The U.S. State Department announced that it is sanctioning Francesca Albanese, the U.N. special rapporteur on Palestinian territories, under an executive order that states those who engage “directly” with an effort by the International Criminal Court to arrest or probe a “protected person” without the consent of the person’s country are subject to having their property and assets blocked.
WARNING!!!!! EXPLICIT MATERIAL!!!
Rabbi Yitzchok Zilberstein has opened up about his recently published halachic ruling according to which it is improper to eat cholent during the week, and it should be reserved for Shabbat only.
Rabbi Zilberstein clarified on Wednesday that his ruling was not meant to be a blanket prohibition, "and certainly at a seudat mitzvah (a religious celebratory meal) where the dish is served, it is permitted to eat it."
Regarding yeshivas that serve cholent for dinner on Thursdays, the rabbi answered: "Certainly they should eat since yeshiva students must rely on the dean in every matter, and if the yeshiva management brings this dish for dinner during the week, you should certainly eat it."
Rabbi Zilberstein clarified that the original instruction was intended as an enhancement to the observance of the commandment to honor the Sabbath, but at yeshivas and family events, one may eat cholent on a weekday.
Cholent is a stew usually made of meat, potatoes, beans, and grains, invented to circumvent the prohibition of cooking on the Sabbath. While traditionally enjoyed on Shabbat mornings, in recent decades, it has become common among haredi, religious, and even secular Jews in Israel and abroad to eat the dish on Thursday nights as well, usually at casual eateries known as "cholentiot."
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It was secretly financed by Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and Democrats, conceived by a foreign agent with a checkered past in espionage, and then brokered to solicitous collaborators at the FBI, CIA, the Department of Justice and the Trump-hating media.
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| The dog .. Yisrael Frey |
Israeli police have opened a criminal investigation into the Charedie journalist Yisrael Frey following a social media post in which he celebrated the deaths of five IDF soldiers and called on Israeli mothers to oppose the war in Gaza.
“The world is a better place this morning, without five young men who partook in one of the most brutal crimes against humanity,” Frey wrote on X early Monday. He went on to reference suffering in Gaza, writing: “Unfortunately, for the boy in Gaza now being operated on without anesthesia; the girl starving to death and the family huddling in a tent under bombardment — this is not enough.”
In a message to Israeli mothers, Frey added: “Do not be the next to receive your son in a coffin as a war criminal. Refuse.”
The post drew widespread condemnation from across the political spectrum. While right-wing lawmakers and activists denounced Frey’s comments as incitement and treasonous, even left-wing critics of the war distanced themselves from his remarks, with some accusing him of glorifying death and undermining legitimate anti-war advocacy.
By Monday afternoon, police had formally requested authorization from the State Attorney’s Office to open a criminal probe into Frey on suspicion of incitement. The request was approved, and a joint investigation is now underway by the police’s Investigations and Intelligence Division and an anti-incitement unit operating under the National Security Ministry.
In a joint statement, police and the ministry vowed to take a hard line. “We will continue to act in accordance with the policy of Minister Itamar Ben Gvir and Police Commissioner Danny Levy, and take a firm and uncompromising approach against anyone who gives voice to incitement or support for the enemy,” the statement read.
DIN: Yes you read the headline right! It's not a Joke!!!!
This story comes in a very bad time as a young soldier who lives around the corner from my home, Moshe Shmuel Null hy"d, was murdered by Hamas, and in a couple of minutes, I'll be heading to the funeral!
I'm going to stay away from the validity of the stories, which I think someone made up. Rav Zilberstein says that the Yam Shel Shlomo writes that "it is preferable not to eat fish on Friday Night, so that one can enjoy them during the Shabbas meal," and from this Yam Shel Shlomo, Rav Zilberstein prohibits chulent on Thursday night, through a "Kal Ve'chomer"?? ....
He further writes that the Baal Shem Tov (who grew up as a hungry orphan,) chastised a little child because he was eating “eggs with onions” (ei mit tzvibel), during the week, to which he supposedly told the child, “Jewish children eat that only on Shabbat.”
Anyone believing this story needs their head examined!
In a bizarre twist, Rav Zilberstein adds that "Chulent" is not healthy!
I don't know where he gets this, as any nutritionist will tell you that "Chulent" without fat is one of the healthiest foods! It is loaded with vitamins! Beans, Barley, Potatoes etc!
It is the theatre of the absurd!
What about "Challah?" Specifically made for Shabbos! So now we shouldn't be serving this at a wedding or a bar-mitzvah?
In the “Divrei Chemed” bulletin, a fascinating halachic ruling was published, especially relevant for yeshiva students and the general public, regarding eating cholent on Thursday night. According to the posek Rabbi Yitzchak Zilberstein, doing so undermines the honor due to the Shabbat morning meal.
A number of yeshiva students sent a question to Rabbi Zilberstein, writing as follows:
“It is well known that there is a significant value in eating chamin (cholent) on Shabbat Kodesh. Throughout the years, it was a special dish eaten specifically at the Shabbat morning meal, and many would fulfill the mitzvah of ‘Toameha chaim zachu’ (‘Those who taste [Shabbat early] merit life’) by tasting this delicacy on Friday.”
They continued:
“However, recently, many have begun to be machmir in tasting this dish already on Thursday night, to the point where some now prepare this dish in large pots specifically for Thursday night—not just to taste a bit of Shabbat food, but to indulge themselves on Thursday night. And some even go so far as to eat it on Thursday during the day or throughout the week.”
“Our question is: Is there anything inappropriate in the fact that a dish originally created for Shabbat is now being eaten on weekdays? Or is there no fault in this? And is it considered an act of piety to refrain from eating a dish that, throughout generations, was reserved for Shabbat Kodesh, and continue to eat it exclusively on Shabbat, and not during the week?”
Rabbi Yitzchak Zilberstein, who regularly receives interesting and complex halachic queries due to his broad and deep knowledge, responded with the following explanation:
“There is great importance in honoring and distinguishing Shabbat with special foods, and weekday meals should not resemble those of Shabbat.”
Among the sources cited by the rabbi are: Midrash Tanchuma (Parshat Bereishit, Siman 2), Tikkunei Zohar (Tikkun 21 and Tikkun 48),Ramban (Leviticus 23:2), Radak (Isaiah 58:13)
He further cited the Yam Shel Shlomo (Gittin 38b), who rules:
“It is preferable not to eat fish on Friday night, so that one can enjoy them during the Shabbat day meal—since ‘honor of the day is greater than that of the night.’ From this we learn a kal vachomer: If one should refrain from eating a beloved dish on Friday night to honor the daytime meal, all the more so one should refrain from eating such dishes on weekdays in order to honor Shabbat properly.”
Rabbi Zilberstein also brings testimonies from various sages:
The Arizal was very strict not to prepare any dish during the week that was customary for Shabbat, such as kugels and the like.
A story about the Baal Shem Tov: He was once hosted and served a meal while a child stood nearby eating “eggs with onions” (ei mit tzvibel), to which he told the child “Jewish children eat that only on Shabbat.”
A similar story about the Chasam Sofer, who was once served tzimmes during the week and refused it, saying: “That’s a Shabbat dish,” adding in Yiddish: “A Shabbos-essen est men nikst in der vokh” – “Shabbat food is not eaten during the week.”
Rabbi Zilberstein further emphasized:
“Especially with cholent, a dish originally created specifically to honor Shabbat—so that people could eat hot food on Shabbat morning. As the Ba’al HaMaor (Shabbat 16b) wrote: ‘Our Sages instituted eating chamin (hot food) to delight in Shabbat, and anyone who doesn’t eat chamin should be checked to see if he is a heretic or an unbeliever.’”
He added another interesting point:
“In previous generations, some were concerned about eating cholent due to health issues, but as the Bnei Yissaschar (Ma’amarei HaShabbatot, Ma’amar 3) writes, ‘On Shabbat there is no need to worry, for the holiness of Shabbat brings blessing into the food.’ Likewise, the Mishnah Berurah writes that ‘one who keeps a mitzvah will know no evil.’ But this protection applies only on Shabbat—not on weekdays.”
In conclusion, Rabbi Zilberstein wrote:
“Cholent is a dish that was specifically created for Shabbat, and therefore it is very appropriate not to eat it during the week, so that one can properly delight in it on Shabbat. Especially since this dish is not particularly healthy, and it is only thanks to the sanctity of Shabbat that it becomes a blessing and a delicacy for the body. As the verse says, ‘He who observes a mitzvah shall know no evil.’”
Yosef’s call comes as his faction prepares to go to the barricades against the government over its demand that those engaged in such study be exempted from shouldering the burden of military service.
Mourning the deaths of the “dear soldiers” who “gave their lives for the people of Israel” Yosef says that the Torah-observant community is “obligated to come to an account of why this trouble has come upon us, and perhaps it is nothing but the sin of neglecting the Torah.”
Four of those who fell in Gaza last night were members of the IDF’s ultra-Orthodox Netzah Yehuda battalion.
Yosef has been an outspoken opponent of efforts to conscript yeshiva students and, like many other prominent leaders of the Haredi community, has asserted that mass Torah study is vital to the national defense.
In May, he stated that if the government arrests ultra-Orthodox men for dodging the draft, then the community will be forced to leave Israel. Declaring that “our Torah protects the soldiers,” Yosef argued that Israel’s anti-missile defenses only succeeded in blocking attacks in the merit of yeshiva students’ studies. He has also later called Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee chair Yuli Edelstein “wicked” for demanding tough sanctions on yeshiva students who evade military service.
