Unbelievable!
Footage from this morning in southern Lebanon shows Hezbollah’s underground bunkers, just meters from a UNIFIL post.
These fortified military structures overlook the Western Galilee, that were ready for a raid.
“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
Unbelievable!
These fortified military structures overlook the Western Galilee, that were ready for a raid.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
"I am directly addressing the UN Secretary-General:
Your refusal to evacuate UNIFIL soldiers is turning them into Hezbollah's hostages."
Paul McCartney, 82, was photographed attending Yom Kippur services at a synagogue in Santiago, Chile, alongside his wife. The former Beatle was seen wearing a kippah during the Yom Kippur prayer services.
The Wolf Prize is an international award granted in Israel, that has been presented most years since 1978 to living scientists and artists for “achievements in the interest of mankind and friendly relations among people ... irrespective of nationality, race, color, religion, sex or political views.
The following account is based on the memoirs of Rabbi Moshe Segal (1904-1985), a Lubavitcher Chassid who was active in the struggle to free the Holy Land from British rule.
In those years, the Western Wall did not have the large plaza we know today. There was a narrow alley for the Jews to pray, squeezed between the sacred stones of the Kotel and the Arab houses of the Mughrabi Quarter.
The British Mandatory government had imposed strict regulations, forbidding even the smallest sign of permanent sanctity. No Torah ark. No tables or benches. Not even a stool. The Jewish worshippers who gathered in the alley faced rules that seemed designed not just to limit their physical space, but to humiliate them at the very heart of their faith, at their holiest place of worship.
The prohibitions ran deep. Jews were forbidden to pray aloud, lest their voices disturb the Arab residents living nearby. Torah readings were exiled from the Kotel to the synagogues of the Jewish Quarter, as if the word of God could not be voiced at His most sacred site. And the sound of the shofar — symbol of Israel’s redemption and sovereignty — was silenced on the holiest days of the Jewish year. British policemen stood watch, enforcing these edicts with cold efficiency.
It was Yom Kippur, 1930. I was standing among the worshippers at the Kotel, the air thick with the solemnity of the day. Between the Musaf and Minchah prayers, I overheard whispered conversations. “Where will we go to hear the shofar?” someone asked. “It is impossible to blow here. The police are everywhere — more of them than us…”
Even the police commander was present, to make sure that the Jews would not, God forbid, sound the blast that marks the close of the fast.
As I listened, a quiet resolve began to stir within me. Could we truly allow the shofar to be silenced? The shofar that proclaims God’s sovereignty over all creation? The shofar that blasts out the promise of Israel’s redemption? True, the custom of blowing the shofar at the end of Yom Kippur is just that — a custom. But a Jewish custom is Torah!
I approached Rabbi Yitzchak Horenstein, the rabbi of our ‘congregation’ and said quietly, “Give me a shofar.”
“What for?” he asked, his eyes narrowing.
“I will blow the shofar.”
His gaze flickered toward the policemen standing nearby. “What are you talking about? Don’t you see them?”
“I will blow,” I repeated.
Rabbi Horenstein turned away abruptly, but not before casting a quick glance toward the prayer stand at the end of the alley. I understood his unspoken message: the shofar was inside the stand.
As the time for blowing the shofar approached, I moved toward the prayer stand. My heart raced. I leaned casually against the stand, my fingers finding the drawer. Quietly, I opened it and slipped the shofar beneath my shirt. It was mine now. But what if they saw me before I had the chance to blow?
I was still unmarried at the time, and following the Ashkenazic custom, did not wear a tallit. I turned to the man praying beside me. “May I borrow your tallit?” I asked, my voice low but urgent. He looked at me with confusion. My request must have seemed strange to him, but the Jews are a kind people, especially at the holiest moments of the holiest day. Without a word, he handed me his tallit.
I wrapped the tallit around me, feeling its warmth and protection. Beneath its folds, I felt as though I had created my own private domain. Outside, a foreign government prevailed, ruling over the people of Israel even on their holiest day and at their holiest place, and we are not free to serve our God. But under this tallit, I was under no dominion save that of my Father in Heaven. Here I shall do as He commands me; and no force on earth will stop me.
As the congregation reached the final words of the Ne'ilah prayer — “Shema Yisrael,” “Blessed be the Name,” “The Eternal is God” — I took a deep breath. With one swift motion, I lifted the shofar and blew a long, resounding blast that echoed against the ancient stones.
American officials believe Israel has narrowed down the list of targets it will strike in retaliation for Iran's massive ballistic missile attack two weeks ago and will not strike any of Iran's nuclear facilities, NBC News reported.
According to the report, Israel is planning to strike Iranian military and energy infrastructure sites. However, a final decision on which sites to strike has not yet been made.
On October 1, Iran launched 181 ballistic missiles at Israel in the largest ballistic missile attack in history. The vast majority of the missiles were intercepted, though the attack sent millions of Israelis into bomb shelters.
US President Joe Biden has stated or hinted at his opposition to Israel striking Iran's nuclear facilities or fields. The day after Iran's attack, Biden stated, “The answer is no," in response to a reporter's question about whether he would support an Israeli strike on Iran's nuclear sites. He added that while Israel has the right to respond to the attack, it should do so “proportionally” without elaborating on what that means.
At another press briefing, Biden stated, "If I were in their shoes, I'd be thinking about other alternatives than striking oilfields."
Sources have told CNN that Tehran is "extremely nervous and has been engaging in urgent diplomatic efforts with countries in the Middle East" to determine whether it is possible to either reduce the scope of Israel's response or to garner aid in protecting Tehran.
The source added that Iran is very concerned about Israel's relation due to the "uncertainty about whether the US can convince Israel not to strike Iranian nuclear sites and oil facilities," as well as from the blows that Hezbollah, Iran's most powerful proxy in the Middle East, has sustained in Israel's operation in southern Lebanon.
During the encounter, Elahi, who once led the Iranian Navy’s political office and has expressed allegiance to Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini and Hezbollah, spoke with Harris and praised the administration’s efforts in combating COVID-19.
This meeting is part of a broader study by GWU’s Program on Extremism that claims Iran is spreading its ideological reach into the U.S. through figures like Elahi. His organization, the Islamic House of Wisdom in Dearborn, Michigan, has received significant funding from the Alavi Foundation, a group previously accused of serving as an Iranian front. Researchers point out that the foundation has invested millions in U.S.-based religious and educational institutions, with ties extending into anti-Israel activism on American campuses.
Harris’s connection with Elahi, captured in photographs, underscores the report’s assertion that Iran’s reach extends into high-level American networks. The researchers indicate that through such interactions, Iran’s influence may impact American political discourse, especially on sensitive issues like Middle Eastern policy. The report has sparked calls from some officials for greater scrutiny of potential Iranian influences in the United States, especially regarding figures who maintain connections with American political leaders.
The IDF reported Saturday evening that approximately 320 rockets and projectiles were fired from Lebanon into Israel by the Hezbollah terrorist group over the Yom Kippur weekend.
Incoming air raid sirens were triggered in towns in the Galilee, Acre, Safed, Haifa and the surrounding bay area, sending over a million Israelis to seek shelter over the holiday.
In addition, a drone from Syria exploded over the Golan Heights. On the eve of Yom Kippur, two drones penetrated Israeli airspace from central Lebanon, with one hitting a sheltered housing facility in Herzliya. Two more rockets were fired Saturday from northern Gaza, hitting Ashkelon.
Israeli airstrikes in Lebanon killed 22 people on Friday, and the IDF began evacuating 23 additional communities in southern Lebanon. Two UNIFIL peacekeepers were injured by Israeli fire, sparking international condemnation, with global leaders calling it a "serious violation by Israel." U.S. President Joe Biden urged Israel to cease actions that harm UN personnel. In separate incidents, two Lebanese soldiers were killed in Israeli strikes.
The Israel Land Authority (ILA) is seizing the land of UNRWA's headquarters in Jerusalem, in order to build 1,440 housing units.
As the extent of UNRWA and its employees' collaboration in the massacre at Gaza border communities by Hamas and their role in providing assistance for murder, kidnapping, and more continues to be revealed, a significant step has been taken for the first time against the refugee agency.
According to information released to the public today, the entire UNRWA area in Ma'alot Dafna, Jerusalem, is slated to become a housing project with 1,440 units, and the project is in its preparatory stages. It should be noted that over the past year, families of kidnapped civilians and fallen IDF soldiers, alongside organizations such as "Im Tirtzu" and others, have protested in front of the UNRWA headquarters in Jerusalem, demanding the closure of the agency's office, which has operated in the city without interference.
Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA's Commissioner-General, warned the UN Security Council yesterday (Wednesday) about the possible consequences of an Israeli bill that seeks to ban the agency's activities in Israel: "Legislation to end our operations is ready for final adoption by the Israeli Knesset. It seeks to ban UNRWA's presence and operations in the territory of Israel, revoking its privileges and immunities, in violation of international law. If the bills are adopted, the consequences will be severe."
"Operationally, the entire humanitarian response in Gaza – which rests on UNRWA's infrastructure – may disintegrate", added Lazzarini.
מה יעשו לוחמי צה"ל שהתפקיד מחייב אותם לשתות בצום? ▪︎ לרב קאפ פתרונים