Tensions rise at a pro-Hamas rally, a Muslim woman tells a ‘Queer for Palestine’ that he must leave the protest and that he is not welcome there.
Saturday, September 7, 2024
Chaverim of Rockland Helps Rescue Local Woman from Scammer’s Trap
In a fast and coordinated response, Chaverim of Rockland successfully intervened in a scam that targeted a local woman in our community today.
Earlier in the day, the victim received a phone call from an individual posing as a detective, claiming there was suspicious activity on her bank account. To make the scam appear legitimate, the scammers spoofed the Ramapo Police Department’s phone number and warned her that failure to comply would result in her arrest and frozen accounts.
In a state of panic, the woman took a taxi to the M&T Bank on Route 59, where she withdrew $5,000 from her account. Following the scammer’s instructions, she then proceeded to CVS at the corner of Grandview Avenue and Route 306 to purchase gift cards. However, the CVS teller, recognizing something was off, refused to sell her the gift cards as she did not have her ID. The woman called her husband to bring her ID and informed him she would return home to retrieve it.
After this conversation, her husband lost contact with her and, growing increasingly concerned, reached out to Chaverim for assistance. Simultaneously, the scammer, who was still on the phone with her, instructed her to cancel her taxi ride home, promising to send a new one to take her to a different store where she could buy the gift cards without needing an ID.
Upon receiving the call from the woman’s husband, Chaverim quickly dispatched its members, initiating a search across local stores known for selling gift cards. They also coordinated with Arrive Taxi Company to track her movements and deployed drones and camera units to review surveillance footage.
One of Chaverim’s members eventually spotted the woman exiting Sephora at the Nanuet Mall with a stack of gift cards in hand. By this time, she had already given the scammers $2,000 worth of card numbers. The member immediately approached her, explained that she was being scammed, and managed to recover the remaining $3,000 in gift cards before any further loss occurred. Though initially resistant due to fear of arrest, the woman was reassured and convinced of her safety.
Meanwhile, Chaverim’s Coordinator Yossi Margeratten had been working with the Ramapo Police Department to have Verizon ping her phone. However, because the woman was not considered in immediate danger, Verizon declined the request without a court order. Fortunately, before the court order could be obtained, the woman was successfully located.
We encourage the community to stay alert. If you encounter any suspicious activity, don’t hesitate to contact local authorities for assistance.
Suspect’s Vehicle Seized in Search for Missing Israeli Girl
A major break in the case of missing 9-year-old Hymanut Kassou has emerged after six months.
Police seized a suspect's vehicle linked to her disappearance near a Tzfat immigration center.
The car, repainted and modified, may have trapped the girl inside.
No further info at this time
Friday, September 6, 2024
RFK Jr. Hits Candace Ovens for ‘Sickening’ Attack on the Lubavitcher Rebbe
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. late Wednesday tore into conservative commentator Candace Owens for her claims about the late Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Schneerson during a podcast debate with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach, calling her characterization of the famed rabbi “sickening.”
“Candace Owens referred to what she termed ‘radical Judaism’ and characterized the iconic Lubavitcher Rebbe Menachem Schneerson, as someone who ‘preached Jewish supremacism and hatred of all non-Jews,'” Kennedy posted on X after the debate, conducted on the “Piers Morgan Unleashed” podcast.
Her words, said Kennedy, “are a sickening and manifestly inaccurate description of a revered holy man who was respected and beloved by people of all faiths.”
He noted that his father, the late Robert F. Kennedy, considered Schneerson a “spiritual mentor and sought his advice on diverse issues of morality and ethics.”
“Rabbi Schneerson preached a message of unadulterated love, tolerance, respect, and universal justice for all of humanity,” said Kennedy, adding that his father “once visited the Rebbe at 2 o’clock in the morning.”
“As Americans, we need to distance ourselves from the troubling rise in antisemitism,” said Kennedy. “We need unity in our country, not divisiveness. That’s what Rabbi Schneerson stood for.”
All-female Hasidic EMT corps expanding Brooklyn footprint with second ambulance
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| Freier, Freier Levine and Spiegel outside their ambulance. |
Brooklyn’s all-female EMT corps comprised of ultra-Orthodox Jewish women is expanding its reach in the Big Apple – providing life support services despite opposition from their male counterparts.
The Ezras Nashim – meaning “helping women” in Hebrew – estimates it has received 1,500 calls within a 2.7 square-mile-area in Borough Park, assisting with everything from pregnant women in labor to critical care transport since getting their ambulance license in 2020.
The expansion comes after intense opposition from the traditional all-male EMT Hatzalah squad in the neighborhood, who petitioned against the Ezras Nashim’s first ambulance, the group said.
“I can’t necessarily say it’s going to any specific area — it’s going to go to a central location where we can serve several areas,” Freier, a 59-year-old paramedic, said – listing off neighborhoods like Ocean Parkway, Coney Island, Prospect Park, Crown Heights and Williamsburg.”
“As we’re able to monitor the call volume, and which communities need us more, that’s when we can officially expand,” she said.
To other ultra-Orthodox women, like Hinda Frankel, the 24/7 volunteer fleet is a godsend.
Frankel, 74, first encountered the Ezras Nashim when she sliced her finger open on a potato peeler, causing blood to “gush” everywhere, she told The Post. At that moment, her daughter Reisey encouraged her to call up the all-female fleet.
“I feel women understand women better — they just do,” Frankel, of Borough Park, said. “I felt safe. I felt taken care of. They were so compassionate.”
Freier, who was the ambulance driver on the day of the call, says it was just another day on the job (the judge is also the subject of the documentary “93Queen,” named for the radio code given to the EMT group from the FDNY).
“We handle calls from birth to death,” she said. “From someone giving birth after delivering a baby in a bathtub or on the floor, and we’ve also had women whose dying wish was to be transported in our ambulance.”
Word of the ladies’ fleet has since spread by word of mouth to other religious women outside of Judaism — Ezras Nashim also answers calls from Muslim and African women, among other populations who request their service.
The acquisition of a second ambulance wouldn’t have been believable just a few years ago, Freier said, as the EMTs’ application for their first ambulance was vehemently criticized by not only Hatzalah, but many rabbis as well, The Post previously reported.
A state agency denied Ezras Nashim’s application in 2019 – which the female EMTs say was influenced by Hatzalah members.
It wasn’t until NYS Emergency Medical Services Council approved the certificate 23-2 the following year that the corps achieved their victory: a $91,000 ambulance wrapped in calming hues of purples and white.
For $220,000, the second ambulance is a smaller van-style ambulance so they can deal with heavy traffic more effortlessly, Freier said.
The female fleet of EMTs are also ramping up their life-saving efforts through the group’s new Advanced Life Support certification – which allows them to monitor EKGs, administer medication through IVs, use heart monitors and more.
The advanced skills – which required 18 months of training, versus the 180 hours required for EMT services – is a crucial step for women in the community, Freier said.
It’s also a step she wouldn’t normally be allowed to take if she weren’t providing life-saving services.
“All the religious restrictions that we have are overwritten to save a life. If I wasn’t a trained first responder, it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to go and drive the ambulance and treat patients because I’m not allowed to do it,” Freier said.
Freier’s daughter, Ezras Nashim COO Leah Freier Levine, told The Post she used Ezras Nashim to take her to the hospital for her last two births – and may just call them again when her third child is due next month.
“Despite all odds and despite the naysayers, we really grew so much,” Levine, 26, reflected. “It’s so important to me to help the women in my community but the work I do.”
Levine dreams of expanding Ezras Nashim into a nationwide operation, noting she’s received requests to bring the service to Chicago, Los Angeles and Florida.
“I’m getting calls and emails every day, … ‘we need you, we want you,’” she said.
“Starting with our first new expansion is like the first stepping stone and it’s showing you [that], yes, we can expand – and we’re going to do it.”
Sinwar Has Plans To Smuggle Himself And Hostages thru the Philadelphi Corridor To Iran
A captured senior Hamas official has revealed a plan by Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar to smuggle himself, other leaders, and Israeli hostages through the Philadelphi Corridor to Sinai and eventually to Iran, according to a report by the Jewish Chronicle.
The plan was uncovered during the official’s interrogation by Israeli security forces and from documents seized last week, the same day the bodies of six murdered hostages were retrieved.
Sinwar allegedly believes Hamas’s end is near and seeks to escape to Iran. Therefore, Hamas is insisting on Israel withdrawing from the Philadelphi Corridor, which runs along the Egyptian border.
On Thursday, Prime Minister Netanyahu denied reports of a looming deal with Hamas, calling it a “false narrative.” He emphasized the importance of maintaining control over the Philadelphi Corridor, saying:
“It prevents Gaza from becoming this Iranian terror enclave again… and it’s also the way to prevent them from smuggling hostages… into Egypt, into the Sinai, where they could disappear, and then they’ll end up in Iran or in Yemen, and they’re lost forever.”
Rav Avremel Ausband, Rosh Yeshivas Telshe-Riverdale, Niftar After Collapsing In Yeshiva
Harav Avremel Ausband zt”l, the longtime rosh yeshiva of Telshe in Riverdale, who was Manhig thousands of Talmidim with his wit and wisdom over his decades in Chinuch was niftar. He was 76 years old.
The venerated rosh yeshiva, one of the foremost Gedolei Torah in America, whose Hadracha was sought after by countless people, collapsed in the Riverdale Yeshiva today – the first day of Elul Zman. Despite attempts to revive him, the Rosh Yeshiva was sadly niftar a short time later.
Rav Avremel zt”l was one of the leading roshei yeshivos in the United States and a fifth generation Telsher. He is a son of Rav Eizik Ausband zt”l, the longtime rosh yeshiva in Telshe Cleveland, and a son-in-law of Rav Binyamin Zeilberger zt”l, rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Bais Hatalmud in Bensonhurst.
His mother, Rebbetzin Chaya Ausband a”h, was one of three daughters of Rav Avraham Yitzchok Bloch zt”l, the rosh yeshiva in Telshe in Lithuania, to survive the Holocaust. His aunt married Rav Boruch Sorotzkin zt”l, who later became rosh yeshiva of Telshe.
The Rosh Yeshiva’s petirah is a massive loss for the Olam Hayeshivos, but his legacy of Harbotzas Hatorah will last for eternity.
The Paroches has been removed in Riverdale Yeshiva’s Bais Medrash. The Rosh Yeshiva said Shiur earlier today with his usual vigor and energy, and no visible ailments, sources tell YWN.
The levaya is tentatively scheduled to take place at 10:30 AM on Friday morning at the yeshiva, 640 West 249th Street, Bronx, NY 10471. The Niftar will be flown on Motzei Shabbos to Eretz Yisroel for a Levaya and Kevura.
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