The Difference Between Standard and Mehadrin Kashrut

In the previous column, I explained the difference between standard and mehadrin kashrut, namely, that standard kashrut goes according to the rules of halakha, whereas mehadrin kashrut takes into consideration the strict opinions, beyond what is required by halakha.

Incidentally, if there are any readers who know differently, and indeed, there is a halakhic issue in which the standard hechsher (a rabbinical product certification, qualifying items that conform to the requirements of halakha) follows a method that does not conform to the rules of halakha, please inform me.

To be more precise: 
There is no hechsher, even the highest quality mehadrin, which meets the requirements of all strict opinions, in a case where the hidur (embellishment) involves extremely high costs, the mehadrin are usually also lenient. 

In other words, 
the difference between standard kashrut and mehadrin is not absolute, for even standard kashrut when it is not difficult, take into consideration the more stringent opinions, even if it involves a disagreement in Divrei Chachamim (rabbinical ordinance), and most poskim permit.

An example of this is the chumra (stringency) of the Chief Rabbinate in the Land of Israel regarding chalav nochri (milk not produced under Jewish supervision): 

Kalanit Taub a Frum Female Hatzolah Volunteer In Israel Defends Ezras Nashim

My name is Kalanit Taub, I am a new EMT with United Hatzalah. Recently an incident occurred that really brought home what I, as a woman, have to offer in the field of EMS in my own community and in general.

The incident occurred recently at 1:00 a.m. in the morning. I was just about to finish an ambulance shift with United Hatzalah when we received an emergency alert that a woman near our location was having gynecological issues. Together with the rest of the male ambulance crew, we rushed over to the woman’s house. Two male EMTs had beaten the ambulance to the location and were already present inside the woman’s home. However, the pregnant woman was sitting alone and did not want any men to come in and examine her. Her delicate situation was made even more delicate by the fact that only men had arrived to help for an issue that she wanted to keep as private as possible.

Berland "Gangsters" Beat Up Middle Aged Chareidie in Bet Shemesh Gimmel

Followers of the Convicted Sexual predator, Rabbi Eliezer Berland attacked a 43-year-old man in Beit Shemesh on Sunday, after the man complained to them about their dangerous driving on local roads that endangered other drivers as well as pedestrians.

Berland was visiting the city when the incident occurred. The incident occurred just before 5:00 p.m. when a group of vehicles recklessly down Habakuk HaNavi Street in Ramat Beit Shemesh Gimmel. One resident alerted the police to the outrageous driving and told off one of the drivers who driving maniacally. In response, the resident was severely beaten.

According to another resident who witnessed the incident, the car stopped after the driver was told off and a number of suspects exited the vehicle. They began hitting and assailing the man who told off the driver. They hit him with their fists, a car jack, and a hammer. The witness reported this to the emergency medical teams that arrived to assist the beaten man.

According to BeChadrei Charedim, the assailants were students of Berland and police have taken a number of them into custody. Some of those in custody are as young as 14-years-old. They are being questioned by police in the station in Beit Shemesh.

The beaten man was listed as being in light-to-moderate condition and was taken to the hospital for further treatment and care. He suffered contusions on his entire body.

Followers of the Berland Cult (Shuvu Banim) have been involved in many violent incidents. They have also been arrested for driving at excessive speeds in the Berland motorcade.

Rabbi Berland constantly engages in eradic behavior, such as smearing olive oil on children’s faces, spinning a dreidel during davening, or punching his chassidim in the face.

Boro Park Mother And Child Egged By Pack Of Thugs in Broad Daylight

A fifth anti-Semitic egging took place in Boro park on Sunday afternoon, brining the number of attacks this weekend to five.

Boro Park Shomrim released footage of the latest attack. Watch how an innocent mother and child are walking down the street, when a pack of anti-Semitic animals approach them from behind, throw eggs, and run away.

Several Boro Park locations were targeted in a Motzei Shabbos “egging spree,” the latest in a string of hate crimes targeting Hasidic Jews.

Boro Park Shomrim tweeted “Shomrim volunteers and police are on scene investigating the egging of a shul on Dahill Road.”

The one Dahill Rd area that were egged include a Shul, girls school, bus, and multiple residences, the report said. Khal Bnei Torah Sanz, was one target.

Boro Park Shomrim released video footage of an egg being thrown at the Sanzer Bais Medrash.

The group of youths are seen passing the Shul, and when the door is opened, an egg was hurled inside. They managed to get away prior to fast-responding Boro Park Shomrim and NYPD.

The Belzer girls school in the area was targeted as well.

The report said police are investigating the incidences.

This latest attack comes just one day after one suspect turned himself in from last Shabbos’  attacks, which targeted at least four separate people – in four separate locations.

Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream — Jewish Owners Support Anti-Semites/Israel Haters

Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) President Morton A. Klein and ZOA Director of Special Projects Elizabeth Berney, Esq. released the following statement:

Appallingly, Ben and Jerry’s has given the public a new reason to not buy their fat-and-sugar-laden and unhealthy ice cream: 

 A new Ben and Jerry’s flavor called “PeCAN Resist” supports unsavory hate-promoting, violence-promoting, anti-Semitic political groups, including: 

Satmar Rebbe Orders His Entourage to Israel Not To Visit Kotel ......But A Goy That Went to Kotel Got Answered Right Away

 

The Satmar Rebbe of Williamsburg, R' Zalman Leib Teitelbaum, is coming to the Zionist State of Israel on a visit to "give chizuk" to the residents of Israel....

He warned his entourage to keep safe by not touring the country because of safety issues, and of course warned them not to Chas Ve'Shalom visit the Kosel Ha'Maravie.... because of "tzneesios."

The whole thing is laughable...

Gangs of goyim are beating the living crap out of his chassidim in Williamsburg on a daily basis in broad daylight and he has never "warned" anyone about strolling the crime ridden streets of Williamsburg ...

He has never said a word to his chassidim about visiting Manhattan or the bars on the East Side because of Tzneeois issues but it bothers him that one of his chassidim may get a spiritual yearning to visit the remnants of the Bais Ha'mikdash! 

Yikes!

I will attempt to paraphrase the words of this Rosh Yeshivah in the above video.... 

he is telling a fascinating story in Hebrew about a goy at the kotel...

Iran finally admits they have missing Jewish FBI agent Robert Levinson after Trump offered $20 million for information

Iran is acknowledging for the first time it has an open case before its Revolutionary Court over the 2007 disappearance of a former Jewish FBI agent on an unauthorized CIA mission to the country.

In a filing to the United Nations, Iran said the case over Robert Levinson was 'on going,' without elaborating, but the development has renewed questions over what happened to him. 

It wasn't immediately clear how long the case had been open, nor the circumstances by which it started. 

However, it comes amid a renewed push to find him with an offer of $20 million for information from the Trump administration amid heightened tensions between Iran and the U.S. over Tehran's collapsing nuclear deal with world powers. 

The money is in addition to $5 million that had been earlier offered by the FBI.

The Associated Press on Saturday obtained the text of Iran's filing to the U.N.'s Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.

TRUMP HEIGHTS RECEIVES 1ST INHABITANTS

A boarding school for underprivileged youths in Israel was inaugurated in Trump Heights in the Golan.
The opening Thursday of the boarding school, which is designed to prepare several hundred teenagers from troubled homes for a meaningful service in the Israel Defense Forces, marks the first arrival of people to the settlement that was declared as established there in June and named after President Donald Trump.

Charedi Residents of Monsey Breath a Sigh of Relief.. Michael Diederich Will Not Be District Attorney.

Michael Diederich The Loser

Retired Judge Thomas Walsh won the election, running on the Democratic, Republican and Conservative party lines, as well as getting major support from the local Hasidic Jewish community.

Rockland County includes Monsey, Spring Valley, New Square, and all the surrounding areas where a large haredi population resides.

According to members of the local haredi community, Diederich said clearly on the eve of the election that if elected he would personally fight against haredi education and development.

According to local media, the religious community and others felt Diederich's emphasis on the Hasidic Jewish community in his campaign was anti-Semitic. He vehemently denied the classification.

Meanwhile, haredi locals were elected to key administrative positions, headed by Rabbi Aron Ben-Zion Weider, who was re-elected as Rockland County Legislator.

"We are grateful to God for the past and pray for the future. The haredi public has been saved from the harms of haters of the religious. With God’s help and with the power of the public we were able to spoil their evil thoughts," Weider said.

"The mobilization of the public was extremely amazing. Only with the power of unity will we be able to meet the important challenges and tasks now facing haredi Judaism in the region," he added.

The "Abraham" That Wasn't Interested in "Lech Le'cha"

Avraham Yaakov Weintraub aka Swami Vijayananda

by Yakov Nagen

During a trip to India in 2006, I traveled to the northern city of Haridwar, where Anandamayi Ma, one of the great gurus of the previous century, had her ashram. 

The head of the ashram at the time was Swami Vijayananda, a ninety-two-year-old guru. But Vijayananda was not always his name; his mother and father, a rabbi in southern France, had named him Abraham Jacob Weintraub.

Like his biblical namesake in the beginning of this week’s parasha, Lech Lecha, Abraham-Vijayananda came to a crossroads. 

Museum Unveils 1,000-year-old Chumash

A museum in the US capital unveiled a thousand-year old Hebrew Bible Thursday — one of the oldest intact Torah manuscripts in the world.

The book is currently on display at the Museum of the Bible, where it’s being shown to the public for the first time in years.

“This artifact is a window into an era, a millennium ago, that serves as a basis for how we understand and still talk about the Bible today,” Dr. Jeff Kloha, chief curatorial officer at the museum, opened in 2017 by Hobby Lobby’s Evangelical president Steve Green.

Zera Shimshon - Lech Lecha

Zera Shimshon - Lech Lecha 

 (היה דבר ה' במחזה לאמר אנכי מגן לך( טו' א

Hashem spoke to Avraham in a vision saying, 
"Do not fear etc. I am your shield" (15:1) 

On this passuk, the Medrash (Bereishis Rabba 44:1), brings the following passuk (Tehillim 18:35), 

"The word of Hashem is pure (and) serves as a shield to all those that seek His protection. "


The Medrash intends to say that Hashem told Avraham that he should not fear, for He (Hashem), would serve as a shield to protect Avraham. 

The Medrash brings a passuk that teaches that the same holds true to all those that seek protection in Hashem - that Hashem serves as their shields. 

The Medrash continues to elaborate on the passuk in Tehillim and explains that 'the words of Hashem' that the passuk refers to as 'pure', are in reality a reference to the mitzvos that He commanded us to do. 

All the intricate details that each and every mitzva involves, were intentionally added by Hashem as part of the mitzva - to purify those that fulfill them. 

Thus, the passuk is in reality saying that the word of Hashem purifies those that fulfill them. 

With this concept, the Zera Shimshon explains the following mishna. 

The mishna says (Avos 2:8), "Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai received his Torah knowledge from Hillel and Shammai. He used to say, 'If you have learned a lot of Torah, do not take credit for yourself, for this is what you were created for'". 

The Zera Shimshon asks - what does 'a lot of Torah' mean? 
The Torah is endless, how can one measure 'a lot' of Torah? 

The Zera Shimshon explains that Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai was a student of both Hillel and Shammai. To be a student of both of these Torah Giants is truly a feat since Hillel and Shammai argued about the halacha on countless occasions and each one had compelling proofs and strong reasoning to their respective opinions. Thus, a student of both of them would need tremendous amount of labor to sift through the different arguments, proofs and reasoning to decide how to properly keep the mitzvos. 

Unlike other students of both Hillel and Shammai, Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai was able to do so. What Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai was trying to impart in this mishna is that even one who can mentally work through all the various sides and come to the proper conclusion, something that would be extremely mentally taxing, should nevertheless not hold of himself better than others. 

This is what is meant by if one has learned 'a lot of Torah', he should nevertheless not take credit. 

Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai gives a reason for this as well - for this is what you were created for. 

As mentioned, the mitzvos and all their intricate details were given to purify those that fulfill them. Thus, if one has the intellectual capacity to do what Rabban Yochanan ben Zakkai did when fulfilling the mitzvos, he has to know that this toil of his in order to properly fulfill the mitzvos is part of his purification process. 

The proof is that Hashem created him with the mental capacity to do so. 

For us the lesson is, any effort of ours to keep the mitzvos, purifies us! 

The unique story behind the Balfour Declaration

Read and see Yad Hashem .....

Of course the bizarre "Satmar SHIT'ah" guys will say that this was the Sitra Achra (the devil)..... :) ......

Whenever you see a situation with the State of Israel where you see mamash Yad Hashem, you can be sure that some Satmar or Litvish guy will turn his fat thumb and learn the apikorseh pshat that this has nothing to do with הקב"ה but was entirely the Sitra Achrah ....

Dr. Michael Oren, former Israeli Ambassador to the U.S. and Deputy Minister in the 20th Knesset, discussed the lesser-known story of the U.S. the Balfour Declaration in a new podcast from The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.

Oren says that “Former President Woodrow Wilson was - if you read his memoirs, his remarks, those of his wife Edith in particular - sort of what you call a garden-variety antisemite. 

Rabbi Berland the Convicted Sexual Predator in New Police Investigation

Exactly two months have passed since the death of daughter of Nurit Ben Moshe, a stalwart follower of Rabbi Eliezer Berland.

Nurit filed a complaint with the police against the rabbi who advised her daughter not to receive medical treatment but to rely on his blessing following her diagnosis of cancer, claiming that Rabbi Berland had helped to kill her daughter.

"I'm here to file a complaint against him for the actions he made," Nurit told the police. "My whole intention is for Berland to pay what he has to pay - and that is what the police should decide. I'm here so no mother will suffer like I suffered, and for him to pay for what he did."

The report said the police investigation will also focus on trying to gather evidence from Rabbi Berland's cult, a closed and extreme community whose members will not necessarily cooperate with investigators. If the rabbi himself is invited for questioning in the future, this will not be his first meeting with the investigators.

He had been previously investigated and convicted of sex offenses and was even sentenced to prison, but he fled abroad. He was caught in the Netherlands and extradited to Israel and imprisoned. He was released early due to his poor health.

This is How Highway Crews In New York Work

One Pours out the gravel and the other puts it right back

The secret funeral of Leonard Cohen

Leonard Cohen was one of the most influential singers of his generation, with hits such as 'Hallelujah' which became classics. However, his funeral was a small affair which was conducted in secret.

Channel 12 News correspondent Sivan Rahav spoke to Rabbi Adam Scheier, the rabbi who conducted Cohen's funeral, three year's after Cohen's death at the age of 82.

"People found out on Thursday. So for those three days, as we made arrangements for the funeral, we made arrangements with the family, we were holding on to this precious and holy information, and I think in many ways allowed the family to give Leonard the Kavod Hamet (respect for the dead), that really only they could give," Rabbi Scheier said.

Cohen's family was influential in the Congregation Shaar Hashomayim of Montreal, which Rabbi Schneir now leads. His Judaism was infused into his songs.

"Mi ba-aish, mi ba-mayim (who by fire, who by water,) that he heard when he was a young boy, became part of his life, became part of his poetry and his own expression," the rabbi said. "His family will tell us that he never left Judaism."

He revealed that after Cohen passes away, his Hebrew name Eliezer was used on the documents used to bring him back to Montreal to protect his privacy and that of his family.

"It felt safer. It felt holy. It felt like we were able to be there for him, the man, and able to connect not to his fame, but to the little boy was who was saying kaddish for his father who he is now buried next to and who was so close to the generations of his family. That was very special, to feel like we were able to honor the person and not the reputation."

Watch: Pickpocket in action in Haifa

Following an undercover investigation in the lower city of Haifa, Israel Police arrested a 42-year old city resident for allegedly stealing wallets and cell phones from elderly residents.

The suspect was arrested in the course of an increased police presence in the Lower City of Haifa in order to increase security for the residents of the Hadar neighborhood. The police are utilizing advanced technological measures for the operation.

While the detectives were tracking suspicious characters, the pickpocket was observed allegedly stealing wallets and cell phones from elderly people.

The suspect was arrested and taken for questioning at the Haifa police station. The stolen property was seized and restored to their owners.

The suspect's arrest was extended several times and the police prosecution unit filed an indictment against him in Haifa Magistrates' Court on Thursday.

Satmar Rebbe Coming to "Give Chizzuk" to Israeli citizens Who Don't Benefit From The Zionist State

Before I go into the meat of this visit by R' Zalman Leib Teitelbaum, Satmar Rebbe of Williamsburg, I need to preface it with the following....

There isn't a Jew or even an Arab that lives in Israel that can say that he doesn't "take money from the Medina!"

If anyone comes schnorring at your door and tells you the cock & bull story that he lives in Israel and doesn't benefit from the medina, tell him that he is a "brazen liar!"

Beit Shemesh “Superbus” Driver Suspected of Hitting Children On His Bus

A bus driver in Beit Shemesh is suspected of hitting children who were traveling on his bus on Wednesday. An eye witness alerted the father of one of the children to the situation after the fact and told him that she is willing to testify against the driver in court due to the severity of what he did. The father filed a complaint with the police.

A group of approximately 10 children boarded the route 19 bus operated by Superbus on Nachal Oz Street in Ramat Beit Shemesh. According to reports in BChadrei Charedim based on an eyewitness’s recounting, the driver got up, approached the children, hit two of them, and returned to his position to keep driving after yelling at the children to sit down and not wander around the bus.

Police told BChadrei Charedim that they have opened an investigation into the incident in order to determine what exactly happened.

Mayor Leon Will Change Name of "Har Nof" to "Neot Yosef"

Residents of Jerusalem's Har Nof neighborhood are in an uproar over a sudden decision by Mayor Moshe Lion to change the neighborhood’s name to “Neot Yosef” in memory of both Rabbi Ovadia Yosef, a leader of Sephardi Jewry and the Shas political party, and Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv.

The announcement was made on the sixth anniversary of Ovadia Yosef's passing. The decision will come before the Naming Committee of the Jerusalem Municipality on Tuesday and the official name change should occur in the near future when it is approved by the city council.

The residents of Har Nof who spoke to The Jerusalem Post requested to remain anonymous, as they felt that having their names publicized could put them at risk.

“A name is not something bought with money or given as a gift,” said Y., a neighborhood resident. “A name is something that people who were born there, grew up there, and have lived there for 35 years connected to emotionally. The name influences the character of the neighborhood.”

Coming to Israel? You Can Basically Eat In Any Restaurant That Has A Kashrut Supervision Certificate ... YES EVEN From THE RABBANUT!

In this article I will discuss the kashrut system in Israel, and explain the need for a kashrut certificate for food, and the difference between a standard kashrut certificate and a mehadrin kashrut certificate (the most stringent level of kosher supervision).

The general rule is that when a business operator has a financial incentive to cheat, supervision is required to ensure he does not do so. 

For that reason, the Torah commanded that merchants be supervised to make sure their weights are accurate, so as not to deceive buyers (Deuteronomy 25:15; Baba Batra 89a).

This does not mean venders and food manufacturers are not be trusted at all, for if so, supervision would be required at all times, and even the supervisors would have to be supervised lest they are dishonest, ad infinitum. 

Actually, the foundation of everything is basic trust in people, requiring reinforcement by means of supervision when they face financial temptation.

Why Isn't There Any Butter in Israel? .. Mystery Solved

Israel’s butter and ingredients to make butter are on Amber Alert for almost a year. 

I believe they are largely being exported to China and elsewhere including Walmart. 

In part, Israel is contributing to China’s food security program and thus to stabilization. Tnuva might be saving China from threats to its authoritarian leadership by exporting dairy products.

Butter made in Israel has been missing from supermarket shelves for nearly a year. 

It is a surprising turn of events since Tnuva is the largest dairy food manufacturer in Israel. Butter and cottage cheese are the company’s momma staples. Tnuva sales account for 70% of the country's dairy market. The Israel Antitrust Authority once labeled Tnuva a monopoly. 

State-owned China’s Bright Foods owns a controlling interest in Tnuva. The behemoth of food security has the power and authority to order Tnuva management to ship products wherever. 

Efraim Stern From London Asks Israel's "Mishmar Ha'Gvul" Border Security to Stop Satmar Rebbe's Entry to Israel

Mr. Efraim Stern of London has written an official letter to the Israeli Commander of Border Patrol, Kubi Shabtai,  requesting the denial of entry of Rabbi Zalman Leib Teitelbaum, Satmar Rebbe of Williamsburg to the Jewish State this coming week.

In his letter, Stern indicated the Rebbe's constant undermining the very existence of the Jewish State and the Rebbe's efforts to have the government of Israel overthrown...... a crime that would be vigorously investigated and prosecuted in any other country.

ימים אלה שלח אדם בשם אפרים שטרן מלונדון בקשה לקובי שבתאי מפקד משמר הגבול בקשה שימנע את כניסתו של האדמו"ר הזאלוני מסאטמאר לישראל. בבקשתו הוא מפרט את הפעולותו שעושה הזאלוני נגד מדינת ישראל

במכתבו מציין שטרן כי הזאלוני מגיע לישראל לעודד מי שיתנגדו לעצם קיומה של המדינה ושיעשו כל מה שהם יכולים להחריבה ולכן יש למנוע את כניסתו

Mafia Cop Who Brutally Murdered Diamond Dealer Israel Greenwald Drops Dead In Jail Hospital

Mafia cop Louis Eppolito — who along with his partner Stephen Caracappa helped whack several men for the Lucchese crime family — died on Sunday while serving a life sentence in federal prison, law-enforcement sources told the Post. He was 71.

The ex-NYPD detective was serving a life sentence at the United States Penitentiary in Tucson for the eight contract killings that he and Caracappa helped carry out starting in the 1980s.

“Louis died in a hospital with dignity and caring people around him,” his wife, Frances Ann Eppolito, told The Post.

Israel, an Orthodox Jew, was married with two young daughters living in Far Rockaway, NY. He was a devoted husband and loving father and was known for being charitable and kind. He was also very hard working and built himself a successful diamond business called Blue River Inc. where he had an impeccable reputation.

In 1985 a Hassidic jeweler and friend of Israel named “HT” (name has been changed) asked Israel to deposit a bond for him as a favor on one of his frequent business trips to Europe. Unbeknownst to Israel, the bond was stolen. After depositing it and returning back to the U.S., Israel was questioned by FBI at customs about the bond and where it came from. He told the FBI that he had been given the bond by a friend. The FBI told him that he has to cooperate and tape record his friend telling him where it came from and where the money went.  Unaware of how dangerous “HT” really was and who was behind this whole scheme, Israel angrily confronted him and expressed his anger for duping him into doing something illegal and pressed him for the names of who was behind this scheme. He tried to convince him to just come clean and tell the FBI the truth. “HT” refused to divulge that information claiming that he feared for his life and if he would talk he would be killed.(* see below) At some point Israel was forced by the FBI to tape record “HT” admitting to something, but it was unsuccessful and it is unclear from the tape exactly what happened. Did his friend discover the tape? Why did it suddenly stop recording? Only “HT” knows the truth.

What is certain is that Israel did not know that “HT” was working directly under another Hassid named “Banda” who was one of the men behind the T-bond scam. According to testimony during the mafia cops trial, Banda was working with criminal mastermind and later the star witness of the mafia cops trial Burt Kaplan. When his friend told Banda about what had happened, the word got back to Kaplan who feared that everything would go bust now and he would end up in big trouble if Greenwald cooperated with the FEDS. Kaplan, whom never even met Israel Greenwald, decided to get rid of him himself. According to his testimony, he did not tell Banda about his plans to kill Israel, he merely said “Give me his information: Let me talk to him, I’ll convince him to go away on a long vacation”.

Kaplan remembered a guy named Frank Santora who he met back in his prison days. Santora had mentioned to him that he had a cop cousin who would do “work” for money. He called Santora and told him he had a problem that had to be dealt with. Santora contacted his cop cousin Louis Eppolito and partner Stephen Caracappa who said “It’ll be easy without a doubt.” and then, using the police database they got all the information they needed to know about Israel Greenwald (his home address, car make, etc.).

On Monday morning, Feb. 10, 1986 the cops and Santora followed Israel as he was driving to work and pulled him over using their badges. They pretended to arrest him citing that someone fingered him as a hit and run and he has to come to the station to clear it up. Israel willingly went with them, not knowing he was being led to his own execution. It was then that they took him to a Brooklyn garage on Nostrand Avenue, belonging to Pete Franzone (a hard working, non-criminal man who was friendly with Santora) where Greenwald was shot and buried.

His daughter, Andrea Eppolito-Fisher, mourned her father’s death in a Facebook post Sunday.

Trump Administration Offers $20 Million Reward For Jewish American Missing In Iran

The Trump administration on Monday offered a reward of up to $20 million for information about Robert Levinson, a former FBI agent who disappeared in Iran in 2007, and imposed new sanctions on leading Iranian officials as relations deteriorated further on the 40th anniversary of the U.S. Embassy takeover.

The reward for help solving the Levinson disappearance and the sanctions also come as Iran said it was doubling the number of advanced centrifuges it operates to produce nuclear fuel, trimming the time experts believe that the Islamic Republic would need to have enough material to build a nuclear weapon.

The State Department claims Levinson was taken hostage in Iran with the involvement of the Iranian regime. The Iranian government has never acknowledged arresting him. Combined with a $5 million reward already in place from the FBI, this makes a total of $25 million available to the person or persons providing information about Levinson.

Worker Falls To His Death In Ramat Beit Shemesh Construction Site

A worker at a Beit Shemesh construction site fell to his death at about 11:00AM Monday morning, November 4, 2019. 

The fatal accident occurred in Ramat Beit Shemesh Daled.

ZAKA Beit Shemesh volunteer Dov Landau reported that the 43-year-old man fell to his death from the fifth floor of the site. When he arrived, MDA was trying to save the man, who sustained multisystem trauma from the fall.

The victim was pronounced dead on the scene.

Frum Guy Kills Deer On Palisades Parkway

It was a fatal ending for the deer, but thankfully, this driver of this vehicle did what a person is supposed to do in such an incident, and prevented serious personal injury.

The Jewish driver was on the Palisades Parkway heading to Monsey on Sunday night, when a deer jumped out in front of the vehicle. Natural instinct for drivers is to swerve. but studies show that more serious crashes occur when drivers swerve to avoid an animal. Swerving could cause you to lose control of your vehicle and possibly roll over or hit another car or object.

Deer often fixate on headlights, so it may not be effective enough to just flash your lights. Since they’re easy to spook, brake firmly and honk your horn.

If you are driving and a deer is in your path, stay in your lane even if it means striking the deer. Brake firmly, taking your foot off the brake just before you hit the deer (this action should slightly elevate the nose of your vehicle, helping to reduce the chances of the deer hitting your windshield).

Watch the video below, and hopefully never strike a deer – but if you do, this is how to do it.

No more dead ends: Israeli app helps navigate graveyards

An Israeli-developed app offers turn-by-turn voice directions to help cemetery visitors navigate large graveyards in search of a loved one's resting place.

 "It will change everything," said Yehuda Hanfling, a service manager for Chevra Kadisha, the main group that oversees Jewish burials in Israel. The app, 'Gravez' is only available in Israel for now, but its developers plan to expand globally.

For a person visiting a grave or making their way to a funeral, finding the exact location can be tough in a large cemetery that is constantly changing.

"People who haven't been to graves for years and want to reach (the grave) get lost because graves have been added, paths have been added everywhere," Hanfling said. Chevra Kadisha began operating the app in September.

By providing real-time, turn-by-turn directions on smartphones, Gravez aims to save cemetery goers a lot of stress, and time, in reaching the grave they are looking for.

The developers, Corido, used drones and image processing tools to map over 1.3 million graves in 30 cemeteries in Israel so far for pedestrian and vehicle navigation, said Guy Liany, partner chief executive of Corido.

"We map all the geographical elements, the paths, the plots, interest points, everything that depicts the outline of the cemetery," said Liany, adding that the cemetery managers constantly update the system.

A cemetery that contains an average of 30 thousand to 40 thousand graves can be mapped within several days. The app is free for private users but cemetery operators need to purchase the system. The price depends on the size of the grounds.

The app can also suggest nearby parking and provide on-screen prayers traditionally said by the grave. The developers plan in the future to provide paid services like flower delivery or cleaning and renovating tombstones.