'His parents weren't at his wedding; they'll be at his funeral'

Yehonatan Sasson, who was a student of Yaakov Pinto at the Hedvat HaTorah yeshiva, spoke this morning (Tuesday) about his counselor who was murdered in the terrorist attack at the Ramot Junction in Jerusalem.

"Yaakov is an inspiring story. He immigrated alone to Israel from Spain at a fairly young age. He found himself a high school yeshiva on his own and then a high yeshiva. He also found himself a job as a counselor at our dorms," Sasson said in an interview with Kan Reshet B.

He added, "As a dorm student, at the end of the day you are alone, but he was our mother and father. He knew how to speak to each one of us in our own language and it was fun to be with him. He had an unforgettable smile that was valuable in every situation - from difficulty to joy. He maintained his principles and values. On the one hand he did not compromise on them and on the other hand he was the most pleasant person imaginable."

Yehonatan added that Yaakov got married only three months ago, but his parents could not attend the wedding because of the war with Iran. "His parents weren't at his wedding; they'll be at his funeral, with him on his final journey."

Yaakov Pinto, 25, an immigrant from Spain, studied at the Derech Emuna Yeshiva in Lod. "His future was cruelly cut short. Our hearts are with his new wife, his family and his community in these difficult moments," they mourned him in the Ramot neighborhood. Yaakov was a counselor at the Haredi high school yeshiva Hedvat HaTorah for the past two years. "Since his arrival in Israel, he has devoted his entire existence to the sacred work of education," the yeshiva's management mourned him. "Out of a deep love for young people and boundless devotion."

French government collapses again as PM ousted in confidence vote

 

France’s political crisis deepened Monday as lawmakers overwhelmingly voted to oust Prime Minister François Bayrou, forcing President Emmanuel Macron to seek his fourth head of government in just 12 months.

The 364-194 vote against Bayrou marked a dramatic rejection of his call for sweeping public spending cuts to rein in France’s mounting debt, reported The Associated Press.

Bayrou, a centrist appointed by Macron last December, had gambled that legislators would back his fiscal vision. Instead, both left-wing and far-right blocs united to topple his minority government, which now must resign after less than nine months in office. The move plunges France into renewed uncertainty, with no clear successor in sight and Macron’s domestic agenda increasingly paralyzed.

Macron’s office confirmed he will accept Bayrou’s resignation Tuesday and name a new prime minister “in the coming days.” The president retains control over foreign policy and defense, but his ability to govern at home is severely weakened.

The crisis stems from Macron’s controversial decision to dissolve the National Assembly in June 2024, triggering elections that fractured the legislature and left no dominant bloc. Since then, successive minority governments have struggled to survive amid shifting alliances and mounting opposition.

Bayrou’s downfall follows the departures of Gabriel Attal in September 2024 and Michel Barnier in December, underscoring Macron’s struggle to build consensus in a hostile parliament. Bayrou’s budget plan, which included €44 billion in spending cuts for 2026, was met with fierce resistance.

Neighbors praise soldier, Torah Scholar who neutralized terrorists

Note: Had this Chareidie IDF Soldier who just saved many other Chareidim, had he have walked in to any Shul in Meah Shearim, he would have been lynched! 

A squad commander from the Charedi Hashmonaim Brigade, a 23-year-old resident of Binyamin, neutralized the terrorists responsible for the murder of six Israelis on Monday morning at the Ramot Junction in Jerusalem.

The soldier’s community praised his actions, stating: “Many blessings and prayers for strength to the son of our community, who today courageously confronted the terrorists at the Ramot Junction, saved many lives, and eliminated our enemies. May God bless him, grant him success in all his endeavors, and may he merit to sanctify the name of Heaven in public.”

Mordechai, a member of the community, highlighted the sacrifices made during the ongoing war: “Four seriously wounded, two fallen soldiers, and one who eliminated the terrorists during the Jerusalem attack - one tribe, from one community, of 23-year-old young men, who embody the story of this generation in the Swords of Iron War.”

The soldier, who serves as a squad commander in the Hasmonean Brigade, is a graduate of a yeshiva where he studied for four years. He recently became engaged. According to relatives and friends, he is described as a principled and dedicated Torah scholar, fully committed both to his military service and to the world of Torah.

 

Survivors Say Arab Driver Stopped His Bus, Ran Away, And Then Terrorists Entered

 Malka, an eyewitness to the terror attack at the Ramot Junction in Jerusalem, shared on Monday in an interview with Channel Now 14 that the driver of the bus which was attacked by terrorists may have collaborated with them.

“The driver got off the bus before the shooting spree, spoke on the phone, went back to grab his things – and ran. Right after that, the terrorists entered.”

According to her:

“It can’t be that there was no cooperation here. The driver didn’t want to drive. There are many yeshiva students who can testify to this, not just me. Somehow, the driver was talking on the phone, and I don’t know what that was about.”

Malka described the horrific event:

“There’s no way to describe how many shots were fired. As soon as we got off, the terrorists started shooting at us, it was terrible and horrifying.”

As previously reported, six people were murdered in the attack, seven were seriously injured, two in moderate condition, and three suffered light injuries. The Shin Bet has arrested a resident of the East Jerusalem neighborhood of A-Tur on suspicion of having driven the terrorists to the scene of the attack.

Footage from the scene shows dozens of people fleeing the busy junction full of cars and buses, running for their lives under the sound of gunfire and screaming. One brave man, a charedi who received his gun license a year ago, engaged  the terrorists and assisted in eliminating them.

Meet Renée Steinhagen a Self-Loathing Jew

 

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Owner of Famous Beit Shemesh Bakery Was Among Those Murdered

 One of the 6 people murdered in this morning's terror attach was *Mordechai Steintzag*, HY"D, known as 'Dr. Mark'. 

A resident of Ramot B, he was the owner of the well-known *Doctor Mark's Bakery* in Beit Shemesh.

Dr. Mark immigrated from the US decades ago. A cardiologist by training, he was very involved in the field of health and recognized that in Israel at that time there was not enough awareness of a healthy lifestyle. 

The small home bakery he founded became a pioneer and a leader in the field of healthy flours and breads, and today has several branches, the main branch being in Beit Shemesh.

May his family be comforted among the mourners of Zion.

Former Chareidie Girls now Harassing Charedie Protesters With Non_ Tzneesdik Tactics

 כִּֽי־תֵצֵ֥א לַמִּלְחָמָ֖ה עַל־אֹיְבֶ֑יךָ 

וְרָאִ֙יתָ֙ בַּשִּׁבְיָ֔ה אֵ֖שֶׁת יְפַת־תֹּ֑אַר וְחָשַׁקְתָּ֣ בָ֔הּ

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Charedi yeshiva student,Charedi soldier neutralize terrorists ...Reports say that the Bus Driver Was Involved!

 

The two terrorists who carried out a deadly shooting attack Monday morning at the Ramot Junction in Jerusalem were neutralized by a haredi yeshiva student and a squad commander in the IDF's haredi Hashmonaim Brigade.

The yeshiva student's brother-in-law told Kol Barama Radio: "My brother-in-law was on his way to the yeshiva, he has a gun he inherited from his grandfather, and he received the license thanks to [National Security Minister Itamar] Ben Gvir's reform. He emptied the entire magazine on the terrorists. Eyewitnesses claim that the driver was a partner in the attack."

Six people were killed in the attack, including three people in their 30s and a man and a woman in their 50s. Seven others were injured, one critically and four seriously.

A large number of IDF forces were deployed to the scene, and the crossings around Jerusalem were closed. The investigation into the terrorists' identities continues, led by the IDF's Central Command, Israel Police, and ISA.

Among the injured is Rabbi Yaakov Sharabani, one of the leaders of the "Maor Torah" yeshiva and son-in-law of the yeshiva's dean, Rabbi Avraham Salim. Rabbi Sharabani was lightly injured and was taken to the hospital in stable condition; the public is asked to pray for Yaakov Haim, the son of Tamar Ibon.

Haredi journalist Menachem Kolodetsky requested that the public pray for the complete recovery of his cousin, Tova Gittel, the daughter of Miriam Shoshana, a resident of Ramot who was injured in the attack. She is in her eighth month of pregnancy, expecting her first child.

Levi Yitzhak Pash of Kol Torah Yeshiva, killed in shooting attack

The Kol Torah Yeshiva in Jerusalem announced early Monday afternoon that yeshiva employee and maintenance man Levi Yitzhak Pash was one of those killed in a Ramot Junction terror attack.

The Monday morning terror attack left six dead, including Pash, and 12 others injured.

In a statement, the yeshiva said that Pash "did many good deeds, gave of his money, and often occupied himself with learning Torah." The statement also added that Pash was well-known in the Bayit Vegan neighborhood of Jerusalem as a dedicated person who was always involved in acts of kindness.

His funeral will leave from the yeshiva later today.

 

New study overturns 100 years of evolutionary dogma

 

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 For over a century, the reigning dogma in evolution has been that mutations — changes in the DNA — arise as blind accidents in the genome, leaving the survival of the fittest to separate the beneficial ones from the detrimental.

Now, groundbreaking research presents a fundamental challenge to that dogma, showing that nature’s most famous adaptive mutations do not arise randomly at all.

Despite the long-held belief that mutations are random, it has never been possible to observe individual mutations as they arise naturally. Prof. Adi Livnat of University of Haifa, director of the Sagol Lab for Evolution Research, lead author Dr. Daniel Melamed, and the team recently developed the most accurate mutation-detection method to date, crossing this barrier.

In a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), this team of scientists from Israel and Ghana showed that a mutation of major evolutionary importance, the APOL1 1024A>G mutation, which protects against the most common form of African sleeping sickness, while increasing the risk of kidney disease in people with two copies, originates de novo significantly more frequently exactly where it is needed: in sub-Saharan Africans compared to Europeans and in the precise location in the gene where it is protective.

“These results are completely unexpected from the random-mutation point of view. From that view, individual mutations are not supposed to arise more frequently where needed,” said Livnat.

These findings strikingly parallel the group’s earlier results showing that the HbS mutation, which protects against malaria while causing sickle cell anemia in homozygotes, originates de novo more frequently precisely in the gene and population where it is needed.