The Local Council of Kiryat Arba - Hebron is running a race tomorrow, May 31, 2022, in Kiryat Arba.

According to news reports, Parcare Community Health Network is under investigation for fraudulently obtaining doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and violating the distribution plan of prioritizing healthcare workers and the elderly. They allegedly vaccinated non-qualifying people in Boro Park and Williamsburg.

Last week, the past few weeks, leading up to Rosh Hashana, there were many (reports said upwards of 2500) Breslaver Chassidim sitting in no-man's land between the borders of Belarus and Ukraine trying to get into Ukraine to get to Uman for Rosh Hashana. Ukraine did not let them in and the people were waiting there at the border hoping and praying that their various efforts would pay off and that they would be let in at the last moment.

It seems that Steph Curry, basketball star, recently moved to Toronto, to a home near an Orthodox Jewish community.

the other day I told over the story that had been reported of someone who found a bag of 40,000nis in cash (plus some checks). the fellow seeked out the owner, discovered him as an Arab and returned the money to make a kiddush hashem by acting beyond the letter of the law.

Here is a story that is exactly the opposite.

A fellow from Kiryat Gat found a satchel of money. The bag contained 240,000nis in cash.

the finder decided to do a good deed with some of the money in order to celebrate his miracle, so he went out and ordered crates of food - sandwiches, pastries and drinks - and served it all up to a unit of Golani soldiers serving in the area. He also gave out some cash to the soldiers. After his little celebration he went back to his area and gave out some more money to needy people in the area.

Now that he had done his good deed to clear his conscience, he went out to buy stuff he and his family needed.


After all was said and done, he put away 132,000nis cash in his kids diaper bag for safekeeping.

Little did he know that the satchel of money had fallen off of a transport by armored vehicle (eg Brinks, etc). They were not too happy about the lost bag of money and used surveillance cameras to track it down. They got the police involved and Mr Finder was discovered relatively quickly and brought down to the station for questioning. In the meantime, officers found the rest of the money in his hiding place.

Poor shnook has 10 kids and was going to tell his wife and kids that he won some winnings in the lottery.
source: Actualic

Way to go. I wonder had he just kept it quiet and not gone out and spent so much if he would have gone undiscovered. I also wonder how he did not realize it would be looked for - don't these armored vehicles that transport money put the sacks of money into labeled bags, so he would have seen the name Brinks or the name of whatever company was being used? Regarding the halacha, as far as I know, loose cash is hefker when found, but if the cash is in a special bag or piled or packed in a  unique way, that is considered a siman of ownership and must be returned. So while the first guy had the halachic right to keep the money, he returned it, the second probably had a halachic oblogation to return it but kept it.

this is one of those questions you don't know why it was ever asked and never thought such a question would be necessary to ask..but it was asked, so here goes..

Kikar is reporting about a question posed to a number of poskim by a group f yeshiva bochurim. The question asked was that an Arab employee of the yeshiva, working in the maintenance and cleaning of the yeshiva, sometimes asks the boys to borrow a phone charger from them for a few hours at a time so that he could charge his phone. The question is, would lending the Arab worker a charger fall under the prohibition of "lo techanem" - not giving anything in the form of a gift to a non-Jew - and therefore should they be refusing such requests?

Rav Chaim Kanievsky responded that if there is any concern that the Arab worker might hold it against them in some form of "eiva", hatred, they would be allowed to lend the charger with no prohibition. In the case of an employee of the yeshiva, this will definitely be a concern and is therefore allowed.

Rav Yaakov Meir Stern responded that a yeshiva employee is not invcluded in the prohibition of lo techanem, as the worker would at any time be able to return the favor in all sorts of form, and this would not be a free gift. The students would always be expecting some sort of return from their goodwill gesture when they would need it.

Rav Mordechai Gross responded that not lending the charger would cause a chilul hashem when he sees they have a charger available.

Rav Moshe Fried responded that nowadays the media turns everything into a big story especially if it can make yeshiva students look bad, and one should be concerned that the disgruntled employee will tell people outside the yeshiva and it will turn into a chilul hashem, so they should lend him the charger. Rav Fried adds that he proposed this to Rav Yitzchak Zilbershtein and Rav Zilbershtein agreed.

The consensus is to lend the hcarger, though they differ slightly as to the reason why.

This is upsetting and shameful.

A non-kosher Chumus restaurant in the Carmel Shuk of Tel Aviv is located in what used to be a shul. They have on display, hanging from the wall, an open Torah scroll.

The fact that it is a non-kosher restaurant is besides the point, as this would be inappropriate and shameful even if it were a kosher restaurant. However, if it were a kosher restaurant this would not have happened - the kashrut mashgiach would see it at some point and make them take it down.

Furthermore, the decor of the former shul is all still intact, with the old shul signs and prayers still hanging on the walls.

All this together, whether the Torah itself or the decor of the shul, might make a potential diner think the restaurant is kosher.
source: Bechadrei

I am surprised as to the insensitivity of the owner who did this.

It hurts to put these pictures up here, but I think it is important.

this morning on the radio I heard [part of] an interesting discussion..

the radio show hosts were talking to some askanim about the fighting between Degel and Aguda in UTJ.

The fighting is about the upcoming appointment to the committee for appointing judges to the rabbinical court. Eichler from Aguda wants the appointment, and Gafni is upset at him and has said Degel deserves it as per their internal agreement and they will field a different candidate. The fighting is gettign out of hand, somewhat, and now Aguda is threatening Degel that they might oppose the passage of the Norwegian law that Degel wnts so badly in order to get Yaakov Asher back into the Knesset.

Anyways, so the radio show hosts were talking to these askanim from the different factions of UTJ about the fighting. One of the askanim threw it back at the radio show hosts and the haredi media in general. He said that in the general press nobody cares about it - you'd be hard pressed to find any discussion about it, while it is all over the Haredi media. He accused them of being at fault for publicizing the fight and making a chilul hashem.

This is a common method of attack. The fighting itself is not considered a problem, but the publicity given to it is. It is the radio show hosts who are making a chilul hashem by asking about it, rather than Gafni, Litzman, and Eichler making a chilul hashem by fighting.

Meir Cohen, a Haredi yeshiva bochur who recently became an Internet star when a video of him csreaming at shoppers at BIG mall in Ashdod that it is Shabbos, was arrested.



When I saw the headline that he was arrested, I assumed he was arrested for his screaming. I did not understand why that would get him arrested. Maybe some harassment charges, but nothing serious - he did not really do anything, and I could not see him being held for a serious amount of time over this..  Maybe he would get a restraining order to stay away from the BIG mall, but I can't really see more than that happening.

By the way, many people in the Haredi community, including askanim involved in trying to get the BIG mall closed on Shabbos, have criticized him for screaming like that, even calling it a chilul hashem. Also, they say he might have good intentions, but they say he is harming their efforts to get the mall closed.

It turns out that his appearance and approach was not a one time thing, but he has gone to BIG on Shabbos repeatedly in recent weeks, and has approached people with the same style over and over again.

That could get annoying.

Walla and Ladaat are reporting that he has been arrested for disturbing public order. Supposedly, according to the charges, besides for being a creep and a pest, he also threatened people, attacked people (whatever that means), and disturbed a policeman trying to keep order.

more frum people on reality TV... after the Gat Brothers success on Israel's reality Hakochav Haba, Ofir Ben Shitrit on The Voice, Fishel and Malki Berkowitz on The Biggest Loser and probably others I do not remember offhand.. now we have a yeshiva bochur from the Mir Yeshiva in Yerushalayim auditioning for a spot on the new season of cooking reality TV show Master Chef..



this guy has spunk, attitude, humor and confidence.. I like him.

Of course this raises, once again, the discussion of whether it is appropriate or not for haredim or generally frum people to participate in these shows, and especially the question of whether it is a kiddush hashem or not.

I still think the participation in these shows, on its own, does not constitute a kiddush hashem or a chilul hashem. If the contestant behaves properly, respectfully, in a way that sheds a good light on torah and religious people, then he can use that medium to make a kiddush hashem, just like he can by acting properly in any setting. And if, chalila, he should act improperly, and behave poorly, shedding a bad light on Torah and religion, then he can use that medium to create a chilul hashem.

Quote Of The Day

My son is the "Holy of Holies". He made a kiddush hashem the like that has never before been seen in haredi Judaism. Even a goy recognized that [Yoel] did not know what he was doing and did not recognize those substances at all. I cannot forgive Yisroel Gliss at all. How can I forgive him after the tremendous chillul hashem he made in the media? He needs to ask forgiveness of the Torah and from the gedolei yisorel. Even the goyim said they recognized my son is holy, so Gliss, a Haredi jew won't believe that and say he deserves two slaps?

  --- father of Yoel Goldstein

1. suddenly if the goyim say something it is true? the goyim like him so everyone else has to?
2. I am not quite sure "not guilty" can be translated to "wow, he is so holy".
3. Even being found not guilty, I am not quite sure how he qualifies as "holy of holies".. he was not learnig, but traveling to Japan smuggling what he thought were antiques. Perhaps not guilty of drug smuggling, but also not quite so "holy of holies".
4. What kiddush hashem did he make by smuggling and sitting in jail for 3 years? Maybe he is not such a bad guy, and the not guilty verdict vindicates him to a certain degree (not quote to the degree the father thinks), but that is a far cry from saying he made a kiddush hashem and is holy.
5. I respect and admire the father that despite the entire ordeal he still can only see good in his son. Halevai to all of us!

Quote Of The Day

I don't accept the "Admorship" of [Yoel] Goldstein. Everyone davened for his release and they collected 3 millions dollars in the campaign for him... but, and a very big "but".. I and many others in haredi Judaism are embarrassed by the chillul hashem that the three boys caused. In the middle of learning in the yeshiva they went with a suitcase supposedly with antiques - not suitcase full of shofars, sifrei kodesh, esrogim, or menoras for the Jews of Japan, but suitcases with other stuff. As parents you should tell your children that they should not be proud of what he did. 
I would bring him to the corner of Kikar Shabbos and give him two slaps across the face and send him home, like a father  who's child runs into the street - first he saves him and then he gives hi two slaps to teach him not to run there again.

  -- Rav Yisroel Gliss

Picture Of The Day


From the Shabbos protests against the Karta parking lot being in operation on Shabbos. The haredi groups protesting were renewing the protests to celebrate the 100th Shabbos of Karta parking lot operating on Shabbos.

The irony just struck me that the protests are protesting a spot where people STOP driving on Shabbos... It seems that protesters would prefer the chilonim continue driving on Shabbos...

In Bnei Brak last night there was a hafganah, seemingly supported by Rav Shteinman and Rav Kanievsky.

The hafganah was outside the house of a guy who caused a tremendous chilul hashem last week. A haredi guy who didnt like a psak din in beis din, and he took the beis din to court to appeal the din. 8 dayanim were forced to go to secular court to defend their psak din.

Last night they gathered outside his house crying out "Get Out! Get Out!"

Perhaps the cries that did not work to exorcise the dybbuk will work now...

A contestant on the Israeli TV show "Survivor" was challenged with eating bugs. this posed for him a dilemma, considering he eats only kosher and is religious at some level.

He chose to eat the bugs, as the alternative was to be the cause of his whole team losing and being eliminated.

The sad part of it is that he knew in advance, and chose not to request to be exempt from this challenge, and simply hoped he would not be the one called upon to execute it. it never works like that, and your worst fears generally come to be. if he participated, and he would eb the one with the biggest problem doing this challenge, he should have known he would definitely be the one picked.
He could have exempted himself, but someone else already had claiming stomach pains. he felt bad letting the team down, so he let her go out with the stomach pain. The team should have respected his desire to keep kosher, and made her participate (unless her excuse is really that she also keeps kosher but made up another excuse so they would not know) and let him off.

But they didn't. She got off, he got chosen.

He ate the bugs. His rationale is that in the process of eating the bugs, he made a tremendous kiddush hashem. he showed his teammates that he "took one for the team" and was concerned about other peoples success and welfare.

Basically the claim is a crock. It is definitely not a kiddush hashem that he took one for the team by doing a sin.

He should just say he could not withstand the pressure of everyone relying on him and succumbed, and regrets it. he knows he did something wrong. he was ashamed when his kid asked him why he did it.

Making up excuses doesn't help. We each have our own tests. Sometimes we pass, sometimes we fail. Hopefully we all pass more often than fail....but each person with his or her own tests and successes..We should learn from our failures, and not just make excuses...

Regarding the chillul hashem that has happened in NY/NJ over the past few days....

I don't know exactly what happened, so my comment might be out of place and/or inaccurate. It is based on what I have read so far about the sting operation.

The chillul hashem stands, and I am not refuting that. I just think the whole situation is very strange. This guy Dweck, the informant, he did not just inform, and obtain evidence, of what all these other people were doing. This Dweck guy set them up. He got what seems like innocent people involved by offering them money and deals.

Generally an informant is supposed to be obtaining evidence on people committing certain crimes - he approaches them and deals with them, getting evidence in the process. Here, some of these people were not at all involved, from what i understand, in all this illegal activity and he approached them and got them involved and turned them in.

That is really dirty, and I do not see why this is not under the category of entrapment, which should get them off.

Wanna know what a chillul hashem is?

When stories like this happen, and, as they always will, get out to the general press, that is a chillul hashem.


Heck - they were worried that someone would steal the Rosh Yeshiva's body before the funeral, because they are fighting over who should be the next Rosh Yeshiva? Is there anything right about that?
I know the fighting has been going on for a while, with different camps pushing their rosh yeshiva as the real one. You can look at it as an issue of kavod, or you can look at it as an issue of kavod hatorah.

But to let it get to the point that you have to be concerned that someone is going to steal a body waiting for burial? How can that level of fighting be considered fighting for kavod hatorah?

Letting it get to that point is a classic example of chillul hashem.