“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
Thursday, March 3, 2022
Gedolim Point to Signs of Mashiach’s Arrival Amid Ukraine Crisis
BNEI BRAK: The Gadol Hador, Hagaon Reb Chaim Kanievsky Shlita was asked by many what should one be Mechazek in due to the ongoing war in Ukraine.
His Response was – to Daven and learn Torah B’Hasmada.
Reb Chaim also pointed out to a Medrash in Parshas Lech Lecha which says – “If you have seen kings provoking one another, expect the footsteps of Moshiach.” — “אם ראית מלכיות מתגרות אלו באלו צפה לרגלו של משיח”.
Rav Elya Ber Wachtfogel, Rosh yeshiva of Yeshiva Gedolah Zichron Moshe of South Fallsburg, as well echoed the message of R’ Chaim last week once the invasion had began.
R Elya Ber had put on Shabbos clothing last week when he heard news of the movement of Russian warships. The response of the rosh yeshiva is based on a Kabbolah that he has that when the Russians will cross the Dardanelles River, it will trigger the start of a series of events before Moshiach comes, and therefore, in his words, “Men ken shoin untun Shabbosdike kleider.”
5 TownsCentral Editors Note: There have been many points in history when Gedolim informed of the imminent arrival of Mashiach and it didn’t happen. However, that does not mean we should become skeptical, rather it truly could have been the right time, only that Klal Yisroel was not deserving. Hashem runs the world with cheshbonos that we can not understand.
We hope that this time our generation is worthy and that this current period of conflict ushers in the Geulah Shleima.
Wednesday, March 2, 2022
A fascinating but little-known chapter in the history of a campaign by a Brooklyn Housewife to help create the State of Israel.
"Irish, sympathetic, hates British, will definitely help.” So read an entry in the diary of Brooklyn housewife Esther Kaplan, after meeting with Rep. John J. Rooney, an Irish-American congressman from New York City, seventy-five years ago this week.
Mrs. Kaplan had no background in lobbying or political activism, but when her son David was arrested by the British for trying to smuggle Holocaust survivors into Palestine in 1947, she reinvented herself as a Zionist lobbyist and took her case straight to Capitol Hill.
The arrest of David Kaplan and other crew members of the S.S. Ben Hecht, and the protests that ensued in the United States, comprise a fascinating but little-known chapter in the history of the campaign by Americans to help create the State of Israel.
On a chilly morning in late February 1947, six hundred Holocaust survivors trudged up the gangplank of the S.S. Ben Hecht in the French harbor of Port de Bouc. The ship was sponsored by the activist Bergson Group, and named in honor of the journalist and Hollywood screenwriter who authored the group’s most controversial newspaper ads denouncing British rule in Palestine (the name of the region and not connected to a specific people).
The ship’s captain was Robert Levitan, a burly six-foot-four former Merchant Marine who said he “jumped at the chance” to participate in the mission because he had "felt impotent in the 1930s and early 1940s, hearing about Hitler's persecution of the Jews and not being able to do anything about it.”
"We had twenty men, with twenty different reasons for joining up," Levitan remembered. "We had some very young boys who were reared in Zionistic homes and were gung-ho Zionists. We had an Irishman who hated the British, and he volunteered just because it was against the British. Our cook was a black man, one of the gentlest men you could ever meet, and he just liked helping out the underdog."
How Ukrainians Murdered 100,000 Jews 20 Years Before the Holocaust
Statue of Bohdan Chmelnytskyi Still Standing Kiev |
In the early 1920s, thousands of Jewish child refugees flooded into Moscow from Ukraine, fleeing a terrifying series of pogroms. Legendary Jewish artist Marc Chagall remembered giving art lessons to some of the refugees at a Jewish orphanage outside the Soviet capital. He recalled the horrifying atrocities they spoke about — their parents murdered, their sisters raped and slain, and the children themselves chased out in the cold, threadbare and starving.
Unlike the Holocaust, this earlier wave of antisemitic violence has largely been forgotten by history. Yet at the time, it was front-page news. From 1918 to 1921, more than 1,100 pogroms killed over 100,000 Jews in an area that is part of present-day Ukraine. Such large-scale violence led to fears that six million Jewish lives across Europe were at risk from antisemitic hate. Those who made such dire predictions included writer Anatole France; less than 20 years later, these fears were realized.
The story of these fateful pogroms is chronicled in a new book, “In the Midst of Civilized Europe: The Pogroms of 1918-1921 and the Onset of the Holocaust,” by University of Michigan history and Judaic studies professor Jeffrey Veidlinger.
“I think right now they’re not very well-known at all, mostly because they’ve been so surpassed by the Holocaust,” Veidlinger told The Times of Israel in a phone interview. “In the interwar period, they were very well-known. In some ways, it seems like it was all anybody was writing about then.”
Rooted in a previous linguistic research project with elderly Yiddish-speaking Jews in Ukraine who told Veidlinger about surviving the pogroms, the book takes readers back to this disturbing moment in history during the Russian Civil War.
“It’s terrifying and horrifying,” Veidlinger said. “It takes a toll on you to write [down] that testimony. I’m sure it takes a toll on the reader… It was difficult for me to hear, and probably difficult for them to tell.”
The title phrase comes from France’s fears for the future of European Jewry. The French poet and journalist noted that some of the pogroms occurred at the same time as the peace talks at Versailles tasked with ending World War I. One was perhaps the largest single mass murder of Jews in modern history up to that point — the pogrom of Proskuriv on February 14, 1919, with 911 listed deaths, which Veidlinger estimates is one-third of the actual total.
“I think it was almost genocidal,” Veidlinger said of the Proskuriv pogrom. “It shows how the violence escalated during the very short period of time between November 1918 to February 1919.”
Chief Badatz Extortionist of Kosher Cell Phones Arrested and the Badatz Backs the Chareidie Mafia
This is pathetic.
The phones should be under “supervision,” not the stores. There is no reason to believe that a store owner would substitute a type-B phone or account for a customer requesting type-A service.
Maybe the situation on the ground will change when the shop owners organize themselves. Learn something from the Ukrainians.
Hours after the arrest of a senior leader of the Comunications Vaad on charges of extortion and harassment of cell phone stores, the BADATZ has released a letter, saying that kosher cell phone stores are currently not being supervised.
Following the detention of the Supervisor of Cellular Stores, the BADATZ Eidah Charedis issued a special warning to the public.
Under the headline “Warning to parents and educators”, the Rabbanim wrote that “After the authorities arrested the supervisor of cellular stores, and extended his detention for a week, there is currently no supervision of cellular stores in Yerushalayim.”
They added that it is incumbent upon parents and educators to supervise children regarding this matter.
The judge who extended the detention said at the hearing: “On numerous occasions the defendant extorted and threatened cell phone shop owners while asking them to pay him money to get kosher. The shop owners who did not pay were allegedly attacked.”
Single Mom forced to sell home after Bnei-Braker conman Copycat tricked her out of $100K
A mom was forced to sell her home after her own slippery “Tindler Swindler” conned her out of more than $100,650.
Jordan Alexander, 54, was left heartbroken when her whirlwind romance came crashing down — leaving her with a mountain of debt.
She thought she had met the man of her dreams after connecting with “millionaire” businessman James on a dating website.
The single mom-of-two, who lives in New Zealand, was duped by the cruel crook after signing up to the site in 2012.
James painted himself as a hardworking dad who traveled around the globe as a railway consultant while raising his teenage son.
Tuesday, March 1, 2022
Zionists readying for 10,000 immigrants from Ukraine in coming weeks
Israel's government estimates that around 10,000 Ukrainians will immigrate to Israel in the coming weeks, government officials told The Jerusalem Post on Saturday.
The Ministry of Immigration and Absorption would not comment on this estimate, but responded saying: "The Ministry of Immigration and Absorption is prepared for the emergency immigration of Ukrainian Jews, and in view of the escalation in Ukraine, the ministry, headed by Minister Tamano Shata, is preparing all sectors to assist and absorb any Jew seeking to immigrate to Israel."
"In light of the drastic increase in applications for immigration from Ukraine and in view of the security situation in the region", the ministry said that Tamano-Shata and Finance Minister Avigdor Lieberman agreed on providing additional budgets to actualize the emergency immigration operation from Ukraine.
The Ministry of Immigration and Absorption convened an emergency discussion last Thursday during which Tamano-Shata assembled an inter-ministerial team to remove bureaucratic hurdles for potential olim and to issue immigration visas digitally, in light of a drastic increase in applications. This is in addition to reinforcements in the Absorption Division at Ben Gurion Airport and the cooperation with the IDF.
The Ministry concluded, "We call on the Jews of Ukraine to immigrate to Israel - your home."
Saturday Night Live makes "choizik" and parodies ‘Fiddler’ — and B&H camera store
“Saturday Night Live” is famously “Live from New York,” and in the latest episode the show doubled down on the promise.
In a skit on Saturday’s episode, guest host John Mulaney led the cast in a parody of Broadway musical numbers that included an homage to “Fiddler on the Roof.” Mulaney plays a newsstand operator who sings about the horrors of the New York subway system, from erratic service to sketchy passengers to, yes, the “Mole Men” who are said to live in the tunnels.
“If I were a mole man,” he sings, adding in some “yubba-dubbas” from the “Fiddler” classic, “If I Were a Rich Man. “All day long I’d drink a shoe of rum, if I were a mole per-son!”
Soon Mulaney is joined by a chorus line of Hasidic dancers, who do a credible version of the tavern scene from the show. But wait, there’s more: When someone asks, “Was that the actual cast of ‘Fiddler’?”, Mulaney replies, “No, there’s just a lunch break at B&H Photo.”
Even many New Yorkers may need a footnote here: B&H Photo is an electronics megastore in Midtown Manhattan famously owned and staffed by Satmar Hasidic Jews. It was once even slapped with a lawsuit claiming it discriminates against non-Jewish employees (the suit was dismissed).
The skit, called “Subway Churro,” went on to include parodies of “South Pacific,” “Little Shop of Horrors,” “The Music Man,” “Les Misérables” and “Dear Evan Hansen.” The “Hasidic” dancers returned for the finale — based on, what else, “Jesus Christ Superstar.”
Ukranian Soldier Kills a Jew and wounds his wife at Checkpoint and Claims He thought they were "Russian Combatants" ..Who believes that?
So a guy sitting in a car with his wife and two children are mistaken at a checkpoint for "Russian Combatants" and they kill the jew and wound his wife! If you believe that, I have a bridge in Brooklyn to sell.
The cursed Ukrainians ym"s even convinced his step mother that it was Putin's fault. A Ukrainian Goy shoots her step son who was part of a convoy at a checkpoint, and it was Putin's fault!
You know what it was? An opportunity for a Ukrainian to follow the minhag of his father to kill Jews!
As I pointed out in the past two weeks, the Ukrainians are the most vicious anti-semites! I also sincerely believe that it's the Jewish "askanim" who are interested in constantly going to "kevarim" are pushing this "Nice Ukrainian" agenda! This is a huge business for for the chassidim and now the Litvaks having learned from the Chassidim how to make money and are making the Chafetz Chayim's town, Radin, into a shrine. The Chafetz Chayim wanted with all his heart to leave that place and make Aliya to Petach Tikva, and these clueless naive Jews want to revive a dead town whose Jews were murdered!
I know people are wondering.. so what do you want? Do you want Putin to win?
The answer is I want Putin to destroy Ukraine. The Jews should leave now! And then I want Putin to go into Poland, Hungary and Romania in that order. I don't think that Putin is a "tzaddik" I think he is a blood thirsty murderer but since he is on a roll I want him to finish the Job, and then of course I want Putin to get his end!
Jews protesting in Tel Aviv and other places in support of Ukraine have not learned anything from the past. When did Ukrainians protest in support of Israel? Especially when Israel was defending itself in Gaza?
Why are Frum Jews defending the Ukrainian Goyim? Why? The answer is they are afraid of losing $$$$$$ from their trips to kevarim. This has to be the only reason. Even Agudah came out with a statement supporting the Ukrainian government. Because the Aguda askanim are all for the "kevarim" escapades!
Brodsky was reportedly part of a car convoy headed to the Moldovan border when he was shot at a checkpoint by a Ukrainian militia that mistook him for a Russian combatant.Monday, February 28, 2022
Meshiginar Chabad Chasid joins Ukrainian army: 'Willing to die for Ukraine'
David Cherkski, a Chabad-Lubavitch hasid from Dnipro, Ukraine, has joined the war against Russia, together with his father.
Wearing his army uniform, the young Cherkski told Channel 13 News that the Ukrainians will do everything to win.
"I am now in Dnipro, and we are doing everything we can," he said. "We don't have a war yet here, but it's a matter of time. We are waiting for the Russians, so that we can show them."
"Half of them have already died, and the other half have gone home," he said of the Chechnya forces, who took part in the invasion.
Cherkski added: "We will not give the Russians anything. They can say what they want... That they will take Kyiv in two days, but we understand that now our army is the best in Europe."
"I am willing to die for Ukraine. I am willing to die for the Jews who are here, for the Ukrainians who are here. I was born here, my family is here. I am with my father here."
When asked if he would be willing to carry out a suicide operation blowing up one of Ukraine's bridges, he responded, "I think so."
Tinder Swindler Gives his Side of the Story ..In Hebrew
Israel Releases Rules for Entry to Unvaccinated Tourists
Israel announced just over a week ago that it would open its skies to unvaccinated tourists beginning March 1st. The full set of rules for entry has now been released.
The following rules will take effect on March 1.
- All tourists will be permitted to enter Israel, regardless of vaccination or recovery.
- Israeli citizens, toshavei keva and toshavei arai (A5 and A1 visas) will no longer be required to present pre-flight Covid results.
- All other travelers, including visa holders, will be required to present negative PCR results, from within 72 of departure, prior to travel to Israel. Antigen tests will no longer be accepted.
- Recovered travelers, with a positive PCR or antigen test from no less than eight days and no more than ninety days, are exempt from the pre-flight PCR test.
- All passengers will still be required to fill out the Entry Form within 48 hours of departure.
- All passengers (Israeli and foreign) will be required to undergo a PCR test upon arrival at Ben Gurion airport.
- All passengers, regardless of vaccination or recovery, will need to quarantine only until receiving negative Covid results from their airport test, or 24 hours, whichever comes first.
- Full quarantine of five days will only be required for those who test positive in the airport or unvaccinated persons who are in close contact with a confirmed patient (such as on the plane).
Listen to a Ukranian say that the Ukrainain People are the most Evil on Earth!
Sunday, February 27, 2022
Watch how the Ukranian Tzaddikim Welcomed the Nazis in Lvov in 1941. Watch the smiling faces of the Women and Children
כיבוש לבוב. אוקראינה, 1941. pic.twitter.com/0RAI7YhAFF
— תהיות (@Historyinpic6) February 27, 2022
Ukrainian Chief Rabbi Bleich Leaves Ukraine in Middle of the War to go back to his Home in Monsey
I can't say I blame him, but isn't he the "Gadol" who advised his flock to remain? Deja Vu all over again!
Rabbi Yaakov Bleich, the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine, spoke to Kol Chai Radio Sunday morning about the situation of the Jewish community of Ukraine as Ukrainian and Russian military forces do battle on the outskirts of the city.
"I left Ukraine in the middle of the week and arrived in the United States," Rabbi Bleich said.
"Inside Kyiv there are something like 8-9 Jewish communities, from our community which was the largest I took out who I could until Thursday. On Thursday I took people out one last time - a bus and something like twenty cars, about 100 people, that's in addition to 150 people a week before and they went to a camp we had prepared outside of Kyiv. It is a hundred kilometers west of Kyiv," he said.
He said: "Those from my community who did not want to [leave] stayed in Kyiv, and there are other communities left as well. On Friday afternoon, just before Shabbat, another 40-50 people from the communities of Chabad next to us who were not ready to evacuate came to my community in Kyiv."
He added: "On Shabbat afternoon the rabbi came there by bus and took them out and they went to Zhytomyr. Those from my community stayed there because a curfew began on Saturday at five in the afternoon until Monday morning at eight. It is because of the massive attack by the Russians."
Rabbi Bleich said that the Ukrainian president called him and asked that the Jewish people pray for his success. "President Zelensky called me a few hours ago, while waging war, and asked the entire Jewish people to pray for the soldiers of Ukraine: 'The Russians have more soldiers than us, but our soldiers have more determination than the Russians. We need your prayers for us to succeed,' the Ukrainian president said."
"Kosher Phone" Extortionists Now Targeting Bet Shemesh Kosher Cell phone stores
So it looks like they managed to destroy all the Kosher Cell Phone stores that refused to cave in to their Mafia tactics in Yerushalyim, so now they are trying Bet Shemesh. But in Bet Shemesh police quickly arrived and they ran like roaches, but two got arrested.
These are stores that carry Kosher Phones exclusively but without their hechsher!
They wouldn't try messing with the stores that sell smartphones because those owners will perform a bris on them!
How Biden has empowered evil in both Russia and Iran
The contrast could scarcely be more glaring. America’s strategy to deter Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggression against Ukraine is to impose sanctions. But its strategy to deter aggression by the Iranian regime is to lift sanctions.
Not only is this contradictory, but in terms of effectiveness, it’s precisely the wrong way round. Sanctions were pointless once Putin’s assault on Ukraine was already underway, as its president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, so bitterly observed.
But sanctions did weaken the Iranian regime as it raced towards achieving nuclear weapons breakout capacity. Sanctions were aimed at encouraging the Iranian people to rise up and topple the regime, the best chance of avoiding a nuclear-armed Iran short of war.
Now the administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has reportedly reached an agreement that’s even worse than the disastrous 2015 nuclear deal, lifting all constraints on Iran’s manufacture of nuclear weapons within two and a half years.
If this is so, Biden will have played midwife to the Iranian bomb which his administration has so vapidly pledged to prevent and towards which Tehran has already taken huge strides through America’s policy of appeasement.
Saturday, February 26, 2022
Breaking: DIN Encourages Putin to March Into Poland Next
Ukrainians Shooting Jewish Women & Children to death |