YIVO exhibit illuminates a diary kept by a 13-year-old boy in the Vilna ghetto

Growing up in Vilna in the 1930s, Yitskhok Rudashevski was a typical 13-year-old Jewish boy living a typical Jewish life: He went to school, spent time with friends and family, read and wrote poetry and got involved in Jewish activities at the cultural center, talking about global politics with his father, who was a writer for the Yiddish daily, called Vilna Tog.

In June 1941, Rudashevski began keeping a diary, documenting the alarming transition — in just three months — from living a happy life under the looming threat of war to his family’s forced move into the ghetto, where comfort, joy, food and personal space were in short supply. 

Over the next two years, in neat Yiddish script written in a black notebook, Rudashevski described ghetto life. 

His story is now the core of a comprehensive new online exhibit by New York’s YIVO Institute for Jewish Research as part of their free, public online museum. It launched on Wednesday.  

The interactive exhibit, which can be viewed in individual chapters and takes roughly two-and-a-half hours to click through from beginning to end, incorporates narrative, text, video dramatizations, illustrations, photographs and more to tell the story of Rudashevski and the Vilna Jewish community. Alongside the diary, translated from Yiddish specifically for this exhibit by Solon Beinfeld, the exhibit gives context to Rudashevski’s life in Vilna and the cataclysm that brought it to an end. 

“The online electronic format of this allows us to make use of extensive documentation from our archives that otherwise would be very difficult to put in a single exhibition, and it enables us to tell a story in many different ways,” Jonathan Brent, the CEO of YIVO, told the New York Jewish Week of the decision to put the exhibit online.

“We feel at YIVO that there is an obligation and a responsibility to make our treasures and the immense resources that we have of historical knowledge, for cultural knowledge and for artistic knowledge, available to the widest possible group of Jews of Ashkenazi descent,” he added. “And not just of Ashkenazi descent, and not just Jews. This also gives us a way of reaching Lithuanians in Lithuania and Poles in Poland.”

Yitskhok Rudashevski, lower left, with his arm around his mother, Rosa, poses with his parents and grandparents. His father Eliyahu is at top left. (Courtesy of Ghetto Fighters’ House Museum, Israel/Photo Archive)

What to expect when Benjamin Netanyahu comes to Washington

 One thing we know for sure: Benjamin Netanyahu will stand at a podium in the U.S. House of Representatives at 2 p.m. on Wednesday and make the case for continued support for Israel.

Okay, even that’s not quite certain in these uncertain times: If President Joe Biden steps down before then, if Israel’s seven-front war escalates, or even if it abates — Netanyahu’s visit stateside to deliver a history-making fourth address to Congress could be canceled or postponed.

Here’s a look at what we do know, as of this moment:

Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, ostensibly asked Netanyahu to speak so he could thank Americans for backing Israel in its war with Hamas.

Johnson had to cajole Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, the Jewish New York Democrat who has said Netanyahu is failing as a leader, into co-signing the invitation.

Netanyahu’s mission isn’t just to thank America, but to push back against deep unhappiness among Democrats and in the Biden White House with how he has conducted the war, which at first elicited broad bipartisan support. 

Biden will not deliver to Israel large bombs as long as its army is fighting in crowded areas in Gaza, and a growing minority of Democrats are calling into question defense assistance for Israel.

Johnson made clear in a talk this week with Jewish Republicans at the party convention in Milwaukee that one reason he asked Netanyahu to speak was to tweak Democrats as Republicans vie for Jewish votes and support.

“I said if Chuck Schumer doesn’t want to attend, that’s up to him,” Johnson said to laughter.

Confirmed: Deif Is Dead

 Israel received confirmation on Sunday that after seven failed assassination attempts over decades, the IDF finally succeeded in killing Hamas No. 2 leader Muhammad Deif.

Channel 14 News first reported the news and shortly later, the Srugim newsite reported that an IDF official confirmed that the news was true.

The IDF carried out the targeted strike to eliminate Deif last Shabbos using bunker-buster bombs and a “ring of fire,” making it unlikely that Deif survived the attack. However, there was no official confirmation of his death until today.

Deif, one of the masterminds behind the October 7th attack, was on Israel’s most-wanted list for over 25 years for his role as the mastermind behind many deadly terror attacks that killed dozens of Israelis, including bus bombings.

During Operation Guardian of the Walls in 2021, Israel twice attempted to eliminate Dief but he narrowly escaped with his life both times. Previously, Israel tried to eliminate him during Operation Protective Edge in 2014, and in 2006, 2002, and 2001. Deif lost an eye in one attempt and was seriously injured in the 2006 attempt.

Following the attack on Deif, Prime Minister Netanyahu said: “Muhammad Dief is an arch-murderer, the chief of staff of Hamas, No. 2 in the chain of command. He is the architect and leader of the October 7 massacre and many other terror attacks. His hands are covered in the blood of many Israelis.”

IDF Sends Draft Orders to 1,000 Chareidim Who Violate Yeshiva Rules, by Working, Own a Smartphone and have a Drivers License

 Draft orders will be sent on Sunday to approximately 1,000 charedi young men of conscription age, who will then go through the initial medical checkup procedure at the recruiting offices. The IDF is trying to avoid a confrontation with charedi society and has set up a screening process in which it tried to identify the charedi men that would be the easiest to draft.

Those identified by the IDF as potential draftees include men who receive a paycheck indicating they work and does not spend most of his time in yeshiva, those who own a smartphone or have a driving license [which is prohibited by yeshivos], and those who were not present in a yeshiva during attendance audits taken by the Religious Services Ministry.

Despite these attempts to avoid the yeshiva students themselves, the spiritual leadership of the charedi sector is not accepting the move. In the Yated Ne’eman newspaper, a cartoon appeared on Friday in which conscription orders are seen being thrown into a trash can inside a yeshiva, while the students sit in front of an open Talmud, a visual interpretation of the instruction by the Lithuanian Haredi rabbis, led by Rabbi Dov Landau, that yeshiva students and even those not present in their yeshiva should not report for conscription into the IDF.

In recent days, the rabbis of the Shas Torah Sages Council have also joined the no-show order, and published a letter which reads: “As of now, when a new law regulating the status of Yeshiva members has not yet been settled, one must not obey any conscription or draft order, not even a tzav rishon (first order), and therefore one must not show up at all in the recruitment bureaus.”

Shas rabbis also added that “there are elements, led by the High Court of Justice and legal officials, who are working to harm the world of Torah and harm the people of Torah, and therefore it is incumbent upon us now to stand firm, and to make it clear to those people and to the world that there is no power in the world that can succeed, God forbid, in disconnecting the Torah scholars from the Talmud.”

Those who did not join the message are the rabbis of the major Hasidic movements in Israel, the rebbes of Gur, Belz and Vizhnitz movements. The three did not sign such letters, and even told those who consulted them that at this stage a charedi youth who receives a tzav rishon should go to the recruiting office so as not to quarrel with the army, and later they will examine how the exemption for those studying in yeshiva should be maintained.

Another voice that heard in recent days is that of Rabbi Dovid Leibel, head of the Achvas Torah kollel network, who in recent years has been trying to create customized tracks for the charedim in the army. A demonstration of protesters took place around his house last week after discovering that he was meeting there with senior army officers to discuss drafting young charedi men.

Leibel also delivered a lesson to his students in which he opposed the militant spirit of the Haredi rabbis, saying: “In the long run, our entire sector will have to make some sort of arrangement, it is impossible to live in the country and shake hands with the government, the army, and the law and see who will blink first.”

The IDF had difficulty estimating how many young people would ultimately respond to the first draft notice. The first 3,000 orders that were decided upon in the security establishment will be distributed by the IDF in three batches, each two weeks apart.

Brigadier General Shay Taib this week justified the decision to act this way, saying “This is a population that we have essentially zero data on. If you ask me how many of the general population will come forward, I know how to pull out a figure that will be close to reality. This is a population for which we have no data and I cannot estimate how many will come in. After one round, we will have two weeks of learning and improvement, another round and another improvement procedure.”

Joey endorses the "cackling" Harris !

 

Joe Biden announced Sunday he is dropping out of the presidential race.

The president was facing mounting calls from within his own party to step aside after a disastrous debate performance against former President Donald Trump in June.

This is the first time an incumbent president has declined to run for re-election since Lyndon Johnson dropped out of the presidential race in 1968.

He is endorsing the Cackling Hyena Kamala Harris 

DemonRats Finally Shove Crazed Joey Out the Door...Will NOT Seek ReElection!

 

Neo-Nazi ‘Santa Claus’ planned mass murder of Jewish children in NY

 The leader of a neo-Nazi organization, described by prosecutors as a “murder cult,” was charged in a four-count indictment this week, for allegedly plotting to poison Jewish school children and orchestrate suicide bombings against various minority groups.

On Tuesday, a federal grand jury in Brooklyn, New York charged 21-year-old Michail Chkhikvishvili, an immigrant from the Republic of Georgia, with soliciting hate crimes and acts of mass violence.

According to a statement released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Justice, prosecutors identified Chkhikvishvili as the leader of the Maniac Murder Cult, also known as Maniacs Murder Cult and “MKY”, an international neo-Nazi organization.

“MKY adheres to a neo-Nazi accelerationist ideology and promotes violence and violent acts against racial minorities, the Jewish community and other groups it deems ‘undesirable,’ The Department of Justice said.

“MKY members share a common goal of challenging social order and governments via terrorism and violent acts that promote fear and chaos.”

Under Chkhikvishvili’s guidance, the organization had planned to carry out mass casualty attacks in New York City.

During the preparations for the attacks, members of the organization revealed their intentions to an undercover law enforcement officer posing as a potential recruit to the MKY.

In 2021, Chkhikvishvili authored a manifesto entitled the Hater’s Handbook, claiming that he has already “murdered for the white race” and encouraging fellow MKY members to carry out additional acts of mass violence.

Specifically, the handbook encourages its readers to commit school shootings and to use children to perpetrate suicide bombings and other mass killings targeting racial minorities.

According to the indictment, Chkhikvishvili reached out to an undercover agent posing as a possible recruit for the organization, whom Chkhikvishvili hoped he could enlist in carrying out a series of attacks on Jews and other minority groups in New York City.

The planned attacks included arson, bombings, and mass poisoning of children.

One such plot envisioned a mass poisoning of racial minorities and Jewish school children in Brooklyn, to be carried out on December 31st, 2023.

The plan involved the would-be murderer dressing up as Santa Clause and distributing candy, laced with ricin and other deadly poisons, to children outside of Jewish schools and other venues in Brooklyn.

For the terror plots, Chkhikvishvili relied in part on materials linked to ISIS and other Islamic terror groups.

Biden delays abandoning race to avoid giving ‘satisfaction’ to Netanyahu

As calls increase within US President Joe Biden’s own party urging him to abandon his re-election bid, Biden is reportedly delaying dropping out until after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s visit to avoid giving him “the satisfaction,” as reported by The New York Times.

Given the increasing tensions between the US and Israel over the Gaza War, Biden prefers to save face during Netanyahu’s visit and may postpone the announcement that he will leave the race until after the Israeli premier leaves.

According to an Axios report, Biden, although angered by calls for him to drop the race, was beginning to accept he would have to step back and was considering bowing out over the weekend.

However, advisors recommended that Biden delay dropping out until after Netanyahu’s visit to avoid giving him “the satisfaction” given their conflicts over the war.

The meeting at the White House scheduled between Trump and Biden, which would be the first since 2022, depends on Biden’s recovery from COVID.

Last week, Biden announced he had tested positive for COVID and was isolating in his residence in Maryland.

Republican representatives invited Netanyahu to address Congress on the subject of the war in Gaza, and many Progressives have threatened to boycott the speech to protest Israel’s conduct during the war.

Although Biden was supportive of Israel in the early days of the war and even became the first US President to visit Israel during a war, in recent months, conflict between the two leaders has increased.

President Biden has criticized Israel over the reported and unverified number of casualties in Gaza, the distribution of humanitarian aid, and the Rafah operation, which led the Biden Administration to withhold bomb shipments to Israel temporarily.

Following Biden’s poor debate performance on June 27th, his many gaffes, and additional signs of decreased mental acuity and severe speech problems, an increasing number of Democrats, including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and House Democratic leader Hakim Jeffries, have asked Biden to step out of the race.

 

Estranged husband of Murdered Aliza Sherman dead in Florida

Dr. Sanford Sherman, the estranged husband of the late Aliza Sherman, has died in Florida.

Aliza Sherman was a 53-year-old in-vitro fertilization nurse and Beachwood mother who was murdered in downtown Cleveland on March 24, 2013, two days before their divorce trial was set to start. Her murder remains unsolved 11 years later.

Sanford Sherman, 68, was never named a suspect by police in the murder of Aliza Sherman. He died earlier this month, according to Neshama Jewish Funeral Services in Pompano Beach, Fla.

Records show that dating back to Nov. 2, 2000, Beachwood Police were called to the Sherman house 22 times for reports of domestic disturbances, the Cleveland Jewish News previously reported.

After Aliza Sherman’s death, daughter Jennifer Sherman filed a civil lawsuit against Sanford Sherman for charges including counts of conversion, breach of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, civil remedy for criminal acts and civil conspiracy related to Aliza’s estate. Over the course of the civil trial, depositions connected to the case involved Sanford Sherman admitting to an extramarital affair, details of a defamation lawsuit involving an exotic dancer and a reference to a conversation where Sanford solicited advice on how to commit the “perfect murder.”

The suit also alleges that in early 2013, during the divorce case’s discovery process, forensic accounting showed a Merrill Lynch financial account in Aliza’s name only was secretly opened by Sanford Sherman in May 2000. Between 2000 and 2010, he allegedly made more than $2 million in deposits into the account, the CJN reported. The suit showed that in 2004, Sanford Sherman forged a durable power of attorney, which allowed him to withdraw funds from the account. In the following six years, the account was emptied.

Sanford Sherman retired from ophthalmology and closed his Severance Circle practice in 2004, the CJN reported. He later moved to Florida after Aliza’s death.

Aliza Sherman was outside the office of her divorce attorney, Gregory Moore, at the Stafford & Stafford law firm on Erieview Plaza in downtown Cleveland when she was stabbed 11 times by a still-unidentified assailant wearing a face covering.

The investigation into Aliza Sherman’s murder was turned over to the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Investigation in 2021, and was previously investigated by Cleveland Police. BCI was recently informed of Sanford Sherman’s death and the investigation into Aliza Sherman’s murder remains active and ongoing, Steve Irwin, press secretary for the Ohio Attorney General’s Office, told the CJN.

In 2023, the CJN produced a multi-episode podcast series about Aliza Sherman’s life, legacy and murder.

The reward for information leading to Aliza Sherman’s killer stands at $100,000 – the largest reward in Crime Stoppers of Cuyahoga County history. Anyone with information regarding Sherman’s murder should contact Crime Stoppers at 25crime.com or 216-252-7463. Callers can remain anonymous and are eligible to receive a cash reward if the information given leads to an arrest or grand jury indictment of a felony offender.

Mazal Tov, 10 year-old Afghan Girl Engaged to a 25 year old

 

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The Demons of The View are Sickening

 

These demons are sickening. https://t.co/dwtb1WTjE5

— Catturd ™ (@catturd2) July 19, 2024

Biden’s fading campaign is creating a Democrat nightmare

                                                                        

If you are a Trump-hating Democrat, you are probably having trouble separating your nightmares from reality.

After all, the Republicans just had a wildly successful convention while your party is forming circular firing squads.

Worst of all, Joe Biden has picked a terrible time to throw a hissy fit, making it impossible to know who will be your party’s presidential nominee.

Consider two reports circulating Friday: One says Biden is “in it to win it” and sees a path to victory, the other insists he and his family are discussing his imminent withdrawal.

At this point, it’s not clear which is true or even which would be better for Dems.

One thing is certain: the confusion perfectly captures the helter-skelter mess Biden has created. His misbegotten presidency amounts to a long list of major failures and he should have had the sense a year ago to pass the torch.

But he and the people around him grew fat with arrogance and, cosseted by a cheerleading media, came to believe their own lies about his “accomplishments.” The comeuppance is harsh, with even his exit a disaster.

Make no mistake — it will be an exit from the race. He’s running out of time and options, and his attacks on Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton demonstrate that he’s mad enough to blow up the party on his way out the door.

Feeling betrayed by people he thought were friends and allies, he’s hitting back by making the most incendiary charge one Dem can make against others: blaming them for Trump’s 2016 election.

A Biden source tells NBC: “Can we all just remember for a minute that these same people who are trying to push Joe Biden out are the same people who literally gave us Donald Trump? In 2015, Obama, Pelosi, Schumer pushed Biden aside in favor of Hillary; they were wrong then, and they are wrong now.”

The source went on to denounce polls as “BS” and added: “maybe, just maybe, Joe Biden is more in touch with actual Americans than Obama-Pelosi-Schumer?”

If that’s Biden’s view, it’s especially bizarre coming from a man who has spent 50 years in Washington, where “actual Americans,” as in ordinary people, are as scarce as the proverbial hen’s teeth.

His denial about the polls is also strange given that they have been consistent for months in showing that two-thirds of Democrats believe he should withdraw.

A poll here or there might be off, but it’s a fool’s errand to argue with a clear consensus. Perhaps Biden doesn’t even remember the debate debacle on June 27, but it sealed his fate.

I said then he was toast and predicted he would be gone from the race within a month, so his exit is on schedule.

There’s another reason why Biden can’t be saved: when a Dem incumbent has lost the leftist media, there is no hope. Without the propaganda arm to cover up his stumbles and attack Trump, Biden is forced to articulate his own case, a job beyond his cognitive capacity.

The New York Times, which has turned on Biden with a vengeance, recounted Saturday in painful detail how he fumbled every effort to save himself.

The Gray Lady is finally getting the picture: the president is a bumbling incompetent, and always has been.

OUTRAGIOUS: ICJ: Israel Has No Right To Occupy Palestinian Territory, Denying Them Self-Determination

The ICJ delivered its ruling on the alleged ‘Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory on Friday. In the ruling, the court declared that ‘Israel’s withdrawal of its military does not completely end Israel’s obligations’.

The court declared that Israel continues to have obligations towards Palestinians under the Geneva Convention, which provides that a people should not be deprived of self-determination by any agreements, including those between governments.

Israel has ‘a duty to administer the occupied territory to the benefit of the local population.’ The court noted that ‘the occupation cannot transfer sovereignty’ and that ‘an occupation being prolonged does not itself change this definition.’

The court criticized what it called ‘Israel’s settlement policy’, saying that it was in violation of the Geneva Convention due to Israel’s providing incentives for Israelis to move to Judea and Samaria and recognizing towns in those areas as Israeli territory. “The prohibition of population transfer does not necessarily mean only forcible transfer,” the court noted. It also noted that Israel “requisitioned large amounts of land for the benefit of Israeli settlers to the detriment of the local Palestinian population.”

The disturbing truth behind Qatari money.

 

The disturbing truth behind Qatari money. pic.twitter.com/XB8b7r6tN7

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) July 17, 2024

Mother Whose Son Fought as a Hero in Afghanistan Just to be Killed in New York Gives EMOTIONAL RNC Speech

 

Mother Whose Son Was Killed in New York Gives EMOTIONAL RNC Speech pic.twitter.com/ErKxoQyejn

— DC Shorts (@theDCshorts) July 18, 2024

Israeli jets strike back at Houthis in Yemen after deadly Tel Aviv attack as all signs indicate Deif is dead

 

Israeli fighter jets for the first time attacked Yemen Saturday, retaliating on the Houthi stronghold days after the Iran-backed group attacked the former U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv, in a drone strike that killed one and wounded seven.

Saturday’s military operation targeted the western Yemen city of al-Hudaydah, The Times of Israel reported. The bombs destroyed fuel repositories and oil refineries.

The Israel Defense Forces confirmed the retributive strikes, saying it was a response to the hundreds of attacks the Houthis have aimed at Israel in recent months. The group has joined Iran in efforts to punish Israel for its war in Gaza.

Earlier reports suggested that the US and UK had also sent jets as part of the mission, but the Times of Israel reported that Israeli jets alone carried out the strikes.

The retaliation came as some U.S. politicians, including Democratic Rep. Ritchie Torres, began calling on President Biden’s administration to reverse its February 2021 removal of the group from the Foreign Terrorist Organizations list.

Torres, in a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, wrote that, in light of the Tel Aviv attack, “strongly” urged him “to consider relisting the Houthis as a Foreign Terrorist Organization.”

Meanwhile, Israeli military officials said there is “increasing” evidence last weekend’s major airstrike on Gaza did in fact kill Mohammed Deif, the Hamas leader thought to have masterminded the Oct. 7 terror attacks on the Jewish state that triggered the ongoing nine-month offensive.

“The signs are increasing as to the success of the elimination of Muhammad Deif,” said IDF Spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari, reports the Times of Israel.

Hagari said Hamas is concealing what happened to Deif July 13, when IDF forces dropped five 2,000-pound bombs in the al-Mawasi area, taking out Hamas commander Rafa’a Salameh.

Hagari claims Salameh and Deif “were next to each other at the time” of last week’s bombings, and confirmed Salameh was “definitely eliminated” in the attack.

Word of Deif’s likely demise came on the heels of IDF’s strikes Saturday on a building linked to a company that allegedly funds the terrorist group’s atrocities.

The building, located in a designated humanitarian zone on the Gaza Strip, was bombed on Friday, the Times of Israel reported.

IDF said the business was used for safekeeping Hamas munitions and funneling money to the terrorists since the war’s start.

Biden Antisemites weighing sanctions against two Israeli ministers

 The Biden administration is weighing sanctions against Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, head of the Religious Zionism party, and National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, who heads Otzma Yehudit, Axios reported.

The Axios report quoted three US officials, who said that the US government sees the two ministers as responsible for the unrest and security situation in Judea and Samaria.

The report comes ahead of the expected meeting between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Joe Biden, which is scheduled for early next week.

On Monday evening, the US Treasury Department announced that it would remove Aviad Shlomo Sarid, a resident of Revava in Samaria, from the list of sanctions that were mistakenly imposed on him.

The sanctions were imposed on Sarid following a misidentification, as his name is similar to one of the leaders of the Tzav 9 organization, Aviad Sarid. The US had also imposed sanctions on Reut Ben Haim from Tzav 9, a 38-year-old mother of eight who resides in Netivot.

Washington Post Slams the Parents of Hostages Parents For Not Condemning Israel then Delets it!

 

The Washington Post has deleted a post on X, which scolded the distraught parents of an Israeli-American hostage held in Gaza, for not accusing Israel of killing innocent Gazans. Even after the post was deleted, the article itself echoes the sentiment.

The parents of Omer Neutra addressed the RNC in an extremely emotional speech, in an effort to bring attention to those Americans (and Israelis) being held captive since Oct. 7, and the Biden administration’s failure to bring them home.

The now deleted post read:

 “Omer Neutra has been missing since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. When his parents speak publicly, they don’t talk about Israel’s assault on Gaza that has killed over 38,000 Palestinians, according to local officials. Experts have warned of looming famine.”

He is not "missing" he is being held hostage!

The post received major backlash for asserting that Omer was “missing”, not being held captive and that his parents should be advocating on behalf of civilians in Gaza. Some are calling for the editor and author to be fired.

Zera Shimshon Parshas Balak

 

She Finally Signs the Pre-Nup

 

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