Harav Shmuel Kamenetsky Urges Everyone to Vote in WZO Elections!

 

Hagaon Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky Shlita grants permission to publicize that he both permits and encourages those who are concerned about Kedushas Eretz Yisroel to vote in the current WZO elections for the Eretz Hakodesh Slate.

Rabbi David Kushner, a lifelong resident of Philadelphia, a globally respected askan, and someone with a close relationship with the R’Y has sought guidance and clarity on this issue from the R”Y multiple times, including as late as today, erev shabbos kodesh, just a couple days prior to the end of the voting period.

After speaking with the R’Y again today, Rabbi Kushner sent us the following detailed update……

“I am reaching out to inform you that the R”Y, Rav Shmuel Kamenetsky Shlita has given permission to be mefarsem and share with the tzibbur his unwavering encouragement to participate, vote, and solicit others in our community to do the same in the ongoing WZO elections on behalf of the Eretz Hakodesh Slate.

5 years ago, I went to the R’Y Shlita to speak over this topic and he encouraged me to vote and solicit others to vote as well.

6 months ago, I went to the R’Y Shlita to speak over this topic again, and he encouraged me tnot only to vote and solicit others to vote, but to also join the Eretz Hakodesh slate as a delegate.

1 month ago, after there were a number of statements discouraging participation in the election, and numerous public claims that the R’Y Rav Shmuel Shlita wad rescinded his support, I went back to the R’Y to ask him myself and in person - He clearly stated that I should remain a delegate, I should vote for Eretz Hakodesh, I Should encourage others to vote, and that There were numerous mitzvos involved in participating in the election in this manner.

1 Hour ago,erev shabbos, just 2 days prior to the end of the voting period, I came back to the R”Y one more time, and he made it very clear that his position has not changed, that we need to protect Kedushas Eretz Yisroel, and that voting for Eretz Hakodesh in the WZO elections is a worthwhile form of hishtadlus to help that cause.

The R’Y also expressed a sense of sadness regarding the amount of misinformation that has been spread regarding positions of different Gedolim and the manner in which Chalukei Daos amongst Talmidei Chachomim and Gedolei Hador have been transmitted to the Tzibbur.

The R’Y ended the conversation with Brachos for Siyata D’shmaya, a renewed sense of Kavod for Daas Torah even when there are chulkai daos, hachzokas kedushas eretz yisroel,, and hatzlacha for the Eretz Hakodesh slate in the elections and in their ongoing Avodas Hakodesh,”

This is איק closest we have gotten to confirming Rav Shmuel Shlita ratzon to be mefarsim that he holds it’s a Mitzva to vote …

Zera Shimshon Parshat Tazria-Metzora

 

Freed Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi accused of telling gun shop owner that he used to ‘kill Jews’ in Palestine

 Freed Palestinian Columbia University student Mohsen Mahdawi was once accused of telling a Vermont gun store owner that he used to “kill Jews while he was in Palestine” with modified automatic firearms that he built himself, court documents allege.

The allegations were laid bare in court papers filed Wednesday as the Trump administration unsuccessfully sought to keep Mahdawi in custody following his arrest for leading anti-Israel protests on the Ivy League campus.

In arguing their case, the Trump admin honed in on a visit Mahdawi made to the gun store in the summer of 2015, which resulted in the owner alerting local cops, the filing states.

“The gun shop owner told Windsor, Vermont, police officers that Mr. Mahdawi had visited his store twice, expressing an interest in learning more about firearms and buying a sniper rifle and an automatic weapon and that he ‘had considerable firearm experience and used to build modified 9mm submachine guns to kill Jews while he was in Palestine’,” the papers charge.

The owner also gave cops the name of another gun enthusiast who’d allegedly had a similar conversation with Mahdawi at a firearm museum where he volunteered.

In that exchange, the filing alleges the Columbia student said, “I like to kill Jews.”

Mahdawi, in his response, noted that he was interviewed by an FBI agent shortly after but denied making the remarks, the court papers state.

“Mahdawi confirmed that he had visited the gun shop and the Precision Museum but that he had never discussed buying weapons or killing Jews,” the filing notes.

He added, too, that he’d visited the gun store to ask whether he needed to register a shotgun his then-wife had bought him.

Mahdawi is said to have told the agent he went to the museum because it was close to his house and he had an interest in machinery.

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The government also pointed to a 2019 incident in which Mahdawi was stopped at the US border and “found to be carrying drugs,” the court filing charges.District of Vermont

“Mr. Mahdawi states that the FBI agent was satisfied with his explanation and closed the investigation,” the docs state.

The government also pointed to a 2019 incident in which Mahdawi was stopped at the US border and “found to be carrying drugs,” the court filing charges.

Two Israeli businessmen murdered hours apart in same LA neighborhood — with one held captive for hours and beaten to death

 

Two Israeli businessmen were found murdered hours apart in their homes in the same section of Los Angeles Saturday, with one tied up and beaten to death while the other was identified as the brother of a prison warden in the Jewish state, police said.

There is no apparent connection between the two killings, but they both occurred in the San Fernando Valley inside the victims’ homes.

The murder of Alexander Modebadze, 47, was particularly heinous, according to cops.

Three attackers broke into Modebadze’s home, held him captive for hours, and savagely beat him to death, police said in a statement.

Police later arrested and charged three Georgian nationals for the murder: Pata Kochiashvili, Zaza Outarashvili and Basiki Kutsishvili.

They are being held on a $2 million bail.

Later that day, cops found another murdered Israeli businessman in the San Fernando Valley: Meni Hidhra, the brother of the warden of Israel’s Nitzan Prison, the Jewish Journal reported.

Police have revealed few details about that crime, including how he was killed, but they did release photos of a possible suspect: a 30 to 40-year-old Hispanic male.

Boy Did the US Miss a bullet with Kamala Harris! The Big Elephant!

 

The Democrats seem to be lost in the wilderness. But at least their former presidential candidate still has elephants for company.

On Wednesday evening Kamala Harris returned to the public stage for the first time in months. And in her own way she reminded us all how much we’ve missed her.

The event she spoke at was a California fundraiser for “Emerge,” an organization designed to help Democratic women to enter politics. And if any Democrat women need a role model for how not to run for political office, Harris once again sure helped them out.

She used most of her 15 minutes to do boilerplate campaign stuff. She claimed that in the Trump administration “instead of an administration working to advance America’s highest ideals, we are witnessing the wholesale abandonment of those ideals.”

Clearly she is appalled at a US administration doing things like securing the border and enforcing the law. These are certainly ideals she would never have approved of if she had been in office.

Kamala also slammed into the tariffs question. Because if there is one question that all economists and trade experts always had on their minds in recent years it was: “What would Kamala do?”

To the extent that she has any thoughts on the question of economics she showed which side she is on.

Trump terminates NPR, PBS federal funding with sweeping executive order

President Trump signed an executive order late Thursday night terminating federal funding for National Public Radio (NPR) and the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS).

NPR and PBS, which have long been targeted for cuts by conservatives, both receive partial funding through the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB), which the president argued is unnecessary in the current media environment.

“Government funding of news media in this environment is not only outdated and unnecessary but corrosive to the appearance of journalistic independence,” Trump wrote in the order.

“The CPB Board shall cease direct funding to NPR and PBS, consistent with my Administration’s policy to ensure that Federal funding does not support biased and partisan news coverage,” he added. “The CPB Board shall cancel existing direct funding to the maximum extent allowed by law and shall decline to provide future funding.”

Trump further directed the CPB to end indirect funding to NPR and PBS, including by “ensuring that licensees and permittees of public radio and television stations, as well as any other recipients of CPB funds, do not use Federal funds for NPR and PBS.” 

The president gave the CPB until June 30 to effectuate his directive. 

NPR and PBS both have diverse revenue streams, including major foundation grants, advertising and voluntary viewer and listener donations, meaning that neither is likely to cease operations if they lose federal support.

The CPB is set to receive $535 million in congressionally appropriated funds annually to distribute to public broadcasters in 2025 and 2026. 

PBS and its member stations receive about 15% of their revenues from the CPB, while NPR stations get 10% of their funds from the corporation, according to NPR. 

NPR itself only receives 1% directly from CPB.

Trump had previously called for NPR and PBS to be defunded in a March Truth Social post. 

“NPR and PBS, two horrible and completely biased platforms … should be DEFUNDED by Congress, IMMEDIATELY,” he wrote on March 27.

In his late-night order, the president argued that “Americans have the right to expect that if their tax dollars fund public broadcasting at all, they fund only fair, accurate, unbiased, and nonpartisan news coverage.”   

“No media outlet has a constitutional right to taxpayer subsidies, and the Government is entitled to determine which categories of activities to subsidize.” 

A White House fact sheet on the order suggested that the left-leaning networks’ output acts as a “significant in-kind contributions to the Democrat party and its political cause,” therefore violating the CPB’s legal mandate to be “nonpolitical [in] nature.” 

“The CPB fails to abide by these principles to the extent it subsidizes NPR and PBS,” the order stated. “Which viewpoints NPR and PBS promote does not matter.  What does matter is that neither entity presents a fair, accurate, or unbiased portrayal of current events to taxpaying citizens.” 

In addition to eliminating CPB payments to NPR and PBS, Trump ordered all federal agencies to “identify and terminate” any taxpayer money going to the public broadcasters. 

Trump also tasked Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. with determining whether PBS and NPR “are complying with the statutory mandate that ‘no person shall be subjected to discrimination in employment . . . on the grounds of race, color, religion, national origin, or sex.’” 

“In the event of a finding of noncompliance, the Secretary of Health and Human Services shall take appropriate corrective action,” the order read.

 

Fox News has obtained video footage of Kilmar Abrego Garcia involved in human smuggling

 

This is the man Democrats decided to put their entire party behind

The incident happened during a traffic stop in Tennessee in 2022.

“He’s hauling these people for money,” a trooper could be heard saying.

The footage comes as yet another abuse report has been released where Abrego Garcia’s wife accused him of being physically and mentally abusive.

She has also edited photos of his knuckles which  symbolizes ‘MS-13.’

To the Charedi boys who interrupted our Yom Ha’atzmaut Tefillah tonight, yelling “Tziyonim

 

To the Haredi boys who interrupted our Yom Ha’atzmaut Tefillah tonight, yelling “Tziyonim - Zionists” while we recited the Shema…

Once upon a time, things were much simpler. In the early days of statehood, Yom Ha’atzmaut was celebrated by the broader religious community. Hallel was sung in Bnei Brak’s Great Synagogue and Hasidim, dressed in festive frocks and fur hats, danced in her streets, celebrating the miraculous birth of the State of Israel. Israeli flags flew proudly in fervently religious neighborhoods — the Agudath Israel even encouraged placing them in the window!

The day was marked in yeshivot, like Hebron and Ponevezh. To this day, the flag is flown over the Ponevezh Yeshiva out of deference to its founder, Rav Yosef Kahaneman, who began the practice. Rav Kahaneman’s positive feelings towards Yom Ha’atzmaut and the State of Israel also led him to omit Tachanun, traditionally omitted on festive occasions.

An editorial which appeared in the Haredi newspaper Hamodia, celebrated Israel’s third birthday and encouraged its readers to do the same. The piece, published on the 4th of Iyyar, 1951, begins:

“All over the country and throughout the Diaspora, we will celebrate the State of Israel’s third Independence Day with military demonstrations, stately ceremonies, and gatherings across the country and the Diaspora, together with tens and hundreds of displays and expressions of joy, where the masses will express their excitement for this major historical event.

This holiday is for all citizens of the State of Israel, and any Jew wherever he is who sees himself as part of the Jewish Nation. On this day, we forget our differences of views and stances. Conflicts and disputes that divide us are closed and buried, and the people will celebrate, united and undivided.

For together as one we went through the War of Independence, with all it entailed. We have all paid a heavy price, with our young sons. And together we share the burden, till today, of the realization of the in-gathering of the scattered of Israel, for whose sake the State was established…”

The State of Israel was born by religious and non-religious alike, as Jews of every stripe and political or religious affiliation fought for her independence. They did not have the luxury to sit back and be sectarian.

At a time when tensions are high in the State of Israel, the truths of history remind us that we have more in common than that which sets us apart. Would we only be able to get back to that simpler place in time, set aside our differences, and celebrate again, “united and undivided.”

The State of Israel was born by religious and non-religious alike, as Jews of every stripe and political or religious affiliation fought for her independence. They did not have the luxury to sit back and be sectarian.

At a time when tensions are high in the State of Israel, the truths of history remind us that we have more in common than that which sets us apart. Would we only be able to get back to that simpler place in time, set aside our differences, and celebrate again, “united and undivided”

Posek HaRav Asher Weiss Shlita Urges anyone who can To vote in WZO Elections

 

The radical progressive left is trying to seize Israel’s national institutions.
Millions of dollars are being poured into the World Zionist Congress elections to push an anti-Zionist agenda — undermining Israel, weakening the IDF, and attacking Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.

This Sunday, May 4th, voting closes.
This is our last stand.

Prime Minister Netanyahu’s Emergency Call:

“I urge you to vote for the ZOA Coalition.
They defend the Jewish people and the State of Israel courageously, without hesitation and without apology.
They have stood proudly for our rights and our nation.
Vote ZOA!”
⸻

Every vote matters. The time is now.
Voting ends May 4th.
Vote here: www.votezoacoalition.org

Song of Makkos

 

Chareidie Rabbanim of Ramat Beit Shemesh Outraged as Hundreds of Followers Dress up Cars with Israeli Flags in a Hundred Car Processon!

The tide, at least, in Ramat Beit Shemesh is slowly turning in the direction of sanity! Charedim decided to honor Yom Hatzmeot with a car procession proudly displaying the Jewish Flag! 

Rabbanim in Beit Shemesh are going literally insane with rage and responded with an entire post of Chareidie minhagim that all Chareidie Rabbanim  in the past "hated Zionists" ! It is of course, riddled with half-truths and whole lies! The Rabbanim made sure that their response be posted on the "tumedikeh" Social Media," of which they previously ruled "yeherag ve'al yaahrog" to be on social media! 

But these New Chareidim are not at all fazed and promised to continue their display of loyalty and Hakaras Hatoiv! They now also opened Shuls with their own Rabbanim in Ramat Beit Shemesh Dalet! 

Below, I translated from the Hebrew as best as I could the Charedie response! 

Israel The Most Alive Society in the World

by Scott Kahn 

As we celebrate Israel’s 77th year of independence, fires are burning throughout the country, likely set by arsonists. An intractable enemy, despite being militarily decimated, refuses to even consider laying down its arms, returning the hostages, and ending the war that it started. Hatred of Israel and Jews continues to rise; 53% of Americans - citizens of Israel’s greatest ally - express negative feelings about Israel. Despite almost a year of unprovoked Hezbollah bombardment of Israel’s north, displacing tens of thousands of residents, only one in five Europeans approved of Israel’s eventual military response in Lebanon; in almost all major Western European nations, about twice as many people have a negative view of Israel as those who express a positive opinion.

In Israel itself, the population is hopelessly divided. Whether with regard to the government’s conduct of the war, or the necessity of appointing a commission of inquiry to assign responsibility for the disaster of October 7th, or judicial reform, or a plethora of other issues, Israeli citizens are seeing eye to eye less and less. And of course, the continued refusal of the Chareidi political and religious leadership to even consider sharing the national military burden is a moral stain on the religious world that contributes mightily to the societal division.

Husband is missing but the wife couldn't care less!

 

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Here’s how long it takes a hacker to figure out your passwords — and the safest to use

 

Having to come up with a password that matches the symbol requirements for every site can be a hassle, but there’s good reason for it.

Of course, the more your password has, the longer it takes for a hacker to figure it out.

But it’s even more specific than that in terms of how long it would take to guess, according to cybersecurity firm Hive Systems Password Table.

For example, a password with five characters using numbers, upper and lowercase letters would take a hacker just two hours to discover it. However, a password with 18 characters using numbers, symbols, upper and lowercase letters would take 463 quintillion years.

The password table was first designed in 2020 to show how fast a hacker can “brute-force” your password based on data from Howsecureismypassword.net.

They started by looking at the strength of a hashed password against a hacking attempt based on length, complexity, hashing algorithm used by the victim and hardware used by the attacker.

A “hashed” password is a scrambled version of text that can be reproduced if you know what hash software was used.

The experts at Hive Systems analyzed password data breaches from 2007 to now reported by HaveIBeenPwned.

The table focuses on the concept that the hacker is working in a “black box” situation, starting from scratch to hack the password.

This shows the “worst case” or “maximum time required” to do the hacking.

Most hackers, according to the blog post, prioritize the words and strings of characters that they’ll focus on first through previously stolen hashes, dictionary attacks and rainbow tables.

If your password was part of a previous data breach or uses words in the dictionary, then a hacker can figure out your password — no matter how many characters, symbols or numbers used — instantly.

They noted that these metrics go off the assumption that your password has not been part of a breach in the past.

Hackers will often try hashes of all common and breached passwords before even thinking about moving on to new ones.

AI Generated Herzl & Ben Gurion Singing "Am Yisrael Chai"

 

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Yom Ha'Atzmaot Celebrated in Great Synagogue in Yerushalayim

 

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Hilarious Video of Schumer being Decimated by Reporter!

 Schumer: "Trump has the lowest 100 day approval rating since they started polling."

*2 Minutes later…*

Manu Raju: "There's a poll out today that has your approval rating lower than any other Congressional leader at 17 percent."

Schumer: "Polls come and go."