Pipe bombs thrown at Kever Rachel

Border Police officers discovered two pipe bombs which had been thrown into the Kever Rachel complex in Beit Lechem (Bethlehem).

No one was injured.

The pipe bombs did not explode. 

The police  called to the area are currently working to neutralize them.

Border Police have closed the area off, and vehicle traffic is being limited.

Thousands visit Rabbi Kook's grave

Today, the third of Elul, is the anniversary of the passing of Rabbi Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook, the first Chief Rabbi of the Land of Israel, who died 83 years ago.

The Rabbi's grave, whose teaching is one of the cornerstones of national-religious thought, is now being visited by yeshiva heads and their students to read psalms and say Kaddish.

This morning's pilgrimage was attended, among others, by Yeshivat Har Hamor heads Rabbi Tzvi Tau, Rabbi Amiel Sternberg, and Rabbi Mordechai Sternberg; Deputy Defense Minister Rabbi Eli Ben Dahan; Deputy Mayor Hagit Moshe; Rishon Lezion Hesder Yeshiva head Rabbi Shlomo Levi.

Rabbi Kook's House Educational Director Rabbi Avraham Teitz said, "The Rabbi's legacy shines forth from one end of the world to the other. Rabbi Kook left behind a great educational, Torah, and Zionist legacy. We at Rabbi Kook's House in Jerusalem make every effort to imbue this heritage into the entire nation. We embarked on a huge fundraising campaign to improve the accessibility of his legacy to every household and sector."

Rabbi Kook's Greatness: for his Yahrzeit on 3 Elul

Only rarely is the world privileged to see a man of such greatness as the icon of religious Zionism, HaRav Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook.

In Memoriam

by Rabbi Shmuel Knopfler


HaRav Kook ... His Personality

There have been scores of Torah giants in recent generations, but the stature of none compares to that of Rabbi Avraham Isaac HaCohen Kook, zt”l (1865 -1935). His genius was astounding - there was no field of Torah study that he had not mastered. His recall was astonishing – great scholars related that no matter what Torah subject they
discussed with him it would appear as if he had just recently learned the issue in depth.

Not only was he versed, sharp, and innovative in the arenas of Talmud and Halakha, he was at home in all areas of Jewish thought: Bible, Midrash, philosophy, and mysticism. On top of all this, he was unmatched in piety and righteousness, and his entire existence was dedicated to the service of the Creator.

Rabbi Kook was a mighty figure who fought for truth and was willing to put himself on the line for the sake of Torah justice.

It is not uncommon for extreme brilliance to result in strange
character traits, but Rabbi Kook was friendly and pleasant, so much so that all who knew him were captivated by his warm character. He was intellectual and emotional, sharp and poetic. He possessed a rich inner life, while at the same time was very active spiritually and publicly on behalf of the Torah, the nation, and the land.

That all of these talents could reside together harmoniously in one soul is itself remarkable.

The Respect of His Contemporaries

Rav Kook with Rabbi Sonnenfeld 

Netanyahu is freezing building in Frum neighborhoods of Yerushalayim

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office refuses to approve the construction of hundreds of housing units in the capital city of Jerusalem, despite the end of the era of pressure from the US administration, as was the case during President Hussain Obama's term.

According to a report by journalist Michael Shemesh in "here," a document by local officials in Jerusalem shows that Netanyahu's office ordered a freeze on construction of hundreds of housing units in Jerusalem. The officials are now asking the Prime Minister's Office to approve the plans urgently, but at this stage Netanyahu refuses to approve the construction.

According to the report, there are about 1,000 housing units for the ultra-Orthodox sector. Including the neighborhoods of Ramat Shlomo, Ramot and Neve Yaakov.

After  DIN's Jerusalem Office called The Prime Minister's Office, the spokeswoman  said that "the Prime Minister's Office is not delaying construction in Jerusalem"

Cancer breakthrough: Scientists discover how to target ‘undruggable cancers’ which affect 50% of cases

Scientists have discovered a drug that can target a signalling pathway that switches about half of all cancer cases into overdrive, offering hope to treat drug-resistant tumors

An experimental drug could finally let doctors treat half of cancers, which often become drug resistant, defying treatment.

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco used a drug being developed by Revolution Medicines to slow the growth of lung, skin, colon and pancreatic cells in the lab. 

The cancers they hope to treat are particularly stubborn thanks to mutations that make ells grow out of control. 

Since their experiments in animals so successfully disrupted this process, the researchers plan to expedite it to clinical trials, where it could change the way doctors treat half of the most stubborn, deadly cancers they encounter.   

Any body tissue can become cancerous because any cell's copying process can be corrupted by genetic mutations that cause it to grow out of control. 

Our tissues are constantly repairing themselves by creating more cells, which is accomplished through cellular division. 

These divisions are triggered by communications passed through a sort of cellular game of telephone, or a signalling pathway. 

As the instructions for cell division are passed down the line, they're vulnerable to get interrupted, which can then cause a genetic mutation that causes cells to multiply out of control. 

One of the signalling pathways involved is the MAPK/ERK pathway. Messages to turn cell division 'on' or 'off' travel through this pathway. 

But if one of the proteins that acts like a switch gets stuck in one position or the other, divide out of control, becoming a cancer. 

Listen To the Entire Meeting Where Omarosa Is Fired

2 men found dead after standoff were sons of slain Cleveland Frum Jewish doctor

Dr Richard Warn

Ohio authorities said Monday that two men found dead inside a house after a 12-hour SWAT standoff were the sons of Dr. Richard Warn, whose body was discovered in his home on Thursday.

The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner said 29-year-old Mark Warn and his 31-year-old brother Michael Warn died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds.

Dr. Richard Warn, a 59-year-old Jewish podiatrist, was found dead from multiple gunshot wounds at his home in a Cleveland suburb. Police said there was no sign of forced entry into the Beachwood house, but that foul play was suspected.

Law enforcement officers were called after Warn’s wife, Jane, returned from vacation without her key and found her husband was not answering the door, even though his car was in the driveway, cleveland.com reported

Upon gaining entry to the home, police officers discovered Warn’s body.

On Saturday, police announced that two men described as persons of interest, later identified as the victim’s sons, were found dead inside a home owned by Warn after a 12-hour SWAT standoff.

The standoff with a regional SWAT team began around 7:30 p.m. Friday when an armored vehicle breached the front door. Police said someone in the home responded with high-powered rifle fire and that officers returned fire. No officers were injured in the exchange.

Friends and neighbors described Warn as a devoted family man.

The State of Israel is the national home of the Jewish people. We longed for this place, and we prayed for our return

The Palestinian flags waving in Tel Aviv on Saturday night are the real narrative, which no amount of wording, impersonating or mountains of hypocrisy can conceal.

The protesters at Rabin Square are fighting for the right of return to Sheikh Munis (Ramat Aviv), Khirbet Azoun (Raanana), and the lands of the Abu Kishk tribe in Ramat Hasharon. They want to make Nakba Day their day of independence. Their fight is over the 1948 borders, not the 1967 borders. The protesters in the square, led by the Arab Higher Monitoring Committee in Israel – MKs Ayman Odeh, Hanin Zoabi and Jamal Zahalka – are voicing their truth. We should heed what they are telling us and stop already with the Left's foolish march of naiveté.

50-year-old man dies while immersing himself in the Netanya sea before his grandson's Brit Milah.

A 50-year-old Jewish man drowned at a Netanya beach Monday.

The Kikar Hashabbat news site reported that the man was a religious Jew who sought to ritually immerse himself in the sea prior to the Brit Millah of his newborn grandson, which was to take place today.

Magen David Adom paramedic Ron Levi said: "When we reached the shore, we saw a man of about 50 lying unconscious north of the declared beach. The rescuer who saw him from a distance dragged him out of the water. He was unconscious, not breathing, and had no pulse."

"We carried out long-term resuscitation activities that included medicine, respiration and massages, but unfortunately after a long time we have had no choice but to determine his death."

First Female Muslim Member of Congress Celebrates Win With Anti-Israel Rants on Twitter

Democrat Rashida Tlaib, winner of her party’s primary in Michigan’s 13th congressional district, celebrated her win last week with a series of anti-Israel tweets.

Tlaib, who is Palestinian-American, will become the country’s first female Muslim member of Congress next year. She is running unopposed in November.

On Thursday, as Hamas rockets rained down on Israeli civilians, Tlaib attacked Israel indirectly on Twitter:

Tlaib followed up the next day by retweeting a supporter who declared that her “first fight was for Palestine, always Palestine.”

Tlaib is aligned with “democratic socialist” Alexandrira Ocasio-Cortez and received the endorsement of the Democratic Socialists of America. She is also supported by Linda Sarsour, the anti-Israel “Women’s March” organizer who recently called for “jihad” against the Trump administration.

She has come under criticism for her previous anti-Israel statements. She criticized Sen. Kamala Harris (D-CA), for example, for meeting with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom Tlaib accused of “racism.” And, according to the Algemeiner, she supported Palestinian terrorist Rasmea Odeh in her bid to fight deportation for lying to U.S. immigration officials about her past.

Sheked Orders State to Release 300,000 unpublished files on missing Yemenite children

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked on Sunday instructed the Israel State Archives to release some 300,000 unpublished files relating to the children of Yemenite immigrants, whose disappearance after their arrival in Israel over half a century ago has been at the center of a lingering controversy.

The Knesset Committee for Archives, chaired by Shaked, heard that the hundreds of thousands of Israel Police files have not been previously published and that their existence was apparently largely unknown.

Dr Richard Warn ... Frum Doctor's Homicide Results in 2 Other Deaths

The police investigation into the slaying of a Beachwood doctor took an unusual turn late Friday and early Saturday with a SWAT standoff that ended with two others dead.

Cleveland.com has been following the story since Thursday when the body of Dr. Richard Warn was discovered at his Beachwood home. 

In the ensuing days, police served a search warrant at a South Euclid home connected to Wren that resulted in a tense standoff with a SWAT team.

Two are now dead, and the 10-hour standoff ended with many questions still unanswered. 

Here is what we know so far. 

Dr. Warn's wife, Jane, called 911 saying that she and her family just returned from vacation and did not have a key to the house. 

Her voice shakes as she explains to dispatch that her husband was not answering repeated knocks on the door, even though his car was in the driveway.

Beachwood police arrived a few minutes later to the Brentwood Road home and discovered Dr. Warn dead inside. 

There are "no leftists in a bomb shelter"

by Mark Werner

Most Americans have never had the experience of being wakened in the middle of the night by a Tzeva Adom (“Code Red”) siren, rushing to the closest bomb shelter, and hiding in the shelter while listening for the explosion of a Palestinian missile. I recently had this experience and am writing to share it with non-Israelis.

Together with nine other Sar-el volunteers, for three weeks this summer, I was stationed on an IDF base in fairly close proximity to the Gaza Strip. Immediately after flag raising on our second day on the base, the soldier (Danielle) in charge of our team of volunteers called us together: “Now there’s no reason to be nervous, but you should know that this morning Hamas fired 28 missiles from Gaza into Israel. Iron Dome shot down most of them but five landed in Israel. Three fell in unpopulated areas, but two did not. One of the latter fell in the playground of a kindergarten, and luckily no one was hurt. Since we are not too far from Gaza, you shouldn’t worry, but I will show you now the closest bomb shelter.”

Parshat Re'eh

by Rabbi Shmuel Knopfler

– “You shall smite, yes smite, all of the inhabitants of that city by the sword…and you shall burn entirely with fire the city and all of it spoils to the Lord your God, and it shall be an everlasting desolation ); it shall not be rebuilt again” (Devarim 13: 16,17).

The Torah ordains the destruction of an entire city which has been seduced and deceived into practicing idolatry. And, although many sages of the Talmud maintain that such a situation “never was and was never created” (Talmud Sanhedrin), the harsh words nevertheless sear our souls.

What is even more difficult to understand are the concluding words of the Torahin reference to the  idolatrous and hapless city: “…[And Hashem] shall give you compassion, and He shall be compassionate towards you, and He shall cause you to increase as he has sworn to your forbearers. … This is
because you have harkened to the voice of Hashem to observe all of His commandments… to do what is righteous (hayashar) in the eyes of Hashem G-d” (13:18,19).

4-year-old Shmuel Gelis Killed by Ice Cream Truck in Monticello

    

Shmuel Gelis

         

Tragedy struck in the Catskills on Thursday evening, with the horrific news that a young child was  struck and killed by an ice cream truck in Monticello.

4-year-old Shmuel Gelis, of Toms River NJ, died at Catskill Regional Medical Center, around an hour after he was struck while riding his bike in a bungalow colony.

Catskills Hatzolah was on the scene at Birchwood Estates in Monticello, located on “Rod and Gun Club Road” just after 7:30PM, and found the child in traumatic arrest.

The Monticello Fire Department and MobileMedics responded as well, and a chopper was initially placed on standby in case it was needed. Due to his critical condition, Hatzolah Paramedics rushed him to the local hospital where doctors tried everything to save his life.

Unfortunately, he was Niftar shortly after.

An investigation is underway by the Sullivan County Sheriff Department.

Shmuel’s parents are R’ Moshe and Batsheva. Prior to moving to Toms River, they resided in Coventry Square in Lakewood.

The Levaya will take place at 10:30AM Friday morning, at the 7th Street Chapel in Lakewood. Kevurah will be in Lakewood.

New York Post Headline: “Israeli airstrikes in Gaza Strip kill pregnant woman, her 1-year-old daughter.”

The NY Post has not noticed that Hamas began the hostilities and Israel is responding to 140 rockets in one night on its civilians, and one critically wounded woman.

Never mind that Hamas started it and accelerated it with more than 100 rockets being fired into Israel as thousands of Israelis along the Gaza border are sent running to their bomb shelters.   

That gets no mention and even the rest of the story gives it a passive voice moral equivalency twist, as in – “A flare-up of violence.”

It is no surprise that the story was picked up from the AP, never a friend, but it is a surprise that the Post carried it, with that howler of a headline, as is.

Yeshivah Student Sexually Assaults Girl on the Light Rail in Yerusahalyim

I guess he was upset that the Israeli Police No longer use Pretty Police Girls to arrest the demonstrators,  so he thought he would get his thrills by sexually abusing a girl outright!

lOn Wednesday night, police were called to the light rail station in central Jerusalem by a young woman who reported that a young man with a Yeshivash appearance  was traveling by the light rail and attacked her.

A policeman who was not on duty noticed the distress of the young woman, and immediately detained the suspect and prevented him from  getting away. A short time later, additional police officers were summoned to arrest him.

Today the suspect will be brought before the court in the police's request to extend his detention. The investigation continues in an attempt to locate additional victims.

The Israel Police said: "The police give top priority tand a prompt response to any suspicion of offenses committed against any person, which may cause severe mental suffering to the victim

MBD Concert in Netivot Cancelled Due To Hamas Rockets

Chasidic music artist Mordechai Ben-David Werdyger was forced to cancel his performance this morning in the town of Netivot.

"Following the security situation, the Home Front Command issued directives that impose restrictions on the gathering of a large crowd in an open area in Netivot, so we are forced to cancel the performance of Mordechai ben David in Netivot, which was supposed to take place today Thursday, in order to protect the residents' security.

It should be noted that the show will be postponed to another date. The Municipality emphasizes that: "For those interested, the card will be valid for the next date, but all ticket holders have the right to receive a refund."

It should be noted that the blog  "Kikar Hashabat" reported that Rabbi Shmuel Montag, a city rabbi, issued a letter against the performance. 

According to him, this is an evening that was prohibited by the "great rabbis of Israel."

Only in the Hamptons could you do ‘Shabbat on a Yacht’

RABBI BEREL LERMAN

Noah’s Ark has nothing on this vessel — a private yacht that will combine prayer and party for some 30 members of the Hamptons Jewish scene.

And yes, says Rabbi Berel Lerman, who’ll captain Saturday’s event at the Sag Harbor Cove Yacht Club, Shabbat on a Yacht is totally kosher. Earlier this week, the Orthodox rabbi blessed the boat and affixed a mezuzah (a box containing Hebrew scripture that’s meant to protect the home) to the vessel’s door frame.

Not that the yacht is sailing anywhere, for that would violate the laws of the Sabbath. Nevertheless, those who didn’t miss the boat are kvelling.

“The kids can’t wait,” Upper West Sider Stephen Wald, 60, says of his children, ages 6 and 10. “They said, ‘OMG — we’re going on someone’s boat.’ I tell them, ‘It’s a big boat — you can call it a yacht.’ They’re really impressed.”

The Walds and other invited guests from Sag Harbor’s Center for Jewish Life — Chabad will celebrate the end of the Sabbath, known as Havdalah, and the start of the next week. Rituals include blessing the wine, lighting a candle and smelling sweet spices.

The congregation list is a virtual who’s who of movers and shakers, many with yachts of their own — and even Jill Zarin is impressed.

“Not too many places would they have services on a yacht,” says the former “Real Housewife,” who won’t be at this ceremony. “When people are on the water, they’re looking for peace and solace, so what better physical place to pray than on the water on a yacht?”

The yacht’s owner, Jessica, agrees. She and her husband (who withheld their last name and his first name for privacy) offered the congregation their boat last year, and that inaugural Shabbat on a Yacht was such a hit, they decided to host it again.

“People said it was amazing,” says Jessica, a non-Orthodox Jew who wasn’t familiar with the Havdalah (Hebrew for “separation”) service until the rabbi explained it to her. “The whole idea … is to be spiritually elevated.”

Other members are less enthusiastic about adding water to worship.

“I’ve never been on a boat for any religious service,” says 57-year-old congregant Andrew Quentzel. “[But] I don’t think you need to be in a synagogue to pray or be in touch with God.”

Rebbitzen Chavah Sarah Feinstein Succumbs to Her Injuries

           

The Rebbitzen and Rosh Yeshiva were involved in a serious car accident in Staten Island two weeks ago. Both were taken to the hospital, with the Rebbitzen listed in serious condition due to internal bleeding and undergoing several procedures. The Rosh Yeshiva was bruised and has since been released from the hospital.

The Rebbitzen’s condition had appeared to be improving, but suffered a serious setback due to infection on Tuesday morning. Her condition turned critical on Wednesday evening, and she was nifter at around 9:00PM.

Rav Reuven is the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshiva of Staten Island, and the youngest son of Hagaon HaRav Moshe Feinstein ZATZAL. His older brother is Hagaon HaRav David Feinstein Shlita, the Rosh Yeshiva of Mesivta Tiferes Yerushalayim.

 Rav Reuven was supposed to fly to Miami Beach today to attend the bris of a grandchild tomorrow morning, but his 3PM flight was cancelled – 

The Levaya is scheduled for 11:30AM Thursday morning at Yeshiva Of Staten Island, 1870 Drumgoole Road, Staten Island, NY.

Kevura will on Har Hamenuchos in Yerushalayim.