Yossi Melamed, famed photographer dies! Video!

Yossi getting Kos Shel Bracha from the Rebbi

Yossi Melamed, a veteran photographer for the Alegemeiner Journal passed away. Yossi Melamed chronicled over 30 years many important events in the New York Jewish community. His pictures were carefully stored and dated.

Over the years he photographed tens of events at 770 for the Algemeiner Journal. He related to Rabbi Dovid Zakliowski director of Lubavitch Archives, after giving him many of his pictures to share with the public, about one of the times he was the only to photograph a special event with the Rebbe.

Lost Parakeet returned after telling police his address!

A pet parakeet was returned to its Japanese owner Wednesday after the brainy bird told police its home address near Tokyo. 

The male bird, called Piko-chan, escaped early Sunday morning from his home in the city of Sagamihara and remained at large before being coaxed into perching on the shoulder of a guest at a nearby hotel. 

He was handed over to local police, but Piko-chan did not speak until Tuesday evening, when he blurted out the names of the city and district where his owner's home is located, a police spokesman said. 

The stunned cops then listened as the parakeet produced the home's block and street number. 

His owner, a 64-year-old woman, once lost another parakeet after it flew away and was determined not to make the same mistake. 

"So the owner decided to teach the address to this parakeet after she bought it at a pet store two years ago," a police spokesman said. "The bird's name was found to be Piko-chan as it said, 'You're pretty, Piko-chan.

Rally for frum man imprisoned in Bolivia!

AN AMERICAN NAMED JACOB OSTREICHER HAS BEEN ILLEGALLY IMPRISONED BY THE BOLIVIAN GOVERNMENT
IT’S TIME TO TAKE NOTICE AND DEMAND HIS FREEDOM
A press conference will be held in front of the Bolivian Mission to the United Nations to rally support for Jacob Ostreicher, an innocent New York businessman who has now been confined for 11 months in one of Bolivia’s most notoriously dangerous prisons without being charged. 

Bolivian authorities have spent the time investigating Ostreicher for money-laundering, after nearly 30 hearings, prosecutors have presented no evidence to back their allegations that the American did anything wrong.  The United States Department of State has had no luck talking to the Bolivian government, and the United Nations Human Rights Commission is “monitoring” Jacob’s situation.

On Tuesday, May 8th, ABC News Nightline will air a segment about Jacob’s plight.  In advance of this airing, Jacob’s family is holding a rally at the door of the Permanent Mission of Bolivia to the United Nations. 211 East 43rd Street at 11:00 AM on Thursday, May 3rd, 2012.

Jacob’s wife Miriam, his children, grandchildren, community and public leaders along with 500 of his friends and supporters will stand in solidarity with Jacob Ostreicher to demand that Bolivia end his wrongful imprisonment and release him immediately.

89 Year Old Kaliver Rebbe engaged to 55 year old lady

The Kaliver Rebbe, HaRav Menachem Mendel Taube Shlita has become a Chosson. The rebbe, 89, is engaged to Moras Sheindel Malinik, 55, of Kiryas Herzog in Bnei Brak.
The rebbe is well known for his Shema Yisrael Center in Yerushalayim and his emphasis on teaching all Jewish children to recite Shema, realizing that the modern State of Israel has wiped this posuk and a frum lifestyle from the minds of millions of children R”L. The rebbe has also opened a Holocaust Museum called ‘Shema Yisrael’, a tribute to the kedoshim of the Holocaust HY”D designed specifically for the chareidi tzibur.
Rebitzen Chana Sara ob”m was nifteres erev Chanukah.

Obama's New Campaign Slogan "Forward" is a Hitler Youth Marching Tune, Video

Seal from the First Bais Hamikdash found with Hebrew lettering

An archaeological work in the 2,000 year-old drainage channel between the City of David and the Jerusalem Archaeological Garden, remains were discovered of the building closest to the First Temple exposed so far in archaeological excavations.

The remains of a building dating to the end of the First Temple period were discovered below the base of the ancient drainage channel that is currently being exposed in Israel Antiquities Authority excavations beneath Robinson’s Arch in the Jerusalem Archaeological Garden, adjacent to the Western Wall of the Temple Mount. This building is the closest structure to the First Temple found to date in archaeological excavations.

In the excavations, underwritten by the Ir David Foundation, a personal Hebrew seal from the end of the First Temple period was discovered on the floor of the ancient building. The seal is made of a semi-precious stone and is engraved with the name of its owner:

"Lematanyahu Ben Ho…" ("למתניהו בן הו..." meaning: "Belonging to Matanyahu Ben Ho…"). 

The rest of the inscription is erased.

From the very start of the excavations in this area the archaeologists decided that all of the soil removed from there would be meticulously sifted (including wet-sifting and thorough sorting of the material remnants left in the sieve). This scientific measure is being done in cooperation with thousands of pupils in the Tzurim Valley National Park. It was during the sieving process that the tiny seal was discovered.

People used personal seals in the First Temple period for the purpose of signing letters and they were set in a signet ring. The seals served to identify their owner, just as they identify officials today.

According to Eli Shukron, excavation director on behalf of the Israel Antiquities Authority, "the name Matanyahu, like the name Netanyahu, means giving to God.

These names are mentioned several times in the Bible. They are typical of the names in the Kingdom of Judah in latter part of the First Temple period - from the end of the eighth century BCE until the destruction of the Temple in 586 BCE. To find a seal from the First Temple period at the foot of the Temple Mount walls is rare and very exciting. This is a tangible greeting of sorts from a man named Matanyahu who lived here more than 2,700 years ago. We also found pottery sherds characteristic of the period on the floor in the ancient building beneath the base of the drainage channel, as well as stone  collapse and evidence of a fire."

Frum 22 Year old girl killed on hiking trip in Mohonk Mountains near New Paltz, UPDATE!

Stephanie Prezant A"H

UPDATED April 30, 2012 4:20PM
On April 29, 2012, the New York State Police at Highland investigated a fatal rock climbing accident that occurred at the Mohonk Preserve in Gardiner, NY. At approximately 1:30 PM, Stephanie Prezant, age 22, of Haworth N.J., was part of a group climbing on the Trapps Cliff section of the Preserve. Prezant had successfully ascended the climb and was returning to the cliff base when she fell, striking her head on the rocks below. Prezant was treated at the scene and transported to St. Francis Hospital in Poughkeepsie, NY where she died of injuries sustained in the fall. Assisting at the scene were Mohonk Preserve Rangers, Mobile Life and Gardiner Fire Department personnel.

Tragedy has struck the frum community once again, with the tragic death of a young woman. According to initial reports, the single, 22-year-old girl was on a hiking trip at Mohonk Mountain House, near New Paltz, when the accident happened, Sunday afternoon.
She was rushed to St Francis Hospital, where she was R”L pronounced dead.
Rabbi Joel Gold, Chaplain at Ulster County Sheriff Dept is working to ensure that proper Kavod is given to the Nifteres.
Misaskim is enroute to the hospital as well.
Further details will be published pending proper family notification.
Boruch Dayan Emmes…

Neshama Carlebach records Hatikvah with changes to the lyrics to include Arabs

She is getting crazier and crazier, first she  mixed ancient Jewish tropes with the pulsating rhythms of an African American Baptist choir,  pushing the boundaries of expectation, and now she decided to insult the intelligence of the Israeli People!

Happy Birthday, Israel!

Yom Hazikoron! Video!

As Israel prepares to begin its Yom Hazikaron [Memorial Day] observance on Tuesday evening many bereaved families are reminded their lives contain a vacuum.


One such famlily is that of former Lt. Colonel Yehuda Ben Shabbat, who served in the IDF Northern Command until he unexpectedly died of a heart attack eight years ago.
Father, son, husband, and brother - Ben Shabbat's tragic passing affected three generations in profound ways.
Natalie Leiba, Ben Shabbat's sister, told Arutz Sheva that every year Yom Hazikaron presents a difficult emotional challenge for the amily.
"It's horrible for us," she said. "Not just Memorial Day, every year. It's like a nightmare. Life changes dramatically, and then the holidays are no longer holidays."
"You feel the void, especially in the case of person who played a powerful role in our lives and united the whole family," Leiba said.
"We have not referred to what we were," she said. "Mother is not mother. She was strong, but today she is a wreck, and father died of grief at 63."
"I lost an amazing brother," she said. "Every year at this time I lose focus for a few days. I cannot think of anything else. The memories well up. It is impossible to describe the loss."
Yom Hazikaron is not only the day on which Israel honors its fallen soldiers, but also those killed in terror attacks by those seeking the destruction of the Jewish state.
Memorial services are held in cemetaries, government buildings, military bases, schools, and private venues to honor the dead and remind the Jewish nation of the cost of freedom and national sovereignty in its ancestral homeland.
Beginning at sundown on Tuesday, Yom Hazikaron will continue until sundown on Wednesday, when Israel's 64th Independence Day celebration will begin.