Senior Israeli Rabbinate Official Arrested For Molesting Chareidi Minor

 

David Malka 

Chanie

A senior member of the Jerusalem Religious Council has been arrested on charges of molestation and sexual offenses against a young woman during the period when she was aged 13 to 17.

The senior official is 47-year-old David Malka, who was the director of the Kashrus department in the Jerusalem rabbinate at the time when the alleged crimes were committed and was the boss of the 13-year-old girl’s father.

 

The woman, who is now aged 27, came forward to complain because Israeli law says that the prescriptive period for sexual offenses against minors is 10 years from the age of 18 onwards, recognizing that not all minors realize the extent of the harm they have suffered. The woman, identified as Chani, wished to submit the complaints before the statute of limitations concluded.

Malka was a close friend of Chani’s family and the alleged crimes occurred at a number of locations including his home when Chani was babysitting for his children. She claimed that he had admitted his acts and even apologized a number of times.

After Malka was arrested, his remand was extended a number of times, while claiming that “many of the crimes committed years ago have passed the statute of limitations and therefore there is no reason to keep him in custody. 

A final decision will be reached in the next few weeks.”

Chani was shocked by this decision and decided to go to the media. In a Ynet interview she spoke openly and said that “ I’m disappointed, hurt and insulted, I feel that the state slapped me in the face. I wish to thank police for their sensitive treatment of this case, they did all they could for me.”

Chani described the ordeal she had undergone from Malka:

 “David was the best friend of my father from work. He, his wife and children would meet with my family on numerous occasions. One evening when I went with my father to eat at a restaurant, he couldn’t take me back and asked David to do so instead. I was at a rough time in my life, my parents had divorced. I told him how hard it was for me and he said: “I’ll be here for you, I’ll be like your psychologist.

“I was at the most fragile point in my life and he exploited it, told me to tell him about everything, said that ‘you don’t need a psychologist’

“After a few months of giving me emotional support which I so needed, he asked me to come to his office to take something for my father. It was late and the workers at the office had left. He wanted to hug me and do other things. On other occasions he asked that I should come so I could ‘talk’ but things got worse. There were times when he physically hurt me but I convinced myself that it would be over soon, I didn’t want to lose a listening ear and the emotional support that he was giving me.

“I would babysit his children and when I slept in their room he would molest me. I could’t fight him off,” she says regretfully. “He was my father’s boss, 20 years older than me. He was very charismatic and always knew how to say the right words.”

Chani later left the country but Malka still tracked her and attempted to control her life. It was only later, after she underwent therapy, that she realized she had been the victim of serious sexual offenses and exploitation.

Chani decided to meet with Malka and record his words in order to get a confession which she could use in her complaint. Malka indeed apologized for his behavior. “A person who goes and robs a bank can say that he needed money for drugs, food etc. but that doesn’t mean one can rob a bank. In your specific case, it shouldn’t have happened and I should have protected you from such actions,” Malka said on record. “It’s not that I’m trying to justify the actions. I’m embarrassed that I have reached this situation with you, with my friend [your father] and with myself. I ask you to accept these words from me.”

Chani spoke openly with the media. She knows that other women were attacked by Malka and hopes that they will also come forward. “I have nothing to be embarrassed about or to hide. I said the truth. I hope whoever was harmed by him will come to police and submit a complaint.”

Arab Imam States that "Al-Aqsa Mosque is not in Palestine and Mohammad was never in Jerusalem "

 

Pour votre éducation pic.twitter.com/GP1czONvwi

— dc (@dico61) January 4, 2023

Manny Cohen 79 Brooklyn jeweler clinging to life after brutal beating by brazen thieves

 

An elderly Brooklyn jeweler was sent to the ICU after a pair of brazen thieves attacked him before robbing his store of six figures worth of merchandise — as his family on Wednesday decried criminals’ “golden ticket” to wreak havoc in New York City.

Manny Cohen, 79, was closing Roxy Jewelry Store on Flatbush Avenue around 5:30 p.m. Dec. 30 when two men forced their way inside and beat him within an inch of his life.

Speaking to The Post on Wednesday, Cohen’s son, Shawn, described the horror of finding out what had happened to his dad after he failed to return home for Friday night dinner.

“[My father] did not answer his phone calls, and that prompted me to check the cameras,” Shawn Cohen said. 

“Once I scrolled back on the camera, I saw that he was being robbed … I saw that they were beating my father to death.”

Surveillance footage showed the sick thieves attempting to hide his dad’s body under the subfloor — before spending over 20 minutes stuffing their pockets full of jewelry, Cohen said.

The pair made off with more than $100,000 in merchandise, according to the NYPD, which released an image of the still-at-large suspects on Sunday.

Several days later, the elderly shopkeeper remains in the ICU with a severe brain injury, his son said. His prognosis is still unclear.

“They did everything with the intention to kill a 79-year-old,” Cohen said of the thieves.

He also shared that his dad — who has run Roxy Jewelry for 25 years — had to get staples in his head last month when someone threw a rock at him while he was helping a customer. 

“From the description at the time, we believe it was the same people who did this second attack,” he said.

When asked if he was confident in law enforcement’s ability to apprehend the attackers, Cohen said be believed the perpetrators would be caught — but that he had “zero confidence” in the city’s ability to keep them off the streets.

“For anyone to do this, they have to feel confident enough and brave enough to make such an attack,” he told The Post.

“[Criminals] have a golden ticket [from the prosecutor’s office] to carry out these kind of attacks in New York City.”

Surveillance footage shows the thieves spent 20 minutes putting jewels in their pockets.

‘Condemn violence on the Temple Mount, not people who come to pray’ .......Ben-Gvir Consulted With His "Daat Torah" Before Ascending!

 Former MK Yehuda Glick discusses with ILTV the international uproar since Internal Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s ascent to the Temple Mount on Tuesday.

MK Limor Son Har-Melech from the Otzma Yehudit Party spoke to Israel National News on Wednesday and commented on the uproar following the visit of the chairman of her party, Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, to the Temple Mount.

"I am less bothered by the reactions in the world. It bothers me that people from among us stand up and appear as though they are giving a briefing to Hamas, cooperating with our enemies and telling them what needs to be done. It is unfathomable and that is the thing that bothers me the most personally," she said.

“After all, it is the most natural thing in the world for Jews to ascend to their holiest site, but someone instilled in us an awareness that it is dangerous. I believe that we are strong enough and that, with our true resilience, these things will happen and pass. This ascension is an expression of the people of Israel coming back to themselves and yesterday, the Tenth of Tevet, was the most appropriate day to remind our people what needs to be fixed. We need to hold onto this truth without apologizing," continued Son Har-Melech.

On the argument that going up to the Temple Mount goes against the halakha, she noted that Ben Gvir has "great rabbis and Torah scholars who know the halakha and they are the ones who ruled that he can go. He does not do things arbitrarily. He is committed to the halakha. Personally, I listen to the rulings of Rabbi Dov Lior, who says that women shouldn't enter the Temple Mount, therefore you won't see me go up like Itamar did."

She added that members of Knesset from the Likud and other parties congratulated her on the step taken by Ben Gvir and she did not hear any criticism from them. "There is a process taking place here and slowly people realize that there is no other option and we have to say clear things if we want to win this campaign."

"Our defense establishment is ready for all scenarios," stated Son Har-Melech, adding that Ben Gvir consulted with senior officials in the defense establishment before the Temple Mount visit and they all claimed that there was nothing standing his way. "We need to listen to the outcries from the world but also deal with them in a proportionate manner."

Watch and Listen to the incredible voice of Chazzan Yisrael Rand at an impromptu gathering

                                                        

Dog Watches Sad Movie and becomes very sad!

 

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‘Genuine wind of change’: New diaspora minister halts funding to leftist NGO

 

Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli of the Likud.

The swearing-in on Thursday of Israel’s 37th government elicited a collective sigh of relief from right-wing voters, for whom the nearly two full months that it took Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to forge his coalition felt like an eternity. As soon as the ministers finished uttering their oaths of office, however, there was a sense on the part of supporters that the upshot of the arduous negotiations had been worth the wait.

With the team finally in place and ready to get to work, the shrill warnings by naysayers about the imminent demise of Israeli democracy were relegated to background noise. Ironically, while most of the hysteria surrounded the portfolios and plans of the “extremist” haredim and religious Zionists—and vow of the incoming crew to reform the judicial system—the first concrete action came from Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli of the Likud.

Chikli, who is also the minister of social equality, announced on Saturday that he was ordering the immediate halt to an agreement approved by his predecessor, Nachman Shai—shortly after the Nov. 1 Knesset elections—to provide millions of tax shekels to a left-wing organization promoting a program in the United States whose tracks include “leadership research in the fields of justice and gender equality.”

There will no longer be a situation whereby judges in Israel elect themselves in back rooms with no oversight

 

Justice Minister Yariv Levin 

Justice Minister Yariv Levin on Wednesday evening announced the government’s controversial plan to overhaul the legal system that would include exerting political control over Israel’s leftwing judiciary.

“As someone who grew up on Menachem Begin’s knees, I believe that there are judges in Jerusalem,” Levin said, referencing Israel’s first conservative prime minister from the late 1970s.

“But there is also a Knesset and a government in Jerusalem. The constitutional revolution of the judicial system has degraded trust in the system to a dangerous low, and damaged democracy and governance. People we did not elect decide for us. It is time to act,” said Levin.

Levin proposed four reforms: The first would see the Justice Minister electing two public representatives to the 9-member committee that elects the judges as well as establishing a public hearing for candidates.

“There will no longer be a situation whereby judges elect themselves in back rooms with no oversight,” he said.

Palestinian Authority’s official daily claims Israel deploys ‘spy cows’

 

Spy cows are the latest animals to join the lineup of Zoological conspiracy theories disseminated by Palestinians, with the Palestinian Authority’s official daily publishing an article about a man who encountered bovine “recruited and trained” by Israel and outfitted with surveillance equipment.

Israel has in the past been charged with deploying genetically engineered sharks into Egyptian waters, sending a species of poison-immune super rats to infest the Old City of Jerusalem’s Muslim quarter, and killer dolphins off Gaza’s shores to attack Hamas frogmen.

As recently as this week, Britain’s National Education Union (NEU) revived a boar-related conspiracy theory first popularized by PA President Mahmoud Abbas in 2014 when he insisted that “every night, [Israelis] release wild pigs against us.”

In fact, the phenomenon is so common there’s even an entire Wikipedia entry titled, “Israel-related animal conspiracy theories.”

In the article, published last Tuesday in the PA’s Al-Hayat Al-Jadida newspaper, Rushd Morrar, a village elder from Khirbet Yanun in Judea and Samaria, is quoted as saying that he had encountered the spy cows near his village.

“These are recruited and trained cattle, as on the neck of each cow they hang a medallion with an eavesdropping and recording device on it, and sometimes cameras, in order to monitor every detail in Khirbet Yanun large and small,” the newspaper cited Morrar as saying, according to a translation by monitoring group Palestinian Media Watch.

Morrar also claimed that “settlers release herds of wild boars” to destroy Palestinian crops, the newspaper said, as well as alleging that “the settlers’ crimes are diversifying and becoming sophisticated, and the means they employ in their war are unlimited.”

Unless convicted, voters should decide George Santos' fate

 

A newly elected congressman, the execrable George Santos, completely fabricated his resume. So much so that we cannot even be sure that George is his real name.

Not surprisingly, Democrats have jumped on the revelation and are calling for his resignation. Should he fail to comply, Democrats believe Republicans should vote to expel him.

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), the incoming vice chair of the House Democratic Caucus, tweeted: "GOP Congressman-elect George Santos, who has now admitted his whopping lies, should resign. If he does not, then @GOPLeader should call for a vote to expel @Santos4Congress."

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) whose accomplishments include sleeping with a Chinese spy and compromising America's national security, is demanding that Santos be banned from taking the oath of office: "[Santos] confessed to defrauding the voters of Long Island and his ENTIRE resume."

94% of antisemitic attacks in NYC were against Orthodox Jews and were perpetrated by other minorities

 

A new report from Americans Against Antisemitism (AAA) found that Orthodox Jews in New York City were the most frequent targets of antisemitism, representing nearly 100 percent of reported cases between 2018 and 2022.

The report by AAA found that Orthodox Jews, and specifically Hasidic Jews, were the victims in 94 percent of the 194 antisemitic incidents recorded in New York City between 2018 and 2022.

The study also found that 77 percent of the antisemitic attacks occurred in neighborhoods with mainly Orthodox populations. Nearly 25 percent of the assailants were teenagers.

Jason Greenblatt: Why is US tolerating discrimination against Jews on Har Habyis?

 

Former White House Special Envoy to the Middle East Jason Greenblatt questioned US Ambassador to Israel's response to Israeli Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's visit to the Temple Mount on Tuesday in which the ambassador said that the Biden Administration condemns all actions which undermine the "status quo" on the Temple Mount.

"Like so many things about this conflict people say different things-“status quo”, “historical status quo”, “legal status quo” & people define these differently. The demands to maintain the so-called status is completely unhelpful & deepens the problem," Greenblatt wrote in a Twitter thread Wednesday.

He continued: "And if we want to use “historical status quo” let’s understand actual “history” and remember that Jews (of which I am a very proud one), had two Temples on the site and worshiped on this holy site for a very significant period of time, over the span of two Temple periods."

Greenblatt questioned why the current US administration endorses a policy which discriminates against Jews at the holiest site in Judaism. "In a world where people of good faith are attempting to fight against all sorts of discrimination (a good thing to be sure) why is the discrimination against Jews & Jewish prayer at the holiest site for Jews still demanded?"

"It never made sense to me that this wasn’t part of the “status quo.” That’s why in the peace plan we released it called for all religions to be allowed to pray at this site, which is holy to countless people around the world, and to end the discrimination against Jews at this site. To demand otherwise is completely dishonest. Let’s end the discrimination, once & for all," he said.

Greenblatt was responding to statements by Ambassador Nides to Axios reporter Barak Ravid shortly after Ben-Gvir’s visit, in which Nides protested any perceived changes to the status quo on the Temple Mount.

“To be very clear - we want to preserve status quo and actions that prevent that are unacceptable. We have been very clear in our conversations with the Israeli government on this issue,” Nides said.

Yated Neeman that supported Chaim Walder Calls Ben-Gvir’s Temple Mount ‘Unnecessary Provocation’

 

The Yated Neeman newspaper, that employed the late sexual pervert Chaim Walder, and then supported him when the crap hit the fan, issued a scathing criticism of National Security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir after he ascended the Har Habayis Tuesday morning. 

The newspaper charged Ben-Gvir with causing a provocation which could lead to the murder of Jews by bloodthirsty Arabs.

This newspaper that doesn't recognize the State of Israel, the only Jewish country in the world, and is against the IDF, has the sheer chutzpah to tell us, that it is a provocation for a Jew in a Jewish country, to go up to the Har Habayis. 

Mrs. Yated, .......Arabs don't need excuses to kill Jews! 

In 1929, when the Arabs went on a pogrom and raped, murdered Jews in Chevron the Chareidie extremists wrote that this was because a Jew blew the Shofar at the Kotel and claimed and still claim, the Arab propaganda lie, that Jews and Arabs lived in peace before then. It has since been proven time and again, that this pogrom was planned months before the incident at the Kotel. This lie is repeated by Satmar on a weekly basis in their Yiddish weeklies, Der Goy and Der Shturmer. 

Ben-Gvir in a tweet answered them:

 “Yated Neeman is against a state for the Jewish people and against secular people living here. Do you support that as well?”

Lakewood Roshei Yeshiva Want to keep the Frummies in the Stone Age Release Letter Opposing New Frum Streaming Platform

A letter has been issued by Lakewood’s leading Mechanchim and Menahelim, opposing a new online video device and platform, which has branded itself a viable option for frum families who are looking for kosher content.

The chinuch leaders, who represent a range of yeshivas, discourage people from using the “24Six” streaming platform and media playing devices, and say that without Rabbinic guidance “we are opening up an anarchist approach” toward what is acceptable. The letter was signed by the BMG Roshei Yeshiva as well.

24Six allows listeners to hear only pre-approved music and content from Jewish singers and entertainers. Its website says, “Have your values. And your music too. 24Six is the only vetted media streaming platform for Jewish families worldwide – with features that give you control.”

The letter, which does not call for an outright ban, points to several concerns, including “exposure to music and videos with content that often runs contrary to the values and ruach with which we bring up our children.”

It adds that the platform is “detrimental to healthy spiritual and emotional growth, as by nature it is a device that promotes constant distractions and an overdose of entertainment.”

The sharply-worded text says that a device which can download from the internet should “never be considered safe in the hands of a child” and that without the guidance of Daas Torah “we are opening up an anarchist approach towards what is or isn’t acceptable in KlalYisroel.”

The text notes that “there is no written Daas Torah backing” the assertion that the platform is a “completely kosher entertainment option.”

 

DemonRat lawmaker calls Israeli government a 'terrorist regime'

 

Face of Evil

A Massachusetts state lawmaker accused Israel of committing genocide and maintaining an apartheid regime.

Jamie Zahlaway Belsito, a Democrat representing Massachusetts’ 4th Essex district in the state’s House of Representatives, tweeted last Friday that the Biden administration should condemn Israel's new government as a “terrorist regime” dedicated to killing Palestinian Arabs.

“The US must acknowledge that the Israel administration is an apartheid run thuggery terrorist regime on a mission to kill Palestinians. Killing and land taking has nothing to do with anti-semitism. It is genocide.”

A day earlier, Belsito retweeted a post by Arab American Institute founder and frequent Israel-critic James Zogby, who blasted Israel’s new Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, over the basic lines of the new government.

“This is Netanyahu saying what his gov’t will do,” Zogby tweeted. “He crosses every red line of US declared policy.”

“Question: Will we do anything? Answer: Most likely we won’t. Instead White House & Congress will come up w/ lame excuses to delay taking action, as Netanyahu continues on his way.”

In another tweet earlier in December, Belsito lauded the Jordanian film Farha, which portrayed Israeli soldiers during the 1948 War of Independence as genocidal murderers.

“My family sat together to watch this film. The United States has ZERO understanding of what the Nakba is. The truth cannot be silenced. 1948 European British Zionists created a hell on earth. This movie is about visceral hate, ethnic cleansing, terrorism and apartheid. Farha.”

Israel should put an end to Palestinian diplomatic terror ... NOW!

 

With the approval of a United Nations General Assembly resolution requesting the International Court of Justice weigh in on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Israeli “annexation” and the “legal status of the occupation”, Israel’s response has been underwhelming.

This is not just another largely meaningless UN resolution. It has the capacity to be the opening shot in a diplomatic war that could see serious ramifications and potentially lead to intense sanctions against Israel and some of its people.

This attack demands a robust and meaningful response from both the Israeli government as well as from Jewish leadership across the globe.

Firstly, because, as in any type of warfare, if you do not respond against the first wave of attack, you have lost your deterrence, and subsequent waves will be even more powerful.

The Palestinian Arabs will be emboldened by this decision which was loudly applauded by its leaders who have repeatedly enunciated their roadmap towards isolating Israel diplomatically and economically.

Finally we see Jewish Children Ascend the Har Habayis

 

What a beautiful sight! Kol Hakovoid!

Itamar Ben-Gvir visits the Har Habyis Sticking His Thumb into the eyes of Hamas

 

To all those who will comment that "Gedoiei Hador" prohibited the ascension to the Har Habyit, know that he has his own "Gedoilei Hador" that permit it. 

We wrote many times that the Rambam ascended the Har Habyis. The Me'eira, a Rishon, also permits it. As of 2022 we know exactly where one can go and where not.

If you were to argue, that those who permit it are "Yechidim" then I'll let you into a small secret, the entire VaYoel Moshe authored by  R' Yoel Teitelbaum z'l, follows the rulings of "yechidim"

The point is we cannot give sovereignty to the Arabs. 

We should all support those who go up "with tehara" and whose rabbanim permit and encourage going up. 

Kol Ha'Koved Itamar Ben-Gvir!

National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir ascended the Temple Mount this morning (Tuesday) to mark the fast of the Tenth of Tevet. This is his first visit since the elections and it was coordinated with the Israeli Police.

Ben-Gvir arrived at the Temple Mount under heavy security that included his personal bodyguards and other police officers.

The minister said during his visit to the site: "Our government will not surrender to the threats of Hamas. The Temple Mount is the most important place for the people of Israel, and we maintain the freedom of movement for Muslims and Christians, but Jews will also visit the site. Those who make threats must be dealt with an iron hand."

Minister Ben-Gvir ascended the Mount despite reports Monday that he had agreed to push off his visit after meeting with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

MK Gideon Sa'ar (National Unity) mocked Netanyahu over the request, tweeting Monday: "Could it be that the prime minister of a fully right-wing government is preventing a minister in his own government from ascending the Temple Mount because of Hamas threats, despite [the fact that Ben-Gvir] was going up regularly [to the Mount] when the government in power was, according to him, 'controlled by the Muslim Brotherhood'?"

Israeli security officials had warned the prime minister that Ben-Gvir's visit could lead to a major escalation with terrorist forces in Judea, Samaria, and Gaza.

On Sunday, the Hamas terror organization threatened Israel in response to Ben-Gvir's planned visit.

"The extremist Ben-Gvir is trying to convince his voters that he is implementing his promises by breaking into Al-Aqsa (Mosque)," said Harun Nasser El-Din, the Hamas official responsible for the issue of Jerusalem.

"We hold the government of the occupation responsible for any escalation if there is damage to Al-Aqsa (Mosque) or to our people who are clinging to Jerusalem," the Hamas official added.

"We call on our people to protect Al-Aqsa (Mosque), and we are sure that our people will thwart all attempts to impose a new reality on Al-Aqsa (Mosque)."

What About Pope Benedict's Nazi Past?

 

Here is a link to a Reuters article in 2009 entitled: TIMELINE: Pope Benedict angers Jews

And below is an excerpt from a report by ABC News in 2013:

Joseph Ratzinger had joined the Hitler youth as a 14-year-old and went on to serve in the German military, as six million Jews were sent off to the death camps. Though Benedict was eventually exonerated and even embraced by Jews — he called the Holocaust a “dark time” in his life — his German past continued to haunt him.

“When he was elected pope a lot of alarm bells went off in the Jewish community,” said Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder and dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Los Angeles, who had a one-hour private audience with Benedict when he became pope. “First, it was about the Nazi aspect.”

The Wiesenthal Center launched an investigation into Benedict’s role in the Third Reich only to discover the Ratzingers came from a family of anti-Nazis, with no hint of antisemitism.

“The fact that he was in the Hitler youth — if you were a young child during the Third Reich and you didn’t go, you’d be condemned,” said Hier. “He didn’t volunteer. That’s not a blemish. We’ve done a bunch of research, and that should be very clear.”

But the role of the Catholic Church and most particularly the silence of Pope Pius XII, who served from 1939 to 1958, as millions went off to the gas chambers has dogged Benedict, despite being viewed as a friend by those who are Jewish.

Both Pope John Paul II and Benedict pushed for Pius to gain sainthood. In 2009, as Pius moved toward beatification, the Vatican issued a statement that the church was looking at his “Christian life” as a whole and not “the historical impact of all his operative decisions,” according to The New York Times.

Moving Pius toward sainthood “is in no way to be read as a hostile act towards the Jewish people, and it is to be hoped that it will not be considered as an obstacle on the path of dialogue between Judaism and the Catholic Church,” wrote the Rev. Federico Lombardi, a Vatican spokesman.

“Pope Pius XII didn’t care much about Jews. He was the pope of silence,” said Hier.

“They say [Pius] looked at Hitler as a mad man, and if he had opposed him publicly, it would have destroyed the Catholic Church. It was against everything the Christian Church stands for,” said Hier.

“In Auschwitz, ten to fifteen thousand people were gassed every day,” he said. “Priests and local parishes knew what was happening and the bishops reported to the Vatican.”

The Vatican has always denied that Pius ignored the plight of the Jews and Benedict said the Pius worked “secretly and silently” to help Jews.

In 2007, Jewish leaders criticized Benedict for lifting restrictions on the old form of Latin mass, which included prayers for Jews to “be delivered from their darkness” and converted to Catholicism.

46-Year-Old Israeli Gives Birth to Son From Her Husband Who Died Four Years Ago

 

 A 46-year-old Israeli widow gave birth on Chanuka to a son who is the progeny of her husband despite him having died over four years ago.

The woman, Sharon Alon Twitto, had been trying to conceive with her husband Sagi when he died suddenly in March 2018 of a heart attack. On the day of his death, Sharon travelled to the Haifa Magistrates court to obtain a court order which would allow her to obtain sperm from her late husband so that she could in the future realize their dream of having a joint child.

After the court gave its authorization, an operation was performed to remove the sperm which was taken to a lab for preservation. Sharon however required the authorization of the court to use the sperm and this meant a legal battle for over a year. During the course of this period, Sharon switched careers, moving from a successful position in a medical equipment company to interior designing. Sharon opened a studio, naming it Studio Saga in memory of her husband.

In May 2022 Sharon found out that she was pregnant, and the high-risk pregnancy was monitored by Prof. Rinat Gabai Ben-Ziv, head of the Hillel Yaffe hospital’s maternity department. Due to her high blood pressure, Prof. Ben Ziv advanced the birth which took place on Chanukah via C-section. A healthy 3 kg son was born to Sharon.

Sharon said afterwards that “I had an amazing and emotional birth experience, I had a team which are devoted and caring and made me feel in good hands. The fact that I gave birth on Chanukah is a sign of my personal victory in my battle to bring a child to the world. I am sure that Sagi is looking on from above with great pride.”