We were asked to re-post this public Alert- Re: all Strawberries of Bodek & B'gan

by Yudel Shain

Regarding Bodek and B'gan Frozen Strawberries

 It has been noted that both Bodek and B'gan—two separate companies—market frozen strawberries produced in Peru. Under existing arrangements, the primary certifying authorities including Rabbi Shmuel Teitelbaum, Minchas Chinuch Hashgocha and the OU rely entirely on the insect-free certification of Rabbi Aharon Teitelbaum (the Nirbater Rav), who oversees the initial production for B’Gan etc. in Peru. Consequently, no independent, secondary reinspection of these products is conducted before they are marketed.

Recently, independent kashrus individuals not affiliated with Bodek or B’gan have reportedly discovered insect infestations in these imported frozen strawberries from Peru. These findings have called into serious question the reliability of the current certifications, particularly because the specific authorities being relied upon are widely known not to be specialized experts in insect infestation or entomological kashrus inspection protocols. This raises severe concerns within the community regarding whether the oversight is sufficient to guarantee that the strawberries are entirely insect-free.

The Halachic Context

From a halachic standpoint, strawberries are widely recognized as much’zak be’tolaim (substantiated and presumed to be infested). Due to the nature of their textured surface, many halachic authorities maintain that it is virtually impossible to ensure they are insect-free through standard commercial washing alone.

As a result, a growing consensus of halachic experts advises that consumers should not rely on pre-washed frozen strawberries—even those bearing multiple prominent certifications. Instead, strawberries should only be used if they are completely peeled, as this is the only definitive way to ensure they are free of insects.

Current Actions and Lack of Public Alerts

Reports indicate that the certifying Rabbonim have quietly directed companies to remove affected stocks from retail store shelves. However, no public alerts have been issued to warn families who may already have these products stored in their home freezers, or who may have already used them in prepared foods.

Henya Fried of Monsey Wins $5,000 a Week for Life in Massive New York Millions Lottery

 Orthodox Woman Wins $5,000 a Week for Life in Massive New York Millions Lottery

Henya Fried was recently confirmed as the grand prize winner of the “Set for Life” instant game after purchasing the lucky ticket in Spring Valley. The top prize allows winners to choose between receiving $5,000 every week for the rest of their lives or accepting a one-time cash payout valued at approximately $3.46 million before taxes.

Lottery officials say the lifetime option guarantees annual payments totaling $260,000 before taxes for the first 20 years. Should the winner outlive that period, the weekly payments continue for the rest of their life, making it one of the state’s most valuable recurring lottery prizes. 

.The winner’s husband, Meir Fried, is a familiar face in the Monsey community, where he serves as Customer Service Manager at Rockland Kosher Supermarket. Known for his warm personality and dedication to helping customers, he is widely recognized by residents throughout the area.

News of the win has spread quickly through Monsey, with friends and neighbors extending warm congratulations to the Fried family on their extraordinary and life-changing blessing.

New technology might finally solve one of the greatest mysteries known to man ...Lost Ark of the Covenant

Could modern technology help solve the 2,600-year-old mystery of the Lost Ark of the Covenant? Archeologist Chris McKinny believes so, and unlike Indiana Jones, he’s not making it up as he goes along. “I’m not just grabbing a shovel and going to Jerusalem to dig for treasure,” he says.

McKinny, an associate professor at the Lanier Center for Archeology at Lipscomb University in Tennessee, has studied biblical texts and history for years and determined that the Ark’s final resting place could be in Jerusalem beneath the City of David, just south of the Dome of the Rock. His theory is discussed in detail in the recently released streaming documentary “Legends of the Lost Ark,” in which McKinny serves as host.

The film explores the legends surrounding the Ark’s possible locations after it disappeared following the Babylonian sacking of Jerusalem in 586 BC. According to lore, the prophet Jeremiah went to great lengths to hide the Ark from invaders. The most popular theory holds that he buried the artifact in the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

US warns Poland of possible Russian invasion testing NATO's Unity

 Poland has received multiple warnings from the United States about the possibility of Russian military provocations in the coming months, according to a report by Polish news outlet ONET.

The report claims U.S. officials alerted Warsaw to several potential scenarios, including a ground incursion into Polish territory, airstrikes on targets inside the country, or the deployment of Russian or Belarusian forces along NATO’s eastern border.

Sources in Poland’s presidential office told ONET that Washington had repeatedly warned of a possible Russian plan targeting Poland. Polish intelligence officials also cited additional scenarios under consideration, including drone attacks on critical infrastructure and “simulated airstrikes" designed to trigger the activation of Poland’s air defense systems.

Speaking about the growing concerns, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk said the government is preparing for a range of possible threats.

“We are preparing intensively for different scenarios," Tusk said. “I don’t intend to scare anyone, but the coming months, also due to the changing nature of the war in Ukraine, may truly be critical, especially for the Baltic states. These concerns are real. We must not underestimate them."

Poland’s Foreign Minister Radosław Sikorski also issued a warning to Moscow, cautioning against any military provocation directed at NATO. “It would be a serious act of reckless folly if Vladimir Putin decides to test NATO’s unity through a disproportionate action. We know what you are planning. Don’t do it."

Neither U.S. nor Polish officials have publicly confirmed the reported intelligence warnings, and there has been no immediate response from Russia to the claims.

Eli Levon an American Ben-Teirah charged with spying for Iran

 

A 21-year-old US citizen studying at a Haredi yeshiva in Jerusalem was indicted in the city’s District Court on Friday for allegedly sending information to Iranian intelligence in exchange for hundreds of dollars.

Eli Levon, then a student at the large Mir yeshiva in Mea She’arim, received $861.35 in cryptocurrency from a Telegram chat app account called “Sina” in December, and another $517.78 in cryptocurrency from an account called “Alecsander” in February, prosecutors said.

** Mir denies Levon learned there!

He was arrested on June 9 and is charged with contact with a foreign agent and providing information that could benefit an enemy, according to the indictment.

The tasks Levon performed allegedly included sending photographs of Jerusalem’s Central Bus Station; hiding a cigarette box with a note reading “the work is done” in the Hadar Mall; and buying a USB flash drive, wrapping it in a NIS 50 bill and planting it in a central Jerusalem eatery.

However, the indictment said that Levon refused a request by Alecsander in February to send a list of fellow Mir yeshiva students.

Levon performed the tasks despite having “reasonable basis” to assume the accounts acted on behalf of Iranian intelligence, prosecutors said.

Police had on Tuesday already announced that a US national arrested for spying for Iran was set to be charged, but the specifics of the case were under a gag order.

Levon is one of dozens of people, mostly Israeli citizens, who have been arrested in Israel in recent months for allegedly cooperating with Iran-linked agents via social media in exchange for money. Agents usually start out assigning Israeli recruits mundane tasks such as vandalism, but the requests often escalate into serious offenses like espionage and intelligence gathering.

The indictment against Levon said that while visiting family in the US in November, he used a pseudonymous Telegram account to respond to a wanted ad in a chat group called “Yeshivot Telegram.”

About a month later, while Levon was on the plane home, he was contacted by Sina, who offered money for pictures and videos from Israel, according to the indictment.

Levon allegedly took up the offer, sent videos from the plane and after landing to prove his identity and location, and received $30 from Sina via a digital wallet.

Later tasks from Sina included hiding the cigarette box and photographing the bus station, a grocery store and an abandoned building in Jerusalem’s Bukharan neighborhood, according to the indictment

In his final task from Sina, Levon was asked to send a picture of himself and his passport, prosecutors said. Levon performed the task, but, fearing his personal information would be abused, blocked Sina’s account soon afterward, they said.

Then, at or near the start of 2026, the Alecsander Telegram account made Levon a similar offer of money in exchange for footage from Jerusalem, which Levon again agreed to, the indictment said.

The tasks allegedly also included sending footage from inside a grocery store, as well as hiding the USB flash drive at the Jerusalem eatery on February 23, five days before the US and Israel launched the war against Iran in a bid to curtail its nuclear program.

The fighting with Iran entered a truce on April 8, and the US and Iran are engaged in peace talks based on a memorandum of understanding reached last month. Israel is not a party to the understanding or the negotiations, and Israeli officials have criticized the document for failing to secure a concrete concession from Iran on the nuclear program.

Charlie Summers contributed to this report.

Zera Shimshon Parshat Pinchas

 

This week's Zera Shimshon is for the Refuah Shelimah 

בנימין זאב בן פריידא

ישראל בן מרים

בנימין בן בילא

אליעזר בן שיינדל העניה

Sponsoring Zera Shimshon is $100.00 per week and can be paid on the side bar titled

"DIN Tzaddaka fund" Please email me the name! dusiznies@aol.com

140,000 people at the tomb of the ‘Or HaChaim’

 More than 140,000 people visited Jerusalem's Mount of Olives over the weekend for the annual commemoration of Rabbi Chaim Ben Attar, the renowned 18th-century Torah scholar and mystic known as the Or HaChaim, making it one of the capital's largest public gatherings in recent months.

Officials hailed the event as a success after it concluded without any major safety incidents, crediting extensive planning and coordination among the Office of Religious Services, the Jerusalem Municipality, the Burial Grounds Council, Israel Police, and emergency services.

Given the Mount of Olives' steep terrain and limited access, police barred private vehicles from entering the area. Worshippers were transported to the site via a network of dedicated shuttle buses and public transportation that operated around the clock.

Preparations for the pilgrimage began weeks in advance and included expanding crowd areas, installing additional lighting and shade, setting up water distribution stations, and deploying hundreds of police officers, attendants, Magen David Adom personnel, and Fire and Rescue teams.

"This was one of the most complex logistical operations ever carried out on the Mount of Olives," said Tzuri'el Krisfel, CEO of the Burial Grounds Council in Jerusalem. He said organizers focused on managing crowd flow and coordinating security measures to prevent dangerous overcrowding and protect visitors.

Yehuda Avidan, CEO of the Office of Religious Services, praised the public for following the instructions of security personnel, saying their cooperation played a key role in ensuring the event passed safely. He noted that the ministry has developed extensive experience managing major religious gatherings in recent years, including commemorations for the Baba Sali and Rabbi Meir Baal HaNes, under strict safety protocols.

Although heavy traffic congestion was reported throughout the day and night on roads leading to the Old City and eastern Jerusalem, officials said the shuttle system successfully transported tens of thousands of participants without any unusual incidents.

Taking Apart The Mishpacha Magazine

Guest Op-Ed from Zev Rubin
 

It is always easier to invent an enemy than to look in the mirror.

Eli Paley’s latest article in the Mishpacha magazine begins with a painful truth. The cuts in yeshiva funding are real. The financial pressure now bearing down on thousands of Charedi families is real. So is the uncertainty surrounding the future of the Torah world. On this, there is little room for disagreement.

Where I part company with him is in the story he tells about how we got here. According to Paley, the present crisis is the product of a sophisticated ideological campaign. Progressive organizations, NGOs, think tanks, courts, bureaucrats, and government officials are all cast as parts of a single machine whose purpose is to dismantle the Torah world.

It is an attractive explanation, not because it is necessarily true, but because it demands nothing of us. History is filled with movements that explain every setback by pointing to a single villain. We Jews are intimately familiar with such tactics as they are used routinely by anti semites. Such stories are comforting. They relieve us of the burden of self-examination. If everything is the fault of our “enemies,” then nothing is ever our responsibility.

That is the real danger of Paley’s article. Not that ideological opponents do not exist; of course they do. The danger lies in convincing an entire community that those opponents explain everything.

There is a Simpler Explanation

Perhaps we should begin with the obvious. For nearly three years, Israel has been fighting the longest and most exhausting war in its history. Hundreds of thousands of reservists have left behind families, businesses, studies, and careers. Tens of thousands have been wounded, and thousands have been killed. An entire society has been carrying an extraordinary burden.

One may support the current Charedi draft policy or oppose it. One may believe deeply, as I do, in the centrality of Torah learning for the Jewish people. But one fact is difficult to ignore: many Israelis look at this reality and feel that the burden has not truly been shared by the Charedi community.

That feeling is not simply the creation of progressive think tanks. It is not merely the product of hostile NGOs or clever legal strategists. It is the product of lived experience. To acknowledge this would require real self-reflection and serious conversation. It would force us to ask hard questions about responsibility, solidarity, Torah, statehood, and the meaning of sharing a national destiny. It is far easier to blame a villain and ride the familiar waves of right-versus-left politics.

Perhaps the most troubling part of the article comes at its end. Paley argues that the coalition built around Keren Olam HaTorah should become a sophisticated international advocacy movement to proactively defend the Charedi world. In practical terms, this means using wealth and political access abroad to pressure foreign politicians, who in turn will pressure Israel.

This is quite a troubling proposal. At a time when Israel is already under extraordinary international pressure, encouraging Charedi Jews around the world to organize political pressure against Israel’s institutions is not what Am Yisrael needs. It may feel like strength, but it risks deepening the alienation between Charedi society and the broader Israeli public at precisely the moment when we most need responsibility, trust, and shared purpose.

US feared Israel would target Iranian negotiators during peace talks

 

The Wall Street Journal reported that Israel had placed Araghchi and Ghalibaf on a target list but temporarily removed them while the United States pursued negotiations with Iran.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

U.S. officials believed Israel could target two senior Iranian negotiators during ceasefire and peace negotiations with Tehran, prompting Washington to seek regional assistance in warning Iran out of concern that such an operation could jeopardize the diplomati process, The New York Times reported.

The officials said American concerns focused on Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf during negotiations that began in April.

While U.S. officials acknowledged the two men could have been considered legitimate military targets during the height of the conflict, they believed any attempt to kill them after negotiations were underway would likely end the talks and reignite fighting.

According to The New York Times, some current and former U.S. officials said Washington asked other countries in the region to warn Iran about the possibility that Israel could target the two officials.

The report said Israel concentrated early in the conflict on senior Iranian leaders, while U.S. military operations focused on Iran’s navy and missile forces.

Ali Larijani, Iran’s top national security official, and former Foreign Minister Kamal Kharazi were killed in Israeli airstrikes while participating in negotiations with the United States.

The Wall Street Journal previously reported in March that Israel had placed Araghchi and Ghalibaf on a target list but temporarily removed them while the United States pursued negotiations with Iran.

The report said Iran adopted additional security measures during the talks.

Before an April meeting in Islamabad with Vice President JD Vance, Iranian officials sought assurances through Pakistani and Qatari intermediaries that Israel would not target the delegation.

Pakistani fighter jets escorted the Iranian aircraft to and from Islamabad, and on the return journey, the delegation diverted to Mashhad before traveling approximately eight hours overland to Tehran after receiving what Iranian officials described as intelligence of a possible Israeli threat.

New Times Hides the Fact That Israel has Rescue Workers in Venezuela

 The NYT published an entire piece on the global response to Venezuela’s devastating earthquake.

They named every country that sent rescue teams, even those that have only pledged assistance.

Yet Israel, which already has over a dozen rescue workers on the ground, was left out.