Metzuda winery went up in flames on very day of grape harvest

 

Eliyahu Bash, the manager of the Metzuda winery in Givat Ye’arim that went up in flames on Sunday due to the massive blaze – set apparently by arsonists – in the Jerusalem hills, told Galei Tzahal on Monday morning that “the winery is gone. It’s dust and ashes. Nothing is left. Around 150 barrels were burned. Last Thursday, we received a consignment of 30,000 new bottles that we were going to fill yesterday. It happened in the most tragic manner possible,” he said.

The fire – which is still burning as of this writing on Monday morning – is being called one of the largest blazes ever recorded in the wider Jerusalem area. It appears to have been set near the town of Beit Meir, an area targeted by arsonists in the past. Due to the strong westerly winds prevailing on Sunday, it spread rapidly to nearby communities which were swiftly evacuated – some 10,000 people were directly affected.

The Metzuda winery is a haredi-owned vineyard that was founded around a decade ago in the small town of Givat Ye’arim, around twenty minutes’ drive from Jerusalem, producing around 40,000 bottles of wine per year. On Sunday evening, Bash described the events of that terrible day to Kikar Hashabbat.

“It was going to be a day of harvesting the grapes,” Bash related. “We started work indoors that morning, and suddenly, the world seemed to be going dark outside. The skies looked strange, but we didn’t realize the reason why, and we went back to work.”

“After around a quarter of an hour, the electricity went down, and we started to get worried. We went outside and then we saw the flames – they were already approaching – and there was an acrid smell of smoke. Then we realized what was going on. All of us – all the winery workers – ran for our cars and fled for our lives.

“A quarter hour later or so, I tried to see what was going on at the winery from a distant vantage point, and I saw it going up in flames and I could actually hear the sounds of explosions as the bottles of wine shattered.”

Bash then related the extent of his losses: “The winery wasn’t insured, and we’re talking about damages amounting to around seven or eight million shekels,” he said. “When I realized the extent of what was happening, I strengthened my faith in the Al-mighty and reminded my friend that ‘We are obligated to bless G-d for the bad just as we bless for the good.’ I believe that everything is from G-d,” he stressed.

“Really, I don’t know yet how we will recover,” he added. “But my faith has become stronger as a result of this. I also heard from local residents that because of the winery, the fire was stopped in that area, which saved other houses in the town from going up in flames, and that thought gives me some solace.”

Bash noted that the blaze occurred in the Jewish month of Elul, during which Jews examine themselves for their misdeeds and return wholeheartedly to G-d, to follow His commandments with love and awe: “As we stood and watched the winery going up in flames, I was reminded of the prayers we recite on the High Holidays: Who by fire… who will be at ease; and who will be troubled… And I realized that the moment that G-d decided that the winery was going to be burned, that was it – there was nothing anyone could do about it – not the planes, not the fire fighters – because this was G-d’s will. And that thought comforted me.”

FBI Arrests Man Who Was Hours Away of Posting DNA Evidence that Proves Ilhnan Omar Married Her brother

 

Only hours after Minnesota GOP operative Anton Lazarro posted online DNA evidence that allegedly shows Rep. Ilhan Omar was once married to her brother, the FBI busted him. 

The test results stated there is a 99.999998 percent chance that Omar and her second husband, Ahmed Elmi, now her ex-husband, are siblings, according to an analysis by British company Endeavor DNA Laboratories. But before Minnesota Republican strategist Anton Lazarro could share the results with the media, he was arrested Thursday on underage sex-trafficking charges and jailed pending a court hearing Monday. 

His Web site, IlhanOmarDNA.com, containing the DNA test results, was online briefly before it was taken down Wednesday. 

Lazarro and a group of conservative donors had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on three continents hiring private investigators to track down Elmi Omar’s ex-husband in the UK and procure his DNA from a drinking straw. Omar’s DNA, Lazarro’s Web site claimed, was extracted from saliva on a cigarette butt she was photographed smoking. 

Omar previously has denied Elmi is her brother, calling the claim “absolutely false,” “absurd” and “offensive.” 

Special Agent Joy Hess, from the FBI’s Twin Cities field office, which investigated allegations that Omar married her brother Elmi to get around US immigration laws, says the “statute of limitations” had run out on the case. In a recorded conversation with an associate of Lazarro, posted on his Web site Wednesday, Hess also said that the FBI could not pursue the case because Omar’s ex-husband Elmi had moved overseas.

“The statute of limitations is over,” she said. “According to the US Attorney’s office The Statute of Limitations is not something we can overcome in that matter . . . The individual in question left the country so there’s nothing to [do],” she said. 

Asked if the new DNA evidence would be considered, she said: “All I can just say is that according to the United States Attorney’s Office the Statute of Limitations limits what we can do in this matter.” 

There is no statute of limitations for immigration fraud, but there also appears to be no appetite in Democratic-run Minneapolis to investigate the claim that has dogged the Democratic Squad member Omar for years. 

It is shoddy that private citizens felt compelled to do the FBI’s job. Why didn’t the FBI do their own DNA tests and clear up the cloud hanging over Omar’s head? 

The FBI did not respond to questions.

BIDEN"S DISASTER AS TALIBAN TAKEOVER: Afghan President Flees Country As Taliban Move Into Kabul ...Biden Runs and Hides in Camp David

 

Gunfire could be heard at Kabul International Airport on Monday morning as Afghan citizens flooded the tarmac, some clinging to the jet bridge of a plane, as they desperately tried to flee Taliban.

Afghanistan’s embattled president left the country Sunday, joining thousands of his fellow citizens and foreigners in a stampede fleeing the advancing Taliban and signaling the end of a 20-year Western experiment aimed at remaking the country.

The Taliban fanned out across the capital, and an official with the militant group said it would soon announce the creation of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan from the presidential palace in Kabul. That was the name of the country under Taliban rule before the militants were ousted by U.S.-led forces after the 9/11 attacks. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media.

The Al-Jazeera news network later aired footage showing a group of Taliban fighters inside the presidential palace.

The city was gripped by panic, with helicopters racing overhead throughout the day to evacuate personnel from the U.S. Embassy. Smoke rose near the compound as staff destroyed important documents, and the American flag was lowered. Several other Western missions also prepared to pull their people out.

Chinese State Media Publishes Anti-Semitic Caricature Of Tony Blinken

 

The Chinese state-owned news agency Xinhua published a caricature of US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken with appalling anti-Semitic imagery.

The caricature, which accompanied a report about a meeting between Blinken and WHO head Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Kuwait last month, depicts Blinken with a grossly enlarged nose, devil horns and an American flag cape symbolizing his “power over the world” holding a “COVID origin” report.

“This anti-Semitic tweet from Chinese state media is despicable,” the American Jewish Committee (AJC) stated.

“Xinhua’s depiction of [Blinken], a Jew and stepson of a Holocaust survivor, utilizes overt tropes of anti-Semitism, including a large nose, devil horns, and accusations of global control. What a shameful display.”

“Throughout history, anti-Semites have used ‘Jewish features,’ like enlarged noses, in cartoons or propaganda to sway the public against the Jewish people.”

The Rosh Yeshivah from Hell

 

In this week's Ami Magazine issued on August 11, a broken mother tells a horror story of how a popular Rosh Yeshivah lied and manipulated her, her husband and her 15 year old son.

In Chassidishe Yeshivos this would never have happened, since the bochrum who graduate elementary school continue their learning in the same Yeshiva for High School.  If a Chassidishe parent feels that the yeshiva is not a good fit for his child he will try to find him another unaffiliated place, but he can rest assured that his child has a place in the yeshiva he attended, if he wishes to continue.

If you are not Chassidish, but you are more or less Yeshivash, you are up the creek without a paddle.

You have to start searching for a Mesivta or a yeshiva gedoilah that would take your child in, and it's a bloody nightmare, especially if you have no money and no connections.

Did Lakewood Railroad R" Itche Meir Greenwald the Caterer?

 

Greenwald Caterers located in Lakewood, New Jersey started his catering operation in the kitchen of the Lakewood Cheder. The Cheder administration insisted that he be kosher certified by BMG’s KCL Hashgocha. Mr. Isaac Greenwald spoke to the Lakewood Roshei Yeshiva that when he opens his own commissary for the tri-State catering operation, he does not want to use the KCL, they agreed that he could take whomever he wants.

Greenwald Caterers opened his large catering commissary in Lakewood, and he took Rabbi Gornish from Brooklyn, New York, as he was an established Hashgocha for some large caterers in the Metro New York area.

BMG’s KCL started  a vicious campaign against Greenwald caterers to take the KCL. The Lakewood Roshei Yeshiva told Isaac Greenwald, “we know we told you that you don’t have to take the KCL for your hashgocha for your commissary, we changed our mind and you have to take the KCL, otherwise we will publicize that we will not eat from your catering establishment“.

Greenwald Caterers was forced to succumb to the threats and took the KCL and dropped Rabbi Gornish’s Hashgocha.

What is puzzling: at every affair, wedding, convention, etc. the Roshei Yeshiva attend and eat without even knowing if the caterer or Hashgocha are reliable; Yet by Greenwald, they will publicize that they don’t trust him because he does not use the KCL. A wake-up call?

Recently, at a Shabbos simcha catered by Greenwald, BMG’s KCL did not even send a mashgiach (Note: their mashgichim, often are not qualified). The host complained to one of the KCL Rabbonim, how come KCL did not have a mashgiach at my Shabbos affair? The KCL Rabbi got very upset on the host “one more complaint about the KCL the greatest Hashgocha, and we will remove our Hashgocha from Greenwald caterers”.

By the way, BMG’s KCL will never remove their hashgocha from anyplace, as long as they pay their fees and the additional “baksheesh”. BMG’s KCL has been milking heavy fees from Greenwald caterers among other certified establishments for the longest period of time. Isaac Greenwald is deathly afraid to get rid of BMG’s KCL, as the Lakewood Roshei Yeshiva will force him to close up. 

Related: Is KCL Really Kosher??

Posted by Yudel Shain- kashrusy@aol.com – I had shimush in Kashrus and Halacha by Reb Moshe Feinstein, Reb Yaakov Kamenetsky, Rav Neuschloss, The Debreciner Rav, Rav Pam, Rav Eliyashev, Reb Shlomo Zalman, Rav Shmuel Wosner, Z”L. I was appointed by Reb Shnuer Kotler as the kitchen Mashgiach in Bais Medrash Govoha (BMG). 

Over 160 future lone soldiers arrive in Israel with Nefesh B'Nefesh

 

A dozen future lone soldiers were among the olim who landed in Israel this week as  part of a Nefesh B'Nefesh flight, in cooperation with the Ministry of Aliyah and Integration, The Jewish Agency for Israel, Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael, JNF-USA and Tzofim-Garin Tzabar.

Some 160 lone soldiers from North America are making aliyah this summer, with approximately 300 expected to arrive by the end of 2021, the organization said.

"It is remarkable to see, that despite the obstacles and challenges over the last year and a half, these young men and women bravely pick up their lives and leave their families in order to contribute to the Jewish State," said Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, executive director of Nefesh B'Nefesh. "These future Lone Soldiers instill in all of us a huge sense of pride and embody the essence of Zionism by choosing to protect and serve the State of Israel."

Biden blowing America's reputation as world watches the Taliban's sick slaughter rampage

 

Afghan citizens face executions, forced marriages and other possible war crimes as the Taliban sweeps across the country, wrestling control from ineffective government forces as the U.S. troop withdrawal nears, according to U.S. officials and watchdog groups.

The militants have seized territory at an alarming rate while Afghan government troops and their allied militias fail to put up an effective resistance – surrendering at times without even putting up a fight.

The U.S. embassy in Kabul said Wednesday that it was receiving reports that Taliban members were executing surrendering Afghan troops and unlawfully detaining some members of the government, including military leaders, provincial officials and police officers.

The executions "could constitute war crimes," the embassy tweeted.

A Taliban spokesman denied that the group was executing prisoners to the Wall Street Journal earlier this week, even as witness accounts contradicted that claim. The Taliban has also denied allegations that its militants have demanded conquered territories provide them with females aged 15 and older as brides.

"The Taliban’s statements in Doha do not resemble their actions in Badakhshan, Ghazni, Helmand & Kandahar," Ross Wilson, the U.S. chargé d’affaires in Kabul, wrote on Twitter, referencing stalled peace talks going on in the capital of Qatar. "Attempts to monopolize power through violence, fear, & war will only lead to international isolation."

Biden Begging Taliban Terrorists To Spare U.S. Embassy In Kabul

 

Democrat President Joe Biden’s administration is reportedly pleading with Taliban terrorists to spare the U.S. Embassy in Kabul as the the extremist group has rapidly regained control of the majority of Afghanistan.

“American negotiators are trying to extract assurances from the Taliban that they will not attack the U.S. Embassy in Kabul if the extremist group takes over the country’s government and ever wants to receive foreign aid,” The New York Times reported. “The effort, led by Zalmay Khalilzad, the chief American envoy in talks with the Taliban, seeks to stave off a full evacuation of the embassy as they rapidly seize cities across Afghanistan.”

The news comes as the Taliban seized Kandahar and Herat on Thursday, two of the largest cities in Afghanistan. The Taliban now controls 12 of Afghanistan’s 34 provincial capitals, an estimated two-thirds of the country, and has cut off a critical highway linking Kabul to the nation’s southern provinces. U.S. officials suggest that Kabul could fall to the terrorists in a matter of weeks.

Convicted conman sues his NYC victims — and wins $12M

 

A convicted thief has successfully sued a family for more than $12 million — after robbing them of $1 million, his victims claim.

The Queens conman — who raked in more than $1 million by swiping the IDs of six unsuspecting family members more than a decade ago — could now walk away with an even bigger pile of cash after convincing a Manhattan jury that his victims were to blame for his criminal conviction, according to court records.

The victims claim they had no idea the lawsuit filed against them by ex-con Jacob Milton had gone to trial, until getting an Aug. 5 letter telling them they owed him a whopping $12.5 million.

“How can victims of his fraud ‘repay’ him this amount when their financial lives are still hurt by this?” said Kate Alvarez, a family member of one of the victims.

Milton, 55, was a Queens mortgage broker who pleaded guilty to grand larceny and served three years behind bars.

He was accused of taking out hefty mortgages and running up huge credit card bills on behalf of more than half a dozen unsuspecting victims in the 2007 scheme, six of whom are related. In 2010, Milton was sentenced to two to six years in prison, according to the Queens District Attorney’s Office.

About a year after Milton got his freedom back, he lodged a $50 million lawsuit against the people he stole from — claiming they’d wrongly accused him, court documents show.

The family — Mayra Macias, Juan C. Alvarez, Juan B. Alvarez, Lorena Alvarez, Martha Viteri and Hector Sandoval — initially hired lawyer Noah Goldstein to fight the case.

But when Goldstein later dropped out of the case, they failed to hire a new lawyer or respond to orders from the judge directing them to appear at court.

“The family said they had no idea a trial was scheduled and held, and a judgment awarded until last week,” said Goldstein, who has reconnected with the family. “The jury, seeing an empty defendant’s chair, probably [thought] they [were] supposed to believe Milton and give him what he wants.”

Milton’s lawyer, John DeMaio, told the court in 2017 he’d mailed the victims various documents alerting them to the proceedings as the case dragged on, legal papers show.

“I have no reason to believe Defendants will ever appear,” he wrote in one 2018 filing.

The case landed in front of a jury in Justice Doris Ling-Cohan’s courtroom in March 2019.

Alvarez insisted that “no letter was ever received stating any court date or document saying they had to show up or else. Instead they receive this first letter stating he won his case and [they] have to pay 12 million.”

The victims can go back to court and try to wipe out the judgment, or appeal, said Lucian Chalfen, spokesman for the state Office of Court Administration.

Milton, a Bangladeshi immigrant with a bombastic personality who once had a public access television show in Queens called “We Are The People With Jacob Milton,” has maintained his innocence despite his guilty plea.

Reached for comment, Milton claimed to The Post that the prosecutors who handled his case misrepresented evidence, and repeated his allegations that his victims in the criminal case had falsely accused him.

Goldstein told The Post he is expected to meet with them Monday. The victims declined comment to The Post.