The New Rav of the Gordon Jewish Community Center in Nashville Arrested!

 

A 31-year-old Maryville man, Travis Keith Garland, was arrested after disguising himself as an Orthodox Jewish rabbi and causing alarm at the Gordon Jewish Community Center in Nashville on January 13, according to Metro Nashville Police.

Garland, wearing a fake beard, sidelocks, and traditional attire, entered the center asking to speak with a rabbi. Ignoring staff instructions, he attempted to enter a restricted area before being stopped by security.

The security guard, concerned Garland might attempt to grab his firearm, escorted him off the property. Garland later claimed his actions were part of an internet prank.

Following further investigation, Garland was arrested on charges of criminal trespassing and assault, with his bond set at $250,000. The JCC praised staff and security for their swift and professional response. MNPD detectives continue to investigate the incident.

Real Estate Attorney Mark Nussbaum has shut down his law firm amid allegations

 

The abrupt shuttering comes amid allegations the lawyer, known as a go-to attorney for Lakewood & Brooklyn real estate investors, refused to hand over escrow funds. And filings obtained by The Real Deal show previously unreported links between the Nussbaum Lowinger LLP founder & late Borough Park investor Mendel Steiner.

Steiner died last week at age 33 sending shockwaves through the close-knit Orthodox Jewish community. Steiner in his brief real estate career amassed 1000s of apts throughout the country.

Steiner struggled in recent years financially & faced at least one foreclosure in Florida where he took on a high-interest loan.

Rumors took off about Steiner’s sudden death. The Promote newsletter wrote that a lawsuit filed last week against Nussbaum was “important context to understand Steiner,” citing community sources.

“It has been a pleasure & privilege to work with you & serve as your counsel over the years,” said Nussbaum in an email to clients. “I value the connections we made & relationships we formed & justifiably proud of transactions we consummated & closed together.”

Nussbaum said the firm retained counsel, Ethan Kobre of Schwartz Sladkus Reich Greenberg Atlas, to represent it in the wind-down. Anyone who had funds in the firm’s escrow account can contact Kobre, according to the email.

Scandalous conspiracy theories

The lawsuit filed in Rockland County by an entity connected to nursing home manager Jacob Sod alleges Nussbaum failed to hand over $15 million in escrow. The lender alleges the money was used by Nussbaum to “show capital” to evidence purchasing power.

“Mr. Nussbaum prefers not to comment on ongoing litigation,” said Kobre in a statement to TRD.

Nussbaum responded this week to the lawsuit arguing the plaintiff is suing the wrong party. His response suggests the proper party is the borrower, a Delaware company Georgetown Residents. Nussbaum was just the person who acted as signatory on documents, according to his filing.

Nussbaum called Sod’s complaint a “confused mess of scandalous conspiracy theories” in his legal filing.

TRD found that Georgetown Residents LLC has a direct tie to Steiner by digging through corporate records & lawsuits. Georgetown Residents’ Borough Park business address is used by Aven Realty. Florida records list Steiner as the authorized person for Aven.

Aven is one firm used by Steiner’s real estate ventures. Georgetown Residents LLC is tied to a rental property in Lafayette, Indiana, owned by Steiner.

The full connection between Steiner & Nussbaum is unclear. According to Nussbaum’s response to the lawsuit, Steiner-linked Georgetown Residents were the recipients of the $15 million. The purpose of the loan was for “transacting business.”

Nussbaum alleges his law firms, Nussbaum Lowinger & Mark J. Nussbaum Associates, have no obligations under the loan documents.

Nussbaum’s name appeared in deals with dealmakers such as Shaya Prager’s Opal Holdings, Joel Schreiber, Moshe Silber & Yoel Goldman.

Nussbaum is battling another lawsuit in NY Supreme Court alleging his firm, Nussbaum Lowinger, hindered collection of a judgment in Florida. He has not yet responded to that lawsuit.

Mark Nussbaum refuses to hand over escrow money, lawsuit claims

​Below the previous article 

Zera Shimshon Parshas Shemos

 

List of Hostages Expected to Be Released in Stage 1

 List of Hostages Expected to Be Released in Stage 1 (Alphabetical Order):

1. Liri Elbag


2. Itzik Algart


3. Karina Arayev


4. Ohad Ben-Ami


5. Ariel Bibas


6. Yarden Bibas


7. Kfir Bibas


8. Shiri Bibas-Silverman


9. Agam Berger


10. Romi Gonen


11. Daniela Gilboa


12. Emily Damari


13. Sagiv Dekel-Chen


14. Yair Horn


15. Omer Vankrat


16. Alexander Trofanov


17. Arbel Yehud


18. Ohad Yahalomi


19. Elia Cohen


20. Or Levi


21. Naama Levi


22. Oded Lifshitz


23. Gad Moshe Moses


24. Avraham (Avra) Mengistu


25. Shlomo Mansour


26. Keith Samuel Sigal


27. Tzachi Idan


28. Ofer Calderon


29. Tal Shoham


30. Doron Steinbrecher


31. Omer Shemtov


32. Hisham Shaaban al-Sayed


33. Eliyahu Sharabi

Clip of Lubavitcher Rebbe z"l Against Negotiating With the Enemy

 

Biden Uses His Final Days To Leave Behind Minefield Of Obstacles For Trump

 

In his final days as president, Joe Biden has made a series of moves that set the Trump administration up for a tougher transition and first 100 days in office.

From approving more student debt relief to trying to auction off part of the border wall, there has been a flurry of last-minute maneuvers.

President-elect Donald Trump first voiced his frustration with Biden and his administration while appearing on the Hugh Hewitt show Jan. 6.

“They talk about a transition, they’re always saying they want to have a smooth transition of party to party, of government. Well, they’re making it really difficult. They’re throwing everything they can in the way, they’re giving out trillions of dollars in nonsense, in Green New Deal crap, that isn’t worth a damn thing,” an irritated Trump told Hewitt.

Trump initially called out Biden’s actions during the transition as the president moved to ban future offshore oil and gas activity across 625 million acres of the outer continental shelf. That area alone is larger than the amount of land included in the Louisiana Purchase of 1803. The action, which incoming White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt called disgraceful, will shut down future drilling along the East Coast, the eastern Gulf of Mexico, 250 million acres along the West Coast and 44 million acres of the Bering Sea along the Alaskan Coast.

Khamenei hails ceasefire deal as 'defeat' for Israel

 Iran's Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, hailed the impending ceasefire and hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas as a defeat for Israel.

"It will be written in books that there was a mob who once killed thousands of children and women in Gaza," Khamenei wrote in a post on social media site X.

He attributed the ceasefire to "the patience of the people and the steadfastness of Palestinian resistance and the Resistance Front."

Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) also hailed the ceasefire as a "victory" for the Palestinian Arab cause and a defeat for Israel.

"The end of the war and the imposition of a ceasefire... is a clear victory and a great triumph for Palestine and a bigger defeat for the monstrous Zionist regime," the IRGC said.

Iran has long been known to be one of the main benefactors of Hamas and has transferred hundreds of millions of dollars to the group and its leaders.

After years of strained ties, the relations appeared to have improved in 2017, when then-Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh thanked Iran for its "unlimited" support for the Al-Qassam Brigades and its contribution to the development of Hamas' military capabilities.

Former Hamas deputy leader Saleh al-Arouri, who was eliminated in Lebanon last year, made several visits to Iran in recent years in which he met with senior officials, including Khamenei, another indication that the rift is over.

Major European Carriers to Resume Israel Flights in February

 

 The Lufthansa Group of airlines will resume service to Israel next month, it announced on Thursday.

The move by the global aviation group, which includes Lufthansa, Swiss International Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, ITA Airways and Eurowings, comes as an increasing number of foreign airlines are renewing flights to Ben-Gurion International Airport as regional tensions de-escalate.

British Airways and Air France are expected to follow suit.

The three major U.S. legacy carriers are still not flying to Israel.

United and American Airlines suspended flights to Israel indefinitely, while Delta is scheduled to resume flights to Tel Aviv in April. United and Delta sought to restart flights to Israel periodically over the last year, only to extend the suspension of service following flareups in the war, while American has stayed away entirely. A United spokesperson told JNS on Wednesday that the company had no news to offer yet on the renewal of flights.

Lufthansa will operate daily flights between Frankfurt and Munich, and Israel, starting on Feb. 1, Swiss will operate daily flights to Zurich, Austrian Airlines will run daily service to Vienna, Brussels Airlines will run three weekly flights, and Eurowings will fly twice weekly to Düsseldorf. The gradual resumption of flights is expected to accelerate in the spring.

Renewed service by major European airlines follows the resumption of service by popular low-cost carriers.

Hungary-based Wizzair has already resumed it flights, while Ireland’s Ryanair is due to renew service this spring, returning to a full schedule in the summer.

January and February are typically the slowest months for travel to Israel. Some 48,000 passengers passed through Ben-Gurion International Airport on Thursday on more than 300 international flights, including 25,600 departing Israel and 22,400 arriving, according to the Israel Airports Authority.

They Love Donald Trump — but Hate the Israel-Hamas Ceasefire Deal He Demanded

 

The pundit on Israel’s right-wing news channel was visibly anxious.

One American president, said Yuval Malka, presented a “window of opportunity” for Israel to have free rein across the Middle East. But the other, he cautioned, was fickle, appearing to love Israel but liable to leave it in the lurch and constrain its military might.

The president he said Israelis should fear? Donald Trump.

“Remember what I’m saying: Don’t be impressed by Trump, and don’t be impressed by his taking office,” Malka, a former military police official, said on Israeli Channel 14 this week. “We needed to, and we still can, take advantage of the window of opportunity in the gaps between the outgoing administration and incoming administration to do everything we think we need to do, both in Gaza and Iran.”

He added, “We’ll be left here without the ability to execute anything. So we need to do — as fast as possible, before he takes office — everything we think needs to happen, and to create a fact on the ground.”

Mendel Roth Describes 1st Week In IDF ‘We Are Making History’

  At the end of his first week of basic training in the Chashmonaim brigade, new recruit Mendel Roth summarized his first week in the army, as he left for Shabbat leave:

 “Everyone asks, well, how was it in the army? I must say it was amazing, wonderful. Really, sweet guys, all of them with fire in their eyes, great determination, knowing that we are making history, doing something big for the people of Israel. It was incredible.

“And I must add: this brigade, the Chashmonaim, is not just a place to learn to be a soldier, but also a place where you don’t lose your Yiras Shamayim (fear of Heaven). It’s actually a place to absorb the fear of Heaven. The unit commander is a person who was a teacher at a yeshiva for ten years, in addition to having been in the Maglan unit for many years. My sergeant is a righteous Jew, humble, with the fear of Heaven on his face. This is exactly the place to absorb the fear of Heaven. Upon my word.”

Roth, the son of the Shomrei Emunim rebbe and renowned singer, chose to enlist at the age of 33 in the new Chashmonaim charedi brigade, stating that he could not stand by and not participate while the blood of his brothers was being spilt.

סיכום שבוע ראשון בחטיבת חשמונאים. מקום לצאת לוחם יהודי נאמן לעם ישראל, ומקום שעטוף ביראת שמים גדולה 💪 pic.twitter.com/xyXxi8rIzK

— מענדל ראטה (@m_ndl89881) January 10, 2025