call more embarrassing than the last, but they have no choice—they were given a target of 4,200₪ per girl, the social pressure is unreasonable, and nothing will stop them.
What about tznius? Is having a teenage girl call random men, ok?
Are they so desperate that they have to recruit high school girls, who come from large families and are busy helping in their homes, to force them to start schnorring?
What is going on?
The tweet below translated
Forgive me, but I haven't calmed down from this event yesterday. There's something particularly cruel about this event.
Thousands of seminary girls are gathered in a hall to prepare them for a fundraising operation for the World of Torah Fund. They are now required to go out and make up from the public's pockets the money that the yeshivas lost as a result of the recruitment crisis.
And they know very well why they're turning specifically to the girls.
These are girls who were raised from a young age that the holiest and most important thing is Torah study and supporting Torah scholars. The entire life path offered to them is built around this idea: learn a profession, go out to work, support a household, and allow the husband to sit and learn. Now, they're taking that same indoctrination and applying it to turn them into fundraisers too.
In my eyes, this is cult-like behavior.
This is a system that stops seeing the people living within it as ends in themselves and sees them as resources for its own preservation. The boys need to study. The women need to work so that the men can study. The voters need to vote as they're told. And now the seminary girls also need to go out and raise money when the model runs into a crisis.
There's not even an attempt here to ask what's fair to demand from these girls. They're the most available resource, the most disciplined, and the one most filled with ideological motivation, so they're being used too.
This is one of the ugliest outcomes of a society that has spent years indoctrinating its children around one supreme goal: at the moment of truth, they can be mobilized for almost anything in the name of that goal
סלחו לי, אבל לא נרגעתי מהאירוע הזה אתמול. יש משהו אכזרי במיוחד באירוע הזה.
— חרדים אקספרס (@haredimex) September 16, 2026
אלפי בנות סמינרים מכונסות באולם כדי להכין אותן למבצע גיוס כספים עבור קרן עולם התורה. הן נדרשות עכשיו לצאת ולהשלים מכיסי הציבור את הכסף שהישיבות איבדו בעקבות משבר הגיוס.
והם יודעים מצוין למה הם פונים… https://t.co/QjWi6GniMI
The Song of Chullin
Please see the attached PDF of the lyrics of the Song of Chullin.
Download link:
MP4 Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lwG5kotDxElz5iCKod6lIjaC3nP_p-xt/view?usp=sharing
Israeli intel guiding Saudi fight against Houthis
Jerusalem and Riyadh reportedly held talks focused on countering the Iran-backed Houthi terror group.
By World Israel News Staff
Israel is assisting Saudi Arabia in its ongoing efforts against the Houthis, including by providing strategic intelligence to the Gulf kingdom, according to a report by Hebrew-language outlet Walla.
The outlet, citing Middle Eastern diplomatic sources, reported that Jerusalem and Riyadh recently held talks aimed at assisting Saudi Arabia in its fight against the Yemen-based Iranian proxy group.
The meetings were reportedly arranged by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).
Although Israel and Saudi Arabia do not maintain formal diplomatic relations, the two countries have long been believed to cooperate on shared interests, particularly regional security and stability.
Saudi officials have repeatedly stressed that Riyadh will not formally recognize Israel until an independent Palestinian state is established. Nevertheless, the countries are believed to maintain significant behind-the-scenes ties, particularly in the defense and intelligence spheres.
The reported Israeli assistance comes as the Houthis have intensified their attacks against Saudi Arabia in recent weeks. On Monday, the Iran-backed group launched a barrage of drones and missiles toward the Gulf kingdom, with Saudi officials saying the attacks wounded 13 civilians.
According to Saudi state media, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with U.S. regional commander Admiral Brad Cooper in Jeddah on Monday. The meeting came amid heightened concerns over the Houthis’ expanding military campaign and the potential for the conflict to further destabilize the region.
Saudi Arabia has been engaged in a longstanding conflict with the Houthis since 2015, when Riyadh intervened militarily in Yemen as the Iran-backed group expanded its control over large parts of the country.
Harav Hagoen David Leibel ""We need to worry about the livelihood of our community and worry about the security of our community."
Rabbi David Leibel, president of the Torah Brotherhood movement—one of the few rabbis in the Haredi sector who support the enlistment of Haredim and their integration into the job market—is now speaking at the movement's "Yarchei Kallah" conference:
"We need to worry about the livelihood of our community and worry about the security of our community."
נשיא תנועת אחוות תורה הרב דוד לייבל, מהרבנים הבודדים במגזר החרדי שתומכים בגיוס חרדים ובשילוב בשוק התעסוקה, כעת בכנס "ירחי כלה" של התנועה: "אנחנו צריכים לדאוג לפרנסה של החברה שלנו ולדאוג לביטחון של החברה שלנו". pic.twitter.com/LGnYKvgL4g
— יענקי פרבר | Yanki Farber (@yankihebrew) September 16, 2026
Journalist Amit Segal Calls Out Saudi Hypocrisy for Seeking Israeli Help Against Houthis
Journalist Amit Segal Calls Out Saudi Hypocrisy for Seeking Israeli Help Against Houthis
Israeli journalist Amit Segal has pointed out the irony of Saudi Arabia's diplomatic shifts, noting how the kingdom pushes anti-Israel rhetoric while turning to Jerusalem for help when facing military pressure from the Houthi terror group.
Segal detailed how Saudi leaders first approached regional partners like Pakistan and Turkey under mutual defense expectations, only to receive empty press statements instead of military support. When they subsequently asked the Trump administration for help, they were told the conflict was not an American problem.
Left completely isolated, Segal noted that Riyadh ultimately reached out to Israel for rescue. He highlighted the hypocrisy of a government that routinely calls Israel a murderous state now asking for assistance, while questioning whether Israel should demand official recognition in return. Segal concluded by remarking that when real trouble strikes, Saudi leaders stop facing Mecca and start looking toward Jerusalem.
Even Israeli radical left disavows the documentary......Devastating blow for NAZA
Devastating blow for NAZA: even Israeli radical left disavows the documentary. Raviv Drucker dismantles Yuval Abraham's film.
The anti-Israeli documentary NAZA faces a stinging rebuke from its own ideological camp. On the Israeli channel Channel 13 as well as in Haaretz, Raviv Drucker, a major figure in radical left journalism, has methodically deconstructed Yuval Abraham's investigative film, stating that he would "never have aired such a piece" due to its complete lack of factual reliability.
The absence of evidence and opacity of sources
Confronting the director, Drucker lambasted a method relying solely on 24 unverifiable anonymous testimonies: "You bring no proof. We have neither their names nor their units, no way to know if they were exposed to the facts. There's nothing concrete to verify or refute your claims." Unable to respond, Yuval Abraham dodged, accusing his interlocutor of passivity. Drucker shot back instantly: testimonies that appear spectacular prove unfit for broadcast once subjected to verification standards.
Contextual manipulation and denial of ground reality
In Haaretz, the journalist highlights the gravity of the editing, which isolates the testimonies from any operational context and deliberately ignores Hamas's strategy. "The use of civilians as human shields is backed by abundant evidence," Drucker reminds us, denouncing the total omission of military infrastructure in schools or hospitals, and the masking of fighters presented as mere civilians by international media.
Key accusations refuted
Drucker finally casts doubt on the central allegation that the IDF would have deliberately struck unevacuated neighborhoods while accepting hundreds of civilian deaths: "I don't know of this case, and it didn't happen." Finally, Drucker notes that Yuval downplayed October 7 and the hostages; Abraham replies to him, "Why don't you just make your own film." A devastating blow for NAZA.
🔴🇮🇱⚡️ | Camouflet dévastateur pour NAZA : même la gauche radicale israélienne désavoue le documentaire. Raviv Drucker démonte le film de Yuval Abraham.
— 🎗️(((SIMON WEINBERG))) (@SlMONWEINBERG) September 15, 2026
Le documentaire anti-israélien NAZA subit un désaveu cinglant, venu de son propre camp idéologique. Sur la chaîne israélienne… pic.twitter.com/AIh62nqHOW
‘THE BORDERS ARE OPEN’: Chilling Calls Reveal Terror Suspect in the U.S. Scrambling to Join Oct. 7 Invasion
U.S. federal investigators released transcripts Tuesday of phone calls made by an Oct. 7 terrorist who lied on his visa application to get into the United States but was subsequently arrested in Louisiana in 2025.
Mahmoud Amin Ya’qub al-Muhtadi reportedly belonged to the Gaza-based terror group the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine and the National Resistance Brigades and only found out about the attack via social media early in the morning of Oct. 7 after it had begun.
Investigators released the call logs, which show that al-Muhtadi assembled a team to join the invasion, as part of their probe into the terrorist. He and his comrades can be heard laughing and joking about the planned destruction as they scramble to join the attack, coordinating transportation and weapons and sharing information.
Calls show that at 8:12 a.m., al-Muhtadi told a team member to “get ready” because the “borders are open.” He told him that others were arriving in a Toyota pickup truck to join the invasion. At about 8:45, he joked with another person about the attack, saying, “Our guys are celebrating inside [Israel],” and that Gazans were celebrating. The pair repeatedly laughed about the impending destruction.
“From now till the afternoon, half of Gaza will be lost. There will be nothing left except my kiosk,” al-Muhtadi said.
“The Jews are still in shock,” the other person said.
“They are still drunk, because it’s the last day of their Eid,” al-Muhtadi said, likely referring to Simchat Torah using an Arabic word.
“There is kidnapping, and it’s a game, which will be a good one,” he added, showing that he knew hostages had already been abducted, which he said he expected would lead to a ceasefire deal.
“If things go the way they should, Syria will take part, Lebanon will take part, and it’s going to be a third world war,” he said, referring to Hamas’ idea that other countries that made up the “ring of fire” around Israel would join the attack and defeat the only democracy in the Middle East. “This war will last two months, a month, or it will be a war of attrition.”
“The guys are calling, I swear by God. They want to go inside,” al-Muhtadi said.
Other calls show the terrorists making preparations to join the invasion, discussing whether they should keep their stores open, transportation, getting coffee, and obtaining weapons. One of them said he would go without weapons because he didn’t have any.
At 9:33 a.m., a call indicated that al-Muhtadi had entered Israel.
“I went inside,” he said, laughing. “Come in, boys.”
The terrorist told the others to turn off their phones, but investigators found that his phone linked to a tower in Israel that morning, showing that he had crossed the border.
Court filings did not reveal the extent of al-Muhtadi’s participation in the attack or whether he had killed or abducted anyone.
Al-Muhtadi’s wife, Nieama Hsnein Al-Ghazzawi, serving as his visa sponsor, filled out his application and coordinated with the U.S. State Department to arrange the visa. Prosecutors alleged that she wrote on his visa application that he had never participated in firearms training, had never belonged to an armed group, and had never had ties to terrorism. They alleged that she did in fact know about his membership in the DFLP and his involvement in the Oct. 7 attack.
She was charged with fraud and is also under investigation for using a crowdfunding campaign to cover her husband’s visa costs, part of a series of crowdfunding campaigns that were used to fund terror groups.
Wednesday, September 16, 2026
I Thought Saudi had a Joint Defense Agreement with Turkey!
Saudi Arabia says Houthi drone intercepted near Mecca, warns holy sites are a “red line”*
Saudi air defenses intercepted and destroyed a drone south of Mecca on Tuesday evening, September 15, before it entered the holy city’s restricted airspace, according to the Saudi-led coalition. The coalition blamed Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis.
Coalition spokesman Turki al-Malki called the security of Islam’s holiest sites and pilgrims a “red line,” warning that the coalition would take deterrent measures against the Houthis. The group denied targeting Mecca or other holy sites.
Al-Malki described this as the second Houthi attempt to target Mecca, citing a ballistic-missile incident in July 2017. However, the coalition also reported a missile launch toward Mecca in October 2016, so the claim that this was “only the second attack ever” is not established.
So what happened with the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement?
Turkey recently made a defense pact with Saudi Arabia and Pakistan, forming what is officially called the Mecca Joint Defense Agreement.
This trilateral pact was signed on August 7, 2026, in Mecca
What a joke!
Chutz Le'aartz Rabbis, where are you?
by Tzvi Fishman
Day after day, we read about anti-Semitic attacks throughout Europe.
Fox example, today, Arutz 7 reported about three Jewish teenagers in London who were assaulted while riding on a bus . Also we read about the fear of Jewish hospital patients in England due to threats and expressions of anti-Semitism in hospitals across the country
These are merely two examples out of thousands. So I ask, shouldn't the Rabbis of Europe be calling for Jews to make Aliyah now?
Truthfully, the question could have been asked over a hundred-and fifty years ago when Jews began immigrating to Eretz Yisrael in greater numbers. After all, the Jewish People had been praying for almost two-thousand years to return to Jerusalem. Certainly the question could have been asked after the Balfour Declaration when Jews were awarded the right to rebuild their national homeland. Understanding the greatness of the hour, Rabbi Kook urgently called upon them to come home in widespread public announcements.
Again, the question could have been asked some eight decades ago after the Holocaust and upon the creation of Medinat Yisrael.
To be fair, there was a Rabbi in Paris who did call for the Aliyah of French Jews about a year ago and was met with stiff opposition prompting him to take back his words - and The Netherland's Chief Rabbi told Dutch Jews to come on Aliyah before that.
And while the Jews in America have not yet encountered anti-Semitism on the level it has reached in Europe, there is certainly cause for deep worry and the same question can be asked - shouldn't Rabbis in America be calling on their congregations to make Aliyah? We know that entire synagogue congregations are buying apartments in the Givat Hamatos neighborhood of Jerusalem, but do they really intend to live in them?
Any answer from me can be easily dismissed. After all, what does a baal t’shuva from Hollywood know about crucial issues of Torah and Jewish History? How can someone who isn’t a Rabbi speak about Torah Scholars immersed in Jewish scholarship and law, Rabbis in Europe and America who are dedicated to upholding the foundations of Torah? That is a fair question.
So let’s hear the answer of the holy Rabbi Yisachar Shlomo Teichtal, a onetime leader of the Haredi community in Hungary and author of the book, “Eim HaBanim Semeichah."
Historic peace deal ends five-year Gur Chasidic feud
Five years after a bitter dispute split the Gur Hasidic community and divided families, an unprecedented settlement has been reached between the leadership of the official Gur Hasidut and the breakaway community led by Rabbi Shaul Alter.
The agreement, signed at the courthouse, includes a first-of-its-kind commitment by the official Gur leadership to refrain from harming members of the rival community and to avoid any form of violence.
The surprise development was revealed on the eve of Rosh Hashanah by attorney Shlomo Elboim, a member of the Bnei Brak municipal council and chairman of one of the factions who has managed the legal campaign in recent years on behalf of those who were harmed.
In a special letter to members of the Hasidut titled "A Letter of Peace and Truth," Alboims announced the conclusion of the dramatic legal proceedings stemming from the events of "Shabbat Bechukotai", the night when large groups of Hasidim attacked members of Rabbi Shaul Alter's community in Jerusalem, Bnei Brak, Beit Shemesh and Ashdod.
The lawsuit was filed against members of Gur's leadershp committee." Alboims and attorney Asher Ohayon represented plaintiffs who suffered serious violence, including Jerusalem developer Hezekiah Lev.
After dozens of hearings in the district and magistrates' courts, and with the case reaching the testimony stage, an unexpected development took place in the judge's chamber.
The president of the Jerusalem Magistrates' Court, recognized the potential for a serious public desecration of God's name, and decided to intervene. He summoned the parties to his chambers and formulated an unusual settlement proposal under which the defendants representing Gur would accept responsibility for their actions and commit not to repeat them.
Although the conduct constituted an offense under Section 216 of the Penal Law, the court ultimately decided not to convict the defendants. Instead, each signed a financial undertaking of 1,260 shekels pledging to refrain from committing any offense for one year.
The settlement agreement, which was granted legal force, includes quotations from Jewish sources and the teachings of the Baal Shem Tov concerning Ahavat Yisrael, or love of one's fellow Jew, and the value of every Jew. Judge Harbest wrote that, particularly in the period leading up to Yom HaDin, the appropriate outcome was to reach Rosh Hashanah "when the events of the past have been forgiven and erased."
In his letter, Elboim called on members of the Hasidic community to leave past grievances behind, forgive one another and extend a hand in peace, echoing Rabbi Shaul Alter's instruction .
Two Rebbes, One name, One Dynasty. Two Versions of the same story
you already know that. What's worth saying out loud is how little
actually separates them.
The same position on Zionism. The same VaYoel Moshe, the sefer,
the book, that defines our hashkafa, our worldview. The same
Yiddish, the same minhagim, the customs, the same levush, the
dress. Ask an Aroni and a Zaloni what they hold and you hear the
same answer. No point of doctrine divides us.
I'm not judging a machlokes, a dispute, between talmidei
chachomim, Torah scholars, and I'm not taking a side. That isn't
mine to do.
But with Yom Kippur five days away, there's something each of us
has to check honestly, and only we can check it for ourselves.
The machlokes between the rabbonim, the rabbis, is one thing.
What lives in our own hearts is another. When we cross to the
other side of the street. When we hear which shul someone davens
in and something tightens. When a shidduch, a match, gets turned
down over a label and everyone knows that's what it was.
That isn't the succession. That's sinas chinam, baseless hatred,
and it belongs to us, not to them.
Yoma teaches that the second Beis Hamikdash, the Temple, was
destroyed through sinas chinam. Not avodah zarah, idolatry. Not
shefichas domim, bloodshed. Yidden, Jews, who held the same Torah
and couldn't be in the same room.
And the Mishnah there says plainly that Yom Kippur is not
mechaper, does not atone, for what stands between a person and
his fellow until he goes to him and makes it right. Not davening
harder. Going.
So before Monday night: the cousin you stopped calling. The
neighbor. The chavrusa, the study partner, you fell out with and
can't remember why. And if there's someone you've kept at a
distance over which side they're on — that one especially.
Four minutes on the phone. Worth more than every machzor, every
prayer book, on the shelf.
A gmar chasima tova, may you be sealed for good, to all of us, on
both side#forgiveness
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