Two American Girls Allegedly Kidnapped By Mother In Israel

 

Israeli police have launched a search after two young American citizens who have allegedly been kidnapped by their mother.

The two girls, Sarah (12) and Liba (8) Goldschmidt, arrived in Israel after a Pennsylvania court authorized their travel as part of the visitation rights of the mother, who lives in Israel.

After spending 10 days on vacation with their mother, they were supposed to return to their father, who had arrived in Israel to pick them up, but they did not make the rendezvous on Friday.

Police continue to search for the mother and the girls and are using tracking technology to try and locate the cellphones used by them but so far without success.

The girls’ father, Ofer Goldschmidt, has dual Israeli and American citizenship but their mother Tali has Israeli citizenship. The girls were born in the US and this is their first visit to Israel.

Zera Shimshon Parshas Ki Saytzei

 

Ben-Gvir: This is how fake news is spread

This is how fake news is spread: I said yesterday on a TV broadcast that the right of Jews to live and not be murdered in terror attacks prevails over the right of Arabs in Judea and Samaria to travel on the roads without security restrictions. That is why checkpoints should be placed on roads where regular terrorism and shooting by Jihadists are committed against Jews.

But the Israeli radical Left selectively cut a section out of my statement, purposefully misquoted even that, and removed the context in order to slander me as if I had made a racist declaration that Jews deserve more civil rights than Arabs.

This is exactly how the Left continues to fan the flames of incitement in the world against the Israeli government. Because of their cynical strategy, we are now witness to a surge of Israel haters attacking me and the State of Israel. The Left continues to cause harm to the State, just as they have hurt the economy, our social cohesion, and the IDF over the course of the last 8 months.

Shame on them!

Itamar Ben Gvir is the National Security Minister of Israel and chairman of the Otzma Yehudit party. 

How Ironic? Top European Human-Rights Judge Exposed as a Jew-Hater

 The European Court of Human Rights, which has jurisdiction over more than 46 countries and whose rulings are legally binding on all 27 member states of the European Union, is facing calls to re-examine cases involving Jews after its longest-serving justice was exposed as harboring extremist antisemitic views.

Boštjan Zupančič, who served as a judge on the court between 1998 and 2016, wrote on social media that the Jewish people are “the central enemies of Western civilization,” among other claims, the London-based Jewish Chronicle reported exclusively on Thursday.

The recent remarks, shared on both X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn, were first uncovered by the GnasherJew X account.

Zupančič, who has also been a vice president of the UN Committee Against Torture, argued on X that German Jews introduced “sexual perversions of all sorts, sadism, masochism, lots of homosexuality” before Adolf Hitler rose to power and that “millions of German fathers lost their income, fortune and savings because of these Jewish banks gangsters.”

He moreover posted a claim that the “Jewish war on white is behind the arson of the West, and unless Jewish power is named as the cancer, there is not [sic] hope for the white race.”

Cases involving Zupančič include Cha’are Shalom ve Tsedek v. France on the legality of kosher slaughter; PETA Deutschland v. Germany on comparisons between the Holocaust and the treatment of animals; M’Bala M’Bala v. France on antisemitic views and free speech; as well as several lawsuits about the restitution of Jewish property seized by Nazi Germany.

Jonathan Turner, chief executive of UK Lawyers for Israel, told the JC that his organization was looking into “whether any judgments of the European Court of Human Rights in which Boštjan Zupančič participated should be reconsidered.”

Meanwhile, the conservative European Centre of Law and Justice think tank, which has come out in support of Israel, removed Zupančič from their fellowship program following the JC’s exposé. “There should be no room for antisemitism, especially within human-rights institutions,” said director Gregor Puppinick, adding that Zupančič’s “reputation was high at the court.”

Zupančič was also temporarily locked out of his X account this week on the grounds that his posts breached the platform’s rules against hateful conduct.

The European Court of Human Rights, based in Strasbourg, considers alleged state violations of the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. Judgments are binding and state parties to the convention are obliged to execute them.

Lady with Shaitel Does "Gelilah" in Chareidie Shul

 

Leftist Anarchists Converge on Bnei-Brak

 

Did "Techiyas Hameisim " Start ?

 

Rav Ahron Schecter RY Chaim Berlin Passes at 95

Hagaon Harav Aharon Schechter ZT”L, Rosh Yeshiva of Chaim Berlin, and member of the Moetzes Gedolei Hatorah of Agudath Yisrael of America, passed away, he was 95.

The Rosh Yeshiva has been unwell the past two years, and wad Niftar early this morning.

The Levaya will be held today at around noon at Yeshiva Chaim Berlin, on Coney Island Ave between Avenue L and Avenue M. Exact time will be updated when confirmed. Kevura will be in Long Island.

Rav Aharon was a Talmid Muvhak of the late Rosh Yeshiva, Hagaon HaRav Hutner Zt”l, who appointed Rav Aharon as Rosh Yeshiva of the Yeshiva. He was a brilliant Talmid Chochom, and delivered a daily Shiur in the Yeshiva for many decades, as he was Mechanech thousands upon thousands of Bochrim, Yungerleit and doros of Mishpachos.

Malka Leifer Gets 15 Years In Jail: ‘Callous Indifference To Victims’ Suffering’

 

Malka Leifer, the former principal of the Adass Israel school in Melbourne who sexually abused two sisters before fleeing to Israel and then being extradited back to Australia, was sentenced on Thursday to 15 years in jail.

Judge Mark Gamble said that Leifer had abused her position within Melbourne’s charedi community and her “insidious offending” had scarred the sisters for life.

Leifer, a mother of eight, was suspected of committing her crimes between 2004 and 2007.

According to the indictment, Leifer assaulted one of the sisters in 2006 after inviting her home to “sleep over for kallah lessons” — a kind of pre-wedding class that includes sexual education.

On other occasions, Leifer told the students she was preparing them to be wives, prosecutors told the court earlier this year.

“This will help you for your wedding night,” Leifer said after one sexual assault, according to Lewis.

“This is what is good for you,” she allegedly said during another incident.

Did Putin Murder the Wagner head Yevgeny Prigozhin

 

The head of the Russian mercenary company Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was listed as a passenger on a private jet that crashed north of Moscow on Wednesday, the TASS news agency reported, citing Rosaviatsia, Russia's aviation authority.

According to Reuters, there was no confirmation that Prigozhin was physically on the plane, and the news agency could not immediately confirm that he was on board.

"An investigation has been launched into the Embraer plane crash that occurred tonight in the Tver region. According to the passenger list, among them is the name and surname of Yevgeny Prigozhin," Rosaviatsia said.

Russian state television confirmed that Prigozhin was killed in the crash.

Wagner Group has been instrumental in the Russian campaign against Ukraine.

In June, Prigozhin led Wagner Group in a mutiny against the Russian government led by President Vladimir Putin after Prigozhin accused Russia of killing a "huge number" of his forces in strikes and vowed to retaliate. During the short-lived rebellion, Wagner forces captured key army headquarters in southern Russia and began marching on Moscow.

Prigozhin then made the stunning announcement that his troops were turning around and going back to field camps to avoid bloodshed in the Russian capital.

Within hours of Prigozhin's about-face, the Kremlin announced he would leave for Belarus and Russia would not prosecute either him or the group's members.

Just days after the mutiny, Prigozhin met with Putin. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the three-hour meeting took place at the Kremlin on June 29th and also involved commanders from the military company Prigozhin founded.

According to Peskov, during the June 29th meeting, Putin offered an “assessment” of Wagner’s actions on the battlefield in Ukraine and “of the events of June 24th.” The president also “listened to the explanations of the commanders and offered them options for further employment and further use in combat,” the Kremlin spokesman said.

“The commanders themselves presented their version of what happened. They underscored that they are staunch supporters and soldiers of the head of state and the commander-in-chief, and also said that they are ready to continue to fight for their homeland,” Peskov said.

Police approve women's march blocking main road in Bnei Brak

 

DIN: I have mixed feelings about this march! 

Chareidim disrupt traffic all the time in Yerushlayim, Bnei Brak and in parts of Beit Shemesh and they do so with impunity. They don't like it one bit when it happens to them! 

I am officially inviting this women group to march in Beit Shemesh Bet, where the chareidie hooligans disrupt traffic every single day. 

Beit Shemesh Bet is totally defaced with "tzneesis" grafitti and this part of town looks like Berlin after the war. Mind you the women and girls that pass thru this part of the city are dressed tzneesdik and very respectful of their culture, yet this doesn't stop these extremists from screaming "shiksa" "chazifah" at innocent women waiting for the bus or passing thru. A girl IDF Soldier in uniform has as much chance of surviving her "bus wait" as a Jew going into Ramallah! This is not an exaggeration! 

I'm inviting this ladies group to come dressed as if they just left the beach and march thru the streets of Beit Shemesh Bet, every Thursday night.

The police announced that they will block central streets in the city of Bnei Brak tomorrow (Thursday) ahead of the 'women's march' demonstration in the city.

The demonstrators received police permission to march on side streets - but despite this, the police decided to close half of Rabbi Akiva Street - the main street in the city.

The police announcement caused an uproar and calls were heard in Bnei Brak to go out and block Highway 4 leading to the city to make it difficult for the protesters to reach Bnei Brak.

MK Uriel Buso (Shas), a candidate for mayor of Bnei Brak, sent a letter to Police Commissioner Ya'akov Shabtai and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir in which he demanded their intervention to prevent the blockage of the roads of Bnei Brak. "When everyone is busy preparing and shopping for the Holy Shabbat, the planned siege on the city of Bnei Brak and its main arteries of life will cause severe and unacceptable damage to the Shabbat preparations."

Buso wrote that he is considering issuing a petition on the issue. "I will ask urgently and without delay to reconsider the possibility of blocking the city's central roads and disrupting public transportation, which will seriously harm all residents and constitutes an irreparable injustice. It is unthinkable that every time someone wants to make a provocation, the police allow them to take tens of thousands of people hostage."

Media pundit Avi Greenzeig wondered: "Just trying to understand the concept, citizens who want to troll an entire city with bad timing, on a Thursday evening, get a free hand from the police to block whatever they want? Because I really feel like blocking Tel Aviv next week and maybe Herzliya in two weeks. Just how far can this go?"

Radio broadcaster Moshe Glasner attacked: "The police announcement about blocking half of the main street of Bnei Brak, on Thursday afternoon - the busiest time of the week, and all this to enable the demonstration of hatred by the women who want to stage a provocation in the heart of Bnei Brak, is insane, and the police are spitting in the face of the haredi community."

Shas spokesman Itzik Sodri wrote: "The police have approved chaos and will get chaos. In response to the blocking of the central thoroughfares in Bnei Brak tomorrow, Thursday afternoon, while the residents of the city are going out en masse to make their arrangements in honor of Shabbat, and all this because some anarchists have decided to disrupt the public order, tomorrow, the residents of Bnei Brak will block Highway 4 (into Bnei Brak) at 6 pm. An eye for an eye, a block for a block."

Female NYT reporter Tweets that she is annoyed that she had to be in the Women's Section at the Kotel

 A female New York Times reporter who accompanied Mayor Eric Adams on his trip to Israel, tweeted her annoyance about the fact that she needed to be in the women’s section, while Adams visited the Kosel.

Now she is getting major backlash from orthodox Jews and others, at her complete disrespect for ancient and sacred Jewish halachos and customs.

Emma Fitzsimmons, City Hall Bureau Chief for the Times, tweeted a picture of herself on the other side of the mechitza. She wrote: “TFW you’re at the Western Wall in Jerusalem as a female journalist and you have to climb a bench and look over a fence to see the mayor.”

In response, she has been slammed for her complete disdain and irreverence for hallowed and ancient traditions and guidelines. In addition, some on social media are outraged that Fitzsimmons has injected herself into the storyline, when as a journalist, she should remain “invisibly” on the sidelines where she belongs.

Ben Shapiro sarcastically tweeted: “TFW you think others’ religious standards ought to bow to your secularism at one of their holiest sites”

Avraham Moshe Rabinowitz killed in a Paragliding Accident in the Swiss Alps!

 

R’ Avrohom Moshe Rabinowitz, a young charedi man from Manchester, England, was killed on Wednesday in a paragliding accident in the Swiss Alps.

Rabinowitz, 30, was married and father to a son who was born just a few months ago. He was the grandson of the Lugano Biala Rebbe, Rabbi Bezalel Simcha Rabinowicz, who is the senior rabbi of the European Board of Torah Scholars. His sister is scheduled to be married next week in Jerusalem. This is unfortunately not the first time the family has known tragedy- when R’ Avrohom Moshe’s brother was six years old, he died of an asthma attack.

Rabinowitz was in Switzerland for a family vacation and went missing. Swiss authorities found his parachute and Hatzalah Switzerland assisted in the searches for him. His body was later located.

R’ Avrohom Moshe was born in Israel to Rabbi Yitzchak Yosef Dov Rabinowitz, the Biala rosh yeshiva. His mother Rivka is the daughter of the Kapitchnitzer Rebbe. He studied at the Kamenetz yeshiva in Jerusalem and later established his home in England, marrying the daughter of Rabbi Yehuda Issler of Manchester.

POLICE: Monticello Gunshots Did Not Target Jews

 

According to police officials, the gunfire which erupted on Tuesday was a gang-related incident.

The gunshots took place not far from the high school in the Village of Monticello.

According to village police, a man driving on Forestburgh Road stopped, got out of his vehicle, and exchanged gunfire with other persons who were along the shoulder of the northbound lane of Forestburgh Road.

Several shell casings were recovered at the scene.

Police said the shooter did not target the Jewish community, although several people were walking along the road at the time. Police did not confirm if anyone was injured.

The police statement says in part:

A preliminary investigation at this time shows that a male operating a vehicle on Forestburgh Road, did stop and then exit his vehicle. After exiting his vehicle, he did exchange gunfire with other persons who were along the shoulder of the northbound lane of Forestburgh Road. Multiple shell casings were recovered at the scene.

This incident is believed to be Gang related in nature and was NOT targeted in any way towards members of the Jewish community, who have summer residences and colonies in that area.

Tel Aviv Light Rail Permitted For Use Despite Being Built On Shabbos: R' Yitzchok Zilberstein

 

A significant debate has arisen in recent days over whether the Tel Aviv light rail system can be used immediately. The light rail is closed on Shabbos but the tunnels and railroad works took place on Shabbos as well and therefore deriving benefit from the system could be deemed Maaseh Shabbat which is prohibited.

A number of poskim suggested that even though one can use the train (since work done by Jews is permitted for others after Shabbos immediately) it would be correct as an act of protest against the shabbos construction not to use the light rail during the first few days.

When Rabbi Yitzchok Zilberstein was initially asked about the matter a year ago, he responded based on Rabbi Nissim Karelitz, (Chut Hashani 1:22:15) who discussed a bridge built on Shabbos and ruled that the usage of such things should be permitted because a person cannot prohibit the use of land designated for the general public. However Rabbi Karelitz added that there could be an issue of desecration of Hashem’s name if there was flagrant desecration of shabbos in building the bridge and therefore people should refrain from using it.

However when Rabbi Zilberstein’s grandson posed the same question now, adding that the light rail could ease the commute of many wives of avreichim who work in the greater Tel Aviv region, Rav Yitzchok answered that the system can be used immediately, stating that “It is a Kiddush Hashem, since the government said that it would not be working on Shabbos and in this the government demonstrated honor to the Torah, closing all of the stations and trains on Shabbos.

Thus, the ruling reverts to the original one by Rabbi Karelitz that a person cannot prohibit a public resource like land, and the issue of desecration of Hashem’s name is not applicable since there is a Kiddush Hashem in the way the train is not operated on Shabbos.

Chareidim Slash Bus Tires, Spray Paint Messages Over Pictures Of Women Who are Dressed Tzneeisdik!

 

The following story is already almost a week old, yet, not one, Gadol, has said one single word condemning this disgusting act! I didn't post this incident nor the one two weeks ago, and waited to see if this would be reported on any of the Israeli Chareidie sites, it wasn't!! 

I say that the Zionist police should take these buses whose tires have been punctured, fix them, and ship the chareidim on these very buses to an army base near Gaza, after drafting them to the IDF!! 

Radical chareidi extremists have struck again in the heart of Yerushalayim, with a group of the zealots puncturing the wheels of Egged buses and spray-painting them with messages reading, “Enough with the non-tznius pictures.”

All this over modest photos of women on the busses.

Israeli police are investigating the incident, which is now the second such occurrence in the last two weeks. Authorities reportedly have surveillance footage of the suspects and are expected to bring charges against them.

U.S. EMBASSY: Do Not Travel to Uman for Rosh Hashanah

 

The U.S. Department of State recommends that U.S. citizens do not travel to Ukraine.  This recommendation applies to U.S. citizens considering travel to Uman during Rosh Hoshanah for the pilgrimage to the grave of Rebbe Nachman.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, all parts of the country have experienced Russian airstrikes hitting civilian buildings and critical infrastructure, including houses of worship, often with little or no warning.  Uman has been the site of multiple Russian missile attacks as recent as June.  The U.S. Embassy in Kyiv continues to operate with reduced staffing and has limited capacity to assist U.S. citizens in Ukraine.

The State Department’s Current Travel Advisory for Ukraine Is Level 4: Do Not Travel

SHIDDUCH CRISIS: Elevating the Status of the “Working Boy” in the Yeshiva Community

  

by Rabbi Yitschak Rudomin

 — There are many angles and dimensions to the Shidduch Crisis within the American Yeshiva world.

There is a consensus that there are more girls than boys in the dating pool and various suggestions have been offered to reduce the gap between the numbers of young men who are dating and the young women available to date them.

One mostly unspoken and perhaps unnoticed aspect is the attitudes in the American yeshiva world towards those young yeshiva educated men who have decided to leave the world of full-time learning in yeshiva and have chosen to start a life in the working world. Sometimes they are called “earner-learners” who are kovea ittim meaning they “fix a set time” to learn Torah but they dedicate the bulk of their time to working and earning money on their own.

Perhaps they have gone into their parents’ businesses or gotten jobs in wholesale or retail stores, or doing something in real estate or working in the lucrative nursing home business, or maybe working in sales or construction or making money from a technology or an Internet business or many other potential areas of employment.

Then there are those who have taken the step to go to college, such as to Touro College that has separate classes for yeshiva educated males and females with campuses in Brooklyn and Queens and a few other places. Perhaps they eventually plan on becoming accountants, computer programmers, or obtain degrees in business management, marketing or some area of finance.

These working boys are generally not the initial prime candidates for many of the American Litvish yeshiva world’s girls who have spent their lives in great Bais Yaakov-type schools in Brooklyn or Lakewood for example and then to top it off have spent a year in post-high school seminaries in Jerusalem where they are intensively educated to seek Kollel full time learning boys to marry.

The girls then return to America and live at home mostly in yeshivish communities where they prepare to date and look primarily for full-time learning boys. These are the girls who eventually mount up in numbers in the American yeshiva communities and many remain single well into their twenties and some even longer as they cling to the hope and dream and ideal of marrying a full time learning boy.

Sometimes, as the time passes and they remain single, these girls land up becoming big earners themselves or getting degrees and become professionals but they still cling to the dream of marrying a potential Kollel yungerman.

As reality would have it, a lot of the learning boys are looking for very pretty girls and wealthy father in laws and families of girls who can support them in full time Kollel learning plus also looking for other additional benefits like cars and houses in many cases. Obviously this aspiration for good looking girls and a higher standard of living that not many can provide or support and sustain in families with many children is not doable for many frum yeshivish middle-class and lower-class families, so they land up with single daughters at home pining for a good shidduch for a long time, hence the so-called Shidduch Crisis.

Many outstanding daughters of long-term Kollel families and of Rebbeim, the idealistic teachers and in yeshivas and girls schools who lack financial means to support full-time Kollel sons in law see their daughters wait and wait in vain for the right outstanding male yeshiva boy candidate to fulfil their own and their families’ dreams of a Kollel life.

At this point in time some serious cheshbon hanefesh “soul searching” should be the order of the day. If after a number of years of trying without success a girl and her family see that they are not getting what they want in terms of a suitable full-time Kollel learner, they should not have a mental block and personal prejudice to thinking or putting into action other plans and options such as considering an ehrliche working or even a frum college boy who might be ready to date such a girl if he was given the right chance and opportunity.

This requires compromise and a change of attitude because those boys who have gone into the working world and have not spent additional years in bais medrash full time will not be the equals of bochurim (young men) who follow the path of aspirant Toraso Umnaso (Torah study as a full-time career). They have the advantage however of making the commitment to marry a good Bas Yisroel and make a good living and support her and their family that they will build together to create a Bayis Ne’eman BeYisroel (a true Jewish home).

There have arisen quite a few exemplary communities of thousands of such couples where the young yeshiva educated husbands have full time jobs in all sorts of fields and support their wives and growing families and then send their young children to great yeshivas and Bais Yaakovs in turn continuing Torah life and many of them even support the full time Kollel yeshivas where they have family members and friends.

It is time for those who are suffering from the Shidduch Crisis from the point of view of having single daughters at home to consider broader options and help avoid the delay of their daughters to not only want full time Kollel learners, the valued Yissachers who uphold Limmud HaTorah (Torah learning), but to think of welcoming into their midst working boys who are worthy of being the true Zevuluns who practice Torah, Avoda, U’Gemilas Chasadim (Torah, service and loving kindness)!

Rabbi Yitschak Rudomin was born to Holocaust survivor parents in Israel, grew up in South Africa, and lives in Brooklyn, NY. He is an alumnus of Yeshiva Rabbi Chaim Berlin and of Teachers College–Columbia University. He heads the Jewish Professionals Institute dedicated to Jewish Adult Education and Outreach – Kiruv Rechokim. He was the Director of the Belzer Chasidim’s Sinai Heritage Center of Manhattan 1988–1995, a Trustee of AJOP 1994–1997 and founder of American Friends of South African Jewish Education 1995–2015. He is also a docent and tour guide at The Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in Downtown Manhattan, New York.

Israeli fighter Natan Levy beats up online troll who supports Holocaust denier Nick Fuentes

 

Israeli UFC fighter Natan Levy during his fight with an online troll in Las Vegas

As only the third Israeli to compete in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC, Natan Levy is not afraid to showcase his Jewish identity in and out of the ring.

He gave himself the chance to do just that as he invited a follower of white supremacist provocateur Nick Fuentes to a fight that was filmed and posted to YouTube on Thursday.

Levy and the man, identified only as Ben, had dueled on Twitter before doing so in person.

“I’ll drive to Vegas any day of the week to spar you on behalf of Nicholas J. Fuentes and America First,” Ben wrote to Levy, referencing Fuentes’ online show where he regularly espouses antisemitic rhetoric and Holocaust denial.

Levy accepted Ben’s challenge, even offering to pay for his gas. (Last year, Levy had issued a similar warning to rapper Kanye West after he praised Hitler, telling him, “if you’ve got a problem with me or my people, come see me, bro.”)

In the video, Levy is shown greeting Ben at a mixed martial arts dojo in Las Vegas. Levy wears a shirt with his “Jew-Jitsu” nickname.

Ben explains to Levy that Fuentes is a leader of  the “America First” movement, which he describes as “a political movement based on furthering Christian values in the United States.” He says he was just “messing around” online and claims he is “not a hateful person.”

When Levy points out that Fuentes is a Holocaust denier, Ben says that Fuentes is merely a “revisionist.” And when Levy asks Ben how many Jews were killed in the Nazi genocide, Ben said, “I wouldn’t know that off the top of my head… they say six million.”

“He’s just a kid, probably a dumb kid,” Levy said to the camera before they step into the ring. “I’m not gonna hurt him too bad, but a lesson has to be taught here about trolling. Education is painful sometimes.”

They fight for two rounds, with Levy pinning Ben both times. At the end of the second bout, Ben can be heard saying “I’m sorry.”

After the fighting is over, Levy and Ben stood outside the ring, arms around each other, as Ben looks into the camera and says, “Six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust.” Levy corrects his verb choice, interjecting with “murdered,” before adding “F–k Nick Fuentes!”

Ben admitted he “needs to be more well-researched,” while Levy offered a warning: “This one wasn’t that painful. The next one will be twice as painful.”

The video then ends by showing Shimon Smotritsky, an Israeli mixed martial arts fighter, heading into the ring with another man, identified as Cee-Jay, who said he’s “not defending Nick Fuentes, I’m defending my friend’s honor.” Their fight doesn’t last long, but it ends in bloody fashion.

“Don’t talk sh–t about Jews, baby,” Smotritsky says with a wink.

5 Jewish facts about Guatemala’s new Hebrew-speaking president

 

Guatemala elected a new president on Sunday: Bernardo Arevalo, a center-left former congressman and son of a former president.

In an election that was marred by controversy — and included the government’s disqualifying of multiple opposition candidates — Arevalo was able to emerge victorious by running on an anti-corruption platform. He defeated Sandra Torres, a former first lady who many Guatemalans view as corrupt.

Decades-old statistics put the Jewish population of Guatemala, Central America’s most populous country, at about 900. But despite that small number, Guatemala’s president-elect has a unique history with Jews and Israel.

Here are five Jewish things to know about Arevalo: