‘Divorcee’ Restaurant Opens In J’Lem With Rabbinate Kashrus After Badatz Bet Yosef Refused Hechsher Over Name

 

The Badatz Bet Yosef, affiliated with the followers of Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, refused to grant a hechsher to a new restaurant opening on Jerusalem’s Yaffo street, due to the name chosen for the eatery- “The Divorcee’. 

The owner of the restaurant, Tehilla Waknin, is a divorcee who decided to take the pain of her own divorce and use it humorously for her business enterprise, which offers reductions for “divorcees paying child support” as well as stating that “You don’t have to get married for food” and “You can’t cheat on food.”

Waknin, who left her religious way of life after getting a divorce from her abusive husband, said that she was “shocked” by the Badatz’s decision. “I am a single mother who emerged from a shelter for abused women. The title of ‘divorcee’ has been central to my life. I couldn’t stay chareidi after they shunned me and called me a shiksa. I bled for my status,” Waknin added. She decided to promote her culinary talents by opening a Moroccan-style restaurant, which was slated to open last week.

Apparently people had told the Badatz about the name of the establishment and the picture she used of a curly-haired woman and they had decided to remove the hechsher, forcing her to delay opening and race to find another hechsher. In the end, Rabbi Shlomo Amar from the Jerusalem Rabbinate granted her a hechsher and she says that “The rabbinate is no less strict than other hechsherim, in some ways it is stricter.”

“I insisted on a hechsher since I want to serve the chareidi community and see it enjoy my delicacies, this is the community I wished to work with,” Waknin said. On her Facebook page she added that “I took all of my fears and turned them into humor. The name is not meant to make noise and antagonism. There is a lot of meaning behind it. Divorcee is not something negative, divorcee means a woman who is fighting for her rights.”

The restaurant formally opened with the new hechsher on Sunday, July 2nd.

May one report Jewish Ponzi Schemers to secular authorities, even if it will hurt their children?

 

Unfortunately, there has been a trend of Ponzi Schemes and other scams which have plagued the frum community of late.

Rabbi Dovid Lichtenstein, host of the “Halacha Headlines” podcast, discussed this serious matter on his latest episode.

One of his guests was Rav Shmuel Fuerst shlit’a, Rav of Agudas Yisrael of Chicago, a renowned Dayan and Posek, and one of America’s leading Gedolim.

R’ Lichtenstein asked if it is considered lashon hara to discuss someone [who is committing a Ponzi Scheme].

Rav Fuerst repled, “If you know this person is not ehrlich…and the chance is that [the investor] will most probably not get their money back, it is not lashon hara.”

He continued, “Fakhert (on the contrary)–It is ‘Lo Saamod al dam rayecha’ to not warn people.” (It is considered standing by while a Jew is in danger, which is forbidden). He quoted the Chafetz Chaim who says this applies not only to life-and-death matters but financial matters as well.

Rabbi Fuerst added that sometimes the yetzer hara tries to persuade people that it is lashon hara, when in fact it is not.

The Rav added that not only is one allowed to warn, he is obligated to do so.

Guys! Daven for our Children in Uniform.. Netanyahu: Jenin became a haven for terror; we're putting a stop to it

 

Let's put our differences aside and say a couple capitlach tehillim for our IDF soldiers who are putting their lives on the line. If you are learning in kollel, dedicate your learning for your brothers and sisters who are fighting for us. Whether you are for the draft or against the draft, for Zionism or against Zionism put your theological ideas aside and feel for those who are in uniform! 

At the end of a security situational assessment, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu commented on the military operation in Jenin and said that "the IDF last night launched an extensive operation against terrorist targets in Jenin. In recent months, Jenin has become a haven for terrorism - we are putting an end to it."

"Our forces entered Jenin into the nests of terrorists - they eliminate terrorists, they arrest wanted persons, they destroy headquarters and seize many weapons, and they do another thing - they destroy laboratories on an almost industrial scale. Laboratories from which they made explosives and IEDs intended for the slaughter and murder of Israeli civilians. They are doing all of this in one of the densest places on earth, and they are doing it with minimal harm to civilians up to this moment, and no harm to those not involved, and this is the directive - to look after the security of our forces and also to avoid harming innocent people as much as possible," Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu also said that "I have been saying for some time that we are dealing with changing the equation against terrorism, we did it two and a half years ago in Operation Guardian of the Walls against Hamas, we set it back a decade. We did it a few weeks ago in Operation Shield and Arrow, in which we eliminated senior Islamic Jihad leaders, and we are doing it today in Jenin through a combination of surprise measures, power, and changing the rules. This also adds to the deterrence capacity of the State of Israel, both to protect against additional terrorist attacks and to change the equation in the region."

At the end of his speech, Netanyahu said: "I would like to thank and express my appreciation to the Minister of Defense, the Chief of Staff, the head of the Shin Bet, and the IDF commanders - those here and those in the field, and the soldiers who are doing an outstanding job. I know that all the citizens of Israel stand behind them. We will continue this action as much as possible required to restore peace and security to the citizens of Israel."

General Mills Among 15 Companies to Stop Doing Business in Israeli Settlements: UN Report

 

The United Nations (UN) High Commissioner for Human Rights has removed General Mills and 14 other business entities from a blacklist of companies identified as working in Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

General Mills, which earned $19 billion in 2022 and is the company behind Honey Nut Cheerios and Haagen-Dazs, first announced plans to sell its stake in a factory it managed in partnership with Bodan Holding, an Israeli investment group, in an industrial zone near East Jerusalem last June. The company, however, denied that its decision was motivated by politics.

“We have made clear the global business strategy that drove this decision,” a spokesperson for the company told Jewish Telegraphic Agency at the time. “Any claims by others for taking credit for this decision are false. We continue to sell our product in Israel and look forward to continuing to serve Israeli consumers with our other brands.”

Yehuda Glick on Trial for Walking Too Slowly on Temple Mount

 

Last Wednesday, former Likud MK Yehuda Glick appeared for the opening of another trial against him, this time for walking slowly on the Temple Mount, Makor Rishon reported on Sunday. The police made it clear at the initial hearing that it intends to demand a prison sentence for Glick, as a warning to others.

The last time, the State of Israel prosecuted Glick was based on accusations by an Arab woman, a member of the Islamist movement al-Murabitat, who said that Glik beat her. In the end, the police had to withdraw the indictment in shame, when it was proven that the woman made up the accusation. But Glick had been harassed by the prosecution for a year and a half, during which he barely survived an assassination attempt on his life.

Is it any wonder he walks slowly?

According to the indictment, in early 2020, “At the end of the tour, the accused returned and tried again to enter the Temple Mount area alone. Later, the accused joined another group and began the tour, but stopped every few steps, walked slowly, and looked at his mobile phone. This was despite the fact that he was asked time and time again by the policeman to keep walking and join the group. However, the accused did not obey his instructions. The accused continued to ignore the policeman’s instructions and deviated from the group’s route, which was moving in a different direction.”

Off with his head!

The police want to bring no less than 25 prosecution witnesses to court, which could take years. Let’s face it, the Jerusalem cops are mad at the redheaded former MK, who is amazingly mild-mannered despite his carrot top. But he refuses to ask How high every time a policeman orders him to jump. Instead, on several occasions he opted to sit down and let the cops carry him out of the compound.

So, these are the priorities of the Israel police: hundreds of anarchists are allowed to storm Ayalon Highway, burn tires outside the homes of government officials, and sabotage Ben Gurion International Airport, while a sweet, ginger-haired man is cuffed and prosecuted for taking his time at the home of his Father.

We’re so lucky to have a right-wing government…

Eric Adams Doubles Down As He Lashes Out at 84 Year Old Who Fled Nazis

The Mayor, a shvartzer, I say say "shvartzer" because he himself  brings it up every single time he is confronted with a question he cannot answer, was the favorite of the chareidie askanim, not that they had a choice, but its time to put up republicans even if they cannot win. 

The "shvartzer" mayor seems to forget that all those who elected him are in fact "plantation owners" in the sense that he is supposed to be their servant, wasn't he elected to "serve?" 

Mayor Eric Adams doubled down on comments he made Wednesday, comparing an 84-year-old whose family fled the Holocaust to a plantation owner.

At a town hall event in Hamilton Heights on Wednesday, Adams was interrupted by Jeanie Dubnau, an advocate for housing rights and an assistant professor of biology at Rutgers University.

She confronted him for supporting a recent decision that would result in rent increases for tenants in rent-stabilized apartments.

Pregnant Chareidie Lady Mother of 12 Smuggles into Israel 400,000 Shekels worth of Cancer Sticks

 

 A chareidi couple from Antwerp attempted to pass through the green route at the Ben Gurion airport customs checkpoint but were brought back for suitcase checking, which revealed that they were carrying 868 packets of imported cigarettes and 1,430 packets of tobacco, worth a total of 400,000 NIS. The taxes on these items amount to 250,000 NIS.

The couple, parents of 12 children and expecting another child, were arrested and released on bail. The customs authorities stated that the couple’s suitcases did  not have ID tags as required in order to try and dupe the customs workers.

The Rishon Letzion Magistrates court set bail at 50,000 NIS for each of the couple, as well as a third party guarantee of 50,000 NIS and a 20,000 NIS deposit for each of the suspects. The couple’s lawter claimed that they are foreign residents who come once or twice a month to visit relatives and have a large family to maintain in Belgium. Judge Gil Gabbai issued  a restraining order preventing them from leaving the country until Sunday, 9th of July.

Twitter New Policy limit how much content they can access and of what kind.

 

Twitter owner Elon Musk announced that from now on unverified accounts in the Twitter Blue program (that do not pay for a monthly subscription) will be limited to reading only 600 posts per day, compared to verified accounts which will be able to read 6,000 posts per post per day.

At the same time, the social network on Friday began to require users to connect to the service in order to view public tweets, or user profiles.

According to Musk, the reason for the move is "to deal with large volumes of information mining, or 'scraping,' and system malfunctions."

In addition, Musk noted that new accounts that have not been verified will be able to read a maximum of 300 posts per day.

Charming Little Israeli Girl Sings Her Heart Out!

 

El Al owner used fraudulent nursing home funds to buy airline, New York AG Letitia James claims.

 

 New York State Attorney General Letitia James accused Jewish owners of four nursing homes in New York of misusing $83 million in government funds and diverting them towards the purchase of Israel’s national airline, El Al.

In a lawsuit filed this week, James alleges that instead of employing the funds to care for residents and hire adequate staff, Kenneth Rozenberg and Daryl Hagler, the owners of Centers Health Care, have been using the money for their own personal benefit. In 2020, Rozenberg purchased a controlling stake in the Israeli airline El Al for $107 million. Hagler became a director of El Al in 2021, and per the suit spent $132 million in 2022 to purchase three properties in Brooklyn and Queens.

“Rozenberg’s investment in El Al, which ultimately allowed him to become the controlling shareholder of the airline, was made possible by his and Hagler’s longstanding pattern of fraud and illegality,” the suit says.