BUILD JERUSALEM BY WORKING FOR THE PEOPLE

Leon Working To Build His Jerusalem Coalition

November 25, 2018 5:30 pm

Jerusalem Mayor-elect Moshe Leon is busy assembling his coalition, and this week, Leon and his negotiating team are expected to meet for another round of talks with the chareidi parties. Senior positions will be given to members of Shas and Degel Hatorah, for they played a major role in getting Leon elected. As for Agudas Yisrael, it is going to be a difficult few years, for now is the payback for refusing to back Leon in the mayoral race.

There is competition between Degel and Shas, as they both want control over the prestigious and ever-so-important Chareidi Education portfolio, with each aware this control’s the yeshiva funding.

Yahadut Hatorah held the post for years, but in the last administration, while they licked the wounds of defeat for backing Leon in the mayoral race, Mayor Nir Barkat closed a deal behind their backs, with Shas, and the Sephardi party now wants to maintain control of the portfolio in the incoming administration.

According to a weekend report appearing in Yediot Achronot, that Degel Hatorah, which has six seats in the coalition, is going to receive the Building & Planning portfolio, the Finance portfolio, Chareidi Housing, Allocations Committee and more. The report quotes one senior official saying, “Barkat created many portfolios to permit having a broad-based coalition, so there are plenty of jobs and divisions to control for all”.

Being that Shas controlled the Chareidi Education during the past five years, it has almost entirely resolved the issue of discrimination against Sephardim and it is not likely Shas will relinquish control of this portfolio without a major fight.

The Peleg, which backed Ofer Berkowitz, may not be in the coalition but may find itself in the opposition. It is still too early to make a final determination. What is clear is that Degel Hatorah, with its six seats, will hold a significant amount of power in the incoming administration.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)

VERY TRUE

WATCH: Novominsker Rebbe Speaks Out Against Those Causing Machlokes in Klal Yisroel in America

November 24, 2018 

During the Keynote Session at the annual Agudah Convention on Motzei Shabbos, the Rosh Agudas Yisroel, the Novominsker Rebbe spoke out about the Machlokes in Eretz Yisroel regarding the issue of “Giyus”.

The Rebbe, Rav Yaakov Perlow, spoke in a pained voice, as he made a public Ma’cha against those using the issue to create Pirud, a split, among the Chareidi community in America.

His words were followed by a powerful Drasha by HaRav Boruch Mordechai Ezrachi from Eretz Yisroel, who slammed those who question the decisions that were made by Maran Rav Shteinman ZATZAL and YB”LCT the Sa’ar HaTorah, Hagaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky and Hagaon HaRav Gershon Edelstein.

The Rebbe issued a disclaimer that he is not speaking on behalf of Agudas Yisroel, but only stating his own opinion, as well as in the name of Hagaon HaRav Shmuel Kaminetzky, the Rosh Yeshiva of Philadelphia and member of the Moetzes Gedolei Hatorah.

About five minutes into his speech, the Rebbe said he wished to respond to an earlier remark from the Lakewood Rosh Yeshiva, that in Eretz Yisroel there are “Chilukei Deos” (differences of opinion) that all need to be validated, and that “nobody can feel that he is being pursued by the other party.”

But the Rebbe said that “as an individual I would say that that is not the nekudah.”

“There’s one basic nekudah (point) here, and its not a question of the chok hagiyus (IDF draft law). It’s a question of a hanhagah (approach) that the overwhelming majority of the Olam haTorah has accepted from the days of Rav Aharon Leib [Shteinman] ZATZAL, to Rav Gershon [Edelstein] and the Sar HaTorah of our day, Rav Chaim Kanievsky – es chapt ah tzitter (one shudders) when one speaks about him.

“And yet there is a miyuta demiyuta (tiny minority) of people obstinately refusing to accept that hanagah, and that’s where all the problems come from, and that’s the real issue.”

“No one has a right to bring this Machlokes to America”, said the Rebbe.

The Rebbe added that he came to the convention intending to “not speak a milah achas (one word) about what is happening in Eretz Yisroel,” but he felt it was necessary to make this point clear.

In his riveting remarks, Rav Boruch Mordechai Ezrachi said: “A generation needs a leader and Boruch Hashem, our generation is blessed. It’s a zechus to live a world in which he reigns”, (referring to Hagaon HaRav Chaim Kanievsky).

Watch the Rebbe’s remarks in the video below.

YOU HAVE TO PLAN,AND KNOW THAT EVERYTHING IS FROM HASHEM

Bnei Brak Chosson Transported to Hospital After Cutting Foot Breaking The Glass Under The Chupah

November 20, 2018 8:30 pm

A Chosson in Bnei Brak ended up visiting Mayanei HaYeshua Hospital during his wedding, as he cut his foot severely while smashing the glass under the Chupah. Hospital personnel understood the situation and treated him immediately, permitting his return to the wedding hall in under 30 minutes.

The Chasunah took place in the Keter HaRimon Hall in Bnei Brak on Monday night.

According to family, the glass, which was supplied by the wedding hall, was too thick, and it resulted in the chosson sustaining a deep cut to the bottom of his foot.

One can only imagine the faces of personnel when both a chosson and kallah arrived in the emergency room. They were received immediately, warm and professional attention towards permitting their return to the wedding ASAP.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem):

ANTISEMITISM NEVER DIES ! ! !

HATE IN THE UK: Man Riding Bus Asked Where He’s From – Says “Israel” – Gets Punched In The Face

November 20, 2018 9:30

A man was punched in the face while riding a bus in South Wales in what police believe is an anti semitic attack.

The 38-year-old and his mother were travelling from Barry to Cardiff on Monday afternoon when another man and woman approached them and asked if they were Welsh, police said.

The victim’s mother replied that she was born in Israel and the woman then punched the man in the eye, South Wales Police said.

He was also grabbed by the mouth.

The bus driver stopped the vehicle and the attackers escaped, police added.

The victim was treated in a local hospital.

“Hate crime has no place in society and has always been a priority for South Wales Police,” a spokesperson said.

Police were looking for the suspects.

(YWN World Headquarters – NYC

IF THERE REBBE CREATED PEOPLE LIKE THAT HE WAS A GREAT MAN

How Chabad Managed To Host 150 El Al Travelers For Shabbos On Short Notice

November 20, 2018 8:00 am

Some of the 150 El Al passengers who unexpectedly spent a Shabbat together in Athens.

Passengers on what started out as direct El Al flight LYO2 to Israel from New Yorkarrived safely back in Israel early Sunday after a Shabbos-long diversion in Athens that gave 150 at-first extremely disgruntled travelers the bonding experience of a lifetime and the Chabad-Lubavitch emissaries of the city the chance to strut their stuff.

After much pandemonium due to reportedly mixed messages from El Al about the cause of what turned out to be a more than a three-hour delay on the tarmac at JFK Airport on Thursday evening, the plane took off, despite the requests of many passengers to disembark for fear the flight would not make it to Tel Aviv before Shabbat.

The watchful passengers eventually did disembark prior to their scheduled destination, but not until hours later, when El Al announced that the flight would not, in fact, make Tel Aviv in time for Shabbat, and so diverted the plane to Athens.

[MAILBAG: El Al Should “Man Up”, Stop LYING, And Take Responsibility – Here Is Why]

While the decision caused some further confusion and consternation about how Shabbat would be kept in Athens on about an hour’s notice, the story for the most part at that point began to turn from worry and concern to relief and calm —and even elation for at least one of the passengers featured in a social-media post.

“This is going to be one of the most exciting, beautiful Shabbats ever,” said the jubilant man in a video posting standing among smiling fellow passengers in the baggage-claim area in Athens. “I am spending it with Yidden from everywhere. Everyone’s chipping in together. It’s going to be beautiful. We have … well, whatever we have, it’s not about the food. It’s going to be about the ruchnius [‘spirituality’] and achdus [‘unity’]. It’s about 120 people who got off the plane to be shomer Shabbat, and that is what counts.”

[FAKE NEWS: Israeli Media Claims “Violent” Chareidim Forced El Al Flight to Land in Athens on Erev Shabbos]

The mood change, largely generated by the certainty of being able to keep the weekly Jewish holiday even under extenuating circumstances, was further evident on one of the transport buses shuttling some of the passengers from the airport to their Shabbat destination.

There, mostly Chassidic passengers could be seen in a video dancing while chanting one of the well-known sections of the Friday-evening prayers: “Those who observe the Shabbat and call it a delight shall rejoice in Your Kingship,” as the English translations goes.

‘Our Gift and Our Inheritance’

What the passengers didn’t know at that moment was what was waiting for them at the hotel that the airline had booked: a full-course Shabbat meal, prayer-hall accommodations and arrangements for customary Shabbat learning sessions, compliments of local Chabad emissaries Rabbi Mendel and Nechama Hendel. The couple, who have co-directed the Athens Chabad center since 2001, were alerted about the incoming flight and situation around 11 a.m. (Athens time) on Friday. By 4 p.m., they had put together a lavish Shabbat spread for what was actually more like 150 people, according to the account of another passenger.

The travelers from all Jewish backgrounds—held together by the mutual desire to keep the Shabbat—had been told only on the plane that Chabad would be helping out once they arrived in Athens. To their further relief upon entering the hotel lobby while frantically rushing the reception desk to check in—clock ticking—they learned from hotel personnel that Chabad had a full Shabbat meal and program planned.

[MAILBAG: An Open Letter To El Al About An Incredible “Shabbos Of Unity” In Athens]

One of those passengers was Shalom Lipner, former foreign-policy adviser to the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem and currently a non-resident senior fellow at the center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institute in Washington. He was on the flight with his wife, returning home to Israel after a trip involving a joyous occasion and business engagements.

Reflecting on the overall experience, he told Chabad.org: “Everyone was determined to make the best of things, which couldn’t have happened without Rabbi Mendel and Rebbetzin Nechama. People who would not normally have spent Shabbat together were suddenly thrust into an impossible situation that broke down barriers.”

[DRAMA IN THE SKY: 2 ElAl Flights Have Shabbos Issues; 1 LANDS ON Shabbos, Another Lands in Athens]

Another passenger, Ben Chafetz, provided much detail about the whole flight and Shabbat stay that also focused on the theme of how Jews from far-flung factions came together under trying circumstances to create a positive experience.

“Chassidim had gotten off that plane—men with black hats, colored shirts, in T-shirts, in suits, women with sheitels and snoods [head coverings], no sheitels, in skirts, in pants,” related Chafetz. “Everyone coming off the plane was united in one thing: We believe in G‑d and Torah. Shabbat is our gift and our inheritance, and we would keep it.”

The travelers were from all Jewish backgrounds, brought together by the mutual desire to keep Shabbat.

He described the atmosphere once everyone was settled in at the hotel and Shabbat prayers beginning with one word: “beautiful.”

“We were all so happy to be able to keep Shabbat, and the davening [‘praying’]and level of simcha [‘joy’] was very high.”

He added: “After Kabbalat Shabbat, we walked through the hotel to the dining area, and I can tell you with 100 percent conviction that what I saw was beyond anything I could have imagined.”

He reported that the vast majority of the dining area was reserved for the Shabbat meal—tables set with bottles of wine, grape juice and challah rolls. “Where the hotel usually displayed its salad bars and assortment of cold meats was now filled with platters of gefilte fish, and six or seven large bowls with a variety of salads and dips. It was as if it had been planned for weeks in advance.”

Anything but true.

It was the work of the Hendels, honed and talented from years of welcoming large groups of expected and unexpected guests, with the grace of Shabbat hospitality.

After being alerted about the incoming flight by an assistant of passenger Rabbi Shalom Ber Sorotzkin, who heads Yeshivas Ateret Shlomo of Beit Shemesh, and shortly after by the local El Al office, the Hendel’s kicked into action.

“We started getting organized bringing in our kitchen staff from the kosher restaurant we have, plus additional help, and assessed the situation,” Hendel said. “What we had, what can be prepared in that short amount of time, what’s in our freezer. We already had 130 guests planned at the Chabad House anyway, and we always make extra food for unexpected guests. We also took some of that.”

They also arranged for a Torah scroll, prayer books and Chumashim (copies of “the Five Books of Moses”), Shabbat candles, materials for the concluding of Shabbat prayer, called Havdalah, “and whatever else was necessary for a proper Shabbat,” said Hendel. With the help of El Al, the couple was also lodged in the airport hotel, the Sofitel, a 45-minute drive from their Chabad center in downtown Athens—for the Shabbat experience.

“People were so appreciative of how beautiful the Shabbat turned out that when they learned we are in the middle of a mivkah [ritual bath] building project, they really wanted to help,” added Hendel.

He said that Rabbi Akiva Katz, head of the United Kashrut Authority in Jerusalem, who was on the flight, made an impromptu fundraising effort to help complete the project, with Rabbi David Derli, who heads Tiferet Tiberias institutions in Tiberias, pledging a significant amount personally and encouraging others to help.

“If by Divine Providence you find yourselves in Athens, it’s to help accomplish something positive,” Derli said in his pitch about the project, being built with help from Keren Mikvaot and the Rabbinical Center of Europe.

It was not easy to say farewell to their impromptu guests after all that developed over Shabbat, though happenstance brings new situations of similar nature on a regular basis and there’s always more to look forward to, said Hendel. The couple, with the help of their staff, packed up and went home.

As for their guests, upon return from the trip on a flight that departed late Saturday night and landed only a bit delayed this time— 1:45 a.m. Sunday in Israel—the group belted out louder than usual the standard end-of-flight cheers, then broke into song again on the theme of Shabbat delight, shared Lipner.

(Source: Chabad.org)

THE REBBE AND THE KEDUSHAT AHARON

A SPECIAL WEDDING

THE LUBAVITCHER REBBETZIN

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED

WHAT REALLY HAPPENED ON EL AL FLIGHT 002?  

THE SHOMREI SHABBOS PASSENGERS,  SHOULD IN THE FIRST PLACE, NEVER HAVE BEEN ON THAT FLIGHT ACCORDING TO HALACH.

I HAVE SAID THAT A FEW TIMES AND ALL THE RABBONIM AGREE WITH ME.

 THAT YOU DO NOT TRAVEL TO ISRAEL ON A FLIGHT THAT DOES ARRIVE, THE LATEST TIME EARLY FRIDAY MORNING.

I SAY AGAIN IF YOU CAN NOT GIVE UP  A DAY OF WORK IN NEW YORK,  THEN STAY AT HOME.

A FRUM JEW WHO TRAVELS TO ISRAEL ON A LATE FLIGHT SHOULD NOT THINK THAT HE IS BETTER THEN EL AL AND THE  ISRAELI GOVERNMENT WHO DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE HOLY SHABBOS.  

WHAT IS A KIDDUSH HASHEM

THE AVNEI NEZER  ZY"A ONCE TOLD HIS GABAI THAT HE WANTS TO TRAVEL TO THE BRIS OF A CERTAIN SIMPLE YID.

THE GABAI ASKED,

" YOU DO NOT GENERALLY GO TO A BRIS THAT IS IN A DIFFERENT CITY. WHY DO YOU WANT TO GO TO THIS ONE ? "

THE AVNEI NEZER REPLIED,  " THAT FATHER MADE A KIDDUSH HASHEM, THEREFORE I WANT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE BRIS . "  

" WHAT KIDDUSH HASHEM DID HE MAKE ? " THE GABAI WAS INTRIGUED .

THE AVNEI NEZER EXPLAINED, " THE FATHER SAID TO  ME , HASHEM HELPED  ME, AFTER FIFTEEN YEARS OF WAITING, HASHEM GRANTED ME A SON.

THAT WAS THE FIRST TIME I HEARD SOMEONE SAY THAT THE SALVATION CAME FROM HASHEM. GENERALLY, I HEAR PEOPLE SAY THAT THEY RECEIVED THEIR YESHUAH FROM THE GERRER REBBE OR FROM THE KOTZKER REBBE, OR  FROM RADZAMINER REBBE.

THIS IS THE FIRST TIME I HEARDSOMEONE RECOGNIZE THAT HASHEM PREFORMED THE MIRACLE. 

" THIS RECOGNITION IS A KIDDUSH HASHEM, AND THEREFORE I WANT TO ATTEND THE BRIS, "