I'm not crying. Something got into my eye. 🇮🇱🥲 pic.twitter.com/jTtGBuhG9o
— Eli Afriat 🇮🇱🎗 (@EliAfriatISR) September 26, 2024
“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
I'm not crying. Something got into my eye. 🇮🇱🥲 pic.twitter.com/jTtGBuhG9o
— Eli Afriat 🇮🇱🎗 (@EliAfriatISR) September 26, 2024
Tomorrow, Prime Minister Netanyahu is scheduled to deliver a pivotal speech at the UN General Assembly, addressing global leaders on this pressing issue and Israel’s broader security concerns.
Eretz Yisroel is at war. Our brothers, fathers, and sons are literally dying on the front lines in Gaza and Lebanon. The toll of this conflict is devastating. Yiddishe families are grieving, communities are reeling, and the loss is palpable. Every day, we wake up to news of another tragedy, another life cut short. Yet, in the midst of this darkness, Eretz Yisroel, our holy land, is being kept alive through sheer nissim. Every missile intercepted, every soldier protected, every life spared feels like a miracle we must acknowledge.
And yet, at this critical moment, a protest is staged in Lakewood—our own crown jewel of Torah and Yiddishkeit—against the State of Israel. I have to ask: Who thought this was a good idea? What are we trying to achieve? I want to make it clear—I am no Zionist. I’m a proud, card-carrying Lakewood yungerman who cherishes the values of Torah and our mesorah. I understand the deep-seated issues many in our community have with the Medina and its government, especially regarding their treatment of the Torah world, the yeshivos, and the Crown Jewels of Klal Yisroel—the Torah-observant communities.
The criticisms are valid. The way the government of Eretz Yisroel treats the frum community is deeply concerning and often unacceptable. The Medina, in many ways, needs to be held accountable for its actions and policies. However, two wrongs don’t make a right. Protesting the State of Eretz Yisroel publicly, at this fragile moment, feels misguided and counterproductive. The world is watching, and we need to be mindful of how our actions are perceived beyond our own community.
We must publicly support Eretz Yisroel in the eyes of the broader world. This isn’t about Zionism; it’s about unity and survival. The Jewish people have enough enemies seeking our destruction. When we, as a community, stage protests against Eretz Yisroel in such a public way, we risk feeding into a narrative that is harmful to all Yidden, whether religious or not. Do we care that this may turn into a national news story? “Ultra-Orthodox Jews protest Israeli government”—imagine the damage this could do. What message are we sending to the rest of the world, to the media, to those who seek to delegitimize Eretz Yisroel and the Jewish people?
I am so baffled by how we even got here. We are rachmanim bnei rachmanim (merciful ones, the children of merciful ones). Our entire identity is rooted in compassion, in caring for one another. Yet, we are acting like peasants, without any strategy or foresight. Where is our wisdom? Where is our leadership? The Torah teaches us to be thoughtful, to consider the long-term consequences of our actions. In times of crisis, we are meant to come together, to show solidarity, not to create division.
Yes, there are issues that need to be addressed with the State of Israel , and yes, there are times for protest. But this is not that time. Right now, Eretz Yisroel is in the fight for its life. Our fellow Jews are under fire. Now is the time for tefillah, for achdus , for supporting our brothers and sisters who are literally in the line of fire. There will be a time to address the flaws of the Medina, but that time is not today. Let’s not lose sight of what really matters. Let’s focus on protecting and supporting the Jewish people, on standing with Eretz Yisroel, and on showing the world that we are one united people.
One final thought. My Heilige Zaideh was an Odom Gadol and leader in the Oilam Hayeshivos of America. During the 1967 war, he didn’t eat for 6 days when the “Treifeh Medina” was under attack. This was a Yid who couldn’t stand for the faults of that Medina, yet a yid is a yid is a yid!
White House National Security Spox John Kirby tells @LinseyDavis that Yahya Sinwar, who leads terrorist organization Hamas, is “sitting down there in a tunnel surrounded by hostages and unwilling to have any kind of meaningful negotiation and move towards a cease-fire." pic.twitter.com/CCxC8CczBM
— ABC News Live (@ABCNewsLive) September 26, 2024
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby was asked on Thursday about comments by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which appeared to reject the belief that Netanyahu is interested in a cease-fire with Hezbollah. .
“We would not have made the statement if we had doubts that the talks with the Israelis were positive,” Kirby stated.
“Netanyahu should be asked if he retracted his agreement. I can only say that, based on the conversations last night, we had every reason to believe that he was sincere in his intentions,” he added.
Earlier Netanyahu told reporters in New York, “My policy, our policy, is clear: we continue to strike Hezbollah with full force. We will not stop until we reach our goals and above all the return of the residents of the north to their homes. That is the policy, and may no one be mistaken.”
The Prime Minister’s office also said, “The reports of a ceasefire are not true. This is a French-American initiative that the Prime Minister has not even responded to.”
Speaking with ABC News host Linsey Davis, Kirby affirmed that while Israel has a right to defend itself, if the goal is to get families back home to the northern Israeli border, the best way is “through diplomacy, not an all out war.”
Regarding a potential cease-fire with Hamas, Kirby’s response was bleak. He said “Linsey I wish I could tell you that we are on the brink of a breakthrough here but we are not… and the principal obstacle to this is Sinwar himself. Kirby added that Sinwar is “sitting down there in a tunnel surrounded by hostages and unwilling to have any kind of meaningful negotiation and move towards a cease-fire.”
Far-left billionaire George Soros has invested heavily in the narrative that anyone who notes that the web of influence he’s spun does in fact exist must be a conspiracy theorist — or worse, an antisemite.
His son Alex Soros, who was handed the keys to the $25 billion kingdom last year, has gone the opposite route: He practically brags about his sphere of influence on social media, where he posts photos of all the heads of state and influential figures he’s cozied up to, including Chuck Schumer, Bill Clinton, Nancy Pelosi — and Kamala Harris.
Surely some of them wish Alex was a bit more private; when Soros met with Harris in June of last year (and posted the evidence to his socials) the tete-a-tete was excluded from Harris’ public schedule, implying that she thought that could prevent people from noticing.
The younger Soros has visited the Biden White House two dozen times — with visible consequences, the latest being the FCC’s race to approve a Soros takeover of over 200 radio stations ahead of the presidential election.
And the Soros influence will only increase further in a Harris-Walz presidency.
During a time when 1/2 million Jewish residents of Northern Israel are running to shelters every few minutes and while Jewish children in uniform are being murdered on a daily basis, Lakewood ass'kanim decided to denigrate and shame the only Jewish State in the world with a massive fake "Atzeres Tefillah" whose real purpose is to protest the "draft" ! The Zionist State is unquestionably the largest "Makom Torah" in the world and Torah is not being threatened!
This is a fabricated out and out lie!
The residents of Israel have seen the fake and the frauds during the last "bein hazamanim!" they saw thousands of healthy draft age boys, close their gemarras and vacation while their brothers in uniform, many of them married, were fighting for their very lives!
These able-bodied bench "kvetchers" need to enlist in the army ASAP! Everyone needs to share in the burden! If they refuse then they shouldn't whine about not getting help from the government! Just keep sending your 90 year-old gedoilim on private Jets to schnoor!
This fraud and fake "Atzeres" fool no one!
לא מדובשך ולא מעוקצך
"We don't need your honey and we don't need your sting"
With nearly 100 hostages still languishing in Hamas captivity and acheinu bnei yisroel under the perpetual threat of rockets and missiles raining from the sky, yidden locally and around the world are gathering to their support and defense by beseeching Hashem for a yeshua.
This coming Sunday, the first day of Selichos, thousands of yidden from across the tri-state region will gather in Lakewood for a monumental atzeres tefillah in defense of our brethren hanesunim b’tzara u’beshivya in Eretz Yisroel, as well as to implore hakadosh baruch hu to spare Klal Yisroel from the scourge of antisemitism running rampant worldwide.
The atzeres will also address the impending implementation of new Israeli draft laws that threaten to force thousands of bnei torah into the military, posing an unprecedented threat to limud hatorah in Eretz Yisroel – the very lifeblood of the Jewish nation.
The atzeres tefillah, endorsed by dozens of rabbanim and roshei yeshiva from across the spectrum of Yiddishkeit, will be a stalwart and resolute show of achdus, as the largest Jewish communities in the U.S. join as one to proclaim their allegiance to Hashem, the Torah – and each other.
“This is a big hire,” Maury Litwack, founder and CEO of Teach Coalition, wrote on social media, arguing that the choice “demonstrates that PA is ground zero for the Jewish vote this election cycle. State with most voters.”
Litwack called Wyner, who grew up in the Philadelphia suburbs, a “highly respected activist.” He also noted that bringing her on board shows how serious the Harris team views, even in the late stages of the election, a swing state with a significant Jewish population.
This month, the Harris-Walz campaign also brought on Hilary Brandenburg to serve as the national deputy director of Jewish outreach.
Wyner previously served since 2021 as deputy director of Jewish affairs for New York Gov. Kathy Hochul. She graduated from Columbia University and the Jewish Theological Seminary.
On Monday, Wyner wrote on X that she had “returned home to Pennsylvania to lead Jewish outreach for Pennsylvania for the Harris-Walz campaign.”
She said: “See you in a few weeks New York—we have a job to do.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted by a grand jury on federal criminal charges, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The indictment detailing the charges against Adams, a Democrat, was still sealed late Wednesday, according to the people, who spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
The U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan declined to comment. The indictment was first reported by The New York Times.
Misguided TikTokers are using AI to translate Adolf Hitler’s speeches into English – and racking up millions of clicks on the under-fire platform, according to a watchdog media report.
Users have pushed and even celebrated the Nazi leader’s remarks in what is an apparent violation of TikTok’s guidelines that ban “promoting (including any praise, celebration, or sharing of manifesto) or providing material support to … individuals who cause serial or mass violence, or promote hateful ideologies.”
One disturbing clip garnered more than 1 million views before it was squashed, Media Matters reported last week.
The video is of Hitler giving a speech with a slow instrumental beat that suggests the ruthless killer didn’t want to spark a conflict during World War II, that he tried to save the lives of women and children and waited to attack until he had no choice, according to the watchdog report.
The caption attached to the clip states, “Just listen.”
Media Matters detailed other instances where Nazi-themed videos proliferated throughout the social media app.
Another video — that was also eventually pulled — showed cliffs by the water as another translated speech was played.
It reportedly racked up 270,000 views and another 22,700 likes with some comments including “AH was a good and kind man” and “this changed my views on him.”
An account with more than 20,000 followers and nearly 4 million views of 12 videos with Hitler speeches, an outline of Hitler and text that states, “Growing up is realizing Who the villain Really was.”
A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement to The Post late Tuesday that the social media app already “removed almost all of the videos identified in the Media Matters report for violating our community guidelines.”
“Along with more than 1,300 pieces of related content that we removed proactively; and removed the remaining others today,” the spokesperson continued.
“We take a zero-tolerance approach to hateful content on our platform, and consistently remove more than 90 percent of it before it is reported to us.”
Some users did condemn the Hitler-themed videos, and while some videos were taken down, others remained up following the Media Matters report.
Meanwhile, between September 2 and 3, Sky News found more than 50,000 TikTok posts using speeches from Hitler and his minister of propaganda Joseph Goebbels.
And to draw in more users, many of Hitler’s deranged rants were set to well-known music on the platform called Drift Phonk without permission, the outlet reported.
One post showed an image of a Nuremberg Rally with a speech from Hitler that was liked by more than 56,000 users. One comment disgracefully said, “modern society absolutely needs him.”
One artist whose music was repurposed without her knowledge, Pastel Ghost, told Sky News she found it “shocking and deplorable” and was working to find videos where it was used on the site.
The platform’s sound feature makes it harder for the company to identify inappropriate clips when it’s mixed with Nazi-laded content, Sky News reported.
After sending TikTok the hateful videos, a spokesperson told Sky News the content was quickly scrapped for breaking its policies.
“We regularly train our safety professionals and update our safeguards to detect hateful behavior on an ongoing basis, and we remove 91% of this type of content before it is reported to us,” the spokesperson said.
I write in response to Monday’s incident in Beit Shemesh involving police violence against Charedi protesters, as well as the subsequent investigation. While I unequivocally condemn any form of police brutality, I believe it’s important to understand the context of the event being protested and the community dynamics at play.
The protesters were not rallying against some harmful policy or oppressive regime—they were protesting an event designed to help young Charedi men acquire valuable skills for the workforce. The programs highlighted at the event offered education in areas like programming, bookkeeping, engineering, and healthcare—honest professions that enable individuals to support their families with dignity. These protesters are ideologically opposed to any form of secular studies, even if it means blocking others in their community from gaining skills that lead to upstanding, respectable jobs.
Imagine for a moment that members of the Brooklyn or Lakewood communities harassed others who had jobs. Imagine if they tormented individuals who took it upon themselves to earn an income for their families. You wouldn’t stand for that, would you? And yet, when it happens here, your focus is on how the police responded to these miscreants, but you say nothing about the damage these extremists are causing.
As a local resident, I’ve witnessed firsthand the damage caused by them, who are a small but vocal minority. Many of us in the community, including Charedim such as myself, are deeply frustrated with their disruptive tactics and aggressive behavior. They shout insults, create unnecessary chaos, and degrade anyone who does not align with their narrow viewpoint. Their actions are a source of fear and discomfort for families trying to live in peace, and their behavior reflects poorly on the broader community.
It’s important to note that the majority of Charedim in Beit Shemesh do not support these protests. In fact, many religious men attended the event to better themselves and their families through education, distancing themselves from the protestors and demonstrating their commitment to Torah values like Ahavas Yisrael and peaceful coexistence.
We need to foster dialogue and understanding, not perpetuate sinas chinam. Our community is diverse, with Jews from across the spectrum striving to live together in harmony. The protesters represent a distortion of values that harms us all. I hope they realize that there are many paths to serving Hashem, and that unity, not division, is what will bring Mashiach closer.
Sincerely,
Upset in RBS
The daughter of Sid Rosenberg, legendary Jewish talk show host on 77 WABC radio, recently revealed that she was viciously harassed and doxxed by fellow students at her university in the UK. In fact, Ava Rosenberg was accused of endorsing genocide, and forced to remain away from campus for months.
The unthinkable ordeal began several weeks after October 7, and has continued for many months.
Ava’s father Sid Rosenberg has been one of the most outspoken supporters of Israel since October 7. He has discussed his daughter’s experience on the air, and it was elaborated on by ‘World Israel News.’
The outlet reported that Ava faced profound challenges as a Jewish student at Cardiff University in Wales, with “severe antisemitism and harassment that have marred her academic and personal life.”
Ava is one of only 25 Jewish students on campus, according to the outlet. In November she began to sense a great deal of friction and animosity from the majority of students who are pro-Palestinian.
The Gulf nation of Qatar on Tuesday became just the second Muslim-majority country to be admitted into a program that allows its citizens to travel to the United States without first obtaining a U.S. visa.
The departments of State and Homeland Security jointly announced that Qatar had met stringent eligibility requirements to join the visa waiver program. Those requirements include a low visa refusal rate, a low rate of visa overstays and a demand of reciprocal treatment of American travelers, who are already allowed to visit Qatar without a visa for up to 30 days.
“Qatar has been an exceptional partner for the United States, and our strategic relationship has only grown stronger over the past few years,” the departments said in a statement. “This is further evidence of our strategic partnership and our shared commitment to security and stability.”
Qatar, which has played a key role in trying to negotiate a cease-fire deal in Gaza and was an instrumental U.S. partner before and during the American withdrawal from Afghanistan, is the 42nd country to be admitted to the program.
Most countries whose citizens can visit the U.S. without a visa are longstanding allies in Europe and Asia. The only other Muslim-majority country in the program is the tiny Southeast Asian nation of Brunei.
Although Qatar’s population is just over 3 million people, only a small percentage of those — about 320,000 — are actually Qataris who would be eligible for the program if they hold valid passports. The vast majority of people who live in Qatar are foreign workers and other expatriates who do not hold Qatari passports.
The program allows citizens of qualifying nations to enter the U.S. for business or tourism without a visa for up to 90 days, although they must still obtain approval through the Electronic System for Travel Authorization, or ESTA, which is done online and doesn’t require an in-person interview as visa applications do.
After Oct. 1, U.S. citizens will be allowed to stay in Qatar without a visa for 90 days.
Israel was the last country admitted to the program in 2023, and it was allowed in despite significant concerns that it does not treat Palestinian Americans, Arab Americans or Muslim Americans the same as other U.S. passport holders.