Over the last few weeks, the Israel Dog Unit (IDU), a nonprofit specializing in search and rescue, has been searching an area in the Meron region where human remains had been located.
The search comes as part of ongoing attempts to locate multiple people who have vanished in the area, including Avraham Moshe Kleinerman and Moshe Ilovitch, and was conducted alongside Israel Police officers, ZAKA volunteers, and park rangers from the Nature and Parks authority.
For days, students and police at Cleveland State University had been trying to figure out who stole a banner belonging to a campus Palestinian rights group.
The banner, which belonged to the student group Palestinian Human Rights Organization, read “CSU Solidarity for Palestinian Rights” and was illustrated with an outline of Israel, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip collectively emblazoned in the Palestinian flag. A dove holding an olive branch appeared on top of the image.
“This incitement to annihilation of Israel should have never been permitted at CSU,” Rabbi Alexander Popivker, a 46-year-old Cleveland Heights resident whose neighborhood is six miles from the school, wrote on social media accompanied by a picture of the flag he stole.
A man has been arrested in the case of two shul shootings this week in LA.
The LAPD says the suspect was arrested in Riverside County and evidence was seized that included a rifle and handgun.
Although police initially said there was no evidence to confirm antisemitism, they say the circumstances led them to pursue the investigation as a hate crime.
Earlier, the LAPD issued a press release stating that the February 15 and 16 shootings on Pico Boulevard “may have involved the same suspect”: an Asian male with a goatee driving a white compact vehicle.
“The Los Angeles Police Department is aware of the concern these crimes have raised in the surrounding community,” the statement said. “We have been in close contact with religious leaders as well as individual and community stakeholders. In addition, we are re-allocating police resources to provide a highly visible preventative presence in the area.”
The report certainly increases the likelihood that the shooter is an antisemite who was specifically targeting Jews.
In addition, the Jewish Journal quoted a reputable source who claimed that the local police informed him that they had apprehended a suspect, however that has not been confirmed.
On Thursday, an orthodox Jew was shot by a man in a car, after leaving Shul. It was the second such incident in two days. According to reports, at 8:20 a.m. a man was walking out of shul when a suspect identified as a white male shot him.
The incident happened near S. Bedford Street and Pico Boulevard on the westside of Los Angeles.
Less than 24 hours prior, a man was shot leaving a Shul at about 10 a.m. nearly a block away. That victim was also struck in the arm and listed in stable condition.
A simple urine sample may be all you need to diagnosis cancer soon. Researchers in South Korea are developing a new rapid test that looks at the metabolites in urine which reveal the presence of certain cancers in the body. Their success is paving the way for a simple strip-type sensor that alerts patients long before life-threatening symptoms emerge in late-stage cancers.
Right now, the team says this test can detect prostate cancer and pancreatic cancer with near-perfect accuracy. The test works by irradiating light after placing a small volume (10uL) of urine droplets on the testing surface.
Study authors focused on the differences in metabolomic components present in the urine of cancer patients and healthy people. When cancer cells start to multiply in a person’s body, they secrete different metabolites into urine because the disease is altering the patient’s metabolism.
Researchers developed a surface-enhanced Raman scattering sensor which amplifies the signs of these metabolites by more than one billion times. They did this by forming a coral-shaped plasmonic nanomaterial on porous paper. When scientists put a patient’s urine into the sensor and irradiate it with light, the cancer metabolite signals literally “light up” on the sensor surface. Using artificial intelligence to analyze their results, the team was able to distinguish up to 99 percent of prostate and pancreatic cancer patients from healthy samples.
This is not a "news story" - so you won't see it appear in any Western media outlet. But it is extremely revealing, a counter-narrative to the misconceived preconceptions of so many who spew hate against Israel, and particularly against those on the right. Look, listen, and… https://t.co/CxCiW9Zmbe
— Pini Dunner (@pinidunner) February 15, 2023
After Biden sent $1 billion to the PLO, Israeli deaths rose 900% https://t.co/X3iaz2DLc1 via @JNS_org
— Mike Newman (@MikeNew19512115) February 15, 2023
Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says he believes Israel has a Biblical claim on Judea and Samaria and is, therefore, not an occupying force.
“[Israel] is not an occupying nation. As an evangelical Christian, I am convinced by my reading of the Bible that 3,000 years on now, in spite of the denial of so many, [this land] is the rightful homeland of the Jewish people,” the former official told the One Decision podcast.
Pompeo was asked about the Israeli government's planned judicial reform and whether he felt that American's historic partnership with Israel was conditional on adherence to democratic principles. Pompeo responded that although he prefers not to discuss foreign countries' domestic policies, he would note that while the American government always advocates for democracy, it still maintains close ties with several nations that are not democracies, such as those in southeast Asia and the Middle East. He added that if an ally planned to do something that was perceived as inconsistent with US interests, they would ask them to refrain.
Nonetheless, Pompeo insists that Israel's judicial reform is a relative non-issue compared to other problems in the region. "If you look at the list of troubles we have in the Middle East, that doesn't make the 'hit parade,'" he said. "Let's start with the fact the Iranians continue to hold people with US passports and British passports, or we could start with the observation that the Iranians are trying to kill Americans here at home, including former US senior government officials."
The former Secretary of State also discussed the Abraham Accords and the benefit they bring to the American public. "I'm happy about the Abraham Accords because the chance that a US Marine will have to fight and die is substantially lower now that peace and prosperity are on the march in the region. We fundamentally took down the risk for the United States of America as a result of the Abraham Accords," he stated.
"What’s in America’s best interest? Is it to sit and wait for Abu Mazen [PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas], a known terrorist who’s killed lots and lots of people, including Americans … to draw a line on a map? That’s what the State Department would do. The previous Secretary of State ran back and forth from Tel Aviv to Ramallah and tried to draw lines on a map. We said: ‘That’s not in America’s best interest. Let’s go create peace,’ and we did.” he said.
Throughout the interview, Pompeo refused to voice support for a two-state solution, saying that he supports an outcome that guarantees Israeli security and makes life better for everyone in the region.
Journalist Yossi Elituv, who recently lost his father Rabbi Shimon Elituv, one of the prominent disciples of the Lubavitcher Rebbe, described how a letter addressed to his father by the Rebbe and sent 55 years ago had arrived at exactly the right time.
Elituv, who is the editor of the Mishpacha magazine, tweeted that “to receive a condolence letter from the Rebbe over the passing of our father during the shloshim seems like a message from heaven.
“This is how it happened. On the 5th of Av 5728 (1968), 55 years ago, the rebbe sent a letter full of comforting words about the month of Av to our father. However the letter never arrived as our father had moved to Romania and the letter, addressed to Jerusalem, was returned.
“An hour ago a person who was close to the Rebbe called with a message: I discovered by chance a condolence letter the Rebbe sent to your father which never reached him. Now is its time, I’m sending you a copy with shaking hands, or more correctly, the Rebbe is sending the family condolences.”
In the letter the Rebbe wrote that “may Hashem, the merciful father, comfort his people Yisrael with a double comfort, double strength. This double does not mean two times as much but rather a number which is priceless, and soon these days will become joyous and festive.
Elituv concluded, stating that “My father got 130 letters from the Rebbe in his lifetime and only one with words of comfort arrived tonight, when we most needed comforting.”
לקבל מכתב ניחומים מהרבי זי״ע על הסתלקותו של אבינו הכ״מ בתוך השלושים לפטירתו, זה גובל באות משמים.
— יוסי אליטוב Yossi Elituv (@yoelituv) February 14, 2023
ומעשה שהיה כך היה: בה׳ מנחם אב תשכ״ח, לפני 55 שנים, שיגר הרבי אגרת מלאה בדברי ניחומים על חודש אב לאבינו. אלא שהמכתב לעולם לא הגיע ליעדו. באותם ימים אבא העתיק את מגוריו לרומניה.
1/1 pic.twitter.com/oDKlALdY02
Sotheby’s auction house is selling a Hebrew Bible that Richard Austin, its global head of books and manuscripts, calls “undeniably one of the most important and singular texts in human history.”
Codex Sassoon dates to the late ninth or early 10th century and derives its name from its most prominent owner, David Solomon Sassoon (1880-1942). It “has been definitively dated as the earliest, most complete text of its kind,” Austin stated in a release.
Sassoon’s Hebrew manuscript and Judaica collection is among the most renowned of its kind.
“It stands as a critical link from the ancient Hebrew oral tradition to the modern, accepted form of the Hebrew Bible that remains the standardized version used today,” added Austin.
Sharon Mintz, senior Judaica books and manuscripts specialist at Sotheby’s, said the volume represents “a monumental transformation” in the history of the Hebrew Bible.
“ ‘Codex Sassoon’ marks a critical turning point in how we perceive the history of the divine word across thousands of years, and is a transformative witness to how the Hebrew Bible has influenced the pillars of civilization—art, culture, law, politics—for centuries,” she said in a release.
Sotheby’s stated, “Coming to auction for the first time in more than 30 years with an estimate of $30/50 million, Codex Sassoon will be the most valuable printed manuscript or historical document by estimate ever offered at auction.”
The auction is slated for New York in May.
Ex-Con the Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Monday called for the protest movement against the government’s judicial reform proposal to move to the next stage, one fueled by violent confrontation.
“What is needed is to move to the next stage, the stage of war, and war is not waged with speeches. War is waged in a face-to-face battle, head-to-head and hand-to-hand, and that is what will happen here,” he said in an interview with DemocraTV, according to Israel National News.
“It’s good to see 100,000 people, but that’s not what will lead the real fight. The real fight will break through these fences and enter into a real war,” he added.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud Party announced on Tuesday that it had filed a police complaint over Olmert’s “dangerous incitement.”
Olmert comments came after Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid slammed the Israeli government on Monday at a mass rally against the reform plan outside the Knesset.
“Millions of Israelis are watching us, seeing how a corrupt, extremist government wants to destroy the country at record speed,” said Lapid. “They’re trembling as rulers have always trembled when they discovered that there were people facing them who were not ready to give up. We will fight in the streets, we’ll fight until we win,” he added.
Those comments, in turn, came after Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai warned of “bloodshed.”
The system for girls’ acceptance into High Schools, developed nearly two decades ago with the guidance of BMG Mashgiach Rav Matisyahu Salomon, has completely collapsed for this year, leaving parents and schools scrambling.
The High School Vaad, established to ensure that all girls are placed, sent a letter to parents and schools saying in part: “For the last 18 years we had a system in place, and we had a coordinated approach to High School acceptance. This has fallen apart this year, and girls are being offered High School acceptance with quick ultimatums. For this year, due to these unforeseen circumstances, there is no longer a system.“
The letter added, “To high schools that have been following protocol–schools are currently accepting, and you should do the same.”
The current Vaad system which has been in place until now oversees a process in which every High School tries to accept girls simultaneously, to ensure every girl has a slot.
According to one Lakewood news source, quoting an unnamed askan, “This year, one school stepped out of the system and accepted girls before the usual time. This had a ripple effect on other schools who scrambled to hold interviews and fill up their enrollment.”
As a result, hundreds of students have reportedly been told they have a slot, yet hundreds more have been left out or have not even been interviewed yet, since under the previous system they still had time before any acceptances were issued.
According to one report, although the Vaad is not operating in official capacity this year, it will nevertheless undertake to assist every girl to be placed.
It’s not clear what pushed one school to undercut the process and jump the gun on its acceptance process.
The Foreign Ministers of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and the United States issued a joint statement condemning the decision of Israel's political-security cabinet to authorize the construction of 9,000 new housing units in Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.
"We – the Foreign Ministers of France, Germany and Italy, the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, and the Secretary of State of the United States – are deeply troubled by the Israeli government’s announcement that it is advancing nearly 10,000 settlement units and intends to begin a process to normalize nine outposts that were previously deemed illegal under Israeli law. We strongly oppose these unilateral actions which will only serve to exacerbate tensions between Israelis and Palestinians and undermine efforts to achieve a negotiated two-state solution," the foreign ministers said in their joint statement.
"We continue to support a comprehensive, just, and lasting peace in the Middle East, which must be achieved through direct negotiations between the parties. Israelis and Palestinians both deserve to live in peace, with equal measures of freedom, security, and prosperity. We reaffirm our commitment to helping Israelis and Palestinians fulfill the vision of an Israel fully integrated into the Middle East living alongside a sovereign, viable Palestinian state. We continue to closely monitor developments on the ground which impact the viability of the two-state solution and stability in the region at large," they said.
The EU said yesterday (Monday): “Israeli authorities announced on Sunday that they would consider nine illegal settler outposts in the occupied West Bank as legal under Israeli law. The European Union rejects this decision and reiterates its position that settlements are illegal under international law and that it will not recognize any changes to the 1967 borders other than those agreed by the parties. The EU renews its call on the Israeli authorities to halt settlement construction and to reverse these latest decisions as a matter of urgency.”
“The EU is gravely worried by the heightened tensions and increased violence. In the current worrying context, it is important to consider steps to de-escalate the situation and avoid unilateral decisions and actions that would undermine the viability of a negotiated two-state solution to the conflict, and fuel more tensions,” added the statement.
“The EU stands ready to help the parties to rebuild a path towards dialogue and work together to reverse the negative cycle of violence and to avoid any further loss of lives.”
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also criticized Israel’s decision in a statement of his own on Monday.
"We are deeply troubled by Israel’s decision yesterday to advance reportedly nearly 10,000 settlement units and to begin a process to retroactively legalize nine outposts in the West Bank that were previously illegal under Israeli law," Blinken wrote.
"Like previous administrations, Democratic and Republican, we strongly oppose such unilateral measures, which exacerbate tensions and undermine the prospects for a negotiated two-state solution," he added.
"As I have previously stated, anything that takes us away from the vision of two states for two peoples is detrimental to Israel’s long-term security, its identity as a Jewish and democratic state, and to our vision of equal measures of security, freedom, prosperity, and dignity for Israelis and Palestinians alike. We call on all parties to avoid additional actions that can further escalate tensions in the region and to take practical steps that can improve the well-being of the Palestinian people," Blinken concluded.
MK David (Dudi) Amsalem (Likud) has launched a verbal tirade against the opposition parties and those demonstrating on the streets to protest the government's proposed judicial reforms.
"Left-wingers are the most violent, deceitful thugs in the country, and we are going to push these legal reforms through to the end," Amsalem said. "That is the task of this government."
Referring to Monday's demonstration outside the Knesset in which tens of thousands of people participated, he said, "Look at the anarchy you're creating. You're a gang of thugs, inciting to rebellion. David Hodek said to shoot; who do you want to shoot? Me? My children? We're going to complete this legal revolution regardless of your rage, and anyone who breaks the law will sit in jail."
Amsalem also noted that, "Former IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said that he would give an order not to report for reserve service. And these are the people who are supposedly protecting us and working [for the country]. Well, I have something to tell you. I also work, me, and another two-and-a-half million people, we all work for the country, even though it's quite true that most of us work for you, cleaning your houses and gardens. I saw a lot of things glistening at the demonstration, and later I realized it was the Rolex watches worn by the protesters. Just go and see how many Mercedes they have."
Amsalem presented the battle as one "between the elites," saying that, "You're prepared to give us degrees and even cars, but not to allow us to rule. You never granted us that: not in the security forces, not in the judicial system, not in academia, not in culture, and certainly not in the Supreme Court and the State Prosecution Service. And in the Prisons Service, do you know who the wardens are? Moroccans and Druze."
In conclusion, Amsalem, who is headed for the Justice Ministry as a junior minister, addressed former Knesset Speaker MK Mickey Levy (Yesh Atid), with whom he has clashed multiple times in the past. "At the meeting of the Knesset Constitution Committee there were people jumping on the tables. You're allowed to kick and bite, run red lights and run over people, but Amsalem confines himself to words. You should be ashamed of yourselves. And you should start getting used to the idea that you're in the opposition."
The Biden Justice Department has a dilemma.
Up until January 9, 2023, when CBS News reported that President Joe Biden had a classified documents scandal of his own, you could have bet the ranch that DOJ was poised to indict former President Donald Trump for illegally retaining national-security intelligence at his Mar-a-Lago estate.
Prosecutors were getting their ducks in a row, taking the kind of steps that are only taken when the government is very serious about filing charges: appointing a special counsel, forcing former executive officials to testify before the grand jury despite potential privilege claims, aggressively litigating in the district and appellate courts to prevent Trump’s legal team from inhibiting their probe.
In 2019 a large-scale study, the first of its kind, was undertaken to explore aspects related to shidduch dating [https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/culture/shidduch-app-now-available-in-english-685452] in the North American Orthodox Jewish world. Called the DAAS project, the study was designed to elicit information about marriage rates, and the experiences of individuals from across the spectrum of Orthodox Judaism about the shidduch dating process.
Shidduch dating [https://www.jpost.com/j-spot/article-726351] is now commonly used across all denominations among the Orthodox. It requires some variation of a written description of the individual dater and often meeting with a shadchan (matchmaker) to arrange a date with another who may be considered an appropriate match.
This study is unique in that over 10,000 responses were collected. Subjective feelings of shidduch dating [https://www.jpost.com/blogs/confessions-of-a-jewish-matchmaker/what-does-the-word-shidduch-mean-543400] for those responding indicated strong feelings of anxiety, lack of support and too intense a focus on superficial components of individuals who are most often presented in what is called a shidduch resume. The pressure to get married before one feels ready, as well as the stigma and desperation that those who are not married felt was highlighted.
Chayim Nissim Cohen formerly known as Jeffrey Lujan Vejil of Odessa Texas, is the subject of both a civil suit and a criminal indictment for sexual abuse of children.
Cohen gained some notoriety for being a Chassidic, single, adoptive father of 9 in Houston Texas. He has been written about in many Jewish and non-Jewish media outlets, and runs a website about his family called "Our Unique Family." Cohen has presented in recent years.
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| The Rebbe with his 9 goyim |
For starters, in a 2019 Jewish Press article Cohen seems to have represented himself as a Williamsburg native who moved to Texas in his 20s and had a brief stint in social work. He represented himself in the same way in an interview for the Adath Israel of San Francisco blog.
Neither of those things is true.
According to the civil suit filed against him, Hayim Nissim Cohen was born Jeffrey Lujan Vejil in 1984 in Odessa, Texas. This is confirmed by a quick Google search finding only one Jeffrey Lujan Vejil in the state of Texas born in 1984. According to the Odessa High School website Jeffrey was part of the graduating class of 2002. In 2005 a picture of him was featured in the Odessa American assisting in relief efforts at a Red Cross shelter set up at UTPB in Odessa, Texas following Hurricane Rita. While he is listed as having attended high school from 1998-2002, I couldn’t find any records online of which college he may have attended to study social work. I was also unable to find any social work license, current or expired, for either Hayim Nissim Cohen, or Jeffrey Vejil. Given the image in the Odessa American, Cohen was not a Williamsburg native, and definitely was born, raised, and lived in Texas until 2005.
