message to the Chareidie terrorists that they are ready to take them on.
“I don’t speak because I have the power to speak; I speak because I don’t have the power to remain silent.” Rav Kook z"l
The rabbi of Kiryat Arba and a leading religious Zionist rabbi, Rabbi Dov Lior, ruled to say the Hallel prayer with a blessing on the night of Israeli Independence Day.
Rabbi Lior explained that "in the past, I was apprehensive based on those who opposed Former Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren and therefore ruled that because there is doubt, not to say the Hallel prayer with a blessing on the night of Independance Day, but now I think that one should act according to Rabbi Goren OBM and say Hallel with a blessing on Independance Day."
He emphasized that one should recite the prayer with a blessing "even though there are rabbis who rule otherwise."
The reason for this, he explains, is "the importance of giving thanks for the miracle and since in the middle of this night the rule of the British Mandate ended, and the Jewish kingdom came into effect."
"Hallel" is a prayer of thanksgiving, consisting of a compilation of Psalms, traditionally said on Jewish holidays and the first of every Jewish month. After the establishment of the state of Israel, the Chief Rabbinate called on Jews to say the prayer on Independence Day without a blessing.
In 1974, the Chief Rabbinate under Chief Rabbi Shlomo Goren changed its ruling and added the blessing to the prayer. Rabbi Goren also ruled to say the prayer at night with a blessing, but that ruling was not widely accepted.
Cantor Moshe Stern, 87, has passed away.
Stern was considered one of the best Ashkenazic-Jewish cantors, and became famous throughout the world for his powerful voice.
Born in Budapest, Hungary, Stern studied under his father. His older brother, László (Benjamin) Stern, was the head cantor in Budapest for decades.Stern began his career as the head cantor in Rehovot's Great Synagogue. Later, he served as cantor at the Heichal Shlomo synagogue in Jerusalem, as well as in South Africa and in the Beth-El synagogue in Boro Park, New York, where he became famous.
In 1977, Stern returned to Israel, and settled in the neighborhood of Har Nof in Jerusalem.
The funeral will be held at 3:00p.m. on Thursday, at the Shamgar funeral home in Jerusalem.
The United Nations is working to mainstream sex with minors, stating in a report that relations with underage individuals can be considered consensual despite worldwide prohibitions on such acts.
"Sexual conduct involving persons below the domestically prescribed minimum age of consent to sex may be consensual in fact, if not in law," several U.N.-backed organizations claimed in a March report that advocates decriminalizing these acts as part of a "human rights-based approach" to laws governing sexual relations.
CVS Pharmacy, a health care corporation that hires people who presume to embrace science in medicine, has gone fully “woke” and will require all employees — without exception — to buy into the falsehood that people can change their genders.
Employees at the retail giant’s thousands of U.S. stores have recently been given a policy on how to address their “trans” coworkers, which included a note that any restroom is to be used by anyone at any time.
The self serving kapo, Ezra FriedLisker, has proven once again that he is an amateur!
Friedlander, who does this "for the Benjamins" invited himself to an Arab seuda called "Iftar" to tuchisleck outright antisemites. Instead of talking about Yom Ha'shoah he decided to diss the State of Israel and meet her enemies.
As I said many times "ehr iz nisht a groiser chuchim in nish a kleiner naar" he isn't very bright and he isn't a small fool.
This being chummy with people that are against America and Israel could actually be dangerous for Jews as he isn't a seasoned politician and who knows what this "upgerissinar naar" could say!
Was invited by a guest of @RepAndreCarson as a plus one to the Muslim Congressional staffer Iftar in the US Capitol where I utilized the opportunity to lay the foundation for future communication w @Ilhan and @RepRashida. As easier as it would be to not engage in conversation, I pic.twitter.com/ZKC6GOe8Y3
— Ezra Friedlander (@EzraFriedlander) April 19, 2023
A confession: When House Republicans announced plans for a New York hearing to showcase rampant crime, I didn’t need to curb my enthusiasm.
I assumed the worst, that the hearing would bring New Yorkers bad news they already know and that Democrats and their media shills would dismiss the event as theater designed to embarrass Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg.
I was right.
The hearing, partly because of its timing, smelled like payback for Bragg’s flimsy indictment of Donald Trump, giving Dems and the media the ammunition to repeatedly ridicule it as a partisan dog-and-pony show.
But I was also wrong in a major way: I underestimated how clueless and heartless Democrats could be about the sufferings of actual crime victims.
My big takeaway was that they really don’t give a damn.
Manhattan Rep. Jerry Nadler, for example, made the brain-dead mistake of citing declining homicide rates and decreased shootings in New York as proof that Judiciary Committee Republicans were using crime as a “pretext” to “bully the district attorney.”
Telling grieving families that statistics say crime really isn’t so bad in New York and it’s worse elsewhere is tone-deaf.
That’s what 30 years in Washington will do to you.
The indifference of Nadler and his fellow travelers to the witnesses’ pain and demands for justice made the hearing instructive.
As a result, the Dems snatched defeat from the jaws of victory and the hearing was more than worthwhile.
The deniers were ice cold when warmth and compassion were called for, with Rep. Daniel Goldman offering another example of callousness.
His attempt to label the day a waste of time earned him a much-deserved scolding from the angry mother of a murder victim.
“Don’t insult my intelligence,” Madeline Brame snapped at Goldman, an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune and a prolific stock trader whose district includes lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn.
“You’re trying to insult me like I’m not aware of what’s going on here,” Brame said.
She testified that Bragg’s office downgraded and dismissed charges against two offenders who — along with two others — brutally beat and stabbed her son, Army vet Hason Correa, to death in Harlem.
“When Alvin Bragg came into office, he was handed a strong, trial-ready murder case,” Brame said.
“He dismissed — completely dismissed — gang-assault and murder indictments against two of the defendants clearly on video participating in the brutal, savage slaughter of my son. Hason was kicked, punched, stomped and stabbed nine times by four individuals whom he did not know, nor had he done them any harm.”
The only decent thing Goldman could have done was express his sorrow at her loss and promise to look into her complaint that Bragg was coddling killers.
Lecturing her about Washington gotcha games and cutting her off midsentence was not an option, yet that’s what he did.
During the course of a condolence visit by the Sadigura Rebbe of Jerusalem to Rabbi Leo Dee, who lost his wife and two daughters in a terrorist attack on Pesach, Rabbi Dee made an unusual request of the rebbe.
Firstly he asked the Rebbe if he waves the Israeli flag and the rebbe responded positively. Afterwards he asked if the rebbe would be willing to recite Hallel on Israel’s 75th independence day, which falls at the end of next week.
The rebbe responded by telling a story from his great-uncle, who was the Sadigura rebbe after the Holocaust.
“My uncle lived in Vienna between the First and Second World Wars,” he said. “When the Nazis rose to power, they brought him to the streets of Vienna to clean the streets. He made a promise and said, ‘If G-d will be with me, and the Master of the World saves me from this horror, when I reach the Land of Israel, I will clean the streets of Israel.”
The Sadigora Rebbe continued, “When he managed to escape to Palestine, he indeed got up early in the morning and cleaned the streets of Tel Aviv. He did not tell anyone the reason why he did it, even when his followers questioned him as to why he was doing this.”
“This custom, of a love of the Land of Israel, is in our blood. And I think that we need to work more on loving every Jew, no matter how he dresses or what his opinions are. We will take this upon ourselves, and I think that the Hallel will come on its own,” he concluded.
להניף דגל והלל ביום העצמאות: הבקשה של ליאו די מהאדמו"ר מסאדיגורה
— ערוץ 7 (@arutz7heb) April 17, 2023
https://t.co/uloncqBsHM@BranderYitzchak pic.twitter.com/EVWSTqXecV
Once again, anarchist continue to cross red lines.
Passengers on El Al flight 007 to New York received an unexpected political message from their pilot, Doron Ginzburg, on Yom Hashoah, Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Using English worse than Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich’s, the pilot delivered his anarchist-fueled rant to the passengers over the loudspeaker, declaring,
“Reminding all of us that things like [the] Holocaust are potentially to be occurring in a dictatorship, and we are fighting in Israel to remain a democratic country. Thank you all and have a nice flight.”
Yaakov Meir Dimenstein, a Holocaust survivor who lives in Switzerland, came to Israel specifically to watch his granddaughter, Rina, who serves in the Home Front Command and who will be a flag bearer in the traditional torch lighting ceremony that will take place next week on Independence Day.
On Monday, on the eve of Holocaust Remembrance Day, Rina's family, together with grandfather Yaakov, surprised her by arriving at the rehearsals for the ceremony, which were held on Mount Herzl. At the end of the rehearsals, Yaakov joined the flag bearers in the singing of Israel’s national anthem, “Hatikvah”.
Yaakov, who was born in Belgium and fled the Nazi regime to a refugee camp in South Africa, said, "I cannot explain in words the meaning of the visit to the rehearsals for the torch lighting ceremony, in which my granddaughter will take part. Only about 78 years ago, the Jewish people were persecuted and their status was at the lowest point in history. Today, the State of Israel is a beacon and a source of great Jewish pride and proves that history will not repeat itself thanks to the power of the IDF."
His granddaughter, Rina, said, “As the granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor, I am proud and happy to wear the IDF uniform - thus fulfilling the dreams of our forefathers. I strive to contribute to the country as much as I can, and being an IDF officer is one step in commemorating all those who are no longer with us. We must cherish and give gratitude every day for the right to live in the land of Israel."
Iranian Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi, who is visiting Israel, on Monday evening attended the official state ceremony marking the start of Holocaust Remembrance Day at Jerusalem’s Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Museum.
Speaking to i24NEWS after the ceremony, the Crown Prince said that the Iranian regime “doesn’t represent the Iranian people” and as Tehran doesn’t acknowledge the Holocaust, he felt it was his duty to show his support for Israel on behalf of his nation that has 2,500-years-long relations with the Jewish people.
"It's a Biblical relationship that our two countries have had over centuries and today when we have the regime that denies the Holocaust has ever occurred it's my duty to be here representing my fellow compatriots, to honor the victims of the Holocaust and pay my respects to this nation and its people," he said.
Intelligence Minister Gila Gamliel earlier on Monday welcomed Pahlavi upon his arrival at Ben Gurion Airport.
"I congratulate the Iranian Crown Prince on his important visit to Israel as the most senior Iranian personality to ever visit here. We appreciate the Crown Prince's expression of solidarity with the citizens of Israel in the face of the severe terrorist attacks perpetrated by Iran, as well as his visit to Yad Vashem on the occasion of Holocaust Remembrance Day in order to sympathize with the Jewish people, in contrast to Iran's rulers who deny the Holocaust and encourage antisemitism. Together, through a common vision, we will take the first step in building bridges and collaborations between the two peoples," said Gamliel.
Gamliel will host Pahlavi during his visit to Israel, with the aim of creating a bridge between Israel and the Iranian people, and expressing joint opposition to the Ayatollah regime. The heir to the throne promotes discourse on the human rights situation in Iran and supports a democratic Iranian leadership.
At the start of 2022, there were a total of 15.3 million Jews in the world, 7 million of whom, roughly 46% of all Jews worldwide, resided in Israel, Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics revealed on Sunday.
In 1939, on the eve of World War II, Jews numbered 16.6 million, and 449,000 (3%) resided in the Land of Israel. Just under 10 years later, in 1948, the world’s Jewish population had diminished to 11.5 million; of them, 650,000 (6%) lived in Israel.
Among Diaspora Jews, about 6 million live in the United States, 442,000 in France, 392,000 in Canada, 292,000 in Britain, 173,000 in Argentina, 145,000 in Russia, 118,000 in Germany and another 118,000 in Australia, according to the report.
Ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day, which begins on the evening of April 17, the CBS also revealed that 147,199 Holocaust survivors or victims of antisemitic actions during the Holocaust are currently living in Israel.
Of those survivors, 61% are women and 39% are men.
A small number, 4.5%, immigrated to Israel before the establishment of the state, between 1933 to 1947; 31.7% immigrated during the large aliyah wave following the state’s establishment (1948 to 1951); 29.7% immigrated between 1952 and 1989 and 34.1% came since the 1990s, during the wave of aliyah from the former Soviet Union.
In a 2021 survey, 87% of Israel’s survivors said they were either “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with their lives, similar to the 88% of Jews and others above the age of 75. However, 17.3% of Holocaust survivors said they felt lonely often, compared to 12.6% of Jews and others 75 and older.
I was very impressed, yes impressed when he repeated twice that this was a great loss to Schnitzler's z"l Instagram followers !
The number of Holocaust survivors living in Israel stands at nearly 150,000, according to statistics published on Sunday by the Holocaust Survivors’ Rights Authority ahead of Holocaust Remembrance Day.
Israel is set to mark Holocaust Remembrance Day beginning on Monday evening.
The official state opening ceremony will take place at 8 p.m. in Warsaw Ghetto Square at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum, on the Mount of Remembrance in Jerusalem.
The 147,199 Holocaust survivors residing in the Jewish state include 521 new immigrants from war-torn Ukraine who last year were recognized as survivors of the Nazi genocide.
Holocaust Remembrance Day, an annual event in Israel commemorating the six million Jews murdered by the Germans and their collaborators, and those who fought back and partook in rescue efforts, takes place this year from Monday evening until the following evening. The somber day features a two-minute siren at 10 a.m. local time when the country comes to a standstill.
One of the central themes of this year’s commemoration is Jewish resistance during the Holocaust, as the world marks 80 years since the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
According to the data, 462 Holocaust survivors celebrated their 100th birthdays last year. Around 31,000 are more than 90 years old. The average age of survivors is 85 and the youngest survivor is 76.
Haifa is home to the largest population of Shoah survivors in Israel, followed by Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.
Sixty-three percent of Holocaust survivors in Israel were born in Europe. Significant numbers of Holocaust survivors came from outside of Europe, including Morocco, Algeria, Libya, Tunisia and Iraq.
Beit Shemesh resident Yisrael Levinstein, z’l, 22, was killed on Tuesday evening, Chol Hamoed Pesach, in an ATV accident in Beit Shemesh.
The Levinstein family was enjoying a Chol Hamoed outing at the Yarmut Park in Beit Shemesh and Yisrael, z’l, was giving rides to his siblings on his ATV. He was on a ride with his sister, Rus Altman, a 29-year-old mother of 3 children, and drove into the adjoining area of Ramat Beit Shemesh Hei, where he apparently crashed into a fence, causing the vehicle to overturn.
Since the area is still sparsely populated, the victims weren’t found until about an hour later, when the family members began searching for them. Rescue workers called to the scene administered emergency medical aid and evacuated them to Hadassah Ein Kerem Hospital in Jerusalem. There, unfortunately, the doctors were forced to declare the death of Yisrael, z’l. Rus was hospitalized in very serious and unstable condition.
Yisrael, z’l, and Rus are the children of Reb Dovid Levinstein, a well-known figure in the city, who made aliyah from Russia and established a family of 13 children.
R’ Michoel Schnitzler Z”L, a well-known singer, who was mesameach Yidden with his many musical albums and singing at thousands of chasunos. He was 61.
R’ Michoel suffered a massive heart attack in the Monsey area on Friday afternoon at around 6 PM. Hatzolah paramedics did everything they could to save his life but were unfortunately unsuccessful.
For more than 35 years, R’ Michoel entertained and inspired untold numbers of people through his astounding musical abilities and his equally impressive heart of gold. He sang at more than 4,200 weddings, and released 15 albums with over 150 songs.