100,000 Gather At The Kosel For Thursday Night Selichos

 

Approximately 100,000 people gathered overnight at the Kosel for a massive central Selichos gathering, joined by rabbanim, government ministers, public officials and tens of thousands of mispallelim.

Thousands more participated from Hostages Square in Tel Aviv, where the tefillos were broadcast live from the Kosel. The gathering there included released hostages Bar Kuperstein, Matan Angrest, Rom Braslavski, Moran Stella Yanai, Agam Berger, Omer Wenkert, Nimrod Cohen and Eliya Cohen.

Family members of hostages who were murdered in Hamas captivity in Gaza also participated, including relatives of Yonatan Samerano, Guy Iluz, Tamir Adar, Omer Neutra and Eliya Toledano Hy”d.

Mordechai “Soli” Eliav, director general of the Western Wall Heritage Foundation, opened the gathering by speaking about the connection forged between the Kosel and Hostages Square throughout the hostage crisis. He noted that approximately 1.5 million mispallelim had joined in tefillah for the hostages during the period of their captivity, particularly during last year’s Selichos gatherings.

Rav Shmuel Rabinowitz, Rav of the Kosel and Holy Sites, delivered a special tefillas hoda’ah for the return of the hostages.

“Tonight, from the Kosel and Hostages Square, I want to say to You, Ribbono Shel Olam: Look down from Heaven and see how, during the most difficult time, we stood together,” Rav Rabinowitz said. “We did not always agree on the path, but we were all partners in concern, prayer and hope.”

“For such a long period, all of our hearts were held captive — until the final hostage returned,” he continued. “In the merit of this Kiddush Hashem, the brotherhood and courage of the hostages, who sanctified the Name of Heaven in the darkest places and continue to do so now — open for us the gates of Heaven and send us a good and blessed year.”

Rabbanim also led tefillos for IDF soldiers and security forces, for the recovery of the wounded, and for peace, security and achdus among Klal Yisroel.

The enormous turnout forced organizers to accommodate thousands who could not enter the Kosel plaza. Giant screens were erected along the walls of the Old City and at Sha’ar Yaffo, allowing additional crowds to participate in the Selichos from outside the packed plaza.

The Western Wall Heritage Foundation said preparations have now been completed for the final central Selichos gathering of the year, scheduled for Motzei Shabbos. The gathering will begin at midnight with Hataras Nedarim and the annulment of curses.

Officials are urging the tens of thousands expected to attend to arrive early and follow instructions from police and event organizers.

Vance Privately Sought To Help Clinton Defeat Trump In 2016

 

Vice President J.D. Vance privately sought to help Hillary Clinton defeat Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election, despite publicly opposing both candidates, according to a new Vanity Fair report detailing Vance’s political evolution.

Vance, then a recent Yale Law School graduate and outspoken Trump critic, voted for independent candidate Evan McMullin in 2016. But according to Vanity Fair, Vance also tried to connect with Clinton’s campaign through an intermediary.

Vance told the intermediary that he disliked Clinton but considered Trump a greater threat, according to the report. He also offered advice on how Clinton could improve her campaign in key Midwestern states.

Vance later communicated directly with Jake Sullivan, one of Clinton’s senior campaign advisers, Vanity Fair reported. Vance urged the campaign to focus more heavily on the industrial Midwest and criticized Clinton’s handling of her comments about Trump supporters.

The account, reported by journalist Chris Whipple in a Vanity Fair profile of Vance’s years at Yale, offers new details about the future vice president’s opposition to Trump before his dramatic political realignment.

Vance had been sharply critical of Trump during the 2016 campaign, at one point describing him in extremely negative terms. His position changed in the years that followed. By the time Vance launched his 2022 Senate campaign in Ohio, he had become a Trump supporter and received Trump’s endorsement.

Trump selected Vance as his running mate in 2024, and Vance became vice president after Trump returned to the White House.

The newly reported Clinton contacts highlight the extent of Vance’s political transformation from a Trump opponent who sought to prevent his election to one of the president’s closest political allies.

The Vanity Fair report does not establish a formal Clinton-Vance political alliance or conspiracy. It describes Vance’s private efforts to influence Clinton’s campaign while he was simultaneously publicly rejecting both major-party candidates.

Ironic!!! HouthisTell U.S. Officials They’ll Spare American and Israeli Ships, But Saudi Vessels Remain Targets

 

Houthis Reportedly Tell U.S. Officials They’ll Spare American and Israeli Ships, But Saudi Vessels Remain Targets

Representatives of the Iran-backed group reportedly met American officials at the U.S. Embassy in Oman. One source said Israeli and other commercial ships would be spared, except Saudi vessels. The reported assurance concerns shipping, not a broader ceasefire with Israel.

Watch Beautiful Selichos by Dati-Leumi Bochrum

 There are readers here that really believe that the Dati-Leumi community are basically "goyim" 

They are convinced that it is only their derech that is the authentic Yiddishkeit. 

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A post shared by רוח הגולן (@ruach_hagolan)

Shas freaking out, worried about losing voters to Ben Gvir!

 Is Shas worried about losing voters to Ben Gvir? 

Shas is in fact worried about losing voters to Ben Gvir running around like a poisoned mouse to stop the fallout after Rav Yitzchak Yosef said the following

 “According to Jewish law, it is forbidden to vote for someone who has no fear of God and who ascends the Temple Mount.”

So they publicly invited him to a Shas Council of Torah Sages meeting, hoping to stop the bleeding, and showed a video clip of Rabbi Elbaz hugging and kissing Ben-Gvir.

Charedim now training the girls to be "Schnorrers"

I really don't remember a more humiliating, cynical, and exploitative event than the current fundraising campaign of the Olam HaTorah Foundation for the seminary girls. 

In the past day, we've received  calls: 5 from my building,. 10 from nearby buildings Each call more embarrassing than the last, but they have no choice—they were given a target of 4,200₪ per girl, the social pressure is unreasonable, and nothing will stop them. 

What about tznius? Is having a teenage girl call random men, ok? 

Are they so desperate that they have to recruit high school girls, who come from large families and are busy helping in their homes, to force them to start schnorring? 

What is going on?

The tweet below translated

Forgive me, but I haven't calmed down from this event yesterday. There's something particularly cruel about this event.

Thousands of seminary girls are gathered in a hall to prepare them for a fundraising operation for the World of Torah Fund. They are now required to go out and make up from the public's pockets the money that the yeshivas lost as a result of the recruitment crisis.

And they know very well why they're turning specifically to the girls.

These are girls who were raised from a young age that the holiest and most important thing is Torah study and supporting Torah scholars. The entire life path offered to them is built around this idea: learn a profession, go out to work, support a household, and allow the husband to sit and learn. Now, they're taking that same indoctrination and applying it to turn them into fundraisers too.

In my eyes, this is cult-like behavior.

This is a system that stops seeing the people living within it as ends in themselves and sees them as resources for its own preservation. The boys need to study. The women need to work so that the men can study. The voters need to vote as they're told. And now the seminary girls also need to go out and raise money when the model runs into a crisis.

There's not even an attempt here to ask what's fair to demand from these girls. They're the most available resource, the most disciplined, and the one most filled with ideological motivation, so they're being used too.

This is one of the ugliest outcomes of a society that has spent years indoctrinating its children around one supreme goal: at the moment of truth, they can be mobilized for almost anything in the name of that goal

סלחו לי, אבל לא נרגעתי מהאירוע הזה אתמול. יש משהו אכזרי במיוחד באירוע הזה.

אלפי בנות סמינרים מכונסות באולם כדי להכין אותן למבצע גיוס כספים עבור קרן עולם התורה. הן נדרשות עכשיו לצאת ולהשלים מכיסי הציבור את הכסף שהישיבות איבדו בעקבות משבר הגיוס.

והם יודעים מצוין למה הם פונים… https://t.co/QjWi6GniMI

— חרדים אקספרס (@haredimex) September 16, 2026

The Song of Chullin

 

Please see the attached PDF of the lyrics of the Song of Chullin.

Download link:

MP4 Link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lwG5kotDxElz5iCKod6lIjaC3nP_p-xt/view?usp=sharing

Israeli intel guiding Saudi fight against Houthis

 

Jerusalem and Riyadh reportedly held talks focused on countering the Iran-backed Houthi terror group.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel is assisting Saudi Arabia in its ongoing efforts against the Houthis, including by providing strategic intelligence to the Gulf kingdom, according to a report by Hebrew-language outlet Walla.

The outlet, citing Middle Eastern diplomatic sources, reported that Jerusalem and Riyadh recently held talks aimed at assisting Saudi Arabia in its fight against the Yemen-based Iranian proxy group.

The meetings were reportedly arranged by U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM).

Although Israel and Saudi Arabia do not maintain formal diplomatic relations, the two countries have long been believed to cooperate on shared interests, particularly regional security and stability.

Saudi officials have repeatedly stressed that Riyadh will not formally recognize Israel until an independent Palestinian state is established. Nevertheless, the countries are believed to maintain significant behind-the-scenes ties, particularly in the defense and intelligence spheres.

The reported Israeli assistance comes as the Houthis have intensified their attacks against Saudi Arabia in recent weeks. On Monday, the Iran-backed group launched a barrage of drones and missiles toward the Gulf kingdom, with Saudi officials saying the attacks wounded 13 civilians.

According to Saudi state media, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman met with U.S. regional commander Admiral Brad Cooper in Jeddah on Monday. The meeting came amid heightened concerns over the Houthis’ expanding military campaign and the potential for the conflict to further destabilize the region.

Saudi Arabia has been engaged in a longstanding conflict with the Houthis since 2015, when Riyadh intervened militarily in Yemen as the Iran-backed group expanded its control over large parts of the country.

Harav Hagoen David Leibel ""We need to worry about the livelihood of our community and worry about the security of our community."

Rabbi David Leibel, president of the Torah Brotherhood movement—one of the few rabbis in the Haredi sector who support the enlistment of Haredim and their integration into the job market—is now speaking at the movement's "Yarchei Kallah" conference: 

"We need to worry about the livelihood of our community and worry about the security of our community."

נשיא תנועת אחוות תורה הרב דוד לייבל, מהרבנים הבודדים במגזר החרדי שתומכים בגיוס חרדים ובשילוב בשוק התעסוקה, כעת בכנס "ירחי כלה" של התנועה: "אנחנו צריכים לדאוג לפרנסה של החברה שלנו ולדאוג לביטחון של החברה שלנו". pic.twitter.com/LGnYKvgL4g

— יענקי פרבר | Yanki Farber (@yankihebrew) September 16, 2026

Journalist Amit Segal Calls Out Saudi Hypocrisy for Seeking Israeli Help Against Houthis

 Journalist Amit Segal Calls Out Saudi Hypocrisy for Seeking Israeli Help Against Houthis

Israeli journalist Amit Segal has pointed out the irony of Saudi Arabia's diplomatic shifts, noting how the kingdom pushes anti-Israel rhetoric while turning to Jerusalem for help when facing military pressure from the Houthi terror group.

Segal detailed how Saudi leaders first approached regional partners like Pakistan and Turkey under mutual defense expectations, only to receive empty press statements instead of military support. When they subsequently asked the Trump administration for help, they were told the conflict was not an American problem.

Left completely isolated, Segal noted that Riyadh ultimately reached out to Israel for rescue. He highlighted the hypocrisy of a government that routinely calls Israel a murderous state now asking for assistance, while questioning whether Israel should demand official recognition in return. Segal concluded by remarking that when real trouble strikes, Saudi leaders stop facing Mecca and start looking toward Jerusalem.