Nuclear Bomb Imminent
By Ben Mewluke
Hitler threw off the shackles of Versailles. In this, he was remarkably successful. The world stood by silently – at first believing the illusion that Hitler was merely correcting an injustice. Today, Iran began enriching its existing nuclear fuel stockpile toward weapons grade strength.
Buoyed by Obama’s commitment to appeasement, Iran formally announced the move on al Alam the Iranian state television. "Today we started to make 20 ...
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11 Arrests
By Chaim Weiss
UC Irvine has always been a hotbed for Palestinian radical activity. It therefore comes as no surprise that eleven students were arrested during a lecture there by Israeli Ambassador Michael Oren spoke about U.S.-Israel relations. The ambassador spoke to an audience of approximately 500 people and was soon interrupted by shouting and protests multiple times last Monday night. The Ambassador tried to continue many times but was unable to ...
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By Dovid Visofsky
Addressing President Obama’s falling popularity, former Alaska governor and US vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin gave him some advice yesterday on Fox News.
She remarked, "Say [Mr. Obama] decided to declare war on Iran or decided to really come out and do whatever he could to support Israel, which I would like him to do, that changes the dynamics of what we can assume will happen between now and three years. Because I think if the ...
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By Avi Meir
It has not gone unnoticed in the Jewish community. The past year or so, coverage of Israel and the middle east has not had the anti-Israel bias that the New York Times has been noted for in the past two decades. Now, those who attack Israel and vie for its destruction are voicing their complaints. They are attacking Jerusalem Bureau Chief Ethan Bronner and claiming that he is biased on account of his son's service in the Israeli Defense ...
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By 5TJT Staff
It is a favorite drink at Shalom Zachars, the traditional Jewish event held on the Sabbath to celebrate the birth of a male child. Some parents are horrified at the elevated status of this drink. However, a new study points to some serious health benefits.
A new study suggests that beer is a significant source of dietary silicon, a key ingredient for increasing bone mineral density. Researchers from the Department of Food Science & ...
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By Chaim Weiss
It started on February 3rd. Syrian President Bashar Assad issued a statement that Israel is “pushing the region towards war" and that Israel "is not serious about achieving peace.”
The next day, Israeli foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman pointed to "blatant threats" by Syria against the Jewish State and said that if Syria goes to war with Israel, "not only will you lose the war, you and your family will no longer be in power."
This ...
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By 5TJT Staff
The Annual Jerusalem Conference is slated to begin next Monday in Jerusalem. Below we post the schedule, list of speakers, and the agenda.
Monday, February 15, 2010
7:00-8:45 pm Conference Opening Plenary - Uniting the City of Jerusalem
Keynote: Mayor of Jerusalem Nir Barkat
7:00-8:45 pm
Uniting the City of Jerusalem
The 3,000 year old city of Jerusalem was reborn in 1967 when the city was reunited after 19 ...
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By Dovid Visofsky
One of the over three hundred Monsey mump victims is a “Gadol B’Yisroel” and a major speaker in the Torah community. Not only is it the largest outbreak of mumps in any Torah community, but it is the largest in the United States in recent years.
A health official stated that 303 people in the Rockland County towns of Monsey and New Square have been diagnosed with this highly infectious disease.
Investigators said the ...
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By Alex Grobman
Doomed to Failure?: The Politics and Intelligence of the Oslo Peace Process by Ofira Seliktar Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, 2009),238 pgs. US $49.95.
Finding a solution to the Arab/Israeli conflict has been a constant source of frustration for American administrations. Each new US president assumes he can resolve this intractable dispute either through the sheer force of his personality or his unique understanding of the ...
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By Rabbi Yair Hoffman
This Dvar Halacha is l’Zaicher Nishmas my shver, Rabbi Yaakov Hirsch z”l, on the occasion of his sixth Yahrtzeit today (23rd of Shvat). Rabbi Hirsch was a Talmid of Rav Dovid Leibowitz zatzal and was a paragon of both hasmadah and mussar. He and his Chevrusah yblc”t studied together for over fifty years finishing Shas B’Iyun many times over. He was an institution in the Lakewood Beis Midrash in Boro Park and in Camp Agudah for many ...
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By 5TJT Staff
The Talmud tells us to serve G-d in joy and that depression has numerous drawbacks. Now a new study demonstrates the drawbacks of depression in pregnant women.
Children from urban areas whose mothers suffer from depression during pregnancy are more likely than others to show antisocial behavior, including violent behavior, later in life. Furthermore, women who are aggressive and disruptive in their own teen years are more likely ...
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Insincere Apology from Hamas
By 5TJT Staff
In an attempt to paint Israel negatively, Islamist terrorist group Hamas announced that the three Israeli civilians killed last year by rocket fire was a mistake. This was an attempt to rebut accusations of war crimes and to contrast itself to Israel in light of the Goldstone report.
“Resistance fighters were warned against hitting civilians,” said Salah al-Bardaweel, a Hamas official.
However, the group Human Rights Watch quickly ...
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By Ben Mewluke
Perhaps a good yardstick in determining where people stand on Israel is where they stand on the Goldstone report. Wrapping up a three-day visit to Israel, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi denounced the Goldstone Report as trying to incriminate Israel and stated that Israel has every right to defend itself against Hamas rocket attacks.
The statement is significant because Italy is one of Iran’s biggest suppliers of logistical support for ...
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By Ben Mewluke
A new committee has been formed this week in the Knesset called the "Land of Israel Forum." Over thirty members of Knesset have joined this committee in order to promote legislation that would support and encourage settlement. The committee is co-chaired by coalition whip MK Ze’ev Elkin (Likud) and MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union).
Arutz Sheva reports some of the comments:
Minister Herskovitz: “One of the goals of the ...
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Speaking at the tenth annual Herzliya Conference at the Interdisciplinary Center, Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak warned of the dangers of apartheid, should Israel refrain from withdrawing from Judea and Samaria to create a Palestinian State.
As long as west of the Jordan River there is only one political entity called Israel, it will not be Jewish or democratic, he explained.
The former Prime Minister was speaking in a ...
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By Rav Aryeh Zev Ginzberg
I have previously written about the very painful topic of divorce in our community. As the number of divorces of young couples rises to unprecedented proportions, leaving devastated families and at times devastated communities in its wake, the Torah community as a whole has not stepped up adequately to address this modern plague in our community.
From a personal perspective, in my first 15 years of being blessed with the opportunity ...
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By Esther Schonfeld, Esq.
“I’d marry again if I found a man who had $15 million and would sign over half of it to me before the marriage and guarantee he’d be dead in a year.” —Bette Davis
Paul McCartney and Alec Baldwin had no prenuptial agreements. Perhaps they thought that having a prenuptial agreement was not romantic. But there was nothing romantic about the bitter court battles they had to endure, either. Prenuptial agreements, commonly known as ...
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Living as a Jewish teenager in today’s world is no simple feat. Adolescents face constant pressures, whether social, academic, religious, or emotional. Oftentimes a teacher or parent may be part of the problem, and the young adult believes they have no one to turn to. They may feel isolated and scared, yearning for an ear to listen to them or a shoulder for them to lean on.
Twelve and a half years ago, several well-respected members ...
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By Rivka Lubin
Chanie was celebrating her eighth birthday with a group of classmates. They had finished eating and were getting restless, so Chanie’s mother suggested that she open the presents. Anticipation mounted as she lifted the first present from the pile and began to tear off the wrapping paper.
A beautiful sticker and stationery album peeked through the torn paper. Her classmates murmured appreciatively. But Chanie frowned. “I already have ...
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By Rabbi Yair Hoffman
There is nothing like a sanctification of the Divine Name, and that is certainly what happened today after a two-alarm fire broke out on the second floor of a home on East 35th Street in Midwood close to Yeshiva Tifereth Yisroel.
Three eleventh grade Yeshiva students noticed that smokewas coming out of an adjacent house while they were studying the Talmud in the upper floor of the Yeshiva building. The three students were Leiby ...
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By Rabbi Avi Shafran
It was hardly the first or only time, but one night not long ago I learned something important from my wife.
We were driving home from a wedding in another city, both of us sneezing and coughing from the bad cold we shared. As I drove, she checked for messages on her phone, which had been turned off during the wedding. One message was from one of our married daughters, who lives with her husband and their mishpachah in a different ...
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By Rabbi Ben Tzion Shafier
And Yisro heard that which Hashem had done for Moshe and Yisrael. —Sh’mos 18:1
With these words, the Torah explains what motivated Yisro to join the Jewish people. He’d heard all of the ...
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By Elke Probkevitz
On February 1, the Kosher Food and Wine Experience was held at Pier 60 of Chelsea Piers, overlooking the Hudson. This event was a chance to experience a taste of the newest developments in the ...
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Rabbis Should Discuss Mitzvot After Death
By Elliot Jacobs
Everyone knows that there are Mitzvot during life. But are there also Mitzvot that can be performed after death?
Like it or not, we have been handed an earth that we are enjoined to treat with the proper care. We must be concerned about the carbon footprint we have had in our life, and now in our death. Before any reader dismisses what is written here, please give it a chance. The decision that we make ...
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By Eli Shapiro
I am currently sitting in Brussels Airport on my way back from the Holy Land. The amount of changes and infrastructural improvement since my last trip was absolutely astounding. Some feel the ...
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By Larry Gordon
My father left me a few million. It’s been over two decades now, and I’m not sure what I’m going to do with those millions. I’ve frequently thought about using them for some productive and ...
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Our Aliyah Chronicle
By Shmuel Katz
Last week, I was privileged to participate in the shalom zachor of my newest nephew, born in the U.S. to Goldie’s sister and her husband, Debra and Sruli Ehrenberg (Mazal tov!). As I have said in ...
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By Hillel Fendel
Twenty YU High School students and ten of their Israeli counterparts are “exchanging schools” for six weeks—ten from the Yeshiva University High School for Boys/Marsha Stern Talmudical Academy (YUHSB) in Manhattan and ten from the Samuel H. Wang Yeshiva University High School for Girls (YUHSG) in western Queens. The two are more popularly known as MTA and Central.
The Central students are already well into the program at Ulpanat ...
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By Esther Mann, LMSW
There are so many troublesome emotions that tend to bog us down and hold us back from being the best we can be and experiencing life to our best advantage. One such emotion is that of regret. I ...
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Increasing Security in the Holy Land
By Ben Mewluke
To President Obama's credit, he recently urged congress to grant three billion dollars in security assistance to Israel, te Jewish State. It is imperative for the security of the Jewish people that Congress adopt this request. Indeed, emailing and writing letters to our senators and representatives in the House may even fall under the Mitzvah of Lo Saamod al Dam Rayacha - do not stand idly by your brother's blood.
The ...
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From The Editor's Desk
By Larry Gordon
Have you ever wondered how we could apply modern technology to the challenging task of being a leader? It’s easy to be critical and say that these days there are no real leaders in the secular political realm, nor for that matter is there universally respected and accepted leadership in the Jewish community.
But I’m really not sure where the fault lies—in leaders who might possibly be short on qualifications or accomplishments, or ...
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The Ten Commandments conclude with the mitzvah “You shall not covet your fellow’s house . . . nor anything of your fellow” (Sh’mos 20:14) What are the halachic parameters of this mitzvah?
Mrs. Jaffe served as curator at the Jewish museum of art. For the upcoming Pesach exhibit, she was preparing a collection of authentic Seder plates from around the world. Little by little, the collection was taking form. There were ...
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By 5TJT Staff
Seeing someone perform a Mitzvah - a virtuous deed (especially a Chesed - an act of lovingkindness - helping another person), makes us feel good, often eliciting a warm, fuzzy feeling in our chest. This positive, uplifting emotion, known as “elevation,” might make us feel great, but is it enough to get us to go out and perform good acts ourselves? The Rabbis in the Talmud state that a Mitzvah causes another Mitzvah. And now according to new ...
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By Rabbi Avrahom Sebrow
It is a staple at most Shabbos tables: fish. Gefilte fish is most popular, but other varieties persist as well. The USDA is predicting a modest increase in fish prices this year, in the 1.5% to ...
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By Anessa V. Cohen
Amazing headlines recently: Starbucks is on the rebound. I guess we can all start breathing again, since the worry of Starbucks not doing well has been keeping us all awake at night. This ...
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By Hannah Reich Berman
Ever since the loss of my husband, who also doubled as my best friend, I find myself trying to reconnect. What I want is to see Arnie, to hear his voice and feel his presence. I’ve been told ...
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By Dovid Visofsky
Yeshivos and Torah camps are always looking for advice on how to best deal with the H1N1 virus and other forms of communicable diseases. They might take a cue from a boys' camp in Alabama. Providing preventive Tamiflu and educating and emphasizing the need for repeated hand sanitizer use and disinfectant spray helped stop the spread of H1N1 influenza at a boys' summer camp in northern Alabama, according the co-director of the University of ...
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By Phyllis J. Lubin
What moves us to do the things we do? What encourages us to improve ourselves? It seems to be a lifelong struggle, keeping motivated to do something beneficial for ourselves and others. If we have ...
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By Rabbi Yair Hoffman
Late this morning Leib Tropper, the head of Yeshiva Kol Yaakov in Monsey resigned his position as Rosh Yeshiva of the institution. The new incoming Rosh Yeshiva is Rabbi Dovid Stefansky Shlita, a maggid shiur in the Yeshiva. Kol Yaakov is staffed by fine Talmidei Chachomim among whom are some quite distinguished Torah scholars.
Tropper indicated that he was resigning so that the Monsey-based Bais Din will not continue their ...
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Visit and Phone Calls
By Rabbi Yair Hoffman
Members of the Monsey based Bais Din investigating the charges against Leib Tropper has been receiving a series of threatening phone calls from people. The threats have ranged from threats of utterly destroying the Rabbis to getting people to pray for the downfall and destruction of the Rabbis involved in the investigation.
The threat campaign actually began on Sunday. One of the Rabbonim was actually visited by an ...
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Dr. Wakefield Study Under Fire
By 5TJT Staff
The Lancet, once a prominent British medical journal, has been under fire lately, for publishing studies that may be misleading in nature. In 1998, they published a by Dr. Andrew Wakefield that linked vaccines and autism. The publishing of the study set off a sharp decline in parents agreeing to vaccinate their children both in England and in the United States.
The problem is that, in fact, a myriad of data shows that there is no ...
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New Israeli Study
By 5TJT Staff
Smoking affects your cardiac health both before and after a major event like a heart attack. But how much? And does cutting back instead of quitting have a positive effect as well?
Rabbi Shlomo Riskin of Efrat, Israel may have recently requested that his whole city make smoking illegal, but the evidence for immediate effects of quitting has not existed in the Jewish State - until now.
There are definitive answers in a new ...
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""Primordial Soup" Now Dismissed
By 5TJT Staff
Earth's chemical energy powered early life through 'the most revolutionary idea in biology since Darwin'
For 80 years it has been accepted that early life began in a 'primordial soup' of organic molecules before evolving out of the oceans millions of years later. Today the 'soup' theory has been over turned in a pioneering paper in BioEssays which claims it was the Earth's chemical energy, from hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor, which ...
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Revising Current Medical Thought
By 5TJT Staff
Nowhere in Talmudic writings or the writings of Maimonides, the famous Jewish Rabbi and physician, does it indicate that women in labor should not eat or drink. Yet, for some reason, modern medical practice is to restrict food and fluids during active labor. Now, a new review of this practice co-authored by a Queen's University Associate Professor, shows that there is no benefit to this policy whatsoever.
"Based on our review, there ...
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Tel Aviv University Findings Presented at Consumer Research Conference
By 5TJT Staff
If you won a million dollars today, what would you do? Say “sayonara” to your boss and head to Bora Bora, or invest your newfound wealth in a long-term T-bill?
According to new research by Dr. Danit Ein-Gar of Tel Aviv University’s Recanati Graduate School of Business Studies in Israel, your answer may not be so clear-cut. She and her American colleague Dr. Camille Su Lin Johnson found that whether you’ll indulge or be prudent is not ...
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Israelis Participated in Study
By 5TJT Staff
A report published today by Rice University’s James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy offers recommendations to U.S. negotiators on the territorial component of an Israeli-Palestinian peace settlement. Other experts who have reviewed the report, however, indicate that it is heavily slanted against the concerns of the Jewish State's requirement for safety.
The report, "Getting to the Territorial Endgame of an ...
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By Rabbi Yair Hoffman
Abraham Mondrowitz can be known as the man with nine lives. How so?
1. Twenty five years ago, he was somehow able to elude any charges being pressed by the young men that he counseled in his role as a therapist working for Yeshivas.
2. He was able to avoid any repercussions to his ability to be hired by yeshiva after Yeshiva.
3. He managed to elude prosecution in the United States while living here.
4. He managed to flee ...
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The Delegation to Haiti - Sent by an IDF soldier in Haiti to his parents.
By 5TJT Staff
Thursday, January 21, 2010 - In the lifesaving IDF Medical Corps Delegation to Haiti which is housed in tents, doctors prevent disabilities. They administer aid to the sick, provide warmth, love, and a human touch. They love the wounded.
In the IDF Medical Corps Delegation to Haiti which is housed in tents located in the middle of a hell, every complex medical case has an ethics review board.
In the IDF Medical Corps ...
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By Chaim Weiss
Aziz Dwaik, Hamas's senior representative in the West Bank and speaker of the Palestinian Legislative Council, stated yesterday that Hamas is prepared to accept Israel's right to exist and additionally to nullify its charter calling for the destruction of Israel.
Dwaik's remarks were made during a meeting with British millionaire David Abrahams in Hebron this week. Abraham, a major contributor to Britain's Labor Party, maintains ...
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By Dovid Visofsky
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed on Thursday his concern that allowing foreign workers to cross into Israel along with refugees from war-stricken countries, could jeapordize Israel's Jewish and democratic character.
Netanyahu, addressing the Manufacturer's Association of Israel, stated further that the influx of illegal workers crossing the Egyptian border was causing salaries in the country to plummet to "third ...
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By Avi Meir
Dozens of Israeli armed police officers will be making their way to Haiti following a request from the United Nations and the US.
Israeli Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch is expected to authorize the request. The Israeli officers, 100 in total, will join other international peackeeping forces currently present in Haiti.
Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, as reported in the Jerusalem Post, stated that ...
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By Tzippi Ayalon
Being religious and theatrically gifted are not mutually exclusive especially if you live in Beit Shemesh, Israel. Under the tutelage of American immigrant, Chayalle Regal, founder of Regal Productions, a frum women and girls theatre group, natural talent is finely honed to its fullest expression.
Heidi and Baruch Bergenfeld moved to Israel five years ago from Los Angeles, California. "In Los Angeles, we were fortunate to send our ...
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By Avi Meir
The latest FBI sting operation went after gun manufacturers and arms dealers who conspired to bribe an government official of an African nation to purchase from their company. 22 people were arrested. Some were British citizens, some Israeli citizens, one Peruvian citizen, and a vice president of sales at Smith and Wesson.
According to the indictments the defendants arranged to sell their goods, including pistols, rifles, grenades ...
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By Ben Mewluke
It seems that Iraqis have a difficult time deciding whether to obliterate evidence of Iraqi Jewish culture or to ensure its preservation. The Jerusalem Post reported this week news of Ezekiel the Prophet's tomb desecrated in the Iraqi town of Al-Kifl. Iraq's Antiquities and Heritage Authority, in a bid to upgrade and 'renovate' the site, has planned to build a huge mosque on top of the prophet's grave and remove all Hebrew inscriptions and ...
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By Chaim Weiss
The Talmud gives an interesting method to determine the time when religious Jews may recite the morning Shma prayer - a declaration of G-d's unity. It says that the earliest time is when one can recognize an acwquaintance at a specified distance.
But a new study tells us that recognizing faces is an important social skill, but not all of us are equally good at it. Some people are unable to recognize even their closest friends (a ...
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Star Reporter Leaves for Los Angeles Times
By Chaim Weiss
One of the key news writers and editors at the Forward has moved on and has joined the staff at the New York bureau of the Los Angeles Times to cover Wall Street and the business sector.
Nathaniel Popper has been with the Forward since 2003, and has been the News editor for two years. Most of the other writers have just joined the Forward this year. Popper is a Harvard graduate and was an award-winning journalist who covered ...
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By Rabbi Yair Hoffman
Heroes come in all different sizes. Some are soldiers, some are doctors and some are Baalei Chesed. One such hero, or heroine, is Nicole Gleitman, who, for the past eleven years has quietly and persistently helped young brides get married, and set up their new lives and homes.
Nicole founded the Claire Kamhi Hachnassat Kallah Fund in memory of her sister, who passed away from pancreatic cancer in 1999. The Five Towns Jewish Times ...
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Uzi Landau attends Energy Conference
By Ben Mewluke
Relations with United Arab Emirates and Israel may be thawing. Israel just sent Cabinet Minister Uzi Landau to the United Arab Emirates to attend a conference on alternative energy.
Uzi Landau is the National Infrastructure Minister and is the number two man in Israel Beitenu, the Russian jewish party. He told the Associated Press on Sunday that while there he did not meet with any Emirati officials while attending a conference of ...
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Ninth Annual Yarchei Kallah in Jerusalem
By Dovid Visofsky
The Renaissance Jerusalem Hotel is located near the entrance to the city on the main artery leading to all of Jerusalem. It is a Glat Kosher 5 star hotel and is popular because of its close proximity to numerous places of interest. These places include the Israel Museum, the Bibleland Museum, the Science Museum, the Central Bus Station, the Israel Parliament, and the International Convention Center.
It is also where Agudath Israel ...
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Israel Trying to Mend Fences
By Ben Mewluke
This Sunday, Israeli Defence Minister Ehud Barak met Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in an attempt to mend relations with Turkey after a diplomatic spat between the two allies.
The spat was prompted by an anti-Israel television show aired on Turkish national TV that depicted Israelis kidnapping palestinian babies. Danny Ayalon, subsequently embarrassed the Turkish ambassador by not following proper protocols in ...
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Visit to Synagogue to Proceed
By Boruch Young
-- Pope Benedict XVI ivisits an Orthodox Jewish synagogue in Rome today. Before the scheduled visit he released a statement that despite difficulties there is ''great respect'' between Catholics and Jews. He also stated that his visit would be a ''further stop on the path of harmony and friendship between Catholics and Jews."
It is clear that the comments were intended to reduce the tension developed in his beautification of Pope ...
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Orthodox Union of Jewish Congregations
By 5TJT Staff
The Rabbis at the Orthodox Union (OU) have asked Jews to donate to the relief effort in Haiti. The Jewish people have always been described as compassionate and
Donations will be directed to the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. Click below to donate.
https://secure2.convio.net/ou/site/Donation2?idb=1765401424&df_id=2400&2400.donation=form1&JServSessionIdr004=8jqjryvl34.app13b
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Audacious Burglary
By Chaim Weiss
Rabbi Aaron Leib Shteinman is one of the top two leading Rabbis of the Haredi world. It is therefore a shock that while he was attending a meeting in Betar Illit on Thursday night, thieves broke into his Bnei Brak home and stole $50,000 in cash. The amount stolen in checks was even more - exceeding “hundreds of thousands” according to Kikar.net. The theft occurred in the Rabbi's home, 5 Chazon Ish Street, in Bnei Brak.
The ...
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Did Gedolim Approve All This?
By 5TJT Staff
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Strong Stance Must Be Taken
By Rabbi Yair Hoffman
In light of the recent ruling of the Israeli Supreme Court against the U.S. extradition request for Mondrowitz, Rav Moshe Shternbuch was asked what the proper Torah response should be. Rav Shternbuch’s response was that even years later, an offender should still be punished “Lemaan Yishmeu VeYirau" - a biblical term meaning "so that all should hear and fear.”
This statement indicates that there is an obligation on the community to ...
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By Roy Neuberger
We sit around the Seder Table every Pesach and tell the story of the Exodus.
What a story!
But it's not a story. It's reality! It's today!
In this week's Parsha, we arrive at the moment of truth. After seemingly endless years of bitter exile and slavery, Am Yisroel is about to leave Mitzraim! If you want a Parsha that tells you where we are in the contemporary world at the present moment, you have found it. ...
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By Rabbi jeremy Rosen
I know this is going to sound harsh and unfeeling but we ought to leave failed states alone to stew in their own self-imposed cruelties. It is, in the end, up to their own citizens to either put up or shut up.
I really thought Obama was going to usher in a new era and stop trying to cure those sick parts of the world that do not want to be healed. But it seems his arms dealers, his scaremongers, his political allies and supporters ...
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Interpol Granted Farreaching Exemptions in U.S>
By 5TJT Staff
On December 16th President Obama signed an executive order designating Interpol as an organization with special privileges, exemptions, and immunities - beyond those granted the FBI and the CIA.
No one really knows why he signed it, but the implications are that they are free from Freedom of Information Act requests when operating here in the United States.
Interpol had a history of being staffed by Nazis both before and ...
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Accused Child Molester will not Face American Court
By Avi Meir
The Israeli Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that Abraham Mondrowitz, accused of committing crimes of molestation of against minors in the United States up to 25 years ago, will not be extradited.
Justice Ayala Procaccia ruled on the case. Justice Procaccia justified her ruling based on the statute of limitations on the charges, also explaining that it would harm the suspect's right to due process.
"Due to the passage of time ...
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Also Sends Elite Army Corps of Engineers
By Avraham Zuroff
In the United States, we call them MASH units, in Israel they are called field hospitals. MASH stands for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital and they are a combination of tents, medical equipment, generators, oxygen and highly trained medical staff that can mobilize anywhere in the world. MASH units are enormously effective in the prevention of mass death.
The elte army corps of engineers are literally logistical magicians that can ...
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By Chaim Weiss
Connecticut Senator Joe Lieberman is certainly a man of principles, even to the point where he will not vote on a cause simply because that is what his party wants.
It is for standing up to his principals that he is under fire. Lieberman did not vote for the democrat sponsored health-care reform. This move is now being characterized as a betrayal - not only of the Democratic party, but, even his Jewish ...
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A Growing Problem
By Boruch Young
A recent seminar about eating disorders was heavily advertised in a large religious Jewish community. The top experts in the field came to speak. Ample seating was arranged. A question and answer session was planned as well.
The upshot? Less than forty people showed.
A quote: “I denied it since eighth grade, when I was first told that I had it. I see a nutritionist now, and while I still suffer from it, I at least know ...
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Jewish State Has Disaster Experience
By Ben Mewluke
Haiti has experienced the worst earthquake it ever had in over two hundred years, with thousands dead, injured and missing.
Unfortunately, Israel has experience with disasters. On Wednesday, the Foreign Ministry reported that Israel sent a rescue team to Haiti, even though the airport in Haiti is officially closed. The hope is that it will open by the time rescue workers arrive.
The team also included Amos Radian, the ...
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By Boruch Young
What is up with Turkey - Israel relations?
Israel justifiably got angry at the fact that anti-Semitic television shows were beginning to permeate Turkish airwaves. Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon took a stand. Turkey got angry at the depth of the rebuke, and threatened to recall the Turkish ambassador to Israel.
Ayalon issued a statement of apology late Tuesday night. "My protest against Turkey's attacks against ...
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A Different Perspective
By Yochanan Gordon
Whether we have dedicated our lives to learning, pursuing a living or a combination of the two the unifying force between all Jews is that we are servants of G-d. The Mishna says, “Repent before the day you die. Being that no one knows the day of death, all of our days should be spent towards repenting.
It has been said that Journalists have the hardest time repenting. Being that every inspiring story is good material for the paper ...
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By Chaim Weiss
There is a Mitzvah in the Torah called Maakah. It means that safety guard rails should always be in place.
Yesterday, a 36-year-old Orthodox Jewish construction worker was rushed to Maimonides Hospital after falling 30 feet into the basement of a Yeshiva being built in the Kensington neighborhood of Brooklyn.
It took rescuers close to a half hour 30 minutes to bring Shmuli Silber out of the dark pit he fell into on Elmwood ...
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By Ben Mewluke
The first priority of a doctor is to do no harm. The Obama administration has a grave responsibility in its Mideast policy. It must maintain the long term peace and security of both Israel and the region in whatever tactic it pursues. If a temporary lull is achieved at the expense of giving in to terrorism, the effect upon terrorism throughout the world.
All this is important when analyzing Rahm Emanuel. About two weeks ago, he ...
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Islamic Terrorists Changing Direction?
By Ben Mewluke
One of the people who helped murder Anwar Sadat is Abbud al-Zumar. He was a military intelligence colonel in the Egyptian army who was deeply Islamic and Anti-Zionist. He was the number two man behind Faraj, who was executed for Sadat;s murder. Like Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in Landsberg Prison, he also just wrote a book from behind bars.
Well, actually, it is more like a document, and it is called “al-Badil al-Thalith ...
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Don't Hurt Holocaust Survivors
By Avraham Zuroff
Former Chief Rabbi of Israel, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau requested that Pope Benedict XVI stop the beautifying process of Pope Pius XII, the World War II era pope, who did not act to save the Jews of Europe and did not speak out against Hitler. He further stated that the Pope should be welcomed when he visits Rome’s main synagogue.
Rabbi Lau is a Holocaust survivor and is now the current chief rabbi of Tel Aviv. Rabbi Lau was taught ...
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Obama Appointment Under Fire
By Ben Mewluke
The American Israeli Action Coalition (AIAC) today heavily criticized President Barack Obama’s anti-Semitism “czar”, Hannah Rosenthal, for her highly inappropriate public criticism of Israel’s Ambassador to the U.S., Michael Oren, and called for her immediate dismissal from her post.
AIAC is a non-partisan, non-political, issue-oriented NGO which whose purpose is to represent the united voice of the more than 250,000 ...
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Sentencing Matters by Nevile Kahn
By 5TJT Staff
Everyone’s hearts are going out to the members of the Rubashkin family
in light of the years of suffering that lie ahead for them. There is
a question though that needs to be asked. What should former kosher producer Rubashkin’s
legal team be doing now?
Sholom Rubashkin was found guilty of 86 counts of bank, mail and wire
fraud - which carry a hefty, hefty prison sentence. The guilty
verdict was announced on November ...
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By Avraham Zuroff
Perhaps it does not have much to do with the Jewish Sabbath, but laborers from construction laborers and secretaries to physicians and lawyers, experience better moods, greater vitality, and fewer aches and pains from Friday evening to Sunday afternoon, concludes the first study of daily mood variation in employed adults to be published in the January 2010 issue of the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. And that 'weekend effect' is ...
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Iran May be in Turmoil Again
By Chaim Weiss
As expected by experts as soon as news of of the death of an Iranian nuclear scientist was made public, the accusations came forth. Mohammadi was killed near his home in the Iranian capital by a booby-trapped motorbike, according to television reports in Iran.
Iranian state broadcaster IRIB said a bomb that killed a Tehran University nuclear scientist and professor on Tuesday was planted by "Zionist and American agents", without ...
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No Punches Pulled
By Rabbi Aba Dunner
It is long established pattern of the hired cheer-leaders of the ejf to
attempt to blacken the name of anyone who criticizes their activities in
any way - the pot of gold that the ejf has found is worth $25 million
and counting and who wants to lose out on that? but it is clear who the
real ganef is in this sad story - it is anyone who associates themselves
with this organization whose sole ...
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New Information Released
By Dovid Visofsky
The Talmud discusses the Mitzvah of Lo Taamof Al Dam rayacha - do not stand idly by your brother’s blood. Some Rabbis see security as a religious Jewish imperative. Arms smuggling is a serious problem that threatens Israel’s security and the safety of its citizens. Which is why Israel is planning a new security fence to thwart both the influx of migrants and arms into Gaza.
Israel has had remarkable success with its ...
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The Attack on Rabbis
By Chaim Weiss
Every Saturday night Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef gives a lecture at the Yazdi synagogue in Jerusalem, Israel. Invariably, it is attended by a representative of the media that hangs on to his every word and looks to lynch him.
This past Saturday night was no different, when a representative of the media quoted Rabbi Yosef as saying that Sabbath violaters are no different than beasts. What is interesting is that often the reporter cannot ...
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New Study Links Tem All
By Ben Nathan
The Rabbis in the Talmud discuss how very important friendship is. We know that it is important in learning, in spiritual growth, and in personal happiness. Now, however, a new laboratory-based study has shown that friends also may influence how much adolescents eat.
"Consider a person who usually comes home alone after school and eats out of boredom," says Sarah-Jeanne Salvy, PhD, assistant professor of pediatrics in the University at ...
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Fall in Retail Rents Precipitates New Openings
By Boruch Young
The Rabbis in the Talmud tell us that every type of profession has its wealthier members and those less fortunate. The same may be true in regard to market trends too. Some areas fall, and some areas rise.
According to CRE News retail space rent in Manhattan fell significantly in most areas of the city this past year. Indeed, some of these rents fell a significant 50%.
Although devastating to many property owners, the ...
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Words and the Chief Justices
By Boruch Young
There is an expression used by the Rabbis in the Talmud called “Mah inyan Shmittah etzel Har Sinai - What do the laws of Shmittah have to do with Mount Sinai?” What does the expression mean? It means Orthogonal.
Ah, but what does Orthogonal mean?
The Washington Post reports that this past Monday, University of Michigan law professor Richard D. Friedman answered a question from Justice Anthony M. Kennedy. “He ...
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By Pinchas Shapiro
Your interview with Rabbi Aba Dunner, the executive director of the Conference of European Rabbis (January 7, 2010), unfortunately twists the truth about Eternal Jewish Family International
RAV DUNNER IS A HIGHLY RESPECTED VENERABLE RAV IN EUROPE. HE STATED THAT THE RABBIS OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE OF THE CER UNANIMOUSLY VOTED AGAINST EJF COMING INTO EUROPE. HOW IS THIS TWISTING THE TRUTH?
(EJF) and is, to ...
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New Oliver Stone Documentary
By Chaim Weiss
Oliver Stone, the controversial director is soming out with a historical documentary series that is set to portray Nazi Germany's leader Adolf Hitler in a positive light.
In his own words, "Hitler is an easy scapegoat throughout history and its been used cheaply. He's the product of a series of actions. It's cause and effect ... People in America don't know the connection between WWI and WWII ... I've been able to walk in Stalin's ...
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by Jay Sirkes
They look very much alike - Samuel G. Friedman, the former New York Times reporter (and Columbia journalism professor) and the subject of his recent profile in the New York Times (Saturday, January 9th), Shmarya Rosenberg from St. Paul, Minnesota.
Both are graying, in their early fifties, thin, and have trimly cut beards. The similarity continues - both are dedicated to exposing truth and have an abiding and curious interest in ...
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Pilar Rahola Speaks Out
By Boruch Young
Pilar Rahola is a Spanish politician, journalist and activist. She is a passionate defender of the United States and Israel and an indefatigable fighter against anti-Semitism. All these despite being left wing ideologically. Her articles are published in Spain and throughout some of the most important newspapers in Latin America. The speech was given in Spanish and translated by Mario of the Pillar of Ideas blog.
Why don’t we ...
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By Rabbi Yair Hoffman
The reports on Jewish websites about Rabbi Moshe Shternbuch in Jerusalem Israel putting a ban on a dybbuk are patently false and absurd. Rav Shternbuch clarified this Motzei Shabbos that, in fact, all such reports circling about him putting a ban on a dybbuk are false and that the Braizilian man is clearly suffering from mental illness.
Rav Shternbuch's view was communicated to this author on Motzei Shabbos. The report below posted ...
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Interview with Dov Wolowitz
By Rabbi Yair Hoffman
This past Friday, Rav Yechiel London zt”l, an early Kiruv worker and founder of Nefesh Academy, passed away.
Rabbi London was a remarkable man who was instrumental in the development of thousands of Bnei Torah. The levaya will be held this Sunday, at 10 a.m., at Shomrei Hachomos Chapels, located at 4218 Fort Hamilton Avenue in Boro Park Brooklyn, and kevurah will take place at the bais hakevaros in Woodbridge, NJ.
Rabbi ...
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Preventing Geriatric Decline
By Chaim Weiss
The Talmud says "Olam Chesed Yibaneh - the world is built because of kind acts." Up until now, this was understood by pretty much any Rabbi to mean that the world is built, but no one ever understood it to mean that it would also help build bone structure.
Frailty is a geriatric condition marked by weight loss, low energy and strength, and low physical activity. UCLA researchers followed 1,072 healthy adults aged 70 to 79 between ...
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Rav Dunner Speaks Out Against EJF
By 5TJT Staff
The Conference of European Rabbis is the primary Orthodox Rabbinic organization in Europe. It was founded in 1956 on the initiative of British Chief Rabbi Sir Israel Brodie, and its current executive director is Rabbi Aba Dunner. All the chief Rabbis across Europe joined the organization, and attended its first conference in Amsterdam.
It is now run by a standing committee of 25 members which meets twice a year, and just met in Moscow. ...
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Interview
By Avi Meir
Shannon Orand, the woman who was taken advantage of by Leib Tropper, the former head of the Eternal Jewish Family, has successfully converted to Judaism in Eretz Yisroel as reported by Jewish Israel.
Members of the Beit Din were the highly respected Chief Rabbi Dov Lior of Hevron, Chief Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu of Safed, and third Rav. Rav Eliyahu is the son of Rav Mordechai Eliyahu. Another highly respected Rav officiated over the ...
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Game Changing anti-missile Device
By Ben Mewluke
They are known as “Rafael” an acronym that, according to the Talmud, recalls a biblical angel charged with healing. Rafael is actually an acronym for “Reshut Pituach Emtzai Lechima” Hebrew for ...
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New Israeli Study
By Dovid Visofsky
The Rabbis in the Talmud instituted a blessing for food, for drinks, and for smelling fragrant items. They never instituted a blessing for listening to music. One reason for this is that there is no benefit that enters the body like in foods, drinks, or fragrances.
but new research coming out of the Tel Aviv University in Israel finds that premature babies who are exposed to music by 18th-century composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart ...
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Hasidic Jews in Vegas
By Ben Mewluke
It is known as the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show or CES and it is being held in Las Vegas from January 7th to January 10th. And Orthodox Jewish people have been attending it for as long as Jews have been in the field of electronics.
Years ago, they relied upon the indigenous Orthodox Jewish community to provide the basic essentials of Judaism - kosher food, minyanim, the Daf Yomi shiurim. Now, however, things are a bit different. ...
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Ethnic Profiling and Terrorism
By Rabbi Yair Hoffman
Dov Hikind is definitely a mover and shaker on the New York City politic scene and beyond. He is a Conservative Democrat. Yet his support of McCain managed to get more votes in his district than many Republican districts. Dov has been at the forefront of black-Jewish relations in this city and has developed deep friendships. Mr. Hikind has been a key player in ensuring that the Yeshivos are treated fairly in the current round of cuts that ...
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Lashon Horah Meeting
By Boruch Young
Today at the Ocean Parkway Jewish Center thousands of Bais Yaakov girls will gather to hear speakers adress the issues of Lashon Horah, keeping purity of speech.
The girls travel from all acorss the New York metropolitan area to hear the program sponsored by the Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation. The program is only for girls in the eleventh grade. Other schools that are unable to make the trip into Brooklyn will have the ...
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Tragedy in Lakewood, New Jersey
By Chaim Weiss
After a difficult seven months in a coma, young thirteen year-oldEliyahu Bronspiegel was niftar due to a rare tumor.
"The child was a remarkable young man," said one family friend, "at the age of ten he davened with such feelin gand emotion that he would cry while saying Nishmas Kol Chai."
He had such a profound love for learning that he would write down the shakel vetaryeh of the Gemorah that he learned every ...
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Jewish Mothers and Medicine
By Boruch Young
Our kid comes home from yeshiva with a scratchy throught. We are concerned. He or she wakes up in the morning with what seems to be strep. We go to the pediatrician. It is positive. We pick up the prescription, and we meticulously administer the medicine. We are a good Jewish mother.
But with each spoonful, we may be endangering our child.
A new study published in the Jan. 5 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine ...
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By a Guest Rabbi
Geirus is an issue that plays an important role in Yiddishkeit, especially in these times of massive Jewish assimilation. No one is in disagreement with this point. There is a perception, however, among Rabbonim and the lay public that the organization known as the Eternal Jewish Foundation (EJF) has somehow, and in some way, insinuated itself improperly onto the Geirus scene.
There are three main issues that are of grave concern. ...
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By Ben Mewluke
The Obama Administration has decided to grant Gaza 300 million dollars with no strings attached.
Noam Schalit, father of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Schalit has made the following request. Why not attach some strings - specifically to require the release of Gilad Schalit as a condition for receiving this money?
Surely this is a much better idea than pressuring Israel to release 1000 terrorists, many of them multiple murderers ...
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Pig Cookbook in Israel
By Chaim Weiss
It is known as "Basar Lavan" - white meat - something that, if ever ordered in Israel, is kept strictly hush hush. The reason is that pork is forbidden to Jews according to the Torah. Indeed, in israeli society even the secular shy away from it.
Which is why it is particularly shocking that Dr. Eli Landau, a retired Jewish cardiologist is publishing Israel's first ever cookbook devoted to pork. The book is called, "The White Book ...
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Scott Stringer
By Rabbi Yair Hoffman
Scott Stringer is the Manhattan Borough President. He took office on January 1st, 2006. Mr. Stringer grew up in Washington Heights. He is a former Assemblyman and is a democrat. During his Assembly career, Stringer served as Chairman of the Cities Committee, Chairman of the Real Property Taxation Committee and Chairman of the Oversight, Analysis and Investigation Committee. This is his second term as Manhattan Borough President. ...
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By Rabbi Yair Hoffman
There is a well-known Mitzvah to honor Torah scholars (Sefer HaMitzvos 209). Although the Rishonim cite different verses as to the source for the Mitzvah, it is almost universal that the Mitzvah is a Biblical one. Indeed, it is such an important Mitzvah that the Meiri (Yuma 71a) writes that it is a greater Mitzvah to honor a Torah scholar than to honor a Kohen Gadol – the High Priest in the Bais HaMikdash. The
The Talmud in Menachos ...
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Should a Vaad HaRabbonim legislate in areas other than kashrus too?
Yossi Abrahamson
Absolutely not. We have been witnessing of late a gradual mafia-like grip that various Vaads have placed upon the community. They have forbidden televisions and cables that show sports, they have legislated the clothing that waitresses and waiters wear. Kashrus is one thing, but if we do not curb the power of the Vaads then we risk becoming another Taliban nation. They will begin to legislate separate ...
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By Ben Mewluke
As many of our readers know, the Five Towns Jewish Times website has been victimized by Islamic hackers. The FTJT is in their sites because of the strong positions the paper has taken supporting Israel. In trying to defend ourselves against this new form of cyber-tyranny the 5TJT has launched a captcha code which, at the same time allows for easy access on the part of our readers.
A research project led by Prof. Danny Cohen-Or ...
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A Shortitorial
By Boruch Young
The news, of course, is well known. Yesterday, Israeli forces entered into Gaza in a military operation against the terrorists who murdered a 59 year old teacher - father of seven. What is not so well-known is how the news was reported.
Almost every news agency reported that six Palestinians were killed. Not one of them utilized the term “terrorist.” It is as if a cold-blooded ambush of a regular citizen is considered part of ...
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